The Strongest Gene

So this is what a god is.

Chen Feng was somewhat stupefied. This was completely different from the almighty image he had of the gods. It was no wonder that this god here could be so down to earth, wasting his time on them. Production of believers... Chen Feng shook his head. It was no wonder that the deaths of tens of thousands of believers had been sufficient to bring this god out.

Around Mountcarve City, there had been over a thousand tribes with countless life-forms. However, those able to become believers were only resonators, which had only numbered in the tens of thousands. Even more lamentable was the fact that they had still had to keep the number of believers under control.

That was because the moment the number of believers increased excessively, the tribe as a whole would become too strong and would start averaging in the resonance realm. When that happened, those believers would go join Mountcarve City instead.

Things were truly hard for the minor gods. This was truly what Chen Feng felt. He had never expected that even an illustrious god would live such a miserable life. Naturally, this "miserable" was in comparison to the other gods. After all, regardless of how miserable a god was, they were still a god.

Suddenly, Chen Feng asked, "What does an apostle mean to a god?" He refused to believe that apostles were just normal believers.

"..." The god looked at Chen Feng with a complicated gaze. This fellow’s wit had truly astonished him. He paused and took in the look of anticipation all the monkeys had before saying, "Apostles have an extraordinary meaning attached to them."

Indeed. Chen Feng’s heart trembled.

"Apostles can provide an even larger portion of faith to their god," the god slowly explained. "Apostles are the core of a god’s force. The more apostles a god has, the stronger the god’s godly power and the more powerful the god. Moreover, unlike resonators, apostles can’t shift their allegiance. Therefore, apostles are much more valuable than ordinary believers. However... there are extremely harsh requirements for becoming an apostle. It is much harder than you guys imagine. Naturally, countless gods will fight over a person capable of actually becoming an apostle."

As the god finished his explanation, he glanced over at Chen Feng. It was clear that he was referring to these herculean apes. He knew that this huge monkey was completely clueless and this fellow called Chen Feng, this herculean ape that did not resemble an ape, would be the one making decisions in their stead. If, after this, they decided to leave... The god already had his plans for that.

I see. Finally, Chen Feng understood clearly. In that case, everything was understandable now.

The moment one became an apostle, one would be imprinted with their god’s brand. This would allow them access to even higher tiers of the god’s godly power. In return, this person would supply the god with faith. The stronger the god became, the stronger the apostle would become.

This was why this god had taken such a huge risk and brought them all here. After all, the 5,000 near-apostles the herculean apes had in their ranks were truly too astonishing. This was also why this god had been so down to earth when conversing with Chen Feng, even if this god was of the opinion that Chen Feng was talentless in godly power cultivation and would never be able to ascend into the apostle realm. These 5,000 monkeys alone were Chen Feng’s biggest bargaining chip.

"I understand now." Chen Feng looked at the god. "So how do I go about becoming an apostle?"

Huh?

The god was somewhat stunned. He had not expected Chen Feng not to say anything else. After all, a lot of people with the potential to become an apostle normally sought as strong a god as they could. Yet this guy... However, as the god thought about it, he understood the reason for Chen Feng’s decision. Indeed, it was much easier to converse with an intelligent person.

The god smiled. "Follow me." Suddenly, he felt like even if Chen Feng couldn’t become an apostle, he should still keep the man around. Or perhaps he would search for a treasure or the like capable of helping Chen Feng become an apostle, as Chen Feng was truly an intelligent person. After all, in this wide world, even a god needed someone he could converse with, right?

After walking past the hall, they reached a massive public square. Within this shrine carved out of an entire mountain, what was most lacking was space. In the huge public square was a flickering shadow that streaked around at an astonishing speed.

"The process of becoming an apostle is quite simple. So long as one reaches the peak of the resonance realm and reaches a certain standard in their comprehension of godly power, one will gain the qualification to become an apostle. As for the rest, the god deals with it. Each god has their own method of testing the standard of their believers’ godly power. As for my standard..." The god pointed at the shadow in the public square. "Defeat him and you shall become my apostle."

Shua!

The shadow stopped moving.

The swiftly moving figure instantly stood still, allowing everyone a clear look at it. This was actually a wooden puppet! A robot? Chen Feng was astonished. Worthy of being a god indeed, to be able to create a robot-like thing. Even though this puppet was made of wood, it had high agility and its usage of godly power had reached an extremely high level. It seemed like this would be this god’s trial.

The huge monkey was excited. "Let me give it a try." Ever since his strength had rocketed, he hadn’t had a chance to fight seriously. And today he had suddenly jumped from peak awakened to peak resonance in one go; he was itching for a fight with his new strength.

"Come!" he howled.

Bang!

The huge monkey started heading toward the public square.

"Howl—"

The huge monkey jumped in while howling in excitement as surging godly power pulsed out of him with the ferocity of the War God. That shadow moved so fast that its actual position could not be determined. However, it did not matter, since the huge monkey was large enough to cover more ground.

Bang!

A terrifying might descended. All the herculean apes watched on in anticipation.

Bang!

With a loud boom, the huge monkey’s body was flung back at a speed even faster than the speed at which he had descended earlier. Instantly, he was blasted back to the point that his body was deeply embedded in the mountain, leaving behind a humanoid-shaped hole. All the herculean apes were alarmed when the saw this. Only after a long time did the huge monkey manage to crawl out of that hole, horror plastered on his face.

"This... is the strength of an apostle?" exclaimed the huge monkey, yet soon after, the expression on his face was replaced by that of excitement as he said, "How strong! I will become an apostle one day as well!"

By the side, the god’s lip curled up into an almost unnoticeable smile. In fact, this fight had been started to show these fellows the true strength of an apostle. He wanted to show them that even though he was a minor god, he was nevertheless still a god.

The god glanced over at Chen Feng. "Do you want to give it a try as well?"

"Okay." Chen Feng entered the public square, seemingly in a hesitant manner. He knew that this god was doing this to let them know the difference in strength between them, after which he’d give them some benefits to win their hearts. However... Chen Feng clenched his fists tightly. He truly wanted to verify his present strength, to see for himself how far apart he was from an apostle.

After all, even before having godly power, he had already been capable of erupting with the power of a level 10,000 awakened. And now, as a peak resonator, if his strength was amplified by the miniature person within him...

Chen Feng arrived. Before everyone’s gaze, right before the puppet reached Chen Feng, he inhaled deeply and, with a serene expression, punched out. This was the strongest punch he had ever thrown.

Bang!

With a loud boom, that streak was immediately stopped in its tracks.

Bang!

Next, wood shavings exploded out, followed by the explosion of the wood puppet, leaving behind a pile of broken wood on the ground.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The wood dropped onto the ground while crisp sounds echoed about in the air.

Shua!

Suddenly, the entire world seemed to have lapsed into silence. The god, who had initially been watching on proudly, suddenly trembled. A look of disbelief was in his eyes, which had since gone wide. For the first time, an expression of utter shock appeared on his face.

Ah...

Chen Feng felt somewhat awkward.

"This..." Chen Feng shrugged. "It was an accident."

"You..." The god took in a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress something. After a long time, he finally opened his mouth and said with an ashen complexion, "Congratulations on your success. From today onward, you are my apostle, my one and only apostle."

One and only...

Chen Feng was astonished. "You do not even have one apostle?"

"I did have one." The god had a gloomy expression. "He was a treant leader, yet he is no more."

Chen Feng blanked. What does that mean? He remained confused until he followed the god’s gaze and looked at the pile of wood on the ground. Instantly, he was startled. Holy shit, it couldn’t be...This puppet had in fact been a treant?