Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

The hatch of the enhanced cabin slid open, and Lin Yi stood up, feeling the power surging within his body.

He didn't linger in the attribute enhancement hall, but went straight to the skill enhancement hall not far away.

The skill enhancement hall was bustling with people, as countless contractors improved their abilities.

Lin Yi walked through the bustling crowd toward the skill enhancement pod. After paying with two large soul crystals, the dizziness from the spatial transformation vanished in an instant.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a familiar space of inheritance.

The sky was a perpetual pale blue. Nearby, several stone tables and chairs were casually placed, with some blueprints and tools scattered on the tables.

At that moment, Hill and Marvin Waltz were huddled around a stone table, their heads almost touching, talking in hushed tones.

Lin Yi took a few steps closer and could hear fragmented conversations.

"That old man's vault defense system is quite strong, a three-layered composite barrier. The outermost layer is a spatial blockade, the middle one is a causal reversal trap, and the innermost layer is a conceptual lock." Marvin Waltz's voice was low, but his tone revealed a certain technical excitement. "I tested it with projection before, and I was almost reversed back to the coordinates. But it's not without its flaws—"

Hill leaned back on the stone chair, one hand supporting his chin.

She was wearing a deep red, belted robe today, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders. Hearing this, she raised an eyebrow: "You're dressed like this, and you're still thinking about stealing someone's treasure vault? Can't you just stay quiet for a while?"

"Stop what?" Marvin Waltz grinned, his smile full of calculation. "It's precisely because things have turned out this way that we need to find some fun. That old bastard cheated me once back then, so it's not unreasonable to collect some interest now, is it?"

As he spoke, he lowered his head to study the patterns on the table, occasionally letting out a low, sinister laugh.

The laughter sounded particularly clear in the quiet space for the inheritance, carrying a kind of childlike, mischievous anticipation.

Lin Yi stood there listening for a moment, then coughed lightly twice.

Hill was the first to look up, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw Lin Yi, but she quickly regained her lazy expression.

"Oh? You're back."

She leaned back on the stone chair, crossed her legs, and gestured for Lin Yi to sit down, saying, "How have things been going lately?"

Marvin Waltz also turned around, looked Lin Yi up and down, and suddenly said, "Kid, you have the scent of the Phoenix Sun Tree on you. And it's very strong."

Lin Yi walked to the stone table and casually pulled over a chair to sit down.

"I have eaten some recently."

“Some?” Marvin Waltz frowned. “You eat the fruit of the Phoenix Tree like snacks?”

"More or less," Lin Yi said honestly. "The taste is alright, a bit like a crisp peach, but the aftertaste is a bit bitter. After eating a lot of it, I feel that my thinking is clearer when I'm considering techniques."

A brief silence fell around the stone table.

Hill and Marvin Waltz exchanged a glance, both with a complex expression—a mixture of shock and heartache at the waste of such a precious resource.

Marvin Waltz took a deep breath, stood up, walked to Lin Yi, placed his hands on the stone table, and stared intently at Lin Yi.

"Kid, do you know what the Phoenix Sun Tree means in the history of the void?"

Lin Yi calmly returned the gaze: "I've heard of it; it's one of the holy sites for the technique system."

“One of the Holy Lands?” Marvin Waltz’s voice rose a few notches. “The foremost of the three Holy Lands! The void is so vast, and civilizations so numerous, yet there are only three universally recognized Holy Lands for the cultivation of techniques!”

He straightened up and began pacing, his speech quickening: "The Phoenix Sun Tree is a miraculous tree that can continuously produce fruit! Every single one of its fruits contains 'enlightenment,' which can directly enhance a cultivator's comprehension and aptitude!"

"At the peak of the Era of the Extinction of Laws, we could only get about three hundred fruits from the Phoenix Sun Tree each year. And that had to be coordinated with more than a dozen top forces in the void to distribute them. Do you know what a single Phoenix Sun Tree fruit could be exchanged for on the black market back then?"

Marvin paused, then looked at Lin Yi: "A small to medium-sized resource planet, or a large life-bearing planet. Moreover, it's priceless and unavailable. Once it appears, those old monsters stuck in the bottleneck will fight tooth and nail to get it."

Marvin Waltz stopped and turned to look at Lin Yi, his eyes filled with an indescribable complexity: "Tell me now that you're eating this as a snack?"

Lin Yi thought for a moment and took out two metal boxes from his storage space.

The box is about the size of a suitcase, and its surface is engraved with preservation runes.

He placed the box on the stone table and opened the lid.

The two boxes were full, and every fruit from the Fengyang tree was in its most perfect ripe state.

"I have plenty here."

"I eat a few when I have nothing to do. Su Xiao does the same; we both think this stuff helps with technique training."

Marvin Waltz stared at the two boxes of fruit, remaining silent for a full ten seconds, before patting Lin Yi heavily on the shoulder.

"Put it away." Marvin Waltz's voice was a little hoarse. "Put it away immediately. Don't take this out in front of others casually in the future."

Lin Yi closed the lid of the box as instructed and pushed it to Marvin Waltz.

"Please take these two boxes; I don't need that many."

Marvin Waltz did not refuse, but he did not immediately pack up the box either.

He sat back down on the stone chair and let out a long sigh.

“Your honest nature,” he shook his head, “will put you at a great disadvantage in the void. The Phoenix Sun Tree fruit—even the strongest and most powerful will fight over it. Do you know why?”

Before Lin Yi could answer, he continued, "Because at that level, conventional resources can no longer bring improvement. To advance further, one needs a deeper understanding of the rules and control over one's own path. The 'enlightenment' effect provided by the Phoenix Sun Tree fruit can temporarily enhance a cultivator's comprehension, allowing them to see details they wouldn't normally see and think of possibilities they wouldn't normally think of."

Marvin Waltz's gaze drifted into the distance, as if he had returned to the era when the Slayers were at their peak.

"Back then, my talent was already extremely high. I deduced the Blue Steel Shadow energy system to its ultimate peak, and I was only one step away from stepping into that legendary level. But I was stuck on that last step for over a thousand years."

"For thousands of years, I have tried countless methods. I have ventured into the abyss, traveled to the frontiers of the void, discussed the Dao with powerful figures from all walks of life, and even sought opportunities in those forbidden lands. But none of them worked. That threshold was like an insurmountable chasm, visible but impossible to cross. Every time I thought I had touched it, it would retreat a little. It felt like I was always just one breath short."

He looked at the two metal boxes and said in a low voice, "If I had had enough Phoenix Sun Tree fruits back then, I might have actually been able to take that step. Unfortunately, the allocation was limited at that time, and everyone received too little. A single fruit would have had too little effect on me, like a drop of water in the ocean."

Hill interjected, "It's not just Marvin. Throughout the history of the Void, there have been quite a few beings stuck at the peak of the supreme power. The reason why the fruit of the Phoenix Sun Tree is so precious is because it provides that tiny bit of possibility for a breakthrough. Although the probability is not high, at least there is hope."

Marvin Waltz smiled bitterly: "It's too late to say all this now. My physical body has long since vanished, and now only this remnant soul remains. Even if there were more Phoenix Sun Tree fruits, they would be meaningless to me."

He paused, then explained calmly, “The path to becoming a peak expert requires the three elements of essence, energy, and spirit. Essence is the foundation of the physical body, the vessel that bears everything; energy is the energy system, the power that drives everything; and spirit is the soul and will, the core that controls everything. I have now lost my essence, and even with the strongest energy and spirit, I can hardly return to my peak. It's like a ship whose keel is broken; no matter how good the sails or how sharp the rudder, it can't move.”

This is why Marvin stayed here and became the 'heartless old man'.

He really can't improve any further now. Instead of wallowing in regret, he should find something to do—like mentoring newcomers or messing with his old rivals.

The atmosphere was a little heavy for a while.

Hill broke the silence and asked Lin Yi what he was here for. Lin Yi sat down again, organized his thoughts, and then briefly recounted his experiences in Kiwatos.

Hill and Marvin Waltz's expressions changed simultaneously when the plan to cultivate an army of gods was mentioned.

"You want to use the fragments of those students' souls and fuse them with the Shadow Legion's immortality to create an army of gods with self-awareness?" Marvin Waltz repeated, enunciating each word clearly.

“Yes.” Lin Yi nodded. “The Seed of Reincarnation can provide harmony of the soul, and the power of the abyss can serve as a fusion medium. It’s technically feasible, but a bunch of problems need to be solved.”

Hill and Marvin Waltz exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke immediately.

Silence fell again around the stone table, but this time it was a silence of contemplation.

After a long pause, Hill slowly spoke: "That sounds crazy."

“But it’s not impossible,” Marvin Waltz replied, standing up and pacing around the stone table again—a habitual gesture when thinking. “Compatibility issues require a special medium, which you’ve already obtained from the Feathered Clan. Consciousness Preservation and the Seed of Rebirth itself have this function. But the resource supply is astronomical.”

He stopped and looked at Lin Yi: "I understand why you came here this time. The fusion is indeed a bit troublesome, especially since your Shadow Legion has become an Abyss species. No wonder you came."

Hill looked at Marvin Waltz: "Let's call the others over too. Neither of us has experience with this, but more people means more ideas."

Marvin Waltz nodded, and about five minutes later, two ripples appeared in the space.

"What's the rush? I'm organizing the void star map of the Third Era and just found the coordinates of what appears to be an ancient teleportation array. The area those coordinates point to is very interesting; it might hold the legacy of a civilization from the Second Era."

Rutheran pushed up his glasses: "My experiment is at a critical stage. Hope is important enough."

Hill pointed at Lin Yi: "Let this kid say it himself."

Lin Yi explained the plan again.

This time he went into more detail, including the compatibility medium he obtained from the Feathered Race, the trade with the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Destiny, and the vast resources he took from Kiwatos.

After listening, Old Man Destroyer and Rut'theran also fell into deep thought.

"An army of gods," the old man muttered. "Interesting. If it can truly take shape, it would indeed be a force that changes the landscape. But the problems are also huge, very huge."

Rutheran, on the other hand, quickly flipped through the notes in his hand.

The notebook looked thick, with yellowed pages and worn edges, clearly indicating that it had been used for a long time.

He turned to a certain page and stopped, tracing the text and charts on it with his finger.

"I remember seeing a similar theory about the fusion of the soul and the energy body in the alchemical literature of the Second Age. Those madmen of the 'Alchemy Society' once conducted related experiments, trying to create 'Construct God Messengers' - that is, to implant captured soul fragments into specially made alchemical constructs to create war machines with divine power."

"But all their experiments failed. The reason is that the soul and the carrier cannot be stably compatible for a long time. Either the soul gradually dissipates, or the carrier is eroded and disintegrated by the power of the soul. At best, it can only last for a few months. The longest-lived experimental subject lived for three years, but during that time, a huge amount of resources had to be continuously invested to maintain the balance, making the cost-effectiveness ridiculously low."

Rutheran closed his notebook and looked at Lin Yi: "The 'World Dust' and 'Source Essence Fluid' you mentioned are indeed the best known compatible media. 'World Dust' has extremely strong plasticity and affinity for rules, and can construct a stable carrier framework; 'Source Essence Fluid,' as a liquid medium, can promote the fusion of two different types of energy. As for the 'Soul Resonance Crystal,' it can stabilize the connection of consciousness and prevent the loss of memories during the fusion process—this thing is commonly used in soul surgery, but the quality requirements are extremely high. You got a high-quality one from the Feather Clan's inventory, right?"

Lin Yi nodded: "It was taken directly from the Feather Clan's warehouse, so the quality is guaranteed."

“That’s good.” Rutheran adjusted his glasses and continued, “But the problem lies in the specific fusion ritual. It’s not a simple matter of piecing together matter; it involves profound manipulation of the soul, energy, and rules. Most people can’t do it, especially since your so-called Shadow Legion has now become Abyssal beings. In this situation, you need an expert skilled in handling Abyssal power and the soul.”

At this point, Rutheran suddenly stopped.

He looked up, his gaze shifting to Hill, his eyes behind his glasses lighting up.

"Wait a minute." He seemed to remember something. "Isn't there a perfect executor right in front of us?"

Hill raised an eyebrow and leaned back lazily on the stone chair: "Why are you looking at me?"

“You are an Abyss Healer.” Rutheran spoke faster, with the excitement of a researcher discovering a crucial clue. “Your profession is to manipulate the power of the Abyss for healing and transformation, and you are an expert in manipulating the soul.”

He turned to Lin Yi: "You made the right choice in looking for Hill. In the entire void, there are only a handful of people who can simultaneously meet the three conditions of 'proficient in abyssal power,' 'master of soul manipulation,' and 'possess advanced technology.' Hill happens to be one of them."

Old Destroyer spoke up at this point, shifting the topic to another crucial issue: "Technical problems can be solved, but what about resource problems? The growth of hundreds of thousands of divine units requires astronomical amounts of resources. Even if you emptied that world, it probably wouldn't last long."

Lin Yi was prepared: "Once I reach the ninth rank, I plan to sell a portion of my shares in the resource star. That should be enough for so many people."

"In addition, the aura system technology of Kiwatos also has commercial value. The essence of that thing is an external organ of rules. If it can be replicated on a large scale, it will indeed be a huge fortune."

Old Miefa narrowed his eyes slightly: "You're planning to sell your technology?"

“I only sell ‘blank seeds,’ and the complete technology will not be leaked,” Lin Yi said. “Moreover, the transaction is with a chamber of commerce within the Samsara Paradise, and a notarized contract has been signed.”

Marvin Waltz then spoke up: "The plan itself sounds feasible, but there are several key issues that need to be addressed. First, control. How can you ensure absolute control over hundreds of thousands of independent consciousnesses?"

“The Seed of Reincarnation can serve as a control center,” Lin Yi replied. “It was originally the core that managed the entire Kivotos Aura System. I can transform it into a multi-level control network, with myself holding the highest authority and the lower levels having hierarchical management.”

"Second, growth potential. Although these fusion entities have a high starting point, they will soon encounter bottlenecks without a systematic growth path. You need a complete training system."

Rutheran interjected, "I can help with that. There's a branch of alchemy called 'Construct Evolution.' Although the subjects of study are different, we can draw on many of the theories."

“Third, and most importantly,” Marvin Waltz’s tone turned serious, “how will you deal with the inevitable attention and hostility? Hundreds of thousands of divine units—this is no small matter. Once the news leaks out, all the major powers in the Void will be watching you. Arcane Eternal Star, the Demon Race, the Feather Race, the Star Race, and even those hidden old monsters will all become interested in you.”

He paused for a moment: "Why were the Spellbreakers wiped out back then? Besides the dominance of the Arcane Eternal Star, another important reason was that we were too strong, so strong that other forces felt threatened. What you are doing now is repeating our old path."

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment.

“Therefore, I need allies. The Feathered Clan is the first, and through Hedy’s connections, we have already established initial cooperation. Although the Goddess of Fortune and the Goddess of Destiny are not very reliable, the ‘Divine Council’ they represent can at least provide a certain degree of official endorsement. In addition, the trading network I have established within the Paradise of Reincarnation can also be developed into a community of shared interests—the more those merchant guilds invest, the more they want me to succeed.”

“Not enough,” Old Destroyer shook his head. “You need stronger allies. For example, the Demon Clan.”

"The Demon Clan?" Lin Yi frowned.

“Don’t underestimate those chaotic factions,” Old Destroyer said. “Although the demons act strangely, they respect strength and contracts. If you can demonstrate enough value, they don’t mind cooperating. Moreover, the demons have many enemies in the void, so having another ally is beneficial to them.”

"You can even try to win over Arcane Eternal Star."

The discussion lasted for a full three hours.

The four powerful figures offered suggestions and warnings from their respective perspectives, which Lin Yi recorded one by one.

Hill patted Lin Yi on the shoulder: "Leave the rest to me. Just bring the resources over in a while."

"No problem." Lin Yi nodded. "I'll prepare as soon as I get back."

"Regarding your plan for an army of gods, I have a suggestion. Don't just focus on combat units. You could cultivate some support and technical individuals. Alchemists, runemasters, engineers, commanders—a complete army needs a complete system to support it."

Lin Yi carefully noted it down: "I understand. A force that can sustain itself is more vital than a mere fighting legion."

Marvin Waltz nodded, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes: "It's good that you understand this. Remember, power is not the end, but a means. You are not building a war machine." (End of Chapter)