In a daze,
Lin Yuan's eyes opened once again.
The bed, bookshelf, photographs...
His gaze swept across them, and eventually, Lin Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
"Am I back?"
Surrounded by the familiar setting, Lin Yuan felt as if he had lived another life.
Just a moment ago, he had been in the Martial World, where he had remained for twenty long years.
And now, he found himself back within the expanse of the Starry Sea under the Cosmic Human Alliance.
"Right... let's see how much time has passed..."
After a moment of reflection, Lin Yuan immediately checked the time.
From his current surroundings, Lin Yuan inferred that not much time could have passed.
Otherwise, given his state of consciousness departure to a foreign world, his parents would have taken him to the hospital for treatment long ago.
But to know exactly how many minutes or hours had gone by, he needed to take notice.
"Only ten minutes have passed..."
Once he had confirmed the current time, Lin Yuan felt somewhat disoriented.
The twenty years spent in the Martial World had amounted to merely ten minutes in the Main World.
"Is it because the flow of time is different between the two worlds?"
Before the traversal, the Door to the Myriad Realms had warned Lin Yuan
that the flow of time in the world he was traversing to was different from his current world.
But Lin Yuan hadn't anticipated such a significant difference.
Ten minutes compared to twenty years.
Since ancient times, there had been sayings like "a day in the Immortal Realm is a year in the mortal world."
The flow of time in higher worlds is much slower than in lower worlds.
Compared to the Main World, the Martial World clearly belonged to an inferior tier.
And the difference in time flow was much greater than that between the Immortal Realm and the mortal world.
This was evident from the comparison of time flow rates.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Yuan's consciousness submerged into his mind.
There, a tall and majestic 'door' was suspended in mid-air.
Upon closer inspection, the Door to the Myriad Realms was significantly dimmer at the moment.
Around its edges, it was gradually lighting up.
Once the entire Door to the Myriad Realms was fully illuminated, Lin Yuan would be able to make a second traversal.
While Lin Yuan's consciousness was focused on the Door to the Myriad Realms, messages once again began to transmit to him.
"Hmm?"
Lin Yuan rubbed his temples.
After experiencing the first traversal, more functions of the Door to the Myriad Realms poured into Lin Yuan's mind.
The first was another method of traversal.
Besides the descent of consciousness,
it was also possible to traverse with one's physical body through the Door to the Myriad Realms.
However, this method of traversal demanded a greater consumption of energy from the Door to the Myriad Realms.
It would require at least a few years to accumulate enough energy.
To think, Lin Yuan's normal consciousness descent method allowed him to traverse once every eight months to a year.
"Physical body traversal..."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly, not very optimistic about this method of traversal.
Physical body traversal had many conveniences, such as not having to start cultivation from scratch, and so on.
But the drawbacks were also obvious: if you died, you were truly dead.
With consciousness descent, even if the body perished, it merely meant the consciousness returned to its original body.
There would be another chance to try again.
Of course, Lin Yuan didn't completely dismiss the idea of physical body traversal.
It could at least serve as a kind of life-saving measure.
For instance, if Lin Yuan encountered some life-and-death crisis in the Main World,
he could entirely flee to a different world through physical body traversal.
He could then return after the crisis had passed.
Or he might use the different time flows of the two worlds to
achieve a breakthrough in the other world and then return to turn the tables in the Main World, and so forth.
In addition to adding the physical body traversal method,
the messages transmitted from the Door to the Myriad Realms mentioned that a certain price could be paid to bring back items from other worlds.
This didn't come as a surprise to Lin Yuan.
If even people could traverse, it only made sense that other things could too.
...
"Innate Qi..."
After absorbing the information transmitted from the Door to the Myriad Realms, Lin Yuan's thoughts slightly stirred, and a strand of Innate Qi naturally formed within his Dantian Qi Sea.
In the Martial World, Lin Yuan had only realized the superior martial art of the Great Arhat Buddha Fist before he naturally formed Inner Qi within his body as a child.
What's more, he had now already transcended the Mythical level?
Transcending the Mythical level... Lin Yuan named it the Free and Unfettered Realm.
Once one enters this realm, the sky is high and the earth thick, free for me to roam.
This is the Free and Unfettered Realm.
If it weren't for the fact that ascending to a Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, or even to the Mythical Realm required vast external energy and couldn't be achieved in one step...
Lin Yuan now estimated that it would only take a thought for him.
Once the realm is reached, all advancements occur naturally like water flowing along a channel.
"Now, I should be considered an Evolver, right?"
Lin Yuan manipulated the flowing of Innate Qi throughout his body and silently pondered.
The Cosmic Human Alliance had a very clear definition of an Evolver—having mastered powers that ordinary people cannot.
The 'strength' here refers to a broad range of abilities,
such as the 'Mental Strength' of mind masters,
the 'Psychic Powers' of psychics, and so on.
All fall within this scope.
The Innate Qi Lin Yuan had condensed, although not high in intensity, was clearly something ordinary people couldn't master.
Knock, knock, knock.
The door of the room suddenly sounded.
"Big brother, big brother, it's me, it's me."
A childish female voice came through.
Lin Yuan looked up and knew it was his six-year-old sister.
After the conscription notice was issued, his parents had both been properly settled, and his young sister was no exception.
She already had an advanced academic placement quota even before she was old enough to attend primary school.
Such immense wealth was envied by many.
He stood up.
Opened the door.
Then Lin Yuan saw his young sister.
"Brother, you eat the cake."
The sister said, holding out the cake with a pitiable look.
Clearly, offering the cake to Lin Yuan was not her own intention.
Lin Yuan glanced at the living room and saw that, although his parents were occupied with their own matters, they were both covertly watching this side.
The mandatory conscription was akin to sacrificing Lin Yuan for the entire family's wealth, which was not easy for his parents to accept.
After all, Lin Yuan was their son, and naturally, there were deep feelings after so many years together.
But they couldn't change anything as this was a decision made by the government of the Human Alliance.
Mandatory conscription is mandatory conscription.
Why add the word 'mandatory' before it?
His parents wanted to comfort Lin Yuan but feared they might upset him,
so they could only let the sister bring her beloved small cake for Lin Yuan to eat.
"Hmm, not bad."
Lin Yuan took the small cake from his sister's hand and devoured it under her hopeful gaze.
It had to be said, after condensing the Innate Qi, Lin Yuan was quite hungry, and although the cake was but a drop in the bucket, it was exceptionally sweet.
"Brother, is it tasty?"
The sister looked up at Lin Yuan, her large eyes beginning to brim with tears.
"It's particularly tasty."
Lin Yuan nodded affirmatively.
"Waaah..."
"Such a tasty cake, and brother ate it all..."
The sister suddenly cried out and ran towards the living room.
Closing the door to his room, Lin Yuan fell into deep thought.
Now that he had become an Evolver, he could be exempted from conscription; logically, he should tell his parents.
However, it would be best to obtain the Evolver's certificate for certainty.
Only then would he be officially registered, have official proof, and could apply for exemption from conscription.
Lin Yuan planned to visit the Evolver's Association the next day and announce this to his parents after obtaining the Evolver's certificate.
Otherwise, even if he told them now, his parents might not believe him—how could their fine son suddenly become an Evolver?
After all, there was still almost half a month until the conscription date.
According to the charter of the Cosmic Human Alliance, as long as one has not boarded a military district warship, they can be exempted from conscription with Evolver status.