The Era of Gods

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..