The Era of Gods

Strictly speaking, centaurs are a type of cavalry; under heavy armor, they can charge on a large scale, and almost no one of the same rank can withstand them. Unfortunately, they met the Naga, a race with almost no weaknesses.

Their bodies, snake-like, appear frail at first glance, but in reality, both their constitution and strength are exceptionally strong, and their evasion abilities are a notch higher than those of their peers.

Especially in terms of on-the-spot evasion.

With their human torsos and serpentine tails, the thick tails support their bodies. When impacted, a bend or a collapse allows them to dissipate some of the force of the blow. Their several-meter-long tails stretched out on the ground are like stumbling blocks to the charging cavalry. Once hit, they’d fall and get thrown off balance.

The centaurs who charged from behind were immediately brought down, leaving the others no choice but to stop and fight the Nagas head-on with swords drawn.

Having lost the advantage of speed, both sides had to rely on sheer combat power—in this regard, the Nagas were not inferior at all.

The centaurs had the advantage of weapons and armor, but the Nagas had racial and professional advantages, as well as a level advantage—all of them being Level 4 Nagas “Shark Hunter” warriors. Most crucially, they were empowered by an Epic Hero’s blood-draining aura, which gave them a stamina advantage over the centaurs by a long shot.

Once the head-on melee brawl began, those with discerning eyes quickly saw the outcome. Gu Cheng shook his head and said,

“Tell Xiaoxue to surrender. He’s bound to lose.”

Turning to Lin Xu, he said,

“Your nephew might be poor, but he has potential. He can join us.”

Tang Ling pursed his lips, still somewhat unwilling to accept it, but since the boss had spoken, he couldn’t go against his words. He could only mutter under his breath,

“What’s so great about that? If it came to a full battle, Xiaoxue could beat him until he’s sh*tting himself.”

Everyone heard these words and agreed that it was true, but this wasn’t a full- scale battle—just a preliminary test.

Compared to Lin Xiao’s all-out effort to deploy all his Nagas, Shang Xiaoxue only dispatched a portion of his centaurs. He still had many more centaur clans in his Divine Realm, and had not sent out his most elite centaurs. If it were a full-scale battle, Lin Xiao would certainly lose.

Lin Xiao was very clear about this. In terms of accumulation, he definitely couldn’t compare to the elites of these big clans.

They started building their basics with the rarest red and very rare purple five- star Cards. Some even more amazing ones used orange Treasured Extraordinary Quality Cards for every single fusion since Opening the Divine Realm, layered advantages that were too great.

Let’s be honest, if it wasn’t for the Creation Magic Cube cheat, there’s no way he could have caught up with the rest through hard work alone.

The battle ended and returning to the platform, Gu Cheng smiled and extended a hand to Lin Xiao, saying,

“My name is Gu Cheng, ‘Gu’ as in ‘eternal,’ and ‘Cheng’ as in ‘sincerity.’ Welcome to our team.”

“I’m Lin Xiao, ‘Lin’ as in ‘twin trees,’ and ‘Xiao’ as in ‘soaring through clouds.\'”

Their hands met in a firm shake, and he went on to shake hands with each of the other teammates, officially being accepted into their circle.

Even Shang Xiaoxue, whom he had defeated, sportingly shook his hand and said with a smile,

“Your Epic Hero is too strong. If we were to fight again, I’d have my hero maintain a distance and employ the Kite Strategy.”

This showed some unwillingness, but it also acknowledged his strength.

As for Tang Ling, he bluntly said,

“Although you beat Xiaoxue, I don’t object to you joining us, but I personally am not convinced. How about a one-on-one duel sometime?”

Lin Xiao nodded,

“Sure!”

This was exactly what he wanted; the battle with Xiaoxue had shown him how formidable real elites were. The victory had been hard-won, and he was eager to challenge himself further to understand his own strength.

Moreover, based on previous Super Newcomer Summer Camps, once they started, there would certainly be many challenges, especially competing for internal rankings within the Summer Camp, where battling other elites was inevitable—unless he was content with being at the bottom and getting eliminated, he would have to fight various elites.

Lin Xiao was very new to this aspect; a ready opponent was exactly what he desired.

Having gained the small circle’s acknowledgment, things were much easier from then on. Lin Xu first led him to report and register with the team teacher, and then arranged a luxurious dormitory for him.

Although the dorms at their school were all luxurious, having a fully-equipped villa to himself still surprised him.

As instructed by the team teacher, for the next few days he was free to do as he pleased—he could even leave the school to visit the provincial capital, but he must be back at the school and ready to depart on time. Attendance was mandatory, and if he missed the deadline, the group would leave without him, and it would be considered a forfeiture of his participation in the Super Newcomer Summer Camp.

He would definitely stay on campus anyway; the only person he knew in the province was Lin Xu, and he had no other acquaintances.

After resting for one night, he received a message the next morning before he even got out of bed. Shang Xiaoxue couldn’t wait and wanted a rematch.

Clearly not satisfied with his previous loss, he was eager for a comeback.

Shaking his head, Lin Xiao replied,

“How about after I have breakfast?”

“Sure, come to the first cafeteria. I haven’t eaten yet either.”

Lin Xiao:…

Following the map to find the first cafeteria, he saw from a distance a few middle-aged people laughing and chatting as they came out, likely the teaching staff staying on campus.

With three floors in the cafeteria, he found Shang Xiaoxue, Tang Ling, and another young man who had introduced himself as Bai Ze the previous day, chatting together on the second floor. They beckoned to him upon his arrival.

That’s just how young people are—once accepted, they quickly become familiar with each other.

As I took my seat next to Bai Ze, I first scanned the 3D code on the table with my wristband to pop up a screen displaying the cafeteria menu—you simply pick whatever you want to eat.

In the midst of placing my order, Shang Xiaoxue, who was engaged in conversation, suddenly asked:

“You’re from Dongning, do you know Wu Zhonglin?”

I was momentarily taken aback, then shook my head and replied:

“I’m from High School No. 5, and he’s from High School No. 1. I’ve heard the name but never met him.”

This was not the first time someone had inquired about that name, piquing my curiosity, and I couldn’t help but ask:

“A lot of people have asked me whether I know Wu Zhonglin. Is there something extraordinary about him?”

Shang Xiaoxue bit into her food, looked up at me with a strange expression, and said:

“You’re from Dongning City and you’re not familiar with Wu Zhonglin? That’s odd. Don’t your classmates talk about him?”

“No, they don’t.”

“Then the levels of your classmates must be too low to even know who he is.”

I was speechless, implied in her words was the suggestion that my level was low as well.

But indeed, my knowledge had been quite limited in the past; there was much I was unaware of.

“You can search his name on the internet, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.”

“Okay.”

After placing my order, I casually opened a search engine and looked up ‘Wu Zhonglin’. Information streamed in, the most eye-catching being the headline at the top of the search results that seemed to be a piece of news— Congratulations to our student Wu Zhonglin for being listed on the Reserve List of the Exceptional Talent Ranking.

Upon seeing this headline, my mouth involuntarily opened wide, my face a picture of shock.

Bai Ze, sitting beside me, saw my expression and chuckled:

“Are you surprised, shocked?”

“Shocked,” I admitted honestly.

This was indeed astonishing; no wonder so many people asked me about this name upon hearing I was from Dongning City—it was certainly justified.

Regarding this Reserve List of the Exceptional Talent Ranking, we should first talk about the Thirty-Six Exceptional Talent Ranking, the One Hundred and Eight Peerless Talent Ranking, and the Three Thousand Outstanding Talent Ranking that encompass all of humanity’s young elites—the so-called rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Humans.

The Exceptional Talent Ranking has thirty-six seats, the Peerless Talent Ranking one hundred and eight seats, and the Outstanding Talent Ranking three thousand seats.

They cover the whole of human civilization, including all regions, the HuaXia District, and many elite geniuses from the Outlands. It could be said that any young person with sufficient strength has the qualifications to be listed.

Being listed in any of the Three Rankings—Heaven, Earth, or Humans—is an honor of the highest order.

After all, with humanity’s population being calculated in countless tens of billions, and the young elites emerging in every generation numbering in the hundreds of billions, to select these 3,144 absolute elite from among them is to choose the best of nearly a hundred billion, unquestionably the top of their generation.

The difference between the Main and Reserve Lists lies in the fact that the Main List includes only university students, while the Reserve List comprises talented high school students, effectively serving as potential successors to the true Exceptionals.

Honestly, I was both shocked and surprised by this revelation. I had heard of Wu Zhonglin before; in my previous impression, he was a super genius from High School No. 1, but I had never imagined he was genius to such an extent that he could be listed on the Reserve List of the Exceptional Talent Ranking.

What does this amount to?

It means he’s one of the top thirty-six among hundreds of billions, maybe even a trillion of his peers.

Well, even if you discount ninety-nine percent of average people, that still leaves several hundred million who have opened their Divine Realms, and he is one of the top thirty-six among those billions of high school students. Think about how terrifying that is. It seems like in my small circle, there isn’t even one who’s made it onto the Reserve of the Three Thousand Outstanding Talent Ranking.

It appears not even the strongest among us, Gu Cheng, is listed.

There’s no need for me to mention myself; such rankings were only something I had heard of in the past. They were too far out of reach, I never paid attention, and it was impossible for me to touch them.

At this moment, I was more curious than ever about just how formidable Wu Zhonglin, listed on the Reserve of the Exceptional Talent Ranking, truly was, and just how vast the gap between us was.

With my limited understanding, I found it hard to imagine how, both being high school students who had just finished our first year, both having opened our Divine Realms for only one year, our gap could be so vast.

Granted, Wu Zhonglin’s background was better than mine, but based on what was available online, at most he was akin to my uncle Lin Xu, surely that wouldn’t account for such a big gap, would it?

I was baffled. Bai Ze then hee-hee’d at my puzzled expression and said:

“Is it that hard to understand why there’s such a big difference when we’re all human?”

I nodded honestly:

“I don’t quite understand it.”

“That’s the right reaction because I don’t get it either. But don’t think too much about it; he also received an invitation to the Super Newcomer Summer Camp, so we’ll meet him when the camp starts.”

“He also got an invite to the Super Newcomer Summer Camp? Why isn’t he here then?”

“Heh, although he is from Yunmengxing Province like us, we’re not quite the same. He has long since”