The Era of Gods #Chapter 163: Astonishing Defeat Rate - Read The Era of Gods Chapter 163: Astonishing Defeat Rate Online - All Page - Novel Bin
Chapter 163: Astonishing Defeat Rate
Translator: 549690339
This is the power of Godhood and the Field: Godhood materializes the rules, while the Field extends the power of those rules. By wielding Godhood to grasp the rules, one can display their formidable might in the form of the Field.
Yet this was merely a Demigod Avatar, not even a potent one at that. The force of its Field was limited. Had a True God taken direct action, Lin Xiao, even as a Divine Being, would have been unable to withstand the power of the Field and would have been drained of all Divine Blood on the spot, becoming a dried husk.
Therefore, when Lin Xiao unleashed more than five million Power of Faith in one breath, the overwhelming Divine Power instantaneously blasted open the Blood Realm affecting him. His form flashed as he burst forth from the heavy blood waves.
At the same time, Shen Yuexin's Forbidden Whip lashed out again. Under the push of Power of Faith, the Lightning Whip swiftly expanded into a thick, straight column of lightning that thundered into the sea of blood. The viscous blood within the Blood Realm that came in contact with it disintegrated into nothingness, piercing a massive hole straight through the heart of the Blood Realm.
The Forbidden Whip in her hand was definitely of Demigod Artifact grade, and furthermore, it was an excellent one within its class. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to easily tear through the Blood Realm.
One must know that Lin Xiao had also erupted with over five million Power of Faith just to break free, and that was merely to escape. Yet with a casual flick of her whip, for possibly around a million Power of Faith, she could easily obliterate large swathes of the Field. It felt as though a red-hot iron rod was effortlessly inserted into solidifying butter, her bursting might far exceeding Lin Xiao's.
Compared to the weapon in her hand, Lin Xiao's Golden Spear didn't even qualify as a Demigod Artifact; it was merely a preform of one, needing ceaseless nurturing to enhance its power.
On a regular trajectory, it might take hundreds of years of constant cultivation until he became a Demigod for the spear to potentially be nurtured into a Demigod Artifact.
Considering she already possessed a powerful Demigod Artifact so early, and he was using one he had snatched from someone else, the gap was… vast.
"Indeed, a low-profile little rich girl. Love it!"
Soon, Lin Xiao realized he had gone from being the main attacker to being merely a bystander. The combat power of a Demigod at full strength was much more terrifying than he had imagined. Merely an Avatar, yet the pressure it exerted was far more severe than the previous Snake People Demigod.
The three of them combined were more than ten times stronger than the trio during the term's final exam, but could only fight the Vampire Demigod's Avatar to a draw.
This just shows how severely the previous Snake People Demigod was weakened: burning pieces of Divinity, Divine Power depleted, all believers slain, nearly on the brink of extinguishing, they almost met their collective demise at its hands.
Fortunately, the power of Divinity brought by this Demigod Avatar was insufficient. If the Divine Power had been abundant, Lin Xiao might not have been able to burst forth with Divine Power and escape just now.
Shen Yuexin led the attack, each swing of the Forbidden Whip transforming into thick pillars of lightning crashing down, blasting away the viscous blood, continuously draining the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation's Divine Power.
Lin Xu, on the other hand, was continuously drawing his bow from afar while aiming at the Blood Realm and not making a move.
Lin Xiao initially circled the edge of the Blood Realm, looking for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, but the Demigod Avatar stayed hidden within the Blood Realm and did not emerge. The Forbidden Whip kept demolishing large sections of the Blood Realm, but couldn't locate its true body.
What baffled him the most was the absence of the Legendary Vampire Afonso.
Despite not being a true Legend, an Eighth-Rank Legendary strength was nothing to scoff at; he certainly had the qualifications to partake in their level of combat, at the very least capable of holding them off for a short period.
Yet, since the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation descended, Afonso had been enveloped within the Blood Realm without a trace, and until now, he had not made an appearance.
Moreover, aside from the series of moves aimed at Lin Xiao who had burst into the Blood Realm, there was no sign of targeting Shen Yuexin and Lin Xu outside the realm, giving the impression that it was always on the defensive. "Something isn't right. Why isn't he coming out? What is he doing?"
Anomaly often signals danger, and the unknown is terrifying. The enemy's unusual behavior put them on alert. Lin Xiao called out loudly to his two teammates:
"I feel something bad will happen if we drag this out."
On the other side, Shen Yuexin, who had swung her whip twenty to thirty times, incinerating big areas of the Blood Realm without spotting the opponent, nodded vehemently and said:
"I also have a bad feeling. The night has many dreams; let's use our trump cards!"
After speaking, Lin Xiao heard Shen Yuexin's voice in his ear:
"You make the first move and blast open an area; I'll follow up to forge a path and locate the target. Lin Xu will deliver the final, fatal blow!"
Instantly, Lin Xiao understood her intent, and with a nod, golden lucent flames blazed within his pupils. He gripped the Golden Spear tightly in his right hand and lifted it as thirty million Faith value began to burn.
At the rate of one million Power of Faith converting to one unit of Divine Power, thirty million Power of Faith would turn into thirty units of Divine Power – an eruption equivalent to thirty units of Divine Power. The space around the Golden Spear began to warp, emitting an astonishing gravitational pull as though air and even light were being sucked into the spear.
If mortal eyes beheld this scene, they would find no Golden Spear in his hand but a distortion that drew in even their gaze.
With a forceful hurl toward the front, the distortion in the void flashed and was gone in an instant.
"Boom!"
The edge of the Blood Realm that covered the entire city suddenly exploded, and an invisible golden tide surged forward, demolishing a large swath of the Blood Realm.
At the same time, the color of the Forbidden Whip in Shen Yuexin's hand suddenly changed, from blue-white lightning to a purple lightning whip pillar. As she lashed out with the whip, the purple lightning whip extended straight for one to two thousand meters into the breached Blood Realm, blasting open a tunnel about ten meters in diameter and nearly two thousand meters long, until it was stopped by an evil figure formed of thick blood that was indescribable.
Lin Xiao, who had been closely watching the whole time, narrowed his eyes in surprise when he saw this. He realized that the evil figure at the center of the Blood Realm was none other than the Duke of Vampires, Afonso.
No, to be precise, the body of the legendary vampire Afonso had been occupied by the will of the Semi-god Vampire. The true Legendary Vampire was dead.
No wonder there had been no sign of him; so that was why.
Occupying the body of a fanatic believer and a legendary vampire, the Semi-god Vampire's Incarnation now had a host instead of the prior Non-existing Tree, allowing it to sustain greater damage and to use more powerful techniques, and also to exist for a longer time, continuously persisting without crumbling as previous incarnations would if their Divine Power was exhausted. Before, it was only a Divine Incarnation, founded on a trace of Divinity and will. Once its Field was breached, it would be a direct hit to the core of the Incarnation, leading to its destruction.
Now, with a physical body, even if their Blood Realm was destroyed, the enemy would have to kill the physical form before they could harm the core.
This series of changes was astonishing, but at this point, the arrow had to be released from the bowstring.
Lin Xu decisively seized the fleeting opportunity and loosed the arrow he had been powering up.
Invisible, felt only by perception, that trace shot through the path cleared by Shen Yuexin's attack. The next second, the Duke of Vampires… no, it should be said the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation's eyes suddenly widened as the space around him brightly flashed, and a dark gold Blood Vortex appeared out of nowhere, solidifying as the trajectory hit the center of the vortex and disappeared as if into thin air.
But a second later, the Blood God Incarnate violently trembled, and an invisible, distorted wave exploded out like a ring of lightning, spreading in all directions.
Then, the massive Blood Realm crumbled away layer by layer, the solidified sea of blood breaking into countless fragments, dissolving, diluting, and disappearing.
Afterwards, the world cleared, revealing four figures standing in the void.
"He's injured."
There was a bloodless hole in the chest of the legendary vampire, the fatal damage caused by Lin Xu's well-powered arrow. It was this strike that, although it failed to kill the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, inflicted great damage on Him, so much so that even the Field could not be sustained.
Unfortunately, the opponent had a legendary-level body. Without this body, Lin Xu's powered arrow would have definitely killed the Blood God Incarnation.
However, the difference was not significant, after all, it was just an Incarnation with not much Divine Power. Even with a new body and blocking that arrow, it wasn't of much use—the difference was merely living a little longer.
Surprisingly, after the Field collapsed, the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation gave them a cold glance and suddenly shot up into the sky, fleeing in full view of the many believers within the city.
This was truly unexpected. To flee under the watchful eyes of so many believers would deal a huge blow to the Faith of the followers, potentially leading to a mass exodus and loss of belief.
But although His reaction was unexpected, they were prepared. Shen Yuexin lashed out with the Forbidden Whip, which rapidly extended for thousands of meters, and a thick beam of purple lightning blasted straight into a point in the void.
"Boom!"
A ring of lightning exploded, and the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, who had vanished into the sky, was forcibly blasted out from the void over a thousand meters high.
Simultaneously, Lin Xiao also soared into the sky, burning a full twenty million Faith value, with golden flames pouring out as the Golden Spear in his hand twisted again, aimed at the newly visible Vampire Demi-god a kilometer away: "Salted Fish Charge!"
The immense Supreme Naga True Body vanished in a flash.
A kilometer away, the forcibly revealed Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, whose face had never shown emotion, showed panic for the first time. Raising both clawed hands, a vast stretch of the void twisted before Him into a massive blood-colored vortex.
As the blood-red distortion took shape, a segment of a golden spear swathed in golden flames appeared out of nowhere and struck the twisting vortex. After a moment's struggle, the tip of the spear slowly penetrated the warped vortex, slowly advancing towards the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation behind it.
At the same time, a dazzling golden light shot out from Lin Xu, soaring into the sky, took a wide curve from the heavens, and struck down on the forehead of the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation.
"Bang!"
The twisted vortex instantly collapsed, and the Golden Spear hit its mark without hindrance, smashing the head of the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation to pieces.
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Chapter 164: Super Large Fire Elemental and Meteoric Fire Rain
Translator: 549690339
The so-called incarnation is an avatar that a demigod or stronger being forms by using a sliver of their divinity and a strand of consciousness as the core, gathering a large amount of divine power.
This refers to beings below Demigods, as the incarnations of True Gods are different.
The strength of an incarnation is related to its divinity and divine power. The more divine power carried during its formation, the more powerful the incarnation will be.
The divine power carried by this Vampire Demi-god Incarnation seemed not to be a lot. Despite its powerful aura, they didn't feel much of a threat.
But for Yu Xiu, who was far away, the moment the Vampire Demi-god's Advent occurred, he felt as though his head had been smashed by a sledgehammer. He lost consciousness for a full ten seconds or so, and when he came to, his face was as pale as paper. He hurriedly packed up his monocular telescope, turned, and ran.
Lin Xiao and the others were Divine Beings with Divinity of their own, allowing them to disregard the oppressive presence of a Demigod, but Yu Xiu was just an ordinary person, a mortal in their eyes.
Any mortal who faces a Demigod directly must make a willpower save on the spot.
Clearly, he failed his willpower check, stunned for more than a dozen seconds. In gaming terms, it was as if he couldn't attack or be attacked by anyone for a dozen turns—a situation where, in combat, he would have been dead long ago.
As for Yu Xiu's Half Beastman subordinates, they fared even worse. After the willpower check, they all fell into fear and scattered in all directions.
And this is only a Demigod. If it were the Advent of a True God's incarnation, failing the willpower check would have various outcomes depending on the True God's alignment and will.
If the True God were an Evil God, there would be a high chance of instant death, and the soul harvested by the Evil God's incarnation.
If the Advent were of a non-evil deity, there would likely be forced conversion of mind and will, turning the individual into a Fanatic Believer of that deity.
Of course, these are the worst outcomes and only apply to mortals with weak willpower. Professionals with relatively firm willpower would, like Yu Xiu, fall into states of fear or stupor.
After escaping to a safe distance and coming upon a small hill, Yu Xiu was about to use a whistle to gather the scattered Half Beastman when his wristband vibrated slightly. He clicked it and a familiar middle-aged man's projection popped up, addressing him:
"Where are you right now?"
Yu Xiu replied:
"I'm outside Alfonso City."
"The company has new orders for you. Leave Alfonso immediately and head to the vicinity of Redstone Plateau Eagle Beak Gorge, at the border between the Vampire Kingdom and the Human Kingdom. The company has set up a camp there."
"Oh, and don't pass through any cities on the way."
The middle-aged man cautioned:
"Students from the Super Newcomer Summer Camp are currently exercising in this plane, and all Vampire Lords are their targets; they will probably attack directly. Avoid going there to prevent being caught in the fray."
Yu Xiu, looking at the massive cloud of blood that had just unfolded over the city in the distance, pulled out a flask and took a swig to calm his nerves, shrugged, and said:
"No need for estimates—someone is already attacking Alfonso. They entered the city in less than half an hour, and now even the Vampire Demi-god's Incarnation has descended. The scale of the battle is enormous."
"Wait!"
The middle-aged man held up a hand, urgently asking:
"Are you saying that the Vampire Demi-god has sent down an incarnation?"
"Yeah, any problem with that, Supervisor?"
The man known as the Supervisor showed a hint of joy and said:
"Then you hurry back there, find a way to get your hands on that bit of Divinity that makes up the Demi-god's Incarnation."
"Pfft!"
Yu Xiu sprayed out a mouthful of liquor, covering his mouth and rolling his eyes:
"Are you joking, Supervisor? How am I supposed to get my hands on that Divinity? With my strength, it's like using my head to snatch it."
The middle-aged man realized this and quickly explained:
"I'm not asking you to rob them; wait for them to defeat the Vampire Demi-god, then approach them in the company's name to buy that bit of Divinity. I will guide you on what to say when the time comes."
Yu Xiu was silent. Frankly, he objected to the order, but he couldn't refuse; if he did, it would be difficult for him to continue his career.
Fortunately, it was just passing a message, no need for him to take action, not too dangerous, so he nodded and said:
"I can go, but I'll wait until they've finished fighting and it's safe to go over."
"Okay, once you complete this task, you'll get a promotion to First Level permission, and we'll transfer you to a better and more relaxed position."
Upon receiving such a promise from his supervisor, Yu Xiu was content and put the whistle to his lips, blowing it hard to summon his Half Beastman subordinates.
Meanwhile, not far from Alfonso City, Shen Yuexin and Lin Xu also appeared when the Vampire Demigod Avatar revealed itself. She reached out and, with a light grasp, a whip crackling with blazing white lightning appeared in her hand. She flicked the lightning whip, which rapidly extended a hundred meters, cracking the Void with loud snaps, and she called out:
"Let's make it quick to avoid protracted troubles."
Lin Xiao withdrew his slightly odd gaze and called out as his figure rapidly enlarged, transforming into a towering thirty-meter-tall humanoid with a snake tail, resembling a Supreme Naga but with scales shimmering in golden light. With a grasp, a forty-meter-long Pure Gold Spear appeared in his hand.
This was a spoil of war he had acquired from the Snake People Demigod during the final exams. If a Demigod had used it as a weapon, it definitely was something valuable. After he removed the spiritual branding left by the Snake People Demigod with Divine Power, it had become his weapon.
As for Lin Xu's weapon, it was a grandiose Golden Bow. When he drew the bowstring, a Golden Arrow composed purely of the Power of Faith slowly took shape.
The power of his bow depended entirely on how much Power of Faith was consumed by the condensed arrow; the more invested, the greater the power naturally was.
With their weapons revealed, Lin Xiao knew it was his turn to step in. With a stomp on the Void, ripples burst forth out of nowhere, and he transformed into a mass of golden light, charging into the Blood Realm unfolded by the Vampire Demigod Avatar.
By coincidence, the Vampire Demigod also possessed a Blood Realm, but it was stronger than that of the Snake People, imbued with rules of aging.
If ordinary people entered this Blood Realm, not only would the blood in their bodies boil or be forcefully extracted but also they would be weakened by the aging rules.
The rule of aging doesn't literally make one old; aging involves the Supreme Time Law. It brings about a weakened state similar to that experienced after life's natural aging process.
And the Blood Realm isn't just about making your blood boil or forcefully extracting your blood; these are just the most commonly used and most powerful manifestations of the blood rule. The complete rule of blood refers to the control over blood. To ordinary people, the most horrifying aspect is naturally having all their blood forcefully drawn out, or boiling like it's been set aflame.
These are the ways to wield the blood rule, a control from the rule level that ordinary people simply can't counter. This is the impassable chasm between gods and mortals.
Only a Deity can contend with another Deity. Although Lin Xiao and his companions aren't Demigods and lack Godhood, their robust Divinity, coupled with the Power of Faith, can negate the impact of the rules.
Of course, legendary heroes who are just beginning to touch the level of rules can also resist the influence of domain rules for a short period.
It's worth mentioning that legendary troop types and legendary heroes are actually two different things.
Legendary troop types refer to the level of troop types: Rank 6 and Rank 7 are transcendent troop types, Rank 8 and Rank 9 legendary troop types, meaning that troops of this level are as powerful as legends.
Legendary heroes, on the other hand, refer to mortals who have begun to master rule powers and have legendary traits similar to Divinity, reaching the level of Rank 8 in the evaluation of countless mortal creatures in the Main World against the Void Sea Crystal Wall System. Both kinds have no significant difference in physical constitution or ability, with the major difference lying in their mastery of rules.
For example, both a legendary troop type and a legendary hero have a strength of 100, which can deal a hit equivalent to 50 strength to an enemy with a constitution of 50. However, a legendary hero with rule power can deliver damage that is a multiplier of 50 or employ rule power to ignore the enemy's defenses to deal full damage.
Or to put it another way, even with zero-level Weak Divine Power, by virtue of their Transcendent Divine Power "Life and Death", they can instantly kill a legendary creature of Rank 8 or even Rank 9, but not a Rank 8 legendary hero who has mastered rules.
Of course, this applies to the vast majority of cases and doesn't include some freakish legendary troop types like Dragons which, with their innate freakish talents, can't be measured by common standards.
Besides, if a troop type can advance to Rank 10, there's no distinction between ordinary troop types and legendary heroes. Creatures at this level will absolutely possess attributes comparable to legendary rules, freakishly strong ones.
And this Legendary Vampire Duke named Afonso is actually a legendary creature, not truly a legendary hero who masters rules.
For distinction, those who have mastered rules are commonly referred to as True Legends or legendary heroes—they are graced with the name of heroes.
But this is only for those from the Main World. Many Natives Planes also call some powerful species that have reached Rank 8 with bloodline talents legendary, making the classification quite chaotic.
But they know in their hearts that these legendary Vampire Dukes who have reached Rank 8 through bloodline are not truly legendary.
"Boom!"
Charging into the Blood Realm like a shell, Lin Xiao's Divine Power for protection collided with the domain power, triggering a terrifying impact that exploded forth, ripping a large chunk off the city-covering Blood Realm.
He thrust his Pure Gold Spear fiercely, and a golden translucent flame wrapped around the spearhead, forming an inverted triangular cone that effortlessly tore through the viscous blood, as a huge golden figure plunged deep into the expanse of the Blood Realm.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the Blood Realm, Shen Yuexin raised her Forbidden Whip and lashed it violently. The blazing white lightning of the whip's body suddenly swelled and extended indefinitely, turning into a lightning whip pillar thicker than a human and blasting into the Blood Realm. In an instant, the whip's body brightened up, exploding into countless tiny lightning bolts spreading in all directions, its lightning Purification power instantaneously cleansing the Blood Realm within the reach of those tiny bolts.
In contrast to her overpowering whip, Lin Xu's style was very understated, so much so that he didn't even take action.
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Chapter 165: Fusion Self-Exploding Assassin
Translator: 549690339
Although they were considered elites among their peers, they were still too young to compare with the seasoned veterans who had spent so long in the Outland.
It is important to know that once Divine Territory Players leave school, there are no restrictions. As long as they are willing to pay the price of their future prospects, they can crazily enhance their Divine Power to the limits that their Divinity can withstand. In the early stages, it is quite difficult for students who have been trained in the standard college style to surpass them.
In the later stages, the college style will undoubtedly be stronger in both strength and potential, but during the first and second years, it is not so clear. As the old saying goes, fortune comes with risks, and the benefits contained within a God's Tomb are enough to warrant taking some risks.
Yes, just some risks.
Before confirming his agreement with them, Lin Xiao separately contacted his mentor and the observer from the top college 'Ether', sending them each a message.
He informed them about this opportunity they encountered after completing their own mission and their plans to enter the God's Tomb.
Regardless of whether it was the team mentor or the observer from Ether, he didn't know if they had always been watching him, but now that he had reported the matter to them, he would definitely come under their scrutiny. His actions were visible to Lin Xu and Shen Yuexin. While uploading the information, he said to the two of them:
Given the weight of the three of us, our mentors will surely pay close attention to us later. That way, even if we encounter any dangers in the God's Tomb that we can't resist, there will be a mentor ready to save us at the critical moment." This was essentially creating a backup plan for himself. Although it was somewhat foolish to place hope in the hands of others, it was, at the very least, a form of insurance.
The officials of the Summer Camp, the mentors, and the colleges that had specially recruited each of the three of them-as long as any one of them was paying attention to them-would save them in the most dangerous moment. With multiple insurances in place, the safety guarantee was still relatively high. After finishing these preparations, Lin Xiao said to Zhang Feng: "We can certainly cooperate. More people means greater strength. The God's Tomb is so dangerous, it's perfect for sharing some of the pressure." Zhang Feng's face immediately lit up with an enthusiastic smile, and he laughed heartily:
"It is our honor to cooperate with such distinguished students."
Lin Xiao laughed in response:
"You are too kind. All of you are veteran adventurers with more experience and knowledge than us. You should take the lead in our upcoming exploration." "No problem, let's work together sincerely and make a fortune together." "Yes, yes, let's make a fortune together."
In just a few words, the method of cooperation was agreed upon, and both parties gathered to discuss. The eight Divine Territory Players spread out to continue investigating each space rift, greatly increasing their efficiency. Zhang Feng and the other eleven ordinary adventurers temporarily stopped on the solitary peak in the center of the valley. Aside from Yu Xiu, all of these people were Rank 6 or even Rank 7 Transcendent Level experts. Even Zhang Feng, who seemed gentle and refined, was actually a Transcendent Rank Magician.
As the only non-Transcendent person, Yu Xiu wouldn't have been able to participate in such a major event if he hadn't brought Divinity with him.
Looking enviously at the busy group, he asked in a low voice:
"Boss, are we really going to cooperate with them?"
Zhang Feng glanced at him and nodded:
"Cooperate."
Yu Xiu smacked his lips, sighing:
"But that's the God's Tomb."
"We have no choice but to cooperate," Zhang Feng said.
He looked up at the Vault of Heaven for a long while, suddenly pointed to the sky with a smile, and said:
"Do you believe that at least two True Gods are watching us right now?" Yu Xiu looked up in astonishment. The sky was murky with a yellow tint, empty of anything, and he said in surprise:
"Really?"
"Hmmph, you should know that it is now the Super Newcomer Summer Camp, and we're still in the exchange competition period. With the five top Super Academies and over a hundred higher education colleges, not to mention the powerful figures from the College Alliance gathered here, this plane might be under the watch of several hundred True God incarnations at the moment. Any corner of the plane is under their eyes."
He glanced at his subordinates and said:
"Under these circumstances, can we refuse to cooperate?"
"Er…"
Yu Xiu was speechless for a moment before finally sighing:
"Damn, I'm so envious!"
With eight people searching together, the several hundred space rifts were quickly examined, and a total of seventeen rifts with traces of the Semi-god Vampire were found.
Then, with Li Cheng of Yuming Trading Company, the team leader who had obtained the Semi-god Vampire's Divinity, leading the way, they compared the Divinity with each space rift to determine which one the Semi-god Vampire had entered.
Divinity of the same origin is connected. As Divinity approached a space rift, there would definitely be a reaction if it were the right one.
After only trying the fourth space rift, they saw the fragment of Divinity come alive, letting them know that this was the right rift.
However, for safety's sake, they continued to inspect all the remaining rifts. Ultimately, they confirmed that this space rift at the foot of the solitary peak was indeed the entrance to the God's Tomb.
The next step was to go inside.
To show his sincerity, Zhang Feng said:
"Later on, one of our team members will enter first, and then one of you will go
We will take turns like this, okay?"
Lin Xiao replied with a smile:
There's no need for such trouble. You two go in first, and then the three of us will enter together, how about that?"
Zhang Feng was taken aback for a moment but then immediately laughed: "Sure."
He looked towards team captain Li Cheng, who immediately nodded at the two team members behind him:
"Feng Wei, Wang Jiechao, you two go first."
The two subordinates nodded without hesitation, and as the thought crossed their minds, a layer of golden, glass-like Divine Light protected their entire bodies. They stepped confidently into the rift swirling with dark flames, disappearing with a crackling pop.
After the two entered, Lin Xiao and the others approached the space rift. Before entering, they suddenly turned around in unison and waved towards the sky. Zhang Feng, Li Cheng, and the others' expressions changed, and they grinned awkwardly, also waving towards the direction they had gestured to.
Stepping into the space rift felt like entering a volcanic lava pool or an acidic pool. The black Void Energy reacted violently with their protective Divine Power, crackling nonstop, and they could clearly sense the consumption of their Divine Shield.
Once they fully stepped into the space rift, the darkness before their eyes changed, and they had left the Shattered Plane, entering the Void outside the Plane Crystal Wall.
Normally behind a space rift should lie the endless expanse of the Void Sea, but the area beyond the Crystal Wall they'd entered was scattered with auroras of various colors, likely remnants of Piecemeal Planes that hadn't completely disappeared, suggesting this was probably the location of a Half-Plane that once adjoined a larger Plane.
Amidst these remnants of auroral Plane Fragments was a Teleportation Array fixed at the edge of the Crystal Wall, resilient against the erosion of the Void Storms all year round, still stubbornly emitting… intermittent light.
After all, it had existed for too long without maintenance. Even if this Teleportation Array had been arranged by a Deity, it was on the verge of failing. It already looked very unstable, and who knows when it might completely cease to exist.
Feng Wei and Wang Jiechao, who had set off first, were now standing above the Teleportation Array. Upon seeing them come in, they waved them over.
The three flew up to the rather large Teleportation Array, and Wang Jiechao, who had his hair styled into small braids, said:
"Do we go in now or should we wait for the others to arrive and go together?"
Lin Xiao glanced at his two teammates, and Lin Xu said:
"Let's wait for everyone to go together. This Teleportation Array doesn't seem very stable; it probably can't be used many more times."
Wang Jiechao and Feng Wei naturally had no objections.
After standing for a while, another Divine Territory Player called Feng Wei leaned in and softly asked:
"All of you who can participate in the Super Newcomer Summer Camp are elites among elites. We were eliminated early, just academic dregs, so I'm really curious. Could you share some interesting stories about the Summer Camp that you can tell?"
"All, this…"
Lin Xiao scratched his head and said:
"Brother, I don't really know how to answer your question."
"Then just talk about how impressive those top elites from your Summer Camp session are. I heard that this session was ranked by seating. Tell us how powerful those top elites at the Silver and Gold Tiers are."
"All…"
At that moment, Wang Jiechao on the other side, also very interested, said:
"I heard that there's a prodigy from our HuaXia District this session named Wu Zhonglin, a candidate for the deputy list of prodigies, who made it while only a freshman high schooler, scarily strong. You must have seen him; could you tell us how strong he is?"
"This, I can talk about."
Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Shen Yuexin who was secretly snickering with her eyes curved like crescent moons, and said:
"That guy is truly formidable. You know about the Kobold Dragonvein Magician, right? It's just…"
At the edge of the rift, the Void Energy expanded and more than a dozen figures emerged from the space rift. Li Cheng, walking at the front, paused when he saw the three chatting together. Wang Jiechao also saw the captain coming and quickly stood up, rubbing his hands and saying:
"Hehe, we were just chatting with them."
Li Cheng nodded without saying anything, his gaze sweeping over the Teleportation Array and saying:
"Now that everyone's here, let's get ready to go together."
Saying so, he crouched and pressed his hand on the Teleportation Array at the edge of the Plane Crystal Wall, injecting Divine Power to activate it.
At that moment, the man whose hair resembled burning blue flames named Zi Feng leaned over and whispered to his teammate:
"What were you guys chatting about?"
Wang Jiechao chuckled and said:
"We were discussing the Super Newcomer Summer Camp with the big guy."
Zi Feng immediately showed interest:
"Really? I also want to hear."
"We'll talk about it on the way."
"Alright."
Li Cheng quickly stabilized the Teleportation Array, gathered everyone, and combined their Strength into one before activating the teleportation portal. With a dazzling burst of light, the group of over a dozen had vanished.
After they left, several supremely powerful wills descended, completely dispelling the surrounding Void Energy to form a clear Void.
A powerful will swept over the now dimmer Teleportation Array, and after a while, a voice said:
"Interesting, there's an undiscovered God's Tomb in this Plane."
Immediately after, a regal female voice said:
"Looks like their luck isn't bad. Shall we go take a look?"
"Of course!"
The wills quickly disappeared from the spot, the displaced Void Energy surged back violently, colliding and forming a surging tide of energy that rushed in all directions.
By that time, Lin Xiao and his group had already passed through the teleportation portal, traveling an unfathomable distance to arrive in a… Shattered Half-Plane.
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Chapter 166: Ancient Godly Card-Undead Army Card
Translator: 549690339
The city square's ready and waiting defenders swiftly moved forward, and hundreds of arrows rained down, intermingled with the piercing screech of a dozen bed crossbows that had been fired. The whale-hunter knight who had just emerged from the city gate alley suddenly lurched backward, his body pierced by over a dozen thick fine steel crossbow arrows as well as a few awkwardly inserted regular arrows.
"Continue firing!"
The defending commander waved his hand and roared, as the second volley of arrows shot out, accompanied by the creaking sound of bed crossbows being wound.
This Transcendent Level Supreme Naga braced against the second volley of arrows and crawled out of the city gate, clearing the way for the second whale-hunter knight who rushed in through the gate alley. His thick and robust snake tail swiftly swept aside ground arrows and rubble, stirring them into chaotic flight, as he let out a roar charging towards the enemy formations on the square, ready for battle.
Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth, and a horde of Fishman cannon fodder and Forest Lizardmen cannon fodder flooded in, and the square instantly descended into chaos.
When the swarms of Fishman Naga took advantage of the river to attack the city, and the city gate was breached, it was only a matter of time before the city fell. The only differences were when they would completely crush the opposition and how significant their losses would be.
After all, the disparity in strength was too great, they had not yet fully applied their full strength. At least the heroes under the three of them had not yet joined the battle, Shen Yuexin's hero, The Lord of Wrath, had not yet joined the fray, nor had those seventy or eighty Sky Wrath Magicians.
Moreover, considering they had nearly launched a surprise attack directly at the city's doorstep, Duke Alfonso of the Blood Count had been entirely unprepared, his troops had not been concentrated, with only less than twenty thousand of his own forces defending; his other forces were not present. Remember, when Lin Xiao faced the invasion of the Blood Count, the enemy had an army of thirty or forty thousand of the Blood Legion. A Duke is more powerful than an Earl, so it stood to reason there would be more than this meager force.
Lin Xiao squinted, surveying the Vampire Duke enveloped in an invisible distorting veil – he could already sense a force, not belonging to Duke Alfonso, a Vampire Duke, slowly emerging, clearly indicating the Semi-god Vampire took this Legendary Fanatic Believer very seriously and was in the process of preparing an incarnation to descend.
In his fanatical state, Alfonso disregarded his own territory. Without this Legendary Vampire to intercept, the city's defenders would be powerless to stop them.
Even though there were quite a few Transcendent Vampires within the city, it was useless.
With no advantage from city walls, many Supreme Nagas took advantage of the nominator's Body to charge through unopposed, carving through the defenders at the city gate in a back and forth rout.
A Transcendent Blood Knight in full armor pointed forward with a blood- colored greatsword, his shadow flashed, and he traversed a hundred meters and slammed into the back of a Transcendent Supreme Naga. The blood sword, over two meters long, penetrated the thick scales and the exceptionally tough ' muscles, cleaving deep into the flesh, with the sword tip protruding from the other side.
The struck whale-hunter knight, as if uninjured, twisted his body and slashed with two Dual Hand Greatswords. The Blood Knight, gripping the hilt tightly, tried to pull the sword out but couldn't – the whale-hunter knight's muscular twist had clamped down on the blood sword, preventing its immediate removal.
This split-second mistake was fatal in a fight at the Transcendent Level, especially since the whale-hunter knight was stronger than the Blood Knight. In that instant, both the Blood Knight and his mount, even if they had abandoned their sword, could not evade the oncoming strike.
Two piercing tearing sounds and a horrible whinny later, the Blood Knight and his horse split into two halves, even his thick armor was cleaved asunder.
However, the very moment he slew the Blood Knight, a column of flame several meters in diameter burst forth from the central tower in the city and struck the whale-hunter knight. The strategic level spell's terrible power instantly turned the lower half of the whale-hunter's body to ashes. The resulting explosion of dark red flames covered hundreds of meters, blasting a huge crater at the city gate and killing innumerable Fishman Great Naga and foes in this fearsome strike.
Yet, the terrifying power of strategic level spells did not affect Lin Xiao's fervently loyal and buoyant Clan members. Those who had entered the city continued their assault, and the next wave followed through the breach into the city.
Whale-hunter knights, with their superior vitality and resilience, adopted a strategy of trading wounds for wounds and overran their opponents. Being inherently stronger than the Blood Knights and using shameless tactics, these Blood Knights were powerless to fight back.
In less than five minutes, more than a dozen Transcendent Blood Knights were killed or heavily wounded; the survivors led the remaining defenders to abandon the city outskirts and retreat to the three Magic High Towers within the city, making their stand there.
The three Magic High Towers were manned by Duke Alfonso's Mage team – these were not the legendary Mage Towers but a type of military structure. They weren't as powerful as the Mage Towers, but they also had greatly enhanced spellcasting capabilities for the mages inside and the ability to launch highly potent spells for war.
From the onset of the siege up to now, only a few minutes later, these three Magic High Towers had unleashed five waves of terrifying strategic spells. Already, two Transcendent Supreme Nagas had been killed and four more grievously injured and forced out of the fight.
However, his Clan's resolve remained strong; faced with such dreadful magic, they were still spirited warriors. On the contrary, the city's defenders could not withstand this indiscriminate devastating assault and began to collapse first. A small contingent of the defenders had already forsaken the fight and fled further into the city.
Above the Vault of Heaven, a large host of Wingmen had flown over the city walls and entered the city, many Wingmen encircling around several dozen Thunder Wings.
These Transcendent Thunder Wings inherently possessed lightning control Talents, and now with Shen Yuexin having specifically provided them with the career of Thunder Magicians, the combination was particularly formidable.
One could see them with their hands poised, lightning constrained into numerous spear-sized bright blue lightning javelins that they violently hurled downwards.
"Boom, boom, boom…"
Each arm-thick, two to three-meter long lightning javelin stricken its target exploded like missiles, countless bolts of lightning demolishing everything within their range.
The destructive range was not as extensive as that of the Kobold Dragon Vein Magician's Dragon Breath Flame Explosion, but the direct damage within the area was terrifying, and the lightning also dealt massive additional damage to undead demons and other evil creatures.
And vampires, being the epitome of evil creatures, were right within the range of the lightning's punishment. A single lightning javelin could instantly kill any non-Transcendent Level vampire, and even a Transcendent Level Blood Knight would be injured if struck.
Dozens of Thunder Magicians bombarded furiously, flattening all buildings around the three Magic High Towers, scattering and slaughtering a large number of soldiers with the aftershocks, who were then intercepted and annihilated by the encircling Fishman Great Naga.
Lin Xiao and the other two stood quietly in the void outside the city, looking in Duke Alfonso's direction, but their gaze was not on the battle within the city. They had no concern for the three Magic High Towers, as these powerful but long-cooldown war constructs were useless without allies to buy time. With dozens of Thunder Magicians taking turns attacking, the Blood Mages inside the towers were too busy defending to even think about using their war spells in the next round.
What they were focused on was the Duke of Vampires, Alfonso, who had finished praying. The continued prayers of this Legendary-level Fanatic Believer, along with the death of a vast number of followers, finally prompted a response from the Semi-god Vampire, who began to descend.
In their perception, a strong and evil will was emerging in this space, gathering strength.
If the three of them acted now, they could disrupt the descent before its completion, as no Legendary Vampire could stop them.
But there was no 'if,' for this was the very opportunity they had all been longing for. Why would they disrupt it? They were more than eager for the Semi-god Vampire to send a few more incarnations their way.
Seizing the opportunity before the Blood God's arrival, Lin Xiao and Lin Xu Shen Yue Xin simultaneously ordered their troops to retreat to avoid their subordinates being caught in the upcoming clash of legends and above.
On the flip side, compared to their anticipation, the Duke of Vampires, Alfonso, snapped out of his fervent state once his worshipped Blood God responded to his prayers and began descending. He was dumbfounded for several seconds upon seeing that the situation below had been decided in just a short fifteen minutes, before he could come to his senses.
Had he not been a Legendary Vampire himself, he would have thought he was under an illusion.
How could his city have fallen so quickly?
Where was his army?
Where were my so many troops?
For some reason, Alfonso had a bad feeling, but upon sensing the divine might emanating from the Blood God Incarnate about to emerge from the twisted void above him, the unease in his heart quickly vanished, replaced by renewed confidence.
From a distance, Lin Xiao found the changing expressions on Alfonso's face quite interesting, and he felt a bit envious too.
A demigod having a Legendary-level Fanatic Believer, it was indeed enviable.
The Power of Faith provided by a Legendary-level Fanatic Believer was no small amount; theoretically, a hundred of them could sustain a newly enthroned Deity's God Level, preventing them from falling. According to the information Lin Xiao had, the Vampire Kingdom had several Duke of Vampires, and dozens of Marquis and Earl-level Big Nobles, in addition to a large number of Transcendent Level believers. The quality of the followers of this Semi-god Vampire was quite high, theoretically sufficient to sustain a True God.
But having lived so long, this Semi-god Vampire was still only a demigod, not even a High-Level Demigod…
Hmm, Lin Xiao now had some doubts about this. He suspected that this Semi-god Vampire was more than just a Normal Demigod, but he had no proof.
Still, whether it was a Normal Demigod or a High-Level Demigod, one thing was certain: Divine Enthronement was not easy.
After all, if there was any certainty about Igniting the Divine Fire to become a God, anyone would seize the chance. The fact that this Semi-god Vampire had lived so long without achieving Godhood only meant that there was no certainty of Divine Enthronement, or the conditions were not yet sufficient.
They wondered what the Semi-god Vampire was doing since the incarnation was descending so slowly. Their subordinates had started evacuating from the city, yet the Divine Incarnation had not completely arrived. However, they could clearly sense that the will of the demigod had indeed descended, only at an unreasonably slow pace.
It was as if…
It was as if the Semi-god Vampire was too far away from this place, unable to descend swiftly.
Standing alone in the void, Alfonso felt something was amiss. Why had their opponents stopped advancing? What were they waiting for?
Meanwhile, Lin Xiao and the others did not dare to move forward, fearing they might scare off the incarnation of the Blood God. Thus, both sides were at a deadlock.
Fortunately, after a long wait, a massive will appeared in this space, and the twisted void above Alfonso's head parted,
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Chapter 167: The Treasure in the Dignitary's Mouth (Three Updates for Monthly Ticket)
Translator: 549690339
"You should know that this exchange competition is about contra-plot challenges; the focus and difficulty do not lie in destroying the Vampire Kingdom and the Demigod, but in how to destroy their faith and breach the Demigod's Sanctuary faster than the opponents, which requires uniting everyone."
Thirteen people formed a circle, with Wu Zhonglin assuming the role of leader unchallenged, he continued:
From the information I have now, we need to divide our forces to deal with the multiple Vampire Lords of the Vampire Kingdom. When the time comes, each of you will lead a squad to deal with the Vampire Lords within a certain range. The specifics will be discussed upon arrival at the plane."
He did not elaborate on how to divide the forces or who would command whom, clearly leaving it to them to resolve; he only concerned himself with issuing tasks.
In fact, it was impossible to come up with any detailed plans at the moment. All that was known was the existence of a Vampire Kingdom, but the specifics of the enemy faced were unclear; only upon arrival at the Shattered plane and carrying out reconnaissance would they know.
Fortunately, the Void Ship was extremely fast in the Void; streaks of beautiful light glided past the hull windows, utterly enchanting.
Throughout the Exotic Crystal Wall's Void Sea, there were substantial concentrations of Void Energy, this Void Energy came in various colors, like auroras, incredibly beautiful, reminding Lin Xiao of a game called Demanimal World he played in his past life where the Outland map featured a shattered Vault of Heaven with similar dazzling colorful light streams crossing the sky, beautiful yet deadly.
Contrary to the silence of space, the Void harbored numerous Void Creatures, from small Void floating fish to large Void Whales and beyond. Only Legendary Level entities could survive in the Void, where the potent corrosive energy of Void Energy could instantly corrupt a Transcendent Level powerhouse.
The colossal Void Ship, silent as an ancient Void Whale, slipped through the Void, occasionally startling some of the hidden Void Creatures like the spiny Void snakes or the colossal Void Behemoths that resembled devilfish.
These creatures were fiercely aggressive, but they all made way for the even larger Void Ship.
While returning to her squad with Shen Yuexin, as the Void Ship suddenly passed through a large, multicolored, and patchworked Void Aurora Zone, they happened to see a swarm of Void floating fish, about a meter in length, attacking a hundred-meter-long Void Behemoth similar to a devilfish.'
These Void floating fish closely resembled yellow croakers but lacked various fins, bearing numerous sharp bone spurs instead. With a large head that comprised a third of their body and filled with sharp teeth, they resembled Void versions of Man-eating Tiger Fish, incredibly fearsome in groups.
However, the besieged Void Behemoth was no easy prey; although it had neither scales nor keratin armor, a layer of Void Energy protected its entirety. With a massive maw, it inhaled forcefully, sucking in a vast tract of colorful Void Aurora and Void floating fish into its belly, its flat body puffing up like a pufferfish.
At the same time, several meaty pores on its back became visible, jetting streams of colorful Void Energy like kaleidoscopic fountains which instantly caught Shen Yuexin's attention. She 'ah'd softly and stopped in her tracks.
Seeing her fondness for the sight, Lin Xiao also stopped, his gaze gliding over her exquisite, charming face before looking up to see the bloated belly of the Void Behemoth shrink back down as it expelled the Void Energy, with the swallowed Void floating fish nowhere in sight, he remarked, somewhat surprised:
"I didn't expect this big fella to have that trick up its sleeve; I thought it would be devoured by these Void floating fish."
Shen Yuexin, her delicate face upturned and eyes transfixed on the scene outside, responded:
"Creatures that survive in the dangerous Void Sea must have some tricks. If the number of these Void floating fish was ten times greater it might be different, but watch, these Void floating fish will retreat soon."
Lin Xiao did not reply to her because, during this brief exchange, the Void Ship had already traveled hundreds of kilometers away, leaving the earlier spot far behind, yet still not clear of the vast Void Aurora Zone, likely millions of kilometers in extent. The resplendent auroras outside captured her attention, while his was drawn to her beauty.
Initially, he sneaked glimpses of her, but soon he brazenly gazed at her perfect profile.
She seemed not to notice, but after a while, she began to blink more frequently, her long, delicate lashes trembling slightly, yet she did not turn around.
After quietly watching for a while, he noticed her earlobes flush a bit redder, her neat white teeth lightly biting her red lips as she suddenly turned her head, her eyes bright as stars meeting his unprepared gaze. She rebuked:
"Don't you know it's impolite to stare at a girl like that?"
"Too enchanting!"
Normally Lin Xiao, who would have felt ashamed, was struck by an impulse at her charming appearance and declared:
"Before you accuse me of lacking manners, perhaps you should consider yourself?"
"Hm?"
Her face showed confusion.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath to calm his racing heart, which had spiked two or threefold, and mustered the courage to say shamelessly:
"You should reflect on why you are born so beautiful and enchanting, making me unable to help but be drawn to you!"
Her lips parted slightly, and after a few seconds, she curved her eyes into crescent moons, turning her head away and huffed:
"You're not allowed to look at me like that anymore."
"Okay, but next time I'll look openly and straightforwardly."
"You dare!"
Her reaction brought a secret joy to Lin Xiao's heart. Did it mean there was a chance?
Well, it couldn't be said there was a chance just yet, only that she didn't seem to reject him as she did the other suitors.
It was like that before, and since the start of the Summer Camp, there were many boys who tried to pursue her, but she clearly showed a stance of rejection from the start, just as she had clearly refused when his second great-uncle tried to create opportunities for his son.
Under normal circumstances, she would have firmly rejected such behavior if she were unwilling, but at this moment….
Strictly speaking, this didn't mean much, but it was clear that she had a good impression of him and did not reject his pursuit, which was enough.
They continued to stand by the porthole of the Void Ship, watching the beautiful sight of the Void Aurora without conversation. He could feel that she just wanted to quietly look at the view outside the window.
Lin Xiao thought that once he got back, he should download a "Pick-Up Artist's Guide" from the internet to see how the masters went about wooing women.
About half an hour later, the Void Ship sailed away from the Aurora Zone. The remaining view was the pitch-black Void Sea, with only the occasional glimpses of Void Aurora, nothing interesting, that's when Shen Yuexin turned around and said,
"It's not impressive anymore, let's go."
Back with the team, as they were chatting, the Ancient City took the initiative to ask what had been discussed earlier. Shen Yuexin seemed not wanting to speak, so Lin Xiao shrugged his shoulders and said,
"We haven't arrived at our destination yet and don't have a good understanding of the plane, so we've only divided work simply for now. We will decide what to do when we get to the mission plane based on the situation."
"I see…."
The Ancient City pinched his chin and did not pursue the matter further.
However, after a while, as Lin Xiao sat by the ship's railing, about to enter his own Divine Realm, he suddenly received a communication from Lin Xu, who said,
"The Ancient City seems to want to separate the team when you were not here."
1Q11
Lin Xiao responded with a question mark.
Lin Xu continued,
"He didn't say it explicitly, but I noticed he has been contacting some others privately."
"Hmm…"
After pondering for a moment, Lin Xiao suddenly asked,
"He didn't contact you?"
"No."
Alright then.
It seems the young family member was also excluded.
But on second thought, that made sense. Just like a person who has always been class president and suddenly someone else jumps above them, commanding them, they would certainly feel disgruntled.
Lin Xiao wasn't bothered, as this was a natural human reaction. If people were unwilling to follow, you couldn't expect them to cooperate.
The seven-person squad suddenly became a group of three, with the young family member excluded because of his involvement.
Although Lin Xu had a decent relationship with the Ancient City, even a strong relationship couldn't compete with the fact that they were relatives. Exclusion was inevitable.
It was unclear how far away their destination was. The Void Ship traveled through the Void for an entire day, warping four times and crossing an unimaginable number of billions of kilometers. Lin Xiao, who had been bored watching the Void Sea outside the window for a day, finally heard the announcer's voice in his ear,
"We have arrived at our destination for this journey. Please prepare yourselves, students."
Then, the Void Ship gave a slight shake and began to slow down. Looking through the porthole, one could see a dense cluster of lights somewhere in the distance.
As they drew closer, it became apparent that the rapidly expanding lights were a collection of shattered planes.
A complete plane viewed from the Void Sea resembled variously sized and colored spheres of light, floating and sinking in the Void Sea. The broken planes looked like irregular fragments of a shattered biscuit, and as the Void Ship drew closer, the light emitted by the planes faded, displaying the shattered planes in their true form in front of everyone.
The Void Ship slowly moved into the Broken Plane Group, and many students came to the edge of the porthole to observe. It was evident that the Crystal Walls at the edges of most shattered planes had disappeared.
Just like a planet that has lost its atmosphere, without the protection of Crystal Walls, the ferocious Void Energy tore apart the Earthen landscapes, exposed reddish rocks through decaying vegetation, and chunks of immense lands, ripped apart by the energy of the Void, drifted at the edges due to the weak gravitational pull of the plane's fragments, like floating islands at the edges of continents or satellites at the edges of planets.
Most of the plane fragments were completely destroyed, with no life inside, and even Transcendent Level creatures couldn't survive there.
Their destiny was one — to slowly decompose under the erosion of the Void Storm, gradually shrink, and eventually dissolve entirely into the Void.
Within this group made up of thousands of plane fragments, Lin Xiao could now see about a dozen larger planes that still retained some Crystal Walls floating among the shattered group. These planes, which still maintained complete ecosystems, seemed to be bound within this region by an unknown force
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Chapter 168 The False Flame Lord Kurbert
Translator: 549690339
The so-called Avatar is an incarnation that a Demigod or a stronger being forms using a fragment of Divinity and a thread of consciousness as the core, around which a large amount of Divine Power is gathered.
This refers to beings below Demigods; the Avatar of a True God is different.
The strength of an Avatar is related to Divinity and Divine Power. The amount of Divine Power carried during the forming of an Avatar determines its strength.
The Divine Power carried by this Semi-god Vampire did not seem to be very much. Although the aura it emitted was strong, they did not feel greatly threatened.
However, for Yu Xiu in the distance, the moment the Semi-god Vampire descended, he felt as if his head had been smashed by a sledgehammer. He lost consciousness for more than ten seconds, and when he came to, his face was as pale as paper. He hastily retracted his monocular and turned to run.
Lin Xiao and the others were Divine Beings, having Divinity themselves, so they could ignore the pressure from the Demigod, but Yu Xiu was merely an ordinary person, a mortal in their eyes.
No matter the mortal, facing a Demigod directly meant they had to undergo a round of Will saving throws.
Clearly, his Will save failed, and he was stunned for more than ten seconds. In game terms, that would be equivalent to being unable to attack or defend for numerous rounds. If this were a battle, he would have already been dead beyond dead.
As for Yu Xiu's Half Beastman subordinates, they fared even worse. After a round of Will saving throws, all of them fell into fear and fled in all directions.
This was only the case with a Demigod. If an Avatar of a True God descended, failing the Will saving throw could lead to different outcomes based on the True God's alignment and will.
If the True God was an Evil God, there would be a high probability of immediate death, with souls harvested by the Avatar of the Evil God.
If the descending deity was not an Evil God, there would be a high chance of being forcibly converted, mind and will, into Fanatic Believers of the deity.
Of course, these are the worst-case scenarios, applicable only to those mortals with weak wills. If they are Professionals with relatively strong wills, they would experience fear or be stunned like Yu Xiu.
Having reached a small hill after fleeing a certain distance, Yu Xiu was about to take out a whistle to gather the scattered Half Beastmen when he felt a slight vibration in the bracelet on his wrist. He tapped it to project an image of a familiar middle-aged man who addressed him:
"Where are you now?"
Yu Xiu replied:
"I'm outside of Alfonso City."
"The company has new orders. Leave Alfonso immediately and head to the area near Redstone Plateau Eagle Beak Gorge, which is at the border of the Vampire Kingdom and the Human Kingdom. The company has set up a camp there."
"And don't pass through cities on your way."
The middle-aged man added a reminder:
"Students from the Super Newcomer Summer Camp are currently training on this Plane, and all Vampire Lords are their targets for attacks. They will likely assault the cities directly, so avoid going there to stay clear of the aftermath." As Yu Xiu looked at the vast cloud of blood that had just covered the entire city, he took a swig from his flask to calm his shock and shrugged:
"There's no need to guess. Someone's already attacking Alfonso. They entered the city in less than half an hour; now even the Avatar of the Vampire Demigod has descended. The battle has escalated significantly."
"Wait!"
The middle-aged man raised his hand to stop him and asked urgently:
"You're saying the Avatar of the Vampire Demigod has descended?"
"Yes, what's the problem, Supervisor?"
The man referred to as Supervisor showed a trace of joy and said:
"Then hurry back, and find a way to obtain that fragment of Divinity from the Demigod' s Avatar."
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of strong liquor sprayed on the ground, and Yu Xiu covered his mouth, rolling his eyes:
"Are you joking, Supervisor? On what basis should I go after that fragment of Divinity? With my strength, should I use my head to snatch it?"
The middle-aged man realized the impracticality and quickly explained:
"I'm not asking you to steal it. Wait for them to defeat the Vampire Demigod, then go and buy that fragment of Divinity in the name of the company. I'll tell you what to say when the time comes."
Yu Xiu fell silent. To be honest, he rejected the order, but he couldn't refuse; refusal would mean trouble for his future prospects.
Fortunately, he only needed to deliver a message and didn't need to act himself; the danger wasn't great, so he nodded and said,
"I can go, but I have to wait for them to finish fighting and for it to be safe before I head over."
"That's fine. Once you complete this task, when you return, you'll be promoted to a First Level permission and reassigned to a better, more relaxed position."
With this promise from the supervisor, Yu Xiu felt fully satisfied. He stuffed the whistle into his mouth and blew it forcefully to summon his Half Beastman subordinates.
At the same time, not far from Alfonso City, Shen Yuexin and Lin Xu also appeared when the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation showed up. She reached out with a gesture and a whip flashing with scorching white lightning appeared in her hand. With a gentle flick, the lightning-shaped whip quickly extended hundreds of meters in length, crackling through the void. She shouted softly,
"Let's make this a quick battle, to avoid any unnecessary complications."
Lin Xiao withdrew his slightly odd gaze and shouted. His figure quickly enlarged, transforming into a colossal Naga thirty meters tall, with the appearance of a Supreme Naga with a human torso and snake tail, but his entire body's scales glistened with golden light. He reached out for a Pure Gold Spear forty meters in length to appear in his hand.
This was a trophy he'd acquired from the Snake People Demigod during the final exam. Since a Demigod had used it as a weapon, it was certainly formidable. He had cleansed it with Divine Power to remove the spiritual Branding left by the Snake People Demigod, and now it was his weapon.
Lin Xu, on the other hand, wielded a magnificent Golden Bow, and when he drew the bowstring, a Golden Arrow composed purely of the Power of Faith slowly took shape.
The power of his bow relied entirely on how much Power of Faith was consumed to condense the arrow; the more invested, the more powerful it became.
As the three of them revealed their weapons, Lin Xiao knew it was time for him to take action. He stomped on the void, and concentric ripples exploded out of thin air. He turned into a mass of golden light and charged towards the Blood Realm spread out by the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation.
It was quite a coincidence that the Vampire Demi-god also possessed a Blood Realm, which was stronger than that of the Snake People. He could feel that this Blood Realm was laced with aging rules.
If a mortal were to enter this Blood Realm, not only would their own blood boil or be forcibly extracted, but they would also be affected by the aging rules and become weakened.
The aging rule didn't literally make one old—aging in the sense of involving the Supreme Time Law—but implied a state of weakness similar to that after life's natural decline.
The Blood Realm didn't just cause one's blood to boil or forcibly extract blood from targets; those were just the most commonly used and powerful manifestations of the blood rule. The complete Blood Rule encompasses control over blood, which to ordinary people is most terrifying when all their blood is forcibly extracted or boils as if set on fire.
These are the applications of the blood rule, control from the rule level that mortals simply cannot resist. This is the chasm-like difference between Gods and mortals.
Only a Deity can combat another Deity. Although Lin Xiao and his companions were not yet Demigods without Godhood, their potent Divinity combined with the Power of Faith could negate the effects of the rules.
Of course, legendary beings who were just beginning to touch upon the rule level could also briefly resist the influences of domain rules.
It's worth mentioning that legendary ranks and legendary beings are two different concepts.
Legendary ranks refer to the level of the troop type: Beastmen of Rank 6 and 7 are transcendent troops, and those of Rank 8 and 9 are legendary. This means that the troop type at this level is incredibly strong, like a legend.
Legendary beings, however, are mortals who have begun to grasp the power of rules and possess legendary traits similar to Divinity, having reached the threshold of Rank 8 as evaluated by the countless mortal creatures of the Main World against the Void Sea Crystal Wall System. There' s not much difference between the two in terms of physical constitution or abilities, but the biggest difference lies in their mastery of rules.
To put it simply, both legendary ranks and legendary beings have a strength of 100. With a full-force strike, they can inflict damage equivalent to 50 points of strength on an enemy with a constitution of 50. However, a legendary being who has mastered rules can deal damage several times that of 50 by leveraging the power of rules, or use the power of rules to ignore the enemy's defenses and inflict full damage.
Alternatively, even a deity of God Level 0 with Weak Divine Power could instantly kill a legendary creature of Rank 8 or even Rank 9 using the transcendent divine power "Life and Death," but would be unable to kill a Rank 8 legendary being who has mastered rules.
Of course, this is true in most cases and doesn't include some abnormal legendary troop types, such as Dragons, whose innate talents are so extraordinary that they defy conventional assessment.
Besides, if a troop type can advance to Rank 10, there is no distinction between ordinary troops and legendary beings. Creatures that reach this level will definitely possess transcendent traits comparable to legendary rules, and be preposterously powerful.
This Legendary Vampire Duke named Alfonso is actually considered a legendary creature, not a true legendary being who has mastered rules.
To distinguish, those who have mastered rules are often referred to as True Legends or legendary beings, hence the name "beings."
But that's just for those from the Main World. Many native planes also call some powerful species that reach Rank 8 through their bloodline's power legendary, which causes quite a bit of confusion.
However, they know that these legendary Vampire Dukes who reach Rank 8 through their bloodline are not truly legendary beings.
"Boom!"
Lin Xiao, like a shell shot from a cannon, broke into the Blood Realm, where his Divine protective power collided with the domain's forces, creating a terrifying blast that tore a huge chunk off the Blood Realm covering the entire city.
He thrust his Pure Gold Spear forcefully, the golden transparent flame wrapping around the spear, forming an inverted triangular cone at the tip, cutting through the thick blood as easily as a hot knife through butter, plunging a vast golden figure deep into the vast Blood Realm.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuexin, who had flown to the edge of the Blood Realm, raised her Forbidden Whip and lashed out fiercely. The scorching white lightning of the whip's body suddenly swelled immensely, extending infinitely and turning into a lightning column thicker than a person, booming through the Blood Realm. In an instant, the whip's body flashed brightly and burst into countless tiny lightnings that spread in all directions, purifying the Blood Realm within reach with its lightning power.
Compared to her overpoweringly forceful whip, Lin Xu's action was extremely low-key, so much so that he didn't even make a move.
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Chapter 169: The Legendary Spell that Kills 1000 Enemies at the Cost of 800 Allies
Translator: 549690339
The broken half-plane was severely damaged, or rather, it should have ceased to exist long ago, if not for an ancient, massive building within it. Emitting a faint divine glow, it resisted the erosion of void energy, preserving a small area around the ancient structure.
This half-plane was not their destination, but rather a transfer station.
Nearly twenty people stood in front of the portal that radiated a desolate and ancient aura, looking at the tall stone gateway at its center, where dim radiance rippled, and they exchanged glances.
The door resembled the grand entrance of an ancient temple, constructed from large blocks of dark stone. From a distance, Lin Xiao found the door eerily familiar. On each side of the door stood a statue of a warrior wielding a greatsword, with a dragon's head at the top, its pupils ablaze with fire. Massive claws rested on each upper corner of the gateway, the dragon's head looming over the entrance.
"emmm… Isn't this the Dark Portal from Warcraft?"
As a former avid player, he quickly matched the appearance of the door with a memory from deep within, feeling a sense of temporal dislocation.
But one thing was certain, this stone gate was indeed the true entrance to God's Tomb; he knew it from the first glance.
Obviously, this was an ancient portal, and the true God's Tomb lay within an unknown space, accessible only through this gateway.
There was nothing to discuss, they would proceed.
As before, two people took the lead, with the others following.
The moment Lin Xiao stepped into the entrance of God's Tomb, he felt his entire body sink, an irresistible force pressing down. His protective Divine Shield rapidly dissolved, prompting him to quickly inject more Power of Faith. However, this power was too overwhelming; even after pouring tens of millions of Power of Faith, the Divine Shield collapsed before it could illuminate.
"Damn, it's over…"
1Q11
Just as Lin Xiao braced for the terrifying force to bear down, the power that he couldn't resist vanished into thin air after shattering his Divine Shield, and he found himself sprawled on the…
"Grass?"
His vision now restored, he could indeed see himself lying on ordinary grass, plain weeds with nothing special about them.
Quickly looking up, he saw clear skies, a gentle breeze, fluffy clouds drifting by, trees gathering in the distance, and the picturesque scenery of a beautiful countryside.
Not just him, but nearly a dozen others, all sprawled on the ground, were equally stunned, looking at each other in bewilderment, momentarily at a loss for words.
If it weren't for the sensation of that terrifying divine pressure remaining, they might have thought they had arrived in some unknown plane.
Indeed, the force that had stripped them of all resistance was the power of a Divine Nation, which the Divine Territory Players could confirm with absolute certainty. This meant that their current location was within the Divine Nation.
Moreover, this revealed a terrifying fact to them—that the God's Tomb was not only composed of the Divine Nation, but it was also intact.
In other words, the master of this God's Tomb… might still exist.
That was frightening, for regardless of the Deity's level, even if only a wisp of soul remained, they could be easily and tidily disposed of with the power of the Divine Nation, left without any capacity to resist.
However, on the flip side, the power of the Divine Nation had only disarmed their resistance and not killed them outright, indicating that the master of this Divine Nation was not an Evil God, offering them a sliver of hope.
If it had been an Evil God, they would have been instantly crushed to death by that single attack.
But no matter what, their current situation seemed rather dire.
A God's Tomb with a master and one without were two entirely different matters. Even the kindest Deity would not be kindly disposed towards invaders in their tomb; the difference lay only in the manner of dying.
Fortunately, they weren't to die immediately.
Lin Xiao got up from the ground, dusting the real mud from his hands.
"It feels quite real."
Pinching the soft soil and rubbing it between his fingers, it was genuinely real mud, which raised his eyebrows in disbelief as he widened his eyes and re-crouched to grab another handful of soil.
Shen Yuexin, having also recovered from her confusion, was brushing dirt from her body. Seeing his actions, she asked,
"Have you discovered something?"
The others all turned their heads to look at Lin Xiao.
He eyed the dirt he had rubbed all over his hands closely, then raised his hand to show everyone, saying,
"Don't you find it strange?"
Everyone stared intently at his hand, and after a moment, they all shook their heads.
Lin Xiao felt the need to explain,
"This is supposed to be a Divine Nation, right? But this mud, it's not made with divine power, it's real mud."
While a few ordinary adventurers might not have understood, the Divine Territory Players instantly grasped his meaning; they grabbed clumps of soil and blades of grass to feel and rub between their hands thoroughly, expressing their amazement.
"It really is, how can that be possible?"
"How could there be real matter within a Divine Nation?"
"But this is indeed God Country, isn't it?"
Everyone was puzzled, and Lin Xiao threw the dirt in his hands away, looking up at the sky with a thought lurking in his heart, yet he dared not believe it.
The thought was simple: the presence of real material in a normal God Country was indeed impossible, but what if it was the Divine Realm?
If it was the Divine Realm, then that would be a different story.
The reason he dared not believe was that this God's Tomb had a history of millions or even tens of millions of years. At that time, the Main World hadn't reached this area, or to be precise, the Main World hadn't even discovered this Crystal Wall System. And now a Divine Realm with a history of millions or tens of millions of years stood before him, which could only mean one possibility, and that was…
"Could it be that this God's Tomb is actually a Divine Realm?"
Shen Yuexin voiced the answer.
Right after her words fell, an ancient voice suddenly appeared in everyone's
ears:
"Congratulations, you've guessed correctly."
The next second, time and space changed before everyone's eyes, and the meadow rapidly transformed into a gold-glazed floor. They were teleported by an unknown force to another place.
Lin Xiao quickly looked around and found that they were on a plaza with a gold-glazed floor that stretched beyond sight. The flawlessly smooth ground was adorned with many statues standing erect, like Dwarves in thick armor, a Knight holding a Dual Hand Greatsword, a beautiful Elf with a grand bow on her back, Mages in luxurious robes clutching their magic wands, a handsome Vampire that looked unreal, even a Dragon raising its head and roaring… and so on. His gaze landed on that unreal-looking Vampire – why did it look more and more like the Semi-god Vampire they had previously defeated?
In the distance beyond these lifelike statues, a faint, hazy fog made it increasingly difficult to see what lay beyond.
Clearly, the plaza wasn't truly infinite; it had its limits.
Of course, these were not the focus. He merely glanced at them and shortly thereafter turned his attention to the center of the plaza, surrounded by many statues, where a huge sphere of light hung above the golden glistening floor. A familiar shape from his memories escaped his lips:
"Lord God's Space?"
In an instant, a will indescribable descended, an immense force pressed down like thunder, and a series of 'crack' sounds of bones breaking could be heard as everyone was forced to the ground.
The gentle light emanating from the sphere began to recede, slowly taking on a humanoid silhouette, and eventually morphed into an old Caucasian man with a walking cane. As he approached with his cane, everyone looked up at this presence shrouded in brilliance, visible yet unfathomable, at a loss for words. After standing before them and considering for a few seconds, the old man extended his staff in a pointing gesture, and just like that, the majority of the group vanished into thin air.
The eight who were left nearly had their souls scared out of their bodies. Shen Yuexin instinctively reached for her forehead but stopped when she realized the old man had no intention of continuing. She gritted her teeth and refrained from acting.
Lin Xiao didn't notice her gesture and was still trembling from fear, taking several deep breaths to steady himself.
At this moment, he somewhat regretted coming here. He hadn't expected this God's Tomb to be so eerie and the beings within to be so perverse. This was clearly not a situation they could handle.
"Impetuous!"
Just then, the elderly voice filled their ears:
"Don't worry, they're not dead. I've just sent them to where they belong."
Everyone was taken aback and they glanced at each other. Lin Xiao was slightly startled. Those who had been sent away were precisely the non-Divine Territory Players from Yu Ming Trade Co., Ltd. The eight who remained were all Divine Territory Players.
At this moment, the old man turned back with the shaky gait typical of the elderly and began to return to his original spot. As he walked, he said:
"I never imagined that after millions of years, I would still see Divine Territory Players. Children, tell me, how much time has passed in the Main World since humans discovered the game Divine Realm?"
"Damn…"
Everyone's heads shot up, eyes wide as they stared at the elder. Even though Lin Xiao had his suspicions, he was still shocked when the elder spoke those words directly – this was truly a senior Divine Territory Player from the Main World, just like himself.
They looked at each other, even Shen Yuexin was surprised by this information. After a moment of silence, Li Cheng, the captain of the adventure team from Yu Ming Trade Co., Ltd., hurriedly said:
"Senior, unknown to you, more than three hundred thousand years have passed since the Main World discovered Divine Realm."
His heart pounded with excitement. If this was one of the first human explorers from hundreds of thousands of years ago, not only would it mean their lives were spared, but it also indicated a chance to inherit the legacy of this clearly fallen senior. The thought alone was exhilarating.
"Three hundred thousand years!"
The elder stood still in place for a long while, then sighed deeply. Lin Xiao felt the force binding him had faded, and the elder's voice rose:
"Unbelievable that it's been so long, the invasion of the Crystal Wall System has already been blocked, the Main World must have undergone significant changes."
"The Tilde Gala Crystal Wall System?"
Lin Xiao had never heard this name before. He looked back and saw everyone else looked just as puzzled, evidently unaware as well.
The elder didn't probe further, but simply said with a smile:
"Indeed, at your level, you should not have yet come into contact with this matter."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Divine Realm shook violently, and then, from the blurred edges of the limitless gold-glazed platform, a dazzling divine light appeared out of nowhere. It expanded rapidly, and everyone's attention was drawn to the expanding divine light as it formed into an oval-shaped portal.
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Chapter 170: Misunderstandings and Optimism
Translator: 549690339
The flames slowly contracted, revealing the cool-faced figure of the instructor in a colonel's uniform, Xie Yufei. She stood at attention and saluted the elder, saying loudly,
"Affiliated with Yan Huang War Zone Number Five, the First Division of the First Expeditionary Army, Deputy Battalion Commander of the Furious Flame Battalion, Colonel Xie Yufei, I have the honor to meet our forebear!"
The elder stared at her intently for a long moment before a smile suddenly spread across his face, growing wider and wider until he burst into hearty laughter.
A few seconds later, the smile disappeared and his expression became solemn again. He returned a salute that was slightly different and said in a grave voice, "Earth United Nations Skyhawk Vanguard, Major General Keri!"
The Earth United Nations was the political system in place when humans first discovered the Divine Realm game and first left the Main Plane to enter Different Domains. It had been over three hundred thousand years since its dissolution, meaning this Major General named Keri was an ancient relic from three hundred thousand years ago.
Yes, even by the standards of a True God with immortal life, he was an ancient relic.
Because according to the time differential of one day in the Main World to one year in Different Domains, he had been stranded in this Crystal Wall System, in this Void, for over a hundred million years, a span of time that was ancient even in the context of True Gods.
Back then, there was no HuaXia District, no Ivy League Alliance of High Schools, no Giant Enterprises Alliance, no Aristocracy Council—these divisions did not exist; it was the time of the Earth United Nations.
Not until later did differences in race and ideology gradually forge four huge powers, and one day, the Earth United Nations fell apart, splitting the Main World into four.
At this moment, Xie Yufei's heart was filled with surprise and delight; she hadn't expected to encounter a lingering Divine Thought of one of the original forebears of the Main World here—a significant event.
Every one of the earliest forebears was a revered forerunner, an explorer, particularly those of the Vanguard, which was dispatched during the most perilous times of the Main World.
According to the history of the Main World that Xie Yufei once studied, two hundred years into human exploration of Exotic Crystal Walls, humanity encountered an invasion by gods from the Crystal Wall System named Tilde Gala. At that time, humans had yet to develop Powerful Divine Power and were simply no match for the Divine Army of the Exotic Crystal Wall that invaded. At the most critical moment, the enemy had penetrated into the depths of Subspace, nearing the Main World.
It was at this critical juncture that the vanguard of the Expeditionary Army was formed, selecting elites to leave the Main World and venture into the Chaotic Void Sea's endless Crystal Wall System, in search of potential allies and to preserve the spark of humanity.
Later, no allies were found; different Crystal Wall Systems only attracted more predators. However, one member of the vanguard had a sudden outburst of fortune in an Outland Crystal Wall System—like the protagonist of a novel miraculously favored by fate—and returned to the Main World in less than a hundred years as a great divine power, surpassing level 20 in God Level and became the Main God of a Powerful Divine System.
This great divine power, the first to emerge from the Main World, was the first principal of the Brilliant Super College, which presently ranks first among the twelve super academies.
The birth of this great divine power marked the end of the war. The gods of Tilde Gala Crystal Wall System promptly withdrew from the Subspace of the Main World.
Though Tilde Gala Crystal Wall System also had a great divine power, They could not possibly compete with one who had the home-field advantage of the Human Main World, equally formidable.
Next, humanity's first great divine power established the Brilliant Super College and stayed stationed in the Main World for many years.
Meanwhile, the Crystal Wall System where the old principal was born is now one of the Crystal Walls affiliated with the Human Alliance, to be precise, under the control of the Super Academy Brilliant.
Most of the original pioneers from that early squad had perished; fewer than ten of them survived. Discovering a new member of the vanguard would doubtlessly please the other high-ranking pioneers, especially that one.
With Xie Yufei's arrival, there was practically nothing left for Lin Xiao and others to do, as their level was too low. This Major General named Keri wanted to know things they couldn't possibly be aware of.
"What is this all about?"
The group from Yuming Trading Company squatted on the smooth floor, and Wang Jiechao grumbled in bewilderment,
"We've come all this way for nothing. Can we still explore this God's Tomb?"
Another team member, Feng Wei, shrugged his shoulders,
"Who knows? Let's wait and see."
Elsewhere, Lin Xiao and his two companions strolled aimlessly across the golden glass-like plaza. When he came before the statue of the Semi-god Vampire, he waved at his comrades and said,
"Look, doesn't this resemble the Semi-god Vampire?"
They walked over and took a closer look. Shen Yuexin nodded and said,
"It looks very similar; it should be him."
"Then…"
They exchanged glances, their expressions a bit peculiar,
"So, does that mean our mission is considered complete?"
"Well, I guess it depends on whether the Ivy League Alliance acknowledges it."
"They definitely won't. It's not like we killed him."
"Sowhat do we do?"
Shen Yuexin spread her hands and said,
"That's something for the instructors to worry about, not us."
"That really sucks!"
Lin Xiao had a face full of helplessness.
After speaking, he suddenly felt something was off. Looking up, he saw Shen Yuexin staring at him. He didn't react at first but then heard her say softly with her red lips:
"Crude!"
"Hey, don't get me wrong, I was just…"
Before he could finish, the space around them shook again. Lin Xiao quickly looked up and saw dozens of light gates open in the sky. Dozens of twisted figures, absorbing even the air around them, emerged and one by one, they bowed to the elder.
"Wow, they've all come!"
No sooner had he spoken than another few dozen light gates opened, and similarly, a group of silhouettes whose features were distorted by light descended. The square suddenly burst into life.
Well, time to watch the show, he thought. They stayed quietly on the side, not daring to speak, just watching the situation unfold.
The second group to enter clearly belonged to a different faction than the first, and after bowing to the elder, they started disputing.
They couldn't hear what They were saying, but they could clearly feel the ripples of intense Divine Thoughts spreading out in layers across the Void.
It was obvious that this was a dispute between the observers representing the HuaXia District's high schools and the observers from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools.
Several hours later, after a sphere of light like the sun descended into the space, the sudden glaring Divine Light made it impossible to look directly at it. Lin Xiao struggled to open his eyes but was unable to do so because of the blinding glare.
He was shocked in his heart; certainly, a important Projection was Descending.
And not just any important figure. This was just a semi-descended Projection, and he couldn't bear to look at it directly. If their True Body Descended, he, a student who wasn't even a Demigod, would likely die on the spot.
This was only a Projection, not even an Incarnation. As everyone knows, a Projection can carry very limited strength.
If an Incarnation carries between one and fifty percent of a True God's strength, a Projection carries only between one-thousandth and one ten- thousandth. If this Projection Descending can cause such an effect, it must be a Projection of Powerful Divine Power. It's unknown which important figure it belongs to.
This important figure settled disputes with a single action. Both groups of observers dared not dispute any further and couldn't even if they wanted to, because they were also suppressed by the natural power emanating from this important figure and were unable to communicate. They could only watch the newcomer communicate with the owner of God's Tomb.
In the midst of his shock, Lin Xiao noticed a detail. Although he couldn't see or hear the content of the discussion, the fact that an important Projection of Powerful Divine Power had personally descended, and the owner of God's Tomb could calmly face them, suggested that the rank of the owner of God's Tomb in life was extraordinary. At the very least, they must have been of a medium or higher God Level, or perhaps even of Powerful Divine Power.
Who knows how much time passed, the sun-like presence suddenly disappeared, and the many observers also vanished. Just as they were puzzled about what happened next, a flood of light fell from the sky, transforming into individual figures. In no time, the large gold crystal square was filled with people.
The few of them gaped at these Summer Camp competitors that suddenly appeared, thinking, Damn it.
"Bloody hell, this God's Tomb was discovered by us, right? How come everyone has come here? Is the exchange competition not continuing?"
What was even more outrageous was that not only were the competitors from the HuaXia District present, but also all the players from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools had arrived.
At this moment, Lin Xiao and his companions didn't know what to say, feeling completely taken advantage of.
In contrast to their speechlessness, the five from Yuming Trading Company were cowering in a corner, shivering. Nearly two thousand elite students gathered, buzzing with overwhelming discussions. The five had an intense sense of not fitting in.
This feeling was like a student who hadn't even finished junior high school suddenly mixing into a gathering at prestigious universities like Peking and Tsinghua, full of top students. Even if they tried hard to pretend to be students, they'd feel a strong barrier, a sense of not fitting in, as if everyone's gaze at them was filled with suspicion.
However, they couldn't refuse the decision from the military's upper echelons. Moreover, they weren't even Summer Camp contestants at this point, so they had to worry about whether they might be kicked out later.
The noisy situation didn't last long. Lin Xiao heard a familiar bell ringing in his ears, and the plaza instantly quieted down, giving him the sensation of being back at the Summer Camp competition grounds. A mechanical voice sounded at his side:
"Due to special circumstances, the final phase of the Summer Camp exchange competition rules have been changed temporarily. Below are the new competition formats. Please pay attention to the information."
"Damn, I knew it was going to be like this."
He muttered to himself, resigned, yet still conscientiously checking the data below.
But the more he looked, the stranger the expression on his face became, occasionally glancing at the giant light sphere that had reformed.
The new rules were simple. Because he had accidentally discovered this ancient predecessor and the God's Tomb, the original exchange competition was cancelled, replaced by the competition for God's Tomb.
Yes, it was a competition for this God's Tomb.
According to the new competition format, which is in line with Major General Keri's strong wishes, everyone could draw a certain number of Cards from the card pool inside the central light sphere in the Divine Realm.
Each person initially has one hundred card points. A one-star Card is worth one point, a two-star Card three points, a three-star Card five points, a four-star Card ten points, and a five-star Card twenty points. Everyone would draw Cards randomly until they exhaust their hundred card points.
Worth mentioning is that they could freely choose the levels of the Cards they randomly drew.
In other words, they could opt to draw entirely one-star Cards or only two-star Cards, five-star Cards, and so on.
Afterward, each student would select three Cards from their Card library to form a Combat Card Group to battle against other students.
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Chapter 171: The Unexpected Final Battle
Translator: 549690339
This is the power of Godhood and Field: Godhood is the manifestation of rules, while Field is the extension of the power of rules. Utilizing Godhood to grasp the rules, their formidable might is displayed through the form of the Field.
Yet this is merely a Demigod Avatar, not even a potent one at that. The Field's power is limited; if a True God were to take action personally, even a Divine Being like Lin Xiao wouldn't be able to withstand the power of the Field and would be drained of all Divine Blood on the spot, becoming a dried-up corpse.
Therefore, when Lin Xiao burst forth with over five million Power of Faith, the powerful Divine Power instantaneously blasted apart the Blood Realm acting upon him, and with a flash, he charged out from the surging waves of blood.
At the same time, Shen Yuexin's Forbidden Whip lashed out once again. Under the stimulation of the Power of Faith, the Lightning Whip swiftly expanded into a straight, thick pillar of lightning, smashing into the Blood Realm. The viscous blood within the Blood Realm disintegrated into nothing upon touching it, punching a colossal hole through the Blood Realm and penetrating deep into it.
The quality of this Forbidden Whip in her hands definitely reached the level of a Demigod Artifact, and it was even an exceptional one within its rank, which is why it could easily tear through the Blood Realm with such power.
Bear in mind that Lin Xiao also burst forth with over five million Power of Faith just to free himself, and that was merely to escape, whereas her casual crack of the whip, likely only consuming around a million Power of Faith, easily obliterated vast swaths of the Field. It felt as though a red-hot iron rod was effortlessly inserted into solidified butter, with the power unleashed far surpassing Lin Xiao's.
Compared to her weapon, the Golden Spear in Lin Xiao's hands couldn't even be considered a Demigod Artifact; it was merely a proto-artifact of such, still in need of ceaseless nurturing to enhance its might.
Under normal circumstances, it is estimated that it would take him a few hundreds of years of constant nurturing until he became a Demigod for the possibility of nurturing the Golden Spear into a Demigod Artifact.
Thinking about how she already possessed a powerful Demigod Artifact so early, while he was still using one snatched from others, the disparity….
"Indeed, a low-key little wealthy lady, adore her, adore her!"
Soon, Lin Xiao realized that he had gone from being the main offensive to just tagging along. The combat power of a complete Demigod Avatar was far more terrifying than he'd imagined. Just one Avatar was putting far greater pressure on them than the previous Snake People Demigod.
The three of them combined were more than ten times stronger than the trio during the final exams, yet they were only managing to fight the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation to a draw.
This illustrated just how severely the former Snake People Demigod had been weakened—burning several points of Divinity, Divine Power exhausted, and all Fanatic Believers slaughtered nearly bringing them to the brink of annihilation even in his nearly spent state.
Luckily, the Demigod Avatar's brought Divine Power was insufficient; if the Divine Power had been abundant, Lin Xiao might not have been able to burst forth with Divine Power and make his way out just now.
Shen Yuexin took the lead, and with every strike of the Forbidden Whip, it transformed into pillars of thick lightning smashing down, incinerating the viscous blood and continuously draining the Divine Power of the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation.
Lin Xu, on the other hand, was always at a distance, bow at the ready aimed at the Blood Realm, yet not acting.
At first, Lin Xiao circled the edge of the Blood Realm, looking for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack but the Demigod Avatar stayed hidden within the Blood Realm and wouldn't come out. The Forbidden Whip continuously destroyed large parts of the Blood Realm, but its true body remained elusive.
What puzzled him most was the absence of the Legendary Vampire Afonso.
Considering he was a Rank 8 Legend in combat power, and although he wasn't a true Legend, he wasn't weak either and would have had the credentials to participate in their level of battle at the very least, it wouldn't be a problem for him to stall them for a short period.
But in reality, since the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation's descendance, Afonso had been enveloped within the Blood Realm and disappeared without a trace, remaining unseen to this point.
Moreover, the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, aside from the sequence of maneuvers to suppress Lin Xiao who charged into the Blood Realm, seemed not to be dealing with Shen Yuexin or Lin Xu outside the Realm, and looked as though it was always on the defensive.
"This isn't right, why doesn't he come out? What is he doing?"
When things are amiss, there must be a demon at work—the unknown is terrifying. The enemy's abnormal behavior put them on alert, and Lin Xiao shouted at his two teammates:
"I feel like something bad will happen if we drag this on."
On the other side, Shen Yuexin, who had also whipped the Forbidden Whip breathing away vast areas of the Blood Realm without finding the enemy, nodded vigorously and said:
"I also feel that something is wrong. It's better to make a big move now!"
Following this, Lin Xiao heard Shen Yuexin's voice:
"You go first and blast open an area; I'll follow up and open a passage to find the target, and Lin Xu delivers the final deadly strike!"
Lin Xiao immediately grasped her plan, nodded, and as his pupils blazed with golden lucid flames, he clenched the Golden Spear in his right hand. With a thought, a full thirty million Faith value began to burn.
If one million Power of Faith could be converted into one point of Divine Power, then thirty million Power of Faith could convert into thirty points of Divine Power amounting to an eruption equivalent to thirty units of Divine Power. The space around the Golden Spear began to warp and exerted an astonishing pull; the air and even light itself seemed to be sucked into the spear.
If an ordinary person were present, they would notice that he wasn't holding a Golden Spear, but a distortion that absorbed even sight.
With a mighty thrust aimed ahead, a distortion of the void appeared and disappeared in an instant.
"Boom!"
The edge of the Blood Realm that enveloped the entire city suddenly exploded, an invisible golden wave surged forward, pulverizing vast portions of the Blood Realm.
Simultaneously, the color of the Forbidden Whip in Shen Yuexin's hand shifted, turning from blue-white lightning into purple. As she brought the whip down, the purple Lightning Whip lashed out kilometers in length, shooting straight into the exposed Blood Realm wrought by him and blasting open a passage over two kilometers long and more than ten meters in diameter —until a sinister figure formed of thick blood blocked the Purple Lightning Whip.
Lin Xiao, who was attentively observing everything, witnessed this scene. His pupils contracted with astonishment as he realized that the sinister figure at the center of the Blood Realm was none other than the Duke of Vampires, Afonso.
No, to be precise, the physical body of the Legendary Vampire Afonso had been taken over by the will of the Semi-god Vampire, and the true Legendary Vampire had already perished.
It's no wonder he hadn't appeared until now, so that's what happened.
By taking over the body of a Fanatic Believer, the legendary vampire, the avatar of the Semi-god Vampire, had suddenly found a vessel – from previously being a Non-existing tree – that allowed it to sustain more damage and execute more formidable strategies. Not only would the existence of the avatar last longer, but it could also persist without collapsing if the Divine Power was drained, unlike the previous avatars.
Previously, it was just a Divine Incarnation, the foundation of which was just a sliver of Divinity and will. Once someone breached its field, the avatar's core would be directly hit, destroying the avatar.
Now that it had a physical body, even if its Blood Realm was shattered, the enemy would have to kill the body first before being able to harm the core.
The series of changes was astonishing, but at that moment, the arrow was already on the string and had to be released.
Lin Xu decisively seized the brief opportunity and shot the arrow he had been charging for some time.
Imperceptible to the eye, a trajectory only felt through senses swept across the path blasted by Shen Yuexin, and the next second, the Duke of Vampires—who should now be referred to as the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation— opened his tightly shut eyes as space suddenly brightened, and a Dark Gold Blood Vortex appeared out of nowhere and solidified, swallowing the trajectory as if it were a stone sinking into the ocean.
However, a second later, the Blood God Incarnate shook violently, and an invisible distortion exploded outwards in a ring shape like lightning, spreading in all directions.
Then, the immense Blood Realm began to collapse layer by layer, the solid sea of blood breaking into countless fragments, dissolving, fading, and disappearing.
Afterwards, the heavens and earth cleared, revealing the four figures standing in mid-air.
"He's injured."
The Legendary Vampire had a bloodless hole in his chest, a fatal wound caused by Lin Xu's long-charged arrow. This strike, although not lethal to the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, dealt considerable harm, causing even the realm to fail to maintain itself.
It was unfortunate for him to have a legendary-level body, for without it, Lin Xu's fully charged arrow would have definitely killed the Blood God Incarnation.
However, the difference was not significant, since it was just an incarnation with limited Divine Power. Even with a new body and having blocked this arrow, it wouldn't matter much; it only meant living a little bit longer.
Yet unexpectedly, as the field collapsed, the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation gave them a cold glance and then suddenly soared into the sky and fled amidst the multitude of onlooking believers within the city.
This was indeed surprising; running away in front of so many believers would deal a massive blow to their faith, possibly leading to many believers defecting and abandoning their faith.
But while his reaction was unexpected, they were well-prepared; Shen Yuexin flicked her Forbidden Whip, which rapidly extended for thousands of meters, sending a massive purple lightning column straight into a certain point in the void.
"Boom!"
A ring of lightning exploded, and the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, who had soared into the sky and vanished, was forcibly blasted out of the void over a thousand meters high.
At the same time, Lin Xiao also took to the air, once again burning a full twenty million Faith value. Golden flames surged out, and his Golden Spear twisted in his hand as he pointed it at the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, revealed a kilometer away:
"Salted Fish Charge!"
The imposing Supreme Naga's True Body disappeared in a flash.
Forced out of the void, the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation's expressionless face showed shock for the first time. He lifted his claws in a pushing gesture, and a vast expanse of the void twisted into a gigantic blood-colored vortex before him.
The instant the blood-red vortex twisted into shape, a section of the Golden Spear, entwined with flames, appeared out of thin air and slammed into the vortex, barely penetrating after a moment of resistance and slowly advancing towards the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation behind it.
Simultaneously, a dazzling golden light shot out from Lin Xu, surging straight into the sky and then curving downwards from above, directly hitting the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation's forehead.
"Bang!"
The vortex instantly collapsed, and the Golden Spear unhindered, hit the face of the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation, his head bursting apart.
A speck of tempting golden light flew out from the shattered head, suspending motionless mid-air; Lin Xiao flew over and caught it in his hand, and only then did the golden light
This was the essence of the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation. When amalgamated with a body, it becomes constrained by it. Once the body is destroyed, there is a period of discomfort during which the essence can easily be captured, leading to the avatar's demise.
In other words, the Vampire Demi-god Incarnation was finished.
There was no communication, not like the chatty villains in novels, they just started fighting upon arrival.
Nor was there an earth-shattering battle; except for an initial probing exchange where Lin Xiao suffered a slight setback, once the three of them got serious, they easily exterminated the Blood God Incarnation..
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Chapter 172: Crazy Idea
Translator: 549690339 I
This shattered half-plane had been severely damaged; in fact, it should have disappeared long ago, but within this plane existed a colossal ancient structure, emitting a faint divine light that resisted the erosion of void energy, protecting a small area surrounding the structure.
This half-plane was not their destination, but a transfer station.
Nearly twenty people stood before the portal exuding a desolate and ancient aura, looking at the towering stone portal at its center, with luminescence rippling through it, exchanging glances with uncertainty.
The door resembled those of ancient temples, constructed from huge blocks of dark stone. From a distance, the design looked familiar to Lin Xiao. On either side of the door stood a statue of a warrior wielding a greatsword. At the top, a dragon's head with pupils ablaze with flames, and on each of the upper corners of the door rested a massive claw, the dragon's head looming over the entrance.
"emmm… Isn't this the Dark Portal from Warcraft?"
As a veteran player, he quickly matched the appearance of the portal with the one etched in his memory, feeling a sense of dislocation in time and space.
But one thing was certain, this massive stone portal was indeed the entrance to the God's Tomb, it was clear from the first glance.
Obviously, this was a very ancient transfer portal; the real God's Tomb was in an unknown space, and they had to pass through this portal to reach it.
There's nothing to be said about that, time to go in.
Like before, two would lead the way, and the others would follow up.
As Lin Xiao stepped into the gateway of God's Tomb, he felt his entire body sink, an invincible force pressing down. His protective Divine Shield rapidly deteriorated, prompting him to hurriedly channel more Power of Faith. However, the force was too strong, tens of millions of the Power of Faith were infused into the Divine Shield, yet it collapsed on the spot without so much as a glimmer.
"Damn it, it's…."
Just when Lin Xiao was ready to face the crushing might, the force that he couldn't resist disappeared out of thin air after shattering his Divine Shield, and he landed on all fours, maintaining the posture he had when being pressed down, on….
"Grass?"
By now his vision had returned, and indeed, he saw he was sprawled on ordinary grass, recognizable as common weeds, with nothing special about them.
Quickly looking up, the sky was clear, a gentle breeze blew, fluffy clouds drifted by, trees in the distance gave shade, and the scenery was picturesque, showing the charm of a beautiful rural landscape.
Not just him, the whole group that lay sprawled on the ground was dumbstruck, examining each other, unable to utter a word.
If it weren't for the continued sense of an overwhelming Divine Nation force, they would have thought they had arrived in some unknown plane.
Yes, the terrifying force that nullified their resistance just now was the force of Divine Nation; as players from the Divine Territory, they were one hundred percent certain, meaning their current location was indeed inside the Divine Nation.
Moreover, it revealed a frightening fact to them; the God's Tomb was not just composed of Divine Nation, it was still intact.
This meant the owner of the God's Tomb… might still exist.
That was alarming; regardless of what level of Deity the owner had been, even a mere wisp of a remnant soul of a True God, using the power of Divine Nation, could effortlessly arrange them neatly without the slightest resistance.
But on the other hand, since the force of Divine Nation only nullified their defenses without killing them on the spot, it suggested that the owner was not an Evil God—there was still a sliver of hope for survival.
If it had been an Evil God, they would have been crushed to death by that force already.
Regardless of the specifics, their situation at the moment didn't seem to be good.
There's a world of difference between a God's Tomb with a master and one without; even the kindest of Deities wouldn't take kindly to intruders in their tomb, the only difference being the manner of death.
Fortunately, they were not destined to die immediately.
Lin Xiao got up from the ground, dusting the dirt from his hands.
"It's quite realistic."
He pinched the soil and rubbed it between his fingers; indeed, it was real soil, which made him raise his eyebrows in surprise, disbelievingly squatting down again to grab another handful of dirt.
Shen Yuexin, who was also coming out of her daze and brushing off the dirt, saw his actions and asked,
"Have you discovered something?"
The others turned their heads towards Lin Xiao.
He stared intently at the dirt crumbling in his hands, then raised his hands to show everyone, saying,
"Don't you find it strange?"
They all looked closely at his hand, and after a while, they shook their heads.
Lin Xiao had to point out,
"This place should be a Divine Nation, right? But this soil, it's not conjured out of divine power within the Divine Nation, it's real soil."
Some of the ordinary adventurers might not fully grasp the significance, but the Divine Territory players instantly understood his meaning, all of them grabbing a handful of dirt or a blade of grass to rub and feel it closely, exclaiming in amazement.
"It really is, but how could this be?"
"How could there be real matter inside a Divine Nation?"
"But this is definitely a Divine Nation, right?"
The group was confounded, and Lin Xiao threw the soil from his hands, looked up at the sky, with an idea dawning on him, but he dared not believe it.
The thought was straightforward: it was indeed impossible for real matter to appear in a normal Divine Nation, but what if it were the Divine Realm?
If this was the Divine Realm, then it would be a different story.
The reason it was so unbelievable was that this God's Tomb already had a history of millions or even tens of millions of years. Back then, the Main World hadn't even reached this region, or rather, it hadn't discovered this Crystal Wall System. Now, a Divine Realm with tens of millions of years of history had appeared before him. There was only one possibility, and that was…
"Could it be that this God's Tomb is actually a Divine Realm?"
Shen Yuexin gave the answer.
The moment her words fell, an old voice suddenly appeared in everyone's ears:
"Congratulations, you guessed right."
The next second, everyone's vision warped as space and time shifted, the grassy ground rapidly transformed into a golden glassy floor, and they were teleported to an unknown place by an unseen force.
Lin Xiao quickly looked around and found they were standing on a square paved with golden glassy flooring that stretched beyond sight. On the flawlessly smooth floor, aside from their group of a dozen or so, there were many statues standing erect, such as Dwarven warriors clad in thick plate armor, Knights wielding Dual Hand Greatswords, beautiful Elves carrying magnificent bows, Mages in luxurious robes holding Magic Wands, and exceptionally handsome Vampires, even roaring Dragons… and so on. His gaze fell on the exceptionally handsome Vampire—why did it look so much like the Semi-God Vampire they had killed earlier?
In the distance, beyond these lifelike statues, there was a thin layer of mist becoming denser and murkier towards the back, making it difficult to see clearly.
Clearly, the square wasn't truly infinite; there was a limit to it.
Of course, these weren't the focus of his attention. He only glanced over them briefly and soon turned his gaze to the center of the multitude of statues, towards a giant sphere of light floating above the golden glassy floor. The familiar shape triggered his recognition, and he blurted out:
"Lord God's Space?"
At that moment, an indescribable will descended. A terrifying force slammed down, and a series of 'crack' sounds signifying bones breaking could be heard. Everyone fell flat to the ground.
The orb of light radiated a soft glow that began to shrink slowly, gradually taking the shape of a human outline before finally materializing into an old white man with a cane. He walked over to them, cane in hand, and everyone looked up to this being shrouded in light, visible yet unfathomable, unsure of what to say.
The old man stood there with his cane, thoughtfully silent for a few seconds, then suddenly extended his cane in a pointing motion, and just like that, the majority of the group vanished into thin air.
The remaining eight nearly lost their souls in fright. Shen Yuexin instinctively reached for her forehead, but noticing that the old man showed no further intent to act, she bit her lip and refrained.
Lin Xiao didn't notice her action; he was too perturbed at the moment, catching his breath.
Now he somewhat regretted coming here. It hadn't occurred to him that this God's Tomb would be so bizarre, housing an entity so aberrantly powerful. This was utterly beyond the realm of play.
"Reckless!"
At this moment, the old man's hoary voice came to their ears:
"Don't worry, they're not dead. I've merely sent them where they belong."
Everyone was taken aback and looked at each other. Lin Xiao was inwardly astonished. Those who were sent away were precisely the non-Divine Territory players from Yu Ming Trade Co., Ltd., while all of the remaining eight were Divine Territory Players.
Just then, the old man turned and began to hobble back to his original position, speaking as he moved:
"I hadn't expected that after millions of years, I would still see Divine Territory players. Tell me, children, how much time has passed in the Main World since the discovery of the Divine Realm game?"
"Holy moly…"
All eyes were wide open as they stared at the old man. Even though Lin Xiao had his suspicions, he was still shocked to hear the old man confirm it himself. This was truly a predecessor Divine Territory player from the Main World, like himself.
They looked at each other in dismay, even Shen Yuexin was caught by surprise by this information.
After a long pause, Li Cheng, the team leader of the adventurers from Yuming Trading Company, hurriedly said:
"Predecessor, unkown to you, more than three hundred thousand years have passed since the Main World discovered the Divine Realm."
His heart was filled with excitement. If this was one of the first human explorers from hundreds of thousands of years ago, it meant not only that their lives were spared but also that they had the chance to gain the inheritance from this clearly fallen predecessor, which was an exciting prospect.
"Three hundred thousand years!"
The old man stood motionless for a while, then heaved a sigh. Lin Xiao felt the force binding him dissipate and the old man's voice rang out:
"I never imagined so much time has passed. To see you now means that the invasion from the Tilde Gala Crystal Wall System has been held back. The Main World must have changed a lot."
"The Tilde Gala Crystal Wall System?"
Lin Xiao had never heard of this name, and, looking back at the others, they all seemed clueless as well.
The old man didn't pursue the question and merely chuckled:
"Indeed, at your level, it's likely you haven't come into contact with this."
Before the words fully faded, the Divine Realm suddenly shook violently. Then, amid the hazy edges of the endless golden glassy platform, a blinding divine light emerged from nowhere, rapidly expanding. Everyone watched as the expanding divine light formed an oval portal of light, and from it, a figure enveloped in dark golden flames stepped forward. A crisp voice rang out: "Allow me to answer that question for our predecessor!"
The flames slowly contracted to reveal the composed face of Colonel Xie Yufei, dressed in a colonel's uniform. She stood erect and saluted the old man, saying loudly:
"From Yan Huang's fifth War Zone, the First Expeditionary Army's Third Brigade, deputy leader of the Furious Flame Battalion, Colonel Xie Yufei, at your service, predecessor!"
The old man stared intently at her for a while, then suddenly a smile spread across his face, growing wider until he burst into hearty laughter.
Seconds later, the laughter stopped and his expression turned serious again.. He returned a slightly different military salute and spoke solemnly:
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Chapter 173: The Ancient Secrets and Precious Treasures Spoken of by Major General Keri
Translator: 549690339
Even without Creation Energy, it's not a problem the abundance of Cards allows for a targeted selection of appropriate enhancements.
With a light touch of the finger, the roulette began to spin, slowly at first, then quickly, reaching an extreme speed before slowing down again and soon stopping on an Orange Card.
Lin Xiao pondered for a moment, chose to confirm, and did not opt for a
re-draw.
Excluding the singular Ancient Card, the Orange Legendary Card sits between the lowest Epic and the Golden Mythical Cards in quality a decent middle-level Card.
Considering that the majority were Purple Cards with only five or six Golden Mythical Quality Cards, the odds of re-drawing a Gold Card were not high; it was more likely to draw another Purple Card.
Of course, the main reason Lin Xiao kept the Orange Card was that it was a Soldier Card, with five hundred Level 4 Human Crossbowmen, each equipped with a standard Single-shot Crossbow, Leather Armour, and a Short Sword.
In a battle mode, the most important Cards are definitely the Soldier Cards, which are then complemented with other Cards.
These can include combinations with other Soldier Cards, or better Weapon
Cards for arming, and so on.
Also, considering it was a direct battle, the card pool contained only Cards related to combat, with no useless resource Cards.
After all, these Cards were to be used exclusively for this exchange match and would be retracted after the battle concluded.
Having secured the Crossbowmen Card, it took up twenty points of the card pool. A normal participant could at most draw five Five Star Cards, and even the Higher Education Alliance could only draw six.
Generally speaking, higher-level Cards are naturally more powerful, but sometimes it depends on suitability, so one should not blindly draw higher quality Cards.
Lin Xiao originally planned to draw a high-quality Soldier Card, then draw a large number of lower-level Cards to complement it, and after drawing all the Cards, use the Magic Cube to disassemble or fuse a few powerful Cards to form the battle deck depending on the situation.
Now that the first draw was a Soldier Card, there was no need to draw any more Five Star Cards.
Next, he followed his original plan to draw four Four Star Cards, eight Three Star Cards, along with the initial Five Star Card, consuming a total of one hundred card points, leaving fifty points. He then chose ten Two Star Cards using thirty points, and twenty One Star Cards at one point each, using up all one hundred and fifty points.
The five levels of Cards added up to a total of forty-three, with a motley quality -over half were common, with a few Rare, Uncommon, and Epic qualities, and aside from that first card, there were no more of Legendary Quality, but there was one of Mythical Quality, albeit a Two Star Card.
A stack of Cards in hand fanned out, displaying a variety of colors. All things considered, the luck was mediocre, neither bad nor good. Without cheats or additional advantages, it would be difficult to make it to the end, probably not even making the top fifty.
After selecting his Cards, there was still some time to freely combine them. He glanced left at Lin Xu, who was frowning at the dozen or so Cards of various colors in his hand, clearly having chosen only Three Star Cards and above, none below.
It seemed his luck was not bad, considering he had a Golden Mythical Quality Card. By his choices, at least one would be a Three Star Mythical Card, which should not be too shabby.
Then looking to his right at Shen Yuexin, he instinctively tilted his head back and was blinded by several flashes of orange and gold, plus a dazzling crystal light.
"Goodness, could this be the legendary Europe Emperor?"
Shen Yuexin seemed to sense his movement and glanced at him with big eyes, flipping through the Cards in her hand like she was holding a winning hand of cards, a smug look of triumph on her face.
Lin Xiao looked around to see no one was paying attention, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath in her direction.
Her pretty face suddenly turned red, and she said with a coquettish tone she wasn't aware of herself,
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing much, just soaking up some of your Europe Emperor luck.
"Hmph, rascal."
She pinched her dainty fists and gestured, and Lin Xiao gently touched her fist with his own:
"Go for it, little aunt!"
After speaking, he turned his head back and no longer looked at a somewhat confused Shen Yuexin.
Holding back a chuckle, he then got his spirits up and spread out the Cards to start considering how to integrate the forty-three Cards in his hands.
Due to the rules of the competition, all forty-three Cards were battle-related, including various Soldier Cards, Summoning Cards, Weapon Cards, skill scrolls, Talent Cards, Specialization Cards, and so on.
Battles generally revolved around Soldier Cards, which summoned fully formed regiments of troops.
Summoning Cards typically summoned powerful creatures in small numbers, such as a war bear, a giant eagle, a Dragon, and so forth -of course, no Five Star Card could summon a behemoth like a Dragon.
Weapon Cards provide a varying number of powerful weapons depending on the level and quality of the card, which can replace the standard weapons that come with the Soldier Cards.
Skills, talents, and specialties go without saying, directly loaded onto the soldiers or summoned creatures, freely creating unique military units.
It's worth mentioning that, due to the special nature of the rules, if a Profession Card is loaded onto a soldier, there's no need to start training from the First Level; instead, you automatically receive a Professional Level equal to that of the soldier's level. For example, Lin Xiao's Level 4 Crossbowmen, when loaded with the crossbowman profession, would directly obtain Level 4 Professional Level.
Besides that, all participants can also enter the battlefield, but they can't engage directly in combat nor be attacked. They function more like a background commander of their own troops and can cast spells if they possess skill scrolls.
In fact, one could reference a classic game called Heroes of Might and Magic 111 that Lin Xiao played before crossing over, but without the hero attributes and talents that benefit their subordinates.
Lin Xiao placed the four Soldier Cards to one side, the six Summoning Cards to another, eleven Weapon Cards to another side, and the eleven skill or magic scroll cards to yet another side. There were no Profession Cards; the rest were various Talent Specialty cards and some other assorted cards.
Firstly, there were four Soldier Cards. Aside from the Crossbowmen, there's also a three-star blank slate Light Infantry Card that can summon one hundred Level 3 Human Light Infantry equipped with Single-hand Longswords, Oak Round Shields, and Studded Leather Armor.
One three-star rare quality Elite Assassination Card that can summon a small squad of twenty Jackal Man Assassins capable of invisibility, also at Level 3- And one two-star blank slate quality Goblin Squad, with three hundred members but only at the First Level, purely Cannon Fodder.
The six Summoning Cards consist of summoning a Double-headed Ferocious Alligator, which is at the Fifth Level limit, just one step away from the Transcendent Level.
Four Large Water Elementals this is one card summoning four, with the Card at Level 4 Rare Quality, and the Water Elements at Level 4- Combined, they still don't compare to the Double-headed Ferocious Alligator.
Two Large Fire Elementals this card can only summon two, also at Level 4, but the card quality is evidently not as good as the previous card that summons Water Elementals.
Then there are four one and two-star quality Summoning Cards, the creatures summoned are quite ordinary, and not very useful.
Apart from these, weapon and equipment cards include things like Swords, Bows, Armor, etc.; the quality is certainly better than the standard equipment carried by the Soldier Cards.
The remaining Talent Specialty Skill cards have generally low levels and mediocre quality, but after all, they are skills that, if used well, can greatly enhance the strength of one's subordinates.
The only Golden Mythical Quality two-star card is a Ring of Spells Level 2 Summoning Monster (Strengthened). Normally, this spell can summon a certain number of Level 2 monsters, but this enhanced version can summon a group of Level 2 monsters. Crucially, this is a Magic Item that can be used repeatedly.
After taking stock of the cards in hand, the next step is to figure out how to use the Creation Rubik's Cube to decompose and strengthen them.
As previously mentioned, although it is now required to consciously train one's willpower, this does not conflict with cheating. The Creation Rubik's Cube is his Golden Finger to rise up—how could he not use it? He wasn't foolish enough to restrict himself.
First, he collected all the useless cards and decomposed them into Creation Energy in the Magic Cube, as nutrients to strengthen other cards when needed. While Creation Energy can't turn decay into magic like Creative Power, simple strengthening is still no problem.
Then-
After some thought, Lin Xiao also decomposed that Water Elemental's Summoning Card and the Double-headed Ferocious Alligator card into Creation Energy for later use.
Then he took out the Fire Elemental Summoning Card, decomposed it in the Creation Rubik's Cube, merged the two Large Fire Elementals it was supposed to summon, then fused all the previously decomposed cards' Creative Power into this card to begin its strengthening.
His plan was simple; merely strengthening other types of Soldier Cards would not bring about a qualitative change, but summoning a Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental with these Summoning Cards would be different. Normally, only cards of Five Star Mythical Quality and above have the chance to summon Transcendent Level creatures. Given the randomness, the number is definitely not high. A Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental on the battlefield would certainly stand out from the crowd, exceptional and unrivaled.
The result was as he expected. Using over a dozen miscellaneous cards as nutrients and decomposing all Summoning Cards to nourish this Fire Elemental Summoning Card, the merged new card was indeed a Five Star, Golden Mythical Quality Summoning Card that could summon a Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental.
Lin Xiao immediately included this card in his combat deck.
Next, he took out the three-star blank slate card that could summon one hundred Light Infantrymen, plus a two-star rare quality Armor Card containing one hundred and fifty sets of Armor, and another two-star Weapon Card containing two hundred low-quality steel material Single-hand Swords. Merging these three cards resulted in one three-star rare quality Soldier Card. It was still one hundred Human Infantrymen, but after being equipped with the weapons and thick Armor, they became one hundred Heavy Infantrymen, perfect for forming the front-line defense for five hundred crossbowmen. Unfortunately, there were no Shield Weapon Cards, so they were still equipped with Oak Round Shields.
This card, along with the Five Star Legendary Quality Crossbowmen and the Super Large Fire Elemental Summoning Card, formed his three initial cards for the deck.
This wave of strength was very impressive, and he estimated that it would be no problem advancing to the top hundred.
Given the current number of people, it was estimated that it would take five victories to enter the top hundred. During this time, he would receive at least five to fifteen cards from defeated opponents, hoping for some good items to combine with the remaining cards.
With the deck set, Lin Xiao selected "ready" on the interface screen in front of him to start the match..
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174 The shattered shell of the Crystal Wall System's Core
Translator: 549690339
After finalizing the deck, Lin Xiao selected the ready option on the screen interface and began the matching process. The scene before him shifted, becoming a constantly twisting Chaos Vortex.
Within two seconds, a golden light shot out from the distorted Chaos Vortex, and Lin Xiao felt his consciousness blur momentarily as he appeared in a boundless Void, spotting another golden light falling rapidly far ahead towards a virtual plane.
"Please deploy your predetermined card group within one minute!"
"That was fast."
First, he glanced at the terrain of the plane – it was different from the Summer Camp with no terrain selection, only a random option.
It seemed that neither he nor his opponent could choose, only random.
"Wow, talk about leaving it all up to luck!"
He set the activation sequence for the three cards he had prepared in advance, confirmed, and after a dozen seconds, the opponent also confirmed. Lin Xiao felt his consciousness quickly submerging into the plane.
It was a very ordinary hilly terrain. Three kilometers in length and width, one could see a sky full of white light pouring down across from the plane, manifesting into countless figures that overspread the ground.
From a distance, Lin Xiao observed that the other side had three thousand Level 1 Frog People and about three hundred Level 3 Bear Goblin Knights. This setup was quite impressive.
The Frog People might be lower level, but there were so many of them; even ants can bite an elephant to death.
Without using any cheats, Lin Xiao found it might be a bit challenging to defeat the opponent…
Well, okay, it's actually quite easy since five hundred Archers are quite powerful.
Initially, Lin Xiao only activated five hundred Archers along with a hundred Heavy Infantry. The Super Large Fire Elemental wasn't summoned right away, but it was in the Combat Card Group ready to be called at any moment. Cards outside of the Combat Card Group couldn't be used in this battle.
His opponent was an ordinary Caucasian man who, after summoning his forces, immediately looked up to check his opponent. Seeing only about five or six hundred enemies on the other side, he grew overly confident, thinking he had the win in the bag, and laughed loudly from afar:
"Looks like your luck is terrible, so I won't hold back."
Lin Xiao glanced at his opponent and said with his arms crossed:
"I have five hundred Archers and a hundred Heavy Infantry, your forces may be numerous but most are cannon fodder. I can't think of any reason you would believe you'll win. Is it because of those three hundred wild boar knights?"
"Of course!"
The confidence of the Caucasian man made Lin Xiao raise his eyebrows. He scrutinized the enemy once again, indeed they were Level 3 wild boar knights, with no other hidden troops in sight. Why does he think he can beat me?
He thought about probing further, but the time was up, the three-second countdown ended, and the battle began.
The Caucasian man immediately waved his hand, and three thousand Frog People charged shouting, with three hundred Bear Goblin Knights following at a steady pace behind; his combat intentions were puzzling to Lin Xiao.
But regardless of the opponent's plan, his own strategy was simple—line up a hundred Heavy Infantry in a row at the front, position the five hundred Archers in three lines behind the infantry, and wait for the enemy to draw closer.
When the enemy was about five hundred meters away, the three lines of Archers fired a volley into the air simultaneously. A rain of arrows soared into the sky, tracing long parabolas before falling, hitting a few Frog People to the ground.
The volley was somewhat imprecise, and the accuracy was off in the first round.
However, after the second volley rained down five seconds later, not only was the angle readjusted, but the distance had closed further, inflicting significant damage.
Yet the other side showed no reaction and kept charging.
After six volleys, nearly one-tenth of the Frog People were killed, but the distance had now shrunk to below a hundred meters. Lin Xiao quickly ordered the Archers to change their firing method. The three lines worked in a cycle: the first line would shoot and then immediately step back to re-string their bows. Meanwhile, the second line stepped up to shoot and then retreated for the third line to take its place. By the time the third line finished, the first was ready again, creating a seamless rotation of fire.
This was a common linear queue tactic for eliminating enemies, allowing single-shot hand crossbows to achieve continuous fire in turns.
At least for now, it seemed extremely effective, with a large number of Frog People falling. The short gap of a hundred meters saw a much higher casualty rate than the previous six volleys.
But what puzzled Lin Xiao was that his opponent seemed undisturbed by his forces' falling numbers. The three hundred Bear Goblin Knights hadn't even caught up yet. This was…
Just then, a sly smile appeared on the face of the Caucasian man, who drew out a crystal wand that looked extremely lavish, resembling a clenched fist. He slammed it into the ground, and a gemstone embedded in one of the five fingers at the end of the wand burst open. Above the three hundred Bear Goblin Knights, the Void twisted and distorted, and they disappeared into thin air.
"Damn it, a Teleportation Wand!"
Lin Xiao didn't need to see the teleport point to know what the opponent had in mind.
Just as expected, a large patch of invisible distortion directly appeared among the Archers. The three hundred Bear Goblin Knights had been teleported into the crowd. With sword in hand, nearly half of the Archers were overturned before they could react.
Although the Archers were ranked higher than the Bear Goblin Knights, they were all about long-range shooting. Their close combat capabilities were virtually non-existent, no match for the Bear Goblins' slashing and the wild boars' gnawing. The Archers' formation was quickly thrown into utter disarray.
The Caucasian man laughed heartily upon seeing this:
"Looks like you're going to lose."
"That may not be the case!"
Lin Xiao directly activated the scroll wrapped in red light, and the sky twisted and opened. A fireball as big as a house plunged from the sky into the battlefield and exploded into a sea of flames spanning dozens of meters. Accompanied by a soul-piercing roar, flames slowly rose, condensing into a Super Large Fire Elemental over fifteen meters tall.
The summoned Fire Elemental roared up to the heavens, and a faint halo of flame rapidly expanded. The grass on the ground quickly turned yellow, withered, blackened, and burned, transforming the area into a Land of Flames exceeding one hundred meters in diameter.
"This is impossible!"
The white man stared at the massive Fire Elemental as if he had seen a ghost.
"Kill them."
With a point of Lin Xiao's hand, the towering arms of the Super Large Fire Elemental rose high, the sky turned a rapid red, and countless fist-sized fireballs rained down from the sky into the Frog People.
The Rain of Fire technique, a powerful spell mastered by a Rank 6 Super Large Fire Elemental, can summon a large torrent of fire rain to scorch enemies from above.
With waves of Rain of Fire igniting the bodies of the Frog People, the magic flames' power far exceeded ordinary fire, and many Frog People were burned to death, their morale skyrocketing and collapsing as they fled.
Even though it was a summoned troop, it was real, and who could resist under such terrible magic and battle damage.
As the Frog People fled, Lin Xiao immediately ordered the remaining eighty to ninety heavy infantry to return and support the crossbow shooters.
The arms of the Super Large Fire Elemental raised once more, showering down a swath of red light, bestowing all the infantry with a flame shield that could reflect fire damage, as well as imbuing their blades with fire damage.
The rest of the battle had no more surprises. Even if the Boar Knights killed off all the crossbow shooters, they were obliterated by the Super Large Fire Elemental's spells in a few waves. Still, Lin Xiao won.
The battlefield they were on was virtual, and the death of soldiers did not affect the next battle, as they would all return to full numbers shortly thereafter.
After the battle ended, a prize wheel appeared before Lin Xiao's eyes. He knew this was the opponent's card pool, and according to the rules he could draw one to three cards from the opponent's pool to replenish his own.
He pressed down on the center of the wheel, which spun rapidly. After more than ten seconds, the speed slowed until it stopped, revealing two new cards before him.
"Not bad."
He examined the two cards closely, one was a three-star ordinary quality Boar Knight Card, and the other was a two-star Summoning Card capable of summoning a small pack of Seat Wolves, which could be ignored.
It's a shame he didn't draw that Teleportation Card, or it would have been fun.
Next, after defeating an opponent, he could choose a card to add to his Combat Card Group.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Xiao pulled out the Boar Knight Card and added the two-star ordinary Goblin Card. Both cards summoned Goblins, and since Bear Goblins were also Goblins, they could be fused.
After combining the two cards, they became a three-star rare quality Soldier Card, capable of summoning three hundred Bear Goblins and three hundred regular Goblin Cannon Fodder.
Although the added strength wasn't very impressive, and the boost to his power wasn't huge, this bunch of Cannon Fodder was just right to buy more time for the five hundred archers. A hundred heavy infantry were too few to hold back the enemy's attack.
Moreover, he didn't have anything good, and others didn't have much either.
Everyone had limited card slots; there weren't that many advanced card combinations.
After a brief rest, Lin Xiao didn't leave the battlefield and directly continued to match up with a second opponent.
At the God's Tomb square, as time passed, the first round of battles ended one after another. Lin Xu emerged from defeating his first opponent, prepared himself again, and when his consciousness returned to the square, he found that the HuaXia District's players had been significantly reduced.
At least two-thirds of the players were defeated in the first round, a margin that shocked him greatly.
Compared to the ease and laughter of the players from the high school league, the atmosphere in the HuaXia District was quiet and extremely heavy, with everyone feeling unwilling and unconvinced.
If they lost because they were technically inferior, that would be one thing, or if they really had worse luck, they could accept that. But they felt particularly indignant about competing at a disadvantage from the start.
But the rules were as such—who would have command in the God's Tomb if not their own people?
Lin Xu was helpless in this regard. Although he also had an advantage and his luck wasn't bad, adding up to a fairly good situation, he was certain he couldn't make it to the end.
Glancing left and right, he saw that both Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin were still present, meaning they weren't eliminated. That was somewhat comforting.
He wasn't very optimistic about Lin Xiao; he had seen his card pool was not much stronger than his own. But he had high hopes for Shen Yuexin. Her luck was exceptionally good – she started with an Ancient Godly Card, and with the advantage of a few gold and orange cards, she had a good chance of making it to the end and taking the God's Tomb.
He felt the hope of the HuaXia District rested on her.
With a bit of solace, Lin Xu's consciousness sank, and he began the second round of challenge.
In the virtual plane, Lin Xiao carefully observed his opponent's strength, and from the start, he summoned the Super Large Fire Elemental to position in front of the archers. Further forward were a thousand heavy infantry and three hundred Goblin Cannon Fodder, while another three hundred Bear Goblins broke away early to circle around to the side, forcing the opponent to allocate some forces to defend against a possible sneak attack on their archer formation..
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Chapter 175: The Competition for the College
Translator: 549690339 I
After twelve Transcendent Level Whaling Knights appeared, the second batch comprised around three hundred Supreme Nagas.
According to Lin Xiao's plan, if they were to summon Clan members in a hostile environment, they would need this powerful group of subordinates to first create a safe setting. After that, they'd summon a large number of Small Fishman cannon fodders.
Endless streams of Small Fishmen were summoned around the portal. When a group of Fishman Magicians was summoned, they jumped into the river and began summoning Water Elements.
The Water Elements remained the same, but there were now more Fishman Magicians than before.
During the challenge at the Summer Camp, the demonstration of the Fishman Mockers' ability to summon a tide that inundated Li Shengyuan's forces convinced Slarda of the Fishmen summoners' might on the battlefield. Subsequently, as Fishmen progressed in the ancient arenas, he encouraged them to become Magicians if they could awaken their bloodline, aiming to increase the number of Magicians.
By now, they had accumulated over two thousand Fishman Magicians, while the total number of Fishmen had grown to between sixteen to seventeen thousand.
The number of Wise Goblins hadn't changed much, with less than a hundred new births. Their reproductive ability declined after the transformation from common Goblins into potential-packed Wise Goblins, now even lower than that of the Fishmen, yet still stronger than the Supreme Nagas.
Currently, the Divine Realm contained about thirteen hundred Supreme Nagas in total, including adults, children, and even newborn infants, which was many more than before.
This was because Lin Xiao, whenever he had the chance, tirelessly employed the Reproductive Divine Extraordinary Abilities to force pregnant Supreme Naga females. Coupled with the long lifespans of the Supreme Nagas, who hadn't experienced any natural deaths since their creation, the numbers had managed to accumulate to the present level.
Everything is difficult at the beginning; the reproduction rate of the Supreme Nagas was just slow to start. Given their lifespan, once the base number grew, their reproduction speed would naturally accelerate.
After three rounds of summoning, the Fishman Magicians had brought forth a total of six thousand Water Elements. Standing on the river's surface, these Water Elements were like normal people standing on the Earth, with massive waves of river water converging around them, forming ripples that surged back and forth.
But in Lin Xiao's eyes, each Water Element radiated a faint undercurrent, invisible to the naked eye, which spread in all directions. This was the innate water-controlling Talent of the Water Elements.
A single Talent might not seem significant, but when a large number of Water Elements gathered, these undercurrents overlapped, potentially forming a world-shaking force that could drive the river water into towering waves.
Even without doing anything, the river's water had already begun to undulate slowly, its latent power sending tremors through the heart.
"Boom!"
Lin Xiao sharply turned his head and noticed an enormous bright blue lightning strike descend out of a clear sky some ten kilometers away, directly hitting the midsection of a lone peak. Squinting, he used his enhanced vision to see the bright blue lightning column strike a figure. In the next second, countless fine bolts of electricity exploded from the center of that figure, accompanied by a majestic proclamation, full of swagger:
"Thunder is at my command, I am The Lord of Wrath!"
"An Epic Hero?"
In Lin Xiao's view, it was a humanoid creature about five meters tall, its facial and head's rear part composed of bouncing silver lightning, with tiny bolts occasionally erupting from behind the head like hair. Behind the figure spread a pair of wings, over ten meters wide and made purely of lightning, scattering sparks with each gentle flap.
"How come it looks so damn cool?"
He glanced at Slarda and then at the humanoid proclaiming himself The Lord of Wrath. It was hard to gauge their Strength, but in terms of sheer image, it was undoubtedly impressive.
Yes, the nickname was also quite formidable.
Lin Xiao looked back at Slarda, wondering if he should also come up with an equally imposing nickname for his beloved general.
"Hmm, I'll bestow him a fancy title next time!"
Putting that thought on hold, he decided to address it after the Summer Camp was over.
Compared to him and Shen Yuexin, each with an Epic Hero on their side, Lin Xu only had one Elite Hero—a Half-Elf Ranger. The hero's entrance didn't cause any extraordinary phenomena, but it would be a grave mistake to underestimate him for that.
Keep in mind, this was a Transcendent Level Half-elf Archer. While they might be average in head-to-head combat, on the battlefield, they could be formidable, with archery skills even more terrifying than a sniper's.
This time, Lin Xiao summoned fifteen thousand Fishmen, a thousand Supreme Nagas, and merely two hundred Wise Goblins were mobilized.
They weren't sent to the battlefield but were kept waiting to clean up after capturing the Vampire City and castles. With their high intelligence, the Wise Goblins wouldn't indiscriminately pile things together like the Fishmen. Valuable items could easily get damaged that way.
With Wise Goblins handling it, perhaps they could plunder some valuable items like books and other good stuff.
Various powerful mythical technologies in the Main World originated from Different Domain's transcendental knowledge, such as Alchemy and Magic Weapon Crafting, and so on.
Although the Main World's Transcendent craftsmanship levels were far superior and more advanced than the Different Domain, it didn't mean the Different Domain's techniques were entirely useless, as they could serve as references.
If lucky enough to find some new techniques not yet present in the Main World, one could exchange them for a significant amount of accolades and honors from the military, as well as tangible rewards.
About two hours later, all Clan members had been summoned, and Lin Xiao closed the portal.
As the Divine Realm Master, Lin Xiao could summon the portal at any time and place by consuming a certain amount of time and Power of Faith; he didn't need to maintain it constantly.
In addition, the summoned Clan members had to be on the same plane as him. If he left this plane, all Clan members would automatically be transported back to the Divine Realm.
Ordering his Clan members to stand by, Lin Xiao took off ahead, flying towards the solitary peak. Midway, he joined Lin Xu, and from afar, they saw Shen Yuexin seated on a huge and luxurious magic carpet. Behind her, standing to her left and right, were two tall Wingmen, roughly two meters and sixty or seventy centimeters tall, their backs entwined with lightning. Beside her stood the formidable Epic Hero known as The Lord of Wrath.
At the midsection of the solitary peak below, the skies were filled with Wingmen and a few powerful Wingmen with lightning entwined around their wings.
"These are my Clan's Thunder Wings!"
Shen Yuexin raised her hand, pointing at the powerful Transcendent Level Thunder Wings bowing to them, and continued to introduce:
"My Clan is composed entirely of air units. Most are ranged Shooters and Magic based Thunder Magicians, so the frontal assault and siege will depend on you."
She was looking at Lin Xiao. Lin Xu's main force consisted of Half-elf Archers, who were not suited for the front lines.
Of course, her Wingmen also had melee fighters, but the Wingmen warriors were not as effective in close combat. They were better suited and more skilled at flying in the air, maintaining a distance to strike at targets. Once up close and dragged to the ground, they found it as uncomfortable as ordinary people being pulled into water, and their combat power was greatly reduced.
"No problem!"
Lin Xiao patted his chest confidently, his eyes sweeping over her Wingmen with both envy and silent surprise.
He knew Shen Yuexin was strong, but he had not expected her to be this formidable.
Wingmen were already considered a high-ranking race, and she seemed to have tens of thousands of them, each well-equipped. Most importantly, she had seventy to eighty Thunder Magicians with wings entwined with lightning and auras reaching the Transcendent Level—several times more than Lin Xiao's.
Without discussing specific strengths, her forces were all air units, and in a true battle, Lin Xiao's side would be overwhelmed.
"Damn it, I need to cultivate some Frost Magicians. It's a huge disadvantage not having ranged units."
Although he had incorporated the Frost Magician profession, there hadn't been enough time, nor sufficient Power of Faith to unlock the ancient arena. Right now, he didn't have many Frost Magicians at his command, and their levels were not high enough for combat.
The three of them discussed around the virtual map for a while and formulated a plan for attacking the city based on the situations of their respective Clans.
The plan was simple: advance along the river, exploit the Fishmen Mockery Magicians' strengths, and trigger a tidal surge to assault the city during the siege.
It must be noted that the Duke of Vampires' city was built alongside the river, within the city itself, and there were no city walls by the riverside. Summoning the tide could directly flood the city.
Then it was time for the frontal assault on the city.
Even the best plans were only auxiliary. In the end, it all came down to an outright and stern siege.
With the plan confirmed, Shen Yuexin immediately ordered the camp to be struck. The swarms of Wingmen soared into the sky, escorting the magic carpet toward the river. Along the way, they saw Lin Xu's summoned army setting out from their camp.
His main Clan members were Half-elves; the cannon fodder consisted of more than ten thousand Forest Lizardmen, mostly warriors, with a few Lizard Shooters.
Combined, the three forces comprised nearly forty thousand troops, both main battle races and cannon fodder, which made for a very formidable force. The wilderness along the river was trampled into a clear swath thousands of meters wide by the great army, advancing steadily towards the Vampire City of Alfonso.
The city was named after the Duke of Vampires, Afonso, which was commonplace in this plane – many cities were named after their lords or some legendary figures.
As the army drew closer to Alfonso, it was inevitably discovered. When they were about ten kilometers away from Alfonso, Shen Yuexin's Wingmen had already spotted no fewer than ten scouting parties; vanguard recon had seen that Alfonso had entered a state of combat readiness.
When the two sides were roughly three kilometers apart, Lin Xiao ordered the Fishman Magician troop to control summoned Water Elements and to start the Mockery, stirring the river in preparation to summon a giant tidal wave.
Even though the other side would be alerted in advance and prepared, it was to no avail. In just that short amount of time, could they really erect a riverside city wall on the fly? Even knowing that he intended to flood Alfonso, they could only watch helplessly as the tide surged their way.
A frontal assault, flooding the city—that was their open strategy.
When the army was only about one mile from the city walls, they could already hear the urgent sound of alarm gongs from within the city, with countless warriors, weapons in hand, ascending to the battlements.
From the direction of the city, one after another bloodthirsty transcendental aura soared skyward, and multiple bloody shadows converged from all over the city. From the castle of the Duke of Vampires, Afonso, at the rear of the city, the Duke of Vampires Afonso looked at the depiction of his enemies in the Water Mirror Technique and remembered the advice given by his departing ally.
"Such a strong army; he's surely doomed!"
At that moment, Yu Xiu was not too far away from Alfonso City.
Originally, he had wanted to leave this trouble-ridden place sooner, but he hadn't gone far before receiving orders from his company to find a safe place to stand by for further instructions..
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Chapter 176: Dust Settles
Translator: 549690339 I
Lin Xiao also wore an expression of anticipation. By now, he could just imagine how ecstatic his parents would be upon hearing this news, especially his mother.
He suddenly burst into laughter, picturing in his mind the way his mother would show off in front of her sisters-in-law.
Just then, Shen Yuexin, who had been shrinking in the Golden Throne like an ostrich, suddenly lifted her head, her small mouth slightly agape and her pretty face showing an expression of surprise, as if someone was contacting her.
At that moment, a starlight suddenly descended from the Vault of Heaven and landed on her, the dazzling starlight swirling around her and making the already beautiful girl look ravishingly stunning.
Simultaneously, beams of starlight fell one after another, enveloping various students in their seats, with strands of light twining to form strange marks that slowly landed on those who were selected.
The many ordinary students below looked on with envious eyes, for these marks signified that they had been officially recruited by the elite institutions.
The previous offers were also special invitations, but since the summer camp had not yet concluded, their status was not definitive, at most a promise. It was only after the conclusion of the summer camp, as is happening now, and when the official mark was made that everything would be truly settled. Starlight kept falling, and every student enveloped by the light revealed joyful expressions. Whether or not they had secured the top slots, just being specially invited meant they were the finest among their peers, an affirmation from the higher colleges.
The mark that was gradually forming on Shen Yuexin's body seemed to be from the Super Institution Mingluo, ranked seventh?
She had been specially invited by Mingluo?
Lin Xiao was about to ask her when he saw a speck of crystal light explode on her body, invisible ripples shattering the newly formed Mingluo mark; amid a faint roar that was abruptly cut off, specks of crystal light converged on her wrist to form a new mark.
When he saw the pattern of the mark, Lin Xiao's pupils dilated, and he felt a sudden sense of loss. That was because it was the mark of Radiance, the number one super college, which had given her a special invitation and forcibly taken her from Mingluo.
According to the default rules, this meant that Radiance would not offer him a special invitation.
Feeling a bit disappointed, he still smiled at the girl and said,
"Congratulations, this is a special invitation from Radiance."
The girl was still a bit dazed and said in surprise,
"I didn't receive an invitation from Radiance!"
"Then how come…."
Lin Xiao's voice cut off abruptly as a point of bright light formed ripples in his pupils, reflecting an image of a handsome young man in white stepping out of the ripples, his voice directly entering Lin Xiao's head:
"Hmm, kid, consider yourself lucky!"
Then, a starlight descended from the sky and enveloped him, countless strands of light twining around to form a mark on his hand identical to the one on Shen Yuexin.
"Ah, this…."
Both he and Shen Yuexin were stunned. Rubbing his eyes vigorously, he whispered incredulously to the girl beside him:
"If I'm not mistaken, we've both been specially invited by Radiance?"
"Who's 'we' with you?"
The girl glanced at him disdainfully and said,
"It seems so. Can Radiance send out two special invitations at the same time?"
At this moment, others also noticed the marks on their bodies. The few players sitting with them on the Golden Throne could no longer maintain their youthful arrogance. Almost simultaneously, they stared wide-eyed back and forth between them, their eyes full of disbelief:
"How is this possible!"
"Aren't the five super colleges only allowed to choose one each?"
"But this is Radiance!"
Wu Zhonglin said calmly, nodding his head towards Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin as a gesture of acknowledgement.
"This is Radiance…."
"Yeah, this is Radiance…."
The young men muttered to themselves and sat down. No longer surprised, they couldn't hide the thick envy in their eyes.
As all the young trainees in the row began to calm their emotions, no longer as shocked as before, the discussions below grew louder. More and more people heard or saw, a wave of shock, envy, or confusion directed at the two of them, converging into a rumble, growing louder and louder.
Until, suddenly, the sound of a bell rang out. A pillar of light from the chairman's podium descended from the sky, revealing the figure of the host, bringing calm to the hall.
The host, Instructor Mo, swept his compelling gaze over everyone present; the entire place fell silent before he spoke in a deep voice:
"The third stage of this summer camp has now concluded. First of all, congratulations to you for winning the exchange match against the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools. This is an excellent credential for you, which will be recorded in your files. It may not mean much now, but when you apply for colleges or join the military in the future, it will yield additional benefits."
He paused, then continued,
"As per the pre-set schedule of the summer camp, the third stage is also the final one. After receiving your rewards shortly, this summer camp will officially end, and you are free to stay within the fortress for three days. During this time, some of you might receive reserve invitations from the military. I hope those who receive such invitations will carefully review the details, and if possible, accept this offer."
"Of course, this isn't mandatory, but as a personal reminder, it's a good thing," he said.
"Now, everyone, receive your rewards!"
As his voice fell, thousands of beams of light descended from the sky and hit each of the students.
Even though there were only about twenty from the HuaXia District in the top hundred before the exchange competition—pitifully few—according to the summer camp rules, anyone who stayed until the end would receive an extra card slot, and then rewards according to their final seated position. The higher the position, the greater the rewards. Those in the golden ranks even received an additional Ancient Quality God Card and five Golden Mythical Quality Five Star Cards.
This meant that Lin Xiao, having won the first place in the exchange competition, would not only get four extra card slots designated for the first place but also one additional slot for a total of five extra card slots as well as three Ancient Quality God Cards and fifteen Five Star Cards of random quality.
So many rewards…
Lin Xiao rubbed his hands together, quite expectant.
As time passed, the beams of light began to disappear. Soon only about twenty were left, then a dozen, until only Lin Xiao, Shen Yuexin, and Wu Zhonglin remained.
Following their ranks, the lights went out one by one, until only Lin Xiao remained, continuing to receive the subspace energy transfusion under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
To be honest, the feeling was awesome, absolutely awesome.
But even the most awesome things come to an end. When the transfusion was complete, a screen of light opened in front of Lin Xiao, and the much-anticipated reward collection began. Excitedly rubbing his hands once more, he began to check on his rewards.
First up was the collection of three Ancient Quality Cards.
When he opened the Ancient Card interface, a cascade of sparkling light fell, more abundant than the last time.
The dazzling array of cards made his eyes whirl, leaving him momentarily unsure which to choose.
However, he had a trick; setting everything else aside, he first searched for the cards with the least quantity, which generally hold more value than the mass-produced Ancient Cards like the Frost Magician occupation he had previously selected.
Setting the search criteria, the screen flipped, and the number of cards in his view rapidly changed. Only a few Ancient Cards with a single copy appeared before him, the first of which immediately caught his eye.
Five Star Item Card—Fire Dragon Essence Blood (Ancient): Obtain a drop of mature Red Dragon essence blood, which can grant a target fire dragon bloodline, with a chance to promote the target to a hero.
"This is a good thing indeed!"
Lin Xiao almost didn't hesitate to grab the item first.
If any other Divine Territory Player got this, it would be possible to create a dragon bloodline magician with a Transcendent Sixth Level base that could reach Rank Eight Legendaries.
But for Lin Xiao, it wasn't just about creating a dragon bloodline magician. With the Creation Rubik's Cube in his possession, his ambitions were clearly much greater than average.
He then looked at the second Ancient Crystal Card, which was the only one of its kind. It was an incredibly rare resource card for a Miniature Mithril Vein.
When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a miniature mithril vein underground at a specified position. The most critical point was that this vein was not one-off; as long as this Ancient Quality Card was present, it could continuously produce new mithril.
This…
It could be said to be very valuable, as mithril itself is a crucial material for high-level magical equipment and is highly valued on the market.
The problem was that it was a bit of a white elephant for them at the moment since they weren't at the level to deal with magical equipment yet. Unless his Wise Goblins grew and started attempting to manufacture magic equipment, he could only mine it to store in his warehouse or sell it on the trading platform.
So, PASS!
His gaze quickly moved to the third card. It was a Weather Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could create the climates 'Lightning and Storm,' and the Divine Realm Master could also manipulate lightning storms to enhance his authority and prestige in the eyes of his followers or to harm enemies who invade the Divine Realm through the expenditure of Divine Power.
His Divine Realm did not have any weather or climate at the moment, apart from the default gentle breeze. There were no cloudy days, rainy days, seasons, lightning, and so on. Having this card, his Divine Realm would occasionally form these two types of climates, also allowing him the power to conjure lightning storms, which could be considered quite strong.
But well…
"Let's leave it as an option for now!"
He didn't say he didn't want it. He needed to have all the cards necessary to complete the rules of the Divine Realm, and he would definitely get them eventually.
But with so many cards here and a limited number of slots in his hand, he needed to see if there was something more suitable for himself first.
He checked each card one by one. Unless it was quite suitable for him, he would mark the others that were needed and finish looking at all the cards before deciding.
After all, there was no time limit now. If he could, he could squat there and look for a whole day.
Of course, it didn't take nearly that long. There weren't that many Ancient Quality Cards—just two to three hundred, and it didn't take him long to glance through them briefly.
Indeed, when he swept through the sixteenth card, he spotted one he liked without hesitation and took it, using up his second slot.
It was a Large Iron Mine Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a similarly regenerating large iron mine at a specified location.
Mine sizes ranged from miniature, small, medium, large, super-large, to giant, totaling seven scales. The scale did not necessarily relate to the card's rank but to the scarcity of the mineral resource itself.
For example, a Five Star Ancient Quality Ore Vein Card of mithril could only form a miniature vein, whereas iron could reach large-scale, and it occasionally contained a small amount of other minerals too.
For basic minerals like iron, large-scale is the maximum for Five Star Cards. Anything beyond that is only available for cards above Five Stars..
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Chapter 177: Joyful Summer Camp Grand Summary
Translator: 549690339
Considering that after the Summer Camp there will be a long period of laying low and farming to digest the gains from this Summer Camp, it was certain that he would focus on cultivating the Wise Goblins. There would definitely be a massive need for iron to allow them to smelt steel and then forge various weapons for practice. Purchasing it specially would be both troublesome and not cost-effective, so a large iron mine was essential.
In fact, a large iron mine was not enough. This time, having inherited Major General Keri's God's Tomb, the fragment of the Divine Kingdom inside might be larger than he had imagined. It was a fragment of a Divine Kingdom of Powerful Divine Power, and he did not yet know the specific area, but he was certain it was over ten times the size of his current Divine Realm.
Once such a large Divine Realm was developed, the demand for resources would be extremely high.
One certainly couldn't have such a vast Divine Realm where the majority was just empty wilderness. Therefore, for this reward, he would mostly choose various resource cards.
A mature and complete Divine Realm must not have any shortcomings, especially for someone like Lin Xiao with many secrets and not suited for team activities in the early stages. The Divine Realm had to be self-sufficient with perfect rules.
One must understand that during the second year of high school, many exams are in the Outland. If one accidentally ends up stranded in the void outside the realm for a long period without supplies, a resource-abundant Divine Realm with perfect rules and no deficiencies could support him to endure much longer.
Those students who recklessly engage in warfare and rely on team members for logistics may be powerful, but should they unexpectedly get separated from their teammates, the consequences would be quite severe.
As for the third Ancient Quality Card, Lin Xiao scanned through the dozen or so Ancient Cards he had marked as candidates, sequentially excluding those with lower priorities. In the end, two cards were listed as top priorities for selection: one that could summon a small mountain range called "Mountain Range" and one comprehensive land Biological Card.
The Mountain Range Ancient Card contained a small mountain range with one tall and five short peaks, a total of six peaks. The tallest was only about one thousand meters, the higher peaks were six to seven hundred meters, and the shorter ones were about two hundred meters, stretching over twenty to thirty kilometers.
The reason for choosing this card was simple: in addition to enriching the topography of the Divine Realm, it was primarily to prepare for many resources that required mountains.
For instance, various minerals, like iron ore, are mostly hidden under mountains.
Of course, burying them directly underground would work, but it's not conducive to mining. The soil beneath the Earth is not hard enough to support mine shafts. Freshly dug mines risk water seepage and collapse within minutes; even opencast mines have to be dug down.
At the same time, having mountains means having stones, which will be needed in large quantities for rebuilding cities when the Divine Realm expands in the future.
As for the land comprehensive Biological Card, it's a large package containing many wild animals of various sizes. Each animal species includes a number sufficient for stable reproduction, and loading them all would build a complete biological chain on land.
The Biological Card could also provide the Divine Realm with plenty of meat. Some powerful wild animals staying in an energy-rich Divine Realm for a long time might possibly evolve into various stronger Fierce Beasts, becoming worthy opponents for the God Realm Kin to hone their skills against.
These two cards were not the most valuable among the Ancient Cards, but they were among the most suitable Ancient Cards for Lin Xiao right now.
He browsed back and forth between the two cards several times and finally chose the Mountain Range Card.
After all, he had previously chosen a large iron ore vein, which was a perfect match for this card.
As for ecology and the biological package, he decided to exchange them with others later using cards drawn at random that he didn't need.
With that, the selection of the three Ancient Cards was complete: a drop of Fire-system Red Dragon Essence Blood, a large iron ore vein, and a small mountain range card.
Next was the selection of fifteen Golden Mythical Quality Five Star Cards, which was quick since it was random.
Unlike the chosen Ancient Cards, the reward for the Mythical Quality Five Star Cards was entirely random.
Without needing to ponder, he pressed the random button on the screen in front of him. One by one, cards emitting varying intensities of golden light emerged from a golden vortex and landed in his hands.
The richness of the golden light represented that even among the Mythical Quality Cards, some were better than others, with varying strengths at the same level.
It didn't take long for fifteen cards with varying intensities of golden light to appear in his hand. With a flick of his fingers, like fanning out a deck of playing cards, the names of the fifteen cards became instantly visible.
A quick check, and Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow in surprise. Among them he found a Divinity Card.
Normally, the Divinity Cards were not available for selection in the pre-set card pool. Neither Divinity Cards nor Divine Realm Cards were available during the two previous stages of the Summer Camp. But now, with the random selection, the two most valuable types of Mythical Quality Five Star Cards were added to the card pool for everyone to draw.
This thing was a highly beneficial goodie; even though Lin Xiao would gain a substantial amount of Divinity from the numerous Demi-God statues within the God's Tomb he had inherited from Major General Keri, one could never have too much of this stuff, nor could it possibly be too much.
Thinking about it, this Summer Camp had truly been a huge win. The total value of his earnings was likely to be higher than the sum of the top ten combined.
Once he digested this windfall, his strength was bound to take a huge leap forward. He might not yet be on par with freaks like Wu Zhonglin, but he would definitely surpass the next tier of elites like Zhang Guan, Qin Fengyan, and Wang Xinhe.
Perhaps, it was even possible for him to make it onto the secondary list of the top three thousand talents.
The thought alone slightly excited Lin Xiao.
Being on the list, and not being on the list, that gap was enormous. It wasn't just a matter of honor but tangible benefits that concerned his future.
Take a simple example: it was like before he transmigrated to the ancient era on Earth, whether one went to college or not, the post-graduation job treatment was completely different. Ordinary people could only apply for ordinary jobs, college graduates could apply for white-collar positions, while those who made it onto the secondary list were regarded by prospective employers as equivalent to graduates from Tsinghua University, Peking University, and could….
Heh, that's assuming they're interested in your company in the first place.
Most graduates from Tsinghua University and Peking University enter administrative and career positions after graduation; only those who fare poorly would join a company—and even then, it must be a large enterprise among the world's top 500. Anything less, and people wouldn't even consider you.
With this analogy, if Lin Xiao were to rank on any of the three lists—prodigies, unparalleled talents, or exceptional geniuses after enrollment, his treatment would be on a different level compared to other students, and the school would spare no effort in nurturing him.
Decades of history have already proven that as long as these listed contestants don't fall to unexpected accidents midway, they are almost guaranteed to achieve Divine Enthronement. Any investment in them is sure to pay off.
So….
"Work hard, young man!"
Lin Xiao encouraged himself silently, his gaze landing on the fan-shaped cards in front of him. He picked half that suited him, leaving the other half which were of no use to him, planning to exchange them later for cards that matched his needs.
Having taken stock of his rewards, he looked up to see that most people had already finished and many were already up and interacting with those they knew.
Lin Xu was chatting with a student from a Silver Seat nearby. Seeing Lin Xiao had received his rewards, he excused himself from the conversation and headed his way.
Shen Yuexin had also finished collecting her rewards. The three of them gathered, and Lin Xu's eyes, filled with envy, landed on the marks of Radiance on the two of them:
"It's unexpected for you both to be specially recruited by Radiance, it's beyond everyone's anticipation."
"It's just luck!"
Lin Xiao replied with a smile, but his mind replayed the words of the man in white—kid, you are lucky!
Truthfully, he still hadn't grasped what was happening. That man in white was clearly an observer from Radiance. Why did he say Lin Xiao was lucky? Could it be that Lin Xiao hadn't been considered initially?
He pondered from every angle but couldn't understand; it was too strange.
Regardless, being specially recruited by Radiance was a sure thing now. Whatever the reason, the opportunity was his, and he would take it, even if he wasn't the top choice.
"Ahem!"
Lin Xiao gave a light cough, feeling slightly embarrassed by his wild thoughts.
The top spot was definitely impossible; his special recruitment quota was probably due to some other special reason, not aimed at giving him the top spot, and he wouldn't be able to handle it. Lin Xiao guessed he might not even be in the top three. Considering Radiance was the number one super academy in the Main World with around ten special recruitment slots, his ranking would be after the third.
Taking his words at face value, Lin Xu thought he was being modest and said with a smile:
"Your own strength is not bad, and you've inherited a legacy with extraordinary potential, so it's not surprising that you would be specially recruited by Radiance."
He paused, then added:
"You're specially recruited by Radiance, and I by Dark Moon. This generation of the Lin Family is outstanding. After we graduate from college, leading the clan will certainly take us to greater heights." emmm….
Such a naive thought, Lin Xiao looked seriously at this member of his kin. Although a bit arrogant, his character and values were quite sound.
He then reminisced about how Lin Xu had looked after him during the Summer Camp and suddenly had an idea, saying:
"Wait for me a moment."
With that, his figure vanished on the spot, returning to the Divine Realm.
Within the Divine Realm, Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes, facing a huge luminous orb hovering before him. This was the God's Tomb. Major General Keri had packed the entire God's Tomb into Lin Xiao's Divine Realm, with everything inside it.
He reached into the orb, and when he drew his hand back, he held two palm-sized statues and two shimmering Ancient Cards.
The statues were two demi-god statues from the plaza of God's Tomb, turned into statues by adventurers or demi-gods who had accidentally entered during Keri's once every ten thousand years opening of the God's Tomb, all sealed within. He took two demi-god statues and tore off a small piece of a Divine Kingdom fragment to make two Ancient Quality Divine Realm Cards.
Returning from the Divine Realm, Lin Xu and Shen Yuexin immediately turned their attention to what he held in his hands. He handed over a sparkling card and a statue to each of them:
"We're teammates, and we ventured into the God's Tomb together, it's only right you have a share of what's inside."
The Golden Contestants around them chatting noticed this gesture and immediately showed expressions of envy, their views on Lin Xiao significantly changing.
No one dislikes someone willing to share their gains with friends..
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Chapter 178: Divinity Harvest
Translator: 549690339 I
Looking at the cards he currently had, even after adding the ones he had previously drawn, there were only eleven left: a two-star Mythical Quality Ring of Spells, a three-star rare Jackal Man Assassin Soldier Card, a two-star whiteboard Summoning Card summoning a Seat Wolf, a four-star rare skill card called Rupture Slash, a three-star unique summoning card for Summoning Ten Barrels of Alchemy Gunpowder, and a three-star Epic Quality Bed Crossbow Card summoning five ballistas.
These few were the only ones of any value; the rest were garbage, good for nothing but to be decomposed into nutrients.
Now the question was, how to fuse these eleven cards into one suitable powerful card?
Lin Xiao pinched his chin, thinking hard for a long time, with just these few limited cards, and they weren't even uniform; it seemed he couldn't fuse them into anything worthwhile.
More precisely, he couldn't fuse them into a card that was too strong.
"Or maybe… it can be done this way?"
Adding Rupture Slash to the Jackal Man Assassin, fusing the two, would become a Jackal Man Assassin with this skill innate.
Or alternatively, fuse the Rupture Slash into that four-star rare heavy infantry card, so it carries the skill.
Or is…
"Hmm!"
Looking at several of the cards, a bizarre idea suddenly came to Lin Xiao's mind. He narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said:
"Could it be worth a try?"
No sooner said than done, he first picked up the two-star Mythical Quality Ring of Spells. This card contained a magic ring with a Level 2 monster summoning spell (strengthened) – usable twenty times per day, summoning a small group of Level 2 creatures each time.
Although of Mythical Quality, being restricted to summoning only Level 2 creatures seemed rather underwhelming.
But what if he modified it?
Lin Xiao had a bold idea in mind; first, he took the two-star Seat Wolf Summoning Card…
"Wait a second, maybe it can be done like this."
He put away the Seat Wolf Summoning Card and took out another Jackal Man Assassin card and the Alchemy Gunpowder Summoning Card, throwing them all into the Magic Cube Space. He decomposed the cards, then fused them, in accordance with his concept, stripping all weaponry and equipment from the Jackal Man Assassins and having each carry a barrel of Alchemy Gunpowder.
Thus, a Summoning Card capable of summoning Self-Exploding Assassins carrying explosive barrels was created.
But this was not enough. He took out the Ring of Spells Card and threw it into the Creation Rubik's Cube along with the rest of the garbage cards for decomposition into nutrients. Taking the Ring of Spells as the core, he removed the Level 2 creature summoning spell and replaced it with the summoning of Self-Exploding Assassins.
Then, with all the junk cards decomposed into nutrients for strengthening, the final result was a three-star Mythical Quality Soldier Card Self-Exploding Assassin.
Effect: Summon twenty fearless Self-Exploding Assassins, usable ten times per day.
With this, Lin Xiao's sixth slot in his Combat Card Group was filled, and apart from these six cards, he held no others.
Twenty at a time, two hundred in ten times, two hundred stealthy
Self-Exploding Assassins…
Hehe!
With his intentions hidden, Lin Xiao chose to match with another opponent for the fifth time.
This time the matching was quick, taking less than half a minute to find an opponent. Upon entering the battlefield, he observed his opponent immediately.
"Two thousand Jackal Men, a thousand Goblins, three thousand Kobolds? Quite a bit of cannon fodder."
But his attention was soon captured by the ten-meter tall stone figure standing in the back; that was a Rank 6 Transcendent Level Large Granite Golem, composed entirely of granite, unbelievably hard.
Yet, that wasn't even the strongest asset; Lin Xiao quickly saw behind the Granite Golem, there was a huge Ballista Camp, with a hundred bed crossbows lined up, their sharp arrows gleaming with a metallic chill.
"This lineup is solid!"
This opponent's force would require at least four five-star cards to field an army of this scale; he probably chose all five-star cards from the start.
In the previous round, Lin Xiao might have found it difficult to deal with this army. A slight mishap and he could have possibly faced defeat, but this time was different.
As soon as the battle began and the opponent's massive formation started to move forward, Lin Xiao ordered the Central Army to stand still, three hundred Bear Goblin Boar Knights broke ranks and circled to the right to draw the enemy's attention, while simultaneously, he rapidly summoned two hundred Self-Exploding Assassins and ordered them to stealth with their explosive barrels and circle to the left.
The opponent's main force of bed crossbows moved slowly, which gave him plenty of time.
The Boar Knights, dangling far outside the range of the ballistas' shots, drew the enemy's gaze, while the stealthy Self-Exploding Assassins silently made their way to a position not far from the ballistas. Lin Xiao then gave the order for a full charge. The ten massive Mammoth Beasts immediately drew all the attention, the bed crossbows stopped, and the vast number of supporting soldiers began to rewind their strings.
Lin Xu hovered in mid-air, arms crossed over his chest, observing the battlefield. He was very confident in his layout; as long as the bed crossbow camp was secure, any amount of powerful enemy forces would be thwarted.
Though the opponent's formation was strong, it was equally useless; the mighty bed crossbows were a counter to large-sized creatures.
He didn't notice the stealthed Self-Exploding Assassins, as at that moment, their presence was merely a conscious descent into this virtual battlefield, without inheriting the powerful abilities of Divine Beings and unable to see through stealth skills.
So, when the leading ten Mammoth Beasts collided with the Kobold forces, Lin Xiao immediately ordered the three hundred Boar Knights to charge at the bed crossbow camp to attract attention.
"Block them."
Mowen immediately ordered a team of Hyenaman positioned beside the ballista camp to rush forward, and at the same time, a yellow light flashed on the Granite Golem situated in the Central Army, a layer of yellow light appeared on the Boar Knight, slowing down abruptly, and they were squarely blocked by the charging Hyenaman.
Mowen promptly took control of the Granite Golem, the towering ten-meter-tall stone giant lifted its arms and slammed them down to the ground with a 'bang,' a ripple spread under the feet of the Boar Knights, and countless sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground, instantly assassinating dozens of Boar Knights, with the rest being stuck and restricted.
"Hahaha, your cavalry…."
"Boom boom boom…."
A series of intense explosions interrupted his words, and Mowen's face turned pale as he turned around, only to see his most important ballista camp engulfed in fierce explosions.
One by one, figures emerged from stealth, each holding a large barrel of violent Alchemy Gunpowder as they charged into the ballista camp and set it off. In less than ten seconds, the entire hundred ballista camp was wiped out, while fewer than fifty Self-Exploding Assassins had appeared.
"That's some serious power!"
Lin Xiao smacked his lips, giving himself a mental pat on the back for his moment of inspiration.
With the core ballista camp annihilated, Mowen's strength was directly halved. Only then did Lin Xiao order his Super Large Fire Elemental to prepare for Rain of Fire.
An hour later, as more than fifty Self-Exploding Assassins surged forward, an earth-shattering explosion erupted, shattering the ten-meter-tall Granite Golem, and the seven surviving Mammoth Beasts charged and knocked down the cracked golem, breaking it into pieces.
"Awesome!"
Easily conquering another city, Lin Xiao was in a particularly good mood, contentedly opening the card drawing interface and randomly selecting three more cards.
One Five Star Kobold Soldier Card, capable of summoning three thousand Kobold cannon fodder.
One Four Star Goblin Soldier Card, capable of summoning a thousand Goblin cannon fodder.
One Five Star Hyenaman Soldier Card, capable of summoning two thousand Hyenaman cannon fodder.
"Well, that's a full set of cannon fodder come to life."
Lin Xiao was somewhat speechless. It felt wrong to say it wasn't good—two Five Star cards and one Four Star card were quite the streak of luck—but the fact they were all cannon fodder was a bit disappointing.
No choice but to use them, and the fusion process was simple: merge them all into the Three Star rare quality Bear Goblin Boar Knight card.
Fusing the Goblin cannon fodder card into it, then breaking down the other two cards into nourishment and fusing them as well, he finally obtained a Five Star rare quality Summoning Card—Cannon Fodder Camp.
Effect: Activate the card to summon three thousand Kobold cannon fodder, two thousand Hyenaman cannon fodder, two thousand Goblin cannon fodder, and three hundred Bear Goblin Boar Knights.
After fusing the cards, Lin Xiao realized there was still one open slot in his Combat Card Group yet no card to fill it.
Ready to go, he continued to match.
The next battle was the fifth round. A victory here meant entry into the top hundred, a critically important battle.
After fifteen whole minutes of matchmaking, which made him start to think there was no opponent left, he finally got matched with an opponent. Upon entering the plane and seeing his opponent, Lin Xiao was stunned for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
This time, his opponent was an Undead Legion numbering over thirty thousand, controlled by more than a dozen Undead Mages, and there were no other types of soldiers.
Or more accurately, there had been other types, but the opponent had turned them all into Undead.
Individually, the Undead were not strong, but a large enough number of them was frightening, especially under the current circumstances.
Even after merging three high-level cannon fodder cards, Lin Xiao had only seven thousand cannon fodder, while the enemy had over thirty thousand, which was even more terrifying.
Unfortunately for them, Lin Xiao had more than just seven thousand cannon fodder.
Lin Xiao was somewhat relieved that the last hand had dealt him three cannon fodder cards, providing enough cannon fodder to hold back the enemy and buy time. If it were like the previous round when he only had a few hundred cannon fodder, he wouldn't have been able to withstand the charge of the thirty thousand-strong Undead Army.
While the Transcendent Fire Element could unleash a supercharged ultimate move, it would be spent afterward, and it wouldn't be possible to annihilate the enemy completely—after all, the dozen or so Undead Mages weren't pushovers.
Now, just as last time, he would draw the enemy's fire upfront while two hundred Self-Exploding Assassins stealthily approached from behind.
Considering that the Undead Mages' perception was too high and they might spot the stealthed assassins, he ordered the Transcendent Fire Element to summon a vast number of Fire Elements and prepare to unleash a massive spell, as before. The terrifying power instantly drew all the notice of the Undead Mages, allowing the stealthed Self-Exploding Assassins to successfully close in on their targets.
The Undead Mages reacted instantly, but it was already too late.
Then came a series of earth-shattering self-destructions, killing off ninety percent of the Undead Mages in one go.
Meanwhile, the Transcendent Fire Element's overcharged Meteoric Fire Rain, unopposed by the Undead Mages, inflicted tremendous damage on the Undead Army.
In God's Tomb Square, Lin Xu came back to his senses, looking exhausted. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as the intense, evenly matched battle he had just fought had greatly drained him.
The strength of the two sides was almost identical; he could only gain a slight advantage through meticulous command, slowly extending and consolidating the advantage until finally securing a hard-fought victory.
Fortunately, after the win, he drew a very powerful card. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been confident in continuing his winning streak in the next round.
In the square, there were still more than a hundred people left, but among them, the representatives from the HuaXia District numbered less than twenty..
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Chapter 179: The Method of Repairing the
Crystal Wall System's Core
Translator: 549690339
True lords, at the very least, are at the Legendary Level, with the highest comparable to a True God, indeed surpassing their current level.
This also demonstrates just how powerful the true lord creatures are and just how terrifying he is as a pseudo-lord. He is certainly not a mere showpiece. "That puts my mind at ease!"
With a snap of his fingers, a dozen Undead Mages waved their magic wands and ordered the Undead Army to charge.
On the other side, Li Cheng, recovering from the shock of discovering the Flame Lord, hurriedly ordered a full charge by all troops.
Earlier, he had thoughts of staging a proper battle by commanding his forces, using sophisticated tactics such as frontal suppression or flanking maneuvers to showcase his command abilities. Now, those thoughts had vanished into thin air, leaving only one thought in his mind: to crush the Undead Army at the fastest speed possible and then engage fully with the multiple Fire Elements summoned from the Flame Melting Sea. If they were quick enough, they might just manage to fight back.
At this moment, his mind was devoid of the confidence he once had, replaced by restlessness and resentment. He kept muttering under his breath:
"I've come this far, the top three is within reach. I can't lose, 1 can't lose…"
"Summon Fire Elements!"
Lin Xiao commanded in a deep voice.
The pseudo-Flame Lord within the plane roared towards the sky:
"In the name of the dominator of the Flame Melting Sea, 1 summon my subjects!"
Countless fiery vortexes of various sizes appeared out of thin air within the Magma Sea that had covered a diameter of two to three kilometers, and thrilled Fire Creatures, riding on the fierce flame magma erupting from the vortexes, rushed out from the Fire Elemental Plane. Even Lin Xiao was surprised by their numbers.
It's the same spell to summon Fire Elements, where ordinary Fire Elements typically only summon one of equal level or a few of a lower level.
However, a single Flame Lord's summoning of Fire Elements culminated in a breath-taking moment with more than ten Transcendent Level, Super Large Fire Elements, among which was a Rank 7 Elite Fire Element. It was an utterly terrifying feat.
The number of Fire Sprites nearly doubled, expanding the Land of Flames almost twofold. The Earth melted into a huge Lava Lake, and over a thousand Fire Sprites frolicked happily in the lake. The high temperatures generated by their convergence considerably raised the temperature of the entire plane. As endless flames converged toward the center, the vast body of Kurbert, the Flame Lord at the heart of the Flame Melting Sea, slowly rose. Many Fire Sprites swirled around, and Kurbert's arms, formed of flames, lifted, his deep and powerful voice echoing within the plane:
The sky turned red swiftly as a whirlwind of flames appeared in the Vault of Heaven, quickly expanding. Red light spread rapidly to the edges of the ten-kilometer plane.
Li Cheng gaped at the enormous flame vortex in the sky's center, with a Flame Meteorite slowly emerging from within. The meteorite and the plane repelled each other, causing the Void to redden and twist. Countless thoughts echoed in his mind, eventually converging into a single word.
"Fuck…"
Legendary Spells — Skyfall Meteorite!
Through the authority of the Flame Lord and with the power combined from over fifteen Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elements and hundreds of Fire Elements of various levels, Kurbert, a Rank 6 being, managed to cast a Legendary Spell two major levels above his own.
What would be the result of a Flame Meteorite over fifty meters in diameter appearing within a plane only ten kilometers wide?
Destruction on a cataclysmic scale!
The end of the world!
Accompanied by a deafening bang, a kilometer-wide flame mushroom cloud slowly rose. A tremendous ring of flames swept mercilessly against the Crystal Wall at the edge of the plane, obliterating everything within its range by an indescribable force.
Whether it be the Demon Legion of Li Cheng or Lin Xiao's own Undead Legion, along with most of the Fire Elements, everything was reduced to dust under this world-shattering force, leaving only a few Magma Elements and Transcendent Fire Elements hiding beneath the Magma Sea that escaped disaster. Even the additional summoned Transcendent Fire Elements were forcibly returned to the Fire Elemental Plane. Less than ten beings were still alive in the entire plane.
Even the Flame Lord Kurbert had by then returned to the Fire Elemental Plane. After all, invoking a Legendary Spell two levels above his material plane existence, his body disintegrated immediately upon summoning the Meteorite.
This is the power of a cataclysmic Legendary Spell. Even demigods would hesitate to face it directly, and true gods would also need to expend a considerable amount of Divine Power to withstand a direct hit from a meteorite.
Using such a powerful move in a confined space means hurting the enemy at a great cost to oneself, but in the end, he won.
Li Cheng left with a face full of frustration and helplessness, leaving behind three cards, among them the glittering Demon Legion Card.
As it turned out, as the challenges went on and Lin Xiao persevered, he found his luck getting better and better. The further he went, the more likely he was to draw the best items from his opponents.
He suspected that with each victory over his opponents, he was also plundering their luck. Having continuously won up to this stage, the luck he had accumulated was truly formidable, no less than that of the so-called Europe Emperor. Now in the top ten stages, each time he drew cards, he could almost always get the best few from his opponents.
Thinking about it, it made sense. After all, this is a contest of luck, and Major General Keri probably set the rules of the contest for reasons beyond just seeing who is the luckiest.
Every victory is actually a plunder of the opponent's luck. No matter how bad your luck is, after eight or nine consecutive wins, the accumulated luck will be no different from that of a Europe Emperor. There won't be any instances of still having terrible luck and only drawing trash after defeating eight or nine rounds of opponents.
So now the question arises, how should these two Golden Mythical Quality five-star cards and one Ancient Godly Card for summoning Furious Demons be used?
Currently, Lin Xiao has three ideas: one idea is to continue enhancing the Flame Melting Sea Card.
But the problem is that the Flame Melting Sea Card has already reached the limit of a Fifth Level Card. It seems that a Fifth Level Card cannot directly summon beings of Rank 7 or above. Therefore, continuing to strengthen it will not result in the pseudo-Flame Lord Kurbert being enhanced to Rank 7 or becoming a true Flame Lord. At most, it will increase the number of Fire Elements the card can summon.
For example, more Rank 6 Transcendent Fire Elements, more large, medium, and small Fire Elements, etc.
That is to say, there will only be a quantitative change, not a qualitative one.
The second idea is to continue enhancing the Undead Army Card. This Ancient Card still has great potential for enhancement, after all, the twelve Undead Mages are only at Fifth Level, not even Rank 6. If the enhancement continues and all the Undead Mages are upgraded to Rank 6, the overall strength will be different.
As for the third idea, it is to disintegrate the Undead Card to reinforce the Rampage Demon Legion Card.
Based on the summoned creatures, Demons have more potential and strength than the Undead, especially proficient in charging into battle. According to Lin Xiao's plan, using the Demon Legion as the vanguard, with the Flame Lord commanding numerous Fire Elements to cast spells from behind, their cooperation will definitely be very impressive.
The main reason Lin Xiao thought this way is that the next battle cannot rely on that Legendary Spell—Skyfall Meteorite anymore. It's not that he can't continue to use it, but that he dares not to.
This spell is too terrifying in power and is an indiscriminate spell. The last round was a narrow victory because Li Cheng didn't have any subordinates with strong life-saving abilities. If in the next round he encounters an opponent with several troops that can withstand the aftermath of the meteorite and survive, wouldn't that be troublesome?
Having used the spell once and knowing its advantages and disadvantages, he definitely won't take the risk again.
Unless the opponent's strength far exceeds his own, perhaps he could try a game where everyone goes down together.
While he was indecisive here, on another battlefield, Wang Jiechao from Yuming Trading Company was defeated by Aria from the Ivy League School Federation.
On another battlefield, Wu Zhonglin's war with Bart from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools was about to come to an end. The two had been engaged in a fierce battle for nearly seven hours within the plane, and in the end, Wu Zhonglin defeated Bart with a slight advantage and advanced to the next round.
On the fourth battlefield, Wang Xinhe also won with a slight advantage against the last player from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools.
At this point, except for Lin Xiao's overwhelming advantage, everyone else's advantages were not very large.
Oh, except for Shen Yuexin. Right now, she was sitting alone in the void, holding her exquisitely cute face in her hands as she daydreamed; she had a bye in this round.
With only nine players advancing in the last round, there had to be one bye, which fell to her.
Lin Xiao regained his focus and looked at her as though she wasn't fully awake, asked curiously, and fell into thought after getting the answer.
A bye was already enviable, but the key thing was that after getting the bye, she drew two Ancient Godly Cards and one Mythical Grade Card from the card pool, making others extremely jealous.
Indeed, the true Europe Emperors were not something these fake ones could compare to, leaving Lin Xiao speechless.
About ten minutes later, the last match between Wu Zhonglin and Bart finally ended. Bart's figure disappeared, leaving only five people in God's Tomb Square —Lin Xiao, Shen Yuexin, Wu Zhonglin, Aria, and Wang Xinhe.
According to the rules, another round of battles would determine the top three, and since it will be one-on-one battles, this round would also produce one lucky person who will get a bye and, together with the other two winners, become the top three.
Among the five, four were from the HuaXia District, with only Aria left from the Ivy League School Federation.
Hong Yunfei, the mentor of the Wolf Fang Team, laughed heartily at the observer instructors from the Ivy League School Federation not far away in the void:
"It seems that the quality of your elites this year isn't up to snuff. You started with such an advantage, and now there's only one left. It'll be funny if you can't even make it into the top three."
The unabashed taunt caused collective silence on the side of the Ivy League School Federation, with none able to retort, as they had nothing to say.
But silence aside, they weren't angry, as this situation was normal. At the end of every exchange, the winning side usually taunted the losing side, which had become a traditional routine.
Everyone knew what these exchange matches were all about, and the victor was certainly entitled to a little bragging.
What truly bothered them was not being able to secure first place, as not only would God's Tomb be out of reach, but also the treasured item inside, which was the real point of discontent.
But the rules had been set long ago, and whether one could win depended entirely on the player's own fortunes. If they couldn't match up, there was nothing they could do.
This was HuaXia District's territory, and the return of Major General Keri's wraith had already alarmed many big shots watching this place, leaving them no opportunity to play dishonest even if they wanted to..
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Chapter 180: Sharing in the Glory
Translator: 549690339
Having confirmed the deck, Lin Xiao selected the ready option on the interface screen before him and began matching. The screen changed into a constantly twisting Chaos Vortex.
In less than two seconds, a beam of golden light shot out from the distorted Chaos Vortex. Lin Xiao felt his consciousness blur momentarily and found himself in an endless Void, spotting a cluster of golden light far ahead, plummeting down as rapidly as he was, arriving in front of a virtual plane.
"Please deploy your predetermined card group within one minute!"
"That was fast."
He first glanced at the terrain of the plane, unlike the previous Summer Camp, there was no choice of terrain, only a random option.
Neither he nor his opponent could choose, only random.
"Good lord, they're taking luck to the extreme!"
Setting the activation sequence for the three cards he had prepared in advance, he confirmed. A dozen seconds later, the opponent confirmed as well, and Lin Xiao felt his consciousness quickly sinking into the plane.
This was a very common hilly terrain, three kilometers long and wide. He could see across the plane, where an endless white light poured down, turning into countless figures that filled the ground.
From a distance, Lin Xiao saw that his opponent had three thousand Level 1 Frog People and about three hundred Level 3 Bear Goblin Knights. The setup was rather formidable.
Though the Frog People were of a low level, their numbers were great. Even ants can bite an elephant to death.
If he couldn't cheat, Lin Xiao found it would be quite… difficult to defeat the opponent.
Alright, it was still pretty easy actually, as having five hundred Archers was quite powerful.
At the start, Lin Xiao only activated five hundred Archers and a hundred heavy infantry. The Super Large Fire Elemental wasn't summoned, but as part of the Combat Card Group, it could be summoned at any time. Cards outside of the group couldn't be used in this battle.
His opponent was an ordinary white young man who first looked up at his counterpart after summoning his troops. Seeing that his opponent only had five to six hundred troops, he was instantly filled with confidence, believing victory was in his grasp, and laughed loudly from afar:
It seems your luck is really bad, so I won't be polite."
Lin Xiao glanced at his opponent, crossed his arms, and said:
"I have five hundred Archer Shooters and one hundred heavy infantry, your minions are numerous but mostly Cannon Fodder, I can't see how you think you're going to win? Just because of those three hundred pig riders?"
"Of course!"
The self-assuredness of the white young man made Lin Xiao raise an eyebrow, taking another careful look at the opposition. They were indeed Level 3 Pig Knights, and he didn't see any other hidden troops, how will you beat me?
He thought about probing further, but by then, time was up, the three-second countdown ended, and the battle commenced.
The white young man immediately waved his hand, and the three thousand Frog People shouted as they charged, followed at a steady pace by the three hundred Pig Knights. This strategy puzzled Lin Xiao.
But no matter what the opponent's plan was, his operation here was simple: a hundred heavy infantry lined up in front to block, and five hundred Archers formed three rows behind the heavy infantry, waiting for the enemy to draw near.
When the enemy was about five hundred meters away, the three rows of Archers simultaneously launched a volley into the sky. Arrows filled the sky, drawing long arcs before raining down, striking a few Frog People to the ground.
The accuracy of the volley was a bit off, and the aim was even worse in the first round.
However, after the second volley five seconds later, which not only readjusted the angle but brought the enemies closer, this wave of arrow rain caused huge damage.
Yet, the other side showed no reaction and continued the charge.
After six continuous volleys that killed nearly one-tenth of the Frog People, the distance between the two sides was less than a hundred meters. Lin Xiao quickly ordered the Archer Shooters to change their attack method: the first row shot first then immediately stepped back to restring their bows. Meanwhile, the second row stepped up to shoot, then retreated for the third row to take their turn. Once the third row finished shooting, the first row was ready again, thus maintaining a continuous barrage without interruptions.
This was a common linear queuing tactic of eliminating the enemy, allowing the single-shot Hand Crossbows to maintain continuous offense through rotating volleys.
At least for now, it seemed very effective, with a large number of Frog People being killed. The short hundred-meter distance saw a higher death toll than the previous six volleys.
But what puzzled Lin Xiao was his opponent seemed unhurried, just watching his subordinates continue to die. Those three hundred Pig Knights were still lagging behind and that was…
At that moment, the white man's face revealed a sly smile. He took out a Crystal Wand that looked very fancy, resembling an arm clenched in a fist, and slammed it into the ground. The Crystal Wand's handle with five fingers, one of the knuckles embedded with a gemstone, burst open. The Void above the three hundred Pig Knights distorted and deformed, and they vanished into thin air.
"Damn it, a Teleportation Wand!"
Lin Xiao didn't need to look for the teleportation spot to know the opponent's plan.
Sure enough, a large invisible distortion appeared directly among the Archer Shooters. The three hundred Pig Knights were teleported amidst them, blades fell, and nearly half of the Archer Shooters were overturned in the chaos.
Although the Archer Shooters were of a higher soldier card rank than the Pig Knights, their strength lay entirely in ranged shooting, their close combat capabilities were simply non-existent, there was no way they could withstand the slashes of the Bear Goblins and the gnawing tusks of the Pig rides, the formation was instantly thrown into disarray.
The white man laughed heartily at the sight:
It looks like you're going to lose."
"Not necessarily!"
Lin Xiao took out the Red Light Wrapped Scroll and activated it. A distortion opened in the sky, and from it emerged a fireball the size of a house that descended from the heavens with a roar, exploding onto the battlefield, creating a ring of flames tens of meters wide. Accompanied by a roar that penetrated souls, flames rose slowly, coalescing into a more than fifteen-meter-tall Super Large Fire Elemental.
The summoned Fire Elemental roared towards the sky, a faint halo of firelight rapidly diffused, the grass on the ground quickly turned yellow, withered, blackened, and burned, transforming into an area with a diameter of over a hundred meters that became the Land of Flames.
"This is impossible!"
The Caucasian man stared at the massive Fire Elemental as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Kill them."
With a wave of Lin Xiao's hand, the arms of the super large Fire Elemental, formed of flames and towering as high as a four- or five-story building, rose high into the air. The sky rapidly turned red, and countless fist-sized fireballs fell from above, bombarding the Frog People.
The Rain of Fire technique was the most powerful spell mastered by the super large Fire Elemental of Rank 6, capable of summoning a vast rain of fire to incinerate enemies from above.
Waves of Rain of Fire set the Frog People ablaze, and the magic flames' potency far exceeded that of ordinary fire, burning many of the Frog People to death and causing a surge in morale, leading to their collapse and flight.
Even though they were summoned troops, they were real, and no one could withstand such terrifying magic and casualties.
As the Frog People fled, Lin Xiao immediately ordered the only eighty or ninety remaining heavy infantry to return and support the Hand Crossbow Shooters.
The super large Fire Elemental's arms rose again to sprinkle a large swath of red light, bestowing a fire shield that could reflect fire damage onto all the infantry, as well as enhancing their blades with fire damage.
The rest of the battle was uneventful; even if the boar knights killed all the Hand Crossbow Shooters, they were obliterated by a few spells from the super large Fire Elemental, which still counted as his victory.
The battlefield they were in was virtual, and the death of soldiers did not affect the next battle, as everyone would be at full strength shortly after.
At the end of the battle, a roulette wheel appeared before Lin Xiao, and he knew this was the opponent's Card Pool. According to the rules, he could draw one to three cards from the opponent's Card Pool to supplement his own.
He pressed his hand onto the center of the wheel, which began spinning quickly, slowing down after about ten seconds, until it came to a stop, and two new cards emerged before him.
"Not bad."
He carefully examined the two cards, one was a three-star, common-quality Boar Knight Card, and the other was a two-star Summoning Card, capable of summoning a small pack of Seat Wolves, which could be ignored.
It's a pity he didn't draw that Teleportation Card, or it would have been fun.
Next, after defeating an opponent, he could also choose one card to add to his Combat Card Group.
After some thought, Lin Xiao took out the Boar Knight Card and added the two-star common Goblin Card. Both cards summoned Goblins, and the Bear Goblin was also a Goblin, so they could be fused.
The fusion of the two cards resulted in a three-star rare Soldier Card, capable of summoning three hundred Bear Goblins and three hundred ordinary Goblin Cannon Fodder.
Although the added combat power wasn't significant and didn't greatly enhance his strength, this bunch of Cannon Fodder was just what he needed to buy more time for the five hundred Hand Crossbow Shooters. A hundred heavy infantry was far too few to hold back the enemy's advance.
Besides, he didn't have any significant items, and neither did the others.
Everyone's Card Points were limited; they didn't have that many high-level card combinations.
After a brief rest, Lin Xiao did not leave the battlefield but immediately continued to match with a second opponent.
Meanwhile, at the God's Tomb Square, as time went by, the first round of battles was gradually concluded. Lin Xu, after defeating his first opponent and having fully prepared, returned to the square. He found that more than two-thirds of the players from the HuaXia District had been eliminated.
He was shocked by the substantial gap.
Compared to the relaxed chatter and laughter among the players from the College League, the atmosphere in the HuaXia District was silent and extremely heavy, everyone feeling resentful and dissatisfied.
If they had been outplayed, that would be one thing, or if it was sheer bad luck, they might have accepted it. But to start with a disadvantage in the match was not an easy pill to swallow.
But those were the rules, as the master of the God's Tomb wasn't one of their own.
Lin Xu was powerless; although he too had an advantage and not bad luck, adding up to a decent start, he was sure he wouldn't make it to the end.
Glancing around, Lin Xu saw that both Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin were still there, meaning they hadn't been eliminated, which offered him some consolation.
He wasn't very optimistic about Lin Xiao, having seen before that his Card Pool was not much stronger than his own, but he had high hopes for Shen Yuexin. Her luck was exceptionally good, owning an Ancient Godly Card from the start, combined with several gold and orange cards, she had a good chance of making it to the end and claiming the God's Tomb.
He felt that the hope of the HuaXia District rested on her.
With a trace of consolation, Lin Xu's consciousness sank down, and he started his second round of challenges.
In the virtual realm, Lin Xiao scrutinized his opponent's forces and immediately summoned the super large Fire Elemental at the frontline before the Hand Crossbow Shooters. Further ahead were a thousand heavy infantry and three hundred Goblin Cannon Fodder; another three hundred Bear Goblins had long since broken away and circled around, forcing the opponent to divert some forces for defense to avoid being attacked from behind and ambushed at the Archer's formation.
This opponent was clearly much stronger than the last, boasting not only a force of five hundred Half-elf Archers but also a very large group of around a thousand Ice Wolves native to the polar ice plains. What worried him the most was that this opponent had a small group of Mammoth Beasts.
These were incredibly powerful Giant Beasts, standing four meters tall and seven or eight meters long, with a tank not even able to describe their might. Their robust physique and terrifying strength made them start at Fifth Level.
Fortunately, there weren't many, only ten, and there were no Mammoth Giant Beasts of the Transcendent Level.
Facing such an opponent, a frontal confrontation was difficult, even though he had a Transcendent Level super large Fire Elemental..
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Chapter 181: Grandpa and Grandfather's Gift
Translator: 549690339 I
Even without Creation Energy, it doesn't matter; with so many cards, I can definitely pick out the right ones for targeted enhancement.
With a light touch of a finger, the roulette began to spin, slowly at first, then quickly picking up speed until it reached a peak before slowing down again, and soon it stopped on an orange card.
Lin Xiao pondered for a moment, chose to confirm, and did not reselect.
Removing the solitary Ancient Card, an Orange Legendary Card sits between the lowest Epic and the Golden Mythical Quality cards, an intermediate level, which isn't too bad.
Judging by the fact that there are only five or six Golden Mythical Quality cards at most, the probability of drawing a gold card upon reselection is not high, but rather there's a high probability of drawing a purple card.
Of course, the main reason Lin Xiao kept this orange card is that it is a Soldier Card—five hundred Level 4 human Crossbowmen equipped with a standard single-shot crossbow, a set of leather armor, and a short sword.
Since it's a battle mode, the most important thing is obviously the Soldier Cards, followed by other cards for support.
That could be a combination with other types of soldiers or better Weapon Cards for arming them, and so on.
Also, taking into account the direct confrontation, all cards in the card pool are related to battle, without any useless resource cards or the like.
After all, these cards are only for use in this one exchange match and will be reclaimed after the battle.
Having secured the Crossbowmen card, it has now taken up twenty points of the card pool; in comparison, a normal player would only be able to draw a maximum of five Five Star cards, even those from the high school league could only draw six.
Generally speaking, higher-grade cards naturally have greater power, but sometimes it's about what fits the situation, so you can't just blindly draw high-quality cards.
Lin Xiao initially planned to draw one high-quality Soldier Card, then a large number of lower-level cards to combine, and after drawing all the cards, he would use the Magic Cube to decompose or fuse a few strong cards into a battle deck depending on the situation.
Now that the first card drawn is a Soldier Card, there's no need to draw more Five Star cards.
Next, he followed his original plan and drew four Four Star cards, eight Three Star cards, and with the first Five Star card, he spent a total of one hundred card points, then selected ten Two Star cards using thirty points, and twenty One Star cards at one point each, exhausting all one hundred fifty points.
Altogether, the five grades of cards added up to forty-three cards of mixed quality, with more than half being plain cards, a few rare, unusual, and epic quality ones, with no more legends after the first, but there was one Mythical Quality card, albeit a Two Star level card.
A stack of cards fanned out in his hand, colorful and varied—overall, his luck was average, neither bad nor good, but without cheating or any extra advantage, definitely not making it to the end, probably not even the top fifty.
After selecting the cards, there was still some time to freely combine them. He glanced to his left at Lin Xu, who was frowning and looking at his dozen or so cards of various colors, clearly all chosen above three stars, with no one or two stars.
It looked like Lin Xu was quite lucky, having drawn a Golden Mythical Quality card. By his choice, it had to be at least a Three Star Mythical card, so it probably wouldn't be too bad.
Looking to the right at Shen Yuexin, he reflexively leaned back and was blinded by several dashes of orange and gold, and a dazzling crystalline glow that flashed across his eyes.
"Goodness, could this be the legendary Europe Emperor?"
Shen Yuexin seemed to notice his action, glanced at him with her big eyes, flipped through her cards as if she had a winning hand of aces in poker, her face full of smug satisfaction.
Lin Xiao looked around and saw no one was paying attention, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath in her direction.
Her pretty face turned red in an instant, and in a tone of reproach she hadn't noticed herself, she said:
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing much, just soaking up some of your European luck."
"Hmph, hooligan."
She pinched her delicate little fist and gestured, and Lin Xiao extended his fist and lightly touched it:
"Go for it, little aunt!"
After saying that, he turned his head back and no longer looked at the somewhat confused Shen Yuexin.
Covering his mouth to hold back laughter, he perked up and spread out the cards, starting to figure out how to integrate these forty-three cards in his hand.
Because of the competition rules, these forty-three cards were all battle-related like Soldier Cards, Summoning Cards, Weapon Cards, skill scrolls, Talent Cards, expertise cards, and so on.
Battles generally rely on Soldier Cards to summon organized troops.
Summoning Cards often summon powerful but few creatures, such as a war bear, a giant eagle, a dragon, and so on, though of course, Five Star cards wouldn't summon something as significant as a dragon.
Weapon Cards grant a varying number of powerful weapons depending on the grade and quality of the card, which can replace the ordinary weapons carried by Soldier Cards.
Skills, talents, and expertise don't even need to be mentioned; they are directly loaded onto the soldier or summoned creature, allowing for the creation of unique troops.
It's worth mentioning that, due to the specificity of the rules, if a Profession Card is loaded onto a Soldier Card, there's no need to start from the First Level. Instead, it automatically grants a Professional Level as high as the Soldier Card's level. For example, Lin Xiao's Level 4 Crossbowmen, after loading the crossbowman profession, would directly obtain a Level 4 Professional Level.
Beyond that, all players can also enter the battlefield but cannot directly participate in combat nor will they be attacked. Instead, they are like a background commander directing their subordinates, and if they have skill scrolls, they can cast them.
Put it this way, you can think of Lin Xiao before he crossed over to another world, like the heroes in a classic game called Heroes of Might and Magic 3, but without the hero attributes and talent bonuses to their troops.
Lin Xiao set aside the four Soldier Cards he held, placed six Summoning Cards to one side, eleven Weapon Cards to another, and eleven skill or spell scroll cards to yet another side. There were no Profession Cards; the rest were all sorts of talent expertise cards and some assorted cards.
Firstly, there were four Soldier Cards. Besides the Crossbowmen, there was a three-star blank Light Infantry Card, capable of summoning one hundred Level 3 Human Light Infantrymen equipped with Single-hand Swords, Oak Round Shields, and studded Leather Armour.
There was a three-star rare Elite Assassination Card, capable of summoning a small squad of twenty invisible Jackal Man Assassins at Level 3.
And a two-star blank quality Goblin Squad card, with three hundred members but only at the First Level, pure Cannon Fodder.
The six Summoning Cards included one for a Double-headed Ferocious Alligator, which had reached the Fifth Level limit, just a step away from the Rank 6 Transcendent Level.
Four Large Water Elementals, summoned from a single card at a four-star rare quality, though the grade of the Water Elementals was Level 4, altogether they were not a match for the Double-headed Ferocious Alligator.
Two Large Fire Elementals, summoned by a single card which could summon only two creatures, also at Level 4 but clearly of lower quality compared to the previous card summoning Water Elementals.
There were also four one-star and two-star quality Summoning Cards that summoned rather average creatures and weren't much use.
Beyond these, the weaponry and equipment cards included items like Swords, Bows, and Armor which were, needless to say, of better quality than the default equipment of Soldier Cards.
The rest of the talent, expertise, and skill cards were not very high in level nor were they of exceptional quality, but after all, they were skills; used well, they could significantly increase the strength of the troops.
The sole Golden Mythical Quality two-star card was a Ring of Spells – Level 2 Monster Summoning (Enhanced). Normally, this spell would summon a certain number of Level 2 creatures, but this enhanced version could summon a group of Level 2 creatures. Crucially, as a Magic Item, it could be used repeatedly.
After taking stock of his cards, the next step was to utilize the Creation Rubik's Cube for disassembling and strengthening them.
As previously mentioned, even though now he needed to consciously train his own willpower, this didn't conflict with using cheats. The Creation Rubik's Cube was his Golden Finger for rising to power. How could he possibly not use it? He wouldn't be so foolish to restrict himself.
First, he gathered the cards that weren't of much use, feeding them into the Creation Rubik's Cube to disintegrate them into Creative Power, stockpiling it as a nutrient for strengthening other cards.
Though Creative Power couldn't work miracles like Creation Energy, simple enhancement was still within reach.
Then…
Lin Xiao pondered for a moment, similarly disintegrating the card that summoned Water Elementals as well as the one for the Double-headed Ferocious Alligator, converting them into Creative Power for later use.
Next, he took out the Fire Elemental Summoning Card and fed it into the Creation Rubik's Cube for disassembly, fusing the two Large Fire Elementals it would have summoned, then poured all the Creative Power from the previously disintegrated cards into this card to begin enhancement.
His plan was quite straightforward: simply enhancing other Soldier Cards wouldn't lead to a qualitative change, but if he could use these Summoning Cards to summon a Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental, then it would be a different story.
Typically, only cards of Five Star Mythical Quality or above had the potential to summon Transcendent Level creatures. Plus, given randomness, the number certainly wouldn't be vast. A Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental on the battlefield would absolutely stand out like a crane among chickens, truly exceptional.
The outcome was as he anticipated. Utilizing a mishmash of cards as nutrients, the disassembly of all Summoning Cards provided sustenance for this Fire Elemental Summoning Card. The fused card was indeed a Five Star level, Golden Mythical Quality Summoning Card, capable of summoning a Transcendent Level Super Large Fire Elemental.
Lin Xiao immediately incorporated this card into his combat deck.
Then, he took out the three-star blank card that could summon one hundred Light Infantrymen, another two-star rare quality Armor Card with one hundred and fifty suits of studded armor, and one more card containing two hundred poor-quality steel Single-hand Swords, also at two stars. Fusing the three cards produced a three-star rare quality Soldier Card.
Still consisting of one-hundred Human Infantrymen, but now equipped with both weapons and thick Armor, they had transformed into one hundred Heavy Infantrymen, perfect for forming the front line ahead of the five hundred Crossbowmen.
It was a shame there weren't any Shield Weapon Cards; they were still paired with Oak Round Shields.
Alongside the five-star legendary quality Soldier Card of Crossbowmen, this new card became part of the starting deck, in addition to the Super Large Fire Elemental Summoning Card. Thus, his initial deck of three cards was formed. This combination of forces was quite powerful, likely enough to fight his way into the top hundred without trouble.
Given the current number of contestants, it was estimated that one would need to win five battles to reach the top hundred. During the process, he would acquire at least five to a maximum of fifteen cards from his defeated opponents. He hoped to gain some good items to combine with the remaining cards.
Having settled on the deck, Lin Xiao selected the ready option on the on-screen interface and began matchmaking. The scene in front of him shifted into a continuously twisting Chaos Vortex.
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Chapter 182: Five Star Miracle Card – Tower of Truth
Translator: 549690339
Another Summoning Card able to summon Oversize Air Elementals at the Transcendent Level was not bad either; it could summon tornadoes and lightning, and its combat power was no less than that of the Fire Element.
As for the last Defensive Barrier Card, it was also quite good—what else could you say about a defense?
The cards themselves were fairly good, but when combined, they became somewhat awkward because these cards could not strengthen the existing main Skeleton Army, making them appear as mere chicken ribs in the current round of challenges.
However, this didn't mean they were unusable. "Chicken ribs" was just a relative term. Both the Transcendent-level Air Elemental and the Defensive Barrier were valuable assets.
Moreover, the Undead Army Card in his hand was just too powerful. After several enhancements, it had become a Supermodel Card surpassing the average Ancient Quality Soldier Cards. With this card alone, he would be sufficient.
Lin Xiao loaded all his cards, except for the Profession Cards, and bravely faced his opponent, starting the eighth round of the War.
Just as he had envisioned, the eighth-round opponent had three Super Large Fire Elementals, twelve Fifth Level Large Fire Elementals, seventy to eighty Medium Fire Elementals, and several hundred Small Fire Elementals. In addition, there were more than two thousand First Level Fishmen and Kobold Cannon Fodder, over three hundred Level 3 Fishman Tidecaller Magicians, five hundred Level 4 Human Archers, and five hundred Werewolf Warriors.
After viewing the composition of troops, Lin Xiao had a good idea what to expect. If he wasn't mistaken, his opponent must have started with an Ancient Quality Fire Elemental Summoning Card, conjuring up so many Fire Elementals in one go.
The rest of the troops were all from cards won in previous Battles, which seemed like a lot, but actually, all added up, they still couldn't compare to that single Fire Elemental Summoning Card.
"It's settled then!"
With such a composition of enemy forces, as long as there wasn't any super powerful card hidden up the sleeve, he should be able to beat them.
Unconsciously, the combined strength of his deck had become very powerful.
As soon as the Battle began, Yaseer immediately ordered the full army charge, with all the Fire Elementals gathering around the three Oversize Transcendent Fire Elementals to start casting spells. First, they summoned three waves of Fire Elementals to expand their ranks, and then, the sky turned dark red as a Rain of Fire began to descend.
The three Transcendent Fire Elementals used the Rain of Fire technique simultaneously, covering a vast area.
If it were any other player facing this move, they would have no choice but to tank it, but Lin Xiao also had a Super Large Fire Elemental. He quickly summoned three waves of Fire Elementals to congregate and then cast the Flame Defense Barrier to protect the Undead Archers covered by the Rain of Fire.
At the same time, another Oversize Air Elemental also cast an Air Barrier, shielding another key portion of the troops from the Rain of Fire.
As for the regular Cannon Fodder, they were ignored; if they died, they died—it was no great loss as their numbers were abundant, and it was fine as long as the main forces were unharmed.
Seeing that the Rain of Fire didn't achieve the desired effect, the opponent's forehead furrowed in concentration as they began to meticulously command their troops.
Lin Xiao chuckled to himself, not bothering with the micromanagement of his charging Undead Army—it was too draining.
Under Yaseer's control, a massive number of Fire Elementals pressed forward, and upon reaching casting range, they hurled numerous Fireballs into the midst of the Undead, causing explosions.
These Fireballs were simple Fireball Techniques, their blast radii and power nowhere near a Flame Explosion's level, though within the blast radius, they were still lethal to Cannon Fodder.
Small Fire Elementals could only throw three Fireball Techniques a day, Medium ones six, and Large ones nine. With thousands of Fire Elementals at Yaseer's disposal, releasing them all at once would decimate the Undead Army. Still, the dozen or so Undead Mages wouldn't just watch their forces get annihilated—they advanced towards the battlefield to cast their spells in unison.
Banishment sent summoned creatures back to their original world, so a large group of extra summoned Fire Elementals was banished home to "collect their boxed lunches."
Undead Barrier utilized the innate Death aura emitted by the Undead to create a barrier. It wasn't very strong but could hold off a few waves of Fireballs.
Weakening made the targets feeble through the power of Death.
Fearful Radiance, in conjunction with Weakening and Death, induced terror in enemies, causing a drop in morale.
Bone Shield was crafted from the shards of fallen Skeletons' bones, forming a shield capable of blocking both physical and magical damage.
Although the combat power of the Undead Mages wasn't as high as that of orthodox Mages, their utility on the battlefield was superior, exerting powerful buffs and debuffs that could significantly shift the tides of War.
Even though Yaseer's magical power was formidable, Fire Elementals were not Mages and couldn't dispel the various Undead spells.
His own Fire Elementals, summoned through magic, were all banished, while Lin Xiao's summoned Fire Elementals remained in place.
He should actually feel fortunate that his original Fire Elementals, conjured from the Card, couldn't be banished; otherwise, if a wave of banishment had been unleashed, he would've been rendered incapable of continuing the fight.
But as the Undead Mages powered up and the sneaky Self-Exploding Assassins infiltrated and detonated amidst the enemy's ranged archers, wiping them out, the balance of the battle began to tilt once again.
Lin Xiao did not choose to detonate the opposing Fire Elementals, as with three Transcendent-Level Fire Elementals present, the Self-Exploding Assassins could not get close.
Anyway, once the opponent's regular forces were wiped out, the remaining group of Fire Elementals couldn't turn the tide.
One thing that surprised Lin Xiao was that, even after the battle had ended and the three towering Super Large Fire Elementals had collapsed with a roar into a sea of flames, the opponent had not used a combined, over-frequency powerful move like he had.
Even without summoning additional Fire Elementals, given the amplification of so many Fire Elementals present, there was no reason they couldn't cast beyond their normal capabilities, right?
"Could it be because this Fire Elemental of mine possesses a special ability derived from the fusion of multiple Elemental Summoning Cards?"
Lin Xiao could only speculate thus.
Having defeated Yaseer and entered the top ten, Lin Xiao had secured two additional card slots and an Ancient Godly Card, setting other considerations aside.
With anticipation, he opened the card drawing roulette. After an exciting spin, a solitary card appeared before him, but his face lit up with joy, for the card emanated a crystalline glow—it was Yaseer's Fire Elemental card that he had drawn.
Ancient Five Star Summoning Card—Flame Melting Sea: Each use summons randomly between three to five Super Large Fire Elementals, ten to twenty Large Fire Elementals, fifty to one hundred Medium Fire Elementals, and three hundred to five hundred Small Fire Elementals from the Flame Melting Sea.
"Damn, this card is pretty bad-ass!"
Though it wasn't quite on par with the Undead Army Card, it was only slightly less powerful and now it was his.
With the card in hand, Lin Xiao was full of confidence for the upcoming matches, his consciousness returning to the Divine Realm plaza for a quick look, which much to his surprise, led to quite a shock.
After the last round of matches, only nine players remained in total. Lin Xiao wanted to see how many were left from the HuaXia District and whether his little aunt and Wu Zhonglin had been eliminated. The result, unexpectedly, was that six players, including himself, were still in the game from the HuaXia District, while the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools was reduced to only three, a contrast that was nothing short of astonishing.
What surprised him even more was that the last two players from the Yuming Trading Company were still holding on, indeed, they had made it this far as dark horses.
These two were the team leaders Li Cheng and Wang Jiechao. Without a doubt, no matter the outcome, both were certain to receive the military's special recruitment and training, which would change their destinies forever.
This was quite rare, indicating a significant chance for them to become Demigods and holding a tiny chance of becoming True Gods in the future.
Going from the one-in-a-billion chance of the average adventurer to the one-in-a-hundred-thousand still seemed pitifully small, but it was far better than the almost impossible odds they had faced before.
For average adventurers who were eliminated during high school, advancing to Demigod was difficult, let alone True God, a possibility so remote it could be disregarded. History has shown that each year the Main World produces billions of students who get eliminated, accumulating to a frighteningly large number over the years. Yet, fewer than ten eliminated Divine Territory Players manage to achieve Godhood annually.
The vast majority of these have major powers backing them, and it's exceedingly rare to see someone from an entirely ordinary adventurer background achieve this.
This illustrates the difficulty for Divine Territory Players to achieve Divine Enthronement.
Of course, this doesn't include those who give up their Divine Territory Player status to achieve Godhood in a Different Domain, becoming similar to Native deities with various restrictions, akin to pure faith-based deities.
The difficulty of Godhood for such Indigenous Gods is much lower than for Divine Territory Players. After all, with a Divinity in hand or enough followers, a bit of luck could make Godhood possible. Numerous Natives have attained Godhood by fortune of finding a Divinity.
Such deities are confined to the planes where their followers are most numerous, bound by faith, their personalities influenced by their divine duties, and their actual combat power far less than that of Divine Territory Players supported by followers and a God Country.
But, inferior as they may be, they are still deities with immortal life. Many Divine Territory Players choose to become Indigenous Gods when they see no hope of achieving higher Godhood.
Outside the God's Tomb in the Void, several instructors from the Summer Camp and many observers gathered together, chattering and laughing as they looked at the contestants on the plaza of the God's Tomb. Their animated discussion was a stark contrast to the grim expressions of several instructors from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools nearby.
This outcome was unexpected not only to Lin Xiao but also to many of the instructors.
Initially, the Ivy side held an absolute advantage, with the ratio between the two sides once dropping below eight to two. However, as it got to the top hundred, the gap quickly narrowed until it was reversed at the end of this round.
This meant that the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools had an absolute majority within the top hundred, but the situation flipped in the top ten.
Unable to see the battles inside the God's Tomb, the instructors could only guess the players' states from their expressions.
Naturally, the Fury Flame Team instructor had the best mood of all, as among the six HuaXia District contestants who made it into the top ten, aside from the two lucky ones from the Yuming Trading Company, her own team held two spots, the War Throne Team one, and the Wolf Fang Team one, while the Holy Crystal Team didn't manage to secure a single position.
However, a cheerful mood for the Fury Flame Team's instructor didn't mean the Holy Crystal Team's instructors felt equally downcast—in fact, they weren't concerned with wins or losses at this stage. They didn't care what their team members ranked; what mattered was whether any HuaXia District players overcame all opponents to claim the top position, becoming Major General Keri's inheritor to the ancient God's Tomb.
As team instructors, they had learned from a prominent figure about a very special treasure hidden within the God's Tomb. They weren't informed of the exact nature of the treasure, but they were repeatedly reminded to do everything in their power to obtain it..
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Chapter 183: Arrival at Radiance
Translator: 549690339 I
"I wonder who the lucky one will be to get this treasure!"
Under the watchful eyes of numerous powerful gazes, a new round of matching had begun.
Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin seriously encouraged each other and entered the virtual plane.
As they entered the virtual plane, an unknown void stirred as a great sun dispersed rolling void energy, with billions of divine lights purifying the void millions of miles away. Inside the space, void creatures scurried to escape, not daring to linger, and through the invisible distortions, one could vaguely see a vast world within the sun.
Enshrouded by endless light, three indistinct figures stood tall above infinite divine light deep inside this world. In front of them was the scene from God's Tomb's square.
These three figures bore no clear hierarchy amongst them. However, it was noticeable that the divine light of the central figure was slightly dimmer — it was Major General Keri.
To his left and right, one of them was the significant figure from China's Military Department who had previously descended into God's Tomb to communicate with Major General Keri. As for the other, it was a high-ranking figure who had hurried over from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools.
At the moment, the three of them were intently watching the scene on the light screen of the God's Tomb's square, as Major General Keri remarked:
"Such youthful vitality, brimming with youthful vigor!"
Major General Keri was rather emotional, his gaze drifting beyond the skies, seemingly reminiscing about his past.
The figure from China's Military Department glanced at the other figure beside him and laughed:
"This scene reminds me of the past. Back then, in the four-way exchange competition, I was spirited and led my teammates to defeat all rivals, claiming first place in the competition. How similar it is to today's scene!"
Upon hearing this, the other figure's divine light twisted and expanded as if about to explode, but quickly deflated:
"Hmph!"
He snorted coldly without saying a word, while the big shot from China laughed heartily, clearly very proud.
Major General Keri, however, paid them no attention, muttering to himself:
"It brings me great joy to see the present Main World so strong, and new generations of elites emerging."
"Your Excellency need not worry; once we return to Faust, the great Immortal King will personally recreate your Soul of God."
The significant figure from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools reassured him.
The unknown figure from the China's department also nodded:
"Radiance, that emperor, would also be willing to personally help your Excellency."
Upon hearing this, Major General Keri only smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Remaking my Soul of God would be equivalent to recreating a Powerful Divine Power, which would have a huge impact on both Their Majesties' strength." "The emperors wouldn't mind."
"But I do!"
He said firmly:
"After returning to the Main World, I will seek out still-living old friends. I will trouble you all at that time. Once my wishes are fulfilled, I can then return to Gaia's Primeval Sea in peace."
The two figures from different powers fell silent for a while before a voice finally spoke:
"Has your Excellency really decided to return to the Source Sea?"
Major General Keri did not answer but observed the light screen in front of him with interest for a while before suddenly saying:
"An interesting young man!"
The other two were somewhat perplexed, their gaze shifting to the inside of the God's Tomb. Unlike various instructors and observers who could only see a few competitors within the God's Tomb, their greater strength allowed them to see battles within the virtual plane, but they could only see the battles happening in the plane, not what the competitors were doing or what cards they possessed.
Their gazes passed over the five young men and women preparing for battle, wondering:
"What's interesting about them?"
Major General Keri smiled without answering. As the Lord of the God's Tomb, he had a full view of everything within the tomb and could see things others couldn't.
He knew clearly what cards the five youths in the virtual plane held and their effects. That's why he noticed something unusual about the cards in Lin Xiao's hand.
Although all the cards drawn by the competitors were virtualizations of that Different Treasure, as the Lord of the God's Tomb, he was well aware that these cards, even though they were false, could also be real. Being the master of those Different Treasures, he knew that some of the cards in Lin Xiao's hand were not the original cards.
He guessed that the young man had used some special Ancient Treasure to change these cards, and he was familiar with that Ancient Treasure.
He hadn't noticed before, nor would he have minded, because this was inherently a testament to strength and potential.
Major General Keri had no intention of probing further, nor did he intend to share this with the two behind him; he was merely interested in observing the young man.
Whether it was because of his own status or because he had already decided to return to the Source Sea, he had no interest in a young man's treasure.
Besides, he saw no distinction between the China's Department and the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools; he came from an era of the Earth United Nations, and in his eyes, the Main World was all the same.
The previous advantage given to the competitor from the Ivy League Alliance was merely a request from an old friend.
Suddenly, his eyelids twitched. In the second just past, right under his eyes, one of the cards in the young man's hand disappeared without a trace, and as the Lord of the God's Tomb, he couldn't sense where the card had gone.
"Really interesting!"
Glancing back at the two behind him, they had not noticed this detail at all.
Above the virtual plane, Lin Xiao had yet to choose a match as he was currently merging cards.
After much consideration, he eventually decided to disintegrate the Demon Legion Card capable of summoning five thousand Berserk Demons and integrate it into the Undead Army Card.
The reason was simple: While the Berserk Demons were powerful, the Demons were hard to control, and a main force losing control during an intense battle would be hugely problematic.
Undead are much easier to control by comparison, and they don't become much weaker when strengthened.
As the Magic Cube slowly rotated above the Sea of Gods, the two Cards completely fused into one with an intense crystalline glow.
Ancient Five Star Soldier Card—Undead Legion: Summons an Undead Legion ruled by twelve Sixth Level Grand Magician Skeletons, including an army of fifty thousand Undead.
Carefully inspecting the Card, one could clearly know the specific composition of the fifty thousand-strong Undead Army.
Just as he had anticipated, although the five thousand Furious Demons had disappeared after the fusion, there were now five thousand enhanced Skeleton warriors among the Undead, as well as several thousand Undead whose strength lay between Rank 2 and Rank 3 from the fusion of the other two Soldier Cards.
With the Card in hand, Lin Xiao was brimming with confidence.
Combined with the Flame Melting Sea Card, whether he needed cannon fodder or a main force, he had it all, in addition to an overwhelming high-end combat force: twelve Sixth Level Transcendent Undead Great Wizards, more than a dozen Transcendent Fire Elements—his military power was simply explosive.
Clasping these two Cards, Lin Xiao had the illusion that he could slay gods if they blocked him and demons if they stood in his way.
Full of confidence, he pointed and clicked to match, and a mechanical voice rose:
"Match successful, congratulations on the bye!"
"????? A bye?"
His breath hung midway as if, at the moment of climax, a fleshlight suddenly malfunctioned, leaving him hanging so badly that he couldn't say a curse for a long time.
He had already thought about what to say to each of the other four competitors, and whether he would receive acclaim from the observers if he were to eliminate Aria, the last player from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools.
He had thought about how to win gracefully if he came up against Wu Zhonglin, the gifted player.
He had thought about how to let his little aunt lose face if he came upon her— whether to narrowly triumph in an evenly matched battle, or to win only after a series of exchanges.
If…
Now it was all gone, because he got a bye.
"So annoying…"
"Young man, are you surprised?"
The sudden voice made Lin Xiao stare, and it sounded somewhat familiar. Quickly reacting, he stood at attention and gave a military salute, saying earnestly,
"Junior Lin Xiao, I've seen Major General Keri!"
Major General Keri had not revealed his form, but his voice resonated in Lin Xiao's ear:
"Young man, let me advise you, in the future, don't expose your most crucial trump card to others so readily."
The voice wasn't loud, but for Lin Xiao, it was like a nuclear bomb exploding in his brain, leaving him stunned, and an instant fear overwhelmed him.
Before he could ponder further, that voice sounded again:
"You are very cautious. I can't see what that Ancient Treasure of yours is, and I believe no one present can see it, but you've left a slight clue that made me aware."
"Senior…"
Lin Xiao didn't know what to say.
The gentle voice rang out again:
"You need not worry, everyone has secrets, and I'm not interested in yours. Those in the Main World who could discover your secret would not be interested, and those who might be interested can't detect it."
The voice paused, then added:
"Nor can they snatch it away."
Lin Xiao was puzzled by the meaning of those words, but Major General Keri's voice rose again:
"With your strength and potential, I believe that many top-tier Colleges will offer you special admission spots. As a special recruit of a top-tier College, possessing a rare Ancient Treasure is not extraordinary."
The subsequent words from Major General Keri reassured him. From his words, it could be inferred that even Major General Keri and any other important figures could not detect the Creation Rubik's Cube hidden in the Sea of Gods. Even Major General Keri himself was unable to discover it—it was only because of Lin Xiao's peculiar current location that the Cube was detected, but Keri considered it some kind of special Ancient Treasure.
"Brilliant!"
With a flash of inspiration, Lin Xiao thought that he could openly claim to have a special Ancient Treasure.
No, he was even beginning to doubt whether the Creation Rubik's Cube really was some kind of special Ancient Treasure, as there was no evidence.
After all, he was one of the strongest candidates at Summer Camp, and assuming he would win first place in the exchange competition and inherit from Major General Keri, his potential would definitely be visible to the observers, second only to that of Wu Zhonglin. So what if such a talented elite had an Ancient Treasure!
He knew that Wu Zhonglin certainly had a remarkable Ancient Treasure in his possession, about which everyone knew yet no one coveted.
Being a Summer Camp breakthrough candidate and a special recruit of a top-tier College, it was perfectly normal to have a special Ancient Treasure.
And, he was entitled to hold one.
With this thought, Lin Xiao's worries vanished.
That's when Major General Keri's voice resonated once more:
"Young man, of all people, you are one of the two I am most hopeful about, so work hard! If you make it to the end, you will find a tremendous surprise waiting for you."
A tremendous surprise?
Without thinking, Lin Xiao asked:
"Could you tell me what the treasure is?"
There was no reply, and Major General Keri's consciousness left, but Lin Xiao knew that somewhere, the other man was certainly observing him..
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Chapter 184: Unexpected Class Division
Translator: 549690339 I
This is just the initial state with this additional effect; if all the cracks on this shell can be repaired, not only will the current effects be fully strengthened, but other more powerful extra effects will also be obtained.
After holding out for a full five hours and killing nearly fifty to sixty thousand invaders, Wu Zhonglin's own losses finally reached a point where he could no longer maintain the defense.
The endless stream of enemies overran both flanks, and groups of Half Beastmen infiltrated and encircled the area through the breached flanks, initiating the countdown to failure.
He watched his subordinates being surrounded by the Half Beastmen, like a vast ocean, with a serene face. It was like a dry piece of paper gradually getting soaked by water, the dry area getting smaller and smaller until, at last, the final group of Kobold Dragon Vein Magicians was engulfed by the tide-like enemy. The space before his eyes shifted, leaving the virtual plane as well as the God's Tomb.
In another plane, the artificial high walls built by Shen Yuexin, as more and more Half Beastmen perished, their corpses piled up, filling up a section of the man-made river, accumulating until it was level with the walls.
Large numbers of Half Beastmen rushed over the pile of corpses onto the high wall, only to see, a few hundred meters away, a newly completed second high wall; she had constructed an additional line of defense outside the first one.
She clapped her hands, placed them on her hips, and her eyes twinkled with sly vivacity:
"Looks like grandma here has won for sure!"
As the relentless stream of cannon fodder continued to sacrifice their lives to fill up the second wall, she ordered a portion of Mages to start building a third wall even further back.
With this delaying tactic, she managed to hold out for more than ten hours until, from the teleportation portals, giants beasts over ten meters tall appeared and forcefully broke through the wall, forcing her to admit defeat.
At that time, there wasn't a trace of discouragement on her face from the defeat; instead, she stood with her hands on her hips, watching as more and more terrifying troop types emerged from the portals and besieged her remaining Mages who had dug holes and hidden deep within the Earth.
With just this, she was able to hold out for a full hour until the second Magic-based Half Beastman Hero arrived. Together with the Shamans, they cast earthquake spells, shaking the Mages hidden deep below the Earth to death.
Disengaging from the battlefield of consciousness, her vision swirled with change, and Shen Yuexin saw that she was sitting in one of the nine Golden Thrones in the Summer Camp Hall, immediately stunned.
It took her a moment to snap back to reality and stand up, exclaiming:
"How is this possible?"
She quickly turned to look at Wu Zhonglin, who was sitting two seats away in the center of the nine Golden Thrones. The young man, who had returned to Subspace at some unknown time, had resumed his initial gentle appearance and spread his hands with a smile:
"It wasn't me!"
Shen Yuexin became even more astonished. Her sight swept over where Lin Xiao was supposed to be and saw another unfamiliar young man sitting there. Quickly realizing something, she turned her head again. Between her own seat and Wu Zhonglin's, another Golden Throne was empty. As she was about to say something, suddenly, in the middle of the hall, a light from the Void appeared out of nowhere, rapidly expanding into a screen of light, revealing a vast sea of magma, where numerous flame creatures frolicked within the molten lava.
Most of the contestants were unclear about what this was, but Shen Yuexin, having just experienced it, recognized it at a glance.
On the other side, Wu Zhonglin also leaned forward slightly, his attention focused on that plane. After a while, his expression revealed realization:
"So that's what it was!"
Shen Yuexin, with her mouth slightly agape, watched as invaders pouring continuously from ten portals at the edge of the plane fell into the magma upon entry, turning to ash, her pretty little head a bit baffled.
Just then, a column of light surrounded by infinite stars suddenly descended from the sky, striking the last, unoccupied Golden Throne. A ring of crystal light explosively burst forth, forcing everyone to instinctively turn their heads away.
When the crystal light vanished and everyone looked back, they saw Lin Xiao sitting atop that Golden Throne, becoming one of the nine Golden Contestants.
The little girl regained her senses, biting her lip in anger while placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Lin Xiao, who had just returned, before squeezing out a few words:
"You cheated!"
As her words fell, the image in the air shifted to another battlefield, where an endless stream of Half Beastmen was stopped by a high wall, unable to advance, as archers above attacked them from a distance, the spectacle displayed before everyone.
The projection hastened, quickly showing her method of delaying time to everyone. After watching, Lin Xiao subconsciously opened his mouth in an 'oh' of realization, and saw her delicate little face turn red, instinctively reaching out to squeeze his waist and twist hard.
"Ouch!"
And that was that. The little girl, having come back to her senses, immediately succumbed to social death, hugging her head and crouching in the large Golden Throne in an ostrich-like pose.
No one around made a sound, but it was evident that many were struggling not to burst out laughing. Lin Xiao scanned the room and noticed even Wu Zhonglin, who was normally so solemn, twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands to indicate it wasn't his business.
By then, the projection in the sky had vanished, and the host was still nowhere to be seen, which wasn't too surprising to Lin Xiao as he glanced at the Golden Throne beneath him.
After all, he was the first-place winner in the exchange competition. It wasn't strange for him to replace another with an average performance and take a Golden Throne.
The reason he hadn't taken Wu Zhonglin's place was that the progression of seats had to do with the overall performance in the Summer Camp, and he only had the best performance in the final stage, which definitely couldn't compare to Wu Zhonglin, who had been at the top all along.
Key to that, he himself was far from being as strong as this prodigy and vice-leader of the contenders. If he were to be seated in the very center, not only would others be dissatisfied, but he himself wouldn't feel at ease.
Of course, seating was just a matter of honor, and he wasn't too concerned about it. What really mattered were the tangible rewards and benefits.
Not only was he about to receive rewards from the Summer Camp exchange competition, but also the majority of the inheritance from Major General Keri—the Divine Kingdom fragment hidden within God's Tomb.
The reason he said "a part of if was that General Keri, before he left, had him carve out a small portion of the massive Divine Kingdom fragment to make five ancient-quality Divine Realm Cards to reward the young heroes who had performed well in the Summer Camp.
Lin Xiao could sense Keri's purely selfless desire for the younger generation to thrive, and since this was the elder's last wish, he had agreed to it.
It was only a small part, after all; the majority was his, and everything else inside the God's Tomb belonged to him, too.
God's Tomb actually wasn't much. Contrary to what outsiders imagined, it wasn't filled with treasures. Besides the Divine Kingdom fragment and those statues, the most valuable thing in the God's Tomb was the shell of the Crystal Wall System's Core.
Keri had escaped from a being of great divine power, so managing to hide a fragment of the God Country was all he could barely do; it was impossible for him to actually collect treasures.
All things considered, General Keri's inheritance consisted of the broken shell of the Crystal Wall System's Core, a Divine Kingdom fragment of unknown size, including an undetermined number of Legendary Creatures or Demigod statues. This place should yield a significant amount of Divinity, but that was about it.
The inheritance was now his in his Divine Realm, just waiting for the Summer Camp to end so he could return to the Divine Realm and take possession of it.
Speaking of which, Lin Xiao was already getting impatient. He looked around but could not spot the host, nor did he see any team's mentors or observers.
It wasn't just him who was curious; the others were, too.
Those curious about why the host and the four team mentors and many observers had not yet appeared were, at this moment, arguing heatedly in another space. If Lin Xiao were to come across this scene, he would notice there were several times more observers than before. If he listened carefully, he would realize the content of their dispute was the pursuit of the various students.
Owing to the exchange competition, the observers from the higher education institutions hosting the Summer Camp had promised to use all their special admission quota on these students.
So, besides the few dozen observers from the academies that had initially made their presence known, observers from the many other academies had now fully turned up—all in all, some two to three hundred observers from five Super Academies and one hundred thirty-three higher education institutions, all gathered to squabble over the talented contestants.
However, the most fiercely contested were not Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin or even the competitors from the Gold layer, but rather the thirty-six contestants from the Silver layer.
All of the higher education institution observers knew that they had no chance of recruiting the foremost talents who belonged to the Super Academies, especially Lin Xiao, who had taken first place in the exchange competition and inherited Major General Keri's legacy; he was, in a sense, as prioritized within the higher education institutions as Wu Zhonglin was.
He was bound to be favored by one of the Super Academies for special recruitment, with the only question being whether Radiance, ranked first, was willing to offer a special admission slot.
Historically, Radiance, as the top Super Academy, rarely offered special admission slots in the Summer Camp, perhaps once in ten sessions. Invitations to join them were, however, quite common.
The confidence for such a stance lay in Radiance's robust genius training system and large reserve of talent. As a superb Divine System with great divine power, holding an entire Crystal Wall System as territory, after over two hundred thousand years of operation in the Main World and tens of millions of years in Different Domains, Radiance's Crystal Wall System had long been assimilated by the Main World.
The Crystal Wall System known as Radiance already boasted billions of immigrants and trillions or even quadrillions of their descendants. The few primary material planes within the Crystal Wall System and many super-large planes had been thoroughly colonized and assimilated.
So many descendants of the immigrants, each holding the status of either citizens of the Main World or Affiliated Citizens, enjoyed the same treatment as citizens and had the opportunity to open their own Divine Realms.
The endless citizens and affiliated citizens were bound to breed outstanding geniuses. While it might be rare to find a peerless prodigy like Wu Zhonglin, there would certainly be no lack of excellent elites and geniuses. A superpower like this would generally not offer special admission slots unless someone was exceptionally outstanding.
But whether Radiance was willing to offer a special admission slot or not did not matter, for the non-Super Academies had no chance.
If Radiance didn't want him, the others wouldn't get a turn either—the other Super Academies would surely be interested.
For example, among the five major Super Academies, there were still two that had not offered their special admission slots. Moreover, entities like the War Throne, although having already committed the chief slot to Wu Zhonglin through a special invitation, would not mind offering another special invitation for the position of second chief or last place.
Although the second special admission slot wouldn't have priority and top-tier institutions or higher education institutions could vie for it, it would hardly matter given that it comes from the third-ranked Super
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Chapter 185: The Start of Fusing with Divinity
Translator: 549690339 I
Major General Keri didn't say much, but his appearance here was actually a very clear signal.
"Kid, you've won."
Major General Keri said this as soon as they met. Lin Xiao chuckled sheepishly; this was within his expectations.
He had been worried that Major General Keri might have felt unbalanced and added something to the situation, but now it seemed that he wouldn't. His actions were indeed within the permitted scope of the rules.
Major General Keri stretched out his hand and a cup of steaming hot coffee appeared in front of him. He took a small sip and said,
"Within the scope allowed by the rules, you've already won. However, the second and third places have not yet been determined. We'll have to wait a bit longer."
He paused for a moment before continuing,
"Before that, I have a story to tell you. Would you be interested in hearing it kid?" 8 '
"It would be an honor!"
It was a no-brainer. He was very interested in the secrets imparted by a being with great divine power.
"A long time ago, when humanity just discovered the Divine Territory game, the emergence of the game led to the birth of one demigod after another, even True Gods, and the countries of Earth united like never before, forming the true Earth United Nations and beginning the exploration and plundering of the Exotic Crystal Wall."
"Back then, the strongest military force of the Earth United Nations was called the Outland Expeditionary Army, composed of the strongest former political bodies. It was responsible for entering the Outlands to attack various Foreign Dimensions, plundering resources and rules to strengthen the Main World." "At first, it was very smooth sailing, conquering dozens of dimensions of various sizes, a massive amount of resources from the Foreign Dimensions, filling the Main World, making it stronger and stronger."
"But the good times didn't last. Our rampant plundering finally alarmed an origin of the Exotic Crystal Wall, and deities from the Other World discovered us, from small-scale skirmishes at first, to large-scale divine wars, until a super divine war involving beings with powerful divine power ensued, and the Expeditionary Army was defeated."
Following the paths we opened, the enemy discovered the Main World, and with three powerful divine powers at the forefront, a powerful god system from the Other World began to invade the Main World. The Expeditionary Army fell back step by step, and the enemy even advanced deep into the Subspace."
"At this moment of crisis, the Earth UN government initiated two important plans. One was the Hope Project, which sent elites to form an expeditionary vanguard to enter different Exotic Crystal Walls. One intention was to find potentially friendly deities from the Other World. If we couldn't find friendly deities, then we would lead a wolf into our home, using one enemy to fight another."
"The other plan was called the Starfire Project, which allowed a group of Divine Territory Players who had achieved divinity to take a large number of humans, technology, and resources, and leave the Main World, heading toward other unknown Crystal Walls to escape the war."
Lm Xiao listened attentively, not daring to utter a word. This ancient secret was not something he'd normally have the chance to hear.
"As for me, I was a member of the vanguard, leading my team into the vast Chaotic Void Sea, searching for a Crystal Wall System that might harbor powerful entities, until "
At this point, Lin Xiao looked even more serious. He could feel that this was the essence of the story.
"In the fourth Crystal Wall System we discovered, it was being invaded by other powerful Crystal Wall Systems and was on the verge of destruction. When we arrived, what we saw was the last great being of this Crystal Wall System being besieged and falling to three other great beings. But while those three great beings were plundering the essence of this Crystal Wall System's origin, its core suddenly exploded and vanished, causing the Crystal Wall System to begin collapsing."
"Next, we were hunted by this huge Divine System, and all of my teammates perished one by one. In a desperate situation, 1 plunged into a Chaos Vortex and was tossed into this Crystal Wall System."
"After that, in a remote dimension of this Crystal Wall System, I turned a Divine Territory into a God Country, began spreading my faith, and quickly grew in power. Within a mere millennium, I ascended to become a powerful divine power and also established a powerful Divine System, ruling over a community of dimensions."
"My rapid ascendance attracted the attention and covetousness of other powerful Divine Systems nearby, and a war involving four powerful Divine Systems, with nine mighty divine powers, began."
"My Divine System was up against the attack of three powerful Divine Systems. The divine war lasted an entire forty thousand years, and my own power also rapidly grew from a newly ascended powerful divine power to a Level 19 of the God Level by the end of the war, just one step away from ascending to that great divine power."
"Hiss!"
Lm Xiao couldn't help but take a sharp breath. This seemingly world-weary elder before his death was actually a Level 19 powerful divine power. That was incredibly impressive.
I he God Level of a powerful divine power ranges from Level 15 to Level 19, with the next Level 20 being the legendary great divine power, a terrifying existence that even the current Main World only had a very few of, the pillars of a civilization.
Apart from the few great divine powers, there aren't many Level 19 powerful divine powers in the current Main World.
However, the increasingly large-scale divine wars finally drew the attention of one great being…."
At this point, Major General Keri's face showed a wistful expression, one filled with extreme reluctance and fear, as he continued,
"In that battle, my main faith dimension was shattered by our divine power, countless deities perished, and the great being eventually withdrew, and I too fell!"
Major General Keri didn't seem keen on delving into the details of that battle, briefly mentioning the massive divine war that involved a great divine power, then raised his eyes to look at Lin Xiao and said,
"Do you want to know what my precious artifact is?"
Lin Xiao nodded vigorously.
He had some guesses, but he still needed Major General Keri to say it out loud to know if it was true.
You're a smart kid, you probably have some guesses, yes, this treasure in my hand is indeed a Crystal Wall System's Core that was destroyed, and it accidentally fell into my hands," said Keri.
Lin Xiao's pupils dilated uncontrollably, and elation surged in his heart.
"But it's damaged!" Keri added.
The turn of events nearly took his breath away, and he asked involuntarily, "Was it from that great war?"
"Correct, to save my life, I exhausted the remaining origin from the Origin Core to repel that great being, and I fell with it. But before falling, I separated a wisp of my remnant soul along with a fragment of Divine Kingdom and the treasure and concealed them. Over these countless years, I've opened the God's Tomb every ten thousand years or so until today, when I finally saw my kin arrive in this Crystal Wall System," explained Keri.
Suddenly, Major General Keri extended his right hand, and in his palm, a familiar sphere of light emerged, with a piece of information unstintingly appearing in Lin Xiao's mind:
A shattered Crystal Wall System's Core exterior: the Core of a once-thriving Crystal Wall System left behind after destruction, subjected to unimaginable external forces, with the core's origin drained, leaving only its shell.
Lin Xiao….
The information appeared out of nowhere, and anyone who saw the sphere of light would have the details of this object come to mind automatically, as if it were a rule set in the depths of the universe.
This object…. Lm Xiao scratched his head and asked, "Major General, this thing is damaged, does it still have any use?"
Suddenly, Major General Keri tossed the sphere of light, which startled Lin Xiao into a fluster as he clumsily caught it. In the next second, the light sphere vanished into thin air and reappeared in the center of his Sea of Gods, colliding with the Creation Rubik's Cube occupying the central space.
"Boom!"
Lin Xiao felt as if a supernova had exploded within his mind, as an unimaginable power erupted, sweeping across his entire Sea of Gods with waves of light. He was plunged into a deep drowsiness and lost consciousness.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he regained his senses, his consciousness plunged into the Sea of Gods. There, he saw the Magic Cube towering at the center, around which a crystalline sphere, transparent but fractured with numerous fine cracks, orbited.
Clearly, in the clash between the two, the Creation Rubik's Cube had the absolute upper hand, relegating the shattered sphere to a subordinate position. "This treasure came into my possession just like that?" Lin Xiao had a feeling of child's play, but that was indeed the case, as Major General Keri had bequeathed the valuable item to him in advance.
At that moment, Keri's voice re-emerged in his mind, and Lin Xiao quickly composed himself to listen as Keri continued, "Although it is damaged, it is still a part of a Crystal Wall System's Origin Core and possesses various miraculous effects that are beyond your imagination. You will understand when you experience it later. Additionally…."
Keri fell silent for a moment, seemingly hesitating before continuing this time not with spoken words, but with a direct message to Lin Xiao's Sea of Gods:
"If you have the heaven-defying opportunity to repair its core, you could follow the path I once walked and have the chance to ascend to Powerful Divine Power."
"Promoting Powerful Divine Power…." Lin Xiao didn't dare utter these words, but the immense shock in his expression reflected his current feelings.
"Don't tell anyone about what I've told you afterward. Not until you've ascended to Powerful Divine Power, and that includes your parents and your wife!" Keri warned.
Lin Xiao nodded repeatedly.
If it were true, indeed, this was something that couldn't be shared with anyone and had to rot in his heart.
In the eyes of others, he had only obtained a broken treasure that couldn't be repaired. No one could mention anything else.
Most people couldn't imagine the temptation that a treasure capable of stepping into Powerful Divine Power presented to those with Powerful Divine Power. Even if the difficulty of repair was incredibly high and the probability was low, the mere chance was enough to draw swarms of Powerful Divine Power to fight over it, even the two formidable beings outside the God's Tomb would not resist this lure.
Therefore, this would be his second great secret besides the Creation Rubik's Cube.
For Lin Xiao, what came afterward was actually superfluous; he wasn't even a Demigod yet, and Powerful Divine Power was beyond his reach. He didn't know when he might ascend to Powerful Divine Power -those functionalities could take years to discover, and he could ignore them for now. Instead, the immediate functionalities of the object were extremely useful to him as they were.
Even in its current unrepaired, initial state, this shell of a Crystal Wall System's Origin Core came with a powerful effect –
Town Barrier: Strengthen Divine Realm, improving the Divine Domain Space's strength 1, energy concentration i, stabilizing the Divine Territory, and allowing the fusion of an additional card per month..
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Chapter 186: First Hearing of the Divinity Level Classification
Translator: 549690339
Lin Xiao also showed an expectant expression. By now, he could already imagine how happy his parents, especially his mother, would be to hear this news.
He suddenly laughed, envisioning in his mind how his mother would boast in front of her relatives.
Just then, Shen Yuexin, who had been crouching on the Golden Throne like an ostrich, suddenly lifted her head, her petite mouth slightly agape and a look of surprise on her pretty face, as if someone was contacting her.
At that moment, a ray of starlight fell from the sky onto her, the twinkling starlight swirling around, making the already beautiful girl look enchantingly gorgeous.
Meanwhile, beams of starlight descended from the vault of heaven onto the seats, shrouding each selected cadet in a resplendent pillar of light, where threads wove together to form strange marks that slowly settled upon those chosen.
The many ordinary students below looked on with envious eyes, for these marks signified that they had been officially specially recruited by the superior schools.
The previous offers were also special recruitments, but since the Summer Camp hadn't ended yet, nothing was final—it was akin to a promise. Only when the Summer Camp concluded and the official mark was applied, as now, would it indicate a confirmed position.
Beam after beam of starlight fell intermittently, and everyone engulfed in starlight showed a delighted expression. Regardless of whether they got first place or were in the top three, simply being specially recruited meant that they were among the best of their peers. This was recognition from the superior schools.
The mark slowly forming on Shen Yuexin—it looked like a mark from Super Institution Mingluo, ranked seventh?
She was specially recruited by Mingluo?
Lin Xiao was about to ask her when suddenly, a point of light on her exploded, the invisible ripples shattering the freshly-formed Mingluo mark, a roar sounding briefly before stopping abruptly. Then, specks of light converged on her wrist to form a new mark.
When he saw this mark, Lin Xiao's pupils dilated and his heart skipped a beat. He felt a profound sense of disappointment because this was the mark of Radiance, the number one Super Academy, which had just given her a special recruitment spot, forcibly snatching it from Mingluo.
According to the default rules, this obviously meant that Radiance would not be offering him a special recruitment spot.
Feeling a slight disappointment, but still smiling, he said to the girl,
"Congratulations, this is a special recruitment invitation from Radiance."
At this time, the girl was still somewhat dazed and said in surprise,
"I haven't received an invitation from Radiance!"
"Then how…"
Lin Xiao's voice stopped abruptly as a ripple of light formed in his pupils, reflecting an attractive young man in white stepping out of the ripples. The voice appeared directly in his mind:
"Hmm, kid, consider yourself lucky!"
Then, a ray of starlight fell from the sky, enveloping him within it, and numerous light threads intertwined to form on his hand a mark identical to the one on Shen Yuexin.
"Ah, this…"
Both he and Shen Yuexin were stunned. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and said in a low voice to the girl beside him,
"If I'm not mistaken, have we both been specially recruited by Radiance?"
"Who's 'we' with you?"
The girl glanced at him disdainfully and said,
"It seems so. Radiance can give special recruitments to two people at the same time?"
By this time, others had also noticed the marks on them. The few contestants sitting with them on the Golden Thrones could no longer maintain their youthful pride. Almost simultaneously, they widened their eyes in disbelief, "How is this possible?"
"Isn't it that each of the five super colleges can only choose one?"
"But this is Radiance!"
Wu Zhonglin said indifferently, nodding his head towards Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin as a greeting.
"This is Radiance…"
"Yes, this is Radiance…"
The young men muttered to themselves, settling back into their seats, no longer surprised, but unable to hide the intense envy in their eyes.
The row of young cadets calmed their emotions and were no longer as shocked as before. Below, however, more people heard or saw, and a mix of shocked, envious, and puzzled gazes were cast upon the two, while countless murmurs combined into a growing buzz.
Until suddenly, a bell rang out. A pillar of light from the podium revealed the host's figure, and the hall quieted down.
Instructor Mo, with a commanding presence, swept his gaze over everyone present, silencing the audience before he spoke,
"The third stage of this session's Summer Camp has come to an end. First, congratulations to all of you for your victory in the exchange matches with the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools. This is a great accomplishment that will be recorded in your files. It may not seem significant now, but it will bring you additional benefits whether you decide to go to college or join the military in the future."
After a pause, he continued,
"According to the scheduled program of the Summer Camp, the third stage is also the final stage. After receiving your rewards shortly, this session of the Summer Camp will officially end. You may stay within the fortress for three days. During this period, some students may receive invitations to the military reserves. I hope those who do will carefully review the invitation contents and, if possible, accept this invitation."
"Of course, it isn't mandatory, but as a personal note, it's a good opportunity." "Now, everyone, receive your rewards!"
As his words fell, thousands of beams of light descended from the sky, landing on all the students.
Although there were only barely over twenty players from the HuaXia District in the competition before the exchanges, according to the Summer Camp rules, anyone who stayed until the end could get an additional Card slot. Then, according to the final position they sat in, they'd receive a certain number of rewards. The higher the position, the more rewards they'd get, and each person in the Gold rank would also get one additional Ancient Quality Divine Card and five Golden Mythical Quality Five Star Cards.
This meant that by winning first place in the exchange competition, Lin Xiao had not only the four additional Card slots from placing first in the exchange competition but also one more for a total of five additional Card slots, as well as three Ancient Quality Divine Cards and fifteen Five Star Cards of random quality.
So many rewards…
Lin Xiao rubbed his hands together, quite expectant.
As time passed, the pillars of light began to disappear one by one, and soon only about twenty remained, then ten, and finally there were only Lin Xiao, Shen Yuexin, and Wu Zhonglin left.
Based on their rankings, their lights extinguished one after another, until Lin Xiao was the only one remaining, continuing to receive the influx of Subspace energy under the watchful eyes of many.
Truth be told, the feeling was really exhilarating, exceedingly so.
But even with all that exhilaration, everything must come to an end. When the influx was over, a screen of light unfolded before Lin Xiao, and the much-anticipated reward collection process began. Excitedly, he rubbed his hands together and began to examine his rewards.
First up, the collecting of three Ancient Quality Cards.
When he opened the Ancient Card interface, a stream of crystals rained down, even more than the last time he'd seen them.
A dazzling array of cards was laid before him, leaving him dizzy and uncertain about which to choose.
However, he had a trick up his sleeve: first and foremost, search for the ones with the smallest quantity. Generally, the cards that are least in number are more valuable than mass-produced Ancient Cards like the Frost Magician profession he had picked before.
After setting the search parameters, the screen changed, and the number of cards before him rapidly dwindled, leaving only a few unique Ancient Cards, with the first one immediately catching his eye.
Five Star Item Card – Fire Dragon Essence Blood (Ancient): Acquire a drop of mature Red Dragon's essence blood, which can endow a target with the bloodline of a fire dragon. There's a chance to promote the target to Hero status.
"This is the good stuff!"
Lin Xiao didn't hesitate to snatch up this treasure first.
If any other Divine Territory Players got this, they could create a bloodline Magician with a Red Dragon lineage that starts with a Transcendent Sixth Level, capable of reaching up to Rank 8 Legendary level.
But for Lin Xiao, it meant more than just creating a bloodline Magician. He wasn't so shortsighted as to only create one, with the Creation Magic Cube in hand, his ambitions were much grander than ordinary people's.
Next, he looked at the second unique Ancient Crystal Card, which was a very rare Resource Card – a Miniature Mithril Vein.
Loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a tiny Mithril Vein underground in a designated location. Most crucially, this vein wasn't a one-time thing, but a continuous source. As long as this Ancient Quality Card was present, it could continuously produce new Mithril.
This…
The value was indeed very high since Mithril is a crucial material for high-level Magical Equipment and highly valued in the market.
But here's the problem: it was somewhat superfluous to them at present, because at their current level they weren't yet involved in the crafting of Magical Equipment. Unless they waited until his Wise Goblins grew and began to try making Magical Equipment, they could only mine it and store it in a warehouse or sell it on the trading platform.
So, PASS!
His gaze quickly moved on to the third card—a Weather Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could create the climates of 'Lightning and Storm,' and the Divine Realm Master could also use Divine Power to manipulate lightning storms to enhance their majesty and prestige in the eyes of their followers, or harm enemies who invade the Divine Realm.
Currently, his Divine Realm lacked any kind of weather or climate, except for the initial, accompanying light breeze—no overcast or rainy days, no spring, summer, autumn, winter, lightning, etc. Having this card would mean that his Divine Realm could form these two climates at specific times, while also giving him the power to unleash lightning storms, which could be quite powerful.
But still…
"I'll keep it as an option for now!"
He didn't reject it; such cards that completed the rules of the Divine Realm were all necessary for him, and he intended to collect them sooner or later.
But with so many cards available, and limited slots at hand, it was better to see if there was something more suitable first.
He continued to look at each card—if there was one that suited him particularly well, he'd mark it and keep looking. He'd go through all the cards before deciding.
After all, there was no time limit. If he wanted, he could squat there and go through them all day.
Of course, it didn't take that long. With only a few hundred Ancient Quality Cards, it didn't take him too long to skim through them.
In fact, by the sixteenth card, he'd found one that suited him perfectly and without hesitation, he secured it, taking up his second slot.
It was a Large Iron Mine Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a large Iron Mine at a designated location.
Ore Vein sizes range from Miniature, Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large, to Giant—seven different scales in total. The scale doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the card rank but relates to how rare the mineral resource is.
For example, a Five Star Ancient Quality Ore Card of Mithril can only form a Miniature Vein, while Iron can reach a Large scale.
Considering basic minerals like Iron, Large is the upper limit for a Five Star Card. An Extra-Large Iron Mine would require cards above Five Stars.
Given that after Summer Camp, he would have a long period to focus on building up and absorbing the fruits of the camp, he would definitely concentrate on cultivating his Wise Goblins. In the future, he would surely need a large supply of Iron for them to practice steel refining and weapon forging, and purchasing it would be both troublesome and impractical, which made a Large Iron Mine very necessary.
In fact, a single Large Iron Mine wouldn't be enough. This time, having inherited Major General Keri's God's Tomb, the Divine Kingdom fragment inside might be larger than he anticipated, which was the fragment of a Divine Realm belonging to a being of Powerful Divine Power. He didn't know the exact area yet, but he was certain it was at least ten times larger than his current Divine Realm.
Once such a vast Divine Realm was developed, the demand for resources would be enormous.
It wouldn't do to have vast expanses of the Divine Realm be empty wildlands, so this time, he would choose various Resource Cards for most of his rewards.
A mature and well-developed Divine Realm should have no weaknesses, especially for someone like Lin Xiao, who had too many secrets and wasn't suited to working in a team at this stage. His Divine Realm had to be self-sufficient and perfectly regulated.
Keep in mind that in the sophomore stage, many of the test courses are in the Outland..
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Chapter 187: Theory Class (Asking for Monthly Votes, Third Update)
Translator: 549690339 I
"A huge surprise."
Lin Xiao pinched his chin, looking forward with anticipation.
Based on the information he had, Major General Keri might have possibly been a bearer of Powerful Divine Power, a being of such caliber mentioning a 'huge surprise' and a treasure highly esteemed by the military – it was definitely an extraordinary object, worth his utmost effort to compete for.
He just didn't know who the other two victors apart from himself would be in the end.
Lin Xiao had a bye round, with Aria, Wu Zhonglin, Wang Xinhe, and Shen Yuexin remaining. He had no idea how they would pair up or who would win or lose.
Fortunately, even with a bye, he still had a chance to draw cards, not taking them from an opponent but drawing directly from the central card pool.
Most importantly, since it was the last round of card drawing, the pool for this round was particularly extravagant.
Lin Xiao watched the familiar roulette wheel unfold before his eyes, where the thirty-six slots were at least orange – only a third of the wheel, not even including epic qualities, another third were Golden Mythical Quality, and the last third were all shimmering with a jeweled light, being entirely Ancient Cards.
This card pool was incredible, practically telling you that even with your eyes closed, you could still draw one or two Ancient Godly Cards.
Lin Xiao actually closed his eyes, started the triple draw with a virtual press, and only opened his eyes after fully completing three turns. Two Ancient Godly Cards shimmering with jeweled light and one legendary five-star card flickering with orange light appeared before him.
"Not bad!"
The two Ancient Godly Cards were already quite impressive. He took the cards and examined them closely.
The first Ancient Card was named – Spirit of Saint Zulfa, summoning thirteen powerful knights of the Zulfa Temple, all Rank 6 transcendents.
The other was named – Ancient Underworld Mage, summoning one powerful Ancient Underworld Mage, also a Rank 6 transcendent, and was one of those exceptionally strong beings akin to the pseudo-Flame Lord.
After all, the previous Ancient Card could summon thirteen transcendents, and this one only summoned one, clearly indicating its immense strength.
The last legendary card was a magic item – Thunder Treasure. Wearing it could accelerate the recovery of spiritual power, summoning a thunderbolt every three seconds to automatically strike the most powerful enemy within a five-hundred-meter radius who harbored the greatest malice towards oneself, prioritizing undead demons and other evil beings.
"This…"
No soldier cards, only the summonings of powerful beings and one potent magic item.
With these three cards in hand, and considering the cards he already had, he had a clear plan for the three cards.
First, leave the Thunder Treasure aside for now, as it needed neither disassembly nor enhancement – it could simply be handed over to a powerful subordinate to wear.
Then the Spirit of Saint Zulfa card…
Lin Xiao took out the Ancient Underworld Mage card as well, both cards thrown together into the Creation Rubik's Cube along with the Undead Legion Card also pulled out and tossed in.
It was simple, all merging into the Undead Legion Card.
Disassembling, refining, quickly completing the fusion, a new Undead Legion Card appeared in his hand, checking it immediately as he had expected.
The Undead Legion Card had now reached its qualitative limit and couldn't be enhanced further, so the only option was to increase its quantity. The thirteen temple guard knights were perfectly transformed into thirteen Transcendent Rank Death Knights.
And after the fusion of the Ancient Underworld Mage card, the Ancient Underworld Mage became the leader of the legion of Undead Mages, becoming the thirteenth Grand Magician plus the Ancient Underworld Grand Mage.
Then, he handed over the Thunder Treasure to the Underworld Grand Mage to wear, both to enhance his recovery of spiritual power and to serve as protection.
After doing all this, all that was left was to wait.
Since he had a bye this round, he had to wait for the other four to finish their matches and determine the top three.
After his bye, Lin Xiao learned that each person could only have a bye once, not repeatedly; no wonder Aunt Ouhuang didn't continue to have a bye.
Waiting was incredibly long, almost as if his little aunt was about to fall asleep during the previous round. At this stage, everyone was very strong, and it was not so easy to determine a winner.
In another virtual plane unseen by him, Shen Yuexin and Aria each sat at the edge of their own plane, directing their subordinates to fight each other within the vast plane.
In this round's matchup, the only two remaining super beauties met, and after a fierce battle, Shen Yuexin clearly had the upper hand.
There was nothing to be done about it; she was just too lucky. Her combat card group contained more than a dozen cards, with eleven being Ancient Quality cards—four more than Aria, which was outrageously strong.
The observers of this match maintained their silence, which was quite rare; they did not engage in discussions, as there was an obvious power gap. Unless Shen Yuexin made a mistake herself, which clearly wouldn't happen.
Ironically, the observers of the other match between Wu Zhonglin and Wang Xinhe were also silent; this match had already been decided.
Wu Zhonglin had a group of over forty Kobold Dragonvein Magicians, plus his seven Ancient Godly Cards and Mythical Quality cards amassed on his own, completely overpowering Wang Xinhe.
With that, the top three were set: the lucky Lin Xiao who had a bye, Shen Yuexin, and Wu Zhonglin.
All participants from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools were wiped out, not one left standing.
When Lin Xiao was awakened four hours later and saw the last three standing in the square, he was not too surprised. On the contrary, if it weren't for those two, that would have been surprising.
Shen Yuexin walked up to him as he woke up, shoulder to shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Now it's just the three of us, are you excited?"
Lin Xiao turned his head to see the enchanting, delicate face so close, suppressed the flutter in his heart, and shook his head:
"There's nothing to be excited about; maybe I'll get excited when I take first place."
She tilted her head to look at him and wondered:
"You want to take first?"
"Yeah!"
Lin Xiao said seriously:
"Having come this far, I definitely want to take first place. Besides the official rewards from the Summer Camp, I can also inherit Major General Keri's legacy. Such a great, though fragmented, God Country is critical to me."
He paused before continuing:
"My background can't compare to yours. Among all the competitors in the Summer Camp, I come from one of the worst off," he said. "How could I not give my utmost effort to obtain such valuable resources?"
"I see…"
Shen Yuexin's eyes moved across his resolute face and she nodded vigorously:
"I understand. You have to work hard; that big guy isn't to be underestimated."
After she spoke, she seemingly realized something was amiss and quickly added:
"But don't expect me to go easy on you. Don't end up losing to me too."
With that, she made a fist with her petite hand and gestured.
Lin Xiao…
At that moment, Wu Zhonglin suddenly came over and stood in front of them, his tall figure exuberant with pride. The burning red dragon horns on his head emitted faint, scorching ripples, as he looked down at Lin Xiao and said in a deep voice:
"I heard you're from Cloud Dream Province, Dongning City?"
"Dongning City No. 5 Middle School, Lin Xiao," Lin replied.
His gaze fell upon the shadow of the Magic Cube in the Chaos Vortex behind Lin Xiao's head, a vortex so intense it seemed to draw in even light. "You're quite good," he said. "Let's have a private chat after the Summer Camp is over."
Lin Xiao responded with a slight smile:
"Sure thing!"
When Wu Zhonglin shift his gaze to Shen Yuexin, a flash of amazement crossed his eyes but quickly disappeared. He said:
"I've heard of you before. You can come with him too."
After he finished speaking, he turned and stood aside, silent.
Shen Yuexin tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and muttered under her breath in a volume only she could hear:
"Hmph, as if I'd go with him."
Ten minutes later, a voice from Major General Keri suddenly rang in Lin Xiao's ear:
"Congratulations to the three young people for making it to the end. I'm very pleased that the younger generation of the Main World is becoming stronger with each generation. Now, I'm going to announce the rules for the final round."
The voice paused before continuing:
"The rules for the last round are simple, taking into account that the three of you could win or lose against each other and there wouldn't be a clear first to third place, so I'm changing the rules. I will simulate a plane for each of you with the same size and terrain. I will send an endless stream of enemies to invade, and you will have to use the forces in your hands to defend against increasingly powerful invasions. The one who lasts until the end will be the first place winner of this exchange event and will inherit all that I have left."
All three maintained serious expressions as they listened to Major General Keri continue:
"You're now being transported into the plane; you have one hour to prepare."
As his words fell, their consciousness quickly sank into a rectangular virtual plane.
This virtual plane was five kilometers wide from north to south, and twenty kilometers long from east to west, covered with boundless grassland. On the far right, or the eastern edge, there were ten huge Teleportation Vortices with diameters exceeding a hundred meters. A one-hour countdown was ticking in Lin Xiao's peripheral vision.
With a sweep of his eyes, Lin Xiao understood the situation within the plane. As he was about to activate his Combat Card Group, his hand hesitated, and a strange expression crossed his face.
After a long pause, he suddenly took several cards in his hands and began to scrutinize them, his expression growing increasingly odd.
"Damn it all, let's gamble!" he exclaimed.
He tossed all the cards into the Creation Rubik's Cube and began to break them down and refine them, using the Flame Melt Sea Card as the core, starting a mad enhancement.
Three-star Mythical Quality Ring of Spells.
The Undead Army Card fused with several Ancient Quality Cards.
Five-star Epic Magic Item Card—Defense Barrier.
Five-star Legendary Quality Magic Item Card—Thunder Treasure.
All these items were completely deconstructed and merged into the Flame Melt Sea Card.
Soon, a card with an indescribably rich crystal brilliance emerged fresh from the process, holding it felt like clutching a sparkling orb of light.
Ancient Five-Star Summoning Card—Flame Melt Sea: Summon the lord of the Flame Melt Sea—the False Flame Lord Kurbert, as well as randomly summon fifty to one hundred Transcendent Level Flame creatures, five hundred to one thousand large Flame creatures, three thousand to five thousand medium Flame creatures, and fifteen thousand small Flame creatures.
Note: Flame creatures include Fire Elements, Magma Elements, Steam Elements, Flame Beasts, and other flame entities.
"I must be insane!" he exclaimed.
Lin Xiao grasped the new Flame Melt Sea Card and quickly activated the summoning.
Then, a massive flame vortex appeared in the center of the plane. Endless lava and flames erupted from the vortex like a fountain, spreading rapidly in all directions.
"I am the Flame Lord, Kurbert!"
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Chapter 188: Lin Xiao's First Ancient Treasure 'Fist of the Titan
Translator: 549690339
Lin Xiao also wore an expression of anticipation, by then he had already imagined how happy his parents would be when they heard the news, especially his mother.
He suddenly laughed, picturing in his mind how his mother would boast in front of her sisters-in-law.
Just then, Shen Yuexin, who had been curled up on the Golden Throne like an ostrich, suddenly lifted her head, her small mouth slightly open, displaying a look of surprise on her pretty face as if someone was contacting her.
At that moment, a starlight suddenly descended from the Vault of Heaven onto her, dazzling starlight swirling around, making the already beautiful girl even more stunningly gorgeous.
Simultaneously, streaks of starlight intermittently fell from the Vault of Heaven, enveloping various seated students in resplendent columns of light, where strands of light twisted and entwined to form strange marks that slowly descended upon those chosen.
The ordinary students below watched this scene, each revealing eyes filled with envy because these marks represented that they had been officially specially invited by the prestigious schools.
Previous invitations were special too, but since the Summer Camp was not yet over, nothing was confirmed; it was akin to a promise, and only when the Summer Camp ended and they were marked like now was it officially set in stone.
One after another, the starlight fell in succession, and each person enveloped in starlight showed a face of joy, whether they had obtained the top rank or were within the top three spots, simply receiving a special invitation signified they were among the best of their age group, an affirmation from the higher educational institutions.
The mark that was slowly taking shape on Shen Yuexin seemed to be from the Super Institution Mingluo, ranked seventh?
Was she specially invited by Mingluo?
Lin Xiao was about to ask her when suddenly a burst of crystal light exploded on her body, invisible ripples shattered the nascent Mingluo mark, and amidst a faint roar that abruptly halted, bits of crystal light gathered on her wrist into a new mark.
When he saw what this mark looked like, Lin Xiao's pupils dilated and his heart sank, feeling extremely let down, as it was the emblem from the number one Super Academy, Radiance, which had granted her a special invitation, forcibly snatching her from the grasp of Mingluo.
According to the default rules, this meant that Radiance would not grant him a special invitation slot.
A hint of disappointment was on his mind, but he still smiled and said to the girl:
"Congratulations, this is a special invitation from Radiance."
The girl was still somewhat confused, surprised she said:
"I didn't receive an invitation from Radiance!"
"Then how come…."
Lin Xiao's voice stopped abruptly as a point of light formed waves in his pupils, reflecting a handsome young man in white walking out of the ripples, his voice directly appearing in Lin Xiao's mind:
"Mm, kid, consider yourself lucky!"
Then, a starlight fell from the sky and enveloped him, countless strands of light entwined, forming on his hand a mark identical to the one on Shen Yuexin.
"All, this…."
Both he and Shen Yuexin were stunned, rubbing their eyes vigorously, he whispered in disbelief to the girl beside him:
If I'm not mistaken, we've both been given a special invitation by Radiance?"
"Who's 'we'?"
The girl glanced at him disdainfully and said:
"It seems so, Radiance can give special invitations to two people at the same time?"
Others then noticed the marks on them, and the few contestants sitting with them on the Golden Throne could no longer maintain their youthful arrogance, almost all at once they widened their eyes in disbelief:
"How is this possible!"
"Isn't it that each of the five top super academies can only choose one?"
"But this is Radiance!"
Wu Zhonglin simply uttered a phrase and nodded towards Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin as a gesture.
"This is Radiance…."
"Yes, this is Radiance…."
A few youths murmured and sat down, their faces no longer showing surprise, but the strong envy in their eyes was undeniable.
The row of young people gradually calmed their emotions, not as astounded as before, but below, as more and more people heard or saw what happened, a flurry of shocked, envious, or puzzled looks were directed at the two, and countless muted discussions merged into a wave of voices, growing louder and louder.
Until suddenly, an abrupt bell rang out, and a column of light from the podium revealed the host, bringing calm to the hall.
The host, Instructor Mo, surveyed everyone with a commanding gaze, and with the hall silent, he began to speak with gravity:
"The third stage of this Summer Camp has now concluded, let me first congratulate you on your victory in the exchange match against the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools, this is a fine achievement for you all that will be recorded in your files, maybe it's not much now, but in the future, when you join college or the military, it will bring additional benefits."
After a pause, he continued:
"According to the predetermined schedule of the Summer Camp, the third stage is also the final stage, and shortly you will all receive your rewards and this session of the Summer Camp will come to an end, you may stay within the Fortress for three days. During this period, some students may receive a reservist invitation from the military, I hope those who receive an invitation will carefully review the contents, and if possible, accept this invitation."
"Of course, this isn't mandatory, but I'd like to remind you personally that this is a good thing,"
"Now, receive your rewards!"
As soon as the words were spoken, thousands of beams of light descended from the sky and enveloped all the students.
Although there were only about twenty students from the HuaXia District in the top hundred before the competition, which is pitifully few, according to the Summer Camp rules, anyone who remained until the end would receive an additional Card slot. Based on the final seating position, they would receive a certain number of rewards; the higher the position, the more rewards one would get, including an additional Ancient Quality God Card and five Golden Mythical Quality Five-Star Cards for each person in a Gold seat.
This meant that since Lin Xiao won the first place in the exchange competition, in addition to the four extra Card slots for the first place in the exchange, he also got five extra Card slots, as well as three Ancient Quality God Cards and fifteen random quality Five-Star Cards.
So many rewards…
Lin Xiao rubbed his hands together, full of anticipation.
As time passed, one by one, the pillars of light vanished, and soon only about twenty remained, then a dozen, and finally, only Lin Xiao, Shen Yuexin, and Wu Zhonglin were left.
Following their ranking, the beams of light extinguished one after another until only Lin Xiao was left, continuing to receive the energy blessing of Subspace under the watchful eyes of thousands.
Truth be told, this feeling was very satisfying, extremely satisfying.
But all good things come to an end, and once the blessing was complete, a screen of light unfolded before Lin Xiao. The much-awaited moment to claim his rewards began. Excitedly, he rubbed his hands and began to examine his prizes.
First, there were three Ancient Quality Cards to claim.
As he opened the interface of the Ancient Cards, a cascade of crystals fell, even more than the last time.
The dazzling array of Cards made his eyes blur, unsure of which one to choose.
However, he had a strategy. Setting aside other considerations, he first searched for the cards available in the smallest quantity, as these generally hold more value than mass-produced Ancient Cards like the Rank 3 Frost Magician.
Setting the search conditions, the screen shifted, and before him, the number of Cards swiftly changed. Only a few Ancient Cards, available as single copies, appeared in front of him, with the very first one immediately catching his eye.
Five-Star Item Card – Fire Dragon Essence Blood (Ancient): Grants a drop of mature Red Dragon Essence Blood, which can bestow a target with the Fire Dragon bloodline and has a chance of advancing the target to a Hero.
"This is good stuff indeed!"
Lin Xiao almost immediately grabbed this treasure without hesitation.
If another Divine Territory Player got their hands on this, they could create a Transcendent Rank 6 Red Dragonline Magician with the potential to reach the Legend level of Rank 8 from the outset.
But for Lin Xiao, it wasn't just about creating a Dragonline Magician. He wouldn't be so shortsighted as to just create a single Dragonline Magician. With the Creation Rubik's Cube in his possession, his ambitions were far greater than most.
Then he turned his attention to the second single-copy Ancient Crystal Card, an extremely rare resource card: a Miniature Mithril Vein.
When slotted into the Divine Realm, it can form a miniature mithril vein underground at a specified location. Most importantly, this vein isn't a one-time thing but continuously replenishing. As long as this Ancient Quality Card was active, it would endlessly generate new mithril.
This…
No doubt had high value since mithril itself is a critical material for high-level Magical Equipment and commands a high price in the market.
But the problem is that such an item is somewhat unnecessary for their current level, as they've yet to reach the stage of dealing with Magical Equipment. Unless he waits for his Wise Goblins to grow and begin attempting to create Magical Equipment, he could only dig it out and stockpile it or sell it on the trading platform.
So, PASS!
His gaze swiftly moved on to the third Card, a Weather Card. When installed in the Divine Realm, it could create 'Lightning and Storm' climates, and the Divine Realm Master could also manipulate lightning storms to enhance their majesty and prestige in the eyes of their believers, or injure enemies invading the Divine Realm.
Currently, the Divine Realm didn't have any weather or climate other than the inherent breeze. There was no cloudy weather, rain, four seasons, lightning, etc. Possessing this card would form these two climates in the Divine Realm at specific times and also grant him the power to cast lightning storms, which was quite powerful.
But still…
"I'll put it aside as an option for now!"
He didn't say no; he would need all such Cards that completed the Divine Realm's rules and would eventually want them all.
But with so many Cards here and a limited number of choices, he needed to see if there were more suitable ones for himself first.
He looked at each Card one by one, marking the necessary ones for now, intending to finish reviewing all the Cards before deciding.
After all, there was no time limit now. If he wanted to, he could sit and look through them for a whole day.
In reality, it didn't take nearly that long, as the Ancient Quality Cards were not extremely numerous—just a couple of hundred varieties, and he quickly scanned through them without taking much time.
In fact, by the sixteenth Card, he had already found one that suited him perfectly and didn't hesitate to pocket it, using up the second slot.
This was a Large Iron Mine Card, which upon placement in the Divine Realm, could form a large iron mine at a designated location.
Ore Vein sizes are categorized as Miniature, Small, Medium, Large, Massive, and Gigantic—seven scales in total. The scale isn't necessarily related to the card's level but to the rarity of the mineral resource in question.
For example, with the same Five-Star Ancient Quality, a mithril vein card can only form a miniature vein, while an iron vein can reach a large scale..
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Chapter 189: The Choice of Road (Vote for Monthly Tickets)
Translator: 549690339
Lin Xu and Shen Yuexin certainly knew what these items were. They had the intention to refuse, but these two things were exactly what they currently lacked the most. Even Shen Yuexin, who was comparatively wealthy, didn't have any to spare. They found themselves unable to voice their refusal.
Lin Xiao could see this and pushed the items towards them again:
"Here!"
This time, they did not refuse. Shen Yuexin graciously accepted and shook her pristine, small hand with a smile, "You have some conscience. You don't have to pay back what you owed me."
Lin Xiao….
Lin Xu reached out to take the statue and the magic cube, saying:
"This is exactly what I need, so 1 won't be polite."
"Don't mention it; it's what you deserve."
Afterward, the three of them chatted for a while longer and exchanged some cards they didn't need but suited one another, then they agreed to stay here for three more days before returning to the main world.
Having parted ways and returning to the dormitory, Lin Xiao immediately went back to his Divine Realm, scattering all the rewards and loot he had gathered in front of him. Cards shimmering with crystal and golden light floated in the air, surrounding a massive orb of light.
Rubbing his hands excitedly, what came next was the thrilling moment of unveiling the rewards.
The first step was, of course, to extract the Divine Kingdom fragment from within God's Tomb and integrate it into his own Divine Realm. Many of the cards in his possession now required a much larger Divine Realm to be loaded.
With a pointing gesture, the orb of light suddenly brightened, and then strands of chaotic grey light flew out from it, rapidly expanding outward. As the master of the Divine Realm, Lin Xiao felt his Divine Realm slowly expanding.
His consciousness flew to the edge of the Divine Realm. He could see the void at the boundary bubbling like boiling oil, sizzling and puffing, as the expanse of the Divine Realm's earth slowly grew in the wake of the retreating Chaos Energy, steadily expanding.
This…
Was a painstaking effort. Unlike the processed Divine Realm Cards that could be quickly loaded and integrated into the Divine Realm, this unprocessed fragment from a Divine Kingdom with Powerful Divine Power still retained remnants of its own rules. While merging with the Divine Realm, it was necessary to erode its foreign rules, which inevitably slowed the process.
However, there was no rush at present. As he expected, this whole loading process might take decades to complete. Currently, being in Subspace, it won't take that long; once back in the main world, one day equates to one year in the Divine Realm. At the least, several dozen days to two or three months should suffice for a complete integration into his Divine Realm.
As for these cards, he might as well store them for now.
He anticipated that when the second year of high school starts, it would be difficult to acquire as many cards batch by batch as he did during the Summer Camp. By that time, course rewards are likely to be only cards of Golden Mythical Quality, and he'd have to revert to using lower-tier cards. He would need to wait until the complete integration of his God Country and Divine Realm to determine how to load them based on the status of his Divine Realm.
In any case, for Lin Xiao, the first semester of the second year of high school was a period of consolidation and growth; there was ample time to grow in a semester.
It wasn't feasible to integrate the entire Divine Kingdom fragment into the Divine Realm right away, but other items from God's Tomb could still be put to use.
Lin Xiao reached into the orb of light and grabbed several statues, including one of a massive dragon and another of a half-god vampire.
All these were adventurers who had entered the Divine Realm in the past. Even the weakest among them was a legend, with a few Divine Beings and about seven demigods. After giving away two, there were still five left, all turned into stone statues by Major General Keri.
They were now dead; their flesh and blood turned to unchangeable stone. Their once powerful bodies had become inert stone, good only as ornaments, but the residual Divinity within the bodies of the Divine Beings and demigods could still be extracted.
"Fantastic!"
Lin Xiao rubbed his hands vigorously and pointed at each statue, causing them to shatter.
When the statues of legendary heroes broke apart, nothing remained. Except for the enduring Divinity, everything else had faded to nonexistence over tens of thousands of years, leaving not even dregs behind.
He didn't keep them as mere statues for decoration mainly because he wanted to see if there were any miracles…
Unsurprisingly, there weren't. When all the legendary heroes' statues shattered, no trace of them was left—not a scrap of their flesh and blood, which had completely petrified into ordinary stone, just a bit harder than usual.
All the remains were thrown into the Divine Realm; then, Lin Xiao's gaze fell on the statues of the four Divine Beings.
Among the four Divine Beings was a human, a dwarf, a vampire, and a giant lion over five or six meters tall and nearly ten meters long, its mane like flames.
He pointed and shattered the dwarf. In the grey stony head, there was an egg-sized piece of stone with traces of dark red flesh, flickering dimly with golden light.
He reached out to capture the Divinity into his hand, then put it away.
He proceeded to smash the remaining three Divine Beings, most of whom contained only a bit of Divinity, with the majestic flame lion yielding two points of Divinity, bringing the total gain to five points.
"Not bad!"
The haul was almost comparable to all his previous accumulations, not to mention the five demi-god statues that possessed even more Divinity.
Of course, it was not as many as imagined because these Demigods had struggled in the God's Tomb, just like that Snake People Demigod who faced a desperate situation and would definitely struggle desperately, even to the point of Burning Divinity for a burst of power—this was inevitable. Thus, it would certainly be impossible to harvest five intact Demigods.
However, even if incomplete, the leftover Divinity from five Demigods would definitely amount to more than ten, and possibly even over twenty points. Along with the previous five points and his own, Lin Xiao's incoming Divinity might surpass that of Wu Zhonglin.
Arriving in front of the Vampire Demi-god Statue with an exhilarated heart, a Demigod whose name commanded respect in any realm had been reduced to a stone statue, dying here in nameless silence.
With a tap, the statue shattered, and a handsome head fell off and split open. Lin Xiao was surprised to find that the head of this Vampire Demigod still retained flesh and blood; the rest of the body was completely petrified, but the brain retained some semblance of life due to the residual Divine Power and leftover five points of Divinity.
Most crucially, he sensed a thread of extremely weak life force within this still-vivid head. Was this Vampire Demigod not completely fallen?
But thinking about it, this seemed normal. This Vampire Demigod, like them, was among the last batch to enter the God's Tomb. It might not even have been half a year since he turned into a statue, so it wasn't surprising that he hadn't died completely.
"Hmm, this is going to be tricky!"
Directly snuffing him out seemed like a waste. Holding the Creation Magic Cube, it seemed there could be other, better uses for it.
In that instant, several cunning ideas came to Lin Xiao's mind.
After pondering for a moment, he summoned the Creation Magic Cube, created an independent space within, and decided to collect the object first before making further plans.
He then examined the other four Demigod statues, which represented a Human, an Elf, a Fishman, and that Dragon, which was also a Demigod.
These four Demigods had died a long time ago, at least ten thousand years before, and were completely deceased.
Lin Xiao found three, five, six, and eight Divinity points respectively within their remains totaling twenty-two units of Divinity. The Dragon Demigod had the most residual Divinity, probably because it had been a High-Level Demigod in life, and with the innate talents of the Dragon Clan, it must have been the strongest being to fall within the God's Tomb.
Apart from the temporarily reserved five Divinity points from the Vampire Demigod, the three Demigod statues provided twenty-two units of Divinity, added to the previously accumulated five points from the Divine Beings, and the Divinity Card, as well as the five points of Divinity from the Vampire Demigod Avatar. Lin Xiao now had thirty-four points of Divinity in his possession, becoming instantly wealthy.
However, not all this Divinity could be fused into himself.
With the Vampire Demigod's Divinity set aside for now, he didn't plan to use all of the remaining twenty-nine points for himself. He had an idea: while he had an abundance of Divinity at hand, could he perhaps select a few promising individuals from his Clan and grant them Divinity to elevate them to Divine Beings?
For example, the Epic Hero, Naga Slardar, who was already a Hero. If he could be turned into a Divine Being, his strength would undoubtedly become much more formidable, and his potential even greater.
It's good to be strong oneself, but focusing too much in one area is not ideal. Only when the entire Divine Realm is powerful can one ensure stable development and a brighter future.
After all, if his Divine Realm were powerful enough, they would have the strength to vie for interests on his behalf.
Moreover, non-Divine Beings only need to fuse with one point of Divinity to start with. He estimated that granting no more than five points of Divinity should be sufficient, and the remaining twenty-four points could be kept for himself.
After collecting all the statues from the God's Tomb, what remained was a pure Divine Kingdom fragment, waiting to be slowly integrated into his own Divine Realm.
Having completed these tasks, Lin Xiao finally had the time to turn his attention to the interior of his Divine Realm.
It had been some time since he had returned to the Divine Realm. The changes inside were not significant, mainly because not much time had passed.
There weren't many changes in the wilderness of the Divine Realm. The Flower Fairy population remained the same, the Little Elemental Fairies were still frolicking underwater, the Little Dragon Turtle had not grown up yet, and the Lobstermen Tribe seemed to have expanded a bit.
On the mainland, the Naga City had been further developed. The Supreme Naga population had increased by dozens of newborns, and the city now featured many new-style buildings that looked more refined.
He examined closely, these new-style buildings originated from the satellite city where the Wise Goblins lived. After a static period, they had set their sights on their own place, presumably finding the houses built by the Naga and Fishmen for them rough and unsightly, thus they attempted to create new homes by themselves. Now, the results seemed quite good.
The development of the Divine Realm was stable, and the Clan was living well—without any worries for food or clothing. Every day, large numbers of Fishmen and Supreme Naga went to the Ancient Arena to train.
Although they didn't have the Power of Faith to activate the experience bonus of the Ancient Arena, it did not close during normal times and could still be utilized. However, without the Power of Faith, victory in battle would not grant additional combat or job experience, only basic combat experience and improvement in job skill proficiency. It was unable to promote advancement, but it ensured that combat power wouldn't deteriorate.
This facility was powerful, but the consummation of the Power of Faith was too terrifying for him at the moment, preventing him from keeping it open at all times.
He could only wait until the Clan grows larger and the daily accumulation of the Power of Faith was sufficient to maintain frequent use.
After reviewing his Divine Realm, Lin Xiao withdrew his gaze, satisfied. He stretched out his palm and a ball of light appeared within it—it was the shattered outer shell of the Crystal Wall System's Core.
He tried summoning the Creation Magic Cube to absorb it, closed his eyes to feel it out for a while, then opened his eyes again, revealing a wry smile: "Damn, ten units of Creation Energy are needed to repair a single crack, that's just absurd!"
He counted, and there were sixteen cracks on it, which meant it would take one hundred and sixty units of Creation Energy to repair—this was simply…
To think that a Rank i Ancient Treasure could only be decomposed into one to three units of Creation Energy, and even a Rank 3 Top-tier Heirloom only consisted of thirty to forty units. Would this not mean needing to disassemble four or five Top-tier Heirlooms just to gather enough Creation Energy for repairs?
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Chapter 190: New Divine Extraordinary Ability
Translator: 549690339 I
However, this doesn't mean they should fuse directly. Slight modifications are possible, such as fusing two ore cards into a single, larger ore card.
A simple fusion that does not require Creation Energy.
Two ancient quality ore vein cards lay before him; he then drew two gleaming gold cards from his hand deck. These were also ore cards, one a medium-sized red copper ore and the other a small silver mine.
As silver mines are more valuable than basic ores like iron and copper, a small silver vein is thus a gold myth quality card.
All ore veins come with a regeneration ability, but it is generally low, and except for a few special ores, they include random associated minerals. Nobody knows exactly what those will be until the ore vein card is loaded.
Lin Xiao's task was simple: throw all four ore cards into the Creation Magic Cube, then break down several useless cards into nutrients, and finally fuse all the ore vein cards into a single, new large ore card.
Yes, it was still a large ore card, but there are degrees of large. In actuality, it was equivalent to two or three large iron mines in size, the ore vein's quality upgraded from regular to rich, and the card maintained its ancient quality.
Five Star Resource Card—Large Mixed Rich Ore Vein Card (Ancient): Can be loaded into the Divine Realm, creating a large mixed rich ore vein at a designated location, containing iron, red copper, silver, and other minerals.
Note: As long as the vein is not mined to exhaustion, it can regenerate indefinitely.
Note: The ore vein includes random types of associated minerals.
Next, he retrieved two weather cards from his deck, one of rain and the other of fog. These fused into one…
…a weather card that encompasses both light rain and fog.
However, he didn't immediately load this card into the Divine Realm but set it aside. Although it was essential for the Divine Realm, there was no need to load it immediately. He planned to exchange some unnecessary cards for more weather-related cards, and then directly synthesize one large weather card to load into the Divine Realm, to save on card slots.
Then, Lin Xiao flipped through his card pack and found a total of nine cards, those basic exotic knowledge cards acquired during the first two stages of the Summer Camp.
Such as Basic Exotic Machinery Construction, Basic Exotic Alchemy, Basic Exotic Engineering, etc.
Originally, there were only six cards, but in his most recently acquired deck, there were three new knowledge cards: Basic Exotic First Aid, Basic Exotic Herbal Medicine, and Basic Exotic Biology.
These foundational subjects encompass an entire set of basic knowledge, researched and improved by scientists from the Main World who integrated various magical insights from the Different Domain. This methodology was far more advanced than the so-called technology of The Aboriginals of exotic world, so even the seemingly low-tech First Aid or the high-end Machinery Construction were regarded as Five Star Mythical level cards.
Lin Xiao's task was very simple: throw all nine subject cards into the Creation Magic Cube and then synthesize them into a single card, thus only taking up one card slot.
As the nine shining gold cards were tossed in, and while fusing, he thought for a moment and dumped a heap of odds and ends, books, and scrolls he had scavenged from the Magic High Tower after breaching Alfonso City in the Shattered plane. This included the construction blueprints of the Magic High Tower and the incomplete Blood Mage advancement scroll.
With a wave of his hand, the Magic Cube started to rotate slowly. The many cards and materials collapsed, but under the effect of the Creation Magic Cube, their refined essences were neatly segregated. As a powerful pull from the center of the Magic Cube attracted them, the differently colored essences circled around the pull, transformed into streams of light, and flowed into it.
When all the streams of light gathered into the vortex, Lin Xiao suddenly widened his eyes with a look of surprise:
"It can even work like this?"
According to the feedback from the Creation Magic Cube, after fusing many knowledge cards, a peculiar change occurred. If he invested another ten million Power of Faith and a unit of Creation Energy, he could synthesize a special miracle card.
Just like the Bloody gladiator arena transformed into the ancient arena, it was a miracle card.
This decision required no hesitation. With resolve, Lin Xiao sent an entire ten million Power of Faith in a milky white torrent into the vortex at the center of the Magic Cube, along with strands of Creation Energy surrounding it, approaching the vortex.
All the energy merged into the vortex, exploded violently, and then in an instant contracted into a single point. Suspended in the brilliant light was an intensely luminous crystal card.
He pinched the crystal card from the Magic Cube, its light second only to the Flame Melt Sea Card, even stronger than the ancient arena.
Five Star Miracle Card—Tower of Truth (Ancient): When loaded into the Divine Realm, it forms a Miracle Tower containing boundless knowledge.
Note: Knowledge can continuously be filled into the Tower of Truth.
After synthesizing this card, he then created two combined cards. One was a Super Large Shallow Sea Aquarium Comprehensive Card, which included dozens of shallow sea aquatic creature communities, each with sufficient numbers for reproduction.
The other was a Super Large Wild Horse Herd Card. He based it on a type of prairie wild horse, transplanting the size and strength, as well as the thick armor-like skin features of the Armored Rhino from another card onto the horse. Even the robust horn of the rhino was transplanted onto the head, resulting in a new breed of horse that was large in stature, all muscle, with stout limbs, armored body, and a sharp, powerful rhino horn on its head— combining the speed of horses with the temper and combat power of rhinos.
The newly created horses were named Unicorns by Lin Xiao, with an average strength of around Level 3 when fully grown, starting with a population of a thousand.
After completing these tasks, the card fusion was essentially done.
The Unicorn Card and the Super Large Shallow Sea Aquarium Comprehensive Card could be loaded into the Divine Realm first, as the current area of the Divine Realm was large enough to sustain them; they could start reproducing when the Divine Realm expanded further in the future.
As for the Tower of Truth Card…
He communicated with his number one Clan, Naga Slardar, and issued a Divine – mandate.
In the central Temple of Naga City, where Slarda was conducting his daily prayers, his massive form lay prostrate on the smooth stone slabs in devout supplication. In front of him stood a colossal statue of the Supreme Naga, surrounded by a faint and formless aura of awe and divine might.
Each time Lin Xiao made his True-Body Descend, he used the Big Naga form, and thus the Clan viewed him in this likeness.
In the mysterious beyond, at some unknown moment, the deity statue began to emit a faint divine light, and the gemstone pupils embedded in the face of the immense statue suddenly came to life. As Lin Xiao descended, he immediately felt the closeness of sincere devotion. Compared with their last encounter, this believer was even more devout; around Slarda's form emanated a faint divine radiance, of the exact same nature as his True Body but extremely weak.
This believer was already on the path of becoming a Saint, as told in legends. Once Lin Xiao solidified his Godhood and became a Demigod, it wouldn't be long before he could become a true Saint.
"Not in vain did I put in so much effort to nurture him, and he even has a touch of Divinity!"
At this point, Slarda had stepped into the realm of Rank 7 as a Divine Being. Lin Xiao nodded, opening this believer's Attribute Panel:
Hero: Slarda (Divine Being).
Race: Supreme Naga.
Rank: Legend.
Hero Aura: Bloodsucking—Converts 25% of damage dealt to enemies into life energy to replenish oneself, aura radiates within a 3000-meter diameter, allies within the area receive half the effect.
Hero General Talent: Legendary Hero Constitution—immune to instant death damage, high-end life regeneration, physical damage reduction by 35%, overall resistance 35%, immune to slowing, blindness, seduction, hypnosis, fear, and other negative states.
Divine Creature Talent: Divine Being—All attributes 20%, overall resistance 20%, gains high-end life regeneration.
Unique Hero Talent: Heroic Tyrant Body—Beings with this Talent are extremely powerful; Constitution 30%, Strength 30%, Agility 20%, removes all vulnerabilities, immune to fatal and mortal wounds, cannot be slowed, significantly weakens negative effects and damage from spells, greatly reduces physical damage, possesses very strong regenerative abilities and vitality.
Hero Skills: Sprint LV4, Salted Fish Charge LV4, Thunder Shatter LV4.
Constitution: 652013 points (You have transcendental constitution, you have a formidable regeneration ability, even severed limbs can regrow within a certain time).
Strength: 702114 points (You have transcendental strength, your power can easily dominate fierce beasts like Violent Dragons).
Agility: 521010 points (You have transcendental agility, a speed and reaction time surpassing mortal imagination).
Spirit: 5010 points (Your spirit leaves common folk far behind, even untrained, you can sense the presence of magic elements).
Assessment: This is a very powerful Legendary Hero, he is the mountain, he is the boulder, he is Strength itself!
Compared to Rank 6, Slarda's strength had improved comprehensively, and his size had grown significantly, from the previous twenty-five meters from head to tail to now thirty-five meters.
Moreover, this state was not his limit—he was still growing.
As a Legendary hero, with additional enhancements from his status as a Divine Being and the unique talent of Heroic Tyrant Body, Slarda's individual strength has reached the upper echelons of Rank 7, only a step away from Rank 8 Legend.
And as he continually tapped into the potential granted by Divinity, his strength would surge even further, and it was possible that in the near future he would grow into an extraordinary creature like Dragons, capable of challenging those beyond his own rank.
Satisfied with closing his subordinate's Attribute Panel, Lin Xiao made a mental note and the praying Slarda suddenly looked up, his low prayers gradually rising in volume, his voice like thunder:
"Oh, Supreme Creator, you are the One, you are the All, you are the only Light, your devoted Slarda listens here for Your Gospel!"
As Slarda's voice faded, the hall returned to silence, save for the barely perceptible sound of Slarda's breathing.
He remained silent for a long while, but Slarda continued to lie motionless on the ground, his posture and thoughts as devout as at the beginning.
After a good while, a voice, as if coming from the Vault of Heaven, rang in Slarda's ears. It instructed him to summon all his Clan to prepare for a grand sacrificial ceremony.
After issuing the Divine-mandate to Slarda, Lin Xiao left the Divine Realm; the mandate he issued was simple: to have him summon all his Clan..
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Chapter 191:100,000 Whys About Spells
Translator: 549690339 I
Just a cursory glance, and there were five cards inside: two purple epics, one orange legend, one golden mythical, and there was also an ancient card sparkling with crystal light. For grandfather, who is a demigod, this indeed was a super grand reward.
He didn't refuse, stretching out his hand to accept it while saying sweetly:
"Thankyou, Grandfather!"
"Good boy, it's what you deserve."
The next morning, Lin Xiao was woken up early by his mother, got ready, had breakfast at his grandfather's house, and heard that it was personally made by his grandmother. After breakfast, his grandfather took him and his father to the castle where his great-grandfather lived.
On the way, they occasionally saw some kin from the same clan. He clearly felt everyone's unusual warmth towards him.
At the castle gates, he met his second great-uncle, who brought Lin Xu. Grandfather, with a rare smile, stepped forward with a fist and palm salute:
"Is Second Brother here to see Father too?"
In Lin Xiao's usual impression, the second great-uncle, who never smiled or spoke more than necessary, now revealed a rare smile and nodded:
"Today, I brought Xu to visit Father."
He then looked towards Lin Xiao and beckoned him over. Lin Xiao quickly went forward to salute:
"Xiao pays respect to Second Great-Uncle."
"Very good!"
Second Great-Uncle nodded his head in approval and said:
"In our clan, you two are the most outstanding. You must support each other in the future."
With that, he flipped his hand and three cards emitting golden light appeared in his palm and were passed over:
"Don't refuse; this is a congratulatory gift from your second great-uncle. Although it can't compare to what you gave to Xu, it's my good will."
"Then I will not be polite."
Obviously, the second great-uncle knew about the demi-god statue and Divine Realm Card he gave to Lin Xu. This was a reciprocal gift.
One has to say that reality is very pragmatic. When he showed potential of reaching the pinnacle, even true gods like the second great-uncle couldn't avoid following convention.
But that's reality for you. Everyone is worldly. If it were Lin Xiao, he'd probably do the same.
It wasn't long before they met their great-grandfather in the castle, a true god who looked like an old man with white hair, bearing a resemblance to the second great-uncle and grandfather, about seventy to eighty percent. This was the fifth time Lin Xiao had seen his great-grandfather since growing up, having only seen him during major family reunions.
True gods have immortal lifespans, and it's rare to see them looking old.
For instance, Major General Keri seems old because his true body has already fallen.
The great-grandfather looked old because his mentality was aged; if he wished, he could revert to his youthful appearance at any time.
Like grandfather, the great-grandfather was also in good spirits today. After encouraging Lin Xiao and Lin Xu, he took out a delicate gift box for each of them, clearly filled with a stack of cards.
Lin Xu humbly took it, but Lin Xiao paused before accepting and said:
"Please forgive me, Great-Grandfather, but if possible, I would like to exchange these for some broken Ancient Treasure Fragments."
Great-Grandfather's long white eyebrows twitched, curiously asking:
"Broken Ancient Treasure Fragments?"
"Yes, any broken Ancient Treasure Fragments will do, even if they are completely useless."
"Hmm!"
Great-Grandfather pondered for a moment, and without asking him why he wanted them, merely said:
"I do have a few collected fragments here, I might as well give them to you."
Then the second great-uncle spoke up:
"I also have several collected fragments here, I'll give them to you as well."
Lin Xiao was delighted and quickly said:
"Your grandson thanks Great-Grandfather and Second Great-Uncle."
Thus, a total of eight Ancient Treasure Fragments fell into his hands, each belonging to different Ancient Treasures. Two of the fragments clearly contained stronger energy, probably not just Rank 1 Ancient Treasure Fragments.
"If you want more, wait a few days and I will find some for you," said the great-grandfather.
After returning from the great-grandfather's place, Lin Xiao plunged into the Divine Realm.
If a complete Ancient Treasure was definitely beyond his reach, and a whole one was something even Powerful Divine Powers would not earn much, broken ones with no use other than for collecting were different.
The great-grandfather had already mentioned he would look for more in the next few days, probably at the platform for true gods' interactions. Who knew how many he could bring back.
Lin Xiao really wanted to say he wanted as many as possible, but these things were not cheap. Even collectibles cost about a hundred million Power of Faith per piece, and the great-grandfather couldn't possibly spend a few hundred billion to collect a bunch.
The key issue was that he couldn't properly explain why he needed so many Ancient Treasure Fragments. Without a reasonable excuse, he wouldn't be able to get too many.
In the Divine Realm, within the Divine Palace, two days in the Main World equaled almost two years in the Divine Realm. The Divine Realm had already absorbed a large number of Divine Kingdom fragments and expanded quite a bit.
The expanded Divine Realms were wastelands, but under the influence of the Divine Domain Heaven Card, the originally perfect heavenly ecology of the Divine Realm was slowly extending its reach, transforming the barren land into fertile territory.
The new lands obtained through Divine Realm Cards typically depend on the type of card: if the card specifies a water area, it yields a water area; if it specifies wasteland, then wasteland it is; and if it specifies Fertile Black Soil, then Fertile Black Soil you shall have.
If new lands are obtained through fusing a Sanctuary or a God Country, the type of land generally depends on the attributes of the fused Sanctuary or God Country. Normally, it's wasteland, which one needs to transform themselves.
Under Lin Xiao's purposeful control, the new land forming on the right-hand side of his entire Divine Realm paralleled the bottom of the ocean, each new part giving rise to a new sea area as the water spread.
The section on the right grew normally, and it was all plain.
He indeed wanted to create some mountain ranges; while it was possible to do so operationally, the truth was that the resulting mountain ranges would be made of soil rather than actual stone mountains, effectively creating mounds of earth.
Of course, it's possible that even soil mounds might turn into rock after a long time impacted by various geological activities, but that would take too long, and such a development could not be awaited in the early phase.
At this moment, the Divine Realm's area had increased more than threefold compared to two years ago, but only about one percent of the Divine Kingdom fragments in the God's Tomb had vanished. This meant that when the Divine Kingdom fragments were fully integrated, the total area of his Divine Realm could increase by over three hundred times its original size.
"That's really exaggerated!"
The corners of Lin Xiao's mouth almost split with his broad smile.
He rubbed his hands together, drawing forth a flicker of starlight that sketched out the Creation Rubik's Cube before him.
Lin Xiao composed himself; there was no need to worry about the Divine Realm for now. As it was less than one percent complete, full integration would probably take three to four months, which was quite early.
He then stretched out his right hand, scattering a handful of Relic Shard fragments that floated in the void. With a light tap, eight Relic Shards fell into the Magic Cube one by one. The massive Magic Cube slowly turned, its mystical fluctuations spreading out.
The several Relic Shards he had acquired last time decomposed to yield just over one unit of Creation Energy. This time, two of the shards appeared to be from higher-ranked Ancient Treasures, and he felt they would yield more.
It didn't take long for ripples to burst forth from a seam in the Creation Rubik's Cube as it halted its spinning. With a thought, he sensed the change and a smile graced his face:
"Not bad!"
There were about four units and a bit of Creation Energy—enough to synthesize some nice things.
First, he took inventory of his cards. Lin Xiao currently had five Ancient Quality Cards—three from the Summer Camp, one from his grandfather, and one from his great-grandfather.
Then, there were twenty-four Mythical Quality Five-Star Cards, one Legendary Level Five-Star Card, and two Epic Five-Star Cards. Of the Mythical Quality Five-Star Cards, fifteen were from Summer Camp, one from his grandfather, three from his great-uncle, and five from his great-grandfather.
In addition, there were seven Mythical Quality Cards left from the first two phases of the Summer Camp, along with a host of various spoils of war.
All in all, the gains from this Summer Camp were indeed super abundant, surpassing the resources many ordinary True God descendants possessed, and allowing him to narrow the gap with those divine heirs instantly.
Lin Xiao now had six additional card slots available—an extra one from the Summer Camp and the regular monthly slots—allowing him to fuse six cards, which would enable a significant power boost.
He spread out the five Ancient Quality Cards first. His grandfather managing to provide an Ancient Quality Card was somewhat unexpected, as such cards were quite valuable even to Demigods.
However, upon seeing the attributes of the Ancient Card gifted by his grandfather, Lin Xiao fell into thought.
Five-Star Resource Card—Large Red Iron Ore Vein Card, when embedded into a Divine Realm, can create a renewable large Red Iron Ore vein at a designated location, with a small chance for random types of associated minerals.
This…
Couldn't be called poor. On the contrary, his grandfather had been very considerate; after all, in normal circumstances, everyone lacks large ore veins.
And not knowing that he already had an Ore Vein Card at hand, it could only be said that their thoughts aligned.
With a bittersweet smile, he temporarily set aside the Ore Vein Card. He wasn't disappointed; after all, it was a gift from his grandfather, an extra goodie. There was no reason for disappointment.
Moving on to the second card, a gift from his great-grandfather, his eyes lit up upon inspection—
Five-Star Summoning Card—Storm Giant (Ancient): Summons an adolescent Storm Giant.
"Good gracious, Grandfather has such things at his disposal!"
An adult Storm Giant, a powerful being comparable to a Dragon, capable of controlling storms, innately a Legendary Creature.
The adolescent Storm Giant before him had the strength of at least Rank 6 and could continue to grow until reaching the Legendary Level at Rank 8.
Of course, that assumes the God Domain Strength could accommodate a Rank 8 Legendary Creature.
Lin Xiao's current Divine Realm Strength could accommodate creatures up to Rank 7 of the High Transcendent Level; this giant could grow until reaching the pinnacle of Rank 7.
But Lin Xiao's thoughts went further than merely summoning a Transcendent creature. In that moment, a new idea flashed through his mind.
Could this Storm Giant and his Supreme Naga be compatible?
It was an intriguing notion, and Lin Xiao was quite interested.
However, to attempt this idea, a significant amount of Creation Energy would be necessary, and the four units he currently possessed were surely not enough.
After some contemplation, he put aside both the Storm Giant Card and the Fire Giant Essence Blood Ancient Card, planning to wait until he had gathered enough Creation Energy.
He then laid out the remaining three Ancient Cards before him, stroking his chin deep in thought.
He indeed had plans for these three cards, but after thorough consideration, he decided against them.
His idea was to fuse the three Ancient Cards, incorporating the two Large Ore Vein Cards into the Mountain Range Card, and add some Creation Energy to see if a special mineral card could emerge, such as an entire mountain composed of iron ore.
But after careful thought, he dismissed the idea as it seemed to be of little practical use.
At this stage, the two large iron ore veins were already more than sufficient for the Divine Realm. Creating another mountain of ore would be pointless.
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Chapter 192: The Function of the Tower of Truth
Translator: 549690339
After Lin Xiao issued the Divine-mandate to Slarda, he emerged from the Divine Realm. The Divine-mandate was simple, instructing him to summon all the Clans to prepare for a grand sacrifice.
He had preloaded the Tower of Truth inside the Divine Realm, and as soon as the sacrifice began and the many Clans prayed together, he could introduce the Tower of Truth into the Divine Realm.
Indeed, if possible, he would also prefer to wait until the start of the ceremony, but time was pressing for him now.
Apart from the journey to The Affiliated School of Huiyao, which he would need to report to soon, he had only a few days left. During this short period, besides traveling, he needed to say farewell to his teachers at Dongning N0.5 Middle School, handle some procedures, and incidentally meet with officials from the Dongning Bureau of Education—his special recruitment by Huiyao was also newsworthy for the city.
After all, the last student to be specially recruited by Huiyao during high school was decades ago.
In the meantime, news had spread thanks to his mother's efforts, bringing a host of visitors to their home. He didn't need to meet with most, but he had to at least show his face to certain close relatives who came by; he was very busy. That afternoon, he returned to school for a visit. Since it was the holiday season, the school was nearly empty, a relief to him, as there would have been quite a spectacle had it been during the school term.
Although he couldn't put on airs, Lin Xiao felt there was no need to pretend; after all, he had no close friends at this school, no girls he fancied, nor had he offended any second-generation rich kids-there was little point.
The so-called procedures were not much of a hassle, as most could be completed online. His primary purpose for returning was to take a few photos for the school's archives, becoming one of the outstanding alumni introduced to future students, to attract more promising newcomers and obtain more government resources.
After spending half a day at school, he visited the education bureau the next day and took a few pictures, the kind that would be put on display.
Worth mentioning is that on both visits, he gained something valuable: the school and the education bureau had each prepared for him a Divinity Card and a Divine Realm Card.
The number was small, but their value was considerable.
After taking care of these matters, he returned home and met with relatives and friends for a day. His grandfather then presented him with twenty-four Relic Shards of varying sizes and a Protective Tool. Most of the Ancient Treasures were collected by his grandfather, with a small part provided by his grandpa. The Protective Tool was a ring, given to him by his grandpa for self-defense, which contained some of his grandpa's Divine Power. It could release a full -strength strike from a True God for defense or attack.
Such treasured items were now unique to him within the Lin Family; Lin Xu already had something from his own father.
Lin Xiao carefully donned the ring on his finger, and from that moment on, he had a protective treasure like the ones found in fantasy novels, the kind coveted by sons of influential figures.
Back in his room, Lin Xiao immediately disassembled all the Relic Shards, gaming a total of 7 points of Creation Energy. Coupled with his previous total, he now had ten units of Creation Energy, enough to repair a crack in the shell of the Crystal Wall System's Core.
Of course, he wouldn't repair it now; he would only do so when he had surplus Creation Energy. At this stage, using the Creation Energy to synthesize other items was a more attractive option.
On the fourth day after his return, early in the morning, Lin Xiao boarded the flying car personally driven by his mother. Under the watchful eyes of many relatives, he left the Lin Family Fortress and headed for the provincial capital to join Shen Yuexin and together head for the Huiyao Super Academy Campus.
My son, I'm so proud of your achievements!"
In the flying car, Lin Xiao looked at his mother, who pretended to be very touched and spoke words of emotion, and his mouth twitched as he said, "Mom, rest assured, your son will achieve even more in the future. When I become an important figure, you too can become a True God."
Jin Yunzhu embraced her son with a moved expression and said,
"You truly are my good son. Don't worry about your dad; he wants to achieve Divine Enthronement on his own merits. As for your mom, I probably won't make it on my own in this lifetime, so I'll be counting on you in the future." "Sure, just wait, Mom, and be careful too."
"Don't worry, son. Your mom is very cautious, and with your dad out in front, unless he dies, nothing will happen to your mom."
At that moment, Lin Xiao really wanted to know how his dad would feel if he heard these words.
The meeting place was located on the outskirts of the provincial government's estate, an opulent manor that occupied several small mountains nearby. The manor's owner, surnamed Liu, was an alumnus of Huiyao Super College and also a True God. Lin Xiao received a warm welcome from the owner upon arrival.
When he arrived, Shen Yuexin had already been there for a while, hunting in a subspace affiliated with the manor with the owner's youngest daughter. Upon hearing of his arrival, she came out of the subspace just as Lin Xiao and his mother entered the living room. She pouted with her hands behind her back and said,
"Why did you only come now? I've been here for ages!"
As soon as her words fell and she saw Jin Yunzhu following behind Lin Xiao, she was shocked and turned to run.
But Lin Xiao's mother had already spotted her, and her eyes instantly lit up as she called out,
"Shen Jia Girl, are you waiting for my son?"
With a slap on her thigh, she said,
"Right, the two of you were specially recruited by Huiyao together. What a coincidence, now you have company… hold on…"
She went on talking as she freely reached out to grab Shen Yuexin's hand, causing her to feel a sense of impending doom and cast desperate glances at Lin Xiao for help.
He spread his hands, and the frustrated Shen Jia Girl frowned, clenched her small fist, and pretended to punch him.
"Hehe, one might escape death by sacrificing a companion. I need some peace." Taking the tea handed over by a servant, Lin Xiao sat down on the sofa with an alumnus's projection and began to chat leisurely.
From the alumnus, he learned that as a Huiyao graduate, he had taken on the responsibility of managing Huiyao's operations in Yunmengxing Province. When the school had large-scale events in the provincial capital, like gathering students admitted to Huiyao yearly, he would only handle logistics. But for minor affairs, such as Huiyao staff passing through Yunmengxing Province, they would stay at his place.
Picking up a special recruit student like Lin Xiao was considered a minor event, after all, such occurrences were rare, happening perhaps only once every several decades.
This senior student surnamed Liu took it upon himself to give Lin Xiao some pointers, spending half a day waiting to tell them a lot about the Brilliant Super Academy, and a little about The Affiliated School of Huiyao.
Senior Liu was well-informed about Huiyao University, but not so much about its affiliated high school.
When he was admitted to Huiyao, it was through the normal college entrance exam, not through special recruitment like Lin Xiao, and he had not attended The Affiliated School of Huiyao. From what he shared, Lin Xiao learned that Huiyao's high school division wasn't limited to a single affiliated school but had two, simply named First School and Second School, both located within the same large campus but divided into two parts.
However, these two affiliated high schools didn't have any hierarchy of superiority or strength, only an internal distinction of 'inner' and 'outer1.
The First School belonged to the 'inner' category, and all of its students were the most outstanding descendants of the high-level Huiyao.
The Second School, on the other hand, was for the descendants of Huiyao's alumni. As Lin Xiao had discovered in his research, Huiyao was not just the top super academy but also a superpower in itself. Alumni, to a greater or lesser extent, maintained ties with Huiyao. Many who attained Divinity went on to establish their own clans. If they wished to draw closer to Huiyao, they would find ways to send their descendants there.
For instance, if a senior's descendants were sufficiently outstanding, they could be enrolled in the schools.
To put it simply, the First School was the main branch, while the Second School was an offshoot.
New blood like Lm Xiao and Shen Yuexin, who were specially recruited from outside, generally entered the Second School.
Of course, there were exceptions where the high-level Huiyao took a particular interest in arranging for them to join the First School, but that was unlikely.
They didn't stay long before a shuttle-shaped aircraft with a gleaming streamlined exterior descended over the estate, and two half-gods, shining like Lamp Gods, disembarked.
As they boarded, Lin Xiao unexpectedly found that Shen Yuexin had, at some point, struck up a good conversation with his mother that seemed to go very well. The two exchanged contact information when parting, looking very much like little sisters.
Noticing his puzzled gaze, she snorted lightly and ignored him, boarding the aircraft first.
Just as Lin Xiao was about to follow, he heard his mother's voice:
"Son, that young Shen Jia girl is nice, both beautiful and rich. When you get to school, make sure to keep an eye on her, and don't let someone else whisk her away."
"I… I'll try my best!"
It's not about trying; you have to seize the opportunity. Your mother can tell
the young lady doesn't dislike you, so you've got to put in the effort."
After bidding farewell to his mother, the shuttle soared into the sky, heading straight for the clouds.
Compared to the ordinary flying cars they had traveled in before, this aircraft was quite high-end, boasting incredibly fast speeds and the ability to traverse space.
With the fusion of mythical technology and real-world physics, this craft could temporarily breach the increasingly strict rules of the Main World, entering Subspace to cover vast distances and reach their destination.
The shuttle carried only Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin, as Huiyao had sent it specifically to pick up the two special recruit students, and it wouldn't stop to pick up anyone else along the way.
Once the shuttle entered Subspace, it happened to pass through a band of colorful streaming lights. Threads of colorful light passed through the hull and moved beautifully in front of them. Shen Yuexin reached out with her fingers, and the light swirled around her delicate and crystalline fingers that looked like exquisite jade, drawing his gaze irresistibly to them.
She quickly noticed his stare, and with her eyebrows bent in a cute frown, she exclaimed:
"Humph, pervert!"
It was Lm Xiao's first time seeing her playful indignation, so captivating that he subconsciously pursed his lips, and, as if possessed, he swallowed:
"Gulp!"
Silence…
Both of them froze at the same time, and then her pink and jade-like cheeks quickly turned a shade of crimson as she turned her head away, quiet settling in the shuttle.
The cabin then fell into an awkward silence, with him silently closing his eyes
to rest, while she turned her head away, lost in thought.
Occasionally, he would turn to look at her soft jade-like neck and her delicate face, unable to resist pausing to watch.
If he stared too long, she would puff up angrily and say:
"Keep looking, and I'll flatten you."
Lin Xiao, mustering his courage, replied with a slight smile:
"Come on then, flatten me!"
With her teeth clenched, she threw a punch at him. He reflexively caught her small fist, feeling its smooth and tender skin sinking into his palm. He couldn't help but gently knead it.
Her eyebrows instantly shot up, and while she felt the smoothness and tenderness in her hand, it suddenly became heavy and broke free, landing a punch near his eye.
"Ouch!"
The shuttle fell silent once again.
Two hours later, the shuttle trembled slightly as it emerged from Subspace, having crossed an unknown vast distance, and appeared above a majestic mountain range that stretched for miles.
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Chapter 193: The First Battle in Radiance
Translator: 549690339
Through the shuttle's window, Lin Xiao saw the mountains below were incredibly vast, easily dozens to hundreds of kilometers tall, extending beyond the horizon.
In front of the flying shuttle stood a colossal peak rising between heaven and earth. Surrounding mountains, towering tens to hundreds of kilometers in height, seemed trivial before this behemoth. Countless streaks of light shuttled above this mountain range, converging towards the indescribably huge vortex-like portal at the pinnacle of these billions of peaks. Billowing clouds transformed into a massive vortex resembling a star system.
Their shuttle, like the other streaks of light, headed toward the immense vortex, feeling ever so small as it neared.
This gigantic vortex, resembling a nebula, was the gateway to the Brilliant Super College, with Radiance lying in the space beyond this gateway.
The shuttle passed through the vast portal, which seemed invisible from below, feeling as if it was moving through a thin layer of light film. Lin Xiao could clearly sense the change in rules beyond the membrane much weaker than that of the Main World.
As it reflected on their bodies, he saw Shen Yuexin's figure exuding a faint purple glow, with threads of light faintly visible, while the space above his own head was collapsing inward like a black hole, drawing in all lines of sight, yet the Magic Cube wasn't visible.
But none of this captured their attention, as they were completely drawn to the scene outside.
Behind the massive vortex wasn't the kind of space he had imagined, but instead a vast starry world; they were situated within a colossal star system, with the immense light gate behind them. Far behind the vortex and gate, in the distant void, a huge star burned, releasing terrifying energy.
In the star system where this star was located, immense stars moved along their predetermined trajectories, slowly orbiting the star.
This was a vast star system.
But it was not a star system found in the starry skies, but rather… a simulated star system.
In other words, this space as large as a star system wasn't truly the cosmos, but a colossal Divine Realm that had been transformed.
Yes, a Divine Realm. Divine Beings would know as soon as they entered this space that it was a Divine Realm, only far more immense.
The shuttle stopped in front of the light gate, and seconds later, a beam of light shot out from a giant planet far away in the void, striking the shuttle. A gentle voice reached Lin Xiao's ears:
"Do not move, and do not resist."
Then, guided by the beam, the shuttle sped across billions of miles of void to arrive near another slightly smaller planet above the blue planet.
Looking out through the window, Lin Xiao was astounded to find that these two planets bore the exact relationship of Earth to the Moon.
No, when he saw the landforms on the larger planet below, he realized these were simulations of Earth and the Moon, or rather, the Divine Realm was a simulacrum of the Solar System as it was 300,000 years ago.
The shuttle was guided to a massive spaceport on the Moon, and the two stepped out. Waiting at the door stood a young woman with a clean, crisp aura, dressed in what looked like a uniform, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She smiled slightly upon seeing them and asked crisply:
"May I ask if you are Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin?"
Lin Xiao nodded:
"We are."
The woman said:
"I'm Yang Yue from Class Five, Senior Year, Level 2 at Shining High School Department and an assistant there. You can call me Little Yang. I'm here to escort both of you to complete the enrollment procedures."
Lin Xiao asked:
"If it's possible, could we see your ID?"
The woman hesitated slightly, then handed over the badge hanging on her chest. Lin Xiao gave it a quick scan, confirmed it was legitimate, then smiled and said:
"Then please, lead the way, senior."
"Not at all, please follow me."
It was highly improbable for someone to impersonate a staff member from Brilliant College, but nothing is ever absolute, and it was always better to be cautious.
"By the way, the rules here are looser than in the Main World, you can fly here." With that, the woman soared into the air towards a large cluster of shadows suspended in the distance. Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin hurried after her.
At first, Lin Xiao thought it was a high-tech modern structure floating in the air. After all, the level of mythological technology within this Divine Realm was quite high. But as they got closer and could see clearly, it wasn't the modern floating cities he had imagined. Instead, they came upon a vast array of floating cities of various sizes adrift in the sky, bristling with foreign-style towers, filled with Magic architecture that gave off the aura of having arrived in an alien Arcane Empire.
Yang Yue led them to one particularly immense Floating City which seemed larger than an ordinary city, explaining as they flew:
"This Floating City is designated as N0.02 Floating City and serves as the general office space for the Shining High School Department. The enrollment process usually takes place here."
Along the way, they saw figures occasionally flying in from afar to land in the floating City, or departing it. Most of them were young people. Yang Yue continued to explain:
"It's a bit crowded these days because of the enrollment period, of course, you two being special recruits won't have to queue, as there are dedicated staff to handle your enrollment procedures."
With that, she led Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin around a tower with several long lines queued up and brought them to another tower with few people around.
I his towering structure was the very definition of what one would expect a Mage Tower to be in the Main World, modified. More advanced than the Mage Towers of The Aboriginals of exotic world, its surface was like Crystals, shimmering with flowing light. Two towering Diamond Golems stood guard at the door, a type of Golem comparable to the Legendary Level in strength, possessing extremely high defense capabilities and an immunity to nearly all Spells, making them suitable opponents for even Dragons in hand-to-hand combat. They were exceptionally well-suited for home defense.
When the three arrived at the entrance, Little Yang snapped her fingers, and a beam of light emitted from a large Crystal embedded at the entrance of the Mage Tower, shining on the three of them. Seconds later, a mechanical voice spoke:
"Identity verification passed, please enter!"
The door opened quietly, and Lin Xiao entered the tower. It felt like crossing the spatial membrane when he first entered this star system. The Mage Tower actually contains its own distinct space.
From the outside, it looked only like a tower with a diameter of five to six meters and a height of about forty to fifty meters, but in reality, the first level alone was tens of thousands of square meters, essentially a modern large office building.
Dozens of staff members paid no attention to them. Xiao Yang led them to the office labeled 'Director of Instruction' and knocked softly. Through the glass door, they could see a bald middle-aged man browsing the net. Upon seeing them arrive, he quickly turned off the smaller screen in front of the large light screen and, straightening up, called out seriously:
"Come in."
"Director Zhang, these are the two special recruits for this year's Super Newcomer Summer Camp."
Yang Yue placed a document on the desk and stepped aside. The bald man named Zhang touched his head, flipped through the documents casually, threw them aside, and glanced over them nonchalantly. His eyes suddenly narrowed in surprise when he saw Shen Yuexin, and his demeanor became serious. After tapping on his personal terminal for a moment, his gaze grew stricter, he sat up straight, and said in a deep voice:
"Before we admit you two, we'll go through the routine procedure. Please show your special recruit marks."
Lin Xiao rolled up his left sleeve, and strands of crystal light converged on his wrist, tracing out the mark from Radiance. On the other side, Shen Yuexin simply showed the back of her hand where her mark was located.
"Very good, that's correct!"
Director Zhang suddenly became enthusiastic, tapped a few times on the terminal in front of him, and looked up with a genial face, saying:
"You two are indeed two of the ten special recruits for our school this year. According to the documents shown here, this student Lin Xiao will be allocated to Level 2, High School Year 2, Elite Class 1, and this student Shen Yuexin…"
He paused with an even brighter smile on his face:
"Will be allocated to First Level, High School Year 2, Elite Class 1."
As soon as the words were spoken, Zhang Yue wore a shocked expression, sizing up Shen Yuexin.
Both Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin were also surprised and taken aback. If they understood correctly, it seemed First Level only accepted direct descendants of Radiance, and his aunt's background was clear, she should have been allocated to Level 2, just like him.
Pointing to herself in complete surprise, she asked:
"Is there a mistake? Am I really assigned to First Level?"
Yes, there's no mistake, the document indeed has it allocated this way!"
Director Zhang explained with a smile, very patiently.
Shen Yuexin…
Lin Xiao…
Yang Yue…
Coming out of the high tower, Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin stood silently beside the grand door of the tower.
The school's decision had caught him offguard; he had envisioned the two of them being in the same class. They were relatives, acquaintances, and classmates, spending days and nights together-wouldn't that give him the chance to win her over during their second year?
He had not at all anticipated that she would be assigned to the First Level, which was quite embarrassing.
Yang Yue, observing their demeanor, realized their relationship was anything but ordinary and didn't rush them, instead walking a little distance away to wait for them quietly.
It couldn't be helped. Different classes might be negotiable, but different branches definitely couldn't be sorted out. He couldn't go to First Level, nor could he make her come to his.
"This is really…"
He sighed inwardly and looked up just as she was also looking over. As their eyes met, Lin Xiao, who was instinctively ready to look away, suddenly mustered up the courage to gaze straight into her eyes.
Shen Yuexin's face flushed with a hint of red, and she bit her lip, turning her head to reveal her charming jawline.
He stepped forward, standing before her, closely examining her delicate and enticing features, and said:
"I'll send you a message once I'm done with the formalities. Let's have a chat."
She turned her head to look into his eyes, her gaze complex, and after a long while, she responded with a soft hum.
Lin Xiao's face lit up with a faint smile, and he said gently:
"Then you should go ahead."
She nodded, and Yang Yue approached from a distance. The two of them sat on a magic carpet, rising into the air and flying off into the distance.
Lin Xiao, on the other hand, rose alone into the sky, tapped his wristband to unleash a light screen displaying the map of the school. He flew in the direction indicated by the navigation.
After officially registering, he and Shen Yuexin both gained certain privileges within Radiance—a sprawling divine territory including both the college and high school areas, akin to a star system. These privileges included fixed-point teleportation and the authority to fly, among others.
Any official high school student of Radiance has First Level privileges within the divine realm, including the freedom to fly. College regular students and elite high school students have Level 2 privileges..
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Chapter 194: A New Subordinate Divine Realm
Translator: 549690339
Above the virtual plane, Lin Xiao gazed at the nine cards laid out in front of
him and fell into deep thought.
The quality of the cards in his hand was quite high, with two Ancient Godly Cards of Five Star quality, two Mythical Quality Five Star cards, one Three Star Mythical card, one Legend quality Five Star card, two Epic quality Five Stars, and one Rare quality Five Star card.
Moreover, because they were a fusion of the strengths of various cards, the fused cards he held generally possessed stronger effects than their counterparts.
He was now considering fusing certain cards in his hand that were suitable for fusion again, breaking down the less useful cards to enhance others, and trying to make himself stronger to face the upcoming enemies.
It was foreseeable that among the nine competitors remaining, including himself, each one possessed Ancient Quality cards, some probably had more than one or two, like Shen Yuexin, who had the luck of a Europe Emperor.
After some thought, Lin Xiao first threw the warrior Profession Card into the Creation Rubik's Cube for disassembly, as it was of high quality but somewhat redundant in this type of competition.
Then, chin in hand, he pondered and threw the Five Star card that could summon four Large Earth Elements along with another Mythical card that could summon a Sixth Level Oversize Air Elemental, as well as the initially fused card that could summon a Super Large Fire Elemental- three elemental summoning cards in total-into the Magic Cube, to disassemble and refine them.
Only then did he take out the Ancient Summoning card-the Ancient Flame Melting Sea card and put it into the cube to refine its core essence, incorporating the distilled essence from the previous three elemental summoning cards into it.
Having done this, Lin Xiao pondered for a while and then threw the Five Star Mythical card that could summon ten Mammoth Beasts into the Magic Cube as well.
Hesitating for a moment, he took out the shimmering Ancient Godly card of
the Undead Army…
Lin Xiao's gaze flickered for a long time; he had a very bold idea in his heart, whether he could fuse these two Ancient cards, using the Flame Melting Sea to cover the Undead Army to create a card that could summon an Undead Army with the traits of the Fire Element.
With an experimental mindset, he put the Ancient Godly card into the Magic Cube Space, but he didn't disassemble it right away. Instead, he verified its feasibility through the Creation Rubik's Cube first.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Lin Xiao opened them with a surprised expression.
The idea was indeed feasible, the Creation Rubik's Cube could indeed do it, but the prerequisite was to have enough Creation Energy to change the rules and turn decay into wonder.
That was not possible, as he didn't have Creation Energy on hand.
However, apart from his previous idea, the two cards could indeed be fused, but only by selecting one card as the main one, substantially enhancing itself by absorbing the other card, and adopting one or two advantages from the other card.
This made Lin Xiao quite hesitant. After pondering for a good while, he still couldn't make up his mind and shook his head, saying,
"Let's talk about that later."
Mainly because he only knew it was possible to fuse, but he couldn't know the specific result of the fusion in advance, so he didn't dare to try it recklessly.
Next, he infused the three elemental summoning cards and the Mammoth Beast summoning card into the Flame Melting Sea card along with the nutrients from the disassembled Profession Card, resulting in a newly minted Ancient Summoning card with an even richer crystal luster.
Ancient Five Star Summoning Card-Flame Melting Sea: Each use, summons a pseudo Flame Lord named Kurbert from the Flame Melting Sea, five to eight Super Large Fire Elements/Oversize Magma Elements/Flame Giants, fifteen to thirty Large Fire Elements/Large Magma Elements/Flame Beasts, eighty to one hundred and twenty Mid-Size Fire Elements/Mid-Size Magma Elements, four hundred to six hundred Small Fire Elements/Small Magma Elements.
Note: influenced by the Flame Melting Sea, the appearance rate of Fire
Elements is the highest, followed by Magma Elements.
"Good grief, what a hodgepodge!"
The elements summoned were clearly influenced by the cards that were fused; Magma Elements are formed from a combination of Fire Elements and Earth Elements, while the Flame Giant should be the result of the ten Mammoth
Beasts being fused.
As for the fused Oversize Air Elemental summoning card… it's not mentioned
in the introduction.
Lin Xiao guessed that Fire and Air Elements just don't mix. Across the myriad realms, there probably isn't such a special element. Fusion also has to adhere to basic principles, so after integrating into the Flame Melting Sea, it couldn't take shape, and it was probably used as nutrients to strengthen the card in his opinion.
After all, this card could already summon a pseudo Flame Lord.
What a pleasant surprise.
What is a Flame Lord?
It's the master of the Fire Elemental Plane, similar to masters like the Death Lord and the Demon Lord. It's a status, unrelated to strength.
Powerful lords, such as a Demon Lord who occupies a layer of the Abyss, can rival a True God in their domain. However, a lesser Demon Lord might not even reach the rank of legend.
The Flame Lord is the same, with the authority to command all Fire Elements within their domain.
As for a pseudo Flame Lord, it's an entity that has not fully acquired the lordship. Generally, it's a being that has the authority but lacks the strength to command respect.
This Ancient Flame Melting Sea card of Lin Xiao is probably such, with this pseudo Flame Lord named Kurbert having the lordship, but with personal strength only at Level 6 and not enough to suppress all fire creatures in the territory. Whenever he gains further strength, such as reaching Level 8 or becoming legendary, he then qualifies to become a true Flame Lord.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Lin Xiao, as after the contest, this card would be gone.
"Truly a headache!"
It would be a lie to say I wouldn't regret it; having such a card would be fun. I could gradually enhance it to summon an actual Flame Lord as my trump card in the future.
"Or maybe 1'11 give it a try later?"
Lin Xiao rubbed his teeth, casually added the card to his combat card group, and chose to match with an opponent.
Merging a pile of cards, he now had only four cards in his hand, pitifully few compared to others.
It didn't take long for the match to succeed, and the scene shifted to an even larger virtual plane above, where, as the competition progressed, the scale of everyone's forces grew too large for the initial battlefields to accommodate. The combat plane had now expanded to a vast area of ten kilometers by ten kilometers, enough to fit all the troops of both sides.
After entering the plane, Lin Xiao glanced at his opponent out of habit, and the next second, he froze. His opponent, upon seeing him, also froze, and both of them blurted out an expletive at the same time:
"Damn, it's you?"
Lin Xiao immediately realized that, just like in the previous high school leagues, it was inevitable to face an internal battle within his own side, as there were only three people from the HuaXia District high school alliance.
His opponent this time was the captain of the dark horse duo, Li Cheng. Lin Xiao glanced at Li Cheng's forces and could only sigh at how someone's luck can be so indescribably good when it comes together.
Within the plane, Li Cheng's main force was astonishingly a Furious Demon Legion totaling five thousand, plus a multitude of different soldier cards amassing an army over ten thousand strong, quite formidable.
It wasn't the tens of thousands of troops that were terrifying, even though all were above Level 3 and included two transcendent creatures, but none were as frightening as the five thousand Furious Demon Legion.
The strength of Furious Demons was about Level 4, but the problem was that these were belligerent demons, an organized Demon Legion.
Demons were always amongst the strongest of their kind, and armed as an organized force, they were incredibly terrifying. With this five thousand Furious Demon Legion, Li Cheng mowed down his opponents all the way to the current point.
To be honest, without the newly acquired Flame Melting Sea card, the Undead Army alone definitely couldn't beat the opposition.
No, even before the Flame Melting Sea card was enhanced, the outcome was uncertain.
Now, though, Lin Xiao was absolutely confident in taking down Li Cheng, the key being that pseudo Flame Lord.
A pseudo Flame Lord was still a Lord, and while it was only Level 6, with it, the power of the card had undergone a qualitative change.
The two chatted casually while arranging their formations, and as Lin Xiao appeared nonchalant, Li Cheng had a smile on his face but took his opponent very seriously, holding back a strong determination.
Having battled his way here, defeating one elite from prestigious schools after another, no words could describe the exhilaration he felt. He longed to defeat more opponents, harboring a strong desire to best everyone and stand atop all, to trample the thousands of other elites from the Summer Camp and high school leagues beneath his feet, proving his abilities to everyone and showing that so-called elites were no big deal.
Especially since he had now entered the top ten, he knew that just a few more victories would secure his position at the top. He meticulously arranged his troops, looking towards Lin Xiao's seemingly immense Undead Army and sincerely bowed with a salute:
"I was thinking we'd face off in the finals, but here we are meeting early. I look forward to your guidance shortly!"
"Ohl-
Lin Xiao could hear the strong confidence in his voice and was quite surprised. He scrutinized Li Cheng's seemingly sincere but undisguised self-assurance, and with a hint of a smile, returned the salute from a distance:
"Fair enough, fair enough. Let's exchange some pointers!"
With a smile, he withdrew his hand to conclude their exchange and, as the countdown to the start of the battle ended, quickly activated the Flame Melting Sea card to begin summoning.
A colossal flame vortex unfurled on the ground, with endless flames spiraling out from the center and quickly spreading around to form a sea of fire, while a deep voice echoed through the plane:
"I am Kurbert, master of the Flame Melting Sea!"
The flames in the center of the vortex surged, and from it emerged a twenty-meter-tall flame giant crowned with a crown of fire.
"In the name of the sovereign of the Flame Melting Sea, I call forth my subjects!"
As the flame giant roared softly, flames and magma erupted from the vortex like a fountain. Endless flames and molten lava expanded rapidly to a diameter of a thousand meters, and beings made of fire drilled out, transforming into fire elements or flame creatures.
"Wow, what a spectacle!"
The Flame Lord's entrance was even more imposing than Lin Xiao had imagined; he wondered whether its actual strength lived up to such an entrance.
Across the plane, Li Cheng's confidence was halved in an instant by the Flame Lord's appearance. It was hard to say how strong it really was, but the endlessly dignified manner of its arrival truly shocked him, especially when he saw the flame crown atop Kurbert's head and said incredulously:
"How is this possible? How could a Fifth Level card summon a Lord creature? Aren't those only summonable by Sixth Level and above Demigod cards?
His voice was unguarded, and Lin Xiao, on the other side of the virtual plane, heard him and said in surprise:
"I wondered why it was a pseudo-Lord. Turns out it was the card's limitation.."
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