In the quiet side hall, Gaisereisen sat in a chair while Lin Lei stood nearby. Gaisereisen simply looked at Lin Lei, watching silently without a word. The oppressive atmosphere in the hall made Lin Lei feel a sense of dread.
"The patriarch called me here only to stay silent? What on earth does he want?" Lin Lei’s mind raced with anxiety.
After standing in the side hall for a long while, Lin Lei finally spoke up, "Patriarch—"
Gaisereisen was jolted from his thoughts. He looked at Lin Lei and let out a low sigh. The domineering coldness he had shown in the great hall was gone, replaced by a deep sorrow. He sighed, "Lin Lei, where do you come from?"
"From another plane," Lin Lei answered.
"The Yulan Continent plane, I presume," Gaisereisen said casually.
Lin Lei was startled. How did Gaisereisen know? Had he investigated some information about him?
"Yes," Lin Lei nodded.
"The Yulan Continent plane, so it is true." Gaisereisen tilted his head, and silently, tears slid down his cheeks and fell to the ground. "Plop!" The teardrop shattered upon impact.
"The patriarch is crying?" Lin Lei was stunned.
The patriarch of the Azure Dragon Clan, the peerless powerhouse Gaisereisen, was crying? Even if Gaisereisen wanted to kill him, Lin Lei could understand that—but why was he crying?
"Let me see your Ring of the Azure Dragon. You don’t need to dissolve the Blood Contract," Gaisereisen said with another low sigh.
"Ring of the Azure Dragon?" Lin Lei looked at Gaisereisen in surprise. After the incident with Emmanuel, he had already changed the appearance of the Coiling Dragon Ring. From the outside, no one should be able to tell that his ring was a Divine Artifact.
Gaisereisen furrowed his brow and looked up at Lin Lei. "I asked you to show me the Ring of the Azure Dragon. Don’t worry, I won’t covet your ring—I have one myself!" As he spoke, Gaisereisen extended his right hand.
Lin Lei looked. Indeed, on the finger of that right hand was a ring identical in shape to the Coiling Dragon Ring, only its color was azure.
"Back then, Father forged two Soul Defense Divine Artifacts—one for himself and the other for me," Gaisereisen said in a low voice. Lin Lei stared in shock at the ring on the patriarch’s hand.
That Ring of the Azure Dragon was a complete Soul Defense Divine Artifact.
"Patriarch, here you go." Lin Lei tossed the Coiling Dragon Ring over without hesitation.
Gaisereisen’s eyes lit up as he immediately caught the Coiling Dragon Ring. Even the hand holding it trembled slightly, and tears glistened in his eyes. "Father! Father!!!" Gaisereisen examined the Coiling Dragon Ring as if on a pilgrimage.
"The material, yes, exactly..." Gaisereisen murmured as he stroked it.
Lin Lei had never been able to determine the material of the Coiling Dragon Ring. He hadn’t known it back on the Yulan Continent, and even now, it remained a mystery.
"Is this Divine Artifact damaged?" Gaisereisen opened his eyes and tossed the Coiling Dragon Ring back to Lin Lei.
"Yes," Lin Lei nodded.
"How badly is it damaged?" Gaisereisen pressed.
"That Soul Defense Divine Artifact—the membrane—has a small crack on it. Just that one crack. The rest is intact." Lin Lei did not lie.
"A small crack?"
Gaisereisen frowned. "It was able to kill my father and three other Chief Gods, and it even broke a Divine Artifact—yet it’s just a small crack?" Many thoughts flashed through Gaisereisen’s mind. Based solely on the crack in this Divine Artifact, he had already formed a judgment about the culprit.
"It must be one of them!"
The moment he thought of the enemy, Gaisereisen felt powerless. "They don’t even regard small fry like us. No matter how powerful a Highgod might be, they are nothing before a Chief God." Gaisereisen had already reached the absolute peak of Highgods.
But alas...
Compared to a Chief God, he had no power to resist. If the enemy could kill four Chief Gods, would they care about a few Highgods?
"Patriarch, will the clan take this ring from me?" Lin Lei asked anxiously.
Gaisereisen glanced at him. "Since Father chose you as the inheritor of the Ring of the Azure Dragon, possessing this ring is his will. No one—no matter who—has the right to change Father’s will!"
Lin Lei felt relieved.
When Gaisereisen saw Lin Lei, he couldn’t help but think of his father. Back then, the ancestor, the "Azure Dragon," had only truly cared for his own children. As for the descendants further down the clan line, the ancestor had not held them in such high regard.
"Patriarch, I have a question," Lin Lei couldn’t help but ask.
Having had his "Ring of the Azure Dragon" recognized by Gaisereisen left Lin Lei very puzzled. His Coiling Dragon Ring had a changed appearance, and from the outside, it emitted no aura at all. How could someone tell just from its appearance that the Coiling Dragon Ring was special?
Was it the material?
But from the outside, without careful examination, it was impossible to notice the material’s uniqueness.
"A question? Go ahead," Gaisereisen said, revealing a rare, faint smile.
"Patriarch, how did you discover that my ring is the Ring of the Azure Dragon? I can’t figure it out," Lin Lei asked quickly.
"Ha ha..." Gaisereisen laughed. "As a Divine Artifact, once its aura is concealed, nothing can be detected from the outside. You also altered the ring’s appearance. How could I possibly tell?"
Lin Lei was even more confused. "Then how did you say I have the Ring of the Azure Dragon?"
"Because of your body," Gaisereisen said with a smile.
"My body?" Lin Lei was perplexed.
"Your body is exceptionally powerful. Even within our Azure Dragon Clan, your physical strength would rank fourth," Gaisereisen said. "Even members of the third and fourth generations don’t have bodies as strong as yours."
Having a strong body meant having a Divine Artifact?
Lin Lei still didn’t understand, but his powerful body was what he was most proud of.
"Your body is so strong—have you absorbed a drop of Water Chief God’s power?" Gaisereisen said.