Chapter 23: The Five Great Armies

This battle between humans and demonic beasts lasted for a full two years. Nearly fifty thousand adult Bodhi Treasure Snakes were hunted and transported back to the major cities in batches.

Knowing all this, Yang Fan naturally felt his heart race; this represented two hundred and fifty thousand Faith Points.

After several centuries of development, the Bodhi Treasure Snakes had spread from the original Snake Valley to the entire mountain range, numbering over a hundred thousand.

However, this unorganized combat power remained vulnerable before the human race, which had already mastered the Myriad Spirits Return to Origin Array.

Perhaps because he had once issued a Sacred Decree, his believers withdrew their troops and returned to their cities after hunting nearly half of the Bodhi Treasure Snakes.

Yang Fan did not stop them. The High School Senior Year-wide Assessment was coming up soon, and he needed to improve his believers' strength as quickly as possible to make a name for himself and secure investment.

Even without these Bodhi Treasure Snakes, Yang Fan would have found ways to invest other meat resources.

“As the believers grow stronger, their resource consumption is truly terrifying. No wonder everyone is living under such pressure,” Yang Fan sighed softly.

Although Yang Fan’s efficiency in earning resources was ten times that of others thanks to his Evolution Talent, if his Divine Kingdom could not be self-sufficient and required external resources, the consumption would also be ten times higher.

Another thirty years passed within the Divine Kingdom, and the believers' strength grew ever greater.

By now, Yang Fan could no longer guide them regarding the Myriad Spirits Return to Origin Array; in fact, watching his believers practice the formation provided Yang Fan with many insights.

After all, it was only an F-rank array. Through over two hundred years of exploration, several generations of the army had passed, but the knowledge had been inherited.

Now, when the believers utilized the Myriad Spirits Return to Origin Array, it possessed not only the form but also a hint of true spirit.

Yang Fan knew this meant his believers had cultivated the array to Minor Mastery.

One day, just after Yang Fan finished class and before he had even exited the Virtual World, he felt a change in his body.

An invisible energy surged through his entire body, and his cells, flesh, and bones all began to undergo a mutation.

Cracking sounds echoed from various parts of his body.

Yang Fan, who forcibly exited the Virtual World, didn't even have time to take off his helmet before he broke out in a cold sweat from the pain.

A Tier 1 Being had been born within the Divine Kingdom.

As a Divine Creature, his ability to accept physical mutations was strong. Within just a few dozen breaths, the pain vanished.

Yang Fan stood up and threw a punch into the air in front of him.

With a sharp sound, the air rippled from the impact.

“Just the birth of a single Tier 1 Being has made my body this much stronger. To what extent must the bodies of those demigods or even gods be strengthened!” Yang Fan swallowed hard.

His consciousness entered the Divine Kingdom and immediately located that Tier 1 Being—it was the Emperor of Shenqi City.

By crossing into Tier 1 and transcending the level of ordinary mortals, his lifespan would increase by two hundred years.

The increase in lifespan was secondary; the most important thing was that the breakthrough in life tier would have a marrow-cleansing effect, allowing this Emperor to produce more excellent descendants in the future.

“God Lord: Yang Fan

Divine Kingdom Area: One million square kilometers

Talent: F-rank Resource Talent (All resources in the Divine Kingdom grow 10% faster)

SSS-rank Talent Evolution (Unique talent, can accelerate Divine Kingdom Evolution, currently hidden.)

Believers: Tier 1 Being (1), Mortals (150,000)

Methods: Federal Body Refining Technique, Myriad Spirits Return to Origin Array (Minor Mastery)

Faith Points: 833,000 (Daily Faith Points provided: 2.6)

Buildings: moon well X7, sun spring X7

Assets: Bodhi Treasure Snake (X88,765, Tier 1 Demonic Beast), Dark Night Vulture (X31,222, Tier 1 Demonic Beast), Spirit Fish Baby (X102,620, Tier 1 Demonic Beast), Dapeng Bird (X45,533, Tier 1 Demonic Beast), Peregrine Falcon (X42,332, Tier 1 Demonic Beast), Taisui X1, water lotus (X21,000, F-rank Spiritual Plant), soul nourishing wood (Century-old) (X1,000, C-rank Spiritual Plant), hundred spirit peach (X25,711, C-rank Spiritual Plant)”

Looking at the current state of the Divine Kingdom, Yang Fan decided to intervene actively.

He sold twenty thousand each of the Dark Night Vultures, Peregrine Falcons, and Dapeng Birds, and in turn, purchased a full one hundred thousand adult Bodhi Treasure Snakes, releasing them around the five major cities.

Currently, the ecosystem within the Divine Kingdom was insufficient to support the believers' development, and many people had begun hunting herbivores like antelopes for food.

Since it was time for a pre-exam sprint, resources naturally had to be in ample supply.

The reason for selling those flying demonic beasts was primarily because his believers currently lacked anti-air measures.

The weapons in the Divine Kingdom were still in the Stone Age; the only long-range attack method, bows and arrows, were made of wood. They were fine for shooting antelopes, but trying to hunt Tier 1 flying demonic beasts with them was a pipe dream.

This resulted in these flying demonic beasts having no natural enemies. In terms of hunting Bodhi Treasure Snakes, these beasts were in direct competition with the human race.

The rivers in the Divine Kingdom were large enough, and combined with the believers' lack of fishing methods, the Spirit Fish Babies were also breeding frantically.

“There are still many detailed issues to resolve in the Divine Kingdom, but for now, I must focus entirely on developing the army’s strength. To grow powerful quickly, I must obtain investment from the Great Families,” Yang Fan murmured to himself.

After coming into contact with Li Shuhao, Yang Fan’s mindset had changed. Relying solely on his SSS-rank Talent to make a fortune in silence was not feasible.

Divine Creatures only had a lifespan of five hundred years, and his starting point was too low. Compared to the wealth of those Great Families, his startup capital could be said to be infinitely close to zero.

A person needs to be cautious and down-to-earth. But if a massive opportunity presents itself, one must also exert all their strength to seize that hope.

Sometimes, choice is greater than talent, and the platform is greater than effort; being stuck in one's ways is just a synonym for cowardice.

As the one hundred thousand Bodhi Treasure Snakes were introduced into the Divine Kingdom, the meat supply became sufficient. An arms race began between the cities, all for the sake of fighting for their God in the upcoming War Against Alien Races.

Seven days passed in a flash, and now a total of six Tier 1 Beings had been born in Yang Fan’s Divine Kingdom.

The five major cities each selected their strongest adult males to form five armies.

The Shenqi Army consisted of ten thousand elite troops governed by two Tier 1 Beings.

Baihu, Qinglong, Xuanwu, and Zhuque each named their armies after their respective cities, with each ten-thousand-man army led by a Tier 1 Being.

Watching the armies drill, Yang Fan could feel a wave of murderous, bloody aura washing over him.

Due to the one hundred thousand Bodhi Treasure Snakes Yang Fan had invested, his believers had spent these years practicing their cultivation while participating in actual combat to hunt the demonic beasts.

Those were Tier 1 Demonic Beasts; even a Tier 1 Being believer might not be a match for one with bare hands.

Every hunt for the Bodhi Treasure Snakes resulted in sacrifices, followed by new recruits being added to the army.

Through such high-intensity combat training, they had become a battle-hardened force.

In one month, the comprehensive combat power of his Divine Kingdom had increased by more than tenfold, and Yang Fan was very satisfied with this.

“Faith Points: 422,030”

Due to the resource investment during this period, Yang Fan’s liquid capital was now less than five hundred thousand.

Yang Fan took out a blank card and collected all the moonlight dew, yang essence, and water lotus seeds from the warehouse.

Through selling them in the mall, he harvested a total of about eight hundred thousand Faith Points after taxes, bringing his total funds back to 1.2 million.