Of course.
That's the theoretical value; in practice you have to keep re-indoctrinating them, turn them into Fanatic Believers, so there'll definitely be a transition period.
Ning Zheng didn't plan to dump all the trouble of founding a religion and constantly spreading doctrine onto Jiumu Qing.
He was going to hand it over to the blacksmiths, issue daily quests, and have them periodically go to various NPC towns to preach, so this big sandbox NPC map really did need to be built.
"Phew, I've handled things more or less. Time to go into seclusion and push my Celestial Immortal Realm cultivation up."
Ning Zheng decided to start the grind-fest, grinding the Painter and Xin Xichen into the dirt, along with Jiu Shui, who was secretly grinding somewhere he didn't know.
