The plantations and breeding farms were projects that William had started in recent years. With the increasing number of the insect swarm, the demand for food was growing daily.
Thus, William began to try creating a self-sustaining ecological cycle aimed at sustaining the ever-growing insect swarm, minimizing resource loss along the way. This led to the current model of plantations and breeding farms, which operates in a three-step food cycle: plants absorb nutrients from the earth to grow; aphids feed on the plants, growing and reproducing; the insect swarm feeds on the aphids, and the waste they excrete fertilizes the plants, ensuring their continued growth. The plantation cycle is even shorter with just two stages.
Recently, the wild rabbits and mice in the Divine Domain were nearly extinct. Outside a few hunting bans set by William on the domain''s edge, mammalian creatures were rare across the 10,000 square kilometers of land. Even though he had begun planning for the future development of the domain, the area was fixed, and eventually, the insect swarm''s population would surpass what the domain could sustain.
Everything William did was to push that limit higher, striving to increase the strength of the swarm so that when the protection period ended, he could at least defend himself. But, if he were unlucky and ran into an invader with dragon-related minions right after his protection ended, there would be little he could do. Despite the massive numbers of insects, as ordinary creatures, the swarm''s combat capabilities had serious limitations.
Against a top-tier extraordinary species like a dragon, even a young dragon, the current insect swarm couldn''t even scratch its skin. The swarm''s size wouldn''t matter¡ªit would be easily incinerated in one dragon breath, with nothing they could do in response. Dragons and their minions were often what semi-gods hoped for when creating their domains, for their immense potential. From birth, dragons were extraordinary; by adulthood, they were elite, and with training and resources, they could become lords.
In contrast, even a magical humanoid species'' minions could only be ordinary until they reached the rank of apprentice mage, equating to the strength of a newly-hatched dragon. To be a qualified mage, they would need to master mid- to low-level spells and achieve elite status, capable of facing a young dragon. Becoming a grand mage with high-level magic could make them hero-level, with the power to challenge an adult dragon. The real lords, however, could cast world-shattering magic and had the power to obliterate cities single-handedly.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
William thought back to how desperate he had been in his previous life. It wasn''t just the ants that caused his misery¡ªwhile he was painstakingly commanding his ants in battle against mice, other people¡¯s newly hatched dragon offspring were tearing apart tigers and flying through the skies, burning entire ant kingdoms to the ground in a single breath of fire.
"How despairing," William thought. "If not for my transmigration, the Divine Domain would''ve mutated. Otherwise, becoming a god would have been impossible." Putting these chaotic thoughts aside, he returned to his daily work.
Another ten years passed in the world of the gods. William was now floating in the air, observing the transformed Divine Domain below. Large areas of the domain had been efficiently planned, with vast numbers of broad-leaved trees and sweet sap trees planted across the land. Depending on the size and growth of each tree, varying numbers of aphids were breeding on them.
In the gaps between the trees, wild grass growing up to two meters tall had become abundant. This was a new species of plant William had discovered in the Divine Domain, possessing traits like a short growth cycle, strong vitality, and incredible reproductive capacity. He had named this grass "chives," as it grew quickly and could be harvested repeatedly, much like the real vegetable.
During these ten years, William''s ambitious "jumping insect" project had been temporarily halted. It failed due to the inability of the current insect species'' genes in the Divine Domain to support such an endeavor. The research was paused and stored as technical reserves until stronger foreign genes could be introduced.
In the decade that followed, the insect swarm''s population had surged to nearly 10 million. The four main insect species had undergone several rounds of upgrades, improving their internal organs and functional systems, making them faster, more agile, stronger, and more advanced in bodily functions. However, the energy consumption had also increased.
This made the swarm''s food requirements skyrocket. With such an enormous number, the original ecological balance in the Divine Domain had been shattered. As William continued his planning, a significant number of species and plants had become extinct. Outside the original aphid breeding farms, the swarm had replaced most of the land with broad-leaved trees, sweet sap trees, chives, and other economic crops. Large-scale aphid breeding had also been established.
However, as the primary food source for the insect swarm, the broad-leaved trees and sweet sap trees had a growth cycle, which meant food acquisition for the swarm was becoming increasingly difficult. Even if William planted every available plot of land with these trees, the total number of trees would only be in the millions, insufficient for sustaining the growing swarm.
Given the current 10,000 square kilometer area of the Divine Domain, and the number of trees planted, it was clear that food would be a critical issue soon. The growth of the insect swarm had reached an unsustainable rate.
Chapter 10: Protection Period
Now, the ecological balance in the entire Divine Realm was on the verge of collapse. It was only thanks to William''s efforts at regulation that the population of the insect swarm could be maintained without a decrease. Once all the large-leaf trees and sweet sap trees matured, the insect swarm¡¯s numbers would rise again, but William was not going to do that.
When the insect swarm reached the critical threshold of 10 million, William had already stopped the population growth and started culling the earliest units, leaving enough resources for the more advanced units of the swarm. Gradually replacing the older units within the swarm was the main reason he had ceased expanding the insect swarm¡¯s numbers.
Although many early units consumed less, their combat capabilities were far inferior to the current main battle units. For example, a piercing wolf spider could easily wipe out thousands of early worker ants without taking a scratch, as long as the tactics were right. The wolf spider had faster speed, stronger defense, more agile mobility, and could use wide-area acid sprays. As long as it didn''t foolishly charge into an ant swarm to get surrounded, the early worker ants would be nearly helpless.
Once all the early units were replaced, it would be a huge resource drain. William estimated it would take four to five years to complete this process, after which his Divine Realm would truly reach its development limit. The only way forward was to leave the beginner protection period and enter the world of the gods, where he could acquire external resources and continue to develop. By that time, he would face the first test that all life forms entering the world of the gods must face: war and plunder.
"There are five years left, which is half a month in the real world. I need to prepare during this time, make contingency plans, organize and verify all the information, and ensure the Divine Realm survives after leaving the protection period." William paused, finishing the entry and waving his hand to close the light screen.
He looked up at his Divine Realm¡ªthe world he had spent 20 years gradually shaping. From the initial chaotic, primitive jungle, it had transformed into a well-ordered realm. A sense of accomplishment washed over him. "This is the miracle I achieved with 20 years of hard work. No matter what the future holds, I will lead you all to create a bright future," he said, his words resonating with the faith lines. In an instant, his declaration spread throughout the entire insect swarm within the Divine Realm.
For a moment, the Divine Realm seemed to come alive. Countless stinger dragonflies and scythe cockroaches flew into the sky, while non-flying piercing wolf spiders and logistics spiders climbed up to the tree crowns, gazing in the direction of William. The dense sound of insect calls reverberated through the world. The few remaining rare species in the Divine Realm trembled at the fear instilled by the insect calls.
Watching the swarm of insects take to the sky, William slowly retreated from the world of the gods.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He opened his eyes again after leaving the divine landing pod, habitually rubbing the back of his neck. After two months of divine power enhancement, his body was gradually transforming into an extraordinary one. The pain he used to feel after getting up was gradually diminishing.
He raised his right hand, and the divine energy wristband on his wrist lit up with white light, linking with the information system of the divine landing pod. The data William had organized from the Divine Realm was rapidly downloaded. Once the download was complete, he stood up, sat on the edge of his bed, and casually took a high-energy nutritional compound from his bag. While eating, he opened a light screen and entered the class chat group of High School 2-1.
Upon entering the chat, the messages had already flooded the screen, with over 99 unread messages. After two months of absence, William scrolled to the top and began reading from the beginning.
Andrew: "I awakened as a Merman. Is anyone else awakened as the same type of subordinate species? We can exchange cultivation experiences. Also, my merman has black scales, so it may be similar to the Black Tide Merman in the textbook. I''m looking to buy a comprehensive guide for raising them. I¡¯ll pay with credit points."
Richard: "Nice! I awakened as a Lizardman. Our species should have some similarities, both amphibians. We can exchange ideas. I have a guide for raising crawling-type subordinates. Do you want it? I''ll send it to you for free!"
Andrew: "Yes, send it over quickly! Why not take the free offer? We can exchange ideas later!"
George: "I awakened as a Water Sprite, but there¡¯s no water in my Divine Realm. What should I do? Can anyone help me?"
Samuel: "Have you checked underground in your Divine Realm? Try digging a well. Or check how your subordinate species survives on their own and think of other solutions."
George: "Thanks, Samuel! I¡¯ll try that now."
Richard: "By the way, where¡¯s our cold academic prodigy, William? He¡¯s the one we should ask for this kind of knowledge."
Samuel: "You think everyone¡¯s as idle as you? Prodigies like William are working hard on their Divine Realm, not chatting idly."
Richard: "Samuel, what¡¯s going on with you? Are you that free?"
Samuel: "What else could it be? With our grades and knowledge, we¡¯ve probably opened up a Divine Realm that¡¯s scenic, with mountains and rivers, rich in minerals, and human-type subordinates. We¡¯ve already set up houses and are working on farming and breeding."
Henry: "My Divine Realm is a desert, and my subordinate species are Frogs. I''ve tried every solution, and now I¡¯m ready to leave the protection period and enter the world of gods. My father has already prepared the resource cards I need. Wish me luck, everyone."
Mary: "Similar situation to Henry. I¡¯m also preparing to leave the protection period. Wish me luck, everyone."
Samuel: "Good luck to all of you! Hope to see everyone at school when we return!"
Richard: "I¡¯m going back to work on my Divine Realm."
The atmosphere in the chat immediately cooled down. A few more people posted occasionally, but overall, the chat became quieter and quieter. Everyone had shifted their focus to developing their Divine Realms, and the group had turned into more of a message board than an active chat group.
¡¡¡
After more than an hour, William finished reading all the messages in the class chat. About a third of his classmates had left the protection period for various reasons during the past two months. This didn¡¯t even include those who hadn¡¯t notified the group yet. William estimated that over half of the class would leave the protection period early.
Chapter 11: Gathering of materials
After absorbing the information from the class group, William now had a preliminary understanding of the real environment outside the protection period. This was the true situation of his classmates, not just theoretical knowledge from books.
In William''s view, this information was more valuable as a reference. Even some students who had already left the protection period had not yet broken through to the Domain of the Gods. Some of them had even developed quite well.
With his mind slightly at ease, William immediately sent a private message to Samuel. Samuel was the class¡¯s all-around good guy, consistently ranking in the top three. His parents were both deities, and he had far better access to information about the Divine Realms than William.
What William needed now was real-time information about the Divine Exchange Continent.
The Divine Exchange Continent was an information exchange platform and material trading center in the Divine Realm, accessible only to demigods or gods after leaving the protection period. There, no living beings could interfere with one another, and only information and sealed cards could be traded. Demigods and gods from various civilizations could expend divine power to manifest buildings as diplomatic windows or trading centers. These manifestations would disappear if divine power stopped being supplied.
In essence, the Divine Exchange Continent was a universal super-market, where gods could not only purchase materials needed in the Divine Realm but also acquire divine technology and information from other worlds.
¡°Samuel, are you there? I have some questions I¡¯d like to consult you about.¡± With this message sent, William stared at the screen, prepared to wait patiently for a response. Based on their previous interactions, Samuel was always the most active in the group.
¡°Whoa, the class''s aloof genius finally shows up. It¡¯s been almost two months, right? If you hadn¡¯t shown up, I would¡¯ve thought you had already broken through the Domain of the Gods.¡± Samuel replied in less than thirty seconds.
William couldn¡¯t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth when he read the message. ¡°Aloof genius¡± had been the previous persona, where he had always been cold and distant with his classmates. This was mainly because of his orphaned status, which made him feel deeply insecure when facing classmates from well-off families. He had used his cold exterior as armor to protect his fragile inner self.
¡°Sure enough, so fragile. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have completely collapsed after a heavy blow. Luckily, I got a free ride,¡± William quickly retracted the thought that suddenly appeared in his mind.
He immediately brought the conversation back on track. ¡°I need the latest price list for common items in the Divine Exchange Continent, along with the coordinates of some reputable shops.¡±
¡°Are you planning to leave the Divine Realm protection period early?¡± After reading William¡¯s message, Samuel quickly grew serious. From the content, it was easy to infer why William needed such information.
¡°Yeah, there¡¯s an issue with my domain, and I can¡¯t wait until school starts, so I¡¯ll have to leave the protection period early.¡± William replied decisively.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Samuel: ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll get a price list from my dad. He¡¯s a logistics god, so he has access to the most up-to-date price list.¡± After sending this message, Samuel went quiet, and William knew he was looking for the information for him, so he began to wait patiently.
¡°Ding¡ You have a document to receive.¡± Seeing the notification on his screen, William immediately clicked to confirm receipt.
¡°The document has been sent to you, check it out.¡± Samuel¡¯s message came shortly after.
¡°Thanks, I¡¯ve received it. See you at school.¡± After confirming the document, William sent a reply to Samuel.
¡°If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out. I¡¯ll check the class group every day. See you at school.¡± William casually closed the class group and began reading the information Samuel sent him seriously.
Samuel truly lived up to his status as a divine second-generation. The materials he sent were comprehensive, covering almost all the resource price lists for demigods, as well as the coordinates of several official resource trading centers for humans in the Divine Exchange Continent.
William immediately focused his attention on the list, specifically on the cards he needed.
[Short Distance Random Teleportation God Card, 100 Divine Power/each]
[Basic God Domain Concealment God Card, 100 Divine Power/each]
[Basic God Domain Range Scanning Card, 100 Divine Power/each]
[Blank Sealing Card, 10 Divine Power/each]
[Desolate Terrain Card, 10 Divine Power/100 square kilometers]
[Normal Resource Terrain Card, 100 Divine Power/100 square kilometers]
[Normal Species Ecological Chain Card, 100~1000 Divine Power/each, can choose from terrestrial, flying, aquatic, marine, etc.]
[Advanced Directed Teleportation Card, 5000 Divine Power/each]
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
William examined the prices carefully and started calculating how much belief power he would have in half a month. He also recalled the ratio of belief power converted into divine power. As his thoughts wandered, he couldn¡¯t help but get lost in them.
In the Divine Realm, divine power was the main currency for transactions. One hundred million points of belief power could be converted into one point of divine power. In the real world, divine power was also a super energy widely used.
Both demigods and gods could materialize divine power they collected in the Divine Realm into divine energy crystals in the real world. William remembered that the technological system of this world was built on divine power as its energy source.
The civilization¡¯s technology system, built around a specific type of energy, determined what kind of future the civilization would have. For example, in William''s previous world, if electricity hadn¡¯t been discovered, the world might have developed a steampunk-style civilization.
In William¡¯s view, the technological system of this world, based on divine power, was essentially black technology. For example, everyone in society had a divine energy wristband, which was very similar to a smartphone in his previous life, but the underlying principles were vastly different.
William had even researched the production of divine energy wristbands. It was a metal wristband formed in one piece, engraved with various divine runes. After a small amount of divine power was injected, it was packed and sold. No batteries, no chips, no cameras... When William saw this, he couldn''t help but think it was unscientific.
Every god¡¯s divine power was slightly different. While the difference might not matter much in everyday use, it was crucial for demigods seeking to ignite their divine fire. The divine power generated by the core followers in their domains was essential. Only divine power generated by core followers during domain creation could be used to extract their divinity.
It took one hundred million points of divine power to extract one point of divinity, and it was extremely difficult to gather enough for the ignition of divine fire. For an average demigod, this process could take fifty to one hundred years of accumulation. If their core followers weren¡¯t developed well, it could take even longer¡ªsometimes even a lifetime without ever igniting their divine fire.
Chapter 12: Protected period for novices
Pulling his drifting thoughts back, William reached a conclusion. Currently, there were 10 million followers in his divine domain, and in the divine world, he would earn a point of divine power every day. In real life, he would accumulate over 2,000 points in half a month, which would be enough to purchase the necessary divine skill cards from the list. William breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he could afford them.
"Leave 1,000 points of divine power as backup. I need at least three Short-range Random Teleportation Divine Skill Cards, one Primary Divine Domain Concealment Divine Skill Card for use and one as backup, two Primary Divine Domain Range Scanning Cards, and two Regular Resource Terrain Cards. A total of 10 cards, which will cost exactly 1,000 points of divine power. If there''s any surplus, I can buy a few Blank Cards and Desolate Terrain Cards too. The plan is perfect," William thought, feeling pleased with himself. He closed the screen in front of him, feeling in high spirits.
Now, what he needed to do was review the knowledge about breaking free from the divine world''s beginner protection period and prepare appropriate solutions for possible scenarios.
With that thought, William immediately logged into the school''s library via his divine energy wristband and began searching for books related to the beginner protection period. As books projected one after another in front of him, William quickly flipped to one and started reading. The library books had copyright protection, so they could only be read in reality and could not be downloaded.
In the newly created divine domains in the divine world, they were all protected by the rules of the divine world. There was a thin membrane surrounding the entire divine domain, preventing the outside world from sensing or touching it. As long as the membrane remained intact, the divine domain would not be revealed to the divine world and would be safe from any attacks.
The membrane could only disappear in two scenarios: one, after 30 years, the divine domain''s protective membrane would automatically fade; and two, a demigod or a follower from within the divine domain breaks through the protection from the inside. As soon as they step beyond the membrane''s range, the protection would automatically disappear.
If William wanted to teleport to the Divine Exchange Continent, he would inevitably need to cross this protection layer, thus exposing his divine domain to the divine world. This was the method for breaking free from the protection period in advance.
As for why there was a beginner demigod protection period, it was likely a rule set by the great civilization that created the divine world in the past. The divine world was an inheritance from this ancient divine civilization. The current situation of this civilization was unknown¡ªsome said it perished in the previous cosmic cycle, while others claimed it had left for other universes. Regardless, the opinions varied, and no one could verify it.
The only thing certain was that this great divine civilization had scattered countless seeds of their civilization across the universe. Any interstellar force that obtained one of these seeds could create divine seeds, enter the divine world, and begin the path to divinity.
William quickly discarded the book about the origins of the demigod protection period and flipped to the next one. The content he was searching for finally appeared before his eyes.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Newly created divine domains that had just broken free from the protection period were usually located in barren or desolate regions. If a nearby divine domain encountered another one, there was a high chance the other divine domain had just broken free from the protection period as well. This was a rule summarized by countless predecessors. All demigods who break free from protection within the same period tend to appear in a specific desolate area. This period could range from one month to several years.
This was the reason why breaking free from the protection period early was extremely dangerous. Take for example the classmates of William''s class, who had recently opened their divine domains but were forced to break free prematurely. Their divine domains would inevitably be surrounded by demigods from other civilizations who had waited the full 30 years to break free. If their domains were invaded, the outcome would be the extinction of their core followers and the absorption or sealing of their divine domain''s resources and land.
From the market situation, it was clear: for a new demigod domain in a good environment, just the value of the resource terrain cards for an area of 10,000 square kilometers could reach 10,000 divine power points. For a newly broken demigod domain with no resources, this was like a windfall, and no one would hesitate to seize the opportunity.
As time passed, William, who had been lying in bed for more than six hours, finally finished the last book.
"Not bad, the ancient saying is true: there is a treasure house of gold and jade in books," William muttered as he stretched, relieving the fatigue from staying still for too long.
He immediately dove into the divine energy logging chamber. With the time difference of a hundredfold, over 20 days had passed in his divine domain. He had gotten used to controlling the domain at any moment, so after such a long time without checking on it, William felt a little uneasy.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, five years had passed in the divine domain. William looked at the latest batch of 2,000 curved-blade cockroaches hatching and his face turned serious.
At this point, the insect race had completed a full generation update. Aside from the queen ant, which remained the same, most of the insect units had been replaced with the remaining four main combat species. The underground part of the domain still had some earthworm units surviving by eating soil.
William scanned the entire domain with his divine sense, and a blue semi-transparent information panel appeared in front of him.
Name: William.
Level: Demigod.
Divine Fire: Not ignited.
Divine Rank: None.
Divine Mark: None.
Divine Traits: Environmental Adaptation, Genetic Adjustment.
Divinity: 1 point.
Divine Power: 2,060 points.
Faith Power: 35 million.
Core Followers: Insect Race.
Follower Count:
- Queen Ant: 1
- Piercing Wolf Spider: 5 million
- Poison Sting Dragonfly: 1 million
- Logistics Ant Spider: 1 million
- Curved Blade Cockroach: 3 million...
After glancing at his follower count again, William helplessly closed the information panel.
Three days ago, William had awakened all the dormant Piercing Wolf Spiders in the domain and had them begin feeding to bring their physical functions to their peak. The result was a sharp increase in resource consumption within the domain, and now the ecosystem was beginning to become unbalanced. The domain urgently needed external resources to replenish its supplies.
This made William stop hesitating.
"I have to get through this stage no matter what. I''ve done everything I can; the rest is up to fate." In his previous life, William never liked gambling. He always did everything he could to maximize his chances of winning.
After crossing over and learning about divine beings, he had been striving toward the path of becoming a god. But to him, becoming a god was merely a higher form of life. He had never placed himself above others in a lofty, god-like position.
Chapter 13: Welcome to the Real World
Standing before the light membrane outside his divine domain, William took a deep breath, his face calm. He took a step forward, and the protective membrane surrounding his divine domain immediately dissipated.
At the same time, William consumed 10 points of divine power and began to teleport to the coordinates of the Divine Exchange Continent in his mind, disappearing from outside the divine domain.
As his surroundings blurred, William transformed into a white light orb and appeared in the Divine Exchange Continent, facing a futuristic, sci-fi-style shopping mall.
Without hesitation, William floated through the entrance of the mall, not bothering to observe the displayed goods. He went straight to an empty counter, behind which was another floating light orb, presumably the mall¡¯s staff.
"I am a human demigod, just out of the protection period, and I need three short-distance random teleportation cards, two basic divine domain concealment cards, three basic divine domain scanning cards, two prairie-type resource terrain cards, two blank sealing cards, and two barren terrain cards," William transmitted this message to the staff at high speed.
As he spoke, a light beam representing William stretched out from his white orb, extending toward the light orb behind the counter.
Upon receiving William''s message, the staff light orb seemed to understand his situation and immediately began pulling a bundle of cards connected by a light beam toward William.
After sensing the number and type of cards, William immediately transferred 1040 points of divine power to the staff.
The light beams connecting them disengaged, and in an instant, the light bundle containing the cards was pulled back into William''s orb, and the orb disappeared.
This attracted curious glances from others around. The light orb behind the counter, feeling the gaze of many nearby, expanded its aura of thought.
"This customer is just in a hurry, please continue browsing your preferred items," the staff orb explained. With this clarification, the other light orbs in the hall withdrew their attention and resumed selecting items.
At this moment, two light orbs in the hall began exchanging thoughts, a behavior akin to loud talking in the real world, allowing nearby orbs to hear their conversation. Those who did not want to listen could block the communication.
"Hehehe, what¡¯s the rush? I think this is just another human rookie who exited the demigod protection period early. I¡¯ve seen this kind of thing many times, and they most likely won¡¯t live to see thirty years. Giving them resources is just a waste," one light orb¡¯s thoughts spread.Stolen novel; please report.
The other nearby orb quickly responded, "You¡¯re right. Giving resources to those who won¡¯t even last a three-month protection period is something only low-level civilizations do. Unlike us, we only get resources from our civilization once we¡¯ve passed the protection period."
Hearing the condescending tone from the two orbs, the staff orb immediately sent a thought message to them, "This person paid his own divine power to buy items, you lowly Lumva civilization scum, trying to show superiority here?"
"Don¡¯t even look at whose territory this is, you low-level civilization. If you¡¯re so bold, come fight us at the borders," the staff orb added, and without waiting for a reply, it used its authority to eject the two Lumva civilization orbs from the mall and placed them on the blacklist, permanently banning them from entering.
The Lumva civilization''s territory was adjacent to the human civilization''s star domain, and in reality, the two civilizations occasionally had friction. Coincidentally, their territories in the divine world were also neighbors, so they didn¡¯t get along.
William, of course, was unaware of the small drama that unfolded after he left. At that moment, he had already teleported back to his divine domain.
As soon as he arrived, William immediately took out a basic divine domain concealment card and activated it by consuming divine power.
As the card dissolved into light and vanished, his divine domain became transparent in the void, eventually merging completely with the surrounding environment.
"Ha... at least I¡¯m safe for now." As the effect of the concealment card took hold, William finally felt his tense mood ease.
Now, as long as he did not move his divine domain, other demigods would be unable to detect the location of his domain with the naked eye.
What William didn¡¯t know was that not far from his domain, another concealed divine domain floated quietly, unmoving. A demigod had just witnessed everything.
Orin was a demigod from the Lumva civilization. After successfully establishing his divine domain, his core follower was a species of wolfman with sharp fangs.
As a branch of the orc species, they possessed strong physical qualities, remarkable endurance, reproductive abilities, and a lifespan of about 60 years. Each year, they could give birth to 2-3 cubs, and the cubs reached maturity in about 10 years, becoming skilled hunters. Orin felt as though he had been blessed by the heavens, having drawn an exceptional follower.
During the 30 years of protection, Orin had diligently developed his wolfman followers, and their numbers had exceeded 700,000. However, due to the followers¡¯ lack of farming and breeding skills, the population had stagnated.
At the same time, Orin had trained 70,000 professional warrior wolfmen, maintaining a ratio of nine regular wolfmen to one professional warrior, ensuring the warriors'' combat power was formidable.
Just half a month ago, Orin successfully exited his 30-year protection period. Immediately after, he encountered another divine domain that had just left the protection period. With his newfound confidence, Orin cautiously observed and then launched a test invasion.
He discovered that the enemy¡¯s followers were goblins, which made him overjoyed. Without hesitation, he sent out a full assault, dispatching his 70,000 wolfman army. In a victory with only about 3,000 casualties, he destroyed 100,000 of the enemy¡¯s goblin fighting forces.
The enemy demigod, unable to withstand the onslaught, was forced to withdraw from the battle. The area near the invasion passage was torn apart, and regions occupied by the enemy¡¯s followers met the same fate. Orin managed to seize over a third of the enemy''s divine domain, gaining tremendous wealth.
Tasting the sweetness of his victory, Orin decided to stay in the region and continue hunting for his next target. His patience had paid off.
Chapter 14: The First War
Orin watched as a god domain suddenly appeared not far from his own, then slowly vanished within seconds. Without a doubt, this was a demigod who had just exited the protection period. Orin had already scanned the surrounding area and knew there were no other god domains in the vicinity. Moreover, the sudden appearance of the domain, as opposed to a random teleportation from a vortex, made it obvious to him what had happened.
Orin immediately issued a command to the subordinates in his domain: "My people, a new trial is upon us. A new continent has appeared. Gather, invade, and plunder. Bring me a new victory!"
At the same time, his domain began moving toward the location where the god domain had just appeared. A scanning card in his hand turned into a light point, confirming that the other party had not immediately teleported away, but remained where they were. With his previous invasion experience, Orin felt much more confident in his preparations this time.
The jackal warriors in his domain became excited, howling to the sky. They had just experienced a victorious battle. This victory brought them plenty of food and land, and every tribe had escaped hunger. Even some of the weaker pups had enough food to survive and thrive.
Seventy thousand elite jackal warriors and thirty thousand newly recruited soldiers had already gathered at the edge of the domain, awaiting the opening of the invasion portal. Many ordinary jackals had left their tribes and were gathering toward the location.
Varek, a newly adult jackal, was one of the thirty thousand new soldiers. He had recently leveled up his faith and successfully joined the jackal army as a full-time warrior.
Varek¡¯s home was a small tribe just five kilometers away from the gathering point. When he was born, the domain had already been in a state of resource scarcity. Among those born alongside him, only Varek had survived to adulthood due to his stronger physical constitution. Now, he had established a family with two mates and six pups, but because of the scarcity of resources, he had to consider abandoning five of the pups to ensure the survival of the strongest ones.
Recently, however, a war had brought a massive influx of resources to this struggling domain. Varek¡¯s tribe had received enough food to keep them all well-fed, and the barren land near their tribe had transformed into a vast grassland, a divine blessing for the jackal race. Varek had even become a devout follower, grateful to the gods for their favor.
When he heard the news about the army recruiting new soldiers, Varek immediately signed up. He knew that soldiers would receive more food, and his recent rise in faith made him eligible to join the army. He had also received a piece of leather armor that covered his vital organs.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°Captain Caius, what is the other world like? You were in the last battle; tell us more!¡± The wait was long, and Varek could no longer contain his excitement. He took out some dried meat from his pack and handed it to his squad leader, asking again a question he had already asked countless times before.
"Heh heh, young pup, let me tell you something you don¡¯t know," Captain Caius, an older jackal warrior who had been with the domain since its inception, said. He was one of the few veterans who had seen much more than the younger warriors.
The younger jackals immediately gathered around in excitement, eagerly awaiting the story.
"You all probably already know what the other world was like from the last time," Caius continued, seeing everyone nod in agreement. "But this time, the other world we¡¯re going to may be very different. I heard from the shaman that every other world is unique, with different creatures. In one world, rabbits can grow up to five meters tall! Catching one would be enough to feed the whole tribe..."
The young jackals gasped in awe, and as Caius continued with his tale, more and more new recruits gathered around, their excited voices growing louder, making the wait much more bearable.
Only a few minutes later, Orin¡¯s domain completed its preparations for invasion. His domain sped toward the location of William¡¯s god domain. A large transparent tentacle extended from the surface of Orin''s domain, forcefully piercing through the protective layer of the other domain, connecting with a piece of land on its edge.
Two shimmering portals opened simultaneously in both domains, and the green vortex-like light inside them stabilized, signaling that the portals were ready for use.
Varek was still listening eagerly to Captain Caius¡¯s stories when, suddenly, a portal appeared not far from their position. The jackals who had never participated in an invasion before were stunned by the sight.
Seeing this, Caius¡¯s face lit up with joy. He shouted, "Prepare for battle!"
At that moment, a seasoned jackal warrior sprinted past them, shouting, "The first ten thousand closest to the portal, move out!"
The jackals in the area howled in excitement and sprinted toward the portal. Varek¡¯s squad, along with Captain Caius, quickly joined the charge.
Meanwhile, William, who had just hidden his god domain and was planning where to place the newly purchased resource terrain cards, was shocked. He had no way to afford a high-level directional teleportation card, meaning he could only wander around in this region.
And now, he was being invaded.
A massive portal appeared at the edge of his god domain, and a swarm of jackals rushed in.
Seeing these jackals in simple half-body armor, with most unarmed and only a few carrying mismatched spears, William snapped out of his daze and immediately issued orders to his insect swarm to maintain their distance and stay hidden.
As he quickly analyzed the situation, he observed the invading jackals. ¡°Half-beast jackals with fur on the outside and no tough skin or scales. This likely means these jackals are ordinary-level creatures..." William noted as he examined the intruders.
Chapter 15: Defeating Your Opponent with Intelligence
Orin watched as a domain suddenly appeared not far from his own, and then slowly disappeared within a few seconds.
Without a doubt, this was a demigod who had just broken free from their protective period. The area around it had already been scanned by Orin, and there were absolutely no other domains present.
Moreover, the sudden appearance of the domain, which was different from random teleportation emerging from a vortex, immediately led him to conclude that the other party had made a deliberate entry.
Orin immediately issued a divine command to his followers within his domain: "My people, a new trial is about to begin. A new continent has emerged. Gather, invade, plunder, and bring me a new victory."
At the same time, his domain began to move toward the location where the other domain had appeared. A scanning card in his hand turned into a light spot, confirming that the opponent had not immediately teleported away and was still in place. After the previous invasion experience, Orin was now much more prepared.
The jackal warriors within the domain immediately became excited, howling to the sky. Not long ago, they had just experienced the victory of a war.
This victory had brought them abundant food and land. Every tribe had been freed from hunger, and some of the weaker cubs had gained hope of survival due to the ample food.
Seventy thousand elite jackal warriors and thirty thousand newly recruited soldiers had already gathered at the edge of the domain, awaiting the opening of the invasion portal. A large number of ordinary jackals also left their tribes and gathered toward this spot.
Varek, a newly adult jackal, was one of the thirty thousand new soldiers. Recently, after his faith level increased, he had successfully joined the jackal army and became a full-time warrior.
He was currently excitedly staying beside his squad leader, eagerly awaiting the opening of the invasion portal.
Varek''s home was a small tribe five kilometers away from the gathering point. When he was born, this domain had already entered a state of resource scarcity.
Of the brothers and companions who were born at the same time as him, only he had survived to adulthood, thanks to his stronger physique.
Now, he had just started his own family with two mates and six cubs. The resource scarcity in the domain forced him to consider abandoning five of the cubs to ensure that the strongest one could survive to adulthood.
Recently, a war had brought this impoverished domain a large amount of resources, and Varek''s tribe had received plenty of food, enough for everyone to eat their fill.
Not far from the tribe, what was once an empty void had turned into a vast grassland¡ªan offering from the gods to the jackals, a reward for the victors.
Varek noticed the changes in his living environment. All six of his cubs were now receiving enough food, and with gratitude toward the gods, he had finally become a devout believer.
When he received the news that the army was expanding, Varek immediately signed up to join. He knew that warriors would receive more food, and now that he had become a devout believer, he successfully entered the ranks and even received armor that covered his vital organs.
"Caius, what¡¯s the other world like? You participated in the last war¡ªtell us about it!"
The wait was always long.
Varek could not suppress his inner restlessness and pulled out a piece of dried meat from his waist pouch, handing it to his boasting squad leader, asking the question he had already asked countless times.
"Heh, little brat, this time I¡¯ll tell you something you don¡¯t know." Caius, the older jackal, took the dried meat from Varek and popped it into his mouth. He was a veteran who had been around since the domain was first established, when he had just reached adulthood. Compared to the younger ones around him, he was quite knowledgeable.
When the other new recruits heard that Caius was going to share something new, they immediately gathered around, their faces full of anticipation.
"You probably all know what the other world we went to last time was like," Caius said as he saw the surrounding jackals nodding in unison.
"Actually, the other world we¡¯re going to this time might be different. I heard the shaman say that every other world has its own land and species. In some worlds, rabbits can even grow up to five meters long, and catching one would be enough to feed the entire tribe¡"
Upon hearing this, the surrounding jackals immediately gasped. As Caius continued his tale, the new recruits gathered around, their excited voices echoing in the air, making the wait less agonizing.
Time passed quickly.
Soon, Orin''s domain had completed its invasion preparations, and it sped toward the location where William''s domain was.
At the same time, a large transparent tentacle stretched out from the surface of his domain and pierced through the protection layer of the other domain, connecting to a patch of land at the edge of the opponent''s domain.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.Two doors, like light curtains, opened simultaneously in both domains, with swirling green light inside, signaling that the portals had stabilized.
Varek was eagerly listening to Caius¡¯s story when, not far from their position, a portal suddenly appeared, causing the newly recruited jackals who had never participated in an invasion to freeze in place.
Upon seeing this, Caius''s face broke into a joyful grin. He shouted, "Prepare for battle!"
At that moment, a well-built jackal warrior ran past them, shouting, "The first ten thousand nearest the portal, enter immediately!"
The jackals in this area immediately howled to the sky and rushed toward the portal. Varek¡¯s squad also followed Caius, hurrying toward the portal.
William, however, was completely caught off guard. He had just hidden his domain and was calculating where to place the newly purchased resources and terrain when suddenly, the invasion began.
A huge transmission light curtain appeared at the edge of his domain, and the jackals¡ªhundreds of them¡ªhad already charged into his domain.
Seeing that these jackals had simple half-body armor, most of them were unarmed or wielding poorly fitting metal spears and short weapons, William quickly assessed the situation.
"These jackals are likely a basic species," William thought, observing them. "Their armor and weapons are crude, indicating that their technology is underdeveloped. The weapons they carry are probably purchased or looted. This first wave is just the vanguard, sent to test the situation. I need to gather more information..."
Without hesitation, William began mobilizing his swarm.
In an instant, his swarm was reorganized, including 5000 piercing wolf spiders, 3000 scythe cockroaches, and 2000 poison sting dragonflies. They moved to intercept the jackals, who had already entered the two-meter-high grass.
At the same time, the rest of the swarm was quietly gathering, maintaining a distance of one kilometer from the invaders, awaiting further instructions.
Orin, as a demigod, could not observe this domain like a spiritual being soaring above it. To see into the domain, he had to rely on the eyes of his followers.
At that moment, he had possessed the leader of the invading jackals, seeing through his eyes and building a mental map of the opponent¡¯s domain based on the information from surrounding followers.
"Strange¡ªthis fusion of forest and grassland terrain. Where are the opponent''s followers? Why haven¡¯t they appeared yet? Could it be that the other demigod is not present?" Orin thought, pondering several possibilities.
He immediately issued a divine command to the leader of the jackals: "Advance, search, and plunder..."
Feeling the divine voice within him, the leader of the jackals immediately gave the order to his troops.
The jackals began to move faster, exploring the terrain in groups of ten, advancing deeper into the grasslands.
One of the jackal squads, carefully moving forward, was feeling a strange sense of being watched.
"Caius, since we entered the grass, I keep feeling like something¡¯s watching us," said Varek, his unease growing.
"Yes, I feel the same way," Caius replied, realizing what Varek meant.
"I do too," several other jackals also spoke up. With their beastly instincts, they all shared the same feeling, though they hadn¡¯t spotted an enemy. The sense of being watched made them uneasy.
"Stay alert!" Caius, sensing the same danger, immediately drew the dagger he had wrapped in leather¡ªtaken from a goblin during the last war.
"Slash..." As he swung his arm with strength, the surrounding grass was cut down, revealing a piercing wolf spider lurking beneath.
The spider, previously motionless, immediately launched an attack the moment it was exposed.
With a sharp screech, it leapt toward Caius¡¯s face with incredible speed.
A battle-hardened Caius was startled but not panicked. He raised his dagger and swung at the spider¡¯s path.
The sharp dagger, combined with his great strength, easily split the spider in two.
The spider''s screech seemed to signal an attack, and suddenly, the once calm grasslands erupted into chaos. All the exploring squads were now under attack.
Caius quickly turned around and saw a scythe cockroach flying toward the back of Varek''s head. He shouted and slapped the insect out of the air.
The other jackals were less fortunate. Two of them were killed instantly by piercing wolf spiders, whose venomous stingers pierced their skulls.
Two others tried to charge at the swarm but were killed by dragonflies that struck them in midair.
"Retreat! Everyone, fall back! Call for reinforcements!"
Caius immediately shouted, but the swarm of creatures surged forward, blocking the jackals'' retreat. It was too late to escape.
As the battle raged on, Orin''s mind was fixated on the swarm. He could see their movements but had not yet fully understood what kind of creature they were. He was already preparing for his next move...
Chapter 16: Sea of Insects Tactics
"Varek, you''re still young; there will be more chances for rabbits in the future." Looking at the young dire wolfman who had fought bravely, Old Caius understood Varek''s meaning. The wounded dire wolfman warrior must be sent back to the original world for treatment, as per the will of the gods.
If the war proceeded smoothly, Varek would no longer have a chance to return to the battlefield. It could essentially be said that he had no further part in this plundering mission.
However, Old Caius''s face was grim. After just a brief encounter, their squad had already suffered significant casualties. Their opponents were not like the small goblins they had fought before. Although they were just bugs, the way they fought with reckless abandon gave Old Caius a bad feeling. This was likely going to be a difficult war.
"This is... a bug?" Orin, the possessed dire wolfman leader, was now holding a knife-wielding cockroach on a short spear and observing it closely. His hundred-man team had also been attacked by the swarm of insects, but since they were all elite dire wolfmen, the losses hadn''t been too severe.
Looking at this unfamiliar species, Orin was troubled. The combat power of these insects was not strong. A single dire wolfman, with proper preparation, could kill one of them with only a few injuries at most. But in this divine realm, the real concern was how many of them there were. During the earlier ambush, almost 10,000 bugs had died at the hands of the dire wolfmen, but their own casualties had exceeded 3,000.
Was that all the enemies'' combat strength, or just a part of it? Or perhaps it was just a test? Everything was hidden beneath the two-meter-tall grass.
At that moment, William was floating in the air, overlooking the battlefield. Through this probing action, he had gathered the information he needed.
"Some kind of dire wolfman kin, no special bloodline, average combat strength in the regular tier. Piercing wolf spiders and knife-wielding cockroaches can inflict effective damage, and the venomous dragonflies also perform well. A conventional divine belief development style. From the invasion portal''s sensory input, their divine realm is about one-third larger than mine. Conservatively estimating, their kin number will not exceed 1.5 million, and their professional army won''t exceed 150,000." William was confident in the data he had analyzed.
Without hesitation, he began drawing upon his divine power, and a large transparent tendril reached out from the surface of his divine realm, quickly merging with the enemy¡¯s invasion portal.
The transfer channel between their realms immediately doubled in size. Orin instantly sensed the change in the portal, and a bad feeling arose.
He immediately issued a divine command for the dire wolfmen to retreat from the enemy¡¯s divine realm. His 90,000 warriors were to prepare for battle and eliminate all hostile creatures entering their divine realm.
Before all the dire wolfmen could enter the portal, William had already activated the line of faith, and over 8 million insect units received his command.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
They began advancing toward the transfer portal at the edge of their divine realm. Countless venomous dragonflies and knife-wielding cockroaches soared into the air, heading toward the portal, while piercing wolf spiders on the ground charged in that direction.
The leader of the dire wolfmen, who had yet to retreat, looked up and saw the sky blackened by the swarming insects and the grassland quaking in the distance, rolling toward them like a tidal wave. A sense of unprecedented fear grew in his heart.
Seeing this, Orin also felt helpless. This was not a war; this was a disaster, an insect plague.
Watching the venomous dragonflies that were rapidly approaching the portal, despair flooded into his mind. He could already sense the end of his divine realm approaching.
Even if he wanted to sever the transfer portal now, there was simply not enough time to do so. Severing a standard invasion portal required a massive expenditure of divine power and more than half an hour. To sever the merged invasion portal, it would take even longer and require even more divine power.
At the same time, every enemy kin unit within a 10-square-kilometer area needed to be severed from his divine realm if the enemy didn''t abandon that unit, in order to break away from the battle.
The fastest venomous dragonflies were the first to reach the portal. They didn''t engage the dire wolfmen on the ground, instead flying straight into the portal. William''s order for them was simple: spread rapidly within the enemy''s divine realm and map out its geography.
With their speed and numbers, the venomous dragonflies needed less than an hour to cover the entire enemy divine realm.
Following them were the knife-wielding cockroaches, who also did not engage the remaining dire wolfmen but swarmed into the portal, where they circled in the sky like a terrifying insect ball, seemingly waiting for some signal.
The sound of their wings beating created immense psychological pressure on the 90,000 dire wolfmen soldiers gathered at the portal below.
Their task was to secure air dominance and assist the piercing wolf spiders in the attack.
As ground units, the piercing wolf spiders were far slower than the flying units. They had not yet emerged from the grass when the grass began shaking violently, approaching the edge.
The first piercing wolf spider finally broke free from the grass, followed by the second and the third. Like a tidal wave of insects, they rushed toward the transfer portal, their terrifying howls seeming to penetrate the eardrums of all the dire wolfmen.
They were the true main combat units, their target: eliminate all standing dire wolfmen.
The few dire wolfmen closest to them were frozen with fear, unable to move. The insect horde had no mercy.
Just a few meters from the frozen dire wolfmen, the piercing wolf spiders sprang into the air with astonishing leaping power, forming a wall of insects. They slammed down on the terrified dire wolfmen, engulfing them instantly.
The insect horde continued surging forward, unrelenting, and entered the portal, reaching Orin''s divine realm, where the shrill insect cries reverberated through the sky.
The knife-wielding cockroaches in the air immediately received the signal, and the terrifying insect ball transformed into a massive screen, blotting out the sun as it descended.
In the 90,000 strong army of devout dire wolfmen, despair, fear, and panic spread across every face.
Faced with the terrifying insect tide formed by the piercing wolf spiders and the insect horde blocking out the sky, it only took a moment for the frontlines of elite dire wolfmen, composed of fanatic warriors, to be overwhelmed by the insect horde without putting up any resistance.
Seeing this horrifying sight, the dire wolfmen in the rear completely broke down. A large number of them turned and fled in the opposite direction, losing all courage to continue fighting.
Chapter 17 Giving the Enemy a Deadly Strike
Unfortunately, the descending swarm of blade beetles made escape a difficult task. No matter which direction they fled in, they were faced with countless insects.
William, possessing the form of a poisonous stinger dragonfly, hovered above the battlefield, surveying the massacre below. The slaughter dispelled any lingering anxiety he had and gave him a direct understanding of the insect swarm''s current fighting power.
He discarded the tactical plans he had prepared in his mind, watching the endless influx of bugs.
¡°Forget tactics, if we lose with all this, I''ll wash my hair upside down,¡± William thought confidently, setting an overconfident "flag" for himself.
Just then, a new change appeared in the sky. Countless golden lights gathered in the air, and William felt a tightness in his chest.
¡°No way¡¡± he thought. Just after setting his flag, was an unexpected twist about to happen?
A golden-glowing phantom began to form in the sky: ¡°I surrender, I am willing to pay fifty thousand divine power points for my life.¡± A grand thought spread in all directions, but the content was so humble.
Hearing this, William¡¯s heart, which had just been on edge, settled again. Fortunately, it was just a false alarm. It was merely a projection formed by the opponent¡¯s demigod expending divine power.
William immediately took control of the dragonfly, flying toward the phantom in the sky.
¡°Pay up!¡± Without wasting words, William sent back a brief two-word response. Unless there was some rare, high-value resource in their divine realm, the entire realm wasn¡¯t worth fifty thousand points.
¡°I don¡¯t have that much divine power right now, I can only pay one thousand points first. I¡¯ll gather the rest as soon as I can. Can you stop your minions first?¡± Orin, with the last bit of hope, immediately transmitted this thought to the insects before him.
¡°Scram¡¡± William immediately understood that the person was broke, unable to pay fifty thousand points, and was just trying his luck.
William was ready to deceive him into withdrawing his minions and then escape.
After all, the stories of protagonists surviving and turning the tide of battle in the face of despair were everywhere in various novels.
And William hadn¡¯t forgotten that this was the same guy who had invaded his domain first and had just scared him earlier.
Without further consideration, William shifted his control to another dragonfly and resumed observing the battlefield.
The phantom in the sky wasn¡¯t giving up. Waves of thoughts continued to spread until the figure slowly disappeared. William paid it no more attention.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
After the phantom vanished, Orin, now filled with despair, withdrew from the divine realm. As an ordinary commoner from a humble family, he didn¡¯t have the one thousand divine points. His previous attempt was merely self-deception in a moment of desperation.
What he needed to do now was transfer the remaining divine power into the real world as divine energy crystals, or else once the core of the divine realm shattered, all divine power within the realm would vanish.
As the dragonflies scattered, the map of the opponent¡¯s divine realm was rapidly being built in William¡¯s mind. The areas where the wolfmen gathered appeared on the map, and some of the wolfmen fleeing at the edges of the battlefield were marked as red dots.
William was gradually gaining a full understanding of the situation in this divine realm. The real battle had ended the moment the wolfman defense line collapsed.
Now, what followed was a game of pursuit and flight. William immediately began commanding the insect swarm, organizing them into groups ranging from ten thousand to hundreds of thousands, assigning them specific tasks.
The blade beetles and piercing wolf spiders, which had been advancing as a mass, were now breaking off into smaller groups under William¡¯s command.
Most of the blade beetles and some of the piercing wolf spiders formed groups to chase down the scattered wolfmen, clearing out the rogue wolfmen on the map. Meanwhile, the main piercing wolf spider army, along with some blade beetles, was split up to suppress each of the wolfman tribes on the map, with each group accompanied by a number of poisonous stinger dragonflies to act as scouts and communicators.
Watching the map, with the green dots representing his forces and the red ones his enemies, William felt like he was playing an RTS game.
After assigning tasks and movement routes to all the main forces, William focused his attention on the group of dragonflies at the very front of the map.
This was a swarm of over 500,000 poisonous stinger dragonflies, heading quickly towards the center of the divine realm. The core of any divine realm is almost always fixed at the center, to ensure that no matter which direction the invasion occurs, the core is always as far away as possible from the invasion channel.
As the dragonflies approached the center of the divine realm, a fairly decent-sized, simple town appeared in William¡¯s view. The dragonflies, flying above, immediately dispersed to observe the town.
¡°So simple,¡± William thought. ¡°This town shouldn¡¯t have more than 100,000 wolfmen. With just the dragonflies, it should be enough to take this place.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t build such large towns if you can¡¯t even reach basic production levels!¡± William thought, sighing to himself.
Rather than calling this a wolfman town, it resembled a massive livestock farming facility.
Various animal pens filled the town, which had an ancient tribal style, with the only well-built structure being a large stone altar in the center.
Seeing the altar, William knew that this was likely his target. He immediately issued an attack command to the dragonflies.
The dragonflies, previously searching the area, now immediately launched an attack on the wolfman town.
The battle ended swiftly. When the ordinary civilian wolfmen saw their resisting companions instantly overwhelmed by dozens of insects and fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth and convulsing, most of them turned and fled or sought places to hide.
At that moment, a fireball shot up from the altar, and William immediately fixed his gaze on it.
An old wolfman shaman stood atop the altar, waving a wooden staff, surrounded by a dozen or so wolfman warriors protecting him at the center, trying to block the dragonflies.
Another fireball formed in the shaman¡¯s hands and was thrown toward the flying insects, but it had no effect. With the dragonflies¡¯ incredible maneuverability, they easily avoided the fireball.
Seeing this, the shaman didn¡¯t give up. Another red light expanded in his hands. Any wolfman warriors touched by the red light began to show crazed expressions, their eyes turning red as they swung their weapons wildly at the dragonflies.
This seemed to be a status-enhancing spell, similar to a "rage" spell.
Chapter 18: Finding Your Weakness
Before William could give any orders, the surrounding Toxic Sting Dragonflies had already gathered in sufficient numbers and immediately launched their attack.
Over a thousand Toxic Sting Dragonflies surged forward, each one of the gnoll warriors being stung at least a dozen times by the dragonflies'' tail spikes, causing them to collapse instantly.
Seeing that the altar had been cleared, William immediately controlled the dragonflies inhabiting his body to land on the surface of the altar. As he consumed his divine power, his divine sense slowly spread out and finally detected the presence of the core of the divine realm two meters below the stone altar.
William was overjoyed; he had finally found it. He quickly ordered the surrounding dragonflies to begin destroying and excavating the altar.
The dense swarm of dragonflies began gnawing at the altar. Considering their small size, William estimated that it would take at least two hours to extract the divine realm core. During this time, he could only monitor the various battle groups of his swarm, making timely adjustments while patiently waiting.
¡°Huh¡?¡± A surprised exclamation escaped William¡¯s lips as he suddenly noticed something unusual among the swarm.
At this moment, Old Caius was lying motionless on the ground, while Varek was lying nearby, the two gnolls staring at each other.
Next to them lay the corpse of another gnoll from their team, the one who had been sprayed with corrosive acid, disfigured by the attack.
Varek, his face filled with fear, turned to Old Caius and asked, ¡°Captain, what do we do now?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, let¡¯s just wait.¡± Old Caius replied, his face full of despair as he had already given up resisting.
After receiving the order, Old Caius had led the team back to the divine realm quickly, as two of the team members were injured, one of whom was Varek, the young gnoll he had high hopes for.
He had decided to escort Varek to the medical station at the rear of the divine realm, thinking to have a good talk with this na?ve young gnoll along the way.
They managed to avoid the first wave of the insect swarm. When they looked up, they saw the giant insect ball hovering above the battlefield.
Old Caius immediately turned and, taking the two injured gnolls with him, began running as fast as he could. As an experienced gnoll, he calmly assessed the situation. Faced with this scale of insect swarm, he instinctively knew that they had little chance of surviving.
After the main battle was over, the Blade-Cutting Cockroaches began to pursue the fleeing gnolls.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
As land creatures, there was no way they could outrun the flying Blade-Cutting Cockroaches. Old Caius, carrying two wounded members, was soon overtaken.
Looking up at the insect swarm, which stretched like a terrifying serpent across the sky, he knew that their fate was sealed.
Just as Old Caius had placed the two wounded team members by the roadside, a small group of cockroaches detached from the main swarm and flew toward their position.
Facing the approaching swarm of over a thousand Blade-Cutting Cockroaches, Old Caius felt his fighting spirit fade as terror took hold.
There was no more chance to escape. The cockroaches descended in a ring formation, surrounding the three of them.
Standing in the center of the encirclement, Old Caius awaited death. However, just as the cockroaches closed in, they bypassed the motionless gnoll who had already collapsed on the ground, his face horribly corroded.
¡°Varek, don¡¯t move¡.¡± Old Caius, sensing the urgency of the situation, immediately realized what was happening. His mind worked at lightning speed as he thought, his thinking clearer than ever before in his life. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he stopped Varek from getting up.
Sure enough, the flying and grounded Blade-Cutting Cockroaches ignored Varek and continued to close in on the other two gnolls, leaving Varek lying motionless on the ground.
Confirming his suspicion, Old Caius watched as Varek, without hesitation, dove to the ground in one swift motion, lying flat with no further movement.
The encircling cockroaches did not attack him but instead circled around his body. It was as if they were observing and trying to figure out what the suddenly prone gnoll was trying to do.
At that moment, Old Caius dared not move, staring wide-eyed at the cockroaches surrounding them. His heart raced with terror, and he held his breath.
It turned out that his gamble had paid off. The cockroaches began to fly off, scattering and merging back into the main swarm, leaving only three cockroaches perched on nearby trees, silently observing the three lying gnolls.
From Old Caius''s vast experience, he understood what was happening. The insects had not attacked them because they were prisoners now, and the cockroaches were their captors.
Old Caius tried speaking to the cockroaches, but they remained unresponsive. Any small movement, however, caused the three cockroaches on the trees to raise their sickles in a threatening posture, ready to strike.
The wait for the inevitable was long. Old Caius saw the Swarm Spiders, which were skillfully moving toward them, parting around the three gnolls and moving on.
It was only when the injured gnoll, who had been blinded by the acid, started to stir, that the three cockroaches acted. Despite Old Caius''s warning, the blinded gnoll, instinctively trying to sit up, met his tragic end. The cockroaches swarmed and swiftly hacked his skull apart with their sickles, spilling his brain across the ground.
Seeing the two remaining gnolls lying on the ground, William confirmed that he had never issued any orders to capture prisoners. What had caused these Blade-Cutting Cockroaches to behave in such a way?
He realized that this was not an isolated incident. In the map¡¯s model, many areas with overlapping red and green lights showed similar situations.
William immediately directed a question at the Blade-Cutting Cockroach that had been watching the two gnolls on the ground.
¡°Why are you accepting prisoners?¡±
As he activated the line of faith to transmit the question, he sensed hesitation and confusion from the cockroach.
¡°Hmm¡ hmm¡.¡± William quickly realized that the question was beyond the understanding of the cockroach. Ordinary swarm units, despite their inherent instincts, had simple minds and could only grasp basic commands and questions, as well as the orders from William.
Chapter 19 Victory
"What are you doing?" William immediately changed his approach, simplifying the question.
"Waiting..." This time, the Bending Blade Cockroach clearly understood William''s question and promptly responded.
"Waiting for what?" William continued to ask.
"Waiting for the other party to stand up." The Bending Blade Cockroach answered.
"What happens after they stand up?" William was confused and asked further.
"Initiate the attack." The Bending Blade Cockroach''s answer remained concise.
"So you¡¯re saying you wait for them to stand up before attacking," William raised an eyebrow, perplexed. What kind of logic is this? When the opponent gives up resistance, they don¡¯t attack, but must wait for the enemy to prepare before launching an attack.
"Yes..." After receiving a confirmed answer from the Bending Blade Cockroach, William sent his doubts back to it.
"Why? I mean, why do you wait for the other party to stand up before attacking, rather than attacking when they give up resistance?" As soon as this thought passed through the bond of faith, the Bending Blade Cockroach paused slightly, as if processing William''s words before answering.
"Because of the will of the god." After receiving the Bending Blade Cockroach''s response through the line of faith, William was once again stunned.
William was certain he had never issued such a strange command to the insect swarm, yet all the insect units acted in the same way. The problem must lie with him.
He immediately began to recall the commands he had given to the insect swarm.
"The order for the Toxic Stinger Dragonflies was to enter the enemy¡¯s divine domain, advance, spread out, scout, and preserve themselves from harm. No problem there." He ruled out the Toxic Stinger Dragonflies'' orders and quickly thought about the orders given to the other two units.
"The order for the Bending Blade Cockroaches was to eliminate enemy creatures in the sky, take control of the airspace, and assist the Piercing Wolf Spiders in their assault. No problem there either." The Bending Blade Cockroaches had carried out their tasks flawlessly.
"The order for the Piercing Wolf Spiders was to eliminate all standing Jackalmen... No problem, wait a minute..." Breaking free from his habitual thinking, William finally realized where the issue lay. He felt as though a herd of alpacas was stampeding through his mind.
When he issued this order, he had meant to kill all the Jackalmen and turn them into corpses. However, for the low-intelligence Piercing Wolf Spiders, they took it literally: the command was to eliminate all standing Jackalmen, so the ones lying down didn¡¯t need to be killed.
William felt speechless. Luckily, the insect swarm''s genetic programming maintained a high level of vigilance toward living prey, and the lying Jackalmen weren¡¯t simply ignored. The moment these prone Jackalmen made a move, they would be met with the Piercing Wolf Spiders'' relentless attack.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Good thing, good thing... this is a minor mistake, and it hasn''t caused significant damage to the insect swarm. I¡¯ll definitely pay more attention to this in the future." With that thought, William pulled his focus back to his divine domain.
The semi-divine projection floating in the sky casually swiped, and a light screen appeared in front of William, starting its habitual recording.
"From now on, all commands to the insect swarm must be clear, simple, and easy to understand. No metaphors, subtleties, sarcasm, or anything requiring basic units to think or interpret." After writing this down, William paused and continued his record.
"The intelligence of the ordinary insect units must be improved. They cannot continue fighting mostly based on instinct like they do now. We must prepare for the potentially complex battles ahead, at the very least, they should have the ability to make some basic judgments and think in the field..." After documenting this issue, William once again directed his consciousness to the Toxic Stinger Dragonflies, who were still gnawing away at the altar.
Looking at the large hole that had already been excavated at the center of the altar, William could only suppress his anxiousness and wait patiently.
"Finally done," William smiled with satisfaction upon seeing the exposed divine core. His serious face finally broke into a pleased expression.
He floated lightly onto the golden, spherical, illusory crystal that was the divine core, while the other Toxic Stinger Dragonflies immediately retreated, creating a clear space around the exposed golden crystal.
William began slowly channeling his divine power into the core through the Toxic Stinger Dragonfly attached to it.
There was no resistance; the divine power originally in the core had already been drained by Orin, making it much easier for William to take control of the divine core.
As William''s divine power entered, the glow on the illusory crystal gradually faded.
"Buzz..." In an instant, the entire divine domain vibrated. All the beings in this domain felt it and looked up at the sky. The previously bright sky slowly darkened, turning into a vast black void.
"Done," William watched as the once-glowing mysterious core lost its light, and he could hardly contain his joy.
Now, with three days until the divine core completely shattered, William had enough time to absorb the entire divine domain into his own with minimal loss.
Normally, demigods would directly shatter the enemy¡¯s divine core, and the domain would collapse in just a few minutes. The victor would then have to frantically absorb or seal the resources within that domain during that brief window.
After the divine domain collapsed, they could continue to scavenge the remains. The unprotected fragments of the divine domain would be exposed to the void, causing tremendous damage to any creatures still within.
However, William¡¯s method of using divine power to saturate the enemy¡¯s divine core allowed him to preserve the maximum value of the resources in the entire domain, maximizing the benefits of this battle.
In normal situations, to saturate the enemy¡¯s divine core with his own divine power, he would face fierce resistance from the opposing god. The mutual consumption of divine power was secondary. If the opposing god decided there was no hope, they might activate the divine core to detonate, causing the domain to collapse immediately. The remaining window for gaining resources would shrink to under ten minutes.
After the opposing divine core lost resistance, William¡¯s semi-divine projection immediately arrived. He stood in the air above the divine domain, scanning the world below as he spread his divine power and scanned the entire domain.
"I am..." William began to speak, extending his voice with divine power throughout the domain. However, after only saying two words, he hesitated.
At this moment, William was deeply conflicted. Having never considered what his divine name should be, he suddenly didn¡¯t know what to call himself.
Chapter 20: The Overlord of the Insect Tribe
"The God of the Insect Tribe... that name is kind of lame, sounds weak as hell, no dignity at all," William thought as he recalled the memories of his past life regarding the insect tribe. He decided not to dwell on it any longer.
"Forget it, I''ll just go with ''Overlord of the Insect Tribe.''" After coming up with a godly title for himself, William spoke aloud, "I am the Overlord of the Insect Tribe. Your god has perished. Now surrender, and I will grant you the right to continue living. Those who resist will be destroyed."
The grand voice echoed in the hearts of every wolfman, and the ones still fleeing or fighting were struck with a sense of dread. When they failed to see their god¡¯s arrival, they dropped their weapons and knelt, their faith in Orin slowly crumbling.
Seeing that most of the wolfmen had surrendered, with only a few still attempting to flee or hide, William immediately marked their positions and sent nearby insect units to surround them.
He then designated two areas in the god domain and instructed the insect swarm to gather the prisoners within these zones. Given the wolfmen¡¯s speed and stamina, it would only take a day to collect all the prisoners.
William didn¡¯t have the energy to convert these wolfmen into his followers. Holding two blank sealing cards, he planned to seal them and later sell them on the continent of divine exchange. As long as he had time, anyone could find buyers for these sealed prisoners there.
At this point, his god domain had already arrived, and the two domains began to merge through an invasive connection. William carefully guided the process to prevent the wolfmen''s god domain from collapsing immediately, then began selecting his spoils.
He extracted several resource-rich terrains from the enemy¡¯s god domain, merging them into the edges of his own. As he watched his domain expand, he realized that the insect swarm would be able to grow again.
"I never thought that just after exiting the protection period, a single battle would solve my problems. As they say, you can''t be rich without a windfall, and a horse can''t be fat without night grass," William thought, feeling a surge of energy and motivation.
Thanks to his rich experience as a workaholic, William had completely merged the enemy¡¯s much larger god domain into his own in under a day. The distribution was well-organized, and the two resource and wasteland terrain cards were already used, ensuring that there wouldn¡¯t be any issues with random merges that might block transportation routes in the future.
At this point, the wolfman prisoners hadn¡¯t fully gathered yet. There were also delays caused by the longer journey to the gathering points after the domain merge. But William didn¡¯t bother with them for now.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Standing in the air, he used another domain concealment card to stabilize the effect of hiding his domain, and once that was done, he immediately used a short-distance random teleportation card.
After all, except for himself, only the half-god who had lost his domain knew this location. If that god''s friends or allies came for revenge or the coordinates were leaked, other half-gods might come to check things out. It was safer not to stay in one place too long.
A black whirlpool appeared in the void and then vanished. Because William had used the domain concealment card, no one could see the process of his domain entering the teleportation whirlpool.
In the peaceful void, a black whirlpool appeared and disappeared without causing any disturbance in the area.
Learning from the last time, as soon as William¡¯s domain jumped out of the teleportation whirlpool, he immediately used a region scan card. The results showed no nearby god domains, which made William breathe a sigh of relief. He then returned the random teleportation card to his semi-god avatar.
"It seems that the occurrence of another god domain nearby right after exiting the protection period wasn¡¯t very likely," William thought, feeling safe for now. He then focused back on his insect swarm arrangements.
The new lands needed to be explored, the new species¡¯ genes needed to be collected, and new surface nests had to be expanded to increase the swarm''s control over his god domain. He listed all the tasks he needed to handle and began making targeted arrangements.
Once William finally wrapped up the tasks at hand, he took a moment to assess the losses from this war. As his divine sense scanned, a blue light screen appeared before him.
Name: Overlord of the Insect Tribe
Level: Semi-God
Divine Fire: Not lit
Divine Rank: None
Divine Mark: None
Divine Traits: Environmental Adaptation, Gene Adjustment
Divinity: 1 point
Divine Power: 640 points
Faith Power: 65 million
Core Minions: Insect Tribe
Minion Count:
- Queen Ant: 1
- Piercing Spider: 4.1 million
- Poisonous Dragonfly: 900,000
- Logistic Spider-Ant: 1 million
- Scythe Cockroach: 1.4 million
...
The insect units lost in this war totaled an astonishing 2.6 million.
Less than 100,000 poisonous dragonflies were lost, mostly concentrated in the attack on the enemy¡¯s central town within the god domain.
The 900,000 piercing spiders lost were mainly during the direct confrontation with the elite wolfman forces at the god domain¡¯s teleportation portal. Although the insect swarm had the upper hand, the piercing spiders¡¯ relatively fragile bodies meant casualties were inevitable. Afterward, during the surprise attacks on scattered wolfmen, the losses of the piercing spiders decreased drastically.
The scythe cockroaches suffered the heaviest losses. Their more fragile bodies perished in the battle at the teleportation portal. Later, when they were tasked with hunting down fleeing wolfmen or assisting the piercing spiders in battle, their numbers continued to rise, ultimately leading to nearly 1.6 million deaths.
However, their high mobility and timely support played a huge role in the swarm¡¯s swift progress. As support units, the scythe cockroaches perfectly fulfilled all the combat objectives William had assigned them.
In William¡¯s mind, the scythe cockroaches¡¯ contribution was the most outstanding. Under his command, their smooth mobility was demonstrated in the map model created by the poisonous dragonflies. This combat unit was incredibly useful, which was also why their death toll remained high later on.
Chapter 21 Useful Information
After carefully summarizing the experience of the recent war, William recorded five full chapters analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the swarm, as well as the aspects that needed improvement in the future. Another day passed.
He waved his hand to close the holographic screen in front of him and took a deep breath. The intense, high-pressure work had left him feeling a bit fatigued, and he instinctively rubbed his forehead.
"It¡¯s not time to rest yet," he silently encouraged himself. Turning his head, he looked toward the group of gnolls that had gathered into a mass on the barren land, where two sections of wasteland were connected.
Since the war ended quickly, and due to William¡¯s strange order not to kill them, the number of gnolls who managed to survive and become prisoners had exceeded 300,000.
Each ordinary blank sealing card could seal no more than 200,000 of the gnolls, so William reluctantly pulled out two blank sealing cards.
¡°Captain Caius, are we going to die?¡± Varek, his face filled with despondency, pulled out the last piece of dried meat from the small pouch on his waist, snapped it in two, and handed the larger portion to the older Caius behind him.
After the collapse of faith and the loss of his mate and cubs, if it hadn¡¯t been for the older Caius carrying him forward despite his injuries, Varek would have certainly died on the road before reaching this gathering point.
Looking at the piece of meat Varek handed him, Caius gently shook his head, pushing it back and softly saying, ¡°You¡¯re injured and need to replenish your strength. We will survive.¡±
¡°I¡¯m no longer the captain. Just call me Old Caius,¡± the two gnolls, sitting back to back, looked at each other with a mix of worry about their future fate.
Recalling the giant insect ball in the sky, the shrill insect noises, and the buzzing of wings, fear had become instinct for them, and they could no longer muster the courage to face the swarm. Similar expressions of dread were common in this gathering point.
At this moment, the insect swarm around them began to change. A large number of scimitar cockroaches rose into the air, quickly forming a straight line in the sky, then descended rapidly.
The gnolls, sitting on the ground, looked in terror at the scene. They quickly got up and moved away from the area where the cockroaches were descending.
Old Caius and Varek happened to be directly under the line the cockroaches had formed. The two immediately lunged forward, narrowly avoiding the scimitar cockroaches that landed right where they had been sitting.
Soon, more scimitar cockroaches dropped down, dividing the group of gnolls into two halves.
After landing, the cockroaches immediately assumed an aggressive stance, driving the two halves of gnolls further apart.
Old Caius and Varek were now separated into two different groups. Seeing the cockroaches adopt an attacking posture, neither of the gnolls dared to shout loudly. They exchanged a deep, silent look before being herded away by the swarm.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Watching the gnoll prisoners divided into two groups, William patiently waited until they were far enough apart, and the guarding insects withdrew.
He began to expend divine power to activate the blank sealing cards. Two beams of white light descended from the sky, covering the two areas of barren land. In less than 30 seconds, these two barren regions and the gnoll followers on them disappeared.
Observing the scenes on the cards in his hands, William couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue in amazement. On the barren land, a swarm of gnolls carefully looked around. From above, it felt like William was a divine being observing these tiny creatures below.
William had a strange feeling, and a memory from his past life suddenly flashed clearly in his mind. It was of the original owner of this body, as a child in an orphanage, observing ants on the ground and feeding them the only piece of candy he had. A joyful smile filled the child''s face.
¡°Is this why your core followers are ants?¡± A long-standing question in William¡¯s mind was finally answered. Although the feelings from that memory were lost over time, the smile on his face was undoubtedly one of pure happiness.
¡°Heh, forgetting even what you truly like¡ I hope you can live a happier life next time.¡± A sudden lightness washed over William¡¯s heart, and the unfamiliar sensation he had been feeling gradually disappeared.
Unknowingly, this marked the moment when the soul of his past life finally let go of its attachment and began to fade, leaving William fully embodying the being he was now.
¡°Indeed, when one is happy, everything feels right¡ It¡¯s time to make some money.¡± Looking at the two cards in his hands, William¡¯s eyes sparkled with greed. He felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him. High-quality followers were always highly sought after on the Divine Exchange Continent.
Quickly storing the two cards in his body, William slowly withdrew from the Divine Realm. He needed to consult Samuel on some matters.
As for his Divine Realm, he had just scanned the area to confirm it was safe. As long as his hidden Divine Realm stayed stationary in the void, it wouldn¡¯t be discovered unless scanned by a scanning card or a face-to-face exploration beacon. Exploration beacons primarily targeted moving Divine Realms.
With a slight pressure sound, the divine spirit landing pod slowly opened. William quickly sat up from the pod and sent a message to Samuel.
¡°Samuel, do you have the coordinates for a concentration area or market for follower transactions in the Divine Exchange Continent? Send me one.¡±
After sending the message, William quickly rushed to the bathroom, dealt with his bodily needs, and then returned to the bed, taking two quick swigs of a high-energy nutrient solution, fully demonstrating the spirit of time management.
Just as he was about to turn and get back into the divine spirit landing pod, Samuel¡¯s message arrived. William opened it and saw the reply.
Samuel: ¡°Still around? I¡¯ve sent the coordinates. My dad says it¡¯s a good market for semi-gods to trade followers. You might want to check it out. By the way, you¡¯ve been absent for half a month. How are things going?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks. We¡¯ll talk later.¡± Keeping his usual cold persona from his previous life, William quickly replied and opened the coordinates Samuel sent. He memorized them instantly and then lay back into the divine spirit landing pod.
The door closed, and he entered the Divine Realm, completing the whole process in under two minutes, proving himself to be the ultimate example of efficient work.
When he opened his eyes again, William found himself back in his Divine Realm. Only three hours had passed, and everything was normal. Nothing unexpected had happened.
Satisfied, William nodded and once again used divine power to transport himself to the Divine Exchange Continent.
This time, he found himself in a place that resembled a bustling marketplace. Countless light spheres moved rapidly through the area, reminding William of the crowded train stations during his past life¡¯s Spring Festival. It was just as lively.
Chapter 22: A Lively Rally
William glanced around and saw dozens of light orbs floating about. He extended a light beam, holding a subordinate sealing card, and shook it, resembling a wind doll at the entrance of a supermarket back in his past life, used to attract attention during promotions.
Mental transmissions spread from these light orbs, and with a slight mental probe, William clearly sensed their contents.
"Goblin, excellent goblin archer, green skin, good diet, bulk discount..."
"Slime, blue slime, nutrient-rich, high volume, perfect for subordinates'' food..."
"Dog-headed man, gray-haired dog-headed man, excellent miner, limited to 10,000, first come, first served..."
Fortunately, the messages were transmitted mentally, or it would have truly felt like a chaotic marketplace from his past life, with everyone shouting sales pitches. He would barely be able to make sense of anything, only hearing a cacophony of noise.
At this moment, William didn¡¯t immediately pull out his wolfman subordinate sealing cards. Instead, he walked around the market, carefully assessing the current market prices and trends.
In this market, subordinates with weak combat power and no special traits were the most common, making up about 70-80% of what was being sold.
The remaining 20-30% mostly consisted of subordinates with average abilities in terms of battle, but they possessed specific talents in other areas.
For example, goblins had a great aptitude for manufacturing, while dwarves (regardless of their breed) excelled in smelting and forging, much like their cousins, the true dwarves. However, compared to the strong physical prowess of dwarves, these dwarfs were almost like malnourished, weak children.
Similarly, fox-headed or cat-headed half-beasts, who were agile and skilled in gathering or planting, had high intelligence and could handle relatively complex tasks. There were also dog-headed men, particularly good at excavation and mining.
Only about 10% of the light orbs offered subordinates with decent combat abilities.
These included species like orcs, humanoids, dwarves, and others, which were considered valuable. The areas selling these subordinates typically had several light orbs gathered around, inquiring about details.
Through William¡¯s research, these types of subordinates usually cost around 10 points of divine power per 10,000 units, though it varied depending on their quality.
However, if the number of subordinates sold in a batch exceeded 100,000, the price tended to multiply.
William noticed one orb selling wolfman subordinates, with a batch of 100,000 wolfmen, priced at 300 points of divine power without bargaining. There was still a crowd of light orbs surrounding the area, and as he walked past, the deal was already completed.
William was now calculating the value of his own batch of jackal-wolves. When he acquired that divine domain, he had already gathered enough information about his jackal-wolf subordinates.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Even though they were ordinary, in William¡¯s eyes, these jackal-wolves were top-tier among the ordinary subordinates.
They lived over 60 years, reached adulthood in just 10 years, and produced three offspring per litter, with the potential for one litter per year.
Their intelligence and discipline were average, and their only drawbacks were their lack of skill in planting and animal husbandry, which William thought was normal. Orcs, for example, were also poor at agriculture, with only a few breeds excelling in raising specific wild animals.
However, these jackal-wolves were exceptional hunters, and as long as the divine domain was large enough and the ecological environment rich, they could be left to roam freely without worrying too much about their survival.
Compared to the wolfmen priced at 300 divine power for 100,000, William¡¯s jackal-wolves were not only on par, but they also had other advantages, aside from having slightly weaker individual combat power.
¡°How should I price them?¡± William silently calculated. "If I price 150,000 jackal-wolves at three times the price, that would be 450 divine power per unit. Would that be too low?"
"Forget it. I¡¯ll price them at 500 divine power each. If it doesn''t work, I can always negotiate later." With his decision made, William stopped hesitating and found a high-traffic spot. He pulled out one of the subordinate sealing cards with jackal-wolves and began waving it in his hand.
"Jackal-wolf, red-haired jackal-wolf, excellent jackal-wolf subordinate, one litter per year, three offspring per litter, 10 years to adulthood, 60-year lifespan, disciplined and obedient. Don¡¯t miss out¡ª500 divine power each for 150,000 jackal-wolves!¡± As William loudly made his pitch, waves of thought energy emanated from him.
Several light orbs immediately surrounded him, extending light beams to examine the jackal-wolf sealing card in his hand.
William said nothing, letting them look while he continued to shout. After all, these jackal-wolves were definitely top-tier goods in this market.
"Boss, these jackal-wolves are great, but isn¡¯t 500 divine power a bit high? I think 300 divine power is a fair price." A rational buyer hoping to score a bargain spoke up.
"Boss, will you sell for 350 divine power?" Another attempted to haggle.
"Boss, I¡¯m offering 400 divine power, a high price. If you don¡¯t want to sell, that¡¯s fine." A pretentious buyer added.
Listening to the buyers around him, William wasn¡¯t in a hurry. His lowest price was 450 divine power, so he wasn¡¯t worried. Since it was early in the process, he could wait a bit longer.
Just then, a light orb from the distance floated closer and extended a light beam to the jackal-wolf sealing card.
After a brief inspection, the orb transmitted 500 divine power to complete the transaction, without a word, indicating a clear intent to buy without any negotiation.
"Did I sell too cheaply?" After completing the trade and seeing the 500 divine power easily obtained, William suddenly felt like he¡¯d underpriced the goods. It had only been a few minutes, and his high-priced product had been taken without any negotiation.
As the buyer prepared to leave, William immediately called out to them: "Hey, wait! I¡¯ve got 150,000 more of the same jackal-wolf breed. If you increase the price, you can take 300,000 jackal-wolves all at once!" Without hesitation, he added the upsell, and if the light orbs had facial expressions, William¡¯s face would have been grinning like a slick merchant.
The buyer paused for a moment, then turned back to look at William: "I came to the market just to collect some decent cannon fodder. Don¡¯t treat me like a fool. You¡¯re a poor guy." A thought message struck William¡¯s mind, and then the buyer turned around and left without another word.
Chapter 23 - The Jackal Favourite Card
Although William was rebuked, he wasn''t upset. He had simply wanted to test things out, and he had nothing to lose. After all, what if the other party was a true wealthy individual who didn¡¯t care about price?
His sudden price increase was unlikely to be well-received anywhere; he was clearly acting like a shrewd merchant.
As the light orbs around him saw the Chakwolf Follower card being sold, they prepared to leave. However, having gathered a crowd, William wasn¡¯t about to let them go so easily. He took out another Chakwolf Follower card from the light orb.
"Chakwolf, Red-haired Chakwolf, an excellent Chakwolf follower. 150,000 in number, breeds once a year, with three pups per litter. They reach adulthood in 10 years and live for 60 years. They follow orders and have strong obedience. Don¡¯t miss out! Come and have a look!" This time, William changed his advertisement, no longer mentioning the price directly.
"I need to leave some room for markup. Can¡¯t lock the price in right away," he thought to himself as he patiently waited.
As for the light orbs that were about to leave but turned back, William casually chatted with them, aiming to keep the crowd around and make the place seem livelier.
¡°How much for these Chakwolves?¡± the new light orbs asked.
"600 points of divine power," William quickly stated. Upon hearing this price, some light orbs immediately turned to leave, while others stayed behind and began to negotiate.
As time passed, with William and the buyers haggling, the crowd around him gradually stabilized. A group of light orbs had gathered around, with some newcomers and some who were leaving.
"Boss, 600 points of divine power is really too high. 500 points is absolutely the highest I can offer for these Chakwolves. Please think it over," one light orb offered.
William hesitated. It had been half an hour, and this was the third buyer who offered 500 points. It was starting to feel like aiming for 600 points was a bit of a pipe dream.
"Boss, how much are these Chakwolves?" another new light orb asked after examining the Chakwolf Follower card.
"600 points of divine power," William instinctively answered.
"600 seems a bit expensive," the other party replied after some thought, signaling for a discount.
"There''s hope!" William thought, hearing the words and realizing that this was likely a wealthy individual.
In this market, no one would call the price of 600 points for 150,000 Chakwolves ¡°a little expensive¡± unless the buyer was a rich person¡ªprobably someone inexperienced with pricing.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
William immediately focused all his attention on this new light orb.
"This is really not an expensive deal, my friend. Just look at these Chakwolves, with their strong physiques and an average height of 1.7 meters. Their combat ability is guaranteed. Plus, their reproduction rate is incredible. 150,000 Chakwolves, breeding over 200,000 pups a year. In 10 years, that¡¯s more than 2 million. Once they pass the 10-year mark, the growth rate will double. With a large enough divine domain, you can let them roam freely. There¡¯s no need to worry about their survival. They are perfect cannon fodder!" William immediately began pushing his product, targeting what he assumed the semi-divine buyer cared most about¡ªsizing up the customer¡¯s needs with the finesse of a true shrewd merchant.
After gauging that this was a semi-divine being with familial support from higher powers, William knew that such buyers wouldn¡¯t be lacking in divine power. Early development would be backed by their family, with plenty of resources like terrain cards at their disposal, meaning they probably had a vast and resource-rich divine domain.
"I¡¯m not looking for cannon fodder. While you make some valid points, the price is still a bit high," the other party responded, revealing a slight hesitation in their tone. William quickly seized on this and noted an important clue.
"Not cannon fodder, then you must be looking to build a core follower breeding area, right? These Chakwolves are perfect for that, with their breeding ability. Once you have a large enough number, your core followers will multiply quickly!" William boldly speculated on the buyer¡¯s real needs, using more respectful language while secretly praying that his guess was right.
Building a core follower breeding area was one of the fastest ways to grow one¡¯s core followers. Take the elves, for example. As an excellent species that could easily surpass the extraordinary once they reached adulthood, they had a notoriously slow reproduction rate. Their reproductive cycle could take decades, and their growth period could last centuries. For semi-divines looking to expand their populations, this was a nightmare.
Thus, building a follower breeding area became a practical solution¡ªbuying large quantities of weaker elf followers and crossbreeding them with core followers. After all, elves of different tribes, like the sun elves, moon elves, forest elves, dark elves, blood elves, and prairie elves, were all the same species, but with varying strengths and weaknesses in their bloodlines. In the absence of reproductive isolation, the stronger bloodline in the parents would dominate, giving the offspring a higher chance of being born as core followers, thus accelerating the breeding process.
"Well... alright, I¡¯ll take them," the light orb finally relented, having been swayed by William¡¯s sales pitch.
With the transaction completed and 1,100 points of divine power added to his balance, William happily completed his task. He immediately teleported back to the marketplace, bought two divine domain concealment cards, several blank seal cards, and a barren terrain card, then quickly left the Divine Exchange Continental.
Back in his own divine domain, William returned to his work, focusing on the ongoing development of his domain.
A year passed in the blink of an eye, and during that time, his divine domain continued to evolve according to the original plan. The number of his insect swarm had increased to 8 million.
Over the past year, William hadn¡¯t faced any battles. He had spent the time quietly developing. During this period, he noticed two other divine domains nearby, but he simply stayed alert and still, watching as they passed by without engaging.
His divine domain was progressing well, with huge potential for growth, and no bottlenecks in sight. As long as he kept developing and expanding, there was no need to risk an invasion.
Once school reopened and he confirmed that his divine domain hadn''t been shattered, he would receive the civilization¡¯s welfare resources, including a high-level directional teleportation card to travel to the human civilization territory.
Chapter 24: New Genes
Over the course of the year, William launched a sweeping campaign to gather new species within his domain. Thanks to the sheer number of his insect swarm, he spared no corner, almost collecting the genes of every invasive species he encountered.
The results from collecting these various genes were immense. The genes of large mammals, in particular, opened up new breakthroughs for his previous Jump Insect project, allowing the experiments to continue, and they were now nearing a significant milestone.
During the war against the jackal-men, William had specifically paid attention to the extraordinary Jackal Shaman, whose body was later entirely handed over to the Queen Ant as a source of sustenance.
He had hoped to use the Jackal Shaman¡¯s magic-wielding abilities to unlock a path to the extraordinary for his swarm, but the results were disappointing.
The Jackal Shaman¡¯s genes were nearly identical to those of regular jackal-men. As for why they could wield magic¡ªa form of extraordinary power¡ªWilliam surmised that it might be due to the influence of a demigod¡¯s divine attributes. This caused a magic-related rule to appear in his domain, which, over time, led to the Shaman discovering a crude path to the extraordinary, enabling jackal-men to evolve from ordinary to extraordinary through self-taught practices.
However, the efficiency of this self-discovered training method was horrifically low. Out of the 700,000 jackal-men, only a dozen or so Shaman-like individuals had reached the extraordinary level. The primitive nature of the cultivation method was clearly ineffective.
In addition to the new genes brought by their domain, William was also exposed to various new species that piqued his interest. Currently, he was studying a newly analyzed species gene, feeling quite conflicted.
This species, a special ordinary species from the enemy''s domain, had some traits of both aquatic mollusks and crustaceans. It resembled a squid with a shell and reproduced at an extremely fast rate. William named it "Octopus Shrimp," one of the water-based food sources for the jackal-men.
While food was of little concern, what William was most interested in was the species'' method of reproduction.
The reproduction method of the Octopus Shrimp was strikingly similar to that of the Queen Ant. After mating, the female undergoes a secondary abdominal development and begins laying eggs. Over time, her abdominal ovaries grow larger, preventing her from moving freely, and she relies on the male to feed her.
As the egg production increases, so does the demand for food. The male alone cannot supply enough sustenance. At this point, the female undergoes a transformation completely different from the Queen Ant¡ªher abdominal ovaries detach but remain connected to her body by an organ resembling an intestine. This allows her to begin foraging around her nest, and as the organ grows longer, her range of activity expands.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Eventually, the detached ovaries will develop their own independent digestive system, easing the burden on the female''s body. After some time, assuming the female and her detached ovaries are in good condition, a new abdomen will start to grow beneath the connection between the female and her ovaries.
Once the new abdomen matures, the male will mate with the female again. This time, the original mate will no longer feed the female but will focus on providing for the newly detached abdominal ovary, while the female pairs with a new mate to form a new nest, repeating the process.
As long as the female Octopus Shrimp remains healthy, this cycle will continue. If she weakens or suffers malnutrition, the latest mate will sever the connection with the original abdominal ovary to ensure the survival of their offspring. This is a very peculiar reproductive strategy.
William saw in this species'' genetic traits the potential to reduce the Queen Ant¡¯s burden and accelerate the reproduction rate of the swarm.
A long time ago, William had tried every possible method to increase the Queen Ant¡¯s reproductive speed. He even attempted to create insect units capable of reproducing offspring, bypassing the Queen Ant¡¯s limitations. The results, however, were disastrous.
Any units capable of reproducing would be killed by the insect swarm under the Queen Ant¡¯s influence, causing chaos. When William tried to intervene and let these units survive, it caused severe damage to the instincts encoded in the chimeric ant genes, nearly leading to the collapse of the swarm¡¯s social and belief structures.
At that time, seeing the Queen Ant and the swarm¡¯s faith level plummet from zealots to low-level believers, with some insect units even descending to a near-apostate level and attacking the reproductive units, William made a decisive move. He ordered a logistics spider-ant to eliminate the new reproductive unit, then comforted the Queen Ant and stabilized the swarm¡¯s faith.
Once the Queen Ant regained her zealot status, the other insect units quickly returned to their previous fervor.
It was then that William realized the significance of the Queen Ant¡¯s role in the swarm as the core, and he gave up on the idea of allowing other units to reproduce.
Now, after leaving the beginner protection period, William could find many extraordinary resources in the market of the Gods'' Communication Continent to ensure the Queen Ant¡¯s safe genetic transition. However, William still had psychological trauma regarding gene fusion experiments with the Queen Ant. After two failed attempts to improve her reproductive speed¡ªone success, one disaster¡ªhe was deeply cautious.
A gene fusion experiment involving black ants had almost killed the Queen Ant, and bypassing her had nearly caused a crisis in the swarm¡¯s survival. As a result, William adopted an attitude of extreme caution, knowing that any mistake could result in the loss of his core subordinate and the end of his path to godhood.
Weighing all these risks, William temporarily set aside any ideas about merging genes with other species and decided to take more time to carefully consider the potential consequences.
With his thoughts in order, he gently extended his divine consciousness to calm the Queen Ant. William¡¯s demigod projection then flew to his independent hatchery laboratory, located five kilometers away.
Standing before the 1.5-meter-tall cocoon for the fourth time, William felt calm. This was the fourth cocoon to restart the Jump Insect project.
Previously, due to the lack of large mammal genes in his domain, the Jump Insect project had to be temporarily halted. Now, with new genes from various mammals and the jackal-men, he was ready to resume the experiment.
After three months of calm reflection, William restarted the Jump Insect project.
Chapter 25 Research and development results
The previous three test subjects successfully emerged from their cocoons, with the longest-lived jump insect surviving for a week and a half. Although there were still various issues to resolve, William believed that the birth of a new ground-based main combat unit was not far off.
With a serious expression, he released his divine sense to carefully observe the cocoon''s condition. After cutting through the light curtain, he began recording.
"Heartbeat strong, body development good, internal organs and various functional systems fully formed. The previously discovered hormonal imbalance, with the overdeveloped adrenal glands that couldn¡¯t effectively regulate, has been completely corrected." Looking at the jump insect in the cocoon, which showed good developmental status.
"I have a feeling this time it will succeed." William seemed to have received some sort of intuitive sense, and he was filled with confidence about this jump insect''s birth.
However, less than two hours later, the new jump insect emerged from the cocoon. Compared to previous versions, this new jump insect had undergone significant changes. Its main body no longer followed the previous rodent template, but instead incorporated a combination of canine and gnoll genes, resulting in a more robust and elongated physique.
StarCraft ¨C Field Manual ¨C Zerg ¨C Jump Insect
Its head still featured a blend of insect and canine characteristics, with sharper teeth and large mandibles on either side, giving it an aggressive appearance while also protecting the sides of its head.
The visual system included a pair of main eyes and four pairs of secondary eyes, granting it 360-degree vision and various sight functions. The antennae of the original version were replaced by large, dense bones, layered and extending toward the back.
Thanks to genes contributed by a species of armored lizard with excellent defense and a preference for eating minerals, the body surface was no longer covered by ineffective shells but by large, metallic-hued scales. These scales improved movement, defense, heat dissipation, and weight, far surpassing the original design.
The limbs retained the original style: sharp claws, thick rear legs, and enhanced jumping ability. Additionally, a sharp, spiked tail had grown to improve balance and deliver powerful strikes.
The back still had a pair of bone spurs, which now possessed stronger strike power, though William had considered adding piercing legs from the piercing wolf spider, but the issues with bone strength, muscle energy, and other factors led him to abandon the idea for now.
After the new insect emerged from the cocoon, it was visibly more active than all previous test subjects, shaking its head and adjusting to its new body. From its appearance, aside from lacking wings, it was very close to the jump insect design from William''s past memories, perhaps even fiercer.
William immediately took it out of the lab to begin comprehensive testing. He needed a lot of data to gain a more detailed understanding of this new unit.
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Three days later, William looked at the test report in front of him, his excited smile never fading since the start of the tests.
This new jump insect showed none of the problems of previous versions. Its internal hormones were stable, and its movement speed reached up to 100 kilometers per hour with excellent stamina. The internal energy reserves were enough to support long-distance assault missions.
The adrenal glands, after modification, had become controllable and could allow the insect to disregard its physical limits and maintain peak performance for continuous combat.
Its sharp teeth had a biting force exceeding 5,000 kilograms, and the force of its mandibles was even greater. The tail strike could easily break a tree with a trunk as thick as a bowl. The back spurs'' swinging power and the claws'' attacks could tear through two-centimeter-thick metal plates.
In defense tests, the high-density bone structure on its back could deflect high-powered arrows at close range, while the scales on other parts of the body offered excellent defense against metal weapon slashes.
The results of these tests far exceeded William''s expectations. Of course, the high food consumption was also an unexpected outcome. The jump insect consumed twice the amount of food as a regular gnoll, and compared to other main insect units, it consumed at least 20 times more.
Even with the sleep mode optimized earlier, its energy consumption could only be reduced to 25% of its original rate.
Fortunately, as a Zerg unit, it wasn''t purely carnivorous. William''s highly efficient digestive system allowed it to extract nutrients from most organic matter.
Looking at the test report, William began to calculate the current resources in his divine realm. With his exceptional management skills, along with the help of his subordinates and the sleep mode, he believed he could maintain a population of 200,000 jump insects while keeping the total insect count at 8 million.
After all, even a demigod could support 700,000 gnolls in the past. If managed well, 200,000 jump insects would certainly be feasible. Thinking of this, William was filled with anticipation for the future.
However, he still needed to observe for a while longer. He would start by producing a small batch for testing to ensure there were no fatal flaws in the jump insect template.
If, like the previous jump insect experiment, they died after two weeks, William would lose tens of thousands of insect eggs, so the plan for mass reproduction had to be temporarily put on hold.
With the jump insect work on hold for now, William shifted his focus to a designated area for the octopus shrimp. He began the most detailed investigation and gene comparison.
A month passed quietly as William, through sleepless nights of meticulous observation, had become a true expert on octopus shrimp.
"No matter their habits, diet, or genetic understanding, I have mastered it all. This time, I¡¯m sure to succeed without fail." With determination, William decided to adjust the ant queen''s genes once again. He quickly disappeared and headed for the Divine Exchange Continent, where he needed to buy some extraordinary supplies to prepare for the ant queen''s metamorphosis.
Transformed into a light orb, William arrived at the official human civilization marketplace. As usual, he went directly to the counter and inquired about the products he needed.
"Hello, I have some questions about your products." William greeted the staff politely.
"Welcome! What can I help you with?" The staff responded warmly to a polite guest.
"I have a subordinate who is about to undergo a metamorphosis, but during this process, she cannot feed herself. Can I purchase some Life Spring Water here?" William promptly stated his needs.
Chapter 26 Transcendent Resources-Life Spring Water
The Life Spring Water, a type of extraordinary resource, is generally sold along with the entire spring and its surrounding terrain because the water loses its effectiveness quickly once separated from the spring. Storing it long-term is extremely difficult. The value of an entire Life Spring is beyond what William can afford at the moment. Upon hearing William''s request, the staff member behind the counter seemed taken aback.
"This might not be possible. Life Spring Water is always sold together with the spring and the surrounding special terrain. We don''t sell the water separately," the staff member quickly responded to William''s inquiry.
"Are you human?" After a brief pause, before William could say anything further, the staff member asked this question.
"Yes, but I¡¯m rather poor and can''t afford such a rare resource," William replied immediately upon hearing the question, sensing that there might be a chance for a solution.
"From the sound of it, you don¡¯t necessarily need Life Spring Water. Some extraordinary potions or other consumables with long-lasting healing effects should be able to meet your needs," the staff member suggested.
"My situation is rather unique. I must use Life Spring Water, as other resources may not be sufficient. I am willing to spend 1000 Divine Power to acquire it," William explained. He knew other extraordinary resources could work as well, but Life Spring Water was the best resource available to him for his subordinate¡¯s transformation.
Such immediate-effect resources aren¡¯t completely impossible to circulate, but their distribution is generally small and limited to specific circles. People must be notified in advance and then complete the transaction and use the resource as quickly as possible. Trust is crucial between parties, as the containers holding these resources are also valuable, and they must be returned after use. Another reason is that, given the nature of these extraordinary resources, if they don''t produce the desired effect, the parties would not want to have any disputes.
This is also why large stores don¡¯t sell Life Spring Water separately. If a demigod buys the water and it fails to work, they might cause trouble in front of the store, damaging the reputation of the business.
As for individuals selling Life Spring Water in small markets, most are probably frauds, mixing the water with other substances to deceive buyers. The nature of this resource means that the quicker the transaction, the better. Many untrained demigods who haven''t gone through proper schooling often get scammed.
Therefore, William would never consider buying Life Spring Water from other places on the Divine Exchange Continent. He certainly didn''t want to purchase fake water and risk his subordinate¡¯s failed transformation, turning the best resource into the worst possible outcome.
Life Spring Water wasn¡¯t just used for healing; it had no side effects, it could improve the user¡¯s physical condition, heal hidden injuries, rejuvenate the body, extend lifespan, and more. If a subordinate¡¯s race had already discovered the extraordinary path, the Life Spring Water could also be a great boost to their cultivation, and in some cases, it could be used to increase the success rate of breakthroughs.
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The staff member paused, sensing William''s strange gaze.
"You could just go to your school¡¯s teaching department. If you use your Divine Power, the school can arrange it for you. Didn¡¯t you know that? Why come to the trading center?" the staff member asked, his tone becoming somewhat skeptical, now questioning William¡¯s human identity.
"I know, but the problem is that school isn¡¯t in session right now. It¡¯s the holiday period, and I can¡¯t even get through the school gates," William immediately explained upon sensing the staff member''s doubts.
"Oh... I see. Heh, after opening your Divine Domain, where''s the holiday? Your preparations for impersonating a human weren''t thorough enough," the staff member teased, his tone slightly mocking. In the vast universe, encounters with demigods from other civilizations impersonating humans were not uncommon, and he had already started to suspect William was an impostor.
"Yeah, I wish there was no holiday after opening my Divine Domain, but the situation is, I already have a holiday..." William smiled bitterly, knowing the staff member had probably never experienced leaving the novice protection period early.
After opening their Divine Domain and surviving for three months, students would advance to the third year. It was a separate campus for those who had opened their Divine Domain and survived the three-month protection period. That campus operated day and night without holidays, and William could only explain with a wry smile.
Hearing this, the staff member paused and then seemed to understand William¡¯s situation.
"Whoa... so you¡¯ve already left the protection period early? How¡¯s it going?" The staff member immediately expressed his amazement.
"Yeah, I managed to survive, but I couldn¡¯t afford the advanced teleportation card, so I¡¯m still out here. Thanks for your concern, senior," William judged from the staff member¡¯s tone that he was probably not much older than himself, so he used "senior" to seem more familiar.
"Anyone who survives after leaving the protection period early is no ordinary person. Don¡¯t be modest! Have you fought anyone yet? Won or lost?" The staff member immediately became very interested in William and began asking personal questions.
William¡¯s face twitched. He thought, if I really were the kind of person who was scared and hiding, or a demigod who lost a battle, then this question would just be rubbing salt in the wound.
"I did encounter a crisis, but luckily, I made it through," William replied, trying to cooperate with the staff member''s curiosity.
"So you¡¯ve been in a fight? Impressive! Tell me what happened!" The staff member eagerly continued asking.
With no choice, William had to give the staff member an artistic retelling of how he encountered an invasion right after emerging, how he controlled his subordinates, and how he fought a battle with the enemy''s demigod subordinates.
The two of them continued chatting, drifting from one topic to another. It wasn¡¯t until half an hour later that William finally managed to satisfy the staff member¡¯s curiosity.
"I really envy you. In a place where so many newcomers appear, it''s the best opportunity for early development. Since you¡¯ve already gotten a foothold, don¡¯t miss this chance. Make sure to grab some opportunities¡ªthis is my advice. You¡¯ll understand how hard it is to earn Divine Power later on," the staff member said, while imparting some of his working experience to William.
"Thanks, senior, for the advice. I¡¯ll definitely seize this opportunity. But now, what about the Life Spring Water I need? Do you have any connections?" William, now having built a better rapport, quickly steered the conversation back to his original purpose.
Chapter 27: Possession of Legs
When William heard the staff member mention the Fountain of Life again, he realized he was still at work, and the person in front of him was just a customer shopping in the mall.
"Haha... sorry, I¡¯ve been chatting with you for so long. We seem to get along so well. How about this: if you trust me, just transfer 1000 points of divine power to me, and I¡¯ll go to the Ministry of Education¡¯s exchange center to help you get the Fountain of Life," the staff member suggested.
"You haven¡¯t reached senior year yet, so you aren¡¯t registered at the Ministry of Education. You can¡¯t exchange it yourself," he continued, seeing that the relationship between them had indeed grown closer.
"Thank you so much, senior. You¡¯ve really helped me a lot." William immediately extended his light beam and transferred the 1000 points of divine power to the staff member. Since this was the official human civilization mall, William wasn¡¯t worried about being scammed.
"Haha, no problem, it¡¯s just a small favor. Stay here and don¡¯t go anywhere. I¡¯ll be right back. The Fountain of Life doesn¡¯t come with a special container, so its effects dissipate quickly. I¡¯ll get it to you as soon as possible," the staff member reminded him before disappearing behind the counter.
William watched the person vanish and knew that they were likely teleporting to the Ministry of Education¡¯s exchange center. He patiently waited.
Less than five minutes later, the staff member returned and handed William a card.
"This is the Fountain of Life. It¡¯s been exchanged, and I got you a small disposable wooden bottle that will slow down the dissipation of its effects by half within a minute. You should use it quickly," the staff member said as he handed the card to William¡¯s outstretched light beam.
"Thanks, senior. I¡¯ll definitely chat with you again next time." William didn¡¯t waste any time and took the sealed card, immediately teleporting back to his divine realm.
Upon arrival, he stood before the Ant Queen and used divine power to input the card. A small wooden bottle with a faint green glow appeared in his hand.
The bottle was small, and William estimated it contained only about 30 grams of the Fountain of Life. Without hesitation, he unscrewed the lid. The glow around the bottle vanished, revealing a clear and emerald green liquid inside.
At the same time, William sent an order to the Ant Queen: "I¡¯ve brought you something good. Open your mouth and drink it all."
Upon receiving the command, the Ant Queen raised her head slightly and opened her mandibles, ready to be fed.
William used his divine power to gently lift the bottle, pouring the entire contents into her mouth without wasting a drop.
"It¡¯s so delicious, thank you, Master!" The Ant Queen was ecstatic after drinking the Fountain of Life for the first time.
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William didn¡¯t have time to chat with her. He immediately released his divine consciousness to observe the Ant Queen¡¯s physical condition.
He could feel the effects of the Fountain of Life working inside her body, nurturing her in a very gentle manner.
With a sense of relief, William was confident and no longer hesitant. He retrieved the optimized octopus shrimp reproductive organ gene from the Ant Queen¡¯s genetic library and began integrating it into her original genetic sequence.
The entire process required William to stay extremely focused, fearing any possible mishaps. However, his preparations were thorough, and everything went according to plan. Three hours later, he successfully completed the Ant Queen''s genetic adjustment without any issues.
At this point, the Ant Queen was lying on the ground, asleep. Her abdomen had stopped producing eggs, and her body was beginning a transformation due to the genetic changes.
This would take some time, and William estimated the Ant Queen¡¯s transformation would take between one to two months. With the Fountain of Life as a foundation, her life was no longer in danger, and now it was just a matter of waiting to see the results of this genetic fusion.
Another month passed, and during this time, William¡¯s daily routine was to check on the Ant Queen¡¯s condition and observe the later development of the mature jumping insects from the previous batch of 2000 larvae.
The jumping insects, which had been incubating for two months, were finally ready to break out of their cocoons. This batch of 2000 insects was the last generation laid by the Ant Queen before her transformation began.
Compared to the previous main combat units that had a seven-day growth cycle, this batch grew much slower. However, their combat power made up for the slow development. All 2000 jumping insects grew strong and healthy without any deaths.
Now, William was just waiting for the Ant Queen¡¯s transformation to complete. Once that happened, he planned to focus all future production efforts on these jumping insects as the primary combat unit.
When the Ant Queen¡¯s antennae slightly twitched, William immediately directed his divine consciousness toward her. Noticing that her bodily functions were slowly beginning to revive, he knew she was about to awaken.
He immediately activated the faith line and instructed the logistics spider ants to prepare food, ensuring the Ant Queen could eat immediately after waking to replenish the energy lost during her transformation.
The twitching of her antennae grew more frequent, and after five minutes, the Ant Queen finally awoke.
The spider ants, who had already prepared the food, immediately served her a feast of plump aphids. After such a lengthy transformation, the Ant Queen was starving and eagerly began to consume the food.
Through his divine consciousness, William closely examined the genetic state inside the Ant Queen''s body. The results confirmed that the genetic fusion had been very successful. Her genes were stable, with no significant changes except for the growth of new organs around her abdomen.
William understood that these new organs were key to improving the colony¡¯s reproductive efficiency. Whether they would function properly could only be determined through practical testing.
Finally, after finishing her first meal, the Ant Queen was resting and awaiting the second batch of food, which was still on the way.
¡°How do you feel now that you¡¯ve woken up?¡± William sent her a telepathic message with a concerned tone.
¡°Master, I feel great! Although I¡¯m a bit hungry, my abdomen feels different now,¡± the Ant Queen replied. She then tried to move, using her legs to push herself up.
With a slight crack, the connection between her abdomen and body broke, and the Ant Queen was able to stand up for the first time in over 20 years.
"Eh¡ Master, I can really move now! I can walk!" After some initial doubt, the Ant Queen confirmed it herself, taking a few steps forward.
Her massive abdomen and body had separated, now only connected by a two-centimeter thick tubular organ. Finally, after all this time, the Ant Queen could move freely. She was overjoyed¡ªpreviously, even turning her body required the help of many spider ants.
Chapter 28 Altering the Genome Sequence
The Queen Ant could feel the organ connected to her abdomen where she laid eggs, and she immediately turned to look at the flesh tube linking it to her body.
She realized that the length of this new organ was only about five centimeters, and her emotions quickly shifted from happiness to disappointment.
"Don''t worry, this flesh tube will slowly grow longer, and your range of movement will expand. In the near future, the abdomen that has separated from you should regrow a complete digestive system. This will reduce the strain on your feeding. Until then, you must ensure that you consume enough nutrients," William, aware of what the Queen Ant was thinking, quickly explained.
As the only high-intelligence entity in the swarm, William had no concerns about the Queen Ant''s ability to understand.
"Yes, Master. I will make sure to eat well," the Queen Ant said, her mood shifting back to happiness as she felt reassured, and William felt content as well.
Time passed quickly in the accelerated development of William''s divine domain. It was now the end of the third year since the Queen Ant''s transformation, and only two more years were left until William would successfully ascend to high school.
Since the Queen Ant''s metamorphosis, the divine domain had been developing for two years. During this time, the number of Jump Insects had reached 2 million.
This was thanks to the Queen Ant''s division of ovaries, which sped up the accumulation of Jump Insects. Now, the Queen Ant had two divided ovaries, and the third one was nearly matured.
The swarm''s growth rate was currently increasing at the pace of one divided ovary per year, which improved the unit output. This was made possible by William halting the Queen Ant''s own egg-laying, allowing only the divided ovaries to produce eggs. This ensured the Queen Ant could focus all her nutrients on her abdominal growth, speeding up her maturation. Otherwise, the number of Jump Insects would have already reached the 2 million limit much earlier.
At present, the surface terrain of the divine domain remained a blend of forest and grassland, continuously expanding outward. From a high-altitude view, the domain appeared peaceful.
The real changes, however, were underground. Thanks to the earlier construction of surface insect nests, massive underground chambers had been built beneath each nest by logistics spider ants, connecting them with tunnels to form an extensive underground transportation network¡ªa true underground world.
All the Jump Insects were housed in these chambers, in a state of dormancy, with their food consumption managed by the logistics spider ants.
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William was cautious not to let them move around freely. If they were to wake from their minimum-consumption dormancy, the food requirements of 2 million Jump Insects would quadruple, a demand the domain could not sustain. As such, the daily work was handled by smaller, lower-consumption units.
Through two years of accumulation and previous stored divine power, William''s divine power points had once again reached over 2,200 points.
Faced with the domain reaching another development limit, William was now considering his future path.
He had two choices ahead. One was to keep holding out and exchange the remaining 2,200 divine power points for terrain resource cards to expand the domain by 2,200 square kilometers. However, when the third divided ovary matured, it would produce 6,000 eggs a day. If all were used to breed Jump Insects, the domain would hit its limit in less than two months. Producing smaller, low-consumption insect units would generate more belief power, prolonging the time before reaching the limit, but it still wouldn¡¯t last until the start of high school. Once the limit was reached, the domain would only be able to slowly develop, watching the divine power trickle in.
This option¡¯s advantage was that it carried little risk, with a guarantee of some stability.
The other choice was to invest the 2,200 divine power into invasion consumption, purchasing reconnaissance and movement-type divine skill cards to invade other divine domains.
With his current strength, William was confident that he was among the fastest-developing and most powerful entities in this region, all of them leaving the protection period at the same time.
The advantage of this path was that it could lead to rapid expansion, allowing the domain to grow at an accelerated pace, quickly raising its limit and ensuring the swarm¡¯s long-term growth.
However, the risks were higher. The universe was filled with countless civilizations, and it was possible that in this region, he might encounter monsters, demigods, or even gods who could easily destroy him.
¡°Forget it. Fortune favors the bold. Even if I reach high school, I¡¯ll need resources to develop. There¡¯s no such thing as a free lunch. Risks bring rewards. As long as I don¡¯t meet the worst-case scenario, I can probably escape with my strength,¡± William analyzed both choices and ultimately decided to invade.
¡°I¡¯ve already called myself the Swarm Overlord. If I don¡¯t go out and plunder, I¡¯m not living up to the title. The development model should be about stealing.¡± With his decision made, William began mentally preparing himself, reassuring himself that this was the right choice.
His demigod avatar disappeared instantly, and William was teleported to the official human civilization marketplace. He went straight to the counter, greeting the glowing orb behind it.
¡°Hey, Hua, I¡¯m here.¡± William greeted confidently.
¡°Yo! Little brother, I was wondering who it was. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen you. You¡¯re not someone who comes without a reason. So, what do you need to buy this time?¡± The glowing orb, Hua, responded familiarly.
Since the time William had come to him to purchase the Life Spring Water, their relationship had become more casual. Now, every time William needed something, he would go directly to Hua. They¡¯d even shared their names.
Hua was a very ordinary demigod working in the marketplace, running a god domain focused on logistics. He had his own specialized products, such as custom-made armor and weapons, and he also worked part-time to earn divine power, working toward saving up for 100,000 divine essence.
William didn¡¯t waste time. ¡°Hehe, Hua, you know me well. Here¡¯s the list of items I need. Take a look.¡± William transferred the list to Hua without further delay.
Chapter 29: Discovery of the target
"Shit... 10 Exploration Beacon Cards, 3 Directional Teleportation Cards... What are you planning to do? You¡¯re not planning to just sit tight anymore, are you?" Hua looked at the list William had sent and immediately guessed what he was up to.
Exploration Beacons were typically used by invaders, and high-level gods usually didn¡¯t buy them if they planned on staying safe and developing peacefully.
"Well, I took your advice, Hua Bro, and decided to make a quick fortune in this region. After all, it¡¯s ''no corpse, no bridge-building,'' and ''kill people, wear gold belts,''" William responded with a sly grin.
"Shit, are you mocking me? How is bridge-building ''without corpses''?" Hua responded, trying to hide his irritation with a forced tone, "Let me tell you, the logistics development route is really good. In 40 years, I¡¯ll ignite the divine fire and live a peaceful and comfortable life!"
Hua had already prepared the items William needed while speaking: "Pay up, hurry. Exploration Beacons are 100 divine power each, and low-level Directional Teleportation Cards are 200 each. A total of 1600 divine power."
Given their relationship, they often exchanged jokes when meeting.
"Here you go, Hua Bro, take it. I''m off to get rich," William said as he received the items.
"Wait, bro. Even though I keep encouraging you to invade, you need to know it¡¯s risky. Once you make your decision, be prepared for a potential failure. If things go wrong, just run, and make sure to keep your core followers and domain core safe!" Hua immediately stopped William as he was about to leave, pulling out 20 cards from the light sphere and handing them to him.
William immediately reached out and took the cards, inspecting them. 10 were Blank Seal Cards, and 10 were Wasteland Terrain Cards.
"Use the Wasteland Terrain Cards to build the invasion portal. If things go wrong, it will minimize your losses. Consider the Blank Seal Cards as a bonus. Good luck and crush them!" Hua said seriously, his voice full of sincerity.
"Thanks, Hua Bro. My luck won¡¯t be that bad. Don¡¯t worry," William reassured him. After saying that, he waved the cards gently with his light tendrils and teleported back to his domain.
Following Hua''s advice, William first placed the 10 Wasteland Terrain Cards at the edge of his domain, then threw the 10 Exploration Beacons into the void in different directions outside the domain.
Now, all he could do was wait patiently. With some rare free time, William waved his hand, and a light screen appeared in front of him. He then scanned his entire domain with his divine sense.
Name: Swarm Overlord
Level: Demigod
Divine Fire: Not ignited
Divinity: None
Divine Mark: None
Divine Traits: Environmental Adaptation, Genetic Adjustment
Divinity Points: 1
Divine Power: 614
Faith Power: 73,000,000
Core Followers: Insects
Followers Count: Queen Ant 1; Piercing Wolf Spider 4,000,000; Poison Stinger Dragonfly 1,000,000; Logistics Spider Ant 1,000,000; Scimitar Cockroach 2,000,000; Jumping Bug 2,000,000¡
After the last battle, William had restored the number of Poison Stinger Dragonflies to 1 million. The Piercing Wolf Spiders and Scimitar Cockroaches were repaired after sustaining injuries in that battle, with the Scimitar Cockroaches'' numbers increased to 2 million.
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However, due to the appearance of Jumping Bugs, William didn''t bother increasing the Piercing Wolf Spider numbers further. In fact, the Piercing Wolf Spiders had taken over some of the Logistics Spider Ants¡¯ work and were on the verge of becoming logistics units themselves, considering the 2 million Jumping Bugs they needed to manage. 1 million Logistics Spider Ants were just too busy to handle the workload.
More than 10 days passed, and William still hadn¡¯t discovered any other domains. When his domain was stationary before, there would always be other domains passing by after some time. Logically, the density of demigods in this area should be fairly high.
"Did I place too few Exploration Beacons?" At this point, William¡¯s mindset had shifted from nervousness to calm, and now, growing impatience, as he just wanted to encounter a target already.
After all, shortly after he deployed the Exploration Beacons, he had summoned 100,000 Jumping Bugs, and the ecological balance of his domain was on the brink of collapse if he didn¡¯t invade other domains soon.
Just then, one of the Exploration Beacons suddenly transmitted information about a discovered domain.
William quickly sensed the location of the discovered domain and activated a low-level Directional Teleportation Card. His domain teleported to the location of the enemy domain.
He appeared right next to the locked domain, and an invasion portal quickly formed, piercing through the edge of the enemy domain.
The teleportation portal opened immediately between the two domains. As William watched the portal light up, he knew it was stable and that he could now send his followers to invade.
He sensed the size of the enemy domain, which was only 15,000 square kilometers, a little smaller than his own domain. Without hesitation, William launched a test attack.
Johnirs was a newly ascended demigod, with a human-like upper body and six tentacle-like legs at the lower half. His skin was covered in green scales. He had been lying atop a massive pyramid in the center of his domain, receiving worship from a group of lizardmen.
William¡¯s sudden domain arrival startled him, causing him to leap from his seat. Before he could react, the teleportation portal at the edge of his domain opened.
"Whoever is invading my domain will pay the price!" Johnirs thought fiercely, his expression darkening.
"My followers, the evil god of another world has arrived. Slay all invaders, and I will grant you eternal life!" A voice of authority echoed in the minds of all his lizardmen followers, issuing the divine decree.
Looking down at the pyramid, Johnirs wasn¡¯t in a panic. He had repelled two previous invasions, even taking a chunk of land from the enemy¡¯s domain each time.
Thanks to the nature of his domain terrain, primarily wetlands and jungles, only crawling followers could move freely and unaffected in his domain.
Other races struggled to perform at their best in such harsh conditions.
Plus, his core followers were over a million Wetland Lizardmen, who thrived in such an environment.
Although his followers lacked discipline and couldn¡¯t form a large army, they excelled in small-scale guerrilla warfare, using harassing, ambushing, and trap tactics to great effect.
Chapter 30 - Defeat
The previous two waves of invaders, after entering Les''s divine realm, were gradually worn down by the endless harassment and ambushes. With their numbers thinning, they were eventually forced to retreat, losing over 2000 square kilometers of land to Les in the process.
Recently, Les had made another major purchase in the Divine Realm Market on the Continent of the Gods, acquiring a large batch of equipment for his followers, thereby improving their combat capabilities. Les was confident that this time the outcome would not change¡ªvictory would ultimately belong to him.
Then, he saw a wave of piercing wolf spiders pour out from the teleportation portal, a mass of them, black and dense, surging forward like a tidal wave into the wetland jungle. The sight made his scalp tingle in fear.
¡°What... what are these things?¡± Les widened his eyes in disbelief and asked in a terrified voice.
Yes, this was William''s exploratory assault, sending in a fleet of 3 million piercing wolf spiders as the vanguard of the first wave. While drawing the enemy''s attention, it also allowed the venomous dragonflies to infiltrate and buy time by mapping the enemy''s divine realm. Of course, William also intended to expend some of the piercing wolf spiders. After all, they had already become auxiliary units, helping the rear-end spider ants in the divine realm, performing poorly in logistical tasks compared to the more professional spider ants.
As the venomous dragonflies continued their reconnaissance, the range of the map expanded, and William, observing through their perspective, furrowed his brows in confusion.
The enemy¡¯s followers were a type of green-scaled lizardmen, living in family units within the jungle. The largest gathering they had discovered so far had fewer than 2000 members. Their armor was diverse¡ªsome wore chainmail, others plate armor, some leather armor, and even some with nothing but a strip of leather tied across their chest. Their weapons were equally varied¡ªdaggers, knives, short swords, bows, throwing spears, hand axes¡ªgiving them the appearance of mountain bandits.
¡°Can an army made up of these followers even fight?¡± William silently wondered, feeling as if he had missed some important tactical knowledge in his training.
As he watched the flood of piercing wolf spiders advance, drowning the lizardmen they encountered along the way, William fell into deep thought.
¡°This doesn¡¯t add up. Something¡¯s off. Where is their main force? Could it be on the opposite side of the divine realm, exactly opposite from where I¡¯m invading?¡± Faced with this baffling enemy, William went on high alert, forming one hypothesis after another while starting to develop a counter-strategy.
The piercing wolf spider swarm paid no attention to William¡¯s musings. They were simply following his orders, moving towards the center of the enemy''s divine realm and killing every hostile target they encountered.
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As the venomous dragonflies advanced deeper, William finally discovered the largest gathering of lizardmen so far, close to the center of the enemy''s divine realm. There were fewer than 100,000 lizardmen, and more were still trickling in. Upon further investigation, he quickly concluded that this was a group of ordinary lizardmen civilians, lacking any military discipline.
The lizardmen were scattered about, some standing crookedly, some squatting idly, and some lying leisurely on the ground. A few were even relieving themselves right in front of William¡ªan utterly disgusting sight.
William¡¯s mind was a mess. The current situation was far beyond his understanding. He couldn''t make sense of the half-god''s operation, and he wondered what the point of gathering these lizardmen was. Was it to facilitate a slaughter by the swarm?
This group of undisciplined, disorganized lizardmen would collapse in morale at the mere sight of the approaching piercing wolf spiders. If they weren¡¯t all fanatical followers, William was certain that they would scatter in panic without needing to make contact with the swarm.
As time passed, when the number of lizardmen reached 120,000, the piercing wolf spider swarm, which had been advancing steadily, finally appeared before them. Just as William had predicted, upon seeing the tide of spiders, all but a handful of lizardmen charged at the swarm, while the rest turned and fled in terror, exposing their backs to the oncoming spiders.
As more and more lizardmen saw the swarm approaching from a distance, they began to run, and the panic quickly escalated into a full-blown stampede.
At that moment, a massive golden figure formed in the sky, and a mighty voice boomed across the land: ¡°My followers, the God General watches over you. Those who die in battle shall gain eternal life, while those who flee shall face divine punishment.¡±
Upon hearing the divine figure¡¯s voice, the fleeing lizardmen gradually stopped.
Seeing the half-god''s divine figure appear in the sky, and hearing the divine''s words of both grace and threat, William felt a tightening in his chest. ¡°I knew it wouldn¡¯t be this simple... ah¡¡±
The lizardmen, emboldened by the divine apparition, turned back to face the oncoming swarm. However, the piercing wolf spiders continued their relentless advance, the air filled with the shrill sound of their march and the desperate screams of the lizardmen being overwhelmed.
The fear that had initially lifted the lizardmen''s spirits soon crushed them again, and they fled even faster, trampling over those in front of them.
The piercing wolf spider swarm continued onward, and with the information from the venomous dragonflies, William made slight adjustments to their path, aiming straight for the golden pyramid at the heart of the enemy¡¯s divine realm.
Les, watching his hard-gathered followers scatter in terror, with his divine intervention proving useless, felt a sense of despair overwhelm him.
¡°Did I overestimate them? The enemy doesn¡¯t even have a backup, they¡¯re just weak¡¡± Through constant reflection, William finally cleared the confusion from his mind and started piecing everything together.
With mixed emotions, the piercing wolf spider swarm continued advancing, and soon reached the golden pyramid at the center of the enemy''s divine realm. Along the way, the resistance they encountered was minimal, with the casualties sustained by the swarm almost negligible.
Under William¡¯s command, a venomous dragonfly landed atop the pyramid, and William immediately consumed divine power to extend his divine sense, scanning the pyramid.
But he didn¡¯t detect any sign of the core of the divine realm inside. Not willing to give up, William expanded his divine sense further.
¡°No divine realm core here? Heh... they¡¯re just playing tricks,¡± William muttered to himself as he realized the core wasn¡¯t located in the center as he had expected, but rather hidden elsewhere.
Chapter 31 Defeat II
William immediately commanded the poison stinger dragonflies to form a large web by having one stay every kilometer, expanding from the center outward to create scanning nodes. He moved through these dragonflies in the form of divine possession. Every time he switched, he consumed divine power to release his divine sense, scanning a one-kilometer range. This scanning method ensured that no area would be overlooked.
The core of a divine realm can only be hidden when stable and unmoving. If the core isn''t concealed, its aura will be detectable by other demigods from tens of kilometers away.
"I found it, it''s here!" Within just five minutes, William felt the divine core''s aura, and it was hidden along the path the piercing wolf spider swarm had passed.
William immediately mobilized nearby insect units to gather around the location, and dozens of piercing wolf spiders quickly appeared in front of him. They began digging fiercely. Within ten minutes, they had successfully unearthed the divine core.
As the divine core was exposed, a demigod figure rose from it.
"Wait, don''t attack! Please, spare me. I still have 500 divine power. I''ll give it all to you if you allow me to keep 100 square kilometers of my divine realm and 10,000 core followers," the demigod figure of Leis said as it sent out its divine sense. He knew that somewhere around him, there must be a divine being possessing one of the insects.
A poison stinger dragonfly immediately flew over and stopped in front of Leis. William then spoke: "I¡¯ll ask the questions. You answer. If your answers satisfy me, I¡¯ll consider sparing you."
"Ask, ask anything. As long as I know, I will tell you," Leis quickly responded, seeing that the opponent hadn¡¯t immediately destroyed his divine core, giving him a glimmer of hope.
"With your divine realm¡¯s area, your followers¡¯ equipment, and the divine power you have left, you must have already defeated other invaders. How did you do it?" William asked, expressing his doubts.
Leis, seeing that the question wasn¡¯t about sensitive topics regarding reality, immediately responded.
"I¡¯ve experienced two invasions. When the invaders¡¯ followers entered my divine realm, they couldn¡¯t adapt to the wetland terrain. My followers used guerrilla tactics to drive them back..." Leis explained.
As William listened, he began to think deeply, finally coming up with reasonable explanations for all of his doubts.
The opponent wasn¡¯t weak at all. They had over a million lizardmen followers, all of whom were capable of fighting, and the terrain of their divine realm was perfect for the lizardmen¡¯s strengths.
Facing invaders who couldn¡¯t adapt to the wetland and jungle combat, Leis naturally held a massive advantage. Even against invaders who could fight in the wetland, even if they had good organization and could form large-scale armies, they wouldn¡¯t be able to fully capitalize on their strengths in this divine realm due to its unsuitable terrain for large-scale group battles.
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In smaller skirmishes, the wetland lizardmen could drag the fight into a war of attrition. As long as the divine core was hidden well, Leis¡¯s divine realm would become a hunting ground where all units entering would constantly switch between hunter and prey.
For the sake of defending their home, the wetland lizardmen would fight the invaders to the death. Without large-scale losses, there wouldn¡¯t be any morale collapse.
This demigod had used the conditions very well to hide all of his weaknesses and had done a commendable job. The various mixed weapons and equipment did indeed add diversity to the lizardmen''s combat tactics, making it difficult for their enemies to predict and boosting their combat effectiveness.
Unfortunately, when facing William¡¯s insect swarm, the weaknesses were laid bare, as the swarm was a natural counter. All the weaknesses were exposed to William¡¯s gaze.
In the past, army ants in the jungle were considered apex species, let alone William¡¯s piercing wolf spiders that were the size of millstones.
"Alright, I¡¯ll give you thirty seconds to extract your divine power," William said, having resolved his doubts. He immediately issued his ultimatum to Leis.
"Impossible! If you do this, I¡¯ll self-destruct my core..." Before Leis could finish his sentence, a piercing wolf spider, which had been waiting nearby, instantly pierced the divine core with its legs. With the core shattered, Leis was kicked out of the divine realm.
William didn¡¯t have time to care about Leis¡¯s feelings. With the tremor from the divine realm¡¯s collapse, William immediately activated his own divine realm. With his previous experience, he swiftly began scanning with his divine sense.
He immediately consumed divine power, merging all the terrain he liked into his divine realm first, and declared victory, demanding that the lizardmen immediately surrender and accept their fate as prisoners.
The final stabilization of the divine realm only lasted for about ten more minutes. During this time, William hurriedly gathered up the fragmented divine realm and began piecing it together.
Within less than two hours, William completed absorbing the divine realm.
Standing in the sky, watching the last fragment of the divine realm merge with the surrounding terrain, William activated the divine realm concealment card. After the concealment effect stabilized, his divine realm randomly teleported away from the battle zone. He then scanned the surroundings, ensuring there were no other beings nearby, before quickly diving into post-battle tasks.
Five days passed in a blur while William worked tirelessly. During this time, he sold the newly acquired lizardmen followers. Thanks to the fact that the lizardmen had barely resisted, he managed to capture nearly 900,000 of them.
However, this type of follower, which only had combat potential in special terrain, wasn¡¯t popular on the market. It only earned William less than 2000 divine power.
He then used this revenue to replenish consumable cards such as blank sealing cards, random teleportation cards, and range scanning cards.
Meanwhile, Chen Hua, working in the market, assumed that William was still preparing and encouraged him to be patient, praising his calmness in preparation.
William didn¡¯t explain and simply reassured Chen Hua, telling him not to worry, as he had everything under control. After that, he hurriedly left.
At this moment, William stood in the sky, reflecting on the post-battle summary, feeling slightly helpless.
Aside from successfully capturing the opponent''s divine realm, his other two plans had failed. One plan was to reduce the number of piercing wolf spiders, but as expected, the entire battle saw less than 100,000 spiders lost, which had negligible impact on a group of over 4 million.
Chapter 32 Tactical Review
Another plan was to thoroughly test the new ground-based primary combat unit, the Jumping Worms, to see how they would perform in actual combat. The result, however, was quite clear¡ªthey hadn¡¯t even entered the battlefield, and the fight was already over.
William couldn¡¯t quite explain how he felt about it, so he decided to shift his focus and study the new issues revealed by this battle.
¡°In this battle, the enemy''s fatal flaws were obvious. I must avoid making the same mistakes and learn from their painful experience. I need to address all the weaknesses and ensure a balanced development.¡± Glancing at his post-battle summary, William solidified the direction for his next steps.
Applying the Law of the Wooden Bucket to his enemies, the amount of water a bucket can hold doesn¡¯t depend on the longest plank but on the shortest one.
¡°Right now, the ground-based combat units of the swarm should be the strongest. With breathing and circulation systems, the insect swarm performs decently in underwater combat as well. But in the air, relying on just the Blade-Cutting Cockroaches and Poison Stinger Dragonflies can¡¯t guarantee absolute air superiority. I need a new unit to make up for the air combat weakness.¡± After analyzing the current swarm units, William decided to quickly reinforce the aerial combat strength of the swarm.
However, creating a new unit wasn¡¯t something that could be done in a short time. For the moment, he would focus on increasing the numbers of Blade-Cutting Cockroaches to bolster the swarm¡¯s air power.
With this priority set in his mind, William immediately turned his attention to the analysis of new genes.
Two years passed quietly in William¡¯s colorful invasion career. During this time, he was like an endlessly spinning top, constantly rotating between invading divine realms, tallying victories, analyzing genes, and finding new targets.
In these two years, William¡¯s divine realm expanded at an incredible rate, and his progress was immense. His divine realm now spanned nearly 300,000 square kilometers and had invaded nearly twenty other semi-divine realms.
He had gone from a beginner to a seasoned invader in this area, accumulating a wealth of experience.
William''s average invasions, which happened every two months, were only sustainable thanks to the insect swarm''s rapid reproduction. As long as he carefully controlled the battle losses, he could manage.
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Facing new semi-divines with anywhere from 1 to 3 million subordinates, his official army generally numbered no more than 300,000. Yet, due to the high reproductive rate of his insect swarm, he could often increase the swarm''s numbers rather than seeing them decrease, provided the losses were controlled.
In the early stages of his invasions, when the queen ant had only three reproductive ovaries, William felt some pressure. After each battle, he could only replenish 360,000 combat units within two months. However, when the fourth reproductive ovary matured and began production, the swarm''s reproduction speed surpassed its battle losses. Every two months, he could now replenish nearly 500,000 combat units.
Years of invasion had helped William clearly define his position. With his strength, he could certainly rank among the top hunters in this region.
But as the saying goes, "If you walk by the river often, you will inevitably get your feet wet." Over time, the number of new semi-divines in the region gradually decreased, and the number of divine realms dwindled.
The remaining semi-divines in the region, having grown more confident in their abilities, were not easy opponents. As William would put it, "Anyone still active in this area must have some real skills."
In the past six months, he had encountered two powerful opponents, which had left him seriously injured.
The first of these was an elf. The elf subordinates, known for their exceptional looks¡ªpointed ears, large eyes, high noses, and tall, slender bodies¡ªwere everything humans might find attractive. William initially thought he had a sure victory in hand when he saw the elf¡¯s 10,000-odd subordinates. He even began mentally calculating how much divine power he could sell if he captured a few high-value elven subordinates.
But things quickly went south. The elves, armed with bow and arrow, set up a thin defense line in a semi-circle around the portal, at the edge of a forest. As soon as William¡¯s Jumping Worms emerged from the portal, they were met with a hail of arrows.
To William¡¯s surprise, these arrows weren¡¯t ordinary. Upon impact, they exploded, covering a 1000-meter radius in a barrage of fiery explosions. Within minutes, his Jumping Worms were decimated, unable to break through the fire coverage zone.
Seeing the elves¡¯ finely crafted swords, William realized these were no mere decorations. He immediately halted the offensive and began calculating the cost of continuing the attack versus the potential gains.
After considering the situation, he chose to retreat, abandoning a barren stretch of land at the edge of the divine realm to the enemy. The opposing semi-divine watched as William retreated through the portal, choosing not to pursue.
This brief but costly battle, lasting less than a few minutes, had cost William nearly 200,000 Jumping Worms and given him a clear understanding of the strength of extraordinary races.
The second time William faced a semi-divine, his opponent''s subordinates were also extraordinary, though in contrast to the elves, they represented the other extreme. This time, the subordinates were undead¡ªskeletons.
When William invaded the enemy¡¯s divine realm, he immediately turned around upon seeing the barren, desolate landscape. The blackened, fungus-covered land reeked of rot, and there was no sign of life anywhere.
Chapter 33: Black Fungus Carpet
At that moment, William thought to himself, "Whoever wants this crappy domain can have it." To him, this type of barren land was even worse than a barren terrain card. Just as he was about to cut the land and retreat, the opposing demigod wouldn¡¯t have it. Countless skeletons began to rise from the black soil, forming a massive army of skeletons that surged toward William''s domain.
Seeing William firmly hold the entrance of the teleportation portal, the opposing demigod appeared in the sky, casting a projection and unleashing a barrage of taunts. This immediately infuriated William.
The consequence of angering William was that he immediately ordered 500,000 Jump Worm units to launch a counter-offensive against the sea of skeletons.
As the primary low-level unit of the undead, skeletons are born from souls, bones, and extraordinary power. While they are inherently extraordinary, their combat abilities are far inferior to most ordinary units. They rely on their overwhelming numbers to pose a threat, growing stronger as they multiply.
However, against the Jump Worms, which are top-tier killing machines among ordinary units, the skeletons'' fragile bone bodies were easily shattered under the Jump Worms'' attacks. With their strong, spiked tails and bone scythes on their backs, each strike sent a wave of skeletons scattering into fragments.
Jump Worms, being a superior species with a more advanced brain, quickly discovered the skeletons'' weak points. After a few rotations of their tail strikes, one of the Jump Worms let out a sharp screech, transmitting the newly developed rotating tail sweep tactic to the other Jump Worms, which then spread throughout the entire attacking group.
As a result, the entire Jump Worm army adapted their attack methods to exploit the skeletons'' frailty. The 500,000 Jump Worms, relying on their sturdy defenses and powerful leg muscles for jumping charges, carved a bloody path through the sea of millions of skeletons.
Breaking through the defense line, they left the skeletons in their wake and rushed into the enemy''s domain. The slow-moving skeletons could never catch up to the swiftly advancing Jump Worms.
Using this group of Jump Worms, William implemented a decapitation strategy, directly targeting the center of the opposing domain. Fortunately, the core of the opposing demigod''s domain was located near the center. William easily found it and, with the demigod''s desperate pleas for mercy ringing in his ears, destroyed the domain core without hesitation.
After the battle, William did not merge the opposing domain. Such a desolate and barren terrain was of no value to him. If he merged it, he would have to spend time and energy eliminating the remaining low-intelligence skeletons, which was simply not worth it.
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This forced engagement brought him no benefits, and he lost nearly 300,000 Jump Worms, leaving William in a long period of frustration.
To make matters worse, less than three days after the battle, over 200,000 Jump Worms that had entered the enemy''s domain all fell ill and became lethargic. When William discovered this, he immediately launched an investigation. With a divine mental scan, he easily identified the cause.
The Jump Worms had contracted a black mold from the opposing domain. Initially, William thought that with his divine powers, he could easily deal with the mold. However, after adjusting the genes and studying the mold¡¯s genetic structure, he found that it was beyond his ability to handle.
This mold, which William named "Deadzone Black Fungus," was no ordinary species. Upon inspecting its genetic chain, he saw a large cluster of extraordinary genes resembling tumors. William''s genetic control powers were unable to parse them.
Realizing the severity of the situation, he immediately isolated the affected Jump Worms and the surrounding areas. Yet, the spread of the Deadzone Black Fungus could not be stopped.
After exhausting all possible solutions, William reluctantly threw this entire region and all the infected insect units into the void. Watching the fragments of the domain drift away in the void, with the insect life rapidly perishing, William¡¯s face turned as dark as a pot bottom.
Losing such a large area of domain and over a million insect units was a severe blow to William.
With his wounds still fresh, William decided to lay low. He parked his domain in the void, licking his wounds and remaining still.
In the center of a barren area within the middle section of his domain, inside a stone house, William quietly stored a crystal vial in his hand. The vial contained samples of the Deadzone Black Fungus¡ªthe very cause of his heavy losses. William had preserved a portion of the samples and stored them carefully.
This biochemical weapon was a deadly trump card that could easily devastate a domain. With the speed of the Poison Sting Dragonflies, the fungus could be spread across the entire domain in no time. If someone were delayed or didn¡¯t take action in time to address the fungus, the domain¡¯s inhabitants would be doomed to extinction.
After calming himself, William used his divine mental powers to carefully scan the area, confirming that there were no further issues. He then returned to the Ant Queen¡¯s side to continue his daily work.
Aside from looking for possible optimizations in the existing gene templates for his insect army, most of his focus was now on designing a new primary aerial combat unit. He sent a modified gene template into an insect embryo.
Using his divine mental powers, William carefully monitored the embryo¡¯s development. Once the larva was born, he ordered a logistics Spider Ant to transport the larva to an independent hatchery laboratory five kilometers away for individual care.
After completing this task, William took a deep breath, hoping to relieve the mental fatigue.
Over the past two years, in addition to designing the new aerial combat unit, William had also gathered a collection of easily obtainable extraordinary beast genes¡ªsuch as the gene from a pangolin that could petrify its skin, a hawk capable of using wind blades, and a giant serpent that could exhale ice.
At first, William thought these extraordinary beasts could open the door to transcendence for the insect swarm. However, the results were disappointing.
While the genetic components relating to ordinary species were still within William¡¯s control, the parts related to extraordinary powers, which he referred to as ¡°genetic tumors,¡± were beyond his expertise.
Chapter 34 - Acquiring Transcendent Genes
William had no idea what to do; he completely failed to analyze the formation of the divine trait of genetic modification, which was likely influenced by William''s previous life, working in a biomedical laboratory.
Back then, William''s main exposure had been to the genes of fruit flies, lab mice, various viruses, and parts of human genes. As for extraordinary genes, they were completely outside of his knowledge. Therefore, when facing these extraordinary genes, the genetic modification divine trait was powerless.
With no other choice, William tried to pack all these extraordinary genes into the embryos of the larvae and hoped for a lucky break, seeing if he could create an extraordinary unit.
The first batch of 2000 jump bugs, after emerging from their cocoons, turned out to be quite bizarre in appearance, with many missing limbs. Only a few of these test subjects could use extraordinary abilities, but the real problem was how to fight with a jump bug that had extraordinary powers but no legs.
Among the entire batch, only one bug appeared somewhat intact and successfully gained the ability of petrified skin. However, it wasn¡¯t quite like the extraordinary armadillo¡¯s petrified skin, which covered the entire body. Instead, when this jump bug used its extraordinary ability, only certain parts of its body would become petrified, and the coverage was sporadic, with only a few small patches turning into stone.
This ¡°beggar version¡± of petrified skin provided a defensive effect, but it was barely better than nothing. William couldn''t understand the genes in this bug¡¯s body either, still unable to comprehend them.
The second batch of test subjects was even worse, with no healthy ones. As soon as the results were seen, William decisively abandoned the approach of relying on luck to produce extraordinary units, as the success rate was just too low. He had no choice but to temporarily shelve the matter and store the extraordinary genes inside the queen ant.
With a quiet sigh, William withdrew his divine sense from the queen ant and muttered, ¡°The research on the extraordinary insect race must be paused for now. Maybe when I ignite the divine flame and enhance my genetic control abilities, I¡¯ll be able to analyze extraordinary genes.¡±
William''s knowledge base did contain information on igniting the divine flame. His former reputation as a top student was no joke. All beings who broke through to become demigods and ignited the divine flame experienced an enhancement of their divine traits, and their core attendants would awaken extraordinary talents.
At that point, there would be a massive leap in power. Attendants of demigods were usually normal beings, while those of gods would have their extraordinary path unlocked.
William looked out at the divine domain above, which had expanded 30 times in the past two years. He saw the insect race working hard to build the domain, and a sense of pride swelled in him. Although he had been working like a super overtime employee, seeing the results of his hard work, William suddenly felt that everything he had sacrificed was worth it.
He withdrew his thoughts and left the divine world quietly. There were only a few hours left before school started, and he needed to prepare.
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The black divine spirit landing pod opened again, and William stepped out, feeling refreshed. After three months, his body had greatly improved under the nourishment of divine power. He no longer felt sore and achy as he did when exiting the divine world before.
Habitually, he grabbed a high-energy nutrient agent, downed it in two gulps, and then waved his hand. The divine energy bracelet on his wrist glowed with white light, and a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him. In the center of the screen, a red notification flashed continuously.
William immediately reached out to open the important message and read its content:
¡°Dear William, if you have successfully developed a divine domain, please arrive at the Academic Affairs Office of Zhonghai Third Middle School, Fourth Campus, before 9 AM on December 29th to complete your registration. The school will provide free accommodation, meals, divine spirit landing pod, and all necessary living supplies. Please try to travel light. ¡ Zhonghai Third Middle School Academic Affairs Office.¡±
Looking at the notice from the school, William glanced at the time¡ªit was less than two hours away. He wasn¡¯t fond of rushing to register, so leaving early was a must.
William immediately changed into a clean school uniform, stuffed the last high-energy nutrient agent into his pocket, and set off right away.
During the three months of vacation in the real world, William would leave the divine world every 15 hours. With his reasonable distribution, he could use up all his nutrient agents just in time.
He boarded a flying shuttle again and, before he had even settled in, announced his destination.
¡°Zhonghai Second Middle School, Fourth Campus, hurry up.¡±
¡°The destination is located on the 172nd floor of Zhonghai Third Middle School, Fourth Campus. You are currently in the 36th floor 653rd resettlement district. The journey will take 56 minutes. Please remain patient,¡± the intelligent voice said as the shuttle launched and entered a projection channel.
William sat quietly in the shuttle, eyes gently closing, as he felt the condition of his divine domain. After three months of adapting to divine power, he could now faintly sense the state of his divine domain.
When the day came that he could clearly sense his divine domain, he would no longer need the divine spirit landing pod to assist him and could directly project his consciousness into the divine domain.
As the shuttle climbed higher and higher, the environment outside changed accordingly.
When William opened his eyes again, soft sunlight poured through the shuttle window. It was early morning, and the sunlight was gentle and not blinding. The blue sky and white clouds greeted him, and the area the shuttle flew through was gradually cleaner and more orderly.
By the time the shuttle reached its final destination, the surrounding areas were covered in lush green grass, and artistic flowerbeds full of blooming flowers lined the paths. Compared to the 36th floor where he lived, this place felt like an entirely different world.
¡°Dear passengers, we will arrive at the destination in one minute. Please check your belongings and prepare. We wish you a pleasant journey,¡± the intelligent voice reminded as the shuttle began to slow down.
Perhaps because the view from the higher levels had captured William''s attention, the journey seemed to fly by.
When the shuttle finally came to a stop, William reluctantly ended his sightseeing.
As soon as he stepped off the shuttle, William was immediately captivated by the sight before him.
Two rows of giant rib-like structures rose to about ten meters, arching towards each other in the center. A creeping green plant, like ivy, covered these massive bones, forming a long green archway. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the bones, casting a golden glow on the area. The giant skeletons, lush green leaves, and golden sunlight merged together into a beautiful oil painting, perfectly blending the primitive with the vibrant.
Many passengers who had just disembarked from the shuttle were also drawn to the scene, stopping to admire it. Others, however, were unfazed and walked briskly toward the end of the archway.
Chapter 35: The Last Days of High School
William only admired the scene for a little while before he snapped out of it, now was not the time to look at the scenery, it was better to get down to business and get the enrolment formalities done.
Waving his hand, he called out the navigation map and determined the target he needed to go to, then William ignored the surrounding crowd who were still enjoying the scene.
He walked quickly towards the green corridor, and only when he reached the end of the corridor did the surrounding scene change from fantasy to reality.
A regular modern style school gate appeared in front of William''s eyes, next to it hung the door plate of Zhonghai No.2 Middle School''s fourth campus, which appeared ordinary and gave William a great sense of contrast.
¡®Don''t freeze, School Master, there is a uniform standard for school construction, all school gates are the same, that''s why they put effort into the outside of the school gate to show the strength of the school.¡¯ Just then a hand suddenly tapped on William''s shoulder, a slightly surprised voice, rang out from behind him.
William looked back sideways to see a pitch-black teenager wearing the same school uniform as him, with a dry shaved inch, about the same height as William, dragging a suitcase in his other hand, and was standing behind him with rows of white teeth showing.
This is Richard, William knows that his family is quite good, when he was a child, he also lived in the ground floor, and then his family got rich and moved to more than 140 floors.
Probably because he didn''t see much sun when he was a kid, his biggest hobby after moving was sunbathing, but with the increasing academic pressure of his sophomore year of high school.
After severely curtailing his hobby time, the bastard got darker and darker, and William later learnt that the bastard went out into the sun only when the sun was at its peak, with the fancy name of quantity not being enough to make up for quality.
¡®Ah Richard, congratulations on successfully crossing the threshold of your senior year.¡¯ William saw that it was his classmate and duly sent his congratulations for the other.
Richard sat next to him in his second year of senior high school, often looking for him to ask for advice on problems, with a relatively self-committed personality, he was one of the few people, who could chat with William on a daily basis.
¡®Hey, hey, same happy, same happy, you don''t know ah, our class now can come to report to the people, it is estimated that less than half of the people, I am also lucky, a fluke just .............¡¯ The mouth said fluke words, as if it was a modest look.
But looking at his smug expression, and the content of his words, it gave people the urge to slap him in the face.
¡®Don''t get cocky, if you say that back in sophomore year, watch out for a beating.¡¯ William was not surprised by Richard''s situation, the boy often spoke without thinking and could easily offend someone without realising it.
¡®I didn''t mean that, I''m just so happy, so ...... so .......¡¯ Looking at him with a look of wanting to explain, but also words are poor.
¡®Alright, knowing that you didn''t mean to belittle others, let''s still hurry to the Registrar''s Office to get our enrolment done.¡¯ William immediately opened his mouth to put an end to this topic.
¡®Right, right, enrolment is important, Samuel has already gone in, let''s also hurry to go and finish the enrolment procedures, and go to meet up with Samuel.¡¯ Hearing William''s reminder, Richard immediately remembered the main event of coming here.
The two of them travelled along in pairs, following the navigation guide, and smoothly arrived at the school''s faculty office, where the environment gave William a sense of familiarity from his previous life.
A small building was spread out within sight, the sun shone brightly, the greenery was immense, and three or two students stepped on their flying skateboards and swung by.
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The atmosphere is like the university in the previous life, compared with the oppressive tension of the second year of high school, the atmosphere here is full of youthfulness.
The Academic Affairs Office is an independent building, the ground floor is the entrance registration hall, after entering the door and looking at the common administrative hall almost the same style, the two do not care.
Nowadays in human society, the official administrative hall is almost the same, the Ministry of Education and all its subordinate departments belong to the official organisations, and the registration hall has directly copied the same style.
The two quickly walked to a counter that happened to be empty.
¡®Checking in.¡¯ Richard jumped ahead and spoke to the staff behind the counter.
¡®Please scan the identity information.¡¯ Immediately, a virtual scanning projection was projected on the counter, almost the same process as when William was at the welfare collection centre.
Richard raised his Divine Energy Bracelet and completed the enrolment registration with a stroke on the virtual projection.
¡®Registration has been completed, please arrive at the classroom before 9 o''clock, the relevant information has been sent to your bracelet, please pay attention to check.¡¯ Seeing that the registration was completed, the staff immediately said to Richard in a formulaic tone.
Seeing this William did not do wait and immediately went forward to complete a set of the same process.
According to the updated information on the bracelet, the two immediately walked quickly in the direction of the classroom.
Now that there were less than 20 minutes left before the 9 o''clock time limit, they didn''t want to be late on the 1st day of school.
¡®Hurry up, it''s almost time.¡¯ At this time Richard was pulling William, jogging all the way, William''s physical quality, recently strengthened due to the improvement of divine power, this time to keep up with Richard.
The area of the fourth campus exceeded William''s imagination, a small section of the distance on the map, the two hard all the way jogging for more than 10 minutes, before they could reach their destination.
William estimated that the footprint of the fourth campus was at least 10 times more than the second campus where he was previously located, so it was no wonder that the students he saw earlier were all riding on flying skateboards to get around the campus.
¡®Bang .......¡¯ Richard pushed open the door of the classroom of senior class 1 as soon as he could, pulling William and rushing into it, and with two minutes to go before 9 o''clock, the panting duo finally arrived at the classroom.
¡®Hoo...... hoo...... caught up, this campus is also too big.¡¯ Have not yet observed the environment in the classroom.Richard first found a place to sit down, gasping for breath and said.
¡®Phew ......, just don''t be late.¡¯ William was also exhausted, but he didn''t directly find a place to sit down after entering the door, but raised his eyes and swept round the classroom.
In the entire classroom, there were less than 30 people sparsely seated, there were students from previous classes, and there were also those he didn''t know, presumably students from other campuses.
Shaking his eyes, William just happened to see Samuel sitting at the window seat, also in a school uniform, his blonde hair shining in the sunlight, and his handsome face, also with a smile looking towards the two of them.
A proper campus protagonist template, at a glance, it is the kind of sunny and handsome, good character and good academic performance, the family is rich good students.
Noticing William looking towards himself, Samuel immediately waved his hand to indicate William to come over and sit.
¡®I''ll sit over there.¡¯ After saying to Richard, William immediately walked over towards Samuel''s side.
¡®Schoolboy, I''ll join you, wait for me.¡¯ Richard also noticed at this time that Samuel was waving at them, and also immediately got up and followed William''s footsteps.
Chapter 36Form Tutor： Lex
"William, congratulations on your successful promotion." Samuel smiled with a hint of meaning as he congratulated William.
"Thank you. Congratulations to you too. Let¡¯s hope we both make it," William replied warmly, returning the goodwill.
This group of students had all received their "divine seeds" at the same time, so their exit from the protection period would align nearly perfectly. By real-world time, the final deadline to leave the protection period was tomorrow.
For now, they had only stepped into the threshold of Grade 12. Whether they truly advanced depended on one final hurdle: safely teleporting their divine domains back to the human civilization¡¯s secure zone after officially exiting the protection period.
"Isn¡¯t our success a given? We¡¯ve survived three months already. The final step should be effortless," Richard interjected, barging into their conversation. He grabbed Samuel¡¯s hand, fawning, "Samuel, you¡¯re always so active in the group chats¡ªyou¡¯ve clearly got this figured out! You¡¯ll look out for me in the future, right?"
Richard idolized Samuel, envying his effortless charm with girls. He dreamed of learning Samuel¡¯s "techniques," never considering that his own lack of attention from women might stem from his¡ questionable style. He hadn¡¯t noticed Samuel¡¯s specific wording: William had already exited the protection period early, a fact only Samuel knew.
Bang¡ª The classroom door swung open. A stern middle-aged man in a teacher¡¯s uniform strode to the podium, his sharp gaze sweeping over the room. The chatter died instantly.
"I¡¯m Lex, homeroom teacher for Grade 12, Class 1. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you¡ªthough whether you¡¯ll remain in this class depends on whether you survive the transition to the secure zone." His intimidating opening silenced the room. "You might think arriving here guarantees your promotion, but I assure you, safe passage is not guaranteed."
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"Every year, students survive three months only to have their divine domains invaded and cores shattered the moment they leave the protection period. That¡¯s why you¡¯re here a day early¡ªto maximize your chances," Lex continued, reigniting the tension the students had briefly relaxed.
"You all know you can only access the Divine Communication Continent after exiting the protection period. So, once that period ends, how long does it take to complete the entire process? Retrieve a high-grade¶¨Ïò´«ËÍ¿¨[1] from the Continent, return to your divine domain, activate the card, and teleport?" Lex paused, letting the question sink in.
After a calculated silence, he answered flatly, "The record is 3.76 seconds. That¡¯s the fastest achievable time¡ªand why you¡¯re here today."
He clasped his hands behind his back. "Even with meticulous preparation and coordination from the Continent¡¯s staff, accidents still happen. I hope none of you will be¡ unlucky."
The room froze. Some students¡¯ faces twisted with anxiety¡ªuntil Lex¡¯s stern expression cracked into a smirk.
"Of course, the odds are minuscule. Only a handful suffer such misfortune each year. No need to panic." The mood shattered into relieved chatter.
"Holy¡ª! My heart almost stopped! Samuel, is our homeroom teacher secretly evil? That was brutal!" Richard gasped, slumping in his seat.
"Everything he said was factual, not fearmongering. Post-protection attacks have a 1% chance within five seconds. Still feeling relaxed?" Samuel remarked coolly, clearly impressed.
"A classic ¡®crush then uplift¡¯ tactic. Masterful psychology," William added quietly.
"You two are insane. I need a minute¡" Richard muttered, massaging his temples as Samuel and William remained unshaken.
Lex clapped twice, restoring order. "Introductions done. Call me Mr. Lu. I¡¯ve sent the protection-period exit protocols and Divine Communication Continent coordinates to your wristbands."
"Between 9:30 and 9:35¡ªfive hours in the Divine Realm¡ªstaff at the coordinates will distribute teleportation cards. Everyone must complete this step. Pass, and you¡¯ll get your dorm assignments. Fail, and you go home." He gestured to the door.
"Next door houses specially calibrated Divine Link pods with precision timers. Move out."
The room erupted into noise as students hurried toward the pods¡ªsome with grim determination, others muttering prayers.
Chapter 37: Notification of Schools
"Samuel, top student, let''s go too. There are only ten minutes left until 9:30." Richard immediately prepared to set out when he saw the situation.
"You two go first. I have some questions I want to ask the homeroom teacher." William wasn''t anxious at all, as he was no longer in the demi-god protection period.
"Richard, let''s go first." Samuel exchanged a glance with William and headed toward the classroom door.
Seeing Samuel depart, Richard quickly said to William, "Then I''ll go ahead too, ace student. Hurry up." He immediately followed Samuel.
In just three minutes, only William remained in the classroom.
"Student, why aren''t you leaving? There''s only seven minutes left!" Lex noticed William still sitting and promptly reminded him.
"Hello Lex, I''m William. I''ve already exited the protection period, and my divine realm is stable and relatively safe, so there''s no rush." William stood up to explain when Lex noticed him.
He continued, "Lex, I want to understand¡ªaside from safety guarantees, what specific benefits does immediately teleporting back to the safe zone offer for divine realm development?"
Hearing this, Lex studied the pale, slender student who seemed rarely exposed to sunlight. He slowly approached William and explained, "Normally, returning to the safe zone grants immediate access to school resources¡ªten various resource cards."
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"During the three months before assessments, I help identify shortcomings in your divine realm, plan development directions, and lay solid foundations..."
William immediately dismissed the idea of returning after hearing this. Ten ordinary resource cards meant little compared to conquering a demi-god''s territory. As for developmental guidance, he doubted any teacher could improve his swarm''s evolution blueprint.
"Lex, can those resource cards be transferred through the Divine Communication Network?" William requested remote transfer, unwilling to waste a precious long-distance teleportation card worth 5,000 divine power for mere 1,000-value resources.
"You don''t plan to return to civilization''s safe zone?" Lex smiled, having anticipated this.
"Correct. Staying here better serves my development," William confirmed.
"Sit," Lex gestured, taking a seat himself. "YourÐÅͽmust be formidable then. How many invasions since exiting protection?"
William paused. Considering his intensive two-year campaigns¡ªthough retreating once against elves¡ªhe modestly answered, "Over ten."
"What?! Ten successful invasions?" Lex''s eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You won every time? What supernatural species is your core?"
"Not every victory. Losses occurred," William admitted. "They''re mutated beasts¡ªcommon-grade creatures." He described his strongest combat units,(raptors), as mutated beasts to avoid explaining(swarm) concepts.
"Common-grade? Surviving ten invasions is impressive!" Lex''s initial excitement faded. "Still, I advise returning. The gap between common and supernatural species is insurmountable in early stages."
William recalled encountering supernatural species¡ªformidable but not invincible. "I understand, but I''ll stay."
"Very well," Lex conceded. "I''ll send resource card coordinates via the Divine Network. But you must return for the quarterly assessment¡ªit determines senior-year resource allocations and selects candidates for inter-school tournaments."
His tone turned grave. "Performing well could earn university recommendation letters. Regional competitions might secure top university admissions. This isn''t optional."
Chapter 38: Directions for the development of civilisation
"As for wanting to place in the Star Zone Tournament, don¡¯t even think about it. Those who rank in the Star Zone Tournament are all monsters.
They¡¯re invited to undergo internal training and compete with the ''monsters'' from the other two star zones for next year¡¯s resource allocation rights from the three Star Zone Education Departments. Those monsters are the kind of prodigies who can waltz into any university they want."
Lex paused here before adding, "But I¡¯m getting off track. Just remember this¡ªif you truly have the talent, these competitions don¡¯t just offer rich rewards. They¡¯ll also give you a massive advantage in university admissions.
Many of the rarest resources are only accessible at top-tier universities. You¡¯ll never get them otherwise. This is critical for your future¡ªit¡¯s practically a shortcut to igniting your divine spark. Take it seriously. Stabilize your growth and build your strength before the assessment." Seeing William¡¯s now solemn expression, Lex nodded in satisfaction.
"Lex, I understand. I¡¯ll definitely take the assessment in three months." Though William had studied hard in his second year, he knew little about what came after senior year.
Lex¡¯s explanation finally gave him a clear picture of the path ahead.
"Then I¡¯ll leave it at that. Go claim your Advanced Positioning Teleportation Card. The Academic Office distributes them uniformly, and it¡¯s a hassle to apply for a replacement if you miss the window." Relieved by William¡¯s commitment, Lex relaxed.
He¡¯d genuinely worried these overconfident kids might arrogantly skip the most critical assessment of their senior year.
"Thanks for the reminder. I¡¯ll head over now." Without hesitation, William stood and walked toward the Divine Access Chamber next door.
Watching William exit, Lex smirked inwardly. My persuasion skills are sharper than ever. Little punk¡ªyou folded after just a few words.
No idea what his actual strength is, but if he cleared ten invasions, three months of steady growth should secure our class a spot in the City League.
Meanwhile, inside the Divine Access Chamber, William stewed. I need to overhaul my plans. With my divine domain capped at 300,000 square kilometers, 40 million Zerglings are the limit. That¡¯s nowhere near enough for the swarm¡¯s growth rate.
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At the current rate of Split Ovaries production, in 30 years (divine realm time), I¡¯ll have 35 Split Ovaries. Daily Zerg output will hit 70,000 units¡ªover 25 million a year. The thought made his head throb.
Must optimize the Zergling genome¡ªreduce individual resource consumption while boosting invasion frequency to expand my domain. Two birds, one stone. Resigned to drafting a brutal overtime schedule, William felt exhaustion creep in.
9:40 AM
Back on the podium, Lex addressed the reassembled class with a grin. "Congratulations¡ªyou¡¯re officially seniors. But this is just the beginning. In three months, we¡¯ll hold an assessment¡"
William sat beside Richard, wearing a peculiar expression as Lex delivered a fiery speech nearly identical to their private conversation¡ªjust more theatrically charged.
Noticing Richard¡¯s poorly concealed excitement, William muttered under his breath, Lex¡¯s playbook runs deep. That silver tongue¡¯s no joke.
"Richard, quit daydreaming. With your Snakefolk followers, aim for the City League. The Global Tournament¡¯s a pipe dream. Anyway¡ªwhere was your divine domain¡¯s coordinate after the protection period ended?" William interrupted Richard¡¯s reverie.
"My coordinates were¡" Still dazed, Richard rattled off a string of numbers before snapping back. "Can¡¯t a guy dream? Bonus points exist! No dreams, no difference from a dead fish! Wait¡ªwhy¡¯d you ask, genius?"
"Just checking how far apart we all are post-safety zone." William brushed him off as Lex wrapped up his speech.
"Class dismissed! I¡¯ve sent the assembly coordinates. Gather in the divine realm tomorrow at 9 AM sharp. Unless notified, we won¡¯t hold physical classes anymore. Check your wristbands for dorm assignments." With that, Lex strode out.
"Let¡¯s go." William motioned to his friends. Consulting his navi-band, he estimated a 30-minute walk to the dormitory zone and struck up small talk to pass the time.
"Got any ideas for developing my domain? My Snakefolk have zero specialties¡ªcan¡¯t build industries, can¡¯t even construct decent housing. They¡¯re hopeless." Richard groaned mid-conversation.
William glanced sideways. "Ask Lex tomorrow. He¡¯ll strategize. Or just sell your followers. Snakes breed fast."
"You can sell followers? Mine do multiply quickly¡ Hmm. Samuel, what¡¯s your plan?" Richard pivoted.
"Standard human template, weak (supernatural aptitude). I¡¯ll focus on industrial tech first, switch to divine-energy systems post-ignition." Samuel shrugged.
"Ambitious! But that path¡¯s resource-heavy and rough on faith stats. My family couldn¡¯t afford it." Richard turned to William. "What about you, ace? Followers? Industry?"
"Common-grade Mutated Beasts. Leaning into¡ livestock farming." William replied casually. In his divine realm, "livestock farming" was just a euphemism for nurturing an endless swarm.
Chapter 39: A New Generation of Flying Jumping Insects
¡®Holy shit, schoolboy this industry of yours can be ah, what economic breeds are raised, how are the returns, what are the breeding conditions, give me a reference.¡¯ Richard immediately believed William''s bullshit and wanted to take lessons from him.
William thought about it, a battle damage of 200,000 to 300,000 jumping insects would basically take down a God''s Domain, so he perfunctorily said to Richard, ¡®The returns are okay, I guess, it belongs to the companion species of my dependents, you can''t raise it.¡¯
Samuel was surprised and looked back at William, he had heard William ask Richard earlier where the coordinates were after getting out of protection.
In his thought William should most likely, go on the path of invasion and development, he didn''t realise that he had also started an economic industry in God''s Domain.
Just as the three of them were gossiping all the way, William they finally arrived at the dormitory area.
They only saw a series of small double-storey villas, and from the navigation information, these were all dormitories.
The red ones on the map indicated that they were already occupied, and the blue ones indicated that they were available for occupancy, one set per person, although William had long known that the school belonged to a rich and powerful Establishment.
But the sight in front of him still refreshed his perception, in a place like 172nd floor where every inch of land is precious, equipping each student with a separate set of villa for dormitory use is still beyond his expectation.
No wonder everyone in this society, from a young age, was instilled with the idea of striving to become a god, and that the only way out was to become a god.
No longer hesitating, William immediately headed towards the nearest set of unoccupied dormitories.
Seeing that William had selected a dormitory, Samuel and Richard also picked a random one next to him and chose to move in.
After standing in front of the door of the selected dormitory and greeting the two, William waved his bracelet, and the scanning projection on the door instantly completed the check-in for William.
As soon as he entered William was surprised by the luxurious decorations, very modern and minimalist with a sci-fi feel everywhere.
Just then a blue spherical virtual projection appeared in front of him in the centre of the living room.
A soft mechanical voice sounded in the room: ¡®Hello, William students, I am the intelligent housekeeper of this dormitory, I am very happy to serve you, I have sent the dormitory management system to your bracelet, in addition to the system prohibited matters, all your other requirements, you can command me to complete, I wish you a happy life.¡¯
After saying that the projection immediately disappeared, William also did not care, this kind of intelligent butler, society''s slightly better families will install one.
Immediately thereafter William immediately visited the entire dormitory, after strolling through the place where he would live in the future, William lay down on the sofa in the living room, looking very satisfied.
The entire ground floor was occupied by the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom.
The first floor was the bedroom, cloakroom, study, gym, bathroom, and all the necessities of life.
¡®Butler.¡¯ As William spoke softly, the spherical projection in the centre of the living room appeared once more.
¡®Happy to be of service, what can I do for you?¡¯
¡®How are the school meals organised?¡¯ Hearing the intelligent butler respond, William asked the question he was more concerned about.
¡®The school will arrange for three meals a day to be delivered to the dormitory on time according to your requirements, if you have special needs for your diet, please inform us in advance.¡¯ The intelligent butler heard William''s question and immediately made a corresponding reply.
¡®I need a batch of Nutritional Compound, you see to the arrangements.¡¯ After William stated his request, he quickly turned around and headed upstairs to his bedroom.
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Immediately, he got into the advanced deity landing capsule that the school was equipped with, and with a wave of his bracelet, he imported his records into this new device and did all of this.
William spoke softly, ¡®Initiate the login procedure.¡¯
William, who had entered the World of Gods once again, looked at the Divine Realm under his feet as if it was a lifetime ago, everything here was still so familiar, the corners of his mouth unconsciously rose to reveal a smile.
Releasing his divine thoughts to scan the entire God''s Domain, the information panel immediately appeared in front of William''s eyes.
Name: Swarm Master.
Rank: Demigod.
Divine Flame: unlit.
Divine Physique: none.
Divine Spirit Engraving: None.
Divine Characteristics: Environmental Adaptation, Genetic Adjustment.
Divine Nature: 1 point.
Divine Power: 1 point.
Power of Faith: 83 million.
Core Attachment: Insectoid.
Number of dependents: 1 ant queen; 1 million piercing tarantulas; 1 million venomous dragonflies; 2 million logistic spider ants; 3 million scimitar cockroaches; 1 million jumping insects ............
Looking at the data in front of him, the fact that there were only 1,000,000 numbers of Jumping Bugs made William''s heart feel bad. If it wasn''t for that Demigod of Undead Favour, the number of Jumping Bugs should still be around 2 million.
In the two years of invasion, William had lost a total of over 7 million units of various bugs in battle, and now his strength was lower than even at the beginning of the invasion, and if he continued to fight, William was also afraid that he would capsize.
¡®For now, let''s live for a year and properly digest the previous harvest, after a year the number of jumping bugs will be able to recover to more than 4 million, at that time, we will teleport to the coordinates given by Richard, the top priority now, first solve the two problems of aerial units and lowering the consumption.¡¯ William thought silently and closed the information panel.
After determining his goal, William immediately went into intense work.
Time flew by, and William had been out on his own for 20 years, during which time he had expanded the God''s Domain to close to 1 million square kilometres, and the swarm had also seen an overall renewal.
Thanks to the various genes he had collected, William had finally halved the individual consumption of the Jumping Worms.
And for the Jumping Bugs in the God''s Domain, he had fitted them with the vein back wings he had been longing for, and while increasing the speed of movement on the surface, they were able to more easily go over various obstacles and cliffs.
Of the original units of the God''s Domain, the Piercing Tarantula and Logistic Arachnid Ants had been completely eliminated, except for the Poisonous Spiked Dragonflies, which still retained a certain number of them.
The two new insect units that replaced them were called Flying Jumpers and Logistics Jumpers by William.
Compared to the ground combat alienated hoppers, from the appearance alone, the three were extremely close to each other, with the main difference being the body size and the functional organs loaded in the body.
The body size of the flying hopper is less than one metre, compared to the body size of the alienated hopper of more than 1.5 metres, it looks smaller, its body is more slender, and the various organs and bones in its body have been optimised in a targeted manner.
The skeleton is similar to that of birds, with thin and light bones, a hollow design that cancels the high-density bone plates on the back, and the scales on the surface of the body are also more delicate and thin, greatly reducing its weight while retaining a certain degree of defensive power.
The veined dorsal wings on the back of the flying hopper have a larger wingspan and are more powerful. Combined with the lightweight body structure, the flying hopper has super high manoeuvrability and speed in the air, and is able to easily reach a flying speed of more than 300 kilometres per hour.
Chapter 40: An Exercise in Small Risks
Specially designed dorsal sickles with more flexible joints and razor-sharp sickle-shaped blades could hug the body during high-speed flight to minimize drag. Upon approaching targets, they would suddenly deploy - the combination of velocity and sharp edges could bisect enemies instantly. Even at lower speeds, Flying Raptors demonstrated remarkable agility and defensive capabilities superior to ordinary species, making them formidable in close-quarters combat.
Logistical Hoppers, slightly smaller than Flying Raptors at just over half a meter in size, maintained decent flight capabilities. While their high-speed performance couldn''t match specialized fliers, they excelled in stable, precise micro-movements. At this scale, they finally incorporated Piercer Wolfspiders'' signature weapon - triple-jointed puncture limbs stored dorsally. Flanked by three pairs of tentacles with six-fingered manipulators at the tips, they handled delicate operations with ease.
For years, William had struggled to develop ranged units for the Swarm. Physical projectile units either lacked power/accuracy or required lengthy chemical reload cycles - all proved impractical. "These ranged prototypes are utterly useless," William mused, concluding that supernatural solutions might be necessary.
His attempts to create high-intelligence Zerg strains backfired spectacularly. Though born with baseline faith, these smarter units never achieved fanatical devotion. Their overthinking nature destabilized the Swarm''s strict hierarchy. "Cowardly commanders weaken frontline effectiveness," William lamented, terminating the project.
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Standing mid-air, William surveyed his bursting domain through a blue HUD:
Name: Swarm Overlord
Level: Demi-god
Divine Spark: Unlit
Divine Authority: None
Divine Traits: Environmental Adaptation, Genetic Modification
Faith Points: 43 million
Core Forces:
-
1 Queen
-
10 million Stingflies
-
40 million Flying Raptors
-
50 million Mutated Raptors
-
40 million Logistical Hoppers...
Total: 140 million units
With his domain at capacity and no fresh prey appearing in the void for over a year, William exited the deific plane to consult his mentor Lex.
The holographic projection showed Lex''s surprised face. "William! Two months without contact. What''s urgent?"
"Hit a development wall. Any viable raiding zones?" William cut to the chase.
Lex nodded knowingly. "There''s the Barren Resource Well - a neutral zone where multiple civilizations clash. But you''d need..."
"Teacher-led expeditions post-exams. Solo? You''ll get slaughtered by century-old demi-gods or proto-deities." Lex paused dramatically. "However..."
William leaned forward. "You have a solution."
"Precisely. I''ve secured approval to take top students for early deployment. Prove your worth, and you might join this... accelerated curriculum."
Chapter 41: The Security Zone
¡®I was about to notify you, but I didn''t expect you to contact me first, the quota is limited, if you want to take part in this training, hurry back, I will test your combat power, whether you can take part or not, it depends on your performance.¡¯ Speaking of which, Lex had sent over a coordinate.
¡®I''ll be right back to gather and take the test.¡¯ After William received the coordinates, he said to Lex without hesitation, and then immediately hung up the video call.
After ending his communication with Lex, he flew back into the Deity Landing Pod.
Returning to his divine domain once again, William immediately pulled out an Advanced Positioning Teleportation Card, and with the injection of divine power, the teleportation card activated.
William''s God Domain, which was still in hiding, instantly drilled into the open teleportation channel.
As the Divine Domain jumped out of the teleportation channel again, he had already arrived at the coordinates given by Lex.
Just after leaving the teleportation channel, William habitually scanned the situation around God Realm.
Immediately, he found that not far away from him, there were close to 500 God Realms quietly parked at the moment, all of them did not hide themselves, and the barriers emitted a faint glow, like a giant upside-down bowl of varying sizes, which was quite spectacular.
This was a sight he would never have seen before in the outside world, when all the god domains had hidden themselves and were wandering around, waiting to invade or be invaded.
Without waiting for William to make his next move, one of the god domains in the pile broke away from the group and leaned towards him.
William''s initial visual inspection showed that the guy approaching him was going to be close to 10 times larger than his own God Domain.
William''s Demigod Spiritual Body immediately rose and instantly appeared outside the God Domain barrier, watching the other party rapidly approach.
Only to see the same Demigod Spiritual Body, appearing outside the other party''s Divine Domain barrier, after the other party saw William''s Demigod Spiritual Body, a voice like a flood bell rang in William''s ears.
¡®Who are you? Why did you appear here?¡¯
Hearing the other party''s question, William immediately replied, ¡®My name is William, I''m a student of Senior Class 1 in Zhonghai No.2 Middle School, my homeroom teacher is Lex, and he gave me these coordinates as well.¡¯
¡®Class 1 student? Then why don''t you lift your concealment and go back to your class''s own area, don''t just stand here.¡¯ Zhou Yong looked at this Demigod Spirit Body in front of him, and although his heart was filled with doubt, the moment he heard that he was a student of the first class, his tone immediately turned unkind.
The normal senior students of this class had all long ago concentrated in this area, and this demigod that had suddenly appeared had only just teleported over.
The surface of the Divine Realm was still covered with Hidden Divine Art, and if it wasn''t for the opening of the teleportation channel that caught his attention, he wouldn''t have been able to discover the other party at all.
Right at this moment, another divine domain moved over, and the same demigod spirit appeared above the divine domain, Lex''s voice resounded in all directions, ¡®Teacher Zhou, just mind your own students, since when is it your turn to mind the students of the first class?¡¯
William looked at Lex''s divine domain, which was twice as big as the other party''s, approaching over, his heart was slightly relieved, what''s the situation here, he had just teleported over, he was completely unclear about it, and
He wasn''t very good at facing this kind of people, who had bad breath for no reason at first sight, luckily his homeroom teacher had appeared in time.
¡®Then please ask Lex to control his students and give them a clear explanation of the rules here.¡¯ Seeing that Lex had appeared and was staring straight at him, Zhou Yong returned Lex''s sentence before immediately burrowing back into his Divine Realm and quickly retreating to his original position.
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Seeing that Zhou Yong had left, Lex immediately turned back to William and said with a smile on his face, ¡®Kid, welcome to the Human Civilisation Safe Zone.¡¯
¡®Lex, what was the situation just now?¡¯ William heard Lex''s words and immediately asked the doubt in his heart.
¡®Come with me, let''s go back to our class'' quarters first.¡¯ Lex said and manipulated Divine Domain, moving in the direction he came from.
Seeing that the other party had already moved, William did not say much and immediately followed.
¡®That one just now is called Zhou Yong, the homeroom teacher of class 2, there is a student whose dependents are half-elves in their class, they have been rather inflated lately, if he looks for trouble again, just give me a word, I''m worried about not having a chance to slash him.¡¯ During the process of moving, Lex explained to William about what just happened.
Hearing this William''s mouth twitched as he asked with some tears, ¡®Lex, the reason he''s so unkind to the first class isn''t because of you, is it?¡¯
¡®How could it be? Don''t talk nonsense, he''s the kind of small-minded person who usually likes to find trouble with the students of other classes,¡¯ Lex heard William''s words, the embarrassment on his face flashed away, and immediately changed to a serious expression to look at William.
¡®Erm ............, I know, if he looks for trouble again, I will definitely tell you.¡¯ William looked at Lex''s sincere eyes and immediately chose to listen to him.
In the time of two words, William had already followed Lex to the first class quarters, and there were thirty or so god domains floating around, which should be all the students in the class.
In just two months'' time, the difference in the size of these god domains was already very obvious, some were still less than 20,000 square kilometres in size, but some were already more than 100,000 square kilometres.
This was the reason why William was reluctant to teleport over before, here, the resources provided by the school were very limited.
The student''s family was able to provide help and also his advantage, the school didn''t prohibit such a thing and even encouraged it.
If an orphan like William came from an orphaned background, if he teleported over, he would have nothing but the ten resource cards given by the school, and if he wanted to develop, there would be no other way other than toiling away the time to build up his divine power, and purchasing resources in the Gods Exchange Continent.
Upon seeing William''s spirit body, there were immediately students around him who also emerged from the Divine Realm and started chatting to each other.
¡®This is that William from our class, apart from seeing him once on the day school started, he hasn''t appeared again eh.¡¯
¡®I heard that he''s an orphan, without the support of his family, he''s been fighting for his life outside since he got out of protection.¡¯
¡®That''s really tragic, every battle in the early days will cause dependents to lose a lot, I wonder how many dependents he still has surviving now.¡¯
¡®What the hell do you guys know, the schoolmaster is a ruthless person who got out of the protection period in advance, if he doesn''t dare to go out and invade himself, don''t talk about it here.¡¯ At this time Richard''s voice suddenly spread out, immediately interrupting the surrounding chatter.
Richard only learnt about his early departure from the protection period after he arrived at the safe zone and didn''t find William during the gathering, and turned back to ask Samuel.
After that Richard didn''t dare to bother William in reality, he knew that it would be quite dangerous to randomly break away from the World of Gods without being in the safe zone.
Seeing the other students in the class around him, they all looked at this place curiously.
Lex smiled at William and said, ¡®Kid, looking at the distortions around this God''s World of yours on the move, your God''s World isn''t too small, it''s safe here, you can unhide it.¡¯
Chapter 42 - Classroom Teachers Test
William heard Lex''s words and, seeing that no one else was hiding their divine domains, also dispelled his domain''s concealment effect.
As the hidden divine art dissipated, Han Fei''s divine domain gradually materialized in clarity.
The moment William''s divine domain appeared, the classroom erupted in uproar.
"Impossible! Without family support, how could his domain be so vast?"
"Look at the size ¨C nearly a million square kilometers? How did he achieve this?"
"Inconceivable! Could his core devotees be transcendent species? How many domains has he invaded?"
"Holy shit! The genius strikes again! Samuel, look ¨C this is ten times larger than your domain!" Richard blurted out excitedly to the previous record-holder.
Samuel studied William''s domain with widened eyes. Hearing Richard''s tactless comment, he smiled calmly: "Visual estimates suggest about a million square kilometers indeed. My 120,000 km2 domain pales in comparison. Remarkable."
Lex observed William''s domain with newfound interest. Having reviewed William''s file earlier, he knew this was an orphan without family backing. The domain''s scale implied constant, successful invasions during his absence ¨C a feat requiring substantial strength rather than mere luck.
"Kid," Lex narrowed his eyes, "truth time ¨C are your devotees transcendent species?" Suspicion laced his voice as he revisited their earlier conversation.
"Genuinely not," William responded earnestly, his expression odd. "Just common species without supernatural capabilities." This marked Lex''s second interrogation on the matter.
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In William''s two-decade experience across divine realms, he''d encountered transcendent species like the grotesque forest sprites ¨C 20cm tall green-skinned goblins wielding plant manipulation. Their arboreal defenses had crumbled when 15 million winged leap-locusts razor-scythed entire forests into barren plains.
Lex maintained his skeptical gaze. "Regardless, trial candidates require testing. The arena''s prepared." He gestured as a 10-million km2 domain approached.
"Rules:" Lex declared, "Invade this domain at designated coordinates. I''ll deploy cannon fodder through adjacent invasion channels. Your performance against them determines qualification. Questions?"
"Post-test channel disengagement?" William inquired urgently. Severing invasion channels always tore domain fragments.
"Withdraw your devotees post-battle. Arena handlers will sever channels and reclaim fragments ¨C no salvaging permitted." Lex explained that handlers were domain-keepers whose core devotees had perished, leaving only common believers unaffected by fragmentation.
Satisfied, William awaited the trial confidently.
"Begin!" Lex marked invasion coordinates.
Transparent tendrils of invasion channels extended from both domains. William''s consciousness inhabited a venom-dart dragonfly scout emerging into a desolate badlands testing ground. Two kilometers away, Lex''s channel brightened as 50,000 armored goblins marched forth ¨C disciplined ranks wielding spears, tower shields, and composite bows.
Lex''s demi-god projection materialized above the goblin horde. "Five legions of trained goblin warriors. Demonstrate your worth, boy. Surrender now if losses prove unbearable."
William responded by deploying 50,000 mutated leap-locusts through his channel. These bio-engineered iterations far surpassed primitive goblins in armor-piercing claws, chitinous plating, and hyper-metabolic agility. More crucially, as fanatical devotees, they knew no fear ¨C a critical advantage against mortal troops vulnerable to morale collapse.
Chapter 43 Passing the test
As the goblins arrayed themselves on the battlefield, Lex watched with anticipation, his gaze fixed on William¡¯s invasion portal. He was deeply curious about the so-called "mutated beast followers" William had mentioned. Deploying these 50,000 goblins had been a calculated move.
Twenty years had passed since the end of the divine protection period in the world of gods. By now, an average demigod¡¯s followers typically numbered between 3 to 5 million, with at least 500,000 professional combat units. The 50,000 goblins represented a tenth of that standard military force. Students were expected to dispatch enough troops to exterminate these goblins without crippling their own foundations. The quantity and quality of forces they deployed would reveal their true strength. If even these goblins proved challenging, Lex would know they lacked the power to compete for tournament qualifications.
Just as the goblins finished forming their battle lines and began advancing, a swarm of grotesque creatures surged from William¡¯s portal¡ªmonstrosities Lex had never seen before. The horde paused momentarily at the portal¡¯s mouth, waiting until no more reinforcements emerged. Once 50,000 mutated zerglings had gathered, a piercing shriek tore through the air. Instantly, the swarm charged toward the goblin formations less than two kilometers away.
Lex scrutinized the creatures. So these are the mutated beasts. Their appearance alone screams ferocity¡ªbut how do they fare in combat? Each zergling stood armored in overlapping bony plates and scales, limbs muscular, claws razor-sharp. The dorsal scythes on their backs curved menacingly. Their very anatomy screamed lethal efficiency.
Within moments, the zergling tide crashed against the goblin ranks. Though disciplined, the goblins wavered briefly at the sight of equal numbers¡ªno overwhelming numerical terror here. Their commanders barked orders, steadying the lines. As the swarm closed in, archers at the rear loosed volleys of arrows.
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But the zerglings dodged effortlessly. Equipped with hyper-sensitive visual tracking and reflex systems, they weaved through the projectile rain. Only when evasion proved impossible did they twist mid-sprint, deflecting arrows off their reinforced dorsal armor.
Lex¡¯s eyes widened. To evade arrow storms so flawlessly¡ These are elite troops already.
Then came the true assault. At 200 meters, the zerglings¡¯ vein-covered wing membranes vibrated violently. Their speed exploded as they entered a frenzied charge. Against the goblins¡¯ shield walls and spear formations, the swarm struck like living battering rams.
Wooden shields reinforced with iron splintered on impact. Goblin soldiers¡ªbarely four feet tall¡ªwere hurled backward, crashing into their comrades. The frontlines collapsed instantly. What followed was pure carnage. Chainmail tore like parchment under zergling claws. Iron blades meant for slashing merely scratched their scales.
The battlefield dissolved into chaos¡ªgoblins shrieking, zerglings shrieking louder. Lex witnessed a masterclass in biomechanical warfare: adrenal glands pumping ceaselessly, scythe-limbs cleaving goblins in half with each stroke. Within minutes, the once-orderly goblin army shattered into fleeing mobs. The battle devolved into a rout.
William tugged an invisible thread of faith. Abruptly, the zerglings halted. A goblin mid-scream froze as a scythe stopped millimeters from its throat. Survivors collapsed, weeping. The swarm turned as one and loped back to their portal, leaving carnage in their wake.
A quick assessment told William his losses numbered under a hundred. He glanced up at Lex¡¯s hovering divine avatar. ¡°Well, Lex? Do I qualify?¡±
The god¡¯s projection twitched almost imperceptibly. ¡°...Adequate. Prepare to depart shortly,¡± Lex replied through telepathy.
As William¡¯s figure vanished into the portal, Lex scanned the battlefield. Of 50,000 goblins, barely 20,000 remained¡ªand only because William had shown mercy. A few more minutes would¡¯ve meant total annihilation.
Hmph. Such combat prowess¡ They could challenge low-tier supernatural species. The boy has every right to arrogance. But how many of these beasts does he truly command? Lex mused, already strategizing.
Chapter 45 - Low-grade war zones
"Probably due to the Corrosive Venom racial trait, as my followers multiplied, a snake priestess suddenly emerged who could wield Corrosive Poison Mist. Once unleashed, the toxic fog blankets a massive area¡ªtheir combat power is off the charts!" Richard''s face radiated smug pride as he spoke, practically glowing with self-satisfaction.
William had already pieced together Richard''s situation. It seemed a member of his follower race had spontaneously awakened supernatural abilities and propagated the method throughout the population. Moreover, the cultivation technique likely had a high success rate, granting Richard''s followers an early pathway to transcend their ordinary-tier limitations and access supernatural-tier power. In these early stages, when most deities relied on mundane followers, even a small group of supernatural-tier units would provide a significant combat advantage.
The Water Elemental Rule Card Richard''s family had procured¡ªwhich elevated the concentration of aquatic supernatural energy within his divine realm¡ªlikely played a supporting role. Typically, integrating rule cards to refine a divine realm''s laws was a task reserved for post-ignition deities. Yet with just a single Water Elemental Rule Card enabling supernatural breakthroughs, Richard''s followers must possess considerable innate talent for water-aligned mystical energies.
"Your luck''s impressive," William remarked dryly, eyeing Richard''s triumphant grin. "If your followers have truly unlocked supernatural cultivation this early, nurture them well. You might actually clinch a spot in the citywide tournament."
Preparations
At that moment, Lex''s divine avatar materialized and beckoned the group. Chen Hao emerged from his own divine realm shortly after. When all four young deities gathered before their mentor, Lex solemnly withdrew a stack of shimmering cards from his spatial storage.
"Each of you receives two Advanced Anchor Teleportation Cards, 20 Exploration Beacon Cards, 20 Scan Cards, 20 Concealment Cards, and 20 Communication Cards," he declared. After distributing the resources, Lex continued, "The barren resource well we''re targeting is classified as a Low-Grade Warzone. No teleportation functions within its boundaries, so you must operate within my rapid-response radius."
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"If danger arises, immediately notify me via Communication Card. I''ll prioritize your rescue, and others must assist. Remember the two unwritten laws of Low-Grade Warzones: No faction may deploy more than five combatants, and no entity above demigod-tier may enter." He paused deliberately.
Seizing the opening, William asked, "Why such rules?" The others nodded in shared curiosity.
Lex scanned their faces before explaining, "It''s a consensus among all civilizations active there. The resource well''s poverty-stricken state makes large-scale conflicts pointless. The strongest factions¡ªours and the Longva Civilization¡ªhave a... complicated history. Eons ago, our predecessors established this pact."
"It''s not an inter-civilization treaty, merely a gentlemen''s agreement. But over time, all parties honored it. No one wants civilization-level wars over scraps." Seeing no further questions, Lex concluded grimly, "If you''re overwhelmed before reinforcements arrive, I can''t save shattered divine realms. This risk is non-negotiable. Anyone unwilling may withdraw now."
Richard paled but hesitated as William immediately affirmed, "I accept." Samuel and Chen Hao followed suit. Gritting his teeth, Richard muttered, "I... I''ll stay."
Into the Warzone
Lex smiled approvingly. "No rewards without risks. To the staging area¡ªcoordinates follow." Activating an Advanced Teleportation Card, his divine realm vanished into spatial ripples.
The quartet replicated the coordinates, emerging moments later near a gargantuan celestial encampment. William''s breath caught¡ªover twenty thousand divine realms clustered here, with several leviathan domains exceeding 100 million square kilometers looming at the periphery.
"Move out," Lex ordered once regrouped. For fifteen days they voyaged through voidspace until reaching the warzone''s threshold, all domains now cloaked.
"Here," Lex announced, materializing his avatar. As the others followed suit, he outlined the plan: "Stick together initially. Operate within five hours'' travel from my realm. After acclimating, you may separate. Harvest what you can¡ªthis sector teems with demigods."
Samuel spoke first: "William''s our only veteran. Lead us." Richard nodded eagerly while Chen Hao crossed his arms in tacit agreement.
"Follow closely," William instructed, steering his realm toward uncharted void. The trio fell into formation behind him, their divine sparks flickering like cautious stars in the predatory dark.
Chapter 46 Tactical Instruction for Invasion of Enemy Territory
Lex, seeing this, returned to his divine realm with a smile and began to wait patiently. His role wasn¡¯t to participate in invasions but to safeguard the students in their class.
After four hours of movement, William anchored his divine realm in the void and began deploying exploration beacons. Rather than the standard 20 issued by the academy, he released 40¡ªhis personal reserves from previous wanderings. Once the beacons were deployed, William settled in to wait. The other three followed suit, mimicking his actions.
William had already digested Lex¡¯s earlier briefing about the region. This area was primarily frequented by fledgling demigods or those still nurturing their realms. True powerhouses disdained these resource-poor zones, while the billion-square-kilometer realm owners near the base camp only guarded the perimeter. Other civilizations used this as a crucible for their novices¡ªa Darwinian proving ground where only survivors earned further investment. Human civilization¡¯s approach of assigning mentors was rare; among other factions, only scions of influential families received such protection.
Three days passed. Suddenly, William¡¯s beacons pinged a target. ¡°Contact! Follow me!¡± he alerted the others, steering his realm toward the coordinates. Within an hour, they closed in on a concealed divine realm. A thick invasion channel snapped into place. Probing the enemy realm¡ªunder 40,000 square kilometers¡ªWilliam immediately dispatched 200,000 Venomwing Dragonflies to map the terrain. To his team, he transmitted: ¡°Invade now. Their realm¡¯s small¡ªgood practice run.¡±
Three new invasion channels bloomed as his companions struck. Through the dragonflies¡¯ shared vision, William analyzed their forces:
Richard¡¯s serpentfolk resembled bipedal lizards¡ªobsidian scales, twin cobra heads sprouting from broad shoulders, lashing tails. Their ragged formations clutched crude spears, armor conspicuously absent.
Chen Hao¡¯s centaurs presented a stark contrast. Frontline shock troops wore full plate, wielding three-meter lances like medieval knights. Rear ranks sported light armor, compound bows slung across their backs, curved swords at their hips¡ªa disciplined hybrid of archers and skirmishers.
Samuel¡¯s followers drew William¡¯s keenest interest. Humanoid but hairless, their cerulean skin peeked through leather jerkins. Each carried a short blade and a bizarre weapon: bulky rifles fed by tanks on their backs. Divine senses revealed pneumatic mechanisms¡ªgas-powered launchers hurling metal slugs with lethal force. Effective range: 150 meters. Fifty shots per tank. Game-changers in a bronze-age battlefield.
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The trio manifested towering avatars at their invasion points, booming divine edicts to their followers. William cringed at the theatrics¡ªstandard academy doctrine for non-fanatical believers. His own legions, bound by zealous faith, required no such pageantry.
Venomwing scouts relayed fresh intel: ¡°Doghead tribe. Forest terrain. Estimated population: low millions. Minimal threat. Push to their divine core. I¡¯ll hold reserves for support.¡±
As 2 million winged zerglings poured from William¡¯s channel, Richard gaped. ¡°Bloody hell! You brought 200,000 fliers alone? Those look mean enough to solo this!¡±
¡°You¡¯re the vanguard today,¡± William replied. ¡°I¡¯ll backstop. After a few joint ops, I¡¯m going solo.¡±
Unfazed, Richard¡¯s avatar roared: ¡°Serpentborn! Advance! Leave no doghead breathing!¡±
The forest erupted in chaos. Richard¡¯s disorganized horde crashed through undergrowth, spears tangling in vines. Doghead ambushers sprang from hidden burrows¡ªscaly humanoids with bestial maws, crude stone axes raised.
¡°Flank left!¡± William¡¯s voice crackled through their divine link as Venomwings highlighted enemy positions. ¡°Chen Hao, cavalry charge at 10 o¡¯clock clearing. Samuel, suppressive fire on the treeline.¡±
Chen Hao¡¯s centaur knights lowered lances, thundering across a mossy glade. Dogheads scattered, impaled on steel. Archers loosed volleys into fleeing stragglers.
Samuel¡¯s gas-gunners took position, metallic pops echoing as slugs shredded foliage. Doghead shamans mid-incantation collapsed, blue blood spraying bark.
¡°Rearguard approaching!¡± William warned. A thousand-strong doghead warband surged from behind, clubs studded with volcanic glass.
Before the trio could react, a black cloud descended¡ªWilliam¡¯s zerglings. Scythe-like forelimbs flashed. Within minutes, only bone fragments remained.
¡°Efficiency,¡± William noted dryly as the others stared. ¡°But you¡¯re improving. Richard¡ªtighten your formations. Samuel, rotate your firing lines. Chen Hao, scouts ahead next time.¡±
As they pressed deeper, the forest thinned into rocky badlands. A massive obsidian ziggurat dominated the horizon¡ªthe enemy demigod¡¯s sanctum.
¡°Final push,¡± William ordered. ¡°I¡¯ll handle aerial defenses.¡±
Doghead wyvern riders swooped from crimson skies, only to meet a maelstrom of Venomwings. Acidic barbs dissolved leathery wings, sending riders screaming to their doom.
Richard¡¯s serpentfolk scaled the ziggurat, clashing with elite guards in bronze armor. Samuel¡¯s marksmen picked off reinforcements while Chen Hao¡¯s centaurs stormed the summit.
At the apex, a cowering doghead demigod raised trembling hands. ¡°Mercy! I yield my realm core!¡±
¡°Denied,¡± William¡¯s voice cut through. A zergling swarm reduced the supplicant to crimson mist. The ziggurat shuddered as divine energies imploded.
As realms disengaged, Richard whooped: ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s done! When¡¯s the next hunt?¡±
William studied the starscape. ¡°Tomorrow. But remember¡ªnext time, no safety net.¡±
The others exchanged uneasy grins. Lex¡¯s voice chimed in their minds: ¡°Return for debrief. And William¡try not to orphan the entire class.¡±
Chapter 47 Teaching
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Chapter 48: Co-operation
Before the captain could respond£¬Samuel''s thunderous voice resonated in the hearts of all believers: "Reinforcements have arrived! Annihilate these kobolds!"
Hearing this divine proclamation£¬the previously anxious team members instantly steadied themselves. "It must be the reinforcements. Let''s move out£¬" said Landry calmly. Staying sheltered in this depression would be cowardly now that help had arrived.
When the blue-skinned bald humanoids cautiously emerged£¬they were stunned by the scene before them. None of the descending monsters they''d expected remained - only a field of kobold corpses littered the ground outside their hideout. Most bodies lay decapitated as if cleaved by giant blades£¬some bisected at the waist with entrails spilling across blood-soaked earth.
Samuel watched William''s swarm pour into the battlefield£¬combing through the chaotic warzone like a rake through grass. Where humans and kobolds had been locked in melee moments before£¬now only his followers remained standing amidst headless torsos and severed limbs.
"This... is your true power£¬William?" Samuel trembled inwardly. The insectoid horde had swept through the battlefield in under a minute£¬demonstrating terrifyingly efficient slaughter capabilities that redefined his understanding of combat superiority.
At Chen Hao''s frontlines£¬the aerial locusts encountered even easier prey. Centaur formations had maintained disciplined ranks against kobold charges£¬preventing chaotic infiltration. Employing perfected woodland tactics£¬the flying swarm descended like a silver hurricane from above centaur lines. Extending razor-sharp dorsal sickles£¬they skimmed low across enemy ranks in precise formation.
Anything projecting above locust flight height met relentless slicing. After 500£¬000 locusts passed£¬the transformed landscape dwarfed Samuel''s battlefield in sheer awe. All trees over three feet stood neatly truncated£¬transforming dense forest into manicured plains. Centaurs standing over six feet tall gaped at vanishing woodlands collapsing toward the horizon.
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"This can''t be!" Chen Hao''s psychic scream echoed through the divine network. "How''s this possible? We''re all first-year students!" The orphaned William£¬without familial support£¬shouldn''t possess such overwhelming power. These 2 million locusts represented merely a quarter of William''s forces - against Chen Hao''s entire 1-million-strong centaur army£¬they''d achieve laughable casualty ratios regardless of terrain.
With William''s intervention£¬the divine war concluded astonishingly fast. When locusts unearthed the enemy''s divine core£¬Richard''s serpentmen had barely advanced a third of their path. William immediately notified all three allies to consolidate forces for harvesting.
As crystalline shards scattered through vibrating air£¬translucent barriers emerged across the collapsing realm. All four gods began absorbing terrain and resources. "Move faster!" William urged. "Domain collapse accelerates - we lose biomass with every second!"
Galvanized£¬the trio abandoned hesitation. Within an hour£¬they''d stripped the dying realm bare. "By the Abyss!" Richard whooped as their divine domains separated. "Nearly 4£¬000 square miles gained! This is insane!"
"All credit to the prodigy here£¬" Samuel nodded at William''s shimmering avatar. "We merely distracted the kobolds£¬" William demurred£¬noting Chen Hao''s darkened expression.
"Enough pretenses£¬" Chen Hao''s bitter interruption silenced celebrations. "Our forces aren''t even same-tier combatants. Continue solo£¬William. Our presence is redundant."
Before William could protest£¬Samuel concurred: "He''s right. We''re not children needing hand-holding. This experience alone was invaluable."
"Go carve your legend£¬oh mighty one!" Richard laughed without malice. "We''ll scream for help if drowning!"
With final warnings exchanged£¬William''s domain disengaged from the trio''s alliance£¬drifting alone into the void''s dark currents. Behind him£¬three intertwined divine sparks receded into cosmic distance£¬their owners already debating next targets - determined to prove themselves worthy of tomorrow''s wars.
Chapter 44 Quotas
Given the combat prowess of these xenomorphic beasts, as long as this kid could mobilize his entire population and exceed 5 million units, he might actually break into the Global Tournament. At this thought, Lex''s expression instantly brightened with excitement.
After returning to his divine domain, William patiently waited for the invasion channel to disconnect. Within less than ten minutes ¨C presumably after Lex had finished recovering the remaining goblins ¨C the battlefield area began fracturing, gradually detaching from the custodian''s massive divine domain. William immediately sensed the severed invasion channel. Watching the colossal fragment of divine domain float in the void before being retrieved and reabsorbed by its owner, he suddenly realized how pitiful these demi-gods with extinct coreÐÅͽ must be. Thankfully, his was still alive. If the perished, he might have to endure similar circumstances ¨C this reinforced his determination to protect theÒϺó at all costs.
Nearby classmates who had been observing immediately turned curious gazes their way when the test concluded.
"Brainiac, how''d your test go? Passed? Were the opponents 50k goblins? When I did mine, I deployed 100k serpent warriors and kept casualty rates under 3%. What about you?" Richard approached William''s shimmering demi-god avatar outside the divine barrier.
"Manageable. The process was smooth. The training slot should be secured," William replied casually.
Murmurs rippled through surrounding students unfamiliar with this twice-seen classmate.
"Pfft, everyone handles 50k goblins easily. What matters is casualty rates. Wonder how manyÐÅͽ he lost?"
"Exactly. Lex hasn''t even announced anything yet. Getting cocky before official results? Hope he enjoys the humble pie later."
"Actually, he might stand a chance. Look at his divine realm''s scale ¨C must have fought numerous battles. HisÐÅͽ must be formidable."
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William ignored the chatter. During combat, his mutated leap-worms had eliminated nearly 30k goblins at equal numbers, sustaining mere dozens of losses ¨C about 0.1% casualties, mostly from frontal assaults against spear phalanxes. If this performance didn''t secure a slot, he''d request retesting with ten million leap-worms to literally the test targets. Though that would only show Lex his goblins fleeing en masse rather than demonstrating individual combat prowess.
Lex''s radiant avatar reappeared outside the divine barrier. All students focused on their instructor awaiting the training roster announcement.
Ahem... All class members have completed testing. I hereby announce the Low-Level Warzone training participants... Lex paused dramatically.
Having endured two decades of such theatrics in the Divine Academy, the class remained impassive. Finding no anticipatory reactions, Lex continued: Samuel, Richard, Chen Hao, William ¨C prepare yourselves. I''ll retrieve educational funds shortly before departure.
With Lex''s disappearance, presumably to the Divine Exchange Continent for resources, unchosen students dispersed, leaving four divine domains floating nearby ¨C William''s future teammates.
Observing adjacent realms, William noted Samuel''s 120,000 km2 domain (the largest), Richard''s modest 70,000 km2, and Chen Hao''s mid-sized 100,000 km2 domain.
"Long time, Brainiac. Didn''t expect you at this training. Thought you''d vanish until finals," Samuel initiated conversation.
"Recent development hurdles brought me back. Figured warzone experience might help," William responded amiably, his demeanor warmer than his predecessor''s aloofness.
"Meet Chen Hao, another top performer. May this training elevate us all," Samuel introduced.
"Pleasure," William offered warmly.
Hmph. Likewise. Chen Hao snorted coldly, eyeing William''s massive domain before retreating into his realm.
"Don''t mind him," Richard interjected. "Acts all superior but constantly gets outshone by Samuel. Your realm''s sheer size just schooled him on true."
"Chen Hao''s prideful but decent," Samuel mediated.
"Brainiac, your realm''s insane! You must''ve launched countless invasions. Tell me ¨C how brutal are domain wars? Heavy losses?" Richard blurted.
William inwardly noted that heavy losses would''ve prevented such expansion, but deflected: You''ll experience invasions soon enough. More surprised you qualified though.
Heh, followed your advice! After enrollment, pushed serpentÐÅͽ reproduction hard. Dad scored me a water-rule card too. Merged it with my domain and...
Chapter 49 - Beast of Thunder
After parting ways with the four-member squad, William finally settled back into his familiar rhythm. He anchored his divine domain in a strategically optimal location and launched 30 exploration beacons into the void. Within ten days, he detected a new demigod and immediately maneuvered his domain toward the target. Upon intercepting it, he initiated an invasion without hesitation.
By now, William had mastered the art of invading divine realms. He first dispatched Venomstrike Dragonflies to scout the environment. If the target domain wasn¡¯t barren, he deployed Zerg units proportionally based on its size. For domains under 100,000 square kilometers, he adopted a straightforward strategy: 500,000 Zerglings per 10,000 square kilometers as the initial wave. This tested the enemy¡¯s defenses, allowing him to gauge their strength and decide whether to escalate the assault or retreat¡ªa streamlined process honed through relentless repetition.
Five years passed in this cycle of ruthless efficiency. During this time, William received no distress signals from his former teammates, likely because their cautious, collective approach required longer recovery periods between invasions. Unlike them, William operated at maximum capacity, exploiting every target he encountered. Few demigods could withstand such relentless aggression.
Most adversaries he faced controlled domains under 200,000 square kilometers. Only once did he encounter a realm nearing 500,000 square kilometers, suggesting Lex had directed him to a region dominated by newly established demigods rather than seasoned entities with domains spanning millions.
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The spoils of these campaigns were immense. William expanded his domain to 4 million square kilometers and amassed a vast genetic library. A breakthrough came after obliterating a 300,000-square-kilometer realm, where he discovered a colossal, hornless triceratops-like beast. Though domesticated as livestock by its previous owner, this creature¡¯s hyper-efficient metabolic system solved a critical bottleneck: scaling Zerg bio-mechanics to support massive units.
Harnessing this genetic goldmine, William engineered the Beast of Thunder¡ªa 10-meter-tall, 15-ton armored juggernaut. Its wedge-shaped cranial armor shielded it during charges, while layered chitinous plating provided full-body protection. Twin pairs of scything bone blades on its shoulders, powered by hypertrophied muscle fibers, could cleave through fortifications. However, these titans came at a cost: each consumed hundreds of times more resources than a Zergling and required 18 months of larval gestation followed by six months of voracious growth to reach combat readiness.
Currently, William¡¯s domain housed only 20,000 mature Beasts of Thunder. Prioritizing their production would allow 500,000 units within years, but their role remained supplementary. Zerglings, numbering 220 million, still formed his primary force, their cost-effectiveness and versatility unmatched.
As William reveled in his ascendant momentum, a terse message from Lex shattered his focus: ¡°William, come immediately. Details upon arrival. Coordinates attached.¡±
Puzzled but obedient, he redirected his domain toward the provided coordinates, the void swallowing his thoughts of conquest.
Chapter 50 Rescue
William''s divine realm materialized near Lex''s coordinates within three hours, its spatial distortions revealing immense scale despite cloaking protocols. Fourteen divine territories formed concentric rings - seven engaged in central combat, seven more locked in tense standoff.
The conflict matrix became clear: A solitary 50-million km2 demigod territory faced six smaller realms (two 20-million km2 cores flanked by four under-200k km2 satellites) representing Lex''s faction. William aligned his hidden realm with the human cluster, triggering immediate attention from seven observing demigods. Golden avatars materialized across the void, their expressions shifting from curiosity to concern as spatial warping betrayed William''s formidable realm size.
Lex''s relief manifested as starburst patterns across his projection. "Finally! Situation breakdown:"
The silver-haired mentor gestured toward the embattled core. "That 70-million km2 territory belongs to Bella - our academy''s rising star. Thomason Bloodmane," he indicated the opposing 50-million km2 realm radiating crimson energy, "brought junior family members for ''training'' when they ambushed Bella''s team."
William''s tactical overlay activated automatically. Combat logs revealed the ambush''s brutal efficiency - four Bloodmane cadets (40-50 million km2 realms) overwhelming Bella before reinforcements arrived. Two human instructors now pinned down Bloodmane''s lieutenants through parallel invasions, their 30-million km2 realms serving as anchor points. Bella''s flaming demon legions held at 33% territory loss against remaining ogre and werewolf forces.
"The stalemate''s fragile," Lex''s energy signature fluctuated with urgency. "Bella''s containment strategy costs 12% legion strength per hour. If her hellforges fall..."
A new projection interjected - Instructor Richard, his avatar crackling with containment fields. "Ogre main force: 200,000 units including 5,000 two-headed variants. Support: vermin swarms doubling as rations. Werewolf contingents..." Battle schematics flooded William''s consciousness. "...require immediate intervention before phase-three degradation."
William''s probability engines whirred. Four mid-sized divine realms presented rare plunder opportunities. "Engagement parameters?"
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Richard materialized a crimson datacard. "High-grade Bloodline Matrix - 72% success rate implanting frost giant heritage. Yours if you stall any ogre commander."
The offer ignited William''s divine spark. Such matrices could elevate his leapworm strains to cryo-predator status... "Deal."
Battlefield Insertion Sequence
William''s realm unfolded like poisoned origami, its true scale momentarily dazzling observers. Spatial anchors latched onto Ogre Commander #3''s territory (47.8-million km2) as invasion channels bloomed blood-red.
Thomason''s roar shook the void. "You dare?!"
Lex''s containment barriers flared. "Watch your junior''s back, Bloodmane. Or should we revisit your nephew''s...accident?" The threat hung crystalline as William''s war-swarm descended.
Bella''s burning frontier came into view. Ogre battalions marched through lakes of magma, their necrotic flesh regenerating faster than hellfire could char. Two-headed variants led phalanxes, club-wielding arms mutated into biomass cannons firing condensed vermin swarms.
William''s leapworms adapted mid-descent. Chitin plates polarized against thermal bleed, digestive tracts reconfigured for biomass harvesting. The first wave hit ogre lines like living shrapnel.
Tactical Breakdown - Ogre Commander #3''s Perspective
Grakkath Bloodmaw blinked sulfur-yellow eyes as his warhorde stalled. The sky had...changed. Where there should be smoke and hellfire, now swirled metallic insects reflecting damnation''s glow.
"Lice!" He backhanded a leapworm...then stared at his dissolving palm. The creature''s acid blood ate through ogre flesh faster than regeneration could compensate. All around, similar scenes unfolded - leapworms deliberately sacrificing themselves to cripple ogre limbs.
Grakkath''s twin heads conferred:
"Swarm tactics!"
"Anti-regen venom!"
He ordered biomass cannons skyward. Compressed rat-swarms became flak bursts, shredding leapworms by thousands...only to watch debris coalesce into larger, angrier forms. Each death accelerated evolution cycles.
William''s Strategic Feed
[Biomass Conversion: 18%]
[Adaptive Mutation: Exoskeletal Acidic Recoil - Complete]
[Enemy Regeneration Neutralization: 91% Effective]
He monitored Bella''s forces regrouping. Her flame demons now carved paths through crippled ogres, buying territory recovery time. Good - this preserved her assets for later...negotiations.
Instructor Richard''s comms pulsed approval. "Matrix transferred. Continue pressure for 37 more minutes to qualify for bonus..."
William smiled. The real prize wasn''t the frost giant matrix, but four mid-tier divine cores ripe for harvesting. Let the others think this was mere assistance - his swarm already burrowed through dimensional layers, preparing to sever Bloodmane cadets from their power sources.
Chapter 51 Reconnaissance
Richard exhaled imperceptibly at William''s acceptance. "The Bloodfire Academy''s honor binds this pact," he declared, golden sigils materializing around his avatar. "Lex can attest - breach this accord, and the Education Ministry will..."
"Relax, kid." Lex materialized a cigar-shaped energy construct between spectral fingers. "Their reputation''s worth twenty of those matrices. Now quit stalling - our girl''s bleeding territory by the second."
William''s divine realm pulsed forward, spatial distortions rippling across the observation plane. His invasion conduit - thicker than Bloodmane''s combined channels - stabbed toward Bella''s embattled domain. Not toward enemy connections, but directly into the human-held territory.
"Madness!" Richard''s projection flickered with alarm. "He''s invading our own!"
Lex''s comms crackled with William''s response before he could react: "Multiplexing invasion vectors through her anchor points. Minimal collateral - I''ll handle disengagement."
The revelation stunned both mentors. Before they could protest, William''s cloaking fields destabilized. A continental mass emerged from folded space - 4 million km2 of churning biological matter that dwarfed surrounding realms. Observing demigods recoiled as gravitational eddies disrupted their projections.
Thoma Bloodmane''s roar shook the dimensional plane: "CHEATERS! You field elder-ranks in novice guise!"
Lex''s retaliatory laugh carried crystalline malice. "Cry harder, scaleback! My student''s five months into godspark ignition. Can''t handle human genius? Recall your whelp''s carcass from the Azure Maelstrom!" The threat hung heavy with unspeakable implications, silencing Thoma''s protests.
Warfront Insertion - Bella''s Perspective
Molten sulfur rain sizzled against Bella''s armor as she directed another phalanx of blade-demons. Her twin krises glowed white-hot, severing an ogre champion''s leg mid-charge. "Hold the gorge! The seventh hellforge mustn''t..."
An alert shrieked through her neural link - new invasion conduit detected. Battlefield schematics showed the breach emerging...behind her crumbling frontlines. Between four enemy channels.
"Richar!" Her psychic scream cracked volcanic bedrock. "What fresh idiocy is this?!"
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The instructor''s response carried forced calm. "Reinforcements. William''s conduit. Trust the process."
"Trust?!" She bisected a two-headed ogre warlock, its acidic blood melting three nearby blade-demons. "He''s given them a fifth beachhead!"
Her tactical display confirmed worst fears - William''s conduit pierced through her domain''s geothermal weak point. Any competent adversary would...
Enemy forces proved her right. Three ogre battalions redirected toward the new breach, trampling their own ratling auxiliaries in the rush. Bella watched in horror as 50,000-pound siege engines rolled toward the undefended insertion zone.
Then the sky turned black.
William''s War Log
[Invasion Conduit Stabilized]
[Scouting Phase Initiated: Venom-Dart Drakes Deployed]
[Enemy Force Redirection Detected - Adjustment Protocol Engaged]
His consciousness split across ten thousand bio-drones infiltrating four enemy realms. While others focused on Bella''s obvious frontlines, William''s scouts mapped logistical networks - magma-forges supplying ogre armaments, werewolf dens housing alpha breeding pairs.
Primary swarm descended through the "undefended" breach. Leapworms hit ground running, literally - their impact craters became instant fortifications. Acidic bile melted approaching ogres into siege-engine lubricant.
Bella''s tactical feed updated in real-time:
[Allied Forces Detected: 4,221,307 Biomass Signatures]
[Designation: "Swarm"]
[Combat Efficiency Rating: 887% Baseline]
Her blade-demons froze mid-swing as the tide turned. Where 50,000 ogres charged, 10 million leapworms answered. Two-headed champions fell to corrosive feint attacks - one head distracted by decoy swarmlings while the other dissolved under focused acid jets.
Command Hub Reactions
Richard''s analytical constructs short-circuited. "Four million... How...?"
Lex puffed his energy cigar smugly. "Told you he''d manage 100k ogres."
"Manage?! He''s farming them!" Richard gestured at tactical displays showing William''s forces deliberately herding enemies into biomass conversion pits. "That''s not reinforcement - it''s industrialized harvesting!"
The elder mentor shrugged. "Semantics. Your student lives, his grows stronger. Everyone wins."
"Except the Bloodmanes."
"Especially the Bloodmanes."
Bella''s Reassessment
Her blade-demons now fought alongside...things. Biomechanical horrors that dismantled ogres with disturbing artistry. One winged construct landed nearby, vocalizers producing William''s voice through clattering mandibles:
"Apologies for the mess. Your geothermal taps make excellent swarm nurseries." The drone gestured with a bladed forelimb toward collapsing enemy lines. "Shall we discuss territory reclamation rates? I propose 70-30 split on recovered lands."
Bella stared at the drone, then at the carnage surrounding them. Her blade-demons had become spectators in their own war. "Who...what exactly are you?"
"Partners." The drone launched skyward, acid trail spelling temporary coordinates. "Bring your best negotiator to these coordinates post-battle. I have proposals regarding your...underutilized hellforges."
As the drone disintegrated mid-flight, Bella realized two truths: Her academy owed William far more than a bloodline matrix, and nothing in the cosmos would ever be the same.
Chapter 52 - Two-Headed Ogres Resistant Skin
Only five minutes had passed, yet William had already surveyed the terrain within a dozen kilometers on the other side of the portal. The central region of the opposing divine realm exhibited severe wind erosion patterns¡ªbarren, vegetation-scarce lands reeking of sulfur, inhabited solely by twisted creatures. Only demonic followers could thrive in such hellish conditions. The periphery, however, consisted of fertile grasslands teeming with ordinary vassals and beasts, perfect for large-scale warfare given demons'' preference for feeding on flesh and souls.
Observing scattered ogres, werewolves, and cannon-fodder troops gathering around his portal, William grinned dangerously. Lex had already advised him: no genocide of core followers, no destruction of the divine core¡ªeverything else was permissible. Tugging the threads of faith, he summoned half a billion leaping Zerglings (split evenly between flying and mutated variants) alongside 20,000 Thunder Beasts toward the portal.
"Five years of grinding to expand my realm to four million square kilometers," William mused, eyeing the four enemy portals disgorging nearly a million troops. "But swallowing their entire territory today? That¡¯s exponential growth." With Thunder Beasts now positioned at his portal¡¯s edge, he gave the order: "Advance."
Instantly, the seething Zerg tide erupted through the portal. Mutated Zerglings intermingled with towering Thunder Beasts surged forth like a living tsunami, while airborne swarms spiraled overhead, blotting out the sun with their sheer numbers. The encroaching shadow froze the hearts of even the dimmest ogre and most bloodthirsty werewolf.
For Varek the hyena-man, the nightmare began twenty years ago when his world fell to these very insects. Transported as war captives to this new realm, his people had dwindled from 150,000 to under 50,000 under ogre predation. Now leading the last 10,000 hyena-warriors through their god¡¯s portal, he froze when a familiar 20cm winged insect zipped past¡ªan acidic memory from his youth.
"We¡¯re doomed," Varek whispered, claws trembling as his short sword clattered to the ground. The young warrior beside him barely had time to question before the sky darkened.
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The Zerg tide obliterated the makeshift siege perimeter instantly. Four-meter ogres vanished beneath chitinous waves, though a few two-headed variants glowed faintly with defensive magic, briefly resisting¡ªuntil 15-ton Thunder Beasts trampled them into pulp. Even these elite ogres only lasted seconds; their resilient hides withstood individual Zergling claws but crumpled under Thunder Beast scythe-limbs that left bone-deep gashes before the swarm finished them.
William observed clinically: common species stood no chance against Thunder Beasts, yet even mid-tier (transcendent beings) like two-headed ogres required specialized units to breach. Textbook examples of supreme defenders¡ªdragons, archdemons, angels¡ªwould¡¯ve withstood far longer. But today, quantity overwhelmed quality.
The hyena-men broke first. Varek didn¡¯t even bother fleeing as the shadow engulfed his troop. "This is how gods die," he thought numbly, watching a Thunder Beast casually bisect a fleeing ogre chieftain. Around him, his kin disintegrated¡ªlimbs severed, torsos impaled, skulls cracked open for the Zerglings¡¯ grisly feast. A flying Zerg speared the questioning young warrior through the chest mid-scream, acidic blood dissolving his corpse before impact.
Yet Varek remained untouched, the swarm parting around him like water. He realized with hysterical clarity¡ªthey remembered. Twenty years ago, he¡¯d surrendered immediately when his god fell. Now, the insects recognized a broken foe. Collapsing amidst the carnage, he laughed shrilly as Thunder Beasts thundered past toward the enemy¡¯s core, their earth-shaking strides heralding a god¡¯s demise.
Meanwhile, William monitored the four-front assault. His Zerglings intentionally avoided extermination patterns, herding surviving ogres toward defensive clusters for Thunder Beasts to cripple. The plan was surgical: shatter military cohesion, seize territory, leave just enough followers for the enemy god to technically survive¡ªall while expanding his domain through annexed land.
A flicker on the western front caught his attention¡ªa contingent of lava hounds erupting from a secondary portal. "Thermal units," he noted, rerouting frost-adapted Zerglings. The dance continued; for every counter, the swarm adapted. This was no battle¡ªit was a harvest.
As his territory markers bloomed across the stolen landscape, William smiled. Tonight, his realm would double. Tomorrow? Perhaps a new record. Let the teachers monitor¡ªhe¡¯d show them what true efficiency looked like.
Chapter 53 War reparations
Faced with this reality, William felt a deep sense of dread toward the top-tier transcendent species he had never encountered before.
Looking down at the ongoing battle among the swarming insects, he temporarily suppressed his thoughts and refocused on the invasion.
As the flying jumpers in the sky began their dive, the war had already entered the phase where the flying jumpers would reap their harvest.
William knew that the fleeing creatures on the battlefield below had almost no chance of survival against the flying jumpers, which could reach speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour.
The teleportation portal continued to spew out swarms of units. Sensing the battlefield, William estimated that the number of deployed swarms was sufficient.
With a slight tug on the faith-linked threads, 40 million jumpers immediately split into four waves, surging toward the surrounding teleportation portals.
Their mission was to infiltrate the enemy¡¯s divine domain and push toward its center.
The remaining 60 million jumpers and 20,000 Beasts of Thunder continued sweeping through the frontlines, where the battle was still ongoing.
As the owner of this divine domain, Bella could perceive everything happening within it. The moment the swarm emerged from William¡¯s teleportation portal, her attention was immediately drawn to it.
She had been filled with anger, but now, she was more curious to see how this reinforcer would handle the million-strong army surrounding his portal.
In just three minutes, the battlefield had already turned into a massacre of the foreign species by the swarm. Like a natural disaster, the insect tide filled the ground and sky.
Seeing such a scene, Bella''s anger was completely replaced by shock. She stared at William¡¯s portal, where the swarm continued to pour out endlessly.
"Is he a monster? How could he be this strong?"
As a potential top student from the prestigious academy of the Second New Zone, she had always been proud of her abilities. Yet, in the face of the overwhelming swarm, that pride was utterly shattered.
Estimating the speed of the swarm¡¯s advance, she realized that at this rate, it would only take a short time for them to reach the frontlines.
At that moment, the ogre army that had been assaulting the defensive line suddenly began retreating. Four enormous demi-god projections materialized within her divine domain.
"Tell your ally to stop. Let¡¯s each withdraw our followers and end this meaningless battle," the leading demi-god spoke.
Hearing their words, Bella instantly understood their intent. They had witnessed the swarm¡¯s terror and knew they couldn¡¯t win¡ªthey just wanted to retreat.
"Heh, if you want to run, go negotiate with him yourselves. I¡¯m not stopping you," Bella sneered, immediately shifting the burden back onto them.
Hearing her response, the four demi-gods didn¡¯t hesitate. They disappeared in an instant, reappearing at the entrance of the invasion portal.
"Cease your attack. Withdraw your followers, and we will do the same to end this meaningless conflict," the leading demi-god''s voice echoed across the battlefield.
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William heard them loud and clear. He knew exactly what they were thinking.
After the battle at the portal, even an idiot could see they weren¡¯t a match for the swarm.
If his forces had only consisted of mutated jumpers¡ªsmall, purely ground-based combat units¡ªthe demi-gods might have had a chance.
With the dual-headed ogres'' formidable defenses and towering physiques, they could have formed a tight formation to block the swarm.
At least, they would have had a sliver of hope¡ªchoosing favorable terrain, keeping the swarm at bay, and holding out for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, among the three types of swarm units William had deployed, both the flying jumpers and Beasts of Thunder could easily break through and disrupt enemy formations.
Every battle would inevitably descend into a chaotic melee¡ªan outcome that always favored the swarm. There was simply no counter.
With a sneer on his face, William expended divine power to project his own demi-god avatar.
"Now you want to run? Not happening. Sit tight and wait for me to wipe out your army and dig out your divine domain cores!"
His expression was mocking, his words cutting off any possibility of a safe retreat for the enemy.
"Don''t push your luck! We still have over two million cannon fodder troops, two hundred thousand ogre warriors, and five thousand dual-headed ogres. You will pay a price for defeating them!" the leading demi-god barked, his voice carrying an underlying desperation.
William''s demi-god avatar shrugged nonchalantly.
"Doesn¡¯t matter. That¡¯s a price I can afford. Your followers are doomed."
The leading demi-god¡¯s face darkened. Seeing William¡¯s uncompromising stance, he immediately contacted Thoma, explaining the situation in the divine domain.
The battlefield had already exceeded their capabilities.
"Useless trash. Damn it!"
Thoma quickly assessed the reports from his most promising young subordinates.
If their main forces were truly forced into a direct battle with the swarm, the losses would be catastrophic and irreversible.
After a few seconds of contemplation, his expression hardened.
Without hesitation, he sent a divine transmission to Lex and Richar.
"We surrender. Tell your students to stop immediately. I will pay compensation."
"Hah! Weren¡¯t you acting all arrogant just now? And now you¡¯re surrendering?"
Lex was stunned by Thoma¡¯s sudden offer.
William had only been on the battlefield for about ten minutes, yet the enemy was already admitting defeat?
Still, he maintained a calm exterior.
"Name your price. If it¡¯s satisfactory, I¡¯ll tell my student to stop."
"One Soul Crystal. Have him stop immediately."
Thoma didn¡¯t waste words and directly stated his offer.
Hearing this, Lex knew that Thoma must be truly desperate.
A Soul Crystal was worth nearly two million divine power points¡ªequivalent to the combined value of all four besieged divine domains.
It was an extremely rare and valuable resource.
Lex immediately messaged William:
"Kid, stop for a moment. Come out."
"Why should I stop? I was just about to take down all four divine domains. I would have left them some core followers and a ten-thousand-square-kilometer divine territory¡ªfair enough, right?"
William was confused by the request and asked in return.
"The other side is willing to compensate with a Soul Crystal to end the conflict," Lex explained.
Hearing the words "Soul Crystal," William immediately pulled back the swarm¡¯s offensive through his faith-linked threads.
His demi-god avatar instantly emerged from the divine domain¡¯s barrier.
Eyes gleaming with excitement, he turned to Lex and said,
"Where is it? Hand it over, and I¡¯ll let them retreat immediately."
A Soul Crystal was an incredibly rare resource in the divine world¡ªof immense value to William.
It could enhance the potential of followers without any side effects.
For elite units attempting to break through to hero rank, it was a major boost.
Even lower-tier units could use it, though few would waste such a precious resource on them.
But for William, a transcendent resource without side effects was essentially reserved for his Queen.
No matter what changes it brought to her, he would profit immensely.
Lex turned to Richar, silently asking for his opinion.
"Seal the deal. The Soul Crystal belongs to William. My student won¡¯t object."
Richar had already learned about William from Bella.
This student was a monster.
With Richar¡¯s approval, Lex immediately contacted Thoma.
Thoma didn¡¯t hesitate. A sealed card containing the Soul Crystal, wrapped in divine power, swiftly flew over.
As soon as William got his hands on the Soul Crystal, he began recalling his swarm and returned to his divine domain.
Chapter 54 Shortcomings
It took more than two hours in total for the eight entangled Divine Domains to slowly separate.
During this process, William¡¯s two teachers, along with the demigod Thoma from Longwa, kept a close watch on the opposing party. The tension only eased once both sides had completely distanced themselves and disappeared from each other¡¯s sight.
Confirming that they were now safe, William immediately turned his gaze toward his homeroom teacher, frantically signaling with his eyes. His intention was clear¡ªurging him to help claim the promised reward, an Advanced Bloodline Card.
Lex, noticing William¡¯s eager expression and the anticipation on his face, twitched the corner of his mouth and thought, "So this kid is a money-grubber after all. What¡¯s the rush? They already guaranteed it in the school¡¯s name¡ªthere¡¯s no way the Bloodline Card would go missing."
Clearing his throat, Lex coughed and then reminded Richar with slight embarrassment, "Richar, now that your students are out of danger, isn¡¯t it time to settle the reward you promised?"
Hearing Lex¡¯s reminder, Richar immediately recalled the Advanced Bloodline Card he had promised William.
With a smile, Richar reached into his demigod¡¯s spiritual form and pulled out a card, handing it to William. "William, thank you for your help this time. Here¡¯s the Advanced Bloodline Card I promised you."
William took the Bloodline Card without examining it, swiftly storing it in his body. His face was filled with an uncontrollable smile as he politely said, "No need to thank me, no need to thank me. Helping each other out is the right thing to do."
Lex, seeing that William had secured his reward, cut off his formal pleasantries, "Alright, kid, no need to be so polite. You¡¯ve earned this Bloodline Card fair and square. If it weren¡¯t for you, there¡¯s no telling how things would¡¯ve turned out."
Turning to Richar, Lex continued, "Richar, I¡¯m taking my students back now. The annual school assessment is in half a month, so they need time to absorb their gains."
"I¡¯ll be staying for a while longer. Lex, until we meet again," Richar cupped his hands in farewell.
"See you," Lex responded with a wave before leading his four students back the way they came.
On the way back, Lex called William out of his Divine Domain and asked seriously, "Kid, tell me honestly¡ªwhat¡¯s your current strength? How many Mutant Beasts do you actually have?"
"A little over two hundred million," William replied truthfully, without any attempt to hide the information.
"Huh? How much did you say?" Lex thought he had misheard. When Richar previously mentioned that William¡¯s followers numbered close to one hundred million, it had already shocked him once. He had assumed that was the full extent of William¡¯s power. But now he realized that was only half of it.
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"Two hundred million¡ªspecifically, about 220 million," William repeated, giving an exact figure.
The three other students traveling with them were stunned upon hearing this number, their minds overwhelmed by shock.
Forget armies¡ªif they combined all their followers, their total number wouldn¡¯t even reach thirty million. The difference was simply astronomical.
"Didn¡¯t expect that, did you? This kid¡¯s a monster," Lex said, clearly delighted. "With numbers like that, you¡¯re guaranteed to make it to the Global League. Once we get back, focus on absorbing the gains from this experience."
"Have you found a way to promote your followers to the Transcendent level?" Lex immediately asked. If William¡¯s followers could achieve transcendence, his strength would increase exponentially.
"I haven¡¯t figured that out yet. My followers are quite unique¡ªthey can¡¯t advance through traditional cultivation methods. Their path seems closer to evolution or metamorphosis," William explained. "And it¡¯s different from ordinary evolution; their advancements aren¡¯t heritable."
Lex frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before nodding in understanding. "Oh, so that¡¯s why you¡¯re so interested in Soul Crystals and Bloodline Cards. Well, nothing in the world is perfect. Since your species has such a massive reproductive advantage, it makes sense that they¡¯d have drawbacks in other areas. Your creatures don¡¯t have any known templates to follow, so you¡¯ll just have to figure things out as you go."
In the world of gods, while not absolute, most followers adhered to certain natural laws:
Species with easy reproduction typically lacked in strength or had severe deficiencies¡ªlike goblins and kobolds.
Meanwhile, powerful followers like dragons and angels were notoriously difficult to reproduce and took ages to mature.
Lex speculated that William¡¯s followers belonged to the category of species that could multiply rapidly but struggled to transcend their original biological limits.
If William couldn¡¯t find a way to elevate his followers to the Transcendent level, he might dominate in the early stages, but eventually, he would be overtaken by demigod-level followers who had discovered their path to transcendence.
Still, given their ability to reproduce so easily, William could always outlast his competition by sheer numbers, accumulating enough Divinity to ignite a Godfire and elevate his followers in a single leap.
"There are still fifteen years left in the Divine World before the Citywide High School League. Who knows? Your followers might just find their breakthrough on their own," Lex consoled.
The other three students, who had been listening silently, took the chance to chime in.
Richard spoke up first, "That¡¯s right, genius. My followers unexpectedly discovered their own path to transcendence. Maybe yours will too!"
"Richard¡¯s got a point," another student added. "This kind of thing is all about luck. Some species just evolve on their own. And even if they don¡¯t, with your breeding advantage, you can just stockpile a hundred thousand Divinity points and ignite a Godfire yourself."
"Thanks for the support, but I know my own situation best," William replied with a bitter smile, disappointed that he hadn¡¯t heard anything useful.
"Alright, alright, who knows what the future holds? Right now, this kid is already stronger than the three of you combined. With his strength, he¡¯s practically guaranteed a spot in the Global League. He doesn¡¯t need your pity," Lex interjected impatiently.
He couldn¡¯t help but scoff internally, "Do these rookies really think William needs their encouragement? This kid just received a Soul Crystal and an Advanced Bloodline Card worth 2.3 million Divine Power points. The total value of all three of their Divine Domains combined doesn¡¯t even come close to that."
Chapter 55 - Absorbing Spiritual Spirit Crystals
On the journey away from the barren resource well, everything remained calm, with no unexpected incidents.
Lex led the four students through another teleportation process, returning them safely to the school''s base in the safe zone.
"Once you lift your concealment, before the assessment, make sure to fully absorb the gains from this experience," Lex advised the four before retreating into his divine domain.
As he stabilized his divine domain, William observed the surrounding domains of his classmates. Despite several years having passed, they remained almost unchanged. He couldn''t help but sigh inwardly, "Indeed, only by seizing resources from others can one develop rapidly."
The surrounding students, seeing William and the others return after years of absence, immediately gathered around to observe their changes.
"In just a few years, how did William¡¯s divine domain grow so large? It must be close to four million square kilometers now!"
"How else? He must have invaded other divine domains and taken their resources! Didn¡¯t you see that Samuel¡¯s divine domain has also nearly doubled in size?"
"But William¡¯s domain has expanded threefold compared to before. Just how many divine domains did he plunder?"
Amidst the astonished murmurs of his peers, William paid no attention. After exchanging greetings with Samuel and the others, he eagerly returned to his divine domain.
During the return trip, while organizing his gains, William had come across a particular extraordinary species¡¯ genetic sample that piqued his interest.
This was a low-level demonic creature known as the Splitting Eyeworm, which had been accidentally brought back by the jump bugs from Bella¡¯s divine domain.
The Splitting Eyeworm was a species within Bella¡¯s divine domain ecosystem. It had ten eyes, each of which could grow legs independently and detach from its body, allowing for separate reconnaissance.
However, the detached eyes had no consciousness of their own and were completely controlled by the main body.
It functioned much like a separated yet fully controlled independent organ, similar to an ant queen¡¯s divided ovary, but superior in that it had no nutrient tubes connecting it to the main body, making it a true separation.
Most importantly, its genetic chain was remarkably simple.
Unlike other extraordinary creatures, whose supernatural genes were clustered like tumors throughout their genetic chains, the Splitting Eyeworm had only two distinct supernatural gene tumors, located at either end of its genetic sequence.
This was the least number of supernatural gene tumors William had ever observed in an extraordinary species, giving him a glimmer of hope for breakthroughs in extraordinary genetics.
Upon returning to his divine domain, William immediately focused on this new discovery.
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More than ten days quickly passed. Looking at his results, William¡¯s face was filled with frustration.
He had fully decoded the ordinary genes within the Splitting Eyeworm¡¯s genetic chain, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not make any progress on the two supernatural gene tumors at the ends.
Setting his work aside for the moment, William sighed deeply and pulled out his most valuable acquisitions from this expedition¡ªa Soul Crystal and a Bloodline Card.
For now, he set aside the high-level Bloodline Card, as he had yet to decide how to use it. With only a 70% success rate, he couldn¡¯t risk using it on the Ant Queen.
He then turned his attention to the Soul Crystal, sealed within a special card, deep in thought.
As a rare resource that could enhance any individual¡¯s potential without side effects, William intended to use the Soul Crystal on the Ant Queen. However, he was uncertain what the final outcome would be.
Using it on any other insectoid vassals would be a complete waste, which was why, despite acquiring the Soul Crystal over a month ago, he had yet to use it.
During this time, he had studied a vast amount of materials and had gained a solid understanding of the Soul Crystal¡¯s effects.
From all known cases, no recorded user had experienced any negative side effects. The only variation was that the level of enhancement depended on the potential of the species receiving it.
"Enough hesitation. If this resource is universally effective across all species, there¡¯s no reason for me to be an exception. I have to use it."
Making up his mind, William turned to the Ant Queen and transmitted his thoughts:
"I recently obtained something valuable that can enhance your potential. Be prepared¡ªI will use it on you. If you feel any discomfort, you must let me know immediately."
"Master, I am ready. If anything feels wrong, I will inform you at once," the Ant Queen promptly responded.
Hearing her reply, William channeled divine energy into the sealed card. The moment it activated, the seal vanished, revealing a radiant Soul Crystal in his hand.
Without hesitation, William infused the crystal with divine power, causing it to glow with golden light.
Gradually, it dissolved into golden particles, which he carefully guided into the Ant Queen¡¯s body.
Throughout the process, William monitored her closely using divine perception.
In just a few minutes, the Soul Crystal was fully absorbed, vanishing completely into the Ant Queen¡¯s body.
She soon fell into a deep sleep, her breathing steady. However, her cells became unusually active, as if soaking up nourishment after a long drought, frantically absorbing the energy of the Soul Crystal.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye before the crystal¡¯s effects finally dissipated.
During this time, William remained by the Ant Queen¡¯s side, watching her condition carefully.
Fortunately, the Soul Crystal had lived up to its reputation. William could clearly sense that her life force had significantly increased, with no negative effects.
As the Ant Queen¡¯s antennae began to move, it signaled that she had fully absorbed the crystal¡¯s power.
William immediately pulled up the system interface to check her updated attributes.
Vassal Name: Ant Queen.
Vassal Level: Extraordinary.
Vassal Talents: Gene Fusion, Gene Adjustment.
Faith Level: Fanatic.
[...]
Everything else remained the same, except for the new vassal talent: Gene Adjustment.
William was stunned. His divine trait was also Gene Adjustment, yet now the Ant Queen had developed the same ability as a vassal talent.
"What exactly does this new talent do? How useful is it? I need to conduct tests to find out."
Just as he was contemplating this, the Ant Queen woke up.
William immediately asked, "How do you feel? Do you notice anything unusual?"
"Master, I feel great! It seems... I can now control the genes stored within my body!" the Ant Queen responded excitedly, describing her newfound ability.
Chapter 56: Parsing New Genes
As soon as William heard the Queen Ant¡¯s words, he hurriedly activated divine possession and sent his divine sense into her body.
Through his divine sense, he instantly noticed something different about the Queen Ant.
Normally, when the Queen Ant perceived the genes within her body, she could only see a single continuous genetic chain. But now, as she consumed faith power, she could see the internal structure of the genes just like William.
At that moment, William was observing the genes he had been working hard to analyze¡ªthe genes of the Splitting Eye Worm.
The two extraordinary genetic tumors that had remained impenetrable to him were gradually becoming clearer under the Queen Ant¡¯s genetic adjustment talent.
This discovery made William immediately increase his consumption of faith power. As he had suspected, the Queen Ant¡¯s genetic adjustment talent could indeed analyze and modify extraordinary genes.
Suppressing his overwhelming excitement, William tested other extraordinary genes, only to find the results were the same¡ªevery single extraordinary gene could be analyzed by the Queen Ant.
¡°Hahaha¡¡± Uncontrollable laughter burst out from William¡¯s mouth. The problem that had troubled him for so long had finally been overcome today.
After laughing, William possessed the Queen Ant¡¯s body once again and used this newfound genetic adjustment talent to analyze extraordinary genes with full force.
Ten days flew by in a frenzy of work. William¡¯s consciousness detached from the Queen Ant¡¯s body and returned to the sky above his divine realm.
His eyes were slightly closed as he rubbed the deep frown on his forehead, his face looking grim.
Through these past few days of analysis, William had confirmed that the Queen Ant¡¯s genetic adjustment talent could indeed work on extraordinary genes.
But the results were far from what he had hoped for.
Looking helplessly at his ten days of effort, he realized that the analysis progress for just one of the Splitting Eye Worm¡¯s extraordinary genes was less than one percent.
This was the outcome of ten days of relentless work without rest. At this rate, fully analyzing a single extraordinary gene would take at least five years.
Even the simplest Splitting Eye Worm, which only had two extraordinary genes, would take him a decade to fully analyze.
Not to mention other extraordinary creatures¡ªespecially those powerful species with long chains of genetic tumors. The time required for those would start at a century. It felt like an endless life of overtime.
¡°No matter what, at least we¡¯re no longer completely helpless against extraordinary genes. This is a good start, and the future will surely be brighter.¡± After calming himself down, William started self-encouragement.
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¡°It¡¯s just extraordinary genes, just overtime¡ªwhat¡¯s there to be afraid of? I, William, have never backed down from a challenge.¡±
After hyping himself up, he recalled how, in the past, he had driven others to work relentlessly, leaving them with pained expressions. Perhaps this was karma catching up to him.
Regardless, William had no choice but to silently possess the Queen Ant once more and continue his never-ending overtime.
Five years later
Today was the school¡¯s assessment day.
Lex looked around at all the students in the class, noting that everyone had arrived¡ªexcept for William. Turning to Richard, he asked, ¡°Richard, have you seen William?¡±
¡°Haven¡¯t seen him. His divine realm has been stationary ever since we returned five years ago. He went inside and never came out.¡± Richard immediately responded.
¡°Huh¡ He never came out? What¡¯s going on with him?¡± Lex, who had spent the last ten days in the real world, was unaware of what had been happening in the divine realm.
¡°No idea.¡±
Seeing everyone around him shake their heads in confusion, Lex, full of doubt, took out a communication card and sent William a message, instructing him to come out for the assessment.
Inside his divine realm, William was deeply engrossed in analyzing extraordinary genes when he suddenly received the message from his class instructor, calling him to gather for the school¡¯s assessment.
¡°Has it already been five years?¡±
William immediately put down his work. His semi-divine spirit instantly appeared outside the divine realm.
The moment William¡¯s semi-divine spirit emerged, everyone present was startled.
His expression was dull, his eyes lifeless, and his spiritual body was faintly translucent¡ªhe looked completely drained of energy.
¡°Kid, what the hell have you been up to? You look like you¡¯ve been completely drained.¡± Lex was visibly shocked.
Hearing Lex¡¯s question, William snapped back to reality, shook his head vigorously, and quickly replied, ¡°Nothing much, just dealing with some matters in my divine realm.¡±
¡°Kid, as someone with experience, you need to listen to my advice. I know you¡¯re still young and full of energy, but you have to learn moderation.¡± Lex put on a serious tone, though his face bore a playful smirk.
One look at Lex¡¯s expression, and William immediately knew that this unserious instructor had misunderstood him.
But he didn¡¯t bother explaining. Instead, he simply smiled faintly and looked at Lex, waiting for him to continue.
However, seeing William¡¯s calm demeanor, Lex suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
William didn¡¯t react with embarrassment like a typical young man¡ªhe just stood there smiling.
This, in turn, made Lex feel awkward. He instantly lost interest in teasing William any further.
¡°Ahem¡ Alright, since everyone is here, I will now announce the rules of the assessment.¡± Clearing his throat, Lex scanned the students before continuing,
¡°In a moment, a senior field officer will arrive to conduct the assessment. After invading his divine realm, each of you can send in a maximum of ten thousand followers.¡±
¡°The field officer will have his followers attack you. Surviving the first wave of attacks counts as passing. The more waves you endure, the more resources you¡¯ll receive each month. You can surrender at any time.¡±
¡°Any questions?¡± Lex asked as he looked at his students.
¡°Lex, why is the assessment structured this way? This test doesn¡¯t allow me to fully utilize my followers¡¯ advantages.¡± William immediately raised a question upon hearing the rules.
Lex, knowing what William was thinking, promptly explained,
¡°This assessment isn¡¯t about measuring your current strength but about evaluating the long-term potential of your followers. So, the focus is mainly on the quality of your followers.¡±
¡°Of course, if you want to represent the school in the citywide intercollegiate tournament, then raw strength is the most important factor. The school will take a comprehensive look at your performance, not just this assessment¡¯s results.¡±
¡°The selection of tournament representatives will be decided by the class instructors. Each class will nominate one or more candidates, and the school administration will make the final decision.¡±
After finishing his explanation, Lex looked at William, signaling that he could ask more questions if he had any.
Chapter 57 - Completing the Examination
When he saw William shake his head slightly, indicating that he had no more questions, Lex finally turned his attention to the other students.
"Lex, what is the standard for the candidates you are selecting?" Chen Hao quickly asked after seeing that William had stopped speaking.
"My standard? Of course, it''s strength. I will nominate whoever is the strongest. If someone lacks strength, there¡¯s no point in selecting them."
"Besides, without enough strength, entering the citywide high school league will just result in an early elimination, which would be a disgrace to our academy. After all, Zhonghai No. 2 High School is one of the top three high schools in the city."
"When it comes to the selection of participants, the school administration will be even more cautious than you can imagine, so there''s no need to worry too much about fairness."
After Lex finished speaking and saw that no one else had any further questions, he clapped his hands to get everyone¡¯s attention before continuing, "Alright, go back and prepare yourselves. Choose your dependents wisely and get ready for the assessment. William, stay behind. I have something to discuss with you privately."
As the others returned to their divine domains, William looked at Lex with a puzzled expression and asked, "Lex, what¡¯s the matter?"
"Nothing much, just wanted to let you know to relax during the assessment. I''ll be nominating you for the citywide high school league. With your strength, getting a spot is no problem. Also, I wanted to ask¡ªhow many dependents do you have now?"
Since there were no other students around, Lex spoke to William in a hushed tone.
"About 3.5 billion." William didn¡¯t hold back and answered directly.
For the past few years, William had primarily been producing Zerglings, while maintaining the Beast of Thunder population at 100,000 without further expansion.
These creatures consumed too many resources, yet their faith output was the same as the Zerglings''. Until he could solve their resource consumption problem, William had no plans to mass-produce the Beast of Thunder.
Hearing the number William revealed, Lex was nearly shocked speechless. It was just 2.2 billion before, and in just five years, the number had surged by 1.3 billion.
Even when Goblins were counted in billions, their combat effectiveness was still quite considerable. Let alone William''s Zerglings, which ranked among the strongest of ordinary dependents.
From past observations, Lex also noticed that William''s dependents had virtually no morale issues. The thought of 3.5 billion fearless, battle-hardened Zerglings was simply terrifying.
His own professional combat dependents didn¡¯t even number 200 million. At such a scale, unless one had massive area-of-effect destruction abilities, anyone facing William would have a serious headache.
"Uh... Well, just do your best. Don''t worry too much about the assessment results. The real reward comes from securing a spot in the competition¡ªthe school¡¯s resources are the real prize."
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Lex reminded William and stopped speaking, though internally, he was overjoyed. With William¡¯s strength, their class was guaranteed at least one spot in the competition.
At that moment, a divine domain covering more than 3 million square kilometers slowly drifted over. This was the venue for the assessment.
Though the field administrators had lost their core dependents, it didn¡¯t mean they were powerless. They could still cultivate other ordinary dependents¡ªjust without the possibility of igniting their divine flames.
The semi-divine entity of the field administrator appeared outside the divine domain¡¯s barrier, and his voice echoed across the High School Senior Class One encampment.
"The rules of the assessment have already been explained by your teacher, so I won¡¯t repeat them. Now, all students must immediately establish an invasion channel. The assessment begins now!"
Upon hearing the announcement, everyone quickly connected to the massive divine domain.
Once his teleportation channel stabilized, William immediately dispatched 5,000 Beasts of Thunder along with 5,000 Zerglings¡ªhalf mutated and half flying¡ªinto the field administrator''s divine domain.
Under William¡¯s command, the 10,000-strong Zerg force formed a tight formation within just thirty seconds.
The 5,000 Beasts of Thunder stood at the front, 2,500 mutated Zerglings spread out on the flanks, while the remaining 2,500 flying Zerglings hovered above.
Within three minutes, a force of 10,000 Goblins appeared in front of the swarm''s formation.
The moment these Goblins saw William¡¯s Zerg units, they began to panic.
The towering 10-meter-high Beasts of Thunder, with their ferocious appearance and massive scythe-like arms, easily terrified the small green creatures.
As soon as the Zerg swarm charged, the Goblins scattered in fear, fleeing before the battle even began.
Seeing this, William halted the Beasts of Thunder''s charge and refrained from pursuing the fleeing Goblins.
The same scenario repeated with the second and third waves, both consisting of Orc armies.
The overwhelming presence of the 5,000 charging Beasts of Thunder was simply too much for ordinary creatures to endure.
It wasn¡¯t until the fourth wave that William finally became serious¡ªthough at the same time, he couldn''t help but reveal a helpless expression.
The fourth wave consisted of 10,000 eagle-kin beastmen.
As they soared through the skies, approaching rapidly, William''s mere 2,500 flying Zerglings immediately engaged them.
The relatively fragile flying Zerglings pushed their speed to the limit in a suicidal charge, managing to take down nearly 2,000 eagle-kin beastmen before being completely wiped out.
With only ground-based units left, William''s swarm could do nothing but watch the eagle-kin hover overhead.
They endured two waves of tungsten short spears raining down from above.
Although the mutated Zerglings hid beneath the Beasts of Thunder, avoiding the barrage, and the Beasts of Thunder¡¯s sturdy shells protected them from harm, the inability to strike back was a critical weakness.
Simply enduring the attacks was not a viable strategy, forcing William to make the reluctant decision to surrender.
He recalled all his dependents and exited the assessment.
By the time all his classmates had completed their assessments and the field administrator had severed all invasion channels, William realized that no one in the class had survived beyond the fourth wave.
Most had surrendered by the third wave, and only a few had even seen the eagle-kin beastmen.
Once everyone had finished, Lex gathered the students and announced,
"The assessment is over. Your results will be sent to you later. I hope you¡¯ve identified the weaknesses of your dependents through this battle."
"As for the citywide high school league, I have decided to nominate William and Richard. The rest of you should focus on improving and preparing¡ªsoon, we¡¯ll be organizing an expedition for further training. Dismissed."
With that, Lex vanished, likely exiting the Divine Realm.
Confirming the assessment had ended, William immediately returned to his divine domain, resuming his research on transcendent genes.
Recently, he had completed the analysis of one transcendent gene from the Splitting Eye Bug.
If he could finish deciphering the other, William would obtain his first transcendent gene template.
Thinking about this filled him with boundless motivation.
Chapter 58 - Obtaining a place
After finishing the assessment, Lex quickly exited the Realm of Gods and headed toward the school conference room, following the fixed procedure after every year''s assessment.
All the homeroom teachers of the senior classes needed to attend this meeting, where each class would report the students they had nominated. The school''s senior leadership would then determine the three finalists for the competition. These three students would receive significant resources and support from the school.
When Lex arrived at the conference room, he saw that everyone had already gathered, so he quickly found his seat and sat down, waiting for the meeting to start.
"Since everyone is here, let''s begin. Please report your nominated students," the Director of Education said without waiting for the exact start time, as everyone in the meeting was used to saving time, given the time difference between the Realm of Gods and the real world.
Lex leaned back in his chair, exuding a confident air, waiting for the other homeroom teachers to go first.
The entire process was efficient, as the teachers were accustomed to brief exchanges. After all, the time flow between the Realm of Gods and the real world was a hundred times different, and everyone habitually saved time in the real world.
When the homeroom teacher of Class 2, Daniel, began to report his nominated student, Lex finally paid a little attention.
Daniel stood up with confidence, a smile full of self-assurance on his face as he said, "I nominate Elizabeth. Her core follower is a half-elf, and she now has more than 400,000 core followers, with 40,000 half-elves having advanced to the transcendent level. She masters the wind-based offensive magic, Wind Blade, along with several auxiliary spells. Her combat power is extremely strong."
After Daniel finished, he looked at Lex with a provocative expression. The two had always been rivals, and Daniel was finally feeling a bit triumphant this year after being overshadowed by Lex for several consecutive years.
Upon hearing Daniel''s nomination, the Director of Education, who was seated at the top, immediately took notes on a piece of paper, seemingly impressed by Elizabeth.
After all the homeroom teachers reported their students, Lex slowly stood up, a smile still on his face. "This time, I¡¯m nominating two students. The first is Richard, whose follower is a Black-scaled Serpent-man, with over ten million core followers. Five thousand of them have reached the transcendent level. He can release Corrosive Toxic Mist, which can be used in conjunction with other spells."
"The mist can cover an area with a radius of 50 kilometers. It¡¯s highly versatile, and if enemies can''t resist the corrosive mist, they will rapidly lose combat ability. Even if they can resist, Richard still has the advantage of fighting on his home turf."
"The other student is named William, whose follower is a mutated beast. He has specialized air combat units, land units, and giant units, and they can survive for extended periods in water. They are extremely ferocious and fight without fear."
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At this point, Lex raised his hand, and with a gesture from his divine energy ring, he projected a 3D model of the Jump Bug and Beast of Thunder, showing their size, weight, speed, and other basic information.
"All of his followers are at the ordinary level and have not yet crossed into the transcendent realm, but their combat capabilities are enough to contend with most transcendent species..."
Just as Lex was about to continue, Daniel interrupted him.
"Lex, you should be well aware of the gap between ordinary creatures and transcendent creatures. Even though these mutated beasts are top-tier among ordinary creatures, they are still too weak to fight against transcendent creatures," Daniel said with a dismissive expression. In his view, without transcendent followers, there was no way to compete for the city-wide university league spots.
"Daniel, you''re interrupting my report. If you keep talking, I¡¯ll throw you out of here," Lex said as his divine power began to surge. The invisible force pushed Daniel back by two meters, and only after a great struggle did Daniel manage to stop himself against the window.
Bang... Bang... Two loud bangs echoed through the conference room as everyone turned their attention to the Director of Education.
"Mr. Zhou, please refrain from interrupting during others'' reports. Lex, you may continue your explanation," the voice, emotionless and firm, echoed in the room.
"Yes," Lex immediately responded. He withdrew the force he had exerted on Daniel and continued, "William¡¯s followers are quite special. They seem to have no sense of fear and are able to carry out all commands without hesitation. But the most important point is their numbers."
Lex paused for a moment, almost falling into his old habit of keeping people in suspense. However, he quickly realized this was not a lecture for his students and quickly continued, "The total number exceeds 350 million, and all of them are combat units."
Buzz... Hearing this figure, the room immediately became chaotic as everyone started whispering and discussing. After all, the number Lex had given was hard to believe.
"Lex, please confirm the authenticity of the data you provided," the Director of Education asked, though he was also a bit stunned by the number. He quickly regained his composure and sought confirmation.
"When I was training them, William once deployed over a billion soldiers during an invasion, and after spending five years in a low-level warzone, he expanded his divine domain to 400 million square kilometers. Without an overwhelming number of troops, it would be impossible to guarantee high-intensity invasion and plunder," Lex explained, clarifying his understanding of William''s situation.
"Alright, I will notify everyone later about the final participants in the city-wide university league. The meeting is dismissed," the Director of Education nodded and said as he stood up and walked out of the room.
"Congratulations, Lex. It seems one spot for the competition is definitely going to your student."
"Lex, your luck is incredible every year. Your students always manage to get a competition spot."
After the Director left, several teachers familiar with Lex came up to congratulate him.
Meanwhile, Daniel quickly left the conference room when the Director left, fearing that Lex might cause trouble for him again. In terms of power, Daniel knew he was no match for Lex.
"Hehe, thank you, thank you. A strong student means the school gets recognition, and if we perform well in the competition, the Ministry of Education will increase funding next year, and we¡¯ll all benefit," Lex said casually, not caring about Daniel¡¯s departure, and started chatting with the teachers he was familiar with. The atmosphere quickly became lively.
Lex was absolutely confident that William would be selected, because all the competitions were based on practical combat. A student without enough strength would likely fail to even finish the competition process and be eliminated early.
Chapter 59 - Bug Hatching Lair
Time flew by, and in the Realm of Gods, five years passed in the blink of an eye. William stood in the air of his divine domain, stretching out and finally relaxing his long-tensed mind.
"Finally, it¡¯s over." William thought about the work he had recently completed, a smile slowly forming on his face, unable to hide the joy.
Just half a month ago, he had finally obtained his first complete transcendent gene template. When the achievement was made, William didn¡¯t relax. Instead, he immediately threw himself into optimizing and adjusting the transcendent gene further.
Now, he had completed all the optimization work on this transcendent gene template.
He lightly swayed and transported himself to the Divine Exchange Continent, where he redeemed a small bucket of Life Spring Water at the Ministry of Education¡¯s resource exchange station, then hurriedly returned to his divine domain.
Once back, he stood by the Queen Ant, feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement. He fed the Life Spring Water to the Queen Ant and felt the water beginning to take effect inside her.
William began the process of integrating the only transcendent gene template he held into the Queen Ant. He had already mentally rehearsed the entire process many times, and everything progressed much smoother than expected. There were no accidents during the fusion of the gene template.
Looking at the Queen Ant, who had fallen into a deep sleep and was beginning her metamorphosis, William held back his excitement and patiently waited.
The most important function of the Split-Eye Worm¡¯s transcendent gene template was its ability to separate organs from the body while still allowing them to be fully controlled by the main entity¡¯s transcendent power. This was a phenomenon that, in William¡¯s previous world¡¯s knowledge system, couldn¡¯t be explained. However, in this world, there was related content addressing it.
Simply put, although the body was separated, the soul still controlled the detached body parts. Under the influence of transcendent power, these organs continued to be controlled by the soul. While this was unscientific, it was magical.
After waiting for a month, the Queen Ant finally completed her metamorphosis. The 40 separated egg sacs connected to her body had completely detached and became independent organs.
William was ecstatic because this meant the biggest obstacle that had limited the development of his insect swarm had been overcome.
With only one Queen Ant among his core followers, William had been very cautious in making genetic adjustments to her, fearing that any mistake could lead to the extinction of his core followers. But now, everything was different. The detached egg sacs, each carrying the Queen Ant¡¯s genetic template, allowed William to make adjustments without worrying.
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If anything went wrong, it would only result in the death of a single detached egg sac, much like an organ failing in a body, without any effect on the Queen Ant herself, who no longer had any physical connection to the detached parts.
"Now, I¡¯ve solved the problem of not being able to adjust the Queen Ant¡¯s genes. Some of the ideas I¡¯ve been preparing can now be implemented." With this thought in mind, William no longer hesitated. He chose one of the independent egg sacs and began the genetic adjustment process.
He had already planned this genetic adjustment in his mind. The egg sacs were originally capable of feeding, digesting, and producing eggs on their own. Essentially, they were unconscious copies of the Queen Ant.
This was similar to what William had seen in his previous life, the Zerg¡¯s core construction building, the Hatchery ¡ª the main base of the Zerg.
Now, what he was doing was upgrading these individual egg sacs using the genetic knowledge he had mastered, increasing their size, enhancing their feeding capabilities, improving digestion, and boosting their egg-laying efficiency.
This genetic adjustment was the result of decades of accumulation for William. After feeding the egg sac a bottle of Life Spring Water, he infiltrated it with his divine consciousness, extracting one gene template after another from his genetic library, fusing them into the egg sac''s gene chain.
Without the previous concerns, William worked swiftly. In less than a day, he completed the fusion of over a hundred gene templates.
Looking at the cocoon-like egg sac in front of him, everything developed just as he had expected. The changes to the egg sac had no effect on the Queen Ant.
He patiently waited for the results. A month later, when the new egg sac, now a hatchery, broke free from its cocoon, William was filled with excitement.
It was a six-sided, fleshy structure, with an independent larva incubation pod at each corner. It could incubate over 10,000 larvae every day. The top had a circular feeding port, surrounded by sharp spiral teeth that extended toward the center, grinding any food thrown into it into fragments for easy digestion and absorption.
It stood over 10 meters tall, its dark red surface covered in thick blood vessels that pulsated rhythmically like breathing.
At the bottom, the flesh roots burrowed deep into the ground, drawing elements and nutrients from the soil. Once fully grown, as per William''s design, its roots would extend 50 meters underground, forming a vast network to continuously supply nutrients to the main body above.
After half a year of observation to ensure everything was functioning well, William then upgraded all the other egg sacs in his divine domain.
After upgrading the egg sacs, William didn¡¯t stop. He approached the first completed hatchery, took out a high-level Bloodline Card, and prepared to use it.
He had never dared to use the Bloodline Card on the Queen Ant directly before, but now, facing the hatchery that had completely detached from the Queen Ant, he had no more concerns.
The transcendent Bloodline Cards came in three levels: low, middle, and high. Low-level cards had a 30% success rate, middle-level cards had a 50% success rate, and high-level cards had a 70% success rate.
But now, with the hatchery completely independent from the Queen Ant, William had no reservations. As long as he could give the hatchery a transcendent bloodline, successfully embedding a transcendent gene into its genetic chain, he could bypass the Queen Ant¡¯s flawed genetic control ability and directly create a hatchery that could produce transcendent Zerg units.
Although this method could only produce Zerg units with specific transcendent abilities, and the abilities granted by the Bloodline Cards were somewhat random, it still allowed William to bypass many previous obstacles and opened a transcendent path for his insect swarm. He would no longer need to wait for the possibility of divine transformation after lighting the divine fire.
Chapter 60: The Stinging Snake
The high-level bloodline card William was holding contained an extraordinary bloodline extracted from a species of Lava Giant Serpents. These Lava Giant Serpents are naturally extraordinary beasts, possessing strong physiques and extremely high fire resistance. When attacking, they can even shoot fireballs to assault their enemies. The power is comparable to a fireball spell, roughly equivalent to the explosive power of a grenade in William¡¯s past life. This is already considered quite a valuable extraordinary bloodline card.
Most of the extraordinary bloodline cards on the market are similar to the one William holds, extracted from various extraordinary beasts. It¡¯s important to note that creating such extraordinary bloodline cards is not an easy task.
First, it requires a deity who has ignited divine fire, and this deity must possess the divine imprint of bloodline extraction. Then, a species with extraordinary bloodlines must be found, with a sufficient number captured or bred, before they can be sacrificed for extraction. Depending on the number of sacrifices, different levels of bloodline cards are obtained. A low-level bloodline card requires a sacrifice of 100,000 units of the same extraordinary species. A medium-level card is obtained with 300,000 units, and only after sacrificing more than 500,000 units can a high-level bloodline card be extracted.
The production cost is considerable, making it a highly valuable resource. The most common bloodline cards in the market are primarily derived from various extraordinary beasts, such as Elf Bloodline Cards, Dragon Bloodline Cards, Angel Bloodline Cards... These are rare resources with values far different from that of a common extraordinary beast bloodline card.
With the infusion of divine power, the high-level bloodline card transformed into a golden light and rapidly merged into the hatching nest in front of William. As he observed with his divine mind, the gene chains within the nest began to form extraordinary gene tumors due to the influence of the external bloodline. The surface of the hatching nest also began to change, shifting from a dark red to an orange-red hue, with lava-like patterns appearing on its surface.
William knew that these were the changes brought on by the extraordinary bloodline after it was successfully loaded. If he had encountered the 30% failure probability, the hatching nest wouldn¡¯t have shown these changes. At the beginning of the genetic alteration, the shock from the extraordinary bloodline could have caused the individual using it to explode and die.
By the next day, the hatching nest had completed all its changes and stabilized. William immediately had the queen ant take control of the special hatching nest and produced a batch of mutated jumping bugs to test whether it could indeed produce jumping bugs with extraordinary abilities.
When the jumping bugs hatched, they indeed possessed extraordinary abilities, capable of casting fireball spells. Their appearance also underwent significant changes, with the tail originally consisting of a sharp spike becoming extremely thick and growing to a length of three meters, taking on clear snake-like characteristics. The originally 1.5-meter long jumping bugs now had a three-meter-long snake tail, completely losing their former agility.
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This was the transformation brought about by the extraordinary genes. William couldn''t help but feel helpless at this sight.
Now, the extraordinary genes inside the jumping bugs were like a complete template, similar to a fully packaged chip. He could install this chip into the jumping bugs'' gene chain, allowing it to run properly. But, to completely analyze and adjust this extraordinary gene tumor, he couldn¡¯t do it in the short term.
William temporarily halted the production of the extraordinary hatching nest. Since he couldn¡¯t modify the extraordinary genes, he could only create a new insect unit to adapt to this extraordinary gene. His situation was like a computer assembly factory in his past life that suddenly got a powerful CPU, but this CPU wasn¡¯t compatible with the existing motherboards they produced. Without the conditions to produce the CPUs, they could only make a motherboard that could work with this CPU.
Having identified the goal, William went back to designing new insect units. Fortunately, he had long ago designed distant units for his insect race, so many genetic templates were already in place. This allowed him to move forward without starting from scratch. With a clear goal in mind, William didn¡¯t feel that time passed slowly.
After just two months, the new insect unit¡ªFireball-Casting Spike Serpents¡ªwas born.
Starcraft - Field Manual - Zerg - Fireball-Casting Spike Serpent
Retaining the fearsome head design typical of the Zerg, there was a large block of high-density bone covering the shoulders and part of the back. The upper half of the body had a humanoid structure covered in high-density bone armor, while the lower half consisted of a thick snake-like tail, highly adaptable to any terrain, also covered in layers of bone armor.
The muscle mass in the arms had expanded, covered in black scales. The forearms were replaced by massive, scythe-like bone blades, indicating formidable melee combat abilities. The total body length exceeded five meters, with the upper body standing more than two meters tall. Thanks to the extraordinary abilities from the Lava Giant Serpent, they could shoot fireballs up to 100 meters away.
As long as they had enough magical power stored within, they could fire 50 explosive fireballs in a single battle. Even after using up all their ammunition, these fireball-casting spike serpents could rapidly recharge by absorbing the abundant magic in the environment.
After testing, William confirmed that the recharge speed of the Spike Serpents'' fireball projectiles was one shot per minute, which fully met the needs of the Zerg¡¯s long-range combat units. Their daily consumption was only two or three times higher than that of the jumping bugs, making them suitable for large-scale production, thus filling the gap in the Zerg¡¯s long-range combat capabilities.
"With the first extraordinary insect unit in hand, the next step is to continue expanding the extraordinary insect species and numbers. Right now, I still have 500,000 divine power from the school, along with an additional 100,000 divine power accumulated over the years, which means I can buy two more high-level extraordinary bloodline cards."
Thinking this, William teleported to the resource exchange station at the school on the Divine Communication Continent.
"Hello, I¡¯m William from class 3, grade 12 at Zhonghai No. 2 High School. Here¡¯s my student ID and exchange code..." Upon arrival at the resource exchange station, William wasted no time. He immediately found the staff, provided his student ID, and mentioned the resource exchange code issued by the school after he earned a spot in the city-wide university league. With this exchange code, he could redeem resources worth 500,000 divine power.
"I need to verify the exchange code. Please wait a moment," the staff said, taking the exchange code and disappearing to verify it. This was the most common way resources were distributed by human civilization schools on the Divine Communication Continent.
Chapter 61: The Element of Fire
Less than five minutes later, the staff at the exchange counter reappeared.
"Hello, William, your resource exchange code has been verified. You can now select resources worth 500,000 divine power from the school''s resource warehouse." The staff member¡¯s light orb spoke as it extended a light beam toward William.
William also raised a light beam to connect with it, and a stream of information was transmitted into his mind.
This was the list of available resources at the school¡¯s exchange counter. William didn¡¯t even glance at the common resources, quickly searching through the list for the high-level bloodline cards he needed.
The list was filled with hundreds of extraordinary bloodline cards, and William immediately excluded the medium and low-level ones. In an instant, only a few dozen high-level extraordinary bloodline cards remained.
William currently had about 40 hatching nests, and he was unwilling to use any medium or low-level bloodline cards. If the extraordinary bloodline failed to load, not only would the purchased card be wasted, but he would also lose a hatching nest, something William could not accept at this stage.
He immediately began selecting from the remaining high-level extraordinary bloodline cards. After reviewing all of them, one caught his attention.
[High-Level Extraordinary Bloodline Card¡ Fire Element]
This was the bloodline card of an elemental creature, the Fire Element. As a purely elemental creature, the Fire Element had no flesh or blood, and upon death, it left only a fire element crystal. But now, a deity had sacrificed the Fire Element and extracted its bloodline into a card. William was surprised¡ªhow could a non-corporeal creature have genes? So, he carefully read the detailed description of this bloodline card.
The Fire Element¡¯s extraordinary bloodline granted the individual receiving it the talent for fire magic and a chance to inherit fire elemental magic.
Further details revealed that, as an elemental being, the Fire Element would not only possess one fire magic, but would gradually master various fire magics as it grew. Using this bloodline card was somewhat like a gacha game from William¡¯s past life. After using it, there would be a guaranteed fire elemental affinity talent, but the rest was up to luck.
If the luck was good, it might even result in powerful spells like Meteor Firestorm or Inferno, though the probability of that happening was very low. On the other hand, if luck was bad, the individual might only gain a slight increase in fire elemental affinity and potentially not inherit any magic, though this was also a low-probability outcome.
It was important to note that Fire Elements, as extraordinary creatures from birth, could naturally control several types of fire magic, and the power of these magics was generally excellent.
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Already having a plan in mind, William immediately asked the staff behind the counter, "How much divine power do I need to exchange for this high-level Fire Element bloodline card?"
"Oh, this bloodline card? It requires 550,000 divine power to exchange. You only have 500,000, so you¡¯ll need to make up the remaining 50,000 divine power," the staff member replied immediately when hearing William¡¯s inquiry.
Without hesitation, William transferred the remaining 50,000 divine power to the staff member.
"That¡¯s the one. Please help me exchange it," William said after transferring the divine power.
"Understood, please wait a moment while I retrieve your bloodline card." The staff member disappeared again.
In just a short while, the staff member returned and handed over the Fire Element extraordinary bloodline card that William had exchanged for.
William quickly took it, confirmed that everything was correct, and instantly teleported back to his divine domain.
Floating in mid-air in his divine domain, William hesitated for a moment. His original plan was to exchange for two extraordinary bloodline cards, but now he had only obtained one.
Previously, he had intended to use the two bloodline cards, one on a primitive hatching nest and the other on a nest that could already produce extraordinary Spike Serpents, hoping to enhance the fireball-casting Spike Serpents. But now, with only one Fire Element bloodline card, his plans were disrupted.
"Never mind, I¡¯ll play it safe for now. When I¡¯m richer in the future, I¡¯ll enhance the fireball Spike Serpents." With this thought, William made up his mind and approached a new primitive hatching nest.
Taking the newly acquired Fire Element extraordinary bloodline card from his body, he directly used it on the hatching nest in front of him.
Looking at the already extraordinary hatching nest, William, having gained experience from the previous one, immediately produced a batch of 2,000 jumping bugs.
As the new extraordinary jumping bugs appeared before William, seeing them in their semi-elemental form, he was unsure of how to feel.
Although their appearance had barely changed, the hearts of these jumping bugs had crystallized, now containing fire element cores. The orange glow filled their bodies, and intense heat radiated from within. Just standing near them, William could feel waves of heat assaulting him.
They could still run, jump, and fight, but the pain brought on by the high temperature constantly tormented their bodies. They could only temporarily withstand the torment by having their adrenal glands work beyond capacity.
The extraordinary ability they gained was not the ranged magic attack William had imagined, but instead, it was the innate skill of most fire elemental creatures... self-detonation.
This skill, where the fire elemental creature and the enemy perished together, had tremendous power. Not only could the explosion cover a diameter of 100 meters, but the explosion¡¯s force far exceeded the power of fireball spells.
After testing, William confirmed that the ground at the explosion''s center even showed signs of vitrification, with the damage caused instantly far surpassing what his other followers could handle.
Based on William''s calculations, the extreme heat inside these jumping bugs would severely damage their organs and functional systems, and their lifespan would not exceed a day.
So, William needed to develop a new insect unit to adapt to this fire element extraordinary gene. This would be a challenge for him, as he currently had no species genes capable of enduring such high temperatures and would need to collect them from the market.
Reluctantly, William threw himself into high-intensity work, designing a new insect unit while also spending every day in the market of the Divine Communication Continent, searching for regular species that could withstand high temperatures.
Days passed, and on a new day, after going through the market once again without finding the species he needed, he arrived at a busy area of the market, where he began offering bounties to acquire high-temperature-resistant species.
Chapter 62 - Self-destructing Jumping Insects
"I, a fool with plenty of money and 500 divine power, am offering a high price to purchase a single ordinary species with extremely strong heat resistance. If there are any suitable species in your divine domain, hurry up and catch them to exchange. First come, first served." A thought from William''s light sphere expanded outward.
The demigod''s divine domain is filled with all sorts of wonders, and almost any ordinary creature might appear, so it''s possible to find the species genes that William needs. That''s why he spends several hours each day searching the market on the Continent of Divine Communication for purchases.
Although he had received some heat-resistant ordinary species, their heat resistance limits were still far from his requirements. These specimens could only serve as gene templates for storage.
At this moment, a light sphere approached: "Hey, boss, I have an ordinary species with heat resistance. How many do you need?"
"A few will do, as long as the heat resistance of your species meets my needs," William habitually explained.
"In my divine domain, there''s a type of worm that lives in volcanic environments. It''s only a few centimeters long, and it can survive in high-temperature environments as long as it doesn''t fall into the lava. Do you want them?" The person described the heat-resistant species they could get.
"Catch a few and bring them to me first. If they''re not suitable, I''ll cover the cost of the sealing cards." William immediately showed interest upon hearing that it was an ordinary species capable of surviving near lava.
Such organisms, which can survive in high-temperature environments year-round, often have unique genes, and this could lead to new breakthroughs in his current work on the new insect species units.
"Wait a moment, I''ll catch a few right now," the person said, and without hesitation, they disappeared in front of William.
Not long after, the light sphere reappeared and handed him a card sealed with the species.
William immediately gave back an empty sealing card and began to probe the species inside the card with his divine sense.
Inside the card, there were a few black worms, about two fingers long, crawling around a pool of lava, completely unaffected by the heat. They seemed very lively.
Seeing this, William directly sent his divine sense into the card to observe these worms, ensuring that they did not have any extraordinary gene tumors.
"These worms are good. I''ll take them," William said, then promptly transferred 500 divine power to the person.
After receiving the new heat-resistant species, William returned to his divine domain and began the process of gene fusion.
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In less than half a month, William had fully analyzed the new worms'' genes. These worms had a special muscular membrane on their surface, providing excellent heat and insulation properties, far surpassing any of the other heat-resistant genes William had.
He was very pleased with the new heat-resistant gene, and after incorporating it into the new insect species design, he finally completed the initial prototype. It could now be officially put into production.
This new insect species was entirely modified from flying jumping worms. To achieve higher speed, their bodies were made smaller, and their wings enlarged. The curved scythe-like appendages on their backs were removed, and their limbs were further shrunk, losing the ability to run quickly on the ground, but their fingertips had adhesive structures that allowed them to cling to any surface.
The body¡¯s exoskeleton was also weakened to reduce weight, and a sharp single horn was added to their head. The main body and abdomen reverted to a two-part structure typical of insects.
They had two hearts: a regular heart in the main body to maintain normal functions, and a crystallized extraordinary heart in the abdomen. The entire abdomen was surrounded by organs constructed with various heat-resistant gene templates to ensure survival.
When not in combat, a highly efficient dormancy system inside their bodies could suppress the internal heat, allowing them to survive for long periods.
Essentially, these creatures were flying suicide bombs. William¡¯s design referenced some aspects of self-detonating moths in his past life and made them even more adaptable.
These self-destructing jump worms could serve as missiles, effective both in the air and on the ground, causing significant area damage. This gave William a sense of confidence when facing extraordinary creatures, something he had been cautious about in case he encountered an enemy that couldn''t be defeated.
Time passed quickly as William continued his routine work. One day, while busy analyzing genes, William suddenly received a message from Lex.
"Kid, come out for a bit."
William saw Lex¡¯s message and temporarily set aside his work. In a flash of his demigod form, he appeared outside the divine domain''s barrier.
As soon as he arrived, Lex¡¯s divine domain was floating nearby. Lex''s demigod form approached him as soon as he saw William.
"How''s the preparation going? The city-wide competition is about to start," Lex asked with a smile.
"Not bad. I''ve been meaning to test the growth of my followers through some battles," William responded as he met Lex.
"That''s good to hear. The competition venue has been confirmed. I''ll send you the coordinates. We''ll head there together. This time, our school is under my leadership," Lex said, sending the coordinates to William with a proud expression.
"Lex, do you know the rules for this competition?" William asked curiously after receiving the coordinates.
"The rule should be 1v1 battles. The city competition usually doesn¡¯t have anything too fancy; the goal is to select the strongest senior students in Zhonghai City."
"1v1 battles?" William asked, puzzled.
"Have you not checked the information for the city competition? It''s basically two players battling each other, and the winner advances. The loser enters the loser bracket, and after two losses, they''re eliminated. There should be around 3,000 participants. To make it to the top three, you''ll probably have to fight through about ten rounds of matches."
"That''s the difficulty of the city competition. Every high school senior¡¯s followers are limited. Without enough strength, after two or three rounds, their followers will be exhausted, and they''ll have to quit the competition," Lex continued.
"Each match requires at least 10,000 followers, with no upper limit. So, it also tests the participants'' strategy in deploying their forces and their psychological endurance. When facing a strong opponent, it¡¯s a test whether to go all-in, risking significant losses for a chance at victory, or to withdraw strategically into the loser bracket to preserve strength," Lex said, smiling at William.
Chapter 63 Departure
"However, for you, none of this matters anymore. With the number of followers you have, you''re in a completely different league compared to regular participants. Even if you suffer losses in the millions, it probably won''t affect your overall fighting power at all."
"You can just crush your way through. The real challenge begins once you enter the global competition. From the battle intensity in previous years, you shouldn''t have any problems. Plus, I''ve checked, and it seems that there aren''t any monsters from Zhonghai City this year." Lex said this while watching William, a smile forming on his face.
Upon hearing Lex¡¯s explanation about the city-wide competition, William felt reassured. The intensity of this kind of battle was nothing to him.
"So, what¡¯s the benefit of placing well in the competition?" William quickly asked, eager to know what he would get from the event, aside from just the rules.
Lex wasn¡¯t surprised by William¡¯s question. After getting to know him over time, he understood that William was very money-oriented, and it would have been strange if he wasn¡¯t interested in the post-competition rewards.
"There are plenty of benefits. The most practical one is the reward. If you place, the school will grant you a reward of 1 million divine power. If you come in first place, Zhonghai City will give you a resource allotment of 5 million divine power." Lex crossed his arms and smiled, imagining how William, with his money-oriented personality, would be eager to perform well in the competition.
"So, if I take first place, that means I¡¯ll get a total of 6 million divine power in rewards! I¡¯m going to get rich!" William¡¯s eyes lit up with excitement upon hearing about the rewards. He felt an intense surge of motivation and was determined to claim the first place in the city-wide competition.
Now that he had extraordinary followers, William didn¡¯t even consider second or third place. Facing extraordinary species, he no longer felt nervous.
Since he acquired the ability to produce Flame Spike Snakes and Self-Destructive Jumping Worms from his incubation nest, production of these two extraordinary units had been continuous.
Now, William had accumulated more than ten million of both extraordinary species. To keep up with the consumption of divine power in his divine domain, he had to continually purchase various resources in the market on the Continent of Divine Communication. The divine power generated by his followers was barely enough to maintain the balance.
Amused by William¡¯s greedy expression, Lex shook his head and said, "Alright, you should prepare well these next couple of days. I¡¯ll notify you when it¡¯s time to leave."
"Okay, Lex, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already decided that I¡¯m going to claim the first place. No one¡¯s going to take that 6 million divine power from me." Motivated by the rewards, William expressed his strong confidence, determined to win.
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Seeing William''s enthusiasm, Lex nodded in satisfaction before turning and leaving.
William watched Lex leave, then immediately returned to his divine domain to continue his gene analysis work.
For William, there wasn¡¯t much to prepare. Although most of the insect species in his divine domain were in hibernation, even the ones that weren¡¯t, like the logistical jumping insects, numbered over 100 million. They were more than enough to handle any current situation.
This was in a safe zone, and there was no risk of foreign invasions, so there was no need to wake up his followers prematurely. He still remembered how the sudden surge in resource consumption from waking up his followers before had nearly caused an ecological collapse in his divine domain.
Two days later, when Lex arrived with two other participating students outside his divine domain, William instantly appeared from within.
"Kid, come over here. I¡¯ll give you the teleportation cards," Lex waved, signaling William to come over.
As William floated towards Lex, he looked up and observed the two students beside him. One was a tall, slender girl with long hair, neither particularly beautiful nor unattractive¡ªjust above average. Her expression was cold as she watched William approach.
William recognized her as Elizabeth from Class 2. She had very impressive half-elf followers, which, while not particularly noteworthy to him, were quite strong among early demigods.
The other person was William¡¯s old acquaintance, Richard. When he saw William approaching, he immediately waved and greeted him.
"Top student, looks like we¡¯ll be competing together this time!" Richard enthusiastically greeted William.
"Richard, I didn¡¯t expect you to join the city-wide competition. Congratulations!" William smiled as he greeted Richard back.
Once William was right in front of them, Lex wasted no time and handed him two teleportation cards with coordinates.
"Here are your round-trip travel cards from the school. I¡¯ve already sent you the coordinates. We¡¯re leaving now," Lex said, pulling out another teleportation card to signal that they were ready to depart.
"Let¡¯s go. We can talk more once we get there," William responded, stepping outside his divine domain¡¯s barrier, waving the teleportation card in his hand. He activated the teleportation and began transporting to their destination.
When William¡¯s divine domain emerged from the spatial portal, he was immediately captivated by the sight before him.
A large number of divine domains were stationed in this area¡ªat least 4,000 or so. Most were colossal divine domains of around ten million square kilometers, accompanied by three smaller divine domains. These were most likely the competing teams from other schools.
At the center of the area, ten divine domains of ten million square kilometers each were arranged in a circle. In the middle were three super-large divine domains, each spanning more than 100 million square kilometers. What was most unusual was that the barriers of these ten divine domains were transparent, allowing the mountains and terrain within to be clearly visible.
"Heh, kid, do you see those ten divine domains? Those are the competition arenas. The three in the center are the referees," Lex said, appearing next to William after teleporting.
"Lex, why are the barriers of their divine domains transparent?" Seeing Lex appear, William couldn¡¯t contain his curiosity and asked directly.
In William¡¯s experience, a transparent divine domain barrier only indicated one thing¡ªthe domain was about to collapse.
"This isn¡¯t the divine domain turning transparent. It¡¯s just been specially modified so that the outside world can see inside, like a live video feed. Using the entire divine domain barrier as a display screen requires a lot of divine power, so only for large-scale competitions do they do this. Otherwise, no one would bother," Lex casually explained, satisfying William¡¯s curiosity.
At this point, the other two participants had also teleported over. They were both equally captivated by the sight and began looking around at their surroundings.
Chapter 64: The Start of the Competition
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lex introduced William:
"This is Elizabeth from Class 2, also a representative of our school in the competition."
At this point, Lex paused, glanced at William with a subtle expression, and then continued, "You two should communicate well and get to know each other''s strengths. If you happen to run into each other in the competition, it''s best to avoid internal conflict. I''ll go get our competition number plates now."
After saying this, Lex drifted toward the center area, likely to handle the registration process and collect the competition number plates.
Hearing Lex''s words, William only needed a moment to understand his implication.
He wanted him to demonstrate his strength so that if he ended up facing Elizabeth in the competition, she might surrender instead of fighting, thus preventing unnecessary losses and internal strife within their school.
"Scholar, how have you been developing these past few years? My progress has been immense! I already have over ten thousand extraordinary followers, hehe," Richard eagerly boasted the moment Lex left, completely oblivious to the underlying meaning of Lex¡¯s words.
"Not bad," William replied briefly before turning to Elizabeth. "Hello, Elizabeth. I''ve heard about you at school. Could you tell me about your current strength?"
Elizabeth gave William a cold glance and replied indifferently, "Strength isn¡¯t just about words. If we do run into each other, who surrenders will be determined by real power."
Hearing her response, William smiled helplessly. It seemed that Lex didn¡¯t have a great reputation among Class 2 students¡ªElizabeth had clearly picked up on his underlying message.
"You¡¯ve misunderstood. Lex simply wants to avoid internal conflict within the school. Personally, I don¡¯t really care. I just hope we don¡¯t run into each other in the competition," William said casually.
He wasn¡¯t interested in explaining further. After all, the battlefield was visible to everyone outside, and once they witnessed the terrifying power of his swarm, no one would be foolish enough to challenge him head-on.
With his current strength, this competition was nothing more than a playground for him. It was as if he were fighting against children¡ªit posed no real challenge. Just by observing the divine domain sizes of the other contestants from different academies, he could tell that none of them even exceeded a million square kilometers.
Ignoring Elizabeth, William turned to chat with Richard to pass the time.
After about ten minutes, Lex returned with three number plates in hand and handed them out.
"These are your competition numbers. Keep them safe. Once the matches start, the competition arena will display the numbers of the opponents."
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Elizabeth was the first to take a plate, followed by Richard. By the time William reached for one, only the last plate remained.
With a nonchalant attitude, William took it and casually glanced at the number displayed on it¡ª996.
His mouth twitched, and internally, he raged: Is this fate? Is this divine retribution?
Ever since he had transmigrated to this world, he felt like he had never truly rested¡ªit was even more exhausting than his previous life.
Before transmigrating, he had been the administrative supervisor of a pharmaceutical laboratory. In order to push the lab employees harder, he constantly hyped them up, sometimes even personally assisting them.
To maximize performance for the annual evaluation, he voluntarily worked overtime, occasionally taking on small tasks himself to set an example. His relentless work ethic drove the entire lab into an overworked frenzy.
As an administrator, he didn¡¯t actually have that much work to do. With no reason to go home, he stayed at the office just to keep the lab in high spirits. He secretly played Starcraft ladder matches in his downtime, squeezing in a game before making his rounds to check on everyone.
After three days of this non-stop cycle, he overworked himself to death in his office.
Seems like I can¡¯t escape the fate of endless work, even in this life. But at least this time, I¡¯m working for myself. Perseverance is key.
Adjusting his mindset, William silently stored the number plate within his body.
After waiting at the competition grounds for two days, the city-wide league finally commenced as all participants arrived.
Three colossal divine domains, each spanning over a hundred million square kilometers, stood at the center of the venue. Three demigod projections appeared above them, sending waves of consciousness sweeping outward.
William sensed the energy and realized it was nothing more than a passionate opening speech before they officially announced the start of the competition.
Above the ten divine domains designated for the matches, two large numbers appeared on each, representing the competitors for each round. The first batch of contestants quickly stepped forward.
Entry passages extended from the divine domains of the contestants, linking to the competition domains, allowing various types of followers to enter the battlefield.
William watched the battles unfold, but to him, these fights were unimpressive.
The competing students had only a few thousand to tens of thousands of extraordinary followers, supported by armies of ordinary followers. Their battles were cautious and careful, as they tried to minimize losses.
For someone like William, who had extensive experience in invasions and warfare, watching them fight was incredibly dull.
If he had to describe it, "lackluster" was the only word that came to mind.
Compared to him, these students were far too weak¡ªbut this was normal for the early stages of divine domain development.
Even with resource support, students only had a limited number of core followers at this stage. Expanding the number of ordinary followers recklessly or haphazardly building reproduction areas for similar species could be disastrous.
If the core followers¡¯ bloodline wasn¡¯t strong enough or if an accident occurred, entire generations could be lost, resulting in no core followers for several cycles. This was a common occurrence.
Establishing a strong foundation and nurturing core followers was a long-term process. Not all species were as easy to cultivate as his Zerg, which required only an active queen to maintain a steady supply of fanatical believers.
Time passed quickly as William waited in boredom. One match followed another, each lacking any real intensity or excitement.
On the second day, after another match concluded and the competition field was reset, new numbers appeared on the screens.
"Hehe, it¡¯s finally my turn! Scholar, watch me perform! You have to cheer me on!" Richard grinned excitedly at William before moving toward the competition field.
"Good luck! I¡¯ll be waiting for your victorious return!" William smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Richard, don¡¯t put too much pressure on yourself. Just perform at your normal level. You got this!" Lex encouraged his students enthusiastically.
Chapter 65: Orcs
Seeing Lex¡¯s encouragement, Richard flashed a bright smile, showing his white teeth, and gave a thumbs-up before turning and rushing toward the competition arena.
Having watched the previous matches, Richard had gained some confidence in his own strength. His serpent race¡¯s extraordinary abilities had excellent adaptability, allowing him to hold the home-field advantage against almost any kind of familiar.
Moreover, thanks to the joint casting ability, his 20,000 extraordinary serpent men would only grow stronger as their numbers increased. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t afford to send small squads; he had to go all out from the start if he wanted a chance to advance further.
Once both sides finished connecting their invasion channels and the referee gave the order to start, Richard immediately deployed his strongest forces.
A total of 1.5 million serpent warriors and 20,000 extraordinary serpent men¡ªthis was the result of the divine power resources provided by the school after he qualified for the competition.
Richard had spent most of his divine power on purchasing rare resources, which allowed him to increase the number of extraordinary serpent men to 20,000 in such a short time.
His opponent, Tony, showed no sign of panic upon seeing Richard¡¯s familiars. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and said coldly,
"Classmate, by revealing all your strength right away, you¡¯re making the road ahead much harder for yourself. How about recalling some of your troops? Let¡¯s both send only 10,000 familiars and keep this match lighthearted, what do you say?"
Having shown his full strength, Richard mistakenly thought he had intimidated his opponent and that Tony was now afraid. Energized, he replied excitedly,
"If you want to minimize your losses, then surrender. Otherwise, let¡¯s fight!"
"Since that¡¯s your choice, I won¡¯t hold back either. I just hope you don¡¯t end up crying later."
With an icy smile, Tony¡¯s divine realm suddenly erupted, and 2 million green-skinned orcs charged out.
These orcs were well-equipped, and just a quick glance was enough to tell that their gear was custom-made.
Each orc was clad in polished full-body armor, wielding massive axes or broadswords, with round arm shields strapped to their forearms.
Around their waists were military-style webbing belts, complete with leather pouches of various sizes.
To William, it looked as if a group of actors from a medieval fantasy war film had just walked onto a World War II movie set, grabbed some props, and rushed straight into battle¡ªan absolutely bizarre mishmash of styles that felt completely out of place.
Despite their questionable aesthetics, orcs were undoubtedly one of the strongest combat races in the early stages of divine realm development, far superior to mere half-orcs.
Standing over two meters tall, their muscular bodies granted them exceptional strength, endurance, recovery, and reproduction abilities.
While they weren¡¯t quite as powerful as extraordinary familiars, they were among the strongest regular familiars one could have.
Moreover, due to their naturally abundant blood energy, orcs were well-known as one of the easiest races to cultivate into extraordinary-tier warriors, particularly in mastering battle qi techniques.
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As soon as these orcs entered the battlefield, they quickly organized themselves, with 300,000 orc wolf riders forming a loose wedge formation at the vanguard, advancing toward Richard¡¯s serpent army.
The invasion portals of both contestants were actually less than 50 kilometers apart, allowing their forces to quickly close the distance.
"Finally, a full-force battle! Watching the earlier matches was putting me to sleep!"
"Now this is interesting! Look at those serpent men¡ªthey don¡¯t even have standardized armor. I bet they¡¯re going to get slaughtered!"
Seeing the sheer number of familiars deployed, the previously drowsy audience suddenly perked up.
All the previous matches had been extremely reserved, with students typically deploying only around 100,000 familiars, carefully conserving their strength for future rounds.
Richard, however, was the first hotheaded contestant to throw everything he had into the fight right from the start.
Inside the battlefield, Richard¡¯s serpent army formed a crude circular formation, placing the 20,000 extraordinary serpent men in the center for protection, then began a slow advance.
As the two armies finally spotted each other on an open plain, Richard¡¯s extraordinary serpent men immediately began their ritualistic dance, summoning a faint yellow corrosive mist that quickly spread in all directions.
Within moments, the rolling yellow fog had engulfed Tony¡¯s entire orc army.
"Cough¡ cough¡! What¡¯s with this fog? Why is there mist appearing?!"
One of the wolf-mounted orc riders started coughing violently, and his reaction triggered a chain effect¡ªbefore long, thousands of orcs were coughing uncontrollably.
"My serpent men¡¯s extraordinary ability deals widespread damage and control effects! Surrender now, and I¡¯ll lift the poisonous mist¡ªyou¡¯ll lose fewer troops this way!"
Seeing that his corrosive mist had covered the entire enemy force and was visibly taking effect, Richard¡¯s semi-divine projection immediately began taunting Tony, attempting to apply psychological pressure.
However, Tony simply smirked without replying.
Before he could even issue an oracle command, his orc army¡¯s commander had already taken action.
The lead orc general suddenly ignited a faint blood-red battle aura, and before the corrosive mist could even reach his body, it was completely burned away.
Then, raising his massive battle axe, the orc commander shouted in a thunderous voice,
"This mist is poisonous! All troops, halt! Equip gas masks immediately!"
His command instantly spread throughout the ranks, and every orc within earshot swiftly removed their full-cover helmets, pulled out military-grade gas masks from their waist pouches, and strapped them on.
The orcs farther back, who didn¡¯t hear the order directly, followed suit upon seeing their comrades¡¯ actions.
In less than one minute, all 2 million orcs had donned their full-face transparent gas masks.
Even the wolf riders, still mounted on their war wolves, had equipped their mounts with specialized gas masks.
This unexpected development left Richard completely stunned.
His strongest extraordinary ability had just been rendered useless in an instant.
"What the hell?! This is even possible?!"
His battle rhythm was completely disrupted.
"Heh, I gave you a chance," Tony sneered. "We could have fought lightly, but you refused. Now, you¡¯ll have to deal with the consequences of your choice."
With just a few short exchanges, the 30,000 orc wolf riders leading the charge ignited their battle qi, surging forward like a tidal wave into the serpent army¡¯s fragile formation.
Richard¡¯s poorly equipped troops were instantly overwhelmed by the 30,000 extraordinary orc warriors.
With the corrosive mist neutralized, the battle became one-sided.
These battle qi-infused orcs possessed greater strength, higher endurance, stronger defenses, faster stamina recovery, and superior physical abilities across the board.
The outcome was clear¡ªRichard was doomed.
Chapter 66 Pitfalls
Although the enhancement of battle energy in the early stages is limited, with a number as large as 300,000, even a slight improvement is enough to push the strength of the entire legion forward significantly.
Moreover, this all-around enhancement of physical fitness easily elevated the combat power of the orc legion to a whole new level.
Seeing that his snake-men were no match and were suffering heavy casualties, Richard could only grimly admit defeat to Tony, saying, "Stop, I surrender."
"Heh, weren''t you acting all arrogant just now? Why are you chickening out now?" Tony sneered upon hearing Richard''s surrender, showing no intention of stopping.
The referee merely observed the situation on the battlefield without intervening. Since Richard had stopped his transcendent snake-men from casting spells but the dense corrosive poison mist had not yet dissipated, the referee assumed that Richard was still continuing his attack.
"You bastard! I''ve already stopped my transcendent followers from casting spells, and you still won''t stop?" Richard roared in frustration, his face dark with anger.
Tony smirked coldly, completely ignoring him. He watched as the well-equipped orc wolf cavalry easily tore through the outer formation of the snake-men and charged straight toward the transcendent snake-men.
Richard was helpless and could only watch as these transcendent orcs, empowered by battle energy, slaughtered the snake-men until the mist completely dispersed and the referee finally intervened to stop the battle. The invasion passages of both sides gradually detached from the divine realm of the venue.
Exhausted and with reddened eyes, Richard returned to William¡¯s side.
Seeing Richard in such a state, William could only console him, "Don''t lose heart, it''s just a minor setback. Your core followers and divine realm are still intact, and the future is long."
Hearing William¡¯s comforting words, Richard forced a smile that was uglier than crying and choked out, "Scholar, my transcendent snake-men followers have been almost completely wiped out. I won¡¯t be able to continue in the competition. You have to go on and do your best!"
"Don¡¯t be too upset. If I get the chance to face him, I''ll help you take revenge." Seeing his usually cheerful friend looking so miserable, William couldn¡¯t just ignore it and offered his support.
To William, a fair fight on the battlefield meant that any outcome was acceptable. But this was an internal competition within their civilization. Richard had already publicly admitted defeat, yet Tony had exploited a loophole in the rules to completely wipe out Richard¡¯s transcendent snake-men followers. While it was technically within the rules, it was undoubtedly a ruthless and underhanded move.
The competition continued despite Richard¡¯s withdrawal. Hours later, it was finally William¡¯s turn to step into battle.
Familiar with the process, he quickly established his teleportation passage. Keeping in mind his promise to avenge Richard, he decided not to be too ostentatious. He didn¡¯t even summon his main combat units.
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After calculating Tony¡¯s followers¡¯ strength, William deployed only three to four million logistics jumpers, ensuring that the number matched Tony¡¯s previously revealed power to maintain a balanced fight.
As an overwhelming swarm of creatures poured out of the teleportation passage, most opponents, witnessing the spectacular sight, immediately abandoned the idea of fighting William.
A few stubborn challengers attempted to test the strength of these ferocious-looking creatures. However, in an instant, they were completely overwhelmed by the swarm.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but William¡¯s strategy was one of pure attrition. As long as any logistics jumpers fell on the front lines, he would replenish their numbers through his teleportation passage. This relentless wave of reinforcements completely shattered his opponents'' morale.
This led to most competitors surrendering outright, abandoning any foolish attempts to resist.
William practically cruised through each round, facing no real pressure until he reached the sixth round, where he finally encountered Tony¡¯s well-equipped orc army.
After Tony¡¯s battle with Richard, the 300,000 transcendent orc wolf cavalry had already been revealed to everyone.
With his strength now exposed, Tony''s subsequent victories came easily. Those who lacked the power to fight him would surrender immediately.
Even those with some strength would agree to a small-scale battle, led by Tony, to showcase their followers'' abilities before amicably ending the match.
However, if anyone refused to play along and genuinely tried to defeat him, Tony would go all out and strike with extreme ruthlessness, always aiming for maximum damage.
From William¡¯s years of experience in reading people, Tony was clearly a control freak¡ªsomeone highly self-centered who wouldn¡¯t tolerate challenges to his authority.
As long as everything followed his script, Tony was willing to show some goodwill. But the moment someone acted against his expectations, he would swing to the opposite extreme. He was the typical zero-sum thinker, believing in absolute victory or defeat with no middle ground.
"Heh, finally, we meet. I promised to avenge Richard, and a man must keep his word. Time to teach this kid a lesson."
With that thought in mind, William connected his divine realm to the battlefield, manifesting a demigod projection.
His gaze met Tony¡¯s demigod projection across the battlefield, while four million logistics jumpers flooded in, quickly forming a massive insectoid sphere in the sky.
Seeing this, Tony remained confident and was the first to speak:
"I¡¯ve watched your previous matches. Your followers are strong, but they¡¯re not my match. I suggest we each send out only ten thousand followers for a relatively fair battle, minimizing losses. What do you say?"
Hearing Tony''s suggestion, William sneered internally.
This kid had it all planned out.
Given what William had revealed so far, a 10,000 vs. 10,000 battle between his logistics jumpers and Tony¡¯s transcendent orcs was unwinnable for William.
Tony was acting like he already had the match in the bag.
"I don¡¯t think so," William replied with a playful smirk. "After all, numbers are my advantage. I think I can win. You¡¯d better not be too confident, or you might get humiliated."
William''s mocking tone and smirk made him look downright punchable.
"Heh, looks like you didn¡¯t study properly. You still don¡¯t understand the orc race," Tony said calmly. "Let me remind you¡ªordinary orc civilians don¡¯t need training. The moment they step onto the battlefield, they can be considered warriors."
After finishing his words, Tony waved his hand.
Instantly, two million well-equipped orc warriors marched onto the battlefield.
But the flood of orcs didn¡¯t stop there¡ªmore and more orcs continued pouring in from the teleportation passage.
By the time the orc numbers exceeded five million, the reinforcements finally halted.
Although three million of them were equipped with relatively simpler gear, they all had at least full-body leather armor and fine steel weapons. Their high morale made it clear that orcs were indeed a highly battle-hungry race.
Chapter 67: Do It
William could tell from the equipment of these orcs that Tony was definitely a rich kid. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to outfit his subordinates with such luxurious gear so early on. This put William somewhat at ease¡ªit meant he could go all out without completely crippling his opponent.
After all, there was no absolute right or wrong in this situation. Richard had gone all-in during his first match, disrupting Tony¡¯s entire strategy, and in response, Tony had wiped out all of Richard¡¯s extraordinary serpent-men.
William wasn¡¯t some saint with an all-forgiving mindset. Richard was one of his few friends in his previous life, and when William decided to take revenge on his behalf, he had no intention of holding back.
What Tony didn¡¯t know was that within the 4 million logistics jumpers William had deployed, he had hidden a full 50,000 self-destructing jumpers. This was the perfect opportunity to test out this new Zerg unit in battle, with the goal of completely wiping out Tony¡¯s 300,000 extraordinary orcs in one fell swoop.
"It doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯ll only know the result after we fight. Don¡¯t bother with all these psychological tricks¡ªyou won¡¯t get to me," William said, his smirk as infuriating as ever.
"Let¡¯s hope you can keep up that attitude until the end. Don''t end up like your teammate¡ªcrying when you finally realize the importance of humility," Tony retorted, his eyes narrowing coldly.
As one of the stronger contestants in this citywide tournament, William had long been on Tony¡¯s radar¡ªespecially as Richard¡¯s teammate.
Without saying another word, Tony commanded his orc army to advance toward the logistics jumpers.
In just a short time, the orc army spotted the massive swarm of insects in the sky, rapidly moving toward them.
"Hold position! Everyone, prepare for battle!" The leader of the orc army, his expression grim, shouted out the order.
Upon hearing the command, the orc wolf riders immediately dismounted from their massive wolf mounts. From the large packs strapped to the wolves'' backs, they pulled out old-fashioned flamethrowers and strapped them on.
Seeing these green-skinned orcs carrying fuel tanks on their backs, wielding a sword in one hand and a flamethrower in the other, all while exuding a faint red combat aura, William couldn¡¯t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth and mentally scream:
What the hell?! This doesn¡¯t match the aesthetic at all! Are they doing performance art or something?!
It didn¡¯t take long for William to figure out Tony¡¯s plan¡ªafter watching his previous matches, Tony must have gone to the divine marketplace and specifically purchased flamethrowers to counter the logistics jumpers.
"You didn¡¯t see this coming, did you? After watching your battles, I put a lot of thought into countering these bugs. I¡¯ve come up with a perfect solution," Tony said with a cold smile before adding, "You still have time to surrender."
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William stared at him in disbelief. If this guy knew about my self-destructing jumpers hiding in the swarm above, would he slap himself in the face?
The fuel tanks strapped to the orcs'' backs wouldn¡¯t just be ineffective¡ªthey¡¯d actually increase the lethality of the explosions. William had never intended to send his standard logistics jumpers in for a head-on fight in the first place.
With just a small tug on the threads of faith, 50,000 self-destructing jumpers broke away from the massive insect swarm and, within moments, arranged themselves in a formation in the sky before diving toward the 300,000 extraordinary orcs below.
William was still being generous¡ªhe didn¡¯t even target the ordinary orcs, only the extraordinary ones.
Seeing the new type of insect descending, Tony remained coldly amused and didn¡¯t take them seriously. "This is your hidden trump card? Just a few tens of thousands? What difference can they possibly make?"
The moment Tony finished speaking¡ª
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted within the extraordinary orc ranks.
BOOM! BOOM BOOM!
One explosion after another chained together, forming an overwhelming, continuous detonation.
Within ten seconds, all 300,000 extraordinary orcs and their massive wolf mounts had been reduced to ashes. What remained was a battlefield filled with burning craters and charred limbs.
It had all happened so fast. Just moments ago, Tony had been smirking. Now, his smile was frozen in place, his face blank as he stared at the devastation left behind by the self-destructing jumpers.
Limbs and body parts littered the ground. His entire force of 300,000 extraordinary orcs had been annihilated. He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing.
"You¡ what¡ what the hell did you just do?" Tony stammered, his voice shaking with rage. His semi-divine projection trembled, his face red with fury.
Tony had poured an unimaginable amount of resources and effort into training those 300,000 extraordinary orcs, all to dominate this tournament. And now, in an instant, it was all gone¡ªdecades of hard work wiped away in mere seconds.
"I told you I¡¯d avenge my teammate. A promise is a promise," William said with the tone of a seasoned elder. "Young people need to go through setbacks to grow. Being too arrogant will only get you burned. Consider this a life lesson¡ªno need to thank me."
"You¡ YOU¡!" Tony was so furious that he was practically shaking, about to explode with rage. But before he could finish his outburst¡ª
He saw William¡¯s invasion portal still surging with endless waves of logistics jumpers, pouring into the battlefield without pause.
"The same words apply to you: you still have time to surrender," William said casually. "By the way, what were you saying just now? I didn¡¯t quite catch that."
Tony looked up at the sky, his eyes widening.
In just the span of a few sentences, a second massive insect swarm had formed in the sky, with a third quickly taking shape.
Then, he turned his gaze to William¡¯s invasion portal¡ªit was still continuously summoning more and more logistics jumpers into the battlefield.
"I¡ I surrender," Tony finally squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.
Facing such a horrifying number of insects, his rage was instantly cooled by fear. He wasn¡¯t stupid¡ªthrowing more troops into this fight would be nothing but pointless slaughter.
William simply smiled nonchalantly and waved to the referee outside the battlefield, signaling for the match result to be recorded. Once it was confirmed that he had won, he stopped the influx of logistics jumpers.
At this moment, the sky above was already filled with ten massive insect swarms, each made up of millions of logistics jumpers. Their total number had reached nearly 40 million.
The sheer overwhelming presence of the insect horde was enough to make anyone¡¯s hair stand on end.
Chapter 68 Wins
This is not the full number of logistics Zergs in William''s Divine Realm. To maintain the normal operation of the Divine Realm, it is also necessary to take care of other main battle units that are in a dormant state.
The number of logistics Zergs in William''s Divine Realm is always maintained at over 80 million. During non-combat periods, apart from a very small number of mutated Zergs and flying Zergs that can operate normally as emergency squads, almost all other main battle units remain in a dormant state, relying entirely on the logistics Zergs and Venom Stingers for maintenance. This is the main reason why the logistics Zergs are so numerous.
After waiting for the field manager to disconnect the invasion channel, William controlled his Divine Realm to return to the squad¡¯s docking position.
Before William''s Divine Realm had even fully stabilized, Richard''s demigod spirit had already rushed over. Even before getting close, he was already shouting excitedly:
"Brother Fei, you are absolutely amazing! That was so satisfying! That guy¡¯s face turned completely green! From today on, you are my sworn brother. If you ever need anything, just tell me¡ªI¡¯ll get it done for you!"
"Richard, no need to be so polite. Didn¡¯t I tell you I¡¯d help you get revenge? I wasn¡¯t lying, was I?" Seeing Richard regain his former spirit and enthusiasm, William also smiled as he spoke.
At that moment, Lex''s demigod spirit also flew over, his face full of excitement as he looked at William and asked, "You really pulled it off, huh? What was that explosion just now? Did your followers find the path to transcendence?"
"Lex, I did indeed find a way for my followers to ascend to transcendence. Although I¡¯ve only just begun to explore the method, I will continue to refine it," William replied with a smile, confirming that he had discovered a method for his followers to achieve transcendence.
"That¡¯s incredible! Congratulations!" Lex was overjoyed to have his suspicions confirmed. The power displayed by the self-destructing Zergs meant that William¡¯s strength had undergone a fundamental transformation.
Previously, Lex had always been worried that even though an army of ordinary-level creatures could be vast in number, they would always have limits. If William¡¯s followers remained ordinary creatures, they might struggle when facing those absurdly tough transcendent creatures, or even suffer defeat.
But now, with William¡¯s newly revealed self-destructing Zergs, sheer numbers could overwhelm any transcendent being¡ªas long as they could break through the enemy¡¯s defenses. This meant that his student had officially become a monstrous-level competitor.
As for Elizabeth, when William turned to look at her, she simply said softly, as if nothing had happened, "You are stronger than me." After saying that, she turned her gaze elsewhere.
William merely smiled faintly at this response, completely unfazed. They had only just met, and the girl was naturally thin-skinned¡ªthere was no need to tease her any further.
From that point on, William¡¯s matches turned into a complete formality. Every opponent he faced simply surrendered immediately, showing no interest in even stepping onto the battlefield.
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With 40 million logistics Zergs already revealed and an unknown number of self-destructing Zergs capable of instantaneously leveling the battlefield, no one wanted to fight him.
If the opponents were at a similar power level, they could at least engage in a back-and-forth battle. Even if they lost, they could still showcase some highlights of their performance, which would help when applying to universities.
But against William?
The sheer number of logistics Zergs alone, combined with the area-of-effect devastation of the self-destructing Zergs, meant that once the fight began, it was essentially over.
As for the battle process?
There was no battle process. Why not? Because 300,000 transcendent beastmen were wiped out in an instant¡ªwhat more is there to say?
At that point, stepping onto the battlefield would just be an exercise in humiliation, a demonstration of how quickly William could annihilate them.
This kind of brute-force, overwhelming strategy left no room for the opponent to shine. Anyone with a functioning brain knew that unless they could tank 40 million logistics Zergs and an unknown number of self-destructing Zergs head-on, there was no point in even trying.
After all, no one wanted to send their hard-earned followers to their deaths.
Time passed quickly as William waited in boredom. The results were as expected¡ªever since his encounter with Tony, he hadn¡¯t had to fight a single match. The moment his opponents saw his name, they immediately surrendered, allowing him to effortlessly claim victory and win the city tournament championship.
The entire process was utterly devoid of excitement.
As for Elizabeth, she fought fiercely against a top student from another school in the seventh round, resulting in a mutual elimination. Afterward, William approached her and offered a few polite words of consolation.
With the dull competition finally over, William easily secured the championship through a series of forfeited matches. Then came the long-awaited moment of excitement.
Three judges manifested their demigod spirits from their Divine Realms.
Each judge retrieved a golden sealing card from within their body. Then, they began their usual speech, filled with praises for the outstanding students and words of encouragement for the others.
William didn¡¯t listen to a single word of it.
Ever since the judges pulled out the golden sealing cards, his eyes had been locked onto the one in the hands of the central judge.
There was no doubt¡ªthis was the championship prize: 5 million Divine Power points.
Practically drooling, William finally snapped out of his trance when he heard the judge say, "We now invite the champion of the city league, William from Zhonghai No. 2 High School, to come forward and receive the award."
In an instant, William shook off his money-hungry expression and zipped over to the judge in a flash.
"Congratulations, William. We hope you will bring honor to our city and achieve great results in the upcoming global tournament," the demigod judge said as he handed over the sealing card.
"Thank you! I will do my best!" William carefully accepted the card, rubbing it between his hands and scanning it with his divine sense.
The moment he confirmed that the card contained exactly 5 million Divine Power points, his lips curled into an uncontrollable grin. Struggling to keep his expression in check, he floated back to Lex¡¯s side.
"Alright, alright, your smile is practically reaching your ears. If you want to laugh, just go ahead," Lex said, shaking his head in amusement. "When we return to school, there will be an additional 1 million Divine Power bonus from the school. I¡¯ll handle the application process for you in the real world, and then you can go to the Gods¡¯ Exchange Continent to redeem it yourself."
Hearing this, William instantly stashed the sealing card inside his demigod spirit and turned to Lex with sparkling eyes. "Lex, I really appreciate it!"
One second, he was expressing heartfelt gratitude.
The next second, William asked the only question that truly mattered to him:
"When can I receive the school¡¯s reward?"
Chapter 69 Global League
Seeing William¡¯s opportunistic attitude, Lex twitched the corner of his mouth and said, ¡°Look at you, acting like you¡¯ve never seen real benefits before. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take care of it once we get back. The divine power stored in the school isn¡¯t going anywhere.¡±
¡°Also, since you¡¯ve secured first place in our city, that means you¡¯ve qualified to participate in the Global Tournament of Aelvia.¡±
¡°For the next month in reality¡ªequivalent to ten years in the Divine Realm¡ªyou must make good use of this divine power to prepare yourself for the tournament and aim for a great performance.¡±
However, as Lex spoke, he noticed that William wasn¡¯t even paying close attention.
¡°Yeah, yeah, I got it,¡± William responded absentmindedly, grinning. ¡°Lex, since we don¡¯t have anything else to do, can we head back now?¡± He was already urging Lex to return to the school¡¯s base.
¡°Did you even listen to what I just said about the Global Tournament?¡± Lex looked at him suspiciously.
¡°The Global Tournament? Of course, I heard you. But it¡¯s still a long way off¡ªwe¡¯ve got ten whole years! No need to rush. Right now, I think the best course of action is to head back to the school and collect my reward. That way, I can truly focus on developing my Divine Domain.¡± As he spoke, William rubbed his hands together eagerly, making it obvious where his true priorities lay¡ªthe school¡¯s 1-million divine power reward.
Seeing William so obsessed with rewards, Lex narrowed his eyes. ¡°Oh? You¡¯re really not taking this seriously? Are you underestimating me as your mentor? Or do you think my guidance is unnecessary?¡±
An idea popped into Lex¡¯s mind, and his expression remained neutral, but his voice carried a deep sigh. ¡°Sigh¡ It seems you don¡¯t care much about the Global Tournament. I suppose that makes sense. After all, the level of competition in the Global Tournament is far beyond these small city-level matches.¡±
¡°Every year, the planet produces a handful of absolute monsters. The intensity of those battles is probably too much for you.¡±
¡°I was going to tell you about the details of the tournament, but perhaps it¡¯s not necessary. After all, you¡¯ve only just discovered the path for your subordinates to ascend to Transcendence. You probably don¡¯t even have a way to mass-produce Transcendent subordinates yet.¡±
¡°Looks like the 50-million divine power reward for the first-place winner of the Global Tournament is out of your reach.¡± Lex shook his head regretfully and patted William on the shoulder.
Before he could retract his hand, William suddenly grabbed his wrist with a firm grip.
The playful grin had vanished from William¡¯s face, replaced by a serious expression. His eyes locked onto Lex¡¯s, his hands gripping tightly.
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¡°Lex, I believe there is a way to mass-produce Transcendent subordinates. Please, I need you to tell me everything about the Global Tournament. The tournament is right around the corner, and I need a mentor like you to guide me toward my future success.¡±
The fire of ambition burned in William¡¯s eyes, his determination unmistakable.
Lex maintained a calm exterior, but inside, he was thoroughly amused. Hah! Gotcha, kid. You really think you can slip past me?
Seeing William¡¯s eagerness, Lex smirked slightly and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re so interested, I¡¯ll give you a brief introduction so you can have a general idea of what to expect.¡±
¡°The Global Tournament usually has less than 600 participants, but these are the strongest students from our entire planet.¡±
¡°Achieving a high ranking in this competition is almost impossible without powerful Transcendent subordinates.¡±
¡°For example, last year¡¯s champion had subordinates known as Greater Flame Demons. They are a naturally Transcendent race, boasting immense physical size, powerful vitality, and mastery of both magic and physical combat. With tens of thousands of them¡ªall Transcendent level¡ªand even several thousand elite-tier units, plus a single Hero-tier subordinate¡ Well, you can imagine what kind of strength that is.¡±
Hearing this, William¡¯s expression turned serious. He was now truly concerned about the competition.
If he encountered an army of Flame Demons¡ªespecially a Hero-tier one¡ªhe wasn¡¯t confident his current Exploding Zerg could take it down, even with sheer numbers.
The name Flame Demon alone implied high fire resistance. And as a Hero-tier entity, it wouldn¡¯t just stand there and take the hits. If it tried to escape, his swarm might not even be able to stop it.
Noticing William¡¯s shift in attitude, Lex smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s why you need to carefully plan how you use your 6 million divine power over the next ten years. Don¡¯t waste it recklessly¡ªyou need to maximize your combat strength.¡±
¡°Understood, Lex. I¡¯ll be very careful with how I use this divine power. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m giving up on the Global Tournament¡¯s resource rewards.¡± William¡¯s face was solemn as he spoke.
With Lex¡¯s words lingering in his mind, the initial excitement over his 6 million divine power had faded. After all, with a grand prize of 50 million divine power hanging in front of him, what he had now suddenly didn¡¯t seem like that much.
¡°Lex, do the Global Tournament¡¯s rules follow the same format as this competition?¡± Now fully engaged, William wasted no time asking about the details.
¡°You wish,¡± Lex said with a smirk. ¡°These one-on-one battles are just an initial screening process. How do you think they compare to real combat?¡±
¡°They¡¯re helpful in some ways,¡± William replied after some thought. ¡°They help identify weaknesses in our subordinates and speed up a beginner demigod¡¯s adaptation to combat. But they¡¯re still quite basic. Compared to real battles, they don¡¯t account for many of the complex variables we¡¯d encounter in actual warfare.¡±
¡°Well said. But you missed the most important point¡ªthis format is too forgiving. It provides both sides with a relatively fair environment, stripping away the brutal realities of the Divine Realm.¡± Lex paused, smiling at William.
¡°Lex¡ are you saying that the Global Tournament¡¯s rules will be more realistic?¡± William¡¯s eyes sharpened with realization.
¡°Exactly. Our civilization invests vast amounts of resources into nurturing talent, but not to raise a bunch of delicate greenhouse flowers.¡±
¡°The purpose of the tournament is to find promising young elites and direct resources toward them to accelerate their growth.¡±
¡°Of course, the Global Tournament won¡¯t be as ruthless as real-world warfare, but it definitely won¡¯t be as mild as your city¡¯s school competition.¡±
Chapter 70: Back to School
The rules of the Global League change every year, and the specific rules depend on the mood of our planet''s Minister of Education. The rules will only be announced when the tournament begins. All you can do is continuously improve your strength."
Hearing this, Lex showed an envious expression.
After all, Elvia was one of the few planets with a True God overseeing it, and naturally, the Minister of Education was also a True God.
"I understand. Once I return, I will make full use of the resources from the rewards and strive to achieve a good ranking in the Global League," William replied solemnly. After that, the group concluded their tournament journey and returned to their school station in the World of Gods.
At this moment, there were very few divine realms docked at William¡¯s class station. Most students had followed their teachers out for training, making the place seem unusually quiet.
After stabilizing the docking of his divine realm, William grinned and reminded Lex about the school''s 1 million divine power points reward before dashing into his own divine realm.
Although the school¡¯s divine power reward had not yet arrived, the 5 million divine power from the competition had already been deposited into William¡¯s account. Now that he finally had some funds, he needed to carefully plan how to spend them.
To prepare for the Global League, further improving his strength was essential, meaning that a portion of his divine power had to be spent on high-level bloodline cards.
Currently, William''s divine realm could no longer be fully self-sufficient, making it necessary to expand its area.
Additionally, he wanted to acquire some high-end rare resources to enhance the Queen Ant, but such resources were extremely expensive.
After considering all these factors, William suddenly realized that his divine power was still far from enough.
At present, his divine realm contained 40 incubation nests. Given the annual increase of one nest in the World of Gods, by the time of the Global League in 10 years, his incubation nests would reach 50.
Simply purchasing high-level extraordinary bloodline cards, even at the lowest price of 300,000 divine power per card, meant that even after receiving the school¡¯s 1 million divine power, the total 6 million divine power would only be enough to enhance 20 incubation nests.
Moreover, the success rate was not 100%. High-level extraordinary bloodline cards only had a success rate of about 70%, which meant that around 30% of the investment would inevitably be lost due to failures.
Floating in midair within his divine realm, William found himself in deep contemplation, listing the various expenditures requiring divine power and prioritizing them accordingly.
While William was suddenly overwhelmed with a large amount of divine power and struggling with how to allocate it, Lex was in a celebratory mood.
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After settling the students, Lex eagerly took out a special communication card and sent a request to the school''s Dean. As the card in his hand dissolved into light particles, their communication connected instantly.
"Lex, what¡¯s the matter?" The Dean¡¯s voice was warm, completely different from his cold demeanor during meetings.
"I have some good news for you! Our school has achieved another milestone. A student from my class, William, just won the championship in the Citywide League. Hehe..." Lex''s excitement was evident from his tone.
The school¡¯s Dean, Zous, was an elder who had watched Lex grow up. Their families had maintained a close relationship over the years. Later, when Lex became a teacher at the school, Zous continued to look out for him, making their conversations in private much more casual.
"That¡¯s excellent! This is the first time in four years that our school has won the Citywide League. The education budget for next year can be increased again. We need to celebrate this!" Zous'' joy was apparent from his voice.
"Don¡¯t get too excited yet¡ªI have even better news! You know about William¡¯s contracted creatures, right? He has now unlocked an extraordinary path for them, and his strength has improved significantly. I think our school might have a real shot at the Global League this year," Lex said, unable to hide his excitement.
"Oh? That means his contracted creatures have gained a powerful extraordinary ability? Tell me more about it," Zous asked with great interest.
"It¡¯s hard to describe, so I¡¯ll send you the match recordings. If it weren¡¯t for this tournament, I wouldn¡¯t have even known that he had unlocked the extraordinary path for his creatures. This kid has been keeping it well hidden."
After delivering the good news, Lex turned to the matter of William¡¯s school rewards.
"Zous, there¡¯s one more thing. Since William has won the Citywide High School League championship, could you confirm when the school rewards will be issued?"
"No problem. I¡¯ll verify William¡¯s results shortly. As long as everything checks out, I¡¯ll send him the redemption code right away," Zous assured him without hesitation.
"Thanks! Also, I plan to apply for a specialized training session for William. With the rapid growth in his contracted creature count, this batch of resources will significantly boost his strength, and real combat is the fastest way to grow. I doubt he¡¯ll be content staying at school for too long," Lex explained.
Given what he knew about William, Lex was certain that he wouldn¡¯t just sit idly at school.
Therefore, Lex planned to take William to a low-tier battlefield for further training once he had absorbed his current batch of resources.
"That sounds like a great idea. Submit an application later, and I¡¯ll handle the approval process for you," Zous agreed without hesitation.
Within the entire education system, strict audits were in place to prevent corruption regarding resource applications and distributions. However, when it came to talented students seeking real combat training, the system was always supportive and encouraging.
While Lex was busy securing William¡¯s school rewards, William had already decided how to allocate his divine power.
"The Queen Ant can wait for now. Resources that can be used for her start at a price of at least a million divine power per unit. I simply don¡¯t have enough for that at the moment."
"Expanding my divine realm can also be put on hold for now. I¡¯ll increase the area just enough to maintain balance in its current state. If necessary, I can recall some ordinary Zerglings to free up space for extraordinary units."
"For now, I should focus all my resources on extraordinary bloodline cards. As long as my combat power increases, I can apply to the school for training. Expanding my divine realm should primarily be achieved through external conquests¡ªthat¡¯s the proper way to do it."
Interestingly, William¡¯s thoughts aligned perfectly with Lex¡¯s.
With his decision made, William promptly teleported to the Gods¡¯ Exchange Continent, ready to browse the major extraordinary bloodline card trading centers.
Chapter 71 Markets
William already had a preliminary idea regarding the advanced transcendent bloodline cards required for his retainers.
To rapidly expand his combat power, he needed to avoid wasting time on redesigning and constructing units that could be compatible with a transcendent gene after obtaining it. The best approach would be to select transcendent bloodlines that could be directly integrated into existing Zerg units with minor adjustments.
This would not only save a significant amount of time compared to building new units from scratch but also reduce the risk of being hindered by some particularly difficult transcendent genes.
For instance, when he acquired the Fire Elemental transcendent bloodline card, he had spent a great deal of time and effort searching for a gene template with sufficient heat resistance in the markets of the Gods'' Exchange Continent.
Having already undergone the process of granting transcendent bloodlines to his incubation nests twice, William realized that transcendent genes and biological compatibility were not entirely unpredictable.
Based on his observations, the genetic template of the Hydralisk seemed almost tailor-made to accommodate the transcendent gene of the Lava Serpent. If that was the case, then perhaps the Hydralisk¡¯s genetic template could also be compatible with other serpent-type transcendent beast bloodlines that were similar to the Lava Serpent.
Even if they weren¡¯t a perfect match, minor adjustments might make them usable, avoiding the need to create a genetic template from scratch¡ªthis would save William a huge amount of time.
After all, they were from the same general species. While genetic variations existed, they weren¡¯t vastly different.
With this in mind, William decided to narrow his selection of transcendent bloodline cards to canines, serpents, and insects¡ªprimarily referencing his existing Zerg units for compatibility.
Once he settled on this plan, William transformed into a sphere of light and teleported directly to a professional transcendent bloodline card trading market.
This market offered an enormous variety of transcendent bloodline cards. Any common transcendent beast bloodline could be found here in bulk.
The logistics gods of various civilizations were never lacking in intelligence. Many demigods, upon igniting their divine flames and becoming true gods, would create their first divine imprint specifically for bloodline extraction.
They would then begin mass-purchasing or even breeding their own transcendent beasts to produce transcendent bloodline cards, a consumable item, in order to earn divine power.
As long as there was profit to be made, any industry that involved earning divine power would quickly become saturated with competition.
When more players entered the market, competition inevitably intensified. The entire industry would naturally evolve toward greater specialization, eventually forming a complete industrial chain.
As a result, numerous transcendent beasts were being farmed on a large scale by logistics gods.
Some gods even transformed their entire divine domains into highly specialized breeding facilities, training their own retainers to be professional breeders in order to improve market competitiveness and maximize divine power earnings.
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Compared to factory-style livestock farming from William¡¯s past life, the level of industrialization here was simply on another level.
These gods were far more professional. The transcendent beasts they bred enjoyed the most meticulous health plans from birth, down to the second.
Every detail of their lives was precisely managed, including dietary intake measured to the gram. Their living environments were optimized to perfection, ensuring that the bloodline cards extracted from them were of the highest quality.
With countless civilizations competing in the same industry, once the market became highly competitive, even newcomers would struggle to get a foothold.
Although William had long possessed the coordinates for this place, he had previously been too short on divine power to visit. This was his first time stepping into this marketplace.
As far as the eye could see, towering structures formed from divine power stood in grandiose displays.
Some were massive shopping malls constructed with divine power simulating marble, adorned with intricately carved statues of various transcendent beasts¡ªmasterpieces of craftsmanship.
Others featured arched roofs supported by towering, white porcelain-like pillars arranged in a circular formation. The entire structure was reinforced with divine power and embellished with fine relief carvings and murals.
Some marketplaces were designed like grand cathedrals, exuding an air of opulence with gold and silver tones. Their luxurious, awe-inspiring atmosphere projected an overwhelming sense of wealth and extravagance.
If William had to describe all the buildings here with a single word, it would be: "lavish" beyond measure.
The sheer amount of divine power required to maintain these structures daily was an astronomical expense.
At the entrances of these buildings, a steady stream of glowing spheres moved in and out, making William feel as if he were at a top tourist attraction during a peak holiday season.
Fortunately, everyone here was in the form of light spheres without physical bodies. Otherwise, William doubted there would even be room to stand.
After taking in the magnificent surroundings, William decided to explore this specialized transcendent bloodline card trading center to broaden his horizons.
Scanning the area, he quickly set his sights on a grand, gilded shopping mall and floated inside.
As soon as he entered, he was immediately captivated by the sight before him.
He had expected an interior resembling other markets he had visited before¡ªshelves upon shelves of products with divine power projections displaying their information.
But what he saw was completely different.
The interior was designed much like a high-end museum, featuring a clean, bright, and luxurious aesthetic.
At the center of the entrance hall stood a massive, ornate circular counter, staffed by numerous floating attendants.
Beyond that, the rest of the space was meticulously arranged with transparent display cases made of divine power, each set at a uniform distance from one another.
Inside each display case was a sealed card, while hovering one meter above each card was a divine power-generated holographic projection of a transcendent beast, representing the species and type of bloodline contained within.
Seeing this setup, William immediately extended his divine sense toward the nearest display case.
As soon as his divine sense touched the holographic projection of a fish-like transcendent beast, a stream of information instantly transmitted into his mind.
The data included the store¡¯s purchasing process, the shark-like transcendent beast¡¯s serial number, species, name, weight, growth cycle, lifespan, transcendent abilities, bloodline card price, and current stock quantity¡ªeverything was highly professional.
William approached the display case and observed the sealed card inside.
Within the transparent case floated a card containing a sealed oceanic area spanning ten thousand square kilometers.
Inside this miniature sea, a small school of the same fish species shown in the hologram swam about freely, living in a fully functional ecosystem.
This allowed potential buyers to use their divine senses to observe the species in its most authentic state.
William looked around the hall. There were at least 5,000 identical display cases here.
A conservative estimate put the total value of these sealed cards at over 60 million divine power.
"These people are absolutely loaded!"
William couldn''t help but sigh in admiration once more.
If not for the fact that this was the Gods'' Exchange Continent¡ªwhere divine power-constructed structures were protected by strict rules¡ªhe might have been tempted to rob the place and flee immediately.
Chapter 72 Purchases
William began wandering around the mall, simultaneously releasing his divine sense to connect with the projections of the extraordinary bloodline cards he was interested in, searching for the ones he needed.
It took him half an hour to tour the entire exhibition hall inside the mall.
Just in this one mall alone, he discovered more than 50 types of extraordinary serpent beasts, 70 types of extraordinary canine beasts, and an astonishing 90 types of various bizarre extraordinary insect species.
The sheer variety left William dazzled. As he examined the abilities of these extraordinary beasts, he could already envision the terrifying enhancements they would bring once assimilated by the Zerg.
At this moment, his emotions were like two little figures inside his mind:
One waved a fistful of cash and shouted excitedly, ¡°I want them all!¡±
The other clung tightly to his wallet, shedding tears of poverty and sobbing, ¡°We¡¯re broke! We can¡¯t afford this! Let¡¯s be realistic¡¡±
Regaining his composure, William didn¡¯t immediately purchase any extraordinary bloodline cards. Instead, he exited the mall and headed to another one.
He continued shopping from one store to the next, visiting a total of ten nearby bloodline card malls, completely broadening his horizons.
Just the extraordinary beast known as the Lava Serpent alone had more than ten different varieties, each with distinct physical traits.
However, upon examining their ordinary genes, William determined that they had a genetic similarity of over 95%.
Yet, their extraordinary abilities varied greatly, leading to significant differences in price.
Some Lava Serpents could shoot fireballs, others could continuously spew flames, some could coat themselves in burning armor, and others could create fire barriers¡
This plunged William into another brief moment of indecision. He stood there thinking for a while before ultimately giving up on the idea of buying every single variety to create a super fire-spitting Hydralisk.
The reason for abandoning the idea was simple¡ªhe was broke.
The success rate of fusing high-level extraordinary bloodline cards was only 70%, much like weapon enhancement in a certain game from his past life. Without a solid financial backing, William wouldn¡¯t dare to gamble.
Right now, his resources were limited, and each failure meant losing a precious incubation nest.
Losing a few ordinary incubation nests was still bearable, but if he lost several extraordinary ones, he¡¯d probably cough up blood in frustration.
So for now, stability was the priority¡ªgambling had to be strictly avoided.
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With that decision made, William returned to the malls he had previously visited and purchased the extraordinary bloodline cards he had planned out.
With a clear plan in mind, his actions were swift. In less than 20 minutes, he had already spent most of the divine power points he had just acquired.
He purchased a total of eight Lava Serpent extraordinary bloodline cards, all from the fireball-shooting variety.
In William¡¯s view, while other Lava Serpent varieties had excellent extraordinary abilities, in terms of cost-effectiveness, the fireball-shooting type was the best choice.
Currently, Hydralisks in his swarm were mainly used for ranged attacks. If he opted for abilities like flame spray, flame armor, or fire barriers, their role would overlap with that of Zerglings.
The Zerg were not lacking in melee units, but they did have a higher demand for ranged attackers.
At present, William had 40 incubation nests, but only one was capable of producing fire-spitting Hydralisks.
In addition, he also purchased one extraordinary bloodline card of the Gale Wolf and one of the Toughhide Jackal.
Through his observations, William found that the ordinary genes of these two extraordinary beasts had a relatively high similarity to the existing Mutated Zerglings.
The Gale Wolf¡¯s extraordinary ability, Wind Protection, could effectively enhance the agility and speed of Mutated Zerglings while adding slashing damage to their attacks.
The Toughhide Jackal¡¯s extraordinary ability, Toughened Skin, could improve the defense and survivability of Mutated Zerglings.
Both abilities could provide a significant boost to the combat effectiveness of his frontline melee units.
William planned to take them back for testing to see how well these extraordinary bloodline cards adapted to the genetic template of the Mutated Zerglings.
Carrying the extraordinary bloodline cards he had exchanged for most of his wealth, William returned to his divine domain, eager to bestow the incubation nests with extraordinary bloodlines.
Even though he had already gone through the process twice before, William still felt extremely nervous.
"May the heavens bless me, Amitabha, Jesus protect me¡ªplease let all my extraordinary bloodline cards succeed this time!"
After silently praying for psychological comfort, William decisively used all ten extraordinary bloodline cards at once.
Time ticked by, each second feeling like an eternity.
Under William¡¯s anxious gaze, only seven of the incubation nests successfully integrated the extraordinary bloodlines.
Three of the incubation nests that had been infused with the Lava Serpent bloodline collapsed instantly under his divine sense, nearly making him break down on the spot.
He clearly saw the cause of failure¡ªduring the fusion process, the extraordinary genes suddenly collapsed.
Even with his divine ability to directly observe the genetic fusion, William couldn¡¯t pinpoint the exact reason for the collapse.
Searching his memory for information on bloodline cards, he found an explanation.
The failure rate was influenced by numerous factors, some of which William understood¡ªsuch as the condition of the host being modified or the health of the original creature from which the bloodline was extracted.
However, one particular factor was beyond his divine abilities.
According to the information, bloodline cards were created by sacrificing a large number of lives. The souls and physical essences of these creatures became part of the bloodline cards.
Their unwillingness and resistance before death affected their souls, which in turn became part of the bloodline card¡ªultimately impacting its success rate when used.
William had no way of dealing with things related to souls and willpower.
With no other choice, he could only accept the 30% failure rate.
Resigning himself to this reality, William shifted his focus to the successfully transformed incubation nests.
Rather than dwelling on the three he had lost or the 900,000 divine power points he had wasted, he carefully inspected the five incubation nests that had successfully absorbed the Lava Serpent bloodline.
After confirming that they were functioning properly, he immediately used the existing Hydralisk genetic template to produce a batch of fire-spitting Hydralisks for testing.
Chapter 73 Elevation
After handling the Flame Spiked Serpent hatchery, William turned his attention to the remaining two new extraordinary hatcheries.
One was infused with the bloodline card of the Gale Wolf, and the other with the bloodline card of the Resilient-Skin Jackal.
After confirming that the status of these two hatcheries was good, William immediately placed an order for some Jump Bugs, requesting a sample of each of the three existing Jump Bug variants for observation.
Throughout this process, William kept a close watch. Once the first batch of Jump Bugs successfully hatched, the results fully confirmed his thoughts.
These Jump Bugs, while bearing some of the traits of extraordinary beasts, such as wolf fur and fluffy wolf ears, as well as an additional tongue for heat dissipation, these were minor issues.
William could easily resolve these by making slight adjustments to the genes.
For example, the wolf ears, aside from being cute, served no functional purpose and were simply the result of the generic genes attached by the bloodline card.
William could remove or modify them to be recessive, as the original Jump Bugs already had an excellent hearing system, which not only overlapped but also affected the imposing appearance of the bug swarm.
Apart from that, the Jump Bugs¡¯ physical capabilities and use of extraordinary abilities were perfectly fine.
William was overjoyed with the results and immediately began working on fine-tuning and optimizing the Jump Bug gene template.
Within less than half a month, William had completed the gene optimization. He had streamlined redundant organs and normal genes, bringing the Jump Bugs back to their original appearance.
This was quite fast¡ªconsidering the current conditions, creating extraordinary insect species through the three methods William had discovered was the quickest and most stable approach.
In comparison to analyzing extraordinary genes using the Queen''s vassal talent, which could take decades, or redesigning ordinary units to adapt to extraordinary genes (like the self-destructing Jump Bugs), where a lot of time and effort was spent finding the right normal genes, the extraordinary Jump Bugs that could be completed in half a month were simply a breeze.
After a series of tests, the combat power of the extraordinary Jump Bugs had greatly surpassed that of the ordinary Jump Bugs.
With their extraordinary abilities, these Jump Bugs could easily take on two or three ordinary ones in a fight.
Whether it was their Resilient Skin or Gale Shield, these abilities allowed them to create a significant gap between themselves and their ordinary counterparts.
This boost in combat power made William suddenly feel a strong urge to take a risk.
He considered creating a hatchery that could produce Jump Bugs with both extraordinary abilities.
The Jump Bugs played a very different role in the swarm compared to the Flame Spiked Serpents. They were the true backbone of the swarm.
At this stage, Jump Bugs served as the ground and aerial primary combat units, as well as the logistical and production core.
In terms of cost, combat power, and growth efficiency, they were the king of cost-effectiveness.
In William¡¯s mind, the swarm could do without the Flame Spiked Serpents, but not without Jump Bugs.
Standing still, conflicted for a long time, William was in the midst of an internal debate.
Conservative William¡¯s thoughts: ¡°I still need to follow the original plan. We¡¯re still in the early stages, and every bit of divine power must be spent carefully. If we use the second bloodline card every time we fail, we could lose up to six extraordinary bloodline cards¡¡±
Impulsive William¡¯s thoughts: ¡°I know exactly how much of an impact enhancing the Jump Bugs will have on the swarm. The consumption and growth cycle of Jump Bugs can¡¯t be compared to other units. They are the true main force of the Divine Realm. Boosting the Jump Bugs will maximize benefits. Plus, we still have the cushion strategy, so everything will be fine¡¡±
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Each choice had its pros and cons, and William struggled to make up his mind. After a deep breath, he extinguished the internal debate in his mind.
He decided to use the ancient method to make this decision¡ªflipping a coin.
With that, William raised his hand in the air, and a stone turned into a coin under his divine power, floating in front of him.
The coin, made of stone, had the word ¡°no¡± on one side and ¡°go¡± on the other.
William closed his eyes lightly, pinched the coin in his hand, and flicked it with his thumb. The coin spun rapidly into the air.
Reaching the highest point, the coin began to descend and returned to the height from which it had risen, before continuing its fall toward the ground.
William did not stretch out his hand to catch it, nor did he care about whether it landed heads or tails. He was not looking for the outcome of the coin flip.
What he wanted was the feeling of expectation in his heart at the moment the coin was tossed.
¡°I really do want the Jump Bugs with both extraordinary abilities,¡± William sighed as he looked up at the sky, abandoning the original plan of playing it safe.
He instantly disappeared from the Divine Realm and reappeared on the Continent of Divine Exchanges.
First, he went to the resource exchange area of the school, where he exchanged his entire 1 million divine power quota for divine energy. He then teleported back to the Bloodline Card Trading Market.
Considering that he might fail consecutively with the same bloodline card, William did not spend all of his divine energy at once.
Instead, he bought three Gale Wolf and three Resilient-Skin Jackal bloodline cards, keeping the remaining divine energy for possible failures.
With mixed emotions, William returned to his Divine Realm, first took a refreshing bath to wash away his bad luck, then went back to the Divine World to begin modifying the hatcheries for dual extraordinary abilities.
When the first hatchery with dual talents was successfully completed, William produced a batch of Jump Bugs with both extraordinary abilities.
The gene template used was the one he had already optimized for extraordinary Jump Bugs.
The results were very promising. The newly hatched dual extraordinary Jump Bugs didn¡¯t require much adjustment from William. A slight optimization was enough for them to perfectly match.
With the success of the first dual extraordinary hatchery, William¡¯s confidence soared, and he immediately began modifying the other hatcheries.
Perhaps it was due to the bath or the effectiveness of the cushion strategy, but when William spent all his divine energy, only two regular hatcheries were damaged.
The worst-case scenario he feared, where the hatchery would fail when using the second extraordinary bloodline card, did not occur.
Looking at the five new dual extraordinary hatcheries, William felt a mix of joy and sadness.
The joy was that the combat power of the dual-ability Jump Bugs had been greatly enhanced, increasing several times over, making them incredibly valuable.
Furthermore, William now had a total of twelve extraordinary hatcheries: five for dual-ability Jump Bugs, six for Flame Spiked Serpents, and one for Self-Destructing Jump Bugs, significantly increasing the swarm''s production of extraordinary units.
The sadness came from the loss of five hatcheries.
There were only 35 hatcheries left in his Divine Realm, and this loss was the real source of his sorrow.
After all, these hatcheries could produce up to 10,000 larvae a day when fully operational.
Chapter 74 Application
Losing five incubation nests means losing 50,000 Zerg units per day, which amounts to more than 1.5 million Zerg units per month¡
The longer this goes on, the greater the losses. Destroying a single incubation nest is equivalent to losing billions of Zerg units.
Thinking about this, William felt an unbearable pain in his heart. But instead of dwelling on it, he decided to turn his grief into motivation and silently thought:
"Now, my divine power is gone, the carrying capacity of my divine domain is at its limit, and I''ve completely hit a development bottleneck. It''s time to return to the old ways of the swarm."
Having made up his mind, William immediately contacted his class teacher, Lex.
As soon as the call connected, before William could say anything, Lex''s teasing voice came through.
"Yo, kid, it''s been less than a month since you got back, and you''re already thinking of contacting me?"
"Lex, I noticed that other classmates in the class have gone for practical combat training. I also want to go to a low-level war zone to improve myself through real combat," William stated his purpose seriously.
"What are you thinking? Didn''t you just receive 6 million divine power? You should take advantage of this period to stabilize your development for a few years. Once your strength improves, even if you don''t ask, I''ll take you to the low-level war zone for training," Lex advised William, though he was a bit puzzled by his request.
"Uh... Lex, I''ve already finished my upgrades. My divine domain''s followers increase by nearly ten million every month. If I don''t expand the domain, I won''t be able to sustain them anymore," William explained helplessly.
"Holy¡ ten million¡ Didn''t you have 6 million divine power? Buy some terrain cards to expand your divine domain!" Lex was shocked upon hearing William''s current follower growth rate.
If William''s followers were weak and insignificant, Lex wouldn''t have reacted so strongly.
But the combat strength of William''s followers was well recognized among ordinary-tier beings. Moreover, he had already found the path to transcendence.
Although Lex didn''t know the exact probability of William''s followers advancing to the transcendent level, based on experience, such a vast population of ordinary-tier beings was bound to produce a considerable number of transcendent ones.
With such a rapid expansion of followers, Lex felt that William¡¯s strength was becoming overwhelmingly excessive.
Hearing Lex''s exclamation, William responded matter-of-factly, "The 6 million divine power is already gone. I don''t have money to buy terrain cards to expand my divine domain."
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"Damn¡ You used up 6 million divine power in just a month? Where the hell did you spend all of it?" Lex was once again stunned.
For a rookie demigod to burn through 6 million divine power in a single month¡ªthat was unheard of.
If William had invested all that divine power into terrain resources, his divine domain could have expanded to nearly 10 million square kilometers, reaching half the size of Lex¡¯s current domain.
"I spent it on developing my followers!" William saw nothing unusual about depleting divine power so quickly¡ªafter all, it had directly boosted his combat power.
"Alright, fine, I won¡¯t ask where exactly you spent it. That¡¯s your business. Just tell me¡ªhow many transcendent followers do you have right now? I need to know so I can choose an appropriate area in the war zone," Lex shifted the topic.
"I have around 30 million transcendent followers," William estimated honestly.
He currently had over 20 million transcendent followers.
With 12 transcendent incubation nests producing 120,000 transcendent followers daily, by the time they reached the low-level war zone, his transcendent Zerg count should reach around 30 million.
Hearing William¡¯s response, Lex fell silent.
William thought Lex might not have heard him and was about to repeat himself when Lex finally spoke.
"¡Alright then, get ready. I¡¯ve already approved your individual practical training application. I¡¯ll go collect some teaching resources, and we¡¯ll set off tomorrow."
"Thanks, Lex. See you tomorrow!" William, satisfied with the result, quickly ended the call.
What he didn¡¯t know was that after the call ended, Lex, no longer needing to maintain his dignified teacher persona, couldn''t contain his excitement. He started dancing in his divine domain.
"Ga-ga-ga-ga¡ I''m rich! This kid is a total monster-level talent!" His eerie laughter echoed throughout his domain.
Once he had laughed enough and calmed down, Lex thought to himself:
"No, I have to report this to Uncle Wang. William needs special attention. Even in real combat, there are risks¡ªwe can¡¯t afford to let anything happen to him. With him, our school might achieve far better results than ever before in this year¡¯s Global League."
Without delay, Lex immediately called the school¡¯s academic director, Zous.
As soon as the call connected, before Zous could even speak, Lex excitedly blurted out:
"Zous, great news! William has a real shot at making a name for himself in this year¡¯s Global League!"
"He already has 30 million transcendent followers. If he stays on track, he might win the Global League championship in ten years!"
Zous, shocked by the information, fell silent for a moment. He was familiar with William¡¯s follower situation and closely followed the Global League each year. With a student of this caliber, William¡¯s success in the league was practically guaranteed.
"This is fantastic news! If William achieves success in the Global League, our school¡¯s education funding next year will increase by at least 40%!"
"Keep a close eye on him. If he performs well, I¡¯ll submit a request for a bonus for you," Zous said, unable to hide his excitement.
"Zous, besides sharing the good news, I need to tell you something else. William wants to go to a low-level war zone for combat training. I plan to take him deep into the barren resource wells, but I¡¯m afraid my strength alone isn¡¯t enough to ensure his safety," Lex admitted.
"If he has that much potential, I¡¯ll assign another teacher to accompany you."
After a brief pause, Zous changed his mind.
"No, that¡¯s still too risky. We need to ensure absolute safety for such a talent. I¡¯ll talk to the principal and arrange for a quality control supervisor to join you. Wait for my update."
With that, Zous ended the call abruptly, presumably heading straight to see the principal.
Zous'' caution was justified. If William truly won the Global League, the benefits would extend far beyond increased education funding.
It would also become a significant political achievement on Zous¡¯ record, greatly boosting his career prospects.
In the education sector of this world, without a history of nurturing outstanding students, climbing the ranks was nothing more than a pipe dream.
Chapter 75 Resource Zones
Hearing Zous say this, Lex felt completely relieved. He knew very well how powerful his uncle was.
Although Zous was still a demigod, as an old and experienced one who had lived for over a hundred years, the gap between his strength and that of a newly ascended demigod was not just a little¡ªit was an astronomical difference.
The next day, after completing all his preparations, William met up with Lex again in the World of the Gods. At that moment, William was busy analyzing the gene templates stored in the queen ant¡¯s body. The number of templates had been steadily increasing, and unless something more urgent came up, this endless task was simply part of his daily routine.
Suddenly, two divine domains appeared beside him, startling him.
William had long been familiar with Lex¡¯s divine domain, so that wasn¡¯t surprising. But what really caught his attention was the other divine domain following behind Lex.
It was the largest demigod domain William had ever seen.
Compared to it, William¡¯s and Lex¡¯s divine domains looked like mere specks¡ªnot even in the same league.
From William¡¯s observations, he estimated that this domain covered at least 250 million square kilometers.
Just looking at it made William feel incredibly small¡ªit was almost half the size of Earth!
It wasn¡¯t until two demigod spiritual bodies emerged outside William¡¯s divine domain that he snapped out of his daze. He quickly exited his domain and went to greet them.
Seeing William appear, Lex smiled and waved at him.
¡°Kid, hurry over here! Let me introduce someone to you¡ªthis is Zous, our school¡¯s director of education.¡± Lex gestured toward the slightly aged demigod beside him.
¡°I heard you¡¯re heading to the war zone for real combat training,¡± Lex continued. ¡°To ensure your safety, the director himself is coming along under the guise of a teaching quality inspection. Hurry up and thank him.¡±
Seeing that such a high-ranking figure was personally accompanying them, and catching the hint in Lex¡¯s expression, William immediately understood and quickly stepped forward to express his gratitude.
¡°Director, thank you for your support! I¡¯ll do my best to bring honor to the school!¡±
¡°Haha, very ambitious, young man!¡± Zous replied with a warm smile, patting William on the shoulder. ¡°Lex has already told me about your situation. I¡¯ll be looking forward to seeing you bring glory to our school in the global league!¡±
After some small talk, just like last time, Lex gave William a bunch of useful cards and coordinates for their destination.
Having lost the novelty of his first trip to the lower-tier war zone, William remained much calmer this time.
The journey to the inner regions of the Barren Resource Well took over twenty days. During this time, William grew much more familiar with Zous.
Feeling that this trip was taking much longer than the previous one, William could no longer suppress his curiosity and asked,
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¡°Lex, this place we¡¯re going to¡ªit seems different from last time, doesn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lex confirmed. ¡°This time, we¡¯re heading closer to the center of the Barren Resource Well. The demigods who operate there are all far beyond the level of newcomers who¡¯ve just established their divine domains. They¡¯re significantly stronger, which makes it a more suitable training ground for you.¡±
He then glanced at Zous before continuing,
¡°That¡¯s why the director himself decided to personally come along¡ªto make sure you stay safe.¡±
¡°So, in the lower-tier war zones, the closer to the center, the stronger the demigods?¡± William asked thoughtfully.
¡°These things are actually part of basic knowledge in university,¡± Lex replied. ¡°You¡¯ll have to learn about them eventually.¡±
¡°The term ¡®lower-tier war zone¡¯ is just what we call it. The real reason this place has that name is because of an agreement between us, the Longwa Civilization, and several other nearby civilizations.¡±
¡°We agreed to designate this region as a training ground for younger generations, where no power above demigod level is allowed to enter. That¡¯s why we call it a lower-tier war zone.¡±
¡°But in the World of the Gods, the proper term is Resource Well.¡±
Seeing William¡¯s confused expression, Lex sighed and smacked his forehead.
¡°Oh, right¡ you haven¡¯t studied Resource Well mechanics yet. Let me give you a quick introduction¡ªit¡¯ll be like pre-class preparation.¡±
¡°In the World of the Gods, there are only two ways to acquire resources:
- Plundering other divine domains
- Gathering and harvesting from a Resource Well
The highest-quality Resource Wells are always contested by major civilizations.¡±
¡°In a way, a Resource Well is like a video game¡¯s resource spawn point. New resources periodically appear in these areas.¡±
¡°This includes fragments of divine domains, broken divine domains, and even fully intact divine domains.¡±
¡°Do you know why?¡± Lex smirked and looked at William expectantly.
Seeing that expression, William knew Lex was about to tease him again. Feeling helpless, he played along,
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
At that moment, Zous also turned his gaze toward Lex, watching his teaching style with interest.
Lex suddenly remembered that his uncle was standing right there, listening to his lesson. He quickly swallowed the next line that was about to escape his lips: Do you want to know?
In the past, he had used that trick on a female student, and Zous had caught him in the act. From Zous¡¯s perspective, the whole scene had looked very unprofessional¡ªand Lex had gotten a brutal scolding for it.
Clearing his throat, Lex resumed in a more serious tone,
¡°Ahem¡ Let¡¯s say a demigod suddenly dies unexpectedly in the real world, and their divine domain was hidden away somewhere in the World of the Gods. What do you think happens to that domain?¡±
¡°The answer is: It gets transported to a Resource Well by the laws of the World of the Gods.¡±
¡°The World of the Gods is immense beyond measure, practically borderless. And with so many civilizations sending people in, this kind of thing happens constantly.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why you always find ownerless resources appearing in Resource Wells.¡±
¡°The deeper we go into this Resource Well¡ªthe Barren Resource Well¡ªthe more likely we are to find fragments of divine domains.¡±
¡°Most of the time, they aren¡¯t very valuable,¡± Lex admitted. ¡°But they¡¯re still extra income.¡±
Hearing this, William¡¯s interest immediately dropped. If all they could find were divine domain fragments, he didn¡¯t really care.
Seeing William¡¯s unimpressed reaction, Lex¡¯s eye twitched.
¡°Hey, kid! You haven¡¯t experienced the struggle of having to stretch every last bit of god power to survive, have you?¡±
¡°Listen to me, most fragments might be worthless, but not always.¡±
¡°For example, there have been cases where someone found a still-living dragon egg inside a divine domain fragment here.¡±
¡°Luck is a crazy thing, kid. You never know what you might find.¡±
Chapter 76 Arrival
"Who knows? Maybe you¡¯ll get lucky and snag a fragment with something valuable on it."
Lex¡¯s casual remark instantly sharpened William¡¯s attention. The young demigod, previously slouching with disinterest, now leaned forward, eyes alight.
"Seriously? You¡¯re not pulling my leg, Lex?"
Lex¡¯s expression hardened into solemnity. "Dead serious¡ªthough the odds are slim. Don¡¯t dismiss these shattered divine realm fragments just because their ecosystems died in the void. Any shard could be debris from a fallen god¡¯s domain, hiding rare ores or artifacts." To drive his point home, Lex cited a legendary tale of a scavenger demigod striking unimaginable wealth.
"Heh, Lex isn¡¯t spinning tales," Zous interjected, his gravelly voice carrying the weight of experience. "Every demigod trawling barren resource wells clings to that same delusion." The moment Zous corroborated the claim, William¡¯s skepticism dissolved.
"So¡ the area we¡¯re targeting has these ownerless fragments?" Though phrased as a question, William¡¯s tone left no room for doubt.
"Scattered, but present," Lex confirmed. "But we¡¯re sticking to the resource well¡¯s inner layer, not the core. The inner zone¡¯s crawling with demigods¡ªperfect for honing your combat instincts."
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William¡¯s lips curled into a feral grin at the promise of chaos. With 35 Hive Nests churning out 350,000 Zerg daily¡ª12 of them Transcendent-tier¡ªhe felt invincible. Let them come. I¡¯ll drown them in chitin and claws.
The journey spanned two grueling months. Even cloaked by stealth divine arts, Zous¡¯ sprawling divine realm¡ªa continent-sized 250 million km2¡ªrippled the void around it like a stone hurled into water. No sane demigod dared intercept the ominous distortions writhing in their wake.
"We¡¯re here," Lex announced as they halted in a desolate stretch of the void. Zous produced a glowing card and flicked it toward William¡¯s realm. Golden light seeped into the floating landmass like liquid sunlight.
"A Tracking Sigil," Zous explained. "So long as you don¡¯t purge its energy, I can pinpoint your realm across the void."
"Wait¡ªyou¡¯re not coming with me?" William blurted, turning to Lex.
The older demigod chuckled. "If we tagged along, every fledgling here would flee. Picture this: Zous¡¯ realm distorting the void like some eldritch leviathan. What¡¯d you do?"
"Run. Fast," William admitted after a beat.
"Exactly. Now go stir up trouble."
As William turned to leave, Lex grabbed his shoulder. "One last thing: If you encounter Longva demigods, let them surrender. They¡¯ll trade their realm core and 10,000ÐÅͽ for survival."
"Why? I thought we hated the Longva?"
Zous sighed, crossing his arms. "Our civilizations share¡ complicated borders. We jointly control a massive resource well neither could hold alone. Publicly, we¡¯re rivals; privately, bound by pacts. Their are permitted to ransom themselves during skirmishes."
"Fine," William shrugged. "If they pay, I¡¯ll play nice."
Chapter 77: Search
After concluding his conversation, William retreated into his divine domain and began moving freely through the lower-tier battlefield. Having visited this zone before, he moved with newfound confidence this time.
As he advanced, William scattered hundreds of scouting beacons like confetti across the void. Within a day and half, the devices pinged with a discovery. Smirking, William steered his domain toward the coordinates, emboldened by the powerful backer supporting him.
Soon, his sensors showed the target abruptly changing course and accelerating toward him. "Looks like their beacons found me too," William mused. He immediately slowed his domain''s movement to minimize spatial distortions, disguising himself as an ordinary traveling demigod while waiting for his prey to take the bait.
Meanwhile, Henir - a self-taught demigod who''d clawed his way up from an oppressed feudal society - was experiencing a surge of hubris. The thunder-element aligned ruler had recently discovered the thrill of easy conquests in this resource-poor sector. His 600,000 lightning-wielding minotaurs had crushed previous opponents, expanding his domain by 50% in a single battle. Now addicted to rapid expansion, he''d invested heavily in scouting beacons.
When his sensors detected William''s domain, Henir didn''t hesitate. "Too late to hide now!" he crowed, charging toward the signal without basic precautions. Visions of godhood danced in his head - he''d overthrow the oppressive nobles of his homeworld, become a true deity...
The invasion conduit connected seamlessly. But as Henir prepared to send his minotaur legions through, the channel suddenly doubled in size. Instead of vulnerable prey, a tsunami of mutated zerglings came pouring through.
"Hold the line!" Henir screamed as his minotaurs erected crackling lightning barriers around the conduit entrance. Bolts of electricity arced through the swarm, frying hundreds of chittering insects each second. The demigod poured divine energy into replenishing his troops'' magic reserves, convinced he could win this war of attrition.
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But while ground forces clashed at the choke point, Henir failed to notice the poisonous dragonflies slipping past his defenses. William observed the battle through one such insect''s compound eyes. "Good minotaurs," he acknowledged. "Loyal and fierce. Pity they chose the wrong master."
As Henir''s forces focused on the frontal assault, the infiltrators began spreading through his domain undetected. Toxic spores drifted from the dragonflies'' wings, contaminating vital mana springs. Symbiote pods attached themselves to strategic locations, ready to burst open at William''s command.
"Enough reconnaissance," William decided. He activated the hidden bio-bombs simultaneously. Fleshy explosions erupted across Henir''s domain as secondary swarms emerged behind minotaur lines. The lightning barriers flickered as mages turned to face the new threat.
Seizing the moment, William''s main force redoubled their assault. Acid-spitting roachlings melted through the electromagnetic barriers while gargantuan ultralisks bulldozed the crumbling defenses. The minotaur battlelines collapsed into panicked retreat.
Henir stared in horror at his crumbling domain. "This... this can''t be happening!" He desperately unleashed divine lightning, vaporizing entire swathes of invaders. But for every zerg destroyed, three more took its place. The demigod''s energy reserves plummeted as William''s endless swarm kept coming.
"Yield," William''s voice boomed through the psychic network connecting all zerg. "Your resistance is statistically insignificant."
Never having faced true coordinated opposition, Henir''s battle frenzy gave way to primal fear. With trembling hands, he initiated emergency domain separation protocols - a humiliating retreat that would cost him 30% of his territory. As spatial tears began forming, William calmly recalled his forces. There was no need to risk overextension; this was merely target practice.
When the last zerg disappeared through closing portals, Henir collapsed to his knees amidst the smoldering ruins. The bitter scent of ozone mixed with alien blood filled his domain. Of his once-proud army, only scattered groups of shell-shocked minotaurs remained.
Meanwhile, William reviewed battle data as his domain moved toward new targets. "76% biomass recovery rate... Acceptable." He made mental notes to enhance the zerglings'' lightning resistance. Somewhere beneath his clinical analysis, a small part of him pitied Henir - that desperate face of panicked ambition reminded William of his own early struggles.
But sentiment had no place on the battlefield. As William''s domain faded into the void, hundreds of new scouting beacons already flew from his hands, their faint trails glittering like deadly constellations.
Chapter 78 - Elite Level
The Poison Stinger Dragonflies had already spread out. From the initial information collected, William could confirm that this divine domain was worth taking. It was rich in resources, had a complete ecosystem, and was nothing like that worthless undead domain.
William lightly tugged at the thread of faith. Above the invasion passageway in the sky, the assembled flying jumpers swarmed into the portal like a massive serpent formed of countless insects.
The originally spacious upper half of the portal, which had only been occupied by mutated jumpers, was instantly filled to capacity with the incoming flying jumpers. William no longer needed to micromanage the swarm as he had in the past. After all, the scale of his swarm was now entirely different from its early days.
Ordinary insect units were now just cannon fodder. Losing a few million meant nothing to William.
As the flying jumpers flooded the battlefield, the swarm adopted the same strategy it always did against different opponents. The flying jumpers didn¡¯t immediately charge at the Minotaur battle formation. Instead, they hovered in the skies above, gradually amassing in numbers.
With the ever-growing swarm blocking out the sun, the Minotaur warriors below felt their morale waver, just as the light above them dimmed. It was as if a shadow had been cast over their hearts.
Seeing this, the Minotaur leader, Faker, knew that if he didn¡¯t act soon, his once-fearless warriors would crumble.
He quickly steadied himself and began chanting an obscure incantation. Powerful magic surged in his hands, forming a spear composed entirely of crackling lightning.
With veins bulging on his forehead, Faker let out a furious roar and hurled the Thunder Spear skyward.
The spear shot into the cloud of insects, detonating in a massive sphere of lightning, instantly blasting a hole over thirty meters wide through the insect swarm.
The residual electrical arcs from the explosion spread out, shocking everything within a hundred-meter radius.
Countless jumpers were incinerated, while many others, paralyzed by the electric discharge, plummeted from the sky like raindrops.
Just this single attack had obliterated over ten thousand flying jumpers.
Exhausted from unleashing such a powerful spell, Faker staggered, barely staying on his feet as his lieutenant rushed forward to support him.
Taking a deep breath, Faker steadied himself and pushed his lieutenant away.
The sunlight, once blocked by the dense swarm, now shone through the hole in the sky, illuminating his proud, spear-like stance.
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Raising his war hammer high, Faker bellowed, ¡°Fear nothing!¡±
Hearing their leader¡¯s battle cry and witnessing his incredible feat, the Minotaur warriors¡¯ spirits surged.
¡°Fear nothing!¡±
Their united roar echoed across the battlefield.
With morale restored, the Minotaur warriors radiated magic power, their formation pulsing with an overwhelming resonance.
But reality wasn¡¯t a hero¡¯s tale.
The hole in the swarm lasted only a few seconds before being filled once more, blotting out the sun again.
The loss of ten thousand jumpers was insignificant against the vast, spiraling cloud of insects.
The swarm pouring through the invasion portal never stopped for a moment.
William gazed at the Minotaur formation below, a fleeting glimmer of admiration in his eyes.
¡°Elite-tier Minotaurs? Not enough of them. They¡¯re nowhere near a real threat yet. No need to deploy the super-class insects.¡±
This was one of the rare races he had encountered that hadn¡¯t immediately broken under the might of the swarm.
Still, admiration alone wouldn¡¯t spare them. The swarm did not hesitate, nor did it show mercy.
Having gathered enough numbers, the flying jumpers shifted formation, diving toward the ground like a giant descending curtain.
The Minotaur spellcasters, ready and waiting, unleashed their stored magic at the same moment.
Bolts of lightning magic surged into the sky, exploding like fireworks in the night, momentarily illuminating the battlefield.
In an instant, the death toll among the flying jumpers peaked.
But mass casualties could not halt the relentless tide.
The swarm knew no fear.
Breaking through the magical barrage, the surviving flying jumpers plunged into the Minotaur ranks, tearing through their formation.
Without the suppression of the rear-line spellcasters, the defensive perimeter around the invasion portal collapsed as the mutated jumpers overran them.
The battlefield devolved into chaotic melee combat, and the war shifted into the familiar rhythm of the swarm.
The Minotaurs fought fiercely, but their resistance was futile against the sheer numerical dominance of the swarm.
One by one, they were drowned in the insect tide.
Henir could feel his followers perishing. The threads of faith connecting them to him snapped one after another. He knew¡ªhe had lost.
There was no time to grieve the destruction of his super-powered followers.
Determined to retreat, Henir scanned his divine domain with his godly senses.
He intended to sever the invasion passageway and cut off a portion of his divine land to escape.
But as his senses swept through his domain, his heart sank.
The Poison Stinger Dragonflies and flying jumpers were spreading at terrifying speed.
Severing the merged invasion passage would take two hours.
At their current rate of expansion, the swarm would have overrun most of his domain by then.
Worst of all, they would inevitably reach his hidden divine core.
A chilling sensation crawled up Henir¡¯s spine.
¡°Is my path to godhood really about to end here?¡±
¡°No, I won¡¯t let it. As long as I can protect my core followers and my divine core, I can rise again.¡±
Resolute, Henir vanished from his original position.
A moment later, his massive demigod avatar manifested above the invasion passage, his invisible will radiating outward.
¡°Mighty demigod, let¡¯s talk.¡±
William gazed at the spectral figure.
The creature¡¯s pale complexion and humanoid form made it clear he wasn¡¯t a Lungwa.
The battle was already won. The swarm had achieved absolute dominance, and he no longer needed to personally oversee it.
Controlling the Poison Stinger Dragonfly he had possessed, William appeared before the phantom.
¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± he asked, his tone calm and unhurried.
Chapter 79 Business
At this moment, the swarm on the battlefield below had already slaughtered all the extraordinary minotaurs.
The vast insect army split into six divisions, advancing toward the six nearest cities within the enemy''s divine realm. Along the way, every village was wiped clean, a catastrophe far more terrifying than the locust plagues of William¡¯s past life.
¡°You won¡¯t even reveal your demigod projection?¡± Henir¡¯s voice was stiff as he looked at the insect before him.
¡°Heh, if you have something to say, say it quickly. Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy? My divine power income is increasing by tens of thousands per minute¡ªcan you afford to waste my time?¡± William¡¯s tone remained calm and unhurried.
But his words made Henir¡¯s blood churn, filling him with the urge to cough up blood.
¡°You damn bastard, you''re profiting off of me!¡±
No matter how he raged internally, he had no choice but to lower his head under the current circumstances.
Suppressing his fury, Henir forced himself to sound composed as he spoke: ¡°I¡¯ve heard that in this region, if a demigod encounters a Lungwa or a human civilization demigod, they can buy their way out.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not true. What you¡¯re referring to only applies within those two races. I don¡¯t know where you got that false information, but from what you¡¯re saying, you¡¯re looking to buy your way out, huh?¡± William paused slightly before his voice suddenly took on a more enthusiastic tone.
¡°You¡¯re lucky you ran into me. Even though the information you have is false, I don¡¯t mind letting you keep your divine realm core and ten thousand followers¡ªif your offer is good enough.¡±
¡°I do honest business, fair and transparent. I have an excellent reputation, a true model of integrity. Of course, the price you offer has to satisfy me.¡±
Henir was momentarily stunned by the drastic shift in William¡¯s tone, nearly at a loss for words.
¡°I have a Mind Gem. If you withdraw your forces and let me leave, it¡¯s yours. Otherwise, I¡¯d rather destroy it than let you have it.¡±
To emphasize his sincerity, Henir¡¯s demigod projection displayed a sky-blue, spherical gemstone in his hand. Occasionally, radiant colors shimmered across its surface, exuding nobility, mystery, and an indescribable beauty that captivated all intelligent beings who laid eyes on it.
Seeing this projected Mind Gem, William narrowed his eyes and fell silent for a moment before murmuring thoughtfully,
¡°Where did you get this? The market value of a Mind Gem is close to five million divine power. I find it hard to believe yours is genuine.¡±
¡°It¡¯s absolutely real! I had it appraised at a market in the Divine Exchange Continent, and someone was willing to pay 4.5 million for it, but I didn¡¯t sell.¡± Henir, fearing William would devalue it, spoke urgently.
This was the weakness of wild demigods¡ªthey lacked access to proper trading channels and marketplace coordinates in the Divine Exchange Continent. Even selling a Mind Gem was a struggle, often resulting in them being taken advantage of.
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¡°I found it inside a fragment of a divine realm while I was traveling through this region. It¡¯s completely authentic.¡± Henir revealed the gem¡¯s origin to add credibility to his claim.
William carefully scrutinized Henir¡¯s demigod projection for a while, then suddenly felt that this demigod might actually be lucky enough to stumble upon such a rare treasure. After all, his skin was so damn white.
¡°Damn it, do lucky bastards get to do whatever they want?¡±
Suppressing his burning jealousy, William decided to maintain his professional composure as an honest merchant and properly ¡°deal¡± with this European-level luck before him.
Since he held absolute advantage, he had no intention of being polite during negotiations.
With that in mind, William resumed his unhurried tone and spoke softly:
¡°Withdrawing my forces is impossible. At most, I can allow you to take away whatever part of your divine realm hasn¡¯t been occupied yet, along with your divine core.¡±
¡°Of course, the Mind Gem has to come first¡ªotherwise, I can¡¯t verify its authenticity.¡±
Hearing William¡¯s terms, Henir¡¯s eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he blurted out in shock,
¡°Impossible! If you take the Mind Gem and then go back on your word, I¡¯ll have no way to¡ª¡±
Before he could finish, William interrupted him.
¡°Heh. And what can you do about it now?¡±
¡°You won¡¯t even show this much sincerity, and you expect me to believe you¡¯re serious about making a deal? Don¡¯t tell me you planned to hand over the Mind Gem only after you severed the connection?¡±
¡°The moment you sever the connection, you can activate a teleportation card and escape instantly, right?¡±
¡°Do you think I¡¯m that easy to fool? Sounds to me like you¡¯re just trying to scam me with a possibly fake Mind Gem.¡±
William then softened his tone slightly and continued,
¡°Unlike you, I am an honest businessman. Every word I say is backed by my credibility¡ªit¡¯s absolutely true.¡±
¡°Think it over. I¡¯m in no rush. My followers still need some time to fully occupy your divine realm.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll complete the transaction whenever you¡¯re ready, and at that moment, I¡¯ll halt my followers¡¯ advance.¡±
¡°If you¡¯d prefer, you can wait until I locate your divine realm core before making your decision.¡±
¡°At that point, my offer to let you go still stands. However, you¡¯ll only be able to take ten thousand followers and ten thousand square kilometers of divine land with you.¡±
Holding absolute negotiation power, William deliberately tied Henir¡¯s hesitation directly to the loss of his divine territory, creating immense psychological pressure.
At the same time, he wore an expression of an upright and trustworthy merchant, making it clear that he wouldn¡¯t budge without solid collateral.
Henir¡¯s face darkened like a stretched-tight rope, scrunched up in sheer frustration.
William had struck at every key point, securing an absolute psychological advantage.
His only bargaining chip, the Mind Gem, was rapidly depreciating the longer he hesitated.
Handing it over now might still be worth half his divine realm¡ªeffectively a 20% discount deal.
Wait any longer, and William might just locate his divine core.
By then, this 500,000 divine power gem would depreciate even further into a desperate clearance sale.
Most crucially, William showed no sign of being desperate for the Mind Gem.
He even implied skepticism about whether it was real, making Henir feel increasingly cornered.
This was the final straw¡ªWilliam¡¯s attitude shattered Henir¡¯s psychological defenses completely.
¡°I have no choice. Giving up the Mind Gem now is my only chance. I have to gamble.¡±
Resolving himself, Henir¡¯s demigod projection immediately dissipated.
In the next instant, his true demigod form appeared directly in front of the Stinger Dragonfly William was controlling.
Gazing at the hovering insect, Henir spoke with deep resignation,
¡°I just hope you¡¯re truly a man of your word.¡±
Chapter 80 geot it
Henir took a thumb-sized, sky-blue, spherical gemstone from the semi-divine spirit and slowly handed it to the insect in front of him.
From the way he clenched the Mind Gem so tightly, William could tell how reluctant he was to part with it.
Controlling the Venomspike Dragonfly to move forward, William suppressed the joy in his heart and calmly took the Mind Gem from Henir¡¯s hand.
After handing over the gem, Henir immediately said to William, ¡°I¡¯ve given you what you wanted. Please keep your promise and have your minions stop their attack immediately.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the rush? Don¡¯t I need to take it back to my divine domain and verify whether it¡¯s the real deal first?¡±
¡°If there¡¯s no problem, then the trade is complete. But if this thing turns out to be a fake¡ hmph, you can prepare to die.¡±
With that, William controlled the Venomspike Dragonfly to dive and roll, disappearing into the teleportation channel.
By the time the dragonfly carrying the Mind Gem returned to William¡¯s divine domain, he had already revealed his semi-divine form and was waiting at the invasion portal.
Raising his hand, he made the Venomspike Dragonfly, still holding the sky-blue gemstone, stop steadily in front of him.
Placing the so-called Mind Gem in his palm, William wasted no time. He released his divine sense to scan it while also using the rare resource data-matching function of his divine login pod.
As a faint blue holographic screen appeared before him, the gem¡¯s information came into view.
This was the immense advantage William, as a trained student, had over wild demi-gods.
Many pieces of knowledge that wild demi-gods considered extremely rare and precious were just basic education for him. This allowed newly ascended demi-gods like himself to avoid many detours.
Item Name: Mind Core
Resource Rating: Ultra-Rare Precious Resource
Market Valuation: Starting bid at 1 billion Divine Power
Description:
- A top-tier mutated crystalline core of the Mind Gem, extremely rare. Long-term wear can strengthen the soul, enhance mental power, and promote intellectual growth.
- Of great value to magic-based civilizations. Rumored to increase the chances of a magic-based civilization¡¯s Hero-tier subordinate ascending to Lord-tier under special conditions, though the exact method is unknown.
- No known side effects.
¡°Hehehe...¡± A suppressed, eerie laugh escaped from William¡¯s semi-divine form.
The moment Henir projected the gem¡¯s image, William had already suspected that it wasn¡¯t a Mind Gem.
As a top student, William could tell just from the projection that Henir¡¯s item had subtle differences from the Mind Gems illustrated in textbooks. Even visually, it appeared more exquisite.
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Now that he had it in hand, his suspicions were confirmed¡ªit was indeed not a Mind Gem.
It was something even rarer and more valuable: a Mind Core. Its worth far exceeded that of a regular Mind Gem.
After laughing enough, William composed himself and activated his faith threads, signaling his swarm to stop their assault.
As a professional and honest businessman who had just received an unexpected windfall, William was in an excellent mood. He decided to uphold his promise and let Henir go.
After all, William felt that breaking his word at this moment would be terrible for his reputation and might affect his rising fortune. Right now, he needed to accumulate good karma.
¡°Luck truly is a mysterious thing. I just arrived in this region, and I¡¯ve already stumbled upon such an incredible treasure. My fortune is through the roof¡ªthis must be a jackpot streak! Hehehe¡¡±
Carefully storing the Mind Core within his semi-divine body, William couldn¡¯t help but laugh again.
Henir, on the other hand, regretted his decision the moment he handed over his only bargaining chip.
Without any trump cards left, he had lost all sense of security and felt like a fish on a chopping block, awaiting its fate.
His chaotic thoughts sent him into a spiral of anxiety as he hovered anxiously at the invasion portal, awaiting judgment.
The swarm¡¯s assault continued relentlessly. In mere seconds, Henir watched as more of his divine domain was consumed.
Each passing moment felt like an eternity, and his heart sank into a pit of despair.
Then, without any warning, Henir suddenly realized¡ªthe swarm¡¯s attack had stopped.
¡°He actually kept his word¡ He didn¡¯t deceive me!¡±
The despair in Henir¡¯s heart was instantly replaced by overwhelming relief.
In that moment, nothing else mattered¡ªneither the gem, nor the trade, nor its value.
Only one thought filled his mind: My divine domain is safe!
The emotional rollercoaster had been too much. Unable to hold back any longer, he broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably in midair.
When William controlled the Venomspike Dragonfly to pass through the teleportation channel once more, he was greeted by the sight of the pale-skinned demi-god weeping in the sky.
Seeing this, William was utterly dumbfounded.
¡°Uh¡ what the hell happened? Did I miss something important? Why is he crying like this?¡±
Noticing William¡¯s presence, Henir hurriedly composed himself, instantly regaining the composure befitting a demi-god.
His face-changing speed was as quick as flipping a book, leaving William speechless.
After a moment of thought, William quickly deduced the reason for Henir¡¯s breakdown.
¡°Ah, I went too hard on him. Look at how panicked this poor guy got. He¡¯s just inexperienced¡ªhis heart isn¡¯t strong enough.¡±
Silently giving himself a thumbs-up, William decided it wouldn¡¯t do to just stand there in awkward silence.
So, he spoke up to offer some words of comfort.
¡°Life is full of ups and downs. There¡¯s no obstacle you can¡¯t overcome. Go through it a few more times, and you¡¯ll get used to it.¡±
As soon as William said this, Henir¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief, his expression twisting as if he had swallowed a fly.
The awkward tension vanished instantly.
¡°The hell do you mean, ¡®Go through it a few more times, and you¡¯ll get used to it¡¯? Who in their right mind says something like that?!¡±
Henir raged internally, screaming in his mind, ¡°Is this comfort or mockery?! This has to be mockery!¡±
Taking a deep breath to suppress his overflowing fury, Henir coldly asked, ¡°I¡¯ve given you the item. Can I cut the connection to the teleportation channel now?¡±
¡°Of course, go ahead. But you¡¯d better be careful with the areas already occupied by the swarm,¡± William reminded him.
¡°You know your divine domain better than anyone. There are still some bugs lurking around in certain zones.¡±
¡°If you start getting any funny ideas, or if any of your minions dare to attack mine, I¡¯ll consider it a breach of contract.¡±
¡°You know what happens then, right?¡±
William, always a man of integrity, issued a final warning to ensure Henir wouldn¡¯t try anything reckless.
After all, the last thing William wanted was to be forced into wiping out this divine domain, disrupting his grand plan of accumulating good karma.
Chapter 81 Traps
Henir took one last deep look at the Venomous Stinger Dragonfly possessed by William before disappearing instantly to silently cut off the transmission channel.
William paid him no mind and instead reorganized the swarm of insects already inside Henir¡¯s divine domain, preparing for any unexpected situations while patiently waiting.
Time passed slowly as he waited. After just over half an hour, William suddenly sensed a response from one of the exploration beacons near his divine domain.
Two divine domains were approaching his location at high speed.
From the distortion of space caused by their movement, William could tell that the spatial disturbance they triggered was not particularly large.
This immediately erased any thoughts of calling for help from Lex.
With his current strength, William estimated that even if they were veteran demigods¡ªso long as they weren¡¯t absolute monsters¡ªhe would be able to hold out until Zous and the others arrived.
Regardless of whether these two demigods had detected the ongoing battle between William and Henir or if they were simply passing by, to William, they were nothing more than prey delivering themselves to his doorstep.
How could he possibly let them go?
A simple plan quickly formed in his mind.
Immediately, William used his divine power to project his demigod form at the entrance of Henir¡¯s divine domain¡¯s transmission channel.
¡°Get out here. I need to talk to you!¡± William¡¯s mighty consciousness spread throughout Henir¡¯s divine domain.
In just a moment, feeling the presence of William¡¯s demigod projection in his domain, Henir, uncertain about the situation, appeared in his spiritual form with a nervous heart.
Before Henir could speak, William took the initiative and explained, ¡°Two demigods are approaching our location right now.¡±
Hearing this, Henir panicked instantly and was just about to speak when William cut him off again.
¡°Stop cutting off the invasion channel immediately, let your divine domain barrier stabilize, and then use a concealment card to hide your domain.¡±
Henir instinctively retorted, ¡°That¡¯s useless! Our invasion channels are still connected; they¡¯ll easily be able to find our position. There¡¯s no way to hide.¡±
¡°What do you know? Of course, it works! If I don¡¯t hide my massive divine domain, the moment they see it, won¡¯t they just run away?¡± William pointed toward the 4-million-square-kilometer stretch of his divine domain faintly visible in the void.
¡°Uh¡¡± Henir looked up at William¡¯s divine domain.
Just moments ago, he had been deeply troubled by the fact that he had lost all his extraordinary minotaur followers and that his strength had been greatly diminished.
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Now, his thoughts took a complete 180-degree turn.
The demigod who had promised to spare him was asking him to stop cutting off the transmission channel in order to conceal his own divine domain.
The goal was to prevent the approaching demigods from seeing the true size of his domain and fleeing.
Recalling the terrifying number of William¡¯s followers, Henir, who had already struck a deal with him, suddenly realized he had nothing to worry about.
So far, William had proven himself to be a man of his word.
¡°What are you waiting for? Hurry up! If these two demigods escape, you¡¯ll have to compensate me for my losses¡ªwith your divine domain as payment.¡±
¡°Also, gather your followers. Your divine domain is now under my control, so don¡¯t let them run around aimlessly. If they get caught in the crossfire, don¡¯t blame me.¡±
With that, William vanished in a flash.
Moments later, the once-peaceful invasion channel became lively again as a massive swarm of insects flooded into Henir¡¯s divine domain.
Watching this scene, Henir¡¯s face stiffened, and he roared in his heart, ¡°I never even agreed to this! This is MY divine domain¡ªI¡¯M the god here¡!¡±
But William had no time to care about Henir¡¯s inner turmoil.
Once a sufficient number of insects had entered Henir¡¯s divine domain and the connection of the invasion channel had stabilized, William immediately used a concealment divine spell card on his own domain.
At the same time, he began waking up all the dormant ordinary insect species, preparing for battle in case of any emergencies.
As for Henir¡¯s domain, William casually dumped in a billion more insects.
¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª
At this moment, two Lungwa civilization demigods, Bobo and Kenir, were heading toward William¡¯s location.
¡°Kenir, the exploration beacon shows that the detected spatial disturbance is weakening. Looks like the battle between those two demigods is about to end,¡± Bobo said while monitoring the beacon readings.
¡°Increase speed,¡± Kenir ordered. ¡°Any demigod fresh from battle won¡¯t be in peak condition. This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage¡ªwe can¡¯t let it slip.¡±
With that, he accelerated his divine domain further.
The spatial distortion caused by its passage grew even larger.
Seeing this, Bobo also sped up to keep pace with Kenir¡¯s divine domain.
After about ten minutes of travel, they finally arrived at the location marked by the exploration beacon.
At first glance, the area seemed calm.
However, upon focusing, they could see a transmission channel in the void connecting two hidden divine domains.
Kenir instantly made his assessment.
¡°These two demigods must have detected us in advance, stopped fighting for now, and are trying to hide. Too bad for them¡ªthe invasion channel connecting their domains betrays their location.¡±
¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Bobo fully agreed with his brother¡¯s judgment.
¡°There¡¯s no need to hesitate. Since they¡¯ve been fighting for a while, they¡¯re definitely not in top condition. We each take one and eliminate them.¡±
With that, Kenir pulled out a scan card and activated it.
Invisible waves spread through the area, pinpointing the exact locations of the two divine domains while also confirming that no other demigods were nearby.
Kenir and Bobo immediately maneuvered their divine domains toward the battlefield.
As they moved, transparent invasion channels extended from their divine domain barriers.
The concealment effects of their divine domain hiding cards began to waver.
Both of their divine domains became faintly visible in the void, each spanning nearly a million square kilometers.
Standing together, William and Henir watched this unfold, reacting in completely opposite ways.
Henir looked conflicted, witnessing firsthand how someone else had just fallen into the same trap as him.
He wasn¡¯t sure whether to be happy that someone else was sharing his misfortune or to lament his own miserable situation.
Meanwhile, William let out a deep breath, swung his arms excitedly, and cheered.
¡°Wahaha! They¡¯re here! The baiting plan was a total success!¡±
Right after his celebration, William turned to Henir with a dangerous smile.
¡°As the benefactor who spared your divine domain, I need a little favor from you. You wouldn¡¯t refuse, would you?¡±
Seeing the ominous grin on William¡¯s face, Henir could only nod blankly, his face devoid of emotion.
Chapter 82: The Fish Takes the Hook
As for refusal, Henir dared not even consider it. Hadn''t he witnessed William stuffing a hundred million Zerg vassals into his divine domain within mere moments? With zero bargaining chips in hand, Henir could only let William manipulate him like clay.
"Remember to launch the counter-invasion when they breach your domain. Wait for my signal!" William patted Henir''s shoulder after receiving his nod of agreement, just as the invasion channels from Kenir and Bobo pierced through both their divine domains under William''s eager gaze.
The Zerg swarms waiting at the domain''s edge immediately mobilized. Venomous dart dragonflies stationed at the periphery shot into the newly formed invasion channels the instant the connection stabilized, their compound eyes transmitting real-time reconnaissance of enemy territory back to William through divine possession.
"Not bad - mountains, rivers, forests. Prime real estate." William licked his lips, already mentally claiming both domains as his own. Even as he monitored the battlefield, he reminded Henir through their mental link: "Strengthen the invasion channels now! Full counter-invasion!"
On the opposing side, Kenir and Bobo realized something was wrong the moment their invasion channels connected. While Kenir found Henir''s domain only 50% larger than his own - manageable through tactical superiority - Bobo nearly panicked when discovering William''s domain tripled his in size.
"Kenir! Their combined domains are over 4 million square kilometers! We''ve bitten off more than we can chew!" Bobo''s psychic transmission carried rare tremors.
"Cease expansion! Fortify channel entrances and begin severing connections!" Kenir ordered with forced calmness. But before they could react, their invasion channels suddenly doubled in capacity - the enemy had initiated counter-invasions.
Any remaining doubts vanished. These weren''t ordinary opponents. Now their only hope lay in their battle-hardened four-armed lycanthropes - genetically enhanced wolf-human hybrids standing over seven feet tall, armored in enchanted carapace armor, with a million awakened warriors among their ranks.
The first wave of Zerg crashed against disciplined lycanthrope phalanxes like black tides breaking on steel cliffs. Thunder Beasts occasionally tore through defensive lines with bio-electric discharges, only to face frenzied countercharges from crimson-eyed berserkers under their gods'' divine mandates. For every lycanthrope that fell, three more filled the gap.
Watching through his aerial swarm''s eyes, William sneered. This orderly resistance meant nothing. As the swirling vortex of winged Zerg darkened the skies above the battlefield, he knew the true carnage was about to begin.
The moment the winged swarm descended, the battle would dissolve into the chaotic melee where Zerg excelled. Numbers and expendability versus quality and discipline - William''s mandibles clicked in anticipation. Those pretty lycanthrope battle lines would drown in chitinous waves.
Henir observed the familiar scene with morbid fascination. This mirrored his own defeat - the inexorable swarm tactics, the sky-blotting aerial forces, the endless queues of Zerg vassals waiting at invasion channels. Even now, fresh Zerg waves poured from his domain into the battle through pulsating organic portals.
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Meanwhile, Bobo and Kenir''s communication channels burned with frantic exchanges. "Their numbers are endless!" Bobo roared as a Thunder Beast''s bio-plasma incinerated an entire lycanthrope battalion. "We need to collapse the channels now!"
"Impossible!" Kenir snarled back, his projection flickering as he personally bolstered a collapsing frontline. "The channels are bio-locked! We need to..." His words dissolved into static as a swarm of razorwings shredded his divine avatar.
Through the Zerg''s synaptic network, William monitored every development. The lycanthropes'' initial discipline was crumbling. Where their glowing war-axes had carved through Zerg ranks like harvest scythes, now mutant acid-spitters melted entire platoons into bubbling sludge.
A particularly massive Thunder Beast breached the central command post, its bio-cannon reducing Kenir''s war shrine to molten slag. The demoralized lycanthropes nearby fell into disarray, their berserker frenzy faltering without divine guidance. Sensing weakness, the Zerg swarm redoubled its assault.
"Now," William whispered. The hovering aerial swarm dropped like a meteor shower. Razorwings dive-bombed artillery positions while spore bombers carpeted the rear lines with corrosive spores. The orderly lycanthrope formations dissolved into isolated pockets of resistance.
Henir shuddered as he witnessed the tactical shift. This was exactly how his own elite dwarven legion had fallen - overwhelmed not through strategy, but pure relentless consumption. Each Zerg casualty meant nothing, while every lycanthrope death weakened their combat effectiveness exponentially.
In the command center of his crystalline fortress, Bobo watched holographic displays flicker red with loss reports. His four arms trembled as he calculated the attrition rates. "Retreat! Fall back to secondary defenses!" he bellowed through divine channels.
Too late. The Zerg had already infiltrated their supply lines. Burrowers erupted beneath ammunition depots while hijacked lycanthrope corpses shambled into medical tents as living bombs. What began as an orderly withdrawal became a rout.
Kenir''s domain fared worse. Having focused on frontal assaults, his rear defenses were paper-thin. Zerg tunneling teams emerged in sacred breeding grounds, slaughtering pups and destroying genetic archives. Without future generations, his clan was doomed.
William monitored both battlefields simultaneously, his consciousness split across countless Zerg neural nodes. Casualty estimates scrolled through his mind - 870,000 Zerg losses against 230,000 lycanthrope deaths. Acceptable ratios. At this pace, total enemy collapse would occur within...
A psychic scream interrupted his calculations. Henir''s panicked transmission: "William! Their main god is intervening! Divine retribution incoming!"
Sure enough, the skies above both battlefields darkened unnaturally. Reality itself warped as twin pillars of divine energy descended - the patron deities of Kenir and Bobo''s bloodline making their move.
William''s lips curled. "About time." He''d anticipated this. Let the old gods come. Every second they manifested here meant less vigilance over their own domains. And while they busied themselves smiting Zerg...
Deep in the void, two other Zerg swarms activated. Pre-positioned through secret channels weeks ago, they began burrowing into undefended divine realms - the true targets of this entire campaign.
The patron gods'' roars of fury shook the astral plane as they recognized the trap. But trapped they were, forced to choose between saving their descendants'' domains or protecting their own holy sanctums.
William laughed as the cosmic scales tipped in his favor. Let them rage. By dawn, two new Zerg hive worlds would orbit his expanding empire. And as for these troublesome lycanthrope clans... Well, their genetic material showed interesting potential. Perhaps worth preserving in the spawning vats.
Henir watched in terrified awe as the godly interventions faltered. The Zerg swarm didn''t just fight armies - it fought entire cosmologies. And against such voracious hunger, even gods eventually became prey.
Chapter 83 - Request for assistance
Henir could already foresee how things would unfold next, just as he had personally experienced before.
First, the enemy¡¯s extraordinary followers would be annihilated.
Next, their ordinary follower armies would be wiped out.
Then, the swarm would begin sweeping through the opponent¡¯s divine domain, eliminating all living forces.
Finally, realizing that escape was impossible, the enemy would manifest their demigod projection and beg for mercy¡ªonly to be ruthlessly exploited by William.
Silently mourning for these two unlucky souls who shared his past misery, Henir buried his head in gathering his own minotaur followers. He had no intention of drawing William¡¯s attention at this moment, lest the other accidentally ¡°slip¡± and send part of the still-waiting swarm through the passage to deal with him as well.
As expected, the battle unfolded exactly as Henir had foreseen¡ªan exact replay of his own ordeal.
Kenir and Bobo were completely dumbfounded by William¡¯s well-practiced swarm assault tactics. Just moments ago, they had been able to hold their defensive lines, but in an instant, everything collapsed.
The entire battlefield became a gruesome meat grinder. More and more insect units continued to pour in. Even though the two of them kept activating their followers'' berserk talents, making their four-armed werewolves fight with reckless abandon, it did nothing to change the final outcome.
It took only a short time for the swarm to completely purge the battlefield and advance deeper into the divine domain. As the massive swarm forces moved on, not a single four-armed werewolf was left alive in the wake of the carnage.
The battlefield was covered in layers of corpses¡ªsome were the four-armed werewolves, others belonged to the swarm. Blood pooled into rivers, and severed limbs littered the ground, displaying the brutality of the slaughter in its fullest.
Now that the battle was decided, the remaining resistance of the two demigods would be extremely limited without their extraordinary followers and armies.
Glancing at the faith lines, William quickly assessed his losses.
Due to the fierce resistance from the two opponents, eliminating their armies of 4 million ordinary followers and 1 million extraordinary four-armed werewolves had cost him nearly 13 million ordinary insect troops.
This made William reflect on whether he should start deploying extraordinary insect units in his offensives to reduce overall losses.
However, as soon as the thought appeared, he immediately dismissed it. Losing extraordinary insect units was far too costly.
Currently, he had nearly 400 million insects, but only about 30 million extraordinary ones¡ªnot even a tenth of his total forces. Their numbers were still too limited and should be preserved as a trump card rather than frontline combatants.
With the insect swarm¡¯s powerful reproduction capabilities, as long as ordinary insects could handle a battle, then it wasn¡¯t really a problem at all.
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At this rate, ordinary followers would inevitably be replaced entirely by extraordinary ones in the future¡ªand that day wasn¡¯t far off. For now, maximizing their remaining usefulness was the best choice.
Having breached the defenses at the invasion passage, the swarm rampaged across the enemy divine domain, advancing relentlessly toward its center.
One after another, the follower settlements were wiped out. At this pace, it was only a matter of time before the swarm found their divine cores.
Kenir and Bobo could no longer sit still. They manifested their demigod projections at the invasion passage, demanding an audience with William.
This familiar scenario excited William.
Last time, when Henir had jumped out to negotiate, he had managed to secure a soul crystal core. Who knew what benefits he might get this time?
With eager anticipation, William controlled a venomous stinger dragonfly and appeared before the enemy projections.
¡°Let¡¯s keep this simple and get straight to the point. Tell me¡ªwhat are you willing to offer for me to stop my attack and spare you?¡± With prior experience, William didn¡¯t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point.
Hearing this, Kenir¡¯s face darkened immediately.
His gaze turned vicious as he glared at the floating venomous stinger dragonfly before him. In a harsh tone, he declared, ¡°This region belongs to the Lonwa! If you withdraw your forces and sever your divine connection right now, I can promise you safe passage out of this area. Otherwise, once our family¡¯s powerhouses arrive, your divine domain will be utterly annihilated!¡±
The moment William heard the threat, his mood soured.
Just a moment ago, he had been full of anticipation, as if opening a treasure chest, but Kenir¡¯s words had completely ruined his excitement.
Hearing that Lonwa demigod reinforcements were on the way, William didn¡¯t hesitate.
Within his divine domain, his demigod spiritual body immediately pulled out a communication card and sent a message to Lex:
[Lex, I just took down two Lonwa demigods. They¡¯ve called for reinforcements, and I¡¯m kind of panicking here!]
Only a few seconds later, Lex¡¯s reply arrived:
[What the hell are you panicking for? Hold your ground. If one of their veteran demigods shows up first and attacks you, just grab the divine cores of the two you already defeated and stall for time. My uncle and I will be there within two hours.]
Reading Lex¡¯s response, William instantly felt reassured.
Everyone had their own backers, right? There was no way the reinforcements the enemy had called in were stronger than Zous!
¡°This is not your ¡®Lonwa territory¡¯¡ªquit the nonsense. My time is worth a fortune, and I¡¯m raking in thousands of divine power per minute. So hurry up and tell me¡ªwhat are you willing to pay for me to spare you?¡± Now completely out of patience, William¡¯s tone turned cold and impatient.
Kenir, hearing the irritation in William¡¯s voice, sensed his growing impatience. But since he hadn¡¯t seen William¡¯s demigod projection, he still didn¡¯t realize he was dealing with a human demigod.
He assumed he had encountered an outsider who was completely unaware of the situation in this desolate resource well.
¡°It seems you still don¡¯t understand the gravity of the situation,¡± Kenir continued. ¡°There are many of my people¡¯s powerhouses active in this resource well. Once they arrive, even if you destroy our divine cores, you will still perish here¡ª¡±
Hearing that Kenir was still rambling and avoiding the main point, William¡¯s patience ran dry.
Without another word, he withdrew his consciousness from the venomous stinger dragonfly, no longer interested in listening to Kenir¡¯s nonsense.
Unaware that William had already left, Kenir continued trying to intimidate and persuade the insect in front of him.
Only after rambling on for a while did he finally notice the dragonfly hadn¡¯t responded at all¡ªit just stared at him blankly.
Kenir suddenly realized: William had long since severed his connection and left. He had just been wasting his breath, negotiating with an insect.
¡°Damn it! You¡¯ll regret this!¡± Furious, Kenir¡¯s wrathful intent spread outward from his demigod projection.
Sensing this rage from afar, William¡¯s lips curled into a cold smirk.
Chapter 84 Co-operation
William personally controlled the swarm, accelerating its advance toward the center of the enemy¡¯s divine domain.
Faced with the swarm¡¯s incredibly high efficiency, Kenir and Bobo continuously issued divine decrees, commanding their followers to do everything possible to delay the advance of the swarm¡¯s armies.
Unfortunately, against a force without commanders, logistics, or terrain restrictions, the strategic depth and delaying tactics they had learned were completely useless.
The only ones available to block the swarm¡¯s path were the remaining ordinary four-armed werewolves within the divine domain. However, despite their individual combat strength, they lacked the organization needed to form a large-scale army.
Against the main force of the swarm, they were nothing more than cannon fodder, incapable of slowing its advance in any meaningful way.
Only scattered groups detected by the venomous stinger dragonflies in the wild managed to inflict minor casualties on the swarm when facing small extermination squads. However, these battles always ended the same way: under the swarm¡¯s unlimited reinforcements, they were inevitably wiped out.
Henir, watching as an uninvolved bystander, had foreseen the beginning of this battle but not its conclusion.
He had not expected that the enemy had powerful reinforcements nearby, ready to intervene.
Yet, seeing William¡¯s current stance, even if he was aware of the incoming reinforcements, he had no intention of stopping.
As one of William¡¯s accomplices, Henir knew that once the enemy¡¯s reinforcements arrived, he would undoubtedly be punished.
Realizing this, and unaware that William also had reinforcements, Henir felt a heavy weight settle in his heart.
His mind raced, trying to find a way out of this predicament.
After a few minutes of consideration, he came to a single conclusion:
Since his divine domain was already connected to both sides, there was no way for him to escape.
However, if he could reach an agreement with the two Lungwa demigods, he might have a chance to avoid destruction once the enemy reinforcements arrived.
Henir¡¯s demigod spirit form vanished from his original location as he stealthily concealed himself, appearing just outside Bobo¡¯s divine domain barrier.
He reached out and gently brushed the barrier, causing a strand of divine power to spread across its surface.
Sensing the anomaly in his divine domain¡¯s barrier, Bobo immediately focused his attention on Henir¡¯s location.
A sweep of divine thought revealed the suspicious demigod lingering outside.
Seeing that the other party was not making any further moves, seemingly waiting for something, Bobo quickly understood the situation and concealed himself before appearing before Henir.
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¡°What do you want?¡± Bobo transmitted his thoughts directly to the demigod before him.
Seeing the Lungwa demigod appear, Henir relaxed slightly and spoke, ¡°I finally managed to contact you. I am also a demigod under invasion.¡±
¡°I was forced to attack you under his threats.¡±
¡°The one currently invading your domain is actually our common enemy. I believe we have a basis for cooperation.¡±
Hearing Henir¡¯s words, Bobo¡¯s expression shifted as he asked, ¡°How do you propose we cooperate? Speak.¡±
Henir did not hesitate and said directly, ¡°The demigod attacking you has already sent over 200 million of his followers into your divine domain in his efforts to find your divine core as quickly as possible.¡±
¡°His own divine domain must now be vulnerable. I can take this opportunity to launch an attack on his domain, reducing the pressure on you.¡±
¡°In return, once your reinforcements arrive, you must ensure my safe departure.¡±
Bobo quickly realized that this proposal had only benefits and no downsides for him, so he decisively agreed, ¡°Your request is very reasonable. I accept.¡±
Hearing Bobo¡¯s agreement, Henir¡ªalthough he had anticipated this outcome¡ªstill felt a sense of relief.
¡°I understand that the Lungwa civilization is one of honor and integrity. I trust that you will not go back on your word.¡±
Henir¡¯s words both flattered Bobo and subtly appealed to his sense of pride, hoping that he would keep his promise for the sake of reputation.
Bobo chuckled calmly and readily guaranteed, ¡°No problem. I promise to keep my word and ensure your safe departure.¡±
Hearing Bobo¡¯s firm statement, Henir¡ªwho had no other options¡ªcould only convince himself to trust in the promise.
¡°Well then, I wish us a successful cooperation.¡±
¡°Likewise.¡±
After reaching an agreement, the two demigods immediately parted ways. Henir swiftly returned to his own divine domain and began issuing divine decrees to the minotaur followers who had been stationed across different regions in high alert.
Of the more than 30 million ordinary minotaurs under his command, Henir kept half to defend the divine core and clear out the remaining scattered insects in his domain.
The other half began assembling, distributing weapons and armor.
Through divine perception, Henir confirmed that fewer than 2 million insects remained in his domain, with the rest having entered Bobo¡¯s divine domain.
This led him to conclude that William¡¯s divine domain must be severely under-defended.
What Henir didn¡¯t know, however, was that his logical assumption was completely incorrect.
In reality, William¡¯s divine domain was in no danger whatsoever. He hadn¡¯t even considered Henir a threat.
To William, Henir was nothing more than a convenient invasion link, not someone worth factoring into the battle strategy.
At present, William¡¯s divine domain was not only home to 30 million extraordinary insects still in hibernation but also protected by 80 million ordinary zerglings and supported by 90 million logistical zerglings.
Against such a force, Henir¡¯s makeshift army of 15 million ordinary minotaurs was marching straight toward death.
However, due to the information gap, Henir remained oblivious to the true situation.
William had never expected that the already battered Henir would suddenly lose his mind and march to his own demise.
Thus, after assembling his 15 million minotaurs, Henir felt emboldened once again.
He commanded his minotaur army to advance toward William¡¯s divine domain invasion corridor, wiping out any insects encountered along the way.
Focused on managing the invasion of both divine domains, William immediately noticed Henir¡¯s movements as scattered insects were eliminated.
Using the venomous stinger dragonflies as coordinates, William projected a massive half-body illusion in front of the minotaur army and spread his divine intent.
¡°Hey, you¡¯ve already broken your promise! What do you think you¡¯re doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Let me tell you right now, unless you bring me another Soul Crystal, this isn¡¯t going to end well for you.¡±
William actually had some fondness for this pale-skinned demigod.
After all, the man had gifted him a Soul Core worth over 100 million divine power, so William decided to give him one last chance.
Henir manifested his own demigod projection and responded coldly, ¡°Can¡¯t you see the situation clearly? I have already reached an agreement with the Lungwa demigods.¡±
¡°As long as I slow down your invasion, once the Lungwa reinforcements arrive, your death will be inevitable, while I will walk away unharmed.¡±
Chapter 85 - Reinforcements from the Opponent
Hearing Henir¡¯s words, William¡¯s expression turned strange¡ªadvising a fool was always a difficult task.
He could only hope that this kid was mentally strong enough, so that he wouldn¡¯t end up crying again after losing his divine domain core.
William let out a deep sigh, feeling regretful about being forced into action. His projection disappeared right in front of Henir, as he continued commanding the swarm to invade the divine domains of the two Lowa demigods.
As for Henir, William simply ordered the remaining swarm units in his divine domain to scatter and roam, maintaining control over the territory. At the same time, he allocated 20 million swarm units to block the invasion passage, waiting for the enemy to march in and deliver themselves to his doorstep.
William did not send the swarm directly into Henir¡¯s divine domain to crush the minotaur followers.
He was concerned that this mentally fragile demigod might not be able to withstand the shock. If Henir ended up self-destructing his divine domain core, that would be a serious problem for William¡ªafter all, he still needed Henir¡¯s divine domain as a connector for his invasion into Bobo¡¯s domain.
As time passed, the swarm continued its rapid invasion.
Just as William¡¯s forces reached the core area of the enemy¡¯s divine domain and began searching for Kenir and Bobo¡¯s divine domain cores, he suddenly sensed something in the void outside the divine domain.
A distortion ripple appeared in the distance¡ªa sign of a rapidly moving divine domain.
Reinforcements had arrived.
William¡¯s expression immediately turned serious. He didn¡¯t hesitate.
Without delay, he connected to the threads of faith. Preparing for the worst was always the right choice.
Within William¡¯s divine domain, inside a massive underground hive, countless dormant zerglings and hydralisks were curled up in neat circles, filling the entire hive floor in a silent, orderly manner.
At first glance, they appeared to be nothing more than a pile of dead insect carcasses.
The only movement came from a few support zerglings scurrying around, tending to their kin.
But then, a faint rustling sound broke the eerie silence.
Within seconds, the once-quiet hive came alive.
Receiving William¡¯s command, the dormant zerglings and hydralisks awakened from their slumber.
Their bodies trembled as they rapidly regained mobility, deep growls echoing through the hive tunnels.
After a brief moment of chaos, the newly awakened transcendent swarm creatures began moving in an orderly fashion, marching toward the rally points designated by William.
The same scene played out across all the hives within William¡¯s divine domain.
William had just awakened every single one of his dormant transcendent swarm units. At the same time, he accelerated his search for the divine domain cores of the two Lowa demigods.
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Meanwhile, in the outer void, only a few minutes had passed before the newly arrived divine domain reached the battlefield.
A massive invasion passage rose from its divine domain barrier, destabilizing the domain¡¯s concealment effect.
A divine domain covering more than 3 million square kilometers was now partially revealed to William¡¯s vision.
Seeing this, William¡¯s face darkened.
He could no longer afford to waste time searching for the divine domain cores.
His semi-divine spirit projection instantly appeared outside the divine domain barrier, sending a clear telepathic message to the Lowa demigod preparing to invade.
"Stop. I have already summoned my teacher for reinforcements, and they will arrive at any moment. As an elder demigod, do you intend to break the rules and personally intervene in a battle between the new generation?"
William¡¯s message was crystal clear.
He was warning the opponent that he also had reinforcements on the way. As an elder demigod, the other party should respect the unspoken rules¡ªveterans should not directly interfere in battles between younger demigods, or else the situation could spiral out of control.
The Lowa demigod, Darius, who had just raised the invasion passage, froze upon hearing William¡¯s words.
When he saw that the opposing demigod was a human, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be a wild demigod? Why is it a damned human?"
Darius knew very well that new-generation human demigods often had mentors watching over them in secret.
Before he could think further, the divine spirits of Kenir and Bobo also appeared outside the divine domain barrier.
"Lord Darius! He¡¯s stalling for time! He¡¯s already searching for our divine domain cores¡ªplease, save us!" Kenir¡¯s panicked voice rang in Darius¡¯ mind.
Hearing the desperate plea of his juniors, Darius immediately began weighing the situation.
"This divine domain is only 4 million square kilometers. According to Kenir¡¯s intelligence, the enemy has no transcendent followers. Taking him down should be easy."
"As long as I can extract his divine domain core before his mentor arrives, I will have a bargaining chip even if an elder human demigod shows up."
"Otherwise, under the current circumstances, saving Kenir and Bobo would come at a heavy price."
With this thought, a cold glint flashed in Darius'' eyes as he made his decision.
Without hesitation, the invasion passage stabilized, fully connecting to William¡¯s divine domain.
At the same time, Darius revealed his semi-divine spirit projection, sneering as he said:
"Lowly creature, has no one taught you to show humility when facing a true superior?"
"Once I extract your divine domain core, you will understand this lesson well."
With that, Darius withdrew into his divine domain, preparing his forces to launch the invasion.
William watched as the worst-case scenario unfolded before his eyes.
He had no choice but to return to his divine domain and prepare for battle.
Through the threads of faith, William immediately pulled back over 100 million swarm units from the ongoing invasions.
Kenir, Bobo, and Henir¡¯s divine domains had already lost their main combat forces.
Leaving a portion of the swarm to continue searching for their divine domain cores and eliminating any remaining resistance would be sufficient.
At the same time, as soon as Darius¡¯ invasion passage stabilized, countless red-eyed, four-armed werewolves stormed into William¡¯s divine domain.
Seeing that this veteran demigod¡¯s followers were the same as those used by the previous two demigods, William felt a wave of relief.
At least they weren¡¯t some kind of ridiculously overpowered transcendent creatures.
Keeping a cool head, William immediately began analyzing Darius¡¯ combat strength.
"Based on the development levels of the two previous Lowa demigods¡¯ divine domains, and considering a divine domain of 3 million square kilometers¡"
"The total number of ordinary followers should be around 800 million to 1 billion."
"The number of professional soldiers should be approximately 120 million, and the number of transcendent followers should be around 30 million. The real unknowns are how many elite-tier and hero-tier followers he has."
At this thought, William¡¯s heart sank once more.
Without a numerical advantage, this opponent was not one he could defeat in a head-on battle. His only option was to buy time for his reinforcements to arrive.
William quickly decided on his strategy against Darius:
"I must block the invasion passage¡ªlimiting the battlefield¡¯s scale is the only way to contain the enemy."
Chapter 86 - Invasion of the Passageway
William had already decided on his strategy, and the swarm within his divine domain immediately sprang into action.
The moment the invasion portal appeared at the edge of his domain, all nearby insectoid creatures began converging on the portal¡¯s location.
As a species where every individual was a combat unit, the insectoids clashed head-on with the four-armed werewolves as soon as they emerged from the invasion portal.
The brutal slaughter erupted without any prelude, turning this entire region into a nightmarish battlefield.
Both sides poured their forces into the area, fighting fiercely to seize control of the invasion portal. The battlefield became a terrifying meat grinder.
William and Darius continuously deployed more of their followers into the fray.
The first to arrive were waves of logistic jumpers and aerial jumpers, diving at high speed into the chaotic battlefield.
A logistic jumper scanned its surroundings in just two seconds before locking onto a target.
With a slight adjustment to its trajectory, it altered its descent path and swiftly cut into the blind spot of a four-armed jackal-werewolf.
As it closed in, its piercing limbs shot out from its back, their metallic tips slicing through the air with a sharp hum.
In an instant, they punctured the back of the four-armed werewolf¡¯s skull. Before the logistic jumper could even retract its lethal limbs, another four-armed werewolf grabbed its head.
With overwhelming strength, the werewolf tore the jumper¡¯s head from its body. The sight of blood sent it into a frenzy, and just as it was about to throw its head back and howl¡ª
Another aerial jumper streaked past its back at high speed. Though its razor-sharp blade couldn¡¯t sever the werewolf in half, it sliced through a gap in the waist armor, exposing a gruesome sight¡ªthe werewolf¡¯s spine, now severed.
Neither side showed any fear or hesitation.
The berserk four-armed werewolves and the insectoids, designed as killing machines, continued slaughtering each other with ruthless efficiency.
Their followers¡¯ lives were nothing more than chips in the hands of these two demigods, spent recklessly on the battlefield as they waged war like a deadly game.
William observed the carnage below with an indifferent expression. He showed no sign of emotion, merely using his faith-linked connection to direct the swarm, accelerating the arrival of his extraordinary insectoids.
Although his forces had temporarily halted the enemy''s advance at the invasion portal, William could already feel the pressure brought by an experienced demigod.
Despite his insectoid forces holding the numerical advantage, the casualty ratio remained nearly one-to-one.
His enemy¡¯s followers were far stronger on average than he had anticipated.
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And this was merely their first probing attack.
Once Darius deployed his extraordinary followers, if William couldn¡¯t suppress their offensive, the battle at the invasion portal would spill into his divine domain.
That was something William could not allow. He had worked too hard to cultivate his domain, and he had no intention of letting the flames of war consume it.
Meanwhile, Darius was also closely observing the battle at the invasion portal.
William¡¯s forces had surprised him as well.
Such a high-intensity battlefield created immense psychological pressure on any participant.
With a sweep of his divine sense, Darius quickly tallied the casualties so far.
In just a short span of time, over 500,000 of his followers had perished¡ªand the enemy had suffered roughly the same.
Although this was only a minor loss for him, for most young demigods, casualties on this scale would be devastating.
Yet William remained indifferent to such heavy losses, continuously sending more followers into battle without hesitation.
That was what shocked Darius the most.
In his experience, ordinary armies could never endure such a horrifying casualty rate.
A battlefield like this¡ªan unrelenting slaughterhouse¡ªwould crush the morale of most followers.
Only those with the Berserk talent, like his own four-armed werewolves, could fight without regard for losses.
Otherwise, unless a follower had reached the level of a fanatical believer or undergone rigorous training to forge an unshakable will, they wouldn¡¯t even have the courage to set foot on such a battlefield.
Regardless of whether this human demigod had achieved this through sheer faith or relentless training, it was proof of his power and potential.
If such a promising new demigod were to fall into trouble, his mentors would undoubtedly intervene.
That meant Darius had only a few hours to act.
His gaze grew solemn as he decided to accelerate the invasion.
He began mobilizing his extraordinary followers.
The elite army of extraordinary four-armed werewolves, already assembled outside the invasion portal, howled in unison upon receiving Darius¡¯ command.
Clad in fine armor and standing in disciplined formation, these extraordinary four-armed werewolves ignited a faint red aura of battle energy.
The energy slowly condensed into a semi-transparent armor that enveloped their entire bodies.
Then, with synchronized steps, they charged into the portal.
The moment these elite warriors entered the battlefield, William immediately felt the pressure spike.
Unlike the extraordinary four-armed werewolves under Bobo and Kenir, Darius¡¯ forces possessed far more refined and potent battle energy.
Previously, an aberrant jumper could tear through an enemy¡¯s flesh and armor in a single bite.
Now, their attacks only managed to penetrate the semi-transparent battle energy armor, inflicting flesh wounds instead of lethal damage.
Meanwhile, with their battle energy enhancing their strength, agility, and defense, the extraordinary four-armed werewolves quickly shifted the tide of battle.
In mere moments, the casualty ratio had risen to five-to-one against William¡¯s forces.
As more and more extraordinary four-armed werewolves poured through the invasion portal, the death toll among William¡¯s swarm continued to rise.
The battlefield, once evenly matched, was now tipping in Darius¡¯ favor.
His extraordinary followers had begun to push deep into William¡¯s divine domain.
Yet, despite the escalating losses, William remained calm, showing no hint of panic.
With a subtle tug on the faith link, he halted the aerial and logistic jumpers¡¯ dive-bombing assaults.
Instead, they began amassing at high altitudes, ending the chaotic melee for the time being.
On the ground, his forces maintained their encirclement, focusing all efforts on slowing the enemy¡¯s advance.
Darius, watching the battlefield closely, noticed William¡¯s retreat and immediately projected a massive demigod avatar over the invasion portal.
With a victorious smirk, his voice thundered across the battlefield:
"Are you already giving up?"
"Young one, I must admit, you have done quite well."
"But unfortunately for you, you ran into me. You never stood a chance."
"No matter how many followers you send to the battlefield, you cannot stop me from tearing out the core of your divine domain. That is your inevitable fate."
"Since the outcome is already decided, why continue throwing your followers to their deaths?"
"Preserve your forces and surrender. Wait for your mentors to come ransom you¡ªthat is your only sensible choice."
Chapter 87 The Art of War
Darius wanted to use a verbal assault to break William¡¯s resistance.
His grand declaration echoed through William¡¯s divine realm but received no response at all.
At this moment, the closest extraordinary insectoid forces, stationed just one kilometer away from the invasion portal, were already on the battlefield.
Over 3 million Spikesnakes were lying quietly in the grass, waiting for William¡¯s orders.
Unaware of all this, Darius, despite not receiving any reply from William, saw the growing swarm of insects in the sky, signaling William¡¯s attitude.
Taking advantage of this, with the area around the invasion portal still safe, Darius sped up the deployment of his extraordinary minion troops into William¡¯s divine realm, aiming to completely occupy the area, establish a forward base, and allow the follow-up forces to invade William¡¯s realm more easily.
Endless extraordinary Four-Armed Werewolves were, under Darius¡¯s urging, rapidly improving the efficiency of entering the teleportation portal, and soon gathered over 3 million troops near the portal.
Most of them were equipped with four throwing spears at their waists¡ªranged weapons designed specifically for countering high-flying insect swarms.
Unfortunately, due to missing key information, Darius¡¯s preparations were essentially in vain.
William wouldn¡¯t foolishly allow the swarm in the sky to directly dive into the enemy¡¯s throwing spear barrage.
After observing for a while, William developed a clear understanding of the Four-Armed Werewolves¡¯ fighting aura defenses.
With his experience, he judged that the fireball projectiles shot by the Spikesnakes would likely leave the werewolves able to withstand the explosion¡¯s shockwaves if they were at the edges of the blast radius due to their tough physiques.
However, if the fireballs exploded at close range, the flames and shockwaves would penetrate their aura defenses, causing light to severe injuries, but likely not fatal ones.
Direct hits, on the other hand, would be fatal without question.
Having once experienced a blocked invasion portal and an overwhelming firepower assault, William knew that the current concentrated formation of enemies would be devastating if subjected to a firepower barrage.
As the pressure on his defense circle grew, the insect swarm¡¯s defensive line began to retreat.
William felt it was time, and the long-awaited Spikesnakes immediately moved into action, advancing toward the frontline.
With no complex tactical arrangements, William directly commanded the Spikesnakes to get closer to the frontline, and once they entered the firing range, countless fireball spells formed in the mouths of the Spikesnakes and were hurled toward the area occupied by the Four-Armed Werewolves.
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The fireballs rained down in a dense barrage, exploding with a thunderous roar that filled the air.
As the Spikesnake swarm steadily advanced, the area covered by firepower continued to extend toward the rear of the enemy formation.
Wherever the fireballs went, no gaps were left; the ground was completely plowed by the explosions.
The Spikesnakes kept expending their magical energy, continuing to fire until their reserves were completely depleted.
The sky was ablaze, and smoke filled the air, as the battlefield rapidly transitioned from a medieval melee combat scenario to a modern-style carpet bombing.
The difference in the lethality of the two modes of warfare was as stark as night and day.
Watching the howling Four-Armed Werewolves caught in the flames, William felt no mercy.
Using saturation bombardment and steadily advancing, the fireball explosions spread all the way to the invasion portal before gradually stopping.
The entire process took less than five minutes.
The insect swarm had reclaimed the area that Darius had occupied, while also wiping out over 3 million of his elite extraordinary minions.
As the smoke cleared, the ground was littered with dismembered limbs, charred bodies, and craters from the explosions¡ª a grim reflection of the chaos that had unfolded in just a few minutes.
Caught off guard by William¡¯s sudden outburst, Darius¡¯s minions that had entered William¡¯s divine realm were wiped out in an instant.
The abrupt shift in the mode of warfare not only cost him 3 million extraordinary minions and countless regular ones, but more importantly, he had lost the best opportunity to invade.
It was obvious now that William had set up thorough defenses at the invasion portal, establishing a firepower blockade zone.
Any minions attempting to enter William¡¯s divine realm would first be subjected to a barrage of magical fireballs.
At his current level, Darius¡¯s extraordinary minions were not capable of withstanding such a heavy firepower assault.
Trying to break through the firepower coverage would come at an enormous cost.
As a result, Darius¡¯s face darkened like a still pond, and the true fire of rage was now ignited in him.
He immediately began mobilizing his true core fighting strength: an elite force of over 300,000 Four-Armed Werewolves, led by a Hero-level minion.
This was the real source of Darius¡¯s confidence in being called an old-tier demigod.
With the arrival of this elite army, the Four-Armed Werewolves originally stacked up at the invasion portal automatically stepped aside, lowering their heads in respect to the new elite force.
There was no need for any command. The crowded area immediately cleared a straight, wide path leading to the teleportation portal.
Venito, Darius¡¯s only Hero-level Four-Armed Werewolf, cast a quick glance at his retreating kin and calmly stepped onto the path to the invasion portal.
Without a word, he motioned for the elite werewolves behind him to halt their advance.
His subordinates immediately stopped, the rhythmic sound of their march vanishing like a paused video.
Venito slowly turned, facing his neatly arranged army, and spoke calmly: ¡°On the other side is a new world, and the enemies are just fragile insects and monsters.¡±
¡°They have nothing but numbers. All we need to do is one thing¡ªcrush them.¡±
His voice, though not loud, spread far with the help of his fighting aura.
¡°Crush them!¡± The elite Four-Armed Werewolf army roared in unison, their voices echoing through the heavens.
This army had accompanied Darius through countless wars, being torn apart and rebuilt many times, but they had never retreated.
Facing the battlefield, facing death, had become engraved into their very souls.
Thus, they did not need any further words of encouragement. They already possessed their own pride and conviction.
This was a true army¡ªone that could fight until the last soldier fell. It was Darius¡¯s trump card.
Chapter 88 Kaelen
Kaelen, amidst the earth-shaking roar, turned once again to face the invading portal.
A surge of fiery red battle energy erupted around him, flickering like a flame ignited in the wind. Under his precise control, the battle energy slowly contracted, eventually condensing into a translucent energy entity. It transformed into a layer of red-glowing armor that enveloped his entire body.
This scene seemed to serve as a signal. The elite troops following him also ignited their red battle energy, engulfing their bodies in flames.
Kaelen wasted no more time. He drew four specially crafted longswords from his waist, their blades instantly wrapped in fiery red battle energy. Without another word, he charged straight into the teleportation portal, with his army following closely behind.
The moment Kaelen entered William''s divine domain, his superior dynamic vision allowed him to instantly assess his surroundings. He had emerged in an open area just outside the invasion portal.
Three hundred meters away, at the forefront of the swarm''s encirclement, mutated Zerglings had already sealed off this open space completely. Behind them stood groups of extraordinary Hydralisks capable of casting Fireball spells. These Hydralisks were organized into clusters, strategically positioned to leave enough space for the melee Zerglings to maneuver while keeping the portal entrance within their firing range.
As the initial shock of the invasion wore off, all the insectoid forces within the divine domain were converging toward this location, amassing in overwhelming numbers.
Further in the distance, the land stretched endlessly, teeming with countless Zerg. The darkened sky swarmed with aerial insectoid units, circling overhead and blocking out the sunlight.
The sheer horror of such an overwhelming numerical advantage would drive an ordinary person to despair with just a single glance.
Yet, Kaelen merely let out a cold smile. In his bloodthirsty eyes, a fire seemed to burn.
Even before the fireballs raining down from the sky could reach him, he had already pushed off the ground with immense force, shattering the earth beneath him as he transformed into a streak of red lightning, charging directly into the Zerg defensive line.
The battle energy-infused longswords in his hands suddenly flared up, extending their energy blades twenty meters outward. With a single horizontal sweep, the razor-sharp energy blades effortlessly cleaved through the Zerglings and Hydralisks blocking his path.
A fiery red figure moved at high speed within the densely packed swarm. The Zerglings'' attacks barely made contact with his body, failing to even break through his defenses.
Kaelen tore through the enemy ranks as if they were nonexistent. With the extended range of his battle energy swords, he single-handedly shattered William''s dense defensive line, carving out an open path.
His objective was crystal clear¡ªhe locked onto each visible Hydralisk cluster and began eliminating them with ruthless efficiency.
Wherever he passed, it was as if a massive brush had wiped away the enemies, leaving behind a road littered with severed limbs.
Even when the Hydralisks detonated Fireball spells at close range, they were powerless to stop him. The explosive force of Fireball magic was simply insufficient to break through his battle energy defenses.
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Following Kaelen out of the portal, the elite four-armed werewolves charged forward, their battle energy armor burning as they withstood the fiery bombardment.
In less than ten seconds, they had sprinted past the Fireball-covered zone. Apart from a few unfortunate ones who took direct hits and sustained injuries, most of them were merely slightly disheveled.
They swiftly followed the opening Kaelen had carved out, easily breaching deep into the Zerg swarm.
Without needing orders, the elite four-armed werewolves instinctively formed coordinated battle groups of ten thousand each. Supporting one another seamlessly, they efficiently slaughtered the surrounding Zerg units.
The battle energy of these elite werewolves far surpassed the extraordinary level.
The mutated Zerglings'' attacks could only barely pierce through their battle energy shields, leaving shallow scratches on their armor.
Unless an individual was relentlessly attacked or overwhelmed and drowned in the swarm, the ordinary mutated Zerglings posed no real threat to them.
In an instant, the battlefield dynamic had reversed.
Especially with the hero-ranked unit, Kaelen, who had already broken away from the main force. Alone, he rampaged through the insectoid horde, seemingly unstoppable.
Wherever he went, entire swathes of Zerg were cut down like wheat under a scythe.
Seeing this situation, William realized that even if he deployed his stockpile of over three million extraordinary Zerglings, it would be futile against this hero-ranked four-armed werewolf.
Kaelen''s defense, attack power, speed, and stamina all vastly outmatched the Zerg forces on the battlefield by several tiers.
The gap was so immense that sheer numbers could no longer compensate.
This was the power of a hero-ranked champion¡ªan existence capable of challenging dragons.
At that moment, Darius once again manifested his colossal demigod projection in the sky, using his subordinate who had entered William¡¯s divine domain as a conduit.
This time, he did not speak. Instead, he simply smirked coldly as he controlled his champion to massacre the vast swarms of Zerg within William¡¯s divine domain.
Seeing this, William, too, manifested his own demigod projection in the divine domain¡¯s sky.
Without hesitation, he waved his hand, and the massive airborne insectoid forces that had been gathering above descended like a torrential flood, engulfing all the four-armed werewolves that had entered his domain.
Observing William¡¯s continued resistance, Darius¡¯ stern expression remained unchanged, without a trace of hesitation.
He smirked and spoke again:
¡°It¡¯s useless. The gap between us is like an unbridgeable chasm. I already gave you a chance, but you failed to cherish it.¡±
¡°So I¡¯ve changed my mind. I will personally shatter your divine core, so you understand that as a weakling, you should have treasured the opportunity given to you by the strong.¡±
The ongoing battle on the battlefield seemed to affirm Darius¡¯ words.
The overwhelming insectoid swarm descending from the sky had no effect on Kaelen whatsoever.
With a single burst of speed, he plowed through the swarm, leaving a massive trench in his wake.
The battle energy shield around his body pulverized any Zerg in his path into dust, rendering them incapable of impeding his advance.
Meanwhile, the elite four-armed werewolves had formed into massive circular formations of ten thousand. Their battle energy linked together, forming an impenetrable energy barrier around them.
The high-speed diving Zerglings that attempted to break through crashed into the barrier and were instantly crushed to pieces, utterly incapable of breaching it.
In contrast, the werewolves¡¯ attacks could easily pass through the barrier to strike the insectoid swarm, inflicting devastating damage.
William''s expression darkened upon realizing that his swarm tactics had failed.
Noticing the change in William¡¯s demeanor, Darius sneered and continued:
¡°Don¡¯t expect your mentor to come to your rescue.¡±
¡°I know how long it takes for human mentors to arrive¡ªtypically four to five hours. By then, I¡¯ll have had more than enough time to destroy your divine core.¡±
¡°When they finally arrive, all they¡¯ll see are the shattered remnants of your divine domain.¡±
Darius¡¯ intent was crystal clear¡ªhe intended to utterly annihilate William¡¯s divine domain.
Hearing Darius¡¯ words, William¡¯s expression, however, grew eerily calm.
Yet, deep within his ice-cold eyes, a madness began to surface.
Chapter 89 - The tragic scene
A cold voice emerged from William¡¯s mouth: ¡°Do you want to break the rules of this region?¡±
Darius¡¯s voice came again, laced with a mocking laugh: ¡°Break the rules? Heh, this is the resource well of the world of the gods. Where are these so-called rules? Do you even consider the unwritten rules as rules?¡±
¡°Taking you down will only make the Longwa Ministry of Foreign Affairs waste a couple more cups of tea, and they¡¯ll be arguing with your human Ministry of Foreign Affairs.¡±
¡°You, who have ruined your path to godhood, what value do you still hold? Do you think human civilization will go to war with Longwa for you? Do you think civilization will make me pay for your life?¡±
¡°Naive. In the end, I¡¯ll just pay some compensation in the real world, and you¡¯ll live your life in regret and pain.¡±
As he said this, Darius seemed to already envision William¡¯s future, and his smile grew even wider.
After hearing Darius¡¯s words, William knew that what the other said was all true.
So, he didn¡¯t say another word, but the madness in his eyes grew more intense.
With the gradual dissipation of his demigod projection in the sky, the line of faith was once again stirred by him. The flying explosive beetles rose into the sky, breaking free from their close proximity to the four-armed werewolves.
Meanwhile, in the sky, the already prepared self-destructing beetle swarm began to rapidly descend.
A large number of self-destructing beetles, before hitting the barrier of battle qi, spread their wings wide, suddenly slowed down, and steadily attached themselves to the surface of the battle qi barrier, layer upon layer.
At the same time, over 2 million self-destructing beetles formed an enormous encirclement, like an inverted giant bowl, centered on the hero-level four-armed werewolf, Kaelen. Mixed in the swarm, they began to rapidly contract inward.
Kaelen, still unaware, continued to recklessly slaughter the surrounding insectoids.
William quietly watched the encirclement gradually close, and as the density of the self-destructing beetles increased, when Kaelen moved in any direction, countless self-destructing beetles appeared around him.
Without any warning, under William¡¯s control, the self-destructing beetles simultaneously completed their mission.
¡°Boom¡¡±
A deafening explosion rang out as over 5 million self-destructing beetles instantly detonated.
Thirty small mushroom clouds rose slowly, along with a giant flat smoke cloud, billowing in William¡¯s divine realm.
The power far exceeded that of a Fireball spell, and the sheer density made the explosion¡¯s effect significant.
Within the blast radius aimed at the elite-level four-armed werewolf army, once the smoke cleared, only thirty shallow craters remained on the scorched and loose earth.
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Charred limbs and severed arms littered the ground, with no living creatures left.
As for the area targeted at Kaelen, the ground was left in a molten state.
The ground had been heated to the point of crystallization, and no severed limbs or arms could be seen.
Only one complete four-armed werewolf body, resembling charcoal, silently knelt on the ground.
William, who had been scanning with his divine mind, clearly witnessed Kaelen¡¯s death.
At the moment of the explosion, Kaelen tried to forcefully break out of the blast radius with his powerful battle qi defenses. This decision unintentionally subjected him to even more explosive force.
Because the explosion targeting him was not a single-point detonation but rather a simultaneous detonation by over 2 million self-destructing beetles within this area, no matter which direction Kaelen moved in, he was within the dense explosion range.
The chaotic shockwaves from the explosions stacked together, but they didn¡¯t immediately kill him. They only destroyed his battle qi armor, and at that point, Kaelen, heavily injured, was still alive.
It was the subsequent extreme heat that took his life.
Even so, Kaelen¡¯s body remained intact after the explosion, fully showcasing the hero-level unit¡¯s incredible ability to resist attacks that could rival fully grown dragons.
William looked calmly at the scorched land in his divine realm, his heart unshaken.
This was the result he had already anticipated before making the decision.
The explosion not only wiped out half of his self-destructing beetles but also killed every insectoid in the affected range. The number of losses far exceeded the number of four-armed werewolves entering his divine realm.
This was William¡¯s reluctant choice. He had only one chance to kill this hero-level unit.
Otherwise, as long as Kaelen was prepared, with his extraordinary mobility and survival abilities, the current insectoid units would be unable to catch up to him.
Surrounding him would be nothing more than a distant hope.
If he broke into William¡¯s divine realm, the losses would be even greater.
At that point, William could only rely on his massive swarm of insects, sacrificing the lives of his followers to wear down Kaelen¡¯s stamina.
The problem was that Kaelen, as an intelligent being, would not truly tire on the battlefield. If he wanted to retreat, William would have no way of stopping him.
Now, having solved this biggest problem, William felt that all the sacrifices had been worth it.
At the same time.
¡°This is impossible!¡± Darius once again lost all his followers who had entered William¡¯s divine realm. There were no coordinates to attach to.
Returning to his own divine realm, his face was filled with panic.
He could hardly believe it¡ªjust moments ago, all of his followers had their lines of faith severed.
He had lost his ace army, as well as the only hero-level follower he had spent countless time and effort cultivating, who had now vanished in William¡¯s divine realm.
Without hesitation, Darius sent his followers into the portal again.
As his followers passed through the invasion portal and arrived in William¡¯s divine realm, Darius¡¯s huge demigod projection appeared once more.
Seeing the battlefield that had been ravaged by the explosion, a cold shiver swept over his entire body. No matter how he denied it, the reality was undeniable¡ªhis strongest combat power was gone.
William¡¯s demigod projection also appeared near Darius.
The madness in his eyes remained unchanged, but the calmness on his face was gradually fading.
A smile slowly curled up on his lips, growing wider and wider.
Until an exaggerated grin appeared on his otherwise refined face, transforming his entire aura into something both crazy and dangerous.
This kind of smile wasn¡¯t some crooked smirk¡ªit was madness incarnate!
Without saying a word, William¡¯s demigod projection raised his right hand, palm up, and motioned inward with his hand, making a ¡°come at me¡± gesture to Darius.
At the same time, the flying insect swarm acted, letting Darius know exactly what William was planning.
In the sky, mixed within the cloud of insects, the remaining 5 million self-destructing beetles divided into 3 million of them, forming a giant serpent made entirely of self-destructing beetles, charging straight toward the invasion portal.
¡°Stop!¡± Darius¡¯s scream had no effect on the insect swarm.
The fastest 1,000 self-destructing beetles, leading the charge, had already reached his divine realm.
As they burst through the portal, they saw the super-powered four-armed werewolves crowded at the entrance.
Chapter 90: Scenes of War
Without the slightest pause¡ªaccelerating, diving, and self-destructing¡ªall executed in one seamless motion.
The massive explosions sent up clouds of dust, shrouding the entrance to the invasion passage. This obscured the vision of all the four-armed werewolves, creating an excellent cover for the troops that followed closely behind.
The next wave of self-destructing Zerglings surged forward under the cover of the dust, entering Darius''s divine domain without any obstacles. They scattered like intelligent missiles, freely seeking their ideal targets in the sky.
Then came the merciless dive. As they ended their own lives, they delivered a dazzling explosion to their enemies.
The explosions of the self-destructing Zerglings, in both power and range, far surpassed the fireball spells of the Hydralisks. They were something neither ordinary nor extraordinary four-armed werewolves could withstand.
A continuous series of deafening explosions echoed across the land, heralding the arrival of war and death. It was a spectacle of destruction performed for Darius, and the price of admission was the lives of his followers.
At the entrance to the invasion passage, where his forces had been densely gathered, the Zerglings specifically targeted the most crowded areas.
In an instant, Darius''s followers suffered devastating losses. In his perception, faith connections were snapping apart in vast numbers.
Yet, Darius could only watch helplessly. Even though he had given the order to retreat, the sheer concentration of his troops outside the invasion passage made it impossible for them to disperse quickly.
William¡¯s relentless counterattacks had not only wiped out all of Darius¡¯s high-end forces but had also inflicted a severe blow to his mid-tier forces.
By the time all three million self-destructing Zerglings had been expended within Darius¡¯s divine domain, at least thirty million of his followers had perished, including more than eight million extraordinary-level followers.
Darius¡¯s demigod projection stood frozen, his mind completely blank.
This was not the power a newly ascended demigod should possess.
Before he could recover from the shock, Darius¡ªthrough his remaining demigod projection inside William¡¯s divine domain¡ªwitnessed an overwhelming swarm of Zerg converging once more, blanketing the already scorched land.
Meanwhile, the airborne units that had largely survived the previous explosions descended from the sky to exterminate the remaining tens of thousands of four-armed werewolves that had entered William¡¯s divine domain.
For the third time, Darius had lost all his invading forces within William¡¯s territory.
Hovering above his own divine domain, Darius remained silent, making no further attempts to send more troops into William¡¯s realm.
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Because before his demigod projection dissipated, William, wearing a crazed expression, had sent him a message:
¡°Come on, destroy my divine domain. Are you ready for the price?¡±
From those words alone, Darius could clearly sense William¡¯s resolve.
This young demigod was fully prepared to fight to the death, even at the cost of his own divine domain shattering.
Darius knew he had suffered a major setback. There was no way he could eliminate this opponent in a short amount of time. Even if he eventually succeeded in killing William, the cost and time required would far exceed his expectations.
As he contemplated his next move, Darius suddenly sensed a massive distortion in the distant void beyond his divine domain.
A colossal, rapidly approaching void distortion.
From its sheer size alone, he could tell that the divine domain moving toward them was far too vast to belong in this region.
William, too, immediately noticed the anomaly.
¡°They¡¯re finally here.¡±
He exhaled deeply.
The crazed look in his eyes and the exaggerated grin on his face gradually faded, restoring his usual demeanor.
With a single thought, William¡¯s demigod spirit form appeared beyond his divine domain¡¯s barrier, gazing into the distance at the approaching void distortion.
He didn¡¯t need to think twice¡ªhe already knew.
That was Zous¡¯s divine domain. They had arrived ahead of schedule.
As he observed carefully, he noticed a small, incongruous section within the vast distortion.
If he hadn¡¯t known that Lex would also be coming, he might have overlooked it.
That tiny, misplaced distortion was caused by his homeroom teacher¡¯s divine domain moving through space, appearing minuscule in comparison.
In just over ten seconds, Zous and Lex¡¯s divine domains arrived beside William¡¯s, coming to a steady halt. The turbulent void distortions around them gradually subsided.
Within those few seconds, the battles raging within the connected divine domains had already ceased, thanks to the unspoken understanding between William and the newcomers.
Zous and Lex¡¯s demigod spirit forms appeared in the void simultaneously.
Darius, Kenir, Bobo, and Henir¡ªfour demigod spirit forms¡ªalso emerged outside the divine domain barriers.
Upon seeing the five demigods appear in the void, three of whom were from the Longwa race, the expressions of the newcomers instantly darkened.
Especially when they saw Darius¡¯s massive divine domain, spanning three million square kilometers, connected directly to William¡¯s.
In that moment, their hearts sank.
They both had the same terrifying thought¡ªWilliam had already been captured by the enemy.
For a brief moment, the two hesitated to make any rash moves.
Just as Lex was about to ask William about the situation, William didn¡¯t wait for Zous or Lex to speak. Instead, he put on a pitiful expression and cried out first:
¡°Director Wang! Lex! You¡¯re finally here! They ganged up on me¡ªfour against one! My losses are catastrophic!¡±
As he spoke, he pointed straight at Darius, continuing his lament:
¡°Especially that guy! Not only did he break the rules, but as a veteran demigod, he personally intervened in the battle! He even tried to destroy my divine domain core!¡±
¡°If I hadn¡¯t kept my cool and managed to protect myself, you would¡¯ve been picking up the fragments of my divine domain by now!¡±
Zous, who wasn¡¯t too familiar with William, immediately grew anxious upon hearing his desperate cries. His voice took on a sharper edge as he asked:
¡°How is your divine domain holding up?¡±
At the same time, his gaze followed William¡¯s pointed finger to Darius, his eyes turning ice-cold.
From Darius¡¯s divine domain, semi-transparent invasion tendrils trembled slightly, disrupting the concealment effect of his domain.
A staggering 250 million square kilometers of divine territory flickered into view before them.
The sight sent shockwaves through the four demigods on the opposite side.
Darius panicked, hurriedly trying to explain:
¡°Honored human powerhouses, please remain calm! It was all just a misunderstanding! I only meant to capture him!¡±
¡°Our two races have always maintained close cooperation! We have a pact¡ªdemigods do not destroy each other¡¯s divine domain cores, nor do we exterminate each other¡¯s core followers. I would never break that agreement!¡±
¡°Besides, I never even breached his divine domain! How could I have possibly destroyed his core?¡±
Chapter 91 Incidents
Zous turned to William with a look of surprise upon hearing Darius'' explanation.
An old demi-god like him hadn¡¯t even managed to break into William¡¯s divine domain? That was completely unexpected.
William took the opportunity to explain to Zous, "My situation isn¡¯t too bad. My divine domain is intact, but my followers¡ the losses are devastating."
"An old demi-god attacking a newly ascended one¡ªSir, you have to stand up for me!"
At that moment, Lex directly created a barrier around the three of them, blocking the others from hearing their conversation.
Being very familiar with William, Lex turned to him and asked, "Alright, kid, just tell us the truth¡ªwhat¡¯s really going on?"
"Give us the real situation. Don¡¯t worry, since their old demi-god dared to attack you, we¡¯ll make sure he pays for it. He won¡¯t get away so easily."
Hearing this, William felt reassured.
His sorrowful expression instantly disappeared, replaced by a look of grievance.
"Lex, I really did get wrecked this time! My extraordinary-level followers are down to less than ten million, and I¡¯ve lost more than two hundred million of my regular ones."
"And that demi-god really did try to destroy my divine domain¡¯s core! He can¡¯t be let off easily."
Zous and Lex were both startled by William¡¯s reported losses.
They understood that William¡¯s followers were special¡ªdespite suffering such heavy losses, his combat strength wouldn¡¯t drop drastically.
For a typical demi-god, losing an army they had invested immense effort into nurturing¡ªespecially their core forces¡ªwould mean losing 70¨C80% of their combat strength.
If they lost half their followers, it would basically mean they were crippled.
Judging from William¡¯s report, he had retained nearly half of his combat strength, which was still formidable.
"Alright, we won¡¯t let him off easy. Now, tell us what happened, and what¡¯s the enemy¡¯s situation?" Lex continued before William could start lamenting again.
"Uh¡ well¡ the situation is roughly like this: I first captured that pale-faced demi-god."
"Just after I dealt with him, those two newly ascended demi-gods from the Longwa civilization arrived."
"Then I took them down too, though I haven¡¯t found their divine domain cores yet."
"That old demi-god then showed up, trying to take me out before I could locate their cores."
"Of course, I wasn¡¯t just going to surrender, so when I resisted, he got mad."
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"He wanted to finish me off before you guys arrived and even said that if he killed me, the worst that would happen was paying some compensation in the real world."
"That really pissed me off, so I went all in, blocking him at the invasion passage."
"I took out one of his hero-tier followers, around 300,000 elite-tier followers, and roughly ten million extraordinary-tier followers."
"And then¡ I was left half-crippled."
"After that, you two arrived."
Finishing his account, William scratched his head and looked at Zous and Lex with wide, expectant eyes, a pitiful expression on his face as if begging for comfort.
After hearing William¡¯s story, Zous stared at him in shock, while Lex¡¯s mouth twitched.
Just from William¡¯s report, Lex could tell that the real tragic one was that Longwa demi-god.
With losses like that, his divine domain¡¯s most elite forces had likely been completely wiped out.
So, what was there to worry about?
Damn it, when he received William¡¯s distress signal, he had been deeply concerned, rushing at full speed to come to his aid.
"So basically, the reality is that you steamrolled three demi-gods, severely injured an old demi-god, and lost half of your own combat strength. Is that right?" Lex summarized, though his tone made it clear he already knew the answer.
"Uh¡ maybe, probably, something like that. But my losses really are severe!" William muttered reluctantly, but he still made sure to emphasize his suffering.
By now, Zous had long discarded his serious expression.
Instead, he was grinning cheerfully as he turned to William with a kindly look and said, "Xiao Fei, don¡¯t worry! This time, Uncle Wang will get justice for you. Tell me¡ªwhat do you want to do with these guys?"
"If you want to destroy their divine domains to vent your anger, that¡¯s fine too. The school will cover the compensation."
Lex, watching from the side, looked speechless.
He stared at Zous, who was gazing at William with the same adoration one would show their own grandson.
Lex quickly interrupted, "Uncle Wang, the seniority here is getting all messed up! I¡¯m this kid¡¯s teacher. There¡¯s a whole generation between us!"
"It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll just go by our own separate rules." Zous continued smiling as he looked at William with immense satisfaction.
"Uncle Wang, what exactly do you mean by ¡®compensation¡¯?" William didn¡¯t hesitate to change his form of address, clinging firmly to this golden thigh.
"It means just what it sounds like. You know the surrender clauses in the treaty between our civilizations regarding demi-god conflicts, right?"
"If the other side is willing to pay a price to surrender, but we still destroy their divine domains, they can report it to their civilization in the real world."
"That would lead to a whole lot of diplomatic wrangling, but in the end, it would just come down to paying some compensation. That¡¯s what that old demi-god meant when he said he¡¯d just have to pay a fine if he killed you."
Zous explained the details thoroughly.
Hearing this, William realized that if he destroyed the enemy¡¯s divine domain, the school would have to compensate them afterward.
That seemed like a loss-making deal.
After a brief moment of thought, William abandoned the idea of outright obliterating them. Instead, he decided to go for something more¡ creative.
"Forget it. There¡¯s no need. Destroying them doesn¡¯t bring any benefits. If we ruin their path to godhood, we¡¯d still have to pay¡ªdoesn¡¯t seem worth it."
"I think it¡¯s better to make them bleed heavily and compensate me for my losses instead."
"Let them keep ten thousand core followers and ten thousand square kilometers of divine domain."
"Also, they have to compensate me with divine power. As for the amount, I¡¯ll leave that to you, Uncle Wang."
Saying this, William gave Zous a bright, expectant look, his expression as obedient as could be.
"Mm, mm, very good. A calm and rational judgment¡ªan excellent choice." Zous nodded in satisfaction, praising William without hesitation.
Lex, on the other hand, was speechless.
Seeing how Zous praised William without a second thought, he strongly suspected that if William had chosen to destroy the enemy¡¯s divine domain, his ¡®Uncle Wang¡¯ would have simply said something like, ¡®Good, seeking vengeance is only natural!¡¯
Truly, nothing beats intergenerational favoritism.
Chapter 92: Harvest
After the three finished their discussion, Lex removed the divine soundproof barrier.
Zous once again put on his cold expression.
The four demigods opposite them felt immense, invisible pressure under his icy gaze.
Seeing their tense expressions, Zous wasted no words and extended his thoughts toward them:
"I am giving you two choices."
"First, I personally crush your divine domain cores and banish you from the world of gods forever."
As he spoke, Zous glanced at Darius and the other three Lungwa demigods, making them so uneasy that cold sweat nearly broke out.
Zous continued in a cold voice:
"It''s just a sum of settlement money in reality. Using such a small amount to sever your future¡ªI think it''s quite a good deal."
"The second choice: surrender immediately. I will give you a chance. How much divine power are you willing to offer in exchange for keeping your divine domain core and ten thousand followers?"
"You only have one opportunity. I advise you to cherish it."
"No matter how much divine power you save, once you lose your divine domain core and are expelled from the world of gods, you will have nothing left."
"Make your choice now. I don''t have time to wait for you to hesitate."
As he finished speaking, Zous¡¯s invasion passage began moving slowly toward Darius¡¯s divine domain, leaving no room for negotiation.
"I choose the second option! I am willing to offer 3.7 million divine power¡ªit''s all I have!" Seeing that Zous was about to act against him, Darius immediately made his decision.
"You, an experienced demigod, have only that much divine power?" William, who had been expecting more, looked at Darius in disbelief.
"Really, that¡¯s all I have. You can verify the divine power stored in my divine domain core." Seeing that Zous was still staring coldly at him, Darius had no choice but to explain further to William:
"You know my followers'' composition¡ªpurely combat-oriented. They have no economic industry at all."
"My development relies entirely on plundering resources, with everything invested in enhancing my followers'' strength."
"There¡¯s simply no surplus."
Hearing Darius''s explanation, William turned to Lex with a questioning look.
Only after seeing Lex nod did he reluctantly believe Darius¡¯s words.
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"I¡¯ll check your divine power reserves. If you lied, you''re dead," William said before turning to the remaining two Lungwa demigods.
Without hesitation, they made the same choice as Darius, handing over all their divine power to secure their lives.
However, compared to Darius, their divine power reserves were mere scraps.
Then, William turned his gaze toward the last remaining demigod, Henir.
Henir stared blankly at William, looking as if his soul had already left his body.
"Alright, ¡®Mr. Lucky,¡¯ what¡¯s your plan? I recall saying that unless you can pull out another Mind Stone, well... heh heh... you know what happens next," William said with a mocking tone.
Henir, as if suddenly snapping out of his dazed state, slowly returned to reality.
His ever-changing facial expressions vividly portrayed his overwhelming regret and utter despair.
"I... I don¡¯t have another Mind Stone! I only have 120,000 divine power left¡ªtake it all! Please, just spare me!" Tears of remorse rolled down Henir¡¯s face.
He looked exactly like someone who had been bullied relentlessly, yet still had to humble himself and beg the tyrant for mercy.
William¡¯s mouth twitched as he barely managed to hold back the urge to rush over and kick Henir to the ground.
"Hey, you were the one plotting to stab me in the back! I¡¯M the real victim here!" Though William stayed still, he couldn''t help but rant in his mind.
After taking a moment to compose himself, William, standing in an absolute position of advantage, pondered his options:
"Even a mosquito¡¯s leg is still meat¡ªcan¡¯t waste those 120,000 divine power."
"Should I take the divine power and then eliminate him? But that would hurt my reputation¡ and there are witnesses here."
"Forget it. No need to ruin my image over a grudge. Letting him go counts as an act of kindness."
"I¡¯m such a good person, even willing to break my promise to kill him just to show mercy."
"Good deeds bring good fortune¡ªmy karma must be skyrocketing right now."
Feeling quite pleased with himself, William ultimately decided to spare the pitiful Henir¡ªfor the sake of those 120,000 divine power.
"Consider yourself lucky. You¡¯re free to go," William said.
Then, he turned to Zous and suggested, "Uncle Wang, I don¡¯t think we need to create trouble for the diplomatic department. What do you think?"
Maintaining his composed demeanor in front of others, Zous simply gave a light nod.
Seeing this, the four demigods finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Under the circumstances, keeping their divine domain cores and ten thousand core followers was already a fortunate outcome¡ªat least they had the chance to start over.
Under Zous¡¯s watchful gaze, the four demigods obediently disconnected from the link.
With only ten thousand square kilometers of divine domain¡ªthe minimum starting size¡ªand their remaining followers, they swiftly disappeared into the void.
Everything went smoothly, except for one minor hiccup when William checked Darius¡¯s divine power reserves.
While inspecting Darius¡¯s divine domain core, William discovered an additional 4,326 divine power.
Without hesitation, he confiscated the remaining 4,326 divine power under the pretext that Darius had reported an inaccurate amount.
Additionally, instead of letting Darius take his carefully selected ten thousand elite supernatural followers, William swapped them for ten thousand weak, elderly, and injured ordinary followers.
Darius could only watch in utter despair as William left with a smug expression.
As a parting "thank you" for Darius¡¯s generosity, William secretly left him a farewell gift buried beneath his remaining divine domain.
Hundreds of specially crafted stones lay hidden underground, each containing a deadly surprise¡ªDeath Black Fungus.
The stones¡¯ protective shells were designed to last around twenty years before shattering and releasing their contents.
Watching the four demigods disappear into the void, William smiled in satisfaction.
Like an old friend bidding farewell, he waved and sent a divine message toward Darius and his companions:
"Until we meet again!"
At the same time, he silently hummed a farewell song in his heart:
"I send you away¡ a thousand miles away¡"
Hearing William¡¯s words, the four demigods hastened their retreat even further, vanishing at full speed.
Chapter 93 - Delicious Prey
William was still lingering in place, frantically merging the divine land left behind by his opponents.
It took him nearly five hours to fully integrate the terrain and resources.
During the process, he even asked Lex to visit the Gods'' Exchange Continent to purchase a few high-level blank sealing cards. These were used to contain the abandoned followers whose faith had been shattered.
These followers were a source of divine power, and William wasn''t about to waste them. Besides, they were quite valuable. Based on the quality of these extraordinary four-armed werewolves, selling ten thousand of them would fetch between 1,800 and 2,300 divine power points. That meant he could potentially earn around 4 million divine power points in total.
As for the over 800 million ordinary four-armed werewolves and the miscellaneous ordinary minotaurs, their value in the retail market was roughly 200 to 300 divine power points per ten thousand.
If he found the right buyer, the price could be even higher.
However, with such a large number, William couldn''t afford to keep them long-term or sell them off bit by bit himself.
Moreover, he understood that the only reason he had managed to gain so much from this battle was because Zous had backed him up.
If Darius had truly fought him to the death, William would have been the one whose divine domain was shattered in the end.
After all, Darius had 20 million extraordinary-level and over 800 million ordinary-level four-armed werewolves. These creatures could enter a berserk state and fight fearlessly for a short period.
Meanwhile, William had only about 10 million extraordinary-level and 200 million ordinary-level Zerg.
William had no chance of winning in a direct confrontation. His only option would have been to stall for time, sever the invasion channel, and retreat.
Originally, he had planned to split the spoils with Zous and Lex, but Zous had no interest in them, and Lex, who had barely contributed, didn¡¯t feel entitled to a share.
So, William decided to sell the captured followers in bulk to the school¡¯s logistics department, allowing the school to make a profit from the resale.
Since Zous didn''t want a share, William couldn''t just take everything for himself without some consideration.
At a rate of 200 divine power points per ten thousand ordinary followers, the revenue from selling them would amount to nearly 20 million divine power points.
On top of that, William¡¯s divine domain had expanded dramatically as a result of this battle.
Darius¡¯ domain alone was 30 million square kilometers.
Kenir and Bobo each had 1 million square kilometers.
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Henir had 1.5 million square kilometers.
William had absorbed all four domains without leaving a single one behind.
His divine domain had skyrocketed from 4 million square kilometers to a massive 37.5 million square kilometers¡ªnearly twice the size of Lex''s domain.
Standing in the sky above his domain, William gazed at the vast land, his face brimming with joy.
With this expansion, his Zerg swarm now had ample space to thrive.
For a long time, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about running out of room for his growing swarm.
At their current consumption rate, this divine domain could sustain 3 to 4 billion Zerg units, far exceeding his current production capacity.
It was clear that William was on the verge of another period of rapid growth.
After handling matters in his divine domain, William reappeared outside its barrier, floating in the void.
Seeing Zous and Lex watching him with amused smiles, William politely expressed his gratitude once more.
The two merely waved it off.
Lex was the first to speak. "Alright, enough with the thanks. Let¡¯s head back first. You need to take some time to absorb this harvest properly."
Hearing that they were heading back, William frowned in confusion. "Go back? I just got here, why are we leaving already?"
"Even though my follower count has been cut in half, as long as I¡¯m not facing an old-generation demigod, I can still take on four of the new-generation ones at once."
Lex shook his head, amused by William¡¯s eagerness, and explained, "Kid, don¡¯t get cocky. I know you¡¯re strong for your generation."
"But think about it¡ªat your current level, which new-generation demigod wouldn¡¯t run the moment they saw you?"
"Your divine domain is now a massive 37.5 million square kilometers, even bigger than mine."
"The spatial disturbances caused by your movements are on a completely different scale now. Anyone operating in this resource well area can spot you from a distance. The moment they see you moving towards them, only a fool would stay put and wait for you to invade."
Hearing Lex¡¯s explanation, William finally understood the problem.
With his divine domain now so large, moving it created massive spatial ripples, making it impossible to hide his approach.
Any new-generation demigod in the area would detect the disturbance and flee long before he got close.
Realizing this, William quickly turned to Lex and asked, "Lex, what should I do to continue improving, then?"
Lex smirked and teased, "Oh? Now you''re worried? Just a moment ago, you were grinning like an idiot while absorbing those divine domains."
"Your domain is so big now that you can¡¯t hide when you move."
"Plus, your current strength doesn¡¯t match the size of your domain. If you keep wandering around the resource well area in this state..."
"Guess what kind of demigod would be willing to fight someone with a domain this massive?"
"Do you really think your remaining followers could defend against an opponent like that? Could you hold out until me and Uncle Zous arrived?"
"Didn¡¯t you learn in class that divine domain expansion must be balanced with follower strength?"
Lex¡¯s series of rhetorical questions left William speechless.
He quickly searched his memory and recalled the relevant knowledge.
The expansion of a divine domain should always match the number and strength of its followers.
A small domain with powerful, numerous followers allowed for an underdog strategy, but failing to expand in time would limit follower development.
On the other hand, an excessively large domain, far exceeding the survival needs of its followers, would create a sense of complacency.
This would hinder faith development and could even weaken the followers¡¯ overall combat effectiveness.
In the early stages of the divine world, a demigod¡¯s domain size was a key indicator of their strength.
At this point, any demigod willing to invade William¡¯s domain would likely be at least as strong as Darius¡ªpossibly even stronger.
Seeing William deep in thought, Lex chuckled and said, "Alright, enough thinking. You only need to do two things now."
"First, head back and find a safe place to properly absorb your gains."
"Second, streamline your divine domain¡ªseal off and sell the excess land, then invest all the divine power you earn into strengthening your followers to accelerate their growth."
Chapter 94 Directions for development
When the strength and the size of the divine domain match, and there is enough power, I will take you directly to the central area of this barren resource well to compete for the unclaimed resources in the void.
"As for your current situation, you''re too weak to catch those weaker than you, and you can''t defeat those stronger than you."
"Staying here any longer will only increase the risk and waste my and Uncle Wang¡¯s time looking after you. What else can you do?"
After hearing Lex¡¯s analysis, William could only put on the expression of an obedient student receiving instruction.
He followed Zous and Lex back without protest.
The return journey was uneventful.
While chatting with Lex and Zous, William brought up a question that had been on his mind.
"Lex, that demi-god Longwa¡ªhis divine domain has already grown so large, so why does he only have 3.7 million divine power reserves?"
Hearing William¡¯s question, Lex suddenly seemed to recall something and replied, "That¡¯s already quite a lot. Oh, I almost forgot¡ªyou¡¯ve only been developing your divine domain for a little over seven months in the real world."
"When you first enrolled, you spent a lot of time wandering outside and missed many foundational courses. This is a good opportunity to make up for them."
Hearing "seven months," William couldn¡¯t help but feel emotional.
In the real world, he had survived the three-month newbie protection period after establishing his divine domain.
Since starting his senior year of high school, only four months had passed.
But in the world of the gods, more than seventy years had gone by. His experiences there far exceeded his memories from the real world.
Seeing William lost in thought again, Lex coughed twice to bring his attention back before continuing, "Before igniting the divine fire, there are two main development paths for accumulating divine power."
"One is the logistics development path, which is safe and stable."
"This type of demi-god, while increasing the number of core followers, also develops an economic industry chain to earn divine power."
"I¡¯ll give you the simplest example."
"For instance, if a demi-god''s core followers are dwarves, a race with great talent in forging but weak combat abilities."
"The fundamental way for them to obtain resources is to heavily invest in metallurgy, forging various weapons and armor to sell on the Gods'' Exchange Continent."
"The divine power earned is then used to purchase raw materials, expand the divine domain, and cover other expenses, forming a positive cycle."
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"Then, they store the divine power generated by their core followers, extract divinity, and finally ignite the divine fire."
"But there¡¯s an obvious downside¡ªon the Gods'' Exchange Continent, any industry that can generate divine power faces intense competition. Unless they have unique, high-value products, the speed of earning divine power is very slow."
"The other path is outward plundering."
At this point, Lex paused and gave William a meaningful look before continuing, "You should be quite familiar with the advantages of this development path."
"A divine domain develops rapidly, growing at an accelerated rate rather than through slow accumulation. This is the greatest advantage of outward plundering."
"As for the downside¡ªif you lose during an invasion or defense."
"In the best case, you lose a large number of followers and part of your divine domain. In the worst case, your divine domain core shatters, or your core followers are completely wiped out."
"Because of this, demi-gods who favor the plundering development path rarely store large amounts of divine power."
"Most of their divine power is directly invested in the development of their divine domain or the strength of their followers."
"Only when their divine domain and followers have developed to a certain level do they begin accumulating large amounts of divine power to prepare for igniting the divine fire."
"Of course, these two development paths are not mutually exclusive. Most people enhance their followers'' combat abilities while also seeking suitable industries for development¡ªthey just focus on one more than the other."
"That demi-god Longwa mainly follows the outward plundering route. Having over 3 million divine power reserves is already quite impressive."
After explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the two development paths, Lex didn¡¯t stop.
He continued explaining other knowledge points, making William''s return journey much more engaging.
Lex spent the whole trip giving William lessons, covering all the classes he had missed since enrolling because he had not returned to the civilization''s base.
He also passed on a lot of his personal experience.
With Lex¡¯s thorough teaching, time seemed to fly for William.
By the time the three of them returned to the frontline camp, Lex¡¯s lessons had finally come to an end.
"Alright, your remedial lessons are over. When we return to the school dormitory, I¡¯ll send you a copy of the senior-year study materials. Go through them when you have free time."
"For now, focus on developing for a while and digest what you''ve gained from this trip."
After saying this, Lex returned to his divine domain and activated teleportation, disappearing along with it.
Without wasting words, William and Zous also teleported away.
When they reappeared, they were back in the human civilization''s safe zone.
Looking at the scattered divine domains stationed at the base and the unchanged school grounds, William turned to observe the size of his own divine domain.
Only then did he reveal a satisfied smile.
"My divine domain''s current size won''t limit the swarm''s development in the short term. The top priority now should be improving the swarm''s quality."
Thinking this, William bid farewell to Lex and Zous.
Then, he rushed back to his divine domain to plan how to use the divine power he had accumulated.
During the return trip, he had already dealt with the captured four-armed werewolves and minotaurs.
On top of that, he had plundered all the resources from four demi-gods.
This time, William had gained nearly 25 million divine power, transforming from a penniless pauper into a multi-millionaire overnight.
After witnessing the overwhelming power of hero-level units, William truly felt the pressure.
The sight of a single, powerful unit tearing through his swarm like an unstoppable force was not something he wanted to experience again.
When the quality of units reaches a certain level, sheer numbers alone become powerless against them.
This time, he had faced Kaelen, who had only recently ascended from an ordinary four-armed werewolf to a hero-level follower, yet he was already so formidable.
In terms of combat strength, Kaelen might even be able to fight an adult dragon.
But racial disadvantages cannot be entirely compensated for by combat strength alone.
If the one who had entered his divine domain this time had been an adult red dragon¡ª
A hero-level unit with innate fire resistance, a powerful physique, and extraordinary magical talent¡ª
The suicide bombers in his swarm might not have even been able to inflict fatal damage.
Chapter 95 - Bloodline Cards Market
The final outcome of the war would be vastly different.
"Quantity is the advantage of the swarm, but the improvement in quality must also be taken seriously."
"At the very least, they must be able to break through defenses; otherwise, sheer numbers alone are not enough to guarantee victory."
Having made up his mind, William took out a blank sealing card and began refining the god domain that had already been swept clean by the swarm, sealing off some relatively barren lands.
With the current production capacity of the swarm, only about a hundred million units could be produced per year. It was simply impossible to fill such a vast god domain in a short period. Instead of letting the excess space sit idle, it was better to sell off the extra land, exchange it for divine power, and use it to enhance the swarm¡ªaiming to improve his strength as quickly as possible before the Global Tournament.
By the time William had used up all his sealing cards, his god domain had been reduced to only 15 million square kilometers.
His demigod spirit flickered, and he first entered the logistics office of the school on the Continent of Divine Exchange.
After quickly dealing with the sealed terrain resource cards, he now had an additional 22.5 million divine power. Without lingering, William immediately teleported to the bloodline card market.
On his second visit to this place, William was much more familiar with the process. He directly chose a grand and luxurious store and swiftly floated inside.
Without wandering aimlessly, he went straight to one of the hall staff.
"Excuse me, where is the high-value bloodline card exhibition area?"
Now holding over 47 million divine power, William finally exuded the presence of a wealthy spender, ready to purchase top-tier bloodline cards.
Upon hearing William¡¯s inquiry, the staff member immediately responded with great enthusiasm, "The high-value bloodline card exhibition area is on the second floor. Please follow me."
With a flick of the light ribbon in his hand, the staff member led William toward a massive light column in the center of the hall, which had a diameter of over three meters.
As soon as William entered the light column''s range, he felt a gentle force lifting him upwards.
Within seconds, he had arrived at the second-floor exhibition hall.
The layout here was no different from the first floor, but the number of visitors was significantly lower.
After bringing William to the second floor, the staff member did not leave immediately. Instead, he considerately asked, "Would you like to browse on your own, or would you prefer me to accompany you and assist with selecting your desired items?"
"A big company is indeed a big company¡ªhaving demigods as staff members while maintaining such a high level of service." William clicked his tongue inwardly.
One could infer the intense competition within this bloodline card market just by observing the service attitude of its staff.
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This was something he could only envy. Behind every one of these stores were professional logistical deities who had ignited their divine fire. Otherwise, there was simply no way to supply such a vast variety of bloodline cards.
"You can accompany me. This way, I can ask questions whenever necessary."
Putting aside other thoughts, William allowed the demigod staff member to guide him through the second-floor market.
Along the way, whenever William¡¯s gaze lingered on a particular bloodline card, the staff member beside him would promptly provide a detailed introduction of its effects.
After several instances of this, the staff member had become adept at identifying the information William was most interested in, highlighting the key aspects accordingly.
The attentive service was so thorough that William started feeling a little guilty.
With such enthusiasm from the staff, he felt it would be inconsiderate not to purchase something after taking up so much of the guide''s time.
After all, this guide was also a demigod, and his salary here was probably quite generous. In fact, he might even be stronger than William himself.
After spending nearly forty minutes browsing, William had almost covered the entire second floor.
At this moment, the guide once again led William to a display stand.
"What kind of bloodline card is this?" William''s attention was drawn to the supernatural beast¡¯s projection before him.
This beast exhibited distinct dragon-like characteristics.
It had a body over twenty meters long, a sleek and muscular frame, sharp claws on all four limbs, and an enormous wingspan.
Its body was covered in large scales, with streaks of electricity coursing between the gaps, crackling across its surface.
However, its head was bulky and bear-like, lacking both dragon horns and a dragon tail.
It looked like a downsized dragon¡¯s body with a bear¡¯s head awkwardly attached, complete with a tuft of blue fur on top¡ªgiving it a distinctly non-mainstream appearance.
If someone had never seen a dragon before, they might find this creature imposing and powerful at first glance.
But anyone familiar with dragon imagery would immediately recognize the contrast.
When compared to true dragons, this creature looked downright ugly¡ªlike a flawed evolutionary offshoot, lacking the harmonious and powerfully balanced physique of a dragon.
Upon hearing William''s question, the demigod guide immediately introduced it:
"This is the Thunder Wyvern Beast, a sub-dragon-type magical beast with blue dragon bloodline¡ªits bloodline is quite exceptional."
"It possesses three innate magical abilities: Thunder Armor, Thunder Flash, and Thunder Strike. Additionally, this species has an extremely high affinity for lightning elements."
As he spoke, the guide waved a light ribbon over the divine power projection of the Thunder Wyvern Beast.
Instantly, the projection seemed to come to life, displaying its supernatural abilities for William.
The airborne Thunder Wyvern Beast suddenly erupted with streaks of electricity.
These electric currents wove together into a dense, stable web of lightning that enveloped its entire body like armor.
"This is the effect of Thunder Armor. It offers excellent defensive capabilities, and any entity that comes into contact with it will suffer considerable lightning damage."
After demonstrating Thunder Armor, the guide flicked his light ribbon again.
William saw the beast, now clad in its electrified armor, adjust its flight posture.
The stable net of lightning covering its body suddenly became agitated.
In an instant, its speed surged several times over, leaving behind a streak of lightning in the sky.
"This is the effect of Thunder Strike. It allows the Thunder Wyvern Beast to unleash a burst of speed far exceeding its normal limits while maintaining exceptional agility."
Then, with another flick of the guide¡¯s light ribbon, the Thunder Wyvern Beast projection abruptly halted in mid-air.
The electric armor surrounding its body began to condense toward the tuft of fur on its head.
As the blue fur gradually lit up with an intense glow, lightning elements from the surrounding air were drawn in.
A sphere of pure electrical energy formed above the beast¡¯s head.
The entire process took less than a second.
Then, as if reaching its limit, the energy sphere transformed into a terrifying lightning beam, shooting straight into the distance, leaving behind a dazzling blue trail of energy in the air.
Chapter 96 Purchases
"This is Thunder Flash, possessing an extremely fast casting speed and considerable power, with excellent penetration effects."
"If you select a follower with exceptional innate lightning magic talent and fuse this draconic subspecies bloodline, it might even help your follower break through to hero level..."
After watching the three innate magical abilities of the Thunderwing Dracobeast, William listened to the enthusiastic sales pitch of the guide without responding. Instead, he extended his divine consciousness into the sealing card used for display.
He carefully examined the condition of this draconic subspecies. As his divine sense penetrated deeper, William quickly discerned the genetic structure within the Thunderwing Dracobeast using his divine traits.
He ignored the large clusters of genetic tumors and focused mainly on the standard genetic sequences within the creature.
It only took him a little over thirty seconds to scan through its standard genes. From a rough estimate, the Thunderwing Dracobeast contained around 600,000 standard genes.
Without conducting a meticulous examination, William made a rough comparison and found that the overlap rate between these standard genes and those already parsed in the Swarm¡¯s genetic database was less than ten percent.
He then started mentally calculating how long it would take to fully analyze this extraordinary beast¡¯s standard genes.
"At a rate of analyzing one standard gene every five minutes, it would take more than five years of continuous work, without rest, to completely decode the Thunderwing Dracobeast¡¯s standard genes."
Realizing this, William felt an instant headache and instinctively reached up to rub his forehead¡ªonly to remember that he was currently in the Gods'' Exchange Continent as a sphere of divine light, without a physical body.
With no other option, he let out a silent sigh.
"For the sake of growing stronger... I just have to grind through it. Five years is nothing new to me. The sacrifices I make today are for the rewards of tomorrow¡ªthings will get better!"
After mentally hyping himself up, William finally asked the demigod guide, "How much is this bloodline card per unit?"
"You have excellent taste! This draconic subspecies bloodline is definitely worth the price. A low-tier card costs 8 million divine power per unit," the guide responded enthusiastically upon hearing William inquire about the price.
"A mid-tier card is priced at 19 million divine power, while a high-tier card is the most cost-effective at just 30 million divine power per unit."
As soon as he heard the prices, William quickly did some calculations.
Based on the number of creatures used to extract the bloodline, a low-tier bloodline card required over 100,000 creatures, a mid-tier required over 300,000, and a high-tier required over 500,000.
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Converted into individual creature value:
-
A single Thunderwing Dracobeast in a low-tier bloodline card was worth 80 divine power.
-
In a mid-tier bloodline card, each one was valued at 63 divine power.
-
In a high-tier bloodline card, each one was valued at 60 divine power.
"Your pricing seems a bit off. Why is the per-unit cost for low-tier bloodline cards significantly higher than high-tier ones? Shouldn''t the high-tier be more valuable?" William asked, puzzled.
The guide, seemingly used to this question, immediately provided an explanation without hesitation:
"The difference in price for high-value bloodline cards mainly comes from the extraction costs."
"To produce a bloodline card, in addition to the extraordinary creatures used as raw materials, a god possessing the [Bloodline Extraction] divine imprint must be hired to perform the extraction."
"For high-value bloodlines like this one, we only employ top-tier gods in the industry. This ensures that the extracted bloodline is of the highest quality."
"We can''t risk hiring a rookie who just constructed the divine imprint¡ªif they extract a poor-quality bloodline from tens of thousands of Thunderwing Dracobeasts, resulting in only one innate magical ability, the losses would be catastrophic."
"Since we hire elite gods, the extraction costs are naturally high. Furthermore, bloodline cards are charged per unit of production, with the extraction fee being the same for all tiers. This makes producing high-tier bloodline cards much more cost-effective."
After hearing this explanation, William quickly recalculated.
In just a few seconds, he determined that each Thunderwing Dracobeast was effectively priced at around 55 divine power, while the god performing the extraction could earn only 2.5 million divine power per session.
He couldn''t help but think:
"It seems that even after igniting their divine fire and constructing the [Bloodline Extraction] divine imprint, gods still face stiff competition to earn divine power."
William didn''t have much knowledge about divine imprints, only that they could be constructed after igniting the divine fire.
Rather than dwelling on the price differences, he simply accepted the market reality. Regardless of the cost, he would never purchase mid- or low-tier bloodline cards.
However, the 30-million-divine-power price tag for the high-tier Thunderwing Dracobeast bloodline card was far beyond his expectations¡ªhundreds of times more expensive than ordinary extraordinary beast bloodline cards.
It was painfully expensive. He had just struggled and risked his life in the resource wells to earn 47 million divine power, leaving him half-crippled in the process.
And now, before he even had a chance to enjoy his earnings, he was about to spend most of it. The thought made his heart ache.
But he had no choice¡ªWilliam understood that this was simply the market price. In a professional marketplace like this, credibility was a fundamental requirement. Businesses that survived here had to balance pricing, service, and quality; otherwise, they would be ruthlessly outcompeted.
"Give me one high-tier bloodline card for the Thunderwing Dracobeast. Also, I need eleven high-tier bloodline cards each for Molten Serpents, Gale Wolves, and Ironhide Jackals."
"Oh, and I also need a Thunderwing Dracobeast corpse. That won''t be a problem, will it?"
"Of course not! Please follow me," the guide said, leading William to the circular counter in the center of the hall.
"Here are your requested bloodline cards: 33 high-tier mass-production bloodline cards at 3 million divine power each, plus one high-tier Thunderwing Dracobeast bloodline card at 30 million divine power. Your total comes to 39.9 million divine power."
William didn''t hesitate¡ªhe made the payment, collected his goods, and left the store, escorted by the enthusiastic staff.
Returning to his divine domain, William didn''t immediately use the high-tier bloodline cards. Instead, he did nothing at all¡ªchoosing first to return to the real world.
As he once again stepped out of the Divine Link Chamber, William could clearly feel the changes within himself.
Though he still appeared pale and thin on the outside, his strength, reflexes, and mental state had all improved drastically compared to seven months ago.
Chapter 97 God
More importantly, William could already feel a force constantly transforming his body and soul.
He was extremely familiar with the nature of this power¡ªit was divine power.
After all, he had lived in the world of gods for decades, and his demigod body was composed entirely of pure divine power.
As William carefully sensed, he could vaguely perceive what seemed to be a thread connecting his soul to the core of his divine domain.
After seven months of divine power transformation, he was already beginning to evolve toward becoming a transcendent being.
This transformation not only enhanced his physique but also granted him some special abilities that he had never experienced in his previous life.
For example, the moment William stepped out of the divine login pod, he rushed straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
In the past, it had always been difficult for him to scrub his own back, but now, a bath towel under the control of his mental power moved as if an invisible hand was gripping it, vigorously scrubbing the dirt off his back.
Thanks to the transformation by divine power, William could now extend his mental power outward, and telekinesis was one manifestation of this ability.
Although his power was still weak¡ªbarely able to lift a five-kilogram dumbbell¡ªmanipulating a bath towel to scrub his back was no problem at all.
"Oh, God, please bless me with a successful bloodline card fusion this time. I''m a simple man; I don''t ask for much. As long as the Thunder Wyvern Beast bloodline card succeeds, I''ll be satisfied."
After saying this, William respectfully placed an incense stick into the small censer on the table before turning toward the divine login pod.
Opening the door, lying down, and closing his eyes¡ªall in one smooth motion¡ªhe instantly returned to his divine domain.
There, he hovered in midair, eyes closed, arms spread wide and slightly raised, striking a pose of unity between man and nature.
Then, he extended his divine sense outward, gathering the winds and clouds of his divine domain toward himself.
By sheer force of will, he created a celestial phenomenon befitting a child of destiny, further reinforcing his own fortune.
When he finally opened his eyes, the superstitious ritual had given him the psychological reassurance he needed, and William now exuded confidence.
"Burning incense and bathing¡ªritual propriety! This time, I''m definitely set."
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His demigod form flickered and disappeared from its spot.
When he reappeared, he was already standing before an incubation nest. Without hesitation, he pulled out a high-grade bloodline card from within himself and activated it instantly¡
Having gone through this process numerous times before, William was now highly skilled in infusing an incubation nest with a transcendent bloodline. There was none of the anxiety he had felt when he first used a transcendent bloodline card.
One Day Later
William had completed the production of this transcendent incubation nest.
The process went smoothly, though the frustrating 30% failure rate had cost him seven incubation nests.
But most importantly, the Thunder Wyvern Beast bloodline card had fused successfully.
The loss of the other incubation nests was still within an acceptable range for him.
Now, all incubation nests in his divine domain had undergone transcendent transformation.
Although their total number had decreased to 28, the improvement in the quality of the swarm''s future production would undoubtedly lead to an increase¡ªnot a decrease¡ªin combat strength.
Currently, William had:
-
13 Zergling incubation nests,
-
13 Hydralisk incubation nests,
-
1 Baneling incubation nest,
-
And finally, the incubation nest infused with the Thunder Wyvern Beast bloodline.
Gazing at this special incubation nest, its surface flickering with blue lightning, William immediately issued an order to the Queen through his divine sense.
He commanded the Thunder incubation nest to merge with the existing swarm unit templates and produce a few specimens of each for testing.
As William patiently awaited the results, they turned out to be just as he had expected.
Without genetic adjustments, merely brute-forcing a fusion with existing templates resulted in extremely low success rates.
Only a few Beast of Thunder eggs¡ªperhaps due to the presence of large biological genes¡ªsuccessfully hatched into larvae.
Other genetic templates couldn''t even support the emergence of life from the eggs, turning them directly into dead eggs.
Even the few larvae that did hatch were in extremely poor condition. Seeing their sickly state, William quickly examined their genetic structure.
The original structure of the normal gene templates had been grotesquely distorted by the sheer number of transcendent genes forcibly embedded into them.
Their genetic templates were under immense strain, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Based on his past experience, William judged that even if these larvae survived the pupation phase, it was still uncertain whether they could emerge from their cocoons¡ªlet alone survive afterward.
After all, this bloodline card carried distinct draconic traits.
The sheer number of transcendent genetic tumors in its structure made it impossible for the swarm''s existing unit templates to be compatible without dedicated modifications.
"Forget it. I''m already taking shortcuts as it is. Hoping for a miracle where a perfectly usable unit appears out of nowhere was unrealistic from the start."
"I should just focus on designing a proper template from scratch."
Unfazed by the initial failure, William had only been trying his luck.
If the incubation nest had miraculously managed to produce a unit that required no further modifications, he would have struck gold.
After pausing production at the Thunder incubation nest, William''s demigod form flickered and reappeared in the cavern where the Queen resided.
"Master, you have returned."
Upon seeing William, the Queen immediately lowered her head to the ground, her two antennae gently touching the surface as well.
Through the faith connection, a surge of emotions expressing submission and respect was transmitted to William.
Ever since William had nourished her with large amounts of the Fountain of Life, all these years had passed, yet the Queen had remained almost unchanged.
Chapter 98: New Bugs
The abdomen behind her had not yet grown to a massive size at this time, so she was still able to move freely.
After some time, when her abdomen became enormous, she would no longer be able to move freely.
She would have to wait until her abdomen fully matured and detached before she could regain her mobility.
As the Queen Ant raised her head again, a spherical gemstone hanging from her neck was revealed beneath her skull, with colorful fluorescent light swirling inside.
This was the Psychic Crystal Core, which was known to have no side effects and could enhance mental strength and intelligence when worn for a long time.
William had fashioned it into a small necklace and placed it around the Queen Ant¡¯s neck.
The effects were remarkable. In just over a month since she had started wearing the Psychic Crystal Core, William could clearly sense that the Queen Ant¡¯s intelligence had grown significantly.
At the very least, she no longer behaved like a preschooler, shaking her forehead antennae and eagerly asking him what delicious food he had brought as soon as she saw him.
"Hmm, it looks like you''ve made quite a bit of progress recently. Have you finished the homework I assigned you? How are you doing with the first-grade textbooks?"
As he spoke, William glanced at the pile of books stacked beside the platform.
These were textbooks from various school grades that he had directly copied from the internet using the Divine Login Pod.
Ever since William discovered that the Queen Ant¡¯s intelligence was developing after wearing the Psychic Crystal Core, he had taken the time to give her lessons in basic education.
William released his divine sense and effortlessly found a completed first-grade workbook.
The homework had been done by the Queen Ant, who used her antennae as a pen, dipping them in ink to write.
Scanning the contents with his divine sense, William checked her answers¡ªher accuracy exceeded seventy percent. She had made progress.
"I have already started reading second-grade textbooks, but there are some parts I still don¡¯t quite understand," the Queen Ant immediately responded via telepathy upon hearing William¡¯s question.
William¡¯s face instantly lit up with an uncontrollable grin upon learning that she had already begun self-studying second-grade material.
With an encouraging tone, he said, "It''s okay if you don¡¯t understand everything yet. You¡¯re already doing great. The more you read, the more you¡¯ll understand. Keep using your brain, and you¡¯ll become smarter and smarter."
At this moment, William was filled with excitement.
The fact that she could take the initiative to study second-grade textbooks on her own proved that she was a Queen Ant who loved to learn.
As long as she continued studying and became more intelligent, she would eventually be able to help him analyze genes once her intellect matured.
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"I''ve been working alone for so many years, and I¡¯m finally about to reclaim my position as a leader. At last, I¡¯ll have an employee I can exploit. What a joyous occasion!"
Quickly pulling himself out of his wandering thoughts, William steadied his emotions before continuing:
"As a reward for your hard work in studying, I¡¯ve brought you some food. Make sure to integrate the genes after you finish eating and store them in the gene bank¡ªthey¡¯ll be useful."
With that, William reached into his demigod body and retrieved a sealing card.
Activating it with divine power, a corpse of a Thunder Wyvern Beast instantly appeared on the other side of the cavern.
With a slight tug on the threads of faith, the patrolling flying Zerg received William¡¯s command.
They immediately rushed toward the Thunder Wyvern Beast¡¯s corpse, stripping its scales, removing its bones, and dismembering it into eight pieces.
Following closely behind, the logistics Zerg processed the Thunder Wyvern Beast meat further.
Before long, a plate of Thunder Wyvern Beast sashimi, paired with fresh green aphid meat, was delivered into the Queen Ant¡¯s mouth.
Once the Thunder Wyvern Beast¡¯s genes were fully recorded into the Queen Ant¡¯s gene bank, William immediately began analyzing them.
Eight years later, in William¡¯s Divine Realm.
Inside a massive, semi-enclosed underground nest, William stood with a solemn expression, staring at a gigantic cocoon before him.
It was an enormous, horizontally positioned cocoon of purplish-red color, shaped like an ellipsoid and over twenty meters in size, resembling a small mountain resting silently at the center of the nest.
Thick, web-like blood vessels covered the surface of the cocoon, expanding and contracting rhythmically as if it were breathing, with a faint blue glow coursing through them.
Suddenly, the previously stable cocoon seemed to react to some unknown stimulus.
The web-like blood vessels on its surface began to contract violently, the blue energy flowing inside grew brighter, and tiny arcs of electricity danced across its exterior.
Amidst the crackling of interwoven electric sparks, the cocoon reached its limit, expanding outward violently before finally bursting apart.
A new and terrifying beast emerged before William.
Its body exceeded twenty meters in length, making it even larger than the Beast of Thunder.
Its head bore a striking resemblance to the Beast of Thunder, with sharp fangs and massive mandibles, as well as a blade-like single horn protruding from its forehead, giving it a ferocious appearance.
A massive, multi-faceted bony carapace extended from the back of its short, thick neck.
Compared to the Beast of Thunder¡¯s bulky armor, this carapace was more slender and elongated.
It curved backward, covering the back of its head while also providing protection for a significant portion of its spine.
However, its body was entirely different from the Beast of Thunder.
Gone was the heavy, cumbersome build¡ªit had instead taken on a streamlined, dragon-like physique.
Its muscular body was covered in large purplish-red scales that shimmered with streaks of blue lightning.
Its four limbs were powerfully built, with jointed areas sporting menacing bone spikes.
Its enormous claws gleamed with a razor-sharp chill, while a long, spiked tail trailed behind it.
A pair of enormous wings sprouted from its back, structurally similar to dragon wings, with vicious bone spurs emerging from the joints.
This was the new Zerg unit that William had spent eight years creating.
It had taken him more than five years to fully analyze the ordinary genes of the Thunder Wyvern Beast.
Overjoyed by his progress, he eagerly began designing the gene template for his new unit, only to realize that the difficulty far exceeded his expectations.
The cluster of extraordinary gene tumors within the Thunder Wyvern Beast¡¯s genetic makeup carried special abilities beyond the three innate magical skills described in the purchased bloodline card.
This cluster of extraordinary genes also encompassed the Thunder Wyvern Beast¡¯s scale resistance, anti-gravity flight, and various supernatural traits derived from its faint dragon lineage.
As a result, the template William designed to accommodate this bloodline had far greater requirements and complexity.
William initially attempted to fuse the existing Beast of Thunder and Zergling gene templates with the Thunder Wyvern Beast¡¯s ordinary genes to create a new gene template.
However, when integrating it with the extraordinary genes from the bloodline card, the addition of Zerg DNA caused numerous issues.
This forced him to invest an enormous amount of time, refining and optimizing the design over and over again.
Chapter 99: Testing the Experiment
This process took William three years to finally complete.
Watching the newly created Swarm unit begin to move its body within the hive, with tiny electric currents dancing across its surface, William''s stern face finally showed a hint of a smile as he slowly retracted his expanding psychic scan.
"It''s finally a success. Next is the observation period and the collection of actual combat data."
With this thought, William exhaled a breath and smiled as he tugged at the thread of faith.
The newly born Swarm unit immediately spread its wings, but without visibly flapping them much. Instead, the electricity flowing across its body suddenly surged, and with a powerful push from its four claws against the ground, it leaped into the air.
Just like that, it floated effortlessly, its massive body seemingly unaffected by gravity, slowly ascending. It rose directly through the opening above, exiting the underground hive and emerging into the sky of William''s divine domain.
With just a few wing beats, it accelerated from hovering to a speed of over 600 km/h in just over ten seconds.
Then, the electricity on its body erupted in a dazzling display, and in an instant, it broke the sound barrier, speeding toward the designated testing area that William had selected.
Watching as the new Swarm unit left behind a trail of blue lightning, streaking through the air with sparks and flashes, William''s smile deepened.
"Since it has inherited the bloodline of the original Thunder Wyvern, I''ll call it the Thunder Wyvern."
In a great mood, William immediately finalized the name for the new unit.
Then, with a flicker, his demigod form disappeared from its original location and reappeared at the edge of his divine domain, overlooking a barren landscape in the distance.
He didn''t have to wait long before a small glowing dot appeared in the far sky, rapidly growing in size as it approached at high speed.
As the glowing figure neared, the Thunder Wyvern, now fully enveloped in lightning, made a sharp dive, landing before William. The powerful airflow generated by its descent stirred up dust and debris, sending sand and rocks flying in all directions.
William looked up at the massive beast before him and casually swiped his hand, summoning a translucent blue screen in front of him.
What followed was a detailed examination of the Thunder Wyvern¡ªsomething William did for every newly created Swarm unit.
After all, only by thoroughly understanding his own creations could he be prepared to handle any situation that arose.
The Next Day
Floating in mid-air within his divine domain, William looked at the Thunder Wyvern¡¯s test report with great satisfaction.
The data from the tests had exceeded his expectations.
In addition to the three innate magical abilities inherited from its bloodline, which demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in offense, defense, and mobility, the Thunder Wyvern''s raw physical strength¡ªcombined with the traits borrowed from the Beast of Thunder and Zerglings¡ªmade it a formidable melee fighter as well.
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The scales covering its body possessed a natural resistance to supernatural attacks. Whether it was the fireball magic from Hydralisks or the scythe strikes from enhanced Zerglings, the damage it took was significantly reduced.
It was almost as if it had a built-in, simplified version of a permanent resistance-enhancing magic.
Its flight capabilities also exhibited supernatural traits. Unlike ordinary flying creatures that needed to constantly flap their wings to stay airborne, the Thunder Wyvern could hover in the air with minimal wing movements, consuming only a small amount of magical energy.
"With the detailed data now collected, the next step is to observe for a month. If no issues arise, mass production will begin."
Closing the translucent blue screen in front of him, William mused to himself, "There''s still a little over two years until the Global Tournament. If production goes smoothly, I should be able to amass a considerable number of Thunder Wyverns by then."
Given the massive size of this new unit, its production cycle was naturally not short.
However, through careful design and deliberate enhancements, William had ensured that the Thunder Wyvern larvae possessed an exceptionally efficient digestive and absorption system.
This allowed them to grow rapidly through constant feeding, accumulating energy much faster than ordinary creatures.
Throughout the entire process, the Thunder Wyvern larvae were fully cared for by other Swarm units. They had nothing to do except eat¡ªcontinuously.
Even so, for a larva to grow to over 20 meters in size still required about a year and a half.
Once they had accumulated enough energy, they would enter the cocooning phase, which took another half a year before they could emerge, fully transformed into Thunder Wyverns.
The Thunder Wyverns'' appetite was staggering, consuming twice as much food as the Beast of Thunder, earning them the title of the Swarm¡¯s number-one glutton.
Fortunately, their combat prowess justified their massive consumption, unlike the now-discontinued Beast of Thunder, whose power-to-consumption ratio was simply inefficient.
Through testing, William had also gained a thorough understanding of the Thunder Wyvern¡¯s most powerful attack¡ªthe Lightning Flash, a potent thunder-element spell.
This ability had several key advantages:
-
Its energy was highly concentrated, allowing for rapid casting.
-
It had exceptional penetration power.
-
The projectile moved in a straight line, making its trajectory predictable.
-
It had a long effective range.
-
The lightning beam was extremely difficult to evade.
It could be used both for sweeping across battlefields to hit multiple targets and for sniping powerful individual enemies.
With a sufficient number of Thunder Wyverns, William believed that even if he encountered a Hero-class unit like Kaelen again, he would be able to obliterate him with sheer firepower.
Waving his hand to dismiss the screen, William vanished from his spot and reappeared before the Ant Queen.
At that moment, the Ant Queen was hunched over a thick exercise book, using her antennae dipped in ink to furiously scribble down answers. Piles of completed exercise books, stacked like small hills, surrounded her.
Sensing William¡¯s arrival, she immediately stopped writing and raised her head to look at him.
"I¡¯ve been too busy with the new unit lately to check on your studies. How has your learning been progressing?"
"Master, I feel that continuing to complete exercise books isn¡¯t helping me much anymore."
The Ant Queen''s telepathic response carried a strong sense of grievance.
Over the years, William had periodically taken time to personally answer the Ant Queen''s questions during her self-study.
Since he had no prior teaching experience, he had simply replicated the study method he had used in his past life¡ªbrute-force memorization and endless exercises.
Every time he answered one of her questions, he would assign a massive amount of follow-up problems, using a "problem-solving overload" approach to reinforce understanding.
As a result, the Ant Queen had gradually turned into a relentless problem-solving machine, drowning in an endless sea of exercises every time William left.
"Uh... well, doing lots of exercises is a way to train your thinking skills. The process is more important than the result."
Scratching his head, William finally conceded, "Since you don¡¯t enjoy it, let¡¯s put a pause on our coursework for now."
Chapter 100 - Planet Competition Rules
"Next, you can focus your energy on optimizing the existing templates of the Zerg units. Try making adjustments to the current templates."
"Start with the gene template of the Beast of Thunder as practice. The main focus should be on reducing costs while increasing mobility, defense, and survivability. I will evaluate the results of your optimizations."
In terms of gene analysis ability, the Queen Ant still lagged significantly behind William¡¯s own divine genetic traits.
Comparing the two, the Queen Ant had an advantage in analyzing supernatural genes, but in terms of analyzing ordinary genes, she was dozens of times slower than William himself.
Thus, William¡¯s primary approach to cultivating the Queen Ant was focused on optimizing existing genetic templates. Having her analyze new genes was simply not cost-effective.
After assigning tasks to the Queen Ant, William¡¯s semi-divine spirit body appeared outside the Divine Realm¡¯s barrier.
He looked into the distance and saw another batch of students returning to the school¡¯s base after completing their training over the past few years.
Among these returning students, more than 30% had seen their Divine Realm shrink to just 10,000 square kilometers.
William shook his head and stopped paying attention, withdrawing back into his Divine Realm to continue analyzing genes.
Over the years, students who had been taken out for training by their teachers had been returning one after another.
Some of them had experienced an explosive expansion in their Divine Realm, growing several times or even over tenfold.
Others had their Divine Realm shrink back to the size it was when they first established it.
William didn¡¯t even need to ask¡ªhe knew that these students had likely suffered defeat while attempting to plunder external resources.
Only under the protection of their teachers were they able to avoid complete destruction of their Divine Realm.
This was also a major part of the senior-year curriculum: to let students experience firsthand the harsh realities of the divine world within a controlled environment.
Although these students suffered heavy losses, at least their Divine Realm and core followers were preserved, giving them a chance to start over.
Time flew by, and another two years passed.
One day, while William was fully focused on analyzing more and more genetic data, he suddenly sensed a disturbance at his Divine Realm¡¯s barrier.
Extending his divine sense outside the barrier, he saw an enormous Divine Realm, spanning 250 million square kilometers, quietly docking beside his own.
Zous¡¯s semi-divine spirit body had already appeared outside William¡¯s Divine Realm, gently knocking on its barrier with one hand.
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William immediately stopped his work and emerged from his Divine Realm, appearing before Zous and respectfully asking, "Why have you come?"
Seeing William finally come out, Zous withdrew his hand from the barrier, smiling kindly as he looked William up and down.
He then asked, "William, you¡¯ve been holed up in your Divine Realm all day, so focused that you didn¡¯t even notice my arrival. What have you been up to?"
"Nothing much, just focusing on researching ways to enhance my followers'' strength. I got too immersed in it. Besides, I¡¯ve been staying in the safe zone, so I haven¡¯t been paying much attention to what¡¯s happening outside," William replied, scratching his head in embarrassment.
Zous didn¡¯t seem to mind William¡¯s response and got straight to the point.
"I came to inform you that in two days, the Global Tournament will begin. How¡¯s your preparation going?"
Hearing Zous mention the Global Tournament, William suddenly remembered that it was right around the corner.
He immediately pounded his chest confidently and declared, "Don¡¯t worry, Zous! I¡¯ve been preparing for this all along. I¡¯ll definitely achieve a great result and bring honor to our school!"
Seeing William¡¯s confidence, Zous nodded in satisfaction and looked reassured.
"That¡¯s good. Since you¡¯re so confident, I won¡¯t worry too much."
"Also, the rules for this year¡¯s Global Tournament have just been released. Let me explain them to you."
"This year¡¯s tournament will follow a Battle Royale format. All participants will be connected to a special Divine Realm battleground at the same time."
"There aren¡¯t many rules. Essentially, invading other contestants¡¯ Divine Realms via the tournament battlefield is forbidden. Additionally, if all of your deployed followers are eliminated, you¡¯ll be disqualified."
Upon hearing these rules, William immediately spotted several potential issues.
Without hesitation, he asked Zous, "Zous, don¡¯t you think these rules are a bit unfair?"
"Under these rules, stronger contestants could easily become targets of alliances, leading to them being eliminated first."
"Meanwhile, some races that specialize in stealth could just hide the entire time and survive until the end without fighting."
Zous casually waved his hand and chuckled, saying, "That¡¯s not unfair at all. The fewer restrictions there are on combat, the more it mirrors real-life situations."
"There¡¯s no such thing as fairness in the universe. The Global Tournament, like all competitions, is merely a selection process."
"And what exactly is being selected? The most promising demigods, who will then receive preferential resource allocation."
"But what does ¡®potential¡¯ mean?"
"If you can defeat opponents of the same level in a one-on-one duel, that means you have potential."
"If you can form alliances and defeat stronger opponents in a chaotic battle, that also means you have potential."
"If you can survive on a battlefield filled with powerful enemies by staying hidden until the end, that still counts as potential."
"Potential means finding your own way forward in any environment¡ªa path toward igniting your divine flame and eventually becoming a true god."
"So this selection process doesn¡¯t care about the means¡ªonly the final result. Even if someone wins just by sheer luck, that still counts as their potential."
"One day, when you step beyond the borders of human civilization and venture into the void of the divine world to compete for external resources..."
"No one will show you mercy. Surviving to the end is the only rule that matters."
At this point, Zous seemed to realize he had spoken too much. He cleared his throat before continuing, "I may have gotten a bit carried away. Don¡¯t overthink it."
"The main goal of this tournament is to train rookie demigods like you."
"Stronger contestants will always have a higher chance of making it to the end. Just do your best."
"Besides, the tournament has a time limit. Once time runs out, rankings will be determined based on the number of enemies eliminated."
"Simply hiding and avoiding battles until the end won¡¯t earn you a good ranking."
After listening to Zous¡¯s explanation, William finally grasped the reasoning behind the Battle Royale format.
Compared to the city-level tournaments, which were straightforward tests of raw strength, the Global Tournament required far more strategic considerations.
For participants hoping to achieve a strong performance, the number of factors they needed to account for had increased exponentially.
Chapter 101 Departure
"I understand. I''ll make sure to perform well this time." William put on a respectful expression, but inwardly, he wasn''t too shaken by the battle royale format of the competition.
"By the way, Zous, do you know how many participants there are in the global tournament each year?" Now that he understood the competition''s rules, William asked about something that concerned him under the battle royale format.
"The number of participants in the global tournament? That¡¯s actually quite consistent. On our planet, Elvia, the number of participants each year is around 600," Zous answered casually.
"600 people, huh¡" With this information, William started calculating in his mind.
With only 600 participants in the battle royale, and considering that ordinary students typically had tens of thousands of extraordinary followers, even assuming an average of a million per participant, the total number of extraordinary troops would be no more than 600 million.
This meant that, with his current number of followers, as long as there were no unexpected circumstances, he had no reason to fear being targeted in the arena.
Over the past decade, the number of Zerg in William''s divine domain had surpassed 1.5 billion, nearly all of them extraordinary units.
Ever since he had profited in the low-level battle zone ten years ago, every newly produced hatchery in his domain had been granted extraordinary bloodlines as soon as possible.
During this process, the damn failure rate had cost him three newly born hatcheries. Perhaps his luck had run out from previous successes because all three hatcheries, which were meant to produce extraordinary Zerglings, failed when he tried to grant them a second extraordinary bloodline.
Fortunately, William was now quite wealthy. Even after losing 1.8 million divine power, he still had six to seven million left, making the loss only a minor setback within his acceptable range.
As a result, his total number of hatcheries had only just recovered to 35.
Among them, the Thunder Wyverns, currently the most powerful combat unit of his swarm, had hatched just days ago.
This meant that William¡¯s Thunder Wyvern population was now growing by 10,000 per day.
By the time the tournament began in two days, he would have 100,000 of them.
With this powerful Zerg unit as his trump card, along with the 35 million self-destructing Zerglings in his army, William felt extremely confident. The global tournament¡¯s grand prize¡ªa staggering 50 million divine power¡ªwas as good as his.
At this thought, William couldn''t help but smile.
Seeing that William was not anxious in the slightest and was even smiling unconsciously, Zous, who had a good understanding of his student''s strength, knew that William must have already made his calculations.
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Zous then continued, "Alright, take the next two days to make your final preparations. When the time comes, I''ll come to fetch you."
Hearing that Zous would personally take him to the competition, William didn¡¯t mind at all. Since he was just going to compete, he simply had to follow instructions. He immediately responded respectfully, "Then I¡¯ll be counting on you this time, Uncle Zous."
After parting ways, William returned to his divine domain and immediately began his final preparations for battle.
His main task was to awaken some of the Zerg units that had been in hibernation for too long, let them feast, move around, and restore their bodies to peak condition.
The next two days flew by as William busied himself with these preparations.
When Zous'' demigod spirit appeared outside William''s divine domain again, this time, William, who had not been lost in his research, immediately noticed.
Without delay, he exited his divine domain and appeared before Zous.
Seeing William appear, Zous didn¡¯t waste any words. He simply took out two high-grade teleportation cards and handed them to William before saying with a smile, "Here, take these. These will cover the travel costs. The coordinates for the competition venue are quite far from here, so we¡¯ll teleport directly. The coordinates are¡"
As he spoke, Zous relayed the location of the competition venue to William.
Seeing that William had received the high-grade teleportation cards and committed the coordinates to memory, Zous continued, "Alright, let¡¯s go."
The two returned to their respective divine domains and simultaneously activated their teleportation cards, disappearing from their original locations.
When William emerged from the teleportation passage once more, he found himself in an unfamiliar area.
Years of habit kicked in, and the moment he exited the teleportation passage, he immediately left his divine domain¡¯s barrier to observe his surroundings.
In the surrounding void, aside from Zous¡¯ massive divine domain, there were several other divine domains present, each seemingly paired in twos.
A larger divine domain was paired with a smaller one¡ªthe larger ones were generally over ten million square kilometers, while the smaller ones were mostly under a million square kilometers. These should be the other student participants.
Further away, a group of ten or so divine domains, each just over a hundred million square kilometers, were clustered together. These were likely the recruitment personnel from various universities on Elvia.
At the very center, three massive divine domains, each 500 million square kilometers in size, hovered alongside another domain that was a mere 100 million square kilometers.
The sheer size of these domains left William wide-eyed in shock.
The combined area of those three gigantic divine domains was roughly equivalent to Earth''s surface area, even twice the size of Zous'' divine domain.
They were the largest demigod divine domains he had ever seen¡ªtrue colossi.
"So huge!" William couldn''t help but exclaim.
Zous'' demigod spirit emerged into the void and, upon hearing William¡¯s exclamation, casually explained, "Heh, the smaller one is the competition arena. Those three giant divine domains belong to this tournament¡¯s judges. They¡¯ve likely reached the peak of demigodhood and are currently accumulating divinity in preparation to ignite their godfire."
William turned to see Zous standing beside him.
"Zous, they''re already accumulating divinity at just 500 million square kilometers? Can they really gather enough to ignite their godfire?"
Noticing the inconsistency in Zous¡¯ explanation, William immediately voiced his doubts.
Zous wasn¡¯t surprised by the question. He simply smiled and answered warmly, "It¡¯s not an issue. A divine domain of 500 million square kilometers can sustain hundreds of billions of followers if properly managed."
"As long as it is well-governed, the domain can even give rise to a Holy Spirit. With that, gathering the required divinity to ignite their godfire is no longer a problem."
"These demigods, who can hold positions within civilization''s safe zones, likely already have Holy Spirit-level followers."
Chapter 102 - The Role of the Holy Spirit
Zous saw William looking at him with a face full of curiosity. Laughing, he continued explaining, ¡°You don¡¯t have a Holy Spirit-level believer yet, so you don¡¯t understand their importance.¡±
¡°This kind of knowledge is usually only needed when you enter university. But since you want to know now, I¡¯ll explain it in advance.¡±
¡°In the hierarchy of believers among followers, apart from the Holy Spirit, all others¡ªwhether general believers or fanatics¡ªare referred to as believers. Only the Holy Spirit lacks the word ¡®believer.¡¯ Do you know why?¡±
Hearing this for the first time, William searched his memory but found no relevant explanation. He could only shake his head at Zous, indicating that he didn¡¯t know.
Seeing William¡¯s response, Zous didn¡¯t keep him in suspense and immediately continued, ¡°Because for those of us walking the path to godhood, the Holy Spirit is extremely special.¡±
¡°The biggest difference between them and ordinary believers is that the Holy Spirit can directly produce divinity.¡±
¡°One Holy Spirit can generate over 300 points of divinity per year.¡±
¡°So, as long as you have a single Holy Spirit, without counting other believers, you can accumulate the one million divinity points needed to ignite godfire in about 30 years in the real world.¡±
¡°Otherwise, relying solely on the faith power generated by believers to gather one million divinity points for godfire ignition would be extremely difficult.¡±
Hearing this, William widened his eyes in admiration and eagerly asked, ¡°Zous, how can I cultivate a Holy Spirit-level follower?¡±
¡°There¡¯s actually no real cultivation method. Holy Spirits almost always emerge by chance when the number of believers reaches a large enough scale,¡± Zous said, suddenly showing a bitter smile.
¡°It all comes down to luck. There¡¯s no fixed training process. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t still be without a Holy Spirit follower myself.¡±
William, puzzled by this, continued asking, ¡°Zous, has no one figured out how Holy Spirits are created?¡±
Zous waved his hand and replied, ¡°That¡¯s not the case. The principle behind the birth of a Holy Spirit is actually quite simple.¡±
¡°A believer who possesses independent thought and ideals, whose will shines brilliantly and has never been distorted by faith, has a chance to become a Holy Spirit¡ªif their thoughts and ideals align closely with those of their god.¡±
¡°Rather than calling Holy Spirits followers of gods, it would be more accurate to describe them as fellow travelers of the gods.¡±
¡°So, even if you know the principle, it doesn¡¯t help much. The birth of a Holy Spirit depends on too many factors.¡±
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¡°Just finding a follower with independent thought and ideals, whose will shines brilliantly, is a one-in-a-million chance.¡±
¡°And such a follower, if they do exist, is extremely unlikely to become a believer in the first place.¡±
¡°Even if they do become believers, ensuring that their thoughts remain unaltered by faith is even more difficult.¡±
¡°Finally, their thoughts must align closely with the god¡¯s own ideology. Most who embark on the path to godhood don¡¯t even truly know what they themselves desire.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why Holy Spirits are almost always born by chance after amassing a vast number of believers.¡±
After hearing Zous¡¯ explanation, William¡¯s eager expression had completely faded, replaced by an exasperated eye roll and a twitching mouth.
¡°Thoughts, ideals, will...¡±
As he listened to Zous¡¯ explanation, William mentally compared these requirements to the current state of his followers.
The result? Aside from having a large number of believers, he met none of the other criteria.
Brilliant thoughts and ideals? Not even worth considering. The only intelligent being in his swarm was the queen ant, while the rest were mindless drones.
Calling them biological weapons devoid of independent thought would be more accurate.
As for the only intelligent unit, the queen ant, she had just recently reached mental maturity.
Where would she get thoughts and ideals? And those had to align closely with William¡¯s own?
How was he supposed to do that? Train the queen ant to be a miniature version of himself¡ªa greedy workaholic, an extreme productivity enthusiast, and a master of internal competition...?
After analyzing himself deeply, William wasn¡¯t even sure what he truly wanted. That was an unsolvable problem in itself!
Even though the prospect of obtaining a Holy Spirit now seemed utterly unrealistic, William still refused to give up and asked Zous, ¡°Zous, is there really no shortcut or technique that can increase the probability of a follower ascending to a Holy Spirit?¡±
Seeing William¡¯s persistent expression, Zous seemed to recall his own reaction when he first learned this information.
With a bitter smile, he shook his head before finally saying, ¡°The most effective known method for increasing the probability of a follower becoming a Holy Spirit...¡±
¡°Is to ignite godfire and create the divine engraving of ¡®Absolute Loyalty,¡¯ which can only be used on one¡¯s core followers.¡±
¡°Then, select a few core followers and consume a massive amount of divine power to plant the seeds of your thoughts within them from the embryo stage, thereby increasing the chance of a Holy Spirit emerging.¡±
¡°But the prerequisite for using this method is having already ignited godfire. So even though I¡¯m telling you now, you can¡¯t use it yet.¡±
After hearing Zous¡¯ explanation, William completely gave up hope.
¡°Damn it, forget about Holy Spirits. As long as I have enough swarm units, I¡¯ll gather the one million divinity points needed for godfire ignition eventually,¡± he consoled himself sourly in his heart before decisively abandoning the topic.
Instead, he shifted his focus to carefully observing the divine domains of the other contestants docked nearby.
With only about 600 participants in the competition, William quickly estimated the overall battle strength of the contest based on the sizes of their divine domains.
The results weren¡¯t far from his expectations¡ªmost contestants¡¯ divine domains were under a million square kilometers.
Only a few had reached a million square kilometers. But what truly surprised him was discovering that one other contestant had a divine domain as large as his own¡ª15 million square kilometers.
That contestant¡¯s demigod form stood outside their divine domain¡¯s barrier, arms crossed, surveying the other competitors.
It was a young man with an arrogant expression, his gaze filled with disdain for the divine domains of the other participants.
Suddenly, as if sensing someone¡¯s gaze, the young man turned his head and noticed William¡¯s demigod form observing him.
At the same time, he also saw William¡¯s divine domain¡ªcalmly floating in the void, spanning 15 million square kilometers.
Chapter 103 - Strong Opponents
The arrogance in the young man¡¯s eyes slowly faded, replaced by a wild grin.
Like a predator who had just found its prey, he scanned William up and down with interest. At the same time, a thought transmission swiftly came from the other side.
"Your divine domain is quite large. It seems that in this competition, only you are qualified to be my opponent. I''m looking forward to your performance."
Hearing this overly dramatic statement, William¡¯s mouth twitched as he resisted the urge to mock him.
Just from these words alone, William was already 80% sure¡ªthis was another overconfident, na?ve young man who had yet to experience the harsh realities of the world.
William was truly curious. The final year of high school was already more than halfway through, yet there were still people like this?
Anyone who had spent a long time in the Resource Well should have learned to be cautious by now. How was this guy still so arrogant?
"The competition hasn¡¯t even started, and he¡¯s already showing hostility. He must be really confident in his own strength¡ and not very smart."
Suppressing his urge to ridicule, William put on a friendly smile, waved at the young man, and sent a thought transmission back.
"Your divine domain is quite large as well. You must be quite powerful. Since this competition follows a battle royale format, how about we work together to eliminate the others first, then fight for the championship later?"
Upon receiving William¡¯s message, Cedric showed nothing but a cold sneer in return.
"Heh¡ Looks like you''re weaker than I expected. Only the weak need to rely on alliances."
Hearing Cedric¡¯s response, William dropped his smile and simply looked away, no longer interested in entertaining this fool.
After just two exchanges, he was already done talking with this arrogant kid whose ego was bigger than his brain.
Zous, who had been silently observing their conversation from the sidelines, finally spoke up once he saw William ignoring Cedric.
"Be careful with that guy," Zous warned. "He¡¯s probably one of those privileged kids with deep family resources, someone who brute-forced his way to becoming a demigod through sheer wealth."
"People like that are never weak. He¡¯s going to be one of your toughest opponents in this competition."
William raised an eyebrow at Zous¡¯s words and nodded thoughtfully.
"So he¡¯s a ¡®God-born¡¯ rich kid. No wonder his divine domain has already grown to 15 million square kilometers, yet he¡¯s still acting like a reckless fool."
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From William¡¯s perspective, Cedric completely lacked the cautious temperament that naturally developed from years of struggling in the Resource Well.
He probably only followed his teachers there as a mere formality, strolling around the outermost areas and bullying rookies with divine domains of only a few tens of thousands of square kilometers before heading home.
After all, with unlimited resources at his disposal, there was no need for him to risk his life venturing into the deeper regions.
Just then, a powerful divine voice echoed across the sky from the judge¡¯s location.
"I am the chief referee appointed by the Alvia Star Education Department for this competition. All participants, please gather immediately."
Upon receiving this message, William didn¡¯t hesitate. He exchanged a quick farewell with Zous before maneuvering his divine domain toward the central area.
The other competitors also began moving, converging toward the center of the battlefield.
Once all the participants had gathered, William took a quick glance around.
As expected, the divine domains of the 600-plus contestants matched his earlier observations¡ªmost were under a million square kilometers.
A few had surpassed that threshold, but they weren¡¯t significant enough to pose a major threat.
Only he and Cedric had divine domains as vast as 15 million square kilometers, making them stand out like giants among the competition.
When all the students had arrived, the chief referee, along with two assistant referees and the battlefield overseer, finally revealed their demigod spirit forms in the void.
The chief referee¡ªa middle-aged man with a calm expression¡ªstepped forward, glancing at the gathered contestants.
Raising his hands, he clapped them together. A booming sound rippled outward, capturing everyone¡¯s attention and focusing it on him.
Once he had their undivided attention, the referee began explaining.
"This competition follows a battle royale format. All participants will establish a connection with the overseer¡¯s divine domain and send their followers into the battlefield."
"Any followers that die within the overseer¡¯s domain are permanently eliminated. Once a participant can no longer send followers into the battlefield, they are considered disqualified."
"Directly invading another participant¡¯s divine domain through the competition grounds is strictly forbidden. Any violators will be eliminated."
"During the competition, demigod spirit forms are prohibited from leaving their own divine domains to observe the battlefield. Violators will be eliminated."
At this point, the referee raised his hand, and over 600 cards materialized in the void, each one flying toward a specific contestant.
"These are Divine Thought Shielding Cards. Once you establish a connection with the overseer¡¯s divine domain, immediately use this on your divine domain¡¯s barrier."
"It will temporarily block your perception of the outside world. If your demigod spirit form steps outside your domain¡¯s barrier, the shielding will vanish, and you will be considered to have voluntarily forfeited the competition."
"Once a participant is eliminated, they are strictly forbidden from interfering with the battlefield in any way."
"The maximum duration of the competition is one month. When time runs out, the participant who has eliminated the highest number of enemy followers will be declared the champion."
"If there are any questions, now is the time to ask."
The referee stood in the void, waiting for ten seconds.
Seeing that no one spoke, he nodded slightly and gestured to the battlefield overseer.
Upon receiving the signal, the overseer immediately began maneuvering his 100-million-square-kilometer divine domain toward the contestants.
Simultaneously, over 600 glowing rings appeared around the battlefield, spaced evenly to ensure fair distribution.
The referee¡¯s voice rang out once more.
Chapter 104 - Entering the Arena
Seeing this, William immediately reduced the movement speed of his divine domain, allowing Cedric¡¯s divine domain to take the lead and reach the competition field first, securing a light circle.
Once Cedric¡¯s position was confirmed, the area where his divine domain would connect to the arena was also determined. William then adjusted the direction of his divine domain slightly, deviating from his original course to bypass Cedric¡¯s location. He stopped his divine domain at the light circle farthest from Cedric¡¯s position, forming a diagonal line between them.
As a demigod who had entered resource-scarce wells multiple times and grown through plundering other divine domains, William was cautious when facing an unknown opponent¡ªespecially after receiving a prior warning from Zous. He decided to position his invasion channel connection far from Cedric¡¯s area.
William¡¯s primary goal was to maintain a safe distance from Cedric in the early stages of the match. This approach would allow him to avoid direct confrontation and unnecessary losses of his swarm while giving him time to send out scouting units to observe Cedric¡¯s followers and devise a strategy in advance. Even with absolute confidence in his ability to control the swarm in battle, caution was a habit he had long developed.
Moreover, the match was a free-for-all. There was no need to immediately clash with the strongest-looking competitor. The correct strategy was to eliminate weaker opponents first. William had no intention of fighting to the death with Cedric right away¡ªespecially when the overall situation was still unclear.
After William secured his position, other contestants began rushing to claim their own preferred light circles. The fastest competitors mostly chose positions far from both William and Cedric.
Based on the average distance between the light circles, any contestant who positioned their divine domain next to William or Cedric would have their invasion channel entrance within 100 kilometers of either one of them. This meant they would likely be the first to engage in battle with the two strongest-looking competitors¡ªa risk few were willing to take.
As a result, the remaining contestants hurried to claim the remaining spots. Before long, all light circles surrounding the central divine arena were occupied. The slowest competitors had no choice but to settle for positions closest to William or Cedric.
¡°I¡¯ll emphasize this one more time: All contestants must use their Divine Sense Blocking Cards immediately after establishing their invasion channels,¡± the chief referee reminded.
¡°Do not activate them before establishing the connection. Otherwise, the disturbance from the divine domain barrier fluctuations will cause the block to fail, resulting in disqualification.¡±
After a brief pause, the referee scanned the contestants, ensuring everyone was ready. Without wasting more words, he sent out a divine message across the battlefield:
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¡°The match begins.¡±
As soon as the announcement was made, over 600 contestants activated their transparent invasion channels simultaneously, connecting their divine domains to the central battlefield.
The moment William¡¯s connection was established, he immediately activated his Divine Sense Blocking Card. A faint gray glow spread across his divine domain¡¯s barrier, preventing him from perceiving anything outside.
Once he confirmed the block was effective, he pulled on the thread of faith.
Billions of swarm units, already gathered at the edge of his divine domain, surged into the invasion channel like a tidal wave.
Since all participants entered the battlefield simultaneously, there was no need to worry about an ambush at the invasion channel entrance. As a result, William¡¯s choice of initial swarm units differed from his usual probing attack strategy.
The first wave of units included the ever-reliable Poison Stinger Dragonflies, which remained highly cost-effective and had never been phased out of his swarm.
Additionally, more than one million Transcendent Flying Jumpers and 1,000 Thunder Wyverns joined the first wave.
Their mission was not combat but rapid reconnaissance. They would provide coordinates for William¡¯s direct possession and gather intelligence as quickly as possible.
Once the Poison Stinger Dragonflies entered the unfamiliar divine domain, they spread out in low-altitude flight like a swarm of buzzing mosquitoes, scanning the terrain below.
The faster Transcendent Flying Jumpers ascended to nearly 1,000 meters before dispersing in all directions at speeds exceeding 350 kilometers per hour.
Meanwhile, the 1,000 Thunder Wyverns, the fastest among them, soared to an altitude of 8,000 meters and spread out in a fan-shaped formation, flying toward the distance.
Their specific task was long-range reconnaissance¡ªparticularly towards Cedric¡¯s invasion channel entrance. With a cruising speed of 600 kilometers per hour and a burst speed exceeding 1,500 kilometers per hour when using Thunder Dash, they could gather intelligence on the farthest regions within hours.
With a fully established high-, mid-, and low-altitude reconnaissance system, all William had to do now was patiently wait for intelligence reports and ensure his swarm¡¯s complete entry into the battlefield.
As his reconnaissance units spread rapidly, the geography of the divine domain arena gradually became clear.
His invasion channel was located in the outermost barren mountains, where the terrain was stark and desolate.
Moving inward, the terrain became gentler, transitioning into an expansive plain with a few rivers and scattered large lakes¡ªan almost endless open field.
Based on the revealed topography, William deduced that this battlefield was designed for large-scale army confrontations.
The divine domain likely formed a basin-like terrain, with mountains and hills on the outer edges and an increasingly flat landscape toward the center, providing minimal cover.
Such vast open space would allow enormous armies to spread out and engage in full-scale warfare.
Taking in this realization, William silently mused:
"A flat plain... So they want to see us engage in a full-scale head-on war. In the end, it¡¯s still about raw power."
With that thought, he lowered his gaze to the ever-growing swarm pouring into the invasion channel, preparing for the inevitable battle ahead.
Chapter 105 Expanding the scope of detection
Given that the invasion tunnel was operating at full capacity, William estimated that it would take at least another half an hour for all of his participating swarm units to enter the battlefield.
Since there were no immediate threats, there was no need for William to expend additional divine power to increase the efficiency of the tunnel¡¯s throughput.
Time passed quickly as William waited for his swarm to enter.
As the reconnaissance units expanded their search range, just ten minutes later, the flying jumpers had already scouted the locations where the two closest contestants had connected their invasion tunnels.
William immediately shifted his vision to the flying jumper that had discovered the situation, using it as a focal point.
From a thousand meters in the air, the jumper could see everything on the ground clearly.
One of the contestants had a Green Orc subspecies as their minions¡ªidentical to the orcs he had previously eliminated in a single wave of self-destructing jumpers during the city-wide league.
Their total numbers reached over five million, with less than fifteen percent being extraordinary-grade orcs, amounting to just over 700,000.
Scattered among them were elite-grade orc shamans, whose numbers, based on William¡¯s rough estimate, likely did not exceed 3,000.
Compared to the orcs he had encountered in the city-wide league, these ones were less well-equipped.
Clearly, this contestant was just here to participate rather than to truly compete.
After briefly observing the army and confirming that there was no important intelligence he had overlooked, William quickly lost interest.
An army of this caliber likely wouldn¡¯t even withstand a single probing assault from him.
Noting their movement toward the plains and their route planning, which clearly aimed at moving farther away, William didn¡¯t even need to guess what the contestant was thinking.
It was evident that they wanted to avoid an early confrontation with him.
Unfortunately, that was an impossible wish.
Since William had already discovered this orc army, there was no way he would let them go.
Given the size of the battlefield, this match was not something that would end in just a day or two.
Most of his freshly awakened swarm units had been resupplied, restoring them to their normal combat state.
However, allowing them to feast freely in his own divine domain was out of the question.
With their adrenal glands providing a baseline boost, William¡¯s tests had shown that the difference between feeding them to 20% capacity versus 100% was only in terms of sustained high-intensity combat time; their overall combat effectiveness remained the same.
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Right now, most of the swarm was in a state of hunger¡ªmaking this conveniently positioned orc army the perfect walking rations.
Without paying any further attention to the still-overflowing invasion tunnel, William gently tugged on the threads of faith, commanding his awaiting swarm.
In an instant, chaos erupted.
Sharp, piercing cries echoed through the swarm.
Immediately, the swarm split off a force consisting of:
-
100 million flying jumpers,
-
100 million mutated jumpers,
-
100 million venomous spitters,
-
5 million self-destructing jumpers.
A total force of over 300 million units surged toward the orc army¡¯s location like an overwhelming tide.
Their mission, beyond completely annihilating the 5-million-strong orc force, was to push forward along the perimeter of the divine domain in that direction.
Following the guidance of reconnaissance units, they were to eliminate all other contestants encountered along the way.
After assigning this task, William shifted his vision once more, attaching his sight to the reconnaissance jumper that had discovered the second contestant.
Hovering high above and looking down, he observed this contestant¡¯s minions with a bit more interest.
This was evidently a human-type subspecies.
The soldiers were all over 1.8 meters tall, with muscular physiques, bronzed skin, and dazzling white fangs visible when they spoke.
Their total army size exceeded 7 million, with 6.5 million of them mounted on tall warhorses.
Clad in heavy armor, wielding single-handed longswords at their waists and lances in hand, they resembled medieval knights marching in disciplined formations.
Their equipment shimmered faintly with magical light.
With a closer look, William instantly determined that the entire army was outfitted with standardized enchanted gear.
The remaining 500,000 extraordinary-grade units wore black cloaks embroidered with white lines, wielding half-human-tall wooden staves.
They formed 50 phalanxes of 10,000 troops each, positioned at the center of the army for protection.
Finally, there were fewer than 3,000 elite-grade units, scattered throughout the army as high-ranking officers.
These elite minions were the most visually striking, carrying wooden staves embedded with gemstones and wearing white cloaks lined with golden embroidery.
A steady flow of magical energy radiated from their bodies.
The army was also accompanied by numerous low-altitude floating barges, fully loaded with supplies, moving along with the troops¡ªsomething that instantly caught William¡¯s interest.
This was a demigod taking the traditional magic path.
Moreover, they were clearly a wealthy contestant, extravagantly equipping their entire army with enchanted gear.
Just as William was preparing to descend for a closer look at the floating barges to see what supplies they carried, a crescent-shaped energy slash, glowing with cyan light, shot up from the army below.
Leaving a bright trail in the sky, it raced toward the flying jumper¡¯s head.
The jumper, gliding smoothly through the air, immediately reacted upon detecting the attack.
The originally smooth, glossy purple scales on its body instantly roughened.
A stream of wind-element energy wrapped around it in an instant.
At the same time, the jumper executed an extreme aerial maneuver, rolling to narrowly evade the attack.
A faint white mark was left on its scales where it had been grazed.
Steadying itself, the jumper swiftly flapped its wings, beginning to climb higher.
Suddenly, a colossal divine projection rose from the army below, locking its gaze onto William¡¯s attached jumper.
Seeing their deity manifest in the sky, the advancing army halted at once.
It was a female demigod.
She had long, waist-length purple hair, flawless white skin, and striking features.
Her expression was ice-cold and indifferent, her sharp, sword-like eyebrows enhancing her aura of unwavering dominance.
Her projection wore a flowing, white silk gown cinched at the waist, perfectly accentuating her graceful and alluring figure.
She held a golden scepter taller than her own projection.
Upon seeing her, William immediately recognized her as someone who had mastered the art of divine projection.
Even though he knew that an exceptional demigod¡¯s appearance could significantly reduce the difficulty of spreading faith¡ªa trick he had read about in textbooks¡ªhe still found himself slightly impressed.
Chapter 106 Becoming a partner?
At that moment, a surge of willpower emanated from the massive demigod projection, instantly interrupting William¡¯s inner monologue filled with complaints.
"Student, you''ve already managed to probe my location in such a short time. You must be that demigod with a divine domain spanning 15 million square kilometers, right? The competition has only just begun¡ªlet¡¯s talk."
Hearing the other party¡¯s words, William pondered for a moment and quickly deduced the likely topic of discussion. A slight smirk appeared on his lips as he directly activated the threads of faith.
At the entrance of the invasion passage, a vast number of Zerg units immediately split off a three-billion-strong swarm army and began moving toward the location.
The composition was identical to the previous wave: one billion flying jumpers, one billion mutated jumpers, one billion hydralisks, and an additional five million explosive jumpers.
After mobilizing the swarm, William finally consumed divine power to manifest his own demigod projection, appearing before the other projection.
Compared to the opponent''s imposing form, William¡¯s demigod projection appeared rather unimpressive.
"What do you want to say? Speak." Without wasting words, William got straight to the point after manifesting his projection.
Seeing William¡¯s casual and somewhat mundane appearance, Mary frowned slightly.
Although manifesting a projection before a conversation was basic etiquette among gods, William¡¯s appearance was undeniably unrefined and did not befit a divine being.
However, she knew of William¡¯s formidable strength, so she quickly regained her cold and proud demeanor before speaking.
"This competition follows a free-for-all format, but the rules do not prohibit alliances."
"A divine domain spanning ten million square kilometers is vast. Attempting to wipe out all other participants and achieve victory alone is nearly impossible."
"Thus, in this competition, forming alliances in the early stages, working together to eliminate other competitors with minimal losses, and preserving strength is the optimal strategy."
"In the later stages, relying on teamwork to survive until the end and competing based on enemy kill counts is the correct approach."
"You may be strong, but going solo in this competition is definitely not a wise choice."
"You¡¯ve already seen the strength of my army. So, would you like to form an alliance?"
As Mary spoke, her tone was filled with confidence, clearly displaying her faith in her own strength.
However, after hearing her analysis, William sighed inwardly.
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He was well aware that acting alone in this format wasn¡¯t the best choice.
The problem was that an alliance without restrictions required a balance in strength between both parties¡ªonly then could the alliance remain stable.
This was precisely why William had invited Cedric to collaborate before the competition began.
Given his current level of power, even if he genuinely formed an alliance with this demigod, the outcome would likely fall into one of three scenarios:
-
Mary, upon witnessing William¡¯s true strength, would abandon her championship ambitions and obediently become his subordinate or cannon fodder.
-
Mary, despite realizing William¡¯s strength, would still desire the championship, feigning an alliance only to flee at the first opportunity and search for another chance.
-
Mary would stick with William throughout the competition, but if an opportunity arose, she would stab him in the back.
Thus, forming an alliance provided William with limited benefits.
He would also need to divert additional attention to monitor Mary¡¯s intentions, making it entirely unworthy of his effort.
"Forget about an alliance¡ªI have another proposal. You can hear me out first."
As soon as he finished speaking, William noticed Mary¡¯s once-cold and indifferent gaze sharpening.
However, she merely stared at William without making a move, waiting for him to state his proposal.
With a faint smile, William appeared as if he were about to suggest something constructive.
But what he said had nothing to do with cooperation.
"You¡¯ve put considerable effort into raising this batch of followers, haven¡¯t you?"
"Leave behind all of your low-altitude floating crafts and hand over 100,000 divine power points, and I will let you safely withdraw from this competition along with your followers."
"Otherwise, your painstakingly built army will be annihilated here."
"Furthermore, I will blockade your connection passage and directly eliminate you. How does this proposal sound?"
Upon hearing William¡¯s words, a blaze of fury ignited in Mary¡¯s eyes.
"You insolent and arrogant insect¡ªI will make you pay for your hubris."
She did not use telepathic communication to say this but directly proclaimed it using divine will.
As her resounding voice spread, Mary¡¯s followers raised their weapons, howling toward the sky.
Amidst the high morale of her army, she slowly withdrew her demigod projection.
Clearly, William¡¯s proposal had thoroughly enraged her.
Seeing this, William outwardly responded with an awkward smile while inwardly launching into another round of complaints.
"Why the insults? I know she¡¯s just trying to boost her troops'' morale with words, but hearing it is just unbearably awkward..."
Despite his grumbling, William didn¡¯t forget to command the flying jumper he was possessing to ascend even higher, continuing to observe the army below.
With its superior altitude, advanced dynamic visual capture system, and wind-shielding ability, the flying jumper effortlessly dodged over a dozen incoming crescent-shaped energy blades.
Seeing their attacks fail repeatedly, the opposing troops eventually abandoned their attempts to strike it down, allowing it to continue monitoring them from the sky.
William then noticed the enemy¡¯s magical army shifting formation.
The heavy cavalry followers began moving toward the invasion passage, positioning 500,000 magicians behind them for protection.
Meanwhile, numerous low-altitude floating crafts landed beside each ten-thousand-strong magician formation.
From these crafts, crates of ochre-glowing mana crystals were unloaded and swiftly distributed among the magicians.
These football-sized mana crystals had been specially processed, with numerous flickering runes dancing within them.
Following their commanders'' orders, the magicians activated their spells.
One after another, three-meter-tall earth-element golems rose from the ground, with the mana crystals serving as their cores.
These golems were noticeably different from regular earth-elemental beings.
Instead of exuding a bulky and sturdy presence, they were humanoid in shape¡ªslim-waisted with long legs and thick arms, composed of soil and rock from the battlefield.
It was evident that these golems had been specially designed, prioritizing agility and speed over defense.
Unlike the commonly defensive earth-element golems, these ones were clearly built for offense.
Chapter 107 Warriors
These golems, once created, immediately moved to the forefront of the knightly army, gradually forming a defensive line made up entirely of golems.
Under William''s watchful eye, the 500,000 mage subordinates spent over half an hour painstakingly creating an army of earth element golems numbering over five million.
On average, each mage had summoned ten combat golems.
For a moment, William was utterly stunned, his mouth watering as he couldn''t help but marvel,
"No wonder this female classmate is so confident¡ªshe was hiding such a trump card all along!"
After expressing his amazement, William turned his gaze toward the distant horizon.
There, a surging tide of purple was beginning to emerge, gradually expanding as it spread in this direction.
"They''ve finally arrived¡ Looks like as the battlefield expands, the swarm''s mobility needs to improve."
With that thought, William silently noted this new discovery in his mind, planning to record it in his notebook later to avoid forgetting.
The reason why this army of over 300 million swarm units had taken so long to arrive was entirely due to the Hydralisks slowing down the entire force''s advance.
Otherwise, with the Zerglings'' mobility, they should have arrived long ago.
Shaking his head, William chose not to directly command this swarm army in real-time.
Instead, he remained attached to the Flying Zergling, waiting for the battle to begin.
This would be the first large-scale battle involving a mixed swarm army since the entire swarm achieved supernatural strength.
William had already devised an attack strategy specifically for the combination of Zerglings and Hydralisks.
Now, he was refraining from intervening in order to test the strategy¡¯s effectiveness in real combat.
As the Zerg tide drew closer, the first to enter the vision of the magic army was the overwhelming swarm of Flying Zerglings.
They blanketed the sky in dense numbers, forming a dark cloud that bore down from the distance.
The buzzing of their wings created tremors in the air, as if making the entire world quake.
Next, on the horizon, a boundless tide of Zerglings and Hydralisks appeared in the magic army''s field of view.
Like a rolling wave of purple and red, they engulfed the ochre earth beneath them as they surged forward.
As the swarm army rapidly approached, the magic army, numbering over 13 million, suddenly seemed insignificant in comparison.
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The sheer terror of being outnumbered so overwhelmingly gnawed at their psyche in real time.
Aside from the emotionless earth golems at the front, the mages and knights behind them were already drenched in cold sweat.
The composed expressions they had worn moments ago had now been replaced by fear, as an atmosphere of despair began to spread through the entire army.
Faced with the exponentially growing swarm¡ªa sight that would make anyone with trypophobia shudder and break down¡ªa young knight in the rear ranks finally reached his breaking point.
As if completely losing it, he burst into tears and screamed,
"This is unwinnable! Let''s run! I just became a knight¡ªI don''t want to die!"
Saying this, he threw down his lance, turned his horse around, and sprinted toward the open pathway between the mage formations in the rear.
This act was like lighting a fuse¡ªmany knights who had already entertained the same thoughts saw this and, despite their comrades'' attempts to stop them, followed suit.
They, too, abandoned their lances and turned to flee.
Unfortunately for them, the moment they broke formation, dozens of light-blue energy blades swept through the open space between the mage and knight ranks.
The deserters were instantly sliced apart.
"Retreat in battle, and you will be executed without mercy!"
A cold voice, amplified by magic, spread across the entire army.
From within the mage ranks, the leader of this force¡ªa white-robed mage wielding a lavish staff¡ªslowly floated into the air.
A powerful magical aura emanated from his body.
The dozens of energy blades that had executed the deserters did not dissipate but instead returned to orbit around him, spinning slowly.
"To offer everything for the gods is our fate. Those who retreat and betray their faith, whether their families or their souls, shall suffer the consequences."
Watching from the sky, William tensed the moment this leader appeared.
"No way¡"
His gaze immediately locked onto the figure, carefully analyzing his energy fluctuations.
After confirming that this leader, while stronger than ordinary elite-level subordinates, was still far from true hero-level strength, William finally relaxed.
He stopped himself from pulling the trigger on summoning 100,000 Thunder Wyverns as reinforcements.
"Jesus, what a scare. No hero-level power, yet he dares to put on this show? Who''s he trying to intimidate?"
"I mean, there''s no way I''d be that unlucky. It makes no sense that, right at the start of the competition, I''d randomly run into a student with hero-level subordinates."
"That kind of unit isn¡¯t something a student who''s only been developing their divine domain for less than a year could possibly raise¡ Chill, chill."
After calming his racing heart, William let out a slow breath.
He turned his attention back to the battlefield, watching as the Zerg tide continued its relentless approach.
William was filled with anticipation.
Just then, above the army, Mary''s demigod projection reappeared.
She still maintained her goddess-like appearance, but the arrogance on her face was gone¡ªnow, she looked deathly pale.
"Classmate, I accept your proposal. I will voluntarily forfeit this match. Please, call off your attack," she said, her words fast and grandly projected across the battlefield.
Hearing this, William maneuvered his Flying Zergling into a dive, stopping before her projection.
This time, he didn¡¯t even bother to manifest his own demigod projection.
Instead, he simply sent his thoughts to her.
"I spent immense effort assembling my subordinates here. Do you think war is something that can just stop at your whim?"
William¡¯s voice was as cold as ice, and Mary¡¯s heart instantly sank into despair.
She had poured nearly all her time and effort since opening her divine domain into raising this army to its current strength.
If it were to be wiped out here, the pain she would experience would be indescribable¡ªlike having decades of work erased in an instant with no returns.
For any newly ascended demigod, such a loss would be a catastrophic blow to their spirit.
Suddenly, William¡¯s thoughts transmitted again, finishing his previous statement.
"Unless¡ you pay extra."
Chapter 108 Knights
William''s answer brought a glimmer of hope back to mary, who had fallen into an abyss.
¡®What do you want?¡¯ She anxiously opened her mouth and asked, no longer having the cold arrogance she had before.
This was because at this moment, the wave formed by the swarm of insects was close to approaching the defence line formed by the earth elemental puppets.
¡®One million divine power, pay immediately!¡¯ William opened his price without hesitation.
¡®I don''t have that much on me right now, I only have 130,000 divine power, I''ll pay the rest within three days after the match.¡¯ Facing the high price William offered, mary had no choice but to state her situation.
In order to achieve a good result in this competition, she had long ago used the rewards from the citywide league with the resources given by her parents.
All of them had been used to raise her dependents and develop her Divine Domain, and she simply couldn''t take out so much Divine Power at one time.
Hearing mary say that she would pay after the competition, William instantly lost interest in continuing the conversation.
The flying jumping insect he possessed, its wings stirred violently.
The height quickly climbed up to where he stayed before, no longer paying attention to mary''s demigod projection.
This kind of verbal guarantee did not have any compulsion at all, and was completely supported by credibility.
Even if William allowed mary to make an IOU now, the other party could directly disown it after the match.
mary looked at the flying jumping insect in front of her, and after she finished speaking, she did not stop and immediately flew back to the high altitude where she was originally located.
She could no longer maintain her surface calmness and revealed a look of panic.
Just as she was about to say something else, the surging wave of insects had already approached the defence line formed by the earth elemental golem.
When the wave of insects spread to a distance of 300 metres from this magic army, a hissing roar abruptly erupted from the battlefield where there was only the sound of wings flapping.
This hissing sound was like a signal that instantly ignited the entire swarm, and layers of hissing sounds resounded through the heavens and earth.
The Alienated Jumping Bugs began to collectively accelerate, the effects of Tough Skin and Wind Protector surfacing on their bodies.
At the same time, sheets and sheets of fireball magic, rose up from within the tide of insects, drawing an arc in the air and falling steadily into, the defence line formed by the earth elemental golems.
These fireballs landed at intervals of about five metres, and did not reach the exaggerated fire density that covered every inch of land when they faced the old demigods last time.
However, the explosions of the fireballs landing on the ground would no longer stop from this moment onwards.
This not-too-intense bombardment, while possessing decent lethality, also largely ensured the continuity of the Stinging Snake''s firepower output.
The explosions would extend all the way backwards as the wave of insects advanced.
The Jumping Bugs, on the other hand, would keep advancing at an even speed up to 300 metres in front of the Stinging Snake, cleansing the area that had just been struck by the fireball coverage.
The earth elemental puppets were helpless in the face of this covering strike.
Without a means of long-range attack, they could only rely on their rocky bodies and try to shrink their size to bear the damage of the fireballs.
Unfortunately, facing the explosion of a large number of fireball spells, even the Earth Elemental Golem, which was naturally superior in terms of defence, couldn''t remain unscathed.
As the explosions continued to extend backwards, the earth elemental golems that survived in the area that had just experienced the fireball bombardment had not even regained their footing from the aftermath of the explosions.
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They were greeted by a large number of Transcendent Alienated Jumping Insects, with their dorsal scythes attached to cyan-coloured wind blades.
The intensive strikes followed, and the golems were, almost instantly, sliced into pieces.
This was what William had designed for the Hybrid Legion, the coordinated advancement tactics of the foot artillery.
Because of the limitations of the Stinger''s fireball attack distance of more than 500 metres, William could only use the previous life''s step artillery synergy tactic, and then modified it to test the tactic''s specific effect in actual combat.
As for the flying hoppers in the sky, they would only swoop into the field when the advancement of the swarm was blocked, or when they broke up the opponent for harvesting.
After all, the flying hoppers, in the overall positioning of the insect swarm, existed as a support unit.
On the premise of having ultra-high mobility, they also sacrificed some of their defence.
This made their battle damage in close combat, compared to the Alienated Jumping Bugs that served as the main ground combat unit, had always been quite a bit higher.
William''s previous practice of using them to disrupt the interior of the enemy''s formation, although it was highly effective, had also resulted in their battle losses remaining high.
Now that he had a new tactical option, he of course had to see how effective it really was.
In this short period of time, the wave of insects had already crushed through the defence line formed by 5 million earth elemental puppets.
The explosions from the fireballs landing on the ground also began to spread towards, the second line of defence formed by the knights.
In the defence line formed by the knight legions, even mary''s fanatics, looking at the explosions that gradually extended over, their stoic looks took on a sadness that couldn''t be dissolved.
¡®Knights, it is time to offer everything for my god.¡¯ The army chief of this knight army, roared violently into the ears of all the knights.
As a berserker who had already reached elite level strength, this army leader raised his riding lance high and steered his horse out to the very front of the army formation.
Facing the explosions that covered him, he spat out the last four words with difficulty, ¡®All troops charge!¡¯
From these four short words, everyone could hear his helplessness and despair.
After saying that, with a pull of the reins, he took control of his warhorse and launched a charge towards the spreading explosion.
Along with his movements, some of the knights behind him whose faith level had reached Berserkers also urged their horses to leap out of the formation and followed closely behind him.
Seeing their backs that charged towards death, it was as if they possessed magic power.
In the array, the knights whose morale had already been crushed by the horrifying numbers of the insect tide.
At this moment, they either knew that retreating was also death, or the instincts formed by their long training, or they regained their dispersed courage, or they regained their honour.
More and more heavy armoured knights, urging their horses to follow their army leaders, also charged towards the densely covered fireballs.
When the 6.5 million heavy cavalry charged, the dull reverberation of their horses'' hooves hitting the ground had a tendency to separate from the hissing of the insect swarm.
William silently watched this scene from high up in the sky and didn''t know what expression to use.
The difference between intelligent life is so huge, most of the life in the face of the swarm, will instantly lose the courage to resist, become a lamb to be slaughtered.
But there are always exceptions, they can burst out in despair.
At this moment, a mutation occurred, and huge wind elements began to converge on the battlefield.
A huge green coloured tornado connecting heaven and earth slowly took shape over the advancing tide of insects.
The stirred air currents gradually became violent and sharp as the tornado took shape.
Chapter 109 Victory
The swarms within the range of these spells were instantly pulled into the air by a tremendous force and torn apart by countless wind blades slicing through them continuously.
At the same time, a massive number of wind blades spread outward from the cyan tornado at the center, forming large-scale sweeping attacks.
A Hydralisk advancing on the battlefield had just reached the outer edge of this enormous tornado. Just as it was about to turn and evade this terrifying spell blocking its path, one of the countless cyan wind blades carried by the tornado swept in from afar, slashing across its body.
The Hydralisk was instantly sliced in half like a piece of tofu.
The fireball barrage covering the charging route of the knight legion suddenly weakened after the cyan tornado formed.
This change gave the knight legion, which had been making a desperate charge under the relentless explosions, a chance to break free from the fire-covered zone¡ªthough at a heavy cost.
"It''s the mage legion''s large-scale magic!"
"Our reinforcements have arrived!"
"For glory! Victory shall be ours!"
Seeing this large-scale spell appear reignited the knights'' hope. Their desire to survive even triggered some of them, upon escaping the explosion zone, to ascend to the extraordinary rank directly on the battlefield. A faint aura of battle energy ignited around them.
Unfortunately, after they broke through the firepower coverage, what awaited them was an entire force of extraordinary-level mutated Zerglings.
The wind blades that had spread from the tornado¡ªcapable of easily slicing through Hydralisks¡ªonly caused the mutated Zerglings to tremble slightly upon impact. The blades left blood-red marks on their armored scales before dissipating into the air.
As the heavily damaged knight legion collided head-on with the mutated Zergling formation, a one-sided massacre crushed the brief hope they had just rekindled.
The mutated Zerglings, their scythe-like arms enhanced by wind blades, effortlessly cleaved through the knights, cutting both riders and warhorses in half.
Their standard enchanted armor was easily penetrated by the attacks of the extraordinary Zerglings. Meanwhile, the knights'' longswords and lances could only leave faint marks on the Zerglings'' ¡¾Toughened Skin¡¿, struggling even to break through their defenses.
At this moment, William had already turned his gaze toward the rear of Mary¡¯s vassal army.
There, 500,000 mages had formed 50 massive magic circles, each centered around an elite-level mage.
Cyan energy flowed rapidly within the circles, and the fluctuations of magical power grew stronger by the second.
Above the insect tide, the first batch of 50 cyan tornadoes had yet to fully take shape, while the second batch was already being formed.
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This was a sustained-channeling spell. As long as the mage legion continued to pour magic into it, the wind-element tornadoes would multiply in number and grow in power.
Upon recognizing this as the result of a coordinated spellcasting effort by the mage legion, William glanced indifferently at the flying Zergling horde in the sky.
Even before he could tug on the faith link, the massive swarm of flying Zerglings had already begun to shift.
The creatures folded their wings and instantly transitioned from gliding in the sky to a full-speed dive.
The ¡¾Wind Shield¡¿ enveloping their bodies transformed into a semi-transparent, streamlined barrier, further increasing their diving speed.
In the blink of an eye, the dense insect cloud descended like an apocalyptic storm, crashing down upon the mage legion in the rear.
Just as the diving Zerglings neared the massive spell formations formed by the mages, a transparent protective barrier materialized above the mage army.
Unfortunately, this thin defensive shield was facing a swarm of flying Zerglings enhanced by both ¡¾Toughened Skin¡¿ and ¡¾Wind Shield¡¿.
The barrier was instantly pierced and shattered as the creatures plowed through it in their dive.
Within moments, the 500,000-strong mage legion was engulfed by a sea of insects.
With the coordinated spellcasting disrupted, the enormous cyan tornadoes in the sky rapidly dissipated the moment the mage legion was overwhelmed.
The now-defenseless magic army was completely devoured by the relentless insect tide as it continued its advance without pause.
As Mary¡¯s demigod projection fully dissipated from the sky, William watched the insect horde continue its unstoppable march toward the horizon, a satisfied look on his face.
Mary''s defensive line had failed to offer even the slightest resistance against his new tactical system. From start to finish, the insect swarm¡¯s advance had remained uninterrupted.
Moreover, after the entire battle, the losses inflicted on the three hundred million-strong insect army were so minuscule that they were negligible.
"The new tactics performed well. Pity the enemy wasn¡¯t strong enough, so I didn''t get a chance to deploy the self-destruct Zerglings."
"Also, the Hydralisks'' weakness was exposed. Their bodies are too fragile¡ªthis needs to be improved. Their defensive capabilities must be enhanced."
After summarizing the results of this test of his swarm¡¯s new tactics, William activated the faith link.
Ten thousand flying Zerglings broke off from the aerial swarm and began circling over the battlefield that had just been ravaged by the insect tide.
William had assigned them the task of cleaning up the battlefield after the main swarm had fully passed through.
Their orders were simple: consume anything edible and gather anything useful, leaving behind nothing but rock and dirt to be transported back to his divine realm.
Having set these arrangements in place, William briefly scanned the map in his consciousness.
On the other end, the orc army had already vanished beneath the path of the insect tide¡ªan expected outcome that did not concern him.
He simply checked through the faith link to get an estimate of the losses sustained by that segment of the insect army.
"Hmm¡ losses are essentially zero."
With that confirmation, he also instructed the flying Zerglings on that front to form a small cleanup team after the battle.
After handling these matters, William turned his attention back to the main army still stationed at the invasion passage.
By now, the entire insect swarm had completed its entry. However, since they had not yet received his command, they remained in place, resting in silence.
"Move out."
As the command was transmitted through the faith link, the massive seven hundred million-strong main army began to stir.
The silent, purple-red swarm covering the ground surged into motion.
The flying Zerglings took to the skies, forming their signature swirling insect cloud.
The mutated Zerglings led the charge at the vanguard, followed closely by nearly four hundred million Hydralisks forming the central force.
Bringing up the rear were twenty million self-destruct Zerglings and one hundred thousand Thunder Wyverns¡ªhidden aces dispersed within the sea of insects, advancing with the main force.
Under William¡¯s control, the army began its slow march toward the vast plains at the center.
Since there was no immediate target, he deliberately slowed the swarm''s advance.
Chapter 110 Rivals
This way, the swarm could conserve energy while also sweeping through the areas they passed.
Since they were inside someone else''s divine realm, they wouldn¡¯t be able to absorb the fragments of divine territory that broke off after a contestant was eliminated.
Naturally, William allowed the swarm to devour freely. The already scarce vegetation on the outskirts of this divine realm was completely consumed. After the swarm passed through, not a single blade of grass remained, leaving behind a barren wasteland.
At this moment, outside the competition''s divine realm, in the vast void, Zous was chatting and laughing with two demigods.
These individuals all possessed divine realms exceeding a hundred million square kilometers in size¡ªthey were university admissions officers who had come to watch the competition.
One of them, a middle-aged man with a sharp and capable demeanor, was holding onto Zous¡¯s hand tightly, grinning as he spoke:
¡°Zous, that student of yours is quite fierce. I didn¡¯t expect that after so many years, your school would produce another promising talent. It¡¯s been less than an hour since the competition started, and he¡¯s already eliminated two contestants.¡±
¡°You could¡¯ve at least given us a heads-up! This kid is impressive¡ªmake sure to recommend our university to him later.¡±
As soon as he finished speaking, the other demigod let out a mocking chuckle and said, ¡°With his strength, he has a real shot at winning the global championship. If he enters the sector-level competition¡¡±
¡°Your university isn¡¯t even in the top tier on a civilization-wide scale. Don¡¯t mislead such a talented student.¡±
The demigod who had spoken earlier was immediately displeased and retorted, ¡°Our university is still one of the best in the world! How is that misleading him?¡±
¡°You¡¯re just bitter because you know you have no chance of recruiting a student of this caliber.¡±
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Zous quickly intervened, laughing, ¡°Alright, alright, you¡¯re both grown men¡ªno need to fight. Let¡¯s just watch the competition.¡±
¡°I just hope William can take the championship.¡±
Saying this, Zous turned his gaze to another part of the battlefield¡ªthe area where Cedric¡¯s divine realm connected to the competition¡¯s arena. A hint of concern flickered in his eyes.
There, a massive white tide was slowly advancing toward the central plains¡ªan enormous undead army.
Like William, Cedric had made nearly the same tactical decision upon entering the divine realm.
He divided his forces into three groups. Two smaller detachments swept along the edges of the battlefield, clearing out contestants they encountered.
Meanwhile, Cedric himself led the main undead army¡ªthe largest force¡ªstraight toward the central plains.
At the same time, he dispatched large numbers of skeletal bats for reconnaissance, scouring the battlefield for other contestants.
¡°Haha, I absolutely love these competition rules! Everyone here is just prey waiting for me to hunt them down.¡±
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At this moment, Cedric appeared completely unconcerned about expending divine power. He manifested a massive demigod projection above his army of undead minions.
Wearing an arrogant grin, he surveyed the battlefield.
As a demigod who had awakened the Undead Vassal Path, Cedric was one of the top-priority heirs in his family¡¯s current generation.
He had never lacked resources. From the moment he established his divine realm until now¡ªjust seventy years¡ªhe had developed his undead army to exceed two billion in number, thanks to the steady supply of resources from his family.
Although most of his army consisted of low-level skeleton cannon fodder, Cedric had also accumulated a considerable number of high-quality undead.
Among them were four hundred million skeletal knights and three hundred million skeletal bats, forming the backbone of his forces.
By his calculations, eliminating every contestant in this match shouldn¡¯t be a problem.
But even more importantly, this competition provided him with an immense harvest: a vast supply of corpses, the most valuable resource for an Undead Vassal.
In Cedric¡¯s view, this was a once-in-a-lifetime windfall.
With 600 contestants participating, the total number of vassal creatures they had brought into the arena was likely in the range of 200 to 300 billion.
If he could collect a sufficient number of extraordinary vassal corpses during this competition, he could use large-scale rituals to rapidly create elite undead, doubling the strength of his core forces in a short time.
And that wasn¡¯t even counting the ordinary-grade vassals. Once they died, they could be reanimated as mindless skeleton cannon fodder by necromancers.
To Cedric, this meant that as time passed, his strength would only continue to grow. This battlefield was nothing less than his personal hunting ground.
That was precisely why he had no intention of forming alliances with anyone.
Just then, in the mental map forming within his consciousness, his skeletal bats finally detected the presence of another contestant.
Cedric wasted no time.
He issued a divine command from the sky, and with his order, a massive horde of skeletons immediately shifted direction under the control of the necromancers.
The entire undead army accelerated toward the unfortunate contestant.
At the same time, large numbers of skeletal knights and skeletal bats separated from the slower-moving skeleton horde.
Cedric had no intention of letting these high-quality undead engage in direct combat.
As superior undead, they possessed much greater mobility than the slow-moving skeleton fodder.
Unless absolutely necessary, they would not engage the enemy directly. Instead, they executed a large-scale flanking maneuver to cut off all escape routes.
Their role was to herd their prey, forcing them toward the advancing main force of skeletons.
This was the standard tactic of an undead army¡ªoverwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, then harvest high-value corpses for conversion into elite undead through rituals.
As for the ordinary-grade vassal corpses, they would be immediately reanimated on the battlefield as mindless skeletal cannon fodder.
These skeletons would then grow stronger by killing living creatures and absorbing their souls, eventually accumulating enough energy to evolve into higher-tier undead.
This was why the Undead Vassal Path was synonymous with horde tactics.
Compared to Cedric¡¯s approach, however, William¡¯s efficiency was on an entirely different level.
Thanks to his high, mid, and low-altitude reconnaissance network, along with his near and far-range detection system, he had already located seven or eight contestants within this short time.
If a target was near the path of one of his three main armies, William wouldn¡¯t even bother to inspect them personally.
He would simply adjust the army¡¯s course via the mental map, ensuring the target was swept up in the swarm¡¯s advance.
If a target was farther away from his three main forces, only then would William personally attach his divine consciousness to scout the situation.
Depending on the enemy¡¯s strength, he would dispatch a mobile strike force consisting of a vanguard five times the enemy''s numbers, composed of mutant jumpers and flying jumpers, to swiftly eliminate them.
Additionally, he would send a suicide bomber detachment ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 units, ready to be deployed if needed.
Chapter 111: Finding the Enemy
As time passed, William and Cedric, the two apex predators on the battlefield, found that the range of their summoned creatures was expanding, gradually being spotted by more and more competitors.
Faced with the sheer number of summoned creatures, all the other participants made the same choice: to retreat to areas farther from the other two''s summons.
This led to a situation where all the competitors in the entire battlefield were converging toward the central axis of the divine domain.
Through the Thunder Dragon sent out for reconnaissance, William also noticed the unusual movement pattern of the competitors.
Upon seeing this, William quickly deduced the possible cause of the situation.
He realized that there was likely a demigod or an alliance in the divine domain that was strong enough to crush the other competitors, and they too were conducting large-scale sweeps.
After this thought crossed his mind, William immediately thought of Cedric''s arrogant demeanor.
"Could it be that delusional freak? I wonder what kind of summoned creature he has," William thought, feeling an ominous premonition.
At that moment, the Thunder Dragon, which had the largest reconnaissance range, suddenly lit up a large red spot on the map in William¡¯s mind.
This instantly caught his attention. As a high-altitude scout, Thunder Dragons had a vast field of view. Typically, when they spotted other participants, the red spot on the map would be small. However, this time, the red spot was massive, indicating that the number of summoned creatures was at least several hundred times that of an average participant¡¯s.
William immediately switched his view to the Thunder Dragon''s reconnaissance and looked down from the sky. He saw that the ground was swarming with skeletons, forming a vast undead army slowly advancing toward the center of the plain.
"Damn it¡ not again, this disgusting race," William said, his face twisted as if he had eaten bitter melon.
Having fought against the undead before, he vividly remembered that battle. Both undead and his own swarm of super-excellent insects relied on quantity as their core strategy.
William was confident that his insect swarm could easily overpower these skeletal cannon fodder in terms of quality. However, the problem was that fighting these creatures yielded minimal rewards.
A bunch of bone sticks with no flesh, and they often carried various plague viruses. Although this wasn''t much of an issue for his enhanced immune system insects, William had learned his lesson after the deadly black fungi incident. He had made extensive upgrades to the swarm''s immune system and had also studied undead summons in detail. The viruses carried by undead summons were usually no more dangerous than the average type.
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The super-excellent fungi he had encountered before were an anomaly, likely from a demigod or some special natural product in the divine domain.
At this moment, Cedric, who was controlling the undead army, suddenly revealed his demigod projection and looked up toward the direction of the high-altitude Thunder Dragon.
Having sensed a subtle form of observation earlier, Cedric locked onto the Thunder Dragon as soon as he manifested his demigod projection.
"Is that... a dragon? No, it should be some kind of sub-dragon species."
"Looks like luck¡¯s on my side. One of the participants actually has a sub-dragon summoned creature. This is great."
Cedric''s eyes gleamed with greed. The stronger the creature, the easier it was to transform into high-quality undead when turned into a zombie.
Without hesitation, large numbers of skeletal bats flew into the air, desperately flapping their wings to gain speed. They formed groups and steadily moved toward the Thunder Dragon in the sky, attempting to surround it.
Seeing this, William smirked.
"Hah, with that speed, it¡¯ll be eating dust soon."
The Thunder Dragon¡¯s body suddenly glowed with a layer of electric armor. With a powerful flap of its wings, it accelerated, breaking its stationary state and diving through the gaps in the skeletal bat encirclement.
In an almost provocative manner, it performed a 360-degree flip in mid-air, smashing a cluster of skeletal bats that crossed its path. The shattered bones scattered like petals falling from the sky, landing in the undead army below.
After smashing a few skeletal bats, the Thunder Dragon didn¡¯t fly away. Instead, it began descending, maintaining a high speed above the undead army, performing sharp turns at large angles.
Although the skeletal bats tried to chase it by flapping their wings, their speed was insufficient, and they could only follow the Thunder Dragon¡¯s tail without causing any harm.
A sharp cry echoed from the Thunder Dragon, a blatant provocation toward Cedric¡¯s demigod projection.
"A mere sub-dragon summoned creature... What gives you the courage to provoke my undead army?" Cedric¡¯s eyes flashed coldly, and his booming voice expanded rapidly.
As his words ended, black-robed liches within the undead army quickly ascended into the air.
Compared to the bare-bones skeletons, these liches, hidden beneath their magnificent black robes, resembled mummified corpses with green soul flames burning in their eyes. Holding massive white-bone staffs, they quickly formed a floating circular magic array in the sky.
"Finally bringing out some real tricks, huh? I wonder what it''ll be."
Seeing this, William became both cautious and expectant.
The Thunder Dragon¡¯s electric armor glowed brighter.
As the magic formation in the sky completed, within mere seconds, a massive wave of energy began swirling within the array.
Then, over 3,000 greenish-black ethereal energy beams shot out, forming a barrage that covered the area where the Thunder Dragon was.
The ethereal energy beams hit within moments, but the Thunder Dragon didn¡¯t hesitate. Its electric armor flared up, and its speed tripled. With a burst of acceleration, it barely managed to escape the attack''s range.
However, before William could even relax, the ethereal energy beams continued to rain down like a storm, relentlessly pursuing the Thunder Dragon, forcing it to perform high-speed evasive maneuvers to avoid the incoming fire.
At this point, the Thunder Dragon, still maintaining its lightning-fast strike mode, was in grave danger as it navigated the sky, dodging attacks left and right.
Chapter 112 Strategy
Several psionic energy beams grazed past the Thunder Wyvern''s body, narrowly missing by mere millimeters.
Just as it struggled to evade and was about to break free from the range of the psionic rays, the wyvern''s flight path seemed to have been perfectly predicted. A dense barrage of attacks suddenly formed a firepower net right in its path.
With no other choice, the Thunder Wyvern relied on its exceptional reflexes to execute an emergency climb, barely dodging the onslaught.
However, this evasive maneuver caused it to fly directly into the path of another psionic ray. The attack struck the wyvern¡¯s back with pinpoint accuracy.
"Boom..."
Upon impact, the psionic energy beam exploded, kicking up a cloud of dark green smoke that instantly obscured the Thunder Wyvern from view. The battlefield momentarily fell silent.
Seeing that his attack had landed, Cedric immediately ordered the death lich to cease fire.
What he wanted was the corpse of this draconic beast¡ªpreferably intact, with its soul not completely dissipated¡ªrather than a pile of shattered remains.
Just as the psionic assault ended, a figure flickering with lightning burst out from the smoke.
The Thunder Wyvern¡¯s body was once again enveloped in blue electric currents. It accelerated, breaking the sound barrier in an instant and escaping far beyond the range of the psionic rays.
Watching the wyvern''s retreating silhouette disappear into the horizon, Cedric¡¯s lips curled into a cold smile as he muttered softly to himself:
"You can''t escape. As long as you''re still in the arena, I will find you."
Meanwhile, William observed the retreating undead army with a serious expression, silently analyzing the intelligence he had gathered.
"Most of them are just skeletal cannon fodder. The primary ground combat units appear to be skeletal knights."
"They have an organized flying unit¡ªskeletal bats serving as their aerial force. Their combat capabilities are mediocre, but they can be easily countered with elite jumpers."
"They also possess ranged magic units¡ªundead death liches. Their numbers are unclear, and it''s unknown whether they have additional hidden trump cards."
At this thought, William shifted his gaze to assess the damage inflicted on the Thunder Wyvern¡¯s back.
The entire rear half of its back was already stripped of scales, leaving behind a gruesome mess of exposed flesh. The deeper wounds even revealed glimpses of its writhing internal organs.
The psionic ray, upon striking the wyvern¡¯s protective lightning armor, had failed to penetrate the shield completely.
However, the explosion rapidly depleted the shield¡¯s energy, instantly shattering it. The remaining force then blasted through the wyvern¡¯s scales and dealt significant internal damage.
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Despite maintaining its high-speed flight through sheer will, this was only possible due to the wyvern''s engineered biological design as a killing machine, combined with the extreme overdrive of its adrenal glands.
If it were any ordinary creature, sustaining such injuries would have left it writhing in agony, barely able to move.
"Attack method: psionic ray¡ªhigh velocity, long range, significant power, area damage, but sustained capability unknown."
"Given the nature of undead minions, magic caster-type units typically also handle low-tier undead resurrection and control, high-tier undead rituals, and restoration functions."
At this point, William suddenly froze, as if recalling something, and his expression darkened.
"Low-tier undead can be rapidly reanimated..."
"According to the rules of this tournament, this necromancer¡¯s army will only grow larger as more opponents are eliminated!"
"It looks like my current steady approach won¡¯t work¡ªI need to change strategies."
With this realization, William immediately manipulated his divine faith link, issuing new orders to the three swarming legions that had been steadily advancing through the divine battlefield.
Almost instantly, the three groups¡ªoriginally two consisting of 300 million and one with over 700 million units¡ªhalted their movements.
Following William¡¯s latest command, they rapidly reorganized.
Within a short span, the three massive swarms split into over forty smaller legions, each consisting of roughly 30 million units. These smaller groups then scattered in all directions to commence widespread hunting operations.
At the same time, several elite flying squads composed entirely of jumpers took off toward the opposite half of the battlefield.
William¡¯s strategy was simple:
One defining trait of undead warfare was that losing a battle resulted in heavy losses, but winning allowed rapid replenishment of forces.
Combined with the inherent sluggish mobility of mass skeletal units, Cedric¡¯s strategy would naturally lean toward overwhelming opponents with sheer numerical superiority through encirclement and attrition.
However, due to the slow movement speed of the skeleton horde, such large-scale encirclements would only yield moderate hunting efficiency.
William countered this by leveraging the superior mobility of his swarm to accelerate the elimination of other contestants on the battlefield, ensuring they were wiped out as quickly as possible.
Additionally, he dispatched flying jumpers to clear battlefield remnants along the path of the undead army.
Wherever the swarm passed, not a single corpse would be left behind for the necromancer to harvest.
As long as his elimination speed was fast enough, Cedric would have no opportunity to amass an overwhelming undead force in this match.
The tournament had started with 600 contestants. Based on the intelligence William had gathered, the majority were converging toward the central area.
With increasing encounters between competitors, conflicts were inevitable.
Since rankings were determined based on survival and kill count, most battles between similarly matched players ended in direct combat.
With the battlefield now engulfed in widespread conflict, William estimated that at least half of the contestants would be eliminated purely through mutual combat.
That would leave roughly 300 players remaining.
If each contestant had entered the arena with 5 million minions, the total forces would amount to about 1.5 billion.
The more William eliminated, the less room the undead forces had to grow.
As William¡¯s strategic shift took effect, the pace of the battle intensified dramatically. Flames of war erupted across the arena as conflicts escalated.
One contestant after another found their armies crushed by the swarm.
Jake was one of the competitors in the arena.
At this moment, he was commanding his centaur minion army, galloping across the vast plains.
Every warrior in his centaur army had bloodshot eyes, sunken cheeks, and visible signs of exhaustion.
A large number of centaur scouts were spread far and wide around the main force, diligently gathering intelligence.
Jake himself was positioned at the rear, closely monitoring the direction from which his army had traveled, ever vigilant.
He had easily secured the city championship and expanded his divine domain to a vast 1,000,000 square kilometers.
His minions had undergone tremendous enhancements, and he was brimming with confidence, riding high on his recent successes.
Chapter 113: Escape
So Jake didn¡¯t take his teacher¡¯s words about the increased difficulty and stronger competitors in the global tournament seriously at all.
He was ready to make a name for himself on the global stage, hoping to claim another championship.
However, when he arrived at the competition venue and saw the 1.5-million-square-kilometer divine domains of William and Cedric, he immediately knew that winning the championship was out of the question.
Instead, he planned to participate in a few battles, showcase his skills, and impress the university recruiters in the audience with his potential. After that, he would retreat with his subordinates into his divine domain and surrender safely.
It was a great plan, but plans never keep up with changes.
As Jake commanded his centaur army, leveraging their excellent mobility to charge across the vast plains in search of an easy target, his reconnaissance squads, which had been exploring the surrounding area, spotted something that left him completely stunned.
The iconic sea of skeletons belonging to the undead stretched endlessly into the horizon, numbering at least several billion. Above them, the sky was filled with countless skeletal bats, all steadily advancing along the outer perimeter of the battlefield.
At that moment, Jake wanted nothing more than to step out of his divine domain, grab his teacher by the collar, and make him take a look at this nightmare.
¡°So this is what you meant by ¡®the difficulty has increased slightly¡¯? This isn¡¯t an upgrade from easy mode to hard mode¡ªthis is straight-up hell mode!¡±
As a frequent topic in academic studies, Jake didn¡¯t need to guess what an undead demigod would do upon entering the battlefield with an absolute numerical and strength advantage.
If the opponent could block the escape routes back to the divine domains and then systematically encircle and annihilate all other contestants¡¯ forces, they could not only grow stronger but also secure the championship in the process.
Regaining his composure, Jake immediately dispatched more scouts to expand their search for a safe escape route.
But one by one, the scouts ran into squads of skeletal knights and bats, getting annihilated in the process.
By analyzing the locations where his scouts were being wiped out, Jake quickly realized that trying to retreat his army back to the divine domain now would only lead them straight into the undead army¡¯s encirclement. Once trapped, there would be no escape.
Making a swift decision, Jake commanded his centaur forces to move as far away from the undead¡¯s operational area as possible before searching for a better opportunity to return home.
Unfortunately, they had already been spotted by the skeletal bats.
With their movements exposed, they were soon pursued by an overwhelming force of several tens of millions of skeletal knights.
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Luckily, the pursuing army consisted only of skeletal knights, not the flying skeletal bat legions. Only a handful of bats served as scouts, constantly tracking their position.
Just when Jake was beginning to lose hope, something unexpected happened¡ªthe skeletal bats were suddenly torn apart midair by another group of fierce-looking creatures.
Without the bats constantly reporting their movements, Jake¡¯s centaur forces were finally able to rely on their four-legged mobility and carefully planned maneuvers to shake off their pursuers.
After days of grueling running and tactical repositioning, they narrowly managed to break free from the undead army¡¯s encirclement.
Once out of the trap, the skeletal knights who had been chasing them for days ceased their pursuit.
Finally reaching the central plains, Jake allowed himself to relax for the first time in days.
His centaur troops, having reached their physical limits, stopped to rest and recover.
Emerging as a divine projection, Jake scanned the battlefield. Though exhausted, he was also deeply lost in thought.
¡°What was supposed to be a chaotic battle royale has turned into a goddamn survival game for me¡¡±
Any hopes of showcasing his combat skills were long gone.
His only priority now was figuring out how to keep his hard-earned centaur army alive.
Just then, Jake froze. He had just synchronized his vision with one of his scattered centaur scouts.
The scout had ventured closer to the center of the battlefield, where a massive gathering of different race factions formed a dark, densely packed horde.
Seeing this scene, Jake was still processing his thoughts when¡ª
About 200 meters away from the centaur scout, a humanoid figure in camouflage clothing, wielding a light throwing spear, suddenly leaped up from the ground.
Startled, the centaur scout instinctively drew his bow to full draw, the sharp arrow aimed directly at the mysterious figure.
Before he could release the arrow, a massive divine projection rapidly materialized above the humanoid figure.
The moment the projection appeared, a voice rang out telepathically.
¡°Fellow contestant, I mean you no harm. I am a member of the Absolute Alliance and would like to invite you to join us.¡±
Hearing this, Jake hesitated. Seeing that the humanoid figure had not pointed his weapon at the centaur scout, he signaled for his forces to lower their weapons.
Appearing as his own divine projection in the sky, Jake responded cautiously.
¡°You¡¯re inviting me to join an alliance? What are the conditions?¡±
¡°There are no conditions. This battlefield has turned into an absolute death trap. All of us here are contestants who escaped to this region to survive.¡±
¡°We formed this alliance simply to stick together and increase our chances of survival.¡±
Hearing this explanation, Jake was momentarily stunned, his expression skeptical.
¡°You¡¯re telling me you guys also broke out of the undead¡¯s encirclement and ran all the way here?¡±
The demigod shook his head with a bitter smile.
¡°It seems you don¡¯t fully understand the situation in this divine realm yet.¡±
¡°There¡¯s not just one monstrous opponent in this tournament.¡±
¡°On the opposite side of the battlefield, another freak of equal caliber is also exterminating the competition.¡±
He then pointed toward the far side of the battlefield, in the exact opposite direction from where Jake had come.
¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡ Another one? One of these monsters is enough to dominate the entire battlefield, and now you¡¯re telling me there are two of them?¡±
Jake couldn¡¯t remain calm any longer. The revelation completely shattered any illusions he had left.
Seeing Jake¡¯s stunned reaction, the demigod gave a helpless nod to confirm the truth before continuing.
¡°The other freak is also using a numbers-based strategy. His subordinates are some kind of unknown beast species. Based on gathered intel, he has at least 1 billion of them.¡±
¡°So right now, the battlefield is a complete death zone. We¡¯ve got undead ahead, beasts behind, and our return portals are located deep inside their encirclement. We¡¯re utterly trapped.¡±
¡°1 billion?! How the hell is anyone supposed to survive this?! What¡¯s the point of this competition anymore? We¡¯re just here to get slaughtered!¡±
Jake¡¯s mind buzzed, his thoughts in complete disarray. Any remaining hopes for the tournament had officially crumbled.
Chapter 114 Concentration
Brother, stay calm. When I first heard this news, I felt the same way you do now. But we''ve already found a way to break the deadlock.
"Have your followers gather here as well. Let''s discuss our strategy together. The alliance now has nearly 60 contestants, with close to 300 million followers."
"If we don''t want to abandon the followers we''ve invested in the battlefield, our only option is to unite our strength, work together, and become the third major force in the arena."
"Only then will those two not dare to attack us lightly. Otherwise, if we get isolated, facing them alone would be suicide."
After speaking, the demigod looked expectantly at Jake, waiting for his response.
"I''m in." Jake agreed without hesitation, choosing to join the Doomsday Alliance.
Since the other party had already gathered nearly 60 contestants, there was no reason to deceive him.
Without delay, Jake mobilized his followers, guiding them toward the designated area.
Meanwhile, William reviewed the intelligence he had gathered over the past few days using the map in his mind.
Ten days had passed since the start of the competition. Due to the presence of William and Cedric, the initial chaos had already ended by the fifth day.
As William had predicted, the free-for-all battle resulted in over 300 contestants¡¯ followers being crippled or wiped out in mutual attacks.
Of the remaining contestants¡ªless than 300¡ªWilliam leveraged the swarm''s superior mobility to eliminate over 120 participants at a pace of more than ten legions per day.
Cedric, limited by his army¡¯s overall mobility, took down around 60 contestants.
Some of the remaining participants, realizing the situation was unfavorable, wisely recalled their followers back to their divine domains.
By doing so, they avoided the complete annihilation of their armies and managed to escape disaster.
As a result, the remaining follower armies in the battlefield had all gathered in the central plains, forming a massive mixed legion of approximately 300 million.
These were the unfortunate ones whose escape routes were blocked, preventing them from returning to their divine domains.
"The time should be about right. Once we clean up the uncertain factors in the center, it will be time for me and that guy to settle this once and for all."
With real-time updates on his map, William could see everything clearly.
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Cedric''s ever-growing undead army, now surpassing 2.3 billion in number, was converging toward the center of the battlefield.
Simultaneously, William commanded his scattered swarm to form a surrounding encirclement, tightening it around the central region.
One day later, the swarm had fully assembled.
With nearly 1.3 billion units, the insect tide advanced slowly toward the center.
By observing the controlled pace of the undead army¡¯s advance, William calculated the distances and realized that he and Cedric had seemingly reached a tacit understanding.
Their armies entered the Doomsday Alliance¡¯s field of vision almost simultaneously.
Within the alliance, the 60 gathered contestants all turned pale.
Positioned at the heart of the battlefield, they found themselves trapped in the middle of William and Cedric¡¯s strategic pincer attack.
On one side stood Cedric¡¯s undead army¡ªlayers upon layers of skeletons blanketing the land, turning it completely white. Everywhere they looked, there were only bones.
Above them, 300 million skeletal bats filled the sky, while on the flanks of the skeletal sea, 400 million skeletal knights marched in formation.
At the very rear, over 1.5 million corpse mages stood in ranks, with 3,000 forming each unit, creating a total of 500 square formations stretching across the battlefield.
On the other side, William''s swarm army surged forward, with mutated zerglings and hydralisks painting the earth in shades of purple and red.
In the sky, the signature spiral formations of flying zerglings moved alongside the ground forces.
Hidden among them were 30 million self-detonating zerglings, concealed within the aerial swarm to mask their presence.
At the far end of the formation, over 200,000 thunder wyverns, whose numbers had grown over the past ten days, hovered in the rear.
With William¡¯s entry into the battlefield, his entire extraordinary-level swarm army¡ªnumbering nearly 1.3 billion¡ªwas now fully assembled.
Cedric projected his demigod form in the sky, scanning the Doomsday Alliance members in the center with a look of contempt.
Only when his gaze shifted to the massive insect swarm in the distance did his expression turn serious.
Over the past ten days, the skeletal bats he sent for reconnaissance had already detected the presence of the swarm.
These scout units frequently clashed with William¡¯s flying zerglings, engaging in fierce battles over reconnaissance control.
Through these skirmishes, Cedric had long realized that there was another contestant in the competition using a mass-army strategy like his own.
At that moment, several demigod projections appeared over the army of 60 contestants in the battlefield center.
A telepathic message spread across the battlefield:
"Fellow contestants, as long as you let our followers return to our divine domains, we are willing to surrender and withdraw from the competition."
Hearing this, Cedric sneered and replied, "Now you want to retreat? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little too late?"
"Your followers are nothing more than my future resources. Do you really think I¡¯d let you go?"
The members of the Doomsday Alliance turned pale at his response.
From Cedric¡¯s words, they could clearly sense that he had no intention of sparing them.
After a brief moment of silence, they deliberated among themselves and then sent another telepathic message toward William¡¯s advancing swarm:
"Fellow contestant, the undead army numbers over 2.3 billion. You are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers. Why don¡¯t we work together to fight the undead army?"
Hearing the alliance¡¯s proposal for cooperation, William remained indifferent, maintaining his swarm¡¯s slow advance.
Even though William''s forces were numerically inferior at 1.3 billion, his followers were all extraordinary-level units.
In terms of quality, they completely outmatched the undead army, so he had never even considered collaborating with the contestants trapped in the central region.
Their core goal was to protect their own followers. Once this was established, they would never fully commit to fighting against the undead army.
No matter how eloquently they phrased their offer, it wouldn¡¯t change their fundamental objective.
Chapter 115: Battle Scenes
Once they engaged in battle with the Undead Legion, the only thing on their minds would be preserving their own minions.
If they were allowed to retreat their minions behind the Swarm¡¯s encirclement, they might harbor other intentions. If they made a move once the Swarm and the Undead Legion were locked in combat, it would be a major nuisance.
These people were nothing but dead weight, so William didn¡¯t even bother responding to them.
As the Undead Legion and the Swarm Legion drew closer, the vast, open plain provided no cover.
Trapped in the center, the three hundred million minion army of the Doomsday Alliance fell into utter despair just by witnessing this apocalyptic scene.
There was no need for words between William and Cedric. In an open battlefield like this, there was no terrain to exploit¡ªonly raw power would determine the victor.
As both sides closed the distance to five kilometers, the Swarm Legion and the Undead Legion almost simultaneously began to accelerate.
The Undead Legion had no fancy tactics. A massive wave of skeleton cannon fodder wielding bone swords charged forward at full speed.
On either side, the skeletal knights detached from the main force, forming two large arcs to gain momentum and prepare for a flanking strike.
The Swarm, however, did not enter a full-speed charge. The Aberrant Zerglings moved in coordination with the Hydralisks, maintaining a structured and disciplined advance.
Two hundred million Aberrant Zerglings led the front line, followed closely by four hundred million Hydralisks.
On both flanks, the Swarm split into two groups¡ªone hundred million Aberrant Zerglings and one hundred million Hydralisks per side¡ªalong with five million Explosive Zerglings, set to intercept the skeletal knights.
In the sky, the aerial units on both sides also began accelerating.
As the pale white tide and the purple-red tide approached each other, the front and rear defensive lines hastily assembled by the Doomsday Alliance crumbled instantly.
The Swarm needed no explanation¡ªWilliam¡¯s combined infantry-artillery tactics made short work of static defensive formations.
Like a rainstorm, countless fireballs arced through the sky and landed precisely within the defensive formations, detonating in rapid succession and shattering the carefully constructed defenses with ease.
On the other front, as soon as the skeletal tide collided with the defensive lines, the one and a half million Lich Priests ascended into the sky, swiftly forming five hundred firepower strike groups.
One by one, magic arrays took shape in the air. The Lich Priests waved their skeletal staves, summoning torrents of eerie green soul energy.
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A dense barrage of soul energy beams instantly rained down on the defensive lines, detonating in rapid succession.
The thunderous explosions echoed across the battlefield, signaling the start of the battle.
Trapped between the two overwhelming forces, the mixed army of minions found themselves simultaneously assaulted by both the Undead Legion and the Swarm.
They barely had a chance to resist before being swallowed by the tides of war, disappearing without leaving a trace.
As the pale white and purple-red tides finally clashed, the emotionless undead and the Swarm, designed solely for slaughter, showed no signs of fear or hesitation.
Against the fiery bombardment of the Hydralisks, the low-tier skeletons, their eye sockets burning with eerie green soul flames, did not pause for even a moment.
They charged straight into the fireball barrage without hesitation, instantly being blasted apart into fragments.
Despite being unable to halt the Swarm¡¯s advance, they still continued their charge, throwing themselves into the carnage.
Cedric merely scoffed at this sight, commanding the Lich Priests to unleash a massive barrage of soul energy beams.
The ghostly green explosions rained down upon the Swarm¡¯s front lines, striking down countless Aberrant Zerglings and Hydralisks in a devastating bombardment.
The battlefield was engulfed in a chaotic inferno, with orange-red fireball explosions and eerie green energy detonations intertwining into a sea of destruction.
At the same time, the aerial units of both sides collided with brutal force.
The Flying Zerglings, their bodies enhanced with Wind Shield and Hardened Skin, clashed against the Skeletal Bats, which were enveloped in ghastly green soul flames.
The battle instantly escalated into an intense melee.
The Flying Zerglings tightened their formation in the sky, flapping their wings furiously to reach maximum velocity.
At the moment of impact, the blade-like appendages on their backs extended outward, forming a lethal cutting edge as they dove into the Skeletal Bat swarms.
But the Skeletal Bats were equally fearless. Their overwhelming numbers compressed into a wedge formation, mirroring the Swarm¡¯s assault.
Two colossal aerial forces, each exceeding three hundred million units, crashed into one another at full speed like two dark storm clouds colliding.
Neither side hesitated in this suicidal charge.
At the moment of impact, shattered Zergling limbs and fragmented skeletal remains rained down from the sky like a torrential storm.
The high-speed slicing tactics of the Flying Zerglings, which had proven effective in previous battles, faltered against the relentless, self-sacrificing onslaught of the Skeletal Bats.
The Swarm failed to break through, their momentum exhausted.
What followed was a vicious aerial brawl, as both sides became entangled in a chaotic dogfight.
A Flying Zergling, having just severed the head of a Skeletal Bat with its wind-blade, was immediately ambushed from above by another bat, which tore its wing apart and sent it plummeting to the ground.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the four hundred million Skeletal Knights, having completed a massive circular charge, surged forward in a thunderous advance.
Their hooves thundered like rolling drumbeats, shaking the very earth beneath them as they bore down with crushing momentum.
Any ordinary force facing such an overwhelming cavalry charge would have collapsed in terror.
But unfortunately for them, their opponents were the Swarm¡ªemotionless war machines that neither feared nor wavered.
As the Skeletal Knight squadrons bore down, the two hundred million Aberrant Zerglings activated Hardened Skin and Wind Shield.
They spread their membranous wings and sprinted at full speed, forming a slightly thinner but equally sharp wedge formation to meet the cavalry charge head-on.
At the moment of impact, flesh and bone exploded in all directions.
Countless Aberrant Zerglings were crushed beneath the iron hooves, their bodies shattered and pulped into the ground.
At the same time, numerous Skeletal Knights were obliterated by the Zerglings'' relentless countercharge, their bodies broken apart in the frenzied clash.
The Skeletal Knight cavalry, unable to break through the Swarm¡¯s fearless intercepting force, gradually lost momentum and was forced into brutal melee combat.
Chapter 116 Attacks
Following closely behind the mutated leaping bugs were the Spikers. As they entered firing range, countless fireballs rained down like a storm, bombarding the skeletal knight clusters that had been blocked by the mutated leaping bugs.
The fiery explosions, the screeches of the swarm, the shattered white bones, and the flying flesh turned this battlefield into a brutal meat grinder.
High above in the skies, over 200,000 Thunder Drakes soared, each carrying around 20 suicide bugs attached to their bodies.
They bypassed the aerial skirmish zone between skeletal bats and flying bugs entirely.
Their target was the Necromancer arrays at the rear of the undead army. Once they got within range, the 4 million suicide bugs riding the Thunder Drakes flapped their wings lightly and detached from the dragons, scattering in all directions.
Freed from their burdens, the Thunder Drakes¡¯ bodies immediately flickered with arcs of blue electricity.
They accelerated with Thunder Charge, adopting a loose formation and diving from high altitude.
In an instant, the Necromancer formations were brought within range of their thunder flashes.
Electricity coiled around their bodies, rapidly gathering toward the blade-shaped single horn atop their heads.
A large amount of lightning element condensed at the horn¡¯s tip, quickly glowing with a bright blue light.
The energy surged into a volatile orb of lightning.
Then, once it reached critical mass, the orb transformed into a beam of lightning-element energy.
It rained down from the sky¡ªbeams of blue energy streaking downward, aiming straight at the Necromancer arrays.
Under the intense bombardment of the thunder flashes, the magical barriers surrounding the necromantic formations flickered once and shattered completely.
Since the beginning of the battle, the Thunder Drakes had never revealed their thunder flash ability, making this strike devastating¡ªinstantly wiping out over 60 Necromancer magic arrays.
The sudden barrage of thunder energy startled Cedric. He looked up abruptly, eyes cold and venomous, glaring at the Thunder Drake swarms in the sky.
His expression was grim. To Cedric, the skeleton horde, skeletal knights, and skeletal bats were all mere expendables.
But these Necromancers¡ªthese were his most treasured subordinates.
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They were not only the providers of long-range firepower but also responsible for reanimating lower-tier undead and performing rituals to summon high-quality undead.
They were the foundation of his undead swarm tactics¡ªthe true core units of the undead army.
Thus, Necromancers were always stationed safely at the rear of the undead forces, well protected from harm.
Now, with the Thunder Drakes¡¯ high-altitude assault and focused thunder flash attack, nearly a tenth of them were obliterated in an instant, filling Cedric with seething rage.
¡°So these lesser dragons are your followers? If they dare to come here, they¡¯ll all be buried here!¡±
With Cedric¡¯s furious declaration, over 200 Necromancer formations unleashed spectral energy beams into the sky.
Sickly green rays crisscrossed with the blue energy beams, creating a chaotic fireworks display of green and blue explosions across the heavens.
As the frontline firepower suppressing the swarm weakened, the more aggressive bugs surged forward at a much faster pace.
The skeletal frontlines, overwhelmed by the fireball bombardments, were forced to retreat again and again.
The Spikers¡¯ fireballs extended deeper into the undead army ranks alongside the advancing front.
At that moment, a large number of skeletal mages hidden within the skeleton horde finally revealed themselves.
These lower-tier mages, not yet advanced to full Necromancers, waved their bone staffs, casting waves of green light onto the frontlines.
The undead¡¯s signature spell¡ªUndead Summoning¡ªspread across the battlefield.
Unfortunately, the once-reliable spell now could only raise a sparse number of cannon-fodder skeletons.
Gone were the days when it would resurrect large swaths of low-tier undead en masse.
Knowing that the enemy was composed of undead followers, William had naturally prepared for this tactic.
The areas struck by explosions were already devoid of intact corpses or skeletons.
Afterward, they were overrun by swarms of bugs, which chewed up and swallowed any fallen undead or bug remains.
In those bug-trampled zones, not a single intact skull remained¡ªno proper vessel to host soul flames.
Without a skull to protect the fragile, newly kindled soul flames, the moment they ignited, they were immediately trampled out.
As the skeletal mages appeared, a cold smile curved William¡¯s lips.
¡°So you¡¯ve finally decided to show yourselves. I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time.¡±
He immediately tugged on the threads of faith, sending a signal to the suicide bugs that had been waiting for the order.
The first to act were the 4 million suicide bugs that had ridden the Thunder Drakes deep into the undead army¡¯s rear.
They flapped their wings rapidly, flying at extremely low altitudes, just a few meters off the ground.
Their goal: to converge rapidly on each of the floating Necromancer formations.
Realizing what was happening, Cedric¡¯s expression twisted as he watched the strange bugs swiftly approach his Necromancer arrays.
The fiery elemental waves radiating from the bugs made Cedric immediately feel a sense of dread.