Words Kept, Fates Divided

Lin Yi wasn't worried at all that the three guys would collude to give a false testimony.

Because these three Lightless Constant Lords were each trapped within a ball of Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame, they could neither see, hear, nor sense each other's presence.

Only his Soul Transmission could reach the thoughts of these three Constant Lords.

As he had expected, the three Lightless Ones panicked when they heard that only one could survive.

In the leftmost ball of fire, the Azure-Pattern Race Constant Lord struggled to prop himself up, shouting, "Commander, just ask! I will tell you everything I know!"

From within the central ball of fire, the voice of the Abyss Abyss-Shadow Race's Constant Lord rang out almost simultaneously with the former's. He shouted, "I was forced to become Lightless Ones, and I would never utter a falsehood! I only beg the Commander grant me a way out!"

On the far right, the Crystal-Rock Race's Constant Lord also spoke in a muffled voice, "I only ask that you keep your word, my lord! I am willing to tell you anything!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi merely gave a cold laugh.

"Don't worry," he said calmly, "I said I wouldn't kill, and I definitely won't."

These words simultaneously entered the three seas of fire.

However, being isolated from each other, no one knew whether the other two had heard the same promise, nor what questions Lin Yi would ask them.

This did not diminish their inner fears; on the contrary, it intensified them.

Because no one knows if their companions outside are already speaking their minds faster than they can.

They had absolutely no trust in each other, so when faced with Lin Yi's questions, they naturally rushed to answer.

This is exactly what Lin Yi wanted.

"The first question."

Lin Yi's voice, transmitted through his Soul Power, simultaneously entered the three fireballs.

"What exactly happened in your Lightless City?"

As soon as this question was answered, all three seas of fire fell silent.

Immediately, three voices rang out almost simultaneously.

The Azure-Pattern Race Constant Lord on the far left shouted, "It's a beast tide! Our Haikong City has been breached by an extremely large beast tide, including Fourth-Order Black Silence Beast. Even the Haikong Dao Lord could only break through and escape alone!"

The Abyss-Shadow Race Constant Lord in the middle also spoke almost simultaneously, "My lord, please allow me to report, it's Fourth-Order Baleful-Eye Beast! That thing saw through our Lightless City's concealment formation at a glance! Our Haikong City is hidden in the western part of the Black Mist Sea, and as soon as the formation was broken, that beast tide surged in overwhelmingly."

The Crystal-Rock Race Constant Lord on the far right was a beat slower. After a slight hesitation, he said, "I was still in seclusion at the time. I just suddenly discovered that the city had fallen. I heard that there was a beast tide of Fourth-Order Baleful-Eye Beast. We Constant Lord saw that the situation was bad and broke out on our own."

Lin Yi listened quietly.

He didn't interrupt, but simply wrote down all three answers and then compared them one by one in his mind.

Although the three people used different wordings, the core facts were completely consistent.

The Lightless City was indeed breached by a horde of beasts led by Fourth-Order Baleful-Eye Beast capable of seeing through concealment formations. The city's fall was extremely sudden, forcing the city's Lightless Ones to flee in panic, resulting in devastating losses.

"The second question."

Lin Yi continued.

"How many of those Baleful-Eye Beasts have you encountered, and what do you know about them?"

This time, the three Lightless Ones answered with even greater urgency.

It was as if they were afraid that if they didn't speak enough or quickly enough, they would lose their only chance to live.

"My lord! There are more and more of those Baleful-Eye Beasts! We've seen these creatures covered in eyes in more than one horde of beasts along our escape route!" the Azure-Pattern Race's Constant Lord exclaimed. "Those things swim around in the hordes, their eyes wide open one after another, impossible to hide. One of my Eternal Source Realm used two Form-Hiding Seal Contract and a Light-Swallowing Talisman, and when that Third-Order Baleful-Eye Beast turned in his direction just once, its eyes glared, and the two seals shattered instantly, tearing the man to shreds!"

"Not just fourth-tier! My lord, even third-tier beast hordes are starting to see Baleful-Eye Beast! Those third-tier Baleful-Eye Beast can even see through our Constant Lord- level concealment techniques!"

The voice of the Abyss-Shadow Race's Constant Lord was tinged with barely concealed fear; he clearly remembered this incident vividly. "Our Abyss-Shadow Race's greatest skill is concealment. Even the City Lord praised my Abyss-Shadow Evasion Secret Art, yet it was still discovered by a Third-Order Baleful-Eye Beast."

The Crystal-Rock Race's Constant Lord also said in a deep voice, "We've encountered quite a few, and not just the Baleful-Eye Beast; the other Black Silence Beast in the Black Mist Sea are also increasing in number and strength."

"The third question," Lin Yi said.

Why don't you seek refuge with another Lightless City?

This time, the three gave surprisingly consistent answers, all saying that the Baleful-Eye Beast could see through the concealment formation. Since Haikong City couldn't stop it, neither could the other Lightless City. They were lucky to break through this time, but they might not be able to next time.

So the three of them discussed it and decided that given the current situation in the Black Mist Sea, the other Lightless City would inevitably encounter a large-scale beast tide sooner or later. Rather than going there to their deaths, they should head out.

After much deliberation, the three of them concluded that the Empire was currently preoccupied with resisting the Black Silence Beast Tide, and its oversight of the territory would inevitably be weakened. If they could cross the Black Mist Sea, which was under the strictest surveillance, and then find a remote area to settle down in, their combined strength would be sufficient to protect themselves.

Lin Yi continued to press for more information, asking about the route the three had taken after breaking through, the number of beasts they encountered along the way, and whether they had met any other survivors.

The three Lightless Ones were separated in their own balls of fire, completely unaware of what the others were saying. They could only desperately pour out everything they knew.

Lin Yi continued asking questions one after another.

After a long while, when the last question had been asked, Lin Yi finally fell silent.

The three wisps of Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame continued to burn quietly, and the three Lightless Constant Lord held their breath, eagerly awaiting Lin Yi's final judgment.

Lin Yi ignored them.

He mentally reviewed and compared the information given by the three Lightless Ones.

After a long while, he let out a long breath.

By comparing the three answers, it is easy to draw a conclusion.

None of these three dared to lie.

The problem was, although the three men weren't lying, the information they provided still weighed heavily on his mind.

Lin Yi thought to himself, "Now that the Baleful-Eye Beast have started appearing on a large scale, the Lightless City will definitely take action."

"This Baleful-Eye Beast can see through concealment formations, which has shaken the very foundation upon which the Lightless City relies for hiding. They either have to wait to be torn down one by one by the beast tide, or they will have no choice but to risk leaving the Black Mist Sea and venturing outside."

"Neither of these things is good news for the empire."

"These are turbulent times..."

Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

But feelings of regret aside...

These three Lightless Constant Lords.

Lin Yi shook his head, raised his hand, and gently grabbed at the two balls of Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame on the right.

"Buzz!"

The two seas of fire suddenly contracted!

No! Spare me!

You promised you wouldn't kill me!

The two Lightless Constant Lords of the Abyss-Shadow Race and the Crystal-Rock Race struggled frantically in the shrinking sea of fire, mobilizing all their remaining strength in an attempt to carve out even a sliver of life amidst the crushing flames.

However, their meager resistance was utterly futile against Lin Yi's more than five hundred strands of Dao Resonance, like an ant trying to shake a tree.

After a short while, the two seas of fire stopped moving completely.

Lin Yi is another fictitious point.

The two already lifeless seas of fire transformed into two streams of light, merging into the last remaining sea of fire on the far right.

Only a pile of storage crystal boxes and other spoils of war, which had been deliberately left behind, shimmered with an eerie luster in the churning black mist.

Lin Yi casually waved his hand, taking all the spoils into his inner Divine Kingdom.

Then, he slowly turned around and looked at the last huge sea of fire.

"This Commander his word. If I said I wouldn't kill you, I won't."

"But...

He paused, then chuckled.

"If you can't break through this sea of fire yourself, then don't blame me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yi released his control over the Silent Nether Soul-Rending Flame.

According to his estimation, this out-of-control sea of fire would likely expand to a hundred times its current size before reaching equilibrium and ceasing its unchecked growth. As for the fate of the Lightless Constant Lord trapped within, that was none of his concern.

Then, with a thought, Lin Yi activated the Constant Fusion True Treasure, and a golden cocoon of light rose up, enveloping his entire body.

The next instant, the cocoon of light trembled slightly and transformed into a streak of golden light that shot through the air.

Constant Island, Central Plaza.

Everyone remained seated on their respective jade platforms.

This amount of time is nothing to these cultivators who measure time in Epoch.

They didn't even discuss it much, but rather exchanged quiet conversations in twos and threes about the inscription insights Lin Yi had shared earlier.

Lin Yi's previous lecture was about Ancient Law Inscriptions.

Such content was a field that most of the practitioners present did not usually study.

Therefore, even though Lin Yi left for a moment, no one felt impatient.

Some people closed their eyes to deduce, some secretly traced patterns in the air in front of them with their fingertips, and others were diligently recording something.

Just then, a golden streak of light suddenly broke through the air from afar and landed steadily on the dark golden jade platform.

It was Lin Yi.

Lin Yi ignored the curious glances from the students below the stage.

He first sent a message to Dan through the insignia of the Constant Guard placed within the Divine Kingdom.

The message contained a detailed account of the information he had just obtained from the three Lightless Constant Lords.

This includes various details such as the fall of Haikong City, the emergence of Third-Order Baleful-Eye Beast on a large scale, and the high probability that a large number of survivors from Lightless City may have fled to the border of the Empire.

"Let Lord Yan report to Commander Lan Chen, so that all the Dao Lord can also be alerted," Lin Yi thought to himself.

This news was too important; he had to let his superiors know immediately.

After finishing these tasks, Lin Yi turned his gaze back to the group of students, smiled slightly, and said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's continue."

He did not explain what he had just done.

Given his current status and position, there's really no need for him to explain himself to anyone.

Furthermore, some information cannot be disclosed to the public casually.

The issues of the Lightless City and the Baleful-Eye Beast are too complex, and the slightest carelessness could trigger unnecessary turmoil.

And so, the lesson that was not yet finished continued in the Central Plaza.

Lin Yi's explanations remained as insightful and easy to understand as ever, demonstrating his remarkable ease and fluency.

Ancient Law Inscriptions flowed from his fingertips, revealing endless mysteries.

"Ancient Law Inscriptions, on the surface, are nothing more than a series of ancient symbols arranged together. But any Law Inscriptions that has survived to this day follows an extremely simple principle: the Chaos Law forms the skeleton, Chaos Power the flesh and blood."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a huge Inscription Array immediately appeared in the void beside him, with countless lines crisscrossing and each node trembling slightly at a different frequency.

"The so-called 'bone' refers to these nodes. They are the necessary pathways for all energy to enter the inscription. Many practitioners only care about whether the overall rune is effective, but they neglect the quality of these nodes."

As Lin Yi spoke, he slowly zoomed in on a node in the array diagram.

The node, originally only the size of a pinhead, revealed a series of continuous chains of laws when magnified. Each chain was composed of even smaller runes, and the runes were constantly colliding with each other for extremely short periods of time. Each collision generated a force flow that was invisible to the naked eye.

"This structure is called Recurrent-Pattern Lock," Lin Yi explained. "It's a crucial node in the ancient inscription system used to fine-tune the properties of energy. A Recurrent-Pattern Lock can strip away impurities and fine-tune the properties of energy to match the subsequent inscription the instant it passes through. People who don't understand this process might use ordinary nodes instead of Recurrent-Pattern Lock, which may look similar, but the efficiency of the inscription will ultimately decrease by 30%."

"If you want to further study the Ancient Law Inscriptions in the future, you can check them yourselves. If an inscription has several particularly complex nodes that form a chain when magnified, that's Recurrent-Pattern Lock. Inscriptions without this structure are mostly simplified or incomplete versions."

After explaining several special ancient inscription nodes such as "Prism Chain", "Layered Sequence" and "Void Trajectory", Lin Yi finally brought the class to a close.

He finished explaining the last inscription and then slowly withdrew his movements.

The light patterns hovering in the void transformed into pale golden specks, scattering like countless fireflies above the square before finally disappearing.

"That's all for today," Lin Yi said.

All the students stood up at the same time and bowed in unison.

Just as Lin Yi was preparing to return directly to the Constant Guard Headquarters, a lazy voice suddenly rang in his mind.

He is the Dao Lord Xi Mo.

"Lin Yi, are you finished speaking? Come here for a moment."

Lin Yi's heart stirred slightly.

He roughly guessed why the Dao Lord Xi Mo was looking for him.

So he transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the tower where the Dao Lord Xi Mo was located.

Inside the tower, in that familiar grand hall.

The Dao Lord Xi Mo remained as lazy and leisurely as ever, sitting cross-legged in mid-air.

A translucent jade pot hung in front of her, from which a faint wisp of bluish-green smoke was emanating.

When Lin Yi entered, the incense smoke tilted slightly, as if making way for him.

"Sit."

Lin Yi sat down opposite her as instructed.

The Dao Lord Xi Mo didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly, "Lan Chen has already informed all the Dao Lord of the news you brought back."

She paused, then added, "And it's not just the Seventh Constant Domain. This news is connected to all Four Constant Domains, so it was communicated to them."

"After the news spread, the Dao Lord of the Four Constant Domains held an emergency remote meeting. Currently, there are significant differences of opinion among the Dao Lord regarding the remaining Lightless City."