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

Chapter 359 You all go quickly, I'll cover your retreat!

This seemingly casual action actually fully activated the most powerful technique he could currently use, the killing move from the first level of the god-level attack technique "Time Rift".

At Lin Yi's fingertip, a thin, silvery-gray crack, almost invisible to the naked eye, quietly appeared.

This move is called "Sky-Severing Slash".

The slowing effect of the law of time and the cutting effect of the law of space are compressed and superimposed in an instant, forming a spacetime rift with extremely strong penetrability and concealment.

The crack was only an inch long when it first appeared, but after it appeared, it instantly severed the spatial blade in front of it and then appeared directly in front of the mother locust's carapace covered with distorted spatial runes.

As a peak-level alien beast of the ordinary gods, the mother locust has an almost instinctive intuition for danger.

The moment the spacetime rift appeared, the light in its compound eyes, which resembled a silver vortex, suddenly surged.

hiss!
A piercing screech, almost tearing the soul apart, erupted from its ferocious mandibles.

Almost simultaneously, the mother locust's enormous, translucent body swung violently to the right, and her six pairs of blade-like forelimbs slashed wildly backward, attempting to disrupt the surrounding spacetime by cutting through space to buy herself a chance to dodge.

Its reaction speed has reached the limit that ordinary gods can achieve.

However, it was still a step too late.

As a flash of silvery light appeared, a smooth, mirror-like cut started from the junction of the second pair of forelimbs on the left side of the mother locust with her body, extended diagonally upwards, and precisely sliced ​​through the base of the first pair of translucent wings on the left side.

Dark silver blood mixed with spatial energy gushed out of the wound like a fountain.

The second and third pairs of forelimbs on the left side of the mother locust snapped off instantly, and the huge limbs, carrying a ghostly light that seemed to tear through space, drifted into the void.

Not only that, but most of its left wing root was also cut off. The wing, which could originally stir up spatial ripples when it trembled, was now like shattered glass, its light quickly dimmed, and only a few biological tissues were barely connected. It had obviously lost most of its functions.

If the mother locust had reacted even 0.01 seconds slower, it would have cut open its skull core and compound eyes.

"squeak!!"

A scream filled with pain and madness erupted from the mother locust's mouthparts.

Accompanied by this hiss, the remaining Shadow Locust offspring in the surrounding void, like a suicide squad that had received the final order, whether they were rushing towards Lin Yi or were on guard in other directions, all turned around and charged towards Lin Yi, while the energy in their bodies began to boil recklessly.

Blow up!

The individual self-destruction of these sub-sub ...

Boom! Boom boom boom boom!

The dense, rain-like explosions instantly illuminated the starry sky.

The severely injured mother locust used her remaining limbs to forcefully tear open a spatial rift and plunged inside.

It's trying to escape!
However, Lin Yi coldly watched the closing spatial rift and did not take any action to pursue it.

Because just as the Sky-Splitting Slash struck the mother locust, he had already used the power of the spacetime laws contained in the crack to leave an extremely hidden "spacetime imprint" deep within the mother locust's wound.

At the level of the mother locust, she was completely unaware of the mark, so in a short time, it would not escape her perception at all.

He let the mother locust escape because he had more important things to do at that moment.

The powerful, god-level fluctuations of spacetime laws that erupted when the Sky-Severing Slash broke through the mother locust's defenses and tore through its body were like a lighthouse in the night, no longer able to be completely concealed by the illusory veil of the first level.

In the distance, the battlefield where fierce fighting was taking place was instantly alarmed by this fluctuation.

The movements of the eight deities on both sides of the battle almost simultaneously showed an extremely subtle pause.

All eyes, whether it was Yueming's calm purple eyes, Lan's worried golden pupils, Mingluo's fighting spirit, or the cold compound eyes of the five gods of the Fengshi Squad, were all subconsciously drawn to the source of the fluctuation.

Then, they saw the enormous and ferocious Shadow Locust Queen, its left limbs severed, its wings tattered, dragging dark silver blood rain, frantically tearing through space in an attempt to escape.

Amidst the chaotic energy flow of the exploding swarm, a silver-gray figure slowly retracted its closed sword fingers.

The illusory aura surrounding it had dissipated under the impact of the law fluctuations that had just erupted, and now it was radiating a powerful aura without reservation.

"This fluctuation, hahaha!" Mingluo cleaved his opponent back with an axe and couldn't help but laugh wildly.

Lan's wings of light unfurled unconsciously, and a bright light burst forth from her eyes.

Yueming was also shocked, but her combat skills allowed her to instantly seize the opening created by her opponent's shock. The life-and-death thread tightened suddenly, dragging one of her opponents, who was trying to turn around, back into the battle.

The reaction of the Sharp Eater Squad was completely different.

The leader of the Sharp Devourer team had his armor, covered in dark gold and mysterious patterns, flashing intensely, and his compound eyes were filled with disbelief.

"That Lin Yi... how could that be?"

Then, it saw the silver-gray figure slowly turn around, its cold gaze fixed on this place.

Captain Feng Shi was immediately on alert!
"not good!"

It reacted immediately, and a surge of soul energy exploded in the consciousness of the team members, with an unprecedented urgency.

However, it was too late.

The moment it uttered those two words, the silver-gray figure in the distant void suddenly blurred.

In the next instant, Lin Yi's figure appeared on the other side of the battlefield without warning.

It appeared behind a deity resembling a giant moth, waving its two pairs of forelimbs, locked in a stalemate with Mingluo's dark gold giant axe.

This deity had just exchanged blows with Mingluo, dragging Mingluo into a battle of divine power while waiting for his teammates to break free from Lan's interference and come to join the attack.

Although it also noticed the change in Lin Yi's direction and heard its captain's reminder.

But it was too late.

Just like the tactics it employs, the battle of divine power is not something that can be easily withdrawn.

Just as it was about to risk injury to forcibly break the divine power connection, a silver-gray figure appeared on its back.

Without pausing, Lin Yi placed his left hand directly on the center of its carapace, which was covered with fine scales.

Click. Click.
The power of the laws of time is silently infused through the palm of the hand.

The giant moth deity felt everything around it slow down instantly. Its thoughts were still running, but the process of mobilizing divine power and driving its limbs was forcibly slowed down for a moment.

In that instant, in a battle between gods, it was a matter of life and death.

Lin Yi raised his right hand at the same time, and the Wheel of Time and Space, with a swing of his right hand, sliced ​​horizontally like the scythe of death.

puff!

The silver halo formed by the Sky Shuttle easily broke through the divine power shield that had formed on its body.

Then, it smoothly sliced ​​through its body.

The incision begins from the right shoulder blade and exits from the lower left abdomen.

Divide into two!
Dark green divine blood mixed with fragments of internal organs and broken carapace exploded in the starry sky.

Before it could even let out a complete scream, its soul fluctuations abruptly ceased in horror, and the life force contained in the broken part of its divine body was quickly annihilated by the power of time that followed.

Sold out instantly!

"Do not!!!"

Captain Feng Shi watched helplessly as one of his team members was instantly killed right before his eyes, unleashing a soul-stirring roar of extreme rage.

But it did not lose its mind.

On the contrary, as a powerful and experienced deity, it instantly assessed the situation amidst extreme shock and anger.

The intelligence report clearly stated that Lin Yi, a human race member who was only "a Star-level being who barely reached the threshold of an ordinary god by relying on the Fearless War God," not only possessed the strength to severely injure the Flying Locust Queen in a direct confrontation, but could also instantly kill an ordinary god.

This is a powerful god-level being!
In addition, there was Yueming, a powerful deity who was slightly stronger than himself, and the remaining two ordinary deities who cooperated well.
If we continue fighting, the only outcome will be total annihilation.

In a flash, it made the exact same decision as Yueming before it.

"You all go! I'll cover your retreat! Go!!!"

Captain Sharp-Eater roared in its soul, and at the same time, dark red cracks suddenly appeared on its carapace covered with dark gold patterns, from which violent divine flames spewed forth.

Burning divine power!

Captain Fengshi activated this final forbidden technique without hesitation.

In an instant, its aura surged wildly like a volcanic eruption, almost touching the threshold of a high-level deity!

The raging divine power, mixed with its own laws, formed a suffocating dark red storm that spread violently outwards from its center, forcibly breaking apart the life-and-death threads that entangled Yue Ming, and also sending Ming Luo and Lan, who were about to pursue, flying backwards.

"Captain!" the remaining three team members cried out in grief and indignation.

"go!"

The captain's soul fluctuations, burning with divine power, revealed a resolute determination.

Knowing that this was an opportunity their captain had risked his life for, the three team members dared not hesitate for a moment. They each unleashed their fastest speed and fled frantically in three different directions.

Lin Yi had just landed a successful blow and was about to lock onto his next target when he sensed a divine power fluctuation filled with destructive energy.

His eyes narrowed, and he immediately abandoned the pursuit.

"Captain, watch out!"

As Lin Yi's voice rang in Yue Ming's mind, his figure disappeared again, and in the next instant he appeared beside Yue Ming, standing shoulder to shoulder with her, facing the surging and boiling aura of the Sharp Devourer Captain.

Burning divine power is the last desperate measure of a god-level expert.

By igniting divine power with the fire of the soul, one can gain a tremendous boost once activated.

Of course, the cost is also enormous.

The burning of divine power is irreversible; once ignited, it cannot be stopped and will continue to burn until the divine body collapses, the soul is annihilated, and the divine being utterly destroyed.

In other words, this is a suicide attack.

However, unlike self-destruction, which releases all power at once, although it is powerful, it is easily dodged or defended in a battle between gods who all have ways to protect themselves, and it requires a short preparation time to activate.

Burning divine power requires only a thought, and it's a continuous burst, making it the best option for most gods to fight for their lives. Yue Ming originally intended to use this method as well.

Clearly, Captain Fengshi chose this method to cover the rear, intending to use his burning divine power to hold off the opponent and buy his teammates the maximum time to escape. Yueming looked at the enemy whose aura was surging, his expression solemn, "He's fighting desperately, we just need to hold him off, there's no need to fight him head-on."

"Understood." Lin Yi nodded.

Indeed, although he was surprised by his opponent's decisiveness, despite the surge in his strength, he was essentially a dead man. All he had to do was stall until his divine power was exhausted.

Mingluo and Lan did not pursue their opponents, but instead flew to their side.

After all, they also knew that Yue Ming and Lin Yi alone could not guarantee that they could kill the Blazing Devourer Captain who was burning divine power without taking any damage.

Looking at the cracked Captain of the Fiend Clan amidst the dark red divine flames, Mingluo couldn't help but grin and say, "These insects of the Fiend Clan are really ruthless, ruthless to their enemies and ruthless to themselves."

Lan quickly said, "We can't just stand by and watch. We need to deplete its divine power, otherwise, if it keeps accumulating power, its final, fatal blow could be very dangerous."

"Then let's send it on its way as soon as possible!" A flash of silver light appeared in Lin Yi's eyes, and the Wheel of Time instantly disintegrated, transforming into countless tiny silver shuttles that swam around him like a school of fish. "Captain, how about we two take the lead in the attack, while Mingluo and Lan provide support and distraction to deplete his divine power?"

Yue Ming gave Lin Yi a deep look and readily agreed, "Okay!"

The battle resumed instantly.

boom!
Captain Sharp Devourer, burning with divine power, launched the first attack. Its serrated forelimb, now enveloped in dark red flames, swung fiercely towards the location of Lin Yi and Yue Ming.

A dark red blade of light, tearing through the starry sky, pierced through the air, leaving a black mark in the space it passed through.

But Lin Yi did not retreat but advanced, taking a step forward, his right hand pointing like a sword, and once again using the first level of the "Time Rift" secret technique.

However, this time it's not the Sky-Splitting Slash that aims for a one-hit kill, but the faster Sky-Splitting Thrust.

A thinner, yet more refined, silver-gray crack pierced towards the dark red blade's edge.

Stab it!

The Sky-Splitting Thrust precisely struck the energy node of the dark red blade's aura. The power of spacetime and the burning divine power collided fiercely, tearing a gash in the dark red blade's aura and greatly reducing its power. The aftershocks were dispersed by a casual Life and Death Finger Strike from Yue Ming.

At the same time, Mingluo and Lan's attacks came from both sides.

Mingluo's piercing axe blade, like a siege hammer, slammed into the relatively vulnerable joints of Captain Fengshi, forcing him to divert some of his divine power for defense.

Lan's attacks were like an omnipresent drizzle, eroding the divine flames burning on the opponent's body. Although the effect was weak, it was continuous and accumulated little by little.

"Roar!"

Captain Feng Shi roared, his figure swaying as he tried to dodge Lin Yi's second Sky-Splitting Thrust, while simultaneously taking a hit from Ming Luo's axe. Sparks flew from his carapace, leaving a crack.

It swung its claw at Lan, but was entangled by the life-and-death threads that Yue Ming had laid beforehand, slowing its speed by a moment, and was narrowly dodged by Lan.

The battle entered a seemingly stalemate, but in reality, a rhythm that was extremely advantageous to the Star Silent Squad.

Although Captain Feng Shi's attack power has increased dramatically due to the burning divine power, each of his attacks is powerful and heavy, forcing Lin Yi and Yue Ming to deal with him cautiously, and often requiring the two of them to work together to resolve the situation.

However, facing four opponents alone, and with Mingluo and Lan's constant harassment, it was unable to concentrate all its forces on one point.

More importantly, its divine power is being consumed as it continues to burn. Although its aura remains violent, the amount of power within it is steadily decreasing.

At the same time, Lin Yi's fighting style also changed significantly.

He was no longer as reserved as when he dealt with the Void-Eating Jellyfish. Instead, he combined the Space-Time Rift Secret Technique with the Sky-Escape Shuttle, launching cunning surprise attacks from time to time with teleportation-like movements, or using time delay in conjunction with the Space-Rending Thrust to interrupt the opponent's attack rhythm.

The power of the two laws of spacetime began to be fully displayed in the true life-or-death battle at the god level.

With the pressure on Yueming greatly reduced, she could focus more on control and support. The Law of Life and Death was like the most precise scalpel, constantly peeling away the opponent's defenses and amplifying the damage caused by Mingluo and Lan.

Time passed second by second.

The dark red flames on Captain Feng Shi's body, which had been burning fiercely at the beginning, gradually became somewhat unstable, with the light sometimes blazing and sometimes dimming.

More and more cracks appeared on its body surface, and divine blood seeped out from the cracks, only to be instantly evaporated by the divine flames.

Its attacks remained fierce, but the frequency began to decrease, and occasionally there would be a slight sluggishness as if it were exhausted.

Clearly, the burning of divine power was nearing its end.

Finally, after about a standard time, Captain Feng Shi let out a final, unwilling and venomous screech, launching a final attack with all his remaining power in his burning divine power state towards the location of Lin Yi and Yue Ming.

It frantically compressed the remaining divine power into its mouthparts, and a dark red ray, only as thick as an arm but condensed to the extreme, shot out silently towards the two of them.

The ray wasn't fast, but along its path, space was erased as if by an eraser, leaving a dark, empty passage where even light was swallowed up.

Sensing the destructive energy contained in this ray, Yue Ming's expression changed slightly, and he tapped his hand repeatedly.

At the same time, Lin Yi's gaze sharpened. He raised his left hand and gently clenched it in front of the dark red ray that seemed to be moving slowly but had actually locked onto the space.

The speed of the dark red ray visibly slowed down slightly.

This slight miscalculation gave Lin Yi and Yue Ming room to dodge.

The two figures instantly dodged to the sides.

laugh!
The crimson ray passed between the two, shooting into the distant depths of space, and finally disappeared into the distance.

The dark red flames on Captain Sharp's body suddenly went out as he launched the attack.

Its cracked carapace quickly lost its luster and turned gray, and the light in its compound eyes also dimmed completely.

The battle is over.

Silence returned to the starry sky.

Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at Yue Ming beside him.

"team leader."

Hearing the sound, Yueming turned her head and looked at him with her purple eyes.

“You guys collect the loot first,” Lin Yi said. “I’ll go finish the tasks we haven’t completed yet.”

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Yue Ming's eyes: "You mean?"

She subconsciously looked at the ripples in the sky left by the fleeing mother locust, which had not yet completely subsided.

The Shadow Locust Queen, worth millions of golden battle merits, tore through space and escaped after Lin Yi severed her limbs and half of her wing with a single blow. The ensuing battle was intense, and she thought that the Queen Locust had taken advantage of the chaos to escape far away and was difficult to track down.

Lin Yi nodded. "I left a time-space imprint on the mother locust; it can't escape."

Upon hearing this, not only Yueming, but also Lan and Mingluo who were standing next to him looked over.

Upon hearing this, Mingluo was stunned for a moment, then immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Lin Yi, you're amazing! I thought that guy had run away and our mission would be a waste of time. That was brilliant!"

Lin Yi was speechless upon hearing this.

So, he went from being called "younger brother" to "older brother"?

He was called "younger brother" before, but became "older brother" after the war.

Clearly, when they were fighting side by side just moments before, Mingluo was mostly looking out for the new team member, calling him "brother" with encouragement.

At this moment, a natural "brother" signifies that the strength he displayed in the previous battle has completely earned Mingluo's respect.

Lin Yi didn't think there was anything wrong with Ming Luo's behavior. He also knew that this was the rule of the Star Sea: strength is paramount, and the more strength you have, the more respect and status you can earn.

Therefore, Lin Yi simply smiled at Ming Luo, which was considered as accepting the new title.

Then, he turned to Yueming and said, "I'll be right back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yi didn't linger any longer.

He took a step forward, and the silver-gray spacetime laws around him flashed. Following the sensation of the hidden spacetime imprint left deep in the mother locust's wound, he chased after the direction in which the mother locust had fled in panic.

Yueming, Mingluo, and Lan watched Lin Yi's disappearing figure in silence for a moment.

A moment later, Lan began to manipulate the beam of light, drawing the scattered spoils of war over one by one: "This is a great harvest. Two sections of the divine body of an ordinary god, and the complete divine body of a powerful god. It's a pity that the other three escaped too quickly and we couldn't leave them behind."

“Not bad.” Minglu grinned. “Leaving aside the value of the divine body, the battle merits alone are at least…tsk, tens of millions.”

Yueming remained silent, but her gaze was fixed on the direction where Lin Yi had disappeared, her pale purple eyes filled with contemplation.

In the battle just now, Lin Yi's exquisite coordination of spacetime laws, his decisiveness in instantly killing the enemy, and the level he displayed in fighting the captain of the Blade Devourer who was burning with divine power, had actually exceeded the scope of a newly promoted powerful god.

"Captain, Brother Lin Yi..." Mingluo followed Yueming's gaze and couldn't help but exclaim, "He's amazing! I remember he was struggling against the Void-Eating Jellyfish before, and now he's become this strong in such a short time."

"As expected of the number one prodigy." Lan replied with a smile, "We've all expended a lot of divine power, let's recover first, and then hurry up and collect the spoils of war while we wait for Lin Yi to return."

Yueming nodded silently.

The three of them split up and began to act separately.

Lan was in charge of checking the condition and estimated value of the spoils, while Mingluo flew to a distance to pick up the scattered shell fragments. Although these materials were broken, they were still dropped from a god-level being, and they could always extract something of value from them.

Yueming stood still, keeping watch.

After about half a standard hour, the spoils around them had been mostly collected, and the three of them had also recovered a lot of their divine power.

Just then, the space in front of them rippled slightly.

A silver-gray figure appeared out of thin air.

Lin Yi is back.

Upon seeing Lin Yi appear, Yue Ming stepped forward, and Lan and Ming Luo immediately approached as well.

"Is it resolved?" Yueming asked.

Lin Yi nodded and raised his right hand.

Above his palm floated an object enveloped in silver-gray spacetime power.

It was a dark silver crystal core, roughly the size of a human head, with irregular polyhedral shapes. Its surface was covered with natural, complex spatial patterns, like natural engravings, and a faint silver light flowed within it.

Around the crystal core, several broken, semi-transparent wing fragments floated, also shimmering with spatial runes.

The divine crystal core of the Shadow Locust Queen and some high-value materials.

“The mother locust was seriously injured before, so she didn’t escape too far,” Lin Yi explained simply. “She hid in a small, natural spatial fold, trying to use the remaining spatial energy to repair her injuries. After finding her, it didn’t take much effort; she was already powerless to resist.”

(End of this chapter)