What Must Come, Has Finally Come

Lin Yi was somewhat puzzled.

Are the Abyss Race hunting down the Devouring Race?

This news is interesting.

Just two years ago, these two races were working together in the secret realm, sparing no expense to completely crush the thousand members of the Pan-Spirit Alliance.

How long has it been?

How did things escalate to the point where they have to resort to arms and venture deep into this dangerous Blood Mist Layer to hunt each other down?

Something must have happened.

Lin Yi thought for a moment and asked in his mind, "Xuanji, judging from the energy fluctuations, how many people are on each side, and what is their strength?"

"Master, according to the signal analysis transmitted from the edge of the monitoring network, there are nineteen members of the Abyss Race and fourteen members of the Devouring Race. Their energy levels are all at the Star Vortex level, with the highest being at the sixth rank of the Star Vortex level and the lowest at the third Star Vortex level."

Thirty-three? They dare come down with just that few people?

A thought flashed through Lin Yi's mind.

They'd experienced the dangers of the Blood Mist Layer before; had they already forgotten the pain?

Lin Yi felt a little curious.

The Blood Mist Layer has a harsh environment, severe rule suppression, and slow energy recovery. Even Star Vortex level geniuses need to be extremely careful when moving around here.

A group of thirty-three people is nothing in this vast, blood-red world; if they were to encounter a large Blood Mist Beast, they would likely be wiped out.

They dared to pursue us either because they had some special advantage, or because they were truly blinded by rage and didn't care about anything else.

"I need to go check what's going on," Lin Yi thought to himself.

He originally had no intention of getting involved in the outside conflicts; he only wanted to hold onto his small camp and quietly accumulate strength.

But this matter is strange, and perhaps it can provide a glimpse into the current situation of the two races that dominate the Black Mist Layer above.

"Coordinates," Lin Yi said calmly.

"Coordinates have been marked. Approximately 470 kilometers from the camp, southeast."

Lin Yi didn't say anything more. With a slight sway, he vanished from the spot without a sound.

After several flashes, it appeared at the edge of the approximate location of the "Hidden Shadow-7" monitoring point.

--

About three kilometers from the battlefield.

In a secluded corner naturally formed by several blood-red stone pillars, the space rippled slightly, and Lin Yi's figure silently appeared.

He concealed all his aura, even reducing the fluctuations of the rules around him to a minimum, as if he had merged with the surrounding blood mist.

The powerful soul force, like invisible tentacles, spread out silently, enveloping the distant battlefield.

The roars, curses, and aftershocks of the clash of rules from both sides—all the sounds and energy changes—were clearly presented in his soul's perception.

Lin Yi did not approach, but followed from a distance, quietly observing and eavesdropping.

With a soul force far greater than that of both sides in the battle, he was like an audience member standing below the stage, hearing every single line of dialogue clearly.

It was indeed a chase, and a rather chaotic one at that. Fourteen Devouring Race units (of various forms, mostly with Zerg characteristics) were desperately fleeing, most of them wounded, their carapaces shattered, bodily fluids splattered, and their rhythmic fluctuations disordered. The nineteen Abyss Race (mainly in beast form) chasing behind were much more ferocious, their attacks sharp and their coordination quite good, constantly using the blood mist environment to create obstacles and compress the Devouring Race's escape space.

Lin Yi patiently "listened," his soul perception capturing the scattered, intermittent soul fluctuations and roars on the battlefield.

"... Traitor! Despicable insect! How dare you ambush my clan's ' Rock Roar '!"

"Bullshit! We discovered that crystal core first!"

"Enough nonsense! Hand over the crystal core! Or we'll tear you all to pieces and feed you to the Mist Beast!"

"Dream on! Come and take it if you dare! Let's see who dies in this godforsaken place first!"

Kill them! Leave no one alive!

"Run separately! Every person who can leave is a chance to succeed!"

The argument was filled with a lot of meaningless shouting, but Lin Yi still managed to piece together the general outline of the matter from those fragments of words.

The Source Essence Crystal of the giant Black Mist Beast? A sneak attack?

Is this a case of double-crossing?

Lin Yi quickly pieced together the general outline of the situation.

It sounds like it's because of a fight over the Source Essence Crystal of a giant Black Mist Beast.

A member of the Devouring Race ambushed a member of the Abyss Race who was seriously injured while hunting Mist Beast. Instead of killing him, the attack ignited the already fragile cooperative relationship between the two clans, escalating the conflict from a dispute to a full-blown battle, and now into a relentless pursuit.

They even went so far as to pursue them down into the Blood Mist Layer.

"The situation has already turned into a complete mess." Lin Yi pondered this information, feeling both absurd and somewhat matter-of-fact.

In the face of resources, especially in such dire circumstances, it's perfectly normal for allies to turn against each other.

Unexpectedly, the "alliance" between these two races turned out to be so fragile, with a single crystal core becoming the fuse.

He observed for a few more minutes and confirmed that these pursuers were not carrying any special equipment, nor did they show any particular intention to explore the Blood Mist Layer; they were simply blinded by greed.

Their attention was entirely focused on each other, and they didn't even effectively defend themselves against the blood mist's corrosive effects or the potential appearance of Mist Beast.

Lin Yi was speechless.

Just for a single Source Essence Crystal?

The current situation is dire. The entrance to the secret realm has closed, and everyone is trapped here. Instead of figuring out how to survive in this desperate situation, the prodigies of both races are killing each other for a single crystal core?

But on second thought, it seems understandable.

It now appears that the mission of these two prodigies entering the secret realm is to encircle and annihilate and seize the Source Essence.

As for what to do after the secret realm closes, the higher-ups probably haven't given any instructions at all.

In other words, these prodigies are now just expendable pawns.

It's perfectly normal for conflict to erupt between abandoned foes in their struggle for even the faintest hope of survival.

Moreover, although the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race have joined forces this time, the two clans have a deep-seated hatred for each other throughout history, even greater than their hostility towards the Spirit Race.

Temporary cooperation is inherently fragile; once external pressure eases or conflicts of interest arise, internal strife is almost inevitable.

"Fight! Fight as fiercely as possible," Lin Yi thought to himself.

The infighting between the two races was naturally a good thing for them, who were hiding in the Blood Mist Layer.

But Lin Yi quickly changed his mind.

He discovered that the battles between these Star Vortex level prodigies were actually affecting the relay monitoring network they had painstakingly set up.

That won't do!

It doesn't matter if these guys die, but repeaters are consumables; once one is destroyed, there's one less.

Without the relay network, they are deaf and blind in this Blood Mist Layer, and will not have time to react to any sudden situation.

They cannot stay.

Lin Yi's eyes turned slightly cold.

He originally planned to continue observing to see if he could hear more useful information, such as how the two races were doing up there, how many survivors there were, and whether other teams had come down, etc.

But now, they must be dealt with immediately.

Damaging even one more repeater would break his heart.

Lin Yi stepped out from his hiding place, his figure like a ghost, directly cutting into the center of the battlefield, the area where the fighting was most intense and the energy most chaotic.

His appearance came without warning.

The next moment.

The silvery-gray power of time spread silently, like mercury spilling onto the ground, instantly enveloping an area of several hundred meters below.

Time stands still.

The giant Abyss Race's claws, wreathed in boiling blood mist, had just been raised when they froze in mid-air.

The mantis -Devouring Race's broken scythe, about to unleash its strike, froze at the halfway point of its trajectory.

All the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race, whether they were charging forward or burning their life essence, were frozen in place like statues whose pause button had been pressed.

Even the surging energy, the gushing blood mist, and the splashing bodily fluids around them all froze in that instant.

Only Lin Yi, silently suspended in the air.

His gaze swept over the thirty-three sculptures below, his eyes calm and unwavering.

Then, he raised his right hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

The Space Rule quietly took effect.

The space where the thirty-three sculptures were located seemed to have been gently squeezed by an invisible hand.

Click. Click

The sound of shattering glass rang out in rapid succession.

The giant Abyss Race's hard scales, the Devouring Race's sharp carapace, and the Devouring Race's thick back plates.

Everything, including the boiling source energy, burning essence blood, and lingering soul fluctuations within them, was utterly annihilated under the absolute crushing force of the Space Rule.

A breath later.

The time-stopping effect has been removed.

When the silvery-gray ripples of time dissipated, only a relatively clean empty space remained.

Even the blood mist was momentarily cleared away by the spatial collapse before being refilled by the surrounding mist.

There were no corpses, no remains; even the finest specks of energy were crushed and annihilated by that absolute space.

Only a few dull-colored storage containers, seemingly also affected by the commotion, clattered and fell from mid-air, crashing onto the black rocky ground.

Lin Yi grabbed the spoils from a distance, collected them without even glancing at them, and then disappeared back into the blood mist. In a few flashes, he returned to the camp.

Campsite.

Inside the largest central cave, soft light illuminated the crystals embedded in the rock walls, dispelling some of the oppressive atmosphere brought by the blood mist.

All the elite talents in the camp were urgently summoned.

More than 700 people gathered in the cave, making it somewhat crowded, but no one complained.

Everyone looked at Lin Yi, who was standing on a slightly higher rock in front of them, waiting for him to speak.

Edith, Green Leaf, Hui Yao, and other core members stood at the front.

Lin Yi didn't waste any words and went straight to the point. "I'm sure everyone has received the news that the Abyss Race has apparently been chasing the Devouring Race into the Blood Mist Layer."

"I went to check, there were thirty-three in total, I just finished them off."

A low murmur of discussion arose inside the cave.

It wasn't that I was surprised that Lin Yi had quickly dealt with thirty-three prodigies from both races on his own, but rather that I was puzzled as to why the Abyss Race was hunting down the Devouring Race.

Lin Yi briefly recounted what he had just witnessed.

"That's roughly it. The two races are probably fighting each other because of a giant Black Mist Beast's Source Essence Crystal. The Devouring Race's sneak attack on the heavily injured Abyss Race failed, and a great battle broke out between the two sides in the Black Mist Layer. Now it's a complete mess up there."

"These nineteen Abyss Race were chasing down the Devouring Race, their eyes bloodshot from the slaughter, and I just easily wiped them out."

Everyone was somewhat surprised after hearing this.

"Just because of a single Source Essence Crystal?" Green Leaf couldn't help but exclaim, "That's too much!"

"Perhaps," Edith for a moment, then slowly spoke, "It's not impossible."

Everyone looked at her.

Edith organized her thoughts and continued, "Although I don't know why the higher-ups of the two races ordered them to join forces in the secret realm, it's clear that these prodigies were instructed to break through their cultivation levels after entering, then surround and annihilate us, with the most likely goal of leaving only one of them with the Source Essence."

She paused, her voice lowering slightly. "Just like during the days when legions explored secret realms."

The atmosphere inside the cave became even more somber.

Edith has already told you about the brutality of legion-style exploration.

Apart from the Commander, everyone else in the legion is a expendable resource; in the end, only one person usually manages to leave alive.

Now, these Abyss Race and the Devouring Race are in remarkably similar situations.

"As for why they started fighting, I have some guesses."

Edith looked at Lin Yi, "I suspect that the higher-ups of these two races didn't give them any orders after the entrance to the secret realm closed. Perhaps in their eyes, what happens after the entrance closes is no longer important."

"Therefore, the remaining members of the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race will naturally, like us, want to improve their strength and enhance their adaptability through the Source Essence Crystal. The hatred between the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race is already considerable, perhaps even deeper than their hostility towards our Spirit Race."

"Although it's unclear why the two races joined forces, it's obviously unrelated to the geniuses within the secret realm. Coupled with the frustration of being forced to their deaths, it's quite normal for them to fight over a minor disagreement."

Lin Yi nodded secretly upon hearing this.

This guess sounds quite plausible.

The higher-ups only care about the results, not the process.

As long as someone manages to get the Source Essence out of the area, and at the same time, prevents their own group from leaving, the mission will be considered successfully completed.

As for how many of these prodigies, who only appear once every five thousand years, die, and how they die, the higher-ups don't care.

These prodigies, once they realize they've been treated as expendable pawns, will naturally experience a change in mindset.

The instinct for survival, resentment towards the higher-ups, and the hatred accumulated between the two races over countless Epoch.

All these factors combined are like a pile of dry firewood; just a tiny spark is all it takes to ignite a raging fire.

A single Source Essence Crystal is just that spark.

Lin Yi thought for a moment, then said in a measured tone, "Forget it, whatever the reason for the internal strife, it's a good thing for us."

He looked around at everyone. "We've initially established a foothold in the Blood Mist Layer, and the corresponding monitoring network is gradually being improved. Although the rules there are less restrictive and the environment is relatively better up there, we don't need to wade into the muddy waters and force them to unite."

"Of course, if they descend into the Blood Mist Layer, they will pose a threat to us." Lin Yi's tone turned cold. "Once we detect them, I will eliminate them immediately. I estimate that after one or two such incidents, they won't come down again."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

No one doubted Lin Yi's words.

After all, half a year ago, Lin Yi was already able to independently kill a giant Blood Mist Beast equivalent to the mid-stage of the Star Domain level.

Dealing with these geniuses from both races, who are at most at the Star Vortex level and whose cultivation is mostly still in its infancy, is indeed a piece of cake.

"Furthermore," Lin Yi added, "Do not approach the territory of the newly discovered Blood Mist Beast. Over the past two years, we have explored a large area in the surrounding region and discovered a total of five Blood Mist Beast, all of whom are very dangerous. If you anticipate them patrolling their territory, retreat immediately without hesitation."

"Clear."

The crowd responded in unison.

Over the course of two years, they have gained a preliminary understanding of this Blood Mist Layer.

Each of those five Blood Mist Beast controlled an area spanning hundreds of kilometers. With their current strength, provoking such beings would be tantamount to suicide.

"Disperse, stay alert." Lin Yi waved his hand.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Lin Yi was soon left alone in the cave.

He walked to his usual stone platform deep inside the cave, sat cross-legged, and let his consciousness sink into his soul space.

Within the Purple Mist Space, the purple ocean formed by Spiritual Enlightenment Qi continued to slowly rotate, and it had grown considerably larger than it had two years ago.

With a thought, Lin Yi began to habitually check the reserves of blood mist crystal cores.

Currently, there are more than 7,200 ordinary Source Essence Crystal and more than 40 large Source Essence Crystal dropped by giant Blood Mist Beast.

Of these crystal cores, 6,700 were ordinary Source Essence Crystal that other prodigies had entrusted to Lin Yi for safekeeping.

The reasoning behind their argument was simple: although there seemed to be no unusual changes at the moment, having the Source Essence Crystal with Lin Yi meant that if any problems arose, Lin Yi could use it to quickly increase his strength.

Lin Yi himself has 500 ordinary crystal cores and 40 large crystal cores.

The Source Essence content of the large crystal nuclei, after repeated calculations, is approximately five times that of ordinary crystal nuclei.

Therefore, these 40 large crystal nuclei are equivalent to 200 ordinary crystal nuclei.

And this is only his hunting output for half a year.

As for the Source Essence Crystal he had previously acquired, he had already used them to enhance his strength.

The result was that his understanding of the laws of time increased to 7.2%, thus giving him the ability to kill the giant Blood Mist Beast without taking any damage.

From 5.3% to 7.2%, the difference may seem small, but Lin Yi knew that the accumulation required to increase his comprehension level would become increasingly terrifying as he progressed.

However, in the past six months, after acquiring the Source Essence Crystal, he did not rush to absorb it and convert it into Spiritual Enlightenment Qi.

It wasn't that he didn't urgently need to improve his strength; the main reason was that he wanted to conduct an experiment.

Six months ago, after he killed the giant Blood Mist Beast, he suddenly remembered that ordinary crystal cores could devour and fuse with each other.

In the first layer of Gray Mist Layer, a large number of ordinary gray fog crystals merged to form a channel leading to the Black Mist Layer.

In the Black Mist Layer, a large number of ordinary black mist crystal cores fused together to form that dangerous blood-red crystal core, which in turn opened the passage to the Blood Mist Layer.

The problem is that collecting even the most ordinary blood mist crystals within the Blood Mist Layer doesn't create any channels.

Is it possible that, within the Blood Mist Layer, a new change only occurs when a regular Source Essence Crystal is fused with it?

Will the large Source Essence Crystal devour other ordinary Source Essence Crystal?

So he kept all the Source Essence Crystal he obtained from the subsequent hunts to see if there would be any reaction.

However, more than half a year has passed, and there has been no sign of spontaneous attraction and fusion, either between ordinary crystal nuclei or between ordinary crystal nuclei and large crystal nuclei.

They remained quietly in specially designed isolation containers, clearly separated from one another.

"Perhaps specific conditions are required, perhaps the quantity is insufficient, or perhaps Beast King Crystal Core is needed," Lin Yi secretly speculated.

Since nothing changed, he wasn't particularly disappointed.

This was just a casual observation.

"Forget it, I'll accumulate enough Law Enlightenment to increase my level by 10%. If there's still no change, I won't wait any longer."

Lin Yi made a decision.

10% is a turning point.

According to the common sense of cultivating according to the laws, a comprehension level exceeding 10% corresponds to the Rule Comprehension intensity of the second stage of the World Derivation level.

This signifies a new level of mastery over the laws, the beginning of touching upon new implications of the laws, and a significant leap in strength.

In this godforsaken place, every bit of improvement in strength is crucial.

Therefore, in his spare time from hunting and resting, he devoted all his energy to sorting out his understanding of the laws of time.

The goal is to optimize the absorption and comprehension process as much as possible, reduce unnecessary dissipation of Spiritual Enlightenment Qi during transformation and understanding, and strive to achieve the greatest qualitative change with the smallest amount.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the churning blood mist and the camp's routine activities.

Five years later.

The campsite has changed again.

Larger in scale and more complex in structure, the initial bewilderment on everyone's faces had completely disappeared, replaced by a sense of vicissitude and resilience.

Lin Yi's private quiet room.

He was sitting cross-legged at the core of the meditation room, holding a large Source Essence Crystal that had absorbed nearly half of its energy and whose light was slightly dim in both hands.

The pure Source Essence energy was extracted bit by bit, transformed into Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, and integrated into the Purple Mist Space deep within his soul.

He had completely abandoned the experiment on crystal nucleus fusion a year ago.

Thousands of crystal cores have been accumulated, and apart from taking up space, there have been no abnormal reactions.

Lin Yi basically concluded that the Source Essence Crystal dropped by the mid-stage Star Domain level Blood Mist Beast were insufficient to allow the crystal cores to fuse together.

Therefore, he began to absorb all of these accumulated crystal cores.

The main reason for not continuing the experiment, as he had planned five years ago, was that the reserves were already sufficient to break through the 10% mark.

Moreover, after five years of continuous hunting, accumulation, and reflection, he had also adjusted himself to his best condition.

Therefore, starting five days ago, Lin Yi began to gradually absorb the Source Essence in the Source Essence Crystal, converting it all into Spiritual Enlightenment Qi.

At this moment, while continuing to absorb the last Source Essence in the crystal core, deep within his consciousness, like the most patient craftsman, he repeatedly polished and verified various fragments of his understanding of time faults, ripples, and even the more ethereal concept of "time sequence".

We strive to solidify every detail to make the final push for a breakthrough smoother and reduce energy consumption.

The only sounds in the quiet room were the glow of the lighting crystal and Lin Yi's steady, long breaths.

However, just as he was immersed in this state of complete absorption and reflection,

"Owner."

Xuanji's voice suddenly rang in Lin Yi's mind.

"An unexpected situation has arisen. Based on multiple data comparisons, it has been confirmed that an anomaly has been detected within the Blood Mist Layer."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi immediately opened his eyes.