The Era of Gods

Mixed with the coarse sounds of arrows passing through trees and dirt was a series of crisp tinkling noises as tall figures parted the trees, braving the rain of arrows as they emerged from the forest.

Dragon scales identical to those of a dragon could not be pierced by ordinary arrows.

The Asura Nagas didn’t need any armor; their dragon scales were the best protection. Equipped with only two suitable weapons, they could become butchers on the battlefield.

With their exceptionally hard dragon scales and strong bodies, the numerous Asura Nagas charged towards the phalanx like Diamond Warriors, indestructible.

Tiger Slayer’s lips were tightly pressed as he stared deathly at the ten thousand Asura Nagas. Although they numbered less than a tenth of his own force, the sense of danger he felt was overwhelming.

Over ten waves of arrow rain had been shot down without a single kill. It was so shocking that he could hardly believe it.

He had seen such terrifying members of the Clans online, showcased by the ultra-elite on the lists of prodigies or the unparalleled, but this was his first time encountering them in reality.

” How is this possible!”

He was unwilling to accept defeat, his gaze swept over his own Clan, and with gritted teeth, he forcefully waved his hand:

“Kill!”

“Supreme Earth God above, slay these heretics.”

Two phalanxes of ten thousand Bull Monsters, under the command of leaders with even stronger physiques than their peers, began to advance, slowly spreading out to the left and right, with the Dole Rangers following closely behind.

In this regard, Tiger Slayer’s ability was quite commendable. The intelligence of the Bull Monsters was average, and few could command them as effortlessly as he could, capable of executing tactical orders and adapting formations on the fly during battle.

As the two sides rapidly closed in, the Dole Rangers switched from lobbing arrows to charged shots as they got within range. Although this greatly reduced their rate of fire, it significantly increased their range and killing power, a tactic specially used against heavy infantry.

Just before the battle commenced, the highly anticipated charged shots by Tiger Slayer were ready. Fully drawn bows were suddenly released, sending arrows flying across more than three hundred meters to strike the leading Asura Nagas.

“Clang clang clang…”

A symphony of crisp metallic sounds rang out as countless arrows, sparking with embers, were deflected.

Aside from a few potent arrows from the strongest Dole Rangers that could penetrate the Asura Nagas’ dragon scales, the vast majority of the Dole Rangers couldn’t pierce their bodies, even with a charged shot.

Before Tiger Slayer could react, the front row of heavily armored Bull Monsters collided heavily with the first row of Asura Nagas, creating a cacophony of heavy metal clashing.

Then, the neatly arranged row of Bull Monsters at the front of the phalanx fell down in unison, not a single one spared.

With an absolute dominance in both level and strength, the average Bull Monsters, whose strength lay between Level 2 and Level 3, stood no chance against the Asura Nagas, who were at least Fifth Level. As soon as the vanguard engaged, the Bull Monsters fell in swathes, like wheat under a scythe.

The speed of the collapse made Tiger Slayer feel as if he were dreaming.

” By the gods, where did these monsters come from?”

An elite student from First Middle School watched with bulging eyes as Tiger Slayer was utterly crushed and overpowered, with no power to retaliate. The speed with which the ranks fell, more exaggerated than rolling bowling balls, made him suspect it was a fixed match.

He quickly checked the names of the challengers and said with a puzzled face:

“Lin Xiao? This name… sounds familiar!”

“How can this guy be so monstrous? Since when did Class 2 have such a freak?”

Another elite from First Middle retracted his jaw, which was almost dislocated from shock, and grinned:

“I think Brother Piaoxue might have met his match.”

Several elite classmates from First Middle huddled together and quietly conversed, unable to hide the shock on their faces. One of them spoke directly:

“Why do I feel that this guy is more monstrous than Brother Piaoxue’s main Clan?”

“Be confident, get rid of that feeling.”

“But don’t panic, it’s not a big problem.”

The speaking young man laughed:

“Although Brother Piaoxue’s main Clan seems a bit inferior, he has more in numbers, plus many subsidiary Clans. Unless this guy’s Core Races double in number, he definitely can’t win.”

“But…”

“What ‘but¹? Brother Piaoxue isn’t panicking, so what are you afraid of?”

“No, I’m a bit worried!”

A handsome young man with snow-white eyebrows slanted into his temples watched the virtual battlefield with a deep frown, rapidly simulating a virtual battlefield in his mind. If his own Clan faced this monstrous Clan, the outlook wasn’t optimistic.

He rubbed his temples, thought for a moment, and quickly contacted someone:

“Get me information on a student named Lin Xiao from Class 1 of Second Middle School, ask around if anyone over there knows him.”

The other side acknowledged, he cut the communication, his expression grave.

In the virtual plane, the battle ended after only half its duration as Tiger Slayer, seeing his two Minotaur Heavy Infantry Phalanxes crushed like they had been run over by a steamroller, chose to surrender.

There was simply no way to resist.

Wherever there was a glimmer of hope, he would give it a try, but after his fully armed force of twenty thousand Bull Monsters was annihilated, with the enemy suffering less than ten casualties, the gap was enough to drive him to despair.

Perhaps fighting to the end, he could kill a few hundred, but it was pointless, so he surrendered directly.

After coming out of the challenge realm, Lin Xiao received a communication from Yun Shaoning. Once he connected, Yun Shaoning’s projection appeared before him, staring at him as if he were looking at a monster.

“What are you looking at?”

Yun Shaoning took a moment before saying,

“Were you trying to bully me by challenging me before?”

“Ah…”

He quickly gestured a threefold denial with his hand:

“I didn’t, it wasn’t me, don’t talk nonsense!”

He would certainly never admit that’s what he had thought.

Yun Shaoning looked deeply at him for several seconds, then suddenly his expression became serious, and he said,

“We have no grudges between us, right?”

“Uh, that should be the case.”

He thought about it for a few seconds and confirmed he was correct.

Yun Shaoning nodded:

“That’s good.”

Then he disconnected, leaving Lin Xiao standing there dumbfounded. After a moment, he suddenly started laughing.

“Interesting!”

He reopened the ranking list, scanned the top twenty, and casually chose a contestant named Li Xiushen from Level 1 to challenge.

In the Level 1 dormitory, Li Xiushen received the challenge and exited the Divine Realm. Casually, he grabbed a bright red fruit from the table, bit into it a few times, swallowed, and then checked a message with a video clip sent by a friend:

“Xiushen, check out this video. Level 2 has got a monster.”

He gave it a cursory glance, not really caring, casually checked his opponent, and confirmed he would accept the challenge.

“Level 2? Lin Xiao? Never heard of him.”

Seeing the name of his opponent, he felt reassured. As his will sank into the challenge realm, he suddenly remembered the video his friend sent that he hadn’t watched. He thought for a moment that it wasn’t anything important, he’d watch it after the match.

The familiar virtual realm, the familiar settings of the combat terrain, he shrugged his shoulders and chose random for all:

“A man full of confidence must opt for random.”

The realm quickly took shape, and he contemplated the various Clan races within his Divine Realm, muttering to himself,

“Hmm, before challenging Dongfang Piaoxue, I should conceal some of my strength first.”

His fingertips hovered virtually as he selected a portion from the various Clan races in the Divine Realm: over twenty thousand core Clan warriors, he chose only ten thousand elite warriors of Level 3 and above; thirty thousand of the second primary Clan race; only fifty thousand Cannon Fodder; and just five thousand of the auxiliary Clan races. Thinking it over, he also included a powerful elite creature from within the Divine Realm in the combat roster.

“Very good, I hope you have enough strength to force all of my combat power into action.”

With his decision confirmed, as his thoughts moved, the projections of the chosen Clan members descended onto the challenge realm.

“Let’s move out!”

Five thousand Cannon Fodder Lizardmen warriors set out first, followed closely by the main army, trailing behind them a large twenty-meter-long three-headed snake, stepping heavily. A tall and robust Emerald Serpent People Hero was seated on the back of the snake with his eyes closed, leaning on a Crystal wand; several beautiful Emerald Serpent People Priestesses sat on the back of the snake as well, surrounded by a group of strong Emerald Serpent People warriors.

The Emerald Serpent People are a mutant species of the Snake people. Normal Snake people have a layer of thin scales covering their bodies, with average defense, whereas Emerald Serpent People have their scales replaced by thick layers of emerald-like scales, offering stronger defense and, as they are made of natural Emerald gems, they can be collected and used as Magic materials.

If it were only stronger defense and economic value of the scales, it would not suffice to make them a core race; the key is that Emerald Serpent People have different constitutions from ordinary Snake people. Apart from being stronger, they can also, like Puppet golems, be immune to several negative effects. Moreover, their scales are hard and provide high defense against edged weapons like Swords and Bows.

However, the hard but brittle nature of emerald makes them particularly vulnerable to heavy blunt weapons like hammers and maces, which can cause great additional harm.

The Emerald Serpent People naturally possess high spiritual power, and they have a very small chance to advance into a bloodline caster when leveling up, which is an exceptional match for one of his loaded Magician professions, giving rise to a very rare Emerald Priest casting profession, awakening a very abnormal Talent Spell—Petrification Ray, capable of shooting petrifying light from their eyes like Medusa to turn opponents to stone.

Of course, it’s not as overpowering as the legendary Medusa, usually ineffective against those with higher resistance, but even at its worst, it’s still Petrification Ray. Against equals, it is almost invincible, without a match.

After acquiring this Emerald Serpent People Race, Li Xiushen immediately designated them as his core Clan race and cultivated them with all his effort; by now, they had begun to take shape.

He had intended to use them to unexpectedly challenge the current number one on the rankings, Dongfang Piaoxue, but this new core Clan race hadn’t been tested in large-scale combat yet, so he wasn’t quite confident. It was perfect that someone challenged him, allowing others to test their combat ability first.

With a sinking will, Li Xiushen’s presence projected onto the powerful Emerald Serpent People Hero, and he slowly opened his eyes to acclimate to this incarnation vessel.

This powerful Emerald Serpent People Hero was his usual choice of Projection vessel, and he had descended into it many times, making it very familiar to him.

He inserted the Crystal wand into the throne built onto the back of the three- headed snake, hummed lightly, and on cue, two beautiful Emerald Serpent People Priestesses approached and knelt respectfully in front of him. One seductive Priestess leaned forward and reached out with her tender hand to grasp something, moving it up and down skillfully.

He made absolutely no preparation for Tactics; his army advanced straight ahead, crossing the thirty to forty kilometers of complex terrain swiftly.