The Era of Gods

Chapter 343: Standard Hero Profession Template

And at this moment, Lin Xiao hadn’t stopped to rest; instead, he was captivated by a group of peculiar species that occupied the ocean bed in the pitch-black depths of the Black Sea.

These were no monsters but a native species that lived in this world, akin to Other Races like Kobolds and Fishmen in other worlds.

They looked…

They had no specific shape, because, like jellyfish, their bodies were transparent, but they could freely change their forms, meaning they could transform into any creature they had encountered,

Moreover, these creatures could exist independently or gather a large number of their kin to form a powerful collective consciousness.

Before Lin Xiao’s arrival, these beings lived as independent entities at the bottom of a sea trench, but as his massive body swept over the sea valley, these little fellows swiftly congregated into a super-large, jelly-like life form even bigger than him.

Driven by curiosity, Lin Xiao tore the creature apart and observed it carefully, also specifically collecting a small portion to store in the Divine Realm.

He had no other intention—it was simply to enrich the genetic library.

All Nightmare Creatures from the five slain Children of Nightmare were driven into the Main Divine Realm before Lin Xiao; most were killed, a few were imprisoned in the Netherworld, and their corpses were completely digested by newly planted Flesh Seed, storing the genes in the genetic library of the Flesh Tree spawned by the Flesh Seed.

The genes this thing possessed were very interesting and had research and storage value.

After that, Lin Xiao no longer focused solely on hurrying along and began to wander the sea floor, specifically looking for interesting monsters or species.

With the strength of his Body of Evil God, he could go nearly anywhere in this world; with such a great advantage, of course, he’d put it to use.

After all, the destruction of the Nightmare nodes wasn’t a rush job; taking his time was fine.

Two days later, Xiong Chu Mo’s warship reached a deep-sea area. A beautiful girl with a ponytail, who looked smart and capable, stood at the bow, feeling puzzled as she gazed out to sea and then at the luminous orb in her hand that kept lighting up; she slowly lowered her head to peer into the pitch-dark ocean and exclaimed in surprise,

“Could it be on the ocean floor?”

Another girl standing beside her also wondered aloud,

“How is that possible? The ocean floor is so dangerous, how can Lin Xiao junior stay down there?”

Their teammates were all senior high school students from Shining High School Department; this time, seniors from the first and second high schools of Shining High who had come were divided into four teams. She was on the third team, with members who were her companions during ordinary times.

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Another teammate, a male student with glasses, adjusted his specialized glasses that could block mental powers transmitted through the eyes and said,

“Normally, it would be impossible, but don’t forget about Wu Zhonglin of the War Throne, that Dragon Emperor. He transformed into a dragon and managed to survive in this dangerous world. Our junior Lin Xiao might also possess such ability to shape-shift into a powerful aquatic creature.”

The other companions nodded, agreeing that this speculation made sense.

However, the problem now was that Xiong Chu Mo, with her hands spread, asked,

“If he’s under the sea, how do we find him? How do we communicate with him?”

“About that…”

The team hesitated, and after a moment, someone said,

“Let’s just wait, stay on the ocean’s surface at the coordinates of junior Lin Xiao’s location. He can’t possibly stay at the bottom forever, he will surface eventually, and as soon as he comes up, he will know we’re here.”

“That’s… alright!”

It was the only way.

In the pitch-black ocean depths, Lin Xiao used a tentacle to pick up a strange creature as long as hundreds of meters with tendrils all over its body, resembling a sea cucumber. He used his fingernail to pry open the creature’s spirally inward contracted layers of sharp teeth. Like a hose, he turned its body inside out to reveal an interior meat pillar that resembled a tongue, highly elastic and retractable.

The flesh at the tip of this meat pillar was tough and peculiar, able to morph into various kinds of fish or any other creatures it had seen. It used this ability to lure other beings from its mouth, mimicking prey. Once they bit, they’d get hooked and dragged back into its maw.

Impressed by its unique physiological structure, Lin Xiao couldn’t help but smack his lips, marveling at the strangeness of the creatures in this world.

Such bizarre creatures were found everywhere on the ocean floor, with abilities so varied that it was astonishing.

Of course, the more of these excellent creatures he found, the better; no matter their kind, he would collect a sample for storage.

With his growing mastery over the Creation Law, even without the Creation Rubik’s Cube, he could begin to attempt to create life on his own. The more types of creatures he understood and the broader his outlook was, the more perfect the species he created would be.

He roamed aimlessly for who knows how long, and one day, he suddenly picked up the Star Chart and realized that he had unwittingly strayed from his path and come close to another Nightmare node.

Above the sea, Xiong Chu Mo was looking at the distance with an expression of speechlessness. According to her sensation, Lin Xiao was now over a hundred kilometers away from her, but she did not dare to approach any further because if she went on, she would be entering the patrol range of a Nightmare node.

Although she was a prodigy ranked among the elite on the Hero sub-list, she did not believe she could infiltrate a Nightmare node and come out unscathed. If she went any closer, and any of the Children of Nightmare who might appear nearby discovered her, she could be surrounded and killed by the Nightmare Creatures in minutes.

Thankfully, no matter the time, it was always night in this world. As long as the lights were off, even if a ship passed within a kilometer, it wouldn’t spot them.

At that moment, someone suggested,

“Senior sister Xiong Chu Mo, let’s retreat a bit and observe from a distance for now. Maybe he’s just passing by nearby.”

“What maybe, it’s definitely the case,”

another team member laughed,

“Do you really think he would dare to assault this Nightmare node? Stop joking around.”

Laughter filled the room, and Xiong Chu Mo spread her hands as she said:

“Then let’s change course, find a safe place to wait and see where he heads…”

Before she finished speaking, nearly ten kilometers away, the sea suddenly bulged upwards, and she stopped speaking with her mouth slightly ajar in surprise.

“Is it here?”

Lin Xiao felt the familiar Nightmare Power growing closer and closer. Less than a hundred kilometers ahead, he sensed a very strong will of Nightmare as well as numerous weaker wills. Without mistake, it should be a Nightmare node.

The vast True Body slowly broke through the water’s surface. Lin Xiao suddenly paused and slowly turned his head to look at a super large battleship about ten kilometers away, scrambling to escape.

“?”

“Run fast, it’s found us.”

There was chaos aboard the ship. The Sons of the Divine Realm, who had just been confused, now felt truly panicked, urging the warship to flee in a frenzied hurry:

“Faster, it’s looking our way!”

“Don’t rush me, this is already the fastest speed. The steam boiler is already overtaxed.”

“Damn it, it’s moving, heading right toward us.”

The voices speaking were trembling:

“Senior sister, what do we do? Retreat now?”

Xiong Chu Mo bit her red lips, unable to look directly at that enormous, unfathomable presence, catching only fleeting glimpses with her peripheral vision, but even so, the blinding Aura it emitted caused her immense discomfort.

At this moment, an internal struggle waged within her as she rapidly considered her options.

But no matter how much she thought, there was no solution. The creature was too terrifying, utterly unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao could now see clearly the figures on the ship, especially that youthful and beautiful girl standing at the bow—wasn’t that Senior sister Xiong Chu Mo?

It was rare to see an acquaintance in this world, so he was quite pleased and immediately raised his hand to greet her.

However, as he lifted his hand, what appeared to the people on the ship was an enormous tentacle, hundreds of meters in diameter and thousands of kilometers long, rising from the sea and sweeping toward the warship.

“It’s over!”

Everyone looked toward Xiong Chu Mo. The girl took a deep breath and shouted:

“Retreat immediately!”

As her words fell, a radiant light rose, enveloping all the Children of Nightmare, with the surrounding space rapidly distorting.

“Senior sister, Senior Chu Mo, I am…???”

Lin Xiao, with a dumbfounded expression, watched as the equally puzzled and regretful Senior sister Xiong Chu Mo vanished into light, his raised tentacle frozen mid-air, motionless.

After a long while, he stiffly looked up at his own tentacle, which was wider than the warship had been wide, and at his mountainous body, and suddenly everything became clear to him.

“Damn it!”

At this moment, he really wanted to compose a poem to express his “Damn it” feeling…

“Upon first seeing the senior sister my heart leaps, yet alas the brother isn’t human, if only time could reverse, secret codes I’d set with senior sister…”

“Truly freaking speechless!”

Lin Xiao hung his head in dejection for a long time before he gathered his spirits, turning his head towards the island lit with twinkling lights in the distance, where a pitch-black column of light, almost as wide as his own body, stood tall at the center of the island. A continuous flow of Nightmare Power mixed with Nightmare World’s unique Rules poured into this world, gradually changing this world.

At the same time, this Sky-reaching Light Pillar also served as a gateway for the Children of Nightmare. The eight major Nightmare nodes were like eight paths, essentially the eight arrival points for the Children of Nightmare in this world.

Destroying one would diminish the Nightmare World’s potential for war in this world by one portion, strengthen the resistance of this world’s will by a portion, and similarly, it would alleviate some of the invasion pressure from the Human World on this world.

In fact, ever since Lin Xiao appeared in these waters, he could sense the presence of this world’s will becoming more active, as if it knew what he was doing.

A warship emerging from the island where this Nightmare node was located broke through the darkness and entered the waters. The sea was eerily quiet; the dark vessels that had not lit their lamps did not notice anything unusual at sea until the warship suddenly shook violently as if it had hit something. Sailors came out to investigate and saw that the ship’s bow had collided with a giant column that reached so high, it disappeared into the sky.

People in the cabin were asking loudly, and just as the sailor was about to reply, he noticed the column moving. Looking closer, his facial muscles twitched rapidly as his body visibly mutated at an alarming rate into a grotesque humanoid monster.

This kind of transformation was beyond even Lin Xiao’s own control, and a hundred people would mutate into a hundred different forms.

The people inside the cabin soon noticed something was off, and several warriors emerged from the cabin with weapons, only to freeze at the doorway.

It was an unexpected move

A tentacle, thicker than the ship itself, was slowly encircling and tightening around the hull, an indescribable and unspeakable presence