63: The trial has ended, and the overall score is the highest in the entire competition (Part 2)

Consciousness returns, and the main body opens its eyes, still in that familiar high altitude of the Divine Realm. Below his feet is the [Hundred Schools Temple] Divine Realm, which has expanded to nearly thirty square kilometers. The tree of life in the core area is lush and green, with Literary Heart Elves reciting classics under the tree; the clanging sound of forging comes from the Tiangong Workshop, where dwarves and Gnomes are working in full swing; the Law Fishmen patrol team patrols the border with steady steps; the newly fused [ashen furnace] emits a low roar, providing a steady stream of metal resources for the Divine Realm; a faint medicinal fragrance wafts out from the [Imperial Hospital]... Everything is in order and full of vigorous vitality. It forms a sharp contrast with the deathly silence and chaos of the assessment Star Realm.

"I'm home..." Lin Zhou breathed a long sigh of relief, an indescribable sense of peace welling up in his heart. This was his Foundation, his world.

He first sensed his own status. The Godhead was still covered in cracks and repairing slowly, but at least it had stabilized. After receiving the feedback from the assessment rewards, his Divine Power reserves reached a staggering 7800 points! This had already far exceeded the Peak of ordinary Faint Divinity, and even touched the threshold of Lesser Divinity (which usually requires more than 10,000 points of Divine Power and a higher Godhead Rank).

But he was in no hurry to push through the Bottleneck. Forcibly promoting while the Godhead was damaged would be no different from destroying his own future. The top priority was to repair the Godhead and solidify his Foundation.

His gaze turned to the followers below. The elites who participated in the assessment had all returned safely. Although most were injured, their spirits were completely renewed. Especially the heroes who had experienced the allied army battle and the civilization resonance, their auras were more condensed, and they had clearly gained a huge amount.

Elwin, Bronzebeard, Snik, Barrend, Mipo... they would be the mainstays of the Divine Realm's future development.

"Everyone, you have worked hard in this assessment." Lin Zhou's divine oracle was like a spring breeze, soothing the hearts of all followers, "Your performance exceeded my expectations. Our allies from Blackstone Territory have also been settled, and our Fire of Civilization has been ignited in another world."

"We are willing to die for our Lord!" All followers, whether they participated in the assessment or not, felt Lin Zhou's joy and praise, and shouted in unison, their faith becoming even more devout.

After comforting his followers, Lin Zhou began to take stock of the greatest gains from this assessment—the rewards!

His consciousness sank into the core of the Divine Realm, where several cards emitting powerful fluctuations floated in the air.

He first picked up those three [Divinity Crystal (Tiny)]. The crystals were only the size of a grain of rice, but they were as heavy as a mountain. Inside, golden power flowed, containing the laws of the Universe's Origin.

"Divinity... finally in my hands." Lin Zhou was excited. Igniting the Divine Fire requires Divinity, and improving the quality of the Divine Fire, repairing, or even promoting the Godhead also requires Divinity! This is the true hard currency, a treasure that countless gods dream of!

He did not use it immediately. Repairing the Godhead required caution; it would be best to use it in conjunction with other Heaven And Earth Treasures, or wait until his understanding of the Civilization Dao was deeper for better results. He carefully put away the Divinity Crystals.

Next was the [Epic Building Card: Hall of Heroes (Fragmented)].

The card depicted a phantom of a towering and solemn hall, where countless heroic Souls seemed to be sleeping, praying, and training.

[Building Card]: Hall of Heroes (Fragmented)

Quality: Epic

Type: Miracle Building/Special

Effect:

[Hero's Haven]: Automatically attracts the Souls of hero units and some elite soldiers who died in battle for their faith within the Divine Realm (requires a certain level of piety and contribution), preventing their Souls from dissipating.

[Heroic Spirit Transformation]: By consuming Power Of Faith, the resident Souls can be gradually transformed into Heroic Spirits. Heroic Spirits retain some of their memories and skills from their lifetime, their potential is increased, their loyalty is eternal, and they can exist apart from a physical body.

[Heroic Spirit Summoning]: Divine Power can be consumed to summon Heroic Spirits to briefly descend into reality for battle, or to grant them temporarily shaped spirit bodies for combat.

[Faith Amplification]: The existence of Heroic Spirits itself is a testament to faith, which can slightly increase the overall faith output and cohesion within the Divine Realm.

(Fragmented State: Currently only able to accommodate and transform hero unit Souls, and there are time and strength limits for summons. The full version can accommodate a large number of soldier Heroic Spirits and possesses more functions.)

Construction Requirements: Divine Realm Rank 'Prosperous', 1000 units of [soul-calming wood], 500 units of [faith crystal], 5000 points of Divine Power.

"Good stuff!" Lin Zhou's eyes lit up. This Hall of Heroes was practically tailor-made for his civilization Divine Realm! Not only could it preserve precious hero units to the greatest extent (for example, if Bronzebeard faced death again, as long as his Soul could escape back, he would have a chance to transform into a Heroic Spirit), but it could also form a Heroic Spirit army that was unafraid of death and absolutely loyal! For Lin Zhou, who excelled at fighting tough and bloody battles, this was of extraordinary significance!

"Collect resources immediately, prioritize building the Hall of Heroes!" Lin Zhou ordered. Resources within the Divine Realm were fairly sufficient; [soul-calming wood] would need to be purchased from outside or a substitute found, and [faith crystal] could be condensed from a massive amount of Power Of Faith, though it would take time.

Then, there was the [Legendary Resource Card: dragon vein source (micro)].

On this card, a miniature golden Dragon emitting a dense purple mist was slowly swimming.

[Resource Card]: dragon vein source (micro)

Quality: Legendary

Type: Terrain/Resource

Effect: After Fusion into the Divine Realm, it forms a micro dragon vein.

[Spiritual Qi Tide]: In the area where the dragon vein is located, Spiritual Qi concentration increases by 300% and slowly improves the entire Divine Realm environment.

[Leyline Nourishment]: Accelerates the growth and regeneration speed of all plants and mineral veins within the Divine Realm.

[Bloodline Enlightenment]: Long-term nourishment by the dragon vein's Spiritual Qi gives followers an extremely low probability of Awakening dragon-blood-related subspecies Bloodlines or traits (increased strength, Physique, and elemental affinity).

[Rule Stabilization]: The dragon vein comes with a trace of the world's Origin rules, which can slightly improve the spatial stability and rule resistance of the Divine Realm.

Fusion Requirements: Divine Realm area reaches 30 square kilometers, and possesses at least one existing leyline node.

"Legendary!" Lin Zhou's breathing quickened. This thing's improvement of the Divine Realm was all-encompassing! Especially [Spiritual Qi Tide] and [Bloodline Enlightenment], which could greatly accelerate the growth and potential development of his followers! It just so happened that his Divine Realm area had met the standard, and the core area also had leyline nodes formed by the [Spirit Spring] and [ashen furnace], satisfying the Fusion conditions!

"Fuse the dragon vein source immediately!"

He chose to fuse the dragon vein source with the leyline node where the core area's [Spirit Spring] was located.

The card turned into a brilliant golden light and sank into the earth of the Divine Realm.

Rumble... The entire Divine Realm vibrated slightly, as if something was waking up underground. The ground in the core area bulged, forming the embryonic form of a miniature, winding mountain range. The mountain range appeared pale gold, with purple Spiritual Qi swirling on the surface like mist. A surge of Spiritual Qi, far more pure and majestic than that of the [Spirit Spring], emanated from this micro dragon vein and quickly permeated the entire Divine Realm!

All the followers in the Divine Realm were refreshed, feeling their bodies become lighter, their thinking more agile, and their Cultivate speed significantly faster! Spiritual plants like the tree of life and wenxin tea tree became even more verdant at a speed visible to the naked eye!

[Divine Realm Environment Update]:

Spiritual Qi Concentration: Medium -> High (Concentrated in the core area)

Average Follower Growth Speed +50%

Resource Regeneration Speed +100%

Rule Stability +10%

Fusion successful! The Divine Realm's heritage has skyrocketed again!

Next, Lin Zhou bestowed the [Haoran Turban] upon Elwin. After Elwin equipped it, her Vast Righteous Qi became more solid and pure, and her understanding of Confucian thought seemed to deepen by a level.

As for the [Fire of Civilization (Seed)] card and a large number of basic reward cards, he put them away for the time being, to be slowly digested in the future.

After processing the rewards, Lin Zhou began to think about the next step of his plan. The end of the final examination meant that his high school career was about to conclude. Next would be waiting for the college entrance examination results to be announced and choosing a university.

With his SSS+ score, the doors of any Human Race university would be open to him, and he would even be fought over. His goal was undoubtedly the top-tier Xinghai University. There, there would be a broader stage, richer resources, stronger opponents, and it would better promote the development of his civilization Dao.

"However, before that, I must first repair the damage to my Godhead." Lin Zhou felt the dull pain coming from his Godhead and made up his mind. If the Godhead was not repaired, it would not only affect his strength but also concern his future potential.

He took stock of the repair methods he possessed:

Slow self-repair: Too slow, it might take several years or even longer.

Divinity Crystals: Powerful effect, but using them to repair the Godhead is somewhat wasteful and needs to be combined with other methods.

Imperial Hospital: Can refine Medicinal Pills to repair the Divine Soul, but lacks key main ingredients, and has limited effect on Godhead damage at the rule level.

Temple of Civilization: Perhaps there are special methods that need to be explored.

External search: Purchase or find Heaven And Earth Treasures that can repair the Godhead.

Just as he was weighing his options, his personal communicator rang. It was his class teacher, Old Wang.

Connecting the call, Old Wang's voice, distorted with excitement, immediately came through: "Lin Zhou! Good lad! You... you really gave us a huge surprise this time! SSS+! An unprecedented SSS+! The Principal just contacted me directly, saying he wants to personally present you with an award! The Cloud City Council also wants to grant you the title of Honorary Citizen! You've really gained a lot of prestige for our Cloud City and our school this time!"

Lin Zhou smiled slightly, not surprised by this.

"Teacher Wang, you flatter me. It was just luck."

"What luck! This is strength!" Old Wang said excitedly, "I have good news for you. Because of your outstanding performance, the Xinghai University Admissions Office has already sent a 'Special Recruitment Letter of Intent' in advance! As long as your academic subject scores in the college entrance exam pass, you'll be guaranteed admission! And it's with the highest 'Son of the Stars' treatment!"

Son of the Stars! The highest level of Genius treatment at Xinghai University, enjoying the best faculty, resource tilt, and freedom!

This was indeed good news, saving a lot of trouble.

"Thank you for letting me know, Teacher Wang."

"Also, regarding the method for repairing Godhead damage you asked about before..." Old Wang's voice became serious, "I've consulted several Seniors for you. Conventional methods take a long time. However, there is one place that might allow you to recover quickly, or even turn this disaster into a blessing."

"Oh? What place?" Lin Zhou became interested.

"The [Myriad Laws Pool]!" Old Wang said solemnly, "That is a cosmic wonder controlled by our Human Race. The pool water contains all kinds of rule fragments and the pure vitality of creation. It has miraculous effects on repairing one's Foundation and comprehending rules. There are only a very few spots every year, usually only provided to military powerhouses who have made great contributions or peerless geniuses from top-tier academies."

"With your contribution and potential in this assessment, you are fully qualified to apply! If you are interested, the school and the education department will do their best to fight for you!"

The Myriad Laws Pool!

Lin Zhou's eyes flashed with brilliance. This might be exactly the Opportunity he needed!

"Please help me apply, Teacher Wang!" he said without hesitation.

Hanging up the communication, Lin Zhou looked out at the endless starry sky beyond the Divine Realm.