11: Chapter 11 Five Ways to Enhance Believer's Talents

The entire classroom was silent for two seconds, followed by an eruption of incredulous gasps.

Everyone looked at Fang Chuan in astonishment.

"What is Fang Chuan talking about? Population explosion?"

"He's an F- rating; he'd be lucky if those few starting goblins didn't starve to death. Why would he worry about a problem like that?"

"Could it be that the awakening setback caused too much mental stress?"

Liu Ruyan, sitting in the front row, also turned around. Her beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and her gaze toward Fang Chuan held a trace of confusion and bewilderment.

In her view, Fang Chuan's academic grades were so good that he shouldn't be asking such unrealistic, whimsical questions.

For an F- Divine Kingdom, the primary concern should be how to keep the believers alive through the first month, not worrying about overpopulation.

On the podium, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue was also stunned for a moment.

She looked at Fang Chuan's serious expression; he didn't seem to be joking. The first thought that flashed through her mind was similar to the students'—she wondered if the child had taken too big of a hit and started letting his imagination run wild.

But she was a teacher after all, and Fang Chuan had always been one of her favorite students. She patiently said in a tone as gentle as possible, "Student Fang Chuan, your question... is very forward-thinking. However, for the vast majority of us newly ascended gods, the main conflict faced in the early stages is that the number of believers is too small and faith output is insufficient, not overpopulation."

Thinking that Fang Chuan was just engaging in a purely academic discussion, she followed his lead and began to explain the theoretical knowledge.

"However, the issue you raised does indeed exist in the theoretical models of Divine Kingdom development. In history, there have been races with super-strong reproductive talents, such as the 'Fungoids' or 'Zerg,' which can expand their population to a terrifying number in a very short time."

As Head Teacher Chen Xingyue spoke, she pulled up several case studies on the smart blackboard behind her.

"Facing this situation, there are three conventional solutions."

"The first, and most direct, is forced intervention." Head Teacher Chen Xingyue held up a finger. "Gods can issue oracles or directly use the power of laws to limit the reproduction of believers. But this is a last resort; it will severely damage the believers' faith, and may even trigger rebellions, leading to the collapse of the Divine Kingdom."

"The second is open-source. That is, to try every possible means to expand the sources of food and resources." Head Teacher Chen Xingyue held up a second finger. "For example, investing a large amount of faith points to purchase high-yield crop seeds, opening up more pastures, or modifying the terrain to build Divine Kingdom structures that can automatically produce food. But this requires an extremely massive amount of faith points as support, which is an almost impossible task for the early stages."

Hearing this, the students below burst into laughter again.

"Hahaha, in the end, it all comes down to having money!"

"An F- Divine Kingdom, where would he get the faith points to do all that?"

Fang Chuan ignored the surrounding mockery; he was listening very carefully. He had thought of both methods Head Teacher Chen Xingyue mentioned. He had immediately ruled out the first one; believers were the source of his faith points, and he wouldn't do something as short-sighted as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. As for the second, he had already perfectly solved it with the [large-scale food production and processing base].

But he wanted to know if there was a third method.

"As for the third..." Head Teacher Chen Xingyue's voice paused. Her expression became much more serious, and her gaze grew profound. "That is 'sustenance through war'."

"Sustenance through war?" Fang Chuan's eyes lit up instantly.

As soon as those four words were spoken, the atmosphere in the classroom, which had been somewhat noisy, instantly became deathly silent.

War, to these students who had just come of age, was a term that was both distant and filled with fatal attraction.

Head Teacher Chen Xingyue's sharp gaze swept across the class, and she said in a deep voice, "That's right, sustenance through war. When the resources produced by the Divine Kingdom itself cannot satisfy the growing population, the only way out is to plunder externally!"

"Plunder the Divine Kingdoms of other gods, or explore the endless, dangerous astral realm outside the Divine Kingdom. Hunt down those ownerless, native fierce beasts of the Divine Kingdom, seize their flesh and blood, lairs, and territories, and use the bones of your enemies to feed your ever-growing clan!"

Her voice was not loud, but every word felt like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into the hearts of all the students.

When Fang Chuan heard the four words "sustenance through war," his heart began to beat violently and uncontrollably.

He thought of his [Fortune] bond.

[In Divine Kingdom wars or plane exploration, whenever your believers win a battle, you can obtain a 'fortune orb'.]

This bond was simply born for war!

If you win, you get extra rewards. If you lose, you can still accumulate "Fortune value," and the next time you win, you'll get a big payout.

Isn't this just encouraging him to fight and plunder?

The system had long pointed out the path to him, but he just hadn't made up his mind before. Now, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue's words had completely ignited the fire in his heart.

Farming and developing might be stable, but it's too slow.

Only war is the fastest way to develop!

Looking at the complex expressions on the students' faces below—some shocked, some fearful, some longing—Head Teacher Chen Xingyue sighed inwardly.

The reason she mentioned this third path was actually out of a bit of selfishness. She wanted to use this to warn Fang Chuan, to make him understand the cruelty of war, and not to remain immersed in those unrealistic fantasies.

She cleared her throat, and her tone softened a bit: "Of course, this path is filled with blood and danger, with nine deaths for every life. For you newly ascended gods who have just awakened your Divine Kingdoms, any low-level beast group outside the Divine Kingdom could be a catastrophic disaster. Therefore, until you have absolute strength, I absolutely do not recommend that any of you step half a step outside your own Divine Kingdom."

"Teacher, I have another question."

A calm voice once again broke the silence of the classroom.

It was Fang Chuan again.

Head Teacher Chen Xingyue's brows furrowed tightly; she felt that today's events were getting a bit out of her control.

"Student Fang Chuan, what question do you have now?" Her tone already carried a trace of impatience.

Meeting the gaze of the entire class, Fang Chuan stood up without changing his expression.

"Teacher, I remember the textbook saying that the lower the talent level of a race, the higher its fertility rate, and the higher the talent level of a creature, the lower its fertility rate. So, is there any way to improve the talent level of believers?"

Head Teacher Chen Xingyue smiled and said, "Yes, there are many. Since you are interested, I will briefly talk about them."

Seeing some students taking out notebooks to take notes diligently, Head Teacher Chen Xingyue shook her head and said, "No need to take notes on this. Most of you, except for Liu Ruyan and Zhang Chao, will not have the opportunity to come into contact with knowledge at this level. Just forget it after listening."

"There are many ways to improve believer talent. Before becoming a demigod, there are the following methods."

"The first is divine talent! Zhang Chao's 'Many Children, Many Blessings' talent is one of them. As believers continue to reproduce, the probability of offspring being born with stronger talent increases. This is also one of the important indicators for why Zhang Chao can be rated S-! However, this path is entirely up to fate."

"The second is the acquired effort and opportunities of the believers. Although some believers are not gifted, after constant fighting and killing, there is a high probability that they will break through themselves and improve their talent level. But this probability is too small; the vast majority of believers do not live very long, either dying in battle or dying of old age or illness."

"The third is the Divine Kingdom world. The Divine Kingdom world itself has countless opportunities. After thousands of years of exploration by our Dragon Kingdom, our understanding of it is just a drop in the bucket."

"Perhaps one day your believers will be extremely lucky and encounter a spiritual herb or medicine that is rare in a century, and they can take off."

"For example, the Vermilion Fruit in the Divine Kingdom Exchange has the effect of improving the physique and aptitude of gods and believers. And it's the cheapest; you can buy the lowest 10-year-old Vermilion Fruit for just 8,000!"

"However, I suggest you buy the 50-year-old one; the probability will be a bit higher."

"The fourth is to go to the exchange to buy high-level talent cards. But as for the price... a five-star talent card starts at 200 million faith points."

Hearing this number, the classroom suddenly gasped in shock.

200 million?

Even if they sold themselves, they wouldn't be able to scrape together a fraction of that!

Only Fang Chuan's expression remained normal. He even silently calculated in his heart: 200 million? According to the compound interest rate of my hedge fund, it seems like it would only take a month or two.

Mmm, but he doesn't need it either!

"The fifth is to build the Divine Kingdom structure [Sacred Incubation Pool], which costs 1 billion faith points."

Head Teacher Chen Xingyue mentioned five methods in one breath and finally said, "Interested students can search for them in the Divine Kingdom Exchange."

"Student Fang Chuan, do you have any more questions?"

A barely perceptible arc curled up at the corner of Fang Chuan's mouth, and he slowly sat down. "No, thank you, Teacher."

1 billion faith points? 200 million for a talent card?

None of them are as good as his God-level Hextech System!