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

Chapter 340 Reunion Two Thousand Five Hundred Years Later

As the natural rhythm of time flowing around him slowly subsided, Lin Yi's silver-gray eyes gradually regained their clear black and white, but deep within them, a trace of profound depth remained, as if he had seen through the long river of time.

"The law of time, 100%."

Lin Yi silently sensed the flawless imprint of the law of time deep within his soul, and an unprecedented sense of control arose spontaneously.

He felt that with just a thought, he could subtly manipulate the temporal fabric of a region.

Previous speculation about the resurrection star's core-level structure has now become a certainty.

"Next, it's about the spatial rules." Lin Yi's thoughts sank into the purple mist space.

He quickly estimated the remaining amount and thought to himself, "The remaining spiritual energy should be barely enough to reach the entry level of 1% in spatial laws."

With this in mind, Lin Yi decided to go all out and immediately begin his closed-door cultivation.

But just as he was about to activate his spiritual energy, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Although there are new crystal cores in the white mist layer, exploration and hunting both take time, and we'd better be careful with our spiritual energy.” Lin Yi’s eyes flashed. “Edith had the ability to bring in treasures like the new bud of the Tree of Time by exploiting a bug, but what about the others? Especially those who cultivate the rules of the space.”

He immediately thought of those geniuses who specialized in spatial rules, especially the three geniuses from the Spirit Clan.

The Spirit Race has a profound foundation, and they might possess treasures similar to those that can assist in breaking through spatial laws. Even if the effect is not as good as the "New Sprout of the Tree of Time," as long as it can save some spiritual energy, it's still a gain.

"Let's ask first."

Lin Yi stood up, pushed open the stone door of the quiet room, and walked out.

As soon as he appeared, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Team leader!"

"Brother Lin Yi!"

Edith, Qingye, Huiyao and other members quickly gathered around, and the other prodigies also stopped their cultivation and looked over with burning eyes.

"Just now"

Edith stared intently at Lin Yi with her blue eyes. Although she already had the answer in her heart, she couldn't help but ask.

Lin Yi nodded and said calmly, "Fortunately, my understanding of the Time Law has improved slightly, just reaching perfection."

Despite having anticipated it, everyone still gasped when they heard the word "perfect" with their own ears, and then offered their congratulations.

Congratulations, team leader!

"The Law of Time is perfected! The Realm of Gods!"

Edith gave Lin Yi a deep look. Star Core level, perfected Time Law!

He thought to himself, "If this news gets back to the outside world, I wonder what kind of shock it will cause."

Edith felt excited just thinking about that scene.

After receiving the congratulations, Lin Yi raised his hand to suppress the commotion and got straight to the point: "Now that the Law of Time is complete, I need to focus all my efforts on breaking through the Law of Space to the Law Realm. I came out today to ask everyone, especially those of you who specialize in the Law of Space."

His gaze swept across the crowd, lingering for a moment on the few spatial rule cultivators before finally settling on the three prodigies of the Spirit Clan.

"I need treasures that can assist in comprehending the laws of space, or help break through to the Law Realm. Any type is acceptable, as long as it's effective. In exchange, I can pay a corresponding share of purified source matter, or promise future compensation," Lin Yi stated directly. "Anyone who has such items and is willing to exchange can make their offer now."

When everyone heard this, they looked at each other.

Treasures that aid in breakthroughs to higher-level laws are already rare, and those that can be brought into countless secret realms are even rarer.

Most people shook their heads to indicate no.

However, among the Spirit Clan's prodigies, a gentle and serene female Spirit Clan member stepped forward and said softly, "Leader, I... I have something here that might be useful to you."

Swish.

All eyes immediately turned to her.

Lin Yi also looked at her and recognized her as "Ailan". She was ranked around 150th in strength within the camp. She came from a family of the Spirit Race with an immortal god in charge. She mainly cultivated spatial rules and was usually quite low-key.

Ai Lan blushed slightly under everyone's gaze, but still deftly took out a palm-sized, semi-transparent jade box from her bracelet.

Lin Yi immediately noticed that the surface of the box had a natural spatial ripple texture.

Ai Lan opened the box. Inside was a soft, silver velvet mat. On the mat lay a translucent, silvery-white insect, shaped like a silkworm, but with tiny, intermittent cracks on its surface.

This insect was only the length of a finger and had a faint aura, yet it emitted pure and profound spatial law fluctuations.

"These are the larvae hatched from the first eggs of the Void Rift Butterfly," Ai Lan explained. "Our family was fortunate enough to obtain a few eggs that are about to hatch. This insect feeds on spatial energy, but its larvae, when consumed, can greatly enhance the perception of spatial fluctuations in a short period of time, which has a certain bonus effect on breaking through to the spatial law realm."

"Because there is a risk of death when the eggs pass through the secret realm passage, I brought more than four. Fortunately, three of them successfully hatched. After consuming two of them myself, the spatial rules successfully broke through to the law level. I kept this last one, originally intending to leave it to the next generation of my family or exchange it for other resources."

She paused, looked at Lin Yi, and said sincerely, "The team leader has done so much for us. Please accept this Void Rift Butterfly larva as a token of my appreciation. Please do not exchange it."

Lin Yi looked at the small silver worm that was quietly wriggling in the jade box and could clearly feel the spatial laws contained within it.

This is exactly what he needs right now.

Ai Lan made it sound simple, but Lin Yi estimated that its value was probably no less than that of Edith's original Tree of Time sprout.

"This thing is too precious; I can't take it for free." Lin Yi shook his head and said seriously, "According to market prices, treasures like this that can assist in breaking through to higher-level laws are extremely valuable. I can exchange it with you using future purified source matter, or..."

"Team leader!"

Ai Lan couldn't help but interrupt, "If it weren't for your help, I would still be struggling with soul saturation, let alone breaking through the laws. If you hadn't led us to the golden space, I would have already perished in the collapse of the blood mist. Moreover, when I was being chased by the Eclipse Clan and my life was hanging by a thread, it was you who saved me!"

"This insect is of little use to me now. If it can lend you a hand, it would be its honor, and it would also be my wish. Please accept it!"

Ai Lan was very firm in her stance, and her pretty face flushed even more with excitement.

Seeing this, the people around also spoke up.

"Yes, team leader, please accept it."

“Ailan is right. Without you, we don’t know what would have become of us.”

“It’s just a worm. If you insist on exchanging it, Ai Lan will really feel uncomfortable.”

Lin Yi looked at Ai Lan, then at everyone else, knowing that further refusal would only be pretentious.

He nodded and solemnly accepted the jade box: "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony, thank you."

"Ok!"

Ai Lan nodded vigorously, a smile appearing on her face.

Edith stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the scene quietly, her blue eyes filled with a complex expression.

Her family's treasure trove contained similar or even better spatial aids, but she hadn't brought them in because she was focused on the laws of time and the risks of carrying live insect eggs were too great.

"If I had known this would happen, why would I have thought about these things?"

She gently shook her head, suppressing a strange emotion welling up inside her.

Lin Yi returned to the quiet room with the jade box.

The larvae of the Void Rift Butterfly in the box seemed to sense something, raising their heads slightly, and the ripples in the surrounding space became more pronounced.

"Hopefully, this will save some spiritual energy."

Without hesitation, Lin Yi picked up the cool, slippery silver worm and put it directly into his mouth.

The texture of this thing was rather peculiar, somewhat like the sandworms he had eaten in his previous life. He chewed it a couple of times and then swallowed it.

Instantly, a cool sensation spread throughout the body, eventually converging at the core of the soul, resonating strongly with the spatial rule imprint.

In an instant, Lin Yi felt his perception of the surrounding space become incredibly sharp.

The ubiquitous spatial particles and minute spatial folds in the air were presented to his perception with unprecedented clarity.

"It's now!"

Lin Yi's mind sank into the purple mist space, and without hesitation, he activated the remaining spiritual energy.

boom!
The last vestiges of spiritual enlightenment burned fiercely, transforming into a torrent of pure understanding. This perfectly combined with the spatial perception amplification brought by the Void Rift Butterfly larva, frantically assaulting the final barrier of spatial laws.

Countless fragments of spatial mysteries, the secrets of dimensional folding, and the truths of traversing the void surged into Lin Yi's soul at an unprecedented speed, and he rapidly understood and absorbed them.

Deep within his soul, the intricate mark representing the rules of space began to tremble violently.

0.1% 0.3% 0.7%
hum!
At the core of the soul, the spatial imprint suddenly burst forth with a dazzling silver light.

In the radiance, the structure of the mark was completely reorganized, transforming into a spatial law mark that seemed to exist in layers of void.

Although this newly formed imprint of the law is still very weak, its essence is already completely different from the rules.

Spatial Laws: An Introduction

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes.

The left eye is silver-gray, as if time is flowing; the right eye is silver-white, reflecting the overlapping shadows of the void.

Two distinct yet equally powerful laws coexisted harmoniously within him, subtly resonating with each other and creating a more profound and unpredictable charm.

At this moment, time and space began to intersect in his soul.

Lin Yi could feel that his control over the surrounding space had improved to a whole new level. With a slight thought, he could easily create stable spatial layers or folds in the quiet room.

A slight smile appeared on Lin Yi's lips.

"It's done."

Although the spiritual energy has been completely depleted, the gains have been enormous.

With the dual laws of space and time in hand, his strength underwent a qualitative leap.

Lin Yi then got up and walked out of the quiet room again.

This time, the natural fluctuations of the laws emanating from him were even more obscure and profound. The auras of the two superior laws, time and space, intertwined, causing all the geniuses who sensed them to feel a sense of oppression and awe from the depths of their souls.

"Team leader, is it done?"

Edith keenly sensed the difference.

"Hmm," Lin Yi replied succinctly.

No one was surprised; on the contrary, they thought it was only natural.

Lin Yi's gaze swept across the room. Seeing that everyone was present, he said in a deep voice, "We don't have much time left in the Golden Space. Before we leave, there is an important matter that I need to discuss with everyone."

Then, his tone became serious.

"As I said before, with the combination of the laws of spacetime, we are confident that we can attempt to revive star-core level life forms. Now, the time has come."

resurrection!

These two words resounded like thunder in everyone's hearts.

Especially those forty-odd geniuses who had already broken through to the Star Vortex level, and those who were later forced to break through due to their lifespan, their eyes instantly burst with fervent light.

"However, there are a few points I need to clarify in advance."

Lin Yi changed the subject, saying, "The Golden Space is about to close. If the resurrection is not completed within this time, the resurrected will not be able to obtain the soul origin imprint of the Golden Space, and will lose the qualification to return to cultivate every epoch in the future." "Furthermore, everything we have experienced here, including the purification of source matter and the existence of the Golden Space, involves too many secrets of ours. Therefore, those geniuses who died at the beginning must immediately sign a soul origin imprint with me after I resurrect them to ensure that the secrets will never be revealed."

"Finally, as the price for their resurrection, the proportion of purified source matter in their future will be adjusted. Of course, this does not apply to you."

After speaking, Lin Yi's gaze sharpened. "The above three points are prerequisites for resurrection. If anyone is unwilling after resurrection..."

He smiled and said, "Then I will respect its choice and let it return to eternal slumber."

A deathly silence lasted for a few seconds.

Immediately, a huge sound wave erupted.

"this is necessary."

"That's right! They were originally dead people, but to have the chance to be resurrected, to continue cultivating, and to obtain the golden space opportunity is simply an incredible blessing. Anyone who is not happy about it is a fool."

"We have no objections and will follow the team leader's arrangements."

Everyone expressed their opinions one after another.

It was a desperate struggle for a glimmer of hope, and now that hope is right in front of us, the conditions, though strict, are reasonable and even quite generous.

Refusal? Then you might as well die again.

"it is good."

Lin Yi nodded. The requirement from above was his bottom line for resurrecting those geniuses who had died at the hands of the two races from the very beginning. Giving it to them in advance was just a notification, not a discussion.

"Team leader."

At this moment, Edith suddenly spoke up.

However, instead of objecting to what Lin Yi had just said, she raised an unexpected question.

"Besides the prodigies who died in the secret realm this time, have you ever thought about whether those prodigies who were also trapped in the secret realms when they opened could also be resurrected?"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.

In past eras, countless geniuses of various races perished in myriad secret realms.

How terrifying would that number be?
If it really is possible
All eyes immediately focused on Lin Yi.

Lin Yi's heart also stirred.

Resurrect the prodigies of the past who perished in the secret realm?
This idea is bold, crazy, yet incredibly tempting.

He pondered for a moment, the silver-gray and silver-white light in his eyes slowly shifting, as if he were deducing some possibility.

The entire golden space was completely silent; everyone held their breath, awaiting his decision.

"Edith, your suggestion is very valuable." After a moment, Lin Yi finally spoke. "Theoretically, as long as the soul's original imprint hasn't been completely washed away and erased in the river of time, it's possible for me to resurrect it. But..."

He frowned and continued, "Reversing the flow of time to carry out large-scale resurrection has extremely high limitations and comes at a very high cost."

"With my current energy reserves and control over the laws of time, I can only support my consciousness to travel upstream along the river of time and trace back to a complete cosmic era."

"Furthermore, there is a limit to the number of Star Core-level life forms I can reliably retrieve and revive with a single Reverse Flow spell. I estimate that this limit is about one thousand. Exceeding this number will put me at risk of serious injury or even death."

"at last."

At this point, Lin Yi's voice became a few decibels louder.

"Resurrection places an immense burden on the soul. Each time I perform it, my soul enters a prolonged period of exhaustion. For a resurrection star core-level resurrection, this period of exhaustion can last anywhere from a hundred to a thousand years. During this time, my regular combat power will decrease by at least 30%, and..."

He paused, then uttered words that sent a chill down the spines of all the prodigies: "This kind of exhaustion at the soul level will severely affect the efficiency of my comprehension of the laws, and my understanding of the laws will almost stagnate."

The understanding of the laws has stagnated.

For top geniuses who regard cultivation as their life, especially those who have made rapid progress, this is undoubtedly a fatal price to pay.

Everyone's faces turned solemn as they exchanged glances.

To exchange one's cultivation stagnation for the next thousand years or even longer for the resurrection of a past, unfamiliar genius?
Isn't this price a bit too high?

However, Lin Yi had other plans in mind.

Decreased comprehension?
Is your understanding of the laws stagnating?

For him, it didn't matter at all!
His improvement in the laws mainly relied on the transformation of "spiritual enlightenment energy" by the purple mist space, rather than purely on his own comprehension and arduous cultivation.

The fatigue of the soul mainly affects the efficiency of regular cultivation, and has a very limited impact on him.

As for the 30% reduction in combat power, it doesn't really matter. Even with the 30% reduction, he can still kill those mist beasts instantly.

However, that's not the right way to put it.

Lin Yi's face showed appropriate solemnity and consideration as he slowly said, "Although the price is not small, if the cultivation stagnation for a period of time can bring back those equally talented geniuses from various races who unfortunately perished here, and give them a second life and opportunity, it may be worth it."

As he spoke, he looked at Edith: "Within an era, the myriad secret realms have opened twenty-four times. As far as I know, although the competition for secret realms in the past was brutal, there were very few organized and extreme encirclements like this one. The average number of geniuses who perished each time was far less than this time. The thousand resurrection slots this time might be enough."

"In this way, the golden space is too stable. We will return to the white mist layer and the resurrection will take place there."

"Yes!"

White fog layer.

Compared to more than half a year ago, the white fog is now much denser and covers a significantly larger area.

The dense fog not only obscures vision and perception, but also makes the disordered nature of its patterns more pronounced.

However, for the current geniuses who are all at the Law Realm, it doesn't have much of an impact.

Lin Yi selected a flat area back-to-back with several huge white crystals as a temporary campsite.

The group quickly set up simple defensive and warning runes.

“I will attempt to revive by reversing the flow here.” Lin Yi stood in the center of the camp and said to the group of geniuses who had gathered around him. “There may be some spacetime disturbances during the process. Don’t panic, just stay alert.”

Edith, Aoba, and the others nodded solemnly and spontaneously dispersed, forming a protective circle.

Lin Yi sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

As his thoughts sank into the depths of his soul, the imprints of the laws of time and space lit up simultaneously. Silver-gray and silver-white light intertwined, and a mysterious and unpredictable fluctuation of spacetime began to slowly ripple outward from him.

“Tracing back in time, pinpointing the location.”

Lin Yi focused his mind, first locking onto the time anchor point of "the opening of the Myriad Secret Realms this time". Then, his soul perception, like a fish swimming upstream, began to trace back along the invisible river of time.

Immediately, the scene before his eyes began to change rapidly, with countless blurry lights and shadows, mixed with countless subtle sounds and fragments of thought.

That is the torrent of information that has settled in the long river of time.

Lin Yi kept his mind focused, the laws of time and space protecting his soul, as he searched for a higher node in the vast river of time.

Soon, he saw it.

That was the scene about 2,500 years ago, when the gray fog layer had just begun to open.

Countless points of light scattered through the entrance and fell into the gray world.

Some of the light spots went out quickly after falling in.

"Found it, the first one."

Lin Yi's soul perception locked onto one of the points of light that had just gone out.

He extended his power of spacetime, like the most precise probe, to touch the scene in the last moment before the light went out.

The gray fog churned, reducing visibility to extremely low levels.

A female prodigy of the Spirit Race, clad in standard battle armor and with pale green crystal patterns on her forehead, was cautiously probing.

She held a longsword in her hand, which emanated a halo of life's rules. It was at the second level of the domain, which was quite good among star core-level swords.

Suddenly, the gray fog behind us stirred violently!

A figure covered in dark purple carapace, shaped like a mantis, and exuding an aura that was clearly at the Star Vortex level, pounced out without warning.

Its forelimbs slashed down like scythes, moving at incredible speed.

The Spirit Clan prodigy turned his head in shock, his pupils reflecting the rapidly enlarging, ferocious blade.

She struggled to activate the Rule Armor, but the vast difference between the Star Core and the Star Vortex made the armor as fragile as paper under the opponent's premeditated sneak attack.

puff!

As the dark purple blade flashed past, the prodigy froze, his life force extinguished like a candle flame being extinguished.

Her eyes held a lingering sense of shock and resentment as she slowly collapsed.

Having successfully launched a sneak attack, the Eclipse Clan let out a low hiss and quickly disappeared into the gray mist.

Lin Yi anchored the timeline to the instant before he was hit by the attack.

Subsequently.

An invisible force of spacetime traversed a vast distance of time and descended upon this point.

At the same time, the spatial law imprint vibrated, forcibly constructing a spacetime corridor between that past point in time and the white mist layer camp where Lin Yi was at this moment.

"Return!"

Lin Yi let out a low shout, and his soul power and source energy surged out, acting on the anchored figure along the corridor of time and space.

In the center of the white mist camp, the space in front of Lin Yi was slightly distorted.

First, there's a blurry outline, then a clear torso and limbs, and finally, details of the face and armor.
The whole process may seem slow, but in reality, it takes only a few dozen breaths in the outside world.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, and a glint of silver light from his fingertip entered the woman's brow.

The woman's body trembled slightly, her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Those were a pair of clear, bright green eyes, but now they were filled with a sense of bewilderment.

She first saw Lin Yi, who was right in front of her, then the unfamiliar white mist surrounding her, and further out, the crowd of people wearing various armors, their auras extremely powerful, watching her intently.

Memories suddenly flooded back like a tidal wave.

Gray fog, exploration, deadly sneak attack.
“I am not.”

She spoke instinctively, her voice extremely dry, "The Corrupted Clan."

"Long time no see, Biling."

Looking at the first life he had rescued, Lin Yi felt a sense of accomplishment despite his exhaustion.

It feels wonderful to give someone a second life.

He looked at Bi Ling before him and smiled. "You did indeed perish, but I brought you back from the past. This is the White Mist Space, deeper within the Myriad Secret Realms. Two thousand five hundred years have passed since your fall."

　There will be another chapter tonight, but it won't be until around midnight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)