The Era of Gods

Chapter 176: Dust Settles

Translator: 549690339 I

Lin Xiao also wore an expression of anticipation. By now, he could just imagine how ecstatic his parents would be upon hearing this news, especially his mother.

He suddenly burst into laughter, picturing in his mind the way his mother would show off in front of her sisters-in-law.

Just then, Shen Yuexin, who had been shrinking in the Golden Throne like an ostrich, suddenly lifted her head, her small mouth slightly agape and her pretty face showing an expression of surprise, as if someone was contacting her.

At that moment, a starlight suddenly descended from the Vault of Heaven and landed on her, the dazzling starlight swirling around her and making the already beautiful girl look ravishingly stunning.

Simultaneously, beams of starlight fell one after another, enveloping various students in their seats, with strands of light twining to form strange marks that slowly landed on those who were selected.

The many ordinary students below looked on with envious eyes, for these marks signified that they had been officially recruited by the elite institutions.

The previous offers were also special invitations, but since the summer camp had not yet concluded, their status was not definitive, at most a promise. It was only after the conclusion of the summer camp, as is happening now, and when the official mark was made that everything would be truly settled. Starlight kept falling, and every student enveloped by the light revealed joyful expressions. Whether or not they had secured the top slots, just being specially invited meant they were the finest among their peers, an affirmation from the higher colleges.

The mark that was gradually forming on Shen Yuexin’s body seemed to be from the Super Institution Mingluo, ranked seventh?

She had been specially invited by Mingluo?

Lin Xiao was about to ask her when he saw a speck of crystal light explode on her body, invisible ripples shattering the newly formed Mingluo mark; amid a faint roar that was abruptly cut off, specks of crystal light converged on her wrist to form a new mark.

When he saw the pattern of the mark, Lin Xiao’s pupils dilated, and he felt a sudden sense of loss. That was because it was the mark of Radiance, the number one super college, which had given her a special invitation and forcibly taken her from Mingluo.

According to the default rules, this meant that Radiance would not offer him a special invitation.

Feeling a bit disappointed, he still smiled at the girl and said,

“Congratulations, this is a special invitation from Radiance.”

The girl was still a bit dazed and said in surprise,

“I didn’t receive an invitation from Radiance!”

“Then how come….”

Lin Xiao’s voice cut off abruptly as a point of bright light formed ripples in his pupils, reflecting an image of a handsome young man in white stepping out of the ripples, his voice directly entering Lin Xiao’s head:

“Hmm, kid, consider yourself lucky!”

Then, a starlight descended from the sky and enveloped him, countless strands of light twining around to form a mark on his hand identical to the one on Shen Yuexin.

“Ah, this….”

Both he and Shen Yuexin were stunned. Rubbing his eyes vigorously, he whispered incredulously to the girl beside him:

“If I’m not mistaken, we’ve both been specially invited by Radiance?”

“Who’s ‘we’ with you?”

The girl glanced at him disdainfully and said,

“It seems so. Can Radiance send out two special invitations at the same time?”

At this moment, others also noticed the marks on their bodies. The few players sitting with them on the Golden Throne could no longer maintain their youthful arrogance. Almost simultaneously, they stared wide-eyed back and forth between them, their eyes full of disbelief:

“How is this possible!”

“Aren’t the five super colleges only allowed to choose one each?”

“But this is Radiance!”

Wu Zhonglin said calmly, nodding his head towards Lin Xiao and Shen Yuexin as a gesture of acknowledgement.

“This is Radiance….”

“Yeah, this is Radiance….”

The young men muttered to themselves and sat down. No longer surprised, they couldn’t hide the thick envy in their eyes.

As all the young trainees in the row began to calm their emotions, no longer as shocked as before, the discussions below grew louder. More and more people heard or saw, a wave of shock, envy, or confusion directed at the two of them, converging into a rumble, growing louder and louder.

Until, suddenly, the sound of a bell rang out. A pillar of light from the chairman’s podium descended from the sky, revealing the figure of the host, bringing calm to the hall.

The host, Instructor Mo, swept his compelling gaze over everyone present; the entire place fell silent before he spoke in a deep voice:

“The third stage of this summer camp has now concluded. First of all, congratulations to you for winning the exchange match against the Ivy League Alliance of High Schools. This is an excellent credential for you, which will be recorded in your files. It may not mean much now, but when you apply for colleges or join the military in the future, it will yield additional benefits.”

He paused, then continued,

“As per the pre-set schedule of the summer camp, the third stage is also the final one. After receiving your rewards shortly, this summer camp will officially end, and you are free to stay within the fortress for three days. During this time, some of you might receive reserve invitations from the military. I hope those who receive such invitations will carefully review the details, and if possible, accept this offer.”

“Of course, this isn’t mandatory, but as a personal reminder, it’s a good thing,” he said.

“Now, everyone, receive your rewards!”

As his voice fell, thousands of beams of light descended from the sky and hit each of the students.

Even though there were only about twenty from the HuaXia District in the top hundred before the exchange competition—pitifully few—according to the summer camp rules, anyone who stayed until the end would receive an extra card slot, and then rewards according to their final seated position. The higher the position, the greater the rewards. Those in the golden ranks even received an additional Ancient Quality God Card and five Golden Mythical Quality Five Star Cards.

This meant that Lin Xiao, having won the first place in the exchange competition, would not only get four extra card slots designated for the first place but also one additional slot for a total of five extra card slots as well as three Ancient Quality God Cards and fifteen Five Star Cards of random quality.

So many rewards…

Lin Xiao rubbed his hands together, quite expectant.

As time passed, the beams of light began to disappear. Soon only about twenty were left, then a dozen, until only Lin Xiao, Shen Yuexin, and Wu Zhonglin remained.

Following their ranks, the lights went out one by one, until only Lin Xiao remained, continuing to receive the subspace energy transfusion under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

To be honest, the feeling was awesome, absolutely awesome.

But even the most awesome things come to an end. When the transfusion was complete, a screen of light opened in front of Lin Xiao, and the much-anticipated reward collection began. Excitedly rubbing his hands once more, he began to check on his rewards.

First up was the collection of three Ancient Quality Cards.

When he opened the Ancient Card interface, a cascade of sparkling light fell, more abundant than the last time.

The dazzling array of cards made his eyes whirl, leaving him momentarily unsure which to choose.

However, he had a trick; setting everything else aside, he first searched for the cards with the least quantity, which generally hold more value than the mass-produced Ancient Cards like the Frost Magician occupation he had previously selected.

Setting the search criteria, the screen flipped, and the number of cards in his view rapidly changed. Only a few Ancient Cards with a single copy appeared before him, the first of which immediately caught his eye.

Five Star Item Card—Fire Dragon Essence Blood (Ancient): Obtain a drop of mature Red Dragon essence blood, which can grant a target fire dragon bloodline, with a chance to promote the target to a hero.

“This is a good thing indeed!”

Lin Xiao almost didn’t hesitate to grab the item first.

If any other Divine Territory Player got this, it would be possible to create a dragon bloodline magician with a Transcendent Sixth Level base that could reach Rank Eight Legendaries.

But for Lin Xiao, it wasn’t just about creating a dragon bloodline magician. With the Creation Rubik’s Cube in his possession, his ambitions were clearly much greater than average.

He then looked at the second Ancient Crystal Card, which was the only one of its kind. It was an incredibly rare resource card for a Miniature Mithril Vein.

When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a miniature mithril vein underground at a specified position. The most critical point was that this vein was not one-off; as long as this Ancient Quality Card was present, it could continuously produce new mithril.

This…

It could be said to be very valuable, as mithril itself is a crucial material for high-level magical equipment and is highly valued on the market.

The problem was that it was a bit of a white elephant for them at the moment since they weren’t at the level to deal with magical equipment yet. Unless his Wise Goblins grew and started attempting to manufacture magic equipment, he could only mine it to store in his warehouse or sell it on the trading platform.

So, PASS!

His gaze quickly moved to the third card. It was a Weather Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could create the climates ‘Lightning and Storm,’ and the Divine Realm Master could also manipulate lightning storms to enhance his authority and prestige in the eyes of his followers or to harm enemies who invade the Divine Realm through the expenditure of Divine Power.

His Divine Realm did not have any weather or climate at the moment, apart from the default gentle breeze. There were no cloudy days, rainy days, seasons, lightning, and so on. Having this card, his Divine Realm would occasionally form these two types of climates, also allowing him the power to conjure lightning storms, which could be considered quite strong.

But well…

“Let’s leave it as an option for now!”

He didn’t say he didn’t want it. He needed to have all the cards necessary to complete the rules of the Divine Realm, and he would definitely get them eventually.

But with so many cards here and a limited number of slots in his hand, he needed to see if there was something more suitable for himself first.

He checked each card one by one. Unless it was quite suitable for him, he would mark the others that were needed and finish looking at all the cards before deciding.

After all, there was no time limit now. If he could, he could squat there and look for a whole day.

Of course, it didn’t take nearly that long. There weren’t that many Ancient Quality Cards—just two to three hundred, and it didn’t take him long to glance through them briefly.

Indeed, when he swept through the sixteenth card, he spotted one he liked without hesitation and took it, using up his second slot.

It was a Large Iron Mine Card. When loaded into the Divine Realm, it could form a similarly regenerating large iron mine at a specified location.

Mine sizes ranged from miniature, small, medium, large, super-large, to giant, totaling seven scales. The scale did not necessarily relate to the card’s rank but to the scarcity of the mineral resource itself.

For example, a Five Star Ancient Quality Ore Vein Card of mithril could only form a miniature vein, whereas iron could reach large-scale, and it occasionally contained a small amount of other minerals too.

For basic minerals like iron, large-scale is the maximum for Five Star Cards. Anything beyond that is only available for cards above Five Stars..