Time flew like a passing white colt, and in the blink of an eye, half a month and more had already passed since Lang Lei's first spirit fight at the Heaven Dou Grand Arena. Over these past two weeks, Lang Lei's figure had appeared with dazzling frequency at the Heaven Dou Grand Arena, shining brightly like a brilliant star and capturing everyone's attention.
In the operations of the Great Soul Arena, every single battle was like a visual feast, driving countless spectators to scream in a frenzy. Coupled with Lang Lei's already exquisite techniques and formidable strength, many people could not help but fall under his spell. As time went on, Lang Lei's reputation spread rapidly across the continent like wildfire, becoming a popular topic of conversation for people after their meals and tea.
To this day, Lang Lei had yet to taste a single defeat, and the Great Soul Arena did not dare to tear off their polite facade and genuinely dispatch spirit masters whose ranks far exceeded Lang Lei's.
Originally, many factions harbored doubts regarding Lang Lei's talent and background, believing this was merely an excuse fabricated by the Heaven Dou Empire to save face. However, when the spies from various factions transmitted Lang Lei's true situation back one by one, everyone fell silent.
Faced with the various invitations that flew in like snowflakes, Lang Lei appeared somewhat indifferent.
To tell the truth, Lang Lei was not particularly fond of this feeling of being watched by everyone. What he preferred more was to quietly cultivate all by himself alone.
However, Elysia was exceptionally interested in his newfound fame.
"Lang Lei, you're completely famous now~" Elysia said in a sweet voice.
Lang Lei smiled helplessly and replied, "Mm, that is indeed the case. However, with things being this way, no matter where I go, there will always be people keeping watch. It really is somewhat inconvenient."
"Sorry for the trouble, bearing all this on behalf of others..." she said softly, her tone revealing a trace of heartache.
Lang Lei shook his head and comforted her, "It's fine. To be honest, you could say this is something I volunteered for anyway. After all, if one wants to gain a foothold in this world, one must inevitably face these things. Besides, I've never seen such a weak deity before; if I don't take the opportunity to properly study something like divinity, it would simply be too much of a pity."
A while ago, when Lang Lei was studying the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, he accidentally discovered a strand of consciousness within it. It claimed to be the Sea God, and the high-and-mighty tone in its voice made Lang Lei somewhat displeased.
At the exact moment Lang Lei indicated he had no desire to inherit the other's god position, the counterpart immediately made the strong demand that Lang Lei return the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to Sea God Island.
How could that possibly do!
He was still bitterly searching for items possessing divinity himself, so how could he possibly bear to give away what he currently possessed in his hands to someone else? Furthermore, these things were all compensated to him by the Heaven Dou Empire in the first place, and had long since been regarded as his private property.
A total stranger actually harbored the delusional notion of making him hand these things over—it was simply wishful thinking! Unless the other party could produce something better than these items to trade with, otherwise, he should forget about it!
Sure enough, seeing that Lang Lei refused to submit, the other party immediately attempted to forcibly control Lang Lei, directly charging into Lang Lei's spiritual space. However, at that very instant, a shocking scene occurred: a gigantic "vortex" resembling a mountain stood quietly right there, emitting an aura that caused one's heart to palpitate.
This sudden turn of events made the Sea God's strand of consciousness instantly realize that the situation was dire, and he decisively wanted to flee this terrifying place at once. However, how could Lang Lei let him have his way? Lang Lei did not hesitate in the slightest to block him, forcefully intercepting the Sea God's strand of consciousness.
In this heart-pounding mental clash, the Sea God discovered with horror that the strength of his own incomparably powerful spiritual body was actually far inferior to this seemingly ordinary human before his eyes! This discovery filled the Sea God's heart with fear and despair.
In the end, faced with Lang Lei's formidable spiritual power, this strand of consciousness had no power to fight back and was completely annihilated, not even leaving the slightest trace of residue behind.
"Compared to those entities in other worlds I've witnessed that call themselves deities, the deities of this world are truly vastly inferior in strength. Perhaps once I recover just a small portion of my strength, it will be enough to defeat that fellow's true body. When that happens, he can just right be used as a test subject to investigate what this so-called divinity actually is." The corners of Lang Lei's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a confident smile.
"Lang Lei, the way you look right now is really cut from the same cloth as Mobius~" Elysia teased.
Upon hearing this, Lang Lei did not mind at all, and replied with a smile, "Oh? Is that so? Then I really am undeserving of such high praise; my brain is far from being as clever as Mobius's. If it weren't for that layer of the Honkai Energy Tide Belt blocking the pathwalker power, Mobius probably would have already become a Pathwalker of Wisdom, and might even have squeezed into the ranks of the Genius Club."
"If Mobius were to hear these words of yours, she would definitely be overjoyed~"
The smile on the corner of Lang Lei's mouth did not diminish, and he merely replied indifferently, "Unlikely, I'd say... However, we should temporarily put these thoughts aside for now. After all, I'm about to reach the thirtieth rank very soon, and can just swallow that Snowfall Goose Down Cattail to enhance my own strength. By this afternoon, I'll go look for Sister Xue and Sister Bing to head to the Star Dou Great Forest together and hunt spirit beasts."
Lang Lei hurried to change the subject. Although Elysia's tone sounded no different than usual right now, Lang Lei could be said to be the person who understood her best apart from Elysia herself, and naturally knew what her true feelings were at this moment.
The Thirteen Flame Chasers—these were a group of people extremely important in Elysia's heart, but over half of this group had died or been injured. Ever since Elysia's consciousness was reborn within Lang Lei, this could be considered a rare knot in her heart that was hard to untie.
Whenever it involved Lang Lei, Elysia's attention was indeed successfully diverted.
"Eh? But isn't Lang Lei's current strength already enough to independently hunt for a spirit ring? Why bother troubling them?"
"How should I put it—to reduce some unnecessary trouble, and besides, someone has to guard my back while I absorb my spirit ring, right?" Lang Lei explained.
"Oh? Could it be that Lang Lei actually wants to give them some nurturing experience~?"
"What are you saying! I'm going to absorb the Snowfall Goose Down Cattail first..."
"Mm-hm~?"
Lang Lei took the Snowfall Goose Down Cattail out from the storage soul tool and shoved it straight into his mouth.
The moment he swallowed it, Lang Lei felt a surge of soul power begin to rapidly rush into his veins.
The absorption of the Snowfall Goose Down Cattail did not waste too much of Lang Lei's time, and the effects were not as earth-shattering as he had imagined.
Since it was just something thrown in as a bonus, Lang Lei did not expect this item to have any heaven-defying effects.
Yet this herb truly did help him easily step into the thirtieth rank; if he had been left to cultivate on his own, it probably would have taken another few weeks. But right now, Lang Lei even felt that after he finished absorbing his spirit ring, he could experience yet another wave of improvement.
His god trial was now also halfway completed; once he finished absorbing his third spirit ring, he would be able to continue shocking those people who were keeping watch on him.
Before you continue