The Era of Gods

Chapter 496: Chapter 496: The Disappearing Health Bar Trick

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As everyone knows, players have different level caps based on their race, with some capped at Level 50, others at Level 60, and yet others at Level 70, and these different tiers of equipment sets are meant for players of different levels.

Of course, this is under normal circumstances. There are also special race-specific equipment sets whose attributes are at least T1 level, but the required equipment level isn’t fixed above 60 and instead depends on the race’s level cap.

For example, the first player who grinded the Fishman Race reputation to Exalted was able to equip a set of Fishman-specific armor with attributes comparable to a T2 set at only Level 50, and that was the only set available.

Lin Xiao didn’t intentionally grind for a set; all of his gear were standalone pieces, though his girlfriend had joined a guild before and managed to get a T1 set with the guild.

Lin Xiao wasn’t interested in equipment below T4, but if he had the chance, he would exchange for T4 and future sets because once he reached Level 70, the experience needed to level up would increase tenfold, and every five levels beyond that would multiply the required experience by another tenfold on the existing basis. In other words, once he was Level 80, each level up would require a thousand times the experience of a normal Level 80.

At that time, leveling up might be incredibly slow, so slow that he might not even reach Level 80 by the end of a hundred years, making these few sets of significantly strength-enhancing equipment quite necessary.

With Mars, the leader-grade elite, Lin Xiao’s monster farming became much more unrestrained than before.

Previously, he only dared to farm small groups of scattered soldiers, but now he dared to charge into groups of one to two hundred demons, as long as there weren’t any Centurion-level large groups of demons.

Experience, reputation, merit, occasionally farming Demon Marks, and sometimes NPC soldiers accumulating enough experience to level up.

Half a year later, without realizing it, Lin Xiao had accumulated five leader-grade super elite subordinates, two warriors, a shooter, an ice series mage, and a holy priest.

The two warriors were named Mars and Mars 2, the shooter was named Hills, the mage was named Starfire, and the priest was named Star Month.

Considering that there would be many leader-grade elite subordinates in the future, and that naming each one individually would be troublesome, he decided to name all the warriors Mars, followed by a number, all shooters would be Hills, all mages Starfire, and all priests Star Month.

Prior to their promotion, they had all leveled up, and after being promoted, their strength surged and they leveled up even faster. Now they had all reached the 70-level cap of their races.

Among the five leader-grade elites, the warriors and shooter were Supreme Nagas, while the mage and priest had merged with the blood essence of Star Spirits.

Although Star Spirits are only of a sub-legendary race, the blood essence he refined came from several legendary Star Spirits, so after the transformation, their templates were also of leader grade, but the quantity was not great, far less than that of Supreme Nagas.

In addition, he had accumulated more than fifty elite subordinates, with levels between 58 and 65.

It’s worth mentioning that the three leader-template warriors who merged with the Naga bloodline did not always maintain their Big Naga form. Normally, they could transform into humanoid forms. Although there were still fine scales on their bodies, and they were significantly taller than an average human, they still looked human-shaped. Once armored, normal people wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

Or even if they did, it wouldn’t matter, because players themselves come from various races, many of which are mutated races. To outsiders, their humanoid appearance would just seem like some kind of mutated race.

Having exchanged for over a hundred more ordinary cannon fodder at the Expeditionary Army Fortress, and together with the leftovers, Lin Xiao had around two hundred ordinary NPCs in total, all meant for cannon fodder. After getting everything ready, Lin Xiao and his girlfriend mounted a griffin and left the fortress.

Returning to Eagle Tower, they regrouped with the subordinates left there, and amidst the envious gaze of nearby players, they headed north. This time, his target was a nearby Demon Camp.

After initial reconnaissance, they had a general understanding of the Demon Camp.

Like Hawk Hill, this Demon Camp was also situated on high ground, but unlike Eagle Tower, the camp had three exits and was only about sixteen or seventeen meters high. The camp was much larger than Eagle Tower and housed an army of about ten thousand demons, with the weakest being Level 60. There were masses of elite demons, as well as many demon Magicians and Demon Wizards.

The camp contained plenty of War Machinery, and each of the gates had several high towers capable of launching huge fel energy fireballs. Their defenses were extremely strict.

Of course, Lin Xiao would not assault the Demon Camp head-on. Facing a nearly hundred-fold disadvantage in numbers, he wouldn’t dare to attack directly. Instead, he planned to ambush demons not far from one of the camp’s gates, specifically targeting those venturing out.

If the enemy sent out a large force, he would retreat, and then come back and continue killing their living forces.

Although the demons in the camp would respawn, they would do so only in batches and after a certain period, not instantly to replace every killed demon. This gave Lin Xiao some room to maneuver his plan.

As long as he could reduce the camp’s demon population by more than half, he would have the courage to attack the camp head-on.

There were no players near the Demon Camp daring enough to train there at this stage, and no one dared to assault a Demon Camp directly, not even players from other Legion Fortresses. Although having the strength to explore and set up fortresses outside didn’t mean they had the strength to attack a Demon Camp head-on.

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The team stopped behind a bare hill about two kilometers away from the Demon Camp. Their subordinates quickly moved stones from nearby to build a makeshift defense line, while Lin Xiao sent out a squad of a dozen or so to lure the Demons passing by.

A massive Demon troop happened to be leaving the camp, led by a Demon Centurion. When they spotted the lurking humans near their camp, their excitement surged like cats catching the scent of fish, and a hundred or so Demons split off in pursuit.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao sent about a hundred cannon fodder to meet them. The distant Demon Centurion thought he had spotted an easy target and let out a roar—seven to eight hundred Demons rounded the corner chasing after them.

This played right into Lin Xiao’s hands, and he ordered the cannon fodder to rapidly retreat to the ambush site behind the hill.

Two minutes later, the first elite Demon warrior rounded the hill and was promptly met with an arrow wrapped in starlight, which struck it right in the face. The tremendous force blossomed on impact, knocking the creature down without even a grunt.

A level 70 Leader BOSS’s charged strike hit the unguarded facial weak spot, and the level suppression that came with a ten-level difference proved overwhelming. Even an elite Demon couldn’t withstand such an onslaught, and it was instantly killed.

The death of one Demon did nothing to affect the morale of the others; more Demons rounded the hill and clashed with Lin Xiao’s eagerly waiting subordinates.

Two Leader warriors roared, their bodies rapidly expanding until they transformed into the massive form of the Big Naga, barreling into the Demon throng like bowling balls knocking over pins.

Mars rampaged through the Demons toward the Demon Centurion, and the two soon grappled fiercely in battle.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

With 610,000 hit points at level 70, Mars faced the Demon Centurion with only 300,000. The formidable BOSS that had once wiped out his team was no longer an insurmountable foe.

Adhering to the strategy of shooting the horse before the man and capturing the king before the bandit, Lin Xiao instructed Shooter Hills to work with Mars. A concussive arrow severely slowed the Demon Centurion and disoriented him, allowing Mars to seize the opportunity to tackle it. Mage Starfire, seeing this, quickly aborted the Blizzard spell he had been casting and began chanting a powerful spell.

After their promotion to the Lord Template, they saw a significant enhancement in combat skills and experience, becoming incredibly adept at seizing the right moment. The moment the Mage discerned the opportunity, he immediately prepared to unleash a devastating move.

A spell that even a level 70 Leader has to chant is definitely a major move—just like in games where the longer the casting time, the greater the power. A few seconds into the chant, Lin Xiao felt the air around him quickly grow colder, with Starfire as the source of the chill.

Following a full fifteen seconds of chanting, an ice spear as thick as a man’s thigh and over five meters long, crystalline and transparent, formed in the air. With a single point from Starfire, it flew in a long blue streak through the air like a missile, striking the Demon Centurion and instantly dealing a massive 170,000 damage; the Demon Centurion was frozen on the spot, unable to move.

“What terrifying damage!”

Though the casting conditions were demanding—fifteen seconds without disruption would give the enemy plenty of time to run—the spell could decisively end the fight once it was successfully cast under control.

The Demon Centurion’s 300,000 hit points dropped by more than half in a flash, and it entered a deep frozen state. In this state, all its defenses and resistances vanished, and it took an additional one hundred percent damage from any frost attacks for five seconds.

During those five seconds, the Demon couldn’t fight back as it was furiously pummeled by the four Leaders and Lin Xiao. On the fourth second, its last drop of health was obliterated, and it was killed before even breaking free from the deep frozen state.

With the Demon Centurion dead, the Demons’ morale didn’t drop much, but without clear command, they fought haphazardly, greatly reducing the pressure.

Afterward, Mars and Mars 2 rampaged through the Demons’ ranks like gods among mortals, mercilessly hammering any Demon captains and warriors they encountered.

A Blizzard spell larger than Lin Xiao’s Thundercloud made them struggle to move. Leader-level Shooters dealt five to six thousand damage with a casual arrow, crits reached tens of thousands, and waves of arrows combined with Blizzard effortlessly impaled a swath of foes.

The wide-ranging healing spells of Leader-level Priests could make player Priests blush with envy, with an impressive amount of healing that could single-handedly keep the entire team’s health afloat.

At this moment, the five Leader Bosses had clearly defined roles hunting down the minor foes; they alone could annihilate this wave of Demons.

Later on, Lin Xiao stood back to watch them sweep through the foes like a hot knife through butter, pondering whether to let their True Bodies gather a few bloodline crystals condensed from the blood of the Supreme Naga Leaders, even Slarda’s. He wondered whether those could enhance a few into Lord or even Hero Lord Templates.

If the Leader Template was likened to named BOSSes, the Lords and Hero Lords were comparable to world-class leaders such as Arthas, Giana, Queen Xi, Sal, Guldan, and One Egg.

He reveled in the thought of a cohort of Hero Lords obeying his command, thrilled by the sheer awesomeness and the grandeur of such power.

However much fun this idea was, it was inevitably far-fetched.

For if he wished for his subordinates to undergo a transformation and gain the Hero Lord Template, he would need the blood of the half-gods within the Divine Realm, like Slarda and Kurbert, to donate a part of their power and blood. This would undoubtedly affect their own strength, and unless absolutely necessary, this was not a step he was willing to take.