With the Weapon Card in hand, Lin Xiao no longer hesitated and said in a deep voice,
"I've decided to accept this extra challenge."
"Very well!"
The homeroom teacher tossed the Crystal Dice into the air in front of Lin Xiao, who reached out and caught it, surprised to find that this item was a special oddity. It could block the influence of any forces, including Divine Power, making it perfect for use as dice. Even a True God couldn't influence the outcome when rolling these dice; it all came down to luck.
"Huh!"
He held the dice, blew on them, and threw; the Crystal Dice fell onto an invisible screen in front of him and rolled a few times, revealing the number eleven.
"Damn!"
Lin Xiao's face immediately fell.
This luck was quite bad; an eleven-fold difficulty was simply too much.
The homeroom teacher Wu Hai also had a grim look on his face as he showed a hint of regret and said,
"Your luck isn't very good. Strive hard."
He had no control over the outcome. Although he wished all his students could succeed, the resources at his disposal were not infinite; they were only for the most outstanding students.
And determining whether a student was outstanding enough was based on their performance during major classes and tests.
Lin Xiao's performance this time was unexpectedly good, but with such bad luck, there was nothing he could do.
"You have one month to prepare."
After saying this, Wu Hai's projection turned into a ray of golden light and left the Divine Realm.
"What a pity!"
"What a pity!"
He and the guidance counselor Zheng WenZhuo sighed at the same time, exchanging glances before Wu Hai said,
"You keep an eye on him for now; I'm going to check on the others."
In the Divine Realm, unlike the teachers who had almost given up on him, Lin Xiao wasn't too discouraged himself.
An eleven-fold difficulty was daunting indeed, but he wasn't entirely powerless; only the potential loss would be great. However, if he could complete the challenge and obtain the Divine Realm Card, it would have an unimaginable effect on his future development.
Divine Realm Cards were so rare, and to top it off, a precious transcendent-quality Five-Star Divine Realm Card that added such favorable types of Divine Realm terrains. This was practically a game-changer that could transform the structure of his entire Divine Realm, allowing him a transformation in one fell swoop.
His current Divine Realm was primarily aquatic, which was fine at the beginning, but would severely limit his development in the mid to late stages.
A Divine Realm's terrain type must not be homogenous. While homogeneity means strength in specific aspects, it also implies significant weaknesses. His army of Divine Realm consisted only of the Fishman Race; without change, he could only add more aquatic races in the future.
This setup was nearly invincible in aquatic combat, but it would falter in other environments.
Come next year, in his sophomore year, the difficulty of regular classes and monthly tests would escalate significantly. Particularly during the monthly benchmark tests, they would likely attempt to invade various piecemeal planes, which required adapting to different environments.
If it were another aquatic environment, it would be manageable, but what if the plane to invade was a desert plane, an Arid Gobi Plane? Would his aquatic race not even be able to make it there?
Lin Xiao had been considering how to transform for a long time, and now, with the opportunity in front of him, there was no way he wouldn't seize it.
One month of preparation time was not long; he descended upon the body of the Fishman Leader immediately and summoned the entire tribe of the Grey Mist Fish People to assemble in the center of the tribe.
This time, there was no beating around the bush; he directly announced that a very powerful enemy would invade soon, and the great Lord of the Grey Mist had bestowed weapons to aid them in battle.
After that, the prayer ritual began.
There was no need for a reason, but the necessary rituals still had to be performed. After all, this was a world of deities, and in front of the believers, the mystery and majesty of the deity had to be maintained at all times.
More than six hundred Fishmen surrounded the central altar of the tribe, and their number looked considerable—a vast, dark mass. However, many of them were expected to die in a month, and this wave would surely leave them greatly weakened.
As the prayer neared its end, accompanied by a faint and melodious singing, a golden portal illusion appeared above the altar, resembling the gate of heaven. Two seemingly powerful golden warriors opened the Heavenly Gate, and troops of palm-sized little angels flew out, circling the gate and singing.
The Fishmen around the altar were astonished at this sight, and Lin Xiao cleared his throat heavily, causing the many Fishmen to quickly bow their heads and pray with even greater devotion.
In that instant, Lin Xiao's True Body, located above the Vault of Heaven, felt that in this moment, more than fifty True Believers had become Devout Believers.
"What a damn pity!"
But the arrow was already on the bowstring, and it was too late for regrets.
As a dazzling golden light shot from the Heavenly Gate and struck the altar, the gate gradually became illusory and eventually disappeared.
On the altar, there was then a pile of Short Spears, each only one and a half meters long, totaling one thousand spears.
The Fishman Leader ascended the altar, drew a Short Spear, and raised it high, bellowing:
"This is the weapon bestowed upon us by the great Lord of the Grey Mist. My children, take up the weapons and defeat the invaders!"
With a throw, a Short Spear flew out, and a nearby Grey Mist Fish Person instinctively caught it, looked up to meet the oppressive gaze of the Leader, and subconsciously prostrated himself on the altar, exclaiming loudly:
"Great Lord of the Grey Mist above, your devout follower is willing to offer his humble life for you."
"Very good!"
The Fishman Leader then drew another Short Spear and threw it to another Fishman warrior, watching as he loudly proclaimed his oath.
One by one, the Short Spears were thrown, and one by one, the Grey Mist Fish People took up the spears and swore their oaths.
Such is the fanaticism of religion; when the atmosphere is right and there are enough people united by the same ideology, they invariably change the beliefs of others around them.
This is the effect of psychology as well as spirit.
Combined together, even a non-believer who has stayed in the tribe for a while will involuntarily develop a faith.
The distribution of weapons only took one day; the first group of Fishman warriors and the most devoted among the Grey Mist Fish People all followed this process. Afterward, it was unnecessary. Over time, the feverish spirit would cool, and rekindling emotions would be less effective.
All the Grey Mist Fish People were given weapons, and Lin Xiao's incarnation personally led their training in weapon proficiency.
The Short Spear was actually one of the most suitable weapons for the Fishman, and it could also maximize the power of the Salted Fish Charge skill. Using a Bone Knife or stone spike for the skill could never match the power unleashed with a Fine Iron Spearhead.
A month passed in a flash, and Lin Xiao's incarnation continuously trained the Fishmen. By this time, all of them were able to use the skill with their new weapons.
As time arrived, the True Body of Lin Xiao above the Vault of Heaven felt a slight tremor in the Divine Realm, and the once-appeared portal re-emerged. Troops of Snake people, led by even stronger Snake Man Leaders, walked out of the portal and formed ranks.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the coastline, the entire Fishman tribe was also boiling with fervor. Under his command, the whole tribe moved out of their settlement to gather outside, heading toward the northern beach in as disorganized a formation as ever.