The Era of Gods

Chapter 89 - 89 Epic Hero Slarda

Within the tribe, over ten thousand Fishmen and more than three hundred Naga gathered in the expanding center of the tribe, dancing the Maori war dance that Lin Xiao had previously taught the Clan around the altar.

The altar was made of huge stones, bigger than before, with its edges filled with food, mostly fish from the sea and a freshly slaughtered wild ox. The Chief Big Naga, holding a bone staff, led many tribespeople in a dance of fervent adoration around the altar.

As the moon reached its zenith, the ritual prayer reached its most feverish phase. Lin Xiao decisively spent five hundred thousand Faith value. The Vault of Heaven suddenly brightened, the dark clouds were dispersed by an invisible force, revealing a faint golden light. As the clouds parted, the light became increasingly bright, and a huge golden silhouette appeared above the Vault, illuminating the entire Divine Realm.

“Great Creator, Supreme Lord of the Ocean, God of the Naga and Fishmen above!”

That colossal face was so massive, so majestic; the dancing believers, the devoutly praying believers – at that moment, all of them devoutly bowed their heads and bodies, earnestly chanting His divine name. At this moment, Lin Xiao could clearly sense the earnest piety in the hearts of the many believers on Earth.

When it came to nurturing the faith of his followers, he was quite professional. With a thought, the majestic face occupying much of the Divine Realm’s space slowly opened its eyes, and a thunderous voice resounded, echoing between heaven and earth:

I say, the brave shall be praised, the wicked heretics shall be punished, and My valiant warriors shall be rewarded.”

Under Lin Xiao’s command, each word he spoke roared like thunder, imbued with a formidable divine might that could shake the mortal heart, invoking awe and fear, thereby inspiring reverence.

In this aspect, Lin Xiao had gained considerable insight. He had once studied in earnest the books about the spread of faith in this world, combined with the notable religious deeds and words of modern masters from his previous life, and integrating his own understanding, he had developed a set of preaching philosophies unique to him. Trying these within his own Divine Realm, he felt the effects were very good.

I say!”

As his voice fell, a golden light descended from the sky like a pillar, enveloping the Chief Big Naga, his voice even more vast and majestic echoed between heaven and earth:

“My most devout warrior, your extraordinary bravery and faith are in My heart. Where there is wrong, there shall be punishment; where there is merit, there shall be reward. I bestow upon you infinite strength!”

As the voice fell, Lin Xiao lightly tossed the Divine Blood Crystal from his God Country into the Divine Realm. It fell directly into the forehead of the Chief Big Naga before the eyes of all believers, merging into him. Instantly, he roared skyward, his pupils shooting dazzling golden light, and streams of golden light several feet long sprayed out from his scales, reflecting off them and tinting the scales with a touch of gold in the black, resulting in a dark gold hue.

Fusing with the essence of almost an entire Demigod’s flesh, the overwhelming power madly transformed the Naga leader. He let out a low growl, and his body swelled at a visible speed. Growing bigger and longer by the section, his aura inflated rapidly like being pumped with air, his eyes growing increasingly frenetic, his faith more and more fanatical.

However, Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed more and more as he watched, and after pondering, a strand of Divine Thought reached out connecting with this believer.

He had no choice; he had already seen this believer trending towards becoming a Fanatic Believer, and he had to stop it.

If other believers became Fanatic Believers, he wouldn’t stop them but rather would be pleased to see it happen, but not this one.

The reason was simple; as his first Hero, and one who had ascended by fusing with a Divine Blood Crystal, this Naga leader was destined to have an extraordinarily long life, and it was possible to even have an immortal lifespan in the near future. Such an important believer becoming a Fanatic Believer would be too much of a waste.

Lin Xiao had paid such a high price not merely for a Fanatic Believer. He wanted a Saint.

You see, among the four levels of believers: True Believer, Devout Believer, Fanatic Believer, and Saint, although Fanatic Believers provide more Power of Faith than Devout Believers, Fanatic Believers have a fatal flaw – they can no longer ascend to be Saints. In other words, the faith of Fanatic Believers has peaked.

To attain the highest rank of Saint, one must skip the stage of Fanatic Believer entirely and ascend directly from Devout Believer.

If other believers become Fanatic Believers, the more, the better, of course. But as for the Hero that he spent so much effort and resources to cultivate, he certainly had great expectations and could not let him become a Fanatic Believer.

Therefore, he had no choice but to proactively use Divine Thought to communicate with this believer, subtly hinting to maintain rationality and not to be overzealous.

He could only hint indirectly because making it explicit would affect the purity of the faith; likewise, it would be impossible to ever become a Saint.

That brief moment, less than a minute, was extremely agonizing for Lin Xiao, fearing that all his efforts would be in vain.

But fortunately, he was lucky, and the Chief Big Naga also had good potential, finally managing to remain sensible and not transform into a Fanatic Believer.

As he withdrew his Divine Thought, in less than a minute, the Clan member had grown from approximately seven meters in length to just over ten meters. His body was stronger and thicker, his scales thicker, the color changing from pure black to black with a hint of gold, shifting towards dark gold.

As the fusion and ascension completed, the physically enlarged Naga leader gradually rose, and a faint red Aura radiated out from him as the center, spreading out to a hundred meters around.

Hero Aura, Epic Hero!”

Lin Xiao rejoiced, the Divine Corpse had been worth the price. The Vault brightened again, and the thunderous voice resounded once more:

“My bravest warrior, I now bestow upon you the name ‘Slarda’!

Simultaneously, another beam of golden light descended from the sky and landed beside Slarda, ‘boom’, creating a large crater, precisely the massive ship anchor he had prepared as a weapon for him.

Opening the newly popped-up Hero panel, the attributes of the newly ascended Hero Slarda were prominently displayed.

Hero: Slarda.

Race: Black Scale Naga.

Level: Epic.

Hero Aura: Blood-draining — Convert 25% of damage inflicted on enemies into life energy to heal oneself, with allies within the aura receiving half the effect.

Hero Talent: Epic Hero’s Vitality — Immunity to instant death damage, high-level regeneration, physical damage reduction by 25%, all resistance + 25%.

Hero Skills: Sprint LV1, Salted Fish Charge LV1, Thunder Shatter LV1.

Constitution: 17 points (You possess transcendent constitution; a cut on your finger can heal within seconds.)

Strength: 18 points (You can wrestle with ferocious beasts like bears and lesser dragons.)

Agility: 8/18 points (You are more nimble and faster in water than on land.)

Spirit: 5 points (Your spirit is very strong; with some training, you can easily become a spellcaster.)

Evaluation: This is a very powerful Epic Hero with strong melee capabilities that become even greater in water.

Hero levels from low to high are as follows: Normal, Elite, Epic, Legendary. It is said that there are even stronger heroes above Legendary, but there is no record in the encyclopedia, and Lin Xiao doesn’t know what they are.

Those are too far away from him, just at this stage, being an Epic Hero is already very powerful for him, a high school sophomore. It is important to note that Wan Ying’s Harpy Queen is only a hero of a standard template.

A hero’s skills are determined by the innate skills and specialties possessed before ascension, typically a comprehensive enhancement of the original talents and skills.

For example, Slarda’s many talents were directly integrated into the talent of Epic Hero’s Vitality, and the three skills are enhanced versions of the many skills.

What excited him the most was the Hero’s Blood-draining Aura, which is not something every hero has. Only Epic Heroes and above have auras, and their origins are also related to their status before ascension.

Slarda was able to get the Blood-draining Aura, most likely because it has something to do with the Blood God’s Duty that the Snake People Demigod once had.

As Slarda ascended to a hero, his level of faith remained at Devout Believers but was much more devout than the average Devout Believer, almost comparable to Fanatic Believers, yet he was not fanatical, maintaining his rationality.

This was exactly what Lin Xiao wanted. Only the most devout faith, coupled with rationality and an extraordinary understanding of the teachings of the worshipped deity, could one possibly ascend to a Saint.

Of course, now Lin Xiao doesn’t have a Church, and his doctrine is incomplete.

No matter what, it is impossible to ascend to a Saint.

But he can start preparing now. In the second year of high school, the courses taught in school will be more professional than in the first year. All students will begin to establish churches with complete doctrines among the followers in their Divine Realm. Continuing the original primitive worship without formalizing the faith has no future.

After all, during the second year of high school, students will occasionally go to the Outland for classes and try to invade some small planes. It would be difficult to convert newly conquered natives with primitive worship; it would take a long time, far less efficient than regular church proselytizing.

To date, all the spoils of war from this final exam have been used up.

The only items left are a giant turtle shell forty meters in size in the warehouse, the use of which is still unknown, a golden lance forty meters long, which was the weapon of the Snake People Demigod, and Lin Xiao plans to refine it with his Divine Power when he finds the time, to use as his own weapon in the future.

There remains also an Epic quality five-star card, and three rare quality five-star cards.

Besides that, the damaged Ancient Treasure is also left in the warehouse; with his current capabilities, he cannot repair it. A Rank 3 Ancient Treasure is beyond repair not only by his father but even by the ancestors of his own clan. At least a mid-level Divine Power is needed, and it must be wielded by a True God with the Godhoods of Judgement or Destiny to be repaired.

Of course, Lin Xiao tried to throw it into the Creation Magic Cube, which showed that it could be repaired but required disassembling other Ancient Treasures for parts.

He doesn’t have any Ancient Treasures right now, but even if he did, he might not be willing to dismantle them for repairs.

The amount of Ancient Treasures needed to repair a Rank 3 Ancient Treasure is substantial. If it’s a Rank 1 Ancient Treasure, it’s feared that more than ten would be required. With so many Rank 1 Ancient Treasures, isn’t it better to keep them in the Divine Realm? Even if they only increase Strength by one point each, ten stacked together would equal ten points of Strength. Imagine the explosive power of a Fishman with more than ten points added to their Strength, equivalent to ten times the strength of an adult man. How powerful would that burst be?

This thing…

For now, let’s leave it alone. After all, with the rarity of Ancient Treasures, it’s uncertain whether he’ll encounter a second one before the college entrance exam. Thinking about this now is too far ahead.

In the coming time, it will be a period of recuperation and growth within the Divine Realm, regulating the breeding speed of the Fishmen, and encouraging the Naga to breed vigorously. This race suffered great losses attacking the Sanctuary of the Snake Man Demi-God, and now adding the young ones, they total less than four hundred. In the sixty days of holiday after the final exam, which is the equivalent of sixty years in the Divine Realm, he needs to work hard to increase their number to over two thousand.

Besides that, he also needs to vigorously train them, both the Naga and the Fishmen, to enhance their Professional Level.

Unlike the Race Level, which requires battle experience to improve, the Professional Level of an all-round warrior can be increased solely through training, without the need for experience or even Faith value.

Half a month later, Lin Xiao received a message from a teacher that the final exams had ended, instructing him to gather at the Divine Artifact Platform.