Chapter 175: The Competition for the College
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..