The Era of Gods

Chapter 318: The Difference Between Legendary Creatures and Legendary Beings

On the third day at dawn, the Wise Goblins, who had regained their energy, began to tap into the Extraordinary Magic Network to summon Enhanced Water Elementals by paying a certain amount of spiritual power.

The powerful summoning fluctuations triggered a reaction on the other side of the connection between the two worlds. Black Nightmare Power spurted out at the rift between the two worlds but did not surge forth. It was evident that the mood of the Children of Nightmare on the other side was very unsettled, but they did not launch an attack. Instead, they gradually calmed down, seemingly giving up on the attack and waiting for his move.

This suited Lin Xiao just fine. As soon as the thirty-six thousand Rank 6 Super Large Water Elementals were summoned, he ordered the Fire Element to withdraw. With the Fire Elementals gone, the temperature of the Lava Lake began to drop. As the numerous Water Elementals brought in vast amounts of pure water and poured it into the Lava Lake, the loud hissing noise created by the massive water extinguishing the fire was incessant, and billowing white steam blanketed an area tens of kilometers in radius. The pure water was scalding and boiling, turning into a colossal kettle of boiling water.

After extinguishing the Lava Lake, a huge sphere of scalding hot water with a diameter of six to seven kilometers, driven by the force of thirty-six thousand Rank 6 Super Large Water Elementals, rolled towards the rift between the two worlds.

Scalding water is still water, and Water Elementals feel no discomfort in it, but for the enemy, it is far from friendly.

A sphere of boiling water, six or seven kilometers in diameter, bearing down is a sight even Lin Xiao watched with wide-eyed amazement before he slapped his thigh and exclaimed,

“Damn, it can actually be used like this!”

This was like unlocking a new world, such a savvy maneuver that dramatically increased the power level, who could withstand that?

Well, his own people couldn’t withstand it either. Aside from adult Asura Nagas capable of entering the boiling water to continue the fight, the rest of the Clan could not bear it. The high temperature did not distinguish between friend or foe; Small Fishmen jumping in would also turn into dead fish soup.

A wave of scalding hot water was poured through the channel between the two worlds. The Child of Nightmare, who had been closely monitoring the rift, was taken aback, and all the Nightmare Creatures guarding the entrance were dumbfounded.

This move was exceptionally bizarre; each Nightmare Creature was bolstered with spells such as Underwater Breathing but was completely unprepared for high temperatures. As the sky of boiling water cascaded down, the entrance was thrown into chaos, and they scattered in all directions, fleeing.

In less than a minute, the entrance to the Nightmare Realm had already been taken over, and by the time the main force entered the rip between the two worlds, numerous Super Large Water Elementals had already established a defensive line there, firmly blocking the enemy outside.

Lin Xiao descended an Incarnation and, under the escort of Slarda and other high-ranking Church officials, entered the rift between the worlds. Crossing the torn membrane and stepping into the Nightmare Realm, he felt a kind of Power of God’s Domain just like his own but utterly different, yet he didn’t feel any suppression.

By this Lin Xiao could be sure that this opponent hadn’t reached the Demigod level, namely, a Knight level Nightmare Lord equivalent to a Demigod in the Nightmare World.

Because if it were a Demigod, reaching this level naturally involves the rules. Even if the Nightmare Lord’s power system does not harness the rules, it would be involved, and at this level, its Field would naturally generate simple rules.

At this level, the Power of God’s Domain of a Demigod would naturally impose rule-based suppression on beings not from their Divine Realm.

The extent of this suppression relates to the Divine Authority the Divine Realm Master possesses. Besides the basic suppression from the Divine Realm, the Divine Authority that a Demigod wields, reflected in their Divine Realm, would create additional suppression, typically related to the Divine Authority.

At this level, a Demigod already has the qualification to begin participating in matters related to True Gods.

Of course, that’s just the qualification to participate. For example, encountering a God’s Tomb or relic left by a True God, a Demigod can explore it personally, but in reality, the gap between Demigods and True Gods is vast. Usually, a Demigod facing a True God would only have one way to go—death—without any power to resist.

Unless some seasoned High-Level Demigods, and even the legendary Supreme Demigods, can barely save their lives from a True God’s hands.

Now certain that his opponent was not at the level of a Demigod Nightmare Lord, Lin Xiao felt at ease. Turning to face Slarda, he nodded in understanding, and a huge voice resounded over the battlefield:

“My children, the enemy is within reach. Slay all the heretical and evil beings, please the Supreme and Absolute Truth and Creator, kill!”

“Kill!”

The Clan members who had entered the Nightmare Realm were greatly boosted in morale, led by the Wise Goblins who urged the army of Transcendent Water Elementals to attack directly the masses of Nightmare Creatures gathered ahead, assisted by tens of thousands of Small Fishmen, Earth Dwarves, and a portion of the Asura Nagas, this battle remained dominated by Water Elementals.

Although the Transcendent Water Elementals summoned by the Extraordinary Magic Network would only last an hour before disappearing, they could be maintained by consuming spiritual power. This time, the thirty thousand Wise Goblins who had recovered their spiritual power hadn’t cast any other spells. They had remained in a state of full spiritual power, with only one mission: to sustain the existence of the Water Elementals until the enemy’s main forces were defeated.

The number of Nightmare Creatures near the rift between the two worlds was surprisingly large, but Lin Xiao remained confident.

After all, the disparity in high-level powers was too great.

Lin Xiao stayed close to Slarda, protected by two Rank 7 Wise Goblins Grand Magicians and four Rank 7 Asura Nagas alongside Slarda, instead of flying in mid-air.

It couldn’t be helped; his Incarnation lacked significant Divine Power and daring to fly in mid-air could result in being shot down at any moment, which would be a fatal blow to morale.

Now having enough confidence to gradually erode the opponent, there was no need to take risks.

In his Incarnation’s senses, deep within the Nightmare Realm that was pervaded by the gray-black Nightmare Power, there was a powerful will. It should be the True Body of the Child of Nightmare, who hadn’t stirred even as he was now making his way into the Nightmare Realm.

Like the Divine Territory Players, the True Body of the Child of Nightmare was equally critical, hidden deep within the core of the realm, safeguarded by multiple layers of protection.

He surveyed his surroundings—everywhere in the boundless wasteland were the Clan and Nightmare Creatures locked in brutal combat, and within the distant grey mists loomed huge shadows that seemed to be moving, though after some time there was neither sight nor sound of any disturbance, leaving one uncertain whether they were creatures at all.

From his preliminary observations, the realm of the Child of Nightmare seemed immensely vast—perhaps not quite as expansive as his, but not much smaller either.

According to the rules of full-scale warfare between Divine Territories, the victor can absorb 10 to 30 percent of the defeated Divine Territory’s area into their own, the specific amount depending on the relative strength between the two parties—the stronger one absorbs more.

If the opponent’s Divine Territory is too sizable and one’s own too modest, a little fish swallowing a great fish will not result in much absorption.

The main reason being that the absorption process can only initiate after completely slaying the opponent’s Divine Territory Master, as only after losing its master can a Divine Territory be absorbed. Besides, a Divine Territory will naturally collapse after a period without a master, and the window for absorption is in the interlude between losing the master and the collapse.

Thus, defeating an opponent in all-out Divine Territory warfare is a feast for gluttons, but how much one can devour depends on one’s ability.

The most valuable aspect of the Child of Nightmare’s Divine Territory for Lin Xiao naturally would be the realm itself; he felt the resources of the Clan within rather useless and did not know whether this fellow had any Ancient Treasures. If there were any, those would be indeed quite good.

Lin Xiao had always wanted to enhance and merge his own extremely excellent Ancient Treasure, but he didn’t have a suitable base material in hand.

The Sword of the Prophet Zalank might be a Rank 3 Top-tier Heirloom, but its properties felt odd, and he didn’t quite like it.

The battles after breaching the Nightmare Realm weren’t much different than before. After all, using thirty thousand Rank 6 Transcendent Level Water Elements as cannon fodder was a luxury even seasoned Demigods did not have.

No, not even a True God would use so many Transcendent-tier elite troops as cannon fodder.

Transcendent, Transcendent!

Upon reaching Rank 6, life essence undergoes its first transformation, and individual strength, compared to those below Rank 5, experiences a revolutionary change. It’s challenging to mass-produce Clan members of such calibre. Even if a True God could amass enough Rank 6 troops, they would be treated as the core elite, not potential cannon fodder.

This Child of Nightmare seemed bent on using an unending tide of Nightmare Creatures as cannon fodder to wear down his forces, never once deploying any elites from start to finish.

After around seven to eight hours, the Nightmare Legion, who by then had likely lost two to three hundred thousand cannon fodder, retreated, vanishing into the grey-black mists of Nightmare, leaving behind a ravaged battlefield.

Slarda ordered the remaining Water Elements to disperse, the mages to tidy up the battlefield right there, and to construct temporary defensive fortifications and camps. They intended to employ tactics that would slowly erode the enemy’s strength, while Lin Xiao returned to his own Divine Realm.

But shortly after returning to the Divine Realm, Lin Xiao suddenly received a prayer from Slarda. According to information sent by mages observing the battlefield, all the Nightmare Creatures that had died had melted and seeped into the Earth.

He quickly dispatched his Incarnation to descend once more, and indeed he found that not a single body of the Nightmare Creatures remained on the battlefield. At the location of the original battlefield was a freshly dug pit, within which at a depth of two to three meters, bits of flesh that hadn’t fully dissolved into the black soil were visible.

This flesh was seeping further down into the soil. About ten meters down from the curbs, there was a layer of flesh-mud.

It looked like flesh, but a shovel dug into it like dirt. Lifting up a chunk, he discovered that this flesh-like mud still wriggled and oozed a viscous yellow pus around the edges.

“Flesh Mushroom Blanket?”

Lin Xiao’s mind immediately flashed back to the indistinct giant silhouettes he had seen floating in the mists deep within the Nightmare Realm. He slowly looked up towards the deeper parts of the realm, as if guessing at something.

“Prepare to commence a full-scale assault!”

He simultaneously returned to his Divine Realm, ordering the Flame Lord Kurbert to lead his troops across the two-realm passageway into the Nightmare Realm.

Then, he summoned the black Najelanmu, instructing him to venture into the depths of the Nightmare Realm to investigate the massive shadow within the mists. He suspected the Child of Nightmare was plotting something.

That very afternoon, a grievously wounded and dying Najelanmu dragged his broken body back and brought him some very bad news.

In the depths of the Nightmare Realm, there were several Flesh Nests towering a hundred meters tall, thick Flesh Mushroom Blankets stretching across a significant part of the Nightmare Realm. The corpses of the dead Nightmare Creatures had melted into the ground, with flesh travelling along the Flesh Mushroom Blanket to those Flesh Nests, which were creating large Flesh Monsters.

According to Najelanmu, these large Flesh Monsters, almost ten meters tall each, were catching up to Rank 6 Transcendent Beings in terms of physique, strength, and restorative ability, some even becoming super-sized.