Warm-tempered and always wearing a smile on his face—that was the impression Desri left in Lin Lei's mind. But right now, Desri's hair was a mess, and a violent, tyrannical aura emanated from his entire body. Even upon discovering Lin Lei's arrival, he showed not the slightest restraint.
"You're here," Desri said flatly.
Lin Lei sighed inwardly.
The destruction of his divine clone had dealt an unprecedented blow to Desri.
"Desri, it's no use regretting the loss of your divine clone. Right now you should meditate properly and think clearly about the path ahead. But the way you are now, brooding and refusing to confide in your family or friends, keeping everything bottled up inside—even they're getting worried," Lin Lei urged.
Desri was silent for a moment.
"My mind was in turmoil when I came back. I didn't want to talk to them," Desri finally said.
Lin Lei gave a slight nod.
He and Desri were different. After all, Desri had spent over five thousand years striving to become a god, and to have all that effort wiped out in a single day—no one could calmly accept that.
"Desri, what have you decided to do now?" Lin Lei asked with a sigh. "Are you going to cultivate another elemental law and become a god independently, or find a Lowgod divine core and refine it to ascend?" At this point, Desri didn't really have many choices.
Desri let out a derisive laugh.
"Cultivate another elemental law?" He looked at Lin Lei. "Lin Lei, I was most gifted in the Light elemental law, and it still took me this long to become a god. If I were to switch to another elemental law now, even if I spent ten thousand years, do you think I could still become a god on my own?"
Lin Lei fell silent for a moment.
He knew that cultivation suited different people in different ways. For example, if Lin Lei himself were forced to cultivate the Darkness elemental law—which he understood nothing about—he'd probably need ten times or even a hundred times the effort he spent on the Wind elemental law, and still wouldn't achieve as much.
The difference between getting twice the result with half the effort and half the result with twice the effort was enormous.
"Desri, I know you're most gifted in the Light elemental law…" Lin Lei said solemnly. "That divine core of yours was taken by a silver-robed man under Oggewen. Don't worry—I will find a way to retrieve that divine core for you."
If Desri's true body could refine his original divine core, he could succeed in a mere moment.
But Lin Lei also knew it was uncertain whether that silver-robed man would ever show himself again.
"If I can't find your divine core, I will also do everything in my power to obtain another divine core of the Light elemental law," Lin Lei said.
In Lin Lei's view… when Oggewen had attacked back then, Desri had stayed and fought partly out of respect for him. That was what ultimately led to the destruction of Desri's divine clone. Desri had once had a bright future ahead of him, but now he could only choose to refine a divine core to ascend.
He had to do something.
"No need," Desri said firmly.
Lin Lei was taken aback.
What exactly was Desri planning? Was he going to try to seize a divine core with his peak Saint Realm strength?
"I don't want to cultivate the Light elemental law anymore," Desri said, looking at Lin Lei with a sigh. "Lin Lei, after several battles, I've come to realize that cultivating soul-based attacks puts me at a serious disadvantage in combat. I want to cultivate close-combat profound mysteries."
"Close combat?" Lin Lei was somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected Desri to change his cultivation direction entirely.
But it made sense. After becoming a god, Desri had fought in two major battles—one against Beumont and one against the silver-robed man under Oggewen. Desri had realized that relying solely on soul-based attacks was a major handicap in battle.
Soul techniques were important, but close-range physical attacks were far more effective.
"If that's the case…" An idea struck Lin Lei. He flipped his hand, and a black divine core appeared in his palm, radiating an aura of death.
Desri couldn't help but look at the core. "Lin Lei, is this…?" He recognized it.
Lin Lei nodded slightly. "Yes. This divine core was something I obtained when we killed Beumont. It belongs to the Law of Death. The path of cultivation isn't limited to the seven elemental laws—there are also four Grand Laws. The Law of Death has advantages in both close combat and soul attacks. If you refine it and study it carefully to achieve a breakthrough, you should be able to make real progress."
Desri hesitated for a moment.
In truth, he desperately wanted this divine core. But it was far too valuable.
Beumont had been killed by Lin Lei, so the divine core rightfully belonged to him.
"Take it," Lin Lei said, having already read the thoughts in Desri's heart. He tossed the divine core directly to Desri, who instinctively reached out and caught the Death-attribute divine core. The moment his hand closed around it, Desri's eyes lit up.
With a divine core in hand, ascension was within reach.
"Thank you," was all Desri said to Lin Lei.
Lin Lei smiled faintly. "Desri, I think you'd best come to my Dragonblood Castle to cultivate. Tarosha, DeLin, and the others are all there. It's much safer. As for this place—I'm worried that some god-level expert might detect you refining a divine core and come to seize it."
Desri nodded in agreement.
In the current state of the Yulan Continent, god-level experts were plentiful.
Even if he cultivated deep within the mountain's belly, a god-level expert's divine sense could spread far and wide—Desri wouldn't be able to hide. Killing a peak Saint Realm expert to seize a divine core—there was no doubt that the vast majority of god-level experts would do exactly that.
When Desri came out, Ice Selin, Rein, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. This time, Desri explained everything to them in detail. Only then did Ice Selin understand that her husband had lost his divine core.
No wonder he'd been acting this way.
And for the sake of safety, Ice Selin and the entire family decided to move with Desri to Dragonblood Castle.
Dragonblood Castle was enormous—several thousand people could live there without any problem. Lin Lei was also extremely happy… because Rein would now be living at Dragonblood Castle, and the two of them would be able to get together regularly to drink and chat.