Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

The eastern half of Twilight Island has a more complex terrain than the western half.

Instead of dense forests, there are rolling hills, exposed rock formations, and winding streams.

The terrain is uneven, with varying visibility, making it a place suitable for ambushes but also easy to be ambushed.

Lin Yi stood on a high slope, looking down at the terrain below.

Su Xiao leaned against a rock, holding a tablet computer in his hand, the screen displaying real-time reconnaissance footage sent back by Bubuwang and Baha.

The Dream Spirit girl sat on a smooth rock by the stream, her bare feet dangling in the cool water, gently swaying.

With her eyes closed, an invisible spiritual fluctuation emanated from her, spreading out like ripples from a pebble thrown into water.

“Two kilometers to the southeast, there are three signs of life.” She opened her eyes, her amber pupils gleaming in the twilight. “They are hiding in a cave, setting up a trap.”

Shangyue spread her wings and hovered in mid-air.

"Three and a half kilometers to the east, there is a five-person team moving very fast. They must have discovered something."

Wago squatted by the stream, dipping his finger in the water and drawing something on the ground.

“We need a plan.” Vago looked up. “Clearing the area by zone sounds simple, but it’s complicated in practice. There are at least dozens of contestants in this area, and they won’t just stand there and wait for us to kill them.”

"Then let's get them moving." Su Xiao put away the tablet.

He looked at Lin Yi: "Bubu and Baha have already located the positions of twelve targets. We can deal with those who are alone or in small groups first."

“Agreed.” Lin Yi nodded. “Shangyue will be in charge of aerial reconnaissance and long-range support. Vago, your mimicry ability can be used for infiltration and misdirection. Mengling will be in charge of mental detection and interference.”

He paused, then said, "Su Xiao and I will wipe them out head-on."

There was a clear division of labor and no unnecessary chatter.

The action begins.

The first target is located in a cave two kilometers to the southeast.

Just as the Dream Spirit girl had detected, there were three contestants there, all from the same Void Clan—the Rock Lizard Clan.

They are skilled in earth magic and terrain manipulation, and are currently setting up a complex network of traps inside and outside the cave.

The Moon of Sorrow hovered three hundred meters above the cave, its black wings fully unfurled, blending into the twilight.

Her eyes were fixed on the cave entrance, her scimitar already drawn.

Vago, on the other hand, has become a completely different person.

She transformed into an injured Dream Spirit girl, her silver hair disheveled, her long dress ripped, and a deep, bone-revealing wound on her leg, staggering towards the cave.

"Help...help me..." Her voice was weak and tearful, perfectly capturing the fear and helplessness of a person in distress.

The three rock lizard contestants inside the cave immediately became alert.

"There are people outside!" one of them growled.

“It’s a Dream Spirit, and it’s injured.” Another person observed through the crevice in the rock.

"It might be a trap," the third person said cautiously. "Don't forget what the situation is now."

But they soon saw the wound on Vago's leg—a real wound, one that Vago had slashed with a dagger, from which blood gushed, staining his skirt and the ground red.

The hesitation lasted only a few seconds.

"Let's go out and take a look." The leader of the rock lizard tribe made a decision. "If it's true, we can take her hostage, or use her to negotiate with other teams."

The three cautiously stepped out of the cave, weapons in their hands, and warily looked around.

When Vago saw them emerge, a glint of triumph flashed in his eyes, but he maintained his feigned fear and weakness: "Please... save me... I'm being hunted..."

"Who's chasing you?" the leader of the rock lizard tribe asked.

“It’s…it’s the Destroyer of Laws…” Vago’s voice trembled, “He went berserk…I escaped…but he’s still behind me…”

The words "Destroyer of Laws" caused the three Rock Lizards' expressions to change drastically.

They exchanged a glance and saw fear and...greed in each other's eyes.

If we can capture this Dream Spirit, perhaps we can use it to negotiate with the Destroyers and exchange it for some information?
The thought had barely formed when a blade of light descended from the sky.

Shangyue's attack came silently.

Her wings made no sound as she swooped down, and the trail of her scimitar as it sliced ​​through the air was perfectly concealed by the twilight.

The leader of the rock lizards only realized the danger when the blade was only half a meter away from the target's neck.

He looked up abruptly and saw only a pair of cold, silver eyes and a silver line moving at incredible speed.

The blade grazed his neck.

There was no blood splattering, because the wound was frozen instantly by the extreme cold.

The rock lizard's head rolled to the ground, its body still in an upright position, stiffening for a second before falling backward.

The other two rock lizards realized what was happening and immediately tried to retreat back into the cave.

But it's too late.

Lin Yi and Su Xiao emerged from the shadows on either side.

Lin Yi raised his hand, and a dark sword shadow condensed in his palm.

Su Xiao's movements were even simpler.

He stepped forward, drew his sword, and slashed horizontally.

Two rock lizards attempted to resist; one raised a stone shield, while the other chanted a spell to summon an earthen wall.

The shield was like paper against the Dragon Slayer, and was severed along with the arm holding it.

The earthen wall had only risen half a meter when it was cleaved in two by Lin Yi's abyss sword energy. The shockwave sent the caster spitting blood and flying backward.

The battle lasted less than ten seconds from start to finish.

All three rock lizard contestants perished.

Lin Yi sheathed his sword and looked at the mark on the back of his hand.

There's an extra number there: 1.

Su Xiao's numbers also started to fluctuate.

The Dream Spirit girl's score remained at 0 because she did not participate in the battle directly, but she didn't care.

"Next target," Lin Yi said.

The team continued its eastward advance.

Over the next three hours, they cleared seven groups of targets with the same high efficiency.

Some relied on Vago's mimicry infiltration, some on Shangyue's aerial raids, and some on Lin Yi and Su Xiao's frontal assaults.

The Dream Spirit girl's mental detection always provides the team with accurate intelligence, leaving the enemy nowhere to hide.

The tactics are constantly being adjusted and optimized.

When facing an opponent skilled in ranged attacks, Shangyue will first suppress them, while Lin Yi and Su Xiao take the opportunity to advance.

Faced with a well-defended position, Vago will mimic enemy members to create chaos, while the Dream Spirit girl will use mental interference to disrupt their coordination.

When faced with a target attempting to escape, Baha and Bubuwang will block off the escape route in advance.

The contestants in the eastern half of Twilight Island began to realize that something was wrong.

Initially, only a few people lost contact, but later the entire team suddenly disappeared.

Warnings began to circulate among the survivors, and some attempted to organize a larger defense, but it was quickly overwhelmed.

"It's the Destroyer of Laws team!" a contestant who had narrowly escaped shouted in the temporary camp. "They're clearing out the zones! The western half belongs to Death Paradise, and the eastern half belongs to them!"

There were more than a dozen participants in the camp, from six different tribes.

They were originally competitors, but now they are forced to unite.

“We can’t just sit here and wait to die,” said a Zergling covered in armor. “We either take the initiative or find a place to hide until the first phase ends.”

"Hide? Where can we hide?" another race with four arms sneered. "This area is only so big. They'll find us sooner or later."

"Then let's fight!" the third voice roared. "There are over a dozen of us, are we afraid of just five?"

"Five?" The Zergman smiled wryly. "Have you forgotten that they also have helpers from the Feather Clan and the Dream Spirit Clan? And that Slayer... I saw him in action with my own eyes. He killed Baron of the Ironclad Clan with a single strike. You know how strong Baron's defense is."

Silence fell over the camp.

Everyone knows the terror of those who destroy the Dharma, but they also know that if they do nothing, they will only face death.

“I have a suggestion,” a figure who had been silent until now spoke up.

"Speak," the Zerg said in a deep voice.

"We can set a trap; perhaps there's an opportunity."

"Nonsense, who would be willing to be bait and die?"

……

The second battleground, the Skull Bastion. Black flames rose, faintly tinged with dark red, and the walls of the Skull Bastion melted like candles, eventually turning into the primordial earth elementals.

When the flames were completely extinguished, a young man dressed in a black and gold robe, looking languid, was leaning against the last remaining stone pillar.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with short, slightly curly black hair and deep purple eyes that were half-open and half-closed, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.

“Elemental spirits, you must be exhausted, being piled up here even after turning into stone.”

The young man's voice carried a nonchalant tone as he reached out and patted the stone pillar beside him.

The moment the stone pillar touched his palm, fine cracks appeared on its surface, and it turned into dust, falling down in a flurry.

He yawned and pulled a neatly folded parchment from the inner pocket of his robe.

[Target: Shadow of Annihilation (confirmed to have appeared in the Seventh Battle Zone)]

[Priority: Highest]

The young spellcaster rubbed his fingers together, and a pale flame ignited at the edge of the parchment.

"Hey—" he drawled, flames dancing on his fingertips, "Why kill the Shadow of Annihilation? That was over a thousand years ago. Those old fogies are really stubborn."

The parchment curled up in the flames and eventually turned to ashes.

Noah blew on the embers at his fingertips, and the ashes drifted into the deathly silence of the Skullwall.

“I have no grudge against that Shadow of Destruction, I’ve never even seen its door.” Noah scratched his head, a hint of helplessness flashing in his deep purple eyes. “Besides… their ideology is correct. Without maintaining elemental balance, the void will eventually…”

He didn't finish his sentence, because there was no point in saying it.

The second battleground is now empty.

From the moment he stepped into the Skull Barrier until the black flames swept across the entire area, a total of seventeen minutes elapsed.

Within seventeen minutes, all twenty-six participants from nine Void races and three Paradises were transformed into part of the elements—returning to the most basic elements.

This is how spellcasters fight, especially those trained by Arcane Eternal.

The scope of their influence is never calculated on an "individual" basis.

The complexity of spell models and the mana consumption may differ between dealing with one enemy and dealing with a group of enemies, but they are essentially the same.

A well-constructed, large-scale elemental disintegration spell is as effective as a forbidden spell in a highly enclosed battlefield like the Skullwall.

Moreover, among the younger generation of Arcane Eternal Star, his strength is already among the top few.

“Those stubborn old fogies.” Noah leaned against the dust-covered remnants of a stone pillar, looking up at the dark red sky of the Second Battle Zone. “Besides, can I really defeat the Law Destroyers?”

He closed his eyes, and images of certain long-forgotten files that his mentor had shown him privately surfaced in his mind.

The absolute suppression of elemental power by the power of the Blue Steel Shadow.

The combat skills passed down through generations of the Destroyers are techniques honed in battles against countless races in the void, born solely for slaughter.

And then there are those names that have vanished into the annals of history—each one of whom was once a force that made the entire Arcane Eternal Star feel as if it were a formidable enemy.

"What if that destroyer of the law has already awakened the 'Azure Shadow King'? What's the point of fighting then?" Noah chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Forget it, we'll deal with it when we encounter it. Let fate decide."

He adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position, the hem of his robe spreading out on the scorched ground.

"I wonder if the other two idiots will target the Destroyers of Law," Noah muttered, his tone clearly showing disdain. "What does a grudge from a thousand years ago have to do with you two? Mind your own business and make enemies unnecessarily."

The "two mentally challenged" he was referring to were two other young spellcasters from Arcane Eternal Star who were sent to participate in the Battle of the Strongest.

Both of them were extreme warmongers, with an almost instinctive hostility towards the Spellbreakers, believing that purging the remnants of the Spellbreakers was an innate mission for members of Arcane Eternal Star.

He scoffed.

He is only 127 years old this year, making him an absolute "young man" among spellcasters.

He wasn't even born when the era of the destruction of the Dharma ended.

All the grudges, hatred, and blood debts were, to him, just written records on yellowed papers in the archives.

Without experiencing it firsthand, one cannot truly understand the pain.

Therefore, he found it difficult to understand the almost paranoid hostility of those old-school spellcasters towards those who destroyed spells, and even more difficult to understand those among his peers who had been thoroughly brainwashed and constantly talked about "exterminating spells."

“Let’s just have a debate about ideas. Why escalate it to a fight to the death?” Noah shook his head and took out another document from his pocket.

This document did not bear the emblem of the Arcane Eternal Star, and the paper was ordinary Void parchment, but the edge was outlined with a circle of fine runes in dark gold ink, which was the mark of his personal mentor.

The document content is more concise:
Protect the Abyss Healer.

[Priority: Individual highest.]

Noah stared at the words, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

“Protect the doctor…” he repeated softly, “He shouldn’t need my protection, right?”

This is not politeness or an excuse, but a judgment based on facts.

While Noah's knowledge of the Destroyers of Law largely came from archives, his knowledge of the Abyss Physicians came from more direct sources.

His mentor, when handing him this private document, said something like this:

"Noah, your official mission for this battle of the strongest is to eliminate the Undead. But my personal request is that, if possible, you do your best to ensure the safety of that young doctor."

"Why?" Noah was puzzled at the time. "The Abyss Healer and us..."

His supervisor interrupted him; his aged face appeared somewhat blurred in the dim blue light of the laboratory.

His fingers traced lines in the air, and streaks of light and shadow appeared—a densely packed diagram of relationships.

"Look here, the Feather Clan. The previous Abyss Healer, Hill, saved the only daughter of the current Feather Clan leader seven hundred years ago."

"Here, StarClan."

"This is the Demon Clan."

The light and shadow kept changing, making Noah's eyes dazzled.

Almost every Void race that can be named has had dealings with the Abyss Healers faction, and most of them owe a debt of gratitude—or rather, a debt of karma.

“The Abyss Healers’ treatments are not free,” the old mage said slowly. “Their method of charging is very special; sometimes it’s resources, sometimes it’s knowledge, and sometimes it’s… a promise.”

"So many powerful beings and many races owe them promises?" Noah asked.

“That’s right.” The old mage nodded. “When Hill was still around, these favors existed, but Hill was a loner and rarely asked for them. Now a new Abyss Healer has appeared, and he doesn’t seem as… reclusive as Hill.”

The mentor's meaning was quite clear.

Lin Yi's appearance made the causes and effects that might have been gradually forgotten after Hill's "death" clear again and urgent.

For Void Realm experts who value cause and effect, failing to repay debts is a very dangerous thing.

Especially when the creditor reappears and clearly needs help.

"At least 70% of the participants in this tournament owe a debt of gratitude to the Abyss Healers, either from their race or under their mentors." The old mage withdrew his light and shadow. "What do you think these people will do?"

Noah understood: "They will try every means to repay the favor. By protecting Lin Yi or helping him achieve a good ranking."

“Yes,” the old mage said. “So on the surface, he only has the Spellbreaker as a teammate, but in reality… the potential assistance may be more than you think.”

Noah was still somewhat puzzled: "What about us, Arcane Eternal Star? Have we ever owed anyone a favor?"

The old monk remained silent for a long time.

When Noah thought his mentor wouldn't answer, the old master said in a very soft voice, "He owes me a great debt. So my personal request is, within my power, to protect him once, to repay a portion of the karmic debt."

Looking back, he realized he understood his mentor's concerns.

Arcane Eternal is mortal enemies of the Spellbreakers, but its relationship with the Abyss Healers is far more complex.

Throughout its long history, Arcane Eternal has had many important members who have received treatment from Abyssal healers.

These treatments may have been carried out in secret at the time, but at their level, many secrets are no longer secrets.

A debt of gratitude is a debt of gratitude; it won't disappear just because of opposing camps.

Noah also set the private documents in his hand on fire.

The pale flames devoured the paper, and the dark gold runes on the edges flickered a few times before turning into streams of light and merging into the flames.

This is a confidentiality measure set up by the supervisor; the file will be automatically destroyed after it is read.

"Those old fogies shout about killing the Lawbreakers, but secretly they're asking me to protect the healer." Noah shook his head. "What a contradiction."

But he knew that such contradictions were common within Arcane Eternal.

Arcane Eternal is not a monolithic entity.

There were extreme hawks, relatively pragmatic conservatives, and factions like his mentor who valued practical interests and cause-and-effect relationships.

Those who destroy the law must die; this is the political correctness of Arcane Eternity.

But the Abyss Doctor... if possible, it's best not to become an enemy, and should even show some goodwill to repay the favors left over from history.

"Let it be." Noah closed his eyes again and began to meditate to restore his magic power.

The battle in the second battle zone ended too quickly; he wasn't too exhausted, but maintaining peak condition is always good. (End of Chapter)