Summoning Gods

Though he was under the crowd's gaze, Shen Ye's temperament naturally kept him from being affected by others' stares. Calmly, he returned from the arena to the spectator stands.

"So strong! Just as expected of A'Ye!" Hua Yue's eyes brimmed with admiration. Compared with the other Espers, she could better appreciate just how extraordinary Shen Ye's sword strike had been.

Shen Ye gave a slight nod and calmly accepted the praise. "Yue'er, which match are you in?"

Hua Yue replied, "The third match, C—Vermilion Bird. But the first round in the Vermilion Bird group hasn't finished yet. It'll be my turn later."

Shen Ye smiled. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you make a move, Yue'er. Let me see what you can do later."

Hua Yue nodded, her expression turning solemn. "I'll give it everything I have!"

Because of Shen Ye, quite a few people had been secretly watching the two of them. Hearing Hua Yue say that, they could not help muttering to themselves.

Surely this little girl couldn't be a humanoid beast too, could she?

Two hours later, the first two rounds of matches finally came to an end one after another.

At the Vermilion Bird group arena, Hua Yue and the other three contestants were all in position.

With the three unlucky bastards from the first round as a warning, the three naturally did not dare underestimate Hua Yue, who had been following Shen Ye around all this time.

The instant the referee announced the start of the match, all three attacked Hua Yue almost simultaneously.

Seeing this, Zhang Chulan, who had sneaked over to Shen Ye's side to gather some intelligence, familiarly remarked, "Getting ganged up on right from the start—this doesn't look good!"

Shen Ye turned his head and glanced at him. "It's already over."

"It's already ov—mm?" Zhang Chulan answered offhandedly before suddenly realizing what he had heard. He hurriedly turned back, only to see that the three people he had "placed great hopes on" were already unconscious on the ground.

What was going on? He had only turned his head for a moment—how had the match already ended? He had not even managed to gather any information yet!

"So strong! She only plucked the strings once, and those three fell!"

"A sonic attack? Another troublesome opponent!"

Only after hearing the tidal wave of discussion around him did Zhang Chulan understand what had just happened. He muttered to himself, "A sonic attack? Would earplugs work?"

Shen Ye watched the arena below with a calm expression. He was not surprised that Hua Yue had defeated her opponents so easily.

As the masterpiece of his High Priest father, Hua Yue was even stronger than he had been before awakening. Dealing with a few ordinary people who merely knew some strange arts was naturally no challenge for her.

"But why is there a difference in the energy absorbed by the Destiny Orb?" Shen Ye frowned slightly. Though both battles had provided only a negligible replenishment to the Destiny Orb, and the difference was so minute as to be nearly undetectable, he had still noticed it.

"From the looks of it, there are two possibilities. First, as the owner of the Destiny Orb, I may convert energy more efficiently than Hua Yue can through indirect changes. The other possibility is that, besides 'fate,' the Destiny Orb also requires 'fortune'!"

Shen Ye's expression grew grave as he pondered inwardly. Fate is destiny, the ordained number of one's life, while fortune is luck and momentum. The former is fixed; even if I alter some people's future paths, perhaps those changes themselves were fated to happen from the future's perspective. The latter, however, is variable. The rise and fall of every stage in a person's life differs, and any tiny alteration may trigger a shift in fortune. Among these factors, public esteem is an important force that gathers fortune!

"Fortune" and "momentum" complemented one another most of the time. When a person bore the attention of too many people, even their smallest action could tug at the direction of the world. Their fortune would naturally become dense and ever-changing, impossible to fathom. This was how one gathered a great tide to alter one's fortune.

Although Hua Yue had won more cleanly and decisively, in terms of the impact caused, the shockwaves stirred by Shen Ye's earlier battle had far surpassed this one.

"It's still unclear which possibility it is, but if it's the latter..." Shen Ye's expression became strange. Wouldn't that mean I'll have to put on... displays of divine power before people in every world from now on?

There had been over a hundred contestants participating in the Grand Heavenly Offering Ritual. After the first day's four-man free-for-alls, only thirty-two remained by the second day.

However, the attention it received today far exceeded that of yesterday.

After the first day's preliminaries, nearly all the contestants who had merely been there to make up the numbers had been eliminated.

In everyone's eyes, every battle today would be a clash of dragons and tigers!

By the time Shen Ye arrived at the arena, quite a few spectators had already come early to seize the seats with the best view.

After his dark-horse performance on the first day, he was naturally the center of attention today.

The massive crack still lingering with the aura of lightning reminded everyone present that this harmless-looking young man was, in truth, a brutally savage tyrannosaur!

"Kid, you're my opponent today, right?" At the entrance, a middle-aged man with a center-parted hairstyle pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and gave Shen Ye a flamboyant look.

Shen Ye hesitated for a moment before answering uncertainly, "Probably."

The center-parted man's mouth twitched slightly. "You're telling me you didn't even look into your opponent beforehand? That kind of arrogance is seriously irritating. Remember this—I'm Deng Youfu of the Northeast Shaman lineage. You can also call me by my English name, Smith!"

"Hehe, don't mind him." Deng Youcai, sporting a close-cropped buzz cut, laughed from the side. "My big brother's probably annoyed because I bet on you to win."

"A shaman?" Shen Ye paid no attention to his explanation. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at "Smith." "Perfect. Today, I'll use the methods of a 'sorcerer' to contend with you!"

"A sorcerer?" Deng Youfu had been about to argue with his younger brother, but Shen Ye's words instantly sobered him. "Does he know Deity Possession too?"

As they spoke, the two had already entered the arena.

In the stands, seeing that both men had entered the field, a Taoist priest of Longhu Mountain clasped his hands in salute. "The Way of Heaven benefits all and harms none. May both of you enjoy flourishing martial fortune. Let the match begin!"

"After yesterday's match, everyone said they absolutely couldn't give you a chance to build up power. But I don't really mind, because I happen to need a little time too!" As Deng Youfu spoke, he formed a hand seal, and his head began shaking wildly. "This humble Deng clan third-generation disciple, Youfu, respectfully invites Grandpa Liu... to possess me!"

As he spoke, a cloud of nearly tangible black mist surged up from beneath his feet, coiling behind him into the phantom of a great snake!

While his opponent invoked a deity, Shen Ye did not remain idle either. He began his own ritual. "Though this world has no Venerable God Shennong, faith in the Yan Emperor exists here as well. Perfect—I can borrow that power!"

Sorcerers bore duties such as divination, medicine, star-gazing, and ritual worship. As the Ziwei High Priest, he naturally knew a teeny tiny bit of every one of them.

Objects of ritual worship were divided into heavenly gods, earthly spirits, and ancestral forebears. Under normal circumstances, one would conduct a ritual and ask Great God Shennong to bestow power. However, Great God Shennong of the Main World had not displayed any divine miracles for countless years.

No matter how devout a faith was, it would be worn away by time and suffering. Over the long passage of years, City of Flowing Moon's rituals had gradually developed in an "outrageously rebellious" direction.