The Era of Gods

“Any student who holds an official non-commissioned officer rank or above in the military will receive an extra advantage upon their arrival. The extra advantage is jointly determined by the school and the military. Please make your decision before arrival, otherwise it will be considered forfeited!”

At this moment, a school leader in the uniform of a major spoke loudly:

“Anyone who currently holds an official military rank of non-commissioned officer or above has made significant contributions and is eligible for an additional advantage. Now, all students with a non-commissioned officer rank or above, please gather here.”

“Damn, this is quite a show-off move!”

Muttering under his breath, Lin Xiao quickly stepped out from the crowd.

Contrary to his expectations, his girlfriend also stepped forward, replying to his puzzled gaze with a sweet smile.

Well, returning home for nearly a semester, not only being allocated to a giant plane group, but also having the Ancient God’s Divinity of the Radiant Crystal Wall System, it was completely normal for her to have a military rank as well.

Speaking of which, Lin Xiao felt quite envious. The Ancient God’s Divinity Shen Yuexin obtained in Radiance was Destiny, an extremely powerful one.

Let’s put it this way, if all the divine positions were arrayed into a pyramid, the strongest four Ancient Divinities would be:

The first-ranked Time, no need to explain its strength.

The second-ranked Space, which also needs no explanation regarding its might.

The third-ranked is Energy, encompassing earth, fire, wind, and water, positive and negative energy, Shadow, Death, and various energies of the world. This Ancient Divinity usually appears only during the early stages of a powerful Crystal Wall System’s birth. It is practically the level of an Ancient god, a Supreme deity.

Generally, when you have the Energy Ancient Divinity, those of earth, fire, wind, and water will not appear, unless the Supreme deity that controls the Energy Divinity falls and the Divinity shatters into those of earth, fire, wind, and water along with positive and negative energies.

The fourth-ranked is Matter, which is also among the Supreme Ancient Divinities, one of the original Supreme deities. Once fallen, the Divinity splits and can basically never be recombined.

There are hardly any bottlenecks for the four Supreme divinities in the first tier, almost ensuring promotion to great divine power.

Of course, the absence of bottlenecks doesn’t guarantee one will become a great divine power. After all, there are all sorts of accidents or conflicts in the world that could lead to a premature fall.

Destiny, along with other incredibly powerful godhoods like Truth, is listed in the second tier and has the potential of promotion to great divine power, though the probability certainly does not compare with the four Supreme divinities.

The Radiant Crystal Wall System has already produced one great divine power. Whether it can produce a second is unknown, but at least with the Destiny Ancient God, her prospects could hardly be poor.

Lin Xiao stepped forward and found that quite a few people had done the same. One after another, over a hundred emerged, each with an extraordinary aura and spirit, all true elite exceptions.

Apparently, they had all used the break after the college entrance examination, or accumulated merits beforehand, to successfully obtain a non-commissioned officer rank or above before entering university.

As everyone took their places, Lin Xiao’s screen lit up again, and a series of options appeared before him.

“By regulation, Colonel Lin Xiao, you will be granted the following additional options, and you can only choose one.”

He counted them. There were eleven options in total: five ordinary options, three for junior officers, and three exclusive for school ranks.

Clearly, the last six options appeared because his military rank was a colonel, which others did not have.

The choice was clear; all the others were ruled out, focusing only on the three senior options for school ranks.

The first option was an additional small military void battleship, complete with a standard crew and a standard hundred-person navy landing team which included two legendary-rank leaders and ten Rank 7 Transcendent squad leaders, with ninety Rank 6 Transcendent members.

Note: Among the ten squads, there is a mage team led by a legendary mage.

“Damn, this setup is pretty badass!”

Lin Xiao smacked his lips and looked at the second option.

The second option, an additional portable Mage Tower, included an activated Tower Spirit, a full elemental pool, and a warehouse with two Diamond Golems and a hundred Steel Golems.

Note: Once summoned, the Mage Tower will be fixed on the ley line and cannot be moved at will.

Lin Xiao… was silent for a moment before looking at the third option.

The third option offered an additional 2,000 Clan summoning quota. In contrast to the ordinary options that only provided an extra 100 Clan summoning quota, this was quite excessive.

Note: For the above first and second options, only the Human Race may be chosen.

After examining all three options, Lin Xiao fell into deep thought.

All three options were more or less the same, each involving gathering a bunch of subordinates for battle, with equally strong support—the only difference lay in the method of use.

The third option was the first to be eliminated. Being able to summon a thousand Clan members already, an additional two thousand would be somewhat redundant.

Although in terms of combat power, two thousand Clan members would definitely be stronger than the first and second options, as even though a void battleship might be powerful and a Mage Tower formidable, if he could summon a hundred legendary Supreme Nagas with two thousand Clan members, it would undoubtedly surpass the previous two options.

His reason for not choosing a bunch of legendary Clan members was not just to limit his losses; it was primarily to diversify his means.

“`

A hundred legendary Supreme Nagas are all cleaver-wielding powerhouses, strong in storming fortifications, but lacking in other areas.

Regardless of how weak the strength of the Steel Golem Corps and the navy landing team might be, the small military void battleship and the Mage Tower play a significant role.

So…

After careful thought, Lin Xiao chose the first option, to gain an additional small military void battleship and a hundred-person navy landing team.

No one else could see the options; more than two thousand pairs of eyes watched them, clueless about the choice they were making. The additional advantage this choice conferred would descend with them later.

Once he confirmed his choice, the light screen in front of him disappeared, and his girlfriend also made her selection. They didn’t ask each other; there was no need—they would find out soon enough.

Glancing around, he felt a bit regretful that he couldn’t show off.

School had just started, and everyone was not very acquainted, so naturally there were no conflicts.

However, as if guessing his thoughts, the school leader previously speaking clasped his hands and said with a beaming smile:

“Competition brings pressure at any time, and with pressure comes spectacular performance, so after consulting with the class teachers, we have come up with several interesting rules to add a bit of competitive pressure for everyone.”

“First, the rewards. The top one hundred of this major class will each receive a six-star Epic Quality Purple Card of their choice. The top ten will each get a six-star Legend Quality Orange Card. The third place will get a six-star Mythical Quality Gold Card, the second place two six-star Mythical Quality Gold Cards, and the first place one six-star Ancient Card.”

“With rewards naturally come penalties. The last one hundred ranked in this major class will be ineligible for scholarships for one year, even personal funding from class teachers is not allowed.”

“Wow!”

This penalty… for some, it’s quite severe.

It means even if the class teacher or assistant wanted to give you a scholarship spot, as long as you rank within the last hundred of this major class, you would not be eligible to receive it.

“Also, this major class will be linked with the sophomores and juniors.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao suddenly had a bad feeling.

Looking at the school leader’s beaming expression, it seemed anything but well-intentioned.

“There are ten classes of sophomores and two classes of juniors exploring or expanding in the depths of the Crystal Wall System. You will randomly be thrown into the void, and it’s very likely you’ll encounter these seniors. We have already notified many of them. If they come across you, they will take good care of you junior brothers.”

“Crap!”

Many were bewildered and looked at each other:

“This move is too brutal!”

“Everyone can be assured that the seniors will absolutely not go easy because eliminating one of you will net them a six-star Mythical Card. If we find anyone going easy, they will be penalized.”

Lin Xiao……

“Of course, considering the difficulty, anyone lucky enough to encounter a senior and successfully escape their pursuit, even if ranked in the bottom hundred, will be exempt from the penalty.”

“What if we manage to eliminate a senior?”

Lin Xiao turned his head sharply, along with everyone else, all curious to see who had such daring.

Even the speaking school leader turned in surprise to look at the speaker, and to Lin Xiao’s astonishment, it was an acquaintance, Leng Wuyun, who shyly lowered his head under the gaze of thousands.

The school leader replied with a smile:

“That’s very brave. The director likes students with courage the most. Although it’s unlikely, there are always exceptions. At least, I know there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers among our freshmen, including a few young tigers. If luck is on your side, it is indeed possible to achieve. So, I assure you on behalf of the director that the school will prepare a generous gift package for anyone who manages to overthrow a senior while complying with the rules.”

As the school leader’s gaze swept over, Lin Xiao felt as if he was being watched himself.

“If there are no further questions, you may now disperse. The descent into the void begins in one day!”

As soon as the school leaders and teachers left, the hall became noisy with students complaining about the difficulty of the class. What Lin Xiao heard the most was their prayers not to encounter any seniors.

Although they were the best from various places and top-tier elites among their peers, which of the students admitted to Radiance in the previous years weren’t ones of distinction and elite status? With one or two more years in the Main World, the gap in strength is vast.

Moreover, they were restricted in their descent, and the Clan could hardly summon a few, while the seniors were pioneering new planes and might not be able to open Divine Realm due to the Main World’s powers not penetrating the Depths of the Void. But just because they couldn’t open Divine Realm doesn’t mean they couldn’t bring Clan members in other ways.

If by poor luck they came across a senior who had already established a stable base on a plane, it would indeed mean certain death.

Even with such a significant additional advantage Lin Xiao had gained, he had no confidence to face this gap. He could only hope not to encounter any seniors, and if they did, that it wouldn’t be juniors.

Returning to their room with his girlfriend, they first made sure to claim their additional rewards.

His girlfriend held the rank of sergeant, within the scope of non-commissioned officers, and had no extra options for commissioned officers. Her choice was ten Steel Golems.

These creations, forged purely from steel and not flesh and blood, can sometimes be more useful than a Legendary Satellite.

Before long, he and his girlfriend left together

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