The Era of Gods

The homeroom teacher spoke earnestly, and even Gu Xiaoming, who already knew what she was saying, listened attentively:

“Common resources or opportunities are for all, but there’s a limited number of top resources and opportunities that I can only offer to what I think are the most outstanding students. Each major lesson, I note down the most outstanding students, and over several major lessons, students who accumulate the highest number of outstanding evaluations will naturally have the opportunity.”

She paused here, and Lin Xiao clearly perceived a change in her gaze:

“In a few months comes the midterm exam. There are three major lessons before that, plus the previous two, making a total of five major lessons. I will reward the top three students who have received the most outstanding evaluations, granting them rewards according to their ranking. The top-ranked student will receive a top resource, and all students who have earned outstanding evaluations will have the chance to compete for a great opportunity in my possession.”

Back in his dormitory, Lin Xiao still had the homeroom teacher’s words lingering in his mind.

Before the midterm exams, the top three students with the most outstanding evaluations from five major lessons could obtain a rare high-level resource, with the top-ranked student receiving a top resource.

This reward greatly excited him.

He could hardly imagine what so-called top resources would be, having neither seen nor heard about them before. But coming from the mouth of the Radiance elite class’ homeroom teacher, such a resource must be truly exceptional, and he was very interested.

He had already obtained two highly outstanding evaluations. Although the teacher hadn’t announced a specific evaluation in the last major lesson, he had just learned from her that he had received highly outstanding evaluations in both lessons.

As long as he obtained highly outstanding evaluations in the next three major lessons, securing a top-three spot was assured.

Back in the Divine Realm, Lin Xiao first merged two Divine Realm Cards into one. Its grade remained a golden myth, but the area was equivalent to the fusion of the two cards, although not loaded yet.

Presently, he had no immediate use for the Divine Realm Card, so he decided to save it, planning to amalgamate more cards into an even larger Divine Realm Card later.

He then took out the Standard Lightning Tower Construction Drawing, his fingers lightly tracing in the air to conjure a three-dimensional model of a Lightning Spire, examining it carefully.

Before long, he had committed the entire drawing to memory, and a copy of the blueprint appeared on a shelf within the Tower of Truth.

However, he temporarily hid the Lightning Spire blueprints from the Wise Goblins. The Tower of Truth already contained blueprints for the construction of Magic High Towers, which the Wise Goblins had yet to begin studying, let alone the more advanced Lightning Spire equivalent.

He set a condition that the blueprint would unlock only after the Wise Goblins constructed their first Magic High Tower.

Not just this, Lin Xiao also divided the Tower of Truth into several levels. He organized different knowledge according to learning prerequisites and complexity, with all Wise Goblins starting with the basics of being a Mage before gaining access to other knowledge.

Having sorted these matters, Lin Xiao then turned his attention back to the realm within.

Main Divine Realm, Naga City.

With the machinations of the Wise Goblins and the push from Pope Slarda, not just the Tower of Truth but also Naga City itself had undergone tremendous transformations, slowly evolving from rough to refined.

Or it could be said that the Wise Goblins acquired more knowledge from the Tower of Truth, which in turn propelled the evolution and development of the entire civilization within the Divine Realm.

Knowledge has always been the driving force behind the advancement of civilization; in any world, cultural and scholarly breakthroughs mark the beginning of progress.

South of Naga City, by the huge gates, a large convoy was halted. Several Supreme Nagas, a number of Wise Goblins, and a considerable group of Small Fishmen were busy loading goods onto the convoy, which then proceeded south along the cobblestone-paved road.

Lin Xiao’s gaze followed the winding road south for about twenty kilometers, to the southernmost edge of the Main Divine Realm where the mainland met the sea, and spotted a newly built settlement, half on land and half submerged in water.

As the Divine Realm expanded, the population of the God Realm Kin surged, especially the Fishman population which exceeded eighty thousand. The original Naga City was nearly unable to accommodate so many, and diversification was inevitable.

Just as with the emergence and growth of civilizations around the world, further advancement required branching out and establishing new settlements.

Likewise, the Ancient HuaXia civilization began in the Yellow River Basin, later expanding and migrating before finally evolving into an immense dynasty.

Currently, the Divine Realm had three new settlements branching out, mostly populated by Small Fishmen and a few Supreme Nagas, all concentrated near the sea, with one even penetrating into a small archipelago.

The Wise Goblins, however, did not live among them but were centralized in the City of Truth.

The City of Truth, constructed around the Tower of Truth, initially lacked planning, but as the city continually expanded, especially after the emergence of the Goblin Hero Alemente, the entire race was rallied by this powerful individual, and the City of Truth began moving from disorder towards Order.

The very center of the city was the core ring of the Tower of Truth. If the city were divided into a three-by-three grid, the core ring would be at the center square.

This area, apart from housing the upper echelons of the Wise Goblin Race and city administration buildings, was also home to two schools.

One was the primary school attended by the new generation of Wise Goblins, and the other was the advanced school where they pursued further studies after graduating from the primary institution.

Then, on the eastern side of the city, the two corners were designated as residential areas, differentiated by status. Those of high status lived in the upper corner, while those of lower status lived in the lower corner.

In contrast, the western corners housed the experimental and workshop zones, where a large number of workshops, factories, and laboratories were built.

As for the areas directly opposite the city gates to the east, south, west, and north, they were naturally various commercial districts.

At this time, the Divine Realm had already seen the birth of rudimentary commercial ventures.

The Wise Goblins, having mastered a variety of knowledge, were forging all sorts of weapons and armor, tailor-made for the Fishmen and the Supreme Naga, which were very popular with everyone.

However, due to limitations in conditions and scale, mass production of weapons and armor was not yet feasible. But under the watchful eyes of Pope Slarda of the Church of Creation and Truth, the Wise Goblins were researching how to forge standardized Fishman armor and weapons on a large scale.

Perhaps it was their nature, or maybe it was a limitation of their physical size and strength, but Lin Xiao felt that the Wise Goblins didn’t enjoy forging equipment piece by piece. Instead, they preferred to figure out a way to do it effortlessly and on a large scale, akin to a factory assembly line.

Lin Xiao was very fond of this model.

If he had to choose between a tribe of Dwarves that could forge legendary weapons and armor and a Goblin Race that could only craft high-quality equipment but mass-produce it, he would definitely choose the Goblin tribe.

Of course, if possible, it would be best to choose both.

The Wise Goblins mass-produced high-quality standard equipment for the soldiers, while the Dwarves custom-made powerful equipment for the elites of the Divine Realm. It was perfect.

Lin Xiao thought that in the future, it would indeed be worth considering introducing a group of Dwarves into the Divine Realm.

The nature and talents of the Wise Goblin Race precluded them from making top-tier equipment like the Dwarves, but there would be plenty of space in the future-expanded Divine Realm to accommodate more races.

His gaze swept over the vast expanse of the Divine Realm, beyond the lush vegetation on the land to inspect the sea that made up half the area of the Divine Realm. Day and night, the Fishman Magicians and the Water Elemental Divine Realm worked tirelessly, drawing vast amounts of sea water from the unknown Water Elemental Plane to fill the sea. At this moment, the sea level of the God Realm Sea had not dropped significantly.

With the increased sea area and the paradise-like ecosystem, the marine life enjoyed a more abundant environment for reproduction. Even if the sea area expanded hundreds of times, the marine ecosystem didn’t suffer much compared to its original state.

On the ocean floor, he saw Little DingDang, an Elemental Sprite of the Water Element who seemed to have grown very little over the decades. Although the little creature’s size hadn’t increased much, its strength had surged dramatically, and it now contained more energy than the Rank 6 Super Large Water Elements, even though it was barely larger than a palm in size.

After merging with that bit of Divinity, her growth had been much more rapid than natural growth.

It was foreseeable that in not too long, her strength would grow to the limit that the Divine Realm could accommodate—a Rank 7 Water Elemental Sprite.

“Hmm, maybe we can do it this way!”

With a thought, an invisible force suddenly manifested at the deepest part of the sea in the very center of the God Realm Sea, causing the waters to swirl rapidly and form a huge vortex.

Then, Lin Xiao’s figure appeared out of thin air deep in the sea.

“Brother!”

The little sprite was startled by the vortex and, seeing him, joyfully flew over. Little DingDang, radiating faint blue starlight, traced a streak of light through the sea and landed in his hand, joyfully revolving around him.

In the distance, the water surged, and an undercurrent emerged, pushing aside the lush water grass. Accompanied by the undercurrent, a massive shadow slowly approached him.

It was a thirty-meter long Dragon Turtle, not yet mature, but it had grown a bit over the years. Its strength hovered between Rank 6 and Rank 7, but with exceptional defensive capabilities. Once it retracted into its shell, it could resist even Rank 7 creatures.

The spiritually aware Dragon Turtle recognized Lin Xiao and, drawing near, slowly settled down, emitting a dull sound akin to a dragon’s chant.

Lin Xiao landed on the Dragon Turtle’s back and, after a moment’s thought, took out a bit of Divinity to bestow upon it.

The creature had grown to its adolescent stage and was ready to merge with Divinity.

Upon merging with Divinity, the Dragon Turtle immediately retracted its limbs into its shell and fell into a deep sleep.

Lin Xiao then lifted the Little Spirit and left, confident in the turtle’s defense—within the entire Divine Realm, there were few who could breach it, and those who could wouldn’t come here to bother it.

He carried the chattering little creature to the center of the sea where a great vortex had formed, and with a pointer finger, he caused the space at the very bottom of the vortex to tear open. Sea water, finding the vent, gushed down immediately.

At the same time, in the center of the Water Elemental Divine Realm, a hole about a hundred meters in diameter formed suddenly, unleashing a column of nutrient-rich seawater that shot into the sky.

Lin Xiao, holding the palm-sized Little DingDang before his eyes, spoke to the utterly translucent and delicate girl-like sprite:

“Little DingDang, would you like to help brother with a favor?”