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

Chapter 412 Who told you to sit there?

This feeling of a complete renewal of one's soul filled Lin Yi with a surge of pride.

"I've heard from Senior Brother Zhenyu, Xingqiong and others, and even from various ancient texts, that breaking through to the Source Law is incredibly difficult. Countless high-level gods have been stuck at the threshold for billions of epochs without making any progress."

Lin Yi stood up and paced slowly in the quiet room, his mind racing. "Even though I had over two thousand years of spiritual enlightenment, I was still a little unsure. After all, it was a qualitative change from laws to source laws, another fundamental leap in the level of life. With my talent, two thousand years might not be enough."

But now, he has a different idea.

"Xuanji!" Lin Yi stopped in his tracks. "Immediately dispatch a commuter shuttle for me. I need to go to the evacuation point again!"

"Command confirmed. Dispatching for you. The shuttle is expected to arrive at the platform outside your residence in two minutes," Xuanji replied quickly.

Lin Yi didn't linger any longer. He strode out of the quiet room, passed through the simple living room, and arrived at the small platform outside the residence.

Two minutes later, a streamlined, silver-gray shuttle came to a silent stop.

Lin Yi boarded the shuttle, the cabin door closed, and soft interior lighting illuminated the room.

The shuttle sped along the familiar route and soon arrived at the core area.

Lin Yi stepped off the flying shuttle and walked alone towards the vortex. The next moment, a familiar suction force came, and pure white light flooded his vision.

After a brief feeling of weightlessness, he once again entered the eternally pure white space.

"The light source law network diagram during the exchange." Lin Yi went straight to the point.

The Time Source Law Diagram, like the Space Source Law Diagram we saw before, is a treasure with similar effects.

The same source law network diagram also includes life, death, light, darkness, etc., which are clearly part of a series.

[To redeem the Light Source Law Network Diagram, 210 billion points are required. Current points balance: 241.42 billion points. Confirm?]

"confirm!"

A flash of light, and the points were instantly deducted.

A strange map, about half a person's height and with endless complex patterns flowing and moving slowly on its surface, appeared out of thin air in front of Lin Yi.

The diagrams are not physical entities, but rather light and shadow creations composed of highly condensed elements of time.

Lin Yi carefully stored the diagram into his divine kingdom and specially set aside a stable area for it.

Looking at the remaining points: 31.42 billion points.

"We're broke again." Lin Yi shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.

These points come quickly and go even faster.

I promised Xuanji I'd upgrade her to a high-level deity-level AI, which requires a large amount of points. My equipment also needs another upgrade, and I need to find a way to update the spacetime manipulation technique—all of this costs money.

However, one should take things one step at a time, so I'll leave first.

A pure white light enveloped his entire body once more. After boarding the flying shuttle, Lin Yi immediately ordered, "Go to the trading hall."

The shuttle changed direction and headed towards another functional area of ​​the base.

The trading hall is located in the southeast area of ​​the Frostwynn Base. It is a large, multi-story, circular building with a cold and rugged style. It is constructed entirely of a dark silver alloy and its surface is engraved with runes that reinforce the structure and block detection.

The shuttle landed in the public parking area outside the building.

Lin Yi stepped out of the flying shuttle and entered the main hall through the front door.

The interior space is more spacious than expected, with a ceiling height of over 100 meters. The dome is designed to simulate a starry sky, and soft light is evenly distributed throughout.

A huge, constantly updated virtual light screen floats in the center, with densely packed sales information scrolling on the left and purchase requests on the right.

Below the light screen, several deities were either whispering to each other or recording directly through their personal smart devices.

On both sides of the hall, instead of open stalls, there are rows of small quiet rooms.

Each quiet room has a small virtual screen at the entrance, some of which are lit up and displaying brief information about items that the room's owner wants to sell or buy.

Some screens are dark, indicating that the quiet room is empty.

Lin Yi glanced around and quickly found a quiet room near a corner with the screen at the door off.

He walked over, reached out and pressed the sensor area on the side of the door. The screen lit up and displayed "idle" status.

He pushed the door open and entered.

The interior of the quiet room is not large and the furnishings are extremely simple.

In the center is a futon made of an unknown material, and in front of it is an operating light screen that blends into the wall.

The moment the door closed silently behind him, all external sounds, energy fluctuations, and even divine senses were completely cut off.

The walls and doors of the quiet room were clearly made of special materials and techniques to ensure the absolute privacy of the transaction.

Lin Yi sat cross-legged on the prayer mat and gave the instructions:

"Xuanji, connect to the quiet room terminal. Filter and value all the spoils in my storage space that cannot be directly recycled for points by the Origin Tower and that I don't need myself. This includes high-level divine weapons, armor, special treasures, and auxiliary items with duplicate functions or mismatched attributes. After valuation, generate a sale list at 20% lower than the market price of similar items, synchronize it to the terminal, and note that I am in the quiet room and can accept face-to-face negotiation."

"Understood, Master. In the process of docking and screening evaluation." Xuanji's palace-dress phantom appeared beside the light screen.

Soon, the screen lit up, displaying virtual images, brief descriptions, and prices of various items categorized by type.

Lin Yi quickly glanced through the list, making sure no important items were missing, and then stopped paying attention.

He closed his eyes and sank his mind into the depths of his soul, beginning to comprehend the three Time Source Law Secret Scriptures that he had recently exchanged.

"Traces of Time - An Introduction to the Laws of Time (Volume 1)" systematically elaborates on the complete theoretical framework and initial practice path from the perfection of the laws of time to the perception and contact with the laws of time.

"Moment and Eternity: An Analysis of Two Paths in the Time-Based Law" deeply compares the two development directions of the time-based law, with "instantaneous burst" and "eternal existence" as their core characteristics, and analyzes their advantages, disadvantages and conditions for compatibility.

"The Technique of Capturing Tributaries of the River of Time (Basic Edition)" records a practical secret technique for actively seeking out and contacting the subtle manifestations of tributaries of the River of Time, which is an important means to assist in comprehending the source law of time.

Once one's comprehension improves, the experience of studying these profound classics becomes entirely different.

"I see. The Time Source Law is not simply about accelerating, decelerating, or pausing time, but rather a deeper definition of the existence and flow rules of 'time'."

"The moment and eternity, seemingly opposite, are actually of the same origin, both being different manifestations of the fundamental characteristics of time."

"The key to capturing the tributaries of the river of time lies in adjusting the frequency of the soul and accurately anchoring the spatiotemporal coordinates."

Lin Yi was completely immersed in the pleasure of efficiently absorbing knowledge and rapidly improving his cognition, forgetting the passage of time in the outside world.

According to the unwritten rules of the Frostborn Base, and in order to protect the interests of newly arrived powerful beings, gods who arrive at the base for the first time usually have a "newbie training period" of about 500 standard years.

During this period, the base generally does not arrange high-risk or time-consuming missions, so that newcomers can safely exchange resources, familiarize themselves with the environment, improve their strength, and form or join teams.

Lin Yi took advantage of this time to both dispose of unused spoils to recoup funds and to immerse himself in studying the newly acquired secret manual, thus solidifying his foundation.

He thought that since his goods were in good condition and the price was 20% lower than the market price, he should be able to attract buyers quickly.

However, reality was somewhat different from what he had expected.

A day passed, and the door to the quiet room remained completely still.

Ten days have passed, and things remain the same.

One year, two years, ten years passed in a flash. Apart from Xuanji occasionally reporting some public information about the base, the quiet room was always so quiet that only his own breathing could be heard.

Lin Yi remained calm and composed.

At his level, it's common for a deep retreat to contemplate enlightenment to take decades or even centuries.

He took the opportunity to thoroughly understand the essence of the three secret manuals on the laws of time, and combined them with his own insights into the laws of time to begin to build his own cognitive framework of the laws of time.

In the blink of an eye, thirty standard years have quietly passed in intensive practice.

On this day, just as Lin Yi was repeatedly rehearsing the key points of the "Time River Tributary Capture Technique" in his mind, Xuanji's voice rang in his consciousness, "Master, someone has requested to enter the meditation room."

Lin Yi snapped out of his meditative state and opened his eyes: "Permission granted."

The door to the quiet room slid open silently to one side.

A male deity of the Holy Radiance Clan, dressed in a well-tailored white robe with gold trim, entered.

When his gaze fell on Lin Yi, who was sitting cross-legged in the quiet room, he was slightly taken aback, then a friendly smile appeared on his face: "I didn't expect it to be Lord Lin Yi here."

Lin Yi glanced at the newcomer and nodded slightly: "Lord Bellinlo".

There are only about two thousand resident deities in the base. Lin Yi had already memorized the basic information of these deities through the public information compiled by Xuanji and some information provided by Zhenyu.

This Berinlo comes from a rather influential family of the Holy Radiance Clan. His strength is above average in the base, but he has not yet reached the peak of the Upper God. He has a amiable personality and is well-liked in the base.

Bellinlo walked to the control screen, quickly scanned the sales list, and soon locked onto an item.

He pointed to the image of the exquisite armor on the light screen, which was entirely silver-white and inlaid with gold patterns, and said:

"I've got my eye on this Holy Light Judgment Armor. It's a high-level divine armor, significantly enhancing the purity and condensation speed of the Law of Light. The craftsmanship is also quite exquisite."

As Bellinlo spoke, he turned to look at Lin Yi and smiled, "To be honest, before coming in, I was thinking of discussing the price again. But since it is Lord Lin Yi, then let's go with the price listed. For such a fine piece, this price is already very fair."

As he spoke, he waved his hand decisively, and several items appeared out of thin air, hovering in front of him.

“These items are all produced in the secret realm. Based on the recent market prices within the base, their total value is estimated at approximately 5000 million points, which is just enough to cover this armor.” Bellinlo gestured for Lin Yi to inspect them.

Lin Yi scanned the items with his divine sense, confirming that they were correct and the valuation was basically reasonable.

He nodded, and with a thought, the "Holy Light Judgment Armor" flew out from his divine kingdom and hovered steadily in front of Bellinlo.

"Pleasant transaction," Lin Yi said. Bellinlo took the armor, inspected it, and nodded in satisfaction. However, he didn't leave immediately, but instead said, "The items here, Lord Lin Yi, are all top-quality items among high-level deities. Although they aren't very useful to us high-ranking deities, if you have descendants of high-level deities in your family, or powerful deity friends, it might be worth having a set. After all, the price is indeed much cheaper than outside."

He looked at Lin Yi and said sincerely, "I know there are some deities in the base who probably have similar needs. I can let them know when I go out later."

Lin Yi nodded earnestly: "Then thank you very much, Lord Bellinlo. If it's convenient, how about we exchange contact marks? That way we can share information within the base in the future."

“That would be perfect.” Upon hearing this, Bellinlo’s smile widened, and he readily exchanged marks with Lin Yi.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Bellinlo politely took his leave.

The door to the quiet room closed again, isolating the inside from the outside once more.

Lin Yi looked at the tightly closed door, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.

"Sure enough, if you're strong and famous, you'll find good people everywhere." He shook his head and smiled.

He knew very well that Bellinlo had initially come in with the mindset of "hunting for bargains" and "maybe negotiating the price." However, after discovering that he was the seller, his attitude immediately became warm and cheerful. He not only agreed to the price but also offered to help promote the product.

The logic behind this is simple: a newly minted Yuanbao holder with an impressive track record, high regard from the leader, and unlimited potential is worth investing in and befriending.

Lin Yi was happy to accept this kindness.

His previous thirty years of loneliness also made him realize that his high-level god-grade equipment actually had a very narrow direct consumer market on the 47th floor.

The regulars here are all high-ranking deities, and their targets are at least high-ranking deity level treasures, or rare treasures that can help them break through to the Source Law.

The real way out for these "stockpiles" lies in the "channels" that Bellinlo mentioned—through these old gods, flowing into the vast and diverse secondary market behind them.

Therefore, Lin Yi naturally wouldn't refuse Bellinlo's offer to help introduce customers, and exchanging contact information was a way of returning the favor.

After all, in terms of information channels and connections, he was far inferior to these veteran deities.

As for his senior brother Zhenyu, Lin Yi shook his head slightly.

Although Senior Brother Zhenyu is strong, his style clearly doesn't make him the type to be keen on building connections and networking.

My senior colleague prefers to let his abilities speak for themselves and to earn respect and status through his achievements.

Asking him to find out which gods need what level of equipment for their juniors, or to act as a go-between to find specific buyers, is clearly not something the senior brother is good at or willing to do.

These trivial business information and potential customer networks still need to be accumulated slowly on your own, or expanded through allies like Bellinlo who proactively extend goodwill and are skilled in this area.

This is part of the path of cultivation, and it's impossible to rely on your senior brother for everything.

"Let's take it one step at a time." Lin Yi calmed his mind and stopped thinking about these trivial matters.

He closed his eyes again, immersing himself once more in the profound world of the Time Source Law Codex.

Improving one's own strength is the fundamental way to deal with everything.

Sure enough, in the time following Bellinlo's departure, more than a dozen deities came to the meditation room and purchased a lot of equipment and treasures.

Some were prepared for their nephews and nieces, some were purchased for their close relatives, and some were equipped for their followers.

The transactions went very smoothly; no one haggled, and everything was done directly at the listed price.

During this period, Lin Yi received various treasures worth approximately 71 billion points. Combined with the remaining 31.42 billion points, his total points once again exceeded 10 billion.

"I'm finally feeling a bit better." Lin Yi looked at the pile of new treasures that had been added to his storage space and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although these treasures cannot be directly exchanged for points, they can circulate among the gods, acting as a form of hard currency.

It can also be used for bartering when necessary, to exchange for what one needs.

This day.

Just as he was routinely studying the secrets of the Time Source Law, Xuanji's voice suddenly rang out, her tone very solemn.

"Master. We have received a notification from the base system inviting you to a high-level meeting at Frostwynn Base, along with the meeting agenda and other details."

Oh? It turns out it's time for the century-old routine meeting.

Lin Yi mentally calculated the time and nodded, saying, "Xuanji, retrieve the detailed meeting notice, including the agenda and specific arrangements."

“Yes, Master.” Xuanji’s voice rang out immediately. “The meeting notice attachment has been analyzed. The main topics are ‘discussion on the key tasks for the next stage and preliminary intentions for resource allocation.’”

She paused, then added, "Furthermore, since this is your first time attending, Cardinal-7, the Base's General Affairs Officer, has specially sent you a 'First-Time Attendance Guidelines' and a seating chart. The meeting will be held in ten standard days in the 'Decision Hall' in the Base's core area."

Lin Yi nodded, his consciousness scanning the information Xuanji presented in his mind.

The topics covered were broad and fell under the category of standard strategic discussions. The guidelines included some basic rules: such as a strict prohibition of any form of armed conflict during the meeting; and the requirement for orderly speaking.

"Ten standard days is enough." Lin Yi felt at ease.

He could use these few days to cross-verify the information about the base's power structure and mission system that he obtained from his senior brother Zhenyu with the basic data compiled by Xuanji, forming a clearer cognitive framework.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the morning of the meeting, Lin Yi finished his brief meditation and then instructed, "Xuanji, call the commuter shuttle. Destination: Core Area Decision Hall."

"Command confirmed. Shuttle dispatched, expected to arrive in two minutes."

The shuttle arrived on time, carrying Lin Yi through layers of buildings and passages within the base. Soon, a massive building with a cold and austere style stood before them—the Decision Hall.

Lin Yi stepped off the flying shuttle and walked towards the building's alloy gate, which was tens of meters high. As he approached, the gate silently slid open to both sides.

Inside the door was not the main conference hall, but a spacious transition hall, where the elegant figure of Cardinal-7, the General Affairs Officer of the Machine Race, stood quietly.

Upon seeing Lin Yi enter, Cardinal-7 stepped forward and bowed slightly with elegance: "Lord Lin Yi, the meeting will officially begin in thirty minutes. Would you like me to guide you into the meeting room now?"

"Thank you for your trouble." Lin Yi nodded.

"Please come with me."

Cardinal-7 turned and led Lin Yi through the transition hall to another large metal door on the inner side, its surface adorned with complex energy patterns. Sensing Cardinal-7's authorization, the door quietly opened.

Behind the door was an extremely spacious area.

The first thing that catches the eye is the huge oval-shaped dark gold table in the center of the hall.

The long table, made of some unknown material, had a smooth surface and subtle, restrained runes. Forty-two simple yet substantial chairs were evenly distributed around the edge of the table.

At this moment, more than thirty seats are occupied.

The conference hall has a very high dome, simulating a deep starry sky, with soft starlight falling down, yet it does not appear dim.

Lin Yi's arrival did not cause a commotion, but almost all the gods present turned their gazes toward him.

Lin Yi remained calm as he met their gazes and walked to his assigned seat, located at the far left apex of the long axis of the round table.

As he passed by Zhenyu, Zhenyu smiled at him and transmitted his voice, "Relax, it's your first time here, just listen."

Lin Yi nodded almost imperceptibly, slowly sat down in his chair, and calmly swept his gaze across the room.

Those present were all holders of Source Treasures, their auras either as deep and still as an abyss, as fiery as fire, or as ethereal and unpredictable as a dream.

The Spirit Race was indeed the most numerous, and he could recognize several peak deities with distinct Spirit Race characteristics at a glance.

Representatives from the major powerful races within the Pan-Spirit Alliance, including the Mechanical Race, the Holy Radiance Race, the Crystal Spirit Race, the Thunderous Race, and the Sharpening Race, have basically gathered.

He also saw another human, Sijia, who possessed a Source Treasure—a black-haired man with a clear face and gentle yet wise eyes, sitting slightly to his right opposite him, and nodding to him at that moment.

The hall was quiet. The gods who had arrived earlier either closed their eyes to rest or browsed something through the interface on the armrest. They only communicated briefly and occasionally through telepathy. The atmosphere was solemn.

Time passed by, and the empty seats on the oval table were gradually filled.

When only the central seat remained, the atmosphere in the hall seemed to become more focused.

Just then, the heavy main door of the conference hall slid open silently to both sides once again.

A figure walked in unhurriedly.

He wore a simple Elven-style robe, his figure was tall and straight, and his golden hair was interspersed with a few strands of silver hair that seemed to be frozen in time. His face was handsome but covered with a layer of ice, and he had no expression.

Almost simultaneously, all the deities present stood up in unison.

Lin Yi also stood up.

The crowd spoke in unison, their voices briefly echoing in the empty hall:
"Your Excellency Ellis."

The one who walked in was none other than Ellis, the strongest being of the Frostborn Base, a descendant of the Spirit Race's supreme being, and a peak-level god of the dual laws of space and time.

Ellis gave a very slight nod to the crowd, and without stopping, walked straight to the only empty seat in the very center of the oval table.

He walked behind the chair, but did not sit down immediately. Instead, he glanced around the long table with a calm expression.

However, when his gaze swept over Lin Yi's location, his calm and unwavering gaze suddenly stopped.

Ellis's eyes, which seemed to contain a vortex of time and space, focused on Lin Yi's face. Her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and then a calm voice rang out in the hall.

"You are Lin Yi, the human?"

Lin Yi met his gaze and calmly replied, "Yes, Your Excellency Ellis."

Ellis's gaze did not leave Lin Yi; instead, he looked Lin Yi up and down before speaking again.

"Who told you to sit there?"

(End of this chapter)