The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

Han Wu grew curious about the strength of a Divine Skill formed by merging four others, so he ordered Han Wen to activate it. Han Wen spent nearly a third of his Divine Points before it activated. A magical array materialized in front of them, and from within it emerged the Chaos Saint, a towering being several hundred meters tall. Han Wu also had the authority to read the Chaos Saint’s data interface.

[Name: Chaos Saint]

[Race: Elemental Giant]

[Rank: King]

[Talent: Chaos Strength (Contains all four Wind, Wood, Fire, and Earth attributes)]

[Skill: Tornado (Rank 5), Expansive Forest (Rank 5), Blazing Flare (Rank 5), Earthquake (Rank 5), Chaos Strike (Rank 6)]

Han Wu stared at the data in disbelief. He had never imagined the Chaos Saint was not only a King life form but also possessed five incredibly powerful skills. This being alone could take on most Demigods. On top of that, the Divine Skill would grow even stronger as Han Wen ascended into a new rank.

Surprised by the results of merging four Divine Skills, Han Wu resolved to attempt something even more ambitious. He aimed to merge all the Divine Skills from the four remaining Divine Aspects.

The risk was great, but he never shied away from danger. Pouring vast amounts of Divine Points into the process, he merged the remaining Divine Skills into one. The cost surpassed his expectations, forcing him to sell off several Rank 5 Divine Aspects to raise more funds.

After spending a staggering 70 billion Divine Points, he finally succeeded. The result was a completely original Divine Skill unlike anything that had existed before. He named it the True Martial Tiger God.

[Divine Skill: True Martial Tiger God. Transforms the target into the True Martial Tiger God and significantly increases all stats. Permanently increases mastery of one’s body and grants a martial skill.]

Han Wu studied the data with excitement and ordered his clone to apply it to him. The clone spent 10% of his Divine Points to use it on Han Wu. Instantly, Han Wu felt a surge of power ripple through his body. His palms and feet gradually transformed into tiger paws, while a tiger-shaped energy shield wrapped around him.

With the shield’s protection, Han Wu sensed that he was tough enough to withstand attacks from even a King life form like the Chaos Saint. At the same time, he learned to wield his new paws in combat, manifesting two Rank 3 Skills called Crush Claws and Claw Rush. In this form, Han Wu believed he could face King life forms even without relying on his Black Dragon King Transformation.

Han Wu then grew curious about how much stronger his clone would become by using the Divine Skill on himself, especially given how powerful Han Wu had already become as a Demigod. With that in mind, Han Wu signaled for Han Wen to do so.

Han Wen complied, and the effects appeared nearly identical to Han Wu’s transformation. However, Han Wu soon sensed something unusual. The space surrounding Han Wen started to crack and repair itself in an endless loop. It was a clear sign that Han Wen’s strength had reached the upper threshold of what Han Wu’s divine realm could endure.

That limit applied only if Han Wen remained still. If he launched any attacks, part of Han Wu’s divine realm could shatter permanently. To avoid irreversible damage, Han Wu quickly instructed Han Wen to stop using the Divine Skill. Han Wen nodded and deactivated it. Even so, Han Wu could sense a slight increase in Han Wen’s strength after the attempt.

Will my units rank up if I ask Han Wen to use the Divine Skill on them repeatedly? Han Wu wondered.

He wanted to test it but decided to wait. Instead, he watched his clone with satisfaction, knowing Han Wen could easily defeat someone as strong as Hu Hai right now.

After dealing with the clone, Han Wu turned his attention to the second card the True Martial God King had given him as compensation. Inside the card lay Hu Hai’s divine realm. The Tigermen had thrived there for many years, developing an early civilization. Though they no longer followed Hu Hai’s orders, they continued to live comfortably.

Without the Core, however, the divine realm suffered from various natural disasters, and the land was slowly dying. If no one intervened, the divine realm would vanish completely within several thousand years.

“I should strip out everything of value before it disappears,” Han Wu muttered.

What was the most precious resource within a divine realm? Ores, food, and land paled in comparison to the subjects themselves. A large group of Believers generated abundant Faith Points, making them the most valuable asset. Hu Hai had nurtured billions of Tigermen, each producing a significant amount of Faith Points.

Han Wu had already set his sights on the wealth they could produce. And he had the perfect tool to spread his faith: his clone, Han Wen. With a face identical to Hu Hai’s, Han Wen would have no trouble convincing the Tigermen. If not, Han Wen could easily subjugate them. With his strength, he could defeat every Tigermen in the divine realm.

Han Wu controlled Han Wen as they descended into the Tigermen’s divine realm. With his link to the divine realm severed, Han Wen had lost its protection and plummeted like a meteor, striking the ground with enough force to gouge a crater hundreds of meters wide. Fortunately, his body was extraordinarily durable, and he was unscathed. He got to his feet and made a few short jumps.

Meanwhile, his arrival quickly drew the attention of many powerful Tigermen nearby, including the Tigerman King. As ruler of the city, the Tigerman King held the highest authority within the divine realm.

When the Core shattered, it immediately realized that Hu Hai was no longer their god. In response, it spread a new faith throughout the kingdom, rewrote history to praise itself as a god, and commanded poets and storytellers to promote its faith. It even secretly ordered the temple’s deity statue replaced with its own likeness. The ordinary Tigermen remained unaware and naturally worshiped it as a god.

The Tigerman King soon started absorbing the Faith Points once intended for Hu Hai. As they poured into its body, its power swelled, and it finally evolved into a true King life form. Even the three Tigerman elders sealed in the forbidden zone were no longer its equals.

Drunk on newfound power, the Tigerman King had no intention of surrendering the Faith Points back to Hu Hai. So when it sensed Hu Hai’s return, it rallied a massive army and declared that an evil god had come to invade their land.

Upon hearing of the arrival of an evil god, the simple Tigermen took up arms. They swore to kill the invader for the kingdom’s sake, unaware that the so-called evil god was their original, true god.

Three days later, as Han Wen strolled across a vast grassy plain, the Tigermen launched a sudden ambush.