The Era of Gods

Chapter 373: 373

Fighting was definitely out of the question, not to mention the fact that the Children of Nightmare were casting covetous eyes from the side, and fighting was not allowed near the Descending Array.

After less than a minute of a standoff, they were stopped by the upper guards and immediately went their separate ways, backing down.

But the problem was still unresolved and seemed unsolvable. On the Spirit Realm’s side, they certainly wouldn’t let Lin Xiao leave easily. It had nothing to do with face; it was simply due to opposing factions. If they could kill one, they would; there was no possibility of compromise.

Lin Xiao was psychologically prepared for this and wasn’t too disappointed.

“Brother Chao” patted him on the shoulder and said,

“They won’t let you go easily. I have a boat ticket here. Once things are settled, I’ll arrange for you to leave this area and head to other parts of the continent. They won’t be able to apprehend you across regions.”

As he spoke, he flipped his hand and produced a yellow metallic card branded with an unknown pattern and handed it to him, saying,

“This is a boat ticket from the Galaxy Trade Association. Every year in June and December, they have giant airships pass through many major schools and those several huge cities, including the White Tower. When the time comes, you can take the opportunity to board the ship and leave.”

Lin Xiao gratefully accepted the boat ticket and nodded vigorously,

“Thank you, Brother Chao!”

“No worries, we help each other out.”

Lin Xiao had heard of this boat ticket; the Galaxy Trade Association was a major force that spanned multiple regions, with branches in various areas and extremely strong influence. Traveling on their ships was very safe.

This was a big favor indeed, such a precious thing given to him without any obligation…

He pondered for a moment, turned around to take his backpack and rummaged through it, and pulled out a palm-length, exquisitely made long-necked crystal bottle to hand over.

Brother Chao was discussing something with a few companions nearby. He paused slightly at this gesture, smiled, and waved his hand, saying,

“I gave you the boat ticket without expecting anything in return. If you feel uneasy, just help others out more in the future.”

Lin Xiao insisted as he handed over the item,

“I will help my companions when the opportunity arises, but that doesn’t conflict with this. During one of my previous descents, my incarnation researched a new Alchemic Method that can refine high-purity Blood-flesh Essence.”

“High-purity Blood-flesh Essence? Let me take a look.”

Brother Chao suddenly became interested and took the crystal bottle.

Blood-flesh Essence, or blood-flesh crystals, served basically as food for them. Totem Master Apprentices and above rarely ate ordinary human food, and Official Totem Masters only consumed Blood-flesh Essence or special foods to replenish energy and nutrition. The higher the purity of the Blood-flesh Essence, the richer the nutrition and the more delicious the taste.

Inside the bottle were dozens of egg-sized, incredibly transparent crystals shining with a faint golden light. Brother Chao poured one into his palm, his eyebrows twitched, pinched the crystal, examined it before his eyes, and then brought it closer to sniff lightly. His eyes brightened immediately,

“Good stuff, did you refine this?”

Lin Xiao nodded seriously,

“On one of my past descents, I specialized in alchemy. Based on the alchemy techniques of this world and combining them with the Alchemy from the Main World, I developed a very efficient method specialized in refining Blood-flesh Essence with very high purity.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!”

Brother Chao flicked his finger, and the pale golden crystal flew into his mouth. He gently closed his eyes, showing an expression of enjoyment, and after a moment, he lightly exhaled a breath that didn’t disperse but instead formed a transparent white aura in front of him.

“Delicious, this is the highest purity I’ve ever tasted, I’m afraid it’s over four nines.”

He opened his eyes, completely satisfied, and held up the crystal bottle:

“I’m very satisfied with your gift. Haha, it seems I’ve made a profit on this boat ticket.”

“I’m glad you like it, Brother Chao. I’ll make some more and send them over when I leave.”

“I won’t be polite then.”

He clearly enjoyed the gift very much, and Lin Xiao felt happy because he had repaid a favor.

Owing too many favors isn’t good. While it didn’t matter to Brother Chao, as it was a small effort for him, it didn’t mean there was no obligation.

Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay, yet they must be repaid, or they will affect the prospect of Divine Enthronement.

Though he didn’t understand the specifics, his teachers had mentioned it during theory classes before: certain big favors must be repaid promptly. Otherwise, they become increasingly difficult to repay over time, with the cost becoming greater and greater.

Because the weight of a favor grows with time, and it can change as your power and status increase.

For a simple analogy, if someone bankrupted themselves to lend you a hundred dollars back in the sixties or seventies, and you repay it fifty years later, do you think returning only a hundred would suffice?

For example, when a superior gives you a meal when you’re nearly starving to death, is it just a meal? No, it’s a lifesaving grace.

And for such a meal, if you remain a nobody, you need to repay it with your life.

If you become successful in the future, you may not need to repay this kindness with your life, but you would still have to pay a huge price.

Since no one can say for sure what the future holds, Lin Xiao took the chance to repay the favor while he could.

Normally speaking, the bottle of Blood-flesh Essence he gave did not match the value of the life-saving boat ticket, the value was extremely disproportionate. However, it satisfied Brother Chao; in his eyes, if the value is equivalent, there is no need for him to obtain a ticket to return the favor, nor does he need one.

Then he returned to his original team and continued to wait in line for teleportation.

Almost half an hour later, it was finally their turn. A group of people queued to the uppermost layer of the Descending Array. As the Descending Array activated, countless white energy light streams converged towards the center along the array patterns. Brother Chao took out a black jade statue and placed it in the center of the array. Energy poured into the statue, and an invisible wave spread outward.

“Buzz!”

An eye-dazzling aura exploded, and the void suddenly twisted, with endless radiance soaring into the sky.

Familiar feelings of weightlessness and spatial twisting came over them; they had broken through the Void and begun their descent.

Compared to the previous descent from the Totem Main World to the base, this time the descent to the target plane was much faster and shorter in time, and they had fixed coordinates, allowing them to be teleported directly to the specified location.

Lin Xiao didn’t know how long it had been when he felt the space around him starting to change, the twisting and pressure began to ease, indicating the teleportation was nearing its end.

About ten minutes later, the distortion and pressure of the teleportation vanished abruptly, and he felt a sense of emptiness as well as solid ground beneath his feet; he had arrived on a metal platform roughly the size of a soccer field.

He quickly stepped down from the central teleportation platform. The area was surrounded by metal buildings, roughly divided into three areas. Thick metal walls bordered the platform, with a layer of light screen at the edge, and beyond the light screen was the chaotic Void Energy.

On one side was the chaotic Void, on the other, a pale yellow light screen—that was the Plane Crystal Wall.

This platform was secured to the Plane Crystal Wall, essentially a small Outpost Fortress.

In the fortress, there was a small elite garrison that appeared to be Natives rather than Descenders. Surprisingly, there were a few Descenders who resided here permanently, and astonishingly among these Descenders were Humans, Children of Nightmare, and creatures from the Spirit Realm. Unexpectedly, these three factions had not broken into conflict.

Once everyone had arrived via teleportation, without pausing, Brother Chao gathered everyone and said loudly:

“This outpost is shared by the three factions; no disputes are allowed here. After the other two factions arrive, I will teleport each of you down one by one. The landing locations are random, so the quality of your initial descent location is entirely up to luck. There is no time limit for this descent, and the event will conclude only when two of the three factions have all thirty-three Descenders eliminated.”

As he was speaking, the Array in the center of the outpost lit up again, and the distorted energy radiance soared into the sky, teleporting dozens of Children of Nightmare.

They gathered on the other side of the platform, led by a powerful Child of Nightmare, and commenced their pre-battle preparations.

“There’s not much to say about the descent, just remember to unite with your teammates. Don’t fight amongst yourselves before eliminating the opposition. Any disputes that arise can be resolved after all rivals are eliminated. Now prepare yourselves; in thirty minutes, I’ll activate the Descending Array,” instructed their Leader.

The thirty minutes passed quickly, and as soon as the time arrived, Brother Chao recalibrated the Array and reactivated it, teleporting the thirty-three individuals one by one.

Soon it was Lin Xiao’s turn. Standing on the Array with his backpack, he made an ‘OK’ hand gesture. Brother Chao returned the gesture and activated the Array, with a myriad of lights engulfing him.

At the foot of an unnamed small hill, a gentle breeze rustled the tree leaves.

Wrapped around an angled tree was an arm-thick yellow-brown snake with a triangular head, gently flickering its tongue as it slid down the trunk, slowly inching towards a man who was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed.

The snake approached the man, winding around the tree trunk and hanging in front of the man’s face, slowly opening its mouth and with a swift thrust, it struck down.

“Ouch!”

The man, who had been asleep, woke up with a start and grabbed the snake that had bitten his nose, throwing it violently away.

“Damn it, that poison is pretty strong!”

Feeling the tingling sensation on his nose, Lin Xiao touched it and found the blood turning black. He quickly rolled over, rummaged through his pack, and pulled out a box marked with a red cross. Opening it, he took out a small bottle, uncorked it, and swallowed an Antidote Pill contained within.

This Antidote Pill, used by Totem Masters, could neutralize the poison of supernatural devils, so ordinary snake venom was nothing. In less than ten seconds, he felt a cooling sensation, and the initial numbness disappeared.

He stood up, turned around to check his surroundings, and then looked up at the sky, which was clear with only a few clouds.

He then turned and took out a set of exquisite Leather Armour from his backpack, including leather boots, gloves, and helmet, all crafted from the hide of powerful beasts and offering even better protection than ordinary plate armour.

After that, he equipped a Long Bow with a large quiver of arrows on his back, a Hand Crossbow with a small quiver of Crossbow Arrows at his waist, a sharp Dagger, a long-handled Horse Chopping Knife, and a Large Round Shield made of refined steel.

Once equipped with these, his large pack was reduced to a small one, which he strapped to his back, and he cut a small tree into a stick for support, preparing to descend the mountain.

He did not know where he was, only seeing an empty wilderness with no signs of human civilization. He chose a random direction and started walking.

Meanwhile, the Sons of the Human Divine Realm, the Children of Nightmare, and the Children of the Spirit Realm began descending one by one. Soon, all ninety-nine Descenders were in place. The Leaders of the three factions on the Outpost Platform simultaneously acted to seal the Descending Array, preventing any attempt to descend stealthily and disrupt fairness.