Battle Begins

From high above, a group of Snake-Men and a group of Murlocs were rapidly closing in on each other across the narrow beach.

The distance of roughly three kilometers took only about ten minutes to cross, and they could already see one another. The Murlocs had deployed their entire force, numbering around six hundred, while the Snake-Men numbered two hundred and twenty. Since they were far larger than the Murlocs, their formation did not look much smaller.

Given the racial disparity, more than six hundred Murlocs normally could never defeat over two hundred Snake-Men. Even one hundred Snake-Men would have been difficult enough.

But this was Lin Xiao's Divine Domain. He had home-field advantage, as well as... Salted Fish Thrust.

When the two sides were less than a hundred meters apart, his true body appeared above the Murloc side of the battlefield, transforming into a massive Murloc phantom shrouded in golden divine light. The Murloc Chieftain incarnated by Lin Xiao immediately raised his weapon and shouted, "The great Lord of Gray Mist is watching us! Charge, children!"

The instant he revealed his true body, all the Gray Mist Fishmen sensed it and raised their heads in unison.

At that moment, witnessing their own faith descend in person, all the Murlocs began to grow fervent. More than a hundred Murlocs advanced from True Believers to Devout Believers, every Nominal Believer became a True Believer, and more than ten Murlocs transformed from Devout Believers into Fanatic Believers.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Xiao would have been ecstatic at gaining so many Devout Believers in an instant. But this time, he could not bring himself to rejoice.

Because he had performed a True Body Descent, and an intent filled with malice had locked onto him.

Before this, although he had also remained within the Divine Domain, he had existed on another plane inhabited only by Deities, rather than within the Divine Domain's material plane.

On that plane, he could observe the entire Divine Domain. No matter where he went, no one could see him. But now, he had emerged from the plane only Deities could inhabit and entered the material plane. There was a term for this: True Body Descent.

Under normal circumstances, a True Body Descent would not have mattered. But in his current situation, it meant that his true body had joined this invasion battle.

Most importantly, he had been targeted by another demigod—the malicious intent.

The Snake-Men had not come from nowhere. Even if they had been summoned using a card, beyond that Portal lay another plane dominated by Snake-Men. The being known as Gelas was a Snakemen Demigod, and He had set His sights on Lin Xiao, a Newborn Divine Lifeform.

Within the rules, He should have been unable to touch Lin Xiao. After all, this was only a test, even though the summoned Snake-Men came from the plane where Gelas resided.

But the moment Lin Xiao personally entered the battlefield with his true body, Gelas sensed him. According to the rules, since Lin Xiao's true body had participated in battle, Gelas could attack him in accordance with those rules. These Snake-Men were extensions of His will, and He could use them to attack Lin Xiao.

As a Newborn Lord of the Divine Domain who had received a complete education in Deity theory, Lin Xiao naturally understood this. But he had no choice. If he wanted to win this additional trial without suffering excessive losses among his Kinfolk, he had to take the risk.

As the Snake-Men and Murlocs charged at one another and were about to clash, Lin Xiao immediately stretched out his hand and repeated his old trick, summoning a tidal wave.

The Transcendent Power Tide Calling differed enormously in effect when wielded by an incarnation versus a true body. A wave summoned by his incarnation for the same cost of one hundred thousand Faith Points could only cover several hundred meters, while his true body could summon a tide spanning over a thousand meters. It rose from the sea and crashed down upon the battlefield.

Several Murlocs in the Snake-Man ranks who appeared to be Priests raised their Bone Staffs at the same time and cast their spells. Waves of red light blossomed, bestowing divine spells upon every Snake-Man.

The next second, the towering waves surged in and instantly flooded the entire battlefield. Snake-Men and Murlocs alike were swept onto the beach by the seawater, then dragged helplessly back into the shallows as the waves receded. In an instant, the battlefield transformed from a beach into a shallow-water region.

This area was where the beach extended into the sea. The water ranged from half a meter to one meter deep, gradually extending to nearly two meters.

The tall Snake-Men could still barely steady themselves with their tails touching the sand, while all the Murlocs were completely submerged.

But Murlocs were amphibious creatures, more agile in water than on land. They quickly recovered from the tidal impact. One Murloc burst from the water and spotted a Snake-Man more than ten meters to his front left, swaying with the waves. He immediately raised his Short Spear and aimed at the target. With a bang, a large mass of seawater exploded, and a white streak shot through the water at incredible speed toward the Snake-Man.

This Snake-Man truly was far stronger than the Murloc. He reacted swiftly, hissed as he steadied himself, and gripped an iron sword in both hands before raising it high and slashing down fiercely.

Thud!

Squish!

Two dull sounds of flesh being pierced rang out at the same time. Large sprays of blood burst forth, quickly dyeing the seawater red.

The Snake-Man staggered and took a step back, clutching the Short Spear that had completely pierced his waist. The Murloc, meanwhile, was cleaved in half by the Snake-Man's blade and died on the spot.

A Devout Believer had died, but Lin Xiao had no time to grieve. This was only the beginning. In that instant, the Snake-Men and Murlocs erupted into action on the battlefield that had been thrown into disarray by the Taunt he had personally cast, instantly tearing into one another.

In less than ten seconds, more than seventy percent of the over forty Murlocs near the Snake-Men had been killed, and the rest were all heavily wounded. Yet more than thirty Snake-Men had also been injured by the Murlocs' Salted Fish Thrusts before their deaths.

The golden humanoid figure of light that was Lin Xiao's incarnation sighed softly. Golden light flared behind him as two golden angels flew out and opened a Gate of Light. He extended his right hand and pressed forward. Tiny Murloc phantoms flew out from the corpses of all the dead Murlocs, rapidly rising into the air before entering the Gate of Light behind his head and vanishing.

The souls of these believers would be cast into another plane of the Divine Domain—the plane where he had been earlier.

If the place they currently occupied was the material plane of the Divine Domain, then the plane where a Deity's true body usually resided was commonly known as the Divine Kingdom plane. All dead believers would enter it and be transformed into Petitioners, or... reincarnate?

Yes, reincarnate.

This was a Divine Domain, not a Divine Kingdom.

For true gods of traditional Crystal Wall Systems, believers entered the Divine Kingdom after death and were directly transformed into Petitioners. They would immediately return to the peak condition of their lives, then receive different treatment according to the depth of their faith.

Petitioners did not possess infinite lifespans. They still retained the lifespan of their original race, but they would live free of illness and disaster until they died of old age. Every time a Petitioner died, they weakened somewhat. After dying too many times, their consciousness would gradually blur, and they would ultimately become nourishment absorbed into the Divine Kingdom.

The Divine Domains of the Main World's Deity Civilization were different. They incorporated the functions of Divine Kingdoms, merged them with the functions of the Main Material Plane, and added the function of reincarnation.

First of all, the Deity Civilization of the Main World called themselves New Gods. Unlike the traditional Ancient Deities of the Crystal Wall Systems, their Divine Domains were a fusion of the material plane and the Divine Kingdom. A Divine Domain had two sides: one was the material plane, while the other was the Divine Kingdom.

Living creatures resided in the material plane, and after death, they entered the Divine Kingdom.