Lin Yi's Decision

"Comrade Lin Yi." After a moment's thought, Zhou Jianmin took over the call and asked Lin Yi, "If I'm not mistaken, you only have half a year left to live?" "Mm," Lin Yi nodded, paused, then added, "At most half a year." Zhou Jianmin sounded unwilling to give up. "No chance for another rescue? Like finding some spiritual objects to extend your life?" "No chance, Director Zhou," Lin Yi sighed, sounding very pessimistic. "My aptitude is ordinary, and several years ago I suffered a major injury to my foundation. It's completely hopeless." "If luck is worse, I might not even last four months." He never had much confidence in his own luck. Just kidding. Before he transmigrated, playing Caitlyn in ARAM, he'd once gone six hits without a single crit despite a 75 percent crit rate—could anyone believe that? As for extending his life through spiritual objects, as Zhou Jianmin had mentioned, that was even harder. Granted. The Tianling Realm did have natural treasures that could extend life, and sellers weren't hard to find if one put in some effort. In a few major trading houses in Jiuwu City, life-extending spiritual objects went on sale every month; six years ago, someone had even sold a miraculous item that could extend life by over six hundred years. But not only were they expensive—they also uniformly demanded an extremely high cultivation realm. Otherwise, even if these spiritual objects entered the body, there wouldn't be enough spiritual power of sufficient quality to refine them. Even Baiyu Dew Liquid, the lowest-threshold option that extended life by five to ten years, required the consumer to have at least mid-Golden Core cultivation. That miraculous item that appeared in Jiuwu City back then required mid-Spirit Severing cultivation at minimum, and it had been snapped up by a mysterious big shot within a few days. "So Director Zhou, give up on ideas like rescue," Lin Yi—who had long seen this matter clearly and even had the mood to joke with Zhou Jianmin—said. "Rather than wasting manpower and resources on this, it would be more cost-effective to save resources and prepare a livelier memorial service for me." Zhou Jianmin fell silent. With his EQ and IQ, it was naturally not hard to hear the other layer of meaning hidden in Lin Yi's words: This guy was completely hopeless; the home world should think about future contact. Put more bluntly: Should he tell Zhao Ping and Su Qing about the home world's existence before he died, so the two could continue cross-realm liaison with the home world in the future? It seemed Lin Yi truly trusted these two disciples from the bottom of his heart. Afterward, Zhou Jianmin carefully weighed things for about half a minute, choosing his words as he said to Lin Yi, "Comrade Lin Yi, I understand your thinking, but right now the two realms have just intersected, and the home world doesn't know Zhao Ping and Su Qing well enough." "So how about this: give the home world a month to assess and observe. After a month, the home world will definitely give you an accurate answer." A month, huh... Lin Yi only thought for a moment before readily agreeing. "Fine." Zhou Jianmin's reasoning was sound, and he could afford to wait a month. After all, cultivators were unlike ordinary mortals. Because Tianling Realm cultivators produced spiritual power within their bodies, although their qi and blood gradually declined before their lifespan was exhausted, they did not completely lose consciousness and the ability to act. Generally speaking, cultivators often developed an accurate premonition about a week before their final limit arrived, so they wouldn't suddenly drop dead. Many cultivators, to show defiance against fate, would even actively sever their breath and die at the moment their final limit arrived. Therefore, even if Lin Yi's bad luck was at its peak and he couldn't last half a year, he would still have three months at least. Besides, if Zhou Jianmin wasn't wrong, that month wasn't only for assessing Zhao Ping and Su Qing—most likely, they would also try researching whether Lin Yi could be rescued. Never mind. If they wanted to try, let them try. Leaving aside whether spiritual objects could be bought, just the gap in cultivation realms involved in extending life was an unbridgeable chasm. Impossible. Absolutely impossible! If such things could be done, Lin Yi would go right there and gnaw on the plaque of the Grand Elder's Hall—and he'd do it in front of his disciples! ...... But Zhou Jianmin didn't know about Lin Yi's inner monologue. After reaching a temporary consensus on Zhao Ping and Su Qing, he turned the topic to the final segment. "Comrade Lin Yi, you've really worked hard this time. With the information you provided, the home world's study of the Tianling Realm will be much easier." "Unfortunately, limited by channel conditions, the home world's interference with the Tianling Realm is insufficient, and we can only send some supplies to you within our means." "This new batch of supplies still focuses on small arms, with h11 advanced instructional manuals and related videos. Also, considering you've been away from home for many years, the organization has prepared some non-armament small gifts, hoping you'll like them." "Oh?" Lin Yi's eyes showed curiosity. "Small gifts? What are they?" "Uh..." Zhou Jianmin hesitated and didn't spell it out. "You'll know when you receive them. Roughly... right, they're entertainment-type things." Lin Yi blinked. Entertainment type? Oh, I see. Probably something like a portable karaoke machine or a projector, right? Director Zhou really was something—acting mysterious over such a small thing... Silently roasting Director Zhou in his mind, Lin Yi quickly said again, "Director Zhou, that works out well. I also have a batch of things I plan to transmit to the home world." "Besides the previously mentioned cultivation technique books and reference materials, there are also some supplies that might help with research, such as a few Dharma artifacts and medicinal pills, etc." To express his gratitude to the state, Lin Yi had prepared many return gifts overnight. Apart from the technique texts and the soil samples Pan Yongnian had instructed him to collect, he had put nearly the greater part of his accumulated net worth into it. The only thing he showed restraint with was spiritual plants; Lin Yi only put a low-grade Diyou Grass in a small box. It wasn't that he was reluctant. Mainly, spiritual plants carried their own vitality and would likely turn into specimens during transmission. If spiritual plants could truly maintain vitality and arrive safely at the home world, it wouldn't be too late to send more next time. Being calculating about everything, after all. "In short, I've written all the specific supplies on a list. The home world can just check against the description after receiving it." Lin Yi briefly introduced his return gifts, then changed the subject. "Apart from the various spiritual objects, the largest proportion is materials collected from the bodies of Golden-Eyed Crimson-Scale Beasts." "Those two Golden-Eyed Crimson-Scale Beasts produced a lot of material. My two disciples even found a demon core inside one of them..." Following that thread, Lin Yi introduced to Zhou Jianmin the demon core discovered by Zhao Ping and Su Qing, as well as its significance. "...Putting it that way, the appearance of those two Golden-Eyed Crimson-Scale Beasts is a bit strange," Zhou Jianmin said quietly after listening to Lin Yi's description, stroking the stubble on his chin, looking thoughtful. "So Comrade Lin Yi, what's your thinking?" "I plan to transmit the demon core and one-third of the demon beast materials back to the home world first," Lin Yi quickly proposed his idea and explained to Zhou Jianmin. "Most of them are important parts or unique specimens." "First, it's only been over twenty hours since the last transmission, and the channel between the two realms hasn't recovered to its best state yet. I estimate one-third of the materials is about the limit for this transmission." "Second... I plan to take the remaining ordinary materials myself to Jiuwu City to exchange for some spirit stones."