The Era of Gods

Chapter 425: 425

In the Void, two towering figures enveloped in divine light stood amidst the Void Storm. Passing through the Void Storm, Lin Xiao could recognize one of them if he were here—the figure whose pupils emitted yards of golden light was none other than Zhang Yan, Clan Leader of the Zhang Family. The other, bearing a resemblance to Zhang Yan, was an incarnation of another True God Level member of the Zhang Clan.

The Zhang Family had two True God Level powerhouses: Clan Leader Zhang Yan and another who was not his descendant, but his uncle, Zhang Lingfeng.

The history of the Zhang Family was even longer than that of the Lin Family. Lin Xiao’s grandfather was the first generation of the Lin Family, but not so for Zhang Yan.

The two True Deity Incarnations gazed through the Void, noticing a Void Ship sailing through the storms, fast approaching. With an indifferent tone, Zhang Yan spoke:

“Second Uncle, he has arrived.”

Zhang Lingfeng narrowed his eyes at the oncoming Void Ship, emitting a hoarse chuckle, as if there was something stuck in his throat:

“I was not around earlier and did not witness that junior’s arrogance. Today, I really want to see what skills he has to be so arrogant.”

Zhang Yan replied indifferently:

“Then please, Second Uncle, do take your time to teach this junior a lesson.”

The Void Ship approached quickly, and in a short while, it drew near. Zhang Lingfeng took a step forward with a sinister laugh, reaching out with his right hand and making a grasping motion in the air.

In an instant, the chaotic Void Energy within tens of kilometers around them was restrained by an invisible force, rapidly contracting towards the center into a giant hand formed of Chaotic Void Energy, several kilometers in size, reaching out for the incoming Void Ship.

“Alert, the Void Ship is about to be attacked!”

“Alert, the Void Ship is about to be attacked!”

Lin Xiao, who was drinking tea, was startled and moved the cup away from his lips, looking up to see the screen shift in front of him, just in time to witness the huge hand of chaotic energy grasping towards the Void Ship. With a ‘bang,’ the giant hand pressed against the outer layer of energy defense of the Void Ship, which violently trembled to a halt.

“Zhang Lingfeng!”

Before leaving his Clan, his grandfather had given him information about important members of the Zhang Family. Zhang Lingfeng, being one of the only two True Gods of the Zhang Family, naturally was included in that information, and Lin Xiao recognized him immediately as an incarnation of Zhang Lingfeng.

“It is really as Grandfather said.”

Lin Xiao was not panicked; his grandfather had warned him beforehand to beware of the Zhang Family’s desperation, so he was prepared.

To be precise, it wasn’t so much being prepared – his grandfather had not come along with him, but he had a way to cope.

Once the Void Ship was attacked, it emitted a loud alarm sound, and an officer’s holographic projection appeared at the front of the Void Ship, shouting at the outside:

“Heya Plane’s Zhang Clan’s Lingfeng, you are initiating an attack on a military warship. Your action has violated the military law of the Fifth War Zone. The captain of this ship has already transmitted your actions to the Seventh Sub-base as a recording. Cease your attack immediately and surrender yourself!”

The speaking officer was Lee Zan, the original captain of the Seventh Action Fleet. Lin Xiao had just been filling in to show off—he hadn’t been reassigned back to the Seventh Sub-base, but had always been there and simply had not made an appearance.

His mission was to escort Lin Xiao to the Seventh Sub-base, and he was currently on the ship.

With him there, the Zhang Family had no chance of harming him unless they dared to risk everything to annihilate him along with the Void Ship, destroying all evidence.

However, Zhang Yan’s reaction was such that it made him grimace. Without a word, he took out a metal disc emitting intense spatial fluctuations and activated it on the spot. Terrible spatial waves exploded in an instant, sweeping across like lightning, spreading to a Void hundreds of kilometers away in a blink.

Everything within that Void disappeared in an instant under the sweep of the intense spatial waves.

A roar came from the Void Ship’s bridge:

“How dare you!”

But the intense spatial wave had already swept over, and the Void Ship vanished without a trace.

It was then that Zhang Yan spoke coldly:

“You think I don’t know? From such a distance, it’s impossible to communicate with the sub-base in real-time. Just kill all of you, and nobody will know it was us.”

Zhang Lingfeng turned to look at his nephew, his voice heavy:

“Stop talking. Wipe the residual traces quickly. We’ve committed a taboo. If any of them survive, our Zhang Family will have nowhere in the Main World to stand.”

Zhang Yan nodded and took out another artifact—a Golden Scroll inscribed with God Text that emitted pure golden light. With a regretful sigh, he gently tore off the Crystal Silk Thread, and the Golden Scroll unfolded. The God Text pulsated, emitting strands of black gas that, along with the scattering golden dust, obliterated the Golden Scroll. An invisible wave spread slowly with the gold particles.

“We’ve preliminarily erased the traces. Now even an average True God can’t detect it. In three days, even those with Powerful Divine Power will fail to discover anything.”

Zhang Yan waved his hand through the golden mist, then said to Zhang Lingfeng:

“We shouldn’t delay; let’s go.”

Zhang Lingfeng hesitated, then said:

“What if there’s a True God who’s adept at tracing back? Or someone with super strength, or one who possesses space or time Godhood, can still detect us.”

Zhang Yan scoffed:

“Do you think a mere captain can call upon such powerhouses? In the entire Fifth War Zone, the only one capable of investigating is Commander Xie. Would such an important figure come here over such a trivial matter?”

“So he is done for?”

Zhang Lingfeng pressed his brows, his unease apparent:

“I have a feeling it’s not that simple. By the way, where did you set the banishment destination in that Exile Scroll? Is there any possibility of their return?”

Zhang Yan’s gaze shifted toward a certain direction, nodding as he said,

“The destination of this banishment scroll is the Sin Abyss, a place where many powerful Crystal Wall Universes and civilizations of Other Races send their dangerous criminals for exile. To be considered a dangerous criminal, one must at least possess Medium Divine Power or above. If they are banished there, their death is certain.”

He paused, then added,

“Due to the unique nature of the Sin Abyss, it will pull in their True Bodies as well. Even if they don’t die, with his strength, being trapped in the Sin Abyss, he will never be able to escape.”

“Unless he ascends to great divine power, but that’s impossible.”

“You’re insane—using such a treasure on this youngster?”

Zhang Lingfeng had not known what means his nephew had used, but now when he heard it, his first reaction was that it was a massive loss. Pointing at him with a pained expression, he said,

“Are you stupid? If you have this thing, wouldn’t it be better to just kill that old fart Lin Youde? To actually use it on this youngster, isn’t that a waste?”

Zhang Yan shook his head,

“No, it’s not a waste at all.”

“We can deal with Lin Youde, albeit with some trouble, but this youngster has a different identity. Not only does he have a military rank, but he is also a member of the Brilliant Super College, surrounded by connections everywhere, like a hedgehog that’s hard to handle. I’ve thought about it for a long time, and in the end, I decided to use this precious item.”

“Killing him directly could easily be traced back to us, but if it’s just banishment, as long as the person isn’t killed by us, the traces left would be minimal. We just have to wait three days, and the Void Storm will help us cover our tracks, making it very difficult to trace back to us. If we drag it out longer, unless a being of great divine power personally intervenes, the facts could never be clearly uncovered.”

Zhang Lingfeng was persuaded but still shook his head with some regret, though he said nothing and simply disappeared in a flash of light.

Zhang Yan took one last look at the area where the Void Ship had vanished and, he too, disappeared in a flash of light.

As time passed, Void Energy surged and soon covered this expanse of the Void, eradicating any remaining traces with its corrosive power and quickly returning calm to the area.

Elsewhere, when Lin Xiao regained his senses, he found himself in… the Starworld of the Main World, still holding the Incarnation of Xie Yufei.

Memories of his recent ordeal flashed through his mind. In that instant, he had indeed been ensnared by the banishment force of the Golden Scroll wrapped in the power of sin, tossed beyond the AX-14 Crystal Wall Universe into the Chaotic Void, swiftly crossing through the Void at incredible speeds toward an unknown and distant Chaotic Void, feeling a sensation from the directed location like that of a terrifying Abyss.

In that state, his body and Soul were subjected to a rending force. Whether it was Xie Yufei or other soldiers on the banishment course’s Void Ship, both soul and body had been torn apart.

Only his Soul was too special to be ripped away.

At that critical moment, the Mark of Gaia’s Child on him took effect. In that instant, he felt the presence of the Main World, a force beyond description that abruptly pulled him back, directly returning him to the Starworld of the Main World.

In that key moment, he only had time to grab hold of the Incarnation of Xie Yufei next to him, saving her, but there was nothing to be done for the others on the Void Ship.

At this time, Xie Yufei’s consciousness had already merged with her Incarnation. She slowly opened her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. As she opened her eyes, a keen light flickered within. She spoke deliberately and clearly,

“Sin Hell!”

In her eyes, there was still a trace of fear, and this was the first time Lin Xiao had seen her looking so vulnerable and frightened. He instinctively held her tighter with a sense of pity.

She immediately realized this and blushed, struggling subconsciously,

“Put me down.”

Her voice was very soft and fine. He couldn’t help but tighten his hold, immediately feeling her incredibly soft and delicate body. He instinctively took a deep breath, bit his teeth, and reluctantly let her down with a pained expression.

She slightly raised her eyelids and glanced at him. Her face was devoid of any other expression but took a deep breath. The blush on her face and her vulnerability disappeared rapidly, and she quickly regained her usual prowess and determination, with murder boiling in her eyes:

“We almost got banished to the Sin Abyss.”

“What is the Sin Abyss?”

“It’s a place that even gods talk of in hushed tones, where even those with great divine power cannot escape once they enter.”

“Hiss!”

Lin Xiao took in a sharp breath,

“To use such a deadly weapon against me, a mere Demigod, they really think highly of me.”

“Hmph, they’re being smart about it,”

Yufei snorted,

“If they directly killed you, no matter how cleanly they did it with their strength, they would be caught. But if they merely banished you, the impact would be much smaller. If enough time passes, even if my father came in his True Body, he would only know that we were banished, not who did it.”

“Can’t they guess that it was them? The Zhang Family is the only one we’ve had recent enmity with.”

Yufei shook her head,

“So what? Without concrete evidence, they can only suppress them, unable to uproot the Zhang Family altogether.”

She looked at Lin Xiao disdainfully,

“You think everyone can cheat as shamelessly as you did.”

Lin Xiao…

“Cough cough, don’t spout nonsense. My actions were completely justified, alright? There was nothing shameless about it.”