Fang Zhen’s main purpose in coming to the Zambein Kingdom was to cultivate some followers.

He thought about it. ’If I want to cultivate some die-hard followers and admirers who can expand my influence, the best way is probably to form something like an ideological corps to promote my personal prestige.’

And these Preachers, he decided, should ideally be similar to clergy.

However, the Tade Church already existed here. Directly promoting his own deification would likely lead to conflict with them.

Although Fang Zhen wasn’t afraid of the Tade Church, there was no need to create an opposition. He considered the kind of people who could carry out this propaganda and deification work for him. They should be knowledgeable, and they must be completely dependent on him for their livelihood.

With that in mind, he felt two groups of people best suited his needs.

The first group was the scholars of this era. They were knowledgeable but lacked a reliable source of income, forcing them to depend on high-ranking nobles like a Duke—which was Fang Zhen’s current identity in this world—to survive.

But while scholars were good at academic pursuits, their preaching abilities were likely average. Besides, they weren’t fond of theology; otherwise, they would have studied it already.

The other potential target group was the younger sons of noble families, like Ottis. They had no inheritance rights, but they were worldly. Most had also received a good education and studied rhetoric and public speaking.

More importantly, having grown up in noble households, they saw things for what they were. They wouldn’t be overly constrained by so-called morality, making it easier for them to serve Fang Zhen without any psychological burden.

As long as he gave them a stable career and a reliable future, these men would be loyal to him.

Furthermore, most of them could be potential Priests, giving them a natural degree of influence.

In modern terms, these people were all potential KOLs, or key opinion leaders.

For Fang Zhen, turning these men into his Preachers and brainwashing them into becoming his own worshippers was a clever and efficient way to gain followers and admirers, supplementing his own martial prowess and achievements.

In other words, he could be seen as building an ideological core team, or his own personal order of Priests.

"Oh, then that’s no problem," Ottis said.

"If that is what you require, I will help you gather all the younger sons of the nobles in this territory who have no future prospects."

"Good," Fang Zhen nodded.

...

「A few days later.」

The King’s delegation arrived in the Ashton Territory. Fang Zhen met with the King’s envoy.

After some discussion, both sides realized the other was not some gullible simpleton who could be easily fooled. They proceeded to negotiate the material terms of their interests with high efficiency.

After half a day, they reached an agreement.

The King would legally recognize Fang Zhen’s status as Duke Augustus, and in return, Fang Zhen would help the King keep Duke Sith occupied.

The King’s special envoy returned.

「A few days after that.」

Fang Zhen’s military settlement system was implemented.

「Two days later.」

Nobles began to send their younger sons over one after another.

When the number of second sons and even younger sons from these noble families surpassed one hundred, Fang Zhen organized a study group, or what could be called an ideological school.

Fang Zhen used his preaching skills and lectured for three days.

By the end, these young nobles, aged between 15 and 30, were moved to tears. Their thinking was now completely in sync with Fang Zhen’s.

They saw Fang Zhen as the epitome of power and progress, developing an extreme admiration for him. They swore to spread this reverence throughout the entire Zambein Kingdom.

Seeing this effect, Fang Zhen felt confident. ’It’s a success.’

He almost named these younger sons of nobles "political commissars," but on second thought, he decided not to take the risk. He didn’t want to accidentally reveal truths he shouldn’t. ’Let’s just call them Preachers.’

Fang Zhen assigned them their tasks.

Under the protection of soldiers, each Preacher would continuously spread word of Fang Zhen’s deeds and ideals among the common people, winning him new followers.

Furthermore, these Preachers would receive material rewards based on the number of tasks they completed.

In the blink of an eye, his time in the Zambein World was up.

Fang Zhen had accomplished what he wanted to do in the Zambein Kingdom, and it had taken exactly ten days.

Dalia had wanted to be intimate with Fang Zhen, but she had already confirmed her pregnancy.

Dalia even tactfully mentioned to Fang Zhen whether he needed her to find him a "warm little lover" from another noble family.

Fang Zhen was quite surprised, but after a moment of thought, he understood Dalia’s reasoning.

Unable to engage in sexual relations during this period, Dalia had now placed all her passion and hope in Fang Zhen.

Rather than risk Fang Zhen being seduced by other women during this time, it was better to introduce him to a lover she deemed trustworthy.

Fang Zhen was very tempted, but he refused.

’I should focus on my career.’

After settling matters there, Fang Zhen returned to the real world, reappearing on the second basement level of his villa.

Fang Zhen quickly checked the Instance Life Game. This was the first time he had entered a world outside of an instance state.

He saw that on the Instance Life Game’s interface, a new dialogue box had popped up.

"A new game stage has been detected for character Fang Zhen. The Instance Life Game is upgrading. You have new character status updates. Please read them."

Fang Zhen flipped to his own character interface and suddenly noticed a new progress bar. Its name was Divine Realm.