'If I had awakened a Red-rank divine talent or any talent weaker than Restara's, I would indeed lose the love war. However, I have two divine talents that are higher in rank than Restara's.'
'If I submit to her and don't use my two Origin-rank divine talents to their full potential, I might as well not call myself a man. It's a waste of resources to have two Origin-rank talents on an unambitious and undetermined man.'
'Fortunately, I didn't fall too hard and wasn't seduced by Restara's beauty trap. Although having Restara as my only wife and not starting a harem is quite good, I don't want to deceive myself.'
'I want to stay true to my feelings and dreams, or else I'll regret it.'
'As the god of not only wind but also freedom, I should be free to do whatever I want, as long as I can deal with the consequences of my actions.'
'With great power comes great responsibility. Since I have awakened two Origin-rank divine talents, I ought to become the strongest, or else I'll be wasting resources.'
With those thoughts in mind, Barbatos vowed to be true to himself, fulfill his dreams, and become the strongest in all of the infinite realities!
Barbatos felt that the Endless Void was not the only reality in all of existence and there might be more out there that are far stronger. He guessed that since he had read many novels and in most plots, that was the case.
After receiving the white crystal filled with one hundred thousand strands of divine energy from Restara, Barbatos bid farewell and left her villa.
…
Upon returning to his villa, Barbatos immediately focused on increasing his power level.
Barbatos was confident that he could surpass Restara in the mid and later phases of this game of life since he had two Origin-rank talents. However, he knew he should put in the hard work and not rely solely on his divine talents.
By not relying too much, he meant not remaining complacent. Just because he had two powerful divine talents didn't mean he shouldn't put in the hard work.
What was more terrifying than a genius was a genius who worked harder than you.
Of course, what was more terrifying than a genius who worked hard was a genius who didn't have to work hard but could easily surpass a hard-working genius.
Restara was precisely such an existence, and Barbatos couldn't help but admit that she was indeed a worthy rival.
It was to the point that he even had to rely on Restara in the early phase of this game of life.
'Well, Restara is my future wife, so there's nothing wrong with relying on her.'
'But since she is my rival, I should work hard to surpass her and fulfill my dreams.'
With that thought in mind, Barbatos sent his divine projection into the Eternal Continent first to check on his believers.
Seeing that his believers were doing well aside from their pitiful numbers, Barbatos felt assured and focused on his cultivation.
With his current foundation, Barbatos could easily progress from a One-Turn Demigod to a Four-Turn Demigod.
With that in mind, he began his cultivation by taking out the white crystal and placing it in front of him.
The white crystal floated before him, and Barbatos started to absorb the divine energy strands within it.
Cultivation in the demigod realm was straightforward. By using divine energy strands, a demigod absorbed them to accumulate divine energy within their body.
When enough divine energy was accumulated, a demigod could use it to nourish their body's divine energy and circulate it through their divine energy pathways. As they circulated the divine energy, they infused it with their divinity, enhancing its quality and quantity.
Divine energy was primarily obtained from the faith power generated by a god's believers. Thus, gods relied on their believers to become stronger.
Barbatos continuously absorbed the divine energy strands from the white crystal. He only stopped when he felt his body could no longer withstand the influx of divine energy.
From his research on the god forum, Barbatos learned that an average demigod typically required one hundred divine energy strands to advance from One-Turn to Two-Turn. However, he soon realized that his previous estimation was incorrect; he needed not thrice but ten times the amount an average demigod required.
Barbatos absorbed one thousand divine energy strands before he felt his body could no longer take in any more.
It took Barbatos a full day to circulate the divine energy in his body, infusing it with his divinity without rupturing his divine energy pathways or letting it run amok.
By the end of that day, Barbatos' divine energy completed a full circulation, or "turn," increasing both its quality and quantity.
In just a day, Barbatos had ascended from a One-Turn Demigod to a Two-Turn Demigod!
"I'm making good progress. My foundation isn't unstable, so I can continue increasing my power level until I reach Four-Turn Demigod. As long as I become a Silver Demigod, I can at least have some confidence in the Eternal Continent."
"As long as I don't encounter Bronze Demigods as monstrous as Restara, the other Bronze Demigods shouldn't be a match for me."
Barbatos remembered that when Restara started out on the Eternal Continent as a One-Turn Demigod, she already had ten thousand believers in her main believer race. Her main believer race was also a high-rank race, unlike his low-rank wolf beastman race.
While he had only a few Second-Order Mortals among his believers at the start, with the rest being First-Order Mortals, Restara already had Eighth-Order Legendaries. All of her believers were born as Fourth-Order Mortals and could become Eighth-Order Legendaries in adulthood.
In contrast, low-rank races like his wolf beastmen start at First-Order Mortal and typically only reach Third-Order or Fourth-Order Mortal in adulthood, unless expensive resources were used to enhance their power.
Even the average Gold Demigod wouldn't have a lineup as luxurious as Restara's.
While they might have more believers than Restara, she easily surpassed them in terms of the quality of her believers.
Barbatos sighed, "Compared to Restara, I still have a long way to go. Having a rival as great as her pressures me to work harder to surpass her."
"I still have plenty of divine energy strands left, so I'll continue my seclusion."