Garth City was brightly lit and bustling; the streets were sparkling clean, and all the roofs had been scrubbed till they looked brand new. Even the troops marching along the streets wore a bright red robe on top of their armor, making the entire scene look extremely festive and joyful.

  When viewed from above, the entire city could be said to be wrapped in a sea of red. There were red flowers, red ribbons, red carpets and the majority of the people were wearing red outfits as well.

  “I’ve always known that you like red, but not to this extent. The city looks like a pot of stewed shrimp!” Javier remarked as he looked around.

  Sui Xiong pursed his lips and replied, “What kind of description is that! Call yourself a prince, that’s horrible use of language!”

  Javier roared with laughter and retorted, “Do you know what kind of man my father, the king, was when I first became a prince?”

  Sui Xiong shook his head and grew curious.

  “He was twice the height of an average person, and his arm was the size of an average person’s thigh. When he talked, it was as loud as drums. When he ate, one meal consisted of half a sheep, ten pounds of biscuits, and he drank wine straight from the barrel. He used a heavy bow and arrow, wore heavy armor and carried a huge axe weighing 120 pounds on the battlefield, but he never rode a horse. Even the demon beasts couldn’t stand his energy. But of all his strengths, he had one main weakness: he was illiterate.” Javier’s eyes shone, and one could tell that he was speaking fondly as he thought back about his father.

  “Huh?”

  “Well, he was not a hundred percent illiterate. He could recognize his own name. However, even so, he couldn’t read nor recognize my name or any of my brother’s.”

  \r \r \r

  Sui Xiong was shocked. Internally, he mused to himself: how could the leader of a country be illiterate?

  Wait…… but, a barbaric king was still a king! Just like how the founder of the Mongolian Empire, Tiemuzhen, was a barbarian, he was still a king nevertheless.

  Sui Xiong also recalled a movie he had watched titled “Conan the Barbarian” where although he couldn’t quite identify how the main character was a king, he was definitely still a barbarian.

  Thus, it was clear that barbarians could be leaders and kings as well, with no issue.

  He nodded before asking, “So…… previously, you were a barbarian too?”

  Javier nodded back and replied, “Yes, that’s true. However, I knew more words than my father…… about 50 odd of them?”

  Sui Xiong was speechless again. All along, he had envisioned Javier to be an extremely cultured man who could write poems, compose songs and explore music, and he did not know that when Javier was a common man, he was a barbarian.

  All the cultured things that he could do now were all learned after he became a god.

  “Time truly is power! Looking at you now, I can’t visualize the old you!”

  Javier smiled, and with one spin, he physically transformed into a strong, tall and handsome young man with a well-kept beard that resembled sharp needles. He had two round, serious eyes. He stood in a way that made people stare on in admiration, his biceps were bulging, and he had tattoos across his entire body, making him scary and fierce overall.

  “That’s how I looked in the past. However, when I became a god, I left my original body behind. If I hadn’t done that in the past, maybe I wouldn’t become the “soft persimmon” that I am now……”

  Sui Xiong wanted to nod, but he stopped himself.

  Although that was Javier’s regret and personal opinion, he felt that Javier would not have become a strong man even if he had just kept his human body. Other than having a good foundation, one had to train hard over time to be strong. For example, for Sui Xiong himself, if he hadn’t trained for thousands of years in the ice trench, he wouldn’t have the powers that he had today. As for Javier, he had trained daily with Morani for a while before it turned to weekly and then eventually monthly classes…… Most recently, he hadn’t seen Morani in almost an entire year. How could he expect to be strong then?

  Even if Javier’s body had been impressive in the past, it wouldn’t be able to surpass his god body. If he was truly willing to put in some work of at least three years or for the long run of ten years, he would definitely be able to become a strong warrior. However, he did not put in that effort.

  In comparison, Leon was an average human with excellent talent and was known as a world-famous genius as a child. However, he met with misfortune as an adult and sustained severe injuries as well as poisoning, which caused his skills to deteriorate and his foundation to be damaged. Afterward, he had spent much time and effort to regain his powers. Today, not only was he a top-notch swordsman, but he was also a wise and divine spellcaster. His success could all be attributed to the work and hours that he had put in.

  Sui Xiong was aware that Leon discreetly trained about three to four hours a day for figuration skills. Although no one would expect a swordsman like him to have such powers, he felt that as the archbishop of the Void Mask Church, it would be embarrassing and he would let Sui Xiong down if he did not possess them.

  Tens of years of hard work allowed him to gain extensive knowledge. Now, he was able to use figuration without any physical skill to challenge a Legendary Master with relative ease.

  This meant that he was now a double talent with his fighting skills being at the peak and his spells at least mid-level.

  If Javier were half as hardworking as Leon, he’d have surpassed a deity’s level of skill long ago.

  On the other hand, Sui Xiong considered the alternative then smiled again.

  He remembered a professor who had taught him in the past. The professor had shared some ancient writings and had said with a sigh, “Knowing what to do is easy. However, for one to actually follow it, that’s the hard part. Sometimes it is not about whether one is able, but about whether one is willing. This can be likened to how everyone understands that if one were to work tirelessly, even if you did not manage to become a famous painter, your art skills would definitely improve, to say the least. But out of the whole faculty, who has actually really done that?”

  At that time, the professor had shaken his head as he spoke, “I’ve been a teacher for quite some time. Among each batch of students, only one or two can really achieve a commendable level of self-discipline and success. This isn’t about talent, it’s about perseverance.”

  As Sui Xiong traveled through time, he had begun to understand what the professor had meant.

  After all, he himself was unable to achieve such a level of determination as well. In other words, Leon was mentally stronger than he was.

  As he flew in the sky and looked down at the city decked out in red, Sui Xiong saw Leon—who was in the midst of several waiting ladies—and smiled in satisfaction.