It would be enough for Fang Zhen to start a personality cult.

Or, to put it another way, replace "cult" with "hero worship."

In modern society, especially for people in Xia Country, everyone receives a materialistic education. As a result, most people don’t really believe in all that supernatural stuff. At least, that’s the mainstream attitude; any strange new cult that pops up gets stamped out immediately.

What happens in private, however, is hard to say.

After all, the need for religion is practically a basic human necessity, as it addresses the question of the afterlife.

But even so, religion is still very prevalent in the rural areas of Xia Country and other regions, and some even have fanatical believers.

If that was the case in Xia Country, things would be even easier in the neighboring Little Days Country.

There are all sorts of religions there; any Tom, Dick, or Harry can pull together a sect.

Besides, many of the believers in Little Days Country are completely deluded. Obvious charlatans, as long as they have some charisma and speak well, can become a Sect Leader there. Even someone ugly as sin could pull it off.

Someone like Fang Zhen, who has real abilities, could easily start a sect in Little Days Country, whether by preaching or by revealing just a sliver of Extraordinary Power.

The only problem is that it would be easy to get shut down.

Fang Zhen wasn’t planning on living abroad long-term yet. The real world was his home base, which needed to remain stable. He couldn’t act rashly and cause unpredictable consequences.

Fang Zhen decided to put the idea of developing a sect in Little Days Country on the back burner as a backup plan for now.

Finding fanatics right now was still relatively difficult.

But in eras with less developed productivity, like the Middle Ages or ancient times, finding fanatics would be much easier.

In the Zambein Kingdom, for example, many poor commoners rely on religion for spiritual solace. It wouldn’t be a big problem for Fang Zhen to go there and gather 100 fanatical worshipers and 2,000 followers.

After thinking it through, Fang Zhen had a plan. He decided to go to the Zambein Kingdom in the Nameless World to find these believers.

According to what he had learned before, although the physical strength of the commoners in the Zambein Kingdom varied, their souls were not distinguished by high or low status.

’A soul is a soul; the soul of a physically weak person is still a soul. In that case, if I make a move there, I should be able to gain enough believers.’

As for the other conditions, like performing an "epic deed," Fang Zhen didn’t know the exact meaning.

’But if I use the destruction of The One Ring in the Lord of the Rings Realm from the movies I know as a reference, that would count as an epic deed, right?’

’By comparison, if I just find a world with a powerful evil force and overthrow its wicked rule, would that also count as an epic deed?’

’Thinking back, does helping the Whig Society overthrow the rule of the Eternal Night Council in the Curse Seal World count as an epic deed?’

’I can give it a try. After all, the Hell-difficulty instance of the Curse Seal World is coming up soon.’

Another condition was for the character to reach the "Hero" level. Fang Zhen currently had a hero template, so this should refer to his current character strength.

It also said one ability had to reach the Divine Domain, or at least approach it.

Fang Zhen guessed that all his stats reaching 20 points was probably the so-called "Extraordinary" state.

’But to approach the Divine Domain, 20 points might not be enough. I’ll probably need various stats between 25 and 30.’

’If this speculation is correct, then for me to reach the Hero level, it means I need all stats at 20, and a single stat at 30.’

’That’s relatively simple, I just need to stack stats. The goal is to complete a special ritual.’

Fang Zhen had the determination to become a god, but he didn’t have any mortal enemies.

’A mortal enemy isn’t hard to find. Any world-class evil boss will do.’

He could also manage to meet the other conditions.

The only things with some difficulty were the Level 9 Magic and getting 90% of his believers and worshipers to contribute their souls, then upgrading his own soul into a divine one.

The "contribution" was similar to a Priest swearing an oath of loyalty to a god, not a sacrifice that would kill them.

Fang Zhen thought about this. ’This so-called Level 9 Magic... could it just be a skill that has been pushed to level nine?’

Fang Zhen’s highest-level skill was currently Power Mountain Seal, which was at level five. However, its cap was level six, so he didn’t know if there was room for further improvement.

He guessed that the so-called Level 9 Magic didn’t necessarily have to be a spell; it could also include his skills.

’If I can use Merit Points to raise a skill to level nine, perhaps I’ll have met one of the conditions for godhood.’

With this in mind, he made a summary. What he needed to do was go to the Zambein World to gain believers, then improve himself by raising one of his stats to 25-30 points or more, with all other stats at 20.

At the same time, he needed to choose an evil opponent, defeat them, and achieve an epic deed on a world-wide scale. He could test the waters in the Curse World first and see if wiping out the Eternal Night Council counted as an epic deed.

Next was to continuously accumulate Merit Points and then raise a skill to level nine or higher.

After thinking it all through, Fang Zhen felt a moment of clarity.

He decided on his next course of action.

He would spend one hundred Merit Points to enter the Zambein World. There, he would use his preaching ability to constantly seek out supporters for his ideals and gain followers. He estimated ten days would be enough.

After all, he wasn’t a nobody in the Zambein World anymore. He had the nominal status of a Duke. Organizing sermons for five to ten days should be enough to convert some people into his fanatical believers.