A Proposal and the Dao Origin Conference

After listening to the words of Dao Lord Dawn Nightmare, Lin Yi remained silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "As expected."

He wasn't surprised at all.

The total number of Dao Lord in the Four Constant Domains is approximately 150, and each of Dao Lord has traversed countless Universal Epoch and tribulations to reach this point.

Some of them were born from Cosmic Clam, some rose from humble beginnings, and some bore the weight of the rise and fall of certain ancient races. It is perfectly normal for them to have different thoughts and stances.

As for the matter of the Lightless Ones, which is so important, it would be truly a miracle to expect all Dao Lord to reach a consensus in a short period of time.

But even knowing this, Lin Yi couldn't help but ask, "Then what is the main point of contention among the Dao Lord?"

Upon hearing this, the Dao Lord Xi Mo leaned back on the soft couch.

"This matter is actually quite simple. A Dao Lord from the Eighth Constant Domain first proposed an idea, saying that the situation in the Black Mist Sea has not only not eased, but has intensified. The Frontline are so strained that it's impossible to spare much manpower specifically to deal with the Lightless Ones."

Lin Yi listened quietly without interrupting.

"Therefore, this Dao Lord suggested sending someone to try and contact the Lightless City Lord," Dao Lord Xi Mo continued. "If those Lightless Ones are willing to join forces to fight against the Black Silence Beast Tide, the Empire can pardon their past crimes."

Lin Yi's eyes flickered slightly.

"As soon as this proposal was put forward, the Dao Lord began to discuss it," said the Dao Lord Xi Mo. "Soon, the differences split into two factions."

"The majority believes that the current situation is particularly dire. There are still seven Lightless City Lord left. If these seven Dao Lord -level Lightless Ones are truly driven to desperation and forced to unite, the destruction they can cause will be absolutely devastating. Conversely, if they are willing to help, they will be an extremely powerful force in themselves. The difference between them is more than double."

Lin Yi nodded slightly, without expressing his opinion.

"The minority, however, insists that principles cannot be violated," the Dao Lord Xi Mo continued. "They believe that the Imperial Law stands firm because it never wavers due to the changing circumstances. If we make exceptions simply because of tense situations, then once such a precedent is set, the rules will become meaningless. Then, if today we pardon the Lightless Ones because of tensions in the Black Mist Sea, tomorrow we might pardon deserters because of a tense situation at some border. Once this precedent is set, the consequences will be endless."

Lin Yi nodded.

Both sides actually have valid points.

The majority of people certainly knew about the crimes of the Lightless Ones in the past, and they also knew that these guys were never good men and women, but they were looking at the big picture, at the already critical defensive line between the Four Constant Domains and the Black Mist Sea.

If the Frontline collapse and the Black Silence Beast Tide advances unimpeded, the consequences will be a thousand times more terrifying than the threat posed by the Lightless Ones.

And the minority is not pedantic.

The "rules" they spoke of were precisely the foundation upon which the order of the post-imperial era had not collapsed over the long years. If a precedent were set for "pardoning crimes when the situation is tense," the judicial authority of the entire empire would completely collapse.

Even if the empire survives the Black Silence Beast Tide, it will have already suffered a deep and unseen wound, and may gradually turn into a chaotic era where might makes right.

If another Black Silence Beast Tide were to break out, it would be very difficult to organize resistance like it is now.

The Dao Lord Xi Mo clearly had no intention of keeping Lin Yi silent. She spoke directly, "Lin Yi, you were the first to discover this information. What are your thoughts on this?"

Lin Yi did not answer immediately.

He pondered for a moment, then asked a question first, "Dao Lord Xi Mo, the situation in the Black Mist Sea has become so dire that even the combined forces of the Four Constant Domains, dedicated solely to defending against the Lightless Ones, are stretched thin?"

The Dao Lord Xi Mo glanced at him and slowly nodded. "Not bad. Although this information is still at the Dao Lord level and hasn't been released to the lower levels, it doesn't matter if you know. The situation is already extremely critical. It's indeed difficult to spare enough resources to defend against those Lightless Ones."

"You know, to prevent those Lightless Ones from causing significant damage, it would probably take three to four times the force. After all, we are on the defensive."

Lin Yi's heart sank upon hearing this.

If we calculate according to this ratio, just considering the Dao Lord level, it would take a full twenty-eight people to firmly suppress the seven Lightless City Lords.

It should be noted that even the weakest of the Eighth Constant Domain only has twenty-six publicly known Dao Lord in the entire Constant Domain.

This is almost equivalent to drawing power from one of the Four Constant Domains specifically to deal with the Lightless Ones.

Seeing that Lin Yi understood the meaning, the Dao Lord Xi Mo sighed, "Under normal circumstances, this would naturally be no problem. If it weren't for the sudden change in the situation in the Black Mist Sea, any one of the domains could have completely suppressed those Lightless Ones, preventing them from raising their heads. Otherwise, those guys wouldn't have been hiding in the Black Mist Sea, afraid to come out. But under the current circumstances, freeing up so much power is almost impossible."

Lin Yi fell silent.

According to the Dao Lord Xi Mo, the situation is already quite clear.

There was absolutely no choice.

Some Dao Lord, perhaps because they haven't experienced a life-or-death crisis involving the entire group, haven't yet adjusted their mindset.

But he had been through it.

The events of that year are still vivid in my mind.

Therefore, in Lin Yi's view, since the situation has already reached this point, there is not much to worry about anymore.

He thought for a moment, then slowly began to speak.

"The Dao Lord Xi Mo should know that I was born from the Cosmic Clam."

Upon hearing this, the Dao Lord Xi Mo raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Of course I know," she said. "And I've also heard that you were rescued by a centurion in the Imperial Army."

Lin Yi nodded.

Although he didn't actively publicize this, it's perfectly normal for anyone who knows him to know this.

"Since the Dao Lord knows these things, then I won't beat around the bush," Lin Yi said slowly. "Actually, the Cosmic Clam I was born from faced a similar situation."

The Dao Lord Xi Mo suddenly froze. Although she knew that Lin Yi had been rescued from the Clam, she really didn't know what had happened before that.

Lin Yi slowly said, "At that time, the Cosmic Clam where I was located happened to encounter the outbreak of the Black Mist Sea and was surrounded by countless low-level Black Silence Beast. We received a warning from the Clam Judge. Everyone knew that a life-or-death crisis had arrived."

He paused, then continued.

"At that time, we used almost all our strength. Everyone who could contribute was mobilized and deployed to the defensive line. Every cultivator who could still move was drawn into the defensive line."

"After discussion, we high-ranking officials issued an order," Lin Yi said. "All prisoners who were originally imprisoned in various Sin Prison will be pardoned as long as they contribute to resisting the Black Silence Beast."

As he spoke, the light flickered slightly, and those distant, almost blurry images came alive again before his eyes.

"I saw it with my own eyes. There was a prisoner who fought side by side with a jailer. When the Black Silence Beast pounced, the prisoner used his own body to block the claw that was supposed to land on the jailer. Then the prisoner lunged at the Black Silence Beast and self-destructed."

Lin Yi's voice was calm.

"I'm not saying every prisoner was like that. There were definitely quite a few who were greedy, afraid of death, and thinking about taking advantage of the chaos to hide. But at the time, no one had the energy or the time to screen them one by one."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Therefore, we established the 'Three Non-Pardons' policy back then."

"Three Non-Pardons?"

The Dao Lord Xi Mo repeated a sentence.

"Yes, those who slaughter innocent mortals indiscriminately will not be pardoned; those who devour cultivators for cultivation will not be pardoned; those who desert in battle without orders will not be pardoned."

Lin Yi said slowly, "These three are all death lines."

"Therefore, although almost all resources were used at the time, it was not without principle."

"My experience tells me that when everyone is on the verge of destruction, if you cling to the usual rules and refuse to let go, everyone will die. But if you lose all sense of boundaries because of this, you'll crumble from within before any external enemies even invade."

"So, my personal view can be summed up in one sentence: use it when necessary, but there must be a clear red line between what can be used and what cannot be used."

The Dao Lord Xi Mo did not interrupt him.

She slowly nodded after Lin Yi finished speaking, and then suddenly chuckled.

"You wouldn't mind if I told other Dao Lord about your experience, would you?" she asked.

Lin Yi smiled and said, "If it's useful, of course I don't mind."

The Dao Lord Xi Mo nodded, then immediately resumed his lazy demeanor.

"Speaking of which," she said slowly, as if suddenly remembering something, "Because this matter is so important, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Dao Origin Hall will likely hold a general meeting within a hundred Epoch. I estimate that several major events will be announced at that meeting."

"You've been the Deputy Commander of the Constant Guard for some time now; you should have received the Dao Origin Ring by now, right?"

Lin Yi nodded. "Received. It was delivered by a Constant Lord from the Dao Origin Hall approximately tens of thousands of Epoch ago."

Lin Yi had specifically researched the origins of the Dao Origin Ring.

This thing can not only receive messages directly from the Dao Origin Hall, but also project itself into the Dao Origin Hall to participate in the Dao Origin Conference that can determine the fate of the Cosmic Sea.

As long as you are within the scope of the Cosmic Sea, no matter which region you are in, you can project yourself into the Dao Origin Hall.

This Dao Origin Hall can be considered the highest decision-making center of the Cosmic Sea in the post-imperial era.

The Dao Origin Conference is the highest-level council capable of directly deciding the fate of countless star systems.

However, apart from the routine meeting held every hundred Universal Epoch, Dao Origin Hall rarely holds a plenary meeting.

When something happens, a small, core meeting is usually held to decide on the matter.

The large meeting was just a formality to announce the results, because the matter was so important.

In other words, once a plenary meeting is convened, it means that certain decisions have been finalized and are just waiting to be announced.

After obtaining the Dao Origin Ring, he never attended Dao Origin Conference.

He was somewhat surprised to hear from Xi Mo that a general meeting was about to be held.

"What's meant to happen will happen," Lin Yi thought to himself.

He didn't ask any more questions, because the Dao Lord Xi Mo had already made it clear enough that he needed to know.

If he continued to ask, Dao Lord Xi Mo didn't want to talk, he wouldn't get anything more.

So he got up and took his leave of the Dao Lord Xi Mo.

After returning to the Constant Guard Headquarters, Lin Yi did not rush to meet the others. Instead, he went back to his private cultivation room in his courtyard and began to take stock of his gains from this trip.

After careful inventory, it was found that among the spoils of war from the two High-Rank Constant Lord he had killed, there were more than 210 Origin Constant Crystal alone.

Furthermore, besides the Origin Constant Crystal, the two people's storage crystal boxes also contained many other rare items.

After carefully selecting and selling the items he didn't need to the Chamber of Commerce, he received over 480 Origin Constant Crystal.

Adding the two together, he gained nearly seven hundred Origin Constant Crystal from this one trip alone.

Even with his current considerable wealth, Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "High-Rank Constant Lord are quite lucrative."

More than a dozen Epoch have passed in the blink of an eye.

After breaking through to the Mid Constant Source Realm, Lin Yi began to spend more time comprehending the Dao Resonance.

On this day, as usual, he recalled his previous insights from the Dao Origin Atlas.

Suddenly, deep within his Divine Kingdom, the Dao Origin Ring emitted a very subtle tremor.

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat.

He flipped his hand, and the Dao Origin Ring appeared in his palm.

The Dao Origin Ring is made entirely of a peculiar dark silver substance, with no superfluous patterns on its surface, except for a tiny gray gemstone the size of a grain of rice embedded in the center of the ring face.

Lin Yi sensed it briefly, and a message entered his consciousness.

"Fifty Epoch later, the Dao Origin Hall convened a plenary meeting."

Lin Yi nodded. Just as the Dao Lord Xi Mo had said, a plenary meeting was about to be held. Although he had nominally become Dao Lord, his information channels were still on a completely different level compared to those of veteran Dao Lord.

Soon, the Epoch era arrived.

On this day, Lin Yi sat cross-legged in a quiet room.

His face was calm, his hands hung naturally in front of his knees, and the Dao Origin Ring was already on his right hand.

"Buzz"

With a barely audible sound, the gray gem in the center of the Dao Origin Ring suddenly shone brightly.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Yi felt an unprecedented pulling force coming from the depths of the Dao Origin Ring.

A thought struck him, and he immediately felt countless stars, rivers of light, and array patterns rushing wildly around him. A wisp of his consciousness was pulled into an extremely distant place at a speed that could not be described in words.

This feeling lasted only for a very brief moment.

The next moment, Lin Yi found that his consciousness was standing in an extremely magnificent hall.

The hall is filled with many stone pillars, each as thick as a mountain, with intricate inscriptions carved on their shafts.

Lin Yi glanced at it only once, and his heart skipped a beat.

They were all Dao Origin Inscriptions.

Just then, a familiar Soul Transmission gently brushed through his consciousness.

Lin Yi.

Lin Yi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall, slender figure looking at him not far away.

It was none other than the Dao Lord Xi Mo.

She still had that languid demeanor, but this time she was much more restrained, only nodding slightly to him, gesturing for him to come over.

Lin Yi took a deep breath, suppressed the surging emotions in his chest, and strode towards her.

Inside the hall, more and more stone pillars began to light up.