The Era of Gods

Chapter 453: Hunting the King of the Poisonous Lizards

“You can’t run away!”

The Dragon’s enormous head lifted, gazing in the direction where the Poisonous Lizard King was fleeing. Golden flames sprayed from its golden pupils as it spoke in human tongue.

Bowing its head slowly, the Poison Lizard Tribal Chief, transformed into a Giant Lizard, had already been pressed into the ground by him, buried deeply. The surrounding rocks had all shattered, forming a large crater.

“I have witnessed your courage, and out of respect for your bravery, I shall personally send you on your way!”

Lin Xiao extended another gigantic claw to press down on the Giant Lizard’s head, crushing its bones. His claws sank deeply into its flesh, and as the Golden Naga’s pupils spewed a dark golden light, the Giant Lizard screamed miserably, torn in half.

There was no spray of blood, only countless streams of black mist that made up the totemic body leaking out, and…

The Tribal Chief of the Poison Lizard Tribe, who had merged with the totem, was also torn in two. His pitifully small corpse compared to the enormous claw slipped through the gaps, and Lin Xiao opened his mouth to spout a golden blaze, incinerating the body to nothingness.

As the Asura Naga who had fully integrated the Dragon bloodline, the ability to spew Dragon Breath was within reason.

The Clan Leader was dead, the Old Wizard unconscious, and the remaining tribal warriors and leaders were struggling to resist. Defeat was only a matter of time.

But what was crucial was the guardian totem of the tribe breaking and fleeing; that was the straw that broke the Poison Lizard Tribe’s morale. Although the battle was not over yet, the overall situation was basically decided. Lin Xiao had his girlfriend oversee the battlefield, chasing after the escaping Poisonous Lizard King alone.

Compared to the Poisonous Lizard King who could only flee on the ground, he could fly. Such a huge creature could easily topple trees thicker than a man. From the air, a gigantic and conspicuous trail stretched far into the distance; he just needed to follow the track to catch up.

Using teleportation three times in a row, Lin Xiao flying in the sky soon found the Poisonous Lizard King rampaging through the forest, scaring countless fierce beasts into chaos. Along the escape route, animals startled from their hiding spots were running wild.

Lin Xiao did not pounce immediately but looked towards the direction of the Poisonous Lizard King’s escape. Far in the distance, a powerful presence was slowly stirring, with barely audible shrieks echoing intermittently. According to the map obtained from conquering several tribes with the Vine Snake Tribe, that direction was a Lizard Totem Tribe.

“Seeking reinforcements, are you?”

He chuckled. According to the marking on the map, the Totem called The King of the River Lizards was from a Lizard Totem Tribe slightly larger than the Poison Lizard Tribe, and its strength should be slightly superior to that of the Poisonous Lizard King, but only by a limited margin.

For Lin Xiao, the Poisonous Lizard King was an opponent he could easily defeat; previously, he crushed the Poisonous Lizard King without the latter having the ability to struggle. The addition of another was no match for him either.

Moreover, The King of River Lizards might not even dare to show up.

Although they were both branches of the Lizard Totems, their relations might not be sufficient to fight to the death for each other.

He wasn’t in a hurry and continued to drive the Poisonous Lizard King towards the River Lizard Tribe. When the Poisonous Lizard King was still over ten kilometers away from the River Lizard Tribe, a Giant Lizard, not much smaller than the Poisonous Lizard King, burst out from a huge crater not far from the River Lizard Tribe, roaring and communicating with the Poisonous Lizard King through screams.

However, after only a few exchanges, The King of River Lizards saw the ball of golden light approaching from afar—Lin Xiao’s incarnation as the Golden Naga, easily visible from a distance with its shock and hesitation.

Then, The King of River Lizards roared at the Poisonous Lizard King, whipped its tail, turned, and fled back into the crater, disappearing from sight.

Poisonous Lizard King: …

Lin Xiao: …

The Poisonous Lizard King was clearly bewildered for a moment, screeched a few times at the disloyal River Lizard King, and continued to flee.

But this time, Lin Xiao did not let it continue to escape, teleporting directly in front of the Poisonous Lizard King, he opened his mouth to speak human language:

“I said, you must not destroy the trees here, otherwise you will be punished!”

Lin Xiao set a punishment mechanism that the Poisonous Lizard King absolutely couldn’t avoid, then spoke again in a commanding and powerful voice:

“In the name of truth, those who destroy trees will be unable to move!”

As his words ended, an invisible rule of force descended from the void. The fleeing Poisonous Lizard King suddenly froze mid-motion, and a ‘boom’ resounded around as the void swelled, a phenomenon generated by the kinetic energy being absorbed by the surrounding space due to the force freezing it in place.

“In the name of truth, those who destroy trees will lose their strength!”

Expending a full thousand Divine Power, the second Minor Judgment Skill descended. The Poisonous Lizard King, which was trying to mobilize its own strength to resist the previous Minor Judgment Skill, suddenly felt its strength dissipate, and the huge body collapsed softly. Then a massive shadow fell upon it. Barely lifting its head, it saw a gigantic golden figure with a suffocating aura descending.

“Boom!”

Lin Xiao descended from the sky and landed heavily on the Poison Lizard King. The effect of the Minor Judgment Skill only lasted about a second on the totemic Poison Lizard King, which would seem like the blink of an eye to most, but for beings like them, a second was enough to determine life or death.

Just like last time, as his foot came down, the Poison Lizard King was unable to break free, even after recovering from the effect of the Minor Judgment Skill.

This time, with no outsiders to interfere, Lin Xiao forced open its mouth. A potent venom prepared to spray out, but was immediately met with a torrent of golden Dragon Breath from the Supreme Naga, blasting the venom back down the Poison Lizard King’s throat. Gold flames gushed from the crevices of the Poison Lizard King’s mouth, burning through its entire head.

The venom was spewed out for a full ten seconds until the Poison Lizard King’s neck had melted through, leaving only a charred skull.

Yet, the body of the Poison Lizard King still retained its formidable strength and vitality; it wasn’t completely dead.

But it was undoubtedly doomed. Now, without a head, it was merely in its death throes, just waiting for its life force to run out.

A spirit of the Poison Lizard King, glimmering with a faint golden light, flew out towards a certain direction. Lin Xiao reached out to grasp it, only to feel a strong force pulling at the spirit of the Poison Lizard King. This powerful attraction came from the east side of the island, the territory of the Lizard Lord Tribe.

“Interesting!”

If he wasn’t mistaken, the destination of the Poison Lizard King’s soul was towards the Lizard Lord Tribe. The totem of this tribe, known as The King of Ten Thousand Lizards, was an extraordinary entity. It was said to have been a totem for tens of thousands of years, and both the Poison Lizard King and the River Lizard King were its descendants.

The King of Ten Thousand Lizards, a millennia-old shut-in, was likely very powerful. Before becoming a totem, Lin Xiao might not have been able to contend with it.

He was aware of a force pressing down on him while attacking the Poison Lizard Tribe, likely an advantage the Poison Lizard King had within its own territory, but their difference in strength was too vast, and the home-field advantage wasn’t enough to change the outcome.

If The King of Ten Thousand Lizards was on par with Lin Xiao, plus the home-field advantage, the situation could be different.

Therefore, he must become a totem as well. Then he could use part of the totemic powers to offset the influence of the enemy’s totem, creating a relatively fair battle.

Picking up the remains of the Poison Lizard King, Lin Xiao glanced at the huge pit near the River Lizard Tribe. He could sense a gaze hidden within the pit.

He was tempted to take out the River Lizard King while he was at it, but decided against it, considering that it could provoke The King of Ten Thousand Lizards to rage.

Although killing the Poison Lizard King would certainly enrage The King of Ten Thousand Lizards, there was a significant difference between killing one and killing two. There was no need to rush things.

As long as the River Lizard Tribe remained here, the totem couldn’t escape.

With the strength and powers obtained, a totem also faced certain restrictions. It could leave the tribe for a short time, but not for long, and giving up the tribe wasn’t easy. At least until the next attack on the River Lizard Tribe, the River Lizard King would be unable to break free from its tribal constraints. There was no need to hurry.

Dragging the carcass, he soared back to base. By the time he returned to the Poison Lizard Tribe, the battle had ended, and the Vine Snake Tribe had already invaded the Poison Lizard Tribe.

The totemic Totem Pillar was torn down, and every wizard belonging to the Poison Lizard King was killed.

These wizards served as priests to their gods and spoke for the totem. The other tribe members could be assimilated, even Clan Leaders, if they were willing to lay down their arms, but not the wizards. Once the tribe was breached, the wizards were doomed to die.

Many downtrodden civilians and disarmed Poison Lizard Tribe warriors were gathered in an open space. But with their tribe decisively defeated, especially after witnessing their totem flee, their Totem Pillar extinguished, and all totem warriors lose their strength, this signified their totem’s downfall. They lost all hope and resigned themselves to surrender.

One after another, the Totem Pillars were knocked down, the symbols of the Poison Lizard Tribe were piled together and set ablaze, and replaced with the symbols of the Vine Snake Tribe.

All the food in the storeroom was collected, and the minerals mined from a small mountain range nearby were packed into boxes, ready to be transported back to the Vine Snake Tribe.

The leaders of the Vine Snake Tribe discussed and decided to establish a temporary base here. Using the mages’ spells, they would construct a small town and encircle the nearby mountain mines, which produced iron ore, a current necessity for the tribe.

The subsequent relocation work didn’t require their worry. The leaders of the Vine Snake Tribe were overjoyed, and the tribe’s warriors were also excitedly collecting the spoils of war.

Lin Xiao returned to the base with the Poison Lizard King’s corpse and spirit, ready to study the soul of the Poison Lizard King. The secret of the totem lay within its soul.

He didn’t need the Creation Rubik’s Cube; at this point, Lin Xiao’s proficiency in The Rule of Creation was no ordinary feat. Even as a Divine Position Incarnation and not the True Body, he still retained his previous memories, and his understanding of the Creation Rules that his True Body possessed remained. He saw through the essence of the totem at a glance.

Totems, strictly speaking, are a focus of the belief of living beings, a type of divine position, yet not the kind that gods possess.

This is mainly due to the uniqueness of this plane, which cannot give birth to true divine positions.

Or rather, this plane can produce divine positions, but due to the Plane Will, during the stage of divine position solidification, the plane rules interfere, resulting in the formation of a special Divine Position.