At Crimson Research Institute.
As soon as Feng Qi arrived, Wei Wei immediately pulled him aside for a series of physical examinations to update the institute's database records.
During the process, she extracted half of his blood.
For an ordinary person, losing this much blood would be a death sentence.
But for Feng Qi, losing half his blood was nothing more than a minor inconvenience—it didn't affect him at all.
While the examination was underway, Feng Qi closed his eyes and summoned his status panel.
At this moment, his Bloodline Evolution Points had reached 9,289, bringing him very close to the next major evolution stage.
The massacre in Shadow City had also granted him over ten new talent abilities.
After careful review, he decided to keep three of them.
These three talent abilities were:
[Void Body (Passive Ability)]
Talent Description: Enhances the body in all aspects and grants a weak affinity for the void, reducing the corrosive effects of exposure to the Void Realm.
[Void Slash (Active Ability)]
Talent Description: Uses lifeblood energy to unleash an attack imbued with spatial power, causing a minor spatial cut effect on the target (Effect scales with the strength of the user's lifeblood energy).
[Blink (Active Ability)]
Talent Description: Consumes lifeblood energy to tear through space, allowing instantaneous short-distance movement (Exact distance depends on the amount of lifeblood energy consumed).
Among these, the most exciting discovery for Feng Qi was the active ability "Blink".
Instantaneous movement—just thinking about it felt incredibly powerful.
His consciousness sank into his Mental Sea, where he gazed at the silver-white Blink orb orbiting around his Origin Pearl.
This silver-white talent orb was, without a doubt, the greatest reward from his journey into the Future Dream Realm.
As for which Domain Creature had given him this ability… he had no idea.
When he had transformed into the Dark God, he hadn't even checked his status panel—he had been too focused on hunting down enemies as quickly as possible.
It could have come from any of the tourists he had casually slapped to death.
At that moment, Three-Tails peeked out from the Evolution Token, staring at him pitifully.
"Come here and eat!"
Feng Qi decisively waved at Three-Tails.
But Three-Tails immediately shook its head.
With a flick of his wrist, Feng Qi yanked it over with his mind, making it struggle helplessly as it floated toward him.
Reaching out, he grabbed a white talent orb from the rotational track, pried open Three-Tails's mouth, and shoved it inside.
"Not eating properly? That's a problem with your mindset. Open wide and swallow!"
With its cheeks puffed out, Three-Tails chewed reluctantly, tears welling up in its eyes.
After digesting the talent orb, Three-Tails spat out over ten small evolution beads.
These small beads were what Feng Qi considered "Talent Evolution Points."
By fusing these beads into other talent orbs, he could upgrade their abilities.
After breaking down nearly twenty talent orbs, hundreds of evolution points floated in front of him.
He already knew exactly how to use them.
Feng Qi merged two-thirds of the Talent Evolution Points into his Blood Source Talent Orb.
Immediately, the dark green flames surrounding the Blood Source Orb flared wildly, and a diamond-shaped gemstone outline emerged at its center.
Seeing this, Feng Qi immediately thought of the missing energy source from the Dark God's forehead.
Judging from its shape, it was a perfect match.
This meant that the Blood Source Talent Orb was likely the missing core power of the Dark God.
It was also the reason the Dark God had been hunting him down.
At that moment, the narrator's voice echoed in his mind:
[As long as you're strong enough, you'll be the one hunting the Dark God in the future—absorbing its power and completing yourself. In fact, with the Evolution Token, you don't even need the Dark God's strength. You can evolve a superior version of the Dark God Form, one far beyond what the Dark God itself possesses… The only requirement? Enough Talent Evolution Points.]
Just as the narrator said—if he had enough Bloodline Evolution Points, he could push the Blood Source Talent Orb to unimaginable heights.
One enhanced orb could be stronger than five combined.
Feng Qi then merged the remaining one-third of the Talent Evolution Points into the Purple Soul Talent Orb.
Purple Soul was the most promising talent ability he had ever obtained.
Its magic immunity could potentially reach the level of Little Black.
If he could feed enough Evolution Points into it, Purple Soul might allow him to completely ignore all energy-based attacks, just like Little Black.
Just thinking about it made his heart race with excitement.
After finishing the breakdown and upgrades of his talent abilities, Feng Qi opened his eyes.
At this moment, he was lying on the examination platform, the overhead lights flickering as beams of different colors swept across his body.
Turning his head to the side, Feng Qi saw Wei Wei, dressed in her Crimson uniform, carefully examining the physical data report from his examination.
"How's it looking, Wei-jie?"
"Very strong!" Wei Wei flashed a smile and gave him a thumbs up.
Feng Qi: …
"Alright, get up. Come with me to the archives. We need to record everything you gathered in this Future Dream Realm. I've already contacted the Dean and the others. Once the data is fully uploaded, we'll hold a top-level meeting."
"Got it."
Feng Qi immediately got up and followed Wei Wei out of the examination room, heading toward the archives.
Aside from the future knowledge he'd gathered, there was another major gain—he had successfully extracted the implanted knowledge from the alternate him in the Dream Realm.
This extracted data was critical for the Crimson Research Institute's next research focus.
Memory Extraction Technology
Partial research on Psionic Weapons
Living Armor Technology
Crimson Research Institute's initial blueprint for Spatial Jump Technology
All of these technologies were the result of over a thousand years of effort by the Crimson Scholars in the previous timeline.
Their importance couldn't be overstated.
The data recording process took five full days.
During this time, Feng Qi had to call Bai Fusheng again to request leave.
Having already received a call from the Crimson Dean, Bai Fusheng was fully supportive and didn't show any dissatisfaction.
Once the data entry was completed, Feng Qi rested for half a day.
Meanwhile, Crimson's high-ranking officials, who had been out on assignments, returned one after another, preparing for the upcoming Crimson Top-Level Meeting.
8:00 PM.
Inside the Crimson Top-Level Conference Room.
The room, decorated in a deep blue and black color scheme, featured a large metallic round table. Seated around it were the highest-ranking members of the Crimson Research Institute.
Feng Qi sat directly opposite the Crimson Dean, listening as Li Qianfeng, the Head of Crimson's Strategic Department, analyzed the current war timeline.
Li Qianfeng was a man in his fifties.
Due to years of exhaustion, his hair was already streaked with white, and fine wrinkles had formed at the corners of his eyes—a rare sight in an era where lifespans were significantly extended.
Despite this, his strategic expertise was unparalleled.
It was Li Qianfeng who had originally devised the "Counter-Infiltration Plan", one of the Crimson Research Institute's most pivotal initiatives.
Dressed in a faded Crimson uniform, he spoke in a hoarse voice after hearing Feng Qi's report:
"Based on what Feng Qi has shared, we may have misunderstood the true nature of Path of Ascension."
"We now know for certain that Path of Ascension is the frontline of humanity's defense against Domain invasions. However, when I reviewed the number of high-level human warriors who have gone missing in history, I found a total of 12,807 individuals. This figure is unlikely to be too far off."
"But with just 12,000 warriors, there is no way we could have held back the massive wave of invading Domain species."
"The number of Domain forces that have descended upon the human world is overwhelming, and among them are extremely powerful races like the Psionic Race."
"Even if we assume all 12,807 warriors were stationed at Path of Ascension, they would have suffered casualties over time. There's no way a force of this size alone could have held the line against a full-scale invasion."
"That means our current understanding of Path of Ascension is flawed."
"Path of Ascension is not just a single battlefront. Instead, it is a spatial corridor connecting humanity's Eastern Region to the Domain World. In other words, what we know as Path of Ascension is likely just one localized connection point—not the only one."
Hearing Li Qianfeng's analysis, Wei Wei, who was seated beside Feng Qi, nodded in agreement.
"That's a solid deduction, Li," Wei Wei remarked. "It would indeed be impossible for just 12,000 warriors to single-handedly stop Domain invasions across the entire world. Tianshu is a rare exception, a legend among the Tongtian Warriors, which proves that only the strongest even had a chance to survive."
"However," she continued, "this theory isn't entirely airtight. After all, Tianshu himself was stationed at Route 32 and even he wasn't fully aware of how many Tongtian Warriors existed. Your statistics only account for missing persons from the Eastern Region, but what if Mu Yan also sent warriors from other regions to Path of Ascension?"
Nodding solemnly, Li Qianfeng replied, "That's exactly what I was considering as well. So, I conducted a deep dive into casualty records and found a critical clue."
"Remember when Feng Qi accessed Mu Yan's memories?"
"In those memories, every Miracle-level warrior she was associated with—whether it was Ye Huang, Wei-jie, the first Crimson Dean, or Tianshu—all of them were from the Eastern Region."
"Which leads me to suspect that the Eastern Region is humanity's last remaining safe zone. That's why, 1,500 years in the future, Mu Yan chose this place as the final battlefield."
"And when the Eastern Region fell to Blood Moon and Domain expansion, that marked the end of human civilization."
A heavy silence filled the room.
The scenario Li Qianfeng painted was too grim.
The atmosphere in the conference room became incredibly tense.
Breaking the silence, Li Qianfeng shook his head.
"This isn't something we should dwell on. For now, Feng Qi must continue his exploration and uncover the truth."
"For now, let's move on to a more immediate issue—how to handle the Silver Moon Clan."
His eyes swept over the table.
"Do we need to take decisive action? Should we eliminate Yin Ling and the other Silver Moon pioneers to completely remove the hidden threat at its source?"
Sitting on the left side of the conference room, Gu Ke, the head of Crimson Security, spoke up.
Hearing Gu Ke's suggestion, Li Qianfeng immediately shook his head.
"That won't eliminate the threat. The arrival of the Silver Moon Clan is only a matter of time. Even if we eliminate Yin Ling and the other Silver Moon pioneers, it won't stop the full descent of the Silver Moon Clan."
"Of course, we can't allow Yin Ling and the other Silver Moon pioneers to continue embedding themselves within Star City. Now that we've identified this hidden danger, we must find a way to neutralize it. But the method of elimination doesn't have to be so straightforward."
"Li, you already have a plan, don't you? Spill it." Wei Wei rolled her eyes at him.
Li Qianfeng picked up the document in front of him and smiled.
"First, let me introduce Yin Ling's background."
"Yin Ling, born in Star City's West District, Building 8-3, Street 245. Her father, Yin Xiang, and her mother, Liu Peipei, were both Energy Research Institute executives. They have since retired. Yin Ling had access to top-tier education from an early age and showed remarkable talent. Before joining the Energy Research Institute, she studied at the Lingcai Research Academy in Old Day City. She later graduated at the top of her class and entered the Energy Research Institute. After the former Dean retired, she successfully succeeded the position."
"Her abilities are undeniable. I reviewed the papers she published on spiritual material science, and her work is absolutely legitimate—there's no sign of forgery or manipulation."
"In order to determine when the Silver Moon Clan infiltrated Star City, I investigated her ancestry for multiple generations. I found that her family has deep roots in Star City, with traceable and verifiable records—none of them were Scavengers from outside the city. There are no apparent loopholes in her identity."
"If Yin Ling's ancestors were Silver Moon pioneers, that would mean they arrived hundreds of years ago."
"But that theory doesn't make sense. Star City has experienced multiple major upheavals in the past few centuries. If the Silver Moon Clan had arrived back then, they would have acted during those chaotic periods—they wouldn't have remained dormant until now."
"That leads me to suspect that Yin Ling's identity is real, but at some point, she was either replaced or possessed."
"We can compare this to the Mist Lord's parasitic possession—perhaps Yin Ling was switched at birth and replaced by a Silver Moon operative. Her entire upbringing and education would have been experienced by a Silver Moon agent in disguise."
"Another possibility is that a Silver Moon agent later stole Yin Ling's memories and identity, meaning she wasn't replaced at birth but rather sometime later."
"In any case, identity replacement is a far more likely scenario than a multi-generational infiltration."
After finishing Yin Ling's background briefing, Li Qianfeng placed the document down and paused briefly before continuing.
"As for how we should handle Yin Ling and the Silver Moon pioneers, I have a proposed strategy. I don't believe we should just eliminate her outright—it's unnecessary and provides no real advantage. Plus, it wouldn't prevent the Silver Moon Clan's arrival."
"Instead, I think we should make contact with Yin Ling and gather intelligence from her."
The room fell into a moment of silence as everyone frowned in thought.
However, after hearing Li Qianfeng's detailed analysis, their concerns suddenly cleared.
"Right now, Yin Ling is like a nuclear warhead's activation switch—a massive hidden threat. But this threat could be turned into our advantage—if we learn how to control the switch."
"If we can control how the Silver Moon Clan descends, it would be like having a nuclear weapon we can direct anywhere."
"For example, if we gain the ability to send false spatial coordinates to the Silver Moon Clan, we could manipulate where they descend. We could even trick them into arriving directly on top of the Psionic Race's territory."
"This means that the Silver Moon Clan's arrival doesn't have to be a catastrophe. If handled correctly, it could actually become our greatest weapon."
As Li Qianfeng finished his explanation, realization dawned on the room.
Feng Qi immediately gave a thumbs-up to Li Qianfeng.
At that moment, the narrator's voice echoed in his mind:
[Brilliant! If this plan works, it's going to be hilarious. We could just drop the Silver Moon Clan right on top of the Psionic Race and watch them tear each other apart. All we have to do is sit back, enjoy the show, and watch the chaos unfold.]
Initially, Feng Qi had planned to eliminate the Silver Moon infiltrators as soon as he returned to reality, ensuring that the "Suction Cup" creature could remain alive and kicking in future Dream Realms.
But after hearing Li Qianfeng's explanation, he realized that handling the Silver Moon Clan could actually be a two-pronged strategy.
Not only could they remove the Silver Moon threat, but they could also turn the Silver Moon descent into a weapon, one that they could aim wherever they pleased.