Crafting a Local "Genius" Persona

Lin Yi was a member of the pro-war faction at the time, remaining active on the front lines against the Abyss Beasts.

"Pro-war faction."

Thinking of this, a cold, mocking smirk curled the corners of Lin Yi's mouth.

Even as they built defensive lines with their own flesh and blood on the front, the internal friction and obstruction from the rear never ceased, effectively dragging the possibility of completely eradicating the Abyss Beasts into nothingness.

It was not until the envoys of the Purple Gold Star Alliance descended with their cold evaluations that the higher-ups finally realized the truth.

This was not the "interdimensional overlap" or "high-dimensional lifeform experiment" they had speculated about, but an assessment that would determine the future and destiny of their civilization.

The price was that the entire Blue Star was nailed to the pillar of shame as a "resource planet."

After stepping into the universe and gaining the qualifications to access the Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Universe Network, the deeply unwilling leaders of the Blue Star civilization immediately looked up information regarding the civilization promotion assessment.

Lin Yi still had a vivid impression of those cold assessment rules.

If the civilization was destroyed or the Abyss Beasts were wiped out, the assessment would end early; if the two sides remained locked in a stalemate, it would conclude after one thousand years.

When the assessment ended, the nascent civilization would receive a civilization rating, and surviving individuals would receive personal ratings.

Personal ratings were primarily based on the number and level of Abyss Beasts killed during the assessment, as well as performance in specific events, and were divided into nine tiers.

From the lowest level 1 to the highest level 9, these ratings would directly determine an individual's resource quota and access permissions after the assessment concluded.

Civilization ratings were comprehensively assessed based on the duration of the assessment period, overall performance, survival rate of the population, technological potential, and resistance, also divided into nine tiers.

This would determine the civilization's initial status, resource allocation, and subsequent development space after being incorporated into the human territory.

In his previous life, the Blue Star civilization ultimately only received a score of over 6 million, resulting in a mere level 2 comprehensive civilization rating.

This led to Blue Star being designated as a bottom-tier "resource planet" after falling under the jurisdiction of the Purple Gold Star Alliance in its sector.

However, Blue Star was located in a region barren of source energy, and the vast majority of equipment required source energy crystals to function.

Therefore, human labor, which contained trace amounts of source energy, became the top priority.

After all, the Purple Gold Star Alliance would not bother with source energy infrastructure for a level 2 rated civilization.

Just like that, countless compatriots were forced into grassroots material refinement factories, performing repetitive labor day after day for only meager compensation.

Even though he knew these were things that had not yet happened in this life, as the memories flooded back, Lin Yi could not help but press his lips together tightly.

And what about himself?

The long, arduous journey of his previous life weighed heavily upon his memory.

In the ruins during the early stages of the assessment, he had fought to the death with strangers over a single, lowest-grade Spirit Radiance Crystal, nearly being buried by a collapsing floor slab.

In the corner of a dark shelter, he had studied the basic cultivation techniques extracted from crystals by a faint light, hungrily groping his way onto the path of cultivation, every step accompanied by immense risk and endless loneliness.

To obtain a bit of scarce resources, he had traversed the ruins of old cities filled with unknown dangers, brushing shoulders with death countless times.

Back then, his friends and family had long since been freed from this apocalypse, leaving him to walk the path alone in the darkness.

Even though he had relied on the resilience and courage forged on the edge of life and death to endure for over seven hundred years, eventually promoting to the Star Core level and remaining active on the front lines against the Abyss Beasts, he had only achieved a level 4 personal rating. This allowed him to become an outermost member of the Universal Mercenary Alliance, enabling him to leave Blue Star and step into the vast universe.

But that was merely the most basic admission ticket to the vast sea of stars—his starting point was humble, and resources were scarce.

Even though he had later managed to climb to the Star Vortex realm, that power had ultimately come too late and was too thin.

He never even got the chance to return and change the fate of Blue Star; he was erased by an elder of the high-and-mighty Zilies Family as easily as brushing away a speck of dust, simply because of an insignificant "chance encounter."

"Heh, Zilies."

Lin Yi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. When he opened them again, only the calm facade belonging to his current age remained in his eyes.

He cast his gaze out the window; the sunlight was still bright, the cicadas were still noisy, and the laughter of children downstairs was still full of vitality.

Yet, this warm picture now seemed to be shrouded in an invisible shadow in his eyes.

One week later, the avatar of that eternal god would descend into the outer space of Blue Star to initiate the civilization promotion assessment.

Lin Yi knew clearly that for the natives of a nascent civilization, the only way to change their own destiny, change the fate of their home planet, and strive for a high rating was to fight for it.

And if he wanted to aim for a high-level personal rating, he would inevitably have to display shocking talent.

Terrifying combat instincts, an extremely high cultivation speed, and an astonishing comprehension of the rules.

With my Star Vortex-level foundation, it will be effortless to pretend to be a Blue Star genius.

Lin Yi pondered secretly.

Even if I enter the universe in the future and people discover that this 'genius' has 'exhausted his potential' after the Star Vortex realm, it won't matter. The rewards and resources will already be in my hands. There are so many geniuses among the human race who fade into the crowd; one more won't make a difference.

However.

There is one point that requires special attention.

Lin Yi frowned, carefully scrutinizing an assessment rule he had discovered while sorting through his memories just now.

[If an individual with the potential for a level 7 or higher personal rating is unearthed, the god in charge of the assessment may receive additional rewards.]

When he saw this rule in his previous life, he had only wrung his hands in regret while looking at the rewards for those high ratings.

Now, he could not help but secretly rejoice in his heart that he had once looked into information regarding high ratings.

Because this cold rule would become a sword hanging over his head.

What did this mean?

Clearly, the gods had sufficient motivation to pay attention to individuals who displayed exceptional performance and astonishing potential.

The Star Domain-level Rule Domain, the World-Deriving-level Internal World, and the Eternal God-level Micro-Universe—commonly known as the Divine Kingdom—were all famous hallmarks of their respective realms.

At the same time, these were the three major realms most widely circulated and whose methods were best known on the Pan-Spirit Alliance's virtual network.

After all, the Star Core and Star Vortex grades were too low and were active right beside everyone, so there was nothing strange about them. As for anything above the Eternal God level, one had to respect the dignity of the Venerables; much of that information was sensitive and rarely appeared on the virtual network.

During the civilization assessment, the entire Blue Star was shrouded under the projection of the god's Divine Kingdom.

Lin Yi guessed that if he received a rating of Level 7 or higher, he would very likely attract the gaze of a god.

Furthermore, from the moment the Divine Kingdom's projection covered Blue Star, everything that occurred during the entire assessment could be traced back and reviewed whenever the god wished.

If he, as an ordinary Blue Star youth who had just graduated high school and had never touched any extraordinary power, suddenly displayed superb killing efficiency and prophetic knowledge regarding the types, habits, weaknesses, and even the movements of the Abyss Beasts—

Would these performances be reasonable for an ordinary youth?

Long, life-and-death trials had long ago carved the word "caution" into Lin Yi's soul.

He did not know what attitude the human high command, or rather, the god responsible for the assessment, would take toward a genius who performed so abnormally during the test.

Would they be overjoyed and vigorously cultivate him?

Or, out of some security consideration or desire for research, would they conduct deeper investigations and exert control?

Lin Yi did not know where the human high command's tolerance for anomalies lay.

He dared not gamble.

It was extremely foolish to entrust one's fate to the goodwill or rules of unknown existences.

Lin Yi could not help but feel secretly relieved at this moment.

Fortunately, the starting point for the god's avatar to trace back could only begin from the moment the Divine Kingdom's projection covered Blue Star; otherwise, the mere fact that the Ancient Jade had turned to ash would have exposed him without a doubt.

After a brief moment of thought, Lin Yi quickly made up his mind.

Regardless of whether the god's avatar traces back to check or not, from this moment on, I must perfectly blend into the role of the high school graduate Lin Yi.

I will mold myself into a native Blue Star genius who erupted with astonishing potential, heaven-defying comprehension, and tenacious willpower during the doomsday catastrophe.