Chapter 214: Occupying the Island

Fishfolk Island was a wonderful place with clear waters, blue skies, spring-like weather all year round, and abundant sunshine. There were dozens of islands here, among which thirteen were larger than one kilometer in diameter. The largest one was roughly the size of a human barony and was located near the center of the archipelago, surrounded by smaller islands. To the north of the island stood a raised mountain range that served as a natural barrier, protecting it from storms and sea beasts from the outside. Remarkably, the island also had fresh water sources and vast fertile plains that could be cultivated into farmland, making it an ideal natural settlement.

When the massive dragon flew over Fishfolk Island, the tens of thousands of Fishfolk from the Sharp-Tooth Tribe on the island became terrified. Faced with such a severe threat, several Fishfolk priests immediately organized the tribe to pray to their god, the Sea Lord Protector. Out of fear, their devotion was far greater than usual. Streams of faith rose from various parts of the island and converged on the largest one.

Standing on the back of the bronze dragon, Donald saw everything clearly through his divine vision. He immediately exchanged two fragments of Soul Balls and handed them to his two subordinates, saying, “Kelsas, Nod’zdom, we’ll split up and try to eliminate all the Fishfolk on the islands. Then we’ll meet on the largest island in the middle!”

“Yes, master!”

While the dragon and the elf went to slaughter on the islands to the left and right respectively, Donald flew straight toward the nearest island. Upon arriving, he found that many Fishfolk had realized the situation was dire and fled to the main island. Donald effortlessly killed the remaining Fishfolk, thinking it would make it easier for him to wipe them out all at once.

Seeing the filthy and chaotic living conditions on the island, Donald frowned. He cast a spell to shield the surrounding area, filtering out the unpleasant odors in the air. “It’s a shame such a good place is occupied by these Fishfolk!” Since Fishfolk were not sea beasts and lacked magic cores, they had no value. So he didn’t collect their corpses but instead used magic flames to burn them to ashes, clearing away the filth on the island as well. As for the plants, with the Druid elf tribe around, transplanting and regrowing them wasn’t a problem. In just a few days, the island could be green again.

The greatest gain was the souls of those fishmen. Although the Toothfishmen weren’t very intelligent, they were still intelligent beings. The power of their souls was comparable to that of the orcs they killed, and their deity of worship had also been slain, so there was no need to worry about harvesting their souls. After killing several islands of varying sizes, Donald finally reached the main island. By then, Kelthas and Nozdormu had also completed their tasks. The three of them surrounded the main island from three different directions, killing any fishmen who tried to escape by water on the spot. There were still at least three to four thousand fishmen trapped on the main island. Donald immediately signaled for them to join forces and advance toward the center of the island from three sides. Within a few minutes, the three killing gods reached the core area of the fishmen’s island, in front of a temple-like structure built from coral reefs and stones. By now, the remaining fishmen were just some tribal leaders led by the Fishman Priest. Everyone else on the island had been slaughtered by Donald and his companions. After all, there was no need to feel sympathy for vicious and unintelligent creatures like the Toothfishmen, who had never hesitated to eat humans. Watching those fishmen shout viciously in incomprehensible tongues, Donald, who possessed divine talents, could understand their language. It seemed to be something like, “If we don’t slaughter these fishmen, we will be punished by the Great Ocean Lord.” It appeared these fishmen still didn’t know that the bottom-dwelling demon fish they relied on had become a corpse, now stored in the invaders’ storage space. Seeing that threatening their enemies with the backing of the Ocean Lord hadn’t worked, the Fishman Priest leader resolutely resorted to their last resort. Threads of faith rose above the fishmen’s heads and converged on a tall totem pillar carved from a giant stone in front of the temple square. The priest leader’s thread was the thickest, and all the priests chanted prayers devoutly. Then, a barrier of light emerged from the totem pillar, protecting the entire temple area. Donald recognized it immediately. “This is clearly a barrier created using divine power. But wasn’t that pseudo-divine Ocean Lord already dead? How can these fishmen still have the ability to cast divine spells?” At that moment, Donald took a closer look at the ancient images and symbols carved on the giant stone pillar in the temple square—they were actually a language he couldn’t decipher. “Is this… totem worship?”

Donald thought to himself in surprise. He had seen such things in his past life as well—primitive tribes on Earth still retained the habit of worshipping totems, and he had seen images of those totem poles in the internet and textbooks. In this world, orc shamans were an ancient class of spellcasters who originated from totem worship. Initially, their totems took the form of mountains, rivers, and various powerful magical beasts, but over time they shifted to powerful heroes and ancestors, leading to the birth of the original orc god. Unbeknownst to him, in this oceanic world, the sea lords also used this method to gather faith and strengthen their power. Could it be inseparably linked to the great secret mentioned by the bottom-dwelling demon fish? With these thoughts, Donald ordered the Book of Truth to analyze and scan the totem, and soon it reached a conclusion similar to what he had guessed. It turned out that the bottom-dwelling demon fish were not false gods but totem gods—true deities with names, roles, and domains of their own. These totem gods were similar to true gods but different; true gods held dominion over the laws of the world, sat on thrones, and elevated their own divine realms to higher planes as powerful beings. Meanwhile, totem gods were the same kind of existence as orc ancestors, human nation spirits, and holy spirits. However, totem gods were a higher tier than such ancestors and heroes—they were terrestrial deities recognized by the laws of the main world, representing the natural will of a certain region. They were like the mountain gods and earth spirits of his past life—truly ordained deities by heaven and earth. Now, these sea lords, relying on their strength, rashly left their domains to enter human lands only to be killed by him and his companions. Theoretically, as long as there were living beings within their domain and the natural environment remained harmonious, they would not perish, truly living as long as heaven and earth. Within their own domains, they could exert great power. Thus, earth spirits did not place as much importance on the faith of mortal beings as holy spirits and true gods, and they were not at risk of falling due to lack of faith. Yet they had a clear weakness: once they left their domains, their divine power would diminish significantly, and they could no longer wield their usual powers. This alone confined earth spirits to their own domains, preventing them from expanding outward through divine power. That’s why earth spirits chose to accept faith, cultivate followers to fight for them, gradually expand their domains, and gain more favor from the will of the world to increase their power.

“What about the totem gods? Your gods are already dead. How can that little amount of faith power stored in totems stop me?” Donald sneered. A projection of the Book of Truth appeared before the god. After the glow of divine light fluctuated, it instantly pierced through the thin barrier of divine magic and entered the temple.

“Ah…” Seeing that their enemy was unaffected by the divine magic bestowed by the great god, the fishmen panicked. Fear filled their hearts—someone who could ignore divine magic defenses and break through directly must be at least as powerful as their god!

With this thought, the fishmen couldn’t muster any effective resistance and were quickly defeated by Donald.

In fact, if those fishman leaders with silver-tier strength hadn’t lost their will to fight, their strength and home-field advantage would have allowed them to hold their own against Donald for a long time. Even Donald alone would have found it somewhat troublesome to deal with them!

But they dug their own graves by giving up their last chance at survival, ending up being easily wiped out by Donald.

Of course, with Kelsas and the others watching outside, these fishmen had no real chance of survival at all!

After clearing the fishmen’s corpses, Donald walked to the center of the square and looked at the totem altar before him.

True gods merge the laws they control through divinity with the laws of their own deity roles to form a divine essence, creating a divine kingdom and separating themselves from the main world. As for the earth spirits, they are entirely connected to their own domains—essentially the embodiment and will of their domains, which serve as their divine kingdoms. But without the powerful computational abilities of a divine essence, they must choose a core to replace it, responsible for maintaining the stability of their domain, allowing them to exist separately. This is the biggest difference between earth spirits and true gods.

The totem before him represented the divine essence of the Ocean Lord. By merging his soul with it and imprinting his own soul mark, he could become a being of power and status second only to true gods!

What an allure this must be for mortals seeking great power and immortality!

However, after understanding the advantages and disadvantages of such beings, Donald no longer valued this easily attainable chance to become an immortal god. After all, he already possessed divinity and Elven bloodline, ensuring a long life and many opportunities—there was no need to make a decision so quickly.

Besides, the position of Ocean Lord might not be suitable for him.

With his broad vision, Donald quickly realized that if he accepted the position of sea lord, his future path would be fixed. He might gain the cultivation of the human gods and serve as their pawn in the maritime realm, allowing them to acquire more power and benefits. But there was a price to pay: first, he would be trapped on this island and unable to return to the mainland for long periods; second, the human gods had already supported the true god of the sea, Bassetdo. If he wanted to advance further, he would inevitably compete with that sea god for the same domain, becoming bitter enemies. Compared to the already established sea god, what resistance could he, a mere being not even reaching the level of gold, possibly muster? Unless he was willing to bow down and become a subordinate god, controlled by others, this path was one Donald refused to take. Thus, Donald quickly made up his mind. The light of the Book of Truth flashed, enveloping the totem and instantly breaking through the external divine barrier. Then he summoned Nodzdom to his side, explained the advantages and disadvantages of being a totem god, and asked seriously, “Nodzdom, would you be willing to become the sea lord here and take charge of protecting these islands for me?”