The Cunning Brat

Upon seeing this, Lin Yi quickly followed suit and bowed.

"Greetings, Lord of Dawn Nightmare Island"

Although Xi Mo is the deputy island lord, unless someone is tired of living, no one would be stupid enough to call out the word "deputy" to his face.

He had barely finished speaking when he felt a gaze fall upon him.

The gaze was neither heavy nor oppressive, but rather like a very light and thin morning mist brushing across the skin.

But the moment the morning mist swept by, Lin Yi felt instantly cleansed, and his whole being felt much clearer.

It was just a glance.

This is the Dao Lord.

Lin Yi was not pleased but alarmed, and immediately focused a sliver of his mind on the Constant Union Seal Pact deep within his soul.

At this moment, two beams of light, one silver-gray and the other dark, slowly alternated and flowed across the surface of the seal, each rotation of light and darkness creating a tiny ripple.

As long as he has a thought, this seal will be activated in an instant, condensing into a teleportation cocoon that even Dao Lord cannot block, helping him escape.

Just then, the Dao Lord Xi Mo, who was at the head of the table, suddenly chuckled.

Then, a slightly amused voice came over.

"Little one... you seem a little nervous. Relax. Whatever opportunities or secrets you have, they mean nothing to me."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi was overjoyed.

Clearly, the Dao Lord Xi Mo guessed from his appearance that he had encountered some extraordinary event or opportunity, which is why he made those teasing remarks.

In most cases, in the eyes of the Dao Lord Xi Mo, he might be like a child afraid that an adult will take away his lollipop.

This is a good thing, at least it proves that the Dao Lord Xi Mo should not have seen through the Purple Mist Space deep in his soul, otherwise, Lin Yi would not believe that the Dao Lord Xi Mo could be so calm.

As for being teased by the Dao Lord a few times, that's nothing at all.

Although they possess the Constant Union Seal Pact, it would be best if the Dao Lord could see through it.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi gave a slightly embarrassed smile and bowed slightly again.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Island Lord. This junior was simply... meeting the Dao Lord for the first time, and I was momentarily flustered."

Xi Mo smiled, not continuing the topic, but pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "The reason I brought you here is because your qualifications perfectly match the requirements of a top-tier trial."

Top-tier Trial?

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.

This is the highest level trial in the Constant Island Trial System.

He had seen records of the Supreme Trials in the Constant Island Manual.

The manual doesn't describe the top-tier trials in much detail, only stating that they are extremely difficult, with a single mission Points at least one million points, and that completing one top-tier trial is equivalent to completing ten advanced trials.

At the same time, the release frequency of the top-level trials is also the lowest among all trial levels.

The manual clearly states that top-tier trials are released only in batches after a long period of time, and each release causes a huge stir on the inner island.

Moreover, the top-level trials have extremely strict conditions; registration requires approval, and it's not something anyone can just accept.

The ultimate trial.

The reward starts at a minimum of one million Points.

That sounds incredibly tempting, absolutely irresistible.

But Lin Yi had no desire to accept it.

Are you kidding me?

He is now progressing steadily on his spiritual path.

The Main Body burns Spiritual Enlightenment Qi in the cultivation room to comprehend the Chaos Law, while the clone performs research-type trial tasks to accumulate Points. This way, neither task is neglected, and the results are safe, reliable, and stable.

He earned 85,000 Points just from repairing the fragments of the Law Inscriptions, which is equivalent to others risking their lives to complete several intermediate trials.

Why risk the ultimate trial?

Although he didn't know the specifics of this so-called top-tier trial, just the fact that it was labeled as such meant it wouldn't be easy to handle.

However, he certainly couldn't say these things directly.

After all, the Dao Lord Xi Mo only said that his conditions were very suitable, but he had not formally asked him to accept the mission, nor had he explained the specific content of the top-level trial. For him to refuse without even knowing what the mission was would not only seem too hasty, but also disrespectful to a Dao Lord.

Besides, even if you ultimately have to refuse, you should at least find a suitable reason based on the actual situation, right?

What if this top-tier trial isn't as dangerous as he imagines? What if the conditions are just right for him? What if the rewards are so generous that he'd be willing to make an exception for him?

Listen first, then speak.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi said, "I wonder what the content of this top-level trial is? If it suits me, Lin Yi 'm willing to give it a try."

If suitable...

The Dao Lord Xi Mo naturally understood the subtext.

If I feel it's not suitable, I definitely won't accept it.

"Ha, you cunning little rascal..."

The Dao Lord Xi Mo gave Lin Yi a deep look, then turned his head slightly to glance at Eric was standing beside Lin Yi.

Eric understood and turned to Lin Yi to explain, "This top-tier trial is called the Eternal Source Ring Ruins Trial."

"The so-called Ruins of the Eternal Source Ring were originally a training ground established by the Imperial Army Headquarters in the First Constant Domain for those in the Eternal Source Realm. Its main purpose was to select truly top-potential talents from among the Imperial Army's Eternal Source Realm members."

"Back before the Black Mist Sea erupted, all the Eternal Source Realm cultivators in the Imperial Army considered it an honor to pass the Eternal Source Ring Trial. Passing the trial not only brought various rewards from the Imperial Army headquarters, but was also a prerequisite for undertaking important responsibilities."

"Later, the Black Mist Sea erupted, and the First Constant Domain fell. However, the design of the Eternal Source Ring itself was extremely ingenious. Its core drive and operation system were independent, with its own energy core. Therefore, to this day, the vast majority of the Eternal Source Ring can still operate automatically according to preset instructions and has not stopped."

Lin Yi nodded slightly upon hearing this.

He understands this principle.

The Black Silence Beast is only interested in life force and usually doesn't care much about things without life force. Unless it actively shows aggression, it generally won't go to the trouble of deliberately destroying things.

This is why, in the occupied areas covered by the Black Mist Sea, there are many ruins similar to the Eternal Source Ring.

Lucky expeditions can discover not only a large number of lost martial arts manuals and high-level equipment, but sometimes even some ancient facilities that are still in operation.

It is precisely because of this enormous potential benefit that, despite the numerous dangers lurking in the Black Mist Sea, various factions and even official organizations continue to send expeditions to explore the occupied territories.

Many of today's technologies are derived from archaeological discoveries.

Seeing that Lin Yi understood this principle, Eric continued.

As for specific information regarding the Eternal Source Ring Trial...

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, his five fingers making a loose clench in the air, condensing a ball of information.

"Take a look at it first."

Eric gently pushed the information packet aside.

The information cluster traced an arc and floated steadily in front of Lin Yi.

"Thank you, Constant Lord."

Lin Yi nodded, then extended his right index finger and gently touched the surface of the information cluster.

The moment his fingertips touched the information cluster, countless pieces of information surged into the depths of his consciousness like a flood bursting its banks.

Lin Yi closed his eyes slightly, immersing his consciousness completely in the Information Flow.

The Eternal Source Ring Trial is for the player's own Main Body only, and no equipment or treasures may be used. If detected, the player will be automatically disqualified.

Lin Yi remained expressionless and continued reading.

The first core rule is age restriction.

Those eligible to participate in the trial must be no older than one Universal Epoch, but this has no effect on him. He hasn't even reached one Universal Epoch, let alone one hundred thousand Epoch.

He continued reading and quickly found the most crucial part.

Startup conditions.

The Eternal Source Ring Trial requires a total of one hundred Eternal Source Realm to be activated once. Once activated, the trial is divided into two main parts: the individual trial and the team trial.

Part One: Solo Trial

Each participant must face three challenges alone. Only by passing all three challenges can the solo trial be completed. The content of these three challenges is not fixed and will be Dynamic adjusted according to the participant's own strength.

Each time the game starts, the three levels of the single-player trial are drawn from a huge pool of preset levels, so there is almost no chance of getting an easy level by luck.

While no one can predict exactly what kind of stage you will draw, the difficulty distribution and increase of different types of stages were already determined when the Eternal Source Ring was still under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Army Headquarters.

No matter how random the events are, one core fact remains unchanged: the difficulty increases as you progress, and the third level will always be much harder than the second.

Furthermore, the challenges in these three levels are completely randomized.

It could simulate a deathmatch with an opponent of equal strength, it could be a mission that requires you to challenge it multiple times to pass, it could require you to create a secret technique that meets specific requirements on the spot and test it in actual combat, or it could be a mission that requires you to survive for a specified period of time in an extremely harsh environment.

Lin Yi frowned slightly upon seeing this.

But these emotions were fleeting, because he immediately saw the next rule.

You can quit the trial midway.

During each stage, if a participant feels unable to continue, they can actively extract a wisp of soul imprint infused into the trial core.

If the trial core is drawn in time, its protective mechanism will activate immediately, ejecting the trial participant from the level.

Although quitting means failing the solo trial and being unable to continue participating, at least it saves your life.

However, the message also clearly stated that if one stubbornly refused to quit, their life would be in danger.

Lin Yi could understand this.

The Eternal Source Ring is clearly a trial system designed to select top geniuses. It was never intended for everyone to pass it; its security mechanisms are only effective for those trial participants who are pragmatic and know when to advance and retreat.

If you are already at your wit's end and have exhausted all your resources, but you still grit your teeth and refuse to give up, the Trial Core will assume that you are capable of continuing the challenge. Even if you are killed in the trial level, the automatic exit mechanism will not be triggered.

When someone is dead, they are truly dead.

Lin Yi nodded secretly, quite agreeing with the logic of this rule.

Trials are meant to select talented individuals, not to babysit those who overestimate their abilities.

As long as you don't do anything reckless, the trial itself is not life-threatening.

There's no life-threatening crisis, which seems pretty good.

Lin Yi muttered to himself, then continued reading.

All participants who pass the individual trial will be automatically teleported by the Eternal Source Ring to the starting point of the team trial to enter the second part of the assessment.

The team trial also consists of three stages.

According to the information group, the distribution of team trials is exactly the same as that of individual trials, and will also be Dynamic adjusted based on the overall strength of all those who pass.

In other words, the stronger your teammates are, the stronger your enemies will be.

However, at this stage, the exit mechanism is different from that of the single-player trial.

In team trials, even if you voluntarily quit, you will not be immediately teleported out. Instead, you will remain in the level from a relatively safe observer's perspective until the overall mission is completed, at which point you will be teleported out with the rest of the team.

However, this does not mean that participants can quit as soon as things go wrong, because quitting does not reduce the difficulty.

To put it bluntly, if you run away, then your teammates from the same group will have to suffer the consequences.

"That's quite in line with the Imperial Army's style..."

"

Having read this far, Lin Yi had a general understanding of the trial system of the Eternal Source Ring.

Two parts: individual and team.

You must clear all three solo stages to join a team; you must clear all three team stages to be considered successful.

With a sound exit mechanism, those who don't court disaster won't fail.

Then Lin Yi realized a problem.

The information group did not mention any rewards.

Normally, artificially designed trials and screening mechanisms like this would have clear rewards, but the information about the Eternal Source Ring trial makes no mention of rewards.

Lin Yi hesitated for a moment, but decided to ask anyway.

"Constant Lord Eric," he said, looking at Eric, "There should be a reward for passing the Eternal Source Ring Trial, right?"

"That's right." Eric nodded. "When the Eternal Source Ring was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Army Headquarters, the rewards for completing the trials were extremely generous. However, the Imperial Army Headquarters was reduced to ruins during the Black Mist Sea eruption, and the channels for distributing those rewards naturally vanished along with it. Therefore, the only rewards that can be obtained by completing the trials now are those distributed by Constant Island."

Lin Yi frowned slightly upon hearing this explanation.

There are no rewards, only Points given by Constant Island and the number of times the trial can be completed.

He didn't quite understand.

The Eternal Source Ring Origin is designed solely to test the trial participants; it does not enhance their understanding of the laws, making it purely a test.

Since the trial itself might serve as a selection criterion for geniuses, and offers no other substantial benefits—no resources, treasures, secret techniques, or anything—what's the point of going to the First Constant Domain to participate in the trial in the Eternal Source Ring?

What reason is there that you absolutely must attend?

Constant Island isn't without similar selection methods, so why go to such lengths to drag a group of the Eternal Source Realm geniuses to the ruins of the First Constant Domain?

Thinking of this, Lin Yi asked doubtfully, "Constant Lord Eric, since the Eternal Source Ring Trial is just a pure test with no substantial rewards, what's the point of participating? Isn't the selection system on the inner island already quite comprehensive? Besides, even if a group of one hundred of us at the Eternal Source Realm, it would be difficult to reach the Eternal Source Ring Ruins."

Upon hearing this, Eric did not answer directly, but instead looked at the Dao Lord Xi Mo.

Xi Mo slightly raised her chin, signaling Eric to continue.

Eric turned his head and looked at Lin Yi again.

You've hit the nail on the head.

"First of all, of course, you're not going on your own. If the Eternal Source Ring quest is activated, the island lord will personally escort you there, so there's no need to worry about that."

"Secondly, all the top-level trials are not just for Constant Island to select and cultivate geniuses, but for the entire Constant Domain. The Eternal Source Ring Trial is no exception. The fundamental goal of organizing a team of one hundred people to go deep into the ruins of the First Constant Domain to participate in the Eternal Source Ring Trial is to allow Eternal Source Realm cultivators with inscription talent to learn and master as many of the revealed micro -Law Inscriptions as possible during the trial."

"Especially the circulation of the Law Inscriptions on those trial subjects."

"The core of the Eternal Source Ring Trial is an extremely vast system of Law Inscriptions. When designing and constructing the Eternal Source Ring, the inscription masters at the Imperial Army Headquarters embedded countless miniature Law Inscriptions into every operational node of the trial's core. These inscriptions automatically activate when the trial begins, Dynamic adjusting the difficulty of each level according to the trial participant's strength, while simultaneously maintaining the stability of the laws throughout the entire trial space."

"In a sense, the Eternal Source Ring is itself a masterpiece of Law Inscriptions. Its inscription system represents the pinnacle of the Empire's achievements in the field of Law Inscriptions. However, with the fall of the First Constant Domain, many of the Law Inscriptions techniques they once mastered have been lost. Therefore, regaining control of these Law Inscriptions is of great significance to the entire Constant Domain."

"To date, Constant Island has organized six Eternal Source Ring Trial. Unfortunately, only one team has been able to clear all three stages. The combined number of Law Runes acquired from these six trials is less than 60% of the total, while the single successful trial brought back 40%..."

19

Eric sighed, "Although the Eternal Source Ring Trial doesn't pose a death threat, it's located deep within the First Constant Domain. The Dao Lord needs to lead the team in to escort you, and we also need to establish a defensive line to resist the powerful Black Silence Beast that sense your presence and surround you. When you come out... well, so the one facing the death threat isn't you, but rather us Constant Source Realm cultivators who are escorting you to the trial... Even so, with so much Universal Epoch, Constant Island will still try its best to organize the trial whenever conditions permit."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi vaguely guessed what was going on.

Sure enough, Eric's next words confirmed his suspicions.

"Because the Law Inscriptions revealed in the trials are Dynamic changing and cannot be recorded; you can only learn them and memorize them on your own. And you possess the talent to quickly learn and comprehend inscription knowledge in a short period of time, and you also have the combat power to pass a solo trial... This is, the conditions allow."

"As for the other Eternal Source Realm participating in the trial, their task is to protect you in the team trial after you've completed the individual trial, so you don't have to be distracted by the trial itself. This will allow you to focus on observing the operation of the Law Inscriptions and learn and record as much as possible."

After listening, Lin Yi fell silent.

So, in reality, the so-called team trial, where the ninety-nine Eternal Source Realm, the most outstanding geniuses of Constant Island, participated together, were actually tasked with being his bodyguards?