Lin Lei was secretly relieved.
Fortunately, he had suspected Morde and figured this scheme wasn't so simple, which was why he had staked everything on his Sovereign God oath from the very beginning. Lin Lei's Sovereign God oath was indeed legitimate — although he possessed nine Spirit Pearls, he had genuinely known nothing about the Sovereign God relics beforehand.
But the Wind-type Chief God hadn't considered this.
Because according to the description on that piece of paper, Lin Lei had obtained both the nine Spirit Pearls and the Sovereign God Mirror. The Wind-type Chief God "Theresia" believed that if the intelligence was true, then Lin Lei would know about the Sovereign God relic. If the intelligence was false, Lin Lei would not know.
And now it appeared that Lin Lei hadn't known beforehand, which meant the intelligence was fake!
This logic seemed flawless!
In truth, the Wind-type Chief God hadn't realized that the paper had been Morde's own clever contrivance — containing a mix of truth and lies! Morde had done it so that even after Lin Lei handed over the nine Spirit Pearls, he would still be hunted by the Chief Gods. Unable to produce the relic, Lin Lei would likely be killed outright.
One truth, one lie — designed to make sure Lin Lei died.
What Morde hadn't foreseen was that this very mixture of truth and lies was what allowed Lin Lei to escape disaster. Truly, his own cleverness had been his undoing!
"It seems this intelligence may indeed be false," the silver-haired Chief God "Theresia" said flatly.
"You're the only one bored enough to believe such rubbish," the Blood Peak Chief God sneered.
Lin Lei let out a silent sigh of relief.
But Theresia's narrow, elongated eyes flicked toward the spatial ring on Lin Lei's finger, and she smiled faintly. "However, Lin Lei, you seem quite confident that you've been falsely accused. Very well — hand over your spatial rings for me to inspect. If there's nothing inside, then the intelligence is truly false… Oh, and bring out your other divine clones as well. Let me check all five spatial rings."
Lin Lei's heart lurched.
Inspect his spatial rings? He knew perfectly well that all nine Spirit Pearls were inside one of them.
"If I hand over the nine Spirit Pearls, she'll take that as proof the intelligence is true and demand the Sovereign God Mirror. When I can't produce it, this Chief God will probably kill me without hesitation." Lin Lei understood clearly — right now, even with the nine Spirit Pearls, he absolutely could not hand them over.
Moreover, the Sovereign God relic — the name alone made it obvious. This thing would attract every Chief God.
If he admitted to having it, even if the Wind-type Chief God didn't kill him today, the others would surely come. He would never know peace again.
"Chief God," Lin Lei said, his expression one of barely contained fury. "I, Lin Lei, have cultivated for years and finally reached Perfection! You may be a Chief God, but even mortals have tempers — let alone me! I've answered your questions one after another, even sworn an oath in the name of the Sovereign God of Fate, and yet you still want more?"
The Wind-type Chief God was momentarily speechless.
Lin Lei stood there in midair, staring directly at the Wind-type Chief God before him without the slightest trace of fear, and even laughed. "You want me to bring out my divine clones? Fine!" A thought crossed his mind, and his body shimmered, splitting into five — his other four divine clones materialized completely.
"Four divine clones?" Theresia was startled.
Ordinarily, a god cultivated one Law. Occasionally, some cultivated two. Those who cultivated three were already rare. Lin Lei had cultivated four Laws. It was genuinely remarkable.
"You're more sensible than I expected," Theresia said coldly.
Lin Lei and Theresia faced each other in the air, and he showed not a shred of deference. "Chief God, my five divine clones together possess five spatial rings! I believe I've shown sufficient sincerity — I've even sworn by the name of a Sovereign God. And yet you still want to search my rings? Very well, go ahead. Here are all five spatial rings. However, I must ask your pardon for not relinquishing ownership. I am a Highgod at Perfection — I am not your slave. If you wish to search my spatial rings… you'll have to kill me first!"
Lin Lei stared straight at Theresia.
His meaning was crystal clear — You're powerful. You're a Chief God! But I am not someone you can push around. If you really want to be shameless about this — go ahead. Kill me!
The Wind-type Chief God "Theresia" gazed at Lin Lei as though a venomous snake were appraising its prey.
Chief Gods cared about face. A Highgod at Perfection had reached the rank of "emperor" among gods, and he too had his pride. Without absolute certainty, treating Lin Lei this way — demanding he swear an oath and then insisting on searching all his clones' rings — was truly excessive.
A more hot-tempered Highgod at Perfection would rather die than submit to such humiliation.
"Theresia!" The Blood Peak Chief God's face darkened as he spoke angrily. "Lin Lei has already sworn an oath in the name of a Sovereign God! And that intelligence came from an ordinary piece of paper, not from the Sovereign God Mirror itself. You still want to search all five of his spatial rings? If word of this gets out, hah!"
The Wind-type Chief God "Theresia" was inwardly troubled. "This Lin Lei says he'll let me search — but only after I kill him. He's clearly backing me into a corner. If I search and find the nine Spirit Pearls, fine — I have justification. But if I kill Lin Lei and find nothing, then I've wronged him! If that news spreads… the embarrassment would be unbearable."
Theresia hesitated.
"Chief God, if you wish to search, go ahead. I, Lin Lei, have other matters to attend to and cannot stand here entertaining you," Lin Lei said solemnly. "As for this Morde you Chief Gods keep mentioning — not long ago, I destroyed his strongest divine clone! This so-called intelligence is obviously a frame-up. If the Chief God is done searching, I still intend to track Morde down and settle the score. Hmph, I didn't finish him off completely — I failed to destroy all his clones — and now he pulls a trick like this."
Theresia's brow furrowed.
She was right — she had learned at the Blood Peak Chief God's divine temple that Lin Lei had indeed destroyed Morde's strongest divine clone.
The Blood Peak Chief God sent a private transmission: "Theresia, you need to mind your station — you are a Chief God! At this point, are you really going to insist on searching?"
"Pash, are you going to stop me? It seems you've taken this Lin Lei's side," Theresia transmitted back.
"It's not that I want to stop you. I'm telling you — the Purple Demon Chief God asked me to look after Lin Lei," the Blood Peak Chief God replied via transmission. "And from what I know, Lin Lei was recently at the Planar Battlefield and only just returned. Where would he have gotten a Sovereign God relic? The intelligence is clearly false. Even if a Sovereign God relic existed, it wouldn't necessarily be on Lin Lei. But suppose — just suppose — it does exist, and it is on Lin Lei. What then? You'd go contest a Sovereign God relic?"
"What — I'm not allowed to?" Theresia transmitted.
"I know you've reached Perfection in your Laws as well. But you are merely a Lower-tier Chief God. When the storm kicks up, you should know… the previous six successes were all achieved by Sovereigns. And during those attempts, Chief Gods fell as well. You really want to involve yourself in that?"
Theresia hesitated.