The Army Commander Summoned Me, and I Refused

After spending ten thousand standard years to completely stabilize the Chaos Source Sea after his breakthrough, Lin Yi did not stop and immediately devoted all his attention to comprehending the fourth Cosmic Universe Seal.

This time, he chose the Life Seal.

This choice was not made arbitrarily.

In the process of condensing the Space Cosmic Universe Seal, he gained a clearer understanding of his own combat power system.

The Gold Seal endowed him with invincible Sharpness, the Time Seal allowed him to seize the initiative in the rhythm of the battlefield, and the Space Seal opened up a spatial dimension for offense and defense.

With the three seals in hand, his attack power would rank among the top even among many squad leaders.

However, its shortcomings are also obvious.

Resilience.

The battles in the True Source Realm are different from those in the Cosmic Source Realm.

In the intense battles against the Chaos Power, every injury directly hinders subsequent combat capabilities.

The rapid recovery crystals issued to the Imperial Army can only restore Chaos Power, but are powerless against injuries at the level of Chaos Rules. After being injured, they can only rely on their own Chaos Rules power to slowly remove the erosion.

The Cosmic Universe Seal of the Origin Law can greatly enhance this process.

He had thoroughly comprehended the Origin Law life when he was in the Cosmic Source Realm, and had an extremely solid foundation in his understanding of the origin of life.

Rewind from the perspective of the True Source Realm, the true meaning of life that we once thought we had fully understood now reveals a deeper texture under the illumination of the Chaos Rules.

Lin Yi was immersed in enlightenment, and Spiritual Enlightenment Qi burned silently deep within his soul.

Unlike the condensation process of the first three Cosmic Universe Seal, the condensation stage of the Life Seal went unexpectedly smoothly.

His understanding of the Origin Law life was already profound, and with the amplification of his insights brought about by the feedback from the three seals, he was able to outline the complete contours of the illusory seal of life in just three Epoch.

However, they encountered considerable resistance during the seal-making stage.

The fusion of the Chaos Rules and the Origin Law requires a delicate balance.

The essence of chaos is "the birth of all things," an all-encompassing disorder; while the essence of life is to establish order within disorder, to carve out a temporary island of order within chaos.

The combination of the two requires both the inclusiveness of chaos and the tenacity of life.

If it leans slightly towards chaos, the life imprint will be dissolved beyond recognition; if it leans slightly towards life, the Chaos Rules will find it difficult to penetrate the core of the imprint.

Lin Yi had to repeatedly adjust the rhythm of refining the seal.

He used the stability of the Gold Seal as an anchor point, the rhythm of the Time Seal as a means of regulation, and the inclusiveness of the Space Seal as a buffer space.

Only when all three seals were used together could a bridge that could be walked across be barely erected between chaos and life.

The progress of refining the seal is much slower than expected.

In the first three Epoch, progress was less than 10%.

In the fifth Epoch, it was barely pushed to 20%.

During the Eighth Epoch, Lin Yi encountered a near-unsolvable bottleneck: the Core Zone of the life imprint, into which the Chaos Rules could not penetrate no matter what.

He used the burning effect of his Spiritual Enlightenment Qi to repeatedly examine the problem, and finally discovered that the problem lay within himself.

His understanding of life always carried the inertia of the Origin Universe.

In the Origin Universe, the ultimate Origin Law life is the continuous cycle of life and death, the cycle of flourishing and decay.

But at the level of the Chaos Cosmic Sea, the essence of life goes far beyond this.

Lin Yi remained calm.

He stopped refining the seal and instead spent an Epoch era re-examining the origin of life.

He identified himself with a seed, a seedling, a tree, a forest, a cell, an organ, a life form, a group, a speck of Star Dust, a world, a galaxy, and a universe.

When he finally awoke from this immersion, the Core Zone of his life imprint was no longer an insurmountable barrier in his eyes.

The final stage of the seal-making process was completed in one fell swoop.

During the rest period of the nineteenth Epoch, in the training room of the Bloodrage-class Assault Ship.

Lin Yi sat cross-legged, and a brand new pale green mark was taking shape deep within his soul.

The patterns on the surface of that green mark resembled spreading branches and leaves, each line like a living vine, slowly growing, twining, and regenerating.

At the core of the mark, a wisp of extremely fine Chaos Rules was enveloped in green light, presenting a strange symbiotic state.

The Life Seal is formed.

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes, his right hand outstretched.

A pale green phantom appeared in the palm of his hand.

With a slight thought, the phantom transformed into countless fine green runes, spreading upwards along his arm.

When the rune touched an old wound on his right shoulder, it suddenly lit up, and a warm, Chaos Power surged into the area where the wound was located.

That old wound was inflicted by the tail sting of a late-stage Tier 1 Black Silence Beast before I returned to recuperate.

It was only treated superficially at the time, and it never fully healed.

Nourished by the life runes, the damaged Chaos Rules structure deep within the wound began to slowly repair itself, and the faint pain subsided at a perceptible pace.

A slight smile appeared on Lin Yi's lips.

The results were even better than he had expected.

He estimated that with his current full-force attack enhanced by four seals, he shouldn't be considered weak among those black-armored squad leaders.

Of course, he's still not as experienced as Li.

After all, he had witnessed the power of Li's full-force attack.

Its Chaos Power, approaching the perfection of the True Source Realm, was like a materialized gray storm, each strike carrying overwhelming force.

Compared to that, he is not good enough for now.

at the same time.

The captain's private training room.

Li Zheng sat cross-legged in the center, the Chaos Power within his body flowing backward in a rhythm unique to the secret technique, cleansing his meridians. During this period of almost self-torturous and frantic cultivation, he could feel that he was getting closer and closer to the final step of the True Source Realm Perfection.

"Indeed, pressure is the driving force. Perhaps in less than one more Universal Epoch, I will reach the perfection of the True Source Realm and attempt to break through to the Eternal Source Realm."

The moment this thought arose, Zero Three's Light Sphere appeared beside him.

"Li."

Li opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Having spent so much time with Zero Three, he could naturally tell that Zero Three's tone was different from usual.

"What's wrong?"

"Lin Yi just successfully condensed the fourth Cosmic Universe Seal in the cultivation room." Zero Three's voice was as calm as ever, but Li could tell that he was watching a good show.

Li fell silent.

Four Cosmic Universe Seal.

Although I knew this day would come sooner or later, when it actually arrived, it still felt somewhat surreal.

He let out a long sigh, then laughed.

"This guy..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

The Light Sphere, Zero Three, hovered in mid-air, quietly waiting for him.

A moment later, Li stood up. "I'm going to see the commander."

Zero Three didn't ask any further questions, but briefly reminded him before he stepped out of the training room, "Lainiadun just killed a Second-Order Black Silence Beast at the Frontline and is currently resting and recovering in the command room."

"Knew."

Li strode through the ship's ventral corridor.

The cold light inside the mothership cast a long shadow of him.

The blood-armored warriors he encountered along the way greeted him with a fist-pounding salute, and he nodded in response to each one, but his steps never faltered.

The door to the command center slid open silently in front of me.

Lainiadun was leaning back in the main seat, his silver armor still bearing several scratches that had not yet fully healed—scratches left from his close-quarters battle with the Second-Order Black Silence Beast.

With his eyes closed, the power of the Chaos Law within his body circulated at an extremely slow rhythm, replenishing the energy he had expended in the battle bit by bit.

He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps.

"Li?" Lainiadun was slightly surprised. "What happened?"

"My lord," Li stepped forward and bowed, "Lin Yi has condensed the fourth Cosmic Universe Seal."

Lainiadun raised an eyebrow and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his seat, as if he were calculating something.

After a moment, he slowly nodded.

"In less than a thousand Epoch, he's reached the mid-stage of the True Source Realm and possesses four Cosmic Universe Seal. This speed is among the top tier in the entire Silent Cosmos Domain."

Li hesitated for a moment, then remained silent.

Lainiadun glanced at him. "What?"

"My lord," Li took a deep breath, "Lin Yi is from a public sector background."

Lainiadun paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Publicly funded faction," he repeated. "Are you worried that Lin Yi's background will affect the military leader's attitude towards him?"

Li did not avoid the question and nodded.

"Don't worry." Lainiadun stood up, his silver armor gleaming softly with his movement. "I've considered this from the very beginning."

He walked to the porthole of the command room and looked out at the dark, heavy fog.

"When I personally took you to report Lin Yi's situation to the Military Commander, it wasn't just a routine matter," Lainiadun said slowly. "I wanted her to see for herself that I was serious about this publicly raised genius. Although the Military Commander comes from a wealthy family, she's far more discerning in her actions than you think."

He turned to look at Li. "Besides, do you think the Commander-in-Chief doesn't know? Lin Yi's performance in the fleet, his background, all the labels attached to him—the Commander-in-Chief's intelligence channels are far faster than ours. If she really cared about that, she wouldn't have given me that reply, 'Bring him to see me when the conditions are met.'"

"Furthermore, you should know that the Wen Family, to which the military leader belongs, originally came from the public sector. Currently, at the higher levels, families with public sector backgrounds are considered middle-of-the-road to ease tensions between the two sides."

Upon hearing this, Li's tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

"However," Lainiadun changed the subject, "Since you've already brought it up, let's just get it done as soon as possible. That way you won't keep overthinking it."

He raised his hand and gestured in front of him.

A blood-red crystal core on the dome of the command room suddenly lit up, and an extremely thin beam of dark red light shot out from the core, weaving in the air to form a semi-transparent virtual screen.

"I request an audience with the military commander," Lainiadun stated succinctly.

The light pattern in the center of the screen began to spin rapidly.

The wait wasn't long.

"Lainiadun."

The light patterns in the center of the virtual screen suddenly receded, and a female phantom dressed in dark blue armor slowly emerged.

Commander Wen Qianfei.

Her face wasn't particularly stunning, but her deep blue eyes were like two cold pools, calm yet sharp enough to see through everything. She glanced at the two people on the other side of the screen, her gaze lingering on Li for a moment before returning to Lainiadun.

What happened?

Lainiadun nodded slightly. "My lord, there is something I need to report to you in person. It concerns Lin Yi."

"Lin Yi?" Wen Qianfei's brows furrowed slightly, then relaxed. "I remember him, that new recruit under your command, what's up?"

"Yes." Lainiadun didn't mince words. "Just now, he successfully condensed the fourth Cosmic Universe Seal."

Wen Qianfei raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Four." A slight fluctuation finally appeared in her voice. "If I remember correctly, he condensed his first Gold Seal before the team entrance assessment, less than an Epoch."

"Yes," Lainiadun replied, "From joining the team until now, it's been less than a thousand Epoch. At least four hundred of those Epoch were spent fighting on the Frontline. His Rule Comprehension has reached 30%, officially entering the mid-stage of the True Source Realm."

Wen Qianfei nodded slightly.

"That speed is indeed impressive." She paused, then seemed to remember something. "I remember you said last time that he came from a communal Cosmic Clam?"

"Yes." Lainiadun glanced at Li and said the word for him, "Publicly funded system."

Wen Qianfei's expression remained unchanged.

"I understand," she said. "I should have met Lin Yi in person, but with the battle raging, it's clearly not appropriate."

She hesitated for a moment, then made a decision.

"Alright, call him here. I have a few questions for him."

Lainiadun turned to look at Li.

Li reacted much faster than him.

Almost as soon as the commander finished speaking, he raised his wrist and activated the sergeant's badge.

The communication channel is established instantly.

Lin Yi, who was stabilizing his Life Seal in the cultivation room, suddenly felt his badge vibrate violently.

He opened his eyes; it was Li.

He immediately connected the call.

A sharp voice came from the badge, concise and to the point.

"Lin Yi, come to the command center immediately. The commander wants to see you."

Military leader?

Lin Yi was taken aback.

The military commander wants to see him? At this juncture where the fourth seal has just been formed?

Lin Yi had some vague guesses in his mind, but now was clearly not the time to ask more questions.

He simply replied, "Yes," then stood up, pushed open the hatch, and strode out of the ship.

The command center of the Blackrock-class Mothership is located at the deepest part of the entire mothership, surrounded by twelve independent barriers of Chaos Rules, which cannot be penetrated by any external detection means.

Guided by the mothership's AI, Lin Yi passed through a series of identity verification checkpoints.

Each checkpoint's cold light paused for a moment as it swept over his badge, as if confirming what made this lowly sergeant qualified to step into this important place.

After confirmation, the heavy alloy door slid open silently.

The walls on both sides of the passage were inscribed with dense, chaotic runes, which flickered at an extremely slow pace.

At the end of the passage, the last door finally opened.

The entire command center came into view.

Countless crimson crystal cores were embedded in the towering dome, flashing in a strange pattern. In the very center of the command room, a deep blue phantom stood suspended in the air; it was none other than the military commander Wen Qianfei.

Commander Lainiadun stood directly in front of the phantom, while Li stood to his side and behind.

Lin Yi strode in and stopped about three zhang away from the illusory figure.

Thump your right fist into your chest and lean your body slightly forward.

"Lin Yi, 5th Squad, 16th Division, greets Commander, Commander-in-Chief, and Captain."

Although this was his first time meeting the military leader in person, he had seen the military leader's image countless times before.

In those images, Commander Wen Qianfei always sat high on a throne, with a cold gaze and a calm tone, every word carrying an irresistible majesty.

Wen Qianfei's gaze lingered on Lin Yi for a moment before she slowly spoke.

"Lin Yi, Commander Lainiadun has already reported your situation to me. In less than a thousand Epoch, you've reached the mid-stage of the True Source Realm and possess four Cosmic Universe Seal. That's quite impressive. Even among all the True Source Realm in the entire Silent Cosmos Domain, your talent is enough to rank you among the top."

Lin Yi maintained his bowing posture without responding.

He could tell that the military commander had not finished speaking.

As expected, Wen Qianfei paused for a moment, then continued.

"Based on your current performance, you've barely met Constant Island's selection criteria."

Constant Island?

What is that?

Lin Yi subconsciously glanced at Li and Commander Lainiadun beside him, wanting to see how they would react.

As it turned out, he discovered that the two men had completely different attitudes.

Li also looked blank, clearly the word was completely unfamiliar to him as well.

Lainiadun's reaction, however, was quite different.

A fine ripple spread across the surface of his silver armor, an outward manifestation of the violent fluctuations in the Chaos Law within his body.

Immediately, Lin Yi saw Lainiadun step forward and exclaim in surprise, "Commander, you mean... Lin Yi can enter Constant Island?"

Wen Qianfei shook her head slightly.

"It's not about entry," she corrected. "I only have the right to recommend him, which can qualify him for the island's entry test. Whether he can actually enter Constant Island depends on whether he passes the entry test."

Lainiadun's expression did not calm down much after the correction.

He took a deep breath and slowly retreated to his original position, but in his usually calm eyes, there was still a turbulent emotion that had not yet subsided.

Lin Yi took all of this in.

He noticed that Lainiadun wasn't asking "What is Constant Island?", but rather "Lin Yi can enter Constant Island."

This shows that the commander knew of Constant Island's existence and held it in extremely high regard.

The fact that the military leader added "only the right to recommend" shows that the threshold for Constant Island is much higher than he imagined.

He is only qualified to take the test yet.

Lin Yi suppressed his curiosity, his right fist still pressed against his chest.

"My lord, I humbly request your guidance, but what about Constant Island?"

Wen Qianfei glanced at Lainiadun.

Lainiadun understood and turned to Lin Yi.

"Constant Island is a sacred cultivation ground in our Seventh Constant Domain. News about Constant Island generally only circulates among cultivators at the Eternal Source Realm and above."

Li raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not interrupt.

Lainiadun continued.

"It is called Constant Island because it was created for only one purpose: to cultivate experts at the Constant Source Realm."

Constant Source Realm.

Lin Yi was immediately startled.

That is an existence that has mastered the Chaos Origin Law, and is a giant even in the universe.

Now, the commander told him that there was a sacred cultivation ground specifically established to train experts at the Constant Source Realm.

"The Path Source Realm, which is beyond the Constant Source Realm, is generally acknowledged to be something that cannot be cultivated simply by piling up resources or having someone teach you," Lainiadun said with a touch of melancholy. "Reaching that level depends entirely on fate. But the Constant Source Realm is different. Although the threshold for the Constant Source Realm is despair-inducingly high, there is ultimately a path to follow."

He looked at Lin Yi.

"Of course, not everyone who enters Constant Island can become Constant Source Realm. Constant Island is divided into the outer island and the inner island. The entry requirements for the outer island are relatively more lenient, but as long as one can successfully emerge from the outer island, one is at least a top performer among the High Order of the Eternal Source Realm."

He paused, his voice lowering even further.

"As for those who can enter the inner island from the outer island..."

"Almost all of them can become experts in the Constant Source Realm."

A brief silence fell over the command room.

almost.

Lainiadun said "almost all of them."

This means that the vast majority of people who emerge from the inner island eventually reach that realm that countless cultivators aspire to throughout their lives.

Even if there are exceptions, they are extremely rare.

Li stood behind Lainiadun, his breathing noticeably heavier.

Constant Island.

A guaranteed entry into the High Order of the Eternal Source Realm and the opportunity to enter the inner island is essentially equivalent to having one foot in the Constant Source Realm.

Such an opportunity would drive even True Source Realm expert, let alone a Eternal Source Realm expert, envious to the point of madness.

Only a fool would refuse such an opportunity.

At that moment, Wen Qianfei's voice also rang out.

"Lainiadun is right. The cultivation resources and training efforts on Constant Island are far superior to anything found outside."

"Of course," she changed the subject, "Such abundant resources won't be given away for nothing. While enjoying these resources, Constant Island members must also undergo life-or-death trials of varying degrees as required, because simply following the prescribed training methods obviously cannot cultivate true powerhouses. Some trials are even more dangerous than your battles against the Black Silence Beast on the Frontline. In Constant Island's history, countless geniuses have gone in and never returned."

"But in return, there are rewards for the life-or-death trials at each stage on the island. These trials are carefully selected, with opportunities hidden within the crises. Among them are treasures that are extremely precious even within the Chaos Cosmic Sea. As long as you can survive and complete the trials, the rewards you will receive will be beyond your imagination."

She looked at Lin Yi.

"This is an extremely arduous path, but it is undoubtedly a shortcut to higher places."

After Wen Qianfei finished speaking, she fell silent.

Her illusory image hovered in the center of the screen, her deep blue eyes calmly gazing at Lin Yi, awaiting his answer.

Lainiadun also looked at Lin Yi.

Li's gaze was even more direct.

The look in his eyes clearly said, "What are you hesitating for, kid?"

For these powerful individuals on the front lines of the fight against the black mist, the so-called life-or-death test was nothing at all.

Those trials and trials were certainly dangerous, but wasn't fighting the Black Silence Beast dangerous too?

At that moment, Lin Yi's mind raced with thoughts.

When he first heard about all the benefits, he almost agreed.

But Wen Qianfei's next words immediately calmed him down.

"They must undergo life-or-death trials of varying degrees as required."

"Some of these trials are even more dangerous than your battles against the Black Silence Beast on the Frontline."

"Throughout Constant Island's history, countless geniuses have entered and never emerged."

This shows that even among the true geniuses, many perished on the island.

And what about yourself?

Can safety really be guaranteed? Especially when you don't have any connections or background?

Lin Yi quickly weighed these advantages in his mind and then made up his mind.

Then, he took a deep breath and bowed respectfully to Wen Qianfei's illusory figure.

"Your subordinate is very grateful for your kindness, Commander."

His voice was steady, his pace neither too fast nor too slow, and every word seemed to have been carefully considered before being uttered.

"Constant Island is a sacred cultivation ground that countless powerful individuals dream of. It is a great honor for me to be recommended by the military lord."

As he spoke, he stood up, meeting Wen Qianfei's gaze, and slowly said, "But... please forgive Lin Yi for refusing."