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

Chapter 354 Plans for Radical Improvement

Just as the invincible war god's avatar was preparing for its first mission with the divine squad, a pitch-black spaceship was flying smoothly on a warp track, with distorted and elongated starlight outside the porthole.

Inside the cultivation chamber, Lin Yi was closing his eyes and sorting through the information in the seven Law Insight Crystals given to him by the Venerable Xuan Yan when a soft knocking sound came from the chamber door.

“Lord Lin Yi.” Yongyan’s voice rang out through the cabin door.

Lin Yi opened his eyes: "Please come in."

The hatch slid open, and Yongyan walked in.

"Excuse me." Yongyan was still wearing his dark blue, ancient battle armor. He walked to the seat opposite Lin Yi but did not sit down immediately. "There is something I need to inform you of in advance. According to the planned route, we will arrive at the Seventh Stargate Hub in three standard hours. At that time, the spaceship will not continue its regular journey but will use the fixed divine kingdom teleportation channel within the hub to jump directly to the Watcher Outpost on the outer edge of the Origin Starfield."

A hint of curiosity flashed in Lin Yi's eyes. "Divine Kingdom teleportation? I remember that requires at least an eternal god-level divine kingdom as a coordinate anchor point, and the farther the teleportation distance, the more divine power is consumed."

“Yes.” Yongyan sat down opposite him. “In wartime, in order to ensure the rapid delivery of important personnel and supplies, the Pan-Spirit Alliance has activated several fixed teleportation channels maintained by multiple eternal gods of space law. The one at the Seventh Star Gate Hub is a divine kingdom teleportation channel provided by seven gods of space law in rotation, specifically used to connect key nodes on the front line with the core territory.”

He added, "However, the teleportation process will be rather bumpy. After all, the divine realm passage is different from the stable natural space; the internal laws will be slightly distorted and superimposed. But don't worry, safety is guaranteed. Nowadays, the technology for connecting multiple divine realms over ultra-long distances is already very mature."

"Understood." Lin Yi noted down the information.

In the past, only a very few important figures could enjoy the long-distance teleportation between different races and divine kingdoms. Now that I have experienced it myself, it seems that war has indeed changed many conventions.

Three standard hours later, the spaceship slowly entered a massive space structure composed of countless metal structures and energy rings—the Seventh Stargate Nexus.

It's less of a stargate and more of a steel city floating in the void.

Countless spaceships come and go here, but Lin Yi's spaceship has a very high priority and is directly guided to a closed area at the deepest part of the hub.

In the center of this area, a huge silver halo with a diameter of more than ten kilometers floats. Inside the halo, strange energy like liquid mercury surges, and ripples appear on the surface from time to time. Countless tiny laws and secret patterns can be vaguely seen to be creating and disappearing inside.

“That’s the portal to the divine kingdom.” Yongyan stood in front of the porthole, pointing to the silver halo, “connecting to the passage to the united divine kingdom maintained by the seven guardian deities.”

The spaceship slowly entered the area enveloped by the silver halo.

In an instant, Lin Yi sensed that the surrounding space had changed.

The starry sky outside the porthole disappeared, replaced by a chaotic torrent of bizarre and indescribable colors.

Countless fragments of laws, distorted spatial folds, and even blurry afterimages of light and shadow swept rapidly around the spaceship.

The spacecraft itself experienced a slight vibration, but the protective force field remained rock-solid.

Lin Yi could clearly sense a force of law with a distinct sense of artificial order, like a sturdy pipe forcibly carving out a path through this chaotic torrent.

The inner wall of this pipe is woven from seven different but perfectly integrated spatial laws.

"This is the interior of the Divine Kingdom Passage," Lin Yi thought with a chill.

He could sense that without the protection of this passage, anything below the god level would probably be torn apart instantly.

The passage is not straight, but has complex folds and transition nodes.

Each time it folded, the spaceship would shake violently, and the surrounding chaotic colors would change accordingly.

The whole process lasted about ten minutes.

When the normal starry sky reappeared outside the porthole, Lin Yi immediately sensed something was different.

Energy concentration surged.

“We’ve arrived,” Yongyan’s voice rang out. “Outer perimeter of the Origin Starfield, airspace of the Seventh Watcher Outpost.”

Lin Yi looked out the porthole.

In the distance, a giant planetary fortress floats silently, surrounded by defense platforms and patrol fleets arranged like a honeycomb.

This is only what is visible to the naked eye.

Lin Yi extended his soul perception slightly and immediately felt at least dozens of probe waves of varying intensity sweeping across the surface of the spaceship.

Some of the fluctuations were so strong that the time law imprint deep within his soul became slightly hot, spontaneously generating a defensive reaction.

That was a deep scan being conducted by a superweapon powerful enough to threaten the eternal gods.

“We are now on wartime alert.” Yongyan had clearly also sensed the scans, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply said to Lin Yi, “The Origin Starfield’s defense system has been fully upgraded. Many previously hidden and dormant defensive forces have now been activated.”

Lin Yi nodded seriously, indicating that he understood.

Soon, following the received guidance signals, the spaceship began to decelerate and travel towards the Origin Star.

For the rest of the voyage, every so often you will encounter a virtual or physical checkpoint.

The first step is to verify the energy characteristics and identity code; the second step is to verify the soul fluctuations and life imprint; and the third step even requires a brief connection to a virtual network for real-time permission confirmation.
When the spacecraft finally passed through the pale golden energy membrane outside the atmosphere of the primordial star, also known as the "source energy protection and regulation layer," the inspection frequency reached its peak.

Thirteen scanning waves of different natures and intensities swept across every inch of the spacecraft's surface like a comb.

Lin Yi could even hear a faint humming sound emanating from the spaceship's hull under some kind of high-frequency detection.

Finally, the spacecraft landed on a dedicated landing pad near the third entrance to the star source region.

The hatch opened, and Lin Yi stepped down the gangway.

The familiar aura of source energy rushed towards him, but Lin Yi keenly sensed that the atmosphere of the Star Source Zone was completely different from when he left last time.

There were hardly any people on the streets.

Occasionally, a figure would flash by, but they were all in a hurry, skipping even the most basic greetings, nodding to each other before quickly leaving.

The public lounges and open-air tea houses that were originally used for members to socialize were now mostly empty.

In the few rooms where the lights were on, the people inside were silently processing information on the screens or conducting encrypted communications in hushed tones.

An oppressive atmosphere permeated the entire Xingyuan District.

"There are far fewer people," Lin Yi said in a low voice.

“Most of the geniuses on the list have taken on war missions and gone to the front lines.” Yongyan walked beside Lin Yi. “Those who stayed on Origin Star are either like you who need to go into seclusion for a long time to break through, or they are in charge of non-combat functions such as logistics and research and development, or they are still recovering from injuries.”

Lin Yi remained silent.

He followed Yongyan along the familiar path toward his manor.

The manor's pale blue energy membrane remains, and the interior scenery is unchanged, but the sense of tranquility has been somewhat diminished by the bleakness of the external environment.

The supervisor, who was in charge of intelligent power supply, was already waiting at the main entrance of the house.

"Welcome back, Lord Lin Yi." Lan Yuan bowed slightly, data flowing calmly deep in his eyes. "During your absence, the manor operated normally."

"Thank you for your hard work." Lin Yi nodded and walked into the main hall of the house.

At this moment, apart from the intelligent servants, only he and Yongyan were in the manor.

Yongyan did not leave immediately. He followed Lin Yi into the living room, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Mr. Lin Yi, there is something I would like to say."

Lin Yi turned around and looked at the eternal deity who had served as his protector for hundreds of years: "Mr. Yongyan, please speak."

A complex expression appeared on Yongyan's face. "I have submitted an application to the clan's higher-ups, requesting a change in the guards. Once the clan approves my application, I... I will leave the Origin Star."

Lin Yi was taken aback: "Leave? Mr. Yongyan, what is this?"

“It was for personal reasons.” Yongyan gave a wry smile. “I had a daughter named Yongqing. She was a Realm-level expert. She died in a border raid at the beginning of the war.”

Lin Yi's heart sank.

“According to clan rules, reviving a Transcendent Realm expert requires 100,000 clan merits.” Yongyan’s voice was calm, but Lin Yi could hear the suppressed undercurrents beneath. “I almost exhausted my clan merits due to some accidents. Now that war has broken out, high-risk war missions offer rich rewards, making it the fastest time to earn clan merits.”

He looked at Lin Yi and said, "I am relieved that you have returned safely. Now that you have returned safely to Origin Star, the safest place for humans, I would like to apply to the clan to change the guards. I must take on those high-paying missions and collect 100,000 clan merits as soon as possible."

Lin Yi was silent for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Yongyan, after an accident that depleted your clan's merits, is it a resurrection?"

“Yes.” Yongyan readily admitted, “So right now, the clan merits in my account are still far from 100,000.”

“If I were to take on low-risk, long-duration stationing or patrol missions as usual, and slowly accumulate experience, I'm afraid by the time I've saved enough, Yongqing…” Yongyan didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Those who sink to the bottom.

Lin Yi understood.

The maximum time for a Lord-level powerhouse to be resurrected is one hundred epochs. The war has only just begun, and while time may seem ample, being late in the resurrection sequence is the real fatal flaw.

He really wanted to tell Yongyan: Even if you have gathered 100,000 clan merits and submitted a resurrection application, if the situation of the Overlord does not improve, your daughter may have to wait for thousands or even tens of thousands of eras.

By then, she will have long since sunk to the bottom. At that point, the clan will most likely return the clan honor to you, telling you, "Sorry, there's nothing we can do."

Even if something were to happen to the Overlord, it's hard to say what would become of the human race.

But he couldn't say that.

The information revealed by the Xuan Yan Venerable Lord was a clan secret. He could not disclose to the outside world the fact that the Sovereign was seriously injured, the Time Venerable Lord was too busy to attend to other matters, and that the human race was at the back of the resurrection sequence.

Lin Yi could only suppress this heavy feeling in his heart. Looking at the resolute determination in Yongyan's eyes, willing to risk danger again for his daughter, he finally asked, "How long will the high-risk mission of 100,000 clan merits take?"

"It depends on luck," Yongyan said honestly. "If you get a mission to wipe out enemy god squads, raid resource points, or explore high-risk secret realms, you might earn several thousand or even tens of thousands of clan merits in one go."

"With good luck, it might take decades or even centuries to collect them. But if you're unlucky..."

If you're unlucky, you might die during the mission.

Eternal gods are only immortal, they have endless lifespans. They will still perish in the face of higher-level powers.

Yongyan has already been resurrected once, and his clan merits are almost gone. If he were to fall again, no one would be able to resurrect him unless he had saved up enough clan merits for a second resurrection, which would be another astronomical number.

Clearly, Yongyan is a doting father to his daughter; this is a gamble.

He risked his eternal life for a sliver of hope that his daughter might be resurrected.

But Lin Yi couldn't say anything. He could only take a deep breath and solemnly say, "Mr. Yongyan, take care. I wish you a speedy fulfillment of your wishes."

"Thank you." Yongyan nodded, then added, "In addition, regarding the matter of guards, it is currently a time of war, and the clan's high-end combat power is indeed in short supply. Since you intend to remain in seclusion on Origin Star for an extended period and are safe, you might be able to proactively suggest to the clan that there is no need to arrange new Eternal God guards for the time being, and instead use this power on the front lines where it is more urgently needed."

Lin Yi's heart stirred.

This is indeed a reasonable suggestion.

The defense level of Origin Star is already the highest among humans. It is impossible for him to get into trouble while he is in seclusion here. The reason why guards were originally assigned to him was mainly for his safety when he goes out.

The power of an eternal deity, placed on the front lines, might play a greater role in saving more lives, or, like Eternal Rock, earn clan merit to resurrect loved ones.

“I agree,” Lin Yi said immediately. “I will submit an application to the Directory Management Committee through formal channels, explaining the situation and requesting a temporary halt to the dispatch of new divine guardians.” Yongyan looked at Lin Yi, a hint of gratitude flashing in his eyes.

He knew that Lin Yi's decision was essentially doing him a favor.

Because if no suitable replacement is found, he will have to continue carrying out the guard duties.

"Alright." Yongyan said no more. He took a step back and solemnly gave Lin Yi a standard farewell salute. "Lord Lin Yi, it has been my honor to serve as your guard all these years. I wish you a breakthrough soon and to become a pillar of humanity."

"Mr. Yongyan, I also wish you all your wishes come true." Lin Yi returned the greeting with the same solemnity.

Yongyan turned around and strode away from the living room.

The figure in dark blue armor quickly disappeared outside the manor's energy membrane.

The living room fell silent.

Lin Yi stood still for a long time.

Yongyan's departure is like a mirror, reflecting the cruel weight borne by every individual and every family under this cosmic war.

What about gods? What about eternity?
Faced with the impending doom of their community and the worry about the life and death of their loved ones, they are equally powerless and have to make difficult choices.

"Xuanji," he called out.

"Master." A phantom figure in palace attire appeared.

"Two things. First, in my name, I am sending a formal application to the Human Race Special Genius Cultivation List Management Committee, which states: Given that I have returned to Origin Star for long-term seclusion and my safety is absolutely guaranteed, and given the preciousness of high-end combat power during wartime, I hereby request a temporary suspension of the dispatch of new Eternal God Guardians, and that the corresponding combat resources be prioritized for the front lines. The application shall take effect immediately."

"Yes."

"Secondly, I need to check the list of members still on Origin Star and filter out those who might be willing to be visited. I want to learn more about the current situation."

"Querying. Please wait."

A few seconds later, Xuanji replied: "Master, query complete. There are currently 47 members registered on Origin Star. Among them, 32 are marked as 'deep seclusion' or 'out and about (war mission)'. Of the remaining 15, 9 are in 'healing and resting' and usually do not receive visitors. The last 6 are..."

She paused for a moment: "Three people have explicitly set 'deny of external communication'. The other three, including Her Majesty the Star Weaver, are 'reachable', but based on their strength and status and the current war situation, they are most likely busy with other matters at the moment, so a direct visit might not be appropriate."

Lin Yi remained silent.

In other words, almost no one is taking a break.

The war has drawn everyone in.

Even the Origin Star, the most sacred and core land of the human race, is filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Lin Yi walked to the French windows and looked out at the still beautiful but excessively quiet manor scenery.

He actually had a quota for military achievements.

Each member on the roster has corresponding wartime contribution requirements based on their strength.

After all, the human race has never been inclined to have geniuses cultivate in seclusion.

However, since he is a Star-level cultivator, the target is set very low, which translates to roughly equivalent to accumulating 10,000 gold battle merits.

This number is astronomical for ordinary Star-level beings, and it would take them a very long time to complete. But for him, the battle in which he controlled the Star Origin God General at the exit of the secret realm had already earned him more than that number of achievements.

Not only that, he also completed the 100,000 golden battle merit indicators for the Star Domain level, the 1 million golden battle merit indicators for the Evolutionary Realm level, and the 10 million golden battle merit indicators for the Ordinary God level.

In theory, he could cultivate peacefully on Origin Star until his true cultivation level reached that of a powerful god.

It seems like it's still a long way off.

Lin Yi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the excessively quiet Xingyuan District outside.

The streets were deserted, and the energy streams still shone brightly, but they lacked their former vitality.

The information revealed by the Venerable Xuan Yan weighed heavily on his mind. The Overlord was seriously injured, the clan's resources were strained, the resurrection sequence was low, and those at the bottom were at risk. And then there was Yong Yan's resolute figure as he rushed to the front lines for his daughter.

However, pressure can also be a driving force.

"Times create heroes. Should I be more radical?" A thought sprouted in Lin Yi's mind.

He has the confidence to be radical.

Because in the myriad secret realms, as early as 2,500 years ago, he had already reached the perfection of the Law of Time and successfully crossed the threshold of the Law of Space.

The reason I didn't delve deeper into understanding the laws of space was mainly because I felt my combat power was sufficient in the secret realm at the time.

More importantly, in a secret realm, without additional treasures to assist you, relying solely on the "spiritual enlightenment energy" transformed from the purple mist space to directly confront the spatial laws is too inefficient and wasteful.

His spiritual energy is his most core and valuable strategic resource, and it must be used wisely and in conjunction with external amplification conditions to maximize its effectiveness.

And now.
Lin Yi's thoughts sank into the depths of his soul's origin, into that mysterious purple mist space.

The vast purple ocean of mist swirled slowly, but even he himself was somewhat "frightened" by the sheer amount of spiritual energy stored within it.

Two thousand five hundred years later, with his complete mastery of the laws of time, his efficiency in killing the mist beasts of the white mist layer was ridiculously high.

With his ability to freeze time and control a wide area, and his precise spatial cutting and harvesting, coupled with the continuous offerings from the members of the Star Origin Society, the number of Origin Crystal Cores he accumulated was astronomical.

Lin Yi roughly estimated that, apart from the spiritual energy of other geniuses that were temporarily stored with him, the amount of spiritual energy he himself possessed, if used entirely for brute force, without considering any external assistance or bottlenecks in his comprehension, would be insufficient.
That should be enough for him to push both the laws of space and the laws of death to 100% perfection!

This is an extremely terrifying number.

It's important to understand that comprehending the laws becomes increasingly difficult. The total amount of spiritual energy required to master the two major laws from the beginner level to perfection is enough to drive anyone who knows their value crazy.

"But we can't waste it like this." Lin Yi quickly calmed down.

The spiritual energy is dwindling with each use, and opportunities like the Myriad Secret Realms that allow him to acquire source matter on a large scale are probably gone forever.

This is our capital, so we must be careful with our spending.

Therefore, he needs to ensure that the other amplification conditions are maximized.

Use external treasures and cultivation environment to reduce the consumption of spiritual energy and increase the efficiency of comprehension per unit of spiritual energy.

"Xuanji," Lin Yi called out.

A phantom figure in palace attire quietly appeared: "Master."

"Two things." Lin Yi turned and walked towards the cultivation room, quickly giving instructions as he went. "First, select all the cultivation sites on Origin Star that have an enhancement effect on the comprehension of spatial laws. Selection criteria: within my remaining list points payment capacity, priority should be given to enhancement effects, while also considering the duration, preferably those with a longer single-use period."

"Second," Lin Yi continued, "I will connect to the battlefield system and use my remaining golden battle merits to filter all the treasures that can assist in comprehending the laws of space. Even if the effect is slightly worse, as long as the duration is long, it will be fine."

"Understood, Master. Synchronizing the query between the roster resource database and the battlefield merit exchange system. Please wait."

Several light screens unfolded above the control panel. On the left was a list of cultivation sites that could be redeemed with roster points, on the right was a list of treasures that could be redeemed with golden battle merits, and in the middle was a preliminary matching and recommendation made by Xuanji according to Lin Yi's requirements.

Lin Yi quickly browsed through the information.

[Results of the selection of training venues (sorted by overall recommendation rate)]:
Void Corridor: Simulates the environment of drastic spatial structure changes at the beginning of the universe, increasing comprehension efficiency by 2.5-3 times (depending on individual adaptability). Duration per use: 6 months. Redemption requires: 400,000 Directory Points per use. (Note: Available anytime)
Dingkong Hall: Stabilizes the spatial structure, assists in understanding the laws of space, and increases comprehension efficiency by 1.5 times. Duration per use: 2 years. Requires 50 Directory Points per use. (Note: Available anytime)
[Results of Auxiliary Treasure Selection (Golden Battle Merit Exchange)]:
Void Stone (Standard Quantity): Continuously emits stable spatial fluctuations, aiding in the establishment of a spatial perception framework. Effect: Slightly increases the efficiency of spatial law comprehension (approximately 10%-15%). Duration: 3 years. Exchange Requires: 50 Gold Battle Points/Quantity.

Void Resonance Dust (Bottle): Periodically sprinkled, it can induce slight spatial resonance, deepening the understanding of spatial vibrations. Effect: Intermittently and slightly increases perception efficiency (peak value approximately 20%). Duration: 1 year (use once every ten days). Exchange Requires: 30 Gold Battle Points/Bottle.

Dimensional Anchoring Chip: Slightly enhances perception of spatial dimensional stability when worn. Effect: Constant, slight increase (approximately 5%). No duration limit (until chip energy is depleted, estimated usable for 15 years). Exchange required: 120 million Gold Battle Points/chip.

Lin Yi's gaze quickly locked onto it.

“Void Corridor, 40 points, half a year, up to 3x efficiency. This has the highest priority.” He immediately judged.

With 3 times the efficiency and a duration of half a year, it can be used in conjunction with his first burst of spiritual enlightenment.

It's expensive, but worth it.

"Dingkong Hall, 50 points, 2 years, 1.5x efficiency. This can be used as a place for further consolidation and continuous enlightenment, and it is cost-effective."

Regarding treasures
"Void Stone, 50 battle merits, 3 years, slight improvement, acceptable. Void Resonance Dust, 30 battle merits, 1 year, intermittent improvement, also acceptable. Dimensional Anchoring Chip, 120 battle merits, constant slight increase, long duration. Although the single improvement is small, its advantage lies in its long duration, covering the entire cultivation cycle."

"It's settled then." Lin Yi made the decision. "Xuanji, reserve the Void Corridor for me, and set the usage time for fifteen days from now. Also, reserve the long-term usage rights to the Dingkong Palace in advance."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Over there, apply to exchange for one Void Stone, one bottle of Void Resonance Dust, and one Dimensional Anchoring Chip. Deliver them directly to the manor upon arrival."

"Yes, Master," Xuanji replied, and began to operate.

A few seconds later, Xuanji replied: "Void Corridor reservation successful. Usage time: Starting at 8:00 AM in fifteen days, lasting for six months."

"The application to exchange battlefield merits has been submitted. The three items require a total of 200 million gold battle merits. Estimated delivery time: ten standard days."

All operations are completed in one go, with extremely high efficiency.

Lin Yi nodded slightly.

"By the way, I noticed that all these training sites are marked as available at any time?" Lin Yi recalled the notes he had just seen.

“Yes, Master,” Xuanji confirmed. “According to the publicly available reservation queue information, this training room is currently vacant. Your reservation will be successful immediately after you make it, without any waiting.”

Lin Yi paused for a moment, sighing inwardly.

In peacetime, it's normal for top-tier cultivation sites like the "Void Corridor" to have waiting lists that stretch for decades or even centuries.

But now, war has broken out, and most of the powerful beings on Origin Star have gone to the front lines.

Many of those who remained on Origin Star were either still recovering from injuries or in charge of logistics, which greatly reduced their need for training facilities, to the point that even this top-tier resource became idle.

"Everyone has gone to fight," Lin Yi sighed silently in his heart.

This kind of "convenience" is not what he wants, because behind it lies the grim situation faced by the community and the sacrifice of countless people.

He shook his head, suppressing his distracting thoughts.

Now is not the time for lamenting; the best response to the situation is to seize the time to use these resources to improve ourselves.

Lin Yi then walked to the side and retrieved his insights and understanding of the laws of space.

This was given to him by his senior brother before he even had a chance to speak, when he bid farewell to his senior brother before leaving the fortress.

This includes the macro framework of spatial laws, common misconceptions, and their relationship with other laws. These insights can serve as theoretical preparation for his practice, helping him avoid detours.

Lin Yi quickly became immersed in it, rapidly absorbing and understanding the explanations about the essence of spatial laws.

Time slips away quietly while you're focused.

(End of this chapter)