Only when Linley lowered his knife and stood still did Lei Lin, who had been completely absorbed in the stone carving, suddenly come back to his senses.
The aura around him changed abruptly. Electricity flickered, and a wave of pressure flashed past!
Eighth level. He'd made it!
At that moment, Lei Lin felt his strength had increased substantially once again.
In terms of combat power, he estimated he could probably go toe-to-toe with Lantan in her normal state!
After sensing the changes in his body, Lei Lin sighed inwardly.
He'd been at the peak of the seventh level for some time. Although he could feel himself growing stronger every day, he just hadn't broken through.
At first, he'd thought he hadn't accumulated enough strength and needed to keep building it up for a while longer.
He'd believed that, with continued accumulation, he would naturally break through once he had enough.
But this breakthrough made Lei Lin realize that he'd been far too tense all this time!
Before the seventh level, things had been fine. Breaking through each level's bottleneck hadn't been too difficult, but the seventh level was a watershed.
After the seventh level, breaking through each successive level became much harder!
Although he wouldn't face any true bottlenecks before reaching the Saint Realm, he still had to make sure both his battle-qi and mental strength were up to the task before breaking through.
His situation was different from that of an ordinary warrior. He couldn't become an Eighth-level Warrior merely by accumulating enough battle-qi to reach the eighth level.
What he needed most was balance!
His energy—battle-qi and magic—his body, and his mental strength—in other words, his essence, energy, and spirit—all had to reach the eighth level before he could break through.
Otherwise, the changes in his bloodline would end up hindering his growth!
Thanks to the large supply of high-grade magic crystals excavated from the crystal mines, Lei Lin's battle-qi and magic power had already reached the required level.
But he'd been living under too much pressure all this time, and the emotional strain had kept his mental strength from catching up.
Now, as he watched Linley carve, he'd completely relaxed. It wasn't an epiphany, but his mental strength had naturally improved.
Although the improvement was nothing compared to Linley's while he was in a state of enlightenment, it was enough for Lei Lin, already at the peak of the seventh level, to break through that fragile bottleneck.
"Sigh, I really have been living too tensely."
"I need to make some adjustments from now on. I should spend more time on art and entertainment, or spend more time with my family!"
Lei Lin quickly reined in his aura. Seeing the attention that had shifted to him because of his breakthrough, he said nothing.
He simply walked over to Linley and said, "Let's get something to eat."
Then he glanced at the stone carving and added, "After we eat, get a good night's sleep and rest."
Linley looked back at the carving and nodded without a word.
The stone carving was still named Dream Awakening. After eating and getting a good night's sleep, Linley, just as in the original story, decided to return to the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
After giving it some thought, Lei Lin didn't suggest going with him, but secretly followed him instead.
As a little butterfly, he'd already brought enormous changes to this world.
Especially after personally saving Hogg, he'd become certain that, apart from little things and details, even some major events weren't set in stone.
He wasn't sure whether Linley would still be lucky enough to devour the Dragon Blood and Dragon Crystal of a Spine-backed Iron-Armored Dragon and become a Dragonblood Warrior.
"Sigh, strictly speaking, Linley himself is a person whose fate can't be predicted!"
"Given the influence of an anomaly like me, it's already lucky that Linley himself hasn't changed much so far."
"But I still have to stick close to him!"
"Even if Linley can't become a Controller in the future because of me, Beirut will definitely look after him because of Beibei."
"As a little butterfly, I can enjoy a bit of a big shot's protection, too!"
"Here on the Magnolia Continent... Beirut is someone you can't get around!"
"I have to maintain my relationship with Linley and Beibei!"
Thinking of this, Lei Lin sighed inwardly. "I wonder if Beirut has discovered Beibei yet. A Main God, no less..."
Whenever he thought of Beirut, Lei Lin felt a heavy sense of pressure.
To a Main God, without a divine spark to protect you, your memories were an open book. Even after someone became a god, there were all sorts of methods, such as Soul Bewilderment, to toy with their soul and memories.
He didn't know whether his Golden Finger could keep Beirut from discovering his secrets!
That was also why he hadn't dared to target Linley and Beibei early on.
"Forget it. There's no point overthinking it!"
"As a Main God, Beirut normally wouldn't stoop to probing someone else's memories."
"Or rather, even if he did probe my memories and learned my secrets, I wouldn't be able to fight back!"
With that thought, Lei Lin calmed down. "Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it. I just need to do what I can!"
"Even if Beirut probes my memories and learns my secrets, considering my current relationship with Linley and Beibei..."
"I probably, maybe, most likely won't get killed on the spot~"
"Or..."
The more he thought about it, the more firmly Lei Lin resolved himself. "Why the hell am I worrying so much? What good will it do?"
"I can't fight back anyway. If I'm found out, I'll come clean. If I'm not, I'll keep cultivating."
"Just focus on getting stronger!"
Under a large tree, Linley had just killed a Bloodthirsty Iron Bull. Seeing Doehring beside him looking distracted, he asked, "Grandpa Doehring, what's wrong?"
Doehring shook his head. "Nothing."
But inwardly, he wondered, "What's gotten into that kid Lei Lin? He suddenly seems different."
Lei Lin could keep his secret protection of Linley from Linley, but not from Doehring.
Or rather, he hadn't planned to keep it from Doehring!
After all, how could he do a good deed without letting anyone know?
If no one knew, wouldn't it all have been for nothing?
Lei Lin had never been one to hide in the shadows!
Sensing a disturbance in the Electromagnetic Wave, Lei Lin thought, "This fluctuation...?"
"Right, it must be Doehring!"
"He's the only one nearby I can't sense!"
With his current strength, Lei Lin couldn't perceive Doehring in his soul state. However, the fundamental nature of mental strength was also an Electromagnetic Wave!
He couldn't see Doehring, but if Doehring released his mental strength, Lei Lin could still sense it through the Electromagnetic Wave.
Thinking of this, Lei Lin sensed Lantan and the others following far behind him.
"Sigh, although Lantan can be annoying, she's the only Saint Realm fighter I can make use of right now."
"I hope the Purple-Striped Magic Bear and the Spine-backed Iron-Armored Dragon still end up badly wounded from fighting each other!"
"Otherwise, if I join the battle and deliberately get myself caught in a trap, even if Lantan's squad uses the Angel Form battle array, they probably won't be a match for the Purple-Striped Black Bear."
"In that situation, Lantan will most likely order one of her subordinates to assume Angel Form—the power of the Saint Realm—to protect me and die. Assuming Angel Form will leave their bodies unable to bear the strain, causing them to collapse and die!"
"If that happens, the Holy See will definitely strengthen the forces protecting me afterward!"
"That'll make it much harder for me to do a lot of things freely!"
Before you continue