Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

With Sphinx's desperate attack failing, the heavy pressure hanging over Eisenra suddenly eased.

Once the bronze gate, the source of Sphinx's power, is destroyed, Sphinx's accumulated power becomes like water without a source.

Rather than watching his power dissipate over time, he decided to gamble everything before his aura completely dissipated. If he could take Su Xiao down with him, that would be his final victory.

In order to launch this final blow, Sphinx almost drained more than 80% of the eerie aura that remained in the city of Eisenra and that shared the same origin as the Bronze Gate.

At this moment, Eisenla looks much the same as when Lin Yi first arrived in Heru City; it is dilapidated and filled with an aura of decay.

The only difference is that occasionally, a few Dark Guardians will still rush out from the corners, and this "vitality" is a bit more "fierce" than the deathly silent city of Heru.

The Holy Light Squad outside the city naturally noticed the dramatic changes inside, but their brief encounter with the Mad Wizard had completely shattered their courage to venture into dangerous territory.

After careful consideration, Captain Elulu decided to remain still and wait patiently on the edge of Aisenra.

Their goal was to make a deal, not to take risks. With their objective so close to being achieved, any complications would be unwise, and they didn't want to face those invulnerable monsters again.

Su Xiao and Lin Yi's group headed towards the central area of ​​Aisenla.

Most of the guardians of darkness encountered along the way were trapped in a strange "growth state".

They stood motionless in place like sculptures, their lower limbs extending numerous root-like tendrils that burrowed deep into the ground.

Some of the guardians of darkness even began to sprout tender green shoots and new leaves, as if the city, which had been eroded by darkness, was being revitalized in a distorted way.

At this rate, it may not be long before Eisenla transforms into a bizarre forest.

Upon arriving at a relatively intact clock tower in the central area, Baha guided the group inside.

A narrow staircase leading underground came into view. As you descended the stairs, a chill swept over you from the front.

Stepping into a cold, underground stone chamber, you are greeted by a lifelike ice sculpture.

Sphinx sat upright in a wooden chair, and the chair, along with the surrounding area of ​​several meters, were completely frozen.

Baha landed on the ice sculpture's shoulder, its claws still stained with a little blood.

Before the Sphinx could unleash its final attack, it tore open the back of his neck with a claw, interrupting some process.

"Click~"

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the ice sculpture, which then exploded with a bang, turning into a sky full of sparkling ice shards.

Sphinx reappeared, a complex expression on his face. He was about to speak when he said, "To die at the hands of your servant would be a disgrace..."

Before he could finish speaking, a bright flash of light swept across his neck.

Su Xiao had no intention of listening to his dying words. She sheathed the Dragon Slayer Blade, which emitted a clear ringing sound.

"Dang Cang."

A delicate timer slipped from the Sphinx's sleeve and fell to the cold ground.

The red number on the screen froze at 7 minutes and 27 seconds.

Su Xiao didn't know exactly what would happen in the next seven minutes, but judging from Sphinx's consistent style of doing things, it must be some kind of final, mutually destructive plan.

The numbers on the timer went completely off.

Sphinx's body tumbled off the wooden chair, and at the same time, a scarlet card gleaming with an alluring light gently fell to the ground.

[Notification: You have defeated the extremely high-risk violator, Sphinx.]

[4100 ounces of spacetime power have been successfully reclaimed!]

You have temporarily acquired 7 Sealed Boxes (currently sealed).

You have obtained the Crimson Card (★★★★★★).

Looking at the prompt from the Paradise of Reincarnation, Su Xiao understood.

Sphinx was indeed the mastermind behind this theft of the power of time and space.

The deal between the Paradise of Reincarnation and the Paradise of Holy Light was interrupted, which was made possible by Sphinx and several ancient gods.

Judging from the amount of spacetime power they gained, Sphinx received the largest share, followed by Black Goat Shub, while Sothos the ruler was the most unlucky, not only receiving the least benefit but also being tricked by Sphinx in the end.

[The Dark Prison Gates of Eisenra have been stabilized.]

You have completed the final stage of the main quest.

The hunter will return to the Paradise of Reincarnation in 30 seconds.

[The World Tree is currently undergoing notarization...]

[Notarization complete. Due to the Hunters' actions in purging all Ancient Gods within this world, the number of spatial coordinates of the Paradise of Reincarnation within this world has significantly increased.]

[Number of original spatial coordinates: 1.]

[Current number of spatial coordinates: 379.]

[Because all the ancient gods in this world have been eradicated, the nature of this world has changed, making it suitable for habitation, mining, and resource gathering.]

[Under review... Only a very small number of contractors and employees possess the ability to mine minerals and collect resources.]

[Resource maximization strategy under development...]

[379 spatial coordinates attribute: ф (Reincarnation Paradise).]

[Spatial coordinate attribute stripping in progress...]

[109 spatial coordinate attributes have been removed.]

[Death Paradise is seizing spatial coordinates...]

[Successfully blocked! Death Paradise failed to seize spatial coordinates.]

[Apocalypse Paradise is seizing spatial coordinates...]

[Apocalypse Paradise has successfully captured 109 spatial coordinates and changed their attributes to: € (Apocalypse Paradise).]

A series of notification messages flashed by, revealing the far-reaching impact of this operation.

This world, which was originally inhabited by ancient gods and full of dangers, has now become a treasure trove of resources and suitable for development.

Thanks to the achievements of Su Xiao and Lin Yi, the Paradise of Reincarnation successfully occupied most of the "territory".

Upon seeing these prompts, Su Xiao immediately thought that Apocalypse Paradise was about to come to mine, and then be teleported by Reincarnation Paradise to hunt down hunters and plunder resources. He had done this kind of thing himself.

"Request an extension of the return period."

The moment they heard the countdown to their return, Su Xiao and Lin Yi simultaneously submitted their applications to the Samsara Paradise.

[Hunter application detected. Return delayed for 24 hours. You may return at any time during this period.]

For those who have successfully completed their missions, the Paradise of Reincarnation naturally offers these conveniences.

With the matter settled, Lin Yi looked at Baha and asked, "Where's Xia?"

"Don't worry, it's safe." Baha flapped its wings. "It's in the ruins not far away. Laurent is watching over it. Nothing will go wrong."

Led by Baha, the group headed toward Xia's hiding place.

Before they even got close, they heard a rhythmic clanging sound. It didn't sound like a battle; it sounded more like... blacksmithing?
Su Xiao and Lin Yi exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled.

As they entered the relatively intact ruins, they saw Laurent and Bubuwang standing leisurely to one side. Laurent even had a coconut in his hand, which he had somehow gotten his hands on, and he was slowly drinking the coconut juice.

In the center of the arena, Xia was wielding a gleaming kitchen knife, fiercely hacking at a guardian of darkness bound by vines and nearly wooden. The clanging sound heard earlier was from Xia hacking at the guardian's body with the knife.

The Dark Guardian is, after all, a sixth-tier monster, and its physical toughness far exceeds that of ordinary beings.

Back then, even with the Holy Spirit-level Dragon Slayer Blade, Su Xiao struggled to cut through them without using the Holy Silver Solution, let alone Xia's two ordinary kitchen knives.

"Do you need any help?" Su Xiao watched for a while, and seeing that Xia's kitchen knife was almost sparking, but the Guardian of Darkness's skin wasn't even marked with a white mark, she couldn't help but ask.

Even the Dark Guardian, who was being used as a target, turned his stiff neck and looked at Su Xiao with an almost "helpless" gaze, as if he was begging for a quick death.

"No need!" Xia said without turning her head, her tone stubborn. She gestured for Su Xiao and Lin Yi to step back. "I'm about to unleash my ultimate move!"

Under the slightly curious gazes of Su Xiao and Lin Yi, Xia angrily put away the kitchen knife, then took out two military-grade C4 plastic explosives from her personal space and deftly stuck them to the chest of the Guardian of Darkness.

"Get out of the way!" Xia shouted to the others, and ran behind cover first.

Su Xiao and Lin Yi took a few steps back as instructed, but did not seek cover.

Given their physical condition, an explosion of this magnitude would not pose a threat.

Ten seconds later, a deafening roar erupted, and flames and smoke instantly engulfed the guardian of darkness.

Shrapnel flew everywhere, crackling against the surrounding broken walls, but it couldn't even scratch Su Xiao and Lin Yi's skin.

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated, revealing the scene inside.

The guard was still standing there unharmed, except that there were two large charred marks where the C4 had been planted, as if someone had smeared it with soot from the bottom of a pot.

"Pfft..." Baha quickly turned his head away, covered his mouth with his wing, and his shoulders shook violently, clearly struggling to hold back his laughter.

Xia stood there, her cheeks flushed, feeling a burning sensation.

The intense battle just now, coupled with the current embarrassment, had left her undergarments soaked with sweat.

Just now, Bubuwang secretly told her, "While the Dark Guardians are all immobilized, hurry up and kill a couple! Since you're a low-ranking player, you might get some good loot!"

These words were what moved Xia deeply.

Knowing that Bubuwang and Laurent were there to protect her, she mustered up her courage and took out the kitchen knife to try her luck.

Who knew that after all that effort, leaving me breathless and exhausted, this was the result?

The guardian of darkness didn't even bother to resist; he just looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, as if asking, "What are you doing?"

A wave of immense frustration and shame washed over Xia, and her nose stung, almost bringing tears to her eyes.

That was too humiliating! She didn't want to fight anymore; all she wanted to do was go home!
Lin Yi couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

He shook his head and gestured to the sorrowful woman beside him.

The sorrowful woman understood, raised her hand and grasped, and the "Crescent Moonlight," composed of pure energy and shining with a cold, moonlit glow, instantly took shape.

Lin Yi took the makeshift weapon and handed it to Xia.

"Try this."

Xia hesitated for a moment before taking the "Crescent Moonlight" sword. As soon as he touched it, he felt a powerful force flowing through the blade.

She walked towards the guardian of darkness once more, and this time, her sword fell with a swift motion.

"laugh--"

Like a hot knife through butter, the waning moonlight sliced ​​through the body of the Guardian of Darkness without hindrance, easily splitting him in two, and the woody torso crashed to the ground.

Xia Ningshen waited for a moment, but no kill notification sounded in his mind.

She looked at Su Xiao with a blank expression: "What happened? Why is there nothing here?"

Su Xiao revealed the truth with a blank expression: "There is no reward for killing these Guardians of Darkness. Bubu was just teasing you."

"Bubu—Woof!"

Xia reacted instantly, stomped her foot in anger, turned around and pounced on Bubuwang, who was about to slip away. She grabbed its head and rubbed it hard, making Bubuwang whimper.

Laurent, watching the energetic playful scene, smiled and couldn't help but sigh, "Youth is truly wonderful."

After the brief interlude, Su Xiao and Lin Yi said to Laurent, "We need to go outside the city to handle some follow-up matters. We'll leave things here to you."

Laurent nodded: "I will stay in Eisenra to continue cleaning up the remaining Dark Keepers. Although they have fallen silent because of the disappearance of the Bronze Gate, they are still a huge threat to ordinary people. This world needs time to heal its wounds."

As the smoke and blood of Eisenra gradually faded behind them, Lin Yi, Su Xiao, and their group, feeling somewhat tired and relaxed after the battle, stepped out of the now peaceful dead city. The members of the Holy Light Paradise team waiting outside were almost overjoyed and wept.

"They're out!" Mira, the sharp-eyed ranger, was the first to exclaim, her voice filled with unbelievable excitement.

Captain Elulu immediately stood up, straightened her armor which was wrinkled from nervousness, and tried her best to make her expression look calm and composed.

The most eye-catching was Xia, who was being "escorted" by Bubuwang and Baha on either side. She had a sullen expression on her face and was using a Guardian finger that she had broken off from somewhere to poke Bubuwang's furry butt hard, muttering, "You tricked me! You said there was something good! All my effort wasted, and I even lost two pieces of C4! Pay me back!"

Bubuwang looked innocent and aggrieved, dodging and whimpering softly. Every now and then, it would turn around and look at Su Xiao and Lin Yi with wet eyes, trying to seek protection, but the two big shots pretended not to see it.

This scene of "playing around" was far from the terrifying image of "the return of the evil god" and "mountains of corpses and seas of blood" that the Holy Light Squad had envisioned. It made their tense nerves relax a lot, and they were even a little dazed - were these people really the fierce people who had just plowed through the ancient gods, the violators and the entire monster army inside?
"Doctor, Mr. Bai Ye." Elulu took a deep breath, stepped forward, and bowed her head. "Congratulations on completing the mission."

Su Xiao simply nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the members of the Holy Light Squad before finally settling on Elulu, which was considered a greeting.

Lin Yi smiled, his voice still a little weak: "I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting. It took a little time to clean up inside."

“Cleaning…” Lina, the berserker behind Elulu, twitched at the corner of her mouth. She had personally witnessed just how hard those “needing to be cleaned” things were.

She is still being supported by her teammates, as her internal injuries have not yet healed.

The two sides sat down in an open space that the Holy Light Squad had temporarily cleared out. The atmosphere was neither warm nor tense.

Lin Yi took the water pouch handed to him by the sorrowful woman, took a sip, looked at Xia who was still fuming, and smiled, "What's wrong, our head chef? Who made you unhappy?"

This question finally got Xia talking.

She threw the "finger" of the Dark Guardian on the ground and began to launch into a long-winded "accusation": "You have no idea how outrageous my experiences in this world have been! I've seen through it all; if you're not in good health, you really can't go on missions with you!"

She started listing her complaints on her fingers: "At first, I thought it was just a regular logistical support mission, maybe dealing with some local evil wizards or something. But what happened? Good heavens, first I got caught by that black goat Shub, who deserves to be boiled in oil, and locked in a dark room! Do you know how terrifying her 'treasure room' was? Not only was it pitch black, but it was also covered in sticky tentacles and whispers. She would reveal her true form all the time, and just one look from her gave me nightmares for three days!"

She glanced resentfully at the dog beside her, Bubuwang, who was pretending to look up at the sky: "What's most infuriating is that Bubuwang lied to me and said that hitting them would drop good stuff! I believed its lies! I worked myself to the bone for so long, and got nothing!"

Her string of complaints amused Lin Yi and Su Xiao, and even the sad woman who had been expressionless seemed to have a faint smile in her eyes.

"Alright." Su Xiao rarely spoke, his tone calm but with a hint of reassurance, "You're already a legend for surviving this trip."

Lin Yi added with a smile, "That's right, if you told others about your experience, probably no one would believe you."

After hearing what they said, Xia thought about the soaring attributes on his panel, and then thought about how he had personally seen the ancient god, faced the immortal wizard, and even walked through a city-destroying battlefield. It seemed that... it was indeed worth it.
She pouted and muttered under her breath, "I don't care if you're arrogant, I just want to run my shop and cook peacefully..."

At this moment, Baha flapped its wings and landed on Su Xiao's shoulder, chuckling, "Hehe, what's this? You haven't seen the scene when Boss almost tore that world apart back in the Ghost Continent! Compared to that time, this place is peaceful!"

Upon hearing this, the members of the Holy Light Squad fell silent.

Jokes aside, business still needs to be done.

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Elulu spoke up at the opportune moment: "Gentlemen, regarding the previous proposal..."

Su Xiao looked at Lin Yi, who nodded and said to Ai Lulu, "We agree to the deal in principle. However, we need to see your sincerity and a list of details and costs."

Elulu perked up and immediately signaled to her support girl Shan to take out a list that had been prepared beforehand. It listed all the resources, equipment, Paradise Coins, special items and permissions that their team could currently mobilize, and even included their personal commitment to provide limited support services in the next three mission worlds.

Lin Yi took the list and began to browse through it carefully, his finger occasionally lightly tapping on a certain item as if weighing its value.

Although Su Xiao hadn't looked at the list, his very presence created pressure, ensuring that the transaction wouldn't encounter any problems. (End of Chapter)