I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Young and yet having trouble understanding, is it one book of 8,000 characters, not a total of 8,000 characters," Gu Shanhai kindly corrected.

At that moment, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

To say there were so many books, not to mention to write an 8,000 character reflection for each one—it wouldn't even be easy just to finish reading them all.

"No, boss, you gotta be reasonable; we're not you, how could we possibly have that capacity?" Wang Qi was cowered at this moment too.

"I'm not unreasonable either; it's okay if you can't complete it, as long as you try your best, showing your diligence and willingness to improve," Gu Shanhai spoke with gravity.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this; at least he wasn't being unreasonably demanding.

However, after Gu Shanhai took a deep breath, he added, "When it comes to punishment, I will also lighten it accordingly."

"There's punishment too?" Wang Qi was surprised.

"As the saying goes, filial piety comes from...no that's not right, it should be 'lax teaching is the teacher's laziness.' If you don't learn well, it's definitely because I haven't taught strictly enough, so I need to use strict methods to let you understand your mistakes. It's not like I get punished if you fail to learn, that wouldn't make sense. The ones to be punished can only be you, so that the lesson is deeply ingrained."

"Don't worry, I, as a person, have a good sense of how severe to make the punishments."

Gu Shanhai had taught many students, and not a single one failed to turn out well.

Wang Qi was about to say something, but Gu Shanhai continued, "I know the Resurrection Technique. I can guarantee to bring you back to life even if you're dead, so you don't need to worry about that."

'Damn' ×5

That was the thought that cropped up in everyone's minds at the same time, mainly because what Gu Shanhai said was so outrageous. If punishment required the use of a Resurrection Technique, the intensity must be incredibly extreme.

But at this point, it was too late to regret.

Despite how approachable and human Gu Shanhai appeared now, they had seen his true form—an intimidating divine being. They couldn't just easily change their minds about anything with him.

"Got it, boss. I'm going to start reading. Do you have any other instructions?" Wang Qi knew that since he couldn't escape, he had to face it head-on.

"Nothing else, go on," Gu Shanhai certainly didn't need Wang Qi at the moment.

He wanted to turn Wang Qi into his own asset and certainly had to train him. Otherwise, how would he govern a world with no knowledge? Solely relying on martial force would eventually lead to being undermined and cheated of everything. Gu Shanhai would be at a major loss.

He was talking, after all, about needing the other party to help him acquire resources; he certainly had to develop the ability to advance civilization. Rather than turning a consistent inflow of benefits into a one-time gain—and a not so large one-time gain at that—he would obviously choose the former.

Seeing this, the others followed suit, clutching their books as they left, just like Wang Qi.

Once everyone was gone, Gu Shanhai took out a sample of Wang Qi's bloodline that he had extracted the night before, which he had already been studying for a night.

This power was very special, not relying on one's various basic abilities but an extremely unscientific power of the mind, completely dependent on faith and will.

Meaning, as long as you have enough passion, you could continuously burst and increase your strength, even illogically so.

Of course, another aspect was the specialty in combating the Divine. Once this power was awakened, and using such illogical bursts as a method of attack, one could kill a god.

Indeed, the Divine do not die, just like the Hunter of Sea Sharks—who had been chewed countless times by the Giant Toothed Mad Shark. He didn't die but his strength would diminish greatly.

If he died a thousand or eight hundred more times, he might well be suppressed back again.

"This thing is not suitable for me at all," Gu Shanhai sighed, with no choice but to serve as mere fodder, unable to develop a new system for becoming stronger.

The reason was simple: when facing a formidable enemy and knowing himself to be outmatched, Wang Qi, aware that there's a tiger on the mountain, would still choose the mountain with the tiger; he would even prefer death over surrender, then this thing would explode.

But, if it were Gu Shanhai, knowing he couldn't win, he would choose to flee rather than confront head-on, unless he absolutely had to.

But how often do you really find yourself with no other choice? It was a matter of incompatible character; Gu Shanhai couldn't possibly change his own nature just for a system with potential.

"Modify it a bit, and it can be useful." Just because it didn't suit his nature, didn't mean he couldn't use it. In desperate times, Gu Shanhai could still rely on it; not every encounter with a strong enemy could be avoided, nor could he always escape.

It was like an ultimate move used only in extreme situations.

However, for Wang Qi, it could be used as a regular source of power.

"At present, it seems there's no limit to it; as long as one's own faith and will are strong enough, one can keep getting stronger," Gu Shanhai remarked after an inspection and noticed the problem.

The reason it manifested as a disease in Wang Qi was naturally because he hadn't fully awakened.

That's right, Gu Shanhai held the fully awakened version. For Wang Qi to awaken, he needed a sufficiently heavy stimulation, which would indeed happen in the normal course of the plot, but he should forget about it now; Wang Qi had already clung to powerful legs and had no interest in struggling.

So, forget about awakening through stimulation; now, whenever he faces a problem, the first thing he does is to call for a big shot.

After all, he was just a fifteen-year-old child; no matter how precocious, there were limits.

"So now, it's not suitable for Wang Qi either..." Gu Shanhai could still make use of it with some adjustments, but without them, Wang Qi would die.

Moreover, Gu Shanhai discovered that it wasn't just Wang Qi who had it; everyone, whether sea residents, land dwellers, or even Divine Slaves, all had it inside.

It was just that in Wang Qi, it was dominant, while in others it was recessive and very well hidden; were it not for the vast research progress Gu Shanhai had made during these days, he would not have discovered it.

He hadn't placed importance on it because it seemed superfluous, like an appendix within the human body; Gu Shanhai simply regarded it as an organ that was discarded or unused in the path of evolution.

It was only after he learned that the dominant power within Wang Qi had been developed that he gradually traced it back and realized what it was.

"If it's guided in a certain way, all of the original strengths will be wiped out."

Gu Shanhai knew that this illogical explosion of power could make a person rapidly stronger, even insanely skipping levels, stemming from the stimulation of expanding beliefs and willpower; such circumstances mostly occurred during desperate situations and in battle, rather than in daily life.

Everyday life was mostly very tranquil.

Therefore, if Gu Shanhai changed its enhancement method, then the corresponding advantages would also disappear.

"With mental refinement and self-hypnosis, these two methods can provide a gentle enhancement, like Spirit Martial Arts or Soul Martial Arts," Gu Shanhai quickly identified the methods.

The most representative was the concept of states, such as Sword Intent, Knife Intent, and the like.

Not to mention, if he modified it, this illogical explosive power was actually quite suitable for this system; it could completely incorporate that special notion of 'if the sword survives, so does the person; if the sword breaks, the person dies,' embedding one's own belief in the sword, then obsessively loving the sword to enhance willpower.

It could even work the other way around, with one's own belief and willpower feeding back into the sword that held the explosive power, making it sharper, more robust, and even possessing various effects. Should the sword break, it could be reforged with great will and faith—a cycle of destruction and creation.

The original focus on defeating the Divine?

That didn't matter anymore; Gu Shanhai dealt with it in passing. After all, Divine beings were not a big deal in his eyes; if they didn't interfere, he would let them be, but if they did, he could simply remove them as well.