William was still lingering in place, frantically merging the divine land left behind by his opponents.

  It took him nearly five hours to fully integrate the terrain and resources.

  During the process, he even asked Lex to visit the Gods' Exchange Continent to purchase a few high-level blank sealing cards. These were used to contain the abandoned followers whose faith had been shattered.

  These followers were a source of divine power, and William wasn't about to waste them. Besides, they were quite valuable. Based on the quality of these extraordinary four-armed werewolves, selling ten thousand of them would fetch between 1,800 and 2,300 divine power points. That meant he could potentially earn around 4 million divine power points in total.

  As for the over 800 million ordinary four-armed werewolves and the miscellaneous ordinary minotaurs, their value in the retail market was roughly 200 to 300 divine power points per ten thousand.

  If he found the right buyer, the price could be even higher.

  However, with such a large number, William couldn't afford to keep them long-term or sell them off bit by bit himself.

  Moreover, he understood that the only reason he had managed to gain so much from this battle was because Zous had backed him up.

  If Darius had truly fought him to the death, William would have been the one whose divine domain was shattered in the end.

  After all, Darius had 20 million extraordinary-level and over 800 million ordinary-level four-armed werewolves. These creatures could enter a berserk state and fight fearlessly for a short period.

  Meanwhile, William had only about 10 million extraordinary-level and 200 million ordinary-level Zerg.

  William had no chance of winning in a direct confrontation. His only option would have been to stall for time, sever the invasion channel, and retreat.

  Originally, he had planned to split the spoils with Zous and Lex, but Zous had no interest in them, and Lex, who had barely contributed, didn’t feel entitled to a share.

  So, William decided to sell the captured followers in bulk to the school’s logistics department, allowing the school to make a profit from the resale.

  Since Zous didn't want a share, William couldn't just take everything for himself without some consideration.

  At a rate of 200 divine power points per ten thousand ordinary followers, the revenue from selling them would amount to nearly 20 million divine power points.

  On top of that, William’s divine domain had expanded dramatically as a result of this battle.

  Darius’ domain alone was 30 million square kilometers.

  Kenir and Bobo each had 1 million square kilometers.

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  Henir had 1.5 million square kilometers.

  William had absorbed all four domains without leaving a single one behind.

  His divine domain had skyrocketed from 4 million square kilometers to a massive 37.5 million square kilometers—nearly twice the size of Lex's domain.

  Standing in the sky above his domain, William gazed at the vast land, his face brimming with joy.

  With this expansion, his Zerg swarm now had ample space to thrive.

  For a long time, he wouldn’t have to worry about running out of room for his growing swarm.

  At their current consumption rate, this divine domain could sustain 3 to 4 billion Zerg units, far exceeding his current production capacity.

  It was clear that William was on the verge of another period of rapid growth.

  After handling matters in his divine domain, William reappeared outside its barrier, floating in the void.

  Seeing Zous and Lex watching him with amused smiles, William politely expressed his gratitude once more.

  The two merely waved it off.

  Lex was the first to speak. "Alright, enough with the thanks. Let’s head back first. You need to take some time to absorb this harvest properly."

  Hearing that they were heading back, William frowned in confusion. "Go back? I just got here, why are we leaving already?"

  "Even though my follower count has been cut in half, as long as I’m not facing an old-generation demigod, I can still take on four of the new-generation ones at once."

  Lex shook his head, amused by William’s eagerness, and explained, "Kid, don’t get cocky. I know you’re strong for your generation."

  "But think about it—at your current level, which new-generation demigod wouldn’t run the moment they saw you?"

  "Your divine domain is now a massive 37.5 million square kilometers, even bigger than mine."

  "The spatial disturbances caused by your movements are on a completely different scale now. Anyone operating in this resource well area can spot you from a distance. The moment they see you moving towards them, only a fool would stay put and wait for you to invade."

  Hearing Lex’s explanation, William finally understood the problem.

  With his divine domain now so large, moving it created massive spatial ripples, making it impossible to hide his approach.

  Any new-generation demigod in the area would detect the disturbance and flee long before he got close.

  Realizing this, William quickly turned to Lex and asked, "Lex, what should I do to continue improving, then?"

  Lex smirked and teased, "Oh? Now you're worried? Just a moment ago, you were grinning like an idiot while absorbing those divine domains."

  "Your domain is so big now that you can’t hide when you move."

  "Plus, your current strength doesn’t match the size of your domain. If you keep wandering around the resource well area in this state..."

  "Guess what kind of demigod would be willing to fight someone with a domain this massive?"

  "Do you really think your remaining followers could defend against an opponent like that? Could you hold out until me and Uncle Zous arrived?"

  "Didn’t you learn in class that divine domain expansion must be balanced with follower strength?"

  Lex’s series of rhetorical questions left William speechless.

  He quickly searched his memory and recalled the relevant knowledge.

  The expansion of a divine domain should always match the number and strength of its followers.

  A small domain with powerful, numerous followers allowed for an underdog strategy, but failing to expand in time would limit follower development.

  On the other hand, an excessively large domain, far exceeding the survival needs of its followers, would create a sense of complacency.

  This would hinder faith development and could even weaken the followers’ overall combat effectiveness.

  In the early stages of the divine world, a demigod’s domain size was a key indicator of their strength.

  At this point, any demigod willing to invade William’s domain would likely be at least as strong as Darius—possibly even stronger.

  Seeing William deep in thought, Lex chuckled and said, "Alright, enough thinking. You only need to do two things now."

  "First, head back and find a safe place to properly absorb your gains."

  "Second, streamline your divine domain—seal off and sell the excess land, then invest all the divine power you earn into strengthening your followers to accelerate their growth."