Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 283 The Old King Abdicates, the New King is Crowned (5K)

In the virtual starry sky plaza, countless star data flowed as usual, reflecting the geniuses from various star fields.

The Endless Tower stands majestically, its runes and inscriptions marking the passage of challengers.

Lin Yi's figure reappeared in front of the tower.

He was still wearing his simple combat uniform, with black hair and black eyes, and a calm demeanor. The blue halo around his feet marked his third-tier identity.

"The captain is here."

Kenx, who was already waiting there, whispered to Mo Yuan beside him, his tone as relaxed as ever.

Mo Yuan, cradling a dark spear, nodded slightly, his cold gaze always following Lin Yi.

Soon, Huiyao, Xingyu, Qingfeng and other core members of the human race received the news that Lin Yi was going to challenge the Endless Tower and quickly teleported there.

“Although only seventy years have passed,” Huiyao said with sharp eyes, “I have a feeling that his goal this time is probably not just the 40th floor.”

Qingfeng raised an eyebrow: "I bet he can reach the 40th floor or higher. This guy never plays by the rules."

Their gathering attracted even more attention.

Soon, some alien geniuses noticed Lin Yi's arrival.

Lin Yi made no unnecessary movements and calmly stepped into the teleportation beam.

From the 31st to the 35th floor, the green lights lit up in sequence, with a steady rhythm.

"Lin Yi is challenging the tower again?" a Spirit Clan genius commented. "He's moving so fast, looks like there's going to be some excitement."

“It seems he has made considerable progress recently,” Li Zu chimed in from the side.

However, when the floor reached the 38th floor, some astute observers began to notice something amiss.

"The speed hasn't decreased at all," Xingyu exclaimed in surprise. "This strength is far beyond the level of the 40th floor."

A glint of light flashed in Huiyao's eyes: "Could it be him?"

Before the words were even finished, green lights illuminated the 39th floor.

Immediately afterwards, 40 layers of white light lit up—the threshold of the fourth level of the Star Domain!

All eyes in the room instantly focused on them.

Then, before anyone could react, the green light had already turned on.

Less than three breaths later, 40 floors, passed.

Xingyu was somewhat stunned.

A look of surprise flashed in Qingfeng's beautiful eyes: "Not even a warm-up?"

Huiyao took a deep breath, his voice filled with suppressed excitement: "Fourth level. He mentioned before that he wanted to comprehend the rules of time. It seems he's reached the fourth level."

"Time rules?" The four words struck like a thunderbolt.

The expressions of the alien geniuses around them changed drastically.

"Space-time fusion?" The Holy Feather Clan genius's wings trembled slightly. "No wonder."

"If that's really the case, then something big is about to happen today." Ripples spread across the bodies of the members of the Hundred Transformations Clan.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lin Yi's speed in clearing the challenges did not slow down at all.

41th floor, 42th floor, 43th floor.
The time it takes to pass through each floor is frighteningly consistent.

The training camp's communication network began to stir.

"Quickly! Lin Yi of the human race is attempting to break through the tower. He seems to have already achieved spacetime fusion and reached the fourth level of his domain. Hurry!"

"Captain, Lin Yi has already reached the 44th floor, and is expected to reach at least the 50th floor. Come quickly."

"Hurry up! There's going to be something exciting today."

Soon, Long Ge Xing Tong, You Lan Ying Ge, and Xuan Zhong, three second-tier prodigies, arrived together.

Nebula swirled in Long Ge's eyes, while shadows rippled around You Lan, whose aura was heavy and profound.

"Even they came."

"It seems we're about to witness history today."

Under the watchful eyes of the current top three in the training camp, Lin Yi's pace did not slow down in the slightest.

44th floor, 45th floor, 46th floor.
In the human territory, there is already a noticeable sense of excitement.

"47 floors already," Qingfeng's voice trembled slightly, "We've reached the first tier of the third level."

Xingyu murmured, "This is the power of spacetime fusion; a breakthrough is all-encompassing."

Huiyao didn't say anything, but stared intently at the light ring on the tower.

48th floor, 49th floor, breakthrough.

Then, on the 50th floor, white light shone.

However, before everyone could even get nervous, the white light suddenly went out and the green light came on.

Level 50, cleared!

A restrained cheer suddenly erupted in the area where human geniuses gathered.

"His strength at the fifth level of the Domain has already reached the standard of the second tier!"

"We're currently tied for third place!"

Huiyao let out a long breath and exchanged excited glances with Xingyu and Qingfeng.

But Lin Yi's steps did not stop.

The 51st floor lights up.

Long Ge Xing Tong finally spoke: "Starting from the 51st floor, the mirror image will randomly master a higher-level rule, which will greatly increase the difficulty."

Youlan Yingge's voice was cold and clear: "Space-time fusion. I really want to experience what it feels like to be an opponent like this."

Xuan Zhong succinctly stated: "He is very strong."

As soon as the three finished speaking, the white light on the 51st floor turned green.

51 floors, passed!

Then, the 52nd floor, and the 53rd floor.

Lin Yi's steps never faltered.

When Lin Yi surpassed Youlan Yingge's record, the shadow around Youlan rippled slightly.

Then, there's the record held by Long Ge Xing Tong on the 54th floor.

Soon, at the same speed as before, floor 54, passed!

Tied for first place.

"It's broken even, it's really broken even!"

"Space-time fusion. To be honest, I'm a little jealous."

"Stop being jealous. I tried to comprehend the rules of time once using a treasure, but I gained nothing. Your talent is even inferior to mine."

Long Ge Xing Tong closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, his mind was clear: "Space-time fusion is indeed impressive, but I wonder how far he can go."

At the same time, white light illuminated the 55th floor.

"I never imagined that after more than two thousand years, we would witness a new chief ascending to the top today."

"The first one is about to change hands; clearly, the 55th floor can't stop him."

"Where are his limits?"

Before long, the green light on the 55th floor illuminated.

A new first has been born!
However, to everyone's surprise, Lin Yi did not stop.

Then, the 56th, 57th, 58th, and 59th floors.

Unstoppable momentum, advancing without hesitation!

Finally, the 60th floor lit up with a white light.

60 layers – Integration of six realms!
There was silence.

All eyes were focused on the halo around the tower, awaiting the final result.

And at the same time.

Inside the Endless Tower.

When Lin Yi's figure was teleported to the 60th floor of the Endless Tower, a heart-pounding sense of oppression instantly enveloped him.

This is not some kind of extreme environmental simulation, but an absolute "nothingness"—no light, no sound, no matter, and even the basic rules seem thin and sluggish.

Only in the central area, a blurry figure began to slowly take shape, and the fluctuations emanating from it made this void seem to tremble.

Lin Yi noticed that at the core of its figure, these two advanced rules were intertwined like a double helix: one was the rule of death that eroded all life, and the other was the dark rule that was deep and dark, devouring light and perception.

On its outer perimeter, the four colors of light—gold, green, blue, and red—represent the four fundamental elements of metal, wood, water, and fire. These colors act like loyal guards, revolving around the core of death and darkness, providing it with solid support and diverse variations.

The six-fold fusion domain was perfectly integrated, radiating a pressure far exceeding that of the 59th floor. "With the two advanced rules of death and darkness at its core, supplemented by four basic rules, it is almost a collection of rules heading towards destruction and silence." Lin Yi thought with a chill.

Death erodes life, darkness devours existence; the combination of these two rules exponentially increases their difficulty.

The mirror did not give Lin Yi more time to think. Its blurry figure moved slightly, and the gray, deathly ripples and the deep, dark tide spread out silently like two intertwined torrents of destruction.

The power of death strips away life, the power of darkness annihilates perception and energy, and wherever it passes, even "nothingness" itself seems to return to eternal silence.

The sharpness of metal lies hidden in the darkness, waiting for its chance to strike; decaying wood fuels the erosion of death; the endlessness of water allows darkness to penetrate every crevice; and the explosiveness of fire brews a deadly attack within the darkness.

Lin Yi remained calm in the face of this attack, which would have been troublesome for most late-stage Star Domain level experts.

He knew very well that it was unwise to fight from a lower level and get bogged down in a battle of attrition. Therefore, after level 50, he used more of a decapitation tactic that took advantage of the rule hierarchy.

In the blink of an eye, a clone of Lin Yi appeared silently beside him.

The moment the clone appeared, it ignored the pervasive waves of death and darkness and locked onto the mirror image at the core of the domain.

The next instant, the clone's figure blurred and merged into space, teleporting a short distance.

The clone's strength was almost identical to the original, so its teleportation was exceptionally precise and swift. Almost as soon as it disappeared, it appeared very close to the mirror image of the six-fold fusion domain.

The mirror image reacted much faster than its opponent on the 59th floor.

The instant Lin Yi's clone appeared, dense darkness immediately coiled around him like a living thing, while the rules of death bit him like venomous snakes, and the rules of gold and fire also condensed into fierce attacks within the darkness.

However, the clone had no intention of defending or dodging. The moment it appeared, its entire body exploded like a supernova.

"boom!!!"

The highly compressed power of the quadruple fusion domain erupted from within, and the violent energy instantly tore apart the entangling darkness, dispersed the erosion of the death rules, and severely damaged it in an instant. Even the sturdy armor of the six domain rules was blasted into cracks and damage.

The power of the clone's self-destruction is significant at such close range.

More importantly, at the core of the self-destruction, a small but significantly effective time-delay zone was formed.

Although the rules of darkness have a devouring effect on energy and perception, and the rules of death have a time-eroding effect on vitality, they cannot instantly resolve this change in local spacetime flow.

The mirrored figure froze for an extremely brief moment in that distorted light and shadow, and the speed at which the rules were activated was noticeably slowed down.

It's now!

Lin Yi's main body, like a ghost waiting for its prey, simultaneously activated spatial teleportation in the blink of an eye, while the light from the clone's self-destruction was still burning and the time-delay effect was still present.

The dark golden "Rending Universe" spear pierced through the brief darkness and death barrier, carrying the power of four fused domains, and stabbed with unparalleled precision at the core that had revealed a flaw due to the domain's vibration and time stagnation.

"Hey!"

This time, it was as if something resilient had been forcibly torn apart.

The tip of the Rift Spear felt immense resistance, the last stand of two higher-level rules on the verge of destruction: darkness attempted to devour the spear's light, and death tried to erode the wielder.

However, under Lin Yi's all-out attack of four domains, this resistance was as fragile as a spider web.

The spear pierced through the core without any resistance.

The mirroring motion was completely frozen.

The deathly grayness and profound darkness surrounding them receded like a tide, and the brilliance of the four colors of metal, wood, water, and fire instantly dimmed.

Its blurry figure began to vanish into nothingness, disappearing completely.

The battle is over.

From the appearance of the clone to the collapse of the mirror image, the entire process was breathtakingly fast, full of calculation and absolute efficiency.

Lin Yi stood holding his gun, but his brows were slightly furrowed.

He clearly felt that at the moment when Lieyu pierced the opponent's core, although the death rule of the mirror image was broken, there was still a tenacious force of resistance coming, trying to erode Lieyu and even trace back to the source.

This means that an enemy who has mastered advanced rules such as death and reached the sixth level of fusion has a much more resilient and dangerous nature than before. My tactic of "clone attack and self-destruction + time delay + main body finishing blow" is still effective on the 60th floor, but it is no longer as almost unsolvable as it was on the 59th floor and below.

"If it were on the 61st floor, the rules of the guardian mirror might be more complete, with stronger resistance and faster reaction. My tactics would probably be intercepted more fiercely and precisely the moment the clone teleports close, the effect of time delay would be weakened, and it might not even have time to complete the self-destruction."

Lin Yi quickly calculated in his mind, "Even if I go all out and use all my trump cards, I will probably encounter a real bottleneck around the 63rd floor."

The objective of the tactical experiment has been achieved.

This simple, brutal, yet highly effective "exchange of pieces" tactic can be a game-changer in crucial moments.

I've already earned the points and upgraded my privileges, so there's no reason for me to aim for a higher level for now.

"You always have to keep some cards up your sleeve."

Lin Yi put away Lieyu, his expression returning to calm. "Now is not the time to reveal everything."

Outside the tower.

The white light on the 60th floor went out, and the green light turned on.

Level 60, cleared!

Then, the white light on the 61st floor flashed and disappeared in an instant, and Lin Yi's figure appeared outside the Endless Tower.

He remained calm, as if he had just completed a routine training session, rather than a feat that had shocked the entire training camp.

The only difference was the halo beneath his feet, which had transformed from deep blue to noble purple—a symbol of a second-tier genius, silently announcing the coronation of the new king.

"team leader!"

Kenx was the first to rush forward, his rainbow-colored short hair swaying slightly with excitement. His smile was so bright it almost overflowed, but he restrained himself and stopped a step in front of Lin Yi, without making any overly inappropriate moves.

He simply clenched his fist forcefully, lowered his voice, and said with a proud and excited tone, "That's awesome! Sixty floors! I knew it! Now let's see who dares to say our team doesn't have enough resources!"

The three-eyed squirrel on his shoulder squeaked, its three eyes full of ingratiation.

Lin Yi looked at him, a gentle smile appearing on his lips, and nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, I've kept you waiting."

The simple response only made Kenx stand up straighter.

Immediately afterwards, Mo Yuan, Xing Ying, Hu Po, and others also gathered around.

Mo Yuan still held his dark spear, his cold and stern face seemed to soften slightly. He solemnly clasped his hands in a salute to Lin Yi without saying a word.

Lin Yi nodded slightly to him in return, everything understood without words.

Amber was the one who couldn't contain herself the most. She squeezed to the front, tilting her little face up, and exclaimed, "Captain! You're number one now!"

Lin Yi chuckled, "It's only temporary; the road ahead is long."

Lei Hao and Evan Whisper stood a little further back.

Lei Hao smiled憨厚ly and nodded vigorously, while Ai Wen elegantly patted his chest and bowed.

Almost at the same time that the team members surrounded them, a group of human geniuses led by Huiyao also quickly walked over.

Huiyao's expression was complex, a mixture of excitement, emotion, and above all, a sense of relief and satisfaction.

He walked up to Lin Yi, and without any unnecessary pleasantries, solemnly clasped his hands in greeting, "Brother Lin, congratulations on reaching the summit!"

Xingyu, Qingfeng, and the others behind him also clasped their hands in greeting.

This is different from the previous attitude towards peers; it now carries an absolute respect for the strong.

Lin Yi returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute, saying, "Brother Huiyao, everyone, there's no need for such formalities. As fellow human beings, we should encourage and inspire each other."

Qingfeng, with her straightforward personality, couldn't hide her excitement at this moment. Looking at the purple ring at Lin Yi's feet, she laughed and said, "That's great! From now on, in the training camp, our human race can truly hold its head high. Let's see who dares to underestimate us!"

Xingyu exclaimed, "Space-time fusion, four realms, Lord Lin Yi, you have truly shown us what it means to have a heaven beyond heavens."

Just then, the crowd of onlookers naturally parted to make way for them.

Long Ge·Xing Tong, You Lan·Ying Ge, and Xuan Zhong arrived together.

Their arrival instantly silenced the surrounding noise.

Everyone wanted to see what kind of clash would take place between the new and old chief.

Xuan Zhong stepped forward with heavy steps. His body, which looked like it had been cast in metal, carried immense pressure, but his eyes were pure.

He spoke in a deep, booming voice, like a boulder colliding: "You are very strong! Stronger than me!"

His words were straightforward and to the point, full of the unique simplicity of the Stone Clan and their absolute reverence for power.

Lin Yi nodded to him: "Thank you."

Youlan Yingge's figure solidified slightly in the shadows, revealing her perfect jawline and those captivating eyes.

She bowed slightly in a peculiar way, "Congratulations, Lord Lin Yi. I look forward to the opportunity to spar with you in the future." Her voice carried a touch of lazy magnetism, yet contained a strong fighting spirit.

Lin Yi looked at her calmly: "There will be an opportunity, Your Excellency Youlan."

Finally, everyone's attention focused on the two chiefs, the old and the new.

Long Ge Xing Tong, his silver hair flowing over his shoulders, the nebula in his eyes regained its peaceful flow. He walked up to Lin Yi, and mimicking Hui Yao, clasped his hands in a salute, "Lord Lin Yi, I admire you. The Dao of Space-Time Fusion is indeed well-deserved. I have witnessed it today."

Long Ge's posture was upright, a pure recognition of an even stronger person by a stronger one, without the slightest jealousy or reluctance, which further demonstrated his magnanimity.

Lin Yi returned the greeting earnestly, saying, "Your Excellency Long Ge is too kind. I still have much to learn from you."

This wasn't just polite talk. Long Ge was able to reach the 54th level with less than five levels of fusion and even held the top spot for a long time. His understanding of the rules and his combat wisdom were extraordinary.

After a brief conversation, the old king abdicated gracefully, and the new king was crowned peacefully.

There was no tense standoff, only mutual recognition among top talents and a subtle shift in the landscape.

(End of this chapter)