The planar corridor was bustling with people, crowds streaming through. Colored lights streaked along the corridor walls in brilliant streams.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei moved with the crowd, flying toward the end.
"We're almost there!" Lin Lei felt his heart trembling.
"Dikexi, Yeru, George... and Father!" Even though he had reached the absolute pinnacle of godhood, Lin Lei was extremely nervous at this moment. "I hope they're all alive!" The land of the dead was a place of ceaseless slaughter, and it had been nearly three thousand years since his father and the others had died. The probability of them still being alive was vanishingly small.
Lin Lei glanced at Bei Bei. Bei Bei was clearly nervous as well.
"Bei Bei, it'll be fine. Everyone will be alive and well," Lin Lei transmitted through soul voice.
"Mm." Bei Bei nodded repeatedly. As they spoke, a corridor entrance suffused with dark, eerie light appeared ahead.
One after another, carried by the flow of people, Lin Lei and Bei Bei flew out of the corridor entrance and into a vast, open hall.
Flamebone Mountain, the great hall at the corridor entrance.
Back when Lin Lei and the others had entered the planar battlefield, this hall had been nearly empty. But now the entire hall was packed with people. They could hear barking orders: "Everyone, come over here to hand in your badges and have your military merit recorded! Soldiers, line up one by one and go to the other reception officers! Commanders, come to me for your records!"
Lin Lei and Bei Bei looked over. The one shouting was the Chief God's Emissary, the silver-haired elder, "Gaolun."
The entire hall was filled with rows of desks, each staffed by a recording officer who sat busily writing with pen in hand. Long queues snaked through the corridor. Only those who had surrendered their badges and had their records completed were permitted to leave. The space before Chief God's Emissary "Gaolun" was empty.
After all, commanders were rare.
"Mr. Gaolun," Lin Lei called out with a light laugh, then flew over.
"Lord Lin Lei, congratulations! To have come out of there alive." Gaolun's face broke into a smile when he saw Lin Lei and Bei Bei. His stern demeanor moments ago had been directed at the ordinary soldiers. Toward commanders of equal standing, he was quite cordial.
"Well then, did you earn enough military merit this time?" Gaolun asked with a hearty laugh.
"Enough," Lin Lei nodded.
Gaolun looked at Lin Lei with surprise. exchanging for a God-slaying artifact required a full ten enemy commander badges. "I wouldn't have guessed — truly admirable! Mr. Lin Lei, please hand over your own commander badge first. Your companion here as well. Might as well process it through me — if you go to my subordinates, you'll be queuing for ages."
Lin Lei glanced back. Indeed, the queues had already wound into circles throughout the hall, and many people were lined up floating in midair.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei each produced their blood-colored and black badges and handed them over.
The rules were extremely strict. Failing to produce one's own badge was a death sentence.
"Since you've accumulated enough military merit, there's no need for me to record anything. Go directly to meet the Chief God. Let the Chief God forge a God-slaying artifact for you," Gaolun said with a smile. "The Chief God has a record of every commander's military merit from every planar war. All you need to do is present the enemy commander badges you've obtained, and the Chief God will know."
With that, Gaolun pointed toward a secret passage that had opened behind him.
"Go through this passage, and you'll be able to meet the Chief God," Gaolun said with a smile.
"Meet the Chief God? The Chief God in person?" Bei Bei asked in astonishment.
Gaolun chuckled. "Of course not. The Chief God doesn't have time to waste on such matters. The Chief God you'll be meeting is merely an energy clone. The true body of the Chief God is still somewhere far away in the Netherworld."
"Mr. Lin Lei!" An enthusiastic greeting rang out. Lin Lei and Bei Bei couldn't help but turn to look. The speaker was a burly man in a purple robe with short black hair.
"Wosente!" Lin Lei gave a slight nod. He had seen this commander before and had a vague impression of him.
When Gaolun saw the newcomer, he immediately smiled: "Ah, Lord Wosente, congratulations." Anyone who made it out alive deserved congratulations. Gaolun continued: "Lord Wosente, did you earn enough military merit this time? Lord Lin Lei certainly earned enough — he entered over a hundred years later than you, after all."
"I'm still a bit short. Here are three commander badges — could you record them for me?" Wosente produced three golden badges and one of his own blood-colored badges, then added with a hearty laugh: "Gaolun, Mr. Lin Lei earning enough military merit is only natural. How could I compare with him? Mr. Lin Lei is, after all, a Grand Perfection cultivator."
Gaolun's expression froze in shock. He turned to look at Lin Lei.
"Grand Perfection?" Gaolun was stunned.
"Of course!" Wosente laughed. "Mr. Lin Lei fought that Grand Perfection cultivator, 'Magnus,' right there on the Star River passage of the planar battlefield! Their battle forced all the commanders and countless soldiers to stop fighting. Magnus was even banished into the spatial turbulence by Mr. Lin Lei!"
Gaolun couldn't believe it.
"You two chat. I'm going to meet the Chief God now," Lin Lei said quietly, then he and Bei Bei headed toward the secret passage behind Gaolun. Lin Lei could still faintly hear the conversation fading behind him—
"Lin Lei actually became Grand Perfection? Tell me the whole story!"
"I'll explain in detail later. But you said Lord Lin Lei — what's that about? Wasn't he an elder of the Azure Dragon Clan?"
Lin Lei couldn't hear the rest, because he had already stepped deep into the passage. The passage was quite wide — five meters across and nearly four meters tall. A hazy green glow seeped through the corridor walls, lending the entire passage a dreamlike quality. After walking for a short while—
A four-way junction appeared before Lin Lei.
"Which way do we go now?" Bei Bei was a bit dazed.
Lin Lei studied the junction carefully. There was no one else in the passage. Suddenly, a voice resonated in his mind: "Lin Lei, you two — take the leftmost passage. In a moment, you'll meet me."
"The Ruler of Death!" Lin Lei's eyes lit up.
"Bei Bei, this way." Lin Lei immediately led Bei Bei into the leftmost passage. After walking barely a hundred meters, they emerged from the passage into a vast, brightly lit hall.
Lin Lei swept his gaze across the hall. The throne atop the dais was empty. Instead, at the edge of the hall stood a slender figure in a purple robe, long red hair cascading down like blood. The figure suddenly turned, and its gaze pierced into Lin Lei's eyes, sending a jolt through his heart.
"Chief God." Lin Lei bowed slightly.
This was none other than the Ruler of Death. But Lin Lei could sense that although the Ruler of Death projected an aura of pressure, the actual power emanating from this figure was not very strong. Lin Lei concluded — this must be an energy clone凝聚 by the Ruler of Death.
"Impressive," the Ruler of Death said, looking at Lin Lei with the corner of her mouth curving slightly upward. "Lin Lei. I rarely admire anyone. But... I truly admire you now. After all, even though I hold the title of Ruler of Death, I have never reached Grand Perfection in the Laws myself. And yet you have achieved Grand Perfection. Remarkable!"
Lin Lei was taken aback.
During his conversations with Res Crystal, Lin Lei had learned that becoming a Chief God had nothing to do with reaching Grand Perfection. Many Chief Gods had never achieved it. But he hadn't expected that even the most powerful of them all, the Ruler of Death, had not reached Grand Perfection.
Of course, Lin Lei himself was not a Grand Perfection cultivator either — he had undergone a soul mutation. But this was something he had no intention of making public for now. He would simply let the assumption that he was a Grand Perfection stand. After all, a four-divisionsoul mutation was far too staggering a concept to reveal.
"In a mere thousand years, you've already reached such heights," the Ruler of Death praised.
"Chief God." Lin Lei bowed slightly, speaking respectfully. "Per our previous agreement — for each enemy commander badge I obtained, you would locate one person and restore their memories from their past life. I have come now to fulfill that agreement with you." Lin Lei got straight to the point.
The Ruler of Death glanced at Lin Lei, naturally radiating an air of lofty superiority, gazing down upon all living things.
"Become my emissary," the Ruler of Death said casually.
Lin Lei was momentarily stunned.
He did not wish to become a Chief God's Emissary, but this was the Ruler of Death who was speaking. If she were to use the rescue of his loved ones as leverage, he really had no way to refuse.