The peaceful, quiet days passed quickly. Before he knew it, half a year had gone by.
The golden liquid condensed from soul essence had been completely refined and absorbed by Lin Lei. Although the sword-shaped soul was only slightly larger now, it had undergone a fundamental transformation.
"No wonder that divine-level powerhouse collected so many souls to refine," Lin Lei couldn't help but smile.
Alas, the Grand Sorcerer had exhausted countless efforts, only to end up doing the work for someone else.
With the soul essence fully refined, Lin Lei stepped out of the underground chamber and decided to stroll around Dragon Blood Castle. While walking along the cobblestone path through the flower garden, he spotted a dark figure flying toward him from the distance.
"Master." The figure swooped down right in front of Lin Lei—it was the black-striped cloud leopard, Heilu.
"Heilu, off to the Dark Forest again?" Lin Lei asked with a smile.
Heilu nodded his massive head.
Lin Lei knew that Heilu and those three Saint-realm dragons weren't comfortable staying around humans all the time. Heilu and the three dragons only occasionally stayed at Dragon Blood Castle, spending most of their time in the Dark Forest, the Magic Beast Mountain Range, or the Sunset Mountain Range.
That was where their true home was.
"Hm?" Lin Lei suddenly felt a stirring in his heart.
"Heilu, you're a Darkness and Wind dual-attribute, right?" Lin Lei asked.
"Yes, Master. What is it?" Heilu was a bit puzzled—why was Lin Lei suddenly asking about this?
Lin Lei smiled. "Nothing." He continued walking. Heilu watched Lin Lei's retreating figure with lingering confusion, but since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he darted off to find his good friends—the three Saint-realm dragons.
Arriving at the training ground in front of Dragon Blood Castle, Lin Lei saw Wotton and the others training there.
"Wind attribute—Heilu would be a good choice after all." Lin Lei had been thinking for a while now about who should receive the Wind attribute divine spark if he gave it to someone on his side.
Gatz and the others had little affinity with Wind elemental laws. While any Saint-realm cultivator could refine a divine spark, it worked best when it matched one's natural affinity. Dilia had refined the Wind attribute divine spark, Buck had refined the Earth attribute one, and Cesler had refined the Death attribute one.
Now Lin Lei had found a new candidate—Heilu.
Heilu possessed dual Darkness and Wind attributes. If he refined this divine spark, the results would truly be half the effort for twice the gain.
"Big Brother Lei." A familiar voice rang out.
Lin Lei looked up. It was Jenny.
"Jenny." A warm smile appeared on Lin Lei's face. Jenny wore a water-blue mage robe, and the years had left absolutely no trace on her face. Back in the day, Jenny had been a famous power player in the political circles of the Baruch Empire, but now she had become a magic teacher at a mage academy.
Jenny had always been diligent in her magical cultivation, having practiced magic for over thirty years. She had now reached the level of a seventh-tier mage—more than qualified to teach.
"Ha ha, Jenny's back! Ever since you became a magic teacher, you've been coming home less and less each time." Wotton and the others walked over as well.
In truth, everyone in Dragon Blood Castle knew about Jenny's feelings for Lin Lei. They also understood Lin Lei's character, and Jenny herself was well aware of it… None of them said anything, and Jenny didn't push to be with Lin Lei. In her view, occasionally seeing the person she loved, doing the work she enjoyed—that was already a happy and fulfilling life. She savored this tranquil, purposeful existence.
"There's no helping it. The academy only has two holiday breaks per year," Jenny said with a smile. "Wotton, where's Arnold?"
"Arnold's in the back garden playing with the maids," Wotton replied.
Jenny glanced at Lin Lei. "Big Brother Lei, I'll go find Arnold first." Lin Lei smiled and gave a nod. Everyone in the castle knew how much Jenny doted on Arnold.
Inside the micro-realm chamber.
Beyond the membrane, spatial turbulence streaked through in multicolored radiance, with spatial rifts spawning everywhere. Lin Lei and Dilia sat in quiet cultivation—Lin Lei's divine clone and true body working separately on the "Speed Profundity" and the "Earth Profundity."
"Phew." Lin Lei stopped cultivating.
"Dilia," he called out.
"What is it?" Dilia opened her eyes and looked at him curiously. "Is something wrong?"
"Dilia, there's still one divine spark left. I'm planning to have Heilu refine it. What do you think?" Lin Lei wanted to get Dilia's opinion. Her eyes lit up. "Heilu? If it's Heilu… then that really is a good choice. He's your magic beast, and over the years, all those petty tasks during the empire's wars—those were all handled by him and the three Saint-realm dragons."
Dilia had a high opinion of Heilu as well. He wasn't conspicuous in Dragon Blood Castle, but whenever some tedious task came up that nobody else wanted to deal with, Heilu never uttered a single word of complaint.
"Then it's settled." Lin Lei made his decision.
After reaching the divine realm, Lin Lei no longer felt much pressure. He spent most of his time letting his divine clone focus on cultivation while he himself would occasionally stroll around Dragon Blood Castle. After all, life wasn't solely about training.
In the main hall of Dragon Blood Castle.
Dozens of people sat along both sides of a table that stretched over ten meters long, sharing a meal together. Lin Lei sat at the head.
"Hummm~~"
A strange fluctuation came from the south. No one else in the hall noticed anything, but Lin Lei looked up toward the south in shock. "Someone else has become a god!"
Having experienced the fluctuations of heavenly law before, Lin Lei recognized that sensation instantly.
Although the ripple had grown faint by the time it reached here, Lin Lei could still feel it clearly. It was precisely the unique law fluctuation that descended from heaven at the moment of ascension.
"Someone in the south has become a god. Who is it?" Lin Lei thought to himself.
To be precise, both Tulip and Desley were to the south of Lin Lei. Besides those familiar figures, there were also the Saint-realm peak powerhouses who had emerged in recent years—such as those two in the Rohr Empire. Any one of them could potentially reach the divine realm.
Who was it?