Still Too Weak

Xuan Yan did not answer immediately, but instead poured himself another cup of tea.

"We cannot force the Supreme-level Origin Power in the treatment plan, but that doesn't mean we are completely helpless." Xuan Yan picked up his cup but didn't drink, only gently swirling it. "The treatment plan bestowed by the Supreme includes a treasure that can slow down the deterioration; this is what we must strive to obtain."

Lin Yi's mind sharpened. "A treasure to slow down the deterioration?"

"Hmm." Xuan Yan nodded. "There is a wondrous object called the Time Sequence Anchor Stone. It originates from the depths of a cosmic wonder known as the Corridor of Time."

"The Corridor of Time?" Lin Yi noted down the name.

"That is an extremely ancient and extremely dangerous place of temporal disorder, where the flow of time is chaotic and disordered," Xuan Yan explained. "The Time Sequence Anchor Stone are strange crystals that naturally condense at relatively stable points in time. They contain a special time-sequencing effect, which can slightly smooth out the disordered time and play a certain stabilizing role."

He looked at Lin Yi: "Regarding the current state of the Eternal Beginning Dominator, while the Time Sequence Anchor Stone cannot cure it completely, it can effectively slow down the rate at which his timeline deteriorates. The more it is used, the more its effects accumulate, and the longer it can buy us."

Lin Yi instantly understood. "Therefore, we need a large number of Time Sequence Anchor Stone."

"That's right." Xuan Yan put down his cup. "But the Corridor of Time has an extreme environment. Only those who cultivate the laws of time and rely on their own understanding of the laws of time can navigate through it and resist the erosion of the temporal turbulence. Moreover, the threshold for entry is at least that of a high-level deity."

He sighed softly, with a deep sense of helplessness. "Therefore, with all the Time Lords in the clan needing to stabilize the Overlord's injuries and unable to leave, all the Human Race powerhouses who cultivate the laws of time and whose strength has reached the level of a high god or above, regardless of what they were originally doing, received a clan merit mission to go to the Corridor of Time to collect Time Sequence Anchor Stone."

He paused, then added, "At the same time, our Human Race, through the Galactic Mercenary Alliance, spent a considerable sum to hire some powerful and trustworthy lone Time Lords and powerful Law Time Gods to help. The Time Lords assisted in stabilizing the Overlord's injuries, while the hired Time Gods joined our people to delve into the Corridor of Time to collect anchor stones."

Lin Yi listened silently, quickly sketching a picture in his mind: all the top time-manipulation experts of the Human Race, no matter where they were or what positions they held, gathered at the dangerous Corridor of Time to fight for a glimmer of hope for the only pillar of the Human Race.

The clan's honors and resources were also spent like water to hire outside help.

"Hiring lone powerhouses. The Galactic Mercenary Alliance does indeed have quite a few time-manipulation powerhouses," Lin Yi said.

As a member of the Galactic Mercenary Alliance, he naturally knew quite a bit about this.

Although a great war is currently sweeping across the universe, with all major races fully committed, there are still a large number of lone powerhouses within the Galactic Mercenary Alliance.

Many of these powerful individuals were people who, after their tribes were destroyed, refused to be bound by anything and joined other tribes, or were beings who sought absolute freedom.

They rely on five major forces and are relatively independent.

Lin Yi said, "This great battle is both a risk and a golden opportunity for them to acquire resources."

"Yes." Xuan Yan, forced a smile that lacked any genuine mirth. "They are paid according to the mission, they do the work for money, and they bear the risks themselves. Although our Human Race has paid a heavy price, sacrificing a great deal of strategic reserves, there's no other way. The life of the Overlord is more important than any reserves."

He looked at Lin Yi with a complex expression. "Lin Yi, with your potential, higher deities will not be an obstacle for you. Therefore, when you reach the level of a higher deity and have enough strength to protect yourself and delve into the Corridor of Time, the clan merit mission you receive will inevitably be this: to go to the Corridor of Time and collect the Time Sequence Anchor Stone for your clan and for the Overlord."

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Lin Yi nodded slowly, "I understand, Your Majesty. This is my responsibility, and I cannot shirk it."

Seeing Lin Yi's calm acceptance, a hint of relief flashed in Xuan Yan's eyes.

But then he sighed deeply, rubbed his temples, and a rare look of fatigue appeared on his usually gentle and peaceful face.

"Lin Yi, there's something I need to tell you." The Xuan Yan's voice lowered slightly. "Logically speaking, given your significant contributions in the battles of the secret realm and the exit, coupled with the talent and potential you've demonstrated, the rewards from the clan, whether in clan honors or register Points, should be more than what you've received so far."

Lin Yi's heart stirred slightly.

He did have a vague feeling about it before.

70,000 clan merits and 5 million roster Points —this amount is astronomical for Star Vortex level, but considering his combined achievements of "perfecting the Star Core level Time Law," "leading his team to survive a desperate situation," and "manipulating battle formations to reverse the local battle situation," and compared to the previous "generosity" of being directly rewarded with 20,000 clan merits for winning the preliminary rounds, this is a significant sum.

Although the reward was still generous, to be honest, it didn't meet his expectations.

He had been busy with the exchange and planning and hadn't thought about it in detail, but now that Xuan Yan brought it up, he immediately realized.

"Is it because all the resources have been allocated to the Overlord's injuries?" Lin Yi asked directly.

"Yes." Xuan Yan did not hide anything and frankly admitted, "It's not just the cost of hiring outside help. Stabilizing injuries requires treasures, maintaining supplies for the Corridor of Time gathering team, paying for casualties, and dealing with equipment wear and tear. Of course, more importantly, there are the massive expenditures during the great war. Our Human Race has not been a powerful race for long, and our clan's treasury, especially our strategic resource reserves and the most liquid clan merit reserves, are now stretched thin."

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment.

From the perspective of the entire race, stabilizing the injuries of the Eternal Beginning Dominator is the top priority and the prerequisite for everything.

If he were in a decision-making position, he would make the same trade-offs.

However, when the one being "chosen" is oneself, a slight fluctuation in one's heart is inevitable.

It's not dissatisfaction, but a deeper sense of reality and urgency.

"I understand, Your Majesty." Lin Yi looked up, his eyes clear. "At this moment, the Sovereign's injuries are the top priority. Resources should be used where they are most needed. What I have obtained is enough to sustain my cultivation for a long time."

His tone was very calm.

This is the truth, and a rational choice. Complaining is useless; seizing the resources at hand to improve our strength is the right path.

But then, Lin Yi thought of another crucial question.

A problem he had previously overlooked.

"Lord," he said cautiously, "Since the Sovereign is seriously injured, and the Lord has been preoccupied with other matters all the time, does that mean that our Human Race has temporarily lost the ability to resurrect those who died at the God-level and World Derivation level?"

Xuan Yan paused slightly in the hand holding the cup.

He slowly put down the virtual teacup, the bottom of which made a soft tapping sound as it touched the stone table.

"Indeed," Xuan Yan said in a deep voice, "The Eternal Beginning Dominator is caught in a temporal disorder and can barely protect himself. Meanwhile, the Venerable Ones who cultivate the Time Origin Law are entirely preoccupied with stabilizing the Sovereign's core injuries and collecting Time Sequence Anchor Stone in the Corridor of Time. We have no spare capacity to resurrect the fallen soldiers of our clan."

"According to the wartime resurrection coordination mechanism within the Pan-Spirit Alliance, the resurrection slots for all powerful individuals with resurrection abilities will be prioritized for those who have fallen from their respective races. The Time Masters and Sovereigns of the Spirit Race will be given priority in resurrecting members of the Spirit Race; the same applies to other vassal races with time-related powerful individuals."

"Therefore, the powerful beings of our Human Race who perished in this great war, whether gods or beings from other realms, are all relatively low on the resurrection priority list of the Pan-Spirit Alliance. Unless there are extremely special circumstances, or we pay extra to jump the queue, otherwise..."

Otherwise, we can only wait.

When the Human Race's own Time Lord is free, or when the war ends.

Lin Yi's heart sank.

He had only considered the impact of the Dominator's serious injury on high-end combat power and the status of the race, but he overlooked the chain reaction caused by the temporary loss of the strategic ability of "resurrection".

In this way, every god or derivative realm that Human Race loses on the battlefield represents a real loss of manpower.

As one side gains at the expense of the other, the Human Race will grow weaker with each battle, their battle lines will become increasingly strained, and they will become more and more reliant on the Spirit Race for help.

Moreover, there is an even more serious problem.

Even for Venerable Lord Rank expert, there is a limit to how far they can go in rescuing someone from the River of Time.

The longer time drags on, the deeper the Soul Origin sinks in the River of Time, and the greater the difficulty and cost of retrieving it, and it may even become something that has sunk to the bottom.

Because the Soul Origin is not eternally fixed at a certain point in the River of Time after a living being perishes.

As time goes by, under the invisible erosion of the long river, it will sink further and further downstream, getting closer and closer to the riverbed.

Once it sinks to a certain depth, even if the line is still theoretically there, the difficulty of accurately locating it and retrieving it intact is almost impossible.

This is what happens when you sink to the bottom.

In a practical sense, those who sink to the bottom have essentially perished.

For a time-manipulating expert at the Venerable Lord Rank, the maximum time to rescue someone from a reverse current is approximately one hundred Epoch.

However, cosmic-scale wars can often last for thousands or even tens of thousands of Epoch!

Many of the powerful Human Race who have fallen in battle may never live to see the day they are resurrected.

Their soul imprints will gradually sink to the bottom of the River of Time during the long wait, becoming those who have sunk to the bottom and will be completely forgotten.

And that's exactly the case with Ninth Senior Brother!

Ninth Senior Brother Cang Ming perished early in the war. The eldest senior brother said, "His application for resurrection was approved, but his ranking is very low." "If Ninth Brother wants to be resurrected, he'll probably have to wait a long time."

At the time, Lin Yi thought it was just a normal queue, waiting for the Human Race's own Lord to have time.

Now it seems that this wasn't the case at all.

The eldest brother may Dao Lord is seriously injured, but he may not be fully aware that all the Human Race Time Lords have been involved, let alone how far back the Human Race's fallen are in the Pan-Spirit Alliance's resurrection sequence.

This will take a very long time; it's probably not hundreds or thousands of years, but rather an indefinite period.

As long as the war continues, the Time Masters of the Spirit Race and other races will continuously prioritize resurrecting their own fallen comrades. On the Human Race's side, even if they manage to spare one or two Time Masters, it will be a drop in the ocean compared to the vast number of fallen soldiers.

The war had only just begun.

The image of Ninth Senior Brother's carefree, smiling face flashed through my memory.

A chilling pressure weighed heavily on Lin Yi's heart.

But he didn't say anything.

It's pointless to talk about this now.

Xuan Yan was more aware of the gravity of the situation than he was.

Lin Yi suppressed the turbulent emotions in his eyes, his expression returning to calm, though his gaze became even more profound.

Xuan Yan noticed Lin Yi's subtle change in expression and nodded inwardly.

This kid is not only incredibly talented, but he's also honed to a resilient character, knowing what to say and what to keep to himself.

Silence fell again in the pavilion, broken only by the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo grove.

After a moment, Lin Yi stood up, preparing to take his leave. "Lord, I understand the situation. I will return to Origin Star to cultivate as soon as possible, and my clone will also integrate into the team and adapt to the Frontline rhythm. I will keep the matter of the Overlord in mind."

Xuan Yan also stood up, looking at this young junior with a complicated expression.

He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and waved.

Virtual starlight condensed in the pavilion, transforming into seven fist-sized crystals, each containing countless flowing and shifting patterns of laws.

"Although the clan can't offer you more resources for the time being," Xuan Yan pointed to the seven crystals, "We can't let you leave empty-handed. These are some cultivation insights and understandings I've accumulated over many years regarding the two higher laws of 'life' and 'death,' as well as the five fundamental laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth."

Lin Yi stared at the seven floating crystals, his breath catching in his throat slightly.

Cultivation insights at the Venerable Lord Rank!

This level of insight and understanding is simply incomparable to ordinary esoteric texts.

It contains key points in the process of Venerable Lord Rank expert's most essential understanding and comprehension of the corresponding laws, common pitfalls, and various unique application techniques.

For those who cultivate the same laws, it is an invaluable treasure.

Lin Yi had seen similar items exchanged in the clan's treasury.

A single, fundamental law- Venerable Lord Rank insight is priced at 100,000 clan merits.

The insights gained by the Venerable One regarding higher laws such as "life" and "death" amount to as much as 400,000 clan merits.

"Your Excellency, this is far too precious!" Lin Yi took a deep breath and did not immediately accept it.

"Take it." Xuan Yan waved his hand, his tone returning to its usual calm. "To me, these insights are merely a summary of past experiences. Giving them to you might help you avoid some detours. You have already mastered the Law of Time, as for the Space Law..."

He looked at Lin Yi: "Your senior brother is highly skilled in the art of spatial manipulation. If you encounter any difficulties in your cultivation, you can go and ask him directly."

Lin Yi nodded solemnly. "Yes, thank you, Master. I have the mark of my eldest brother."

Xuan Yan hummed in agreement, and finally said, "These problems are just for your consideration; they are not something you new generation can solve. Remember, don't be reckless in your cultivation. Go now."

The star map space began to fade slowly, and the figure of the Xuan Yan gradually became blurred.

Lin Yi's consciousness exited the Virtual Network.

Inside the cultivation room, Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes.

He sat quietly for several minutes, processing the massive amount of information and heavy pressure from the conversation.

The injuries of the Eternal Beginning Dominator. The resurrection sequence at the bottom of the Corridor of Time Sequence Anchor Stone Resurrection Sequence. Ninth Senior Brother Cang Ming.

Keywords swirled in his mind, eventually turning into a deep sigh.

"Still too weak"

"I never imagined that even with god-level combat power, I still couldn't be of any help."

"Owner."

At this moment, a phantom image of someone in palace attire appeared beside Lin Yi, interrupting Lin Yi thoughts.

"Ten minutes ago, the God of Eternal Rock sent a message saying that he had arrived at the fortress via Divine Kingdom teleportation and asked if you would proceed as planned?"

"As originally planned, we will depart in one standard hour."

Lin Yi suppressed his thoughts, slowly got up, and walked to the other side of the cultivation room.

His Fearless War God Clone was sitting there cross-legged.

"I'm leaving. This is yours," Lin Yi said.

The clone nodded. "Don't worry."

One standard hour later, Lin Yi Main Body, accompanied by the Eternal Rock God, left the fortress and began his hyperspace jump journey towards the core of the Human Race's territory, the Origin Star.

--

next day

The clone appeared precisely at the entrance of the "Star Dust Afterglow" tavern.

Inside the tavern, the lighting remained dim and soft.

Ming Luo was already seated in his usual spot, pointing at the several battlefield mission screens displayed in front of him.

Captain Moon Abyss was still wearing a moon-white battle robe, her long silver hair flowing smoothly over her shoulders, and her pale purple eyes were cool and calm.

Lan sat next to her, toying with a green crystal in her hand.

"Brother Lin Yi, you're here!" Ming Luo looked up and saw Lin Yi's clone walk in, and immediately waved enthusiastically, "We've been waiting for you!"

Lin Yi nodded, walked to the table and sat down. "Sorry I'm a little late."

"It's alright, we just arrived too," Ming Luo said with a smile, then pointed to the screen, "We're preparing to select suitable missions for the near future. The situation has changed a bit."

Moon Abyss turned the screen so Lin Yi could see clearly. "After suffering heavy losses at the exit of the secret realm, the Abyss Race and the Devouring Race have contracted their defenses and adopted a defensive posture in the nearby star fields. They have transferred most of their high-end combat forces to other War Zone. Therefore, the number of missions involving direct confrontation with gods or infiltration and assassination around our defense zone has decreased significantly, and the few remaining ones are all quite risky."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi looked at the virtual screen.

The list is clearly visible on the screen.

[Mission S-953: Raid the Devouring Race' temporary outpost in the K-992 Nebula. Objective: Destroy the energy core and kill the garrisoned deities (estimated 2-3). Risk Assessment: High. Reward: 12 million (Gold).]

[Mission S-931: Intercept a small fleet of Abyss Race transporting strategic supplies to the "Black Skeleton Star Region". Objective: Destroy the flagship and seize or destroy key supplies. Risk Assessment: Extremely High (Potential for ambush by an enemy god squad). Reward: 15 million (Gold).]

[Mission S-291: Infiltrate the Corrupted Nest planet controlled by the Devouring Race and obtain specific intelligence samples. Risk Assessment: Extremely High (Extreme environment, heavily guarded, high risk of exposure). Competition Reward: 20 million (Gold) + Special Contribution Reward.]

Lin Yi quickly scanned the list.

These tasks offer generous rewards, but the risks are also clearly stated.

Everyone understands what "high" and "extremely high" mean.

He just joined the Star Stillness Squad and still needs time to gel. Taking on such a tough task right away could lead to coordination problems and potentially result in attrition.

"There aren't many direct combat missions. It seems the other side doesn't see the need to continue a head-on confrontation with us in the near future," Lin Yi said.

"Yeah," Ming Luo scratched his head, "So the regular god-level missions nearby that are suitable for us to practice and get to know each other are basically all taken. The remaining ones are either too difficult or low-yield missions like clearing out alien beasts in the interstellar sea or patrolling and holding positions."

Lan put down the crystal in her hand and said, "I suggest that for our first joint training session, we shouldn't choose a mission that's too competitive or has too many variables. Team synergy and trust take time to build. We can consider expanding our search and see if there are any suitable missions in other nearby star systems."

Moon Abyss nodded. "Agreed. How about choosing one that kills a god-level interstellar beast? Although the battle merits will be relatively fewer, the objective is clear, the environment is relatively controllable, and it's more suitable for initial teamwork."

She manipulated the screen with her fingers, expanding the filter to "adjacent star systems," limiting the mission type to "hunt/extermination," and excluding "extremely high" risk level.

The new list has been refreshed.

One of the tasks caught Lin Yi's attention.

[Mission S-7731: Eradicate the "Void-Eating Jellyfish" swarm bred in the "Dark Star Belt". Objective: Kill the god-level mother entity "Touch of the Void" and eliminate a large number of its World Derivation level Sub-body. Location: Adjacent "JF-7" star field, Dark Star Belt. Risk Assessment: Medium (Note: The Void-Eating Jellyfish swarm excels at spatial interference and combined attacks. The mother entity possesses near-god-level combat power; be wary of its spatial traps). Battle Merit Reward: 8 million (Gold). Bonus: Collect "Void-Eating Jellyfish Core" (complete), additional reward 500,000 battle merits.]

"How about this one?" Lin Yi pointed to Mission S-7731, "Void-Eating Jellyfish, a spatial attribute beast. 8 million battle merits for killing it, risk level is medium. Seems like a good practice subject. And," he paused, "I'm quite interested in spatial creatures."

Moon Abyss retrieved the mission details and related information on the "Void-Eating Jellyfish" for a quick browse.

"Void-Eating Jellyfish, alien beasts of the starry sea, gregarious. The mother is usually a peak-level ordinary deity to the threshold of a high-level deity, growing by devouring spatial energy and minerals. Its core is a relatively good auxiliary material for comprehending Space Law, and its value is considerable. The threat mainly lies in the numerical advantage of its population and its ability to disrupt space, easily creating spatial folds and brief spatial turbulence to trap enemies." Moon Abyss read out the key information and looked at the others, "The mission location is about three short spatial jumps away from us, a journey of five days. The mission time limit is relatively generous, thirty standard days."

Ming Luo stroked his chin. "Spatial interference. It's a bit troublesome, but if we coordinate well, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lan nodded, "This mission is indeed quite balanced, neither too difficult nor too easy, and it will test our teamwork in all aspects."

Seeing that no one had any objections, Moon Abyss turned to Lin Yi: "Lin Yi, what's your opinion?"

"Okay," Lin Yi said readily. "Let's go with this one. We can get to know each other's fighting styles and practice our battle formation coordination."

"Okay." Moon Abyss no longer hesitated and lightly tapped the screen with her fingertip.

"Mission accepted." Moon Abyss put away the light screen, stood up, and his moon-white battle robe fluttered without wind. "Everyone prepare, check your equipment and resupply. In twenty-four standard hours, assemble at Fortress Three Airport and depart on your squad's Star Silence."

"Understood!" Ming Luo and Lan replied simultaneously.

Lin Yi nodded as well.

"Let's call it a day." Moon Abyss said, turning and leaving.

"Captain is still as decisive as ever." Ming Luo chuckled, stood up, and patted Lin Yi on the shoulder. "Does your mechanical body require any special preparation?"

"No need," Lin Yi replied, "We can leave anytime."

"Then, Brother Lin Yi, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Lin Yi said.

Lan smiled slightly at Lin Yi, then got up and left.

Lin Yi was the only one left in the tavern.

He sat there, ordered a very ordinary energy drink, and slowly sipped it. His consciousness, however, had already sunk into the Fearless War God System on his clone, and he began to review all the combat modules and built-in combat skills of this god-level mechanical body once again.

At the same time, he instructed Xuanji to connect to the Virtual Network and begin paying to download more detailed ecological data, battle videos, and experience summaries from past expeditions of the "Void-Eating Jellyfish".

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

For his first team mission, he didn't want to make any mistakes.