The Era of Gods

The battle was fierce, as the splintered tribes had many strong warriors, whose individual strengths were no less than those of the attacking, unknown tribal army. They fought desperately to protect their elderly and frail clansmen.

But the numbers were too lopsided, over a thousand against four or five thousand—there was no chance of winning.

Within half an hour, their line had collapsed. Some fought to their deaths covering the retreat, while a small detachment escorted the remainder of their people as they withdrew in the direction of the base.

Lin Xiao pinched his chin and watched the live footage in silence. At that moment, Shen Yuexin flew over and, upon seeing the scene, asked,

“They’re headed straight for the base. They’ll probably see it in less than half an hour. How should we respond?”

After thinking it over, he said,

“Have the troops prepare atop the walls to prevent an assault. If they’re merely passing by, let them be, but under no circumstances are we to let them breach the base.”

He dared not carelessly take in the attacked.

He was not familiar with them; to him, both the pursuers and the fleeing were natives and had no relation to him. As long as they did not attack the fortress, he would not interfere.

After twenty minutes or so, the vanguard, comprising a dozen or so tribal warriors, appeared just outside the base. Emerging from the jungle and suddenly beholding the tall wall that spanned the forest, they were stunned, stopping more than a hundred meters away in some underbrush, cautiously observing, unaware that every move was being monitored from inside the city.

These natives appeared as if they had just stepped out of the barbaric age, naked except for animal skins covering their vitals. They wore bird feathers in their hair and necklaces made of beast teeth as tokens of their victories, their bodies adorned with tattoos and totems.

Ordinary tribal fighters were marked with tattoos of ferocious beasts that held no real power but could intimidate common wild animals. The stronger tribal warriors, on the other hand, bore true totems imbued with the genuine Superhuman Power.

This group had but one leader with a totem tattoo. After observing the base for a while and preparing to send two subordinates back to report to the main force, he suddenly saw a huge, fierce, yet majestic head protrude from behind the city walls.

A Supreme Naga Lord appeared, its strong, dragon-like tail thrusting its massive body into the air, landing heavily atop the city wall. An aura, almost tangible, burst forth and rapidly spread outward.

The wall was robust and wide enough to support its weight, something an ordinary city wall could not withstand.

The aura, mixed with dragon majesty, swept over the area a hundred meters away in an instant. The natives, caught by the aura, felt a wave of terror pour over them. Many of the totem-less warriors began to scatter, fleeing in panic.

Only the tribal leader activated the Totem Power within him to stand firm, despite the fear written all over his face. He threw his weapon to the ground, raised his hands, and knelt, speaking with a slightly trembling voice,

“#@%##%…@….”

Lin Xiao quickly cast the Divine Art to comprehend languages and immediately grasped the stranger’s meaning.

Due to different speaking habits and cultural backgrounds, the speech sounded strange, but the content was clear. He was saying,

“Mighty being, we apologize for the disturbance. If you would allow us to depart, my tribe will offer tribute after we are out of danger…”

That was the gist of his words. Clearly, to these natives, the Supreme Naga Lord, gargantuan and blending elegance with terror, appeared as a divine or totemic creature, invoking fear and respect.

According to the books Lin Xiao had read in the past, in some primitive planes newly sprouting with civilization, primordial natives who lacked power liked to worship and offer tributes to very strong beings.

Apart from a few unintelligent pure beasts, most powerful lifeforms with a degree of wisdom were willing to accept tributes, willingly or otherwise.

The natives provided food offerings to these powerful lifeforms, who in turn offered protection, specifically defending against invasions by other formidable beings.

An idea suddenly dawned on Lin Xiao—could he impersonate a totem or earth spirit to become the protector of this beleaguered tribe? Or perhaps even their totem, since they had recently split and lacked one of their own?

He thought ahead. Since he had to stay in this plane for a long time—at least fifteen to twenty years—gathering the materials needed to establish Spatial Waymarkers across the world with only a few hundred Clan members and a hundred navy marines would be too difficult. Why not conquer one or multiple indigenous tribes and have them gather resources for him?

When he shared this idea with Shen Yuexin, she smiled and said,

“I had the same thought. We are too short on manpower. Even if we find a vein of ore, we lack the hands to mine it. If we subjugate this native tribe and become the totem they worship, and then utilize our technology to strengthen them, we could make them conquer the other tribes on the island and use their strength to serve us.”

“So it’s settled then?”

She shook her head, still smiling, and said,

“Of course not just like that. We need to put on a disguise, and think through how we’ll present ourselves to them and in what way we’ll control them.”

His girlfriend raised a host of issues in one breath, things Lin Xiao hadn’t given much thought to. His idea was simple: just have a Lord of Nagas step forward as the face of this plan.

But judging by her reaction, there seemed to be a lot more to consider, so he asked for guidance, humbly:

“So what do we do?”

“There are two ways. One is to send out a Lord of Nagas as a representative, using its formidable strength to become the guardian of this native tribe, and eventually, their totem.”

“The second method is for us to disguise ourselves as a formidable race and enslave them in the form of a collective.”

“A race?”

“Yes, in the form of a species.”

Shen Yuexin pointed at the Star Spirits and Supreme Nagas in the base and said,

“Moreover, you have to consider whether to prioritize the Star Spirits or the Asura Nagas. They are the two races best suited to rule that we have at hand.”

Hmm!

Lin Xiao’s gaze swept back and forth between his two Clans, and he quickly made up his mind and said to her,

“It should be the Asura Nagas. They are stronger and their appearance better fits that of a ruler.”

If we were dealing with other civilized planes, the Star Spirits, which look more similar to humans, would be more suitable as a facade.

But in this primitive plane, the larger, fiercer-looking, and stronger Supreme Nagas are more suitable than the Star Spirits to rule over all the conquered natives in the future. After all, to the natives, might is mainly a matter of appearance, and the Supreme Nagas, from any aspect, are filled with visual impact and psychological oppression, making them easier to rule with.”

“In that case, you need to change your current form.”

His girlfriend pointed at the Supreme Naga below and laughed,

“This Incarnation of yours needs a transformation to look like your Clan, and it must be even more powerful.”

Then she asked with a slight concern,

“In the future, if these natives become powerful enough, you might become their totem, which may lead to some strange changes, or might even attract the attention of the Plane Will. Can your transformation remain stable without any flaws?”

Lin Xiao waved his hand and laughed heartily,

“Don’t worry about that. I’m their creator. Do you think I can’t fully transform?”

“Hmm, then there’s no problem.”

“Right, what about you?”

“Me?”

His girlfriend quickly realized, thought for a moment, and said,

“Of course, I’ll transform into a Thunder Wing. Later, we’ll act as your symbiotic species to the outside. How’s that?”

“That works.”

Afterwards, they discussed for a while, confirmed some details, and then…

They began to transform.

First was his girlfriend, who became a Thunder Wing even larger than the two strongest Legendary Thunder Wings. What set her apart from her Clan was the Golden Lightning that coiled around her body, and she held a giant wand wrapped in lightning. At the top of the wand hung a massive Golden Lightning Sphere exuding a suffocating, terrifying pressure.

When her transformation was complete, Lin Xiao clicked his tongue in admiration. This Clan of Thunder Wings was indeed extraordinary.

A spellcasting profession plus a flying unit – that’s stronger than your typical Sub-legendary Race.

With her status, it was impossible to always use this Clan. She would probably not take long to acquire a Legendary Race, or she might even elevate the Thunder Wings into a Legendary Race.”

Lin Xiao guessed she might already have had the capability to raise the Thunder Wings to Legendary status, yet due to the difficulty of Legendary Races’ reproduction, she was possibly waiting for the Thunder Wings to increase in number before promoting them all at once to have a large number of Legendary Clans without slowly breeding them.

This possibility was more a certainty. Anyway, he wasn’t worried about his girlfriend falling behind in strength.

If he could cheat, so could she. Financial power is also a sort of cheat, isn’t it?

With such a powerful father, she could be considered the most powerful second-generation in the Main World, her growth speed and ability to cheat were similar.

The key point was that she was openly cheating, unlike him, who had to do it covertly for fear of being discovered.

Feeling somewhat sentimental, Lin Xiao gathered his thoughts. The images of Slarda and Black Dragon Nejelanmu appeared in his mind. Referring to them, Divine Power surged, brilliant Gold light swelled, and his figure started to rapidly expand, transforming into a colossal Asura Supreme Naga.

Since he was to be the Leader, he had to be different from his subordinates. Not only was his form larger and more fierce, but he also added a pair of Dragon Wings to himself. Where a normal Supreme Naga would have shoulder spikes, he now had a pair of massive Dragon Wings, resembling an Abyss Lord from the Azeroth Crystal Wall Universe.

His huge body, forged from pure Gold, with hard Dragon Scales, muscular and powerful stature, and sky-piercing curved Dragon Horns — between them, a Golden orb condensed into a vortex, as if an endless stream of power was converging into the center, emanating a terrifying force that made hearts tremble.

As the creator of his species, Lin Xiao could freely adjust his body and form. After the transformation, he became a Super Beast about fifty meters high, with a tail length of seventy meters.

When the golden light burst into the sky, twisting even the Void, Luo from the Vine Snake Tribe and a totemic warrior felt a sting in his eyes and instinctively lowered his head. Soon, his entire being shuddered uncontrollably, and he involuntarily prostrated himself on the ground.

Amid that sky-filling golden light, he felt a heavy breath that made his muscles quiver uncontrollably.