Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 906 A Long-Awaited Enlightenment

A few minutes later, at the Frankish Fortress.

[Thanks to "Blessing of the Kingfire", the current status has been fully restored.]

Upgrade successful! Current level: LV.56

"Finally, all attributes are back to 60 points..."

A long sigh, tinged with emotion, rose from beneath the campfire. Beside the fire in the second-floor hall of the Frankish Fortress, Xin Lailai, having completed her upgrade, glanced at her personal information on the blessing interface, a hint of melancholy in her eyes.

With all attributes at 60, although they are still quite far from their peak, their current situation is much better than when they first awakened.

"I really have to thank the Mother of Birth for being my ATM..."

To be honest, although the process of defeating her was very patience-consuming, after finally wearing down Rosamira by using the advantage of sitting on the fire to recover mana, Xin Lailai could only say that she wanted to do it a few more times.

Especially after tasting the sweetness of raking in millions of soul points in one go, they now find those ordinary monsters with barely a few soul points quite uninteresting.

Of course, Xin Lailai also knew that they had actually gotten a great deal this time. In other words, considering the situation at the time, luck and coincidence played a large part in their success in killing the Mother of Birth.

If I'm not mistaken, according to Xin Lailai's speculation, an enemy of the Mother of Birth's caliber should normally only be challenged one-on-one after they have cleared the Pilgrim's Path, obtained enough clues and soul points from others, or even acquired some key keys and items.

It can only be said that Elizid, who sealed the Mother of Birth underground, probably never imagined that someone would actually swim to the Mother of Birth through the sewers when they were severely lacking in strength and had no keys, and even take her down in one go.

"Speaking of which, Sister, do you know of any other legendary figures like the Mother of Birth who are connected to Lords of Cinder and Heroic Ashes?"

"This... Lord Black Sword, you wouldn't be planning to..."

"Just asking around, just in case we run into each other again."

Seeing the somewhat hesitant expression on the blindfolded nun's face, Xin Lailai coughed lightly to reassure her, but the expectant look in her eyes said it all.

"If this is your wish... then so be it. But, Lord Black Sword, please promise me that you will always prioritize your own safety."

"Yeah, don't worry, we're not that bold as to risk our lives."

"...I have a feeling that what you said is particularly unsettling."

"cough."

"However, you are right. I was indeed negligent before. I was so busy describing the image of the Lords of Cinder to you, Lord Blacksword, that I forgot to tell you about the legendary beings closely related to the Lords of Cinder, such as Rosamira and the Poisonous Dragon."

The blindfolded nun sat down and spoke gently:

"Therefore, I will tell you all the stories of the legendary beings I know, Lord Black Sword. However, I hope you will promise that you will not take any risky actions because of this."

"Cough, don't worry, I didn't mean..."

Please assure me.

“Well, Sister, actually, these kinds of things are often beyond our control…”

Please assure me.

"..."

……

……

Three hours later, Frankish Fortress, second floor.

"Lord Black Sword, this is all I know. As beings who have long been hidden from the world, there are often discrepancies between the records about Lady Rosamira and the facts."

"Therefore, we urge you to be very careful when making your judgments and not to rely too much on this information."

"Yes, I know. Thank you for your hard work, Sister."

A slightly chilly evening breeze blew through the small windows on the city wall, adding a touch of coolness to the empty and desolate hall. In front of the campfire, Xin Lailai listened to the blindfolded nun's advice, nodded slightly, closed her eyes, and began to organize the legends and stories the nun had told her in her mind.

Just as he guessed, not only Elriced, but also other Lords of Cinder... even the last Lord of Cinder of this generation, have left behind many stories similar to those of Rosamira and Elriced in this world.

—Of course, the similarity mentioned here refers to the interactions between the Lords of Cinder and legendary figures, not the kind of relationship between Rosamira and Elizid.

"Ancient dragons, storm giants, offspring of gods... if you count them all, the number of 'hidden bosses' in this world is truly extraordinary."

Xin Lailai murmured, a hint of anticipation flashing in her dark pupils.

The previous Lord of Cinder symbolized the pinnacle of power in the Ash World, but the Heroic Ash and legendary beings were not.

They had previously considered what to do if the number of soul points needed to upgrade their blessing level was too high, but now it seems that as long as they can casually... no, I mean, be forced into a few more boss battles during this journey, they can obtain a large number of souls without frequently sitting in the fire, thus meeting their level-up needs.

"However, whether we can win is also a question. After all, if what Sister Wu Huo said is true, that guy named Elricid is probably the weakest of the previous Lord of Cinder. Therefore, the ugly guy associated with him is also the most vulnerable one among these legends. If the other guys are much stronger than that ugly guy, it will be difficult to deal with them, right?"

"Yes, that is indeed a problem. So unless absolutely necessary, we should try to follow Wu Huo's advice and explore as honestly as possible. At least, before we find what Rudolphs needs and understand the principles of magic in this world, we should try not to provoke these kinds of hidden bosses again."

Ling Yuzi muttered to himself in his soul space. Xin Lailai nodded slightly in agreement.

Although he was very tempted by these wild 'ATMs', as Ling Yuzi said, since the strength of these BOSSes was far beyond that of the monsters in the current area, they could not deduce their strength in a normal way before they actually met them.

In this situation, unless there is an absolute overwhelming advantage, it is better to honestly take the conventional route and grind for a while. Otherwise, if he accidentally dies from his recklessness, even if he is rescued by the Deathbringers and others in the future and given a soul core, he feels that he will be too ashamed to tell them that he crashed and burned.

"Lord Black Sword..."

Suddenly, a soft murmur sounded, causing Xin Lailai to instinctively turn her head. Thinking it was the blindfolded nun or something she wanted to tell her, she realized that the other person had fallen asleep while kneeling and was now nodding her head like a chick pecking at rice.

"Pfft, Sister Wuhuo suddenly looks so cute in this appearance! She's just like a little kid."

"You're the one who's most like a child here..."

"No way, she's a very mature older sister!"

"Yes, yes, then could our mature older sister, Miss Zero, please stop fighting for control of her body?"

"Tsk, Lai Lai, you're so mean! I was just trying to prevent you from doing anything inappropriate while Sister Wu Huo is asleep, okay?"

"Mmm, but you're practically drooling... Ah! Lai Lai, you ambushed me!"

"I can't help it, I don't want to be too ashamed to face her when she wakes up..." Inside the soul space, Xin Lailai, who knew very well how audacious Ling Yuzi was, flipped through the lewd scenes 'imagined' in the other's mind. Her expression twitched slightly. After forcibly stopping a disaster, she looked at the blindfolded nun in front of her who was pecking her head and shook her head helplessly.

"Honestly, if you're tired of talking, just say it directly."

As she spoke, Xin Lailai gently placed her hand in front of the blindfolded nun, preparing to use her crystal magic to change her into a more comfortable resting position without disturbing her...

"already……"

"Ok?"

The strangely familiar murmured voice fell, startling Xin Lailai. In that brief moment of surprise, the blindfolded nun, as if having a nightmare, suddenly curled up and murmured:

"That's... enough."

“You have done enough… therefore…”

"You must...take good care of yourself..."

The intermittent murmurs of sleep subsided, causing Xin Lailai to fall silent briefly. Finally, she sighed helplessly, gently using her crystal magic to guide the blindfolded nun to lie down on her side. After covering her with a blanket from her backpack, she closed her eyes and continued meditating.

...

...

The next day, early in the morning.

Tick-tock, tick-tock!

The sound of frost dripping from the windowsill caused Xin Lailai, who was sitting cross-legged before the campfire, to slowly open her eyes. She let out a long sigh and murmured:

"Still failed..."

Even though their intelligence attribute had recovered to 60 points, they still couldn't break through the subtle barrier in their magic power, allowing their mental strength to truly control their own magic power.

"It seems that brute force is completely out of the question."

Realizing that there was probably no such thing as 'overcoming skill with force' in this regard, Xin Lailai withdrew her gaze and looked at the blindfolded nun who was still fast asleep beside her.

Still not awake?

Well... after all, he switched to soul mode several times along the way and helped them level up so many times in one go, he must have been exhausted by now.

Realizing that the other person might need to sleep a little longer, Xin Lailai nodded slightly and did not disturb the blindfolded nun. Instead, she changed her battle armor into casual clothes that would not make any noise, and quietly walked to a spot far from the campfire. She took out her longsword and began practicing sword moves from place to place at a seemingly slow but actually fast pace.

The techniques and moves you create can still be used in this world, and can even be combined with the combat techniques of this world.

They had already proven this in their battle against the Poisonous Dragon.

The problem is that, with no sign of their sword momentum recovering, they are currently unable to use moves like Flowing Slash and Overlord Slash, which were developed based on sword momentum.

In this situation, there are only two ways to solve the problem.

The first option, of course, is to find a way to restore their swordplay, so that they can freely use the moves they created in Paradise in this world.

The second approach is to build upon their accumulated experience and combat skills, leveraging their profound knowledge as masters of techniques to develop several techniques within this world that do not require sword stance.

The former shows no signs of progress at the moment, as for the latter... Developing techniques and moves on the spot sounds exaggerated, but in fact, they don't need to create moves that can rival the Sky-Severing, Heaven-Severing, and Heaven-Returning techniques. They only need to use these moves as a basis, combined with their existing situation, to improve a few sword moves that are of lower level but more practical.

After all, with their current skill level, even if the modified moves are terrible, it's still better than repeatedly swinging the same Water Surface Slash Modified. You have to understand that this thing is an old thing they developed when they were proficient in swordsmanship. If they were to fight with this move all the time, they would feel ashamed.

Wow——! !

A sharp whistling sound echoed through the hall, and dim light streamed in from the rows of small windows on either side, shining down on the black-haired youth like stage lights.

As the black-haired youth increased the speed and power of his sword swings, the sound of air being torn apart in the hall became increasingly sharp. Moreover, as his gaze became more focused and absorbed, a subtle rhythm began to emanate from him.

"Well……"

The soft murmurs of sleep faded, accompanied by an intensifying whooshing sound. The blindfolded nun, lying on her side in front of the campfire, seemed to be startled awake. She groggily rubbed the black cloth in front of her eyes, then suddenly froze, staring at Xin Lailai, who was focused on her sword dance.

Although she usually acts like an ordinary person, in fact, as a sinner whose eyes have been gouged out, the world she sees is already vastly different from that of ordinary people.

That is why, at this moment, the blindfolded nun is even more able to perceive the differences around Sin Lai Lai.

It wasn't a simple fluctuation of energy, nor merely a change in spacetime; the scene unfolding before her 'eyes' at this moment, no matter how you looked at it, seemed more like…

"Is the world...moving?"

Clang——! !

The resounding clang of the sword blades rang out, as if answering the blindfolded nun on behalf of the black-haired youth.

Thrust, chop, point, flick, hang, collapse...

In the morning light, the black-haired youth, his hair glistening with morning dew, was so absorbed in his swordplay that he kept drawing his sword again and again. There were no fancy techniques or dazzling special effects, only pure and simple basic sword moves, one after another.

Moreover, with each strike of the black-haired youth's sword, the rhythm surrounding him grew increasingly intense, even creating the illusion that the entire world moved in sync with the movement of his blade. And when this rhythm reached a certain limit—

Zheng——! !

A resounding clang, as if echoing through the soul, rang out as the black-haired youth's sword suddenly thrust forward without warning, striking the rock wall before him with incredible speed, and then…

clang! ! !
A dazzling burst of sparks erupted, and the city wall, which should have been indestructible under the reinforcement of the King's Fire, suddenly cracked open. At the same time, a large amount of gray mist also gushed out from the cracks, colliding with the sword in the black-haired youth's hand, producing an extremely loud and muffled sound, giving people the feeling that two worlds had collided.

But the next second, the black-haired youth who had swung the sword seemed to have reached some kind of limit. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and flew backward with a thud, crashing heavily into the rock wall behind him. His aura suddenly became extremely weak.

"Lord Black Sword!!!"

"Cough, cough... What's wrong with me?"

Seeing Xin Lailai being blasted away, the blindfolded nun beside her turned pale and rushed to Xin Lailai's side to support her. Xin Lailai, whose whole body ached and felt weak, coughed and opened her eyes, looking at the scene in front of her with a blank expression, as if she had no idea what had happened.

No, he was just practicing swordsmanship on a whim, how did he almost kill himself?!

……

(End of this chapter)