Inside the Metallic Lifeform, a single remark from Bei Bei had prompted Lin Lei to examine the nine Spirit Pearls within his space ring using his divine sense. Yet what Lin Lei saw was something he could never have imagined — the nine Spirit Pearls had merged with the tattered crown. The crown now radiated a faint halo of light, looking nothing like its former ruined state.
Seeing this sight, shock flickered across Lin Lei's face.
"Boss, what's wrong?" Bei Bei asked, puzzled by his reaction.
"Nothing." Lin Lei quickly composed himself, forcing a calm smile. At the same time, he communicated through soul transmission: "Bei Bei, those nine Spirit Pearls are of enormous consequence. A Sovereign came here just now — specifically for those pearls. From this moment on, you must never mention the nine Spirit Pearls to anyone. Not even when we return to the Heaven Sacrifice Mountain Range."
Bei Bei and Lin Lei had weathered far too many storms together for him not to grasp the severity. He immediately replied through soul transmission: "Don't worry, Boss."
"Olivia, Dana, Daiya." Lin Lei looked at the three and transmitted through his divine sense: "Starting today, you must forget everything about those nine Spirit Pearls. Understand? If this information ever gets out, it will trigger a bloodbath. I could suffer terribly for it, and you — those who know — would likely be dragged in for interrogation as well."
Lin Lei dared not imagine how many people might be implicated once the nine Spirit Pearls were involved.
Apart from Moerde, the only ones who knew Lin Lei had obtained the nine Spirit Pearls were Olivia's family of three and Bei Bei. At the very least, if the news leaked, Olivia, Bei Bei, and the other two would definitely face disaster.
"Nine Spirit Pearls?" Olivia didn't press further, transmitting back: "Don't worry. We'll act as though we never saw them."
"Rest assured, Uncle Lin Lei," Daiya added.
Olivia and Dana were both Highgods — they understood the gravity of the situation. Daiya was also an adult now. In his eyes, even someone as invincible as "Lin Lei," who had achieved Perfection, speaking this seriously could only mean the matter was extremely grave.
"Moerde should be dead now. As long as you keep quiet, nothing major should come of this. Even if something does happen, it would only involve me," Lin Lei transmitted. He understood that although the Wind Sovereign Teresia had departed, it didn't mean the other Sovereigns had stopped being suspicious.
Lin Lei frowned, mulling things over: "Moerde likely didn't pass the news to just one or two Sovereigns. From when I left Tianshan Prefecture to reach Youlan Prefecture, less than a year has passed. The Blood Peak Sovereign and the Wind Sovereign were the quickest to respond. The other Sovereigns probably haven't heard yet. But it won't be long before they do. And when they come for me..."
Handling things alone wouldn't be a problem.
He was a soul-mutated Highgod who possessed Willpower — no Sovereign could even attempt to bewitch his soul.
But Olivia, Daiya, and the others were a different matter entirely. Better to keep them out of this as early as possible.
At the Heaven Sacrifice Mountain Range, within Lin Lei's estate.
Rein sat on the ground, leaning against a large tree, a book cradled in his hands. Yeru and George sat facing each other nearby.
"Our Third Brother takes his training too seriously. The moment he got back, he went straight into seclusion. He won't even let his main body rest. He's already at this level — what's the point of pushing himself so hard?" Rein sat on the ground, his eyes drifting over the pages, mumbling to himself. "Main body, four clones — he could leave one around to chat with us brothers, tell us about the journey. But he didn't even do that before sealing himself off."
George turned his head, glancing down at Rein on the ground, and chuckled: "Fourth Brother, did you really think someone as lazy as you could ever reach where Lin Lei is? Talent means nothing without hard work."
"I know, I know," Rein replied. Then he suddenly spotted Bei Bei nearby and called out: "Bei Bei! Come here for a sec!"
"I've got something to do. I'll come by later." Bei Bei dashed off without hesitation.
Bei Bei descended along the staircase. The corridor grew darker as he went down.
Before long, he arrived before a sealed chamber.
*Creaaak* — The stone door swung open. Inside the chamber, Lin Lei sat cross-legged with his long hair flowing freely. He opened his eyes, glanced at Bei Bei, and nodded with a smile: "Bei Bei, come sit down."
The stone door closed once more.
Bei Bei looked at Lin Lei questioningly: "Boss, is something up?"
"Bei Bei," Lin Lei transmitted through soul communication. "Earlier, you asked me what the deal was with the nine Spirit Pearls. I'll tell you now. But from here on, we can only communicate through soul transmission. Because... I don't know whether, at this very moment, a Sovereign is probing me with divine sense!"
A Sovereign's divine sense probing was something Lin Lei couldn't detect, so for safety's sake, he had not dared to produce the crown for even a moment.
"Of course, this has only just begun. Most Sovereigns probably don't know yet. So the odds of someone monitoring me right now are very low. But to be safe, we have to stay vigilant." Having survived the last crisis by the skin of his teeth, Lin Lei no longer indulged in wishful thinking.
"This seems like a pretty serious situation," Bei Bei's eyes gleamed as he transmitted.
"It is serious. Those nine Spirit Pearls are tokens of the Supreme Gods — things even Sovereigns covet. But I can't hand them over now, because once I do, the Sovereigns will demand the 'Supreme God's Artifact' from me in return. That would only invite more trouble! The most important thing right now is to hide the nine Spirit Pearls."
Lin Lei had deliberated at length. Although there were several possible approaches, he ultimately decided to enlist Bei Bei's help.
"Boss, tell me," Bei Bei transmitted.
Lin Lei spoke aloud: "Bei Bei, didn't you say you wanted to devour divine cores? There are plenty inside this space ring." He handed a space ring to Bei Bei. Speaking those words aloud while simultaneously transmitting through soul communication: "Bei Bei, the tokens of the Supreme Gods are inside this ring. You must not open it. What you need to do is swallow the ring. You should be capable of crafting divine core weapons by now, right? Hide this ring inside the layered structure of a divine core weapon, fusing them as one. I'm sure you can manage that."
"Relax, Boss. I'm actually in the middle of crafting a divine core weapon right now," Bei Bei replied with full confidence.
Having only recently reached Highgod status, Bei Bei couldn't yet forge divine core weapons on his own. But after more than a thousand years and consuming countless divine cores, he had long since developed the ability.
"This ring — I'll swallow it later. I won't refine or absorb it. I'll just embed it inside the divine core weapon. Heh heh, a divine core weapon — even a Sovereign can't see through its outer shell to the contents within. If a Sovereign does come to investigate, how would they ever suspect my divine core weapon?" Bei Bei was brimming with confidence.
"If anyone investigates, they'll probably start with me first," Lin Lei transmitted with a faint smile.