Faith Points Require Too Much

[Golden Potato: +5 Strength after consumption. Effect is strongest on the first consumption; subsequent increases require prolonged use.]

"Awooo."

Spotting the 'fruit' breaking through the soil, a very small number of tribespeople, without waiting for Li Xunsheng to speak, opened their mouths and bit into the freshly unearthed... potatoes.

I could have cooked them first... Also, I wanted one too...

Watching the few who were wolfing them down, Li Xunsheng felt a pang of envy.

That's a permanent +5 to Strength!

With so many, if I'd gotten two or three, I could sell them for an exorbitant price here!

[Faith +999]

[Faith +666]

[Faith +369]

[...]

Seeing his followers happily preparing for the harvest and a large amount of faith value continuously popping up, Li Xunsheng felt sour.

He never expected to feel envious of these beings who could be considered primitive humans, and even more so, to be envious of his own followers...

Just as the young man was thinking this, the Divine Stone once again conveyed its oracle.

[Insolence! Daring to not offer a tribute to this god during the harvest!]

The oracle, clearly containing anger, caused the expressions of the tribespeople who were happily harvesting to change drastically. They knelt before the Divine Stone in fear, heads bowed subserviently, trembling like lambs awaiting slaughter...

The few tribespeople who had eaten the potatoes earlier were now crying and sniveling, prostrating themselves on the ground, almost scared to pee themselves!

The old tribal chief's heart leaped in alarm. She knelt on the ground, her gaze sharp as a knife, and looked directly at the few tribespeople who had dared to act rashly.

I haven't even eaten yet, and this guy dared to act without permission before the deity even spoke, and ended up angering the deity...

[My Lord... Shall we kill them... or... banish them?]

Although she felt a twinge of reluctance, as the chief, Li Xunsheng's first believer proposed a suggestion.

"Ah... that's not necessary. Just teach them a lesson so they know they were wrong. Also... the main point is, can I get a dozen or so potatoes?"

The tribe is small as it is, let's start with appeasement...

These Golden Potatoes seemed to reproduce like mad. Although they had stopped now, for the moment, even with the Eye of God, Li Xunsheng couldn't quite understand how many there were... After all, he was still unfamiliar with the Eye of God and couldn't see clearly.

But in any case, for this tribe of several hundred people, these potatoes would be more than enough to get them through the harsh winter.

[The death penalty can be waived, but they must be severely punished as a warning. Also, from now on, during every harvest, remember to offer the best batch of your harvest to Me, understand?]

[Yes...]

Relieved, the old tribal chief, understanding the deity's will, couldn't help but feel grateful towards the benevolent deity.

I've heard that the great god worshipped by the neighboring tribe doesn't allow even the slightest doubt; disrespect is directly punishable by death.

But our god did not decree death upon the offenders out of anger, nor did they take back their reward. Our god is truly too gentle...

Learning that there was no danger to their lives, the many tribespeople also felt relieved and offered their gratitude to the merciful deity...

[Faith +666]

Huh? Faith increased again?

The total faith, which had already surged past five thousand, increased again, making Li Xunsheng's heart leap with joy.

Perfect, I'll tell them how to cultivate them now. This way, these little ones will officially step into agriculture and won't have to worry about food anymore.

After communicating with the old tribal chief via oracle for a while, and watching the faith value continue to float upwards, Li Xunsheng was about to leave contentedly when he noticed the offering portal shake and hundreds, even thousands, of Golden Potatoes being squeezed out!

No... this is too much...

Bathed in a sea of golden potatoes, Li Xunsheng didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"Next time, you don't need to give so much, just a token amount is fine."

[Quality over quantity. For the next offering, it must be few but exquisite; no using substandard products to deceive.]

[Yes!]

At the time of the harvest, even when facing the deity's reprimand, the old tribal chief's face was full of smiles, her heart filled with submission.

Cannot find the book by its title, you can try searching for the author, perhaps the name has been changed!

"..."

Looking at the old tribal chief in the other world, her face full of reverence, Li Xunsheng couldn't be bothered to add anything more. It would be like this.

No matter what he said, the oracle would always change the format, insisting that he maintain the image of a high and mighty deity.

Sigh... I just want to be closer, to establish a more approachable image, but that's not allowed... Oh well, this is fine too.

However, what should he do with these potatoes?

[Golden Potato: S-class Ingredient! A potato containing immense energy. Consumption permanently increases Strength by five points.]

This is the system's annotation for the potato, but through the Eye of God, Xunsheng discovered some interesting information.

[Golden Potato: An ordinary ingredient infused and modified by divine power. Eating it raw or after ordinary cooking increases strength by five points, but it seems its effects can be enhanced through special cooking methods to gain a more significant strength boost.]

[Note: Whether eaten directly or after special cooking, strength can only be increased once in total. Repeated consumption has minimal effects and cannot increase strength.]

"Hiss... that's a bit of a shame..."

Looking at the potatoes piled up to half his warehouse, the young man gritted his teeth.

Clearly, this item, which could only increase strength once, was best eaten after finding a cooking method, allowing for a greater strength increase.

Anyway, he had plenty of ingredients, a whole half-warehouse of S-class ingredients, perfect for grinding cooking proficiency.

What? You say it's a waste? But this stuff is really common! As long as Li Xunsheng needs it, he can get a few warehouses from his dear dependents every day.

After all, his daily Offering, when calculated in their world, would be once every twenty to thirty years.

A deity who only receives Offerings once every twenty to thirty years would not place any burden on their dependents.

However, because he needed to research cooking methods, he couldn't eat these Golden Potatoes right now. How tragic...

Guarding the S-class ingredients, the young man could only gnaw on the dried rations Mo Rui gave him with tears in his eyes.

Never mind, let's think of something happy, like checking his Faith Points!

While eating the steamed buns he casually bought in the city, Xunsheng skillfully opened his status panel.

[Current Faith Points: 6696!]

Very good!

Seeing that the last skill of his Divine Spark was still locked, Xunsheng turned his gaze to his three sub-skills.

As expected, he needed to upgrade the Eye of God!

Just one repair granted the additional ability [See Through]. Imagine what another upgrade would bring!

Xunsheng knew very well that the complete Eye of God he used in his dependents' world could even see the past and future! Its abilities were so vast that if he understood how to use it, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an all-seeing eye!

"Repair Eye of God skill!"

[Eye of God (Second Repair): Requires 10,000 Faith Points. Insufficient Faith Points, cannot repair.]

"?"

A string of zeros flashed before the young man's eyes.

One repair only cost a thousand Faith Points, and the second repair costs ten thousand?!

If it was a third or fourth repair, wouldn't it cost millions?!

While shocked, he thought of his current few hundred believers and instantly felt that it wasn't entirely incomprehensible...

If his dependents were more diligent and expanded their numbers to the tens of thousands in a few hundred years (which would only be about ten days in his world), obtaining millions in Faith Points wouldn't be difficult...

Mm... very good. In that case, let's put the Eye of God aside for now.

[Body of God (First Repair): Requires 1,000 Faith Points]

[Will of God (First Repair): Requires 1,000 Faith Points]

Heh heh, these two can be repaired. Let's upgrade them first.

The young man rubbed his hands together, full of anticipation.

The Eye of God yielded the sub-skill [See Through], which was almost invincible in close combat.

What would these two skills branch out into?