"Haha..." Elder Gavi couldn't help but laugh, pointing at Lin Lei and saying, "Elder Lin Lei, I didn't expect you to know how to cook! I definitely have to taste what you've made." Elder Gavi walked over as he spoke.
Let Elder Gavi eat it?
If he tasted it and it was terrible, word would spread throughout the entire family.
"Elder Gavi." Lin Lei quickly stood up and blocked Elder Gavi's path, smiling. "Elder Gavi, this is my first time cooking, so there's really no need to taste it. Oh, by the way, judging from your expression, it seems like something is weighing on your mind."
Lin Lei swiftly changed the subject, and sure enough, as soon as he said this, Elder Gavi couldn't help but let out a low sigh and sat down nearby.
"What happened?" Lin Lei asked.
Elder Gavi said with a bitter smile, "Elder Lin Lei, in these two hundred years, you haven't been to Blood Battle Valley, have you?"
"Right." Ever since the four clan leaders had summoned him and told him he didn't need to participate, he truly hadn't gone to Blood Battle Valley even once.
"In just two hundred years!" Elder Gavi seemed to be bursting with pent-up frustration, clearly in distress. "Lin Lei, do you know? In these short two hundred years, our Azure Dragon Clan has lost five elders!"
"Five?" Lin Lei was startled by the number.
The Azure Dragon Clan typically lost two or three elders per millennium. Losing five in just two hundred years — that was far too extreme.
"If we include Emanuel, Solhoss, and the others... our Azure Dragon Clan now has only twenty-something elders who truly possess Seven-Star Demon strength!" Elder Gavi said, his eyes growing moist. "My own master, in yesterday's mission, lost his strongest divine clone and no longer has Seven-Star Demon strength."
Lin Lei fell silent.
Diya and Bei Bei didn't feel it was their place to interject at this moment.
"It's only been a little over ten thousand years. Ten thousand years ago, the clan had over sixty elders. In just ten thousand years, we've lost more than half!" Elder Gavi sighed heavily. "At this rate, Blood Battle Valley won't have enough elders. This time, they'll probably have us join ahead of schedule."
Normally, elders in Blood Battle Valley were rotated once every thousand years.
But now...
The rate of losses was too fast. If it continued, Blood Battle Valley wouldn't have enough manpower. Those idle elders like Gavi would have to fill the gaps.
"How is this possible? How could there be so many casualties?" Lin Lei couldn't believe it. "Defeating a Seven-Star Demon isn't too hard, but killing one is extremely difficult."
"The eight great families have gone mad!"
Elder Gavi snorted angrily. "Over these two hundred years, they've completely lost it. Every single battle, they dispatch three or four Seven-Star Demons. And among them, there's always at least one carrying Lord God power! Every battle, our clan's elders face nine deaths out of ten chances."
Hearing this, Lin Lei's expression couldn't help but change.
"The eight great families — why would they do this?" Lin Lei felt a trace of confusion.
Why would the eight great families go crazy now of all times? It was only after his battle that they had lost their minds.
"Could it be related to me and Pusulo? Or is it a decision made by the eight great families themselves?" Lin Lei couldn't help but wonder.
"Alright, Lin Lei. I won't disturb you any further. Train well while you're here... I originally thought our war with the eight great families would drag on like this, but now it seems the final decisive battle between us is coming soon!"
After finishing, Elder Gavi rose directly into the air and flew away.
"The final decisive battle?" Lin Lei murmured.
"Boss, what final decisive battle?" Bei Bei's eyes lit up.
"Don't ask — you're not strong enough to get involved yet. Wait until the day you reach the Highgod level." Lin Lei said with a smile. Once Bei Bei reached Highgod, with his innate divine ability 'Devour God,' he would be an absolutely monstrous existence.
"Hmph..." Bei Bei couldn't help but pout. "I've only comprehended five kinds of profound mysteries so far. The sixth one — I can't even get started on it. Grandpa Beilute is so frustrating. Back then, he could have just given me the soul fragment containing the sixth profound mystery. Wouldn't that have saved a lot of trouble?"
Lin Lei and Diya both laughed.
Bei Bei had now comprehended five kinds of profound mysteries. The first one came naturally upon reaching adulthood. The other four came from soul fragments containing bottleneck-level profound mysteries.
When shortcuts came too easily, doing things the hard way — actually comprehending on his own — became that much tougher.
"Bei Bei, even if you can't comprehend it, you could try fusing other profound mysteries," Diya said with a smile. "Once you succeed in a fusion, your strength will take a huge leap forward."
"That's actually a pretty good idea. It might be harder, but maybe I'll pull it off." Bei Bei's interest was piqued, and he darted off toward his own residence at full speed. Lin Lei and Diya both smiled.
"I bet Bei Bei won't last more than a year," Lin Lei said.
"A year? He might last a year and a half," Diya offered.
"I'll definitely last two years!" Bei Bei's voice drifted down from above. Lin Lei and Diya exchanged a glance and laughed. Then Lin Lei said gravely, "Diya, after hearing what Gavi said just now, I feel some pressure... I plan to start training my main body as well, beginning today."
"Mm." Worry flickered in Diya's eyes. "I'm feeling anxious too. The situation is getting worse and worse. Go ahead and train — I won't disturb you."
Lin Lei nodded with a smile.
The eight great families continued their frenzied assault. Elders from both the eight great families and the Four Divine Beast Clans fell one after another, Six-Star Demons died in succession... it was devastatingly brutal. Meanwhile, Lin Lei's four divine clones and his main body devoted themselves to quiet, focused cultivation.
In the midst of training, time flowed away like water...
Ever since obtaining the 'Black Stone,' Lin Lei had been treating his Earth elemental divine clone as his primary clone, pouring his full effort into cultivating the Laws of the Earth.
The fusion of profound mysteries grew harder the further one progressed.
In terms of the Laws of the Earth, Lin Lei had fused three kinds and was now attempting to fuse a fourth. However, the 'Earth Escape' profound mystery failed to harmonize with any of the three. At the same time, Lin Lei was trying to use the not-yet-fully-mastered 'Power' profound mystery to harmonize with those three as well.
In the great canyon, Lin Lei and Diya had gathered together. Lin Lei gazed into the distance, where he could clearly see a number of fellow clan members. Three hundred years had now passed since Lin Lei had left Blood Battle Valley.