The Era of Gods

Chapter 258: Fusion Griffin Archer

Feeling wonderful all the way back to the dormitory, he had just entered when he received an encrypted message from the class adviser, which indicated that it would automatically delete itself after being read. He lightly touched his finger to the screen, and an image unfolded before his eyes.

Compared to the information obtained from his girlfriend, the information provided by Jin Sisi was more complete concerning the ‘ Ruins of Myriad,’ and it was very specific.

Firstly, this event posed certain risks, whether for individuals or Clans.

For individuals, one could choose between True-Body Descend and Avatar Descend, the meanings of which were self-explanatory.

These two modes highlighted two key points, one being strength. True-Body Descend was naturally stronger since the true body itself descended.

The second key point…

But before discussing that, let’s talk about the game mode.

Yes, the participation mode of the Ruins of Myriad was akin to a game, where all participants had to project themselves onto an unknown plane. Each person initially possessed a Level o Summoning Core, akin to a game with a population cap, within which one can summon Clans to descend on the current plane for combat, explore and collect resources to summon Clans, defeat the monsters in the ruins to obtain treasures, and eliminate other competitors.

Like in certain games, all Clans used different amounts of population according to their strength and size.

To put it simply, a Small Fishman would only take up one population slot, so a hundred population slots could summon a hundred of them.

But for Dwarves, they would take up two population slots, so a hundred population slots could only summon fifty of them.

If it were Naga Shooters, they could directly take up four or five, or even more population slots. If it were a Black Dragon, it might directly consume forty or fifty population slots.

The Clans that were summoned were in their true bodies. Therefore, if they died in battle, they were truly dead.

However, there was a chance to obtain Soldier Cards by killing monsters in the ruins or from treasure chests, which could activate the summoning of different soldier types for battle. Furthermore, there was a very small chance of obtaining various kinds of creatures’ Nest cards, which, when loaded into the Summoning Core, could summon various kinds of soldiers.

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If one felt the risk was too great, one could choose not to summon Clans and instead summon various Soldier Cards to fight.

However, whether it’s Soldier Cards or Nest cards, the creatures summoned are similar to puppets, almost lacking intelligence, and can only execute some simple operations and commands. Their combat power is also fixed, and there are no strong soldier types; most are lower-level creatures and nests. The high-level ones are not only extremely rare but are also guarded by incredibly powerful creatures. They aren’t easy to obtain and usually are not as effective as Clans.

The downside is plentiful, but there is one advantage: if they die, it’s not painful, and they can be used as cannon fodder.

After reviewing the information, a familiar memory swiftly surfaced in Lin Xiao’s mind—wasn’t this similar to a game called ‘Heroes of Might and Magic’ he used to play before he crossed over?

Continuing with the reading, we return to the second key point of the descent mode. Because the game rules are similar to Heroes of Might and Magic, as a player descending, you automatically gain a hero’s identity.

The hero templates received from True-Body Descend and Avatar Descend are different.

According to game rule settings, Divine Territory players who descend in their true bodies get one point of strategy property free to distribute to constitution, strength, agility, and intelligence—the four major strategic properties for each point of Divinity, and this can augment all their Clans.

For example, with Lin Xiao’s twenty points of Divinity, that’s equivalent to twenty points of strategy property. If he allocates ten points to strength, then all his subordinates will receive a strength boost of +10, akin to an augmentation from a top-tier Ancient Treasure.

Isn’t that frightening?

With formidable innate abilities, plus the terrifying hero augmentation, if a master like him descended in his true body, he would be virtually unstoppable in the early stages, effortlessly leading a force of cannon fodder to a sweeping victory, quickly amassing enough resources to gather a powerful army to gain a significant advantage.

But in doing so, one must bear the risk of True-Body Descend.

As mentioned before, this game involves risks, including the elimination of other participants. Since it’s a True-Body Descend, if you are killed in the game by powerful monsters or native heroes, or slain by other players, it results in true death.

If you opt for Avatar Descend instead of True-Body Descend, you naturally won’t have the terrifying strength and strategy property augmentation of the true body.

The strength of the incarnation is whatever it is, and the strategic properties can only be calculated based on the Divinity Level of the true body. Whatever the Divinity Level of the true body, that’s how many initial points of strategy property you have.

This is why the class adviser had previously urged him to raise his Divinity Level to Rank 4 before the midterm examination—to prepare him for Avatar Descend.

Considering this, Lin Xiao realized that he still had eight points of Divinity left. According to the rule that after twenty points of Divinity are needed, refining ten points of Divinity would convert to one point of Rank 4 Divinity, he was missing two points of Divinity.

“I’ll exchange for two points with the class adviser later!”

He was not yet sure whether he would choose True-Body Descend or Avatar Descend, but gathering a full Rank 4 Divinity was definitely the right move.

The information given to him by Jin Sisi was extremely detailed, covering almost all the data for this midterm examination.

Beyond the game rules information, what caught Lin Xiao’s attention most was the data on the participants who would be joining the opening of the Ruins of Myriad.

As a grand opportunity that the entire Main World is well-aware of, the participants are not limited to just the ten students from Brilliant College but also include many schools from the four major powers of the Main World, as well as the descendants of top powerhouses and Clans. According to the statistics of previous sessions, the number of participants usually ranged from twenty to thirty thousand, with some even reaching fifty to sixty thousand, encompassing all four major forces.

Therefore, to stand out in such a situation, one must possess extraordinary strength, extraordinary luck, and a ruthless heart.

When competing with students from other powers, one cannot afford to be merciful, and must strike when necessary, even if the opponent is a True-Body Descend.

Within the Ruins of Myriad, bloodshed is allowed, as is killing your opponents outright.

After finishing reading the document and flipping the last page, the document automatically disappeared.

Lin Xiao sat in his chair, leaning his head against the backrest and gazing at the ceiling as he fell into deep thought—should he enter as a True-Body Descend, or a Projection Descending?

The data that had just automatically deleted itself contained detailed information about the Treasures of Myriad. According to the document, the Divine Treasure of Myriad could be ignored, as even his homeroom teacher didn’t suggest he go for it; instead, she suggested he should at least seize one of the Treasures of Myriad and, if possible, one of the All-Embracing Mysterious Storehouses.

Tens of thousands competing for treasures that don’t even total a hundred— the difficulty…

This was precisely the dilemma Lin Xiao agonized over—should he take that risk?

With his current strength, a Projection Descending would have no advantage, but as a True-Body Descend, he would have enough of an advantage to make it to the end, provided he seized opportunities to grow swiftly in the early stages and thereby increase his chances of seizing a treasure later on.

But the risk was far greater. As a True-Body Descend, and especially one with a good chance of obtaining a treasure, he would undoubtedly become the target of a collective attack.

Common Projection Descendings were no match for him, but if there were enough of them, that could be troublesome.

After much hesitation and an inability to make up his mind, he contacted his homeroom teacher for advice, and the answer he got left him speechless.

She didn’t give him advice, but instead presented him with a set of data:

“The session before the last but one, there were over forty thousand contestants, of whom more than two thousand one hundred were True-Body Descends, and in the end, less than a hundred survived.”

“The last but one session had over thirty thousand contestants, of which one thousand six hundred fifty-five were True-Body Descends, and in the end, less than a hundred survived.”

“The previous session had over thirty-five thousand contestants, of which more than one thousand three hundred were True-Body Descends, and in the end, fewer than fifty survived.”

These three sets of data, counting both the larger and smaller participant numbers, had survival rates wherein the highest did not exceed one hundred, and the lowest less than fifty, which can be considered extremely low probabilities.

But what really made Lin Xiao resolve himself were examples from every session where prodigies from the secondary rankings perished. In particular, two prodigies from the secondary rankings died in the session five sessions ago, and in total, more than forty top talents from both the exceptional and notable secondary rankings succumbed.

As analyzed by some, everyone has a dark side to their psychology. Those who are ranked among the prodigy secondary rankings and the super-talents from both the exceptional and notable lists naturally become targets for jealousy. Projections Descending could still be tolerated, as they could not offend a True Body, but if it’s a True-Body Descend…

The data proved that prodigy-level powerhouses who were True-Body Descends had met the most tragic ends.

This set of data poured over him like a bucket of cold water, thoroughly extinguishing the little impulse he harbored in his heart.

With no other choice, he had to honestly exchange the last two Mythical Quality Five Star Cards from Jin Sisi for two points of Divinity, using the Creation Magic Cube to erase the remnants of willpower. Now, with only a few days left before the midterm, he didn’t have time to refine it slowly by himself.

When the last bit of Divinity was refined, ten points of Divinity merged into one, and within his Sea of Gods, it condensed into his twenty-first point of Divinity, which was also his first point of Rank 4 Divinity.

When he had accomplished that, his Divinity finally matched Wu Zhonglin’s, narrowing the gap between them in this aspect.

Two days later, while in the Divine Realm and gathering Divinity with his own Divine Power, Lin Xiao received a message from his homeroom teacher, telling him to be ready to gather in the afternoon and prepare to depart.

This departure didn’t mean going somewhere else, but rather was about preparing to cast a projection and descend with the teacher into a certain Super War Fortress in Subspace, then head to the Crystal Wall System where the Ruins of Myriad were located; there was no need for his True Body to stir.

This was very convenient because Brilliant College was within a Super Large God Country and could use the strength of the God Country to project them directly into a certain Super Void Fortress in Subspace, from which they would transit to the Crystal Wall System where the Ruins of Myriad were.

When Lin Xiao’s consciousness traversed countless billions of kilometers of Void and appeared inside Super Void Fortress Yan Huang Number Two, he opened his eyes to discover he was directly in a room aboard aVoid Ship, seated in a chair facing a round table, with a dozen familiar and unfamiliar young men and women gathered around the table.

As he exchanged a smile with Shen Yuexin, who was conveniently seated next to him, he quietly stretched out his hand beneath the table. She shyly extended her soft hand for him to hold.

“Hmph!”

An all-too-familiar snort rang in his ears, startling him and causing him to momentarily lose focus. Upon recovering, the soft hand in his grasp had disappeared, and his little aunt was now sitting demurely with her hands tucked in her lap, still as a statue.