Child-Seeking Guanyin

Everyone was dumbfounded.

As everyone knew, there were only wrong names, never wrong nicknames.

In Faith Game, the base number of male players who chose to become Priests was not large, and the number of male players who chose to follow Birth was even smaller.

When two rare choices were paired together and matched right in front of them, the odds were practically the same as winning the lottery.

Child-Seeking Guanyin was the players' joking nickname for the Progeny Priest. The reason for this nickname was that when Birth's Priests blessed or healed their companions, there was often a chance they would make their companions "pregnant."

This side effect of a god's Edict of Passage did not make people truly pregnant. The organs involved were not limited to the uterus, and what was conceived was not necessarily any proper life-form. The phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species could be mixed and matched at will, while the appearances came in every variety imaginable.

It was only because Birth's will revered propagation that using divine power could produce all sorts of absurd "passive pregnancy" predicaments.

But this accidental "pregnancy" was not to be underestimated. For every "new life" conceived within the person being healed, the effectiveness of the healing they received increased by three percent.

Thus, Progeny Priests were healers with extremely abundant healing output.

Song Yawen waved his hands in shock, shaking his head as fast as a fan.

"Brother, please, don't heal me! I'd rather accept a Priest of an opposing faith than let you swell my belly!"

Making him accept healing from a male Progeny Priest was worse than asking him to die.

If he got healed even once, how could he ever face people again?

Was he supposed to tell everyone that he had carried the "child" of a male teammate?

Blech—

Nangong was stunned as well. As a Priest herself, she naturally knew the proportion of "male Progeny Priests" among Priests.

She had encountered lottery-level odds like these and found it both amusing and awkward, but more than that, she was grateful to Cheng Shi.

She knew he was trying to persuade his teammates to accept her. She appreciated the gesture, but with the faiths of the other two still unknown, she still did not dare reveal her own faith.

After all, players of the Sinking Path were widely criticized.

Even though she and Cheng Shi were not opposed to each other.

Xia Wan, standing to the side, noticed Nangong's hesitation. It was precisely because of that hesitation that she realized Nangong was not Birth's sworn enemy. She suddenly felt relieved, yet still said coldly:

"I'm a Genesis Hunter."

A Genesis Hunter—a Hunter who believed in Birth.

"?"

Another follower of Birth.

Everyone was surprised that someone as cold as Xia Wan had chosen to follow Birth. Only Song Yawen's expression darkened.

He had also realized that Nangong was not an enemy of Birth. But the Life Path and the Sinking Path each had only three gods, which meant there was a fifty percent chance that she was his enemy.

Just as he was hesitating over whether to conceal his faith, Chen Chong waved his hand from the side and interrupted everyone's discussion.

"The divergence of our Paths wasn't caused by us, and we don't need to shoulder excessive pressure because of it. Since the two Priests aren't opposed to each other, we can simply divide the healing duties."

He pointed at Nangong, then at himself and Cao Sansui.

"Nangong will be responsible for healing me and the Mage. As for the believers of Life, you can handle yourselves."

As he spoke, he turned to Xia Wan and said:

"Since you're Her believer, I assume you won't reject Cheng Shi?"

Xia Wan casually glanced at the fairly handsome Progeny Priest. Her expression did not change as she gave a slight nod.

"..."

Xia Wan's cold expression concealed any awkwardness, but Cheng Shi's face became extremely peculiar.

There was someone else whose expression was even more peculiar: Song Yawen.

"I..."

To be honest, Song Yawen really wanted to refuse, but he also knew how to read the room.

They had already wasted enough time at the start. Since everyone had agreed to this arrangement, refusing now would be rather inconsiderate.

The team could not fall into major disagreement right at the beginning.

If all else failed, he could just try not to get injured.

But he absolutely could not accept treatment from a "Male Child-Giving Guanyin"!

Chen Chong took over leadership of the team without effort. Seeing that no one objected, he continued:

"Enough nonsense. The Trial gives us thirty minutes to an hour to prepare. We still don't know the cause and effect behind this war, so we won't leave the place of descent rashly. During the preparation period, everyone should complete their Edict of Passage as quickly as possible, then find a defensible position."

An Edict of Passage was a ritual in which players prayed to the gods they each believed in for blessings.

After players chose to believe in a god, the god would grant them an initial Faith Talent. Once the players cleared the Talent Trial, the god would grant them additional Faith Talents of different types.

Depending on their Path to Godhood scores, players could carry different numbers of talents.

These talents greatly enhanced a player's combat ability and were even the foundation for constructing each player's unique class and build.

Of course, talents were divided into active and passive talents. To use active talents during a Trial, players first had to practice their god's Edict of Passage at the beginning of every Trial.

For example, Birth's Edict of Passage was: "Embrace propagation and create new life."

Put plainly, it meant mating.

Want to become stronger? Mate first.

As the First God of the Life Path, Birth was both the prelude to life and the origin of all things. She harmonized Yin-Yang and revered propagation.

Therefore, anyone who wished to pray for Her blessing had to lead by example.

But because Trials used random matchmaking, everyone was a stranger to everyone else. No one would overcome their awkwardness and shame to help simply because "a believer of Birth really needs to mate."

As a result, this Edict of Passage was extremely difficult to complete perfectly.

But humans were creative creatures.

When something could not be solved through normal means, people often invented all sorts of crooked tricks and roundabout solutions.

There were many actions that resembled mating in form while capturing its essence, such as...

Masturbation.

This great invention had saved countless reclusive believers of Birth, but it had also provoked the displeasure of certain players.

Someone had once denounced the player who invented this solution in Birth's Faith Channel, angrily claiming that it was blasphemy against the god.

Yet this accusation was refuted from an extremely unusual angle by a group of silver-tongued "cultists."

They claimed:

As long as they were thinking of Her while practicing Birth's Edict of Passage, it did not count as blasphemy, but as an offering.

As for what they were offering...

Ahem. Those who understood, understood.

No one could say for certain whether She liked it, but the problem was that no one dared say She disliked it, given that She revered propagation.

But... today's situation was different.

There were two believers of Birth present.

A man and a woman.

Everyone knew that there was generally no danger during the period before a Trial began, so they tacitly dispersed and began carrying out their respective Edicts of Passage.

Only Cheng Shi and Xia Wan remained where they were, standing motionless without saying a word.

It was awkward—the kind of awkwardness that could make your toes cramp from curling.

Cheng Shi wore a smile, but his face was practically stiff.

He had never expected this ice-cold Hunter Lady to be a believer of Birth. If he had known earlier, he would have been better off revealing his true faith.

This was killing him.

Fortunately, Xia Wan did not seem to feel awkward. Her expression was as cold as ever. When Cheng Shi remained motionless for a long while, she was the first to speak.

Her tone, however, remained cold and icy.

"Together, or separately?"

To be honest, Xia Wan was quite attractive.

Her short hair was neat and sharp, her brows and eyes cold and striking, and most importantly, those long legs...

Tsk.

Since the girl herself did not object, perhaps he could...

"Separately. I like men."

Cheng Shi awkwardly rubbed his hands together as he said it.

"?"

For the first time, Xia Wan's indifferent expression changed. Her suspicious gaze swept over Cheng Shi from head to toe for quite a while. Then she gave a strange "hm," turned around, and left.

Only after seeing her leave did Cheng Shi quietly let out a breath.

Good grief. He had almost gotten himself into trouble.

If he had actually agreed, but failed to receive Birth's blessing after completing the Edict of Passage, wouldn't the lie he had just told have been for nothing?

Having his lie exposed would have been the least of his problems. Pretending to be a believer of Birth to complete the Edict of Passage...

Wouldn't that count as tricking someone into doing... that?

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. Just as he was about to begin his own Edict of Passage, he suddenly frowned, turned around, and spoke ominously toward a certain corner:

"Enjoying the view?"

"..."

Song Yawen, hiding in the shadows, had not expected Cheng Shi to notice him. He retreated while shaking his head like he had seen a ghost.

"Sorry, occupational habit. Not enjoyable. No, no, I mean I'm not enjoyable. You're enjoyable, brother. I like women, really. We're not suitable for each other. A forcibly twisted melon isn't sweet. I'm leaving first. I haven't finished my Edict of Passage yet. Goodbye!"

Song Yawen fled in a rolling, crawling mess. Cheng Shi frowned as he looked at the place where he had been hiding. It was a triangular patch of shadow formed by the foundation of a collapsed wall that had remained standing.

He walked over thoughtfully and kicked away the loose stones beneath the shadow. Under the rubble, he found a small white mouse that had just died.

"A believer of Death. Interesting."

The little incident did not affect Cheng Shi much. He looked around and, after confirming that no one was nearby, slowly opened his right hand.

In the blink of an eye, a six-sided die suddenly appeared out of thin air in his palm.

Its faces were pale as bone, but its pips shone like gold.

A playful curve appeared at the corner of Cheng Shi's mouth as he prayed devoutly to the die:

"Lies Like Yesterday, mockery of today.

Yesterday, I deceived a believer of Birth, so today...

I am a believer of Birth."

The moment his voice fell, an invisible wave of Nothingness rippled out from the die and gradually enveloped Cheng Shi's entire body.

A flash of brilliance appeared in Cheng Shi's eyes, and the light of Birth surged within his pupils.

The Edict of Passage was complete. The blessing had been granted.

Today, Cheng Shi was a believer of Birth—a Progeny Priest.