When the strength and the size of the divine domain match, and there is enough power, I will take you directly to the central area of this barren resource well to compete for the unclaimed resources in the void.

  "As for your current situation, you're too weak to catch those weaker than you, and you can't defeat those stronger than you."

  "Staying here any longer will only increase the risk and waste my and Uncle Wang’s time looking after you. What else can you do?"

  After hearing Lex’s analysis, William could only put on the expression of an obedient student receiving instruction.

  He followed Zous and Lex back without protest.

  The return journey was uneventful.

  While chatting with Lex and Zous, William brought up a question that had been on his mind.

  "Lex, that demi-god Longwa—his divine domain has already grown so large, so why does he only have 3.7 million divine power reserves?"

  Hearing William’s question, Lex suddenly seemed to recall something and replied, "That’s already quite a lot. Oh, I almost forgot—you’ve only been developing your divine domain for a little over seven months in the real world."

  "When you first enrolled, you spent a lot of time wandering outside and missed many foundational courses. This is a good opportunity to make up for them."

  Hearing "seven months," William couldn’t help but feel emotional.

  In the real world, he had survived the three-month newbie protection period after establishing his divine domain.

  Since starting his senior year of high school, only four months had passed.

  But in the world of the gods, more than seventy years had gone by. His experiences there far exceeded his memories from the real world.

  Seeing William lost in thought again, Lex coughed twice to bring his attention back before continuing, "Before igniting the divine fire, there are two main development paths for accumulating divine power."

  "One is the logistics development path, which is safe and stable."

  "This type of demi-god, while increasing the number of core followers, also develops an economic industry chain to earn divine power."

  "I’ll give you the simplest example."

  "For instance, if a demi-god's core followers are dwarves, a race with great talent in forging but weak combat abilities."

  "The fundamental way for them to obtain resources is to heavily invest in metallurgy, forging various weapons and armor to sell on the Gods' Exchange Continent."

  "The divine power earned is then used to purchase raw materials, expand the divine domain, and cover other expenses, forming a positive cycle."

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  "Then, they store the divine power generated by their core followers, extract divinity, and finally ignite the divine fire."

  "But there’s an obvious downside—on the Gods' Exchange Continent, any industry that can generate divine power faces intense competition. Unless they have unique, high-value products, the speed of earning divine power is very slow."

  "The other path is outward plundering."

  At this point, Lex paused and gave William a meaningful look before continuing, "You should be quite familiar with the advantages of this development path."

  "A divine domain develops rapidly, growing at an accelerated rate rather than through slow accumulation. This is the greatest advantage of outward plundering."

  "As for the downside—if you lose during an invasion or defense."

  "In the best case, you lose a large number of followers and part of your divine domain. In the worst case, your divine domain core shatters, or your core followers are completely wiped out."

  "Because of this, demi-gods who favor the plundering development path rarely store large amounts of divine power."

  "Most of their divine power is directly invested in the development of their divine domain or the strength of their followers."

  "Only when their divine domain and followers have developed to a certain level do they begin accumulating large amounts of divine power to prepare for igniting the divine fire."

  "Of course, these two development paths are not mutually exclusive. Most people enhance their followers' combat abilities while also seeking suitable industries for development—they just focus on one more than the other."

  "That demi-god Longwa mainly follows the outward plundering route. Having over 3 million divine power reserves is already quite impressive."

  After explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the two development paths, Lex didn’t stop.

  He continued explaining other knowledge points, making William's return journey much more engaging.

  Lex spent the whole trip giving William lessons, covering all the classes he had missed since enrolling because he had not returned to the civilization's base.

  He also passed on a lot of his personal experience.

  With Lex’s thorough teaching, time seemed to fly for William.

  By the time the three of them returned to the frontline camp, Lex’s lessons had finally come to an end.

  "Alright, your remedial lessons are over. When we return to the school dormitory, I’ll send you a copy of the senior-year study materials. Go through them when you have free time."

  "For now, focus on developing for a while and digest what you've gained from this trip."

  After saying this, Lex returned to his divine domain and activated teleportation, disappearing along with it.

  Without wasting words, William and Zous also teleported away.

  When they reappeared, they were back in the human civilization's safe zone.

  Looking at the scattered divine domains stationed at the base and the unchanged school grounds, William turned to observe the size of his own divine domain.

  Only then did he reveal a satisfied smile.

  "My divine domain's current size won't limit the swarm's development in the short term. The top priority now should be improving the swarm's quality."

  Thinking this, William bid farewell to Lex and Zous.

  Then, he rushed back to his divine domain to plan how to use the divine power he had accumulated.

  During the return trip, he had already dealt with the captured four-armed werewolves and minotaurs.

  On top of that, he had plundered all the resources from four demi-gods.

  This time, William had gained nearly 25 million divine power, transforming from a penniless pauper into a multi-millionaire overnight.

  After witnessing the overwhelming power of hero-level units, William truly felt the pressure.

  The sight of a single, powerful unit tearing through his swarm like an unstoppable force was not something he wanted to experience again.

  When the quality of units reaches a certain level, sheer numbers alone become powerless against them.

  This time, he had faced Kaelen, who had only recently ascended from an ordinary four-armed werewolf to a hero-level follower, yet he was already so formidable.

  In terms of combat strength, Kaelen might even be able to fight an adult dragon.

  But racial disadvantages cannot be entirely compensated for by combat strength alone.

  If the one who had entered his divine domain this time had been an adult red dragon—

  A hero-level unit with innate fire resistance, a powerful physique, and extraordinary magical talent—

  The suicide bombers in his swarm might not have even been able to inflict fatal damage.