Chapter 176: The Most Profitable Business

A freshman ranking first in overall score—such a situation had never occurred in the annual Heavenly Pride Apotheosis Battle.

This round appeared to test the strength of a God, but in reality, it tested their believers.

A God's power is inherently an extension of their believers. The reason Qin Yang, who ranked second, could achieve a high score of over four thousand was because he possessed the S-rank combat talent, "Blade God".

S-rank combat talents are extremely rare. Before the Heavenly Pride Apotheosis Battle, it was the consensus that Qin Yang would be first.

And yet? A dark horse had emerged!

Wasn't Yang Fan's talent "Tenfold Time Sequence"?

It was clearly a growth-type talent, so how could this be?

The minds of everyone present went almost blank. The most terrifying aspect of this score was that he was only a freshman, while Qin Yang was already a senior!

In other words, Yang Fan had managed to completely crush the Prodigies of the entire Taichu Academy in just one year!

Could such an existence still be considered a Human Race Prodigy?

This was absolutely a 'peerless prodigy'!

Some even couldn't help but have an absurd thought—had the Human Federation's supreme intelligent life made a mistake in its initial judgment?

The scene before them was like a boss spawning in a newbie village.

Countless gazes fell upon Yang Fan, making him feel as if he were being pricked by needles.

Yang Fan stood where he was, his throat tightening slightly as he felt uneasy: "Did I… go a bit too far?"

Even he hadn't expected his score to be first.

That previous strike was merely the combat power of his Gengjin Rift-Blade Art believers. After all, his believers practiced five elements simultaneously, and he also had believers on the Martial Cultivation and Mechanical Route.

If he were to use the full power of all believers in his Divine Kingdom for an all-out strike, it would be at least six or seven times stronger.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan fell silent himself.

The question was, was he too strong, or were these so-called Human Race Prodigies too weak?

He had only been developing for a year.

What exactly were these seniors doing? Couldn't they try a little harder?

I wanted to maintain a low profile! I just needed tenth place to get the investment contract!!!

Being at Taichu Academy and facing the Human Race Prodigies gathered here, Yang Fan had never dared to underestimate them in the slightest.

In order to break into the top ten and obtain that "Unrestricted Investment Contract", he had used his strongest attack method at this stage for that previous strike.

It was just that Yang Fan had clearly underestimated his own strength; he had thought that making it into the top ten would be good enough.

Yet he hadn't expected to take first place directly!

On the high platform.

Gu Changkong and the other Gods responsible for presiding over the assessment now looked at Yang Fan with burning gazes.

A Heavenly Pride Apotheosis Battle had actually produced a dark horse, and it was… a dark horse comparable to a peerless prodigy!

So-called peerless prodigies did not exceed one hundred people per generation in the entire Human Federation.

These people all studied at Taichu Academy and Xing Qiong Academy. As long as they didn't fall along the way, they were almost certain to become High-tier Gods in the future.

For any Family, these were the pillars of support!

Such a Prodigy would be courted with all their might, even by the Five Great Giants.

"Freshman Yang Fan: Potential assessment has a serious error; suspected peerless prodigy!"

Soon, similar information was rapidly transmitted to various Families via the network.

Just then, Sima Tianci suddenly stepped forward and spoke before Gu Changkong could.

"Congratulations to you ten for obtaining the Unrestricted Investment Contract. Next, there will be one final simple trial; the investment amount will be adjusted based on performance."

Having said this, he stretched and said, "This assessment has been dragging on for half a day; let's finish it quickly."

At this moment, Sima Tianci's gaze remained fixed on Yang Fan.

Yang Fan looked up and met his gaze.

The next moment, a voice appeared in Yang Fan's mind.

"Next, many big figures will be watching this trial. Don't hold back; it's best to defeat everyone in a crushing manner. A Prodigy should look like a Prodigy."

"I represent the Sima Family and the Gu Family in inviting you to join us. After it ends, Fatty and I will invite you to Yuexiang Pavilion for a gathering."

Sima Tianci clearly hadn't spoken, but the voice appeared in Yang Fan's mind with crystal clarity, just like the telepathic communication of an intelligent life.

Yang Fan's eyes flickered slightly; he could feel the goodwill being released by the other party.

Although he didn't understand why Sima Tianci could still represent the Gu Family, he still nodded slightly.

Subsequently, Yang Fan's gaze slowly swept over the remaining ten people on the field.

"For this round, don't fight one by one. You ten will engage in a free-for-all. The Heaven-Pressing Realm has an immortality rule, so feel free to use your full strength without any concerns," Sima Tianci suddenly announced loudly.

As his voice fell, Gu Changkong and the others all frowned slightly, but ultimately did not refute him.

They knew very well that this young master of the Sima Family wanted to give Yang Fan an opportunity to fully demonstrate his strength.

Gods and believers are not in the same dimension; believers cannot manifest in reality, and the Physical Body of a God in reality cannot enter the Divine Kingdom.

However, a God can receive feedback from their entire Divine Kingdom.

Physical Body, spirit, Divine Power… all will continuously transform as the believers become stronger.

Therefore, Gods in reality also possess extremely strong combat power.

Flying, burrowing, close-quarters combat, piloting mechs—the combat styles of Gods on the front lines are strange and varied.

A God's own strength, in a sense, represents the comprehensive power of all believers in their Divine Kingdom!

On the front lines of the war between the Human Race and alien races, Gods never just hide in the rear manipulating their Divine Kingdoms to fight.

Believers are the core power of a Divine Kingdom. Therefore, everyone wanted to see: just how strong is this monster, Yang Fan, who had suddenly popped out?

At this moment, the gazes of the other nine also fell upon Yang Fan.

There was gravity, apprehension, and also Battle Intent.

As for Yang Fan himself, he sighed softly in his heart.

His original plan was actually very simple: enter the top ten, obtain the Unrestricted Investment Contract from the Five Great Giants, and then go home to steadily develop his Divine Kingdom.

As it turned out, he had accidentally used too much force.

Since he had already been exposed, there was no point in continuing to hide things.

In just a moment, Yang Fan had already made a decision in his heart.

Show his strength, get more investment, and quickly develop the Divine Kingdom!

With the Hundredfold Evolution Talent, as long as he grew fast enough, danger would never catch up to him.

After this period of learning, Yang Fan was no longer the ignorant newcomer he once was.

He knew very well that the cultivation standards between a peerless prodigy and an ordinary Human Race Prodigy were completely different concepts.

The resource gap between them could even reach a hundredfold or a thousandfold!

Don't look at how his Divine Kingdom's monthly income had already exceeded one billion divinity points; in front of a behemoth like the Sima Family, it was not even worth mentioning.

For these giants, the output of a Divine Kingdom was actually just a "small part".

What was truly terrifying about them was that they controlled the entire Human Federation.

Investing in the Virtual World, using the parliament to influence the Federal Government, and swaying the flow of countless resources.

The real major income was never from painstakingly managing Divine Kingdom assets, but from sitting there without doing anything while countless taxes and benefits flowed into their Divine Kingdoms endlessly.

You have to know that the most profitable business in this world is serving the people of the Federation!