The Era of Gods

Just as two nails had been hammered into the plank, it suddenly shook violently as something collided with it from below. Shortly afterward, a shadow burst through an uncovered gap on the other side, revealing a monster completely covered in thick tendril-like whiskers with a mouth large enough to swallow a person, full of uneven, razor-sharp teeth snapping at Lin Xiao.

But there was no way it could catch him. Lin Xiao quickly rolled backward, landing at the bottom of the boat. The creature, with a body full of whiskers like a sea cucumber, got stuck in the gap, biting wildly in all directions. A man in a black robe extended his right hand, his sleeve exploded, and his arm swiftly swelled into a massive tentacle. It opened a maw full of uneven sharp teeth, clamped down on the monster, biting off a large segment that had entered the ship, and then quickly retracted.

This scene left everyone staring in shock, and Lin Xiao looked in surprise at the black-robed man who nonchalantly let out a burp.

“What kind of freaky power is this? Is this a Totem Master?”

He had never seen a Totem Master in action, not even Totem Master Apprentice Professor Jin, completely unaware of what true Totem Masters were capable of, nor did he know what means the black-robed man had used.

Whenever they encountered monsters they couldn’t fend off, the black-robed man would step in to deal with them.

After several interventions, he figured out the black-robed man’s abilities. Indeed, the huge tentacle was the man’s own arm transformed. When activated, it could expand up to three or four meters thick and as long as twenty or thirty meters, while normally it just looked like a regular arm. Through the tattered robe, the Totem runes branded on his arm were visible.

“Is this an Official Totem Master?”

Lin Xiao was both amazed and envious.

The people around, having witnessed the black-robed man’s action several times, held him in awe.

Before long, the bottom of the ship was sufficiently patched up. The storm had come quickly and left just as fast, and soon the sea returned to its calm state, with a battered ship drifting upon it.

Using this makeshift method, the huge ship continued to sail. Life was no longer as leisurely as it had been at the beginning. Every person had tasks to do every day. Lin Xiao was paired with Xiao Ni, stationed near a gap at the bottom of the ship, keeping an eye on it and reporting any issues.

Stuck in the dark hull, they only came up to the deck for fresh air once in half a month, enduring thanks to their extraordinary physical fitness.

After an indeterminate amount of time, one day they suddenly felt the ship significantly slow down, and after a while, someone shouted from above:

“We’ve found a small island. We’ll dock to repair the ship before we move on.”

Returning to the deck from the hull, they saw a massive island not far away, over ten kilometers in length, covered with trees. Birds flew from the woods now and then, and occasionally, a loud, unidentified beast’s roar could be heard, portraying a scene brimming with life.

Very quickly, the man in the black robe assigned everyone tasks to collect wood and food from the island, as they had lost much in the ship’s earlier breach.

Lin Xiao and Xiao Ni took a small boat to the island, along with several Children of Nightmare and Child of the Spirit Realm. Three different civilizations’ Descenders landed simultaneously on the small island’s beach… You looked at me, I looked at you, and the looks in their eyes all conveyed hostility.

Compared to the Children of Nightmare, who even when descended as humans had a cold expression and temperament easy to discern, Lin Xiao saw the Child of the Spirit Realm for the first time and noted that, in temperament, there was no difference from humans. The only discernible feature was a strange aura around the Spirit Realm’s children, much like…

Well, to put it, Children of the Spirit Realm are basically super-psychics, and psychics are quite similar to Mage Arcanist, so the Spirit Realm’s children, in temperament, are much like scholars and mages, or say, like overachievers, with a high-intelligence gaze that conveys contempt for lower intelligence, which is quite annoying.

The two of them, expressionless, stepped back a few paces and headed toward one direction of the small island. As they walked, Xiao Ni whispered:

“It’s just the two of us, and both Children of Nightmare and Child of the Spirit Realm have three each. They might come after us first.”

Lin Xiao chuckled and replied:

“Then that’s just perfect. Stick with me and don’t split up. Let’s see if they follow. If they do, we’ll take them out.”

They stepped back about ten meters and headed directly into the lush interior of the island.

Soon, Lin Xiao heard the faint sound of clothing rubbing against trees from behind and knew they were being followed.

The two exchanged a glance, each drawing the weapons they carried: Xiao Ni a high-quality steel longsword, and Lin Xiao the Sword of Angel, which looked like a normal longsword before being activated.

“Have you ever killed a descended body of a Child of Nightmare before?”

Xiao Ni pulled out his round shield and positioned it in front of him, asking quietly.

Lin Xiao grinned:

“I’ve even killed the true body of a Child of Nightmare.”

“Then your True Body must be really awesome. Which elite college are you from?”

“Dark Moon!”

The Children of Nightmare and Child of the Spirit Realm did not conceal their intentions; three from the left and three from the right, without any secrecy, gave direct pursuit. Xiao Ni frowned and whispered:

“This is bad. How come they are acting so coordinated?”

Lin Xiao twisted his wrist, slashing through the nearby undergrowth with the sword’s blade, and stood up as he said:

“Who cares about their coordination? Just kill them all, and that will do.”

“Ah…”

Seeing him stand up, Xiao Ni’s expression changed drastically as he urgently said:

“But how are we going to fight with so many of them…”

The voice abruptly stopped upon seeing the spread of light feathers behind him and the transformation of the longsword in his hand into a lightsaber, revealing an expression of shock similar to that of the Children of Nightmare and the Child of the Spirit Realm opposite him:

“Magic Weapon!”

“Correct, but there’s no reward!”

With a thought, the Shield of Belief activated, a faint white light covering his body, Lin Xiao took to the air and pounced towards the three Children of Nightmare.

Sword of Angel: Constant four-ring Priest’s Divine Holy Power, Constant Removing Enchantment, Constant Greater Dispelling of Magic, ten Blazing Strikes daily, ten Healing Spells daily, three Destroy Spells daily, and one Resurrection Technique daily.

Angel’s Wings: Constant Advanced Flight Art, Feathers of Light, Brightness Spell, Constant Protect Evil, Constant Shield of Belief, once daily Angel form.

Angel form, such a big move wasn’t necessary, whether it was the Children of Nightmare or Lin Xiao himself, they were essentially still mortals at this point, though they had begun to condense the framework of totem runes, it was all the power of the basic flesh, without the Superhuman Power. With a swing of the Sword of Angel, a Blazing Strike sent down a scorching pillar of fire, turning one of the Children of Nightmare instantly into a Flame Person, screaming in agony.

They wouldn’t die immediately, given their far superior physique and strength to ordinary people, but they were unable to extinguish the flames on them, and their formidable bodies only added to their pain.

Seeing this, the other two Children of Nightmare and Child of the Spirit Realm did not hesitate to turn and flee, Lin Xiao rose into the air and with several swings of his lightsaber, sent down five Blazing Strikes in quick succession.

Five pillars of fire bombed down, with the Children of Nightmare and the Child of the Spirit Realm desperately trying to dodge, smartly scattering and diving under trees. The pillars smashed through leaves and vegetation, hitting one of the Children of Nightmare and one Child of the Spirit Realm, turning them into Flame People, while the remaining two Children of the Spirit Realm and Child of Nightmare used tree trunks to shield themselves from the fire, rolling and crawling towards the shore, yelling loudly.

Lin Xiao, ready to finish them off, ceased his pursuit upon seeing this, as the coast was quite near, and his wings and lightsaber were very conspicuous, making it easy for robed persons on the ship to spot him.

Having these two treasures wouldn’t necessarily mean he feared those robed persons, but if he turned against them, he wouldn’t be able to travel to the main continent.

“Bro, where did you get that totem magic weapon, man? It’s freaking awesome!”

Xiao Ni’s eyes were almost materializing with envy as he excitedly clapped his hands and said:

“Now we don’t need to be afraid of them bullying us. Too bad they ran too fast, otherwise it would be great if all of them had been left behind.”

Lin Xiao raised his sword and chopped down a large tree that required three or four people to hug, then trimmed off some branches with several more swings, speaking as he busied himself:

“Killing three is quite good. If we had killed them all, we would have trouble getting on the ship. Come help me cut some trees, so we don’t get scolded when we get back.”

Indeed, as he had expected, when he and Xiao Ni each carried a large tree back to the ship, he could feel the scrutinous gaze of the robed persons on board.

With a nervous heart, he loaded the wood onto the ship, and the robed people said nothing, just instructing them to continue loading.

But Lin Xiao knew the robed ones must have guessed something, it’s just that they didn’t pursue it.

With a nervous mind, the two obediently continued to fell and load timber on the ship, and the surviving Children of Spirit Realm and Children of Nightmare were even more obedient.

What surprised him was that the only Child of Nightmare who survived was that seemingly rebellious and previously arrogant young man, who now dared not be arrogant at all and was very obedient.

After ten days, the giant ship was repaired and set sail again.

Though the voyage was still filled with twists and turns, they did not encounter any more Super Demons, and they crossed an unknown great distance safely until one day, the robed ones summoned everyone on the deck for an assembly.

“This ship will soon arrive at the main continent. We will dock at Horned Island for a while, which is one of the sixteen docking points in the southeast region of the main continent. Many Totem Master Schools often have guides stationed nearby. The ship will stay docked for one day for resupply, and you may choose to disembark here to join a nearby School.”

Pausing for a moment, the robed person added:

“This ship will only stop at two docking points. If you do not make a choice here, you must disembark at the next stop.”

After finishing, he left with a flourish of his robe, leaving the people looking at one another.

“Finally, we’ve arrived.”

Lin Xiao twisted his neck slightly and said to Xiao Ni:

“Shall we get off and take a look?”

Xiao Ni shook his head:

“The School my teacher recommended is not here, so I’m not getting off.”

“Alright then.”

Lin Xiao shrugged his shoulders and disembarked alone.

Professor Jin did not introduce him to any School, only gave him brief information about some Schools he knew, without specifying which one he should join. So, in the end, Lin Xiao would have to make his own choice of which Totem Master School to join.

He didn’t have any specific requirements for the School he would join, as long as it was a legitimate School, yes, and it had to have some strength.

It didn’t have to be a major School, but it also couldn’t be a bottom-tier School with only two or three small fish. A mid-tier School would suffice.

This island was a transit station among many surrounding the mainland, directed at the outer small islands of the main continent. There was an official intermediary organization on the island where many of the Schools in the nearby region had registrations, and one could directly review the basic information of the Schools there, then decide whether to join.

If you wanted to join, the intermediary organization would