134: Ten points of divinity, sufficient conditions to ignite the divine fire.

Inside the quiet room, Lin Zhou adjusted the flow of time to one-third of the outside world.

He sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into the deepest part of his Divine Realm, the core of the Temple of Civilization, and the final destination of all his gains.

After three days (Divine Realm time) of deep settling, the entire Divine Realm had been renewed: the circulation of rules was seamless, the energy cycle was self-contained, and the strength of his followers had jumped. But Lin Zhou knew this was far from enough. What truly determined a Deity's limit was the most essential and core 'fragment of rule'—Divinity.

With a slight thought, a virtual light screen unfolded before him, listing the final inventory of Star Domain League Champion rewards. The unopened parts, radiating the most precious aura, were quietly waiting for the final tally and integration.

[Star Domain League Champion Core Reward List (Pending Collection)]:

divinity crystal (Weak) x 3 units — Condensed rule material, the Foundation for igniting Divine Fire and elevating Godhead.

Epic Building Card: [All-Phenomena Star Trajectory Observation Deck] (Purple) — Allows observation of Star Realm movements, slightly increases the success rate of divination and prophecy Spells within the Divine Realm, and has a chance to capture coordinates of special Star Realm events.

Epic Marvel Card: [embers of the undying fire] (Purple) — Contains a weak 'Undying' Concept, can be fused into Divine Fire to enhance its stability and potential, or used to forge/refine artifacts with 'Undying' characteristics (extremely low success rate).

Legendary Resource Card: [eternal ore vein core (Gold)] (Fragment) — Can slowly generate various basic minerals, and has a minuscule chance of producing rare minerals (such as Adamantine, Mithril). Currently in fragment state, generation speed and quality are limited.

Advanced faith crystal x 5000 units — Each unit contains 1,000 points of Pure Faith, which can be absorbed directly without Impurities.

Xinghai University "Prodigy" Pre-Contract Offer — Includes full resource allocation for the first academic year and an [Elementary Star Realm Exploration Permit].

Lin Zhou's gaze first locked firmly onto the three [Divinity Crystals].

They floated in the virtual space, each only the size of a fingernail. Their forms were unstable, sometimes like flowing light liquid, sometimes like solid crystals, emitting a hazy, heart-pounding rule light. This light was not simple energy radiance but the materialization of a certain 'Dao'—one was inclined towards Order, with Law scripts faintly visible in its light; one was inclined towards Wisdom, flowing with brilliance like intellectual sparks; and the last one was relatively Chaos, yet carried the Concept of Tenacity and protection, clearly a condensation of his overall performance in the League.

"Three units..." Lin Zhou took a deep breath, suppressing his inner excitement. He called up his Personal Panel, focusing his gaze on the [Divinity] section.

[Lin Zhou · Personal Panel (Partial)]:

Godhead Rank: LV99 (Peak Demigod)

Divine Fire Status: Unignited

Divine Power: 1580/1580 (Demigod Conversion Efficiency: 1 Divine Power ≈ 1,000,000 Faith)

Faith Reserve: 5,420,000 (Ordinary Faith, containing Impurities)

Advanced faith crystal: 5000 units (Equivalent to 5,000,000 Pure Faith)

Divinity: 7/10 units (Condensed)

Divine Authority Sprout: [Education] (Weak), [Law] (Weak)

Core Talent: [Temple of Civilization] (Bound)

Seven units of Divinity!

This was the precious wealth he had accumulated bit by bit over three years of high school, enduring monthly exams, final trials, and the Star Domain League, surviving countless near-death experiences, propagating civilization countless times, and relying on the slow gestation of the Temple of Civilization itself.

Igniting the Divine Fire is the most critical and perilous step for a Mortal ascending to a True God. There are two core conditions:

First, ten units of Divinity serve as the "Kindling." Divinity is a fragment of rule, the fundamental Material for constructing the Divine Fire and defining one's Authority. It cannot be converted from faith or Divine Power, but must be obtained through comprehending rules, achieving special accomplishments, refining heavenly marvels, or killing beings containing Divinity.

Second, a massive amount of faith serves as "Fuel." At least one hundred million units of faith (equivalent to about ten thousand Divine Power) must be instantly burned, using the immense faith torrent to impact and ignite the Divinity, turning it into an eternally burning Divine Fire. Insufficient fuel results in ignition failure and damage to the Divinity; excessive fuel Impurities (faith distractions) result in an impure Divine Fire, leading to endless future hidden dangers.

"I previously estimated that with nearly thirty thousand followers currently in my Divine Realm, and an average of sixty percent being devout believers, they can produce about eighteen thousand faith points daily. Coupled with years of savings and rewarded faith crystals, gathering the 'quantity' of one hundred million faith points is not difficult—it's even exceeded. The true Bottleneck has always been Divinity... I'm still short three points."

Lin Zhou stared at the three floating divinity crystals, his gaze turning exceptionally sharp. As long as he completed the Fusion of these three, he would gather ten points of Divinity, fulfilling the most stringent condition for igniting the Divine Fire!

Without hesitation, his will, like the most nimble hand, gently touched the divinity crystal inclined towards Order.

"Buzz—!"

The crystal trembled slightly. Instead of fusing directly into the Divine Realm like an ordinary card, it released visible ripples of rules. As these ripples swept through the Divine Realm, the Temple of Law resonated first, humming loudly, its surface Law runes automatically lighting up. The Law Fishmen, wherever they were, felt a boost in spirit, and their understanding of Order deepened by a fraction. Even Snik sensed something and looked toward the Sanctuary.

"Unowned 'Order'-aligned divinity crystal detected. Compatibility with holder's [Law] Divine Authority Sprout: 92%."

The grand and gentle will of the Temple of Civilization sounded in Lin Zhou's consciousness.

"Do you wish to guide the power of the Sanctuary for absorption and Fusion? Hint: Fusion assisted by the Sanctuary can increase Fusion efficiency by 3%-5% and reduce the loss of Divinity characteristics."

"Guide Fusion!" Lin Zhou immediately agreed.

The next moment, the entire Temple of Civilization trembled slightly. Above the Sanctuary dome, the civilization scroll encompassing the Philosophers of the Hundred Schools seemed to come alive. The character "Fa" (Law) representing the School of Legalism and the "Carpenter's Square" pattern representing rules burst forth with cold, solemn light. A faint, cyan-gold light pillar descended from the center of the Sanctuary, enveloping the "Order" divinity crystal.

The crystal slowly rotated in the light pillar. The patterns representing the rules of Order on its surface were stripped away and analyzed thread by thread, then converged into the Sanctuary via the light pillar, and finally, through the connection between the Sanctuary and Lin Zhou's Soul Origin, were fused into his nascent Godhead.

The process was slow and steady. Lin Zhou could clearly feel his understanding of Concepts like "rules," "statutes," "contracts," and "punishment" deepening. In the depths of his Soul, the pale gold rune representing the [Law] Divine Authority Sprout visibly solidified and became more complex, and the Authority aura it emitted strengthened slightly.

[Absorption and Fusion in Progress...]

Fusion Progress: 15%...37%...68%... Divinity Trait Retention Rate: 98% (Sanctuary assistance effect is significant)

Estimated Total Time: 2 hours of Divine Realm time.

Lin Zhou waited patiently. Two hours later, with a faint, crisp sound like colliding glass, the "Order" divinity crystal completely dissolved into motes of light and vanished.

[Fusion Complete!]

Obtained 'Order'-aligned Divinity: 1 unit.

Total Divinity: 7 → 8 units.

[Law] Divine Authority Sprout Stability +10%, related Authority effect slightly increased.

Temple of Law received weak rule nourishment. [Net of Law] range extended by 5%, intensity increased by 3%.

"Excellent!" Lin Zhou's spirit lifted, and he immediately turned his attention to the second divinity crystal, the one inclined towards Wisdom.

The same process started, and the Temple of Civilization responded again. This time, the character "Ru" (School of Confucianism), scrolls, and the phantom image of Jixia Academy, representing the School of Confucianism, lit up. A warm, wise milky-white light pillar descended.

The Fusion process for this crystal was gentler than the Order crystal, like a steady stream of knowledge. Lin Zhou felt his mind become clearer and more agile, and some obscure points he encountered while reading the Classics of the Hundred Schools suddenly became clear. Deep within his Soul, the rune of the [Education] Divine Authority Sprout also received nourishment and grew stronger.

Inside Jixia Academy, Elwin, who was leading the young elves in studying the Spring and Autumn Annals, suddenly stopped. He looked toward the Sanctuary with a sense of enlightenment, feeling that his understanding of "enlightenment" and "inspiration" had instantly become much clearer, and many teaching difficulties were easily resolved. He even received a moment of insight and gained a completely new Concept for the next mass buff Divine Spell he planned to develop, the [Enlightenment Aura].

[Fusion Complete!]

Obtained 'Wisdom'-aligned Divinity: 1 unit.

Total Divinity: 8 → 9 units.

[Education] Divine Authority Sprout Stability +12%, followers' wisdom growth speed implicitly increased by 1%.

Jixia Academy received rule feedback. The trigger probability of the library's [Spark of Inspiration] is slightly increased.

Only the last one remained! The Chaos-attributed divinity crystal carrying the Concept of Tenacity and protection.

Lin Zhou adjusted his breathing, restoring his state to optimal condition. The attributes of this crystal were relatively complex and less pure than the previous two, meaning the Fusion difficulty might be higher.

The light of the Temple of Civilization illuminated for the third time. This time, more patterns lit up: the shield and city representing the School of Military's “Hold Fast,” the Mechanical City Walls representing the School of Mohism's “Non-Aggression,” and even the seedlings representing the School of Agriculture's “Foundation,” and the phantom herbs representing the School of Medicine's “Vitality” appeared alternately. A thick, encompassing earthen-yellow pillar of light descended, enveloping the crystal.

As expected, the Fusion process encountered some slight stagnation. The Concepts of “Tenacity” and “Guardianship” within the crystal required a sufficiently inclusive framework to bear them. Just then, the main body of the Temple of Civilization deep within Lin Zhou's Soul gently vibrated, and the Scroll of Civilization encompassing the Hundred Schools of Thought emitted a grand Concept of “all rivers run into the sea, tolerance is a virtue.”

Under the harmonization of this Concept, the sense of stagnation rapidly disappeared. “Tenacity” integrated into the defense philosophy and the will of the dependents in the Divine Realm, while “Guardianship” combined with Lin Zhou's original intention to shelter his dependents and pass down the Legacy of Civilization. This divinity crystal did not significantly strengthen a specific Divine Authority sprout; instead, it uniformly enhanced the “Basic Resilience” and “Inclusiveness” of Lin Zhou's nascent Godhead, allowing it to better bear the various Divine Authority powers he might acquire in the future.

[Fusion complete!]

Obtained 'Tenacity/Guardianship' mixed Divinity: 1 unit.

Total Divinity: 9 → 10 units!

Basic Stability of nascent Godhead +15%; resistance to heterogeneous rules/Divinity slightly increased.

Overall Divine Realm defense-related Concepts received implicit enhancement.

The moment the last crystal fully integrated—

“Boom!!!”

An unprecedented feeling of Perfection filled Lin Zhou's entire Soul! The ten units of Divinity, like ten brilliant stars, formed a perfect and stable base around the phantom image of the Temple of Civilization deep within his Soul. Above the base, the nascent Godhead was clearer and more solidified than ever before, emitting a faint but intrinsically high rule coercion.

[Warning: Divinity has reached the ‘Perfection Seed’ threshold!]

[Warning: Divinity has reached the ‘Perfection Seed’ threshold!]

The prompt from the Temple of Civilization became urgent and grand.

“Detected Dominator Divinity has reached the critical point (10/10). Precondition one for lighting the Divine Fire is met.”

“Starting synchronization check of faith reserve conditions...”

Lin Zhou immediately suppressed the agitation in his Soul caused by the Perfection of Divinity and pulled up the detailed data panel for Divine Realm faith output.

[Divine Realm · Real-time Faith Output Monitoring (7-day average)]:

Total Dependent Count: 28,547

Proportion of Pious Believers: 62.3% (approx. 17,785 people)

Total Daily Faith Output: 1,067,412 units (Ordinary Faith)

Average Faith Impurity Content: 18.7% (at a good level, purified due to School of Confucianism Education and School of Legalism Order)

Current Faith Reserve (Ordinary): 5,420,000 units

Current Faith Reserve (Pure · Advanced Crystal): 5000 units = 5,000,000 units of Pure Faith

Total Usable Faith Reserve (converted to Pure): Approx. 9,900,000 units (Ordinary Faith requires deducting Impurity consumption)

“Detection complete. Total usable Pure Faith reserve is approximately 9.9 million units. Deficit from the ideal ignition fuel standard (100 million units): 100,000 units.”

Only 100,000 units short!

This number made Lin Zhou's heart skip a beat. Although seemingly small, lighting the Divine Fire required a single, continuous effort, and the fuel must be sufficient, even slightly overflowing, to cope with potential unexpected consumption. A deficit of 100,000 units meant his current “fuel” reserve barely met the theoretical minimum standard, making the fault tolerance extremely low.

“9.9 million... still a little short.” Lin Zhou frowned slightly. But immediately, his gaze swept over the Divine Realm, seeing the dependents who were full of Vitality and increased strength after optimization, seeing the orderly operation of the various structures, and seeing the network of rules that had been subtly strengthened by the Divinity's Fusion.

“No, it's not barely met.” Lin Zhou's eyes regained their determination. “My dependents' daily output has stably surpassed one million, and as their strength increases and they adapt to the new rules, the proportion of Pious Believers and individual output still has slight room for increase. Most importantly...”

With a thought, the “Time” within the Divine Realm quietly changed.

It was not a large-scale acceleration, which would consume vast Divine Power and potentially interfere with the newly stabilized rules. He merely slightly accelerated the time flow rate in the core area of the Divine Realm—including the main settlements, Sanctuaries, Academies, and Workshops—beyond the existing rate (which was already three times the outside world).

[Activating Demigod Spell · Local Time Micro-Adjustment]:

Affected Range: Divine Realm Core Area (approx. 40% of total area)

Time Flow Ratio (Core Area vs. Outside): 3.2 : 1 → 3.5 : 1

Divine Power Consumption: 50/hour (Current Divine Power reserve is sufficient)

Estimated Effect: Dependent activity, production, and Cultivation efficiency in the core area increase by approximately 9%; faith output increases synchronously.

“With my current Divine Power, maintaining this state for several days poses no pressure. And under the accelerated core area state, the Divine Realm only needs about one more day of time for my faith reserve to naturally grow by over 100,000 units, steadily breaking the 100 million mark!”

Just then, the Temple of Civilization seemed to sense Lin Zhou's determination and the impending “quantity” of Perfection. The entire Sanctuary suddenly and autonomously emitted a soft radiance. This radiance did not come from any single school of thought but was the most fundamental “light of civilization” precipitated after the Fusion of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

On the scroll painting on the Sanctuary's dome, all the phantom images of the ancient sages seemed to cast approving glances simultaneously. The ten Divinity stars that had just integrated, forming the base of the “Perfection Seed,” began to flash and resonate synchronously under the illumination of the light of civilization!

“This is... the resonance between Divinity and the Sanctuary?” Lin Zhou held his breath.

The ten points of Divinity starlight intertwined with the light of the Temple of Civilization, projecting a hazy and grand phantom image above the Sanctuary. Within that phantom, there was the birth and Legacy of script, the creation and innovation of artifacts, the establishment and execution of Laws, the building and Guardianship of cities, and the collision and sublimation of thought... as if a condensed epic of civilization was quietly flowing.

This phenomenon was neither a combat skill nor a direct power boost, but a manifestation of “Status” and “Dao.” It silently announced that this path, which used civilization as fuel and thought as the Civilization Seed, had received fundamental recognition and empowerment.

The phenomenon lasted for about a quarter of an hour (outside time) before slowly receding. But Lin Zhou could feel that the connection between the ten Divinity stars and the Temple of Civilization deep within his Soul had become tighter and perfectly integrated. Furthermore, he now had several vague yet potential conceptions of how to use these ten points of Divinity as a base to construct his own unique Divine Fire.

[Special Status Triggered: Civilization Seed · Initial Resonance]

Effect: Divinity stability +20%, compatibility with the Temple of Civilization increases to “Perfect.” During the upcoming Divine Fire ignition process, Temple of Civilization auxiliary efficiency is enhanced, and the purification power against faith Impurities is additionally increased by 5%.

Description: A special state triggered after gathering ten points of Divinity and achieving deep resonance with the Way of Civilization, symbolizing that your path has gained preliminary recognition at the Origin level.

“The conditions... are all met.” Lin Zhou let out a long breath; the air in the quiet room seemed to carry a faint rhythm of rules.

Ten points of Divinity, Perfection Foundation, the Seed is formed.

One hundred million Faith, about to be fully reserved, the fuel is sufficient.

Temple of Civilization, deep resonance, the path ahead is clear.

All preconditions for lighting the Divine Fire were, for the first time, fully met at this moment! And they were achieved in a manner far exceeding the imagination of ordinary Demigods, with an incredibly solid and profound Foundation.

He did not immediately begin the ignition. The closer he got to this ultimate leap, the more composed and calm he needed to be. The lighting of the Divine Fire was not a simple ritual but a comprehensive test of the Deity's will, Foundation, and understanding of the Dao, making it extremely perilous. He needed to adjust his state to the Peak, choose the safest, most undisturbed environment, and most importantly... perform the final deduction and preparation.

Lin Zhou's consciousness withdrew from the depths of the Divine Realm and returned to his main body. He opened his eyes; the window of the quiet room showed a sky full of stars. Just one deep inventory and Fusion had taken up most of the day outside.

He stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the vast Starry Sky. There were countless worlds, countless Deities, and countless Daos. And his Dao was about to welcome its first, and most important, milestone.

“Lighting the Divine Fire, advancing to True God...” Lin Zhou murmured softly, unconsciously clenching his right hand. A faint Divine light, mixed with the patterns of the Hundred Schools of Thought, flashed across his fingertips and vanished.

“But before that, there are still some trivial matters to handle, and my state needs final refinement. Su Yueyao's invitation, the final completion of theoretical knowledge... and selecting an absolutely safe ignition location.”

His gaze turned to the “Prodigy” contract pre-authorization letter sent by Xinghai University on his desk, especially the [Elementary Star Realm Exploration Permit] mentioned in the appendix.

“Perhaps... the 'Quiet Cultivation Star Realm' provided by the university would be a good choice.”

The night wind blew, carrying the slight coolness of early summer, and also fanning the increasingly bright flame named ambition in the young Deity's eyes.

Conditions are met, only awaiting the opportune moment.