"Breaking through from a Lower God to a Middle God, when the laws of the world descend to embrace the soul... in just this brief moment, the soul's transformation has caught up with the effect of absorbing those eleven Amethyst Crystals," Lin Lei marveled inwardly. Thirty-two years had passed.
The eleven Amethyst Crystals he had bought back then had long since been refined and absorbed.
Lin Lei's soul was vastly more powerful than before. Now, upon reaching the Middle God level, it had undergone a qualitative metamorphosis that was actually superior to simply absorbing soul essence.
"Dilia, have you finished absorbing the two Soul Gold Pearls?" Lin Lei looked at Dilia.
Lin Lei had also asked Dilia to purchase two Soul Gold Pearls. Strengthening her own soul would help her better resist soul attacks. That time, Dilia hadn't just bought two Soul Gold Pearls; she had also acquired an Amethyst Crystal.
"Both Soul Gold Pearls are fully absorbed, but that Amethyst Crystal is absorbing awfully slowly," Dilia sighed. "No wonder there are so many people buying Soul Gold Pearls, and so few buying Amethyst Crystals."
"Boss, when are we going to take the demon trials?" Bei Bei urged impatiently.
Bei Bei had been waiting for this day for a long time.
"When?" Lin Lei glanced at the sky outside and smiled. "No rush. It's not even noon yet. Let's go to the dining hall for a meal first—a little celebration. We can head to the Demon Castle afterward."
"The dining hall?" Bei Bei's eyes instantly lit up.
By the time the three of them emerged from the dining hall, evening had fallen. However, the Demon Castle was staffed at night as well, so they set off immediately. When they arrived, the castle was surprisingly crowded.
They stepped into the main hall of the first floor.
"An old acquaintance," Lin Lei said, spotting Una at the counter right away. The three walked over.
"Miss Una, we'd like to take the demon trials," Lin Lei said.
Una looked up, glanced at the three, and suddenly her eyes widened as she broke into a smile. "It's you three!" She had a strong impression of Lin Lei and his companions, after all, even City Lord Di Yi himself had shown up that day. Una remembered it clearly.
"Oh, you've actually reached the Middle God level already," Una said, looking at Lin Lei with surprise. "Last time you came, you were probably on the verge of a breakthrough, weren't you?" she added with a smile.
She wasn't too shocked. In her view, Lin Lei had likely been at the bottleneck of the Lower God level during his last visit. The jump from that bottleneck to a breakthrough could happen quickly, or it could take time.
Lin Lei simply smiled. "Please process the demon trial registrations for the three of us."
Una looked at the trio and nodded. "Alright. You know the rules—one person pays ten thousand Black Stones. That's thirty thousand for three." She held out her hand, and Lin Lei flipped his palm to produce three long ingots of Lapis Lazuli Stone from his spatial ring.
Taking the three ingots, Una then produced three seals, each bearing the image of a single eerie, watchful eye, and handed them to Lin Lei and his companions.
"What's this?" Bei Bei asked curiously, examining the seal.
"It's proof that you've registered for the demon trials," Una explained. "Oh, and give me the address of your residence. I need to record it."
"Miss Una, you haven't told us what the trial task is yet. Why do you need our address?" Lin Lei asked, puzzled.
Una shook her head. "The task for the demon trials is only revealed when you actually go to take them. Right now... nobody knows what it will be. Even the exact time you'll take the trial can't be determined. Usually, they wait until enough participants have gathered, and then the trials are held as a group event."
"Until enough people gather?" Lin Lei began to understand.
The number of participants for the demon trials had to reach a certain threshold before the mission could begin.
Since it was impossible to predict who else might sign up, it was impossible to determine exactly when the trials would start.
"We have to wait? It won't be decades, will it?" Bei Bei quickly asked.
"Of course not. Actually, a group just went to take the trials a couple of days ago, but the outcome was, as always, cruel. Fewer than a hundred succeeded. So many died," Una sighed. "Oh, don't worry. It usually takes about a month to gather enough people."
A month?
Lin Lei and the others weren't in a hurry anymore.
"Once we have enough participants and the task is set, our people from the Demon Castle will come to your residence to notify you. That's why we need your address," Una explained.
Lin Lei and his companions understood and promptly left their address.
"Hey, beautiful Miss Una!" Bei Bei grinned. "I wanted to ask—what happened to that guy Angi who failed twice in a row but came back for a third attempt? Did he pass the demon trials or fail again?"
At Bei Bei's question, Lin Lei and Dilia also looked toward Una.
"You mean Angi?" Una chuckled. "He got lucky. He passed his third attempt. After he succeeded, he took a long-distance escort mission and left City Di Yi. He's probably already out of the Yemu Prefecture by now, though of course, he could have run into trouble and died during the escort. Who knows?"
Lin Lei and the others felt a sense of relief for Angi. Regardless, that persistent fellow had finally made it.
Lin Lei and the others settled down at their residence to wait patiently. To their surprise, the wait stretched to over twenty days.
In City Di Yi, within the quiet courtyard where Lin Lei and his companions lived, the blood-red sunlight bathed the grounds. Lin Lei sat cross-legged on the courtyard earth, earthy-yellow waves of energy rolling across his body's surface.
"Boss's defense is already far surpassing that of a Middle-Tier Divine Artifact, and he's still refining it."
Bei Bei sat in a chair, holding a bottle of fruit wine and taking occasional swallows. "The fruit wine here in the Hells is cheap. One Black Stone buys ten bottles, and it tastes much better than all those hyped wines on the Yulan Continent."
Bei Bei was different from Lin Lei.
Lin Lei devoted most of his energy to cultivation, while Bei Bei preferred eating, drinking, and having fun, training only occasionally.
"About enough. This should be the limit for now," Lin Lei said. The rolling earthy-yellow waves across his body stilled and transformed into clothing of the same hue.
Among Earth System magics, there was the 'Earth Guardian Holy Armor'.
Once a mage reached the Lower God level, this 'Earth Guardian Holy Armor' could be formed using powerful mental energy and god-level power alone, creating defensive armor on the level of Obsidian. However, this Earth Guardian Holy Armor was the most basic and primitive form. After comprehending the 'Earth Element' mystery, Lin Lei could now form an 'Elemental Armor' on his body's surface.
The power of this Elemental Armor far exceeded that of Obsidian Armor.