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

Chapter 325 Xingxuan? Are you out of your mind?
With a thought, he took the gray crystal core that had fallen from the mist monster's body into his hand.

The crystal core is about the size of a thumb, cool to the touch, and its surface is covered with irregular, fine facets. Inside, there seems to be a viscous gray mist slowly flowing, as if it were sealing a small patch of living fog.

"Xuanji, analyze this crystal core," Lin Yi instructed.

"Yes, Master."

The command core worn on the left arm immediately projected several barely perceptible scanning beams, enveloping the crystal core.

A moment later, Xuanji's voice rang out.

"Preliminary scan complete. The crystal nucleus is composed of high-density unknown matter, with an unusually stable energy structure, and contains a strange energy that cannot be deciphered."

"This energy property is highly similar to that of gray fog, but more condensed, and shows signs of weak, regular perturbations. Its specific use is unknown, and there is no matching record in the database. It is recommended to temporarily shelve it."

Lin Yi nodded slightly and stored the crystal core in a separate isolated area within the bracelet.

This result was within his expectations.

The products within the myriad secret realms are inherently diverse and varied; even the comprehensive Xuanji Database cannot possibly encompass them all.

"Let's continue exploring, Xuanji. Be sure to record all data related to the crystal cores and establish an independent observation archive," Lin Yi said to his clone beside him.

The clone nodded slightly, and the two maintained a horn formation of about twenty meters apart before disappearing once again into the boundless chaos.

Time seemed to have lost its measure in this deathly silent world.

The appearance of the Gray Mist Beasts is not particularly frequent, but it comes without any warning.

They seem to be the malice born from the gray fog itself, with bizarre shapes and a single attack method, mainly relying on solid fog blades to slash or the impact of the entire fog body, and the attack is accompanied by the characteristic of corrosive source energy.

With Lin Yi's strength, dealing with this was naturally a piece of cake.

However, rather than simply overwhelming with the laws of time, he prefers to use the laws in combination with spatial rules for a more efficient and energy-saving kill.

This approach is well-suited for sustained operations in environments with slow energy recovery and severe environmental suppression.

The exploration lasted for more than two days.

During this time, Lin Yi killed more than thirty Gray Mist Beasts, and he stored the crystal cores he obtained in the separate isolation compartment of the bracelet.

Just as he was about to put the newly acquired crystal core into his bracelet, Xuanji gave him a notification.

"Master, abnormal dynamics have been detected in the crystal nuclei within the storage compartment. They are spontaneously approaching each other and undergoing energy fusion."

Lin Yi immediately separated a wisp of his consciousness and sank it into the bracelet space.

The thirty-odd gray crystal cores, like iron filings attracted by an invisible magnetic force, slowly gathered together.

The moment these crystal nuclei came into contact, a hazy glimmer of light suddenly appeared on their surface.

Smaller crystal nuclei, like water droplets merging into a sponge, silently flow into larger crystal nuclei.

The fusion process was quiet and rapid. The volume of the fused crystal nucleus increased slightly, and its color changed from light gray to dark gray. The mist flowing inside also seemed to become thicker and more viscous.

"The crystal nuclei will spontaneously fuse," Lin Yi thought to himself, before withdrawing his consciousness from the space.

"Is the cause of fusion simply the aggregation of numbers, or has the total energy of all the crystal nuclei reached a certain threshold? Xuanji, establish a special observation log to record the differences before and after each fusion, and try to model and analyze it."

"Yes, Master."

In addition to these ordinary gray fog beasts, Lin Yi also encountered more powerful individuals.

It happened during a journey through a stone forest composed of huge, gray-black stalagmites when a gray mist beast lurking in the shadows of the stalagmites suddenly attacked.

Its size is more than three times that of an ordinary gray mist beast, and the mist blades it condenses are not only more solid, but also carry a strong mental impact.

Xuanji's rapid assessment showed that its energy level had reached the mid-stage of the Star-Spinning level.

However, for Lin Yi, who has mastered the laws of time, there is no essential difference between the middle and early stages of the Star Vortex.

It's still a matter of time standing still followed by a spatial cut, clean and efficient.

Just as Lin Yi finished clearing the stone forest and stood atop the tallest stalagmite, gazing at the even denser gray fog ahead and preparing to turn in another direction, the communication module of his left arm's tactical core suddenly emitted a rapid buzzing sound.

A striking red triangle was flashing wildly at the edge of the field of vision.

"Alert: Encrypted distress signal received! Signal source: Our standard communication relay node (number: relay-7). Signal strength: Weak, ongoing. Content analysis: Urgent distress call, encountering a powerful enemy, coordinates attached."

Lin Yi's eyes suddenly narrowed.

Relay-7 was one of the relay nodes he had set up according to the tactical manual when he passed through a relatively open scree slope about a day earlier.

The fact that the distress signal could be relayed to him through the relay node indicates that his teammate in distress was near that node.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yi instantly locked onto the spatial coordinates of Relay-7.

It is about 320 kilometers away from his current location as the crow flies.

In this gray fog secret realm, where the rules are suppressed and the source energy is extremely inert, this distance might take an ordinary star core-level genius half a day to fly carefully, while also having to be wary of dangers along the way.

But for Lin Yi, it was simply a matter of spending more energy.

"go!"

Lin Yi and his clone exchanged a glance, and the silver-gray spatial rule power around his main body suddenly surged, enveloping the clone as well.

He abandoned conventional flight and opted to use space travel instead.

Soon, the space in front of them rippled like water, and the next moment, the two appeared at the edge of the scree slope where the relay-7 node was located.

But the scene before him made Lin Yi raise an eyebrow.

The distress signal was correct; the battle was raging, and the aftershocks of the energy collision were even causing the gray fog to churn a hundred meters away.

However, the identities of the two sides in the conflict were somewhat unexpected to him.

A Saint Radiance Clan prodigy with two pairs of luminous wings on his back was seen scrambling and dodging among the rubble, his usual elegance long gone.

His standard "Spirit Shadow Armor" was damaged in many places, his wings were dim and lifeless, and one of the wingtips was even unnaturally twisted, as if he had used some kind of secret method to stimulate potential.

The one chasing him was none other than a prodigy from the Abyss Clan, covered in thick, dark red scales and bearing distinct features of the Starry Sky Beast Clan.

The energy fluctuations emanating from its body had reached the Star Vortex level!

Although it seemed somewhat unstable, the aura of a Star-level being was undeniable.

Moreover, behind this Yuan Clan prodigy, seemingly attracted by the battle fluctuations, were more than a dozen gray mist beasts of various shapes chasing after him.

Star-level?
Lin Yi's mind raced.

Upon entering the secret realm, everyone's energy level is strictly limited to below the Perfected Star Core level by the rules of the entrance. This is an ironclad rule confirmed by the three major races through multiple explorations.

How could this Yuan Clan prodigy be at the Star-level?
Did they use some high-cost secret technique or forbidden drug to temporarily and forcibly raise their cultivation level?

These thoughts only flashed through Lin Yi's mind for a moment.

At this moment, the Yuan Clan prodigies on the battlefield had already noticed Lin Yi's appearance.

It suddenly turned in Lin Yi's direction, and then its crimson pupils contracted sharply.

Without any hesitation, the Abyss Clan prodigy unleashed a burst of dark red energy and turned to flee to the other side of the gray mist.

"Trying to leave?" Lin Yi's eyes turned slightly cold.

Regardless of how this guy broke through to the Star Swirl level, since he dared to kill his own teammates and was from an enemy race, there was no reason for him to be let off.

As soon as Lin Yi had a thought, the Abyss Clan prodigy who was frantically fleeing suddenly froze, along with the dozen or so gray mist beasts behind him, and was frozen in place.

Immediately afterwards, the clone raised its right hand, pointed its fingers like a knife, and seemingly casually made a light slash towards that frozen space-time.

The time-freezing effect was lifted the next moment.

“Click, click, click.”

Accompanied by a series of soft but dense cracking sounds, countless neat facets suddenly appeared on the dark red scaled body of the Abyss Clan prodigy. Together with the boiling Star-level Source Energy within its body, they turned into a cloud of dark red blood mist and energy fragments, which were then swallowed by the gray mist.

The dozen or so gray mist beasts also disintegrated simultaneously, turning back into disordered gray mist, leaving only a dozen or so gray crystal cores that clattered and fell onto the gravel ground.

From Lin Yi's appearance to the Yuan Clan prodigy's alarmed escape and subsequent instantaneous death, the entire process took only two or three breaths.

The Holy Radiance Clan prodigy hadn't even fully recovered his senses when he saw a faint flash of silver-gray light in the distance, and the powerful enemy who had been chasing him all the way, along with a group of annoying gray mist beasts, were gone.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, struggled to sit up, and tried his best to retract his damaged wings. He then respectfully performed a Holy Radiance Clan salute towards Lin Yi, saying, "Xi Guang Liu Yun, thank you for saving my life, leader."

Lin Yi nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the rapidly dissipating remains of the Abyss Clan on the ground, his focus falling on a small bag sewn from some kind of dark brown animal hide.

The bag was not destroyed by spatial cutting, even though he deliberately avoided it.

Lin Yi reached out and grabbed the small leather bag.

The bag feels slightly heavy in the hand; the leather is delicate and tough, with natural layered textures on the surface and subtle spatial fluctuations.

Lin Yi knew that this was a storage bag made of "hollowed-out animal hide," a material favored by the Yuan Clan.

This animal hide comes from a unique star beast in the Abyss Clan's territory. It is naturally endowed with weak spatial properties. After special tanning, it can create a stable compressed space within a limited volume. It usually requires the original owner's soul fluctuations or a specific method to open, making it quite safe.

"Have Xuanji attempt a non-destructive solution, and be careful to defend against potential counter-traps." Lin Yi handed the leather bag to his clone beside him.

The clone silently accepted the gift, while Lin Yi himself looked at Liu Yun, the prodigy of the Holy Radiance Clan, standing to the side.

"what happened?"

Lin Yi asked, his gaze falling on the shocking wounds and dim wings on Liu Yun's body.

"This Abyss Clan member, I remember they were listed as a Level 1 Domain cultivator on the pre-release list. How come they're at the Star Vortex level? And they're chasing after you, a Level 3 Domain cultivator? Did they use some kind of external object or some forbidden secret technique?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun gave a wry smile.

"Reporting to the leader, this matter is indeed extremely strange. After exploring the vicinity, setting up nodes according to the tactics manual, and killing seven or eight scattered mist beasts, I happened to encounter this Abyss Clan member by a dried-up mist ravine. I remember this guy was marked as having the first level of Domain, so I planned to take him down."

He took a breath and continued, "Who knew that when this guy saw me, instead of running away, he laughed wildly and triggered a breakthrough! That was crazy enough, but what's even more outrageous is that after breaking through to the Star Vortex level, his aura became unstable, but he immediately swallowed something that looked like a blackish-red pill. After swallowing it, his source energy fluctuations instantly surged and stabilized at around the third level of the Star Vortex level."

"The difference in energy source is so great now. Although I am two levels higher than him, I obviously can't beat him. So I had to use the clan's secret Burning Light Technique to forcibly increase my speed and run away. What happened next is what you saw, leader. He chased me all the way and attracted so many Gray Mist Beasts."

Lin Yi frowned slightly.

Liu Yun's statement confirmed part of his guess: it was indeed a temporary breakthrough combined with drug catalysis.

However, the Yuan Clan's style is one of fierce bravery and warlikeness, not irrational suicide. As Liu Yun said, this behavior is too abnormal and the price is too high.

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, but couldn't come up with a more reasonable solution.

Perhaps he really is a particularly irritable and impulsive individual?

The main problem is that there is too little information to make a judgment.

"Alright, I'll make a note of this." Lin Yi temporarily suppressed his doubts and looked at Liu Yun.

The opponent's aura was weak and his wings were dim, clearly indicating that the Burning Light technique had significant side effects, and he also had many wounds on his body caused by the cuts and corrosion from the mist blades.

“Your injuries are quite serious, and your energy has been greatly depleted. It won’t be easy to recover from this gray fog environment. From now on, follow me and try to heal your injuries as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun nodded hurriedly, "Thank you, team leader."

Being able to follow this human leader who has mastered the laws of time significantly increases one's safety.

Lin Yi nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, share all the information links of all the communication relay nodes you set up after entering the secret realm with me." This was a collaborative tactic emphasized during training.

"Yes! Team leader, please wait a moment." Liu Yun immediately activated her tactical core.

Soon, a string of encrypted data packets was transmitted to Lin Yi's command center.

Xuanji quickly received and decoded the information, integrating the relay node information set up by Liuyun into Lin Yi's existing detection network map.

This significantly expanded the scope of Lin Yin's monitoring and communication capabilities.

"Let's go, we'll recover as we walk." Lin Yi gestured for Liu Yun to follow.

The clone continued to scout ahead, and the three maintained their triangular formation as they continued to move forward through the gray fog.

With the addition of Liu Yun as a source of information, Lin Yi's understanding of the surrounding environment expanded slightly.

As Liu Yun followed, she tried her best to regulate her breathing and recover from the depletion caused by using the Burning Light technique.

Lin Yi would occasionally ask him if he had discovered any unusual terrain or abnormal energy fluctuations along the way, and Liu Yun would answer in detail. However, he was completely unaware of the fusion phenomenon of the Gray Mist Beast's crystal core.

He only collected about ten crystal cores, which did not reach the threshold for triggering fusion.

Along the way, the frequency of appearance of the Gray Mist Beasts did not change as the number of teams increased.

Lin Yi continued to use the most efficient time-space combination method to clear out these monsters.

Liu Yun watched from the sidelines, secretly amazed. The time freeze followed by the space cut was clean and efficient, with almost no signs of violent fluctuations in the source energy.

As more Gray Mist Beasts were killed, the number of crystal cores stored in Lin Yi's bracelet accumulated further.

He specifically asked Xuanji to record each fusion process in detail.

When the total number of crystal cores approached one hundred and twenty, fusion had already occurred multiple times. In the end, the remaining few crystal cores turned into a dark gray color that was close to pure black. The thick mist inside rotated at an extremely fast speed, as if it might break through the crystal core's restraint at any moment.

Just as they were traversing a stretch of quicksand composed of countless tiny gray particles, an unusual area appeared ahead.

The gray fog there was no longer evenly distributed, but rather seemed to be stirred by an invisible force, forming a slowly rotating vortex-like structure.

An even stronger sense of oppressive rules permeated the air, further compressing even the perception of the soul.

"Team leader, the rules here are much stricter." Liu Yun's expression was somewhat grave.

Lin Yi nodded slightly.

The clone had already explored ahead of time, and the images it transmitted showed that in the center of the gray fog vortex, there was a clear depression in the ground, and traces of some kind of huge creature crawling remained on the surrounding gray rocks.

"Be careful."

Lin Yi gave a brief reminder, and the three of them slowed down and cautiously approached the center of the vortex.

The ground shook violently the instant they stepped into the edge of the central area.

Countless gray pebbles and dust shot into the sky, and a colossal object rose from the sand and rock debris.

It was a giant gray mist beast, comparable in size to a hill, covered with layers of angular carapace, and the energy fluctuations emanating from its body had reached the peak of the Star Swirl level.

"Stay here and defend yourself."

Lin Yi gave Liu Yun an instruction, then flashed forward and took the initiative to meet the giant gray mist beast.

"Time stands still."

A silvery-gray halo rippled outwards from Lin Yi like waves.

The gray energy aura flowing over the massive body of the giant gray mist beast, the shimmering light on its crystalline shell, and even the dust and debris stirred up around it all solidified completely at this moment.

Its third gray beam, which it had only emitted halfway, also froze midway like a gray icicle in the air.

It's now.

A cold glint flashed in the clone's eyes, and it raised both hands simultaneously, tearing them apart fiercely at the frozen giant beast below.

"Spatial stripping!"

A black rift suddenly appeared out of thin air, running from head to tail, in the center of the giant gray mist beast's massive, still body.

Its entire body was like an image forcibly torn apart from a three-dimensional painting, silently splitting in two along that black crack.

The effect of time freezing is released at this moment.

The cleaved remains of the colossal beast did not splatter blood; instead, they transformed into two even denser plumes of gray mist, collapsing like a crumbling sand tower.

A huge, jet-black crystal core crashed to the ground with a "thud," creating a shallow crater in the gray earth.

Lin Yi slowly descended from the sky and took the giant crystal core into his hand.

Even through the outer shell of the crystal core, Lin Yi could feel the strange rule disturbances contained within, which were more than ten times stronger than those of ordinary crystal cores.

"Xuanji, record the energy data of this core crystal and create a special file."

Lin Yi gave the order and placed the jet-black crystal core into the special compartment on the bracelet where crystal cores were stored.

The moment the crystal core was placed in, a sudden change occurred.

"Warning! High-intensity energy resonance detected in the storage space! All crystal nuclei are converging uncontrollably! Immediate spatial isolation recommended!"

Xuanji's alarm was more urgent than ever before.

Lin Yi immediately focused his consciousness into the bracelet's space.

The newly placed behemoth core crystal was now frantically devouring all the other crystal cores in the compartment, just like a black hole.

The dark gray and blackish-gray crystal cores flew towards the black crystal core at a speed visible to the naked eye, and were completely absorbed into it the instant they made contact.

The fusion process was accompanied by intense energy fluctuations, and the entire isolation space of the bracelet trembled slightly.

In almost a few breaths, all the dark crystal cores that had been fused together in the compartment disappeared, leaving only the core crystal core of the giant beast that had absorbed all the crystal cores.

At this moment, it had turned pure black and its size had expanded to nearly the size of two fists.

At this moment, the pure black crystal core was emitting a strange fluctuation, with black light flickering on its surface.

Lin Yi's heart stirred slightly, and he took out the pure black crystal core, holding it in his palm.

As soon as the crystal nucleus came into contact with the surrounding gray fog, the black light it emitted suddenly became intense.

Immediately afterwards, thick, inky black mist surged out from the crystal core, rapidly condensing not far in front of Lin Yi to form a black mist vortex about two meters in diameter that slowly rotated counterclockwise.

The inside of the vortex was incredibly deep, with no visible sights, only pure darkness.

A faint suction force, originating from the same source as the surrounding gray fog but even deeper, emanated from it.

"This is... a passage?"

Liu Yun, disregarding her injuries, stared in astonishment at the suddenly appearing vortex of black mist.

Lin Yi stared at the suddenly appearing passage, remained silent for a moment, and then ordered, "Xuanji, begin scanning."

Xuanji immediately scanned the area with a detection beam, and the feedback was: "The channel structure is stable, the energy composition is highly consistent with the gray fog but at a higher level, the internal spatial coordinates cannot be resolved, and it leads to an unknown area."

Lin Yi stared at the slowly rotating black mist tunnel in front of him and remained silent for a moment.

The passageway was deep and dark, and although the faint suction was not strong, it carried a kind of unsettling disturbance of rules.

"Xuanji, dispatch micro reconnaissance units No. 3, No. 7, and No. 9 to enter the passage in sequence to investigate, maintaining the lowest power signal transmission."

Lin Yi calmly issued the instructions.

The tactical core on his left arm glowed slightly, and three tiny mechanical puppets, no bigger than a fingernail and shaped like silver beetles, flew out from the storage compartment.

Faint spatial stabilization runes flowed across their surfaces as they lined up in a queue and flew toward the entrance of the black passage.

The first mechanical puppet disappeared into the dark vortex without any hindrance.

"Signal interrupted for Unit 3," Xuanji reported. "Attempt to reconnect failed. Unit 3 is out of contact."

The second mechanical puppet then flew in.

"Unit 7 entered. Lost contact."

The third mechanical puppet circled halfway around the entrance of the passage, seemingly adjusting its detection mode, before flying inside as well.

"Unit 9 attempted to switch to regular resonance signal mode to enter the channel, signal disappeared. Lost contact."

The three state-of-the-art miniature reconnaissance units lost contact completely within a very short time after entering the passage, failing to transmit even a single piece of useful environmental data.

Liu Yun's expression changed slightly as she watched from the side.

Although these reconnaissance units are small in size, they use cutting-edge technology provided by the Eldar and have extremely strong anti-interference capabilities, so much so that they cannot even last for a few seconds.

Lin Yi frowned slightly.

He glanced at Liu Yun beside him, whose breathing had not yet fully calmed down and whose wings were still dim. The thought of "letting him test the waters first" had just arisen in his mind when he suppressed it.

Not to mention that Liu Yun is in poor condition, exploring unknown passages is too risky.

More importantly, as a team leader, sending teammates to take risks when the situation is unclear is not his style.

Moreover, Liu Yun has just experienced a life-or-death crisis, and what she needs most right now is recovery and stability, not to risk her life again.

"Team leader, this passage..." Liu Yun hesitated, then looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi did not answer immediately. He turned his gaze back to the dark vortex, quickly integrating all the information from the discovery of the crystal core, the fusion of the crystal core, to the final formation of the channel in his mind.

Gray crystal cores are obtained by defeating Gray Mist Beasts. Their energy originates from the same source as Gray Mist but is more concentrated. Crystal cores will spontaneously fuse. After fusion, the energy level increases and the color deepens.

Finally, after the core crystal of that peak-level Star Swirl-class behemoth was placed inside, all the crystal cores fused into one, and the energy reached a certain critical point, resonating strongly with the gray mist outside, thus opening up this passage.
"I think I understand now." Lin Yi said slowly, "This passage was probably created by collecting and fusing enough strong gray mist beast crystal cores, and then forcibly resonating with or opening up the gray mist primordial energy condensed within them."

"You mean," Liu Yun said thoughtfully, "that these crystal cores are like keys? Or fuel?"

“It’s closer to a beacon or coordinate anchor point,” Lin Yi analyzed. “The Gray Mist Beasts are products of this secret realm environment. Their crystal cores contain the purest gray mist energy and faint rule imprints. When a large amount of homogeneous energy gathers and fuses to a sufficient intensity, it may resonate with certain hidden nodes or deep structures in the secret realm, thereby opening a connection channel.”

"The situation inside is unknown and the risk is too high. We are short-handed and not in top condition, so it would be unwise to rush in."

Lin Yi looked at Liu Yun and said, "Let's not go in yet. The most important thing right now is to reunite with the other teammates, consolidate our strength, and share information. Only by gathering more intelligence can we make the right judgments."

“Then this passage,” Liu Yun looked at the still slowly rotating vortex of black mist.

"First, mark the coordinates here, set up concealed monitoring equipment, and continuously observe the status of the passage."

Lin Yi instructed, "Xuanji, activate the Shadow Eye and the Silent Beacon to set up a multi-layered monitoring network here, focusing on recording changes in the stability of the passage and any signs of biological entry or exit."

"Yes, Master."

Several monitoring devices with mimicry capabilities and long battery life have been deployed in the rock crevices and fog around the passage. They will act like the most patient hunters, silently recording everything that happens here.

Lin Yi turned to Liu Yun: "How is your recovery?"

Liu Yun quickly mobilized her internal energy. Although she was still far from being at her peak, she could still move around and protect herself without any problems: "Reporting to the leader, I'm fine now."

"Okay." Lin Yi nodded. "Let's go."

(End of this chapter)