The Era of Gods

The Centaur race strictly belongs to a category of cavalry, and under heavy armor, their large-scale charges are nearly unstoppable against others of the same tier; unfortunately, they encountered the Naga, a race with hardly any weaknesses.

Though their bodies resemble serpents and seem frail, they are actually very strong in both constitution and strength, and their ability to dodge is a notch above their kind.

Especially their in-place dodging ability.

With human torsos and serpentine tails, the thick tails support their bodies. When impacted, a simple bend or collapse of the body can dissipate some of the force, and their several-meters-long tails strewn across the ground act as stumbling blocks to the charging cavalry. A collision leads straight to a fall and tumble.

The Centaurs circling from behind had many fall in their initial charge, forcing the rest to stop in their tracks, drawing swords to engage in a direct clash with the Nagas.

Without the advantage of speed, both sides had to rely on pure combat power, an area in which the Nagas were not lacking at all.

The Centaurs had the advantage of weaponry and armor, while the Nagas had racial and professional advantages, as well as level superiority—all were Level 4 Naga Shark Hunters, and most crucially, they were bolstered by an Epic Hero’s Blood-draining Aura, outstripping the Centaurs in endurance by a wide margin.

After getting into a head-on melee, it didn’t take a keen observer long to see who had the upper hand. Gu Cheng shook his head and said,

“Ask Xiaoxue to surrender. He’s lost for sure.”

Turning to Lin Xu, he continued,

“Your nephew may be poor, but he has potential. He can join us.”

Tang Ling pouted, still somewhat resentful, but with the boss saying so, it wasn’t his place to contradict. He muttered under his breath,

“What’s so great about that? If it were an all-out battle, Xiaoxue could beat him until he ran.”

Everyone heard this and inwardly agreed it was true, but this was, after all, not an all-out battle, just a probe.

Compared to Lin Xiao who went all out and deployed all his mature Naga, Shang Xiaoxue only sent a part of his Centaurs. He had many more Centaur Clans within his Divine Realm and had not sent out his most elite Centaurs. If it were an all-out war, Lin Xiao would certainly lose.

This was something Lin Xiao was well aware of—when it came to accumulating power, he couldn’t match these elite clans.

From the beginning, they built their foundations with a minimum of Blue Rare or Purple Epic Five Star Cards, and some with even more impressive heritage had been integrating only Orange Legend Quality Cards since Opening the Divine Realm. The cumulative advantage of these cards was enormous.

Frankly speaking, without the Creation Rubik’s Cube cheat, no matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up.

After the battle ended and he returned to the platform, Gu Cheng smiled, extending his hand towards Lin Xiao, and said,

“My name is Gu Cheng—’Gu’ as in eternal, ‘Cheng’ as in sincerity. Welcome to join our team.”

“My name is Lin Xiao—’Lin’ as in forest, ‘Xiao’ as in the heavens.”

Their hands clasped in a shake, and he proceeded to shake hands with the other teammates, thus gaining acceptance into their small circle.

Even Shang Xiaoxue, whom he had defeated, graciously shook hands with him, saying with a smile,

“Your Epic Hero is too powerful. If we fought again, 1 would have my Hero maintain distance and employ Kite Tactics.”

It was an expression of reluctance, but also an acknowledgment of Lin Xiao’s strength.

As for Tang Ling, he said bluntly,

“Even though you beat Xiaoxue, 1 don’t mind you joining us; however, I’m not convinced. How about a one-on-one fight sometime?”

Lin Xiao nodded,

“Sure!”

This suited him perfectly—his battle with Xiaoxue had shown him how formidable true elites were. He had won by a narrow margin and was eager to challenge others to truly gauge his strength.

Moreover, based on the history of Super Newcomer Summer Camps, he was bound to face many challenges, especially when vying for internal rankings. Combat against other elites was inevitable, unless he was content with being at the bottom and dismissed from the Camp. Therefore, he had to fight different elites.

Lin Xiao was rather unfamiliar with this type of experience, so having a ready opponent was something he couldn’t wait for.

Having gained the small group’s recognition, things went much smoother. Lin Xu first took him to report and register with the team leader, then arranged a luxurious dormitory for him.

Although the dormitories in Zhong were luxurious, having a fully-equipped small villa to himself still surprised him.

As the team leader instructed, he could do as he pleased for the next few days; he could even leave school to have fun in the provincial capital, but he had to return to school and stand by before departure. This was non-negotiable—if he was late and the main group left without him, it would be deemed as forfeiting his spot in the Super Newcomer Summer Camp.

Sure enough, he would stay within the school. After all, Lin Xu was the only acquaintance he had in the provincial city.

After resting for a night, the next morning, before he had even gotten out of bed, he received a message. Shang Xiaoxue, unable to wait, wanted a rematch.

Clearly unsatisfied with the previous loss, he sought to regain his image.

Lin Xiao shook his head and replied,

“How about after I have breakfast?

“Sure, come to the first canteen. I haven’t eaten either.”

Lin Xiao:…

Following the map, Lin Xiao found the first canteen and saw several middle-aged men laughing and talking as they left, likely faculty members staying on the campus.

The cafeteria had three floors, and on the second, he found Shang Xiaoxue and Tang Ling, along with another youth who had introduced himself the day before as Bai Ze. The three of them were chatting and gestured for him to join as he approached.

That’s how it was with young people—once accepted, they quickly grew familiar with one another.

Sitting down beside Bai Ze, he first used his wristband to scan the QR code on the table, which popped up a holographic screen displaying the cafeteria menu—whatever you want to eat, just order.

While he was ordering, Shang Xiaoxue, who was chatting, suddenly asked:

“You’re from Dongning, do you recognize Wu Zhonglin?”

Lin Xiao paused for a moment and shook his head, saying:

“I was at Level 5 and he was at Level 1; I’ve heard the name but never met him.”

This was the umpteenth time someone had asked him this name, which kindled his curiosity, and he couldn’t help asking:

“A lot of people have asked if I know Wu Zhonglin. Is there anything extraordinary about him?”

Shang Xiaoxue took a bite of his food, looked up at Lin Xiao with a strange look, and said:

“You’re from Dongning City and yet you aren’t familiar with Wu Zhonglin? That’s strange. Didn’t any of your classmates talk about him?”

“No.”

“Then your classmates must be of too low a rank to even recognize him.”

Lin Xiao was speechless; this seemed to imply that he was of low rank as well.

But in truth, his previous exposure had indeed been very limited; there were many things he didn’t know about.

“You can search the internet for this name, then you’ll understand what it’s all about.”

“Okay.”

After ordering, he casually opened a search engine and searched for the name ‘Wu Zhonglin’. Instantly, a series of information refreshed on the screen, and the most attention-grabbing was the top news headline—Congratulations to our student Wu Zhonglin for ranking on the Elite Youth Sublist.

Upon seeing the headline, Lin Xiao’s mouth involuntarily fell open, his face full of shock.

Bai Ze, sitting beside him, saw his expression and laughed, saying:

“Surprised or not, shocked or not?”

“Shocked!”

He admitted candidly.

It was indeed very shocking; no wonder so many people had asked him about this name upon learning he was from Dongning City. Wu Zhonglin truly had the credentials to be so renowned.

To speak of the Elite Youth Sublist, it is necessary to mention the comprehensive rankings that include all of humanity’s young elites—the Thirty-Six Elites List, the One Hundred and Eight Peerless List, and the Three Thousand Outstanding List, also known as the Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Lists.

The Thirty-Six Elites List has thirty-six seats, the Peerless List one hundred and eight seats, and the Outstanding List three thousand seats.

Including the entire spectrum of human civilization and covering all regions, including the HuaXia District and many elite geniuses from the Outland, it can be said that any young person with enough strength is eligible to be on the lists.

To be ranked on any of the Three Lists is an ultimate honor—regardless of which one, even making it onto the Three Thousand Outstanding List.

After all, with humanity’s civilization numbering in untold trillions, and with billions of young elites emerging every generation, selecting these three thousand one hundred forty-four absolute elites is like choosing the creme de la creme, the top talent among a hundred million.

As for the distinction between the main and sublists, the main list only includes university students, while the sublist includes genius high school students, akin to being true prodigies in waiting.

Honestly, Lin Xiao was truly shocked and surprised; he had heard the name Wu Zhonglin before. In his previous impression, Wu was a super-genius from Level 1, but he had never conceived the thought that Wu could be so talented as to be listed in the Elite Youth Sublist.

What did this amount to?

This meant that Wu was one of the top thirty-six among tens or even hundreds of billions of his peers.

Well, even if one were to exclude ninety percent of regular people, that still leaves over a billion individuals who had Opened the Divine Realm, from amongst whom Wu ranks as one of the top thirty-six. Consider how frightening that is, particularly since in his own small circle, there apparently isn’t even anyone listed on the Three Thousand Outstanding Sublist.

It seems that even the strongest among them, Gu Cheng, hasn’t made the list.

As for Lin Xiao, he was simply out of his depth as he had only heard about these lists before; they were too far removed from his reality to pay attention or even to dream of touching.

At this moment, Lin Xiao had an unprecedented curiosity about just how formidable Wu, listed on the Elite Youth Sublist, truly was, and how great a chasm lay between them.

His limited intellect couldn’t fathom it; they were both high school students who had just finished their freshman year and had only opened their Divine Realms for a year—so how could the gap be so vast?

Granted, Wu Zhonglin’s background was better than his own, but according to the online information, Wu was at best on par with his Uncle Lin Xu, which shouldn’t account for such a tremendous gap, right?

He couldn’t figure it out. Bai Ze saw his expression and chuckled again:

“Can’t understand why there’s such a big difference when you’re all human?”

He nodded honestly:

“I don’t quite understand it.”

It’s correct that you don’t understand, because I don’t understand it either. But don’t think too much about it. He also received an invitation to the Super Newcomer Summer Camp. Once the camp starts, we’ll be able to meet him.”

“He also got an invitation to the Super Newcomer Summer Camp? Why isn’t he here?”

“Hehe, although he’s also from Yunmengxing Province, he’s different from us. He was specially recruited by the War Throne College, ranked third among the twelve super colleges, and he will transfer to the War Throne affiliate high school next semester. After his senior year, he will be directly admitted to War Throne Super Academy without even taking the college entrance examination..”