Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Lin Yi closed the last page of his notebook, and all the clues finally came together.

Lin Yi picked up the compass, and the dim runes on its surface lit up slightly. The pointer began to spin erratically, eventually trembling as it pointed directly below the castle.

Grandfather Edwin paid the price of the entire family's fate to prove a fact: the so-called "Eternal Forest" behind the door was very likely a huge lie.

The letter from the Mercenary Guild was not merely intended to allow Lin Yi to inherit the title; it was a meticulously designed alarm trigger.

Edwin was gambling that the person who could overcome all obstacles and finally receive and decipher this special letter could not be an ordinary person.

This person must possess terrifying power enough to shake the curse and truly eliminate the root of the scourge lurking beneath the castle.

His death would be like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, enough to stir up a storm and attract the attention of the kingdom.

Regardless of the outcome, it will invisibly tear open the crimson veil shrouding the castle, exposing the truth of the "curse" to the vision of a more powerful force, thus indirectly achieving his purpose of warning.

"Old fox..."

In the end, Earl Edwin abandoned pointless decorum and illusory inheritance, displaying the cunning and decisiveness befitting a guardian in the purest form.

He regarded Lin Yi as his last card to fight against the "curse".

The alarm has now been triggered.

The cards have already been laid out on the gambling table of fate.

Lin Yi picked up the brass compass, turned around, and walked towards the full-length mirror that had led him into the secret room.

Celia has been eliminated, but the root cause remains.

Inheriting a title? Ruling a territory? These were never Lin Yi's goals.

Don't forget, Lin Yi's goal this time is to awaken his talent.

The deep ruins described in the notes, the gate that isolates the unknown and the terror, and the "Ian Salah" that may exist behind the gate, are undoubtedly the most likely places to touch the core mission.

Lin Yi put away his notebook and compass, then turned and walked towards the huge floor-to-ceiling mirror.

The mirror rippled again like water, carrying him back to the dusty attic.

He didn't glance at the pile of clutter again, and walked steadily down the narrow, steep stairs.

In the castle hall, Jack and Leonard were directing several surviving guards to clean up the mess left by the woman in red.

Upon seeing Lin Yi appear, Jack and Leonard immediately stopped what they were doing and quickly stepped forward.

"My lord!" The two bowed respectfully.

Lin Yi's gaze swept over them, finally landing on Leonard.

The knight who followed him the earliest was undoubtedly loyal, and his strength was among the best of the mortals.

More importantly, an almost intuitive premonition lingered in Lin Yi's mind—this seemingly unserious guy seemed to have an inexplicable connection with this land.

"Jack, you stay behind to handle the aftermath at the castle. Announce to the public that a powerful assassin has invaded but has been killed. Stabilize morale and restore order."

Jack paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, sir."

Lin Yi nodded and turned his gaze to Leonard: "Leonard, come with me."

The stone steps leading to the basement were cold and damp, and the air was filled with the smell of stale earth.

Leonard lit the torch he carried with him. The orange light flickered and barely dispelled the thick darkness ahead, illuminating the slippery moss and the marks of time on the stone wall.

The heavy stone door was tightly shut, and the emblem of the Heinrich family—a ferocious claw grasping thorns—was carved on it.

Lin Yi reached out his hand, not searching for the complicated mechanism, but simply pushing his palm gently.

"Click... Rumble..."

The heavy stone door slid open slowly inward, and Leonard instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, the torchlight flickering violently in the eerie wind.

As Lin Yi stepped into the darkness beyond the stone gate, the aloofness and reserve he had been deliberately maintaining vanished instantly, as if he had shed an invisible disguise.

"Come out." Lin Yi's voice was exceptionally clear in the empty underground passage.

As soon as he finished speaking, Leonard felt as if the shadows around him had come to life.

Dozens of dark figures silently emerged from the cracks in the rock walls on both sides of the passage, overhead, and even in the shadows beneath their feet.

Leonard was startled, but he did not lose his composure.

As one of the earliest followers of Lin Yi, he had long known that Lin Yi was no ordinary person.

Even if Lin Yi suddenly flew into the sky and claimed to be the so-called god Leonard, people would believe him now.

Lin Yi didn't turn around, he just kept walking forward.

As he walked, the shadowy ninjas that had appeared disappeared silently into the deeper darkness ahead of the passage, like ink drops merging into water.

Leonard took a deep breath, gripped his torch and longsword tightly, and quickly followed Lin Yi's pace.

He didn't ask any further questions, and simply performed his duty as a guard.

Although he knew all too well that his role as a protector would be negligible in the face of this unfathomable master.

The two walked through the deathly silent passage, the torchlight illuminating only a limited area, with endless darkness stretching into the distance.

Underfoot was a rough stone path, where one could occasionally see scattered bones, rusted weapon fragments, and some unintelligible graffiti on the walls.

Leonard tried to concentrate, noticing that Lin Yi's pace remained steady, as if the surrounding environment had no effect on him.

Leonard silently recited the knight's maxims, banishing his distracting thoughts.

He noticed that Lin Yi was not blindly advancing, but stopped from time to time to observe some extremely hidden engravings or traces of residual energy on the wall.

Those were the road signs and danger markers left by Earl Edwin in his notes from his explorations years ago. Lin Yi, like an experienced hunter, used the compass to identify the direction to move forward.

The passage is not flat all the way; at times it extends downwards, with steep stone steps that seem to lead to the earth's core; at other times it requires passing through collapsed piles of rubble or going around bottomless crevices.

The Shadow Legion silently cleared obstacles ahead, and Leonard saw more than once those "Guardians" being instantly eliminated on both sides of the passage or deep in the side paths.

Most of them wore tattered robes and their bodies had undergone varying degrees of distortion, clearly twisted cultists born from the long-term erosion deep within the ruins.

Time passed in the oppressive darkness, and torches were replaced one after another.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps several hours, the passage ahead suddenly opened up.

A huge underground space appeared before us.

The vastness of the space exceeded Leonard's imagination. The dome hung high, hidden in darkness beyond the reach of the torchlight, as if supporting the weight of the entire earth.

The ground was not flat, but covered with huge, broken stone pillar bases, like the skeletons of giant beasts, telling tales of its former grandeur.

Broken steps, collapsed archways, and huge fragments of stone carvings are scattered everywhere, covered with intricate and unfamiliar patterns.

And at the very depths of this space stands the destination of this journey—

A door.

A stone gate so huge it defies imagination!
It is embedded in a steep rock face, with an estimated height of over twenty meters and a width sufficient to accommodate several horse-drawn carriages side by side.

The door itself has a deep obsidian color, yet it also has a faint dark red luster, like congealed blood.

The most striking feature is the relief pattern on the door, which depicts an endless forest with towering trees and lush foliage that obscures the sky.

Elegant figures move through the forest, hunting and playing music—pointed ears, slender figures, gorgeous bows and long robes…they are the legendary elves.

At the center of the relief, there appears to be a giant tree that stretches from heaven to earth, and above its canopy, the outline of a magnificent palace can be faintly seen.

Tranquil, harmonious, magnificent, and otherworldly... This bas-relief perfectly matches Celia's description of "Ain Salah"—the lost elven royal court, the eternal forest!
Standing before this colossal gate depicting a scene of paradise, Leonard felt only a chilling cold and a deep-seated malice.

The more exquisite and serene the relief, the more eerie it appeared in this deathly silent underground space.

It was as if a sacred mural had been splattered with filthy blood.

"This is it."

Lin Yi stopped a few meters away from the gate.

He raised his right hand, palm facing forward, but instead of touching the door directly, he hovered it in the air.

Om-!
An invisible force field instantly spread out from Lin Yi as the center, and the scarlet power in the air seemed to be provoked, suddenly becoming violent.

A visible stream of dark red energy converged from the runes on the door, rushing madly toward Lin Yi.

[Warning: High concentration of Crimson Power detected!] [Crimson Power and Abyss Power will be assessed in this round.]

【Determining...】

The priority of Abyss Power is 11.

[Crimson Power priority is 9.69 (due to its location in the core area, its activity and concentration are increased to the current maximum).]

Because you are actively engaging in this process, the effects you experience will be relatively passive.

You are about to experience the corrosive effects of the Crimson Power...

Boom! ! !

Two energies, representing the pinnacle of power from different systems, collided before the giant gate.

There was no deafening explosion, but rather a more chilling sound of energy annihilation.

The underground space was filled with the "scratching" sound of millions of panes of glass being scraped at the same time, as black and red lights fiercely entangled, tore, and annihilated each other.

The ground beneath Lin Yi's feet could not withstand the impact of this force and instantly cracked and sank.

The scattered rubble around them floated up as if it had lost its gravity, only to be torn to dust by the violent energy flow in the next second.

Leonard was forced to retreat repeatedly by this terrifying pressure, and he only managed to regain his footing after retreating to a huge broken pillar dozens of meters away.

Lin Yi stood at the center of the energy storm, his figure as stable as a rock.

His eyes were completely filled with darkness, with no whites visible, like two black holes swallowing up light.

Under his control, the power of the abyss frantically devoured the surging crimson power.

Erosion and counter-erosion! Devouring and counter-devouring!
The crimson power, relying on the door, seemed to have an inexhaustible source of support.

It attempted to penetrate the defenses of the abyss's power, corrupt Lin Yi's physical body, and erode his soul.

Each impact was accompanied by strong negative emotions—tyranny, greed, madness, and despair—like an invisible spiritual blade, attempting to dismantle Lin Yi's will.

The power of the abyss reveals its domineering nature as a top-tier power in the void. Like a greedy gluttonous beast, it not only resists the erosion but also frantically devours the origin of the crimson power.

Lin Yi could clearly feel that with each absorption, a faint but pure power was fed back to him. Although it was insignificant, it accumulated over time.

Time ticked by, and in the underground space, the black and red lights clashed like two raging beasts.

The hissing sound of energy annihilation never stopped, and the turbulent energy currents in the air were enough to shred steel.

Renard hid behind the broken pillar, feeling as if every second was an eternity. Sweat soaked through his inner lining, and his strength was rapidly being depleted under the immense pressure.

after an hour.

Stalemate, attrition, tug-of-war!

Finally, the dark red light on the door began to diminish at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Like the receding tide, the violent, corrosive force becomes weak and no longer as inexhaustible as it was at the beginning.

Lin Yi increased the output of the Abyss Power, causing the door to tremble violently.

The stone surface that forms the relief is covered with countless fine, dark red lines that throb painfully and make a faint crackling sound.

[Note: The Hunter has completed the prerequisites for the final stage of the Awakening quest.]

[Awakening Quest Part 2: Town Revitalization (Completed). Quest Rating: S (Achieved via non-standard path).]

[Awakening Quest Part 3: Clouds Over the Capital (Completed). Quest Rating: S (Achieved via non-standard path).]

[Awakening Quest Fourth Stage: Royal Secrets (Completed). Quest Rating: S (Achieved via non-standard path).]

The Awakening Quest has been forcibly advanced to its final stage!

[Final stage of the Awakening Quest: Inescapable Guilt.]

Difficulty level: Lv.45
Mission Summary: The sins of Heinrich's ancestors brought forth the curse behind the door. You have purged its henchmen, but the true source of the sin remains behind the door.

Task deadline: one month.

Mission Reward: Talent Awakening.

Failure penalty: Failure to complete the talent awakening mission will result in forced expulsion from this world.

Clearly, this method of forcibly using the power of the abyss to grind down the crimson power to open the door completely exceeds the conventional path designed by the Paradise of Reincarnation.

Click...click...

The ancient runes on the door frame, which had been gleaming with a dangerous light, dimmed one by one, like fireflies whose life had been drained.

With a teeth-grinding cracking sound, the rune itself disintegrated and shattered, turning into fine, ashes-like powder that fluttered down.

The two incredibly heavy obsidian doors slid inward a crack amidst a teeth-grinding grinding sound, revealing a small gap.

The moment the crack appeared, a chill capable of freezing the soul surged out from the crack in the door, instantly engulfing the entire underground space.

"Ugh!" Leonard, who was in the distance, was struck as if by a heavy blow. His face turned ashen instantly, and he felt as if his soul was about to be frozen by this aura.

He clung tightly to the stone pillar to keep from collapsing to the ground.

Lin Yi's abyssal power fluctuated, isolating him from the terrifying cold current.

The darkness in his eyes faded, and clarity returned. Beyond the gate lay not the elven forest he had imagined.

"Reinhard!" Lin Yi's voice pierced through the howling cold air.

Despite his discomfort, Leonard bit his tongue hard. The sharp pain jolted him awake, and he staggered to Lin Yi's side, exclaiming, "My lord!"

"Open the door!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Leonard roared and unleashed all his power. A pale golden light enveloped his entire body as Leonard's hands pressed firmly against the edge of one of the giant doors!

"Drink--!!!"

Muscles bulging, veins standing out!
The heavy stone door slowly expanded with a deafening roar as Leonard pushed it with all his might!

Half a meter... one meter...

A width sufficient for one person to pass through has finally appeared.

The scene behind the door finally came into Lin Yi's view through the widened crack—

There are no forests, no giant trees, and no elves.

There was only an endless, desolate... ruin!
The broken, massive stone pillars, like the broken ribs of a giant, were stuck diagonally into the gray-black earth.

The collapsed palace was reduced to ruins, covered with a thick layer of ashes-like dust.

The sky was a perpetual leaden gray, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only filled with oppressive, despair-inducing low-hanging clouds.

The air was thick with the smell of death and the decaying odor of the end of all things.

As far as the eye can see, the earth is cracked, the rivers have dried up into dark ravines, and the twisted, dead black trees stretch towards the sky like ferocious ghost claws.

In the distance, the silhouettes of enormous, mountain-like shadows could be vaguely seen, but they were full of unnatural twists and breaks, exuding a chilling sense of decay.

This is no "Eternal Forest" at all! This is clearly a long-dead ruin, a wasteland of endless despair!

The cold current gushing out from the crack in the door reached its peak; it was not a physical cold, but a chilling cold that directly affected the soul and brought about the end of all things.

"go!"

Without any hesitation, Lin Yi took the lead and instantly disappeared into the crack of the door leading to the desolate ruins.

The power of the abyss rose from his body, blocking the erosion of external forces.

Leonard followed closely behind, and in the instant he rushed through the crack in the door, he seemed to catch a glimpse of an ancient symbol, almost covered in dust, carved on a corner of the inner edge of the giant door—the symbol's shape resembled a broken arrowhead or a frozen tear.

A strange tremor and an indescribable sadness struck his heart instantly.

"My lord... wait for me!" Leonard gritted his teeth, suppressing the dizziness in his soul and that strange throbbing, and rushed into that unknown world of ruins.

The heavy obsidian door, as if having exhausted its last strength, let out a muffled groan and closed again after the two figures disappeared.

The relief depicting the scene of paradise disappeared again, leaving only a last trace of deathly chill in the crack of the door, slowly dissipating in the underground space.

Above the door, the remaining dark red "vein" patterns twitched weakly a few times, like dying worms, before finally losing their luster and transforming into new runes on the door. (End of Chapter)