Leyvi turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see Lin Wei standing there.
"Brother Lin Wei! Are you leaving already?" he asked.
"Yes," Lin Wei replied with a warm smile. This time, he did not try to persuade Leyvi to join him again. He already knew the answer.
He was genuinely impressed with his friend. Leyvi had actually managed to marry City Lord Caterina. In this aspect, Lin Wei had to admit that even his own handsome face and background would not have been enough to achieve the same result.
"What about Senior Raisho?" Leyvi inquired.
"He's nearby, waiting for me to finish here," Lin Wei answered.
Leyvi simply nodded. His previous meetings and dealings with Senior Raisho were meant to remain secret, so he kept his familiarity to a minimum.
"What about your wives? Will they go with you? What about Mia?" Leyvi asked.
"Don't worry," Lin Wei said with a chuckle. "Right now, Mia is saying goodbye to Anda. I'm bringing all three of them with me. Knowing your personality, if I abandoned any of them, you'd probably sever our friendship. I don't want that to happen. Hahaha."
Leyvi chuckled and nodded. "You're not wrong. If you did that, I'd beat you up on their behalf."
He paused for a moment, then continued more seriously, "Also, what's the point of reaching the peak alone? To me, the true peak is when you get there and still have the people you care about by your side. Brother Lin Wei, I believe you're someone destined for greatness. However, remember this. Even if one day you attain Divinity, if I find out that you're alone, I will look down on you."
Lin Wei trembled slightly. Leyvi's words seemed to have struck something deep inside him.
Ever since the first time he met Leyvi at the Land Before Time Museum, he had always felt an inexplicable desire for Leyvi's approval. There was something special about Leyvi that he could never quite put into words. It was the same mysterious pull that had made him try so hard to recruit Leyvi back then.
Moreover, the reason he now had a harem was undoubtedly influenced by Leyvi. Watching Leyvi's rapid rise, supported so strongly by his wives, had genuinely impressed him. It convinced Lin Wei that such a path was not only viable but potentially powerful.
He was standing here today, ready to head toward the Galactic Center, largely because of the help he had received from his wives.
Mia, Angela, and Lana. All three had supported him greatly on his journey.
Yet deep in his heart, his own survival had always come first. If he were ever forced to choose between his life and theirs, he knew he would prioritize himself without hesitation.
Unbeknownst to him, Leyvi's words had just brought about another change within him. A change that would one day alter the fate of the entire galaxy.
If Anda were here, she would have noticed from Lin Wei's existential scent that the overwhelming weight his presence carried had just grown countless times heavier.
"Brother Leyvi, I will always remember those words," Lin Wei said earnestly. "The fact that you have such faith in my future makes me even more confident in myself. I'm truly glad I came to see you one last time before departing. This Lin Wei sincerely thanks you!"
He cupped his hands together and gave Leyvi a graceful, respectful bow.
"Hahaha! Don't take it so seriously. I might blush," Leyvi laughed. "Since you're leaving, I want to give you a proper goodbye present."
Lin Wei's eyes brightened with anticipation. Although he had already obtained many incredible treasures on his journey, he could not help but feel excited about anything Leyvi personally gave him.
A moment later, Leyvi produced a small object in his palm and held it out. "Here, take it. It's nothing too extravagant, but at least it's something that represents me, not something I simply bought or found."
"A diamond?" Lin Wei asked as he carefully picked it up.
Suddenly, his expression changed. "No, wait! I sense powerful bloodline energy coming from it! This is a bloodline gem!"
Lin Wei's surprised voice immediately drew the attention of everyone nearby. Some of the guests looked over with obvious greed in their eyes. Bloodline gems were extremely rare and valuable, so such reactions were only natural.
"Yes," Leyvi said with a calm smile, completely ignoring the greedy stares around them. "This is the very first bloodline gem that Mr. Bison produced. He made it quite recently. Since you and Mr. Bison already know each other, I thought it would be fitting to give it to you."
"Haha! This is fantastic!" Lin Wei said happily as he examined the gem. "What kind of power does it have?"
"It can make you delusional!" Leyvi joked.
"Huh?" Lin Wei looked utterly dumbfounded.
"Hahaha! I'm just kidding!" Leyvi laughed heartily, clearly amused by his friend's reaction. "As for its actual power, you can test it yourself later. It'll be more fun that way."
The crowd continued to stare at the bloodline gem with clear envy in their eyes. However, that alone was not enough to make anyone act recklessly. Not when Leyvi now had City Lord Caterina standing firmly by his side as a powerful deterrent.
As for the origin of the gem, most people already knew he possessed two Commander Level Demonic Beasts. It was therefore not surprising that he could obtain bloodline gems.
During one of his training sessions with Mr. Bison, Leyvi had once used the tusk barrier and casually praised its usefulness. Mr. Bison had immediately taken offense and declared that he could create something far better. When Leyvi expressed doubt, it only provoked the powerful demonic bison even more. The very next day, Mr. Bison had proudly produced his first bloodline gem.
Since bloodline gems could only be condensed by demonic beasts starting from the Commander Level, even the lowest grade ones already possessed power equivalent to tier-4 Spirit Equipment or Spirit Artifacts.
Mr. Bison's awakened bloodline, however, rivaled that of a General Level demonic beast. Because of this, the bloodline gem he created had reached tier-5 quality, powerful enough to be useful even against Soul Formation Realm powerhouses.
The bloodline power condensed within this diamond offered defensive capabilities similar to the tusk bloodline gems the family already possessed. Once activated, it would generate a translucent diamond-like barrier around the user, just like the tusk barrier.
However, in addition to its strong defense, it also carried a damage-reflecting ability derived from Mr. Bison's Heavenly Lord Diamond Body, though not as potent as the original.
Overall, it was a big upgrade compared to the tusk bloodline gems. Having a defensive treasure equivalent to a tier-5 artifact to protect his family would be extremely valuable.
Leyvi secretly planned to provoke Mr. Bison again next time so he could produce more of these bloodline gems. He did not intend to force the powerful bison, but he would use little tricks like this to motivate him. Eventually, he wanted every member of the Leyan Family to have one for protection.
Condensing bloodline gems using his own bloodline power would not harm Mr. Bison, but it would temporarily slow down his cultivation progress. The expended bloodline energy needed time to recover. Fortunately, with the Spiritual Vein now available in the family, this was no longer a major issue.
"Hahahaha!" Lin Wei laughed loudly. For a brief moment, he had genuinely believed the gem could make him delusional, and it had scared him a little.
After spending quite some time with Mr. Bison inside the pyramid, he knew firsthand that while the demonic bison was incredibly impressive, there was definitely something strange about his brain.
"Brother Leyvi, I will always treasure this gift," Lin Wei said sincerely as he cupped his hands once more.
After a short pause, he continued, "Then, I'll be going now. I hope we will meet again in the future."
"Maybe," Leyvi replied casually. "Anda wants us to reach Divinity, so as her husband, I have to help her achieve that goal."
Lin Wei's eyes lit up with excitement when he heard those words. To him, Leyvi's casual statement carried far more weight than any formal promise. With this, he now truly believed that one day their paths would cross again at the heart of the galaxy.
He did not say anything more. Instead, he gave Leyvi one final, respectful bow and turned to leave. The next time they met would most likely be on a far grander stage.
---
Far, far away from Archipela Planet, at the very center of the galaxy.
At the heart of the galaxy, where even light struggled to escape, a supermassive black hole reigned supreme over the void. Its event horizon formed an absolute boundary of no return, a place where the known laws of physics simply ceased to exist. Around it swirled a massive accretion disk of superheated plasma and shattered stellar debris, glowing with ferocious radiation that could incinerate anything from the outside universe in an instant. The immense gravitational pull warped space and time itself, twisting reality into a swirling funnel of absolute darkness.
Yet right at the edge of this terrifying event horizon, a lone cultivator sat cross-legged in meditation. The extreme environment, such as the crushing gravity, the deadly radiation, and the chaotic energy flows, would have instantly annihilated any other being in the galaxy. But he endured it all. His body and soul had been tempered over countless eons to withstand forces capable of tearing entire planets apart.
He was the only existence in this galaxy who had comprehended the Law of Time to such a profound degree that he could resist the extreme time dilation near the singularity. While others would experience time at a mere fraction of its normal speed here, he had bent the rules to his will. For him, time flowed at the same pace as it did for everyone else in the outside universe.
At this moment, the cultivator slowly opened his eyes.
Within them swirled laws so terrifying that a single glance could annihilate an entire world. Galaxies seemed to reflect in his pupils, and the weight of countless eons pressed behind his ancient gaze.
"What was that feeling just now?" he muttered. His voice was barely a whisper, yet it resonated through the empty void around him.
Something had changed. He was certain of it. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not grasp exactly what it was.
Even at his current unimaginable level, there were still many mysteries in the universe. His cultivation, mighty as it was, remained incomplete.
He let out a soft sigh. The sound carried an ancient weariness that seemed to echo across the ages.
"Hopefully… it is something good for us."
With that, he closed his eyes once more and returned to his cultivation.