Inviting God

Inviting God

Looking at the change in his palm, Zhang Yu could not help but wonder, What does this even mean?

Don't tell me I'll drop dead once it fills up?

Unfortunately, no one could answer the unease in Zhang Yu's heart.

After morning Physical Education Class ended, Zhang Yu dragged his half-dead body along with Bai Zhenzhen and Zhou Tianyi to lunch. After resting briefly, afternoon classes arrived.

The first afternoon class was History Class, taught by an elderly man with a full head of white hair.

After entering the classroom, the old man sat down behind the lectern without a care, opened his book, and began explaining at random.

As for whether the students below were seizing the time to rest, practice Breath Circulation, cultivate, or even leave the classroom for Body Tempering, he seemed not to care in the slightest.

Zhang Yu had no interest in the history teacher's lecture. He merely flipped rapidly through the textbook, while its contents continuously resurfaced in his mind, combining with his own memories into understanding.

"Kunxu has no countries. Everything is monopolized and controlled by the Ten Great Sects. There are thirty-six layers aboveground in Kunxu. The First Layer is roughly twice the size of China and consists of cities of varying sizes, each administered by a Municipal Government built by a major Sect."

"Setting aside matters related to Immortal Dao, the technological level of the First Layer seems about the same as my previous life, but ordinary people appear to have much harder lives."

"The Kunxu First Layer was also where Zhang Yu had lived all his life. As for anything higher up... he had only seen it in television shows and films."

According to what Zhang Yu understood from his memories, only by getting into university could one enter the Kunxu Second Layer. Only after graduating from university and joining a major Sect could one ascend to higher levels.

It could be said that in Kunxu, only by mastering stronger Immortal Dao power and gaining higher authority could one climb upward step by step.

And the higher the Upper Level, the more abundant spiritual energy was said to be, the more advanced Immortal Dao Technique became, and the richer all kinds of resources grew.

As these thoughts came back to him, Zhang Yu could not help turning to look out the window, feeling the sunlight pouring down from the sky.

"Such real sky and sunlight... is this really inside some supermassive structure?"

"The First Layer alone is twice the size of China. How much space does all of Kunxu occupy? It must already be beyond Earth, right?"

"How exactly did I end up in this world?"

Without realizing it, the scene of first arriving in this world resurfaced in his mind. He remembered that bizarre Ritual, and his head immediately began spinning again.

Zhang Yu hurriedly shook his head. Compared to such enormous matters, things right in front of him—High School grades, living expenses, making money, Physical Education Class—needed his attention far more.

And thinking of grades and cultivation gave Zhang Yu another headache.

Besides morning Physical Education Class, Immortal Dao grades were divided into four subjects: Dao Heart, Magical Power, Martial Arts, and Dao Arts.

Dao Heart accounted for 150 points, Magical Power for 150, Martial Arts for 100, and Dao Arts for 100.

According to the memories in Zhang Yu's mind, his rankings had recently fallen across the board. There was not a single subject in which he had not regressed.

At this rate, being expelled from Songyang High School seemed only a matter of time.

Another question surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind.

"From the looks of it, Zhang Yu's family isn't wealthy, and he himself has no outstanding Immortal Dao talent. Neither his first-year nor second-year interviews seemed particularly successful. So how did he get into Songyang High School?"

Zhang Yu searched his memories again and again. He only remembered that the original owner had entered Songyang High School despite his less-than-ideal interview results.

And when he thought of the original owner's family, his gaze flickered. He took out his phone and opened his contacts.

"Right. Should I contact Zhang Yu's parents and Elder Sister after school?"

During the afternoon classes, Zhang Yu spent his time reviewing while sorting through the memories in his mind. This gave him an increasingly deep understanding of the knowledge in his head, this world, and Zhang Yu's identity.

In the blink of an eye, it was six o'clock, time for school to end.

Today's school classes had all finished, but for the vast majority of Songyang High School students, only half their day's lessons were over. Next, they still had to attend their respective tutoring classes, then study on their own until the middle of the night before resting.

Unlike his classmates hurrying off to their tutoring classes, Zhang Yu was sitting in the empty cafeteria.

Having run out of both savings and borrowing limits, he had not attended tutoring classes for two weeks.

After dinner, he considered things for a while before opening his phone.

"Let's give it a try."

He called Zhang Yu's mother first, then his father, but neither answered.

Recalling the memories concerning Zhang Yu's parents and Elder Sister, he finally called Elder Sister in helplessness.

"Zhang Yu?"

Hearing the somewhat cold voice on the other end, Zhang Yu forced himself to say, "Sis, could you lend me some money?"

Amid a stretch of silence, just as Zhang Yu thought she was about to hang up, a voice came from the phone. "When you were in first grade, I told Mom and Dad that you had no Immortal Dao talent. Taking this path was completely wasting time and money."

"After they separated, Mom still believed in your delusions. She stubbornly tried to put you through High School alone. Not long ago, she even came to us to borrow money, wanting to use my tutoring fees."

"Heh. And yet this fool who didn't know his own measure still wanted to borrow money for Immortal Cultivation. Just so you could study in High School, you must already be buried under a mountain of debt, right?"

Faced with her accusations, Zhang Yu had nothing to say. Based on the memories he had organized in his mind, she was not wrong.

After his parents had separated, each taking one of the siblings with them, the original Zhang Yu knew perfectly well that his mother's income was insufficient and the household had no money. Yet he had overreached himself, stubbornly taking out small loans just to cultivate. He had borrowed to repay loans all the way until now.

And after Zhang Yu borrowed over and over, after helping him repay again and again only to discover each time that the hole had grown larger, his mother had finally left him.

The voice on the other end continued.

"This is the last time we'll ever contact each other. Repay the debts you owe yourself."

"One more piece of advice: drop out and get a job to repay your debts."

"For the sake of us once having been family, I'll send you 500 in a moment. That's enough to find a job before you starve to death."

Listening to the call disconnect, Zhang Yu sighed helplessly. "Well, at least I got 500."

Adding the 500 Bai Zhenzhen had given him, Zhang Yu's savings had finally surpassed 1,000.

But as he walked home, Elder Sister's advice continued to churn through his mind.

"Drop out and get a job?"

Lying back on the bed in his rental room, Zhang Yu stared blankly at the slightly moldy ceiling.

Falling grades, not a penny to his name, crushing debt, a body unable to bear the burden... he had to admit that dropping out early to work seemed like a rational decision.

Just then, a sharp pain came from his palm. The symbol visible only to him was finally filled completely with black.

At the same time, a crisp female voice sounded beside him. "Boy, the Inviting God Ritual is complete. Time to grant three wishes."

Zhang Yu abruptly turned his head and discovered a Rag Doll sitting at his bedside.

Looking at the Rag Doll's yellowed, faded cloth, crooked stitches, and body that seemed ready to split apart at any moment, he suddenly realized—wasn't this the Rag Doll he had seen in the bizarre Ritual on the rooftop after arriving in this world yesterday?

The Rag Doll said, "Hey, did you hear me? Three wishes. Not one less."

Faced with this bizarre scene, Zhang Yu only wanted to leave.

He was no longer a clueless greenhorn who knew nothing about this world.

After sorting through the memories in his mind, he knew that gods in this world were not some vague, ethereal faith. They were administrators in charge of countless matters, large and small, throughout Kunxu.

But these Orthodox Gods were definitely not beings an Immortal Dao good-for-nothing like Zhang Yu could summon so casually. The god drawn here by Zhang Yu's so-called Inviting God Ritual had to be one of the Evil Gods said to bring calamity to all corners, treat human lives like grass, and be severely suppressed by the Ten Great Sects and every department of Orthodox Gods.

Stories of mortals making deals with Evil Gods, only to perish body and soul, their spirits scattered to the winds, were tales ordinary people of the Kunxu First Layer had heard since childhood. So Zhang Yu had been driven into a corner and actually gone looking for an Evil God?

No wonder my head spins whenever I recall the related memories. Is this also an Evil God's method?

Zhang Yu sensed danger and wanted to flee at once, but after another thought, he stopped his trembling body.

The original Zhang Yu had sought out an Evil God only because he had truly reached the end of the road.

Should he spend his whole life at the bottom, working like an ox and horse to repay debt, or risk his life for a chance to continue Immortal Cultivation?

"Evil God! My first wish is for you to help me fulfill one hundred wishes!"

After saying that, Zhang Yu swallowed, then asked nervously, "You can do that, right?"

"Heh heh, of course I can do something so simple."

Seeing the smile on Zhang Yu's face, the Rag Doll let out a mocking laugh. "But my choice is... no."

"Because after the Inviting God Ritual is completed, you are the one who must fulfill my three wishes."

"If you choose to refuse to grant my wishes, or deliberately stall or fail during the process, the Ritual's backlash will make your flesh burst apart and your soul scatter to the winds."

"Alright. My first wish is that you help me fulfill another thousand wishes."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu froze slightly and cursed inwardly, Wait... he held this whole Inviting God Ritual just to fulfill wishes for you? Is this Zhang Yu an idiot? A thousand wishes? That works too?

After stating her first wish, the Rag Doll smiled faintly. Her hollow eyes made of black buttons continued staring rigidly at Zhang Yu.

"Ready? I'm going to state the next wish."

At those words, Zhang Yu's heart suddenly tightened. What wish is this ghostly thing going to make now?

If I really have to fulfill a thousand wishes for her, won't I become her slave?

Or what if... she makes a wish I simply cannot fulfill... wouldn't I be dead for sure?

The Rag Doll said slowly, "I've thought it over. My next wish is... for you to collect a batch of antiques for me."

Zhang Yu swallowed. "Antiques?"

The Rag Doll giggled. "Don't worry. I've already picked them out for you. Just buy everything in your shopping cart."

Zhang Yu paused, then took out his phone. Following his memories, he opened his shopping cart and found it filled with Buddha statues, offering tables, incense burners, wooden swords... all absurdly expensive. Any random item cost over ten thousand.

And if he could not afford these antiques, he seemingly could not fulfill the wish. If he could not fulfill an Evil God's wish, would he not die under the Ritual's effects?

Thinking of that, Zhang Yu hurriedly asked, "Could you perhaps change the wish?"

"I'm afraid I can't afford so many antiques."

"Making excuses and dodging..." The Rag Doll's gaze sharpened, and endless malice seemed to pour from her pitch-black eyes. "Are you trying to renege on your debt? If you can't afford them, borrow money. If you can't borrow it, sell your heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, and lungs. There will always be a way for you to scrape together the money."

Zhang Yu looked seriously at the Rag Doll and said slowly, "If I do that, then I'll die in order to fulfill this single wish, won't I?"

The doll chuckled. "So what?"

Zhang Yu said, "Would you rather immediately lose someone who could fulfill a thousand wishes for you in the future?"

"Or give me some time, let a future disciple of a major Sect buy these antiques for you, and then fulfill those thousand wishes for you one after another...?"

"Hm?" The Rag Doll looked at Zhang Yu in some surprise. "Go on."

Zhang Yu said, "I calculated it. To buy these antiques, even if I worked in the Kunxu First Layer for decades, I might not be able to save that much money."

"But if I can join a major Sect, I can save enough in just a few years."

The Rag Doll said, "So?"

Zhang Yu said, "That means... as long as I study hard, cultivate diligently, keep growing stronger, get into a prestigious university, then join a major Sect after graduation, I can use the Sect's salary to fulfill your wish."

After another moment of silence, the Rag Doll suddenly said, "You're saying you'll study hard, then go to work and earn a salary to fulfill my wish?"

"Are you playing me?"

Boundless malice rushed toward him. The Rag Doll's eyes were like two enormous black holes, as though they would swallow all surrounding light in an instant.

Zhang Yu clenched his fists, doing his utmost to suppress his trembling legs. Staring at the Rag Doll, he said word by word, "Your first wish is for me to fulfill one thousand wishes for you. Your second wish is to collect the antiques in my shopping cart."

"If I die of poverty while collecting antiques for you, how can I fulfill a thousand wishes?"

"If I know this and still fulfill the second wish in a way that guarantees my death, wouldn't that mean I am deliberately refusing to fulfill the first wish?"

"Deliberately making myself unable to fulfill the first wish would violate the Ritual's requirements. I'm afraid I would die from the Ritual's backlash before even completing the second wish."

"Therefore, studying hard, getting into university, and working seriously to earn money is the only viable plan I can currently think of that can fulfill the first and second wishes."

After Zhang Yu finished speaking, a deathly silence filled the room.

A moment later, the Rag Doll's voice sounded.

"Let me see your balance."

When she saw the balance in Zhang Yu's account and all the overdue loan messages, the Rag Doll said nothing for a long time.

"This kid..." Thoughts surged wildly through the Rag Doll's mind. "Normally, this situation should never arise. The Ritual's targets should all be wealthy people. Buying that pile of antiques should be as easy as lifting a finger."

"But this kid... this kid is too poor. So poor that he can't even fulfill the first wish. He's so poor he's created a loophole."

"Damn it, didn't they say to find a rich person? How did they find me this kind of trash!"

After a long silence, the Rag Doll looked at Zhang Yu and said, "What you said... isn't entirely without reason."

"Fine. Go study hard. I'll come find you once you've earned enough money."

As she spoke, the doll sneered again. "But remember, all of this is to fulfill my wishes."

"From now on, the moment you slack off even slightly in the process of fulfilling my wishes, you will die beneath the Ritual's backlash."

Watching the Rag Doll gradually disappear, Zhang Yu suddenly let out a long breath. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the bed.

Suddenly, he remembered something and shouted, "Wait! This Ritual... what did I get from this Ritual?!"

Although he suspected that his transmigration might be connected to this Ritual, he still did not dare reveal that secret directly. Instead, he chose to probe around the edges.

Unless absolutely necessary, he had decided to bury Earth's secret deep in his heart and never reveal it.

The Rag Doll vanished completely, leaving only a voice by Zhang Yu's ear. "Your potential has been awakened. But everyone's potential differs. What exactly yours is... feel it out for yourself."

Outside the room, the Rag Doll walked as she thought, "This kid's aptitude is terrible. Awakening his potential can only mean increasing his Magical Power or Physical Strength a little, right? I doubt he can even get into university, much less join a major Sect. How could he fulfill my wishes?"

"But his ability to adapt on the spot was rather interesting... Let me see just how far you can struggle."

Inside the room, Zhang Yu watched the black symbol in his palm gradually begin to change.

(End of chapter)