The portable grandfathers that appear are all problematic.

Xue's Law is no longer a concern.

At this moment, Fafnir, who had just returned from petting the cats and dogs, looked at Xue Dinglu and seemed to have mustered up her courage to say, "Teacher, you're a college student now, right? I want to go to college with you!"

Xue Law: “?”

“I saw that your school seems to have a college entrance exam for non-university students… that’s a relatively easy shortcut…” Fafner said, revealing her plan. “The exam is in mid-October. I’ll try it then. I should be able to pass. Then I’ll be classmates with the teacher and we can go to the University of Science and Technology of China together!”

She excitedly shared her thoughts. As a born mythical being, her memory and thinking abilities were far superior to the Earth average. Therefore, she was able to easily master these cultures after only a short period of study. Previously, when she was in the world, she learned Chinese in just a few days and began to study the university's "Ideological and Moral Cultivation" textbook.

Now, with more than half a month left before the adult college entrance examination, she is confident that she can complete all the humanities courses in high school through self-study and pass the USTC social college entrance examination to become a social college student of USTC. At that time, she will be able to go to school with her teachers.

Even just imagining being classmates with her teacher, and walking to school together, with her sitting behind her on her bicycle, tightly hugging her waist, fills her with motivation.

Now it’s fantasy time.

However, her imagination seemed to have a slight problem, because the class times for part-time university students and full-time university students are completely different...

However, Xue Dinglu wouldn't discourage her. Instead, he smiled and said, "Well, good luck. I'll take you to the exam in about two weeks. We'll be classmates then."

Fafnir immediately nodded emphatically, a very happy smile spreading across her face. She then went to her little room to study instead of playing games with the other three children.

Xue Daolu shrugged. The children in the family seemed to be on the right track, and his aunt seemed to be more energetic lately because of the children, no longer looking sickly as before.

That's fine.

After dinner, Xue Dinglu watched a few episodes of Ultraman with them before going back to his room to rest.

There is something even more important tonight: the Mist Council.

He spent six days in the Holy Kingdom and two days in the Mind Flayer's world, but that was calculated according to the other world's time. Converted to Earth's time, it actually only took less than seven days in total.

And today happens to be the day of the Mist Council.

As his consciousness entered the dream world, Xue Dinglu also arrived at the Mist Council.

The other apostles also arrived slowly, but it was clear that the main character of this meeting was not Xue Lude, but the apostle who was preparing to invade the world of the Super Iron Curtain.

Everyone wanted to know the outcome of his intrusion into the super iron curtain, even Xue's Law was no exception.

"Hey, Number 9, did your conquest fail again this time?" someone said immediately after the apostle arrived.

“How can this be considered a failure? The world consciousness of that world seems to have some kind of stress response. I was discovered as soon as I arrived, and then they started fighting me to the death. There was even a broadcast support communication from the interstellar squadron. What could I do?” The apostle immediately began to defend himself.

Then, seemingly unconvinced, he went to another apostle and said, "Number 6, rent two warriors and lend me a squad of Shub insectoid soldiers."

Chapter 298 Xinghai! (Two chapters combined, 6 words)

Xue's Law was learned during the subsequent exchange.

The apostle, codenamed Number 9, was ambushed by the Starfleet as soon as he arrived around the Super Iron Curtain. Although he managed to escape and hide inside the Super Iron Curtain, what awaited him was a frenzied attack from that world, as if it had been triggered by a stress reaction.

Volcanoes erupted all over the world, the world twisted, and all the seawater turned into awe-inspiring water giants hundreds of thousands of meters tall, relentlessly beating him, showing no regard for the billions of creatures living in the ocean. That world seemed determined to kill him.

Even their world's civilization was thrown into disarray by the sudden shock, with the entire ocean being drained and condensed into a terrifying water giant. He now understood why the other apostles had sent people to explore this world.

As for him... he managed to slip away in disgrace by faking his death...

"Rental fee, one fruit." Number 6 seemed to be a very languid woman, speaking very calmly.

Xue Lude looked over and realized that the Shub insectoid race was also a clan deliberately cultivated by an apostle. A cosmic catastrophe-like monster whose entire members were all near-5th rank was actually just a subordinate of a certain apostle in this council.

It's even possible that this Number 6's true form is actually the Queen of the Shub insect race, but she maintains a human form in the council.

"Sure! But you have to guarantee that the soldiers you rent from me will be the highest tier." Number 9 seemed to agree very readily.

In Xue Luding's subsequent observations, he learned what "warriors" were. They were giant insects that blotted out the sky. Xue Luding did not know their exact height under the projection in the Mist Council, but in that projection, the insect's tentacles had already pierced into the clouds.

Like a combination of an elephant beetle and a spider, the insect's every step made the entire earth tremble. Even through the mist, Xue Luding could roughly guess the strength of that warrior.

A top-tier monster among Tier 5 monsters, approaching Tier 6...

For them, such monsters are merely tradable items.

Then let's not even talk about the divine tree. Perhaps the combat power of the divine tree itself is just an extra for them. What they need is the divine tree's ability to absorb spiritual energy, and the fruit it bears that will allow them to truly step into the "6th tier," the legendary level of the Venerable King.

He now understood the nature of this group: a group of people who would stop at nothing to reach level 6, while Xue Luding, a newcomer who had just reached level 5, was worlds apart from them.

From their perspective, a newcomer like Xue Law would need at least hundreds of thousands of years to accumulate experience before he could have the ability to engage in equal dialogue with them.

However, there is at least some good news: even the person who was the first to enter the council has not yet reached the despairing 6th rank.

Possibly the only person to have touched level 6...

Xue Dinglu saw the figure sitting in the main seat, completely shrouded in mist, always in the most mysterious state, as if he were the founder of the Mist Council. He might be a true Rank 6 being.

In other words, an existence capable of successfully eliminating the world consciousness even on the world consciousness's home turf is likely an enemy on par with the legendary King.

However, He seemed indifferent to everyone in the entire council. Apart from explaining the significance of the organization's establishment to Xue Dingli when he entered, He has not taken any other action since.

After it seemed that Number 9 had acquired enough combat power, the entire council once again fell into idle chatter.

However, Xue Dinglu overheard some information that might interest him.

"Number 4, I heard your Mind Flayer breeding base was destroyed?"

Xue Dinglu immediately noticed that there was also a woman shrouded in mist, but she was exceptionally tall, more than three meters tall.

"It's just a minor issue," Number 4 replied indifferently.

Then no further information was provided. Even now, Xue Lude still can't tell which one was once the dragons' superior. He can only determine for the time being that the one who cultivated the Mind Flayers was number 4, while the one who cultivated the Shub insectoids was number 6.

As for the other members, he didn't even know anything about them.

It seems that everyone here is protecting their own information to the best of their ability.

As time went by, this exchange was coming to an end.

However, Xue Dinglu stepped forward at this moment. In front of everyone, he, the disguised "13th Apostle", said: "I have something to say, please listen carefully."

Those who were about to leave the meeting immediately became interested. To be honest, they were also interested in Xue Luding, this newcomer. However, Xue Luding was different from the previous people. He had always kept his information very well protected. So far, the other apostles only knew that he was a newcomer who cultivated the fruit by luck. They knew nothing else about him.

"Gentlemen, I believe that the current classification of Apostles is too general. I personally think that even among Apostles, there should be different levels of titles, representing completely different strength gaps," Xue Dinglu put forward his opinion.

……

Whether it was due to Xue Dinglu's strange charm or not, his speech was temporarily adopted by the other apostles. That is, within the apostle level, a hierarchy was also established, which would provide clearer goals and promotion opportunities.

In fact, over the years, they themselves have had their own understanding of the internal division of the same Apostle level. Some Apostles divide them into upper, middle and lower levels, some assess them in their hearts as Apostle Level 1 to 9, and some only recognize Level 6 and other ordinary Apostle levels. Unfortunately, there is no unified plan, and many people recognize themselves as their own.

It's just that Xue's Law standardized the measurement of this "minor matter" in their eyes.

According to Xue's unified standard, the Apostle level is divided into six levels based on rank: King, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. These represent six more detailed divisions of power within the Apostle level.

A royal-level apostle is equivalent to a near-6th rank, a duke-level apostle is an existence that is infinitely close to a near-6th rank... and so on...

Seemingly finding Xue's criteria for classifying the strength of Apostles somewhat interesting, or perhaps due to the added charm of Xue's speeches, the Apostles, after discussing it internally, began to align this system of titles with their own strength.

That is, the First and Third Apostles were kings, the Second, Fourth, and Seventh Apostles were dukes, the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Tenth Apostles were marquises, and the Ninth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Apostles were earls.

Only Xue Dinglu, the thirteenth apostle, remains as the last baron, meaning he has just become an apostle-level being.

Having reached this point, Xue's goal for the day has been largely achieved, but his speech is not yet over.

"There's another matter, esteemed seniors. I've discovered many ways to optimize fruit cultivation because I'm personally cultivating the fruit," Xue Dinglu said in a deep voice.

"How long has it been since any of you have actually cultivated fruit yourselves? I've cultivated it before, do you know how many people it would take?"

"It takes 50 billion people! To cultivate a single fruit, it takes 50 billion beings that have evolved to the 'King' level! If all these people's corpses appeared at the same time, even the Divine Tree couldn't contain them!"

Xue's speech caused the other apostles to frown as well.

It seems they haven't personally cultivated the sacred tree in a long time. Basically, each of them has a large group of followers and a large group of fruit farmers who help take care of the sacred tree, similar to the dragons.

They only need to harvest the fruit once every ten thousand years or so, which is equivalent to Earth time. As for how to cultivate it, they may have had some experience in the past, but after a long time, those experiences may have become outdated.

They're like landlords now, their subordinates have to hand over a share of the harvest every ten thousand years. If they fail to deliver the harvest within ten thousand years, they just have to kill a bunch of the farmers.

“I understand that you harvest the fruit roughly every 500 divine years (equivalent to 10,000 Earth years), but that’s too inefficient. I have a way to halve the harvesting time, or even reduce it by more than 60%.”

When Xue's Law reached this point, each apostle began to sit up straight, seemingly genuinely interested in this plan to increase production.

If Xue's Law makes sense, they will naturally send some of their staff to conduct pilot tests and then compare them with other fruit trees that are growing normally.

"The real solution to make the divine tree grow rapidly is not to relentlessly exploit the lower classes. When no one cares about them and their reproduction and survival are severely tested, that is the key to truly affecting the current output."

"Therefore, the real way to increase the production of the Divine Tree is to make 'them' feel happy, to allow all living beings to live normally, hopefully, and happily in the world. In that case, their population will increase dramatically. Do you know that in the end, the population of a planet could even explode to tens of billions!"

At that moment, the other apostles also became interested. The planets of their ranches were actually similar to the theocracy and the world of beast-eared girls, with a maximum population of just over 100 million per planet.

Furthermore, the recycling efficiency of the dead is very low. Many corpses are eaten by other creatures before they can become nutrients for the Divine Tree, and due to various other circumstances, it is estimated that less than one-tenth of them can actually become nutrients for the Divine Tree.

That's why it takes about 10,000 years for the divine tree to mature once. Normally, a few thousand years would be enough. Ten thousand years is a generous timeframe they give to their subordinates.

Therefore, when Xue's Law explained the techniques for cultivating a planet's population to tens of billions, most of the apostles were actually tempted, even if they only had less than 50% trust in it.

They listened attentively. If it were truly possible to cultivate a planet's population to tens of billions, then the divine tree could mature once every hundred years. Such efficiency would not just double, but increase by tens or hundreds of times.

No apostle could refuse.

Even if Xue's Law is wrong, the loss to them is not significant. When the potential gains are hundreds of times greater, but the losses are negligible, they are willing to try Xue's Law's plan even if it is wrong.

"The real trick is to develop productivity... I'll name this plan 'Xinghai'!" Xue Luding raised his right hand diagonally upwards. "And our real enemy is our greed. As long as we restrain our greed for the first few hundred years, we can at least double our production!"

"The lower class is more willing to have children. The more beautiful and happy the world is, the greater the population growth rate. It can double every few decades and achieve exponential growth in a few hundred years."

"This is the 'Xinghai' plan!"

"Xinghai!"

……

After a long while, when Xue Dinglu regained consciousness, it was already dawn.

After Xue Dinglu got up, a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

Sure enough, his charm value was very high. This attribute was intangible and seemed to have no use whatsoever. It did not improve his combat power in the slightest, but it made all humanoid creatures who saw him for the first time feel more favorably toward him.

However, when this intangible charm is used in a speech, it becomes a true killer move.

He achieved his goal completely: firstly, by labeling all the apostles as "nobles," he could trigger his special attack against "nobles."

Although it's absurd, Xue's Law has tested it, and this special attack works on himself, the "Apostle Baron," so theoretically, it should work on other Apostles.

Even if this special attack cannot actually kill the apostle, it still adds an extra layer of damage. When this special attack accumulates to a certain level, it can truly kill the apostle.

Therefore, Xue's Law's real code name is not "Thirteenth Apostle, A-Guang", but "Apostle Killer"!

After this test, he even developed his own goals.

That is, the Ninth Apostle who went all in on his assets to invade the Super Iron Curtain. He was only an Apostle with the strength of an Earl, someone that Xue Law could definitely try to challenge.

He might even be severely weakened after defeating the world consciousness of the super iron curtain, and need a long time to lick his wounds before he can recover.

Therefore, the time when he was licking his wounds was the best time for Xue Lude to strike, and that was also the first time he tried to kill the apostle.

However, before killing that apostle, Xue Lude still needs to do a lot of preparation and accumulation. Relying solely on the accumulation of "anti-noble special attack" is not enough. At the very least, he needs to stack more than 10 layers of such special attack buff before he can prepare to take action.

The second "Xinghai" plan was merely a method proposed by Xue Dinglu after witnessing the tragic state of two worlds ruled by apostles, aiming to make those worlds slightly better off.

He explained how to develop productivity, how to improve people's happiness, and how to give everyone hope and a future. If only half of the apostles listened attentively to his speech and implemented these plans, he might indirectly save countless civilizations.

Looking at the sky outside the window, today is another hopeful day. Kang thought his speech went quite well.

However, public speaking skills can be improved.

……

"Good morning, teacher!" Xue Dinglu had just entered the living room when he saw Fafnir, dressed in sportswear, returning from outside.

She was dressed in tight-fitting sportswear, with a towel draped around her neck and a dictionary of idioms in her hand. At this moment, fine beads of sweat were still seeping from her head, and she looked breathless.

"you?"

"I went to lose weight, and also to study for the adult college entrance examination next month!" Fafna wiped the sweat from her neck with a towel. Her nimble pointed ears were covered in sweat, and the idiom dictionary in her hand seemed to be wet.

Xue Law: "..."

If you're still at the level of memorizing idioms from a dictionary, you'd probably struggle even to pass the adult college entrance exam.

Although Xue Dinglu has never taken the adult college entrance examination, he roughly knows about it. The difficulty is similar to the National College Entrance Examination Paper III. As for getting into the University of Science and Technology of China, it is definitely easier than the full-time college entrance examination score of 660 or so, but it still requires a score of 500 or above in the college entrance examination. It is not something that can be done casually.

After all, adult college entrance examinations are open to the public, and the value of such non-full-time degrees is very low. Basically, no legitimate listed companies recognize them, and the value of a non-full-time bachelor's degree is no different from that of an associate's degree.

Meanwhile, adult college entrance examinations are designed for working adults, so the difficulty level is naturally much lower than that of full-time programs.

However, it's not easy to get into USTC. A score of 500 on the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) is an insurmountable barrier for adult learners.