The Era of Gods

Lin Xiao didn’t pay much attention to who this big shot was; as long as the goods were genuine, that was all that mattered.

Following which, under the guidance of this mysterious benefactor, he was given a tour of this tiny Crystal Wall Universe.

The main plane of this universe was located in the center, actually a bit smaller than the average-sized large planes. Nonetheless, being the largest within this Crystal Wall Universe and at its core, it was dubbed the main plane. In addition to this, there were seventeen assorted small planes surrounding the main plane, with hundreds of very tiny demi-planes clinging to the edges of the Plane Crystal Wall.

Perhaps because the mysterious big shot had been managing it for quite some time, the main plane was already thriving with intelligent life. Besides the natives, a kind of subterranean Insect People, Humans, who had migrated here, held sway over the main world.

This was a positive aspect.

Apart from Humans, there were no Other Races in the main plane, but inhabiting the other various small planes were the typical Dwarves, Beastmen, Elves, and a large number of Warcraft. There were quite a few Dragons as well, all living within a small plane, totaling about a hundred or so.

In the main plane, because Humans were newcomers, they were locked in perpetual war with the native Insect People dwelling underground. With the interference of the mysterious big shot, neither side could gain the upper hand or annihilate the other.

Lin Xiao understood this approach; he would have done the same.

Beyond having an opponent to keep the Humans growing, if a Crystal Wall Universe wants to expand, it must sustain ample creatures and a complex ecosystem to generate more Crystal Wall Origin.

The civilization of this world’s Humans had developed magic technology which, under the push of the mysterious big shot, had made quite impressive progress. Looking down from the Vault of Heaven, one could see modern-styled cities scattered throughout the plane, with Magic Airships flying in the sky and dazzling magic pillars shooting up wherever Mages gathered, resembling mighty magical constructs like Mage Towers.

The elite army was armed to the teeth, equipped with Magic Cannons and Mage teams, making the native underground Insect People no match for them. However, for the time being, Humans couldn’t quite deal with the Insects deeply hidden underground.

At this moment, within this world, the mysterious big shot’s identity was that of a Creator God, silently controlling the civilization’s development within this Crystal Wall Universe from behind the scenes. If Lin Xiao were to trade with Him and acquire this universe, he could then decide whether to continue harvesting the Power of Faith and Crystal Wall Origin as a puppet master or step out from the shadows to take active control of the world’s historical progress.

Due to the restrictions placed by the mysterious big shot, there were yet no True Gods in this world; the way to Divine Enthronement was blocked. Being a Demigod was the limit, and these Demigods had been manipulated to become His subordinates to stabilize this world.

If the trade were completed, with Lin Xiao’s power, he wouldn’t be able to suppress the world’s progress, and the Divine Enthronement restriction would undoubtedly be broken. Thus, he must and could only take to the stage, claiming the faith exclusively for himself.

Once the trade was finalized, Lin Xiao would have the other party take all the Demigods away, leaving the most powerful Legends who were still some distance from reaching Demigod status. He would have time to resolve this issue.

And Lin Xiao already had a solution in mind, a permanent one at that.

This was a wild idea that struck him the moment he saw the contents on the price list.

Yes, this idea was positively insane, probably unimaginable to anyone else.

He wouldn’t continue shepherding and harvesting faith as the mysterious big shot had done; instead…

His sights were set not on the Power of Faith and Crystal Wall Origin of this world, but on devouring the entire Crystal Wall System.

That’s right, he intended to devour the entire Crystal Wall System.

After learning about this Crystal Wall, an uncontrollable thought emerged in his mind: Might he be able to use the authority granted by the Lord of the Crystal Wall System, with the nascent Gaia Will as a medium, to gradually devour the Crystal Wall’s essence, its Basic Underlying Laws, and the entire Crystal Wall with the Creation Rubik’s Cube?

This wild idea came from the Crystal Wall Origin Core Shell that had already merged with his Soul. This Crystal Wall Shell’s predecessor had ended up in such a state because its Origin had been devoured by other universe’s wills. What would happen if he could find a way to fully restore it?

The Crystal Wall Origin Core Shell was here. Its internal Basic Underlying Laws network had been remodeled, indicating that it could be repaired through a reverse-engineering process. This gave rise to his crazy notion.

Gathering Source Strength for repairs was too slow. What about directly devouring a Crystal Wall System?

Perhaps this tiny Crystal Wall System wasn’t powerful enough, and even being fully devoured might not be enough to make a complete repair, but at the very least, it could restore a part of its power.

Just think, even if the Shell only regained a part of its power, it would be terrifyingly formidable, and his own strength would surge madly to an unfathomable extent. The mere thought was horrifying yet highly anticipated.

So his method was just that simple—he directly devoured the Crystal Wall Universe.

As for the beings in this universe, there was no need to worry. Devouring a Crystal Wall Universe was a time-consuming mega project, which, even with the assistance of the Creation Rubik’s Cube, was estimated to take several hundred to a thousand years. Considering the time flow rate between this world and the Main World, he doubted he’d finish this grand undertaking even by the time of his college graduation.

During this lengthy period, there would be more than enough time for him to conquer a different domain and migrate all the beings of that plane over.

As for whether this would cause a massive loss of life, that was beyond his concern.

As the saying goes, the general achieves greatness over a mountain of bones; the birth of every True God is accompanied by death and slaughter. On the path to plundering resources and strength, countless beings would perish. Considering he was able to relocate the majority, he was already being generous. There were times when colder hearts would have turned a blind eye, leaving them to their own fate.

Before then, before the consumption of the Origin of the Crystal Wall had a significant impact on this world, he estimated he had several hundred years. During this time, it was impossible to do nothing. Lin Xiao already had a plan. He intended to bring his parents over, to let them replace him as the unifying force of faith for all intelligent life in the universe, to ensure their Divine Enthronement in this world before it was devoured.

With the hundreds to thousands of years it would take to devour this universe, the massive influx of the Power of Faith could not go to waste. He couldn’t possibly stay here the entire time, and it so happened that his parents had yet to achieve Godhood.

As the saying goes, when one man attains the Dao, his chickens and dogs rise to heaven. Although he had not attained the Dao, he had nonetheless made a name for himself, and his parents had treated him very well. His mother doted on him immensely. Assisting his parents in achieving Godhood was his duty.

As for the other members of his clan, that was a discussion for another time. After his parents had used the Power of Faith from the ten-plus large and small planes within this Crystal Wall Universe to achieve Godhood, perhaps he would consider distributing some of it if there were leftovers.

After eating the biggest piece of the pie, sharing the scraps was no harm.

Although most of his cousins lacked talent and would not achieve greatness, they were still capable of maintaining what they had.

In this era, there were generally two ways to establish a major power in the Main World: either create a College or build a Clan.

For smaller forces, the options were unlimited. It could be an adventurers’ team, a finance group, a company, or establishing a faction within a larger power, among other choices.

Starting a College was too demanding, and Lin Xiao had no interest in it. Building a Clan, on the other hand, was simple. All he had to do was support his own kind.

Thinking this, Lin Xiao decided to go home as soon as the deal was done and he had handed over everything. He didn’t even have to take the college entrance exams, and since it was almost vacation time, it was the perfect opportunity to discuss this with his parents and have them relocate.

The transaction was witnessed by Commander Xie Tianyan. He and Lin Xiao toured the entire Crystal Wall Universe together. Besides the main plane, they visited the other seventeen large and small planes, including the Under World of the Native Insect People, documenting them all. Then they communicated with the Gaia Will to transfer that authority.

The trade went smoothly, for the authority belonged to him, and since the Gaia Will didn’t have an independent will, it couldn’t and wouldn’t interfere as long as both parties agreed.

Moreover, with Commander Xie Tianyan witnessing the entire process, no one dared to commit any fraud or pull any tricks.

This mysterious benefactor might possess Super Divine Power comparable to Commander Xie, but in terms of authoritarian influence, he certainly did not match up to the big shot who controlled a military zone. It was unlikely he would engage in any underhanded dealings once he obtained what he needed.

After the transaction was completed, Lin Xiao received a Chaotic Mud Board from the mysterious donor. This Divine Artifact was specially forged by the donor, imitating the God’s Artifact: Mud Plate of Fate from the Toriel Multiverse. It possessed the ability to control the yet-to-be-born Crystal Wall Will of this universe. With this Divine Artifact, one could control the world and suppress any powerful being born from this world.

The Supreme God of the Toriel Multiverse, His Majesty Ao, wielded the Destiny Clay Tablet, possessing terrifying authority to grant Godhood or strip it away with a word, an authority that even Powerful Divine Power could not evade. His might was supremely terrifying.

The mysterious benefactor fashioned the Divine Artifact known as the Chaotic Mud Board with this very purpose. In the future, if this Crystal Wall Universe developed sufficiently and plundered enough resources and Origin Strength for the world to ascend, the donor would use the power of ascension to step into the realm of Great Divine Power. Then, like His Majesty Ao of the Toriel Multiverse, he could control the gods of the world.

And now, this Divine Artifact belonged to Lin Xiao. With it, he became the de facto ruler of this Crystal Wall Universe.

Holding the Chaotic Mud Board, he could exercise some of the authority of the Lord of the Crystal Wall System within this universe, such as Divine Enthronement…

The prerequisite was having enough Divine Power and Divinity to back it up.

Lin Xiao then spent five years in the Crystal Wall Universe, most of which was spent understanding the internal details of the world and receiving the influence and control of the super covert Array left behind by the mysterious donor, which was located outside the Crystal Wall.

Although small, this Crystal Wall Universe was exceedingly valuable. Without this hidden Array, it would have been exposed for any passing strong being to detect anomalies in this universe by simply projecting a bit of their will into it.

As for the influence left by the mysterious benefactor, it was actually the largest neutral organization in this world