Time flowed quietly through the gaps between his fingers, like water.
For Lin Yi, the journey had been both fulfilling and peaceful.
He spent most of his time immersed in cultivation.
He worked to stabilize the fusion of his Triple Domain, familiarize himself with the many profound applications that came with mastering the Space Rule, and carefully digest some of the insights he had gained when Eldest Senior Brother Zhen Yu shifted the Shift Galaxy.
At the same time, he began studying and contemplating the time-rule texts Third Senior Sister Qian Huan had given him, including Three Basic Models of Time Source Induction and Dialectical Cognition of Instant and Eternity.
Though he had yet to grasp the basics of the Time Rule, those texts, which delved straight into the origin of time, had already opened a window for Lin Yi. "Time" was no longer something he saw indistinctly through a fog; he now had a clearer, more systematic understanding of it.
In his spare time, Lin Yi also spent time with the third batch of reserve members, personally drilling the "rookies" from the Silver Blue Civilization and the Shina Family.
His guidance was always incisive. Drawing on his wealth of combat experience and his new philosophy of "getting stronger comes first," he inspired these newcomers to strive upward even as they looked up to him with awe.
Amid this steady cycle of cultivation and intermittent instruction, a year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.
The stars beyond the portholes gradually grew familiar, and the vast, imposing fortress of the Border Legion was already in sight.
Feeling the ship slow as it prepared to dock at the fortress Spaceport, Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes.
"We're almost at the fortress."
Lin Yi's gaze sharpened.
Returning to the