Chapter 1034: Moonlit Toad Demon Soul

"I've seen the mysterious lady."

Lei En immediately sensed VijesCui's avatar descending; although he often makes sarcastic remarks, when they appeared before him, his face still remained respectful and devout.

The God of Magic observed Lei En with both eyes.

"The shadow illusion of Gratzet clouded my perception, and I couldn't discern it in time, so I'm late," VijesCui explained, with a touch of apology and a vague embarrassment, noting that even as the God of Magic they had been fooled by a Demon Lord's illusion.

If it weren't for Lei En repelling Gratzet, the shadow illusion would have automatically dissipated, and they might still not have perceived the truth now.

If Lei En were to get into trouble...

When VijesCui noticed the change, they were actually quite nervous; Lei En is too important to them.

Because of Lei En's many actions and merits, their divine power has increased in the past ten years more than in the previous thousand years; now they are accustomed to this surge of divine power, even somewhat dependent on it, and cannot imagine how great the loss would be without Lei En!

So after detecting the anomaly, they did not hesitate to descend an avatar.

To reach the scene as quickly as possible and lessen the resistance of descending into the Prime Material Plane, the avatar they sent contains little divine power, equivalent to a mid‑Saint Rank strong individual, and they have even prepared for the avatar's fall, merely seeking to stop Gratzet and rescue Lei En.

At that moment, seeing him safe and sound, they gave a slight nod and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Lei En immediately sensed the God of Magic's thoughts.

He excels at discerning hearts; even without the Soul Eye he can see their nervousness, and that is precisely the result of his years of deliberate cultivation.

It is not mortal followers worshipping a deity, but a cooperative relationship.

You need me more than I need you.

"The Demon Lord is extremely cunning; it's normal for the lady to be momentarily careless," Lei En was very understanding, bearing no blame toward VijesCui, and instead showed gratitude: "Thank you for your concern, lady; I will never betray your protection."

The more he said that, the more VijesCui felt uneasy.

But as a deity, they maintained their composure, gave a gentle nod, ceased to dwell on the matter, and instead asked: "What did Gratzet do?"

"He wants to make a deal with me."

Lei En recounted his conversation with the Demon.

"You are very wise!" VijesCui said after listening, praising Lei En further, and added: "At any time, never make a deal with a Demon. Even if a tremendous benefit lies before you, it is inevitably a Demon's trap; once you fall into it, it's over."

"Even I am somewhat wary of Gratzet's power; if you make a deal with them, you will certainly regret it in the future."

VijesCui felt a lingering fear.

"Remember the lady's teaching," Lei En said solemnly, then relaxed his expression, "In fact, I saw through Gratzet's trick from the start; no matter how strong their power, it cannot pass through the Abyssal Gate, and those threats are weightless."

In the words of a past life, Gratzet is described as "outwardly fierce, inwardly weak."

Their notorious name is too resonant, their entrance extremely terrifying, and that black giant face over two hundred meters tall makes souls shudder.

But their performance was over the top.

Lei En had covertly advanced into the Abyss years ago, so naturally he had studied this famed Demon Lord.

In the records about Gratzet, no one knows which type of Demon they belong to, but their true form is only a roughly three‑meter‑tall humanoid Demon; the size is not huge, and they would never have a two‑hundred‑meter‑tall face—that is an illusion they created to frighten people.

Their power cannot permeate into the Prime Material Plane, nor can they impose punishment.

The only method is to send an avatar through the Abyssal Gate, but the stronger the avatar, the greater the resistance entering the Prime Material Plane, and the gods will notice the movement.

Moreover, once the avatar is discovered by the gods, there is no return.

If they intend to threaten themselves, the avatar they send must possess the strength of an upper‑tier Demon, but that cannot be hidden from the gods' perception.

An avatar too weak is useless, too strong will be detected, so they have only the path of deception left.

Everything is just bluster.

Lei En was initially startled, but a few seconds later saw through Lord of the Dark Abyss's trick, immediately charged the main cannons of four Star Destroyers; he didn't expect Gratzet truly didn't notice, yet even if they discovered it, it would be useless and wouldn't change the outcome.

This counts as a feud with Lord of the Dark Abyss.

But it's fine; as long as one doesn't casually enter the Abyss and approach the three layers of planes ruled by Gratzet, they pose little threat.

Such boldness and meticulousness made VijesCui's eyes shine.

"You are great!"

The God of Magic exclaimed in admiration, then with a sly smile said, "But it's also very risky."

"Please, lady, enlighten me," Lei En assumed a posture of eager listening.

"If you fail to destroy the Abyssal Gate and completely enrage Gratzet, they might expend a massive amount of Abyssal power, enough for a powerful avatar to instantly pass through the Abyssal Gate and descend, perishing together with you; what would you do?" VijesCui asked calmly.

Lei En smiled, "They won't."

"Oh?"

"Gratzet doing that cannot save those twenty‑million Demon subjects; it would only lose more Abyssal power," Lei En said, looking at VijesCui. "I think, as long as Lord of the Dark Abyss retains any rationality, they will know how to choose."

Abyssal power to a Demon Lord is like the power of faith to a deity.

For each point of Abyssal power lost, Gratzet's strength diminishes by a point; having sat upon the Demon Lord's throne for ten thousand years, they understand how to make the trade‑off.

"Demons are all mad, incomprehensible; Demon Lords are the pinnacle of madness, and you dare expect it to stay rational?" VijesCui dismissed it, admonishing: "Lei En, you must remember this sentence."

"Yes, lady."

Lei En lowered his head to indicate he remembered.

Then he lifted his head again and said calmly, "Even if the worst case occurs, I am not worried. I know the lady is surely on her way; your great divine power always protects me, and Gratzet is merely a Demon Lord who cannot harm me."

In fact, what he meant was that if Gratzet's avatar self‑detonated, a Star Destroyer could at least block it.

Things have progressed to this point, and VijesCui still couldn't perceive it; then this so‑called God of Magic is nothing but a farce!

Might as well crash headfirst to death.

"You..." VijesCui raised a slender finger at Lei En, smiling, but secretly feeling a bit uneasy, and said, "I cannot monitor you constantly, and must also be wary of Gratzet's retaliation; it could send a few weaker avatars to ambush you, which is possible."

If it's merely a regular Saint Rank avatar, it can still evade the gods and infiltrate the Prime Material Plane.

Evil deities are all like this.

For example, Ban Ke and Luo Xi, Demon Lords can also do it; such ordinary Saint Rank avatars cannot cause much commotion, but can operate covertly, corrupt, plot conspiracies, assassinate important mortals, etc., and will not hesitate to self‑detonate at crucial moments.

Lei En naturally would not fear such tactics; any ordinary Saint Rank avatar is essentially a death sentence.

But VijesCui said that, clearly to benefit themselves, so they remained silent, a hint of worry flashing in their eyes at the right moment.

Their gaze fell on Lei En, and their eyes emitted a magical radiance.

Lei En had long turned off his phone, allowing them to observe.

A few seconds later, VijesCui nodded appreciatively, "Your power has risen quickly, the fused magic soul is also quite good; you've already reached level 24 so fast. If you can successfully complete the eighth soul transformation it will be safer, and Ge La Zi Te can no longer threaten you."

"But I have no extra magic souls in my hand."

They thought for a moment, as if making an important decision, "However, the core of this incarnation of mine is a very precious magic soul, which suits you well, so I will grant it to you."

VijesCui seemed a bit reluctant.

That made Lei En both shocked and delighted; a magic soul that even the God of Magic deems extremely precious, and even serves as the core of a divine power incarnation, must be a rarity in the world!

He immediately said, "Thank you for the goddess's gift."

Having said the words, VijesCui naturally felt embarrassed to take them back and admonished, "I hope your fusion succeeds this time; don't waste the magic soul."

"Yes!"

Lei En loudly promised, "I will definitely prepare the best conditions before performing the soul‑transformation ceremony again."

VijesCui's incarnation split apart, the mysterious vast divine power turned into rainbow‑like rays that gradually faded, the bridge of the Luoshengdu bathed in great power, Bo Erqi couldn't help but fall prostrate; when he felt the divine aura disappear, he dared to lift his head.

A purple gem hovered before Lei En.

This was another Purple Source Soul Crystal, capable of permanently preserving a magic soul; it retained the God of Magic's divine power, and a magic soul emerged within.

"Boss!"

Bo Erqi scrambled to his feet, rushed to the Purple Source Soul Crystal, his curiosity nearly exploding, and shouted, "What kind of magic soul is this?"

The magic soul bestowed by a deity, he had never heard of any mortal being so lucky before.

Lei En gently seized the Purple Source Soul Crystal, stored it into the Nebula Ring, not intending to let Bo Erqi know too much, and sternly warned, "Do not utter a single word about the lady's arrival today. If I find you gossiping, hmph…"

"How could I dare!" Bo Erqi shrank his neck, disappointed inside, but dared not be curious any longer.

Lei En ordered, "Prepare for battle."

A teleportation gate opened on the bridge, and Strange stepped out.

Earlier, Lei En knew that once the shadow illusion was lifted, there was a very high chance the God of Magic would descend, so he had preemptively sent Strange away from the bridge; the other Grand Mage avatars on the Star Destroyer also hid in concealed corners of the Star Destroyer.

Strange sat in the captain's seat, piloted the Star Destroyer away from the massive crater left by the Abyssal Gate explosion, and, dozens of li away, ordered the hangar's troops to deploy.

The army descended from the sky, beginning to cleanse demons and monsters.

Ai Xing Ge returned to Kui Yin Te to eliminate Evil Beastmen, Kalanos was teleported to Mo Lando, and Yi Ge also took charge of a sector, dropping troops to annihilate demons.

Luosadi'aosi's territory was vast, equivalent to three to four imperial provinces, housing ten million demons and ten million monsters; there were tens of thousands of magic nests alone. Clearing so many foes was a massive task, taking at least three months to finish.

However, the Fear Demon King and the Demon Lord were dead, and the Abyssal Gate's evil energy had been severed.

No matter how many demons there are, they will not pose a threat.

The Duke's guard, Extreme Warriors, and the Holy Spear Knight Corps, each unit landed on the ground, obliterating every enemy they saw.

Lei En oversaw the battle for a moment aboard the Luoshengdu.

Combat proceeded smoothly; each magic nest was razed, hordes of demons and monsters were slain, their corpses piled together, and after the troops left, giant phagocyte worms devoured them and delivered them to Black Soul Valley; from start to finish there was no decent resistance.

Every minute they harvested hundreds of demon souls, continuously converting them into electricity.

The Soul Diamonds in the Pixel World piled higher and higher.

Lei En, confident, handed command to four Grand Mage avatars, teleported into a meditation chamber of the Star Destroyer, and took out the Purple Source Soul Crystal.

From the oval gem floated a magic soul.

Its form was extremely peculiar: a mass of moon‑white light formed a four‑legged creature, its hind legs crouched, a round bulging belly, front legs supporting the torso, yet no neck; a round‑flat head fused to the body, with a pair of protruding large eyes on the sides.

It was a frog or toad.

Lei En was initially very surprised, but how could a magic soul given by the God of Magic be so simple? After restarting his phone and using the Soul Eye, he was instantly stunned.

Moonlight Toad!

Lei En was dumbfounded; the God of Magic had given him the magic soul of a Moonlight Toad!

Years ago, he had searched the phone library for information on legendary temporal elements, and happened to read the entry on the Moonlight Toad; the content was brief but left an indelible impression.

The Moonlight Toad is one of the two known creatures that might possess the "Hourglass of Time"!

The other is the Time Dragon!

Compared to the elusive Time Dragon that appears only head and never tail, they mostly hide within the long river of time, and the Moonlight Toad's rarity is no less.

The Moonlight Toad can generally only be found in the "Kagwa" plane attached to the Celestial Realm, a mid‑level plane amid temporal turbulence, which mortals can hardly reach. It is said that in the Prime Material Plane, Moonlight Toads have appeared, but this remains unverified.

This Moonlight Toad, during its life, underwent eight soul transformations, becoming a mid‑rank Saint Rank demonic beast.

The Soul Eye saw through.

Suddenly, over thirty elements manifested before Lei En's eyes; the most striking was a golden element at the core of the magic soul, runes forming an hourglass shape, slowly rotating, with countless dust‑fine runes flowing inside from one end of the hourglass to the other, circulating back with the rotation, never stopping.

"Indeed, it's the Hourglass of Time!"

Lei En was overjoyed.

Regarding time and space, i. e., the Arcane use of mysterious energy, three legendary elements are known: the "Hourglass of Time" for time, the "Space Dominator" for space, and the "Key of Doors" which embodies both temporal and spatial affinity.

I already possess the Key of Doors; the Space Dominator might also be obtained through multiple Void Resonances, advancing in a soul transformation.

The Hourglass of Time, however, had no clues; I didn't expect to get it suddenly!

He continued to examine the Moonlight Toad's magic soul; besides the crucial Hourglass of Time, most others were Arcane Elements, and there were several time‑based spells: Time Flashback, Time Stop, Time Jump, Time Acceleration, and—Time Plunder!

(End of Chapter)