The Era of Gods

“Target the enemy’s Central Army, Archers ready!”

Lin Xiao, mounted on a tall horse, watched indifferently as the wolf cavalry entered and exited the edge of the archers’ range, appearing near and far, paying them no mind.

Riflemen were inherently the bane of cavalry, and elite riflemen, with combat power comparable to Level 2 troops, could unleash even greater combat power in formation. A mere 150 vile wolf riders were delusional to think they could attack archers protected by layers of riflemen.

Once the Big-eared Monsters entered within 150 meters range, he swung his sword:

“Loose arrows!”

A succession of ‘whoosh whoosh’ sounds rang out as a hundred arrows traced an arc through the air, falling into the crowd of Big-eared Monsters, and a series of thuds followed as flesh was pierced, toppling over a dozen monsters.

The Veteran Archers reloaded faster than new recruits, barely three seconds had passed before the second arrow was notched and drawn, followed by another sequence of whistling sounds as yet another dozen Big-eared Monsters fell.

With a three-point Hero Strategic Attribute Strength buff, the Shooters’ strength was enhanced, not only allowing them to shoot farther but also increasing the power of their arrows.

Although this world is as attribute based as a game, it is indeed a real world, one that follows certain universal rules.

As the Big-eared Monsters progressed to within fifty meters, the first row of two hundred Elite Riflemen stepped forward, spears in hand.

The half-beastman axe throwers in the back of the monsters immediately threw their axes, and the flash of two dozen snowy blades passed in an instant. The front row of elite riflemen staggered but did not fall.

Normally, Level 3 troops could instantly kill Level 1 riflemen within full damage range, but unfortunately, these riflemen were Elite, not only stronger, but also better defended. Coupled with a three-point Constitution buff, a single wave wasn’t enough to kill them instantly.

Seconds later, when the Riflemen clashed head-on with the Big-eared Monsters, the hovering vile wolf riders immediately charged towards the front row of riflemen and the archers behind them. Lin Xiao took his longbow from his back, drew an arrow, notched and pulled it, and with a ‘whizzing’ screech, two vile wolf riders in one row toppled over.

“Prepare for the impact!”

He did not order the riflemen protecting the archers to strike first. Given the agility of the vile wolf riders, it was easy for them to bypass the riflemen and directly attack the central archers through the gaps.

The method of response was simple, wait in tight formation and fight a positional battle.

After all, as long as they could win, it didn’t matter how many died since they could all be revived.

More than four hundred riflemen, half engaged the Big-eared Monsters head- on while the other half protected the archers, relying on the archers as the main force to continuously kill the monsters.

With a three-point buff to Constitution and Strength, the riflemen’s ability to withstand damage as well as their attack power more than doubled, and they steadfastly held against the Half-beastman axe throwers’ attacks, overwhelmingly pushing back the Big-eared Monsters.

The barbarian hero opposite clearly lacked Lin Xiao’s strategic attributes, or rather, was far outmatched. With the Elite Riflemen Array squaring off against the Big-eared Monsters in a round of combat, whether in terms of offensive power or killing ability, they exceeded the enemy, achieving even greater victory than the archers.

The wolf riders, confronted with the archers’ tightly formed defensive line, could do nothing. After a dozen or so probing attacks by the riflemen, which failed to stir them, the front line of Big-eared Monsters suffered huge losses, forcing the barbarian hero to order a charge.

The result, of course, was futile. Seeing that the riflemen could hold off the enemy’s main force, Lin Xiao directly ordered the archers to change their target and attack the vile wolf riders.

With successive volleys of arrows raining down, the vile wolf riders suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat in disarray.

Once the vile wolf riders retreated, the Big-eared Monsters also split in two, with one part holding the rear and the other part quickly pulling back.

Lin Xiao simply watched as the barbarian hero withdrew without ordering a pursuit, only instructing his men to first kill off the rearguard Big-eared Monsters, without altering the formation at all.

After withdrawing a certain distance, the barbarian hero pounded his fist on his mount in frustration and officially gave the order to retreat.

Once the barbarian hero retreated, it wasn’t long before the Swamp Werewolf Hero standing off against Salan in the village also quickly withdrew, and with that, the dungeon was completed.

Exiting the dungeon, Lin Xiao obtained a Riflemen Card, as well as a thousand Gold Coins, ten units each of wood and minerals, an extra hundred experience points, 1 point, and over a dozen new recruit riflemen leveled up to veteran status.

The rewards were average, but the difficulty was not great; it was just unfortunate that it couldn’t be farmed repeatedly.

Because according to the rules, each time a dungeon is cleared, the difficulty will increase by one level the next time it is attempted, just like the stages of a ladder challenge.

At the same time, the corresponding rewards will gradually increase. In theory, if you could keep repeating it several dozen times in one go, even the most basic dungeon could potentially yield rewards not inferior to those of the Treasures of Myriad?

Well, that’s just a guess, he didn’t know if it was that exaggerated.

In fact, it was practically impossible to go through that many times; without elite troops or treasures, after a few runs, it wouldn’t be feasible to continue.

Lin Xiao certainly wasn’t one to stubbornly grind in dungeons, but taking advantage of his current strength to clear a few rounds of the dungeon, such as four or five times, would yield decent rewards.

With that thought, he took a short rest before reentering the dungeon.

On his second entry, the difficulty of the dungeon had noticeably increased, with the previously encountered barbarian hero now commanding around five to six hundred Big-eared Monsters, over one hundred and fifty evil wolf knights, and more than twenty Half-beastman Axemen.

Now there were seven hundred Big-eared Monsters, more than one hundred and eighty evil wolf knights, and thirty Half-beastman Axemen, with their strength obviously enhanced.

However, Lin Xiao immediately summoned the Riflemen Card he had obtained from the previous dungeon, which, along with his existing forces, gave him a total of nearly three hundred Elite Riflemen, fifty-two veterans, as well as over one hundred and eighty regular riflemen, and one hundred Veteran Archers.

It was a pity that the cards already used could not be taken back; otherwise, combining two novice cards into one veteran card would have been better.

While Lin Xiao was trying for the second time to clear the dungeon known as Salan Battle, Sacred Gate welcomed several new heroes all at once, with Yi Lei and a few companions curiously sizing up the massive gate and occasionally glancing at a few players from the Aristocracy Council.

They had entered the Relic World quite early, and during their wanderings in the wilderness, they had encountered other players, including a few from the Aristocracy Council, so they had teamed up and arrived at the City of Glory.

Given the chance, they all wanted to try to eliminate the other party, but the difference in strength between the two sides was not that great; one side had a slight advantage, but only just. A head-on conflict would surely result in heavy losses, which would significantly impede their development, and that’s why they were able to come to the City of Glory peacefully.

But it was foreseeable that this would only be temporary. As both sides continued to grow stronger, once one side gained a significant lead, there would definitely be someone who would seek to eliminate their competitors.

After all, in this relic, eliminating opponents was allowed.

It wasn’t only about reducing competition; there were tangible rewards for elimination, essentially encouraging them to eliminate each other.

The group entered the Sacred Gate, and teams from the HuaXia District quickly got a handle on the local situation, gathering information and intelligence, and soon had a clear grasp of the specifics and began their development.

Lin Xiao only prepared to return to the city after completing the third level of the Salan Battle Dungeon; it was already the day after.

At this level, the dungeon opponents had nearly a thousand Big-eared Monsters, over three hundred evil wolf knights, and more than fifty Half-beastman Axemen, including two Ogre Mages with formidable strength. Lin Xiao also relied on two Riflemen Cards and one Archer Card obtained from the second level, gaining a hundred veteran riflemen and a hundred archers. Along with his personal involvement, he narrowly managed to win.

Afterward, he had no plans for the fourth level of the dungeon as his current combat power, even with the rewards from the third level, probably wouldn’t suffice. The risk was too great; he needed to find a way to bring in more elite troops.

The reward for the second level was two Riflemen Cards and one Archer Card, two thousand Gold Coins, twenty units of wood and minerals, two hundred experience points, and two points.

The reward for the third level was four Riflemen Cards and two Archer Cards, four thousand Gold Coins, forty units of wood and minerals, four hundred experience points, and four points.

Up to now, Lin Xiao had accumulated a total of nine points, pitifully few.

Upon returning to Sacred Gate and barely entering the city, he ran into Yi Lei and a few other contestants preparing to leave. This elite from War Throne looked surprised to see Lin Xiao; his facial expressions changed back and forth but ultimately, he waved and greeted him.

The expression was neither salty nor warm, clearly devoid of any desire to chat. On the contrary, his companions were much more enthusiastic, introducing themselves one after another, and he responded with a smile and a courteous reply.

After chatting for a while, Yi Lei urged them on, and they bid farewell to these contestants from different colleges in the HuaXia District.

Watching them leave, Lin Xiao rode into the city, pondering some information he had picked up from the casual conversation.

More and more players were entering the Relic World, and the competition was getting fiercer by the day. He had to develop quickly, or it would be embarrassing to be caught up with by others.

Most importantly, some of the contestants who had arrived not long ago had already encountered those who had descended in their True Bodies before them. These True Body contestants possessed overwhelming strength, and Lin Xiao was far from being their match. If any of them took a disliking to him and decided to make trouble, that would be quite a problem.

“Continue to grind other dungeons!”

Lin Xiao remembered there were six dungeons near the City of Glory. Clearing the first three levels of each dungeon could also accumulate a certain amount of troops and resources, which could then be converted into strength. Perhaps he could then try the fourth level of the dungeons.

Considering the rewards from the third level dungeon, the prizes for the fourth level were likely to be very generous, worth taking a risk for.

Taking into account that the difficulty of the dungeons was adjusted based on his current strength, he didn’t touch the reward from the third level of the Salan Battle Dungeon for the time being. After returning to the city to stock up, he set out again for another dungeon.

For nearly a week, he was busy shuttling back and forth among the other five dungeons, first clearing the first level of each dungeon before doing a second round, then a third.

Having completed three rounds, he returned to the entrance of the Salan Battle Dungeon, only to find Jia Sanyue chatting with a dozen or more contestants from the HuaXia District in front of the dungeon.

Seeing him arrive, Jia Sanyue ran over and asked,

“How far have you gotten in this dungeon?”

“The third level,” replied Lin Xiao.

“That’s not bad, Yi Lei, the senior from War Throne, is also at the third level. He’s planning to try the fourth level today.”