In Wusennuo's study.
"Chief Justice?" the golden-haired middle-aged man called softly. Ever since Wusennuo had fled back in disarray after being attacked by Lin Lei and Bei Bei, the man had grown far more gloomy. Even the servants didn't dare approach him.
Wusennuo raised his head, his cold, dark eyes fixing on the man.
The golden-haired middle-aged man forced a smile: "Chief Justice, what should we do about Lin Lei?"
"Lin Lei?" Wusennuo let out a cold snort.
The middle-aged man's heart trembled. He could feel the temperature in the study plummet. Wusennuo continued in a frigid tone: "Send someone immediately to relay this information to the Holy Island. Tell the Pope. If this Lin Lei isn't eliminated… then the day our Church is destroyed, it will most likely be at his hands!"
Wusennuo was genuinely terrified by the speed of Lin Lei's growth.
Last August, Lin Lei had fought against Heidisen, and at that time, his strength had been roughly equal to Heidisen's. Now it was only April of the following year—barely eight months had passed. In just eight months, Lin Lei's strength had grown so dramatically.
That purple longsword's attacks had once posed no threat to Heidisen, yet now they had wounded Wusennuo himself.
"He… he's not even thirty!" Wusennuo's heart was filled with dread.
"Yes, Chief Justice. I'll send someone to relay your instructions to His Holiness the Pope right away," the golden-haired middle-aged man said hurriedly.
Wusennuo sighed inwardly: "If only the mother of Lin Lei hadn't been among those killed and offered to the Lord of Light all those years ago, perhaps… this Lin Lei would have become the pillar of our Church of Light, and could have helped us crush the Church of Darkness."
But it was too late.
Lin Lei and the Church of Light were now on opposing sides.
In the Kingdom of Chaos, three major powers currently held sway: the Church of Light, the Church of Darkness, and Lin Lei's faction. Following the Battle of She Li County City, the Church of Light had grown quiet, keeping a low profile.
The Church of Darkness was even less likely to make a move—they wanted to watch Lin Lei and the Church of Light slaughter each other, and naturally maintained a low profile as well. As long as Lin Lei didn't provoke them, they had no intention of provoking him.
Under these circumstances,
Lin Lei's faction was the most formidable in momentum. The Baruch Principality was being prepared and organized. The current Baruch Principality controlled three county cities and nineteen smaller towns, governing a population of over twenty million. Such a vast territory was already comparable to half of an ordinary kingdom.
A super-sized principality.
And Lin Lei was once again being celebrated among countless commoners—his legend now included slaying six four-winged angels and driving back the Chief Justice of the Church of Light's religious tribunal. The more Lin Lei's fame grew, the more mages and warriors who idolized him flooded toward the Baruch Principality.
They wanted to fight for Lin Lei!
The Imperial Capital of the Yulan Empire.
At Grandmaster Longsier's residence, Dilia was still in the courtyard enjoying the morning sun, breathing in the fresh air, and studying Grandmaster Longsier's magical notes.
"Miss Dilia, someone from the Dawson Trading Company is outside," a guard reported, running over.
Dilia's eyes lit up immediately.
"I, Huttong, bet that's definitely a letter from Lin Lei," the Earth Bear beside her chuckled. Dilia shot him a glance, then ordered, "Have the Dawson Trading Company representative come in right away."
"Yes." The guard bowed respectfully.
Before long, a jovial middle-aged man entered the courtyard. The moment he saw Dilia, he drew a letter from his breast pocket: "Miss Dilia, here is your letter. It's from the Kingdom of Chaos." This was not the first time he had delivered a letter to Dilia.
Seeing the familiar messenger, Dilia knew the letter was from Lin Lei.
"Miss Dilia, I'll take my leave then." The middle-aged man was exceedingly polite.
Dilia gave him a grateful smile. Once the man had left, she opened the envelope and began to read. The Earth Bear craned his head over to look. Dilia turned and glared at him: "Huttong, I'm getting angry."
The Earth Bear immediately flashed a sheepish grin.
"This is wonderful, wonderful!" Dilia exclaimed in excitement, leaping to her feet. She could feel her heartbeat quickening, her whole body breaking into a sweat.
"Dilia, what's making you so happy?" the Earth Bear asked, confused. Even the Gale Lightning Falcon beside him regarded Dilia with puzzlement. Just then, a middle-aged man emerged from the house—it was Grandmaster Longsier, the Wind-element Grand Mage of the Holy Domain.
"Master," Dilia greeted respectfully.
Grandmaster Longsier looked at Dilia with a smile and said: "Huttong tells me you received a letter from Lin Lei, and it seems to be some great joyous news?"
Dilia glared at the Earth Bear, who puffed up with self-satisfaction.
"Master," Dilia replied, still trembling with excitement, "it's a letter from Lin Lei. He tells me… the Baruch Principality will be officially established on April 16th of this year—today. Lin Lei's principality is finally being founded. It's truly, truly wonderful."
Grandmaster Longsier knew all about Dilia's situation.
"So happy, are you? Could it be because you'll be seeing Lin Lei soon?" Longsier teased.
Dilia's face flushed red—whether from shyness or sheer excitement, it was hard to tell.
"All right, Master, I won't keep chatting. I'm going back to tell my parents about this. According to what I originally agreed with them, now that Lin Lei has established a principality, they shouldn't oppose my relationship with him anymore," Dilia said.
Grandmaster Longsier nodded.
"Go on then."
Dilia nodded repeatedly and immediately left Grandmaster Longsier's residence with the Gale Lightning Falcon, "Pylei." Watching her depart, Grandmaster Longsier shook his head with a sigh: "Dilia's parents… I'm afraid they won't be so easy to convince."