Qin Siyang stared at the [Custom God] interface.
"[Size]... That giant vine had to be over a thousand meters long. To be safe, I'll put 2,000 meters."
"[Does the surface have scales]... No."
"[Surface hardness]... The armor on a Lava Crocodile's back is probably about as tough as fourth-tier armor. Then how hard should a large god like the Sacrificial Vine be? My gut says it shouldn't be something I can break through right now, so I'll set it to the highest level: [Indestructible]. Anyway, I'm just using it to practice dodging."
Qin Siyang opened the god data that Chang Tianxiang had given him. Combined with his own memories, he reconstructed a Frenzied Sacrificial Vine that had lost its Vine Core.
Finally, after setting the battlefield location to [Wasteland Outside the Safe Zone], he clicked [Confirm].
A message appeared on the screen:
[Custom God Simulation in Progress. Please wait...]
In the hall outside the battle arena.
Bzzz!
The god arena Qin Siyang was using suddenly emitted a low hum.
Xie Hongbo, who was maintaining order outside, immediately stepped forward and asked the staff member in charge of that arena.
"Did the god arena malfunction?"
"Impossible. It was inspected yesterday. There weren't any issues."
"Could something have happened inside?"
"No idea... It seems Qin Siyang activated the [Custom God] function."
"Custom? Lots of people have used that feature. It shouldn't cause any problems..."
"Xie Hongbo, look over there!"
The staff member pointed at a circular semi-transparent solution tank behind the god arena.
The pale green liquid inside was churning nonstop, forming a whirlpool. The liquid level was dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Xie Hongbo's eyes went wide.
"What's going on?"
BOOM!
A loud noise erupted inside the god arena, and the ground beneath Qin Siyang shook violently.
Then, nearly a thousand meters away, dozens of towering vines suddenly burst from the ground and charged toward him like mad.
Qin Siyang swallowed, "I set it a little too aggressively. I remember the Sacrificial Vine that chased Hu Chan didn't seem to have this many vines..."
The vines moved with incredible speed. One massive vine after another came crashing down, tearing through the air and producing sharp whistling sounds.
Every hair on Qin Siyang's body stood up. Even with the [Origin Sequence], he was shaken all over.
His body instinctively leaped to the side, barely avoiding the first sweeping strike. The vine slammed into the spot where he had been standing. The ground instantly shattered, creating a huge crater and throwing dust everywhere.
Qin Siyang no longer had any desire to praise the simulated god for being "realistic."
Because at this moment, he remembered the fear the Sacrificial Vine's attacks had brought him back then.
The vines didn't pause for even a moment. Several more giant vines swept toward him, like a huge net locking onto him completely.
He stopped hesitating, swallowed a god remain, activated [Banquet Domain], and continuously dodged as he darted through the vines.
Since he had intended from the start to train his dodging ability, Qin Siyang had no plans to move away from the Sacrificial Vine. He remained within its attack range the entire time.
"[Banquet Domain] really is useful..."
Before he could finish praising himself, his body suddenly stalled for a brief moment.
[Banquet Domain] had failed.
He turned around and saw that a small piece of flying rubble kicked up by a giant vine had appeared where he had planned to dodge.
"I got careless..."
BANG!
Qin Siyang had no time to avoid it and was struck directly by a huge vine.
A few seconds later, Qin Siyang regained consciousness and returned to the twenty-square-meter room.
"[Banquet Domain] went into cooldown. My skill was actually activated, but the battle itself was virtual... Interesting."
Qin Siyang planned to challenge the Sacrificial Vine again once his skill's cooldown ended.
After resting for five minutes, he felt mostly recovered and was ready to customize another god.
However, the control device displayed a message:
[Please pay the previous fee before starting the next god battle.]
Qin Siyang opened the door and saw Xie Hongbo standing outside.
"Senior Xie, what a coincidence. I'm here to pay."
"Uh... Right. You activated the custom function for one minute and received one death penalty. The total comes to... four bottles of Sequence Potion."
"Thanks! Here you go."
Qin Siyang cheerfully took out the Sequence Potions from his storage box and placed them in Xie Hongbo's hands before entering the god arena again.
The staff member asked, "What god was he simulating in there? The Sequence Potion consumption was dozens of times higher than that of a medium-sized god."
"How would I know? Qin Siyang isn't an ordinary student. He does surprising things all the time."
"Xie Hongbo, the Sequence Potions consumed by his [Custom God] session had to be at least dozens of bottles. And you only charged him four bottles?"
Xie Hongbo spread his hands, "That's how the school's pricing rules work. What's the point of telling me?"
Buzz!
As the two spoke, the machine storing the Sequence Potions roared again, and the potions began disappearing rapidly once more.
The staff member grinned.
"This Qin Siyang uses as much in one minute as other people do in an hour. That's way too much! The god arena's Sequence Potion resources all require Principal Zhao's personal approval. If he finds out we're running a money-losing operation, won't he chew us out?"
Xie Hongbo crooked his mouth into a grin.
"He won't. Even if Principal Zhao learns about it, he won't blame us. Haven't you heard?"
The staff member leaned closer.
"Heard what?"
"Qin Siyang and Principal Zhao are so close they practically wear the same pair of pants."
"Then you mean..."
"Principal Zhao will definitely turn a blind eye to this."
The staff member suddenly understood.
"So that's it! Looks like Qin Siyang is valued even more than Duan Chongfang."
"You bet! Qin Siyang's experiences would make him the protagonist even in a novel! Do you think Principal Zhao would care about this little bit of Sequence Potion?"
Bzzz!
———
"Who the hell is wearing the same pair of pants as Qin Siyang?"
"Who let him waste the god arena's Sequence Potions like this?"
"He uses dozens of bottles of Sequence Potion every minute, and you're still charging him at the rate of three bottles per minute?"
After class, Zhao Longfei, whose right eye had been twitching all day, came to inspect the god arena. When he saw that the Sequence Potion solution in the arena Qin Siyang had used was less than half of what remained in the other arenas, he immediately summoned Xie Hongbo and got the full story.
He was so angry that he forgot about maintaining his image and started cursing on the spot. The scar on his head looked ready to split open.
Xie Hongbo wore a wronged expression.
"But, Principal... We don't have any rule saying the price should change based on the consumption of the simulated god. For all these years, [Custom God] has always cost three bottles per minute."
Zhao Longfei pointed at Xie Hongbo, furious beyond words.
"Have you lost your mind? Does running South Glory University not cost money? Do you think South Glory is a charity hall? Costs! Do you understand what the hell costs are?"