Lin Yuan connected to his core. His consciousness sank through the barrier and descended into his Wasteland Divine Domain.
Dark red still shrouded the three hundred thousand square kilometers of scorched earth.
With a thought, he brought a card into the air.
[Abyssal Blood Pool (Remains)].
He chose a flat patch of scorched rock in the basin's center and tossed down the scroll.
Boom!
The earth shook. Rock strata tore open.
A vast stone pit, more than thirty meters in diameter, rose from the ground.
The pit was empty, but twisted Abyssal runes covered its walls. A nauseating reek of blood shot into the sky.
Lin Yuan waved open his storage space.
The two metric tons of low-grade Abyssal monster bone fragments and rotting flesh he had bought on the black market poured into the pit.
The moment flesh touched the bottom, the runes lit up.
The dry pool began to secrete dark-red fluid, soon submerging the broken bones.
Bloody water bubbled. Crimson mist spread outward.
Several nearby Petrified Goblins inhaled it, their eyes instantly turning blood-red.
They let out mindless howls and raised their bone blades to hack at their companions.
"Silence."
Lin Yuan delivered his oracle.
Mountainous pressure descended, forcibly pinning the goblins to the ground.
He hovered above the blood pool, dark-gold light surging in his eyes as he activated [Creation Extraction].
Dark-gold chains plunged into the depths of the boiling pool and jerked upward.
A sphere of intertwined black and red light was dragged free. Fragments of chaotic, bloodthirsty, disorderly laws filled it.
[Notice: Extraction successful. Black Iron-grade negative trait obtained: Loss of Sanity. Bronze-grade negative trait obtained: Flesh Aberration.]
These were the sources of Abyssal corruption that every god avoided like the plague.
Lin Yuan closed his hand and squeezed.
Bang!
The sphere shattered in his palm and dissolved into nothing.
The crimson mist dispersed. The raging bloody water settled, leaving only an extraordinarily rich essence of life.
Lin Yuan reached into the pool again and extracted a pure blood-colored glow.
[Notice: Extraction successful. Bronze-grade positive trait obtained: Vitality Nourishment. Black Iron-grade positive trait obtained: Minor Pain Suppression.]
"Now that's the perfect employee benefit." His lips curved upward.
As long as the work didn't kill them, they could work themselves to death.
He drove the two traits back into the pool.
"All goblins, enter the pool." His voice echoed through the basin.
Without hesitation, the sixty Petrified Goblins formed a line and jumped into the scalding blood pool one by one.
The bloody water rose past their necks.
Vital blood energy surged wildly into their bodies through the gaps in their stone armor.
Fractured bones repaired themselves. Torn muscle fibers were rebuilt.
With their pain suppressed, they had no idea how violently their bodies were being ripped apart and reconstructed.
All they felt was strength flooding them. They excitedly pounded their chests in the pool.
Having established his main troops' training facility, Lin Yuan flew toward the basin's edge.
He evenly scattered thirty thousand [Mutant Blackrock Mushroom] spores across the scorched earth.
Then he released a thousand [Ash Worms] into the soil. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
One final step.
He took out a card flowing with golden light.
[Low-Tier Time Hourglass Card].
He crushed it in his hand.
Above the domain, insubstantial laws wove themselves into a golden hourglass.
Sand began pouring down.
A deep hum sounded.
The space of the entire wasteland distorted like rippling water.
Lin Yuan didn't stay to watch.
During accelerated time, a god's consciousness could suffer cuts to the soul from the chaotic currents if it remained in the domain too long.
He broke the connection and returned to his body.
Lin Yuan pushed open his bedroom door, intending to get some water from the kitchen.
The living room lights were off.
Suppressed dry coughing, accompanied by the dull clink of metal components, came from the battered sofa.
He stopped.
By the faint streetlight filtering through the hallway, he saw Old Lin perched on the sofa's edge.
His right trouser leg was rolled up, exposing his scratched military prosthesis.
He had wedged a crowbar deep into a gap in the armor around its knee and was pressing down hard.
Click.
The armor plate popped open.
Inside lay a crystal glowing deep blue.
A Bronze-grade energy-source crystal.
Drenched in sweat and gritting his teeth, Old Lin picked up a screwdriver and began prying at the wires beneath it.
Sparks flew.
An electric arc lashed the back of his rough hand, leaving a charred, bloody mark.
He grunted, but his hands didn't stop.
Lin Yuan's heart clenched.
That source crystal was the lifeline maintaining the prosthesis's neural connection.
It didn't merely provide power. It constantly released weak energy to soothe the damaged nerves at Old Lin's amputation site.
Pry it out and sell it, and the mechanical leg became scrap metal.
Old Lin would not only be confined to his wheelchair again. The nerve pain in his severed limb could torture a person into madness.
He was preparing to sell everything he had to scrape together starting funds for Lin Yuan's defense simulation.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Lin Yuan strode over and seized the hand holding the screwdriver.
Old Lin's wrist shook. The screwdriver clattered to the floor.
Like a guilty thief, he hurriedly closed the prosthesis's armor and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Nothing." He coughed twice, avoiding Lin Yuan's eyes and rubbing his oil-stained fingers. "This damned leg's old. Bearing's sticking. Just doing a little repair."
He stood, placing his weight on his left leg. The mechanical right leg looked stiff.
"Yuan, the simulation's coming up, isn't it?" He tried to sound casual. "I checked my account today. There's still some welfare money I've saved over the years. I'll send it to you tomorrow."
Lin Yuan looked at his father's exhausted face, then at the charred mark still bleeding on his hand.
His throat worked.
Taking a deep breath, he drew the tube of [Holy Purification Potion] from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.
White light illuminated Old Lin's clouded eyes.
He froze, staring at the tube. "That purity... a Black Iron-grade holy potion? Where did you get it?"
He spun around and grabbed Lin Yuan's shoulder, his voice tight. "Did you borrow from black-market loan sharks? You dared get involved with those man-eating bastards?!"
"I didn't borrow anything." Lin Yuan's voice was steady as he held his father's hand. "My domain may be a wasteland, but its ecosystem is a little unusual. Today the goblins dug up a piece of high-grade relic ore underground."
He met Old Lin's eyes without blinking. "Sold it for a hundred thousand faith points."
"A hundred thousand?!" Old Lin drew a sharp breath. His grip loosened.
"Yeah." Lin Yuan pressed the potion into his hand. "It purifies the Abyssal presence. You won't have to get through the night on cheap liquor to bear the pain of your broken Divine Spark anymore."
Old Lin clutched the cold glass tube, veins standing out on the back of his hand.
His mouth opened. He seemed to want to speak, but his throat might as well have been stuffed with cotton.
This old man hadn't cried when monsters tore apart his Divine Kingdom on the front. He hadn't cried when they stripped his rank and sent him back to live on welfare.
Now his eyes were painfully red.
He bowed his head and stared at the potion, forcing his tears back.
"Good. Good boy." His rough hand slapped Lin Yuan's shoulder hard. His voice was hoarse.
"I knew it. A son of mine, a son of Lin Hai, could grow flowers even in a wasteland!"
Old Lin turned and limped toward his bedroom.
"I'm going to bed. Plan out the rest of your money yourself. Don't embarrass me in the simulation."
The door closed.
Lin Yuan remained where he was, looking at it as his gaze gradually sharpened.
What was a hundred thousand?
When he reached the top, he would buy the finest law-based divine treasures and piece Old Lin's broken Divine Kingdom back together.
He returned to his room and locked the door.
He had just sat on the edge of his bed when, without warning, an overwhelming torrent of vital blood energy crossed the boundaries between dimensions and poured from the void into the crown of his head.
Lin Yuan grunted. Every bone in his body cracked like beans popping in a pan.
Muscle fibers were forcibly torn apart, then reconstructed by the surging energy.
His temperature shot upward. Gray-black impurities seeped from his skin, only to be burned into ash by the heat.
Strength.
Endless strength surged through his limbs and body.
The feedback continued for a full ten minutes before it gradually settled.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes. A dark-gold edge flashed deep within them.
He stood, feeling his transformed body.
Clenching his right fist, he used no power of law at all. Only pure physical force.
He threw a casual punch.
Bang!
The air before his fist compressed into a visible white wave with a sharp, explosive crack.
Lin Yuan studied his fist, his gaze intent.
According to the textbooks' combat classifications, a Divine Being's body was comparable to an ordinary mortal's.
Only after kindling a Divine Flame, expanding a Divine Domain, and becoming a rank 1 Demigod would the body receive its first baptism of law.
He hadn't even reached the threshold of Demigod yet.
But the force of that punch had definitely met the standard of a rank 1 Demigod specializing in logistics or spellcasting.