The Era of Gods

Chapter 160: Rule Change

Translator: 549690339 |

An “Incarnation” is an avatar formed by a demigod or a more powerful being, taking a sliver of their divinity and a thread of their consciousness as the core, and gathering a large amount of divine power.

This refers to those below demigods, and the incarnations of True Gods are different.

The strength of the incarnation is related to the divinity and the divine power. The more divine power carried during the condensation of the incarnation, the more powerful the incarnation will be.

The divine power carried by this Vampire Demi-god doesn’t seem very abundant, and although the aura emitted is formidable, they didn’t feel a great threat.

However, for Yu Xiu who was at a distance, the moment the Vampire Demi-god descended was like his head being struck by a hammer. He lost consciousness for a full ten seconds, and when he came to, his face was as pale as paper. He hastily packed up his monocular and fled.

Lin Xiao and the others are Divine Beings, with their own divinity, they can ignore the pressure from a demigod, but Yu Xiu is just an ordinary person, a mortal in their eyes.

Any mortal who faces a demigod directly must undergo a round of willpower­saving checks.

Clearly, Yu Xiu failed his willpower check, getting shocked for more than ten seconds. If this were a game, it would be akin to being unable to attack or defend for several turns, meaning he would have died a long time ago if this occurred in a fight.

As for Yu Xiu’s Half Beastman subordinates, they fared even worse. After a round of willpower checks, all of them fell into fear and scattered in all directions.

And this is just a demigod. If it were the incarnation of a True God descending, failing the willpower check could mean different outcomes depending on the alignment and will of the True God.

If the True God is an Evil God, there’s a high likelihood that instant death will occur, with the soul harvested by the incarnation of the Evil God.

If the descending deity is not an Evil God, there’s a high probability of being forcefully converted both mentally and in will to become one of their Fanatic Believers.

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario, only applicable to mortals with weak willpower. For Professionals with relatively strong will, it would be like Yu Xiu’s experience, falling into a state of fear or shock.

After fleeing to a safe distance and arriving at a small hilltop, Yu Xiu was about to use a whistle to gather his scattered Half Beastman subordinates when suddenly his wristband vibrated slightly. He activated it and a projection of a familiar middle-aged man appeared, asking:

“Where are you now?”

Yu Xiu replied:

“I’m outside Alfonso City.”

“The company has a new order for you: leave Alfonso immediately and head to the vicinity of Redstone Plateau Eagle Beak Gorge, at the border of the Vampire Kingdom and the Human Kingdom. The company has established a camp there.”

“By the way, avoid passing through cities on your way.”

The middle-aged man cautioned:

“Lately, students from the Super Newcomer Summer Camp are undergoing training on this plane, and all Vampire Lords are their targets. They’re likely to attack directly, so avoid the cities to prevent getting affected by the fallout.”

Yu Xiu, looking at the vast blood cloud that had spread over the city from afar, took a swig from his flask to calm his nerves, shrugged, and said:

“No need to guess, someone is already attacking Alfonso. They’ve breached the city in less than half an hour. Even the Vampire Demi-god’s Incarnation has descended; the scale of the battle is massive.”

“Wait a minute!”

The middle-aged man raised his hand to interrupt, hastily asking:

“Are you saying the Vampire Demi-god has sent down an Incarnation?”

“Yes, is there a problem, Manager?”

The man known as Manager showed a hint of pleasure on his face and said:

“Then hurry back and try to get ahold of that bit of divinity that makes up the demigod’s Incarnation.”

“Pfft!”

A mouthful of liquor sprayed onto the ground as Yu Xiu covered his mouth and rolled his eyes:

“Are you joking, Manager? How am I supposed to get that bit of divinity? I don’t have the strength to fight for it.”

The middle-aged man also realized this and quickly explained:

“I’m not asking you to fight for it. Wait until they defeat the Vampire Demi­god, then go there and offer to buy the divinity on behalf of the company. When the time comes, I’ll tell you how to phrase it.”

Yu Xiu fell silent, genuinely reluctant to accept this order but unable to refuse because it would affect his future prospects.

Fortunately, he only needed to relay a message and didn’t have to take action himself, so the risk wasn’t great. He nodded and said:

“I can go, but I have to wait until they’ve finished the fight, when it’s safe to approach.”

“That’s fine. Once you complete this task, you’ll get a promotion to First Level authority and I’ll have you transferred to a better, easier position,” promised the Manager, and with this assurance, Yu Xiu was finally satisfied. He put the whistle to his lips and blew hard to gather his Half Beastman subordinates.

Meanwhile, not far from the distant Alfonso City, Shen Yuexin and Lin Xu appeared just as the Vampire Demigod-avatar manifested. She reached out her hand, and a whip crackling with intense white lightning appeared. With a gentle flick, the lightning-shaped whip extended to over a hundred meters, popping loudly as it tore through the void. She exclaimed in a clear voice:

“Let’s make it quick and avoid any unnecessary complications.”

Lin Xiao withdrew his slightly odd gaze and shouted sharply. His figure swiftly surged in size, transforming into a colossal Naga over thirty meters tall, similar in appearance to the Supreme Naga but with a body covered in shining golden scales. With a gesture, he summoned a forty-meter-long golden spear into his hand.

This was a trophy he had taken from the Snake People Demigod during the final exams. A weapon used by a Demigod was certainly of high quality. After cleansing it with Divine Power to remove the spiritual Branding left by the Snake People Demigod, it had become his weapon.

Lin Xu’s weapon, on the other hand, was a splendidly designed golden bow. As he drew the bowstring, an arrow made purely of the Power of Faith took form slowly.

The power of this bow depended entirely on how much Power of Faith was consumed to condense the arrow—heavier investment meant greater destructive strength.

As the three of them brandished their weapons, Lin Xiao knew it was his turn. He stomped on the Void, causing ripples to explode out of nowhere, and then he turned into a mass of golden light charging towards the Blood Realm spread by the Vampire Demigod Avatar.

Coincidentally, the Vampire Demigod also possessed a Blood Realm, yet stronger than that of the Snake People. He could feel that this Blood Realm came with an additional aging rule.

If a mortal were to enter this Blood Realm, not only would their blood boil or be forcibly extracted, but they would also be affected by the aging rule, becoming weakened as a result.

The aging rule does not literally cause aging, as that would involve the Supreme Time Law. It means to induce a state of weakness similar to that experienced during life’s natural decline.

And the Blood Realm is not just about making blood boil or forcibly extracting the target’s blood; those are just the most commonly used and most potent manifestations of the Blood Law. The complete Blood Law refers to control over blood, and for ordinary people, the most terrifying aspect is, naturally, to have all their blood forcibly drained or boiled.

These are the ways to utilize the Blood Law, controls from the level of laws that mortals can’t possibly withstand. This is the chasm-like gap between Gods and mortals.

Only Deities can oppose other Deities. Although Lin Xiao and his companions were not yet Demigods and did not have Godhood, their potent Divinity, combined with the Power of Faith, enabled them to negate the influence of these rules.

Of course, legendary warriors who have just begun to touch upon rules can also resist the influence of domain rules for a short time.

It’s worth mentioning that legendary troops and legendary warriors are actually two different concepts.

Legendary troops refer to troops’ rankings: Rank 6 or Rank 7 Transcendent troops, Rank 8 or Rank 9 Legendary troops, suggesting that troops at this level are as powerful as legends.

Legend warriors refer to those who have begun to master the rules. To compete, each student selects three cards from their personal card deck to create a Combat Card Group for battling other students.

The loser is immediately eliminated.

The winner, after each victorious round, can choose one card from their pile to add to their card group before facing the next opponent. This continues until they defeat all opponents to become the ultimate victor, earning the ownership of this God’s Tomb.

It’s winner takes all, with nothing for the runner-up.

The prize was indeed tempting, but a subsequent note caused Lin Xiao to frown deeply.

At Major General Keri’s insistence, each contestant from the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools started with one hundred and twenty cards, which is twenty more than the players from the HuaXia District Summer Camp.

Besides, the very first card drawn by a contestant of the High School Alliance is guaranteed to be of an Epic quality or higher. If the first card drawn is of a Five- Star level, it must be a Five-Star card of Epic quality or above.

This advantage given to his own people by Major General Keri was also the condition he was willing to agree on for allowing the HuaXia District the opportunity to compete for the God’s Tomb.

Lin Xiao, while feeling the unfairness, could also understand. He would do the same in Keri’s place.

As the saying goes, “Science knows no country borders, but scientists do;” it’s perfectly normal to give an advantage to one’s own people.

Ordinary mortals who possess strength similar to that of Divinity with legendary characteristics, have reached Rank 8 in the evaluation of countless ordinary beings in the Main World by the Void Sea Crystal Wall System. There is not much difference between the two in terms of physical constitution or ability; the biggest difference lies in the grasp of Rules.

For example, both Legendary troops and Legendary warriors can have a strength of one hundred, and a full-force strike could inflict damage equal to fifty strength points on an enemy with a constitution of fifty. However, Legendary warriors who have mastered Rules can leverage the power of Rules to deal several times the damage of fifty or even, through the power of Rules, ignore the enemy’s defenses to cause full damage.

Or to put it another way, even a weak Divine power with a God Level of zero, with the transcendent Divine power ‘Life and Death,’ could instantly kill a Rank 8 or even a Rank 9 Legendary creature, but could not instantly kill a Rank 8 Legendary warrior who has mastered Rules.

Of course, this applies to the vast majority of cases and does not include certain abnormal Legendary troops, such as Dragons with innate abnormal talents, which should not be measured by common standards.

Beyond this, if a troop manages to ascend to Rank 10, there is no distinction between ordinary troops and Legendary warriors. A creature that reaches this level would undoubtedly have transcendental characteristics comparable to Legendary Rules, strong to an outrageous degree.

And this so-called Legendary Vampire Duke named Alfonso is actually a Legendary creature, not a real Legendary warrior who has mastered Rules.

To make a distinction, those who have mastered Rules are generally referred to as true Legends or Legendary warriors, bearing the name of the strong.

However, this is only for people from the Main World; many Natives Planes also call those powerful species who reach Rank 8 by virtue of their bloodline talents Legends, making the classification quite chaotic.

But they know in their hearts that these Legendary Vampire Dukes, who have achieved Rank 8 through their bloodline, are not true Legends.

“Boom!”

Lin Xiao, like a shell, charged into the Blood Realm. The terrifying impact of his protective Divine Power colliding with the realm’s power burst forth, ripping a large chunk out of the Blood Realm covering the entire city.

He thrust his Pure Gold Spear with a fierce motion; a golden, transparent flame intertwined around the Pure Gold Spear at the tip formed a triangular inverted cone. It cut through the viscous blood with ease, as a knife through butter, and a massive golden figure plunged straight into the vast expanse of the Blood Realm.

At the same time, Shen Yuexin, who was already on the edge of the Blood Realm, raised her Forbidden Whip and lashed out fiercely. The blazing white Lightning Whip suddenly swelled massively, stretching out indefinitely and transforming into a Lightning Whip column thicker than a person, crashing into the Blood Realm. In an instant, the Lightning Whip lit up brightly, exploding into countless tiny bolts of lightning spreading in all directions; the Purification power of lightning instantly cleansed the sections of the Blood Realm within the range of the tiny bolts.

Compared to her fierce blow, Lin Xu’s approach was extremely low-key, so much so that he seemed to not have taken any action.

He had been charging up from the very beginning; a Golden Arrow was nocked and drawn on the bow but was delayed in shooting out and, as the time passed,