The God-Worshipping Platform That Day

Midsummer, early morning.

Inside an ordinary house, a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy sat at his computer desk, muttering to himself:

"On the lunar fifteenth, the yin gate opens, and demons and fiends come of their own accord."

Lu Ran stared intently at the screen, watching the scene of crumbling ruins in the video.

What should have been a bustling night market street was now ablaze, filled everywhere with vicious black dogs.

Blood-colored veins covered their bodies, flames spilled from their mouths, and they ravaged everything in sight.

Demon Race: Blood Disaster Hounds!

This was not a movie clip, but an actual news report.

Every lunar fifteenth, all sorts of demons would appear and wreak havoc upon the Human World.

"They really are vicious." Lu Ran murmured.

The video only showed the Demon Race causing trouble within the city.

Yet in one Demon Lair after another, and on battlefields at even higher levels, the war between human gods and demons was surely more brutal beyond imagining!

If one day, the demon army truly breached the defense net and slaughtered its way into the Human World—

"Lu Ran?" A pleasant female voice suddenly called from outside the window.

Lu Ran's home was on the first floor, so he heard her clearly.

"Hm?" Lu Ran came to the window and spotted a tall, graceful figure beneath a big tree.

The girl wore a flowing white dress, her jet-black long hair spilling over her shoulders.

The heavens were on the verge of rain, and gusts of wind sent the girl's long hair dancing and her skirt hem fluttering.

"Whoa~~~"

Lu Ran let out a sigh of admiration as he looked at his deskmate and Class Monitor.

Seeing his reaction, Jiang Ruyi could not help blushing.

She normally wore a blue-and-white school uniform. Never before had she let down her hair and worn a flowing white dress like today.

"This is bad!" Lu Ran propped an elbow on the windowsill and smiled at the gentle, lovely girl beneath the tree.

"What is?" Jiang Ruyi asked doubtfully.

Lu Ran said, "Who could possibly tell you apart from Chang'e now?"

Jiang Ruyi's face reddened further, and she could not resist shooting Lu Ran a look. "You sure know how to sweet-talk."

Lu Ran pursed his lips.

You say that as if you've tasted them before.

"Hurry up. Today is the day of worshiping the gods, so don't be late." Jiang Ruyi held a small booklet in her hand and gave it a gentle shake.

"Oh." Lu Ran turned and walked toward the computer.

The disaster report in the video was from half a month ago. He had deliberately dug it out to watch, just to pump himself full of chicken blood.

Because today was the first day of the sixth month in the Lunar Calendar, it was the annual day of worshiping the gods!

Every year on this day, the gods would choose believers from among humanity.

The so-called "gods" were actually a group of statues that had come to suppress evil spirits.

In the early 1980s, on a moonlit night, a host of demons abruptly surged forth and wreaked havoc upon the Human World.

That was an incomparably cruel and bloody chapter of history.

It was not until three months later, when the entire world had sunk into profound despair, that dawn finally arrived!

Mysterious statues descended one after another, spreading across the world and suppressing evil spirits of every kind.

Thus began the war between gods and demons, a war that continued to this day.

And with the descent of those statues, humanity finally gained an effective means of resistance. Those demons that human strength could hardly destroy could be punished by divine power!

From then on, humanity entered the era of "universal god worship."

When people reached the ages of seventeen or eighteen, and their bodies and minds met certain standards, they might be accepted as believers by a god.

As long as one became a believer, one could cultivate divine power, learn divine arts, and fight the Demon Race.

"After all these years, it should be my turn."

Before shutting down the computer, Lu Ran took one last deep look at the Blood Disaster Hounds committing evil in the video.

To Lu Ran, every fifteenth night of the lunar month had been extremely difficult to endure.

He had had enough of that constant fear, that feeling of weakness and helplessness!

"Bring an umbrella. It looks like it's going to rain." The girl's voice came again from outside the window.

"Oh!"

For some reason, it seemed to rain every year on the day of worshiping the gods.

Just like how it always rained during the college entrance exams every year. It was quite strange.

Lu Ran took an umbrella and stepped out of his house, quickly arriving before the girl. He gestured at her special outfit. "For Master Jian Yi?"

"Mm." Jiang Ruyi started walking and casually opened the booklet.

One square portrait after another came into view on its pages, all of them statues of gods.

It looked like the hero selection screen in a game.

There were nearly a hundred gods within Great Xia, divided into nine ranks, equivalent to nine tiers.

And ranked first in the first rank was none other than God Jian Yi!

This was a female statue.

Her long dress billowed, her long hair danced in the wind. One hand held a sword behind her back, while the other formed a hand seal before her.

Though she was a stone sculpture, it could not conceal her immortal appearance, nor her transcendent, otherworldly bearing.

"You'll succeed." Lu Ran encouraged her at just the right moment.

Jiang Ruyi might look gentle and quiet, but her physical test results, martial skill level, and overall results were all among the top three in the grade!

"Master Jian Yi is a cold and proud fairy." Jiang Ruyi looked somewhat troubled.

When gods selected believers, aside from judging human aptitude, there was another reference criterion—personality.

Countless examples had shown that the more similar a human's personality was to a god's, the easier it was for that god to take them in.

And Jiang Ruyi was the gentle and quiet type.

Suddenly, the girl stiffened her face and tried hard to put on a frosty expression.

Lu Ran had no idea what was going on and looked curiously at the girl in the white dress.

Jiang Ruyi raised her chin slightly, assuming a lofty, condescending posture as she said coolly, "Well?"

Lu Ran said, "..."

As expected of a woman!

The speed at which she changed faces was faster than netizens flipping pages while reading novels!

"Hehe~" Jiang Ruyi broke character with ease and looked back at the god catalogue.

The smile on her face gradually turned back into a worried frown.

Lu Ran comforted her. "Personality is only a reference criterion. It isn't a deciding factor.

Your aptitude is solid, and your heart is sincere enough. You'll definitely succeed!"

Jiang Ruyi looked at Master Jian Yi's peerlessly beautiful figure in the illustration as she listened to Lu Ran's comforting words.

Gradually, a smile returned to her face. "Mm. You'll succeed too."

Lu Ran looked at the fifth god in the third rank of the book.

It was a stern male statue draped in a cloak and holding a spirit talisman—Jade Talisman!

It was also the god worshiped by his deceased father, Lu Xing.

A light rain pattered down as the two held their umbrellas and arrived before the gates of Rain Alley City No. 1 High School.

The area inside and outside the campus was packed with people. The rainy weather could not dampen people's enthusiasm for worshiping the gods.

Amid the citizens' repeated blessings, Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi struggled through the crowd and entered the school gates.

On the sports field, the second-year students were already lined up in neat ranks, waiting for the Worshiping Ceremony to begin.

There were also many third-year students who had failed last year, coming under the school's organization to try their luck again.

About thirty percent of students failed every year, while the success rate for trying again the following year—

Was practically zero!

Faced with the cruel reality of having no god's protection, many students could not bear it. Those who cried and made a scene were everywhere.

Lu Ran had no desire to become one of them. All this time, he had trained with extreme diligence.

Everything was for today!

"Tsk tsk~ These two really have guts! The homeroom teacher is right up ahead, and they're still standing so close?"

The moment Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi entered their class's formation, they heard a round of chatter.

"Damn it, what's so good about Lu Ran? He's just a little taller than me, a little fairer than me, a little more handsome than me... Ugh, this hurts. I want to cry."

"Your mind is the only dirty one. Didn't you see that Class Monitor Jiang didn't bring an umbrella?"

"You brought one! Your umbrella is the biggest in the entire class. You could set up a stall and sell lamb skewers under it, yet the Class Monitor still hasn't crawled beneath it!"

"Nonsense! Isn't it because I haven't started selling yet? Once I set up the grill, just watch whether she comes over!"

"Whoa, what the hell?"

Amid the waves of chatter, Jiang Ruyi blushed and protested, "Don't talk nonsense."

"Here." Lu Ran stopped walking and casually handed his umbrella to his deskmate.

Jiang Ruyi refused. "No need. You use it."

Lu Ran said, "It's fine. I'll just go squeeze in with the guy selling lamb skewers."

"Heh." Jiang Ruyi had still been somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, but Lu Ran's words made her laugh.

Under Lu Ran's insistence, she finally accepted the umbrella and headed toward the formation.

The heavens were still kind enough, and the rain grew lighter and lighter.

At nine in the morning, the Worshiping Ceremony began amid a fine drizzle.

A female student from Class 1 of the second year was the first to step onto the podium, and beneath everyone's expectant gazes, she summoned a god.

"Oh? A fortune teller?"

"Spirit Sign! That's Lord Spirit Sign!" A sharp-eyed student had already shouted.

High in the sky, a male phantom more than ten meters tall silently appeared, smiling down at the people below.

He was tall and slender, dressed in a gray cloth changshan. One hand held a bell, while the other held a cloth flag.

Yet the writing on that divination banner was somewhat blurred, making it impossible to see what it said.

"That's a fourth-rank god! I heard Spirit Sign's believers can help people ask about marriage prospects, tell fortunes, and things like that."

"Oh, give it a rest! If you want your fortune told, you still need to go to a temple. Spirit Sign's believers are way too unreliable."

"That's right, that's right! Especially in battle—damn it, they draw lots at random and cast skills at random!"

"They're nothing but a bunch of gambling dogs."

"You're actually looking down on him? He's a god of the fourth rank! You'd be lucky to summon a god from the eighth rank!"

The students below the stage discussed heatedly, while the female student onstage was overjoyed and immediately knelt before the god.

Lord Spirit Sign remained smiling, and the divination banner in his hand swayed lightly. Wisps of mist descended from the sky and surged toward the podium.

Before long, all the white mist entered the student's body, and the figure of God Spirit Sign gradually faded away.

"She succeeded?"

"Congratulations! Congratulations!" Cheers and applause erupted within and outside the campus.

Yet mixed into the noise were idle remarks like, "Another gambling dog."

Afterward, the second place student was pushed onto the podium.

This male student summoned God Nine Bamboo, ranked in the seventh rank.

This god's phantom was quite blurry, making it difficult to distinguish its gender, but the bamboo whip it held was clear and exquisitely crafted.

Though the god's ranking was low, the student did not dare neglect it and immediately knelt in reverence.

And starting with this god, things took a sharp turn for the worse!

Among the more than one hundred and twenty students from Classes 1, 2, and 3, all the gods summoned were below the fifth tier.

Gods of the sixth, seventh, and eighth tiers made up the majority.

All kinds of humanoid gods, beast gods, and plant gods left everyone dazzled, while they sighed inwardly.

They had thought Fourth-Ranked God Spirit Sign was only the beginning.

Who would have thought it was actually the peak?

Then again, having a god take one in was still better than having no god's protection at all.

After the three classes completed their worship, more than ten students had already failed.

"Only a dozen or so were rejected?" Lu Ran took it all in, and doubts rose in his heart.

This year, the proportion of students the gods accepted as believers seemed unusually high.

Could it be that the Demon Race had grown stronger and stronger, so the gods had lowered their standards for accepting disciples?

"Pull yourselves together!" Homeroom teacher Li Yanzhu shouted, rousing Lu Ran from his thoughts.

At last, it was his Class 4 of the second year's turn!

At the front of the formation, Li Yanzhu led Jiang Ruyi toward the podium. "Show your deepest reverence—"

Jiang Ruyi nodded lightly and, amid her teacher's instructions, quickly walked to the center of the podium.

"The student is ready. You may begin." At the side, a male teacher gave the command.

Jiang Ruyi lowered her head and closed her eyes, pressing her palms together with her fingertips resting against her lips.

The girl was shortening her lifespan.

The sky was overcast, and the fine rain blurred the world.

That girl in a white dress was like the only vivid color in this dim world.

The longer Lu Ran watched, the more his heart thumped wildly!

Because he had seen his white moonlight!

High in the sky, a gigantic male phantom appeared.

He wore a Snow-White Cloak, with four White Jade Plaques circling around him, each one engraved with strange runes.

Most strangely, the four White Jade Plaques were respectively entwined with fine sand, frost and snow, electric currents, and sparks.

"Master Jade Jade Talisman?!"

"Whoa! Is this for real?"

"Holy shit, a third-rank god?" A wave of shocked cries rose from the Sports Field.

Since the Worshiping Ceremony had begun, the highest-ranked god people had seen was Lord Spirit Sign, a fourth-rank god.

One could only imagine how difficult it was to invite gods of the top three ranks, and how high their standards for accepting disciples were!

"There's more! Wait, another god is coming?"

"Ah??"

At that moment, the Sports Field nearly boiled over!

Of the first hundred-odd students, most could only beseech one god to appear. On occasion, two gods would compete for someone, but those were always gods from the sixth or seventh tier.

Yet the second god about to appear before them had to be at least third-tier!

Why was that?

After all, how could anyone who dared compete with the Third-Rank God Jade Talisman for a believer be an ordinary figure?

"It seems to be a Beast God. Tianluan! Oh my mom, Tianluan?!"

"A god from the second rank? It's actually a Second-Class God?"

"What a waste! It'd be great if you gave one to me! I'm not picky—I'll accept whatever arrangement!"

High in the sky, the phantom of a luan bird quietly emerged.

Its entire body was snow-white, its form graceful and elegant. Beneath the gray, hazy sky, it radiated a holy and pure glow, dazzling beyond compare.

On the podium, Jiang Ruyi lightly bit her lower lip as she gazed toward the sky.

Master Jian Yi,

Did you still find me unworthy after all?

"Ruyi, be decisive!" The homeroom teacher was thrilled, but had no time to celebrate. "Make your choice within ten seconds!"

To hesitate and waver was the gravest disrespect toward the gods.

If you were not decisive, both gods would leave you behind!

Jiang Ruyi did not hesitate for long. Her gaze lingered briefly between the two gods before she bowed apologetically to the Second-Class God Tianluan.

Then, the young girl turned toward the Third-Rank God Jade Talisman.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, she lifted her skirt hem with one hand and slowly knelt down.

"Ruyi is willing to enter Master Jade Talisman's service, attend to you day and night, cultivate divine arts through hard cultivation, and eradicate the evil spirits of this world."

Jade Talisman nodded in satisfaction. Mist spread from his palm and surged toward the kneeling girl on the stage.

At the sight, Tianluan's figure gradually faded away.

A full twenty seconds later, Jade Talisman slowly vanished as well, while Jiang Ruyi, who had absorbed the Divine Mist into her body, opened her eyes.

Those pupils were clear and bright, carrying a faint trace of divine bearing.

"Yoo-hoo~~~"

"As expected of Goddess Jiang! Freaking awesome!!"

"I'm truly convinced! She passed up a Second-Class God and turned around to worship a third-rank one."

"Jiang Ruyi! Jiang Ruyi!"

Thunderous applause erupted across the Sports Field, accompanied by surging cheers and discussion.

Below the podium, Li Yanzhu hurriedly called to Lu Ran, "Lu Ran, quick! Before Master Jade Talisman has fully left, hurry!"

The homeroom teacher naturally knew every student's goal in the class like the back of her hand.

"Where's Lu Ran?"

"Lu Ran, the teacher is calling you!"

"I'm coming!" Lu Ran strode forward, only to hear a snide remark from behind him.

"What the hell are you dawdling for? Hurry up and worship a god, then show your original form already! Stop pestering Class Monitor Jiang every day. Besides that mouth of yours, what else do you have?"

Lu Ran frowned slightly and turned to look.

There were many students to his right and behind him, but Lu Ran immediately locked onto a tall male student.

Kou Yingquan coldly returned Lu Ran's gaze without avoiding it.

"Lu Ran." Li Yanzhu practically dragged and ushered Lu Ran forward by the arm, repeatedly reminding him, "Focus your attention and show your most devout attitude!"

"Yes." Lu Ran swiftly composed himself and strode onto the stage.

When it came to worshiping gods, he was incomparably serious.

Lu Ran had truly had enough of the feeling of being weak and powerless!

"The student is ready. You may begin." At the side of the podium, the male teacher issued the command once more.

Lu Ran properly lowered his head and closed his eyes, praying silently.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

"I'd like to see what kind of god you can summon!" Below the podium, Kou Yingquan snorted coldly. "Don't tell me you can't summon anything. I—I fuck?"

Kou Yingquan's expression froze as he felt a gust of cold wind sweep past him, sending a chill down his spine!

In an instant, the temperature between heaven and earth plummeted!

"Wh-what kind of god is this?"

"Something's wrong! What the fuck, isn't this an evil spirit?"

"Demon Race—Yanzhiren!"

"Ah??"

The Sports Field instantly exploded into an uproar, screams erupting everywhere.

It was not only the students who panicked. Even the teachers present turned pale with fear, their hair standing on end!

The first day of the sixth month in the Lunar Calendar was the annual day for worshiping gods!

On this day each year, gods selected believers within Great Xia, while demons, monsters, and evil spirits were at their most subdued.

Yet this youngster Lu Ran.

On the first day of the month, upon the God-Worshipping Platform before the eyes of all, he had summoned a demon?!

Long time no see, Yu is back! (￣▽￣)

Two updates daily, at 12 noon and 6 PM.

Brothers, let's go~