Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

"Gululu~"

A pale pink solution gently churned within a transparent test tube, emitting faint energy fluctuations.

Su Xiao cautiously infused a wisp of his mana into it, carefully sensing its structure and properties.

After a moment, he confirmed that the [Source Blood·Void] contained virtually no active cells or chaotic will of the ancient gods. It was more like a highly purified and refined bloodline origin, or rather, a professional inheritance template that leaned towards spatial attributes.

He drew the liquid into a specially designed syringe and looked up at Baha, who was sitting on the shelf next to him, looking somewhat restless and expectant.

"Come on, boss, don't be shy! What's meant to be will be!" Baha flapped its wings and flew to Su Xiao's side, looking like it was ready to go all out.

Su Xiao nodded without saying anything, pressed the injection gun against the blood-rich area at the base of Baha's wing, and pulled the trigger.

The pale red [Original Blood - Void] slowly flowed into Bahamu's body.

At the same time, Lin Yi stood by the window, gazing at the sky outside that was quickly darkening again, his brows furrowed slightly.

He was pondering Sphinx's next move. The fact that the white goat had so quickly taken over the territory and authority that originally belonged to the ruler undoubtedly showed that the other party was fully aware of everything that had happened in that alternate dimension hall.

“…Doctor.” A slightly hoarse voice rang out; it was Laurent.

He had now largely returned to human form. Although some tiny tentacles on his body were still unconsciously wriggling, his eyes had regained their clarity.

He looked at Lin Yi, his lips trembled slightly, as if he found it difficult to speak.

Lin Yi turned his head, his gaze calm: "Speak your mind."

Laurent opened his mouth, his gaze involuntarily glancing at the sorrowful woman standing motionless beside him like a doll, but ultimately swallowed his words.

Gus, standing to the side, also hesitated, his gaze shifting between the sorrowful woman and Lin Yi, before ultimately remaining silent as well.

The atmosphere inside the stone chamber suddenly became quiet due to this silent exchange.

Just then, Su Xiao, having completed the injection, sensed Baha's temporarily calmed breathing, and silently took a step forward, standing beside Lin Yi.

He didn't even look at the Sorrowful Woman, but a palpable killing intent already permeated the air, like invisible chains tightly binding her.

Although the Dragon Slayer Blade in his hand was not fully drawn, half an inch of its gleaming blade was already visible, its cold light chilling.

The meaning is crystal clear: if the sorrowful woman makes any move, she will face a fatal blow.

Shuguang saw all of this, and a look of grief appeared in his eyes.

But she neither spoke up to stop them nor moved her feet.

She knew better than anyone that the sorrowful woman before her was no longer the doll she had originally created, the one who simply accompanied Nia.

The long years, Nia's sacrifice, and certain unknown influences have long made her unpredictable.

Perhaps, apart from the departed Nia, no one else can truly understand her thoughts now.

Lin Yi seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere. With a calm expression, he took out the "Crystal Heart," which had always been connected to the sorrowful woman, and casually placed it on the stone platform beside him.

Although Gus and Laurent hadn't said anything, Lin Yi already understood their concerns.

Of the three ancient gods in this world, Sothoth, the ruler, has been confirmed to have fallen, and while the White Goat is mysterious, its existence and general abilities are no longer a secret.

Only the third ancient god, known as the "source of evil," remained hidden in the deepest shadows, unseen by any trace.

In this world, who else could be so fearful and even afraid to expose the existence of the three immortal wizards who have regained their power, besides the remaining ancient gods?

Lin Yi gently placed his right fingers on the Crystal Heart, looked at the Sorrowful Woman, and asked bluntly, "What exactly is your relationship with the 'Source of Evil'?"

"Nia has the blood of the Ancient Gods flowing through her veins, which is the source of her confidence to face the Ancient Gods without instantly collapsing. But as far as we know, there is clearly someone behind her embarking on the path of fighting the Ancient Gods. Is that person you, or... someone else behind you?"

The sorrowful woman remained in a daze, her empty eyes staring ahead, her face devoid of any expression, as if Lin Yi's words were merely passing by.

Seeing that she chose to play dumb, Lin Yi stopped talking and directly took out the [Heart of Hope] that he had obtained after Sothos's fall.

This heart radiates a pure light, containing Nia's indomitable will and last hope.

Sure enough, the moment the Heart of Hope appeared, a crack finally appeared in the Sorrowful Woman's unchanging expression.

Her pupils contracted slightly, her gaze fixed intently on the heart.

The next second, a sudden change occurred!

In the incredulous gaze of the dawn, the sorrowful woman lunged at Lin Yi—or rather, at the Nia Heart in Lin Yi's hand!

"Qiang!"

A clear, resonant sound of a blade rang out!
Su Xiao was even faster! The Dragon Slayer Flash arrived first, its cold blade seemingly teleporting across the path of the Sorrowful Daughter's attack. The sharp blade energy forced her to stop abruptly and take a step back.

Lin Yi looked at the sorrowful woman who had been forced back by Su Xiao, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

He did something that surprised everyone—he casually swept the crucial "Crystal Heart" off the stone platform, letting it fall onto the cold ground with a crisp thud.

However, what was even more surprising was that the grieving woman did not react at all.

Her gaze remained fixed on the Heart of Hope in Lin Yi's hand, treating the crystal heart that theoretically held the power of her life and death as if it were an insignificant trinket.

Upon witnessing this scene, a terrifying thought flashed through Shuguang's mind, sending chills down her spine, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.

"So you really did break free from the Crystal Heart's shackles long ago. It was Nia who helped you, wasn't it?"

"Let me guess... Did that silly girl give you half of her heart? It was because you merged with half of her heart that you truly gained 'life' and became what you are now... neither a puppet nor a complete human?"

The grieving woman remained silent, but her slightly trembling body silently confirmed Lin Yi's guess.

Lin Yi turned and exchanged a glance with Su Xiao.

Judging from the behavior of the Sorrowful Woman, her abnormality did not stem from the spiritual erosion or control of the ancient gods, but was based on Nia's voluntary sacrifice.

Lin Yi held up the Heart of Hope in his hand, his gaze fixed intently on the Sorrowful Woman: "Now, tell me, where exactly is the 'Source of Evil' lurking?"

Looking at the heart that bore countless memories and sorrows, the sorrowful woman's tightly closed lips finally moved slightly, and a deep, clear name escaped from between her teeth:
"Hughes Archid".

The name caused a flicker of surprise in Lin Yi's eyes.

It was actually the arcane wizard he had encountered at the very beginning of the world? He truly hadn't expected that this seemingly marginal figure was actually the most deeply hidden source of evil, lurking so profoundly that he had almost deceived everyone.

But now that the goal was clear, Lin Yi decided not to waste any more time.

He casually tossed the precious Heart of Hope to the sorrowful woman.

The grieving woman carefully caught the heart, her movements as gentle as if it were the most fragile treasure in the world.

Then, under the astonished gaze of Shuguang, she pressed the heart against her left chest without hesitation.

hum-

A powerful energy fluctuation emanated from her body.

Her appearance began to change visibly. Her features, which were originally lifeless like those of a delicate doll, gradually became soft and vivid. Her eyebrows and eyes even resembled Nia from my memory by seven or eight points. A unique temperament, a mixture of sadness and resilience, arose spontaneously.

"go!"

Without any hesitation, Lin Yi exchanged a glance with Su Xiao, and the two immediately set off.

The grieving woman silently absorbed Nia's heart completely into herself, then quickly followed.

With a clear goal in mind, the three headed straight for the fifth floor of the Wizarding Guild—where teleportation arrays connecting the branches of the Wizarding Guilds in major cities were located.

Upon arriving at the fifth-floor teleportation hall, a familiar figure immediately came into view—the blind witch with gouged-out eyes who called herself a "poor wretch," whom I had encountered earlier on that long staircase.

She remained seated in the corner, like a stone statue blending into the shadows.

"50 silver coins..." Sensing someone approaching, she habitually whispered her offer, but when she saw that it was Su Xiao, she immediately lowered her head and ignored him.

Just as Su Xiao brushed past her, a withered hand suddenly reached out and firmly grasped his arm. The witch's voice trembled with an indescribable intensity: "You...did you notice?"

Su Xiao didn't stop walking, nor did she turn around to look at her.

The two stood and sat side by side, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Su Xiao naturally understood what she was asking; she was referring to Hughes Archid's true identity.

But at this crucial moment, he could not give any clear answer, lest he alert the enemy and affect the subsequent decapitation operation.

“…He liked to drink.” The witch’s voice lowered, tinged with a sob. “When you send him off…give him a bottle of wine. Please.”

Su Xiao finally turned his head, his cold gaze falling on the witch's wrinkled and tear-streaked face: "Do you... want to die?"

“This ferocious aura… indeed, only a more wicked creature like you could kill Sothos.” The wrinkles on the witch’s face seemed to deepen instantly. In just a few seconds, she looked more than ten years older, like an old woman in her twilight years.

“If my death pleases you, then do it. But… before you send him away, give him a good bottle of wine.”

"boom!"

A muffled sound!
Before the witch could finish speaking, Su Xiao suddenly grabbed her head and slammed it into the stone wall next to her!

If Su Xiao hadn't sensed a special connection between this woman and the foundation of the Wizarding Guild, and that killing her might cause unnecessary trouble, he would have already drawn his Dragon Slayer Flash.

"Say another word, and I'll snap your neck." Su Xiao's voice was icy cold and devoid of any emotion. He released his grip, ignoring the witch embedded in the wall, and quickly stepped onto the teleportation array with Lin Yi and the others.

……

Kiel City, Wizarding Society branch.

A flash of light appeared on the ancient teleportation array, revealing the figures of Su Xiao, Lin Yi, and the Sorrowful Woman.

Diagonally opposite the teleportation array, behind a wooden display window embedded in a stone wall, large clumps of withered and twisted tree roots were intertwined, making it look gloomy and strange.

"Click, click~"

A tooth-grinding scraping sound rang out, like old wood moving.

A pair of dull, lifeless eyes slowly opened from the depths of those tangled tree roots.

The wooden wheelchair was pushed, and a figure slowly "broke free" from the tangled tree roots.

His upper body was no different from that of an ordinary old man, except that his gray hair was sparse and his face was withered.

His legs disappeared below the thighs, the empty trouser legs a testament to past trauma.

It was Hughes Archid.

When he saw the sorrowful woman who appeared closely following Su Xiao and Lin Yi, and especially when he sensed the aura of Nia on her, a slight ripple finally appeared on his usually calm face.

The wooden wheelchair beneath him seemed to have unintentionally run over an inconspicuous mechanism on the ground.

"Click..."

The wooden railing in front of him and the stone wall more than a meter high below him instantly decayed and crumbled into dust, as if they had been eroded by thousands of years, clearing away the obstacles in front of him.

"How was it, Hunter? Did the mission go smoothly?" Hughes Archid pushed his wooden wheelchair slowly toward the inner part of the Wizarding Guild branch.

Su Xiao did not answer his question, but directly revealed his identity: "If I'm not mistaken, you are the 'host' from the previous year."

He gestured for Am to come forward.

Amu understood immediately, walked behind the old wizard, and took over the task of pushing the wheelchair.

Hughes Archid remained silent for a moment, but instead of showing panic at being exposed, a smile with a hint of approval appeared on his face.

"'Hospital'... a very fitting title. Yes, I was the previous host." He admitted frankly, his tone even tinged with nostalgia. "If nothing unexpected had happened, Nia would have been the new host. She was much more perfect than me, closer to 'its' expectations. In fact, 'it' left ancient god blood within Nia, making her even more suitable to be the perfect vessel. What a pity... Laurent, too clever."

He tilted his head forward, signaling for Amu to continue pushing him forward.

After walking about ten meters, Hughes Archid stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary wall and rhythmically patted a spot on the wall with his withered hand.

"crunch-"

A hidden door rose silently, revealing a deep passage behind it.

Am looked at Su Xiao, and Su Xiao nodded slightly.

So Am pushed Hughes Archid and the group went through the hidden door.

Behind the door is a secret room of about 100 square meters.

Inside, there were rows of old wooden shelves covered in a thick layer of dust. On the shelves were hundreds of crystal hearts of all kinds.

Most of these crystal hearts were covered with fine cracks and had a dull luster; they were clearly failures.

Su Xiao casually picked up a crystal heart near the door, feeling only coldness at her fingertips.

He put it back in its original place, walked to the center of the secret room, found a relatively clean wooden box to sit down, and lit a cigarette.

Grayish-white smoke rose in wisps from the dimly lit, enclosed room.

Hughes Archid stared blankly at the shelves full of failed products, his eyes unfocused and unfocused, as if recalling a painful past.

"How did you find out?" he finally asked, voicing the question that had been bothering him.

Just then, a bottle of liquor emitting a strong, spicy aroma flew from Su Xiao's hand, arcing through the air before landing precisely on Hughes Archid.

The old wizard's eyes flashed with astonishing joy. He almost snatched the bottle, skillfully bit open the cork with his teeth, and gulped down several large mouthfuls.

"Ha—ah~" He exhaled a long breath, heavy with the smell of alcohol, and a blush miraculously appeared on his aged face. "This is still the best...it's been so long since I've tasted it."

“I’ll say it, you add the rest.” Su Xiao exhaled a puff of smoke, her tone leaving no room for argument. “If you disagree, or if I think you’re lying, I’ll twist your head off and use it as a stool.”

He knew that Hughes Archid was not the ultimate "source of evil," but merely a discarded "host," a tragically informed individual.

“I don’t know the true name of that ancient god yet, but what I do know is…” Su Xiao had just begun to speak when Hughes Archid raised his hand, indicating that he had something to say.

Su Xiao slightly raised her chin, indicating that he should speak.

Hughes Archid took another sip of wine, his cloudy eyes flashing with a complex light, and slowly said, "He is Azathoth... from some 'unknown realm' or 'primordial universe' that we cannot understand."

"It is said that in the vast world he originally inhabited, he did not exist as a physical entity, but rather as a 'concept,' a primordial chaotic law that was blindly foolish and operated solely on instinct. But that vast world collapsed, and he and the other ancient gods were forced to leave their homeland."

"Because of the stripping away of the 'boundary,' he degenerated from the supreme 'conceptual god' into the 'ancient god' we know today. The same is true for the ruler Sothos."

This passage is not long, but the mystery surrounding the origins of these three ancient gods has finally been partially revealed!
Lin Yi's previous doubts were suddenly cleared up.

No wonder he always felt that Nia's final battle with the ruler was not a pure life-or-death struggle, but rather carried a sense of tragic death in order to end something.

It now seems highly likely that Nia had already sensed her fate as a "perfect vessel," and the budding of the ancient god blood and will originating from "Azathoth" within her.

She was powerless to get rid of, nor could she destroy, the hidden danger within her body.

Regardless of whether she wins or loses that battle, her ultimate fate is already sealed—either she will be killed by the Dominator, or she will be completely devoured by the "source of evil" awakening within her after the victory.

She had no choice but to end her life in the most tragic and devastating way possible for the Old Gods—by giving her all to severely injure the Dominator, and then willingly facing death, thus thwarting Azathoth's plan to use her as a perfect vessel to completely descend or restore itself.

This was perhaps the best, and only, plan of rebellion that the simple yet resilient girl could come up with in her despair.

The Crystal Heart of the Sorrowful Woman was probably one of the backup plans executed by "Azathoth" or rather, Hughes Archid.

If we cannot obtain Nia's perfect body, then we will transform the Sorrowful Daughter, a doll with a deep connection to Nia, into a secondary vessel.

Unfortunately, this plan was also seen through by Nia, who had made arrangements in advance. She gave half of her heart to the grieving woman, giving her true "life" and freeing her from the fate of being a mere vessel.

All the clues finally connected at this moment. (End of Chapter)