The Era of Gods

“You should all be aware that this exchange competition is about fighting against a plot; the focus and difficulty lie not in destroying the Vampire Kingdom and the Demigod, but in how to destroy their faith and breach the Sanctuary of the Demigod before our opponents do. This requires the unity of everyone.”

Thirteen people formed a circle, with Wu Zhonglin naturally assuming the role of the leader as he continued:

“Based on the information I currently have, we need to split our forces to deal with the numerous Vampire Lords of the Vampire Kingdom. When the time comes, each of you will lead a team to deal with a Vampire Lord within a specific area. We’ll discuss the specifics after we reach the plane.”

He didn’t specify how to split the forces or who would command whom; it was clear that they would have to work it out amongst themselves. He was only responsible for issuing the tasks.

Actually, it’s impossible to discuss any detailed plans now. All we know is that there’s a Vampire Kingdom, but we have no clear idea of the exact enemies we’ll be facing. We can only wait until we reach the Shattered Plane and scout the area.

Luckily, the speed of the Void Ship in the void is incredibly fast. Streams of beautiful light glided past the ship’s windows, which was quite breathtaking.

In the Void Sea of the Exotic Crystal Wall, tangible Void Energy was ubiquitous, with colors as varied and beautiful as the auroras. This reminded Lin Xiao of a game called Demanimal World he played in a previous life, where the shattered sky of the Outland was constantly lit by dazzling, aurora-like ribbons of light. The Void light was very similar, both beautiful and deadly.

The void isn’t dead silent like space; it is teeming with countless Void Creatures, from the small Void Floating Fish to the massive Void Whales and beyond. The potent corrosive energy of Void Energy can instantly corrupt a being of Transcendent Level, with only those of Legendary Level capable of surviving in the void.

The enormous Void Ship silently glided through the void like an ancient Void Whale, occasionally startling the hidden Void Creatures, such as the spike- backed Void Snake or the gigantic Void Behemoths resembling devilfish.

These creatures were extremely ferocious, but when faced with the even larger Void Ship, they all swiftly made way.

As Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin were returning to their own squad, the Void Ship suddenly passed through a huge, colorful swath of the Void Aurora Zone. They happened to see a swarm of Void Floating Fish, no more than a meter long each, attacking a hundred-meter-long Void Behemoth that resembled a devilfish.

These Void Floating Fish looked very much like little yellow fish, but they lacked fins and were covered in sharp bone spikes. The heads were massive, one-third the size of their entire bodies, filled with sharp teeth and reminiscent of the Void version of man-eating tiger fish. In swarms, they were terrifying.

However, the besieged Void Behemoth was no easy prey. Its body lacked scales or a horn-like carapace, but it was protected by a layer of Void Energy. It opened its massive mouth to suck in a vast stream of the tangible colorful Void Aurora light and the Void Floating Fish, its flat body swelling up like a pufferfish.

At the same time, several fleshy orifices on its back opened up, spewing out large quantities of colorful Void Energy like a rainbow fountain, a sight that immediately caught Shen Yuexin’s attention. She let out a soft ‘ah’ and paused in admiration.

Seeing how much she liked it, Lin Xiao also stopped and glanced over her delicate and charming face before looking up to see the swollen belly of the Void Behemoth shrinking as it expelled the Void Energy, with the swallowed Void Floating Fish nowhere to be seen. Surprised, he remarked:

“I didn’t expect this fellow to have such a trick up its sleeve. I thought it was going to be devoured by those Void Floating Fish.”

Shen Yuexin, with her exquisite face intently watching the scene outside, said:

“Any creature that can survive in the perilous Void Sea must have some tricks. If there were ten times more of those Void Floating Fish, it might be a different story. Just watch, these Void Floating Fish will retreat soon.”

Lin Xiao didn’t respond because in just that short moment, the Void Ship had already sailed hundreds of kilometers and left the previous location far behind. They hadn’t left the vast, possibly million-kilometer-wide Void Aurora Zone yet; the dazzling aurora outside captivated her, while he was drawn to her beauty.

At first, he simply stole glances at her perfect profile, but later he began watching her openly and unashamedly.

She seemed not to notice, but after a while, her eyes began to blink more frequently, her delicate and slightly upturned lashes trembling gently, yet she didn’t turn around.

After watching in silence for a moment, he noticed her earlobe was a tad redder than before. Suddenly, she bit her red lips, turned her head sharply, and her bright star-like eyes confronted an unprepared Lin Xiao as she rebuked:

“Don’t you know it’s very ungentlemanly to stare at a girl like that?”

“So captivating!”

Normally, Lin Xiao, who would have felt ashamed, was unexpectedly emboldened by her enchanting look and said:

“Before you accuse me of being ungentlemanly, shouldn’t you reflect on yourself first?”

“Huh?”

She appeared puzzled.

Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart, which had surged two or threefold, Lin Xiao mustered his courage and said brazenly:

“You should reflect on why you’re so beautiful and charming that I can’t help but be attracted to you!”

Her soft pink lips parted slightly, and after a few seconds, the corners of her eyes curved up like crescents, she turned her head away and hummed:

“You’re not allowed to look at me like that anymore.”

“Alright, next time I’ll look at you openly and honestly.”

“You dare!”

Her reaction secretly delighted Lin Xiao. Was this a sign that she was approachable?

Well, it couldn’t be said definitively, but at least she didn’t appear to reject him as she did other suitors.

Ever since before and during the Summer Camp, there had been many boys who wanted to pursue her, but she always made it clear that she was not interested, just as when her second elder uncle tried to create opportunities for his son but was firmly rejected by her.

If she were unwilling, she would have firmly rejected such behavior from me in normal times, but now….

Strictly speaking, this doesn’t mean anything, but it’s clear that she has a good impression of me and doesn’t reject my pursuit, and that’s enough.

After that, they continued to stand by the window of the Void Ship, watching the beautiful Void Aurora without talking. He could feel that she just wanted to quietly look at the scenery outside.

Lin Xiao thought that once he got back, he should download an expert’s guide on how to hit on girls from the internet and see how the masters do it.

About half an hour later, the Void Ship left the aurora zone behind, and the dark Void Sea stretched out before them, with only occasional glimpses of the Void Aurora, nothing much to see. That’s when Shen Yuexin turned around and said, “It’s not interesting anymore, let’s go.”

Back with their team, the others were chatting. Upon their arrival, the Ancient City head took the initiative to ask what they had been discussing. Shen Yuexin seemed not to want to talk. Lin Xiao shrugged and said,

“We haven’t reached our destination yet and don’t have a good understanding of the plane’s situation; we’ve only made some preliminary work assignments. We will adjust as necessary once we reach the mission plane.”

“I see….”

The Ancient City leader pinched his chin and didn’t press further.

But a little while later, as Lin Xiao sat by the ship’s rail preparing to enter his Divine Realm, he suddenly received a communication from Lin Xu, who said, “While you were away, the Ancient City hinted at forming a separate group.” He replied with a question mark.

Lin Xu continued,

“He didn’t say it outright, but I noticed he was contacting a few others privately.”

“Hmm…”

After some thought, Lin Xiao suddenly asked,

“He hasn’t reached out to you, has he?”

“No.”

Alright then.

It seemed that his cousin had been excluded as well.

But on reflection, it made sense; it’s like always being the class leader, used to giving instructions on behalf of the teacher, and then one day, a student suddenly jumps above you calling the shots. That would naturally be irritating.

Lin Xiao didn’t mind much, as it’s human nature to be like this. If they want to split, let them. If they’re not convinced, how can one expect them to cooperate?

The seven-person squad suddenly became a trio, and his cousin was excluded because of his relation to Lin Xiao.

Although Lin Xu had a fairly good relationship with the Ancient City before, that was nothing compared to their familial ties, so exclusion was inevitable.

Not knowing the distance to their destination, the Void Ship sailed through the void for an entire day. During the journey, the ship used teleportation to jump four times, crossing an incalculable number of billions of kilometers. Lin Xiao, bored from watching the Void Sea outside the window all day, finally heard the host’s voice in his ear,

“We have reached the destination of this voyage. Please, students, prepare yourselves.”

Then, the Void Ship shook slightly as it began to decelerate. Through the window, they could see a dense swarm of lights far in the front.

As they got closer, the rapidly expanding dots of light turned out to be shattered planes.

From the Void Sea, intact planes appear as spheres of varying sizes and colors floating in the Void Sea, rising and sinking. The shattered planes’ shapes resemble irregular crumbs of a broken biscuit. As the Void Ship drew nearer, the light emitted by the planes faded, revealing the broken planes to the observers.

The Void Ship slowly entered the Broken Plane Group, and many students went to the windows to observe. Most of the shattered planes’ edges where the Crystal Wall should be are gone.

It was like planets losing their atmosphere. Without the protective Crystal Wall, the berserk void energy tore the Earth’ s surface, leading vegetation to decay and exposing crimson rocks. Large chunks of land torn by void energy floated at the edges, attracted by the weak gravity of the plane fragments themselves, resembling the floating islands at the edges of continents or satellites at the edges of planets.

Most piecemeal planes have been utterly destroyed, devoid of any life, unable to sustain even beings of a Transcendent Level.

Their fate is but one: to slowly decay by the slow erosion of the void storms until they gradually reduce in size and completely dissolve into the void.

Within this group of fragments composed of thousands of Piecemeal Planes, Lin Xiao noticed about a dozen fairly large remnants that still retained some of their Crystal Wall, floating in the midst of the shattered planes. These planes with intact ecosystems seemed to be bound by an unknown force within the Broken Plane Group.