Beirut!
Lin Lei and Bei Bei exchanged a glance. Lin Lei still remembered Bei Bei telling him that shortly after he was born, when his eyes couldn't yet open, a very warm and gentle voice had told him… that he belonged to the Beirut family.
"Lord Beirut?" Bei Bei blurted out. "Fine. I'll go with you."
Lin Lei looked at Bei Bei. Those normally adorable little eyes now held a solemn gravity and a hint of… excitement! Bei Bei had never known his own origins. After he had finally opened his eyes, there hadn't been a single rat-type magical beast anywhere around him.
Bei Bei had always suspected that the kind voice might have belonged to his mother.
Unfortunately, he had never seen her. The only proof he had was that single word — "Beirut."
The Purple-Gold Mouse King Harry grinned broadly. "Don't look so serious. If Father has asked Bei Bei to come, it certainly won't be anything bad." He turned toward Bei Bei. "Bei Bei, let's go together." The other two Purple-Gold Mouse Kings also looked at Bei Bei.
Bei Bei immediately took flight.
"This time Bei Bei's heading to the Dark Forest, so it'll probably take a while. Don't worry too much," said Harvey, the third of the Purple-Gold Mouse Kings.
Lin Lei nodded and said to Bei Bei, "Bei Bei, if anything important comes up, contact me right away." Lin Lei and Bei Bei could communicate via soul over vast distances, and within the Dark Forest, they would generally be able to reach each other without issue.
"Got it, Boss," Bei Bei said with a grin.
Lin Lei gave him an encouraging smile.
The mystery of his origins had always weighed on Bei Bei's heart. Now there was a chance to finally learn the truth, and Bei Bei certainly wouldn't hesitate.
Large, feathery snowflakes spiraled down from the sky as a group inside the palace debated furiously.
"So the most mysterious ruler of the Dark Forest is actually called Lord Beirut," Rebecca exclaimed, clutching her chest. The five greatest God-level experts at the pinnacle of the Yulan Continent were indeed beings that everyone had to look up to. The power of the divine realm far exceeded that of the Saint Realm.
Like how back then, Stiller couldn't even move a muscle in front of Xisai.
"Father." Tyler looked up at Lin Lei with clear, innocent eyes. "Is this Beirut really strong? Stronger than you, Father?"
Lin Lei, Wotton, and the others all laughed.
In a child's eyes, Lin Lei was invincible.
"Lord Beirut…" Lin Lei gazed northward, as if he could see that figure standing at the very pinnacle of the continent within the Dark Forest. "Going by what those three Purple-Gold Mouse Kings said, this Lord Beirut is probably the most terrifying God-level expert on the entire Yulan Continent."
Lin Lei rubbed Tyler's head fondly. "Tyler, your father doesn't yet have the strength to challenge him."
"But Father will definitely surpass him someday," Tyler said with absolute certainty. "My father is the greatest genius on the continent, the strongest Dragon Blood Warrior in history."
"Haha…" Lin Lei didn't answer — he just laughed.
Lin Lei turned to Wotton and said, "Wotton, I'm planning to head to the underground secret chamber tomorrow to cultivate. I won't be at the founding of the Baruch Empire." The so-called underground secret chamber was the micro-plane chamber at the heart of the Magic Crystal ore vein.
"Brother, you're not going?" Wotton was shocked.
The founding of an empire — that was a massive event.
"Forget it." Lin Lei looked at Dilia. Dilia's cultivation speed in Magic Power and Mental Power was faster than ever before. Even after reaching the late stage of the 9th-level Grand Magister, she was still advancing at a terrifying pace. This rate left even Lin Lei stunned.
Before Dilia, there was no such thing as a bottleneck.
"Dilia, I expect that when the empire is founded, the Yulan Empire will certainly send envoys. Your parents or other people from your family may come, so just stay in the palace for now."
"Alright." The image of her parents flickered through Dilia's mind.
She still vividly remembered leaving her family all those years ago. But over the past twelve-plus years, the family had long since made peace with Dilia. It was only because of the enormous distance between them that meetings had been extremely rare.
With the founding of the empire, her parents would surely come.
Lin Lei continued, "Dilia, that underground chamber is a full ten meters high. I've already divided it into two levels. Once you're done with your affairs, come find me. I'll help you enter the chamber, and you can cultivate alongside me. I estimate that in just a few years, you'll reach the Saint Grand Magister realm before I do." He said this with an admiring sigh.
A glimmer of joy appeared in Dilia's eyes.
Once Lin Lei began cultivating, there was no telling how long it would take. Dilia naturally wanted to be with him.
"Mm. When the time comes, I'll definitely come find you," Dilia said quickly.
The next day, Lin Lei flew directly to the Magic Crystal ore vein. After the great battle, the vein had immediately been developed and mined at maximum capacity. In just over a month, sixty to seventy percent of it had already been excavated, and now only scattered remnants of the ore vein remained in the process of being mined.
Of course, a large underground structure had been built around that "gate."
Lin Lei walked through the corridors of the underground building, pushed open a stone door, and arrived at the mysterious plane gate. A layer of dark cyan Battle Qi immediately surfaced on his body, surging in a special rhythmic pulse. Then he stepped through the gate.
"Hiss—"
Terrifying energy, sharp as blades, slashed at Lin Lei, but was completely absorbed by the Pulse Guard across his body.
Stepping into this micro-plane, Lin Lei felt a wave of comfort wash through his heart. The elemental energies of earth, fire, water, and wind all felt so close and familiar. Even the pulse of the earth was vividly clear. Looking up, he could peer through the membrane and see the multicolored spatial chaos beyond.
"I've been at the 256th layer for a long time now. Hopefully, this time I can really break through." Lin Lei immediately sat cross-legged and began quietly studying and comprehending.
The last time, Lin Lei had gained some insight, but all he had known was that his path led from the 256th layer — working backward to a point where a single vibration could express the full essence of the Earth Pulse. How to actually walk that path, however, remained hazy.
In the micro-plane, time itself flowed without notice.
Lin Lei began his peaceful cultivation.