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Outside the Divine Realm, in the boundless Void, a tall figure shrouded in mysterious golden light stood stealthily outside the God's realm crystal wall, observing the Divine Realm.
"When did this kid get so many high-quality believers?"
Wu Hai, the homeroom teacher, looked at Lin Xiao's God's realm with a fair bit of surprise. His gaze swept over the more than six hundred Grey Mist Fish People, then settled on Lin Xiao's mobilizing avatar, and he nodded in approval, saying:
"It seems you've put in some effort during this time, so I'll give you this card."
He flicked his middle finger and thumb, throwing a card that quickly disintegrated into a sky full of golden mist, which under the restraint of Divine Power, turned into a golden rainbow bridge and flew into the Divine Realm.
Lin Xiao, who had been inside the Divine Realm all along, immediately noticed something foreign entering. At the same time, a system prompt popped up on the screen before his eyes:
"An invader is establishing a teleportation gate. The first wave of invaders will arrive in fifteen minutes. Please prepare!"
His heart tightened, and the avatar in the Fishman tribe's eyes flashed with sharpness. Raising the newly-forged Bone Knife high, it roared out loud:
"My children, the invaders have arrived. The Lord of the Grey Mist is watching over us. It's time to show our martial strength and courage."
The Fish People, already rallied, waved their weapons and shouted chaotically but with high morale.
Lin Xiao, long accustomed to the Fishman style, was quite satisfied and charged out of the tribe at the forefront. A large group of Fish People followed, swarming out after him.
This time in battle, he didn't bring all the Fish People out, only about three-quarters of them – essentially all the True Believers, Devout Believers, and Fanatic Believers who had learned the Salted Fish Charge skill.
The hundred or so Pan Believers who hadn't learned the Salted Fish Charge and had limited combat power were left in the tribe. There was no need to bring them out to face certain death.
The placement test wasn't as dangerous as midterms or final exams, but it wasn't simple either. Poor handling could result in losses that would break one's heart.
Although they were all students, they were already Divine Beings. Compared to the super fantastical Deity civilization of the Human Federation, they might be like newborn infants, but in some minor planes within the Chaotic Void Sea Crystal Wall System, they were strong enough to call the wind and summon the rain.
The training for the strong cannot be like that of ordinary students, who spend every day in school studying. They need to be tempered by various dangers.
Every major class, every test, is a trial, and a moment of inattention can lead to severe losses for the Clan.
Many students have been careless for a moment, causing a severe loss of vital energy, leading to a prolonged slump, and falling into obscurity until they graduate from high school, forever remaining an ordinary Divine Being, unable to become a Demigod.
As usual, the invasion teleportation gate was established in the upper-left corner of the Divine Realm.
That's the layout of his Divine Realm: there's only one coastline on the left edge, and the tribe is in the lower-left corner. Unless the invaders are aquatic creatures, they can only appear in the upper-left corner.
A three-meter-diameter gate shimmered with a ghostly light as waves, as black as a Black Hole, hovered one meter above the sand. The circular gate, surrounded by faint black light that slowly revolved, vibrated softly. The light arch swelled out, and a humanoid silhouette emerged, followed by a sharp object piercing through the light, revealing a blood-stained spear.
"Hiss, blessings of Gras above!"
A Snake Man about two meters tall with a human upper body and a snake tail making him over three meters long wriggled out from the gate. Holding a blood-stained spear, he slammed it into the sandy ground, making a small pit, then opened his mouth to reveal a forked tongue tasting the air, and slowly said:
"I smell the sea, and many fresh Small Fishmen."
Then, another equally sturdy Snake Man came through the gate, his forked tongue flickering as he wielded a Bone staff on the sand beach. His narrow, slitted eyes gleamed as he said:
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"I smell the scent of heresy!"
Reaching out, he grasped the top of the bone staff adorned with a gem-studded skull and said in a hoarse voice:
"The great Gras tells me to kill all fishmen in these waters."
The first snake person to emerge grasped a thick spear, turned around, and raised it high, bellowing loudly:
"Warriors of Gras, come forth!"
The portal glimmered rapidly, and a slightly smaller snake person squeezed out, followed by the second and the third, until a total of twenty fishmen had emerged.
"This test... it's a bit too difficult!"
Lin Xiao, who had been closely watching his God's realm, furrowed his brow. Although there were only twenty-two snake people, their strength was formidable. At least half a month ago, he would have had to fight fiercely, and losses among his clan would have been inevitable to defeat them.
The Grey Mist Fish People belong to a low-grade race, as low as races can get, with average combat power roughly on par with the goblins.
Hmm, they would be a bit stronger in water.
However, the Snake People belong to a medium race, and even the most basic members who have not advanced still possess racial talents that give them overwhelming combat power against the Grey Mist Fish People, especially those two leaders, who surely wouldn't be inferior to Level 2 warriors, or even professionals perhaps.
This setup is a bit challenging even for the top-ranking students in the class, and super difficult for those at the back.
If it weren't for the activation of the Golden Finger, years of accumulation transformed into strength, if it were still just over a hundred fishmen like before, it probably would have meant losing at least one-third of the fishmen to pass this test.
But there are no ifs in this world, and the present is unlike the past. Now that his strength has surged, Lin Xiao feels much more confident.
The Fishman Leader incarnated, leading over five hundred Grey Mist Fish People rushing out of the tribe, in a messy formation, swarming towards the recently emerged snake person squad.
There were no real tactics at play; the fishmen couldn't be commanded anyway. With an overwhelming numerical advantage, it was like circling with a mouse and then pressing A to charge in a wave.
Over five hundred fishmen gathered, a considerable number indeed, forming a dense mass along the narrow beach.
The opposing snake people were initially frightened by the sight of so many Grey Mist Fish People. However, they quickly revealed a fierce grin, the twenty snake people lining up in a row. The Snake Man Leader, holding a bloodied spear aloft, screeched:
"The great Gras is watching us, kill all the small fishmen, and Gras will grant us even greater strength!"
The other Snake Man Leader, holding the bone staff, said nothing, only silently raising the staff. The skull at the end of the staff, with a gem-embedded eye, lit up and streams of blood light spread out, transforming into a mist of blood that flew towards all snake people. Wherever it passed, red light glimmered in the pupils of all snake people, and their spears were also coated in a layer of blood.
Snake people's divine skill: Boiling Blood Skill.
It boosts combativeness and sharpens weaponry.
With the each Snake Person being imbued with this Divine Art, their eagerness for battle soared, along with a certain dampening effect on pain and fear.
The already absolute single unit combat power of the snake people, now reinforced with Divine Arts, meant their combat power was stronger, and their sharpened spears could probably kill a fishman with a single thrust.
The two sides closed in rapidly, and under the leadership of their leaders, the snake people leaned forward in a charging stance.