8: Chapter 8: The First Lesson of Awakening

"Everyone, return to your seats and sit properly. Today is the Divine Kingdom Pioneering Guidance class, which is extremely important for your early-stage development."

Feng Qingchen's gaze swept over the students. Seeing that everyone was sitting quietly, she began the class.

"After opening up your Divine Kingdoms, are all of you currently focusing on developing your population, and investing most of your resources into this aspect?"

Feng Qingchen did not start lecturing immediately; instead, she posed this question to everyone.

At this moment, Zhang Tao raised his hand, and Feng Qingchen signaled for him to answer.

Zhang Tao asked, "Teacher, isn't this development method correct? We already learned back in the first year of high school that the most important resource in a Divine Kingdom is our believer population. Only with a larger population can the overall strength of the Divine Kingdom improve."

"My talent is Planting. The more population is born, the more believers with the Planting talent there will be, and they can produce more resources. Therefore, I've used most of my resources to increase my population."

Looking at the puzzled Zhang Tao and a few other students who also wore perplexed expressions, Feng Qingchen signaled Zhang Tao to sit down first.

"Population is indeed the most important resource, but we must consider one thing: the carrying capacity of the Divine Kingdom. Although everyone can currently sustain the Divine Kingdom's consumption in the short term, as your population grows larger and larger in the future, will you still be able to support it?"

"Do you plan to keep pouring resources into the Divine Kingdom indefinitely?"

The crowd was stunned by Feng Qingchen's question. Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, she began to introduce the precautions for pioneering a Divine Kingdom in detail.

Although Fang Yun was already well aware of these precautions, his foundation in his previous life had been poor, and his subsequent development had been full of stumbles.

He truly regretted not being able to take a few more steps along the Divine Path in his past life; otherwise, even though he had been reborn, he wouldn't lack any useful experience to draw upon.

The holographic screen above the podium lit up, displaying only a single line of large text: "Resources are always more important than combat."

"Classmates, I hope that no matter to what extent you develop in the future, you must firmly remember this sentence: resources are always what Divine Masters lack the most on their path of development."

"So-called warfare is merely a means adopted to acquire resources."

Feng Qingchen on the podium had already begun explaining in an eloquent manner. As a standard professional graduate, her foundational knowledge was still very solid.

"Especially those classmates who awakened combat talents, you must figure out why you are fighting and what you can gain from this war, rather than mindlessly starting wars. Otherwise, in the end, you will only end up with the collapse of your Divine Kingdom and the extinguishment of your Divine Fire."

Speaking of this, her tone also became serious. The students off the stage listened with great interest, and Fang Yun nodded continuously.

"For those classmates who awakened logistics talents, you shouldn't be discouraged either. Although you might be slightly weaker in combat compared to some classmates with combat talents, you must remember that your goal is only one: to build the Divine Kingdom."

"There are many representative talents in the logistics category, such as [Source of Life], [Nature's Gift], [Earth Affinity], and so on. They also include our class's Fang Yun's [Bounty] and Zhang Tao's [Planting]. These are all typical logistics resource-type talents."

"Your priority goals for development should be food, population, buildings, and resources. These are the focus of your development; once these are improved, you can naturally develop the strength of your believers."

"According to your different talents, you yourselves can choose some compatible buildings. Building cards are not affected by the Divine Kingdom's level, so choose the best ones possible if conditions permit."

"Ecological cards only support up to D-grade modifications. Once this level is exceeded, the Divine Kingdom is likely unable to adapt to such intense modifications. Therefore, most people choose to use Faith Value later on to upgrade and modify their Divine Kingdom's environment."

"Next is the development route for combat talents..."

"The development route for technical talents..."

Everyone listened with rapt attention and gained huge benefits. Indeed, a First-Order God detailed her understanding of early-stage pioneering, breaking it down and feeding it to them piece by piece, giving everyone a much deeper comprehension.

"Right, a final reminder: if you have excess resources in your Divine Kingdoms, you can trade them with each other. That will be cheaper than buying them directly. That's all for today's class, see you next month."

"When you have time, go read more books in the library; much of the knowledge is very suitable for you."

After speaking, Feng Qingchen directly vanished. The remaining students either logged off or wandered around, each disappearing in place.

After awakening, everyone's top priority was to develop their Divine Kingdom. Therefore, theoretical classes were held only once a month, and the rest of the time everyone just needed to peaceably focus on developing their Divine Kingdoms.

Leaving the classroom with a gloomy expression, Feng Hao gathered together with a few boys from the class at an entertainment venue.

"Damn it, Brother Hao, that little bastard Fang Yun doesn't take you seriously at all. He's simply courting death. Don't you think so, Brother Hao?"

A rat-eyed boy made a gesture across his neck, only to be slapped on the head by Feng Hao.

"Zhang Ping, if you brat want to die, don't drag me into it. Maliciously killing enrolled students—that fucking gets sanctioned by the Human Alliance! Do you think your petty tricks can evade the detection of high-order gods?"

"My dad is a Linjiang City councilman, not the fucking federal speaker. Get the hell out of here."

The scolded boy, Zhang Ping, smiled apologetically, "My bad, Brother Hao. Look at this pig brain of mine."

"I'm already annoyed enough. I asked you guys to come up with ideas for me, not for a bunch of idiots like you to add to my frustration." Feng Hao irritably downed a mouthful of red wine.

At this time, a quiet, bespectacled boy next to him pushed up his glasses and spoke, "Brother Hao, I have an idea. I wonder if it's feasible."

Hearing the voice, Feng Hao's eyes lit up. The bespectacled boy was named Wang Mu. He was full of bad intentions all day long and had given Feng Hao many terrible ideas. He was also the mastermind of their small clique.

"Speak, what idea?"

"Doesn't our second-year high school final have a diagnostic exam? It is said that classes will be reassigned based on the ranking of this exam, and past exams have always included a Divine Kingdom simulation battle."

"That kid Fang Yun only has a logistics talent. In combat, he is definitely not a match for you, Brother Hao. When the time comes, you just need to pretend to make a mistake during the simulation battle and slaughter all his believers, hehe."

Feng Hao's eyes lit up, and then he looked at Wang Mu with a half-smile, "You brat are truly rotten to the core. Hahaha, I like it."

"My [Berserker] talent can increase the combat power of my believers and also possesses the Berserk skill. Fang Yun can never defeat me, and besides, my dad has invested hundreds of thousands of Faith Value in total for me."

"Currently, the Divine Kingdom's ecological cycle system is basically established, and there is also an F-grade building [Bone-Grinding Quarry] as well as the [Beast Blood Pool]. My believers can exercise daily in the Bone-Grinding Quarry to increase their physique, and then go to the Beast Blood Pool to recover stamina and increase blood vitality. By the end of the term, they will probably be able to evolve into a few Barbarians."

"What does that Fang Yun have to fight me with? Farming?"

The eyes of the rest were filled with envy. This was the benefit of having family support.

Wang Mu and the others all followed Feng Hao's lead. Feng Hao was the one with the highest status and strongest talent among them, and his family background was also quite extraordinary.

The Feng family was a major family in Linjiang City. The resource recycling company under their name, the Feng Group, was a leading enterprise in Linjiang City, and his father, Feng Yuan, was even a Linjiang City councilman with immense power.

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Mu delivered another wave of flattery: "Moreover, at that time, you won't just be able to fiercely teach Fang Yun a lesson; you can also show off in front of Goddess Su. Winning the beauty's heart is right around the corner, Young Master Feng."

"Hahahaha, good! Young Master is happy today. This is the reward for you guys: each of you gets one E-grade resource card for Gray-Horned Sheep, with a quantity of one thousand."

"Wang Mu, yours is five cards. Follow me well in the future, and I won't treat you guys unfairly."

Feng Hao took out the resource cards from his bosom and distributed them to them. Fiery expressions appeared in everyone's eyes.

Why were they following Feng Hao? Wasn't it for resources? Resource accumulation in the early stage was too difficult, and their family backgrounds weren't that great either. Joining Feng Hao's small clique also carried a bit of dependency.

"Thank you, Young Master Feng." Several people successively expressed their gratitude and put away the resource cards.

For a time, cups and goblets intertwined in the private room, making it exceptionally lively.