The Era of Gods

Chapter 474: Chapter 474 Conspiracy and Chaos

“Cao Yichen’s face was cold and indifferent,”

“So what?”

Li Ran opened his mouth wide and suddenly his voice grew very loud, almost shouting,

“Have you lost your mind? She’s just a woman. With your status, what beauty can’t you have? Is it worth risking your future for this woman?”

“Moreover, I see that her relationship with that young man isn’t what you imagine. She’s only using him as a shield to get rid of you. That guy has a girlfriend, and her status is even higher than hers. Appearance… They couldn’t possibly have that kind of relationship. You need to wake up.”

Li Ran tugged at his collar, took a breath, and continued,

“Besides, you should be aware that many people are watching us right now, and you simply don’t have the time to destroy his Divine Realm. For your future’s sake, so you won’t have regrets, I cannot agree to this decision.”

Cao Yichen turned his head abruptly, his pupils bloodshot as he stared fiercely at Li Ran and said loudly,

“I’m fully aware, and I also know what I’m doing now. I’ll bear all the consequences myself. Now I order you to carry out my command immediately!”

“You’re really delirious. Under this condition, I’ll refuse to carry out your command.”

“If you won’t go, then I’ll go myself.”

Cao Yichen looked at Li Ran coldly, speaking deliberately,

“If you don’t want to see me die in battle then…”

But by now, Li Ran had already concluded that for some unknown reason Cao Yichen had fallen into madness, his thinking apparently…

“Wait!”

He suddenly stared intently into Cao Yichen’s pupils, from which gold light flowed, the dazzling Divine Light bursting forth as he looked at Cao Yichen, the force from the Divinity calming his emotions instantly, and he said gravely,

“I see chaos! You are influenced by the Chaos Deity Position. Has the Chaos God infiltrated this plane?”

“No, I have to get the message out.”

As soon as his words faded, Cao Yichen’s pupils shot out two beams of black light into the unsuspecting Li Ran’s eyes, swiftly overwhelming the golden Divinity in his sight. Even though Li Ran was caught off guard, a strong sense of alarm in his heart prompted him to release a speck of gold starlight from his hand.

Cao Yichen instinctively reached out to grab it, but it was too late. He could only watch the starlight soar into the sky and vanish in a flash.

A sigh came from the Void,

“Indeed Shining Elites are not easily influenced, it’s enough already.”

The voice gradually faded, and then suddenly, a fierce Divine Light erupted from Cao Yichen’s direction. Lin Xiao sharply looked up to find an infinite Divine Light engulfing a figure slowly ascending. An invisible Aura of Divine Power rapidly expanded, covering a radius of nearly five kilometers.

In the void, multicolored hues emerged, twisted by an invisible High Temperature Field around the figure shrouded in endless Divine Light. Many fire elementals with flame-like wings circled the Giant of Light, singing loud holy chants filled with Powerful Spiritual Power that spread swiftly with the phenomenon to a far distance.

Above the boundless Divine Light that reached for the Vault of Heaven, the world unwittingly dimmed, as if night had fallen, and an ominous fear crept into hearts, causing a foreboding feeling.

“Is this… Godification? Is a Demigod Avatar combined with a part of the Supreme Position this formidable?”

Feng Ziqi looked towards that direction surprisingly, being a Demigod Avatar with a part of the Supreme Position as well, he sensed that the surpassingly Demigod-like power of Cao Yichen was from his own Demigod Avatar combined with the Supreme Position. It wasn’t surprising on its own; what astounded him was why Cao Yichen was erupting in power now.

Normally, revealing an Avatar should be when the battle losses of the subordinate Kin below were too large to determine a victor, and it’s possible that they would then enter the fray. Who would expect to enter the battle so early?

Let alone lowering his own prestige, there was also no need for it.

Of course, whether it’s about lowering prestige or not needing to, there was no rule against such an action, so he was only surprised and astounded without taking other actions.

Cao Yichen’s sudden outburst was just as unexpected to Lin Xiao, yet he wasn’t flustered. Despite the opponent being a senior in his second year, he felt not the slightest apprehension.

The Combat Power of a Deity, apart from the Divine Realm Kin, included three other aspects: the first being external objects, usually Divine Artifacts and other powerful tools.

The second aspect was Divine Power, which is the most direct measure of a deity’s combat power.

The third aspect was the mastery of Rules. True legends have already begun to master the Rules, creating their own powerful Legendary Spells. Demigods and higher beings could do the same, but with having Divine Power, they are much more brutal—so much that they would rather not develop Legendary Spells, using bursts of Divine Power to solve all enemies instead.

The three most important conditions are Divine Power and mastery over rules, with Divine Artifacts ranking third.

Of these, Divine Power is a direct measure of combat power, while mastery over rules acts as a multiplier for Divine Power. The higher the mastery over rules, the greater the power of Divine Power that can be exerted.

For example, a standard hundred Divine Power, some Demigods can only exert the power of a hundred Divine Power, some can exert one hundred fifty, and some can exert two to three hundred. If those with Powerful Divine Power use it, a hundred Divine Power could unleash a thousand or even thousands or tens of thousands of power. This is the gap.

Of course, different Godhoods provide different combat power multipliers, generally much higher for combat-related Godhoods than ordinary ones.

Lin Xiao’s Lifeline does not belong to the combat-related Godhoods, but his mastery is high.

His ten percent mastery is the lowest among the Godhoods he possesses, which is already quite exaggerated for other Demigods; this level of mastery is unattainable for many seniors who aren’t doing so well in their fourth year of study.

So, even if Cao Yichen suddenly exploded into an Incarnation with an attitude of rolling up his sleeves to take on the fight personally, Lin Xiao was not really afraid.

Everyone has a Divine Position Incarnation, and everyone has a Supreme status. Cao Yichen’s Incarnation might have higher Divine Power, but if his mastery over rules is far inferior to his own, it’s uncertain who would fall should there be a real fight. Hence, Lin Xiao could still calmly observe Cao Yichen’s Incarnation, analyzing the powers displayed by the Incarnation to understand the composition of the target’s Divine Power, decoding which Godhood the target’s Incarnation has mastered.

Once a Deity has mastered a Godhood, their Divine Power will naturally carry elements related to that Godhood.

For example, the Divine Power of Lin Xiao’s Lifeline Incarnation contains a potent Life Force. If an Incarnation with the power of Destruction Godhood channels Divine Power into a withered tree, the tree would turn to ash and be destroyed; but if his Divine Power enters the withered tree, then the tree may either be reborn or be directly turned into a living tree man.

Different Godhoods combined with Divine Power grant different abilities; this is bestowed by the Godhood, akin to the innate talents of a Deity.

Cao Yichen’s Incarnation exudes Divine Power with a very distinct characteristic, that is, high temperatures. In a normal state, it causes the temperature within the surrounding Field to rise, and when Cao Yichen has murderous intent, the temperature soars, creating a wide High Temperature Domain. Within this domain, trees visibly darken before igniting into flames.

It’s not flame-based Rules but purely high-temperature Rules, one of the subordinate branches of flame-based Rules.

Though it is just a Lower Deity’s Law, it belongs to the combat type and thus endows his Divine Position Incarnation with extremely strong direct combat power.

Cao Yichen swiftly shrunk his Field into a Divine Power Fireball over a hundred meters in diameter containing terrifying high temperatures, like a sun falling across the sky, barreling towards Lin Xiao. Along the way, the water within the trees evaporated at a visible rate, slowly turning them yellow and withered.

Lin Xiao, fearless, watched as his opponent rapidly approached. With a thought, his Divine Power Burst forth, and his form rapidly swelled and grew tall. Soon, a radiating Aura of a Field infused with intense Life Force unfolded. The trees in the primeval forest below, withered by the high temperatures, were quickly revitalized by the nourishing power of life, turning from black and yellow to green.

“Lifeline?”

Feng Ziqi was surprised once again, feeling he had been surprised too many times today, but indeed he was very startled at this moment.

“Someone actually dared to strip the Lifeline to form a Godhood Incarnation!”

This was a Godhood capable of creating Powerful Divine Power, and even though they were top elites able to pass the Shining Elites exam, they couldn’t afford to use such Powerful Godhood to condense an Incarnation.

“Perhaps, I now have another reason to make up my mind!”

Feng Ziqi’s gaze flickered, with strands of black entwined within the sparkling light, reflecting his thoughts, tangled like the swirling light and darkness, indecisive.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Life Domain Aura had expanded to a diameter of over twenty kilometers, far exceeding Cao Yichen’s High Temperature Domain, indicating only one thing: his mastery of the Life Domain was very high, much higher than Cao Yichen’s mastery of the High Temperature Domain.

“Could he have stripped the Main Deity Position to condense it into a Divine Position Incarnation?”

“Surely, he couldn’t be that foolish?”

“If he were to fall here, that Godhood would be gone.”

Lin Xiao’s performance in the Life Domain was just too exaggerated. Countless upperclassmen watching from outside the plane were ashamed and speculated among themselves.

However, no matter the discussion, they had no intention of interfering with the battle within the plane. Even though most didn’t think highly of Lin Xiao, not believing he could hold off four upperclassmen on his own, this was their rule: to suffer the consequences of competition failure if they opted out of the main class and competing with the upperclassmen for this plane, and this was a rule that had to be followed by everyone, especially under the watchful eyes of the university leaders.

At the same time, far away in Dragon City, Xiong Chumo finally confirmed they weren’t faking a retreat but had indeed moved their main forces away after sensing the eruption of Divine Power from both sides. Worried for Lin Xiao’s safety, she ordered her forces to hold their ground steadfastly and flew towards the battlefield in her Incarnation.

Under the watchful eyes of countless upperclassmen, Cao Yichen’s High Temperature Domain, like a long rainbow piercing the Void, crashed violently into Lin Xiao’s Life Domain.

A pale green Life Force emerged, and the fireball, like crashing into a pale green body of water, stirred up waves of Divine Power as if they were waves, embedding deeply into the Life Domain and slamming towards its depths.

In the center of the Field, Lin Xiao’s Golden Incarnation, now deified, looked solemnly at the incoming orb of light, frowning.

The omnipresent Life Domain fed back to him that something about Cao Yichen’s state was off; he felt an air of Conspiracy and Chaos emanating from this High Temperature Domain.