In this profound moment, Lin En finds himself speechless, eventually shaking his head in disbelief.
"There's no need for secrecy anymore. I'll be frank with you; I know exactly what's in that box!"
Lin En's declaration extinguishes the last spark of hope in Doran's heart, leaving him stunned and muttering in disbelief, "Impossible... how could you possibly know..."
Suddenly, Doran erupts into mad laughter, tears streaming down his face, lamenting the irony of fate, "How cruelly ironic! I've inadvertently crafted a masterpiece for someone else. The agony!"
In this instant, Doran gains a slight but pivotal understanding of the rules of fate, marking a transformative step forward.
As Lin En is about to speak, his expression shifts dramatically.
"Buzz——!"
The cosmic rules descend!
Doran achieves godhood, the essence of fate coalescing into a divine essence that enters his forehead, signifying his internal ascension.
"Such an occurrence..."
Lin En watches with a mix of emotions, observing Doran's dramatic reversal of fortunes, reminiscent of a novel's protagonist's miraculous comeback.
"Buzz!"
Rejuvenated post-ascension, Doran exudes confidence. A divine light courses through him, and he wields a superior divine artifact sword, its godly resonance pointing directly at Lin En.
"Lin En, surrender the items, and your life will be spared!"
Now brimming with confidence, Doran believes in his advantage, having chosen internal ascension over Lin En's external path.
He sees this turn of events as fate's finest orchestration.
Lin En sighs, his heart a blend of complexity and melancholy. Despite Doran's past benefactions and deceptions, Lin En had refrained from thoughts of killing him.
But the unfolding events have exceeded all expectations.
Hesitation invites turmoil.
Lin En, foregoing any further dialogue, activates his Water Element divine avatar, unleashing his Divine Domain to ensnare Doran, wielding a superior divine artifact with unparalleled might.
His attack, embodying the elusive qualities of water and fog, is still nascent but overwhelmingly effective against a freshly ascended lower god like Doran.
"A mid-level god!?"
Feeling the distinct nature of Lin En's Water Element divine power, Doran is startled, his emotions a mix of shock and absurdity. Paralyzed, he watches helplessly as the illusory sword strike looms.
"Slash!"
His clothes tear, revealing black armor that withstands Lin En's formidable assault.
A flicker of triumph crosses Doran's face.
Visible cracks appeared before the naked eye.
Lin En's expression remained calm, his hand movements not delaying a moment, as he swiftly followed up with a second strike.
"Putch!"
The armor was torn open, the sword blade cutting in, and the force of the impact turned Duolun's divine body into a mist of blood, leaving behind only a divine core, three divine artifacts, and a space ring.
Lin En's face was as serene as water as he collected these items, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. He couldn't help but close his eyes and mutter, "Perhaps this is your destiny... the fickleness of fate in this world..."
In an instant, a glint of inspiration flashed through his mind, deeply imprinting in the depths of his soul, resonating faintly.
Lin En's mastery of the Great Prophecy had already reached a certain level of proficiency. At this moment, the timing was just right, and the power of the destiny rule began to converge.
Briefly.
"Buzz——!"
The rules of heaven and earth descended once again!
He chose to become a god externally.
"Ah——!"
No matter how many times it happened, the tearing of the soul was an unbearable agony.
Plans could not keep up with changes; the soul of Lin En's main body in the holy realm became extremely weak, including his white-robed destiny god incarnation. He was in dire need of soul recovery.
His water elemental god incarnation remained outside, flying quickly, hurrying home.
In the basement of the duke's mansion.
Lin En looked pale, taking out a piece of purple crystal and trying to absorb the energy stored within. Wisps of purple vapor were drawn out, coming to life, being absorbed bit by bit. However, the efficiency was miserably low, like a snail's pace!
Lin En sighed deeply.
No wonder these purple crystals were not as popular as soul gold beads; their absorption efficiency was truly pitiful.
Quickly, three years passed.
Lin En looked down at the purple crystal in his hand, its size barely changed. He frowned and muttered to himself, "This won't do; the absorption efficiency is too low. I need to think of a way."
A flash of inspiration struck him, and he took out the diary of a fallen god-level entity.
This was a six-star demon named Balzac, born in a tribe in hell. The diary's entries spanned time quite sporadically, ranging from a few days to several hundred years per entry.
The information within the lines revealed the chaos and horror of hell.
Tribes often fought over resources. Once any side gained power, they would immediately swallow up surrounding tribes without hesitation.
Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp.
The law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest.
To kill, no reason needed.
One section of the diary contained crucial information.
Balzac once was surrounded and fought desperately to break free. After falling unconscious, he woke up to find his soul had undergone an incredible change, allowing him to integrate different types of divine power.
"This fallen god-level being was actually a soul mutant!"
Lin En was shocked to read this, but then he realized why there was a soul defense artifact. He had previously wondered why a few god-level beings with certain soul studies could refine such things. Now it all made sense; the soul accomplishments of a soul mutant needed no further explanation.
But these were at most a novelty, unable to help his current situation.
He continued to rapidly skim through...
Lin En ignored some routine records and actually found a solution to his current difficulties.
A magic circle!
Purple crystals were precious and hard to absorb energy from, but that didn't stop the wisdom of numerous god-level beings.
Gradually, a magic circle that could assist and accelerate the absorption of purple crystal energy began to circulate among a few strong beings, only to be abandoned soon after.
Because of an unavoidable side effect.
The consumption was too great!
Not to mention the material consumption for constructing the magic circle, it required a god-level being to continuously supply divine power to operate the magic circle. Moreover, using this method to refine a purple crystal would waste more than ninety percent of its energy!
In summary, it was a thankless task.
Only in very few cases, like Lin En currently needing to heal soul damage and then fully deduce the rules of destiny, was it an exception.
Waste is waste; what does it matter?
Once decided, immediate action!
First, he carefully read the diary's description of the magic circle, understood it thoroughly, and then checked the materials. Luckily, he had them all in his ring.
Three days later, the magic circle was ready.
From the outside, the double circular structure of the hexagram interwoven with runes was powered by the dark elemental god incarnation, emitting a faint silver glow mixed with wisps of black light. After briefly testing it a few times and confirming everything was smooth, he placed a purple crystal at the center of the magic circle.
Lin En sat cross-legged in front of the magic circle.
"Crack... Crack..."
The purple crystal cracked open, most of the purple vapor inside dispersed, and only a tiny fraction was absorbed and refined by him to nourish his soul...
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, ten years passed.
"Crack, crack..."
Another purple crystal turned to dust. Lin En opened his eyes, his chest heaving, exhaling deeply. His eyes were clear and bright, his soul force abundant and strong.
"Almost there."
Lin En whispered to himself.
The diary also recorded that rule-based cultivation was quite unique, forming an entire system without the esoteric divisions of law-based cultivation. Hence, the pros and cons were clear.
Fast people are very fast, slow people are very slow.
It all depends on personal insight and opportunity.
Thirteen years ago, the moment he became a god, Lin En felt the mysterious and unpredictable power of the destiny rule, invisible threads connecting people to people, people to magical beasts, and people to nature.
As time passed, this feeling became more stable.
Suddenly frowning, he remembered something odd.
All of Lin En's incarnations merged, entering the soul space of the main body in the holy realm, and he went to the outside duke's mansion.
Today was a family gathering, a chance to exchange feelings and discuss a tricky issue.
"Sizzle..."
The soft light illuminated the room, silver cutlery glided across plates, slicing delicious tender meat, while everyone sipped on fragrant wine.
The atmosphere at the banquet seemed harmonious, with everyone chatting and laughing, but a few people showed traces of worry in their brows.