"Next, you can focus your energy on optimizing the existing templates of the Zerg units. Try making adjustments to the current templates."

  "Start with the gene template of the Beast of Thunder as practice. The main focus should be on reducing costs while increasing mobility, defense, and survivability. I will evaluate the results of your optimizations."

  In terms of gene analysis ability, the Queen Ant still lagged significantly behind William’s own divine genetic traits.

  Comparing the two, the Queen Ant had an advantage in analyzing supernatural genes, but in terms of analyzing ordinary genes, she was dozens of times slower than William himself.

  Thus, William’s primary approach to cultivating the Queen Ant was focused on optimizing existing genetic templates. Having her analyze new genes was simply not cost-effective.

  After assigning tasks to the Queen Ant, William’s semi-divine spirit body appeared outside the Divine Realm’s barrier.

  He looked into the distance and saw another batch of students returning to the school’s base after completing their training over the past few years.

  Among these returning students, more than 30% had seen their Divine Realm shrink to just 10,000 square kilometers.

  William shook his head and stopped paying attention, withdrawing back into his Divine Realm to continue analyzing genes.

  Over the years, students who had been taken out for training by their teachers had been returning one after another.

  Some of them had experienced an explosive expansion in their Divine Realm, growing several times or even over tenfold.

  Others had their Divine Realm shrink back to the size it was when they first established it.

  William didn’t even need to ask—he knew that these students had likely suffered defeat while attempting to plunder external resources.

  Only under the protection of their teachers were they able to avoid complete destruction of their Divine Realm.

  This was also a major part of the senior-year curriculum: to let students experience firsthand the harsh realities of the divine world within a controlled environment.

  Although these students suffered heavy losses, at least their Divine Realm and core followers were preserved, giving them a chance to start over.

  Time flew by, and another two years passed.

  One day, while William was fully focused on analyzing more and more genetic data, he suddenly sensed a disturbance at his Divine Realm’s barrier.

  Extending his divine sense outside the barrier, he saw an enormous Divine Realm, spanning 250 million square kilometers, quietly docking beside his own.

  Zous’s semi-divine spirit body had already appeared outside William’s Divine Realm, gently knocking on its barrier with one hand.

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  William immediately stopped his work and emerged from his Divine Realm, appearing before Zous and respectfully asking, "Why have you come?"

  Seeing William finally come out, Zous withdrew his hand from the barrier, smiling kindly as he looked William up and down.

  He then asked, "William, you’ve been holed up in your Divine Realm all day, so focused that you didn’t even notice my arrival. What have you been up to?"

  "Nothing much, just focusing on researching ways to enhance my followers' strength. I got too immersed in it. Besides, I’ve been staying in the safe zone, so I haven’t been paying much attention to what’s happening outside," William replied, scratching his head in embarrassment.

  Zous didn’t seem to mind William’s response and got straight to the point.

  "I came to inform you that in two days, the Global Tournament will begin. How’s your preparation going?"

  Hearing Zous mention the Global Tournament, William suddenly remembered that it was right around the corner.

  He immediately pounded his chest confidently and declared, "Don’t worry, Zous! I’ve been preparing for this all along. I’ll definitely achieve a great result and bring honor to our school!"

  Seeing William’s confidence, Zous nodded in satisfaction and looked reassured.

  "That’s good. Since you’re so confident, I won’t worry too much."

  "Also, the rules for this year’s Global Tournament have just been released. Let me explain them to you."

  "This year’s tournament will follow a Battle Royale format. All participants will be connected to a special Divine Realm battleground at the same time."

  "There aren’t many rules. Essentially, invading other contestants’ Divine Realms via the tournament battlefield is forbidden. Additionally, if all of your deployed followers are eliminated, you’ll be disqualified."

  Upon hearing these rules, William immediately spotted several potential issues.

  Without hesitation, he asked Zous, "Zous, don’t you think these rules are a bit unfair?"

  "Under these rules, stronger contestants could easily become targets of alliances, leading to them being eliminated first."

  "Meanwhile, some races that specialize in stealth could just hide the entire time and survive until the end without fighting."

  Zous casually waved his hand and chuckled, saying, "That’s not unfair at all. The fewer restrictions there are on combat, the more it mirrors real-life situations."

  "There’s no such thing as fairness in the universe. The Global Tournament, like all competitions, is merely a selection process."

  "And what exactly is being selected? The most promising demigods, who will then receive preferential resource allocation."

  "But what does ‘potential’ mean?"

  "If you can defeat opponents of the same level in a one-on-one duel, that means you have potential."

  "If you can form alliances and defeat stronger opponents in a chaotic battle, that also means you have potential."

  "If you can survive on a battlefield filled with powerful enemies by staying hidden until the end, that still counts as potential."

  "Potential means finding your own way forward in any environment—a path toward igniting your divine flame and eventually becoming a true god."

  "So this selection process doesn’t care about the means—only the final result. Even if someone wins just by sheer luck, that still counts as their potential."

  "One day, when you step beyond the borders of human civilization and venture into the void of the divine world to compete for external resources..."

  "No one will show you mercy. Surviving to the end is the only rule that matters."

  At this point, Zous seemed to realize he had spoken too much. He cleared his throat before continuing, "I may have gotten a bit carried away. Don’t overthink it."

  "The main goal of this tournament is to train rookie demigods like you."

  "Stronger contestants will always have a higher chance of making it to the end. Just do your best."

  "Besides, the tournament has a time limit. Once time runs out, rankings will be determined based on the number of enemies eliminated."

  "Simply hiding and avoiding battles until the end won’t earn you a good ranking."

  After listening to Zous’s explanation, William finally grasped the reasoning behind the Battle Royale format.

  Compared to the city-level tournaments, which were straightforward tests of raw strength, the Global Tournament required far more strategic considerations.

  For participants hoping to achieve a strong performance, the number of factors they needed to account for had increased exponentially.