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

Chapter 315 Strange Stone Strips, Laws Finally Formed

Before long, the clone, guided by the machine servant, passed through the layers of verification in the Star Origin Zone and arrived at the underground training room.

Then, the clone calmly raised its hand and waved it at the void in front of it.

With a slight glint of light, twenty-eight flat boxes of identical size and shape floated neatly in front of Lin Yi.

The box is entirely dark silver, with no patterns on its surface, only a faint, almost imperceptible energy glow.

They are arranged in a simple square formation, floating silently.

Lin Yi's gaze swept over the boxes, and he nodded slightly.

The next instant, the power of time that sustained the clone's existence receded like the tide.

The clone's figure began to blur, like a reflection in water being scattered by ripples, and soon it completely disappeared into the air.

The reason for doing this is quite simple.

Maintaining a clone requires a continuous drain on time and mental energy, which is manageable under normal circumstances. However, when Lin Yi is about to break through a crucial threshold of laws, he needs to keep his main body in its purest and most peak state.

Now that the clone's mission is complete, it is the perfect time for it to dissipate and return.

The cultivation room fell completely silent, leaving only Lin Yi and the twenty-eight floating dark silver boxes.

Lin Yi did not rush to check, but instead had a slight thought.

Deep within the walls, ceiling, and even the floor of the underground training room, countless intricate energy patterns lit up one after another, emitting a soft hum.

This signifies that the manor's highest-level defense matrix and anti-spy shield matrix have been fully activated.

Layer upon layer of invisible force fields, capable of shielding most energy detection and information spying, intertwine and overlap, transforming this place into a completely independent and secretive domain.

Lin Yi had considerable trust in the feedback detection matrix from the underground training room.

After all, this is a manor provided for members of the list. Everyone who can be included in the list has their own little secrets. The anti-spy matrix here is god-level, and even the Lord cannot break through it silently.

After doing all this, Lin Yi turned his attention back to the box in front of him.

His gaze slowly moved across the twenty-eight boxes, eventually settling on twelve of them.

Compared to the other sixteen, the dark silver color of these twelve boxes seemed to be slightly lighter, almost imperceptible without careful comparison.

Lin Yi raised his hand and gestured, and the twelve slightly lighter-colored boxes flew towards him on their own, where he stored them in his personal storage space device.

The remaining sixteen dark silver boxes remained suspended silently.

Lin Yi stretched out his finger and pointed at one of the boxes in mid-air.

The lid slid open silently, revealing neatly arranged items inside.

There were ten crystals, each about the size of a thumbnail, shaped like a standard dodecahedron.

The crystal itself is a translucent pale gold, but at its core, it seems to contain a wisp of milky white mist that is constantly flowing and changing shape.

It is the "Enlightenment Crystal" that seals away the spiritual energy.

Each Enlightenment Crystal contains a year's worth of spiritual enlightenment; at this moment, ten crystals are neatly arranged in the box.

Lin Yi nodded slightly, revealing a satisfied smile.

One hundred and sixty pieces, plus the spiritual energy he had accumulated, amounted to a weight of three hundred and twenty years.

These are the reasons why he dared to challenge the laws of time.

Lin Yi didn't dwell on his feelings. He composed himself, sat down cross-legged, and took out a Qiming Crystal from the opened box, placing it in his palm.

The pale golden crystals felt warm to the touch, and a faint tremor seemed to resonate with the soul.

Lin Yi closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and sank his mind into a state of clarity.

Immediately, a wisp of pure source energy, mixed with his concentrated will, carefully probed into the Enlightenment Crystal, touching the milky white mist at its core.

Upon sensing Lin Yi's intention, that wisp of spiritual energy suddenly became active, flowing lightly and swiftly into Lin Yi's brow through the channel of source energy and intention, reaching the depths of his soul.
-
Twenty days have passed in the blink of an eye.

"Owner."

Xuanji's voice rang out in the training room at the right time, "Today is your reserved time to use the Time Rift. The commuter shuttle arrived at the manor's landing pad three minutes ago and is ready to depart at any time."

Lin Yi nodded slightly and stood up.

He looked inward again, carefully sensing his own body.

With a full soul and a harmonious spirit, it awaits only the right opportunity and environment to make its final impact.

His condition has been adjusted to its current peak.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi checked the auxiliary cultivation treasures he had prepared beforehand. After confirming that everything was in order, he stepped out of the underground cultivation room.

On the manor's landing pad, a streamlined, silver-gray commuter shuttle is quietly parked.

The shuttle has no emblems on its surface, only the faint glow of the official traffic management system of Origin Star.

This shuttle is designed specifically for high-level cultivators within the Star Source Zone.

Lin Yi boarded the shuttle, and the cabin door closed silently.

The interior space is simple and comfortable, with a quiet room. After specifying the destination as "Star Derivation Zone - Time Rift", the shuttle lightly took off and silently glided into the designated commuter route in the atmosphere of the Origin Star, heading towards the Star Derivation Zone on the other side of the planet.

Within the Origin Star, personal flight is strictly prohibited unless for urgent official business or with special permission.

This is one of the fundamental rules for maintaining order on this planet, which is home to so many important figures and facilities of the human race.

Therefore, even a genius like Lin Yi, who is listed in the catalog, must follow regulations and use the commuter shuttle when traveling.

The shuttle is extremely fast and prioritizes the flight path.

Through the viewing window, below are the buildings of the Star Source District rushing by. Occasionally, other commuter shuttles can be seen passing by like dots of light on their predetermined routes, everything is in good order.

About half a standard hour later, the view in front of the shuttle changed.

A more magnificent area, with an architectural style that appears more ancient and solemn, appeared on the horizon.

The energy fluctuations here are more subtle yet powerful, the spatial structure seems more stable, and even the light appears to be filtered, making it exceptionally clear.

This is the Star Evolution Zone—the true core of the high-level cultivation zone on the Origin Star.

Top-notch training facilities and forbidden testing grounds are all located here.

As the shuttle approached the edge of the star-evolution zone, an invisible scanning wave enveloped it.

The built-in system of the shuttle automatically responds and sends a verification request.

[Access Request: Destination—Starry Zone, Time Rift. Passenger: Lin Yi.]

[Permission level verification in progress]

[Verification complete. Access level: Permanent. Access verification: Passed.]

Lin Yi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Eternal-class?
He remembered clearly that when he made the reservation for the Time Rift, the system showed that his access level was "Evolving Realm Level".

It seems that his first-place finish in the qualifiers, especially his performance that outshone Eldar Edith, led the higher-ups of the human race, or the administrators of Origin Star, to raise his authority rating.

Eternal level, which is usually a privilege that only formal eternal gods can have, means that he has greater freedom and resource access priority in most areas of the Origin Star.

[Appointment record verification in progress]

[Verification complete. Reservation facility: Time Rift (a time-law-assisted training facility). Reservation period: Standard Time Cycle 1742 to 1744 (48 Standard Time periods in total). Reserver: Lin Yi. Record matches. Time matches.]

[Verification successful. Proceedings permitted. Guiding route locked.]

An invisible barrier quietly opened a portal for the passage of this flying shuttle.

Without pausing, the shuttle smoothly entered the star-deflection zone along a guiding route clearly marked by an invisible force field.

Upon entering the Starry Sky Zone, Lin Yi immediately sensed a completely different atmosphere.

It was not heavily guarded; on the contrary, there was almost no visible defense force or patrol team in sight.

Occasionally, other commuter shuttles fly overhead, while on the ground are buildings of various classical or modern styles, as well as woodlands and lakes radiating a misty energy.

Only a few simple-looking, silent maintenance and transport machines carry out maintenance or transport work on fixed routes.

Quiet, spacious, and orderly.

However, Lin Yi's spiritual perception vaguely sensed what terrifying power lurked beneath this seemingly peaceful and tranquil area.

Every building, every patch of woodland, even the land beneath our feet and the sky above us, seems to be connected to the entire Origin Star's defense system and even some deeper layers of rules.

The feeling was like walking inside the body of a sleeping giant of the stars. It seemed like you were completely unprepared, but if anyone showed any abnormality, you would be struck by lightning.

"In the Starry Sky District, you can only go to the place you've booked." This is common sense.

The guide route is the absolute boundary. Any attempt to deviate from or explore unauthorized areas will be immediately identified as a threat by the system, with potentially disastrous consequences.

The shuttle flew along the guide route for about ten minutes before finally landing in front of a building in a quiet valley.

The building is not tall; it is a flat, hemispherical structure made entirely of a strange, grayish-white material with a smooth, mirror-like surface that reflects the clouds in the sky above the valley.

The building's entrance is a simple arched doorway, which is currently closed. There are no signs beside the door, only a subtle fluctuation that is slightly out of touch with the surrounding time and space slowly emanating from it.

The narrow passage of time has arrived.

Lin Yi stepped off the shuttle, which automatically entered standby parking mode.

He walked to the arched doorway, which seemed to sense his identity and appointment information, and silently slid open to reveal a passageway extending inward, radiating a soft white light.

Lin Yi stepped inside, and the door behind him quietly closed.

Inside the door is a spacious circular hall, about 100 meters in diameter and about 30 meters high.

In the center of the hall, there is a slightly raised circular platform with silver patterns engraved on its surface that seem to contain the flow of time.

Lin Yi stepped forward, his gaze falling on the center of the platform's base.

There was a diamond-shaped base about half a meter high. The top of the base was not a solid object, but a halo of energy that kept changing between gray and silver.

Inside the halo, a thin shadow could be faintly seen, hovering silently.

Apart from that, there was nothing else in the hall; the walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of the same smooth, grayish-white material.

[User Lin Yi, identity confirmed. Reservation duration: 48 standard hours. Timing begins now. Please enter the central platform area. The Time Rift will automatically adjust the internal time flow field and the intensity of the law resonance. We wish you a smooth cultivation journey.]

A gentle notification tone echoed through the lobby.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yi stepped onto the central platform.

[Users are in position. The Time Rift Core is now unlocked and activated.]

The soft, neutral voice rang out again.

Immediately, the hazy energy aura vanished as if brushed away by an invisible hand.

The core has revealed its true form.

It was a stone slab about two meters long, about the width of a palm, and no more than three fingers thick.

The stone slab is grayish-white in color, neither gold nor jade in texture, and its surface shows no signs of artificial carving, yet it is covered with fine and mysterious pale silver patterns. These patterns are flowing extremely slowly, as if recording some kind of eternal and hidden temporal code.

As the ball of light dissipated, a strange temporal disturbance, incompatible with the external spacetime, began to spread outwards from the stone slab as its central axis.

This disturbance is not violent, but incredibly profound, as if it has embedded a separate time with a completely different flow rate and texture into the present space.

Lin Yi stood quietly beside the platform, concentrating on sensing.

Once unsealed, the temporal disturbances emanating from the stone slab quickly converged and condensed, eventually forming an area in front of him that was difficult to observe directly with the naked eye, but was exceptionally clear in the perception of the rules of time.

This area, about one meter wide and ten meters long, resembles a narrow time tunnel, quietly laid out in front of the base.

Within the area, the light was slightly distorted, the air seemed to be trapped in viscous amber, and even the propagation of sound became slow and strange.

"I see. The Time Rift is indeed aptly named." Lin Yi understood.

This is not a quiet cultivation room where one can move around freely, but rather a passageway of time law forcibly opened up based on this mysterious stone slab.

The name "Xiajian" refers not only to the narrowness of the space, but also metaphorically to the fact that it is a small but direct "gap" leading to the mystery of the laws of time.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi stepped directly into this invisible, narrow area.

Instantly, that strange current of time enveloped my entire body.

Unlike perceiving it from outside the area, being there in person makes the experience much more vivid.

The "texture" of time becomes tangible here, and the "direction" of its passage seems to have more dimensions to explore.

The faint silver light emanating from the stone slabs became the only source of light in this narrow space, illuminating his serene face.

Lin Yi sat cross-legged at one end of this narrow area, right next to the base of the suspended stone slab.

The fluctuations of the time law emanating from the stone slabs were almost within reach.

Then, with a thought, he took out items such as the Time Abyss Essence, the Epoch Resonance Crystal Core, and the Eternal Oblivion Elixir.

The dazzling array of top-tier time-sensing artifacts, any one of which would be enough to cause a frenzy among powerful cultivators in the outside world, were now placed before him like ordinary cultivation supplies.

This is the advantage of having a clan and top-tier power behind you, and possessing sufficient merit and points.

In his previous life, he was silenced by the Ziles family simply because he saw the Carlos unicorn.

The unicorn horn, a treasure derived from the fundamental laws, is not even qualified to be included in the clan's treasury.

Lin Yi only sighed slightly in his heart for a moment before calming his mind and preparing for the final assault.

Understanding the laws is not something that can be achieved overnight, especially higher-level laws like time.

Lin Yi had made a contingency plan beforehand. He intended to divide the 320 years of spiritual enlightenment into eight parts, each lasting forty years, and use them one by one, while also using treasures to create a synergistic effect.

He first took out the Time-Treating Stone.

The grayish-white ore floated in front of him, and under the stimulation of its source energy, it began to emit an extremely subtle yet soul-piercing rhythmic tremor.

This tremor seemed to synchronize with the fundamental pulse of time itself, forming a continuous background sound that constantly adjusted and guided Lin Yi's soul frequency, making it closer to the wavelength of the laws of time.

Then, he drank the first dose of the Eternal Indulgence Elixir.

As if a liquid containing the solidified light of countless stars entered my throat, my consciousness was immediately pulled into a state of super-temporal perception, and my perception of the "passage" itself became incredibly sharp and clear.

Then, he dripped a drop of Time Source Blood onto the tip of his tongue. The golden droplet dissolved, and a vibrant spiritual energy originating from the River of Time permeated his entire body, spontaneously attracting the time law factors emanating from the surrounding environment and even himself.

At the same time, deep within his soul, in the purple mist space, the spiritual energy he had anchored for forty years was simultaneously absorbed.

Within the Time Rift, time was stretched appropriately under a special force field, giving him more time for inner reflection.

With the combined support of spiritual energy, various wondrous objects, and the environment of the Time Rift, Lin Yi's understanding of the laws of time is deepening at an astonishing rate.

His understanding of time was constantly refined, and the cognitive paths he obtained from the "Great Evolution Time Wheel Deduction Model" were verified and purified one by one.

Soon, his first forty years of spiritual enlightenment was exhausted. His understanding of "acceleration" and "slowing down" no longer remained at the level of superficial application, but began to touch upon the deeper essence of "manipulation of temporal variables" and "distortion of local time scale".

The second one continues.

He began to have a significantly enhanced sensitivity to "time perception," and could even vaguely "hear" the subtle "echoes" left by the passage of time on different material and energy rules.

After the second portion was consumed, Lin Yi did not hesitate at all and immediately ignited the third portion.

His attempts at "time freezing" have also moved from forcibly suppressing it to understanding the "relative solidification of time points".
One by one, spiritual energy was consumed.

One after another, support items were used at just the right time.

Shi Yuanyuan's essence projected a wisp of his consciousness to the edge of the abyss of time, allowing him to "witness" the primal horror of the timeline being distorted, broken, and even partially regressed, giving him a revolutionary understanding of the nonlinearity and fragility of time.

As the Epoch Resonance Crystal Cores shattered one after another, the ancient time rhythms of countless epochs accumulated in the core of the stars resonated with him. That grand and ancient rhythm seemed to open another window for him to observe the essence of time.

The core of the reversed time sequence creates a controllable field of time reversal around him, allowing him to personally experience the bizarre state of disordered time flow and slight misalignment of cause and effect within a relatively safe range, thereby deducing the stable structure and internal logic of the normal time order.

Insights accumulate, cognition transforms, and quantitative changes are constantly approaching the critical point of qualitative change.

Lin Yi was completely absorbed in the moment, forgetting the passage of time in the outside world, forgetting the upcoming finals, and even forgetting himself, leaving only the pursuit and questioning of the universal law of "time".

As the day drew to a close, Lin Yi began to utilize his seventh portion of spiritual enlightenment, and the effects of the Origin Marrow and the Core of Reversed Time were fully unleashed.
The moment of qualitative change has finally arrived.

Deep within his soul, in that inner landscape constructed from the understanding of rules and the origin of his soul, the ninefold rule imprint began to undergo drastic changes.

First, the part of the mark representing the rule of "time" suddenly burst forth with an unprecedentedly bright silver light.

This silvery radiance is not static, but flows and surges like living water, carrying an eternal rhythm that transcends the past and the future.

Other rule imprints seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, and began to slowly rotate around this blazing time imprint.

This rotation is not chaotic, but follows a mysterious trajectory.

At the same time, wisps of silvery-gray mist slowly appeared between the Time Imprint and the Eight Rules Imprint.

These seemingly thin mists contain the true meaning of the laws of time. They act as bridges and links, stabilizing the core position of the time imprint and gently and continuously permeating its power and influence into the other eight rule imprints.

This is an essential integration and sublimation.

With time as the core, the other eight rules were reorganized and integrated.

The law of time became the monarch of this world, while other rules became subjects who followed its decrees and operated within its framework.

They still exist and remain powerful, but their interconnections and operational logic have been incorporated into a higher-level system based on time.

The mark of the fusion of nine rules has transformed into a new form with the mark of the law of time at its core, and with the power of the law of time connecting other rule marks.

"Buzz!"

In reality, Lin Yi, who was sitting cross-legged on the platform of the Time Rift, suddenly shuddered.

A point of silver light suddenly shone brightly in the center of his forehead, beneath his skin. It then quickly outlined and extended, transforming into an incomparably profound silver rune, as if it condensed countless mysteries of time.

The secret rune emitted a soft silver glow, reflecting the fragments of time that flashed deep within his eyes.

This is the secret rune of the law, the external manifestation of stepping into the threshold of the law of time and gaining initial recognition from the origin of the law of time.

This signifies that practitioners are no longer merely users of rules, but have truly begun to touch upon the laws of the universe.

The moment the secret runes of the laws appeared, Lin Yi felt that his connection with the world around him had undergone a fundamental change.

In particular, the perception and influence of time are no longer a blurry manipulation through frosted glass, but rather as if there is an extra pair of hands that can directly touch the pulse of time, and an instinctive sense of authority sprouts deep in the soul.

However, the impact did not stop, and the lessons learned continued.

The seventh portion of spiritual enlightenment still had a surplus, the lingering charm of the Time Source Essence remained, the environment created by the Core of Reversed Time Order had not yet been completely calmed, and the resonance of the Epoch Resonance Crystal Core was still echoing in the soul.

Lin Yi suppressed the excitement and enlightenment he felt upon first entering the realm of laws, and without hesitation guided all the remaining insights to continue exploring the deeper reaches of the laws of time.

He could not waste these hard-won treasures and the extremely expensive opportunity to use the Time Rift.

Before long, the seventh portion of spiritual energy was exhausted, and Lin Yi immediately activated the last portion of spiritual energy.

The effects of this spiritual energy were immediate.

The newly formed Time Law imprint, shimmering with silver light, became increasingly solid, and the mist connecting it to the other eight major rule imprints began to slowly increase, while its rotational trajectory became clearer.

Within the Time Rift, time, stretched by a special force field, flows silently.

When the eighth portion of spiritual energy was completely exhausted and the effects of many auxiliary treasures faded one after another, Lin Yi did not immediately withdraw from the cultivation state.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully sorting through and savoring the massive amount of information and insights brought about by this breakthrough, capturing the lingering aftertaste of the epiphany after the breakthrough, and trying to fix some fragmented flashes of inspiration and deeper intuition.

[The usage period has expired, and the core seal will be restarted soon.]

After an unknown amount of time, a notification sound suddenly rang out.

Immediately, the narrow area in front of Lin Yi, which was emitting strange disturbances, began to shrink inward like the receding tide.

The distorted light returned to normal, the stagnant air resumed its flow, and that unique sense of temporal anomaly quickly faded away.

The grayish-white stone strip suspended on the base, with its slowly flowing, pale silver, mysterious patterns, also lost its luster once more.

Eventually, all the strange phenomena subsided, and the stone slab returned to its original, seemingly ordinary appearance.

At the same time, at the top of the base, the energy halo that had been changing between gray and silver-gray hues reappeared out of thin air, like a sophisticated energy shield, gradually darkening as it slowly descended, completely enveloping the stone slab.

The narrow passage of time returned to its usual quiet and closed state.

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes, his eyes filled with a silvery light, as deep as a well of time.

At this moment, the secret runes of the laws between his eyebrows had disappeared beneath his skin, only becoming visible when he fully activated the laws of time.

He carefully assessed his own grasp of the laws of time, and based on the descriptions in the secret manuals he had learned, as well as the verification with the "Great Evolution Time Wheel Deduction Model," he made a rough judgment.

"My understanding of the laws of time is around 1.3%."

This progress, placed within the vast river of time's laws, might be just a tiny, insignificant step, but for him, it was a qualitative leap.

This means that he has officially entered the hall of law practitioners and possessed the most crucial foundation for advancing to a higher level.

Lin Yi silently felt the solid and powerful imprint of the laws of time deep within his soul, felt the fundamental transformation and sublimation of the power system within his body, and recalled everything he had sacrificed for this moment.

Then, he thought of the upcoming final, which was destined to be the focus of everyone's attention.

At the same time, he also thought about the heated debates online about whether he would be overtaken, and how the Spirit Clan would use resources to push Edith to the ninth level in order to maintain their first place. They would even try to make up for Edith's lack of familiarity with her realm after her breakthrough, all in order to compete with him in the finals.
Even with Lin Yi's current temperament, at this moment, an uncontrollable sense of joy broke through his usual calm exterior.

He sat alone in the center of the empty Time Rift platform, gazing at the smooth, gray-white walls in front of him. The curve of his lips grew wider and wider, and finally, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The laughter started softly, with a hint of relief, but then gradually grew louder, sounding particularly cheerful in the not-so-spacious space.

There was no arrogance in that laughter.

There is only one kind of pure joy after achieving a goal, a magnanimous spirit of holding a sharp sword and fearlessly facing wind and rain, and an expectation and longing for the future.

When the time came, the portal to the Time Rift quietly opened, and light from outside, flowing at the normal rate of time, poured in.

Lin Yi coughed lightly, his smile fading.

He stood up, straightened his wrinkle-free dark blue combat uniform, collected the depleted or destroyed resources, and walked outside.

　Thank you to all the readers for your recent donations. I haven't received any donations in a while, so I was quite excited to receive several these past few days.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)