Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

As if sensing the gazes of Lin Yi and Su Xiao, the old man leading the way in front turned his head and looked at them.

"Do you... feel that eternal power?"

The old clergyman looked up at the towering dome of the church, his eyes revealing an indescribable complex emotion.

Unlike other clergymen, his eyes did not have a pious determination, but were instead filled with an almost desperate plea, as if he was issuing a final cry to some long-silent existence.

——What is he afraid of? What is he waiting for?
To him, the so-called gods had long since perished, and the world was merely lingering on the brink of collapse.

If gods really exist, how could they watch everything slide into the abyss?
"This power seems a little familiar"

Although it was the first time for Lin Yi to step into this world, the energy floating in the air was clearly mixed with a hint of familiar aura.

It was just that the time between his contact with this power was too long that made it difficult for him to recognize it for a while.

Lidya Su glanced at Lin Yi from the side, and a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes - at this moment, the feelings of the two were surprisingly the same.

While Lin Yi was deep in thought, Su Xiao took the opportunity to observe the situation of ordinary people in this world.

After just one glance, Su Xiao withdrew his gaze - the average quality here was shockingly high.

Even the beggars curled up in the street corners generally have basic attribute values ​​maintained at 60 to 70 points.

With such powerful attributes, he could almost become a small BOSS in the second-level world, but in this world, he can only become a weakling begging on the street.

The soldiers patrolling the streets have melee attributes of around 70 to 80 points, and the squad leader level has reached just over 80 points. As for the two soldiers wearing full body armor who were guarding in front of the stone platform, one of them has a true strength attribute of 89 points, and the other has a true agility of 86 points. There is no need for too many of them. Once the number of such elite soldiers exceeds 500, Su Xiao can only avoid them.

Once these elite soldiers form a battle formation and charge forward, they are as unstoppable as a steel torrent.

What’s even more terrifying is that there are still powerful people in this world who possess extraordinary powers.

Such a terrifying military force makes the difficulty of this world approach the peak of level five.

If the existence of certain special areas is taken into consideration, it can even be classified as a sixth-order native world.

The principle that many ants can kill an elephant is never a joke in the paradise of reincarnation.

But now with Lin Yi, a top nanny, in charge, Su Xiao feels a lot more at ease.

Even if he really had to come into direct conflict with local forces, he would have the confidence to maneuver.

Su Xiao with the support of a nurse and Su Xiao without the support of a nurse have completely different combat styles.

The former can transform into a berserker without any scruples, while the latter must carefully calculate every bit of physical strength.

This difference is often the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

This is also the reason why Su Xiao pulled Lin Yi over without hesitation the first time he realized that this world was extremely dangerous.

In this world, a trustworthy nurse is sometimes more valuable than an epic piece of equipment.

"Eternity is both light and darkness, and he has chosen the path of darkness and inherited it."

The old clergyman had a hunched back, and his cloudy eyes passed through the mottled light and shadows cast by the church's stained glass.

When he saw that Lin Yi and the other two were still standing there, his voice gradually became inaudible and finally turned into a heavy sigh.

"I remembered!"

At the moment when the old man sighed, Lin Yi suddenly opened his eyes, and a glimmer of enlightenment flashed in his eyes.

Under Su Xiao's gaze, he quickly took out a pile of black powder with a strange luster from his personal space.

The moment he saw the pile of powder, Su Xiao immediately recognized the origin of this substance.

Back then in the second-level war world, they obtained the [Coin of Eternal Life] from Elder Yunlong, the legendary item that ultimately helped Hal Adam of the Dragon Empire break through the boundary between life and death.

When the crushed coin residue was exposed to the air, strange ripples suddenly appeared in the entire space.

Lin Yi stared at the top of the powder and saw a black thread emerge out of thin air, winding towards the distance like a living thing, and then disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Lin Yi lightly twisted the gleaming powder between his fingertips, and the tiny crystals slid through his fingers.

"Interesting. The power of this world is actually the same as the secret of immortality of the old emperor of the Longteng Empire."

Before he finished speaking, the whole street suddenly fell into an eerie stillness.

All the pedestrians froze in place as if the pause button was pressed, and then - their necks made teeth-grinding "cracking" sounds, and their heads twisted in unison at angles that were impossible for humans to do.

Hundreds of empty eyes stared at the powder in Lin Yi's hand, with some inhuman desire beating in their pupils.

But this horrifying scene only lasted for a short moment.

As a breeze blew by, the noisy sounds of the city once again flooded into the eardrums, and pedestrians continued on their own paths, as if the sudden change had never happened.

Only the powder remaining between Lin Yi's fingers proved that it was not an illusion.

"It turns out that there is not only one chosen person. It's just that I, the old man, was short-sighted." After seeing the coin fragments in Lin Yi's hand, the old man instantly sensed the vague causal connection with Lin Yi.

Although compared with Su Xiao, the power of cause and effect in Lin Yi is as thin as a thread.

But cause and effect is cause and effect.

For the old man, he originally thought that only Su Xiao, who possessed the [Black King's Falling Sacrifice], was the successor chosen by the Black King.

But now it seems that Lin Yi's arrival has added some variables to this ceremony.

"The cause and effect of the twins... the interweaving of black and white... Could it be that the 'time when the balance tips' in the prophecy refers to now?"

Before he finished speaking, something strange happened.

The powder in Lin Yi's palm suddenly moved without wind, circling and dancing in the air. The tiny points of light gathered like a galaxy, and finally condensed into the shadow of a broken coin.

In the illusory outline, a vague dragon pattern can be vaguely seen.

At the same time, the [Black King's Falling Sacrifice] in Su Xiao's arms also emitted a low resonance, and the dark lines spread on his arms like a living thing.

"You two, please come in."

As I stepped into the church, I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling of incongruity.

This place is completely different from ordinary churches - there are no neatly arranged benches, no solemn statues, only three mottled stone platforms standing in a triangle in the center of the hall.

Different objects are enshrined on each stone platform: on the left is a thick book with a cold metallic glow; on the right is a crown of thorns inlaid with dark gemstones; and in the center is a black sword twisted into a spiral, with fine cracks all over the blade.

Click click…

The heavy oak door slowly closed behind him. The last ray of sunlight shone through the painted skylight, dividing the interior of the church into a boundary between light and darkness.

The old clergyman knelt under the crown with his hands folded in front of his chest.

"I thought that the Holy City, which was rotten to the root, was beyond repair, but I didn't expect that you two would come at the same time. Is this God's mercy?"

"Let's get to the point. What is the connection between this world and the power of death?"

Lin Yi came to the chair and sat down. Under the reflection of mottled light and shadow, his temperament blended wonderfully with the atmosphere of the church - at this moment, he seemed like a clergyman listening to confession, and Su Xiao was like a lost person who came to seek salvation.

"Ahem." The old man's hunched back rose and fell violently, like a rotten wood that would fall apart at any time. "I am already a candle in the wind, and can only barely stop those things from stepping out of the Dead Silence City. The king has given too much to this world, but the nobles of the Senate, the spoiled princesses, and those pampered dukes don't understand what it means to be a king!"

The old man suddenly became excited and slammed his skinny hands heavily on the stone platform.

The dark patterns on the crown's surface began to twist, transforming into countless tiny chains in the dim light, as if they were restraining some invisible being.

"They envy the king for living for three hundred years. Haha." The old man laughed with tears in his voice, "But what the king desires most is liberation! Those ignorant foreigners call the king a dark tyrant, but they don't know who is bearing the eternal torture for them! My two adults..."

His bloodshot eyes suddenly widened, "Do you know what it means to wear this crown?"

"So, what is the Dead Silence City?" Lin Yi interrupted the old man's lyricism directly.

He has always hated this kind of mysterious way of speaking. Instead of listening to these tragic monologues, it is better to obtain key information directly.

"That is the end of hope, the cage where the king sleeps forever. For three hundred years, only those who are crowned with the name of 'King of Black' can set foot on that cursed land without being assimilated."

The old priest did not reveal the location of the Dead City, but the information he revealed was enough. The way to obtain the Black King's Soul Set is likely in the Dead City, and the key to entering there is related to becoming the Black King.

"Can we go to the Dead City now?"

After the old man finished speaking, Lin Yi continued to ask.

"I'm sorry, even if you two are the king's chosen ones, you must wait until the succession ceremony is over before you can enter the Dead Silence City."

“To become a king is to become the gate to the City of Death, am I right?” Su Xiao suddenly spoke, his voice frighteningly calm.

His eyes swept over the spiral black sword. The twisted patterns on the sword matched the mark of [Black King's Fall] perfectly, as if they came from the same source.

The old man looked up suddenly, a hint of horror flashing in his turbid eyes.

"You actually know..." "I guessed." Su Xiao sneered, "What else can allow a living person to survive for three hundred years except a curse?"

Lin Yi tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers. "So, the current 'king' can't hold on any longer? Are the things that seeped out of the Dead Silence City appearing more and more frequently in the Holy City recently?"

The old man looked at Lin Yi and Su Xiao, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
Even though he hadn't said anything yet, the two of them had already guessed the truth of the matter.

"It seems that it is no accident that you two were chosen." The old man's eyes swept between Lin Yi and Su Xiao, and a trace of complex emotions flashed in his turbid eyes, "Maybe this time... Wang can really be freed."

"Every king inherits not only the crown, but also this eternal torment. They use their souls as a barrier to seal the pollution of the Dead City within the city gates. For hundreds of years, thousands of years... no one has ever truly broken this cycle."

"So the king now." Lin Yi stroked his chin thoughtfully, "is actually seeking death?"

"No!" The old man suddenly became excited, "The king is waiting for the true successor! A king who can completely purify the Dead Silence City instead of just acting as a container!"

"To become a king, you have to go through a lot of pain. The person you trust the most may betray you, your blood relatives will always want to kill you, you will face countless temptations, you will..."

Su Xiao frowned. The old man's nagging made him a little impatient.

"cough."

The old man was stunned, his cloudy eyes widened slightly, and he seemed to have forgotten what he was talking about for a moment.

He looked up blankly, his voice hoarse: "Where were we talking about just now?"

Su Xiao's fingers silently placed on the hilt, and his knuckles tightened slightly.

If Lin Yi hadn't been there, he might have shut the old man up completely.

"Let's get straight to the point. I probably know better than you what it takes to become the Black King."

Su Xiao pulled up the cuff of his left arm and tapped the metal arm guard with his index finger. The color of [Black·King's Fall] changed and turned back to black.

The old clergyman looked at him with an expression that was obviously a little surprised when he heard the voice.

"That belongs to the king..."

As if he had thought of something, he staggered to the gate and double-checked whether it was locked.

"Again, what can you do to help me?"

Su Xiao felt that the old priest was a little unreliable. This old man obviously had some dementia...

The old man seemed not to hear, still immersed in his own thoughts, repeating absentmindedly: "Where were we just...?"

The old clergyman began to feel confused again.

"..."

Silence spread in the air.

"You brought it back to save us?"

The old priest's eyes were full of anticipation, the kind of look that only a traveler in the desert, about to die of thirst, would have.

“Probably… yes.”

"It must be, you have returned with the king."

Perhaps because of his age, the old man's memory began to become confused from time to time, and he spoke incoherently.

Su Xiao and Lin Yi looked at each other and frowned at the same time.

——I’m afraid this old man has become confused.

After half an hour.

The dim candlelight cast swaying shadows on the stone wall. Lin Yi and Su Xiao finally pieced together the general outline of this world from the old man's intermittent narration.

If Su Xiao wants to resolve the cause and effect entangled in the [Black King's Fall Festival], he must go to the Dead City. To go to the Dead City, he must let the new king succeed to the throne.

Only when the new king takes the throne will the danger level of Dead City be reduced to the lowest, and only then will it be safe to enter Dead City.

He talked so much just to persuade the two chosen ones in front of him to take over the heavy crown.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated.

Throne? Power?
For ordinary people, ascending the throne of an empire may be a dream opportunity.

But in their eyes, it was just a ridiculous shackle - a burden that would slow them down.

"Let me tell you about the current situation. Before I returned to the Holy City, I had been living in the northern border. The lords in the northern border are very ambitious, and they will definitely be the first to send troops."

Su Xiao did not make up this sentence casually. When the old man was unconscious just now, he had indeed revealed this information in a babble.

Su Xiao was just taking advantage of the situation and using the old man's words to test the current situation.

Today's empire seems powerful, but in fact it is full of crises.

The Black King rules the most fertile central plains on the continent, but is surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides - the ice barbarians in the north are sharpening their knives, and the fleets in the overseas archipelago are eyeing him covetously.

The reason why these forces dare not act rashly is because they are afraid of the Black King who sits deep on the throne.

In order for the new king to be crowned smoothly, he must first understand the depth of the muddy water in the Holy City.

The open and covert struggles among aristocratic factions, the covert layout of the church forces, the wolfish ambitions of the border princes - each undercurrent may become a variable in the plan.

Fortunately, Lin Yi was with him this time, and the two of them supported each other, allowing Su Xiao's plan to proceed quickly.

The situation in this world is indeed complicated, but there is no trace of panic in the eyes of the two.

If it really comes to the point where it is a last resort, they don't mind dyeing the fountains in the royal capital blood and finding an obedient puppet to sit on the throne.

However, this is ultimately a bad strategy. This world is not an ordinary world. From the hints in the Samsara Paradise, we can know that this world is extremely dangerous, so Lin Yi and Su Xiao try not to be high-profile.

The so-called power struggle seems to be undercurrent and complicated on the surface.

But for the two who have experienced many worlds, the struggle pattern in this world is actually simple - in the power game that has lasted for more than ten years, the second "Black King" has never been born, which just shows that there is a lack of strong-fisted figures like Old Lion or Harold among the competitors.

The two are not planning to choose a controllable puppet this time. The other party must have royal status but not be able to seize power.

The imperial officials are not fools. They will not recognize an outsider who suddenly appears. Those people are not NPCs in the game. If they just reveal their identities, the other party will support them wholeheartedly.

The old clergyman's motive for supporting them was particularly special - he was not coveting power, but hoped to use their strength to suppress the terrifying "residents" in the Dead City.

Because they cannot directly appear, the value of puppets becomes more prominent. An ideal puppet should meet three conditions: long-term residence in the holy city, passive involvement in the power struggle, and the resilience to cope with adversity.

If the puppets eventually get out of control, they still have the most direct means of resolution.

"The situation in the Holy City is very complicated. Roughly speaking, one-third of the power lies in the Senate, one-third of the power lies in the hands of the princess, and the remaining one-third lies in the hands of the two dukes. The princess and the duke are both descendants of the king. Due to the laws of the empire, until now, capable males of the royal family can only become dukes, while females are relatively better off and can become princesses with greater power."

The princess mentioned by the old priest is actually a princess who is qualified to become the king. There is an essential difference between the princess and the princess.

The current situation in the Holy City is more troublesome than Su Xiao and Lin Yi imagined. During the more than ten years of struggle, even the Senate, which was supposed to remain neutral, was caught in the vortex of power. It is evident that this struggle that has lasted for more than ten years has entered a white-hot stage.

What's more troublesome is that the violator they are chasing is very likely hiding among these powerful people.

Violators also need resources. During the closure of Dead City, there is no better place to obtain resources than the Holy City.

"In such a chaotic situation, what can you do?"

"We can order the Senate to surrender all their military power."

The old clergyman spoke very calmly, as if he was discussing what to eat for dinner.

"..."

Lin Yi looked at the old clergyman in front of him with a little surprise - it was obvious that the power held by this old man was far beyond imagination.

But on second thought, it makes sense. As the confidant left by the Black King, how could he be an ordinary person?

"you sure?"

"Well, I'm sure I can stay awake for at least 40 moon cycles from now on."

The old charlatan smiled at Su Xiao, his aura gradually changed, and at this moment he absorbed the energy escaping from the black crown in front of him.

If he was a kind old man before absorbing the black energy, he was an old monster now. Su Xiao even felt a vague sense of crisis.

Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. The old man who had a kind face just a moment ago now exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

The vague sense of crisis made Su Xiao instinctively tense up his nerves - if it was a fight between life and death, the outcome would probably be only a fifty-fifty chance.

This "gift" from the Paradise of Reincarnation just proves how difficult the violator is.

But this time Su Xiao brought in an outsider. This time Su Xiao wanted to see if the offender dared to take action. (End of this chapter)