Why had it gotten faster instead of slower?

After calming down, Lin Yi didn't rush into the next round of seclusion.

He first focused his consciousness on the military badge, skimming over the dense records of acquisition and consumption, and then directly on the most crucial number.

Balance: 230 million.

This number made him nod slightly.

Over these three hundred Epoch, his military achievements increased by more than one hundred million.

Although the protracted war that broke out in the Black Mist Sea was dangerous, it was indeed an inexhaustible source of military merit for those who survived and continued to reap the rewards.

Moreover, his Rule Comprehension reached 38.11% during this period.

It's less than two percentage points away from the 40% threshold of the fifth stage of the True Source Realm.

Judging from the efficiency of his improved soul comprehension, if he were to fully dedicate himself to burning Spiritual Enlightenment Qi in seclusion, he should be able to overcome this hurdle in a short time.

After reviewing his latest situation, Lin Yi fell into deep thought.

The effects of the incomplete True Source Soul Crystal far exceeded his expectations.

The feeling that the whole world had become clear still lingered deep within his consciousness and had not completely dissipated.

This is only an incomplete version.

A defective product that failed in the final refining step and was sold off at a 90% discount by the shopkeeper.

What if we switch to the full version?

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

Once the thought popped into his head, it immediately took root in his heart.

The complete version of the True Source Soul Crystal can push one's soul comprehension to the level of the initial stage of the True Source Realm.

This means that without burning his Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, his natural perception of the Chaos Rules can reach the normal level of the True Source Realm cultivator.

And once the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi is added, he is not even sure what that experience will be like.

The temptation is too great.

Lin Yi silently began to make plans in his mind.

The market price of a standard True Source Soul Crystal is 500,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal.

At his current rate of accumulating military merits, after deducting expenses, it would take him 300 Epoch to accumulate 100 million military merits.

In other words, it takes 300 Epoch to accumulate 10,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal.

He currently has 230 million military merits and nearly 50,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal. Even if we calculate based on 70,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal, there is still a shortfall of 430,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal.

This is no small sum. The Rui Family just spent a lot of money on him, and it's unlikely they'll give him a large gift again anytime soon. He also doesn't want to owe favors to families he's not familiar with, so he has to save it up himself.

Even with the most conservative estimate, it would take 12,900 Epoch to accumulate 430,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal.

Of course, this is a conservative estimate. Lin Yi is well aware that as his strength continues to improve, the speed at which he acquires military merits will also increase, but it probably won't be much faster.

Because his speed of gaining military merits has reached a bottleneck, even if his strength improves, as long as he doesn't reach the combat power of the Eternal Source Realm, he will be in a state where he can defeat a first-tier Black Silence Beast but not a second-tier one, and there won't be much qualitative change.

Therefore, he estimated that it would take at least seven or eight thousand Epoch to spend.

Seven or eight thousand Epoch is not a long time for cultivators in the Chaos Cosmic Sea.

The problem is, no one can say for sure what might happen during this time.

Will the battle in the Black Mist Sea temporarily end?

After this ends, will we still be able to maintain such a high density of military merits?

Should one choose the path of a miser?

Lin Yi thought for a moment, then made a decision.

Guard.

We must defend it.

The effects of the incomplete True Source Soul Crystal were still lingering in his mind; the sense of clarity that "the world will never be the same" made it impossible for him to resist the temptation of the complete version.

He could imagine what it would be like to use the full version: the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi would burn fiercely, the Chaos Rules would peel away layer by layer like the sun breaking through the clouds, and the bottlenecks that trapped countless True Source Realm cultivators would be as useless as nothing in front of him.

In addition, there is a very important reason: his current offensive and defensive capabilities are indeed sufficient.

The Gold Chaos Universe Seal endowed him with unparalleled Sharpness and sturdiness, the Time Primal Cosmos Seal granted him near-absolute control over the rhythm of the battlefield, the Space Seal provided offensive and defensive dimensions at the spatial level, and the Life Seal was the fundamental guarantee for sustained combat.

In addition, there was a life-saving talisman given by the commander.

In the short term, he does not need additional weapons or equipment to enhance his combat capabilities.

In terms of cultivation manuals, the Nine Seal Cosmos Art is a top-tier cultivation technique created by the Emperor himself, so there is no need to spend a lot of money to buy others.

As for treasures that aid cultivation, the effects of Spiritual Enlightenment Qi are already incredibly powerful, so ordinary auxiliary treasures are not cost-effective for him.

After thinking it over, aside from the quick-recovery crystals he used daily and the cultivation aids he bought just to show off, he really couldn't find anything else he absolutely had to spend money on.

Well then, I'll be a miser for a while.

The miser's decision might sound stingy, but Lin Yi didn't feel ashamed.

Because he is protecting the future.

Having made up his mind, he stopped thinking about it, sat cross-legged again, and focused his mind on the depths of his soul.

The vast liquid lake in the Purple Mist Space continued to rotate quietly, its purple halo enveloping the entire core of consciousness in a warm and profound glow.

The Spiritual Enlightenment Qi is ignited.

Time flowed silently in the training room.

The Rule Comprehension, at 38.11%, began to steadily advance under the blessing of Spiritual Enlightenment Qi.

After his spiritual comprehension improved, his efficiency in analyzing each rule node increased exponentially. Breakthroughs that used to require taking a long detour to find could now be pinpointed in just a few rounds of deduction.

Five Epoch later.

Rest period, in the training room.

Lin Yi opened his eyes. The Chaos Rules deep within his consciousness were like a rewoven net, its coverage area expanding even further than before his seclusion, and the rules in the Core Zone becoming denser and more solid.

40%.

He firmly stepped over the threshold of the fifth level of the True Source Realm.

Without delay, he moved on to the next step.

Consciousness sank into the Chaos Source Sea within the body. The Chaos Power, like the rising tide, surged layer upon layer against the unexplored chaotic void at the edge of the Source Sea. Each impact pushed the boundary of the Source Sea outward a little further.

The moment Zero Three sensed the sudden surge in energy extraction rate from Lin Yi's training room, it immediately activated the energy scheduling program.

The power supply node of the training room was set to the highest level, and light blue energy patterns spread along the cabin wall, continuously injecting pressurized and purified chaotic energy into the room.

Meanwhile, in the captain's training room.

Li sat cross-legged, the Chaos Power within his body flowing backward and cleansing his entire body in an extremely slow rhythm.

Suddenly, the Light Sphere from Zero Three silently appeared beside him.

"Li, Lin Yi has just broken through to the fifth level of the True Source Realm."

Li opened his eyes, raised an eyebrow slightly, and then returned to normal.

"Knew."

Over three hundred Epoch, he progressed from the fourth level of the True Source Realm True Source Realm to the fifth level.

The speed was indeed faster than he had expected, but it didn't surprise him too much.

After all, Lin Yi reached the middle stage of the True Source Realm in less than a thousand Epoch, and now more than three hundred Epoch have passed. His Rule Comprehension has advanced by ten percent, which can be said to be a normal performance.

However, Li still secretly made some calculations in his heart.

"At the fifth level of the True Source Realm, the next step is probably to condense the fifth Cosmic Universe Seal."

"Given Lin Yi's talent in the Nine Seal Cosmos Art, the fifth Cosmic Universe Seal shouldn't be able to hold him back for long. Lin Yi has never been one to hide anything from himself. Once he condenses the fifth seal, his strength will likely surpass most of the centurions in the fleet."

Fortunately, I'm not in most of that area...

Thinking of this, Li couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

In the last battle, he took several attacks from Second-Order Black Silence Beast head-on. Although he was seriously injured, he discovered some previously overlooked details while recovering from his injuries. He was now just one step away from reaching the True Source Realm.

This progress slightly lessened the vague sense of urgency in Li's heart.

His gaze fell on the deep blue energy patterns in the cultivation room, and he pondered to himself.

Cultivation becomes increasingly difficult as you progress, especially the threshold between the middle and high levels of the True Source Realm True Source Realm. It's normal to be stuck there for a long time.

Moreover, even if one manages to overcome that hurdle, reaching the advanced stage of the True Source Realm will be even more difficult.

He himself has experienced this firsthand.

However, Lin Yi's talent is undeniable.

After some calculation, Li realized that the fifteen Universal Epoch he had set for Lin Yi was indeed a bit too conservative. Based on the current situation, he estimated that half a Universal Epoch would be a more reasonable timeframe to reach perfection.

As for himself, after this progress, he should be able to cross that final hurdle in less than 10,000 Epoch and officially enter the True Source Realm Perfection.

At that time, the matter of breaking through to the Eternal Source Realm can be officially put on the agenda.

Thinking of this, Li Cai let out a long sigh, closed his eyes again, and the Chaos Power within his body once again flowed backward with the unique rhythm of the secret technique.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi had no idea what Li was thinking in the captain's training room, and he didn't have the energy to figure out what others were thinking.

During the expansion of the Chaos Source Sea, every wisp of chaotic energy must be compressed and purified before it can be injected into the newly opened Source Sea space. This process allows no room for distraction.

Boring, repetitive, and lengthy.

Expanding Source Sea is never a pleasant part of cultivation, but it is the foundation for all realm advancements.

The Source Sea is not vast enough, so the total amount of Chaos Power is insufficient to support the consumption of higher-level battles.

And so, ten thousand years passed.

With each breath, chaotic energy was compressed and purified; with each breath, a new Source Sea space was opened and stabilized; with each breath, Lin Yi could feel the boundary of the Source Sea within his body advancing inch by inch outward.

As the last wisp of chaotic energy was injected into the barrier of the Source Sea, the entire Chaos Source Sea emitted a deep hum. At this moment, the newly opened spaces and the original Source Sea areas were completely integrated into one, without any gaps or cracks.

The Chaos Source Sea at the fifth level of the True Source Realm has been expanded.

Lin Yi exhaled a long breath of stale air, which was mixed with mottled dark gray impurities.

These are residual energy fragments stripped from the chaotic void during the expansion of the Source Sea. If they are not removed in time, they will form sediment on the inner wall of the Source Sea, affecting the efficiency of subsequent expansion.

Then, he opened his eyes and felt the Chaos Source Sea within his body, which was much wider than before his breakthrough. A sense of solid satisfaction welled up in his heart.

The foundation has been laid.

Now, it's time to cultivate the Death Cosmic Universe Seal.

The Spiritual Enlightenment Qi burst forth.

Lin Yi felt that his consciousness was like a sharpened blade that had been repeatedly honed, directly cutting through the cloak of death and reaching its core essence.

Once this insight is unlocked, it's like a burst dam, unstoppable.

The rhythm of death that had accumulated in his subconscious during his battles with the Black Silence Beast over the past thousand Epoch, yet which he had never truly and completely captured, was now all connected together.

They converged into a complete and clear line of thought, extending from the moment death arrived to the very end of the soul's dissipation. Every link, every transformation of energy form, became transparent in his perception.

Inside the cultivation room, a wisp of extremely fine gray-black mist appeared at the fingertips of Lin Yi's right hand.

As time passed, the wisp of gray-black mist began to slowly solidify at Lin Yi's fingertips, gradually outlining the shape of the Cosmic Universe Seal from a gaseous prototype.

This speed surprised even Lin Yi himself.

He had originally prepared for a protracted battle, since it was generally acknowledged that condensing the Cosmic Universe Seal would become increasingly difficult as time went on.

He spared a sliver of his attention to the passage of time and discovered that only a little over half Epoch had passed from the beginning of his cultivation of the Death Cosmic Universe Seal to the completion of the Void Seal.

However, he quickly found the reason.

Firstly, his perfected soul comprehension at the Cosmic Source Realm, coupled with the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, has given him a double boost that far surpasses others of his level.

In addition, he had been fighting on the Frontline the Black Mist Sea for far too long, and had already imprinted every detail of the Origin Law Death into the depths of his instincts.

All he lacked was a pair of eyes that could extract these fragments of memory and then connect them into a coherent system.

Now, those eyes have eyes.

Having condensed the illusory seal in just a short Epoch, he naturally began the formal refining of the seal.

After more than half an Epoch had passed, the last gray-black imprint closed perfectly under his guidance.

The completed form of the Death Cosmic Universe Seal floated above his palm. Its entire body was a deep dark gray, and its surface was covered with cracks like those of a dried-up riverbed. From the depths of each crack, a faint, dark light of annihilation emanated.

It is not as sharp and ostentatious as the Gold Seal, nor as unpredictable as the Time Seal, nor as agile and graceful as the Space Seal, nor as lush and verdant as the Life Seal.

It simply floated there quietly, yet it dimmed the light within a few feet around it.

Lin Yi examined the newly completed Death Cosmic Universe Seal, nodded in satisfaction, then clenched his fist and put it into his body.

At the same time, Zero Three also appeared in the captain's private training room.

"Li, Lin Yi has mastered the Death Cosmic Universe Seal."

Li opened his eyes, somewhat surprised.

"The Cosmic Universe Seal becomes increasingly difficult as you progress. Judging from the speed at which he cultivated the Cosmic Universe Seal before, the Death Seal should have taken at least twenty or thirty Epoch. How long has it been?"

"Less than an Epoch."

Li fell silent.

To master a Cosmic Universe Seal in less than an Epoch —that speed is beyond description.

He could understand if this was the first Cosmic Universe Seal, but this was the fifth!

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly realized something and immediately asked, "What kind of Cosmic Universe Seal did he condense for his fifth one?"

"Judging from the fluctuations, it's the Death Cosmic Universe Seal."

As expected, Li thought to himself.

Lin Yi has been fighting on the Frontline the Black Mist Sea for years, and countless Black Silence Beast have died at his hands, including many late-stage first-tier Black Silence Beast. With his talent and accumulated experience, if he were to have an epiphany while cultivating the Death Cosmic Universe Seal, it wouldn't be impossible for him to break through the bottleneck of the Death Seal in a short period of time.

When it comes to cultivation, once you understand, you understand; a brief moment of sudden enlightenment is better than endless Epoch struggle.

"He probably had an epiphany," Li chuckled, shaking his head. "What a lucky kid."

He suppressed his surprise and closed his eyes again.

Meanwhile, Lin Yi, inside the cultivation room, was unaware of Li's inner thoughts.

He was familiarizing himself with the use of the Death Cosmic Universe Seal. The gray-black rune flowed between his fingers, sometimes turning into fine needles, sometimes condensing into thin blades, and sometimes spreading into a layer of faint dark mist.

After practicing for a while, he withdrew the Death Seal, sat down cross-legged, and began to mentally review the battle he had last encountered with the Second-Order Black Silence Beast.

That was really dangerous.

The strength of the early-stage second-tier Black Silence Beast completely overwhelmed the True Source Realm. Its defense was ridiculously high, and its attack range was wide. At that time, the commander was entangled with another Second-Order Black Silence Beast and could not get away. He could only rely on Li to hold it off in front while he assisted from the side.

Actually, he intended to be at the forefront, since he had a life-saving talisman.

However, his request was rejected by Li Yanci.

The reason is simple: according to military rules, whoever is stronger goes to the front.

Therefore, Li went straight to meet him.

But the difference in strength was undeniable. If he hadn't used his Time Seal Clone to shield Li with all his might, Li would probably have suffered more than just injuries.

Lin Yi still feels uneasy about this incident.

After all, Li was his savior, and in this dangerous situation, it was his savior who stepped forward to protect him.

So, that's not enough yet.

Lin Yi's smile faded, and his expression turned serious again.

To truly surpass Li, he still needs to take that next step.

The sixth level of the True Source Realm, the sixth Cosmic Universe Seal.

Then, Spiritual Enlightenment Qi erupted.

The days that followed returned to that familiar rhythm.

Attack, fight, rest, train, attack again, fight again.

The battle in the Black Mist Sea is like a never-ending meat grinder. The number of late-stage Tier 1 Black Silence Beast has not decreased but increased, and the frequency of appearance of early-stage Tier 2 Black Silence Beast is also significantly higher than before.

Time slipped away quietly amidst this interplay of battle and training.

The threshold for Rule Comprehension at the sixth level of the True Source Realm is 50%.

The leap from 40% to 50%, a mere ten-point increase, requires endless hard work and repeated contemplation of the Chaos Rules for every bit of progress made.

But Lin Yi clearly felt that this time the progress was much faster than going from the fourth to the fifth level.

The improvement in his soul's comprehension continued to yield benefits, and the efficiency of his comprehension when burning Spiritual Enlightenment Qi was much higher than before. He could only sigh inwardly, "A supreme-level mind is truly amazing."

More than forty Epoch passed in the blink of an eye.

Another period of rest and recuperation.

On this day, Lin Yi sat cross-legged in the cultivation room, his consciousness sinking into the deepest part of his soul.

The Chaos Rules there had already covered half of the Core Zone of the soul, and the rule patterns at the very core were so dense that they reached a critical point; one more step up would be another level.

He took a deep breath, and with the Spiritual Enlightenment Qi, he focused his mind into an extremely fine needle, aimed at the unopened node at the very center of that vast network of rules, and thrust it down fiercely.

boom.

A muffled thud echoed from the depths of consciousness, and that node suddenly burst open under the impact of that stab.

The vast network of rules that covered 50% of the soul's core began to reorganize itself under the torrent of change, becoming denser and more resilient.

The connections between each node have become more robust. Although the coverage of the entire network has not expanded further, its density and strength have reached a new level.

50%.

True Source Realm, Rank 6.

Lin Yi opened his eyes, and the corners of his mouth gradually turned upwards, finally settling into a satisfied arc.

He felt the newly transformed web of rules deep within his consciousness, and experienced a level of understanding of Chaos Rules that was several times more profound than before his breakthrough. He felt quite exhilarated.

Without pausing, he guided the Chaos Source Sea within his body to begin a new round of expansion.

The surrounding chaotic energy seemed to be suddenly drawn away by an invisible hand, and the energy concentration in the cultivation room plummeted to below the system's warning line in an instant.

The energy patterns on the bulkhead reacted immediately.

The brightness of the light blue lines began to gradually increase, rising from the basic power level and eventually skipping the medium and high levels, stopping at the highest power.

A torrent of chaotic energy surged from the central energy hub of the mothership, flowing at maximum flow through the ship's ventral pipes into the cultivation room where Lin Yi was located.

The Light Sphere from Zero Three silently appeared in the corner of the training room.

As the ship's AI, it naturally detected the anomaly immediately.

It's not that there's a problem with Lin Yi's energy supply for his breakthrough; he's encountered this situation many times before and has a fixed procedure for handling it.

It appeared because of time.

After all, he had just increased the energy supply intensity not long ago because of Lin Yi's breakthrough, and now it's happened again.

This prompts it to determine that there might be an anomaly, so it needs to double-check.

To verify its judgment, it descended directly from the ceiling and hovered in front of Lin Yi, the Light Sphere beginning to flash rhythmically.

Then it draws a conclusion.

It is indeed a breakthrough in realm, not some other random reason.

After confirming that everything was correct, Zero Three's Light Sphere suddenly disappeared.

The next second, its voice rang out directly in the captain's private training room.

"Li, I have something to tell you."

Li Zheng was immersed in deducing the Chaos Rules. Hearing this, he opened his eyes and asked curiously, "What is it? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Take a guess?"

The Zero Three Light Sphere appeared in front of Li, flashing for a moment.

Li wasn't buying it at all, and scoffed, "Heh, I won't guess, tell me if you want."

He knew that Zero Three would eventually blurt it out.

Sure enough, after flashing its light for a moment, Zero Three finally spoke.

"Lin Yi is expanding his Source Sea in the cultivation room; he's reached the sixth level of the True Source Realm."

Upon hearing this, Li was immediately taken aback.

He opened his mouth, and after a long while, he said, "If I remember correctly, he only recently broke through to the fifth rank, right?"

"The last breakthrough was forty-two Epoch ago."

Li fell silent.

Forty-two Epoch.

It took him more than three hundred Epoch to go from the fourth to the fifth rank.

In his mind, going from the fifth to the sixth rank would require at least 420 Epoch, if not Epoch.

But... forty-two Epoch.

Li couldn't help but mutter, "Shouldn't the comprehension of the Chaos Rules slow down as you progress...?"

"How come he... has gotten faster?"