This stone sculpture was one Lin Lei had recently completed. With his current level of mastery, the quality of his sculptures had reached an extraordinarily high level. The silver-haired girl was carefully examining every detail of the work.
"Beautiful, truly beautiful."
The silver-haired girl gazed at the sculpture with a contemplative look, then turned back to Lin Lei. "Brother Lei, I feel like your sculptures are even better than the ones my teacher bought, but I just can't tell what makes them better."
Having such a lovely girl stare at him like this, Lin Lei was at a loss.
"Miss Dan Lan, I still need to practice," Lin Lei said diplomatically.
The silver-haired girl nodded. "Alright then, I'll leave right away." That put Lin Lei slightly at ease, but then the silver-haired girl added, "But Brother Lei, once you're done with your practice, you have to teach me sculpting."
Lin Lei's expression turned serious. "Stone sculpting is a rare and extraordinary art. How could I just teach it to anyone casually?"
It was true — master sculptors did not take on disciples lightly.
"Oh." The silver-haired girl looked dejected, her head drooping as she walked over to the courtyard wall. Then with a light hop, she vaulted straight over it.
"She's finally gone." Lin Lei let out a long breath of relief.
The silver-haired girl's head popped back up over the wall. "Brother Lei, don't worry, just focus on your practice. I'll come find you once you're done!" With that, she vanished again.
Lan Dan returned to her bedroom, sat down in a chair, and her expression reverted to one of cold indifference, her eyes devoid of all emotion. If Lin Lei had seen this, he would never have believed someone could act to such a degree.
"This Lin Lei is on guard against others and doesn't get close to people easily. That's a bit of a problem."
As an descended angel, Lan Dan was actually deeply unwilling to sacrifice herself along with the other five angels just to kill Lin Lei.
However, as an angel, she would never disobey an order.
She would take it step by step.
If she could kill Lin Lei without sacrificing herself, why throw her life away?
"Given how kind Lin Lei was toward Jenny and Keane, he shouldn't be too guarded against me." Lan Dan had devised this plan based on Lin Lei's relationship with the Jenny siblings.
All she needed was physical contact with Lin Lei. With her ninth-level strength, a sudden ambush while Lin Lei was in his normal human form would give her over a ninety percent chance of killing him.
But as things stood, Lin Lei was somewhat wary of her.
"Maybe he sensed my strength." Lan Dan shook her head. "This Lin Lei has no curiosity at all. I mentioned my teacher several times, and he didn't even ask who my teacher was."
Lan Dan had actually prepared her arguments long ago, ready to seduce Lin Lei.
Despite her youthful appearance, Lan Dan was likely far older than even Derinkoort. It was just that the thousands of years she had spent in the Divine Light Realm paled in comparison to the influence of a dozen or so years in the mortal world.
"Judging by this silver-haired girl's demeanor and eyes, she seems like one of those lively, willful princess types," Lin Lei mused with a furrowed brow. "But her strength…"
Lin Lei had actually been on guard against the Church of Light the entire time. In his mind, the Church of Light should have tracked him down by now. So when a girl who was at least a seventh-level warrior appeared — no matter how cute and lively she looked — Lin Lei wouldn't easily trust her.
Trust depended on strength, after all. If it were a frail little girl who couldn't hurt a fly, Lin Lei might have been perfectly friendly. After all, even with a weapon, she couldn't so much as scratch him. But this girl was different.
If she attacked him at close range, she could seriously injure or even kill him.
"Could the person the Church of Light sent to kill me be this girl?" But when he recalled those innocent, guileless eyes of the silver-haired girl, Lin Lei found it hard to believe.
That evening.
The silver-haired girl came again, this time pushing the hotel's dinner cart through the front entrance.
"Brother Lei, I'm delivering dinner to you in place of that waiter." Lan Dan's crisp voice rang out, her face beaming with smiles. Lin Lei, seeing who it was, felt a headache coming on.
"You again?"
"What? I'm not allowed?" Lan Dan puffed out her cheeks and then grinned. "Brother Lei, if I bring you dinner, you teach me sculpting."
"No," Lin Lei refused.
"Stingy." Lan Dan wrinkled her nose. "When I cook for my teacher, my teacher lets me do whatever I want. You're such a miser."
"Your teacher is your teacher, not me." Lin Lei wouldn't agree no matter what.
Getting physically close to a strange female warrior who was at least seventh-level — and possibly even higher — was something Lin Lei would never do. Teaching someone sculpting naturally required close physical proximity.
And this was precisely the time when the Church of Light might move against him.
"Remember — I don't want you delivering my meals," Lin Lei said coldly.
Lan Dan's expression changed. She glared at Lin Lei with indignation. "You bastard! You can't appreciate kindness when it's offered. I'm definitely going to tell my teacher, and my teacher will kill you!"
"Kill me?" Lin Lei looked at the girl puffing up with anger before him.
"Of course — my teacher is incredibly powerful," the silver-haired girl said proudly.
"Who is your teacher that's so formidable?" Lin Lei asked.
The silver-haired girl declared haughtily, "I'll tell you — my teacher's name is Hedersen."
"The Rock Sword Saint, Hedersen?" Lin Lei was startled.
In the entire O'Brien Empire, if there was anyone ranked as the strongest warrior below the War God, it was undoubtedly the Rock Sword Saint, "Hedersen." This Rock Sword Saint had long since reached the peak of the Saint Realm, and he had never lost a single battle against any opponent at the Saint level.
Whether in offense or defense, he was flawless.
Moreover, his personality was cold and ruthless — virtually nothing could affect his performance. A peak Saint Realm expert of absolute perfection, and it was precisely because of that perfection that he had been given the title "Rock Sword Saint."
"Scared now, aren't you?" The silver-haired girl laughed triumphantly. "Don't worry — as long as you teach me sculpting, I definitely won't tell my teacher."
"So that's how it is," Lin Lei said, studying the silver-haired girl. "What level are you now?"
"Eight already!" the silver-haired girl said with pride. "How about that? There aren't many in the entire capital who've reached the eighth level at my age."
Lin Lei glanced at the silver-haired girl. "Miss Dan Lan, why don't you go back and tell your teacher that I'm unwilling to teach you sculpting? Let's see if he really wants to kill me."
The silver-haired girl froze, then softened immediately, pleading, "Brother Lei, please, I'm begging you, just teach me!" As she spoke, she moved closer to Lin Lei.