Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

With a muffled thud, the scene before Lin Yi's eyes changed drastically.

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a moment before Lin Yi adjusted his landing posture, his feet firmly planted on the cold, hard stone surface.

He quickly looked around and found himself in an extremely magnificent hall.

The main hall is vast, estimated to be at least a thousand square meters, with thick stone pillars that require several people to encircle supporting the towering dome, casting deep shadows.

In the center of the main hall stands a huge stone sculpture that is over ten meters tall.

The stone sculpture is not human or any known conventional creature, but is made up of countless spheres of different sizes connected and stacked together, forming an extremely bizarre and illogical structure, as if some microscopic creation on a cosmic scale has been macroscopically manifested. Staring at it for a long time can even make people feel dizzy as if their eyes are about to be sucked into those rotating spheres.

On the base beneath the stone sculpture, an ancient script was inscribed. Lin Yi did not recognize the characters, but a certain thought directly conveyed its meaning to his mind: 'Guardians of the world, we wish to bathe in your glory... Heus Alexander (Divine Year 1157).' It sounded like a prayer or hymn, filled with humble supplication.

It sounds like a prayer or a hymn.

Beside this line of ancient characters, there is another string of characters.

The words, written in dried, blackened blood, were small and distorted, conveying a sense of obsession and resolve: 'Mission is destiny.'

Beside the word "blood" was a skeleton leaning against a base.

The skeleton was treated to be exceptionally "clean" and "intact," with the surface even having a patina-like sheen. Rather than a naturally decaying remains, it resembled a meticulously maintained collectible.

Lin Yi's gaze did not linger on the bones for long; his senses spread outwards.

Although there was nothing in his field of vision, he could already "sense" the arrival of that being—a malice that felt almost tangible.

Although the ancient gods are mostly not in line with human aesthetics in appearance and can be described as "ugly", their level of life is beyond doubt.

Among beings of the same level, very few beings can surpass the life level of an ancient god.

The space ahead was like the surface of water tossed with a pebble, beginning to ripple with clear waves.

The next moment, a figure stepped out from it.

Its entire body is a deep black that absorbs all light. Its upper body is roughly human-shaped, with broad shoulders and thick arms, and its muscles are twisted and full of power.

The lower body is made up of countless black tentacles of varying thicknesses, which writhe and appear both strong and unusually twisted.

Its height is nearly four meters, and just standing there brings a heavy psychological pressure.

What's most disturbing is its head.

The humanoid head appeared to have been severed diagonally by some sharp blade. The severed part did not fall off, but instead dangled on its shoulder like a piece of rotten flesh. One could vaguely see the writhing black substance and faint red light beneath it, as if the broken brain tissue was still functioning.

On the still relatively intact lower half of his face, a gaping maw stretched almost to his ears, revealing three rows of densely packed, file-like teeth.

This is the Dominator, Sothos.

As it appeared, the air inside the hall almost froze.

Just as the single eye remaining on the Dominator's mutilated head locked onto Lin Yi, the space behind Lin Yi stirred again.

Unlike the ritualistic fluctuations that occur when the ruler appears, this fluctuation is more penetrating, as if it were being forcibly torn apart.

"Shoot-"

A faint yet clear cracking sound rang out, and a figure seemed to break through the spatial barrier, landing steadily not far from Lin Yi's side.

It was Su Xiao.

The Dragon Slayer in his hand was already wreathed in faint blue arcs of electricity, emanating a dangerous aura.

"Roar!!"

The Dominator Sothos was clearly enraged.

Its unique vocal organs vibrate the air, producing a deafening roar.

Its gaping maw revealed three rows of sharp, file-like teeth.

It's not that it doesn't understand human language, but rather that its pride stems from its higher level of existence, making it disdain using the communication methods of "inferior races."

Faced with the roar, Lin Yi merely sneered, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

Lin Yi directly responded to the Dominator with a classic Chinese phrase: "What are you pretending for?"

Before the Dominator could react, Lin Yi swiftly exposed its true nature: "Your aura is chaotic and disordered, your form is bloated and twisted, and you haven't even fully developed your innate bone armor, relying solely on these disgusting tentacles to fill the gaps... The ancient gods I've dealt with are different; their auras are like complete stars. What about you? You're like a pile of broken rubble barely glued together. You're not a born ancient god, are you? A hybrid that forcibly built itself up to this level by devouring countless pitiful creatures through acquired means?"

Although the aura of the Dominator was fierce and violent, and full of oppression, Lin Yi still caught a trace of disharmony beneath that powerful appearance—its life essence was not as seamless as that of a true ancient god, but instead revealed a sense of weakness.

More accurately, it is a "old wound" that seems to have suffered a severe injury that has not yet healed and may never heal.

This scar exists at the very essence of life, and remains clearly discernible even after countless years.

Just as Lin Yi was testing and provoking the Dominator with his words, Su Xiao, who had confirmed that he had successfully broken through the spatial blockade and entered this place, did not stop moving at all.

He produced a seemingly ordinary pendant in his hand, then crushed it.

hum-

A barely perceptible ripple in space spread out from the pendant fragment.

In the next instant, three figures were "pulled" out of the ripples by Su Xiao and appeared beside him.

They are Amu, Baha, and Bubuwang, a husky with its tongue sticking out, looking a little nervous but mostly excited.

The arrival of Su Xiao's team instantly changed the balance of power in the arena.

Sothos, the Dominator, had been completely focused on Lin Yi's sarcastic remarks, but when the blue arc of electricity on Su Xiao's Dragon Slayer Flash became slightly brighter due to the infusion of energy, Lin Yi clearly noticed that a trace of undisguised solemnity and disgust flashed across the Dominator's remaining eyes.

Immediately, Sothos's massive hand, covered in black scales and keratin, grasped a weapon—a longsword with an extremely twisted shape—that was stuck diagonally into the stone slab beside it.

The sword is over two meters long, but the blade is unusually thin, as if it might break at any moment. However, the unstable spatial ripples surrounding the sword and the pure "malice" it exudes indicate its danger.

This longsword, named Twisted Malice, is clearly imbued with characteristics such as "sharpness," "speed," and even more bizarre qualities.

Almost at the same moment Sothos gripped his sword, Lin Yi saw the data of the Dominator flash before his eyes.

[Comparing intelligence attributes of both sides... Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is 1.25 times that of the enemy. Due to being within enemy territory, we only obtained 75% of the enemy's data (Reconnaissance Eye increased by 20%).]

【Name: Dominator Sothos】

[Category: Ancient God (Pseudo)]

Health Points: 87% (Permanently reduced by 13%)

[Divine Energy (Ancient): 36850/37520 points]

Strength: 140 (True Attribute)

Agility: 152 (True Attribute)

Stamina: 139 (True Attribute)

Intelligence: 105 (True Attribute)

【Charm: 1】

[Skill 1: Lower-Rank Deity - Void (Passive, LV.60): +9000 HP, Immune to physical and mental control effects.]

[Skill 2: Domination (Passive, Lv.73): Dominator Sothos can freely traverse multiple dimensions. When facing an enemy, if energy fluctuations are intense, the range of this ability will decrease.]

[Note: If the Dominator Sothos is inside the Ancient Temple, his spatial traversal speed is increased by 300% with no cost. However, during combat, if energy fluctuations are severe, the Dominator Sothos will be unable to traverse outside the Ancient Temple.]

【Skill 3: Darkness's Birth (Active, Lv.60): +4500 HP, ignores spatial abilities and damage.】

[Skill 4: Void Slash (Passive, Lv.65): Each attack by the Dominator Sothos will inflict 310-760 points of spatial slashing damage, ignoring external armor.] [Skill 5: God of Extreme Evil (Passive, Lv.60): When the Dominator Sothos wields 'Twisted Malice', upon hitting an enemy, the slash will deal damage equal to 16% of the enemy's maximum HP + the slash's damage + spatial slashing damage.]

【? ? ? 】

[Skill 7: Ancient God Combat Art (Basic Technique Ability, Lv.40): ? ? ?]

【? ? ? 】

[Skill 10: Nameless Mist (Ultimate Ability): ? ? ?]

[Note: This ability was perfected by the Dominator Sothos by sacrificing humans.]

Lin Yi's gaze swept over the Dominator's 140 points of Strength and an exaggerated 152 points of Agility, and his heart sank slightly.

The Dominator's power attribute was higher than he had anticipated, exceeding his and Su Xiao's true attribute by nearly ten points.

At this level, every difference in real attributes translates into a truly overwhelming advantage.

Based on Lin Yi's experience, he estimated that a slight difference in strength attribute could result in an actual difference in effectiveness of approximately 1.2 to 1.3 times.

This means that the Dominators theoretically have a six- to seven-fold advantage over them in terms of pure power.

While Lin Yi's aura ability can greatly enhance the team's survivability and resistance, and effectively prevent the dominant's strength attribute from directly overwhelming them, it is undoubtedly a pipe dream to completely eliminate this huge fundamental gap.

What's even more troublesome is the agility attribute of 152 points, which exceeds the safety gap of ten points. This most likely means that his and Su Xiao's dynamic vision and neural reaction speed will have difficulty keeping up with the Dominator's movement trajectory.

Unrestricted high-speed spatial movement, coupled with a single-target attack power strong enough to instantly kill most of their peers, would have been difficult for either of them to hold out for even a moment in a one-on-one situation if they hadn't both had their own trump cards.

"slim Shady."

A pale yellow chain of energy instantly appeared between Lin Yi, Su Xiao, Bubuwang, Baha, and Amu, subtly connecting their auras into one. This was Lin Yi's life chain, which could share status and mitigate damage to a certain extent.

Upon receiving the command, Am, who had been poised to attack, let out a low, thunderous moo. His massive body roared into action like a heavy chariot, stomping on the ground with a thunderous thud. Wielding his enormous ice axe, he charged fearlessly toward the Dominator Sothos!
If it were just Amu alone, Su Xiao would never let it directly attack an enemy with superior attributes; that would be tantamount to suicide.

But now, Lin Yi is here.

"when!"

A deafening metallic clang rang out!
Is that the sound of Am's ice axe colliding with some kind of invisible barrier?

No, that's not right!

Almost at the same instant, Lin Yi felt a tearing pain in his left shoulder blade.

He couldn't even see where the attack came from. He only had time to turn his body slightly to the right by less than ten centimeters, relying on his honed combat instincts and sense of danger!

"Pfft-"

Blood splatters!

A terrifying wound appeared on Lin Yi's body, running diagonally from his left shoulder to his right chest. The wound was extremely deep, revealing the white bones beneath. Its edges were irregularly jagged, as if it had been gnawed by countless invisible sharp teeth. It also had strong spatial rifts that were frantically disrupting the healing process, causing a continuous burning and tearing pain.

Only then did Lin Yi's gaze catch the figure of Sothos, the Dominator who had been standing still and seemed to have just finished swinging his sword. Sothos's figure rippled like water before solidifying completely.

It remained standing in the same spot, as if it had never moved.

On the tip of the two-meter-long [Twisted Malice] sword, a drop of crimson blood slowly slid down, dripping onto the cold stone slab with a soft "drip" sound.

In this initial exchange, Sothos demonstrated terrifying speed and agility in spatial movement.

"Appearing and disappearing like a ghost" is no longer enough to describe its attack that almost defied the laws of time and space.

"Cough..." Lin Yi coughed up a mouthful of bloody saliva. Under the surge of life energy and the self-healing blessing of the halo, the wound on his shoulder began to slowly stop bleeding and close.

“I saw it.” Lin Yi licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. Instead of showing fear, he grinned with a fighting spirit. “It’s fast, but its attack trajectory isn’t completely unpredictable. And… it seems to be afraid of what’s on your blade.”

He was referring to the blue arc of electricity on Su Xiao's Dragon Slash.

"Baha, disrupt it! Bubu, find an opportunity!" Su Xiao gave a brief order, his eyes fixed on Sothos. He held the Dragon Slayer horizontally in front of him, and the blue steel shadow on the blade seemed to sense its master's fighting spirit, pulsating even more actively.

"Leave it to me, boss!" Baha shrieked, flapped his wings, and transformed into a black lightning bolt, hovering above the dome of the hall, searching for an opportunity to attack.

Bubuwang silently blended into the shadows, its presence drastically diminishing, as if it had vanished from the world.

Sothos let out a hiss; it clearly had no intention of giving its prey any more time to catch its breath or formulate a strategy. Its figure blurred again.

This time, both Lin Yi and Su Xiao were on edge.

"Left!" Lin Yi issued a warning a fraction of a second in advance, thanks to his extraordinary perception of energy fluctuations.

Almost at the same moment Lin Yi spoke, Su Xiao twisted his waist to the side and swung his knife!

With a piercing whistling sound, the Dragon Slayer Flash traced an arc as it slashed towards the seemingly empty space beside it.

"Qiang!!"

Sparks fly!

Sothos's figure indeed appeared less than a meter to Su Xiao's left. The thin and dangerous blade of [Twisted Malice] collided fiercely with the Dragon Slayer Flash wrapped in blue electric arcs.

The difference in strength attributes became unmistakable at this moment. The powerful force transmitted through the blade, causing Su Xiao's arm muscles to tense instantly, his bones to make a slight creaking sound, and his feet to slide back half a step, leaving two clear marks on the ground.

A clear look of disgust and apprehension flashed in Sothos's eyes. It seemed unwilling to make too much contact with the blue arc of electricity. After missing its target, it immediately retreated, and at the same time, it made a fist with its left hand. Dozens of sharp spikes shot out from the shadows around the hall, covering Su Xiao and Lin Yi like a rainstorm.

hum-

A semi-transparent spherical shield rapidly expanded from Lin Yi, enveloping both him and Su Xiao.

The dark spikes struck the shield, producing a dense sound like raindrops hitting banana leaves. The shield fluctuated violently, rippling with countless waves, yet stubbornly remained unbroken.

At the same time, Baha, hovering in the air, seized the opportunity and launched an attack on the half of Sothos's head that was drooping on his shoulder.

Am roared and charged forward again, wielding his ice axe and unleashing a wave of icy energy in an attempt to restrict Sothos's movement.

Sothos faced attacks from all directions without even turning around, simply waving his twisted malice casually.

"Chi chi chi——"

The space behind it seemed to be cut by an invisible blade, and Baha was cleaved by a sudden spatial rift before he could even get close to its body.

Before Amu even got close, a slash appeared on his chest that ran all the way through his body.

But even though this momentary response was easy for Sothos, it still distracted it by a tiny fraction of its attention, creating a negligible gap in its attack.

A small crater appeared beneath Su Xiao's feet as he charged forward to Sothos, his Dragon Slayer Blade aimed straight at the dark red sphere in Sothos's chest that throbbed like a heart.

The blue arcs of electricity on the blade were more intense than ever before.

Lin Yi did not choose to engage in close combat. Instead, he activated his innate skill, and a heavy force field suddenly descended, acting on Sothos.

【Soul Suppression】While it couldn’t completely immobilize Sothos, whose attributes far surpassed his, it was enough to cause Sothos’s movements to stagnate.

It's this slight stagnation!
Sothos was a tenth of a second slower in parrying Su Xiao's thrust.

"puff!"

Although the tip of the [Dragon Slayer] blade was mostly blocked by the spine of the [Twisted Malice] sword, it still grazed the dark red sphere on Sothos's chest.

"hiss--!!"

A scream filled with pain and rage erupted from Sothos's throat.

The area touched by the blue arc of electricity emitted wisps of blue smoke, and the dark red luster dimmed considerably. (End of Chapter)