Crimson Research Institute.
Gene Division Laboratory.
Feng Qi leaned back in his chair, both wrists pierced by custom-made blood-drawing needles. Scarlet blood flowed slowly through two soft tubes into the storage tank behind him.
Even with a quarter of his blood already drained, Feng Qi didn't feel any discomfort.
His physique in the main timeline was unique.
He'd often experienced complete blood loss before, so losing a quarter was nothing to him.
What concerned him now was one thing—his blood couldn't be produced in large quantities to supply the Crimson Research Institute for their future plans.
In the future planning project for the construction of the Faith Talent Skill Library…
There was one problem that couldn't be ignored—how to create the Faith Statues.
Faith Statues were the only means by which believers could establish a connection with him in the main timeline.
Without them, even those with genuine faith couldn't form that bond, let alone borrow any of his talent abilities.
Take, for example, praying to a Hero Statue—this might generate faith, but that faith couldn't be captured by the Faith Bracelet across time and space, nor could it be transmitted to his spiritual consciousness in the main timeline.
And the believers still wouldn't be able to connect to him through that faith.
The process of borrowing talent abilities involved three main steps.
The first step was establishing a faith connection with him in the main timeline through a Faith Statue.
That process required a statue infused with his essence to serve as the medium.
To build one, you needed two key materials: blood from the main timeline and a spiritual force crystal.
The crystal part was no longer an issue.
Once he activated his Divine Body, he could mass-produce them. Before his spiritual energy ran out, he could craft over one thousand spiritual force crystals—enough to build one thousand Faith Statues.
But the blood—that was still an unsolved problem.
The second step was for the believer to use the Faith Statue to deepen the connection. This process could be described as Faith Cultivation.
At the moment, the only method was to sit before a statue and continuously pray. The statue would then act as a bridge, slowly building a stronger connection to him in the main timeline.
The third step, once the faith bond reached a certain strength, was using the statue as a channel to enter his spiritual sea in the main timeline and borrow talent abilities from the talent orbit.
That was why, in the last Sacrifice Line, even though he had an entire city's worth of believers, he didn't absorb much faith energy.
The key reason was that only two Faith Statues existed inside the Crimson Research Institute—one for himself, and one with Wei Wei.
When he first created the Divine Body, it was also thanks to over a thousand years' worth of stored faith energy provided by the Crimson Research Institute that he was able to build the framework. He then refined and evolved it using Talent Evolution Points to form the current Divine Body talent pearl.
There were only Hero Statues in Star City, none that could form a true faith connection with him.
As a result, a massive amount of faith energy went to waste.
To open a full-fledged path of universal faith cultivation in the future, they'd need a huge number of Faith Statues to act as connectors to the main timeline.
And for that, he needed to supply a large reserve of blood from the main timeline.
Feng Qi had thought of many solutions.
One idea was to create a batch of large public-use Faith Statues, each capable of supporting over ten thousand users in faith cultivation.
The advantage was reduced blood consumption.
But the downside was clear—shared Faith Statues couldn't provide optimal cultivation results. Building a faith connection was a long process requiring consistent reinforcement. Only after reaching a certain threshold could a believer borrow talent abilities.
And public statues couldn't be used for faith cultivation anytime, anywhere.
Feng Qi's choice was to first build one thousand public-use Faith Statues across Star City's various districts.
Once the Crimson Research Institute had enough blood reserves from the main timeline, then they could consider making home versions or personal-use statues.
But the problem was, even his current blood wasn't enough to meet the needs of building just the public-use versions.
When half of his blood had been drawn, the red warning light lit up on the blood collection tube, and the extraction automatically stopped.
He pulled out the needles from his arms and stood up, heading toward the cafeteria in the Crimson Research Institute.
Next on the schedule—mealtime.
Proper nutritional intake could help speed up his blood regeneration, though the effect would be minimal.
There actually was a stockpile of domain creature blood in the Crimson Research Institute.
But even if he absorbed all of it, it still wouldn't be enough to mass-produce the blood needed for the Faith Statues.
The reason was simple.
Star City didn't have its own front-line supply zone.
All combat domain talents trained in the city's academies, or anyone with value on the front lines, were sent to supply zones established in other cities in exchange for resource allocations—that's how they got spiritual resources.
The Crimson Research Institute, being one of Star City's three major authorities, did receive large annual resource quotas.
But domain creature blood wasn't one of them.
Not because they couldn't get more of it, but because the Crimson Research Institute never needed much of it before.
In their research, blood samples weren't used in large amounts.
Over time, they actively reduced the amount of domain creature blood they requested and traded for other resources instead.
Domain creature blood was usually sent to university cafeterias or food processing facilities to be made into energy bars and other supplements for frontline soldiers.
Human efficiency in utilizing domain creature blood was extremely low—nowhere near the level of emphasis the Mist Tribe placed on it.
So for the Crimson Research Institute to suddenly supply the amount of blood needed to mass-produce Faith Statues for him to absorb—it just wasn't realistic.
As for how to solve the issue of insufficient blood, Feng Qi didn't have a solid solution yet.
That meal took him about half an hour. He ate three full trays of food—all made from spiritual ingredients—before finally feeling satisfied enough to stop.
Standing up, Feng Qi stretched a little, then pulled out his phone to request a Crimson vehicle.
Next, he decided to make a trip to the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
Some time ago, he had traveled to the Winterfell and brought Old Mist from the Silent Domain Field—the Mist Tribe's ancestral domain—to Tiger Soul.
(PS: In the previous Sacrifice Line, this happened after he confessed the truth to Old Mist, who then gave him ten days to think it over. Bringing him to Tiger Soul occurred after that point in the timeline.)
As expected, once Old Mist left his tribe's domain, he underwent another painful test of integrating with the world's rules, nearly dying in the process.
Fortunately, he managed to survive through sheer willpower, finally syncing with the rules of the human world. He successfully became a Domain Transcender, no longer subject to the rejection of the world.
Old Mist was now at Tiger Soul, studying human knowledge.
As for the problem of how to mass-produce blood, Feng Qi figured he should consult this blood expert.
At 7 PM, the Crimson vehicle pulled into Tiger Soul Research Institute.
After getting out, Feng Qi headed straight for the training room. Inside, Old Mist was sitting on the sofa with a tablet in hand, browsing the web. When he noticed Feng Qi enter, he looked up right away.
Feng Qi sat beside him and explained the current issue he was facing.
He had considered many ways to obtain large volumes of blood.
There was one solution that could work right now—but it came with serious risks.
That was the Blood Refinement Plan for the Silver Moon Clan that Old Mist had proposed in the Sacrifice Line.
But this plan was massive in scale and required considerable preparation time—like cultivating blood refinement warriors for array setups, or laying the groundwork for the ritual formations, and so on.
Once initiated, the plan would have a huge impact.
Trying to advance such a massive operation in the main timeline would be extremely risky. So for now, Feng Qi wasn't considering the idea of refining the Silver Moon Clan for blood reserves.
As for the him in the Sacrifice Line, even if he could harvest large amounts of blood from the Silver Moon Clan, it still wouldn't help.
That version of him didn't have a special physique. He had to rely on the Bloodsucking Gloves to absorb blood and still couldn't produce the special blood needed to construct Faith Statues.
Hearing the question, Old Mist fell silent, lost in thought.
After a long pause, Old Mist suddenly asked out of curiosity:
"Your special physique—can it absorb any kind of blood? Is there a risk that absorbing blood will erase the blood donor from existence?"
Feng Qi shook his head immediately.
"Absorbing blood can't erase someone. Only killing them does that. This has been tested multiple times in the future Dream Realm. Any strength gained without killing the source doesn't last. Even if I experience a temporary power surge, it disappears once I return to reality."
"For example, in the timeline with the Shadow City Lord, I absorbed a huge amount of blood in the treasure vault tower, but when I came back, all that power was gone."
The Mist Lord nodded.
"Then it should be fine. Maybe you can launch a blood donation campaign in Star City to gather a large supply of blood."
"Blood donation?"
"Yes. But there are two problems with launching such a campaign. First, most of Star City's citizens are regular people. Their blood is low quality—not even close to domain creature blood—so the absorption and conversion rate will be low. But at least the quantity would be high."
"Second, launching a large-scale blood drive in Star City would definitely attract attention from the other four cities. It would also raise questions among the citizens. So, you'll need a solid public reason."
At this point, the Mist Lord smiled.
"As Star City's behind-the-scenes leader, it's not hard to come up with a reason. You could say the Crimson Research Institute is conducting research on human blood to explore new growth pathways, and that you're collecting blood samples across the city. That would prompt plenty of people to participate and provide a reasonable explanation for outsiders too."
Feng Qi nodded at the analysis.
That was something he hadn't considered.
But actually carrying out this plan would require a lot of preparation.
A city-wide blood drive would need a lot of personnel, something the Crimson Research Institute couldn't manage on its own. He'd have to get the military to provide manpower support.
Then the Mist Lord added:
"Right. If you really plan to run a blood donation campaign in Star City, there are a few things you must watch out for. For instance, never collect blood from someone who's on the verge of death."
"If you absorb the blood of someone who dies right after giving it, your special physique might classify them as someone you killed. And if that happens, they could be completely erased from the timeline."
"You still don't fully understand how your special physique works. So just to be safe, all blood donors need to be carefully screened. No carelessness allowed."
"Got it." Feng Qi nodded without hesitation.
After that, he started chatting with the Mist Lord about his experiences from the last Sacrifice Line.
Toward the end, Feng Qi asked Old Mist how he felt about living in human society and his views on the human race.
Just like in the Sacrifice Line, Old Mist expressed that humanity had tremendous potential.
He once again brought up the concept of "strong-race mindset," saying that humanity used to be the sole ruling race of the human world. Even though today's humans were much weaker than the domain races, they naturally carried a strong-race mindset.
Old Mist explained that a strong-race mindset and a race's actual power were two different things. A race might be powerful but not have the strong-race mindset. But if a race had that mindset, it always had the potential to rise.
Because humans had once ruled this world alone.
So when faced with threats, they could always produce countless warriors and awakened ones.
When driven to the brink, they'd fight back. Unlike the weaker domain races, who had grown used to submission, choosing to become subservient factions or slave forces, accepting a grim fate.
It was this strength in mindset that meant, given enough time, humanity could definitely rise again.
Listening to Old Mist's analysis, Feng Qi felt deeply moved.
He never doubted that the human race had potential.
But compared to those strong races that had developed over tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years, humans had barely gotten started.
Humans had only been exposed to spiritual energy for five hundred years. But even the weaker domain races had thousands of years, or more, of history and growth behind them.
Many of the current weak domain races might have once been top-tier strong races.
They just got crushed in territorial or resource conflicts, were forced into exile, and over time split apart, eventually evolving into what were now considered weak races.
Like the Rift Heaven Divine Clan in the previous future Dream Realm timeline.
After being wiped out by Little Black, the surviving members of the Rift Heaven Divine Clan had no choice but to wander endlessly. Their descendants had no stable home, and without consistent access to resources, they steadily declined—completely becoming a nomadic force.
Of course, some nomadic forces were able to make a comeback and reclaim power.
The Sword Clan was a perfect example.
A descendant faction of the Artifact Clan, the Sword Clan had been fading into obscurity—until Jian Ji was born.
He led them down the path their ancestors once walked, bringing the Sword Clan back to the top as a dominant force in a small world.
There was also the Mist Tribe.
They'd been stuck in development hell until Old Mist took the reins and led them to a new golden age, expanding their territory and increasing their access to resources.
If they hadn't run into the Celestial Warrior on the Celestial Path...
The Mist Tribe would've entered the human world as a powerful force, choosing plunder and conquest instead of infiltration.
Strong races and weak races—it's all a cycle.
Under the wheels of history, strong races split and weaken, and weak races might seize the chance to rise again.
In such a brutal competitive environment, there's no such thing as an eternal empire.
So even a so-called weak race had far more history and developmental growth than humans, who only had five hundred years of spiritual exposure.
Even with another one thousand five hundred years to develop, that was still far too little for human civilization.
Before humanity could truly rise, it would already be thrust into the final death-match stage of competition.
At that point, all the strong races would be decked out in divine gear, wielding multiple miracle artifacts... while humanity's cultivation science would still be in its early stages.
In the clash between Mu Yan and Mo Yue, Mu Yan's defeat would bring devastating consequences for the future of human civilization.
The cultivation edifice humans had painstakingly built would collapse entirely.
Strong-race mindset? What good was that? The environment humans were in was so brutal they might not even get the chance to grow at all.
Hearing his thoughts, the Mist Lord gave a helpless smile.
"You've got the nerve to say others have deep foundations while humanity's is weak? Bro, you've got a cheat code. I don't. If I had your ability to reset timelines endlessly, no one could stop me from launching blood rituals and harvesting thousands of weak races. With that and infinite retries, I'd be so overpowered I'd probably get bored of the whole 'Great Momentum' thing. I might've even figured out how to transcend it and turn the Mist Tribe into a new god-race beyond the old world."
"Too bad I'm not that lucky. Guess I'll just cling to your thigh instead."
Hearing that grumble, the narrator's voice echoed in Feng Qi's mind with a chuckle:
[True. That's way too real. If Old Mist had the timeline reset cheat, maybe he really would've become the Insect King and led the Mist Tribe to witness the arrival of the Great Momentum. Whether he could transcend it with them though… that's another story.]
[But one thing's for sure. Partnering with you is the best move for Old Mist right now. Without your timeline resets, even blood rituals harvesting countless weak races wouldn't be enough. It might give him a huge boost, but it doesn't guarantee he'd survive long enough to witness the Great Momentum—much less transcend it.]
Feng Qi nodded silently in agreement with the narrator.
Then the Mist Lord suddenly smiled.
"Of course, even with the ability to reset timelines, not just anyone can pull it off. The pressure from all those failed timelines isn't something just anyone can bear. That's why I really respect you, from the bottom of my heart. I can imagine how much pain you've had to endure."
Looking at Old Mist's sincere face, Feng Qi couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Hey Old Mist, since you decided to go all-in supporting me in the future Sacrifice Lines, did you never think about carving out a path of your own—for yourself and your tribe?"
Old Mist fell silent for a few seconds, then replied.
"Let me guess. You're asking why I'd sacrifice myself and my people for the sake of the main timeline, right?"
Feng Qi nodded.
"You misunderstood me. I never intended to abandon myself or my people just to support the main timeline. You can clearly see that from the choices I made across multiple Sacrifice Lines."
"For example, in the Dream Realm, after helping you kill the Rift Heaven Divine Lord, I took the miracle seal from his body but didn't hand it over to you. That was to secure a better future and development opportunity for my people."
"Or when Little Black attacked, I didn't block him like Suction Cup did. I just sent a clone. That too was me being responsible for my race."
"In my eyes, this cooperation is built on the foundation that the Mist Tribe in the Sacrifice Lines can steadily develop. I never had any intention to damage the foundation of my people just to advance the main timeline."
"But one thing you can count on—I'll do everything I can to cooperate with humanity. Even if sometimes, it means sacrificing some of the Mist Tribe's growth in the Sacrifice Lines."
Feng Qi felt a growing doubt in his heart.
"Why? If the Mist Tribe in the Sacrifice Lines matters so much to you, why are you still willing to sacrifice part of their benefits to help push the main timeline forward?"
Old Mist smiled at that.
"Why? There's no need for so many reasons. Sure, part of it is because of you, but more importantly... what if, after your death, there's no such thing as Sacrifice Lines or the main timeline?"
"What do you mean?" Feng Qi asked, curious.
"I mean, what if everything resets after you die? Time and space rewind completely. There might be no path for me to keep leading the Mist Tribe in the Sacrifice Lines. What if all of this is just us repeating the same timeline over and over again?"
"You can't guarantee that the Sacrifice Lines will continue existing after your death. All our efforts might just be happening on a single timeline loop. In that case, helping the main timeline might actually be a way of saving ourselves."
Feng Qi suddenly understood.
He and the narrator had talked about this before—whether each restart was a new timeline, or a simple time reversal.
There wasn't enough evidence to make a solid conclusion either way.
Both were possible.
But deep down, he hoped it was just time reversal. That way, all the regrets and losses could eventually be mended along one continuous line, rather than leaving countless abandoned Sacrifice Lines adrift in parallel worlds.
Still, there was one issue he couldn't figure out.
If it really was time reversal, then why was he able to encounter his own brain one thousand five hundred years in the future?
If the Sacrifice Lines and main timeline were the same, then seeing his own incomplete brain would create a paradox.
He didn't dwell on it too long, though.
After chatting with the Mist Lord for a long while, Feng Qi said he was heading back to the Crimson Research Institute to talk with the higher-ups about launching a citywide blood donation initiative.
At that moment, there was one thing about Old Mist that hadn't changed.
In Old Mist's eyes, the Tiger Soul Research Institute was still Feng Qi's main partner.
As for the Crimson Research Institute, it was more of a support force—a reversed stance between Tiger Soul and Crimson, conceptually.
This was also for safety.
After experiencing so many timelines, Feng Qi knew Old Mist's personality very well.
He was fiercely loyal, even willing to die for his brothers.
But one thing was undeniable—Old Mist wasn't some tame house cat. He was always a savage tiger—a beast that, even if starting with nothing, could rely on pure grit to become a regional overlord in the future.
Standing from the perspective of all humanity, Feng Qi had to set up a buffer—a safety zone in case things went wrong.
Even if the odds were tiny.
…
Back in his room at the Crimson Research Institute.
Feng Qi went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of mental soothing agent, and drank it down in one go. Then he sat down at his desk.
As the medicine spread through his body, he felt a chill in his brain. Lifting his right hand, the negative emotions that had been creeping in finally stopped and even started to recede.
Unlike in the Sacrifice Lines, the version of him in the main timeline didn't need to worry about the side effects of mental soothing agents.
The Sacrifice Line version of him was just an ordinary human body.
But in the main timeline, he had a special constitution with powerful healing and purification abilities.
As long as he didn't overdo it, the side effects of the mental soothing agent would be quickly neutralized. Taken in moderation, it had no real impact on him at all.
That was something confirmed by Wei Wei.
He had already rested for a month and a half. He figured it was time to plan out the direction for the next future line.
Spreading open his notebook, he picked up the pen on the desk and fell silent for a while.
After thinking things through, he finally began to write.
Future Plan One – Domain World Line.
Objective: Use the spatial technology developed during the Crimson Research Institute's reverse infiltration project to enter the Domain World. Survive through cultivation until the Domain World collapses, and witness the arrival of the Great Momentum before the destruction of the human world.
…
Compared to the human world, the Domain World would be consumed by the Great Momentum sooner.
Feng Qi believed that if he could get into the Domain World early and survive until one thousand five hundred years later, he might be able to witness the arrival of the Great Momentum one step ahead of schedule and uncover the truth behind it.
But pulling that off came with a lot of challenges.
Surviving for one thousand five hundred years was no small feat. Even if he cultivated using the blood refinement method Old Mist provided, there was no guarantee he'd make it to that point.
This planned future line, based on his current lifespan, was still in the consideration phase. For now, he had no intention of carrying it out.
Future Plan Two – Travel to the Relic Island and uncover the secrets of the Pillar God.
Objective: Use the two-dimensional spatial coordinate map provided by Mu Yan to travel to the Void World, then enter the ruins left behind by the previous era's civilization—the Pillar God. Investigate the truth about Little Black, Crimson Rune Crystals, and whether humans are the continuation of the Pillar God's life and power.
There might even be a chance to discover the truth behind the arrival of the Great Momentum.
Note: With his current strength, entering the Relic Island would be impossible due to the overwhelming impact of knowledge infusion. This plan is more of a long-term goal and isn't a viable path for now.
Future Plan Three – Faith Growth Path.
Objective: Collaborate with all of humanity to develop a faith-based growth system. Attempt to help Mu Yan defeat Mo Yue one thousand five hundred years later. Even if they fail, humanity could still retain a stable development framework instead of falling straight into ruin without any cultivation system.
Note: Current stockpile of faith-based abilities is too small. Blood supply for building faith statues is insufficient. His current talent skills aren't enough to support a complete faith development route. The progression path is too narrow. This plan would require collecting a large number of talent abilities from future dream realms to advance.
Risk Note: If the faith-based skill library becomes the main progression system, enemies will easily figure out his core ability traits, which means his abilities will be effectively exposed to Domain Creatures, making it easy for them to develop countermeasures.
Mitigation: As long as the talent skill library is sufficiently diverse, the risk of being countered disappears. The problem only exists due to the current lack of skill variety.
Future Plan Four – Feed the Blade Line.
Objective: Choose to cooperate with the Demon Blade, start a cultivation path by challenging the path to godhood, and eventually defeat Jian Ji, taking Winterfell City under his control and resolving the massive hidden threat it poses.
Secondary Task: Continue planning Star City's development and start initial construction of a faith-based growth system.
Note 1: If the Demon Blade refuses to cooperate, this line shifts into Mu Qing's development line. Keep Mu Qing in Star City, pour all Star City's resources into her, and help her surpass even the historical peak in power. Then, let Mu Qing challenge Jian Ji herself—cutting off Jian Ji's damn head.
Note 2: If the Demon Blade agrees to cooperate, let Mu Qing continue building the Dawn Rebel Army. Push forward with the Rune Enhancement Project to open another potential path for humanity's future. (After all, the faith growth path isn't yet mature. Once Mu Yan is defeated, humanity's cultivation system would still collapse entirely. The rune path must continue.)
…
There were a lot of future lines he could choose from.
He listed over ten potential future lines before finally putting down his pen.
Out of them, six were suitable for immediate consideration. As to which one he should choose, Feng Qi fell deep into thought.
After a long silence, his gaze landed on the "Feed the Blade Line."
This particular future plan was proposed by Wei Wei. If it could be successfully executed, it would be a huge step forward for Star City—and for all humanity.
Killing Jian Ji meant one of the biggest internal threats to humanity would be eliminated.
From then on, with Star City and Winterfell City working together, humanity's development would take another major leap forward. The exchange of resources and talent could unleash even more potential.
Right now, the most difficult threat was Old Day City, where the Psionic Race's Hei Xuan faction was entrenched.
He was confident he could crush the Hei Xuan faction of the Psionic Race. The problem was that behind Hei Xuan stood the Psionic Race's ancestral homeland faction.
Hei Xuan could summon reinforcements from the homeland faction at any moment. With their strength, destroying Star City would be a piece of cake. Feng Qi really couldn't afford to provoke them.
As for Future City, the Black Shadow forces were a more manageable target.
But behind them stood the Psionic Race's Hei Xuan faction. If he disrupted their schemes against the homeland faction, revenge would definitely follow.
Then there was Little Black, another unstable factor.
Because of all these intertwining influences, even though Future City was originally the central hub of the five great cities and the City of Technology, it wasn't something he could touch just yet.
The situation in Victory City remained unclear. It might not have any Domain infiltration.
As the city with the strongest overall power among the five, there could even be pleasant surprises within Victory City. It might not be under Domain control at all.
But it was also possible that a terrifying force, no weaker than the Psionic Race, lurked in the shadows. Recklessly trying to take over Victory City would be extremely unwise.
Any move there would affect everything else. For now, he decided to put Victory City aside.
Of the four remaining cities, only Winterfell City had a fully understood situation.
In terms of power, Jian Ji was strong—but not unbeatable. If he could gain the Demon Blade's help, then challenging Jian Ji was completely possible.
As this thought took shape, an image surfaced in Feng Qi's mind—Mu Qing's body pierced through and hung high atop the Dawn Banner.
The fallen Mu Qing had been left hanging like that for over two hundred years, until Old Mist died and the little one personally killed Jian Ji. Only then was Mu Qing's body returned to Star City and buried with honor.
That humiliation stoked a fire of rage deep inside him.
Right then and there, he made his decision.
He reached out and put a checkmark next to the "Feed the Blade Line."
Nothing made him feel more satisfied than personally chopping off Jian Ji's damn head. If he didn't get revenge, he couldn't move on.