Preparation II

After lying in bed for a while, Lin Xiao got dressed and headed out, planning to treat himself to something delicious to celebrate taking first place in the end-of-month test for the first time.

He hailed a taxi through an app. When he opened the door, a silver-white aircraft was waiting outside the entrance to the 123rd floor of his building.

He did not live at the family residence, but in an apartment his parents had bought in Dongning City. The building had over five hundred floors, and he lived on the 123rd. The aircraft had pulled up directly outside his floor.

Buildings like this were everywhere in this era of super fantasy and super science fiction, tens of thousands of years beyond his previous life. They were nothing unusual.

The planet Lin Xiao was on was still called Earth, though he did not know whether it was Earth hundreds of thousands of years after his previous life or an Earth from a parallel world.

Around two hundred thousand years ago, the God Domain Game appeared out of nowhere. At first, everyone thought it was just an ordinary game. But after the first player became a god and uncovered the game's secrets, people learned that it was no ordinary game, but a real God-Sealing Game.

Players logged into the game, opened up Divine Domains in Subspace, developed those Divine Domains, invaded the Crystal Wall Systems within the Chaotic Void Sea on the other side of Subspace, plundered resources, fought for faith, seized godheads, and ultimately gathered all great power unto themselves to achieve supreme Great Divine Power—the god above gods.

By this era, Divine Domains had influenced every aspect of civilization. After graduating from twelve years of elementary education, every citizen took a comprehensive assessment covering theoretical knowledge, psychological testing, and more.

Those who passed received one chance to open a Divine Domain. If they succeeded, they became official God-Sealing Game players and entered specialized high schools that trained Deities.

Those who failed received no second chance. They could only attend common high schools, study various professional subjects, and become common people after graduation.

Thus, this super-fantasy civilization was not filled entirely with Deities. More than ninety percent of its population remained common people, living alongside God-Sealing Game players.

There was naturally a class divide between gods and mortals. It was unavoidable. The Human Federation's ruling class consisted entirely of Deities, while mortals had virtually no chance of entering it.

Still, this was an ultra-modern civilization. The Human Federation's slogan was that all beings were equal.

It was unavoidable that Deities possessed privileges, but common people were not without opportunities to rise. The Federal Constitution stipulated that the descendants of any common person were qualified to take the annual comprehensive assessment. As long as they passed, they had a chance to open a Divine Domain.

Whether they could succeed in opening one was another matter, but everyone had the opportunity.

Many of today's Deities had been born as common people hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years ago. Whether one could join the privileged class depended on one's own ability and luck.

It was precisely because the constitution guaranteed this path of advancement that, despite the obvious privileges of the Deity class, the civilization's structure remained as stable as Mount Tai.

Lin Xiao had been very lucky in this life. He had been born directly into the privileged class. The most obvious benefit was that his tuition was completely waived, he received a large monthly living allowance, and even transportation cost him only half price. As for various priority privileges, there was no need to mention them.

For example, priority mating rights. If he and a common person pursued the same girl, his success rate would start with a bonus of ninety-nine percent.

The aircraft passed through the towering buildings of the bustling city and arrived before a skyscraper a thousand stories tall. A gigantic light screen covered the center wall of the skyscraper, displaying a poster of a goddess with exquisitely flawless features.

Lin Xiao knew this beauty well. Her name was Leng Qingxuan, one of the Human Federation Ten Great Singers. She was also an Intermediate Divine Power with Divine Professions such as music, dance, women, and talent, and a Godhead Level of twelve—a true goddess.

Every one of the Human Federation Ten Great Singers possessed Divine Professions related to music and talent. Even the weakest among them was a True God.

Beauty alone was not enough to get ahead in this era without talent.

The aircraft entered the building, which covered over a million square meters, passed through a long corridor, and stopped at a berth resembling a high-speed rail station.

After paying, Lin Xiao snapped his fingers. A flying board shot out from one of the slots lining the wall at the platform's edge and hovered beneath his feet. He stepped onto it, and it automatically rose into the air and flew forward.

Once he left the platform, a supremely bustling commercial street came into view, packed with people and colorful neon lights as far as the eye could see.

Lin Xiao slipped familiarly into an alley beside the street. Inside was a snack street. He found a shop with a sign reading Second Brother Beef Noodles and dropped into a seat. The old master making noodles saw him and smiled, raising one finger.

"Same as usual?"

"Same as usual."

He looked around. Business was quite good.

Before long, a huge bowl was set before him. He picked up his chopsticks without another word, grabbed a large clump of steaming rice noodles, and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Delicious!"

Each slice of beef was half a palm long and wonderfully flavorful. Ever since discovering this place, Lin Xiao had come here almost once every week.

After wolfing down the bowl of rice noodles, which was nearly the size of a small washbasin, he wiped his mouth, paid, said goodbye, and left.

He wandered around the streets for a while longer, doing some shopping. Most people on the bustling streets were common people. Divine Lifeforms like him, let alone demigods, were rarely seen. The occasional ones were usually out having fun with their families.

They had already graduated and entered society. Unable to become demigods and reside permanently in foreign Crystal Wall Systems and foreign planes, they could only find jobs in reality and place their hopes on the next generation.

Those who truly had the potential to become demigods, or were already demigods themselves, rarely lingered in reality. Most stayed in planes within certain Crystal Wall Systems in the Chaotic Void Sea—what modern people called the outer realms.

Like Lin Xiao's parents, who were currently in a Plane Cluster within the AX-14 Crystal Wall System where the family was based. That was the plane where the family had made its fortune, as well as the foundation of the family's presence in the Chaotic Void Sea. Two True God elders of the family had been stationed there year-round, and most family members were also in that Plane Cluster.

When Lin Xiao was young, he had accidentally overheard his elders talking. The family had been attacking a large plane inhabited by several Native Gods. He did not know whether they had taken it by now.

All that was still somewhat distant from him. At this stage, his primary task was to study hard. Only if he failed to get into university would he return to the family plane, use the family's resources to become a demigod, and then serve the family.

Lin Xiao was only in his first year of high school. After classes were divided in his Second Year of High School, if he continued to perform as well as before and demonstrated the potential to challenge the True God rank, he could receive family sponsorship and obtain a large number of extremely Rare cards to increase his strength.

That was the advantage of having backing. As long as one displayed enough potential, resources would naturally be directed their way.

This was extremely important to Lin Xiao. Even with a Golden Finger, if he had no cards in hand, he would be like a clever housewife without rice to cook with—unable to do anything.