The Era of Gods

Streams of green light converged toward the center, flowing into the energy shield created by the towering Emerald Priest, quickly dyeing the shield a brighter and more vibrant green.

As energy poured in, the sphere of light slowly rose, sending ripples of invisible waves outward. A dazzling green column of light shot up into the Vault of Heaven, exploding into circle after circle of green halos. A vast Emerald Serpent face slowly opened its vertical pupils.

Lin Xiao felt an invisible force sweep through the Void, as layers of jade­colored stone materialized on the surfaces of numerous Small Fishmen.

At that moment, King Alemente of the Wise Goblins, who had stayed at the rear without Lin Xiao’s command and had not yet taken action, scoffed as he stepped forward. An Any Door appeared out of nowhere in front of him, and behind him, a large group of Wise Goblin Grand Magicians, dressed in robes embroidered with silver trim, simultaneously summoned Any Doors and stepped inside.

The next second, over a hundred Any Doors appeared in the sky. A large group of Rank 6 Grand Magicians emerged from them. Even without casting any spells, the spiritual power fluctuations generated by over a hundred magicians standing together were enough to cause a slight change in Li Xiushen’s expression and those of the many spectators.

They didn’t seem to take their positions, or it could be said that they already took their positions in the sky when the Any Doors appeared. King Alemente at the center uttered incantations and reached out with a grasping motion. An invisible distortion in the sky viciously warped the massive face of the Emerald Serpent, quickly deforming and collapsing it.

The Emerald Priest below let out a muffled grunt as the jade-green shield shattered, and countless fragments ‘boomed’ into combustion, transforming into a ring of green flames that spread out, igniting the surrounding Emerald Priests into jade-green torches.

“Damn it, a Rank 7 Magic-based Hero!”

Li Xiushen instinctively tightened his grip on the Crystal Scepter in his hand as if to throw it. The air twisted rapidly, sucking in light and transforming into a pitch-black void before he hurled it with force.

“Truth above all!”

Seated in the Central Army, Slarda took notice. He grabbed a massive anchor, which looked like a stone pillar, and lifted it. The magic luminescence lit up dazzlingly on the anchor, and rings of light brightened layer upon layer. A bang resounded with a deafening sonic boom as the anchor ripped through the Void in a flash.

The next second, an explosion suddenly tore through the Void dozens of meters away from Alemente, followed by a series of intense vibrations. Rolling waves of energy surged back and forth, accompanied by a shrill screech that rent the air, as two twisted shadows-one large, one small-collided heavily with one another.

“BOOM!”

The terrifying sonic explosion that shattered eardrums burst forth, and the two twisted masses split instantly upon the blast of the shockwave. The tiny shadow flickered and vanished, returning to Li Xiushen’s hand, while the massive anchor flew hundreds of meters out, tumbling through the air before crashing down heavily onto the ground, instantly killing a dozen Small Fishmen and seven or eight Snake People.

Slarda reached out with an empty hand, and the massive anchor, slightly glowing, flew back into his grasp, only to discover that the head of the anchor had chipped and most of the spells attached to it had failed. However, it did not affect its function as a weapon.

After Li Xiushen’s repeated interventions and Slarda no longer just overseeing the Central Army, he advanced into the battlefield, brandishing the enormous anchor, to contain the opposing forces with his overwhelming stature and terrifying strength. Li Xiushen had no choice but to abandon his original plan of interception and ordered his Emerald Priest Group to stop Alemente’s Mage team.

But his Priest Group was far from a match for the Goblins Mage Group of Wisdom; not only did they lack a Rank 7 magic-based hero, but the number of Rank 6 magicians they had was just over one-tenth of what the Goblins Mage Group of Wisdom had. Alemente easily suppressed the Emerald Serpent Priest Group with merely a third of his magicians.

Unobstructed, King Alemente’s Mage Team could cast spells with ease. Nearly a hundred Rank 6 Grand Magicians, combined with a Rank 7 hero, summoned an extensive Meteoric Fire Rain. In Li Xiushen’s eyes of despair, it covered the majority of the battlefield.

Under the united casting, the power of this Meteoric Fire Rain reached a legendary level and could now be called a war spell. When the sky rained down explosive meteor fireballs onto the battlefield, the successive explosions severely damaged Li Xiushen’s troops.

Without a mage of the same rank to block or defend, the power of a legendary spell was fully released, bringing a disaster to the ordinary soldiers.

The outcome was predetermined; already at a disadvantage, Li Xiushen’s forces completely collapsed after the barrage of the Meteoric Fire Rain. Even though his clan’s will to fight was incredibly tenacious, they could still resist in the face of such adverse conditions, but they were powerless to turn the tide, overwhelmed by the swarming Small Fishmen.

Li Xiushen, with a trace of desolation, watched as his clan was entirely annihilated. His mount, a three-headed snake, was torn apart by the Black Dragon, and in the end, he was left alone, rising slowly to point his spear at Slarda:

“I challenge you!”

Slarda, who had been sitting with the Central Army and had only intervened to restrain Li Xiushen, knew exactly what he should do as a skilled commander.

It wasn’t by utilizing brute force to change the situation-that was the General’s responsibility—but his duty was to command from the center of the Central Army.

The greatest role of a military commander was to stabilize morale and direct the soldiers on what to do, simply standing there to be seen by the subordinates was enough.

Thus, he didn’t bother to accept Li Xiushen’s challenge at all; his gigantic palm lifted slightly and swiped down, and the Goblins Mage Group of Wisdom began to cast their spells.

“You’re looking down on me!”

Li Xiushen snorted coldly, his grip tightening on the Crystal Staff, as a rich green glow surged from him, turning him into a giant torch—the torch suddenly flashed and disappeared with a ‘buzz’. Surrounded by his subordinates, Slarda snorted and shouted:

“Spread out!”

Raising the anchor in his right hand and tossing it to his left, his gigantic right fist, the size of a house, smashed down fiercely in front.

“Boom!”

A massive green fireball collided out of nowhere with his smashing fist; the void suddenly stilled in silence. The next second, the green ball of light exploded, creating a shockwave that twisted the void itself, mixing with the shattered green flames and forming a huge rippling distortion that surged outwards to a hundred meters away.

The giant green aura spread to a hundred meters before slowly fading away, Slarda slowly drew back his house-sized fist before him, his left hand gently pressing on it. He pinched a Crystal Staff, thin like a needle, from the fist and threw it onto the ground.

“Wow!”

Many observers exclaimed in unison, their eyes shining as they watched

Slarda’s every move, numerous excited voices shouting:

“So cool, this hero is too strong!”

By killing Li Xiushen’s avatar, the fight automatically ended, and Lin Xiao’s will returned from the projection plane, surprised to find that over two hundred people had watched the battle, bringing in an income of one hundred twelve points of Divine Power.

By defeating Li Xiushen, he automatically took over the opponent’s ranking, pushing Li Xiushen to the fourteenth place, he himself to the thirteenth, and his little aunt to the sixteenth.

After defeating his opponent, Lin Xiao didn’t immediately challenge the next one; instead, he tapped on his wristband, and the projection of a handsome man with snow-white eyebrows emerged, who said upon appearing:

“I am Dongfang Piaoxue.”

“I am Lin Xiao, what’s up?”

“I just watched your battle with Li Xiushen, and I can’t beat you.”

Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, and said:

“So, are you asking me to throw the match?”

Dongfang Piaoxue smiled:

“It would be great if you really threw the match, but of course, you won’t do that. I’m not here for that, but for the mid-term exams.”

This was quite unexpected for him. Lin Xiao remembered that his classmate, Gu Xiaoming, had also talked to him about the mid-term exam, and this person… Suddenly, he remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to check on that so-called ‘All Phenomena’ thing.

Dongfang Piaoxue continued:

“Being first or second on the ranking list doesn’t matter to me; all I need is the Ancient Treasure from the top-three reward. I don’t care whether the other rewards are more or less; what I care about more is the mid-term exam.”

He looked at Lin Xiao with a smile and asked:

“We are both from Radiance, strictly speaking, we are our own people, with no major conflicts. How about we get along peacefully during the mid-term exams and join forces against others?”

This…

Lin Xiao seemed to have guessed a little, but since he wasn’t clear about the specifics, he didn’t immediately agree. He only replied:

As long as you don’t attack me or have malicious intentions, or if it doesn’t conflict with my tasks, I’m certainly willing to get along peacefully.”

“That’s good to hear.”

With that, the projection disappeared, and immediately after, a friend request came through, along with a message:

“As a sign of goodwill, I will admit defeat later.”

What kind of weird goodwill is this… he wondered, at a loss for words.

Just then, Shen Yuexin’s call came through. She gave a thumbs-up with a beamimg smile and said:

“I just saw you, you were awesome!”

Seeing her, Lin Xiao felt even better and touched her raised thumb with his finger, chuckling:

“I have something even more awesome, do you want to check it out?”

“What’s even more awesome?”

She first looked puzzled, then a blush crept over her delicate face, and she spat demurely:

Pah, you rascal, I’m not talking to you anymore.”

“Come on, I was wrong.”

“Hmph! I’m angry now.”

Lin Xiao…. promptly changed the subject and asked:

“By the way, do you know what ‘All Phenomena’ from the mid-term exams is all about?”

“All Phenomena? You don’t know?”

Shen Yuexin was successfully distracted, and she wondered:

“With your grades, didn’t your teacher tell you?”

“Maybe, the teacher thought I knew.”

You re so silly, you should have asked your homeroom teacher about something like this.”

“Hehe, I’ll definitely ask next time.”

The little niece covered her face, speechless.

“The so-called All Phenomena is a very ancient legacy protected by a Divine System, which is now a civilian organization, originating from the remnants of the Top College of All Features, which perished over a hundred thousand years ago. It consists of six individuals with Powerful Divine Power, and its main purpose is to guard an Ancient Ruin left by that top college.”

“Remnants of the top college, six individuals with Powerful Divine Power? Ancient Ruins?”

The first thing that came to his mind was Major General Keri’s legacy from the Summer Camp.