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

Chapter 353 is still too weak.

Lord Xuan Yan did not answer immediately, but poured himself another cup of tea.

"We cannot force the supreme-level source power in the treatment plan, but that does not mean we are completely helpless." Venerable Xuan Yan picked up his cup but did not drink, only gently swirled it. "In the treatment plan bestowed by the Supreme, there is a treasure that can slow down the deterioration. This is what we must strive to obtain."

Lin Yi's mind sharpened: "A treasure to slow down the deterioration?"

“Hmm.” Lord Xuan Yan nodded. “There is a wondrous object called the Time Anchor Stone. It originates from the depths of a cosmic wonder called the Time Corridor.”

"The Corridor of Time?" Lin Yi noted down the name.

"That is an extremely ancient and extremely dangerous place of temporal disorder, where the flow of time is chaotic and disordered," Venerable Xuan Yan explained. "The time-sequence anchor is a strange crystal that naturally condenses in those relatively stable time nodes. It contains a special time-sequence effect, which can slightly smooth out the disordered time and play a certain stabilizing role."

He looked at Lin Yi: "Regarding the current situation of the Eternal Beginning Ruler, although the Time Anchor Stone cannot cure it completely, it can effectively slow down the rate at which his timeline deteriorates. The more it is used, the more the effects accumulate, and the longer it can buy us."

Lin Yi instantly understood: "Therefore, we need a large number of time-series anchors."

“That’s right.” Lord Xuan Yan put down his cup. “But the Time Corridor is an extreme environment. Only those who cultivate the laws of time and rely on their own understanding of the laws of time can find their way and resist the erosion of the time turbulence. Moreover, the threshold of strength is at least that of a high god to be qualified to set foot in it.”

He sighed softly, with a deep sense of helplessness: "Therefore, since all the Time Lords in the clan are unable to leave because they are all busy stabilizing the injuries of the Overlord, all the human powerhouses who cultivate the laws of time and whose strength has reached the level of a high god or above have received clan merit missions to go to the Time Corridor to collect time anchor stones, no matter what they were originally doing."

He paused, then added, "At the same time, our human race, through the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, spent a considerable amount of money to hire some powerful and trustworthy lone Time Lords and powerful Law Time Gods to help. The Time Lords assisted in stabilizing the Overlord's injuries, while the hired Time Gods, together with our people, ventured deep into the Time Corridor to collect anchor stones."

Lin Yi listened silently, quickly sketching a picture in his mind: all the top time-based experts of the human race, regardless of where they were or what positions they held, gathered at the dangerous Time Corridor to fight for a glimmer of hope for the only pillar of the human race.

The clan's honors and resources were also spent like water to hire outside help.

“There are indeed quite a few time-based powerhouses in the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance,” Lin Yi said.

As a member of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, he naturally knew a great deal about this.

Although a great war is currently sweeping across the universe, with all major races investing their full strength, there are still a large number of lone powerhouses within the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance.

Many of these powerful individuals were those who, after their tribes were destroyed, refused to be bound by any further constraints and joined other tribes, or those who sought absolute freedom.

They rely on five major forces and are relatively independent.

Lin Yi said, "This great battle is both a risk and a golden opportunity for them to gain resources."

“Yes.” Xuan Yan, the Venerable Lord, forced a smile. “They are paid according to the mission, they do things for money, and they bear the risks themselves. Although our human race has paid a heavy price by sacrificing a lot of strategic reserves, there is no other way. The life of the Overlord is more important than any reserves.”

He looked at Lin Yi with a complicated expression: "Lin Yi, with your potential, higher gods will not be an obstacle for you. Therefore, when you reach the level of a higher god and have enough ability to protect yourself and delve into the Time Corridor, the clan honor mission you receive will inevitably be this: Go to the Time Corridor to collect the Time Anchor Stones for your clan and for the ruler."

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Lin Yi nodded slowly, "I understand, Your Majesty. This is my responsibility, and I cannot shirk it."

Seeing Lin Yi's calm acceptance, a hint of relief flashed in Xuan Yan's eyes.

But then he sighed deeply, rubbed his temples, and a rare look of fatigue appeared on his usually gentle and peaceful face.

"Lin Yi, there's something I need to tell you." Xuan Yan Venerable's voice lowered a few decibels. "Logically speaking, given the great contributions you made in the battles of the secret realm and the exit, plus the talent and potential you demonstrated, the rewards given by the clan, whether clan honors or list points, should be more than what you have received so far."

Lin Yi's heart stirred slightly.

He did have a vague feeling about it before.

7 clan merits and 500 million roster points—this amount is astronomical for a Star-level cultivator, but considering his combined achievements of "perfecting the Star Core-level Time Law," "leading the team to survive from a desperate situation," and "manipulating battle formations to reverse the local battle situation," and compared to the previous "generosity" of being directly rewarded with 20000 clan merits for winning the preliminary rounds.
Although the reward was still generous, to be honest, it did not meet his expectations.

He had been busy with the exchange and planning and hadn't thought about it in detail, but now that Xuan Yan brought it up, he immediately realized.

"Is it because all the resources have been allocated to the Overlord's injuries?" Lin Yi asked directly.

"Yes." Lord Xuan Yan did not hide anything and frankly admitted, "It's not just the cost of hiring outside help. Stabilizing injuries requires treasures, maintaining supplies for the Time Corridor gathering team, compensation for the wounded and injured, and equipment wear and tear. Of course, more importantly, there are the massive expenditures during the great war. Our human race has not been a powerful race for long, and our clan's treasury, especially our strategic resource reserves and the most liquid clan merit reserves, is now stretched thin."

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment.

From the perspective of the entire race, stabilizing the injuries of the Eternal Ruler is the top priority and the prerequisite for everything.

If he were in a decision-making position, he would make the same trade-offs.

However, when the one being "chosen" is oneself, a slight fluctuation in one's heart is inevitable.

It's not dissatisfaction, but a deeper sense of reality and urgency.

“I understand, Your Majesty.” Lin Yi looked up, his eyes clear. “At this time, the Sovereign’s injuries are the top priority. Resources should be used where they are most needed. What I have obtained is enough to support my cultivation for a long time.”

His tone was very calm.

This is the truth, and it's a rational choice. Complaining is useless; seizing the resources at hand to improve our strength is the right path.

But then, Lin Yi thought of another crucial question.

A problem he had previously overlooked.

“Lord,” he said cautiously, “since the Sovereign is seriously injured and the Lord has been preoccupied with other matters all the time, does that mean that our human race has temporarily lost the ability to revive those who died at the God-level and Realm-level?”

Lord Xuan Yan paused slightly in the hand holding the cup.

He slowly put down the virtual teacup, the bottom of which made a soft tapping sound as it touched the stone table.

“Indeed,” Venerable Xuan Yan said in a deep voice. “The Eternal Beginning Sovereign is caught in a temporal disorder and can barely protect himself. The Venerable who cultivates the Time Source Law is entirely preoccupied with stabilizing the Sovereign’s core injuries and collecting the Time Anchor Stones in the Time Corridor. We have no spare capacity to resurrect the fallen soldiers of our clan.”

"According to the wartime resurrection coordination mechanism within the Pan-Spirit Alliance, the allocation of resurrection slots for all powerful individuals with resurrection abilities will prioritize the resurrection of fallen members of their respective races. The Time Masters and Lords of the Spirit Race will prioritize resurrecting members of the Spirit Race; the same applies to other vassal races with time-related powerful individuals."

"Therefore, in this great war, the powerful figures of our human race who perished, whether gods or beings from other realms, are all ranked relatively low in the overall resurrection order of the Pan-Spirit Alliance. Unless there are extremely special circumstances, or we pay extra to jump the queue, otherwise..."

Otherwise, we can only wait.

When the human race's own Time Lord is free, or when the war ends.

Lin Yi's heart sank.

He had only considered the impact of the Dominator's serious injury on high-end combat power and the status of the race, but he overlooked the chain reaction caused by the temporary loss of the strategic ability of "resurrection".

In this way, every time the human race loses a god or a derivative realm on the battlefield, it is a real loss of manpower.

As one side gains and the other loses, the human race will become weaker and weaker with each battle, their battle lines will become increasingly strained, and they will become more and more dependent on the Eldar for help.

Moreover, there is an even more serious problem.

Even for a Venerable Lord-level expert, there is a limit to how far they can go in rescuing someone from the river of time.

The longer time drags on, the deeper the original imprint of the soul sinks in the river of time, and the greater the difficulty and cost of retrieving it, and it may even become something that has sunk to the bottom.

Because the original imprint of the soul is not eternally fixed at a certain point in the river of time after a living being perishes.

As time goes by, it will sink further and further downstream under the invisible erosion of the long river, getting closer and closer to the riverbed.

Once it sinks to a certain depth, even if the line is still theoretically there, the difficulty of accurately locating it and retrieving it completely is almost impossible.

This is what happens when you sink to the bottom.

In a practical sense, those who sink to the bottom have completely perished.

For a time-manipulating expert at the Venerable level, the maximum time to rescue someone from a reverse current is approximately one hundred epochs.

However, cosmic-scale wars can often last for thousands or even tens of thousands of epochs!

Many of the powerful human warriors who have fallen in battle may never live to see the day they are resurrected.

Their soul imprints will gradually sink to the bottom of the river of time during the long wait, becoming those who have sunk to the bottom and will be completely forgotten.

And that's exactly what happened to Ninth Senior Brother!

Ninth Senior Brother Cangming had already perished in the early stages of the war. The eldest senior brother said, "His application for resurrection was approved, but his ranking is very low." "If Ninth Brother wants to be resurrected, he will probably have to wait a long time."

At the time, Lin Yi thought it was just a normal queue, waiting for the human race's own Lord of Time to be available.

Now it seems that this is not the case at all.

The eldest brother may know that the Overlord is seriously injured, but he may not be fully aware that all the Human Race Time Lords have been involved, let alone how far back the Human Race's fallen soldiers are in the Pan-Spirit Alliance's resurrection sequence.

This wait will be very long, probably not hundreds or thousands of years, but an indefinite period.

As long as the war continues, the Time Masters of the Elven Race and other races will continuously prioritize resurrecting their fallen comrades. On the Human Race's side, even if they manage to spare one or two Time Masters, it will be a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer number of casualties.

The war had only just begun.

The image of Ninth Senior Brother's carefree smile flashed through my memory.

A chilling pressure weighed heavily on Lin Yi's heart.

But he didn't say anything.

It's pointless to talk about this now.

Lord Xuan Yan was more aware of the severity of the situation than he was.

Lin Yi suppressed the turbulent emotions in his eyes, his expression returning to calm, though his gaze became even more profound.

Lord Xuan Yan noticed Lin Yi's subtle change in expression and nodded inwardly.

This kid is not only incredibly talented, but he's also honed to a resilient character, knowing what to say and what to keep to himself.

Silence fell again in the pavilion, broken only by the rustling of the bamboo grove. After a while, Lin Yi stood up, preparing to take his leave: "Lord, I understand the situation. I will return to Origin Star to cultivate as soon as possible, and my clone will also integrate into the team and adapt to the pace of the front lines. I will keep the matter of the Overlord in mind."

Xuan Yan Venerable also stood up, looking at this young junior with a complicated expression.

He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and waved.

Virtual starlight condensed in the pavilion, transforming into seven fist-sized crystals, each containing countless flowing and shifting patterns of laws.

"Although the clan can't give you more resources for the time being," Lord Xuan Yan pointed to the seven crystals, "we can't let you go empty-handed. These are some cultivation insights and understandings I've accumulated over many years regarding the two higher laws of 'life' and 'death,' as well as the five basic laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth."

Lin Yi stared at the seven floating crystals, his breath catching in his throat slightly.

Cultivation insights at the Venerable Lord level!

This level of insight and understanding is simply incomparable to ordinary esoteric texts.

It contains key points in the process of a Venerable-level expert's most essential understanding and comprehension of the corresponding laws, common pitfalls, and various unique application techniques.

For those who practice the same laws, it is a priceless treasure.

Lin Yi had seen similar items exchanged in the clan's merit treasury.

A single fundamental law at the Lord level is priced at 10 clan merits.

The insights gained by the Venerable One regarding higher laws such as "life" and "death" amount to as much as 40 clan merits.

"Your Excellency, this is far too precious!" Lin Yi took a deep breath and did not immediately accept it.

"Take it." Venerable Xuan Yan waved his hand, his tone returning to its usual calm. "To me, these insights are merely a summary of past experiences. Giving them to you might help you avoid some detours. You've already mastered the Law of Time, as for the Law of Space..."

He looked at Lin Yi and said, "Your senior brother has a high level of expertise in the field of spatial cultivation. If you have any questions during your cultivation, you can go and ask him directly."

Lin Yi nodded solemnly: "Yes, thank you, Venerable Master. I have the mark of my eldest brother."

Lord Xuan Yan hummed in agreement, and finally said, "These problems are just for your consideration. They are not something that you new generation can solve. Remember, do not be reckless in your cultivation. Go now."

The star map space began to fade slowly, and the figure of the Xuan Yan Venerable Lord gradually became blurred.

Lin Yi's consciousness exited the virtual network.

Inside the cultivation room, Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes.

He sat quietly for several minutes, processing the massive amount of information and heavy pressure from the conversation.

The injuries of the Primordial Ruler. The resurrection sequence at the bottom of the Time Corridor Anchor Stone Resurrection Sequence. Ninth Senior Brother Cangming.
Keywords swirled in his mind, eventually turning into a deep sigh.

"Still too weak."

"I never imagined that even with god-level combat power, I still couldn't help with anything."

"Owner."

At this moment, a phantom image of someone in palace attire appeared beside Lin Yi, interrupting his thoughts.

"Ten minutes ago, the God of Eternal Rock sent a message saying that he had arrived at the fortress via divine teleportation and asked if you would proceed as planned?"

"As originally planned, we will depart in one standard hour."

Lin Yi suppressed his thoughts, slowly got up, and walked to the other side of the cultivation room.

His fearless war god avatar was sitting there cross-legged.

"I'm leaving. This place is yours," Lin Yi said.

The clone nodded. "Don't worry."

One standard time later, Lin Yi, accompanied by the Eternal Rock God, left the fortress and began a hyperspace jump journey towards the core of the human race's territory, the Origin Star.
-
next day
The clone appeared precisely at the entrance of the "Stardust Afterglow" tavern.

Inside the tavern, the lighting remained dim and soft.

Mingluo was already seated in his usual spot, pointing at the several battlefield mission screens displayed in front of him.

Captain Yueming was still wearing a moon-white battle robe, with long silver hair flowing smoothly over his shoulders, and his pale purple eyes were cool and calm.

Lan sat next to her, playing with a green crystal in her hand.

"Brother Lin Yi, you're here!" Ming Luo looked up and saw Lin Yi's clone walk in, and immediately waved enthusiastically, "We've been waiting for you!"

Lin Yi nodded, walked to the table and sat down: "Sorry I'm a little late."

“It’s alright, we just arrived too,” Mingluo said with a smile, then pointed to the screen, “We’re preparing to select suitable missions for the near future. The situation has changed a bit.”

Yue Ming turned the screen so Lin Yi could see clearly: "After suffering heavy losses at the exit of the secret realm, the Abyss Clan and the Eclipse Clan have contracted their defenses and adopted a defensive posture in the nearby star fields. They have transferred most of their high-end combat forces to other war zones. Therefore, the number of missions involving direct confrontation with gods or infiltration and killing around our defense zone has decreased significantly, and the few remaining ones are all quite risky."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi looked at the virtual screen.

The list is clearly visible on the screen.

【任务S-953：突袭蚀族在K-992星云的临时前哨站。目标：摧毁能量核心，击杀驻守神灵（预计2-3名）。风险评估：高。战功奖励：1200万（金色）。】

[Mission S-931: Intercept a small fleet of Abyss Clan transporting strategic supplies to the "Black Skeleton Starfield". Objective: Destroy the flagship and seize or destroy key supplies. Risk Assessment: Extremely High (Potential for ambush by an enemy god squad). Reward: 1500 million (Gold).]

[Mission S-291: Infiltrate the Corrupted Nest planet controlled by the Eclipses and obtain specific intelligence samples. Risk Assessment: Extremely High (Extreme environment, heavily guarded, high risk of exposure). Reward: 2000 million (Gold) + Special Contribution Reward.]

Lin Yi quickly scanned the list.

These tasks offer generous rewards, but the risks are also clearly stated.

Everyone understands what "high" and "extremely high" mean.

He just joined the Star Silence Squad and still needs time to adjust. Taking on such a tough task right away could lead to personnel losses if coordination falters.

"There aren't many direct combat missions. It seems the other side doesn't feel the need to continue a head-on confrontation with us in the near future," Lin Yi said.

“Yeah.” Mingluo scratched his head. “So the regular god-level missions that are suitable for us to practice and get to know each other in the vicinity are basically all taken. The remaining ones are either too tough or low-yield missions like clearing out alien beasts in the star sea or patrolling and guarding.

Lan put down the crystal in her hand and said, "I suggest that for the first joint training session, we shouldn't choose a mission that's too competitive or has too many variables. Team chemistry and trust need time to be built. We can consider expanding the scope and see if there are any suitable missions in other nearby star regions."

Yueming nodded: "Agreed. How about choosing one that kills a god-level interstellar beast? Although the battle merits will be relatively fewer, the objective is clear, the environment is relatively controllable, and it is more suitable for the first time to cooperate."

She operated her fingers on the screen, expanding the filter to "adjacent star regions", limiting the mission type to "hunt/purge", and excluding "extremely high" risk level.

The new list has been refreshed.

One of the tasks caught Lin Yi's attention.

[Mission S-7731: Eradicate the "Void-Eating Jellyfish" swarm bred in the "Dark Star Belt". Objective: Kill the god-level mother entity "Void Touch" and eliminate a large number of its derivative-level sub-entities. Location: Adjacent "JF-7" star system, Dark Star Belt. Risk Assessment: Medium (Note: The Void-Eating Jellyfish swarm excels at spatial interference and combined attacks. The mother entity possesses near-god-level combat power; be wary of its spatial traps). Battle Merit Reward: 800 million (Gold). Bonus: Collect the "Void-Eating Jellyfish Core" (complete), additional reward 50 battle merits.]

"How about this one?" Lin Yi pointed to mission S-7731. "Void-devouring jellyfish, a spatial attribute beast. 800 million battle merits to kill, risk level is medium. Seems like a good place to practice. And," he paused, "I'm quite interested in spatial creatures."

Yueming quickly browsed the mission details and information about the "Void-Eating Jellyfish".

"Void-devouring jellyfish, alien beasts of the star sea, live in groups. The mother is usually at the peak of an ordinary god to the threshold of a high god, growing by devouring spatial energy and minerals. Its core is a good auxiliary material for comprehending spatial laws, and its value is considerable. The threat mainly lies in the numerical advantage of its group and its ability to interfere with space, easily creating spatial folds and brief spatial turbulence to trap enemies." Yue Ming read out the key information and looked at the others, "The mission location is about three short spatial jumps away from us, a journey of five days. The mission time limit is relatively generous, with thirty standard days."

Minglu stroked his chin: "Spatial interference is a bit troublesome, but if we coordinate well, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lan nodded: "This task is indeed quite balanced, neither too strong nor too weak, and it can test our cooperation in all aspects."

Seeing that no one had any objections, Yue Ming looked at Lin Yi and asked, "Lin Yi, what's your opinion?"

“Okay,” Lin Yi said readily. “Let’s go with this one. We can get to know each other’s fighting styles and practice our battle formation coordination.”

"Okay." Yue Ming no longer hesitated and gently tapped the screen with her fingertip.

"Mission accepted." Yue Ming put away the light screen, stood up, and his moon-white battle robe fluttered without wind. "Everyone prepare, check your equipment and supplies. Meet at Fortress Three Airport in 24 standard hours and depart on your squad's Star Silence."

“Understood!” Mingluo and Lan replied simultaneously.

Lin Yi nodded as well.

"Let's call it a day." Yue Ming said, then turned and left.

"Captain is still as decisive as ever." Minglu chuckled, stood up, and patted Lin Yi on the shoulder. "Does your mechanical body require any special preparation?"

"No need," Lin Yi replied. "We can leave anytime."

"Then, Brother Lin Yi, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Lin Yi said.

Lan smiled slightly at Lin Yi, then got up and left.

Lin Yi was the only one left in the tavern.

He sat there, ordered a very ordinary energy drink, and slowly drank it. His consciousness had already sunk into the Fearless War God System on his clone, and he began to review all the combat modules and built-in combat skills of this god-level mechanical body once again.

At the same time, he instructed Xuanji to connect to the virtual network and begin paying to download more detailed ecological data, battle videos, and experience summaries from past expeditions of the "Void-Eating Jellyfish".

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

For his first team mission, he didn't want to make any mistakes.

(End of this chapter)