The Era of Gods

They were en route to the provincial capital. From there, they would journey through the interdimensional teleportation gate to the Yanhuang No.5 Super War Fortress in subspace, and finally travel via the teleportation array to the Lin Family’s domain within the Crystal Wall System.

Having been home for less than a week, he couldn’t stand it anymore. The curious gazes from relatives, as though they were looking at some precious animal, were too much for him to bear. Additionally, his mother dragged him every day to attend gatherings, even setting him up with potential girlfriends at his grand aunts’ get-togethers, which was the most preposterous.

Since his younger cousin, Lin Xu, had disappeared somewhere, unable to be found even after waiting for many days, Lin Xiao only learned from his second great-uncle that the boy had gone to his girlfriend’s house.

With no one to talk to, he couldn’t stay put any longer. It just happened that his father brought up again the idea of visiting the Lin Family’s Outland territory, and Lin Xiao immediately agreed.

His father had wanted him to go there last semester, but he couldn’t make it due to participating in the Super Newcomer Summer Camp. Now the timing was perfect.

Normally, his father could directly transport to the Lin Family Fortress in the Foreign Dimension from the Divine Realm, which had a teleportation array linked to the family domain. However, Lin Xiao had never been to the family’s garrison and, without the teleportation coordinates, could not directly arrive there. For his first visit, he needed to travel via the cross-dimensional teleportation arrays of the large super war fortresses in subspace.

Once he had gone over, he could leave a Spatial Waymarker in the family’s garrison dimension, which would allow him to directly transport there next time.

But this was only possible in the Main World. If his True Body was in an Exotic Crystal Wall, he couldn’t directly transport there.

“Our family has elders residing permanently at the Yanhuang No.5 Super War Fortress, which is affiliated with the military. It’s not only about earning military merits but also ensuring the stability of the family’s teleportation in the fortress. Every year, the family has to provide certain resources to maintain this connection,”

Lin Haolin said as he took a sip of his hot tea and continued,

“After you go to college, you will need to choose a main War Zone to strategize in, and you’ll need a stable fortress for transits. You can choose the Yanhuang No.5 Super War Fortress as your hub.”

Lin Xiao curiously asked,

“Won’t the school arrange a stable fortress?”

His father countered,

“Do you think the school will provide you with a stable fortress?”

“Won’t they?”

With this doubt, he checked online and, sure enough, they didn’t.

The school does not assign a specific fortress for students to use as a transit point because of the special nature of space between subspace and the Main World. Theoretically, entering subspace from any corner of the Main World means you can reach all war fortress bases in subspace, and the distance is theoretically the same.

For instance, entering subspace from the provincial capital and traveling to the Yanhuang N0.1 Fortress takes the same amount of time as it does to travel to other forces’ fortress bases.

Therefore, the school imposes no restrictions on this matter. You can choose any fortress base you want to go to. However, different schools have different home turf advantages in different fortress bases, so the convenience that students from different colleges experience at different fortresses varies.

Just like Radiance’s main flagship fortress is Yanhuang N0.1, it is said that the upper echelons of the Yanhuang N0.1 War Fortress base are all alumni of Radiance, so students from Radiance receive many privileges there.

However, Lin Xiao doesn’t plan to take the path through the Yanhuang N0.1 War Fortress; he intends to go through the Yanhuang No.5 War Fortress base.

It’s not just because there are family elders there, but mainly because the military Reservist unit he joined previously was the Fury Flames Legion of the No.5 Fortress, making it unsuitable for him to go to other fortresses.

Speaking of which, Lin Xiao remembered Colonel Xie Yufei, the deputy commander of the Fury Flames Legion, once mentioned that there would be a mission from the military every year. During regular class periods, they wouldn’t distribute missions, but now that it was vacation, he estimated it wouldn’t be long before a mission was communicated to him.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Lin Xiao noticed a red marker flashing in the corner of his eye. With a thought, the screen popped up and a glint of dark gold flashed, revealing the tall figure of Colonel Xie Yufei. She was dressed in a form-fitting uniform that accentuated her slender physique, and her long hair, fiery as flames, cascaded down, showcasing her strikingly beautiful face.

Well, speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The coincidence was as though it had been arranged on purpose.

Lin Xiao quickly stood up and snapped to attention, giving a military salute. Xie Yufei returned the gesture and looked him up and down with her shining eyes, a slight smile on her pretty face. In a deep voice, she said,

“Long time no see, Lin Xiao. Congratulations on being listed in the Chosen’s list!”

“It’s the secondary list,”

he corrected softly.

With a slight smile, Xie Yufei replied,

“Lin Xiao, you don’t need to be so serious; you’ll scare off the girls that way.”

After she spoke, she saw her equally solemn father beside her, gave a slight nod in greeting, then turned back with the smile fading from her face and spoke in a serious tone,

“You’ve arrived just in time, Lin Xiao. There’s a task requiring you to head to the Yan Huang N0.5 War Fortress for assembly.”

“I’m sending the task details to you now. Take a look, and remember, per our agreement, you have the right to refuse once and request a different task.”

“I’ll take a look first.”

He opened another email that had just arrived, and the words slowly scrolled down as he carefully reviewed it.

It took just over a minute to finish reading the task, and after pondering for a moment, Lin Xiao accepted the task without requesting a change.

The task was simple: to fight.

The task originated over a decade ago when a regiment in the fifth War Zone discovered and began to conquer a small group of planes within an exotic Crystal Wall System. Unfortunately, an army from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools also discovered the group of planes, and both sides began their conquest from different directions, eventually meeting in the center of the group on a large plane.

According to the rules of the Main World, military forces are not allowed to wage large-scale wars in the Outland, especially forces wielding considerable power with extensive implications.

So after discussions, the two sides decided to follow the old rules, each side would bring forth a group of elites for a PK (Player Kill) contest, and the winner would gain ownership of the small plane group.

After negotiations, it was agreed that the combatants would be of Demigod rank or lower, with each side contributing thirty people—ten Divine Territory warriors, twenty non-Divine Territory warriors, and several external aids, like Lin Xiao who were specially recruited reservists.

Then, following the standard protocol of two-on-two duels, they would fight until one side was eliminated. Each match consisted of a best-of-three format, with the loser knocked out and the victor advancing, continuing until one side was completely eliminated.

Lin Xiao was very interested in such a task. It was the perfect chance to test out his greatly increased strength, and at the same time, to see how the elites trained through harsh real combat by the military compared with those from an academy background like himself.

He almost instantly made his choice, and Xie Yufei sensed it immediately, nodding her head in appreciation,

“Very good, a wise choice. There’s no need to rush; you have five days to prepare. I’ll be waiting for you at the fortress.”

Lin Xiao responded with a smile,

“I’m already on my way.”

Xie Yufei showed a hint of surprise, and he explained,

“I am on my way to the clan’s plane with my father.”

“Well, that’s a coincidence.”

After ending the communication, Xie Yufei stretched out her slender fingers to touch the screen in front of her, and a picture popped up, filled with numerous faces. She lightly tapped on one showing Lin Xiao, next to which was his current information. Glancing over the data, she pursed her red lips slightly and nodded,

“This young man is not bad, with both strength and courage. He’s worth cultivating.”

With that, she marked his portrait.

On the other side, Lin Xiao shut down the screen and spread his hands towards his father,

“It seems I will have to wait a while before we can head over.”

Lin Haolin wasn’t upset; in fact, he was quite happy and said,

“This is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your abilities and potential in front of military bigwigs. Do you think just anyone gets to represent the military in combat? Son, perform well, for the future of our Lin Family rests on you and your cousin Lin Xu.”

It wasn’t long before the shuttle arrived at the provincial capital, entered directly into the teleportation vortex, and started transitioning into subspace for warp travel.

A day later, the massive Yan Huang No.5 Super War Fortress appeared before his eyes. The twin vortexes resembling galactic discs were slowly rotating as before, emitting a daunting majesty of vast energy fluctuations.

After entering the fortress, they didn’t split up; instead, Lin Xiao and his father went to meet a family elder stationed there, reportedly the younger brother of the patriarch.

This elder was just a Demigod, not even a High-Level Demigod, having fought for the clan for many years, and now mostly retired. His sole duty was to maintain the clan’s stable relations within the Fortress.

This elder had no descendants and was very fond of the outstanding younger members of the clan. When Lin Xiao went to visit him, he also brought a substantial gift.

After bidding farewell to the elder, he parted ways with his father. His father could not enter the military’s internal residence.

Watching his father leave, Lin Xiao used his military permissions to summon a flying car and got in, automatically setting the destination to the base of the Furious Flame Battalion.

Returning to the base of the Furious Flame Battalion, under the watchful and wary eyes of several guards, accompanied by the aim of numerous automated rune weapons, he passed verification only after the red warning light turned green, allowing him passage.

Walking along the main road, everywhere around him were military buildings constructed of steel and concrete. On the vast training grounds, many ordinary warrior soldiers were practicing swordsmanship or marksmanship.

The swords were not ordinary swords, and the guns were magic-directed weapons manufactured through mythical technology. They could fire powerful rune metal bullets capable of easily tearing apart the armored skins of fierce beasts.

Although these soldiers were commoners, the weakest among them was also at the Transcendent Level Rank 6, and within the military, official soldiers were at a minimum of Transcendent Level Rank 6, with those below this level considered recruits still training in boot camp, only becoming official soldiers when they reached Rank 6 or above.

The atmosphere inside the barracks was indeed different from the outside. All the looks he received along the way were filled with vigilance and scrutiny, but no one approached to ask questions.

Until…

A flying craft approached from a distance and stopped about two meters above the ground to his side, its hatch opened revealing the tall and attractive Colonel Xie Yufei with her hands crossed, accentuating her figure. She spoke:

“Get on.”

He leaped aboard. Xie Yufei extended her hand, and he instinctively grabbed it as he landed inside the flying craft, which automatically started and took off.

“Sit!”

She naturally sat down in front of him, her dark golden hair already tied up and fastened behind her head, looking both beautiful and capable. She carefully sized up Lin Xiao and said:

“You’ve become much stronger since the last time I saw you.”

“Not too bad.”

Her eyebrows immediately raised as she sharply corrected him:

“In the military, there are no phrases like ‘not too bad,’ ‘almost,’ or ‘maybe.’ You must be affirmative and absolute in front of me, do you hear me?”

“I heard.”

“That’s more like it.”

“The mission you saw is straightforward, just keep defeating more opponents. The requirement for you this time is simple, you need to beat at least three opponents; the more opponents you eliminate, the higher the evaluation. If you can eliminate more than six opponents, I have a Rank 1 Ancient Treasure here as your reward.”

“I will…”

Lin Xiao stood up, ready to reply, but seeing Colonel Xie Yufei’s faintly raised eyebrows, he immediately raised his voice:

“Eliminate at least six opponents.”

“Good, if you don’t eliminate six opponents, I will beat you up.”

Lin Xiao…

The flying craft traversed barracks after barracks, passing through several barriers that isolated different barracks, finally arriving at a spacious square. From a distance, he could see a white giant tower standing in the center of the square, its diameter measured in kilometers, one end piercing into the ground’s metallic platform, the other into the metal ceiling above. There were gaps at the edges of the floor and ceiling where one could enter upper and lower areas of other military districts.

The flying craft flew up past the edge of the white giant tower’s gaps for two levels, then continued a short distance along this level on the right and entered a massive metallic building.

The flying craft moved straight into the metal building and parked at a berth filled with many armed flying vehicles. Colonel Xie Yufei got out first, and he followed close behind.

Two stern-faced warriors stood at the door. After disembarking, Xie Yufei said to Lin Xiao:

“Follow them. They will arrange foryou to settle down first, and once everyone is here, we will depart.”

As she said this, her fingers moved through the air, touching the space with a shower of sparks, pulling open a teleportation door and stepping through, vanishing from sight.

“Thanks for leading the way, big brothers!”

Lin Xiao kept a very low profile here. Being a stranger in this place, he needed to keep his head down to avoid trouble.

It might not be outright antagonism, but if someone took a dislike to him and played dirty, it would be a real hassle.

The two soldiers glanced at him blandly, and one of them said:

“Please follow me.”

As expected, the two soldiers led him to a barracks that seemed different from the ordinary ones. Along the way, he occasionally saw patrols and training soldiers, which seemed to recognize his identity, their eyes filled with challenge.

The soldiers arranged a separate room for him and, as they left, one of them warned:

“You have temporary access to move freely within this barracks, limited access to nearby areas. You will be warned about areas you are not allowed to enter. Remember, do not forcefully trespass, or you are responsible for the consequences.”

Then the other soldier reminded him:

“You may be challenged by someone. Whether to accept the challenge is your decision, and no one can force you if you do not wish it.”

“Thankyou for the reminder, big brothers.”

No sooner than they had left, before he even got a chance to sit down, he heard a knock on the door. Opening it, three muscular giants stood there, in training bottoms and thin tops that emphasized their muscles, with the two on the sides leaning on the door frame and the one in the middle giving him a provocative look.

Visitors with ill intentions, he thought as he respectfully greeted:

“What brings the three of you here?”

The exceptionally strong, bald giant in the center with a stronger aura than the other two spoke in a deep voice:

“My name is Lei Bo. I heard you are the external assistance recruited by the Furious Flame Battalion this time, and I am not convinced. I’ve come for a spar!”

Well, that was direct.

Direct as you’d expect from a man of the military, Lin Xiao didn’t beat around the bush either and directly replied:

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re not a Divine Territory player, are you?”

“I want to challenge you for a one-on-one test of personal strength.”

“Sorry, but I only fight Divine Territory players.”

The perfect excuse.

He had no desire to duel with a rough warrior—although he was not afraid.

His excuse was strong; Lei Bo was at a loss for words and, clenching his teeth, he pointed:

“You wait.”

He smiled and nodded:

“I’ll wait.”

No sooner had the sound faded when someone loudly declared:

“No need to wait, I’m here to challenge you.”

He swiftly turned his head and saw a group of distinctively poised men and women approaching. The one who spoke was a man with a strange mark on his forehead, but Lin Xiao’s gaze was immediately drawn to a familiar face in the middle of the group.

” Wu Zhonglin, what a coincidence!”