8: Chapter 8 The number of true believers surges

Fang Chuan hovered in mid-air, watching the three two-star Goblin Marksmen kneeling respectfully below, while quickly calculating the population accounts of his territory in his mind.

The [marksmans nest] could automatically spawn 10 Goblin Marksmen every day. A single day in the Divine Kingdom was only a few short minutes in reality.

This meant that for every natural day that passed in the real world, 3,650 two-star ranged units equipped with their own weapons would appear out of thin air in his Divine Kingdom.

This was just the output from the barracks, not counting the terrifying reproductive ability of the goblin race itself.

According to textbooks, the only advantage of goblins was their ability to reproduce, which was comparable to Liu Ruyan's Extraordinary Fertility talent.

An adult pair of goblins, given sufficient food, could produce over twenty offspring in a year.

Even more exaggerated was their extremely short growth cycle; in just three days of real-world time, newborn goblins could fully mature and become combat-ready.

"Population explosion..." Fang Chuan muttered to himself.

Having a large population was a good thing, but the next challenge he would face was the terrifying consumption of food.

The food supply card he had previously bought for 500 Faith Points looked like a mountain, but given this exponentially growing population base, it wouldn't last more than half a day in the real world.

Goblins driven by extreme hunger would resort to cannibalism, and his Divine Kingdom would inevitably fall into chaos.

However, population was also the only source of Faith Points.

Fang Chuan had noticed this when Fara reported earlier. Among the several hundred goblins currently in the territory, except for Warlord Oge and a few two-star warriors, the vast majority were only shallow believers.

Shallow believers provided very few Faith Points, with each producing only 0.1 points per Divine Kingdom day. But once the base number increased, this would also become a massive sum.

"If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass. I can't be stingy."

With a thought, Fang Chuan reconnected to the Divine Kingdom Exchange. This time, his goal was very clear—a long-term, stable source of food.

The light screen unfolded, and he skipped over the high-level spirit plants and divine beast meat that provided various buffs, carefully filtering through the most basic survival supplies category.

Soon, his gaze locked onto an item.

[large-scale food production and processing base]

[Type: Divine Kingdom Basic Building]

[Effect: Automatically generates and supplies 100,000 units of ordinary meat and produce daily. It also has processing capabilities, allowing it to automatically convert prey carcasses and grain input from the outside into easily storable and palatable jerky and dry rations.]

[Price: 40,000 Faith Points.]

Fang Chuan's eyes lit up.

This building came with no attribute bonuses such as "improving physique" or "accelerating cultivation"; its only purpose was to keep everyone fed.

And precisely because of this, its price in the exchange was kept very low.

Under normal circumstances, even if children of large families bought food, they would buy high-end goods with attribute bonuses and would look down on such a crude base meant purely for filling stomachs.

As for those ordinary commoner gods, they had to stretch even a few hundred Faith Points to make ends meet at the start, making it impossible for them to come up with such a massive sum of 40,000.

But for Fang Chuan, this was tailor-made.

"Buy!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Chuan paid the 40,000 Faith Points. At this moment, his balance still had over 70,000.

"Boom!"

Fang Chuan's consciousness exited the exchange, and he directly designated a location on a flat, open area near the river at the edge of the Glimmering Forest.

The earth of the Divine Kingdom trembled. Countless stones and logs gathered out of thin air under the guidance of invisible divine power.

In just a few seconds, a stone building covering a vast area, resembling a small fortress, rose from the ground.

Several huge chimneys stood atop the building, and a low roar of mechanical gears operating could be faintly heard from within.

From the building's exit, large chunks of steaming cooked meat and fresh tubers were continuously being churned out.

The rich aroma of food instantly drifted with the wind throughout the entire tribe.

Before the altar, the goblins, who had originally been somewhat cowering, turned their heads in unison, staring fixedly at the massive building that had appeared out of thin air.

It was unclear who started it, but an elderly grey goblin "thumped" to its knees, digging its hands deep into the mud, trembling with excitement.

Following that, like dominoes, all the goblins fell to their knees in large groups.

There were no extra words, only the most primal gratitude and awe.

[Your divine might and benevolence have completely conquered your believers!]

[Your believers' faith level has increased!]

[480 shallow believers have converted into true believers!]

Listening to the system notifications popping up in his mind, Fang Chuan was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but laugh up at the sky from high above the Divine Kingdom.

"Hahaha! Good, good, good!"

The 40,000 Faith Points were well spent!

Shallow believers could only produce 0.1 Faith Points per Divine Kingdom day, but once they crossed the threshold to true believers, they would produce at least 1 point every day!

480 true believers meant 480 Faith Points a day. Calculating based on one Divine Kingdom year equaling one real-world day, these 480 true believers could provide Fang Chuan with at least 175,200 Faith Points every day in reality!

This number far exceeded the total sum from Warlord Oge, who was a fanatic, and Saint Fara.

The development of a Divine Kingdom, in the final analysis, relied on the population base.

As his laughter subsided, Fang Chuan looked down at Fara below.

This twenty-five-meter-tall five-star golden-armored giant beast was silently looking up at the sky, its eyes filled not only with fanaticism but also a thirst for war.

"Fara." Fang Chuan's voice regained the majesty of a god.

"My God, Fara is here!"

"The territory has just been established, and the surroundings are unknown. You are to lead a team to explore to the west. Remember, your priority is to survey the terrain and resources." Fang Chuan instructed earnestly, "If you encounter danger you cannot match, retreat immediately; do not fight head-on. Regardless of the outcome, the time spent away from the Divine Kingdom must not exceed two months."

Two months, which was about four hours in the real world. If the time was too long, Fang Chuan feared something might go wrong.

"As you command! My God!" Fara fiercely struck the golden armor on his chest, producing a deafening sound of clashing metal.

Fara did not take all the goblins with him. His intelligence was as high as 19,000, and he was very clear that an initial reconnaissance mission didn't need to be burdened by the old, weak, sick, or disabled.

He personally selected 80 of the strongest and fiercest warriors from the goblins who had just promoted to true believers.

These selected goblins were basically all two-star talented warriors, and their total combat power all exceeded 40 points.

Except for these 80, the remaining hundreds of goblins, as well as the three newly spawned marksmen, were all left behind by Fara at the base camp, with Warlord Oge responsible for commanding and defending them.

Watching Fara lead the 80 goblin warriors as they marched across the river toward the grey mist at the edge of the Divine Kingdom, Fang Chuan felt slightly more relaxed.

Every newly awakened Divine Kingdom had a novice protection barrier on the outside, condensed by the supreme laws. This barrier was valid for one year in the real world. Within this year, the terrifying star beasts outside the Divine Kingdom, or even other evil gods, could not perceive or forcibly invade the interior of the Divine Kingdom.

However, likewise, if a god actively commanded believers to step outside the barrier to explore the endless Divine Kingdom planes, their life or death outside the barrier would be left to fate.

Sending Fara out this time was partly to scout the path, and partly to make the believers stronger.

Confirming that everything in the territory was on the right track and that the automatic processing workshop was continuously stockpiling food, Fang Chuan did not continue to stay in the Divine Kingdom. He withdrew his consciousness and returned to reality.

...

Consciousness returned.

The studio apartment remained dim and quiet. Fang Chuan glanced at his phone; it was 1:30 AM.

He lay sprawled on the narrow single bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling lamp, feeling no sleepiness at all.

As soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with the twenty-five-meter-tall golden goblin and that endless, fog-filled wilderness.

"Is it really dangerous outside the Divine Kingdom?" Fang Chuan muttered in his heart.

According to the knowledge taught at Qinghe High School over the past three years, the vast starry realm outside the Divine Kingdom world was a dark forest of chaos, disorder, and survival of the fittest.

Countless fierce beasts born from the Divine Kingdom itself lurked there, and there were even remnants of evil gods that had survived since ancient times.

Fara, with 480,000 combat power, was certainly a dimensional strike in the novice village, but was he really enough in the endless starry realm? Would he encounter some old monster that had lived for tens of thousands of years as soon as he went out and get slapped to death instantly?

Fang Chuan turned over, a sense of urgency rising in his heart.

Fara with 480,000 combat power was a god in the novice village, but those remnants of evil gods in the endless starry realm that had lived for tens of thousands of years were not to be trifled with.

To gain a foothold in the Divine Kingdom world, there were only three paths: kill monsters to level up and plunder origins, spend money to get high-level equipment, or buy skill books to build up one's foundation.

Except for the first one which could barely be done for free, the other two were bottomless money pits. "It seems that the 100,000 or so Faith Points in my hands won't last long at all."

In this world, gods and believers were one and the same. They prospered together and suffered together.

The stronger the believers and the larger the base, the purer the power of faith fed back to the god.

When a level 50 believer appeared in the Divine Kingdom, the Divine Kingdom would undergo a qualitative change, feeding back to the God Lord to achieve demigod status, allowing the god's main body to obtain extraordinary power and longevity.

Conversely, if the believers were all wiped out, the core of the Divine Kingdom would collapse, and the god would also perish.

This was both a path to the heavens and a bottomless abyss.

"Stop thinking about it, get some sleep." Fang Chuan rubbed his aching brow.

He had to go to school early tomorrow for class. In the second semester of senior year, all cultural courses had stopped, and for the next few months, the school had arranged only practical combat guidance and Divine Kingdom management Q&A. Those Tier 1 and Tier 2 True God teachers still had plenty of solid knowledge. Although he had a system now, he still needed to go to school to learn a lot of common sense and tips for avoiding pitfalls regarding the starry realm Divine Kingdom.

Most importantly, after listening to the classes tomorrow, he could come back and check on the progress of Fara's exploration over the past few months.

With longing for the future and a hint of faint worry, Fang Chuan closed his eyes, his breathing gradually becoming long and steady, and he fell into a deep sleep.