The Era of Gods

Chapter 399: Chapter 399: Anomalous Energy Fluctuations Beyond the Cosmic Crystal Wall

One after another, kingdoms and lords joined the Holy War, including several indigenous Churches. The border guards of the kingdoms were constantly fatigued from dealing with infiltrators along the borders and eventually stopped caring about small groups penetrating their defenses.

As a large number of civilian adventure groups formed the Holy War Army and entered the fray, causing destruction everywhere, frequent internal strife occurred within the stable kingdoms, which even the powerful military strength of the Church could not suppress.

Gradually, as more and more small groups of the Holy War Army infiltrated, they began to band together into a more formidable force and started to create chaos within, even daring to attack ordinary towns.

Although most were suppressed, there were also some that were breached, and once a town was breached, it inevitably suffered terrible losses.

The Holy War was a festival of lawful plunder, and many Holy War armies with impure motives came with this very intention.

Before long, Afonso ordered the border troops to withdraw and to defend the major cities within the country, while dispatching large groups of troops to exterminate the small Holy War Army factions. However, the enemy knew the tactics of “when the enemy retreats, we advance; when the enemy advances, we retreat,” avoiding any confrontation with the main force and only causing disturbances, which quickly threw the entire Alphonso Kingdom into disarray.

After all, with the strength of a single nation against half a continent, their absolute military power was formidable, but their numbers were too few; the total armed forces of the Alphonso Kingdom amounted to just over fifty thousand, which was not enough to defend against a full-scale infiltration of the entire kingdom.

As the kingdom became increasingly chaotic, territories were continuously abandoned and pulled back inward; within just half a year, six provinces north of the Royal Capital were given up, and a defensive line was established centered around the Royal Capital to face the advancing allied forces of Finland and the Sardinian Kingdom.

Previously, most people were not optimistic about the prospects of the Alphonso Kingdom, and even less so now. Many Descenders saw this opportunity to try to fish in troubled waters and infiltrated the kingdom, amogn them several human Descenders looking to take advantage of the chaos.

Including Xinhua, who was here to find Lin Xiao for the third time.

This guy had impure motives every time he came, but this time Lin Xiao did not meet with him at all because he was in the final stages of his plan.

After completely integrating Divinity into The Totem Domain, temporarily transforming The Totem Domain into a Divine Realm, Lin Xiao used the strength of the Divine Nation combined with Divine Powers to leverage the world’s fundamental rules, forcibly promoting the surge of Element Tides, and using the terrifying strength produced by the Element Tides to establish a connection with his True Body.

This step was extraordinarily difficult, something that normal Descenders could not possibly accomplish, not even after ascending to Totem King. It required the awakening of a sleeping plane, the emergence of Element Tides, the capability for the Incarnation to communicate with the True Body, and finding a group of powerful individuals willing to help – all these conditions were indispensable.

Only with the combination of many stringent conditions could this inconceivable task be accomplished, but ultimately, Lin Xiao did it.

He was now in the final step, and as for the mighty Holy War Army and various Descenders with ulterior motives outside, he simply did not take them seriously.

The only threat to him on this plane was the Holy God, and now it had been confirmed that Plane Will had already occupied the Holy God as its own Incarnation. Precisely because of this, the current Holy God was in the process of being refined and was utterly unable to intervene, otherwise, it would have personally attacked half a year ago.

With the Holy God unable to act, no one on this plane could stop what he was doing. The grand scheme was already in motion, even if the Alphonso Kingdom was destroyed and all its believers perished, it did not matter.

At this moment, within the temporary Divine Realm, Lin Xiao’s Incarnation could vaguely sense the existence of his own True Body in a far and unknown direction, without the need to use the Creation Rubik’s Cube as an intermediary.

A towering Golden Tree reached through the heavens and earth, its pure gold roots plunging deep into the Earth, within a chaotic Divine Realm with a diameter of hundreds of kilometers. There was nothing in the temporary Divine Realm but churning chaotic currents, wholly unsuitable for the survival of devotees.

This was the transformation of Void Energy drawn from the Void by the roots of his Totem True Body through the Divine Realm. This temporary Divine Realm was also disposable, as after this operation, whether successful or not, it would be abandoned, and the fate of his Incarnation was uncertain – it would most likely be discarded, even if successful.

Years of preparation led to this battle!

If someone could observe from beyond the plane in the far reaches of the Void, they would see that the overall space of this plane was slowly flowing.

Element Tides, ultimately, are changes in the Void. The berserk Void Energy that enters a plane automatically transforms into the four fundamental elements – earth, fire, wind, and water. When these basic elements move on a grand scale, it forms the well-known Element Tides within the plane’s living beings.

Normally, this plane is not very large, and with the Plane Will in a state of perpetual dormancy, and no presence of Superhuman Power inside the plane, the Element Tides it triggers should not be very extensive.

Under Lin Xiao’s deliberate promotion, however, the fluctuations of the Element Tides grew increasingly intense and widespread. Wave after wave pushed onward, thereby inducing Element Tides of even grander scale and range. Lin Xiao’s Totem Incarnation was now harnessing the terrifying energy produced by the Divine Realm’s connection to the Element Tides, sensing his distant True Body with his will, and driving this indescribable horrific energy fiercely towards…

The Totem Crystal Wall Universe, which from afar resembled a sun radiating flames, hung suspended in the Sea of Chaos. On the vast edges of the Crystal Wall floated three massive Void Fortresses, and numerous Void Battleships, belonging to the civilizations of the three great Divine Realms, patrolled the perimeter of the Crystal Wall.

A Void Battleship belonging to human civilization slowly reduced its speed as it reached a certain area, wherein the bridge stood a group of exceptionally tall soldiers. In the center, a giant-like man, standing five to six meters tall in a military uniform, was gesturing over a holographic screen. After a short moment, he turned to another equally tall officer and said,

“We’ve reached the border region, prepare to return.”

The handsome officer with a lightning mark between his brows nodded, tapping a few times on the holographic screen in front of him, which displayed a military-clad woman. He spoke with a serious face,

“Patrol Ship Number Seventy-Six has reached the border without any anomalies, requesting permission to return.”

The woman on the screen, gazing intently ahead as if observing something, turned back with a smile that one reserves for familiar faces. Leaning slightly forward, with her smooth hand propping her chin, she threw a flirtatious glance at the second officer, saying,

“`

“Don’t be so serious, wait until next time….”

“Please confirm the command!”

“Tsk, no sense of romance!”

The woman sighed softly, her expression turned serious, and she spoke in a deep voice:

“Patrol route verified, confirmed to be correct, permission to return to base granted.”

“Patrol route verified, confirmed to be correct, permission to return…”

Before she could finish, the screen in front of her suddenly lit up with a dazzling red light, and a mechanical voice sounded:

“An anomaly has been detected at the edge of the Crystal Wall, with unusual energy fluctuations. In accordance with Patrol Regulation Article Seven, Patrol Ship Number Seventy-Six is ordered to proceed immediately to the site for investigation!”

“An anomaly has been detected at the edge of the Crystal Wall, with unusual energy fluctuations. In accordance with Patrol Regulation Article Seven, Patrol Ship Number Seventy-Six is ordered to proceed immediately to the site for investigation!”

“An anomaly has been detected at the edge of the Crystal Wall, with unusual energy fluctuations. In accordance with Patrol Regulation Article Seven, Patrol Ship Number Seventy-Six is ordered to proceed immediately to the site for investigation!”

The warning repeated three times, and the woman behind the screen spread her hands and said:

“It looks like you can’t come back just yet. Go and see if there are any stowaways up to something.”

The screen turned off, and the officer pinched the lightning tattoo at his temple. His giant colleague laughed and said:

“The girl is being so forward, why so serious? Smile a little.”

He didn’t respond, simply raising his head to issue a variety of commands to the Void Ship. The huge battleship turned and headed in the direction where the energy readings were abnormal.

The giant officer just shrugged and lowered his head to examine the abnormal energy fluctuations being detected.

The Void Battleship quickly approached the vicinity of the energy fluctuation, and the ship’s specialized equipment started to analyze the data. A report appeared simultaneously on the screens in front of both men, and ten seconds later, they both looked up, shock evident in their eyes.

However, just as they were preparing to report, before they could take any action, a power beyond their imagination descended, solidifying the void space where the battleship was. A vast and immeasurable voice echoed in their ears.

Their expressions grew increasingly serious, and after a short while, the battleship launched a golden-net-wrapped orb of cleansing light into the abnormal energy area. The sphere exploded, releasing waves of light that swiftly expanded over a hundred kilometers, enveloping the entire region.

Inside the Void Fortress, Lin Xiao was in an enormous space within the Fortress, standing on a metal floor over ten kilometers in diameter that was etched with dense runes.

Dense runes formed arrays, and these arrays in turn were part of larger arrays, which were all a part of the even larger Super Array with a diameter of ten kilometers. These three layers of arrays were connected, powered by the entire fortress, creating a Super Array capable of producing terrifying amounts of energy instantaneously.

In the Totem Universe, his incarnation worked to harness the power of the Element Tides to connect with his True Body, and his True Body wasn’t idle either. With the aid of the massive power of the Void Fortress, it too was communicating with his True Body.

Sharing the same origin, they were naturally connected. Both pushing tremendous forces, Lin Xiao could now vaguely sense the actual presence of his incarnation.

“Very close!”

He looked up and murmured to himself:

“I feel I’ll establish the connection soon. At that time, I will ask the great ones to invoke the presence of Gaia Will.”

He was speaking to those great entities with Powerful Divine Power who were hidden in the void but always watching him closely.

Although he could communicate with Gaia Will as a prodigy listed on the secondary leaderboard, his own weakness resulted in a slight delay between reaching out and receiving a response from Gaia Will.

The delay was brief, merely about a dozen seconds, which normally wouldn’t affect anything. But this time, the window for temporarily connecting to the exterior of the Totem Crystal Wall Universe would only last an instant, possibly only one or two seconds. Such a short span of time made real-time communication with Gaia Will difficult.

However, with the simultaneous communication from these more than forty entities with Powerful Divine Power, it was enough to ensure that Gaia Will would be present in the moments leading up to and including the breakthrough, ensuring its presence throughout the crucial time. Once the incarnation connected with the True Body, these powerful beings would act together to counter the will of the Totem Universe, stabilize the passage forcibly for a while, and Gaia Will would descend immediately.

At that moment, the Gaia Node would undoubtedly be successfully established.

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