Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 663: Prologue and Beginning [6.7k words]

Dilapidated hut.

Crunch——!!

There was a hurried sound of a door being pushed open, and Xin Lailai walked in quickly from the old wooden house. After looking at 04296, the White Saint, and the Little White Saint standing in the room, he set his sights on Nuo Cheng and Lian Na who were standing behind the counter.

"Promise Boss."

"Well, the situation is urgent, so let Lianna talk to you directly."

Chengnuo said, and took the initiative to give way. Lianna, who looked a little weak, nodded, then looked at Xin Lailai in front of her and said:

"Mr. Black Sword, this may sound a little strange to you, but my intuition tells me that the following information should be very important to you."

A slightly weak and pleasant voice slowly sounded from the wooden house. As Lena spoke, Xin Lailai's figure was reflected in her pale white eyes. In the face of Xin Lailai's solemn expression, she spoke:

"In fact, I saw wood."

After the words fell, the room fell into a brief silence. 04296, who was standing aside, lowered his eyes slightly and crossed his arms, as if he was worried about something. Xin Lailai was slightly startled, and then quickly realized something.

"Wait, Ms. Lena, you are not talking about..."

"Yes, it's the 'Destroyer' who was a pioneer in the same class as Arnold and I. Since you are a friend of 04296, you must have heard this name from him."

Lian Na spoke, and when Xin Lailai heard the other party's story, a lot of thoughts emerged involuntarily in her mind, and she thought about many things in a short moment.

wood.

The first time he heard this name was when he got Yuan Mo. At that time, 04296 told him about his past because of Yuan Mo, and he also understood for the first time what the other party had lost in the turmoil twenty-one years ago. The most important thing was...

——According to 04296, Mu Tou was the previous owner of ‘Yuan Mo’!
Could it be...!
In an instant, a large number of speculations surged from Xin Lailai's mind, such as the previous owner of Mu Tou, Yuan Mo, and the ruins of the Dead Sea twenty-one years ago... All kinds of information intertwined in his mind, turning into an indescribable impulse, making him want to blurt out everything he thought of. Before he could really open his mouth, he heard Lian Na in front of him continue:

"However, when I met Mu Tou, his condition was already very strange, but he still saved me from the abyss and brought me to the world where Anna and Lily were."

"But I was seriously injured at the time, and I lost my memory of this after being rescued by Anna. It was not until Arnold and the others helped me heal the injuries on my origin that I remembered everything that happened at that time, as well as the favor that Mu Tou asked me to do."

As Lian Na spoke, she stared at Xin Lailai's figure with her pale white pupils, as if she saw someone from the past through him. After a brief pause, she lowered her eyes and said in a deep voice:
"He told me that if one day in the future I meet someone who is neither a 'True Dragon' nor a 'Great Dao', but who can travel with 'Youming' and 'Daixing', I should tell that person on his behalf—"

"He...will find 'you'."

Boom——! !

As soon as the words fell, it was like a deafening thunder exploding in Xin Lailai's head, making his consciousness suddenly hazy.

In a trance, Xin Lailai seemed to see a picture.

In the picture, endless black thunder fell from the sky, rendering the sky and the earth a desperate black.

In the center of the black sea of ​​thunder, a figure emitting a strong ominous aura, with an indistinct black giant sword inserted next to him and a large number of broken black chains wrapped around his body, was half-kneeling there.

That's a person.

Or in other words, it is something that can still be called human in terms of shape and appearance.

Not only that, the moment he noticed the half-kneeling figure, the other party seemed to have noticed something. Under his gaze, he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes that had long been infected with darkness.

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze at this moment.

Two different gazes met here, without any communication, without any action, or it could be said that from the very beginning, this 'meeting' did not require any words or communication.

It transcends words and text, transcends time and space, it is a meeting that only exists in "fate".

other side--

……

“I’ve been waiting for this!!!”

Boom!

A thunderous roar sounded from the theater, and the black shadows in the seats laughed loudly, clapping and cheering like thunder:
“Haha, hahahaha! Here it comes, here it comes! It’s started!!”

"Look! Look! No guidance is needed, no artificial stage is needed. Ah~! How wonderful, how fascinating!"

In the void, the white-robed scholar sitting cross-legged under the starry sky slowly opened his eyes, and his pupils were filled with a grayish-white color that was farther away than the starry sky.

That's right, it has already begun, or in other words, from the moment they witnessed the embryo of that "great cause" taking shape, from the moment that fate that should not have existed was forged amid cheers and gazes, there was no turning back.

"come on!"

The crazy laughter echoed from the theater, causing the closed curtains to tremble continuously.

Fate has turned, the curtain has fallen, and the dark road has emerged.

Will you run away, be afraid, or be confused?
Perhaps such a path does exist, but...

"From an 'experience' perspective, this is no longer possible."

The white-robed scholar stared at the fragmented starry sky and murmured.

That's right, it's impossible to happen, because, since they can embark on this path, it means that they have crossed the "trial", and since they have crossed the "trial", then the remaining answer...

"Of course there can only be one! Hahahaha——!!"

Inside the theater, a dark figure laughed excitedly, with his arms open, as if celebrating something.

In the wooden house, the black-haired young man's hazy consciousness began to return. A calm yet oppressive gaze rose from his dark pupils, causing the surrounding air to slightly distort.

That’s right, after going through all that, they can only give one answer now, which is——

'OK.'

Boom!

Thousands of pitch-black thunders fell, and the pair of dark eyes that were looking at it seemed to shake.

'I am waiting. ’

Peng——! !

The next moment, everything shattered. The dark thunder and the ominous figure wrapped in chains suddenly disappeared, causing Xin Lailai to stagger slightly, and the scene in front of him suddenly returned to normal in a trance.

'Laila!'

Ling Yuzi's figure appeared and supported Xin Lailai, but Xin Lailai just shook his head slightly and returned to his normal expression in the face of Lianna's somewhat surprised gaze.

"Mr. Black Sword, you just..."

"It's nothing. I'm sorry to have worried Miss Lena. I just suddenly thought of something. Thank you Miss Lena for providing this information. This information is really important to me."

Xin Lailai shook her head, said a simple thank you, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and the scene she had just seen flashed through her mind.

"Laila, what just happened was..."

"Well, if nothing unexpected happens, this is the 'thing' we will face in the future."

Xin Lailai nodded slightly and answered in her mind, with a deep color flowing in the depths of her pupils.

The desperate encounter of the Demon Slayer World, the abyss invasion of the Black Four World, and Yuan Mo, whose appearance and timing were too coincidental...

The trial of transcendence is full of mysteries, the Extreme Blade Abyss Shadow whose origin is unknown but regards them as their nemesis, and the false fate that Meimu told them...

The Dead Sea ruins that appeared at such a coincidence, the great turmoil twenty-one years ago, and the wood that 04296 personally confirmed should have died...

There is no doubt that they may have been in a huge vortex since a long time ago...even from the moment they entered the paradise.

Xin Lailai already had a rough idea of ​​what caused this vortex, when it drew them in, and when it became centered around them.

However, his intuition told him that this information was most likely no longer important. Even if they were to ask about it now, the other party would most likely calmly admit that he had ulterior motives when he helped him in the Demon Slayer World. As for the rest, he would most likely respond that it was not appropriate for them to know yet.

Of course, the most important thing is...

'Is it finally starting to surface?'

Xin Lailai closed his eyes, and his mind flashed through everything he had experienced along the way, and he whispered softly in his mind.

Surfaced... or in other words, they are finally close to the point where they can get in touch with part of the truth. What are they experiencing and why are they experiencing this? Xin Lailai has a hunch that when they really meet the "wooden" part of these mysteries will probably be solved, but before that...

"Brother Ritian."

Xin Lailai opened her eyes and looked at 04296 who had been keeping his head down and silent since just now, and did not continue speaking.

Although it was unclear what would happen when they met Mu Tou, judging from the "prophetic image" they had just seen and the words that Mu Tou had asked Lian Na to bring, it was highly likely that the meeting would not have a pleasant outcome. And considering the relationship between Mu Tou and 04296...

"Tsk, in the end, that guy Meimu really told me a really bad lie, didn't he?"

A displeased sound was heard, and 04296 rubbed his temples irritably, raised his head, looked at Xin Lailai, lowered his eyes slightly, and for the first time looked at Xin Lailai with a scrutinizing gaze, and finally...

"Tsk! That bastard."

04296 sneered, greeted someone casually, took a deep breath, strode to Xin Lailai, stretched out his broad and rough hand, placed it on Xin Lailai's shoulder, lowered his head, stared at Xin Lailai for a while, and said:

"To be honest, I don't really know what happened here, but..."

"My intuition tells me that Mu Tou... is waiting for a 'liberation'."

"so……"

"Leave it to you, buddy."

04296 said in a deep voice, patted Xin Lailai's shoulder, and walked out of the house, but when he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something, stopped, turned around and grinned:

"That's right! If my guess is correct, after this is over, Meimu will most likely say some nonsense like sorry to you. Of course, you can just ignore it. The most important thing is--"

"When he says you can beat him up if you're unhappy with him, you must beat him up to death! I was fooled by him and missed that great opportunity in vain!"

"Don't worry, just beat him to death! With that guy's personality that doesn't even take his own life seriously, he will definitely not retaliate against you two or anything like that!"

Let them... give the boss a slap?
Hearing 04296's words, Xin Lailai was startled at first, then he laughed and said in a sonorous voice:

"it is good!"

"Haha, good job! This is my brother!"

04296 Upon hearing this, he laughed out loud twice, praised Xin Lailai in his bold and rough voice, and then turned around and walked away without stopping.

[Reminder: There are only 30 seconds left before the battle for the expedition world begins. Because the transmission distance is far, please prepare for the transmission! ]

The cold reminder sounded, bringing Xin Lailai back to his senses. Cheng Nuo, who was standing beside him, seemed to have noticed something and said:

"Are you leaving?" "Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"It would be too much to say that we can definitely win, but..."

As Xin Lailai spoke, he glanced at the golden dome in the distance, squinted his eyes, a hint of anticipation flashed across his eyes, and murmured:
"I'm looking forward to seeing what the 'monsters' in other parks look like."

The words fell, and the next second——

……

Sanctuary Paradise, a special room for the dead.

[Hint: Time left until the transmission preparation is complete...]

Is it time?
In the warm room, the Death Master sitting cross-legged on the ground opened his eyes, glanced at the communication channel that was still showing someone blocked, squinted his eyes, and didn't say much. Instead, he simply operated on the communication channel for a while and said:

"Fabu."

"I'm coming! Lord Death Bearer, is there anything I can tell you?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a skeleton dressed as a butler stumbled out of the kitchen, rubbed his bony hands, and spoke in a flattering tone.

"We're about to teleport, remember to shield your aura."

"okay!"

The holder of the dead said calmly. Upon hearing this, Fab nodded the skull's head, then shook his body and fell to the ground with a splash. The extraordinary aura on his body quickly disappeared, and finally even the soul fire in his eye sockets dissipated completely. He looked like an ordinary skeleton that could be found anywhere.

The Death Bearer did not say anything when faced with this scene. He just moved his mind and a dark shadow spread out from under his feet, swallowing up Fabu. He then unfolded the Netherworld on his body surface, waiting for the arrival of the teleportation.

The Netherworld Mark will give the holder a corresponding baptism based on his own characteristics and desires. Normally, this baptism will allow the holder's own life level to tend towards transformation and perfection. For example, an ordinary skeleton can be transformed into a high-level undead creature with complete flesh and blood, or a scaly snake that can only crawl on the ground can be transformed into a winged dragon that can fly freely in the sky.

However, a certain skeleton mage who was too timid by nature underwent a completely opposite transformation during the baptism of the Netherworld. Instead of showing any signs of evolution, he unlocked a peculiar talent that allowed him to make his skeleton closer to ordinary skeletons and to perfectly hide his soul fire within his skeleton, making himself look more like a harmless corpse on the roadside.

At the beginning, the Death Keeper remained silent about this strange evolutionary direction, but after discovering that the opponent's disguise was even enough to make a guy with the ability of a master of perception need careful observation to find out that something was wrong, the Death Keeper realized that Fab's talent was not useless.

Perhaps on a frontal battlefield, these skeletons that fall apart at the slightest touch would not have much combat power, but in intelligence battles and summoning battles, no one would have thought that those bone fragments floating in the air could actually be the 'real body' of a necromancer.

"Well...um, Mr. Death Bearer, will we really not be discovered if we do this?"

"Don't talk, then you won't."

"Okay...ok!"

[Ready, transmission begins! ]

……

Sanctuary Paradise, somewhere.

"Hmm~ Boss, why do you seem so happy?"

What about this shop full of dreamy atmosphere? The purple-haired witch with a big hat and irises on her head was lying on a rocking chair and asked curiously in a lazy tone.

"Haha, it's nothing. I just thought about some interesting scenes that might happen when I thought about how even a certain icy beauty made an exception and agreed to cooperate this time."

"By the way, the things I told you to prepare before I come back, otherwise, your vacation time for the next six months will be deducted. Do you understand?"

"Understood! I promise to complete the task!"

"Well, very good. By the way, when purchasing, just increase the quantity, especially those cursed materials that make people feel disgusted just by looking at them! As long as they won't cause sudden death after eating, buy as many as you can!"

"Yes...I understand."

Sitting at the counter, enjoying his 13th dessert of the day, Yamu chuckled. While watching the Big Hat Witch next to him with a somewhat fearful expression, he glanced at a message at the edge of his sight, and the smile on his face gradually became hideous.

You like red, right? You force him to roll even a red stone, right? You block him just by sending a message, right? Since someone likes abnormal resistance so much, when he comes back this time, he will make sure to make someone red as much as he wants!

……

Sanctuary Paradise, Three Thousand Gods Religion.

[Tip: Transmission is about to begin, please be prepared...]

Zheng——! !

The clanging sound of swords rang out on the open grassland. The young man with sword-like eyebrows was seen holding a long sword. He seemed to be completely unaware of the instructions in front of him and the teleportation array rising under his feet, and he was still practicing on his own.

"Ah!!!"

Wow——! !

A loud shout rang out, and the young man with sword-like eyebrows took a step, exerted force on his wrist, slashed forward, and slashed forward with a sword with excitement in his eyes, and then...

[Warning: It is detected that the pioneer is attacking the Paradise Teleportation Array, and Paradise Points*1000000 have been deducted (it is detected that the pioneer has repeatedly performed this behavior, and the current fee penalty continues to increase)]

"Ok?"

The cold warning sounded, startling the sword-browed young man. He looked around and realized that it was almost time to set off.

"Huh... Come to think of it, Fellow Daoist Black Sword seemed to have said before that challenging Paradise of Defiance can increase the strength of teleportation and gain free spatial resistance?"

Dao Ji looked at the prompt in front of him, a hint of thought appeared in his eyes, and finally a look of confusion appeared on his face.

According to what the master taught, how should those of us who practice Taoism curse others?

"What did the lady of that paradise say?"

boom--! !

[Tip: Due to unknown space changes, the transmission specifications have been automatically upgraded to "orbital level"]

A huge roar sounded, and Dao Ji, who was blasted into the subspace by the space fluctuations, not only did not show any dissatisfaction, but his eyes became brighter.

"Haha! Daoist Black Sword never lied to me!"

……

Death Paradise, Happy Street.

"Randy!"

In a room filled with lewd atmosphere, a female voice as angry as an old mother who found her child still lying in bed after making breakfast exploded. A long-haired lady with bulging veins on her forehead lifted a sleeping young man from the sofa and greeted him with gritted teeth:

"It's already this late, there are only three minutes left before the teleportation, and you're here to take a nap?! Xiaoyun is almost crying looking for you!"

“Who the hell… eh! It’s… it’s Sister Theo. Haha, look at my memory. I accidentally forgot to set the coordinates here before I returned! Sorry, sorry!”

The handsome young man who was dragged up by the ears was about to lose his temper, but after seeing who was coming, he shuddered suddenly, rubbed his hands, and said with an apologetic smile:

"Ahem... um, Sister Theo, I was really careless this time. You see, we are about to enter the world, how about letting me go first?"

"Heh, since you're fighting with monsters from the other two parks, let's forget it this time."

The long-haired lady said as she loosened her hand, letting the young man hit the corner of the table with a cry of pain. She glanced at him coldly and said:

"I have already given all the things you want to Xiaoyun. You can get them from her yourself after you go in."

"OK~Thank you for your hard work, Sister Ou."

Upon hearing this, the handsome young man rubbed his face while getting up from the ground. After making a gesture to the other party, he picked up a bottle of ice water to rinse his mouth, and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling refreshed.

"So, how confident are you this time?"

"Well, let's see who's there! Samsara is fine. As long as we don't run into the Dark Demon, we can still try to build some ties with them and beg for mercy. But there are too many monsters in the Holy Land this year. It would be great if we could just match up with Brother Yamu. Then we can each have a bottle and sit down somewhere. Everything will be easy!"

The handsome young man stretched lazily, then rubbed his eyebrows and sighed helplessly, giving people a feeling of lack of motivation.

[Reminder: The battle for the expedition world is about to begin, please be prepared...]

The next second, the light of the teleportation array rose from under her feet. Seeing this, the long-haired lady nodded slightly, and without saying anything more, she walked straight out the door.

"correct."

When he was about to disappear from the sight of the handsome young man, he suddenly stopped, glanced at the handsome young man behind him, and after a brief silence, he said:

"Remember to protect Xiaoyun, and..."

"Don't die."

After the voice fell, the long-haired lady left the room without looking back, and the handsome young man smiled when he heard it, his lazy eyes revealed a hint of helplessness, and he shook his head and sighed:
"Oh, if only my normal mouth could be this soft."

As he spoke, the handsome young man glanced at the countdown at the edge of his vision, simply tidied his clothes, faced the mirror beside him, posed in a way he thought was very handsome, and whistled.

“Wuhu~Let’s go!”

……

Sanctuary paradise, shabby hut.

[Ready, transmission begins]

boom--! !

A huge roar exploded from the wooden house, and the silver-white space wave wrapped around it and disappeared in an instant. Only the words were echoing in the wooden house, which made Chengnuo stunned. After looking at Lian Na who was also looking at him, he chuckled.

"Before I knew it, I had become a true pioneer..."

Recalling the scene he saw in the ruins of the Dead Sea and the stories his lover told him about his lover's deeds on the White Frontier Star, Chengnu murmured, his eyes dancing slightly.

Finally, he moved his gaze to the bookshelf in the corner and looked at a row of newspapers on it, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Not only the young man himself, but even he as a witness, after witnessing the other party's growth and transformation along the way, couldn't help but begin to look forward to what kind of legend the other party could create in this era.

That’s right. Now, he believes even more than 04296 that the newcomer who needed the care of his seniors half a year ago will one day... become a person like the protagonists recorded in the biographies on the bookshelf and become the peak that countless people look up to.

He even had a hunch that this expedition to the world was the beginning of the opponent's title officially stepping out of the holy land and completely starting to fight among the same level in other paradises.

Yes, he firmly believed that.

——That so-called dark road is by no means the end for those two people, but the beginning of each other’s legend.

……

(End of this chapter)