Demiplane

The projections of high-level demigods encircled the golden platform as streams of light descended into the Artifact Platform, transforming into students. Besides Class Three of First Year High School, the other nine first-year classes had all gathered here today.

Class Three of First Year High School had forty-nine students. The other classes had as many as fifty and as few as forty-something, among them many outstanding students whose reputations had already spread beyond their own classes.

Yan Renjie was tall and handsome, with beautiful emerald-green eyes. He had inherited his father's True God bloodline and, like Yuan Hong, had been born with two points of Divinity. However, he was even stronger than Yuan Hong and had always been a regular in the top three of the entire year.

Wan Ying was a tiny, adorable girl with a pretty, sweet loli voice, a delicate figure, and a perky butt. Her chest was just a little small.

That little girl came from a powerful maternal clan. One of her ancestors had once been a great figure with a Godhead Level of fourteen, only one level away from advancing to Greater Divine Power. Even though she was not a direct descendant of the first generation, she had still inherited an additional point of Divinity and an extra extraordinary talent. In terms of talent alone, she was the strongest in the entire year.

Naturally, she was also a regular in the year's top three.

Pretty and talented, if the school were bored enough to rank some so-called school beauties like an ordinary school, she would definitely have a place among them.

Besides these exceptionally dazzling geniuses, there were many others with remarkable talent who were just a notch below them. Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong from his class, for instance, belonged to the second tier in the entire year.

A month ago, Lin Xiao had ranked 252nd in the entire year, one of those hovering at the edge of elimination.

Now, judging by his apparent results, the teachers' evaluations, and his classmates' opinions, he should belong to the third tier. He ranked below Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong, but barring any surprises, he would certainly advance to Second Year of High School. If he worked hard and got a little lucky, he might even have a chance to enter the Elite Class.

Yes, geniuses were just that cheap.

Or rather, they were only geniuses within a single year. Step outside into a bigger circle, and they no longer counted.

Lin Xiao had heard that Dongning City Number One High School had a true genius who had been born with three additional points of Divinity. Including the one base point, he had four points in total. Rumor had it that he had already condensed another point of Divinity, gathering the minimum five points needed to become a demigod. If he wished, he could try condensing a Divine Profession and become a demigod right now. He was ridiculously powerful.

Compared to such a true genius, all the other so-called geniuses were nothing.

Before long, once everyone had arrived, an emotionless mechanical voice suddenly rang out:

"The first-round elimination assessment for this year's first-year Final Exam is about to begin. The rules have been transmitted. The assessment will begin in fifteen minutes!"

This was the Artifact Spirit. Modeled after a mage's Mage Tower spirit, its mechanical voice echoed across the platform as a light screen appeared before everyone, displaying the details of the elimination assessment.

Lin Xiao studied the rules intently and nodded.

The rules were simple. Through the school's functional artifact, all students' Kinfolk projections would be sent into a Demiplane opened by the artifact to undergo the test.

Because they were only projections, no matter how great their losses in the test—or even if they were completely wiped out—it would not affect the students in the slightest.

The main reason for this was that the upcoming ranking stage would have all students personally descend into a plane controlled by the school somewhere in the outer realms. That stage would be a real test of the students' strength. If they suffered heavy losses during the elimination stage, it would be difficult to achieve good results in the later tests.

Another reason was that, among so many students, at least half—and perhaps more than half—were destined to be eliminated and drop out. Considering the hardships that awaited them after leaving school, the school did not wish for them to suffer devastating losses just before they dropped out.

That was why they had specially brought out the school artifact to conduct the test through projections. Even if they failed, their actual strength would be preserved, so they would not have to start all over again after dropping out.

The fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye. As the mechanical Artifact Spirit began the countdown, Lin Xiao glanced at Wan Chuan and Yuan Hong, who were glaring at each other in a silent contest, and chuckled inwardly.

3, 2, 1, 0. As time ran out, Lin Xiao felt the ground beneath his feet sink, and he fell into the void. Below him was a boundless golden vortex. Nearly a thousand streaks of golden light plunged straight into it, making him feel incomparably tiny.

Within the vortex, the golden light before his eyes was so dazzling that he could not open them. He closed his eyes and waited quietly. After an unknown amount of time, he finally felt solid ground beneath his feet. Opening his eyes, he discovered that he was standing in the void. Looking down, he saw a 3-kilometer-by-3-kilometer Demiplane beneath his feet.

Looking around, he saw identical Demiplanes floating in the distant void. Those were probably the examination grounds for the other students.

There was no water or vegetation in this Demiplane, only endless wasteland and rocks scattered everywhere.

"Please select the troops to deploy."

Another light screen appeared before Lin Xiao, asking him to confirm the forces he would commit to this test.

"Does that even need consideration? All of them!"

A brilliant radiance descended from the sky into the Demiplane, revealing more than two thousand bewildered Gray Mist Fishmen with dumbfounded fish faces, as well as over five hundred Blackscale Naga, each holding one or two Fine Iron Short Spears.

The difference between races was indeed obvious. Compared to the Gray Mist Fishmen, who were still stunned and at a loss, the Blackscale Naga adapted far more quickly. They soon reacted, gathering together at the loud shouts of a tall Blackscale Naga.

The many Gray Mist Fishmen also came to their senses at his cries and began shouting noisily, while some of the bolder ones ran about everywhere.

By now, the Gray Mist Fishmen had long since blended harmoniously with the Blackscale Naga into one great tribe. Several Blackscale Naga leaders shouted commands, directing some Murlocs to scout the surroundings while the rest gathered in place, forming a circle and praying softly.

Lin Xiao's golden figure appeared in the sky, and the prayers of his believers reached his ears:

"Supreme Master of Creation, Naga and Fishmen God!"

Over the past dozen years, Lin Xiao's God Name had changed. It had gone from the Great Lord of Gray Mist, King of Endless Tide, and Lord of the Seven Seas to the Supreme Master of Creation, Naga and Fishmen God, making it more fitting for the powers he wielded.

His previous God Names had been chosen randomly, merely made to sound impressive so his believers would feel that the True God they worshipped was incredibly awesome. In truth, he did not even have a Divine Profession.

A God Name could be chosen freely before one became a demigod, but once one condensed a Divine Profession and became a demigod, it could no longer be chosen at will. It had to be related to the Divine Profession one had condensed.

For example, if Lin Xiao condensed the three Divine Professions of Creation, Naga, and Murloc, then he could no longer call himself the Supreme Lord of the Sea.

A Divine Profession represented authority. One could only be called the lord of whatever authority one possessed. If one casually chose a God Name without holding the corresponding authority, then when believers prayed, their faith would contain convictions unrelated to one's Divine Profession.

Wasting Faith Points unrelated to one's authority was a minor issue. The truly deadly part was the impact of the convictions unrelated to one's authority that believers condensed within their Faith Points.

Demigods were different from Divine Lifeforms. Without a Divine Profession, there was naturally no such impact. But once one possessed a Divine Profession and suffered this kind of impact, it could cause disorder in the Divine Profession at best, or erode one's Divinity at worst, making the condensed Divinity impure and causing it to drop in grade—or perhaps even fall directly.