Chapter 2: Becoming a God?
Ten years in the Tomb of the Gods, and when he returned, he already had a grandson.
This did catch Lin Lei a bit off guard, but holding Arno in his arms, he felt genuinely happy deep down.
In the castle's great hall.
"Taylor, where's your mother?" Lin Lei asked.
Taylor grinned the moment he heard this. "Father, about two years after you left, Mother reached the Saint Magus realm..."
"What? Two years?" Lin Lei was not only delighted but stunned.
In the Tomb of the Gods, he had only broken through to the Saint Magus realm on the tenth floor, when he had already been inside for over nine years. Compared to Dilia, Lin Lei had been much slower to reach that level.
"Dilia, she really is something." Lin Lei thought to himself with a smile.
Taylor continued, "After Mother reached the Saint Magus realm, she went to the secret chamber where you used to cultivate. A little while ago, when Arno was born, Mother did come out of seclusion. But after Arno's one-month celebration, she went back to cultivating."
"Oh?" Lin Lei nodded slightly.
He then looked around at everyone. "Stay here for now. I'll bring Dilia out in a bit, and we'll all have dinner together."
Deep beneath Dragon Blood Castle lay the mysterious spatial gate, though the barrier here was far weaker than the one at the bottom of the South Sea. A layer of 'Pulse Defense' formed over Lin Lei's body, and he walked straight through.
"Ten years."
Lin Lei stood inside the pocket dimension. Beyond the dimensional membrane churned the spatial storms, but within this pocket realm, Dilia sat cross-legged in serene meditation, her face radiating a holy glow, like a goddess.
"Hmm?" Lin Lei furrowed his brow in confusion.
The aura naturally emanating from Dilia's body during cultivation actually made Lin Lei's heart tighten.
Dilia opened her eyes at that moment and turned her head, puzzled—then upon seeing Lin Lei, she shot to her feet with delight. "Lin Lei!" Her eyes reddened instantly. Ten years apart was truly agonizing.
Dilia threw herself into Lin Lei's arms, clutching him tightly.
Lin Lei held her just as close and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry, Dilia."
"Lin Lei, I was always afraid—afraid you'd never come back from that Tomb of the Gods." As she spoke, Lin Lei felt his shirt grow damp. Dilia was crying!
Dilia looked up at Lin Lei, her expression caught between laughter and tears, teardrops still clinging to her eyelashes. "Lin Lei, you won't leave like that again, will you?"
"I won't. I won't," Lin Lei reassured her.
The two of them walked over to the stone bed and sat down together, arms still around each other.
"By the way, Dilia, why do I feel like you're different from before?" Lin Lei asked, puzzled.
Dilia looked at him with a mysterious smile. "Lin Lei, guess why I'm different?"
"Because you reached the Saint Magus realm?" Lin Lei said.
Dilia shook her head.
"Hmm?" Lin Lei was baffled.
Dilia smiled softly and said quietly, "Lin Lei, let me tell you a big secret—I've already... become a god!"
Lin Lei's expression froze instantly, as if struck by lightning. He was speechless for a long moment.
"What did you say? Dilia, did you say become a god?" Lin Lei stared at her in disbelief. Was becoming a god that easy? Look at how many years Desli and Faen had cultivated—even Lin Lei himself had fought through one deadly battle after another, and only by extraordinary fortune had he broken through on the eleventh floor of the Tomb of the Gods.
But even then, he still needed about ten more years to actually become a god.
Dilia becoming a god?
"I'm serious." Dilia nodded.
"Dilia, stop joking." Lin Lei laughed. "If you really want to become a god, it's not difficult. I obtained divine cores in the Tomb of the Gods this time—there's a Wind-attribute lower god divine core among them, more than enough to let you ascend."
Dilia gently shook her head.
"Lin Lei, feel it clearly." Dilia said softly to him.
Suddenly—
A strange wave of pressure swept over the surrounding area. Lin Lei felt as though an invisible force had pinned him in place—he couldn't move at all.
"A divine domain?" Lin Lei, who had experienced this before, reacted immediately.
But his Battle Qi pulsed according to 'Earth Pulse,' shaking off the 'binding' with ease. Lin Lei was somewhat stunned—the so-called 'divine domain' had been broken that easily?
He looked at Dilia in disbelief.
Dilia said apologetically, "I've only been refining that divine core for eight years. I've comprehended only a very small portion of the Laws contained within it, and I haven't even fully refined the core itself. This 'divine domain' can only frighten people. It won't be a true 'divine domain' until the core is completely refined."
Though Dilia said this, Lin Lei was still staring at her in shock.
"Dilia, what's going on?" Lin Lei asked.
He was completely bewildered.
Ten years gone, and not only did he have a grandson—even his wife had become a god?
"Lin Lei, do you remember when we got married?
Lin Lei's heart jolted.
"Dilia, you mean that black stone?" Lin Lei wasn't dull. The moment Dilia brought it up, he began to understand.