A bird with a body covered in white feathers beat its wings and soared through the clouds.
White clouds shifted like pale dogs, and mountain after mountain swept past below.
The bird's keen eyes looked down upon the earth. Then it suddenly plunged toward the ground.
Lightly plucking a small fish from the stream with its beak, it took flight again. It passed rows of lush trees, flowers of every color in full bloom, and busy swarms of bees. Before long, a humble village appeared ahead.
It landed on an old willow tree north of the village, one that looked as though it had stood there for many years.
As it preened its feathers, it watched the many villagers kneeling before a dilapidated Land God Temple below.
"On behalf of all the villagers of Li Family Village, we beseech Lord Zhangyue to bless us with favorable weather and bountiful harvests in the coming year!"
The village chief, Li Deyang, bowed and spoke with reverence.
"On behalf of all the villagers of Li Family Village, we beseech Lord Zhangyue to protect the young men of our village from demonic creatures and evil specters!"
The dozen or so elderly people kneeling behind the village chief kowtowed with trembling limbs, their voices just as reverent.
"On behalf of all the villagers of Li Family Village, we beseech Lord Zhangyue to grant our village good fortune in all things!"
The strong young men, women, and children behind the elders followed suit, bowing as one.
"Offer incense!"
The village chief bellowed.
Everyone lit the three sticks of incense in their hands.
"Bow to Lord Zhangyue again!"
The village chief bowed with the three sticks of incense raised in his hands.
Everyone followed his lead.
Wisps of blue smoke rose, shrouding the Land God Temple before them in mist.
It was as if a deity sat high above the ninth heaven, enjoying the villagers' incense!
"May Lord Zhangyue enjoy the offerings!"
"Bow to Lord Zhangyue a third time!"
The village chief bowed for the third time.
"May Lord Zhangyue enjoy the offerings!"
"Bow to Lord Zhangyue a third time!"
All the villagers followed his lead and bowed for the third time.
Li Yue was a little dazed.
He looked at the villagers kneeling before him, their clothes plain and humble.
Then he looked down at his own translucent body.
What was more, he had discovered—
He was inside the statue of the Land God, in a cramped space barely a zhang across.
The statue seemed to have become a prison, trapping him inside.
"Did I transmigrate?"
"And into a statue of the Land God?"
"What the hell is this?"
He slowly closed his eyes and discovered that new information had appeared in his mind.
[Three billion people from around the world have transmigrated, starting out as Wild Gods.] [The three billion Wild Gods have been divided into thirty thousand regions, with one hundred thousand Wild Gods in each region.] [You can open six interfaces: "Personal Info," "Personal Quest," "Believer Information," "Regional Chat," "Regional Trading," and "God War."] [In these All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, develop your Believers to your heart's content, ascend to a higher Divine Seat, cultivate Subordinate Gods, and contend for the ultimate Fruit Position of the Heavenly Emperor!]
"Three billion people from Blue Star transmigrated and became Wild Gods..."
"We're not even Land Gods—we're just Wild Gods..."
Li Yue's mouth twitched.
He didn't know what to say.
How could something this ridiculous actually happen?
Just how vast was this world, if it could hold three billion Wild Gods?
No—
The information mentioned the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds. Could it be that the three billion Wild Gods had been scattered across many worlds?
He opened the "Personal Info" interface.
[Personal Info] [Name]: Li Yue [Divine Name]: Lord Zhangyue [Divine Seat]: Wild God. "Reach Subordinate Ninth Rank in Divine Rank to ascend to Land God." [Divine Rank]: Unranked. "Spend one hundred units of Divine Power to ascend to Subordinate Ninth Rank." [Divine Power]: 2 units [Incense]: 765 units. "One thousand units of Incense Wish Power condense into one unit of Divine Power." [Divine Techniques]: Dream Projection Art "1 unit of Divine Power," Golden Blade Art "1 unit of Divine Power," Confer Ghost Soldier "1 unit of Divine Power," Confer Temple Keeper "1 unit of Divine Power"
"Dream Projection Art... Golden Blade Art... Confer Ghost Soldier... Confer Temple Keeper..."
Li Yue murmured to himself.
He could feel that if he wanted, he could cast any of these four Divine Techniques with a mere wave of his hand.
However, the Dream Projection Art had to be used on a living being who was asleep.
Confer Ghost Soldier, meanwhile, had to be used on a ghost.
As for Confer Temple Keeper, it required certain conditions to be met.
Only the Golden Blade Art could be cast at will.
He was curious about how powerful the Golden Blade Art was.
But he only had two units of Divine Power.
He didn't dare waste even a little of it on an experiment.
This was the very foundation of his survival!
"To ascend from a Wild God to a proper Land God, I need a full one hundred units of Divine Power..."
He frowned.
It took one thousand units of Incense Wish Power to condense a single unit of Divine Power.
So he would need to accumulate one hundred thousand units of incense to get one hundred units of Divine Power!
That clearly wasn't a goal he could reach easily.
"So for a deity, incense is the most important thing..."
"With incense, anything is possible."
"Without incense, you're nothing but a clay statue..."
"No wonder the deities in myths and legends cared so much about Incense Wish Power..."
"It's the very foundation of a deity."
His eyes flickered.
He immediately opened the "Believer Information" interface again.
How did one get Incense Wish Power?
Naturally, it depended on Believers!
Believers were a deity's most important asset!
He had already grasped the principle.
He caught on to the situation very quickly.
[Believer Information] [Daily Incense]: 124 units [Dao-Grade Believer]: 0. "Provides 100,000 units of incense daily." [Heaven-Grade Believer]: 0. "Provides 10,000 units of incense daily." [Saint-Grade Believer]: 0. "Provides 1,000 units of incense daily." [Grade A Believer]: 0. "Provides 100 units of incense daily." [Grade B Believer]: 5. "Provides 10 units of incense daily." [Grade C Believer]: 65. "Provides 1 unit of incense daily." [Grade D Believer]: 91. "Provides 1 unit of incense every ten days."
"The vast majority are Grade D Believers. Their quality isn't very high..."
Li Yue raised an eyebrow.
He looked at the villagers kneeling in a dense crowd outside the Land God Temple.
Every one of them looked so reverent. Who would have thought they were just putting on an act?
His gaze fell on the offering table before him.
On it lay the offerings the villagers had presented.
Besides the usual three sacrificial animals, there was an item that glowed with a white radiance in his eyes.
This item—
Was the real offering the villagers had prepared for the twice-yearly Grand Sacrifice!
"As a deity—"
"During each annual Grand Sacrifice, I can receive one offering from my Believers."
"The offering is enhanced by the Divine Path Rule, making it twenty percent stronger."
"Moreover, each of the two annual Grand Sacrifices can also grant me ten days' worth of Incense Wish Power all at once."
Li Yue murmured.
This information had also appeared in his mind, giving him a basic understanding of deities.
So—
The two annual Grand Sacrifices were very important to deities!
After all, having the quality of an item improved by twenty percent was an extremely rare opportunity for anyone.
For Wild Gods like them, it was all the more precious.
Of course—
There were requirements for the item offered during the Grand Sacrifice.
It couldn't be tainted by even a trace of causality directly involving a deity.
In other words—
Only an item acquired entirely through a Believer's own efforts could become a Grand Sacrifice offering and receive an enhancement from the Divine Path Rule.
He raised his hand gently.
The item on the offering table, glowing white in his eyes, immediately floated into the air and flew into his Divine Domain.
The cramped space barely a zhang across was his Divine Domain.
[Your Believers have completed a Grand Sacrifice.] [Your Believers have offered you one first-tier Body Strengthening Grass.] [You have received 1,240 units of Incense Wish Power.] [Divine Path Rule enhancement in progress.] [The first-tier Body Strengthening Grass you received has been enhanced a hundredfold by the Divine Path Rule.] [You have received one fourth-tier Dragon Blood Flame Grass.]
Li Yue froze. "...Hundredfold amplification???"
What the hell?
Wasn't it supposed to be a twenty-percent enhancement???
Before you continue