Chapter Thirty-Three: The Refugee Wave
Deep beneath Dragonblood Castle, within the miniature pocket dimension chamber.
Lin Lei sat cross-legged on the floor, his black ebon heavy sword resting flat across his legs. Currently, Lin Lei only used his Mental Power to nurture and contain the black ebon heavy sword; he did not dare use his Divine Power. The black ebon heavy sword was planned for use by his Earth God clone once he obtained it. It should be nurtured with Earth-attribute Divine Power, but currently, Lin Lei only possessed Wind-attribute Divine Power.
"Thump!" "Thump!" The strange rhythm of the Earth Pulse resonated through Lin Lei's mind.
After becoming a God and absorbing twenty million soul essences, Lin Lei's soul had become exceptionally strong. His perception of the Earth Pulse was also much clearer. In his mind's eye, a virtual picture even began to form — beneath the earth, strange waves of fluctuation surged.
Like ripples on water, each pulse spread outward in all directions.
The transformation from the 64th layer of the Earth Pulse to the 32nd had taken Lin Lei three months.
However, transforming from the 32nd layer to the 16th had required a full year and three months. This was even after his soul had undergone its own transformation, boosting his deductive abilities a hundredfold.
"If I were still at the peak of the Saint Realm, I would likely need over a hundred years just to break through from the 32nd layer of the Earth Pulse to the 16th."
After breaking through to the 16th layer, Lin Lei didn't stop. He continued his cultivation.
Fusing the 16 layers into 8 seemed simple on the surface — just merge them in pairs, a process done eight times. It didn't seem like many repetitions... but the difficulty of each fusion made Lin Lei struggle.
In his mind's eye.
Sixteen virtual black ebon heavy swords constantly demonstrated and deduced. The speed of deduction was astronomical, with countless variations occurring each second. Various possibilities were explored and then compared, all while being verified against his perception of the "Earth Pulse" itself, to confirm the correct deductive path.
Complex. Vast.
"Fusing down to the single, final layer — that is the true Earth Pulse." The more Lin Lei delved into this arduous cultivation, the more he sighed with emotion. "But the further I progress, the tenfold increase in difficulty for each fusion. Breaking through from 16 layers to 8 will likely take several years, at minimum."
Years? Lin Lei didn't mind.
But he had a feeling that going from 8 to 4 would take even longer, and then from 4 to 2, and most importantly, the crucial fusion of the Earth Pulse's two layers into one, achieving the true Earth Pulse.
That final step was the ultimate barrier.
Like Desley and others, who had been stuck at such barriers for thousands of years.
"Into One... I wonder when I will fully comprehend the true Earth Pulse." Lin Lei was full of anticipation for the "Earth Pulse" profoundness. He had a feeling that once this profoundness was mastered, its power would be tremendous.
Since his conversation with Muba, Lin Lei had cultivated for another three years.
During these three years, in the aspect of the Earth Profoundness, Lin Lei remained at the "16th Layer of the Earth Pulse." He was striving to break through to the "8th Layer." As for the Speed Profoundness, although there had been some progress, compared to the vastness of Speed itself, this progress was truly negligible.
"The Martial God was absolutely right back then. If comprehension of elemental laws reaches one percent, then reaching ten percent signifies the Mid-level God. My current comprehension of the 'Speed Profoundness' is probably only one-tenth of what it truly is."
Lin Lei was not impatient.
Having cultivated for several decades and achieved what he had, he should be content.
There were those poor souls who remained stuck at the peak of the Saint Realm bottleneck for tens of millions of years.
The greatest breakthrough Lin Lei had made during these three years was —
His soul!
After absorbing twenty million soul essences, the essence of Lin Lei's soul had undergone a massive elevation, and his control over Soul Power had strengthened. Especially the Power of Faith — its nurturing effect had actually tempered Lin Lei's Mental Power, making it easier to control.
In the past, Lin Lei could only make his Soul Power surge and oscillate. Now, he could easily manipulate his Mental Power.
For example...
Soul Defense!
Lin Lei could control vast amounts of Mental Power, just like Battle Qi, to form a "Pulse Defense." A large quantity of Mental Power formed a spherical membrane, protecting his sword-shaped soul. This Mental Power-formed "Pulse Defense" was far superior to his old, rigid method of letting Mental Power passively block attacks.
"In the past, it wasn't that I didn't want to do this. My control over Mental Power simply wasn't adequate."
Lin Lei sighed with emotion.
The power of a strong soul, and the transformation of Mental Power, indeed brought about immense changes.
"Brother." Wotton's voice rang out as he walked into the miniature pocket dimension chamber.
Lin Lei opened his eyes.
"Brother, the day after tomorrow is the Yulan Festival," Wotton explained. Lin Lei and Dilia usually stopped their cultivation during these few days of the Yulan Festival. Lin Lei and Dilia exchanged a glance and both rose, following Wotton out.
The Yulan Festival was the most important holiday on the Yulan Continent.
Even during wartime, fighting would generally cease for these few days, allowing soldiers and citizens to enjoy the festival's happiness. But... the people of the Loro Empire now were filled with terror, suffering, and rage!
"Don't be afraid, child, we're almost there," a gaunt woman in ragged clothes called out, carrying her child on her back as she fled northward.
"Mother, what about Father?" the child of only five or six years old on her back asked with confusion. "When will Father come see me? I want to see Father." Hearing this, the woman couldn't help but tear up. "Be good. We will see Father."
But the woman knew clearly in her heart... mother and child would never see the child's father again.
It wasn't just this mother and child. There were many other refugees. The entire road was filled with people fleeing with their families, all heading for escape.