"However, for you, none of this matters anymore. With the number of followers you have, you're in a completely different league compared to regular participants. Even if you suffer losses in the millions, it probably won't affect your overall fighting power at all."

  "You can just crush your way through. The real challenge begins once you enter the global competition. From the battle intensity in previous years, you shouldn't have any problems. Plus, I've checked, and it seems that there aren't any monsters from Zhonghai City this year." Lex said this while watching William, a smile forming on his face.

  Upon hearing Lex’s explanation about the city-wide competition, William felt reassured. The intensity of this kind of battle was nothing to him.

  "So, what’s the benefit of placing well in the competition?" William quickly asked, eager to know what he would get from the event, aside from just the rules.

  Lex wasn’t surprised by William’s question. After getting to know him over time, he understood that William was very money-oriented, and it would have been strange if he wasn’t interested in the post-competition rewards.

  "There are plenty of benefits. The most practical one is the reward. If you place, the school will grant you a reward of 1 million divine power. If you come in first place, Zhonghai City will give you a resource allotment of 5 million divine power." Lex crossed his arms and smiled, imagining how William, with his money-oriented personality, would be eager to perform well in the competition.

  "So, if I take first place, that means I’ll get a total of 6 million divine power in rewards! I’m going to get rich!" William’s eyes lit up with excitement upon hearing about the rewards. He felt an intense surge of motivation and was determined to claim the first place in the city-wide competition.

  Now that he had extraordinary followers, William didn’t even consider second or third place. Facing extraordinary species, he no longer felt nervous.

  Since he acquired the ability to produce Flame Spike Snakes and Self-Destructive Jumping Worms from his incubation nest, production of these two extraordinary units had been continuous.

  Now, William had accumulated more than ten million of both extraordinary species. To keep up with the consumption of divine power in his divine domain, he had to continually purchase various resources in the market on the Continent of Divine Communication. The divine power generated by his followers was barely enough to maintain the balance.

  Amused by William’s greedy expression, Lex shook his head and said, "Alright, you should prepare well these next couple of days. I’ll notify you when it’s time to leave."

  "Okay, Lex, don’t worry. I’ve already decided that I’m going to claim the first place. No one’s going to take that 6 million divine power from me." Motivated by the rewards, William expressed his strong confidence, determined to win.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Seeing William's enthusiasm, Lex nodded in satisfaction before turning and leaving.

  William watched Lex leave, then immediately returned to his divine domain to continue his gene analysis work.

  For William, there wasn’t much to prepare. Although most of the insect species in his divine domain were in hibernation, even the ones that weren’t, like the logistical jumping insects, numbered over 100 million. They were more than enough to handle any current situation.

  This was in a safe zone, and there was no risk of foreign invasions, so there was no need to wake up his followers prematurely. He still remembered how the sudden surge in resource consumption from waking up his followers before had nearly caused an ecological collapse in his divine domain.

  Two days later, when Lex arrived with two other participating students outside his divine domain, William instantly appeared from within.

  "Kid, come over here. I’ll give you the teleportation cards," Lex waved, signaling William to come over.

  As William floated towards Lex, he looked up and observed the two students beside him. One was a tall, slender girl with long hair, neither particularly beautiful nor unattractive—just above average. Her expression was cold as she watched William approach.

  William recognized her as Elizabeth from Class 2. She had very impressive half-elf followers, which, while not particularly noteworthy to him, were quite strong among early demigods.

  The other person was William’s old acquaintance, Richard. When he saw William approaching, he immediately waved and greeted him.

  "Top student, looks like we’ll be competing together this time!" Richard enthusiastically greeted William.

  "Richard, I didn’t expect you to join the city-wide competition. Congratulations!" William smiled as he greeted Richard back.

  Once William was right in front of them, Lex wasted no time and handed him two teleportation cards with coordinates.

  "Here are your round-trip travel cards from the school. I’ve already sent you the coordinates. We’re leaving now," Lex said, pulling out another teleportation card to signal that they were ready to depart.

  "Let’s go. We can talk more once we get there," William responded, stepping outside his divine domain’s barrier, waving the teleportation card in his hand. He activated the teleportation and began transporting to their destination.

  When William’s divine domain emerged from the spatial portal, he was immediately captivated by the sight before him.

  A large number of divine domains were stationed in this area—at least 4,000 or so. Most were colossal divine domains of around ten million square kilometers, accompanied by three smaller divine domains. These were most likely the competing teams from other schools.

  At the center of the area, ten divine domains of ten million square kilometers each were arranged in a circle. In the middle were three super-large divine domains, each spanning more than 100 million square kilometers. What was most unusual was that the barriers of these ten divine domains were transparent, allowing the mountains and terrain within to be clearly visible.

  "Heh, kid, do you see those ten divine domains? Those are the competition arenas. The three in the center are the referees," Lex said, appearing next to William after teleporting.

  "Lex, why are the barriers of their divine domains transparent?" Seeing Lex appear, William couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked directly.

  In William’s experience, a transparent divine domain barrier only indicated one thing—the domain was about to collapse.

  "This isn’t the divine domain turning transparent. It’s just been specially modified so that the outside world can see inside, like a live video feed. Using the entire divine domain barrier as a display screen requires a lot of divine power, so only for large-scale competitions do they do this. Otherwise, no one would bother," Lex casually explained, satisfying William’s curiosity.

  At this point, the other two participants had also teleported over. They were both equally captivated by the sight and began looking around at their surroundings.