After closing the System interface, Ian Song lounged in his chair, pondering how to complete the Global Faith mission.
The global registered population is about 7.5 billion; if you count the unregistered, it’s probably closer to 7.8 billion. Half of that is 3.9 billion—getting 3.9 billion people to worship and like him would be no easy feat.
After all, people’s hearts are fickle—no matter how famous the star, not everyone will like them. Some will worship and adore; others will dislike or even hate.
The Yanhuang Republic has a population of around 1.4 billion. Even if he made everyone in the country worship him, it still wouldn’t be enough for the mission. He’s not money—there’s no way the entire nation could like and worship him.
So, for the faith-building mission, he couldn’t limit himself to the Yanhuang Republic. He figured that if he could gather a billion believers domestically, that would already be impressive.
Next, he looked at the populations of neighboring countries.
Fusang, though small, has about 150 million people; Goryeo has 50 million; Blackfield, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries total around 600 million.
That adds up to 2.2 billion—the rough number of East Asians.
How much faith could he collect from 2.2 billion people?
Conservatively, maybe 1.5 billion. That still leaves a gap of 2.4 billion, so he’d have to target populations from other continents.
Next, he had to consider what he could do to make people like and worship him.
The easiest profession to win people’s affection is, without a doubt, a superstar.
Singer?
Dancer?
Movie star?
Ian called up the System interface again, focusing on the Skills tab. Piano Master had only been useful at the start; after that, it barely saw any action. Painting & Calligraphy Mastery, he’d used to flirt with girls. Eastern Medicine Mastery, he rarely touched. As for Dance Master, he hadn’t used it even once.
If he made good use of Piano Master, Painting & Calligraphy Mastery, Dance Master, and Song King, these five skills could definitely make him the hottest star out there.
Used well, Eastern Medicine Mastery could also bring in plenty of faith.
And with God-Tier Chef, he could collect a lot of faith too.
So, with these skills, he could develop three career paths: superstar, doctor, and chef.
Suddenly, Ian’s eyes lit up. “Meow-Meow, I want to upgrade Song King, Piano Master, Eastern Medicine Mastery, Dance Master, Painting & Calligraphy Mastery, and Super Chef to their highest levels.”
Meow-Meow replied, “Song King is already maxed out. Piano Master can be upgraded to God-Tier Piano Virtuoso for fifty million Fame Points. Eastern Medicine Mastery can be upgraded to God-Tier Healer for eighty million. Dance Master can be upgraded to God-Tier Dancer for twenty million. Painting & Calligraphy Mastery can be upgraded to Painting & Calligraphy Grandmaster for one hundred million. Super Chef can be upgraded to God-Tier Chef for one hundred and twenty million. That’s a total of three hundred seventy million Fame Points. Upgrade now?”
“Upgrade!” Ian said without hesitation.
As soon as he spoke, a mysterious power surged into his sea of consciousness, and he immediately felt his understanding of those skills deepen dramatically.
“Okay, my development route is set. Time to make a concrete plan!”
He spent another hour thinking in his study before finally opening the door and stepping out.
“Huh?”
The moment he left the study, Ian let out a soft cry. He hadn’t noticed before, distracted by his planning, but now he realized that the spiritual energy in the villa was about three times richer than usual.
He’d set up a spirit-gathering array in the villa for his seven wives to cultivate.
But the Main World’s spiritual energy was always far too thin—even with the array, the villa’s aura density couldn’t compare to a fantasy world, let alone the Immortal-Dao world.
Why had the spiritual energy suddenly grown so much richer?
Puzzled, Ian stepped outside the villa.
“What’s going on?”
Ian frowned. The area outside the villa was beyond the array’s coverage, but the spiritual energy there was still about twice as rich as before.
Next, he used blink teleportation to check several locations and found that everywhere, the spiritual energy had increased significantly.
“Meow-Meow, the Main World’s spiritual energy just got a huge boost. Do you know what’s going on?”
Ian asked, suspecting that this had something to do with the System.
“Kid, this is just the beginning. The Main World’s transformation will be complete within three years!” Meow-Meow replied.
“So it really is the System?”
Ian was stunned. “Why would the System do something like this?”
“Kid, the Main World isn’t as simple as you think. Just wait and see!” Meow-Meow said mysteriously.
“Wait and see, my foot!”
Ian shot back irritably, then headed straight back to the villa.
None of his seven wives were around—the whole villa felt empty.
With a thought, Ian released Lila Li, Diana Toba, and Raina Quinn from the Temple of Divinity.
As soon as the three women appeared, they began looking around curiously. Diana Toba even reached out to touch everything she could.
“Husband, is this your home?”
“Yeah.” Ian nodded, then gave them a tour of the villa and taught them how to use all the modern appliances.
All three women had strong cultivation and great memories, so they picked things up fast—Ian only had to explain once before they understood.
“You girls watch TV. I’ll go make dinner!”
Ian turned on the TV and gestured for the three to stay in the living room, then headed into the kitchen.
“Husband, I’ll help,” Lila Li said.
“Me too,” said Diana Toba.
Even though sharing a bed had improved Lila Li and Diana Toba’s relationship, there was still a bit of rivalry between them.
“Young Master, let me do it instead!” Raina Quinn offered.
“Alright, enough arguing. Just stay here and watch TV. Tonight, I’ll show you what I can do in the kitchen!”
Having just upgraded his cooking to God-Tier Chef, Ian was eager to see what level his dishes could reach.
There were plenty of ingredients in the fridge, but Ian chose to use the special ones he’d brought back from the Immortal-Dao world.
Soon, a mouthwatering aroma wafted out of the kitchen, drawing the three women’s attention.
Just then, there was a commotion outside the courtyard.
It was the other seven wives returning.
When they saw three women in ancient dress in the living room, they were surprised at first, but quickly realized these must be the ones Ian brought back from another world.
“You’re back! Dinner will be ready soon!”
Ian poked his head out of the kitchen and called to his seven wives, then went back to cooking.
After a brief moment of surprise, the women started introducing themselves, and soon they were chatting like sisters.
Watching from the kitchen, Ian breathed a secret sigh of relief.