The Era of Gods

Chapter 29: Half-Plane

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Projections of high-level demigods circled the golden platform, with streams of light pouring into the Divine Artifact Platform and transforming into students. Not only was class three of the first year present, but also the other nine classes of the first year all gathered here today.

There were forty-nine students from class three and up to fifty or a few less from other classes, among whom were many outstanding students whose reputation had already outshone their own class.

Yan Renjie, tall and handsome with emerald green eyes as beautiful as gemstones, had inherited his father’s True God bloodline. Like Yuan Hong, he was born with two points of Divinity, but he was even more formidable, consistently ranking in the top three of his grade.

Wan Ying, a petite and adorable girl with a cute and sweet voice and a curvy figure, albeit with a slightly small chest.

This young girl’s maternal clan was formidable, with an ancestor who once reached rank 14 in God Level, just one level short of ascending to a figure with Powerful Divine Power. Even though she was not a direct descendant, she inherited a bit of extra Divinity and an additional transcendent Talent, making her the strongest in the grade in terms of Talent.

Of course, she was also a regular in the top three of the grade.

Being both attractive and talented, if the school were engaged in the mundane task of electing a so-called school beauty as less busy schools do, she would certainly have a place there.

Besides these few exceedingly dazzling geniuses, there were many others just a step behind them in terms of exceptional talents, like Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong from the same class, who were considered the second tier in the entire grade.

A month ago, Lin Xiao was ranked two hundred fifty-two in the entire grade, hovering on the brink of elimination.

Now, well, judging from his surface performance, the teachers’ evaluation, and his classmates’ opinions, he should belong to the third tier, just below Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong, and if everything went as expected, he would definitely advance to the second year, with a chance to join the elite class if he worked hard and was a bit lucky.

Yes, that’s how cheap a genius can be.

Or rather, one would only be considered a genius within a single grade level, not if one were to step into a larger circle.

Lin had heard that at Dongning City First Middle School, there was a true genius with an extra three points of Divinity at birth, plus one more for a total of four points. It was said that he had already condensed a point of Divinity, meeting the minimum requirement of five points for becoming a demigod. If he wanted, he could try to condense his Godhood and become a demigod now, which was simply outrageously strong.

Compared to such a true genius, other so-called geniuses were nothing.

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After a short while, once everyone was present, a mechanical voice devoid of emotion suddenly began:

“The first-round elimination assessment for this term’s First Year final exam is about to start, and the rules have been transmitted. The assessment will begin in a quarter of an hour!”

This was the Artifact Spirit, modeled after the Tower Spirit found in mages’ Mage Towers. The mechanical voice echoed throughout the platform, and a screen popped up in front of everyone, displaying the specific content of the elimination assessment.

Lin Xiao focused and reviewed the rules, nodding his head.

The rules were simple: using the school’s functional Divine Artifact, all students’ Clan projections would be sent into a semi-plane opened up by the Divine Artifact to undergo a test.

Since it was a projection, even if there was great loss or complete annihilation during the test, it would not affect a single hair on the students.

The primary reason for this was that in the ranking phase to follow, all students would directly descend into an Outland plane controlled by the school. This phase was a real test of the students’ strength, and a significant loss during the elimination phase could make it difficult to achieve a good result in the subsequent assessment.

Another reason was that among the many students, at least half, if not more, were destined to be eliminated and expelled from school. Considering the difficult life after expulsion, the school did not wish them to suffer heavy losses just before leaving.

The school specially used the Divine Artifact for a projection-based evaluation, so even in failure, students would preserve their own strengths, without having to start all over after expulsion.

A quarter of an hour passed in a blink, and as the countdown from the Mechanical Organ Spirit began, Lin Xiao glanced at Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong, who were glaring at each other competitively, and smirked inwardly.

3. 3.
4. 2.
5. 1.
6. 0.

Time reset to zero, and Lin Xiao felt a sudden heaviness under his feet as he plummeted into the void. Below was a boundless golden vortex, with nearly a thousand streaks of golden light diving straight into it, rendering him incredibly insignificant.

Inside the vortex, the only thing he could feel was the blinding golden light that made it impossible to keep his eyes open. He closed his eyes and waited in silence, not knowing how long had passed before he felt solid ground beneath his feet. Opening his eyes, he found himself standing in the void, looking down at a semi-plane that was 3 kilometers by 3 kilometers in size.

Looking around, he saw identical semi-planes floating in the distant void, which he guessed were the trial grounds for the other students.

This semi-plane had no water, no plants, just an endless wasteland and scattered stones all over the ground.

“Please choose the military force to deploy.”

A light screen popped up in front of Lin Xiao, prompting him to determine the military force he would commit to this trial.

“Is there even a need to think about it? All of it!”

Brilliant light cascaded from the sky into the semi-plane, revealing the confused faces of more than two thousand Grey Mist Fish-People, along with over five hundred Black Scale Naga, each armed with one or two fine iron short spears.

It had to be said, different races certainly vary; compared to the Grey Mist Fish-People, who were still in shock and confusion, the Black Scale Naga’s adaptability was clearly stronger. They quickly came to their senses, and at the loud calls of a sizable Black Scale Naga, they gathered together.

Upon hearing this call, the many Grey Mist Fish-People also snapped out of their daze, starting to shout and, the braver ones, to run around erratically.

By this point, the Grey Mist Fish-People had harmoniously merged with the Black Scale Naga into one large tribe. Several Black Scale Naga leaders shouted orders, directing some Fish-People to explore the surroundings, while the rest gathered in the center, whispering prayers.

Lin Xiao’s golden figure appeared above the vault of heaven, listening to the prayers of his followers:

“0 Supreme Creator, God of the Nagas and Fish-People…”

Lin Xiao’s divine name had changed over the last decade or so, from the Great Lord of the Grey Mist, the King of the Endless Tide, the Lord of the Seven Seas, to the Supreme Creator, God of the Nagas and Fish-People, which was more fitting to the powers he wielded.

The previous divine names were just fanciful monikers, chosen to add a bit of gravitas so the believers would feel like they were worshipping a truly powerful True God. In reality, he did not even have a priesthood.

One could choose any divine name before becoming a demigod, but once the priesthood was formed and one became a demigod, the divine name could no longer be chosen at will; it had to relate to the established priesthood.

For instance, since Lin Xiao had established the Creator, Naga, and Fish-People priesthoods, he could not continue to be called the Supreme Lord of the Ocean.

Priesthood represents authority; only the authority one holds can be used as a title. If one holds no authority over a certain aspect and adopts a related divine name, the faith of the believers during their prayers will contain beliefs not related to that priesthood.

It’s a minor issue if unrelated faith values are wasted, but the real problem arises from the impact of these unrelated beliefs condensed within the faith value on the priesthood.

Demigods and divine lifeforms are nonetheless different, as they possess no priesthood and hence no impact. However, once they have a priesthood and it is subjected to this kind of impact, the consequences could be mild, like priesthood disorder, or severe, like the erosion of one’s divinity, making the condensed divinity impure and causing a fall in rank or even direct demise.