I Want Your Faith

I Want Your Faith

Seven days and seven nights passed. All the phenomena within the pill furnace subsided, and a majestic aura emerged from within.

Qin Sheng clapped his hands and laughed. "I did it."

He opened the furnace lid and shouted, "Come out, my Sacred Physique!"

Ye Fan's head poked out of the furnace, looking full of vigor.

"Immortal, you're truly heartless."

"Don't slander me. Just tell me, did you benefit or not?"

Ye Fan crawled out of the pill furnace, looked over his limbs, and complained:

"That old bastard broke both my arms and legs. If you hadn't come, I probably really would've been refined to death."

"Immortal, why did someone come after me the moment you left? Which part went wrong?"

Ye Fan sighed. "Is my bad luck so overwhelming that you have to stay beside me to suppress it?"

Looking back on the past, Ye Fan truly felt that he had been incredibly unlucky. Nothing ever went smoothly for him.

He had truly come to Beidou to suffer through tribulations.

Qin Sheng merely smiled without speaking. This was nothing yet.

Later on, Ye Fan would become the enemy of the entire world, with everyone clamoring to kill him. That would be exciting.

"Alright. This time, you turned misfortune into fortune, and your cultivation has improved greatly. Once you break through to the Life Spring realm, we'll go pull off something big."

"Alright."

Ye Fan pulled himself together and said, "Let's cultivate in seclusion here. There's Fire Fiend energy to absorb here, and Dao patterns to conceal us."

Douluo Continent.

Time passed slowly. Six years had gone by since Qin Sheng arrived in this world, and he was now fourteen years old.

The new Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament was about to begin as well.

"The time has finally come to fulfill the second wish." Qin Sheng was in a good mood.

Although the tournament had not begun yet, there was already no suspense over who would win.

Qin Sheng's parents were already studying their opponents in the finals.

"Xiao Sheng, it's time for us to set off."

Fourteen-year-old Zhang Lexuan had grown increasingly beautiful, and her gaze toward Qin Sheng was filled with gentleness.

"Are the team members ready?"

"Yes. The official members and the reserve team are all here," Zhang Lexuan said.

"Then let's go. To Heaven Dou City."

The Soul Master Tournament was held once every five years, with the four nations of the continent taking turns hosting it. This year, it was Heaven Dou Empire's turn.

The next tournament would be hosted by Dou Ling Empire, and the one after that would be hosted by Star Luo Empire—the tournament Huo Yuhao would enter as a reserve team member.

At Blazing Spirit Academy's training grounds, thirteen students, one team leader, and Qin Sheng's mother were already waiting.

When Qin Sheng arrived before them, he swept his gaze across the group. Every student he looked at immediately raised their heads and straightened their backs, doing their best to display their spirit.

Their eyes were filled with reverence as they looked at Qin Sheng.

"I'll only say one thing."

Qin Sheng spoke calmly. "What is Blazing Spirit Academy's goal this time?"

"Championship!" all the students answered in unison.

"That's right. The championship, and nothing but the championship."

Qin Sheng turned and took the lead in leaving. "Let's go."

Everyone took off from the ground and flew toward Heaven Dou City.

Mother Qin asked, "Son, are you sure you won't participate in the competition?"

"Not interested." Qin Sheng shook his head.

With his level of strength, he should be taking part in something like "Mount Hua Sword Debate," not a student competition.

Still, although he had no interest in personally acting, Qin Sheng found it rather amusing to casually train a few students and have them crush every academy in their path.

"Alright."

Mother Qin looked somewhat regretful. "The entire continent won't get to see how outstanding my son is. Mom is so sad."

"Lexuan was taught by you too. Let her compete."

Zhang Lexuan smiled. "As long as we don't encounter an opponent who's difficult to defeat, I should try not to go on stage."

"The seven seniors on the main team are nearly twenty years old. This is their only chance to show themselves. Let them have it."

Zhang Lexuan had a gentle temperament and never fought for attention.

She was only fourteen and currently served as the captain of Blazing Spirit's reserve team. She could still compete in the next tournament, so she did not care whether she stood out this time.

The students of the Blazing Spirit Team were all equipped with flying Soul Tools, and the group quickly arrived in Heaven Dou City.

It was exceptionally lively here, more prosperous than ever before.

A nation could only host the Soul Master Tournament once every twenty years. Many people would only get to watch it a few times in their lives. Now that it was their own nation's turn, the citizens of Heaven Dou Empire erupted with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Heaven Soul Hotel, an imperial property.

Blazing Spirit Academy was merely an ordinary advanced academy, so their accommodations were arranged on the first floor, with fairly average treatment.

Qin Sheng did not care about such matters.

He was still living in a cave in the Shrouding the Heavens world.

While registering at the hotel, a group of people wearing distinctively ugly clothes happened to enter as well. The staff of Heaven Soul Hotel received them with the highest courtesy.

"Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the continent," Zhang Lexuan said.

"They've won nearly every Soul Master Tournament in the past."

Everyone from Blazing Spirit Academy paid close attention to Shrek Academy, knowing that they were their greatest opponent this time.

As for the people from Shrek Academy...

They did not even spare Blazing Spirit a glance. They were just nobodies by the roadside, not worth noticing.

After arriving in their hotel rooms, the team leader said:

"There are a total of one hundred and thirty-one participating teams this time. The format is the same as before. The first round will be an elimination round using a seven-versus-seven team battle format. Lose, and you'll be eliminated and sent home. It's expected to last three days."

"The second round is a round-robin stage, with around nine teams in each group. The teams within each group will face one another in turn..."

After introducing all this, the team leader added:

"As for our tactics..."

He laughed, both helpless and proud.

"I don't think we need tactics. We only need to use absolute strength to crush every opponent standing in our way."

With the team members being so strong, the team leader's job was both difficult and easy.

Everyone laughed.

Qin Sheng had a room to himself. Late at night, while cultivating, he suddenly felt the temperature plummet.

He opened his eyes and saw that an extra white-haired figure had appeared in his room.

"Why are you here?"

Snow Empress smiled faintly. "Your academy competition—I came to watch."

"Fine. If you're interested, stay."

Qin Sheng said, "As it happens, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

With a wave of his hand, Qin Sheng sealed off the room from inside and out. Not to mention Soul Masters—even gods could forget about spying through the God Realm.

"I want the faith of the Far North," Qin Sheng said seriously.

"You're going to become a god? You've already reached that step?"

"More or less. It's time to prepare." Qin Sheng nodded.

"If the Soul Beasts of the Far North had no faith, I could agree," Snow Empress said with a frown.

"But they all worship the Ice God, and that will hardly change. I can't make them abandon their faith, nor can I betray the Ice God."

Having unbelievers begin worshipping a god and making believers convert to another faith were completely different concepts.

Qin Sheng smiled. "I can be the Ice God."

"You received the Ice God's inheritance?" Snow Empress asked in surprise.

"No. I haven't received the inheritance of any god, but I can still make use of the power of faith directed toward the Ice God."

Qin Sheng continued, "So my idea is to take the form of the Ice God and receive the faith of the Soul Beasts of the Far North."

Snow Empress remained silent. She felt that her devotion to the Ice God was incomparably sincere, and Qin Sheng's idea was defiling the Ice God.

Fortunately, she trusted Qin Sheng deeply now. If it had been anyone else, Snow Empress would have acted long ago.

"After it is done, I'll find the Ice God's Godhood for you and return the faith of the Ice God to you."

But then again, if the Ice God could return to the world and the Soul Beasts of the Far North could once again bathe in a god's glory, that would be a good thing as well.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Without the Ice God's Godhood, how can you absorb faith in the Ice God?"

With Snow Empress's understanding, she could not comprehend Qin Sheng's method.

"Becoming a god isn't difficult for me." Qin Sheng's tone was calm, yet utterly convincing.

"My spiritual power and body are already god-level, and my Soul Power can also be considered semi-divine power. Once I condense my fourth Soul Core and refine my Soul Power slightly, it will definitely undergo a transformation."

This semi-divine power was not the Ultimate Douluo classification from Douluo III. It meant that Qin Sheng's Soul Power truly possessed the characteristics of divine power.

"So long as I wish it, I can easily become a god-level lifeform."

Qin Sheng said, "But I want to condense a complete Godhood and become a true god. For that, I must use the power of faith."

"God-level lifeforms and gods are not the same kind of existence? Is the difference between them the Godhood?" Snow Empress asked curiously.

"Yes."

Qin Sheng nodded. "When one's spirit, body, and Soul Power have all transformed to the god level, one becomes a god-level lifeform, a god-level powerhouse. That is also a god."

"If classified according to Douluo Continent's levels, god-level powerhouses from level 100 to level 109 correspond to Divine Officials of the God Realm. Every ten levels after that correspond respectively to Third-Level Gods, Second-Level Gods, First-Level Gods, and God Kings."

"However, setting aside Divine Officials without Godhood, from level 110 onward, god-level powerhouses of the same rank are almost never a match for true gods. That is because a Godhood can raise a god's strength by nearly an entire level."

"Furthermore, Godhood is fundamentally formed from laws. Possessing Godhood allows one to come into closer contact with laws, and that will be an excellent aid until you cultivate to a certain realm."

"Only gods with Godhood can live forever. God-level powerhouses cannot."

Combining the knowledge from his previous life with his personal research in this life, Qin Sheng had gained a deep understanding of the domain of gods.

Snow Empress nodded. "So that is why you wish to become a god, rather than merely a god-level lifeform."

"Yes. There is another reason as well. Godhood is a shortcut to reaching the heavens in a single step."

Qin Sheng smiled. "God-level powerhouses can only cultivate step by step, slowly advancing from level 100."

"But Godhood is different. If you inherit or condense the Godhood of a First-Level God, then after going to the God Realm, you can directly become a First-Level God."

Snow Empress was somewhat astonished. "In that case, it truly gives one every advantage."

Qin Sheng said, "Gods have their drawbacks too, but before such enormous benefits, they can all be tolerated."

Douluo Qin Sheng's wish was to become a god, and Qin Sheng could not possibly give up such a shortcut.

As for the restrictions of Godhood?

In the myriad worlds, how could that even be considered a problem?

"You want to condense a Godhood similar to the Ice God's?" Snow Empress guessed.

"No. My goal isn't a Godhood like the Ice God's. I simply have a way to make use of the faith of other gods."

The path of faith also existed in the Shrouding the Heavens world. Shaking Light Holy Land possessed quite a few related texts and secret arts.

Qin Sheng had specifically looked into them before, and some of those secret arts were of enormous help to him in Douluo Continent.

"So, are you willing to help me?"

Under Qin Sheng's gaze, Snow Empress pondered for a long while before finally nodding.

"We are friends. I believe you."

Qin Sheng laughed happily. "Very good. Once I become a god, I will certainly keep my promise."

"When the time comes, the two of us will ascend to the God Realm together. That would make quite a fine tale."

The next day, the Soul Master Tournament officially began.

After the drawing of lots, one of the one hundred and thirty-one teams received a bye, while Blazing Spirit Academy's opponent was...

Shrek Academy?!

Qin Sheng smiled, and the people from Shrek Academy smiled as well.

(End of Chapter)