The Era of Gods

The runes remained the same, but they had undergone a transformation. Under the empowerment of Creation Energy, they rapidly surpassed the limits of Level 3 and Level 4 runes, advancing towards a higher level.

Outside the dormitory, two men walked up to the door chatting and laughing and stopped at the entrance. One of them looked at the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign hanging on the door and shrugged, saying,

“What a coincidence, Rore is in seclusion again.”

The other turned to the mailbox, checked it, took out a letter, and said with a smile,

“It’s pretty normal, he’s been preparing all last year. Now is the time to see the results of his preparation, hmm, let’s see if he’s intending to go.”

After opening the letter and taking a glance, he waved the envelope and said,

“It looks like he must be preparing to construct a totem rune framework. He’ll be going next month too.”

“With an official Alchemist accompanying, many gains might not go to waste.”

The two men put away the letter, took out a pen and paper to write a simple note which they stuffed into the mailbox, chatting as they walked away.

In the Magic Cube Space, with the fusion of Creation Energy, the few Basic Totem Glyph Scripts selected by Lin Xiao underwent a dramatic change, their effects already surpassing the limits of the highest Level 4 runes he held, and stepping into a higher level.

Take the Strength Glyph Script, for example, a Basic Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by one hundred kilograms.

A First Level Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by two hundred kilograms.

A Level 2 Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by three hundred kilograms.

A Level 3 Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by four hundred kilograms.

A Level 4 Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by six hundred kilograms.

A Fifth Level Strength Glyph Script could increase strength by one thousand kilograms.

Fifth Level is the limit for conventional runes, and those surpassing the Fifth Level are all called Advanced Totem Glyph Scripts, but there isn’t a uniform standard for these Advanced Totem Glyph Scripts. After all, everything beyond Level 5 falls into the advanced category, so the increase varies.

According to Professor Jin, who has spoken privately during gatherers’ meetings of Descenders, he once saw an Advanced Strength Glyph Script that could increase strength by a formidable two thousand kilograms.

Two thousand kilograms equals two tons of strength, and this is already quite frightening, and this is just a totem rune. A Basic Totem Glyph Script framework would have to consist of at least a dozen totem runes, right? If they were all Strength Glyph Scripts, that would be over twenty thousand kilograms of strength.

Imagine a punch condensed with twenty tons of strength and the terrifying power it would unleash.

Breaking through the Fragmented Void is impossible, but it could definitely punch through the frontal armor of a main battle tank with one punch.

And this is merely the strength bestowed by a Basic Totem Glyph Script framework. Once it obtains enough Deity Indwelling Power to induce a transformation and birth a Totem Talent Tree, the foundational attributes given by this Basic Totem Glyph Script framework will increase by more than double on the existing basis.

How many times it strengthens specifically depends on the strength and complexity of the Basic Totem Glyph Script framework. Given that his totem framework is made of all advanced totem runes, the intensity is certainly not lacking.

Meanwhile, inside the Creation Rubik’s Cube, after continuously absorbing a total of sixty units of Creation Energy, the six Basic Totem Glyph Scripts he selected finally reached their enhancement limit; each totem rune could no longer be strengthened after absorbing ten units of Creation Energy.

These six Basic Totem Glyph Scripts were:

Physique, Strength, Speed, Wisdom, Vitality, Regeneration.

He didn’t enhance the other dozens of flashy Basic Totem Glyph Scripts, as they didn’t seem as practical as these.

Once the totem runes solidified, Lin Xiao checked their attributes immediately and revealed a satisfied expression.

Advanced Physique Glyph Script, physique enhanced by one thousand percent.

Advanced Strength Glyph Script, strength enhanced by ten thousand kilograms.

Advanced Speed Glyph Script, speed enhanced by one thousand percent.

Advanced Wisdom Glyph Script, cognitive function and memory enhanced by one thousand percent.

Advanced Vitality Glyph Script, vitality enhanced by one thousand percent.

Advanced Life Regeneration Glyph Script, life regeneration enhanced by one thousand percent.

“Good grief, a clean one thousand percent!”

A normal Fifth Level Physique Glyph Script only provides a three hundred percent increase; his has skyrocketed by more than threefold. Just think how terrifying the combined enhancement would be.

The runes were synthesized, and next up was to construct the totem rune framework. However, choosing which framework to use gave him a dilemma.

There are many kinds of totem frameworks, with the simplest being the minimum standard framework composed of nine runes, and then…

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Let me put it this way, there is no exact standard for the basic totem framework, other than the lowest requirement of nine totem runes. Any combination of more than ten can form a totem framework, as long as you have a standard model and… your soul can bear the burden of more totem runes.

These models are all in the hands of various major powers, and naturally, the academy has them too, and not a few at that. Professor Jin has mentioned this; it is said that the academy once possessed a super totem glyph framework consisting of over a hundred totem runes.

When Professor Jin first explained that more runes in the construction of a basic totem glyph framework would lead to a stronger foundation, everyone was excited. However, after hearing his analysis of the pros and cons, they lost interest.

As per the normal rules, more runes in a basic totem glyph framework indeed make it stronger, since the foundational effects of the runes accumulate to become stronger with more layers.

But as mentioned before, constructing a rune framework in the mind requires a strong soul to support it—the more runes, the stronger the soul needed to bear them.

The models for simply constructing basic totem glyph frameworks are not a secret; the academy has a lot of them. The point is that the large-scale basic glyph frameworks require a high soul-bearing capacity, and almost no one can withstand such a powerful framework.

In this regard, Descenders hold no advantage. The predecessors who used avatar descent had it a bit easier; at least they sent down a good number of Soul of God descents. Even the least bit of the Soul of God is of higher quality than mortals, so they have a significant advantage in this aspect.

But now the newcomers who descend through reincarnation are exactly like the natives of this world, with no advantage whatsoever.

Normally, Lin Xiao would choose a basic totem framework with only a dozen or so glyphs, like everyone else. However, he wasn’t satisfied with that.

And besides, he had his own cheat method.

The Creation Rubik’s Cube!

This treasure was shared with Lin Xiao’s True Body. He wrote his current situation on a piece of paper and put it inside.

Lin Xiao’s True Body, stationed outside the world in the fortress, saw the note appear inside the Creation Rubik’s Cube and smiled slightly. He exchanged a batch of soul crystals capable of strengthening the soul, through his military rank privileges, into the Creation Rubik’s Cube for refining.

In the eyes of Lin Xiao’s Incarnation, a pile of soul crystals appeared out of thin air inside the Magic Cube and were then refined into pure soul crystals.

He was elated and took out the soul crystals to begin strengthening his own soul.

He pressed a soul crystal against his forehead, and it rapidly turned into a misty light that merged into his skull and vanished.

With just one crystal merged, he felt his head swell, and he could clearly perceive the sharp light radiating from his pupils.

“I need to digest this!”

He was well aware that this was because his soul was only of mortal quality, and abrupt strengthening has its limitations. He must pause and rest, allowing his soul to adapt to the enhancement before he could continue to the next step.

That rest lasted nearly half a month, until the sharp light in his pupils gradually faded. Then, he commenced the second integration.

However, just after integrating two soul crystals, he suddenly remembered he seemed to have made an appointment with someone.

But then, he muttered to himself:

“Forget it, I’ll go next time.”

He wrote another letter and left it in the mailbox outside, hung a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, and continued his secluded cultivation.

After that, he would merge some soul crystals at regular intervals, increasing the number he could integrate each time. He could clearly feel the strengthening of his own soul. In the intervals for rest and digestion, he studied the basic totem glyph framework models he had applied to view from the academy, choosing the one that was suitable.

These days were extremely monotonous, but if he wanted to achieve something, he had to endure the loneliness.

Considering the difficulty of descending in this world, it was a rare success, and he had to seize it and make every step count.

As time passed by, alternating between soul strengthening and research, three months swiftly flew by. The team that had invited him to seek Deity Indwelling Power had returned, sixteen had gone, but only eight came back; the others had fallen in battle. This shocked Lin Xiao.

In their first gathering with Professor Jin after their return, he learned the cause from Mor.

It turned out that while they were hunting an exotic beast with Deity Indwelling Power in a forest to the south of the Osa Empire, they encountered a group of Children of Nightmare from another academy on the continent, who were also there to hunt the creature.

There are three places on the continent where one can come into contact with Totem Masters: the Children of the Nightmare, the Son of God realm, and the Child of Spirit Realm. They have an unspoken agreement to each hold one territory.

Whenever they meet, they’ll clash fiercely. This time, fighting to claim this Deity Indwelling Power was inevitable.

As a result, half of their side perished, and the Children of Nightmare lost even more, leading to heavy casualties on both sides.

Fortunately, they managed to acquire the Deity Indwelling Power, barely making up for their losses.

However, due to the great losses, the remaining strength wasn’t enough to hunt other exotic beasts. The Deity Indwelling Power they obtained was insufficient for everyone to share, so they agreed to venture out again next year.

Lin Xiao felt somewhat relieved that he hadn’t gone, doubting whether he would have survived.

After the gathering ended, some people hurried off, but most did not leave immediately. Instead, they stayed behind chatting in small groups about issues like the consolidation of basic glyph frameworks or Deity Indwelling Power.

Aside from a few newcomers, most of the attendees were in the stages of gathering their basic totem glyph frameworks or collecting Deity Indwelling Power. Among them were not a few white-haired old people. These were Descenders who had come long ago and hadn’t died, but either lacked talent or resources to become Totem Master Apprentices.

Lin Xiao listened to their lamentations about the difficulties of obtaining Deity Indwelling Power and how to choose the suitable base rune model; he heard the veterans’ warnings to the newcomers and so on. Lin Xiao also felt hesitant: what if the basic totem glyph framework model he chose to construct was too large?

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