Red sat comfortably on his throne, swiping a hand across the digital console to close the visual feed from the western shipyards.

The Second Continent was officially liberated.

’Iron-Scale and the Vanguard executed the operation perfectly,’ Red thought, resting his chin on his knuckles. ’Now, I just need to hold up my end of the bargain and prepare them for the desert.’

Before fulfilling his promise and distributing power to his frontline commanders, Red needed to stabilize his own foundation. He needed to be Rank 18 to gain the ability to share magic with eligible followers. And managing an invasion force of over a million soldiers across hostile territory required a much higher degree of divine authority than he currently possessed. He tapped the glowing interface, pulling up his personal status panel.

[ Current Status: Rank 14 (Celestial Monarch) ]

[ Divine Points (DP): 1,141,435,000 ]

[ Faith Points: 7,500,000,000 ]

He had been hoarding the raw faith generated by his expanding empire for over three years. He was gaining around seven million Faith points everyday, most from his personal followers and the rest from the faith resources of the 80 vassal gods.

The sheer zealotry of the Vanguard, combined with the newly liberated populations praising his name, had pushed his reserves to a staggering seven and a half billion points.

Normally, the system imposed a strict exchange rate of one hundred Faith Points for a single Divine Point. Under standard rules, his massive hoard would only yield seventy-five million DP, which was barely a drop in the bucket for a high-ranking ascension.

But Red did not play by standard rules.

His core trait offered a base hundred-fold multiplier to all gains. By utilizing ten saved charges simultaneously, he forcibly stacked the effect, pushing the conversion rate to thousand-fold multiplier.

[ Acknowledged. Consuming 10 Trait Charges. ]

[ Temporary Conversion Multiplier applied: 1000x ]

[ Converting 7,500,000,000 Faith Points... ]

The glowing numbers on the holographic screen blurred as the system processed the astronomical mathematics.

[ Conversion Complete. ]

[ + 75,000,000,000 Divine Points (DP). ]

[ Total DP: 76,141,435,000 ]

Red let out a slow breath as the numbers settled. Seventy-six billion Divine Points. He now possessed enough raw capital to easily eclipse deities who had ruled their domains for thousands of years.

Without hesitating, he pressed the ascension button at the bottom of his interface.

"Process all available rank upgrades," Red instructed.

The interface erupted in a brilliant golden light, projecting a rapid cascade of system notifications directly into his field of vision.

[ Ascending to Rank 15: Astral Emperor ]

[ DP Requirement Met: 2,500,000,000 DP ]

[ System Reward: 1x Divinity Trait Ticket Acquired. ]

Red ignored the ticket for now, knowing he could utilize it later to pull another game-breaking ability. The system didn’t pause, instantly logging the required points from his massive pool to trigger the next thresholds.

[ Ascending to Rank 16: Exalted Deity ]

[ DP Requirement Met: 5,000,000,000 DP ]

(Note: Achieved during a mass rank-up; no specific system features were displayed in the interface.)

[ Ascending to Rank 17: Void Empyrean ]

[ DP Requirement Met: 10,000,000,000 DP ]

[ System Feature Unlocked: Continental Deployment Grid. ]

[ Function: Significantly reduces the DP maintenance cost of sustaining massive troop formations outside of the user’s primary continental domain. ]

[ Ascending to Rank 18: Cosmic Arbiter ]

[ DP Requirement Met: 25,000,000,000 DP ]

[ System Feature Unlocked: Divine Conduit. ]

[ Function: Enables high-capacity magical throughput directly to designated faction commanders, drastically increasing their mana saturation limit. ]

[ Ascending to Rank 19: Primordial Warden ]

[ DP Requirement Met: 50,000,000,000 DP ]

[ System Feature Unlocked: Absolute Faction Tether. ]

[ Function: Ensures absolute spiritual loyalty and completely prevents external divine tampering or mind-control on all entities bearing the Faction Crest. ]

The golden light finally faded, leaving the digital console glowing softly in the quiet sanctuary.

Red casually swiped away the remaining notification panels. He had just jumped five entire ranks in a matter of seconds, officially placing his system authority on the exact same numerical tier as Iron-Arbiter.

’Rank nineteen,’ Red mused, tapping his fingers thoughtfully against his armrest. ’The desert gods looked down on me for being rank fourteen. I wonder how they would react if they saw my status now.’

"I need 100 billion DP to reach rank 20. I will get another divinity trait pull ticket, and..." Red glanced at Glitch. "Another pet creation ticket. With that, Glitch won’t get bored when I am busy."

His foundation was officially set. With his system authority vastly expanded and his power reserves secure, Red turned his attention back to the DP sharing function. It was time to fulfill his promise and give the Vanguard the magic they needed to survive the Fourth Continent’s monsters.

Red tapped the newly glowing icon on his interface. The passive upgrades from his rapid ascension were excellent, but he needed direct combat power for the upcoming desert invasion. He opened the DP Sharing menu, which the system had formally labeled as the Divine Conduit.

A detailed warning prompt immediately materialized on the screen.

[ Notice: Divine Conduit (Mana Core Awakening) Initiated. ]

[ Condition: The selected targets will immediately fall into a deep spiritual slumber to undertake a unique personal trial. Please ensure subjects are stationed in a secure environment. ]

[ Rule: The presiding Deity cannot select the elemental attribute or influence the trial. The awakened magic depends entirely on the individual’s soul and trial performance. ]

[ Consequence: Passing the trial results in the permanent formation of a Mana Core. Failure results in a permanent inability to wield magic. No physical harm will occur upon failure. ]

Red read the text carefully. ’I already knew about this since Sylara told me,’ he mused, leaning back in his throne. ’They have to earn the power themselves. Even I don’t know what these trials look like.’

The lack of physical risk was a massive relief. If they failed, they simply remained conventional warriors as they currently were.

The sudden slumber was the only real logistical hurdle, but the timing was actually perfect. Iron-Scale had just locked down the western shipyards, and the Vanguard was currently establishing a secure camp to process the loot.

Meanwhile, the rest of his eligible troops were safely entrenched back on the Seventeenth Continent.