The Era of Gods

Low-level demons are those below Rank 6 transcendents by human classification.

Middle-level demons are those above Rank 6 transcendents and up to Rank 7.

High-level demons are those above Rank 8 legends and below Rank 10 creatures.

Super-level demons are akin to the existence of True Gods and beyond.

As for fierce beasts, it goes without saying that the beasts of the mortal world are just slightly stronger than wild animals.

As for exotic beasts, they are also demons; it’s just that different places have different names for them.

Beyond that, in this world, there are a few inexplicable entities that cannot be explained by common sense. These mysterious beings have power systems different from those of the Totem Masters of this world. According to the book, they are a type of conceptual existence and their combat style is similar to causality, making them very difficult to deal with.

It might be hard to explain just how bizarre these oddities are, but the book mentions that fifty years ago, a mysterious cabin in the forest appeared in this area. It used to appear randomly in some location every month, and anyone who saw it would, whether passively, actively, or inexplicably, enter the cabin—there were no exceptions.

All who entered the cabin had a fifty-fifty chance of disappearing or emerging as a monster.

For example, over thirty years ago, there was a gambling ghost. Anyone who saw it had to gamble with it, unable to refuse; refusal meant death.

Its power was inexplicably strange, such that even Official Totem Masters would die on the spot if they refused, with no signs or logic to speak of.

There were two outcomes to gambling with it; losing meant accepting punishment, and the types of punishment varied greatly. Death was just one of them, but the most terrifying ones involved all sorts of creepy penalties, such as men becoming women, women becoming men, switching souls with monsters, or growing an anus in place of a mouth—just to list a few of the bizarre possibilities.

It’s extremely difficult to kill these oddities because until now, even the Totem Masters of this world don’t understand what these things really are. At least, the book he read doesn’t explain how to kill these oddities, nor does it mention any examples of such an occurrence. There is, however, a description of a disaster.

A thousand years ago, a Grand Totem Master School with a seven-star comprehensive strength rating suddenly had an oddity emerge nearby. It started as an area less than a hundred square meters obscured by mist, from which no creature that entered could escape. The mist neither expanded nor moved, staying in place.

But there’s a saying that’s quite apt: “No one can sleep soundly by the side of a collapsing bed.” Believing in their formidable strength, the head of the Grand Totem Master School and several Totem Lords attacked the mist with a Sect-controlling Magic Weapon.

The result was that the mist, which had remained still for more than a decade, suddenly expanded. In just a few minutes, it formed a massive mist covering thousands of kilometers, engulfing the entire school.

One year later, after the mist dissolved, only a Totem Master akin to a True God emerged with the damaged Sect-controlling Magic Weapon. Other than him, the entire school had vanished, including not just the people but also all the buildings. Where the school once stood, nothing remained but an empty foundation.

There are not many such examples, but also not few, and the outcomes are mostly failures.

The reason it’s said to be mostly, rather than all, is because oddities are not completely invincible—they can be destroyed.

For instance, the most recent recorded case a few hundred years ago involved a Totem Master who fell into an oddity. When everyone thought he was surely doomed, he actually succeeded in destroying it. After emerging, his strength appeared to have soared; he was soon promoted to Totem Lord, and is now one of the dominators of the Totem World.

No one knows what the Totem Master used to destroy an oddity that could potentially kill even the totem dominators, nor what sort of benefits he obtained from doing so.

Indeed, rare records show that anyone who destroys an oddity achieves extraordinary accomplishments. Everybody knows that by destroying one, or simply by surviving and escaping from an oddity, tremendous benefits can be gained that go beyond imagination. However, the extremely high death rate prevents people from contemplating this. At least both the book records and the teachers sternly warn to stay far away from oddities.

“Tsk, tsk. That’s truly frightening. I need to ask around about how odd these oddities are and whether there are any near here.”

As he closed the book, he walked out of the library contemplating this.

Just as he reached the entrance, he sensed something, looked up, and saw a middle-aged man in a professor’s white robe walking in. His expression quickly turned solemn as he lowered his head and stepped aside.

The middle-aged man stood still, watching him for a moment, and then stepped inside. As he brushed past him, he heard a voice in his ear:

“Kid, you won’t live long!”

Lin Xiao’s mouth twitched slightly. After stepping out of the White Tower and standing at the entrance for a while, he turned back with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes:

“Who kills whom remains to be seen.”

After mumbling to himself, he pressed on his temples again.

An Official Totem Master from the Spirit Realm is indeed troublesome, and with no one to help here, he’s already discovered five or six Children of the Spirit Realm in the White Tower, but has not seen a single Son of the Human Divine Realm, not even an ally.

It’s obvious that even if there had been human Descenders here before, they’ve probably been dealt with by them.

“I need to speed up my growth!”

Fortunately, his talent was exceptional and he received considerable attention. Within the college, they dared not do anything to him.

The next morning, he arrived at the classroom full of anticipation. Today was the day they would choose their Totem Models.

The lesson today was conducted by a senior professor from the Alchemy College, named Bell, who had no relation to Professor Bell of the Star College; they simply shared the same name.

He knocked on the desk and said,

“Before choosing a Totem Model, let me remind you routinely that personal talent is limited, so choose a Totem Model that matches your capabilities. Don’t be greedy for power and select a Totem Model that surpasses your Soul Talent. For your consideration, the college has already conducted a comprehensive assessment of your talents. The Totem Models made available to each of you have been determined based on your talents, and you will not be offered any that exceed your talents. Now, let’s distribute the models.”

He gestured with his cane toward the podium, and two squirrels struggled 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 carried a warning:

“The soul is the support of the mind. As strong as the soul is, so is the mind. Be cautious!”

Beneath it was a signature from Griffin, whom he remembered as a predecessor from the school a thousand years ago.

Upon turning the first page, a familiar image appeared before him—the High-level Demon, Snake-faced monster.

“Wow, they really think highly of me?”

Following the introduction of the familiar Snake-faced monster was a complex framework of Totem Runes. He examined it closely, a total of sixty-six Totem Runes, meaning that the model required sixty-six Totem Runes to be constructed.

Below the Totem Model were a few lines of annotations, explaining how to obtain the Demon Soul of the Snake-faced monster to build the model.

There were mainly three methods, but in reality, there were only two, as his personal strength definitely wouldn’t allow him to kill a Snake-faced monster, even if he wielded two powerful Magic Items.

Apart from personally killing one, the second method was provision by the school, which not only provided the Snake-faced monster’s Demon Soul but also included all the expenses for condensing the Talent Tree and activating the talents afterward, such as a large amount of Deity Indwelling Power.

As the top local sect, the White Tower had the strength to extract Demon Souls from the Snake-faced monster.

Note, the Demon Soul provided is only a part of one, it does not mean killing a Snake-faced monster to extract its entire Soul. A complete Demon Soul is not necessary for constructing a Totem Model.

Of course, you can use a complete Demon Soul if you wish, and it’s fine to kill as well, but this is a short-sighted approach. Once used, there won’t be any left, and there are not many Snake-faced monsters in the Misty Mountains.

In fact, the few Snake-faced monsters in the Misty Mountains are currently domesticated, and whenever there is a newcomer with excellent talent qualified to use it, a strong individual will retrieve some for them.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If the school directly provides all the resources, he must pay a heavy price.

For example, serving the school for a number of years, with higher costs leading to a greater price to pay.

The second method is through sponsorship; some major Totem Master families would fund those with exceptional talent, with the price being service as well, or sometimes it can be more demanding.

Lin Xiao’s choice was simple: accept the school’s provision and plan to stay with the school in the future since he had no intention of long-distance travel before becoming a Totem Lord.

With this mindset, he eagerly turned to the second page of the booklet.

The lowest model listed in his booklet was a High-level Demon, which possibly meant that even his least talent was considered enough by the school to construct High-level Demon Totem Models. Flipping to the back, he also discovered two Super-level Demons.

Worth mentioning is that all the demons in this booklet were ones the school could provide or had a way of acquiring; those impossible to obtain or nonexistent would not appear here.

Among the two Super-level Demons, which he had read about in the library before, one was called Lord of the Mountains, depicted as a rock Giant Beast lying on the ground, resembling a range of rolling mountains, possibly several kilometers wide.

However, that was just the outer shell of the Lord of the Mountains; the actual being was not very large. But with its mastery over the Power of Earth, during hibernation underground, rocks and soil would automatically converge upon it, eventually forming a range of mountains.

The other Super-level Demon was called Lord of Storms, illustrated as an unstructured shape composed of endless Lightning, from afar resembling a sun made of lightning.

This Super-level Demon lived in the Storm Sea, or rather, that area of sea was named Storm Sea due to its presence.

With such terrifying beings, the price to pay was naturally daunting. Lin Xiao glanced at them briefly and decided to pass, giving up the choice of these two Super-level Demons as his Totem Model.

Not to mention the extremely difficult task of adopting a Super-level Demon as a totem and the stringent tests, he wasn’t really afraid of these challenges. The main issue was that selecting one of these two Super-level Demons and relying on the school for resources would necessitate signing a contract in the name of the world’s will, which he definitely couldn’t manage.

As a Descender, he definitely dared not sign such a contract, as it would most assuredly be detected by the will of the Totem World and the consequences…

Therefore, thinking about these two Super-level Demons was pointless; he could only choose a High-level one.