The Era of Gods

In this world, the strength of creatures is simply divided as follows:

Low-level demons, which would be categorized among humans as below Rank 6 Transcendents.

Middle-level demons correspond to humans ranging from Rank 6 Transcendents and above to Rank 7.

High-level demons correspond to humans from Rank 8 Legends and above, up to creatures below Rank 10.

Super-level demons are equivalent to beings above the True God level.

As for fierce beasts, there is no need to mention them; the beasts of the Mortal World are only slightly stronger than wild animals.

Exotic beasts are also demons, simply known by different names in different places.

Besides, in this world, there are a few enigmatic entities that cannot be explained by common sense. These entities have a power system different from that of the totem masters of this world. According to books, they are a sort of conceptual existence. Their fighting methods are akin to causality rates, extremely difficult to deal with.

It might be hard to explain in words just how odd these entities are. There’s an account in a book about an occurrence fifty years ago in this area, where a cottage in the woods would randomly appear at a certain location every month. Anyone who saw the cottage would, willingly or unwillingly, or for some inexplicable reason, enter it without exception.

Half of those who entered the cottage in the woods would disappear, while the other half would escape as monsters.

Take for example, a gambler that appeared more than thirty years ago. Anyone who saw it had to gamble with it, unable to refuse. To refuse meant death.

Its power was extremely odd. Even an Official Totem Master would drop dead on the spot without warning or logic if they refused.

There are two outcomes to the gamble: if you lose, you have to accept a punishment, and the results of the punishments vary. Being put to death is just one of the possibilities. The most terrifying are various bizarre punishments, such as men turning into women, women turning into men, souls exchanging with monsters, or an anus growing where the mouth should be—the list is as strange as it can get.

It’s very difficult to kill off these enigmatic entities, as totem masters in this world still can’t understand just what these things are. At least, the books he had read didn’t describe a method to kill them off, nor did they detail the successful killing of one, except for describing a tragedy.

Over a thousand years ago, a Grand Totem Master School with a strength rating of seven stars suddenly encountered one of these enigmatic entities. Initially just an area of less than a hundred square meters shrouded in mist that no person or beast could escape from, the mist neither expanded nor moved and just stayed there.

But as the saying goes, `Can one permit others to sleep soundly by the side of one’s couch?’ With the Grand Totem Master School being powerful enough, the head of the School, along with a dozen Totem Lords, launched an attack into the mist with a Sect-controlling Magic Weapon.

The result was that the mist, which had remained stationary for more than a dozen years, suddenly expanded, rapidly forming a huge mist that enveloped thousands of kilometers in just a few minutes, engulfing the entire School.

A year later, when the mist cleared away, only a Totem Master King, who was akin to a True God, emerged with the damaged Sect-controlling Magic Weapon. Aside from him, the entire School had vanished— not just the people but the buildings as well. The former site of the School was left without a single tile remaining, just an empty foundation.

Instances like these are not numerous, but they are not rare either. The outcomes are mostly failure.

I say mostly because the enigmatic are not utterly invincible; they can still be destroyed.

For instance, in recent records from a few hundred years ago, a Totem Master fell into one of these enigmas and, against all expectations of certain death, he managed to destroy it and emerged with greatly increased strength. He went on to become a Totem Lord and is now one of the dominators of the Totem World.

Nobody knows what this Totem Master used to destroy an enigma that could cause even totem dominators to perish, nor what one gains from destroying an enigma.

Hmm, the rare records do mention that anyone who destroys an enigma or, to put it simply, anyone who manages to come out alive from an enigma, reaps benefits beyond imagination. However, the extremely high mortality rate is daunting. At least, both books and teachers sternly warn to stay away from the enigmatic.

“Tsck, that’s terrifying. I need to ask about what’s strange around here and whether there’s any enigma nearby.”

He closed the book and walked out of the library as he pondered.

Just as he reached the door, he had a sudden sensation and looked up to see a middle-aged man in a professor’s white robe entering. His expression quickly turned solemn, and he slightly bowed his head before stepping aside.

The middle-aged man stood still and looked at him for a moment, stepped in the door, and as he passed by, a voice was heard:

“Kid, you won’t live much longer!”

Lin Xiao’s facial muscles twitched slightly. After stepping out of the tower and standing at the door for a while, he looked back with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes:

“It’s not certain who will kill whom.”

He muttered under his breath and then pressed his temples.

An Official Totem Master from the Spirit Realm is indeed troublesome, and no allies around here. The White Tower has been discovered to house five or six Children of the Spirit Realm, but not a single Son of the Human Divine Realm—no allies to be found.

Clearly, any humans Descenders, if there had been any before, had probably been dealt with by them.

“It’s time to accelerate my growth!”

Fortunately, his exceptional talent garnered attention, and they dared not do anything to him within the academy.

Early the next morning, filled with anticipation, he arrived at the classroom; today was the day they would choose their totem models.

Their instructor for the day was a senior professor from the Alchemy College named Bell, who had no relation to the Professor Bell of Star College—just a coincidence in names.

He tapped on the desk and said,

“Before we select the totem models, let me remind you as a matter of routine that each person’s talent is limited, so when choosing a totem model, you should do so according to your own strength. Do not be greedy for power and choose a totem model that exceeds your soul talent. For your benefit, the academy has already conducted a comprehensive assessment of your talents and provided every student with totem models that match your talents. Therefore, we will not offer any totem model beyond your talents. Now, we will distribute the models.”

As he spoke, he pointed at the podium with his staff; two squirrels labored to distribute a stack of booklets one by one.

Soon, Lin Xiao received a booklet with his name already written on it. The first page bore a warning:

“The soul is the pillar of the spirit; the stronger the soul, the stronger the spirit. Be cautious!”

Below was a signature from Griffin, whom he remembered as a predecessor from the school a millennium ago.

Turning the first page, a familiar image appeared before him: the high-level demon, the snake-faced monster.

“Well, aren’t they holding me in high regard?” he said.

Following the introduction of the familiar snake-faced monster, there was a complex framework of totem runes. He looked carefully and counted sixty-six totem runes, meaning this totem model would require sixty-six totem runes to be assembled.

Below the totem model, there were a few lines of annotation explaining how to obtain the demon soul of the snake-faced monster to construct this totem model.

There were primarily three methods, but in reality, only two were viable, as his personal strength certainly wasn’t enough to slay a snake-faced monster, not even with two powerful magic items in hand.

Besides personally slaying the beast, the second method was provided by the school, which not only offered the demon soul of the snake-faced monster but also covered all expenses associated with illuminating the talent tree after its condensation, such as a vast amount of Deity Indwelling Power.

As a top local power, the White Tower had the capability to extract demon souls from the snake-faced monster.

Note, the demon soul provided was only a part of the whole and not to say that killing the snake-faced monster would fully extract its soul, as constructing the totem model didn’t require the complete demon soul.

Of course, you could use the complete demon soul if you wanted and slay the beast, but it would be an act of draining the pond to get all the fish. After used once, there would be none left, and in the Misty Mountain Range, there were not many snake-faced monsters.

In fact, the few snake-faced monsters in the Misty Mountains are now bred. Every time there’s a newcomer with exceptional talent eligible for this, a powerful individual would take some for the purpose.

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If the school were to provide for all expenses, then he would have to pay a significant price.

For instance, serving the sect for a certain number of years, the greater the expenses, the higher the price.

The third method involved sponsorship, where prominent totem master families would back those with exceptional talent. The price was similar—service, or sometimes even more demanding conditions.

Lin Xiao’s choice was simple: opt for the school’s offer and plan to stay there in the future. Anyway, he had no intentions of traveling afar before becoming a Totem Lord.

With this in mind, he opened the second page of the booklet and began reading with great interest.

On his booklet, the lowest-ranking creatures were high-level demons. Perhaps in the eyes of the school, even the least of his talents were sufficient to construct a high-level demon totem model. Flipping further, he also found two super-level demons.

It’s worth mentioning that the demons listed in this booklet were all those the school could provide or had means to obtain. Those beyond reach or unavailable did not appear here.

He had come across these two super-level demons while researching in the library. One was called Lord of the Mountains, depicted as a rock giant lying on the ground resembling rolling mountain ranges, probably spanning over ten kilometers in size.

But this was merely the shell of the Lord of the Mountains. The true Lord was not that large; however, due to its mastery over the Power of Earth, whenever it slumbered underground, rocks and soil would automatically converge towards it, eventually forming a mountain range.

The second super-level demon was named Lord of Storms, illustrated as an irregular form composed of endless lightning, appearing from afar like a sun made of lightning.

This super-level demon lived in the Storm Sea, or rather, the sea area was named the Storm Sea because of its presence.

Such fearsome beings came with a correspondingly fearsome price. Lin Xiao merely glanced at them before he decided to PASS, forgoing the option to choose these two super-level demons as his totem models.

He didn’t concern himself with the extremely high difficulty of having a super-level demon as a totem, nor the strict trials. Actually, he wasn’t afraid of these aspects. The main reason was that if he chose either of these two super-level demons and the school provided the resources, he would have to sign a contract in the name of the world’s will. That was a deal-breaker.

As a Descender, he certainly wouldn’t dare sign such a contract. It would be a sure way for the Totem World’s will to discover him, and the consequences…

Therefore, these two super-level demons were out of the question. He would only be able to choose one of the high-level demons as his totem model. To construct the totem rune model—The Golden Ancient Tree.