The Era of Gods

After Lin Xiao issued the Divine-mandate to Slarda, he emerged from the Divine Realm. The Divine-mandate was simple, instructing him to summon all the Clans to prepare for a grand sacrifice.

He had preloaded the Tower of Truth inside the Divine Realm, and as soon as the sacrifice began and the many Clans prayed together, he could introduce the Tower of Truth into the Divine Realm.

Indeed, if possible, he would also prefer to wait until the start of the ceremony, but time was pressing for him now.

Apart from the journey to The Affiliated School of Huiyao, which he would need to report to soon, he had only a few days left. During this short period, besides traveling, he needed to say farewell to his teachers at Dongning N0.5 Middle School, handle some procedures, and incidentally meet with officials from the Dongning Bureau of Education—his special recruitment by Huiyao was also newsworthy for the city.

After all, the last student to be specially recruited by Huiyao during high school was decades ago.

In the meantime, news had spread thanks to his mother’s efforts, bringing a host of visitors to their home. He didn’t need to meet with most, but he had to at least show his face to certain close relatives who came by; he was very busy. That afternoon, he returned to school for a visit. Since it was the holiday season, the school was nearly empty, a relief to him, as there would have been quite a spectacle had it been during the school term.

Although he couldn’t put on airs, Lin Xiao felt there was no need to pretend; after all, he had no close friends at this school, no girls he fancied, nor had he offended any second-generation rich kids-there was little point.

The so-called procedures were not much of a hassle, as most could be completed online. His primary purpose for returning was to take a few photos for the school’s archives, becoming one of the outstanding alumni introduced to future students, to attract more promising newcomers and obtain more government resources.

After spending half a day at school, he visited the education bureau the next day and took a few pictures, the kind that would be put on display.

Worth mentioning is that on both visits, he gained something valuable: the school and the education bureau had each prepared for him a Divinity Card and a Divine Realm Card.

The number was small, but their value was considerable.

After taking care of these matters, he returned home and met with relatives and friends for a day. His grandfather then presented him with twenty-four Relic Shards of varying sizes and a Protective Tool. Most of the Ancient Treasures were collected by his grandfather, with a small part provided by his grandpa. The Protective Tool was a ring, given to him by his grandpa for self-defense, which contained some of his grandpa’s Divine Power. It could release a full -strength strike from a True God for defense or attack.

Such treasured items were now unique to him within the Lin Family; Lin Xu already had something from his own father.

Lin Xiao carefully donned the ring on his finger, and from that moment on, he had a protective treasure like the ones found in fantasy novels, the kind coveted by sons of influential figures.

Back in his room, Lin Xiao immediately disassembled all the Relic Shards, gaming a total of 7 points of Creation Energy. Coupled with his previous total, he now had ten units of Creation Energy, enough to repair a crack in the shell of the Crystal Wall System’s Core.

Of course, he wouldn’t repair it now; he would only do so when he had surplus Creation Energy. At this stage, using the Creation Energy to synthesize other items was a more attractive option.

On the fourth day after his return, early in the morning, Lin Xiao boarded the flying car personally driven by his mother. Under the watchful eyes of many relatives, he left the Lin Family Fortress and headed for the provincial capital to join Shen Yuexin and together head for the Huiyao Super Academy Campus.

My son, I’m so proud of your achievements!”

In the flying car, Lin Xiao looked at his mother, who pretended to be very touched and spoke words of emotion, and his mouth twitched as he said, “Mom, rest assured, your son will achieve even more in the future. When I become an important figure, you too can become a True God.”

Jin Yunzhu embraced her son with a moved expression and said,

“You truly are my good son. Don’t worry about your dad; he wants to achieve Divine Enthronement on his own merits. As for your mom, I probably won’t make it on my own in this lifetime, so I’ll be counting on you in the future.” “Sure, just wait, Mom, and be careful too.”

“Don’t worry, son. Your mom is very cautious, and with your dad out in front, unless he dies, nothing will happen to your mom.”

At that moment, Lin Xiao really wanted to know how his dad would feel if he heard these words.

The meeting place was located on the outskirts of the provincial government’s estate, an opulent manor that occupied several small mountains nearby. The manor’s owner, surnamed Liu, was an alumnus of Huiyao Super College and also a True God. Lin Xiao received a warm welcome from the owner upon arrival.

When he arrived, Shen Yuexin had already been there for a while, hunting in a subspace affiliated with the manor with the owner’s youngest daughter. Upon hearing of his arrival, she came out of the subspace just as Lin Xiao and his mother entered the living room. She pouted with her hands behind her back and said,

“Why did you only come now? I’ve been here for ages!”

As soon as her words fell and she saw Jin Yunzhu following behind Lin Xiao, she was shocked and turned to run.

But Lin Xiao’s mother had already spotted her, and her eyes instantly lit up as she called out,

“Shen Jia Girl, are you waiting for my son?”

With a slap on her thigh, she said,

“Right, the two of you were specially recruited by Huiyao together. What a coincidence, now you have company… hold on…”

She went on talking as she freely reached out to grab Shen Yuexin’s hand, causing her to feel a sense of impending doom and cast desperate glances at Lin Xiao for help.

He spread his hands, and the frustrated Shen Jia Girl frowned, clenched her small fist, and pretended to punch him.

“Hehe, one might escape death by sacrificing a companion. I need some peace.” Taking the tea handed over by a servant, Lin Xiao sat down on the sofa with an alumnus’s projection and began to chat leisurely.

From the alumnus, he learned that as a Huiyao graduate, he had taken on the responsibility of managing Huiyao’s operations in Yunmengxing Province. When the school had large-scale events in the provincial capital, like gathering students admitted to Huiyao yearly, he would only handle logistics. But for minor affairs, such as Huiyao staff passing through Yunmengxing Province, they would stay at his place.

Picking up a special recruit student like Lin Xiao was considered a minor event, after all, such occurrences were rare, happening perhaps only once every several decades.

This senior student surnamed Liu took it upon himself to give Lin Xiao some pointers, spending half a day waiting to tell them a lot about the Brilliant Super Academy, and a little about The Affiliated School of Huiyao.

Senior Liu was well-informed about Huiyao University, but not so much about its affiliated high school.

When he was admitted to Huiyao, it was through the normal college entrance exam, not through special recruitment like Lin Xiao, and he had not attended The Affiliated School of Huiyao. From what he shared, Lin Xiao learned that Huiyao’s high school division wasn’t limited to a single affiliated school but had two, simply named First School and Second School, both located within the same large campus but divided into two parts.

However, these two affiliated high schools didn’t have any hierarchy of superiority or strength, only an internal distinction of ‘inner’ and ‘outer¹.

The First School belonged to the ‘inner’ category, and all of its students were the most outstanding descendants of the high-level Huiyao.

The Second School, on the other hand, was for the descendants of Huiyao’s alumni. As Lin Xiao had discovered in his research, Huiyao was not just the top super academy but also a superpower in itself. Alumni, to a greater or lesser extent, maintained ties with Huiyao. Many who attained Divinity went on to establish their own clans. If they wished to draw closer to Huiyao, they would find ways to send their descendants there.

For instance, if a senior’s descendants were sufficiently outstanding, they could be enrolled in the schools.

To put it simply, the First School was the main branch, while the Second School was an offshoot.

New blood like Lm Xiao and Shen Yuexin, who were specially recruited from outside, generally entered the Second School.

Of course, there were exceptions where the high-level Huiyao took a particular interest in arranging for them to join the First School, but that was unlikely.

They didn’t stay long before a shuttle-shaped aircraft with a gleaming streamlined exterior descended over the estate, and two half-gods, shining like Lamp Gods, disembarked.

As they boarded, Lin Xiao unexpectedly found that Shen Yuexin had, at some point, struck up a good conversation with his mother that seemed to go very well. The two exchanged contact information when parting, looking very much like little sisters.

Noticing his puzzled gaze, she snorted lightly and ignored him, boarding the aircraft first.

Just as Lin Xiao was about to follow, he heard his mother’s voice:

“Son, that young Shen Jia girl is nice, both beautiful and rich. When you get to school, make sure to keep an eye on her, and don’t let someone else whisk her away.”

“I… I’ll try my best!”

It’s not about trying; you have to seize the opportunity. Your mother can tell

the young lady doesn’t dislike you, so you’ve got to put in the effort.”

After bidding farewell to his mother, the shuttle soared into the sky, heading straight for the clouds.

Compared to the ordinary flying cars they had traveled in before, this aircraft was quite high-end, boasting incredibly fast speeds and the ability to traverse space.

With the fusion of mythical technology and real-world physics, this craft could temporarily breach the increasingly strict rules of the Main World, entering Subspace to cover vast distances and reach their destination.

The shuttle carried only Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin, as Huiyao had sent it specifically to pick up the two special recruit students, and it wouldn’t stop to pick up anyone else along the way.

Once the shuttle entered Subspace, it happened to pass through a band of colorful streaming lights. Threads of colorful light passed through the hull and moved beautifully in front of them. Shen Yuexin reached out with her fingers, and the light swirled around her delicate and crystalline fingers that looked like exquisite jade, drawing his gaze irresistibly to them.

She quickly noticed his stare, and with her eyebrows bent in a cute frown, she exclaimed:

“Humph, pervert!”

It was Lm Xiao’s first time seeing her playful indignation, so captivating that he subconsciously pursed his lips, and, as if possessed, he swallowed:

“Gulp!”

Silence…

Both of them froze at the same time, and then her pink and jade-like cheeks quickly turned a shade of crimson as she turned her head away, quiet settling in the shuttle.

The cabin then fell into an awkward silence, with him silently closing his eyes

to rest, while she turned her head away, lost in thought.

Occasionally, he would turn to look at her soft jade-like neck and her delicate face, unable to resist pausing to watch.

If he stared too long, she would puff up angrily and say:

“Keep looking, and I’ll flatten you.”

Lin Xiao, mustering his courage, replied with a slight smile:

“Come on then, flatten me!”

With her teeth clenched, she threw a punch at him. He reflexively caught her small fist, feeling its smooth and tender skin sinking into his palm. He couldn’t help but gently knead it.

Her eyebrows instantly shot up, and while she felt the smoothness and tenderness in her hand, it suddenly became heavy and broke free, landing a punch near his eye.

“Ouch!”

The shuttle fell silent once again.

Two hours later, the shuttle trembled slightly as it emerged from Subspace, having crossed an unknown vast distance, and appeared above a majestic mountain range that stretched for miles.