"What a transformation," Su Xingyu muttered with a sigh. He gradually reduced his divine form until it was a more manageable three meters tall.
Thirty-nine meters—that was the current upper limit of what he could control.
Although condensing the second point of divinity had taken him two months, the process had gone astonishingly smoothly.
Yes, there were no unexpected twists, no interruptions. It was as easy as drinking water or drifting into sleep. He succeeded without resistance.
It was so seamless that even Su Xingyu found it hard to believe.
The additional divinity brought about tremendous changes.
First was power. With two points of divinity, his strength had soared to a whole new level.
Second, the dark favor he could now bestow upon his believers had grown stronger. The extent of the enhancement remained unclear, but one thing was certain—it was far beyond what it had been.
However, those two gains were not the most important.
The real breakthrough lay in this: with a second point of divinity, he had finally acquired the foundation necessary to condense a divine incarnation.
In other words, he no longer needed to rely on his true body or his believers as anchors to act upon the mortal plane.
He could now use divine power itself to craft an incarnation and walk the world directly, intervening as he pleased.
This was a game-changer for Su Xingyu.
His talent for cultivation had always been good. Though not quite on par with prodigies like Ye Zhan, it was still considered excellent. Back when the tribe was newly founded, he had personally taken up arms and fought on the front lines.
But even with great talent, cultivation took time—and time was a luxury he could no longer afford.
As the tribe grew, so too did his responsibilities. With every passing day, tribal matters consumed more of his time, and cultivation took a back seat.
Before long, he had fallen behind.
But now, with the ability to form a divine incarnation, the possibilities opened wide. He could handle governance and still train. He could be everywhere.
From within his divine realm, Su Xingyu reached out through the bond of faith and observed the tribal developments over the past two months.
All in all, things were going well.
There had been no major issues. Everything had gone according to his designs.
The dark figure returned to the throne. Moments later, his true body emerged from the divine realm and reappeared in the grand hall of the temple.
He stepped outside.
The sweltering summer sun poured down like molten gold, and for a moment, Su Xingyu felt as though he had crossed into another world.
"Chief, you're finally back!"
Before he could fully absorb the contrast between realms, Ye Dashan's booming voice snapped him back to reality.
The man hadn't changed much in the past two months, and now he strode forward quickly, a mix of relief and pride in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm back," Su Xingyu replied, offering a small nod. He looked him over briefly. "While I was away, did anyone come looking for me?"
Ye Dashan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ye Zhan came by quite a few times. Ye San also stopped by twice."
Su Xingyu didn't even need to ask why.
Ye Zhan was likely itching to go to war again, but without Ye San's consent, he couldn't mobilize troops. And Ye San probably wanted help handling internal affairs, especially once the administrative workload became too much to bear.
"Alright, that's all for now. Dashan, since I've returned, there's no need to keep so many people stationed here. Scale back to our previous patrol size."
"Yes, Patriarch!" Ye Dashan straightened and gave a loud reply.
"Good. Get to it."
Su Xingyu dismissed him and turned toward the meeting hall. He went alone, walking directly inside without knocking.
The room was quiet except for the scratching of a pen on parchment. Ye San was deeply focused on the paperwork before him.
As a third-level extraordinary warrior, Ye San immediately sensed someone entering. He frowned slightly and began to speak without looking up.
"Didn't I say no—"
He paused as he raised his eyes and recognized the figure.
"Chief! You're back!" Ye San leapt to his feet, his face breaking into a rare, excited expression.
Before Su Xingyu left, Ye San had estimated he could handle the workload for maybe half a month. No one could have predicted that Su Xingyu would be gone for two full months.
And time had taken its toll.
Plans rarely survive prolonged absence—especially in a tribe not yet tightly knit.
After just three weeks, all sorts of strange and complicated issues had begun cropping up. Ye San was capable, certainly. But this was his first time dealing with such sprawling governmental duties.
He managed to solve the problems, but each one drained his mental strength.
For the past month, Ye San had been working deep into the night. Were it not for his extraordinary physique, he would've collapsed from exhaustion.
Su Xingyu smiled at his advisor's disheveled appearance. "Now you understand how difficult it is to be the clan leader."
"Not easy at all. If you'd stayed away a few more days, I think I might have cracked." Ye San sighed heavily and began unloading all the grievances he had been bottling up.
Su Xingyu listened patiently, nodding here and there, occasionally chuckling at his companion's growing complaints.
"Alright, I get it. You've had it rough," he said at last. "I'm giving you three days off. Go rest properly."
Ye San's eyes lit up with relief. That was exactly what he had hoped to hear.
"Then, Chief, the work's all yours. I'm off!"
With that, he turned and sprinted from the room like a soldier escaping from battle.
His fatigue was real. The typically composed and stern Ye San now moved with the reckless eagerness of Ye Zhan.
Taking a seat in the office chair, Su Xingyu picked up the pending documents and began reading.
To him, even the most troublesome issues were resolved quickly. It wasn't about skill—Ye San was plenty capable.
The key difference was that Su Xingyu was the one who had built the framework. He understood the entire vision and could adjust policies on the fly without hesitation.
That gave him freedom and speed Ye San couldn't match.
When he finally placed down the last document, a loud, familiar voice echoed through the hall.
"Chief, you're finally back!"
Ye Zhan burst in, practically glowing with excitement.
"Hm."
Su Xingyu offered only a small nod, waiting to see what Ye Zhan would say next.
Sure enough, a sheepish grin spread across Ye Zhan's face. He rubbed his hands together, already speaking.
"Chief, the warriors are fully trained and battle-ready."
The message was clear: it's time to fight.
Ye Zhan had been chomping at the bit for two months. But Su Xingyu had left strict instructions—no military action without his return. Ye San had enforced that command like a wall of iron.
So Ye Zhan had been forced to stew in the barracks, training new recruits and counting the days.
But now the patriarch had returned. Everything could begin again.
"No need to rush. We'll discuss it in a few days," Su Xingyu said, massaging his temples.
Ye Zhan's face didn't fall. Instead, his grin widened. "Then I'll be back to ask again in a few days."
Su Xingyu let out a long sigh.