Is there any problem with offering it this way?
Shen Heng's gaze passed over the figure and went straight to the mineral water and peach cakes on the offering table.
Upon hearing Shen Heng's voice, the figure turned around.
He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, with yellowish skin.
He raised two fingers to his lips and shushed them softly, then turned back and remained silent.
Shen Heng looked at the scene before him with some confusion.
Is there such a rule regarding offerings?
Can't I speak right after making offerings?
Shen Heng didn't quite understand, but that didn't stop him from recognizing the young man's silencing gesture.
The two remained silent inside the room.
After about ten minutes, once the incense sticks in the incense burner had completely burned out, the young man who had been kneeling quietly on the ground finally made a move.
He took three more incense sticks from the side.
Light it, hold it tight.
" Lord City God, I've brought you special gifts from Mount Kunlun today..."
Are there two gods worshipped here...? Shen Heng glanced at the figure holding incense sticks and continued to wait.
Ten minutes later, the incense stick burned out again.
This time, the young man finally didn't take out incense and light it.
He quickly tidied up the offering table and incense burner, then turned to look at Shen Heng.
"Are you my roommate for the past three months?"
"Hmm, Shen Heng, Tier 2, his ability is D-Class Sound Wave Manipulation." Shen Heng extended a hand.
"Hehe, my name is Zhou Xuan, I'm also Tier 2, and my ability is A-Class God Invocation!" The young man smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with Shen Heng.
Zhou Xuan? Is he the one who was specifically chosen by headquarters to join?
Shen Heng's gaze lingered on Zhou Xuan's face for a moment, then he thought of the ability the other party had just described.
God Invocation!
A very mysterious term.
Shen Heng looked at Zhou Xuan with some confusion.
Although some abilities aren't very scientific, this was the first time he'd heard of something so obviously unscientific as Zhou Xuan's description.
" God Invocation?" Shen Heng asked.
"It's about God Invocation to possess you and then borrowing the god's power to fight!" Zhou Xuan explained.
Using the power of gods to fight? Gods... Shen Heng frowned slightly, staring at the ground as he asked:
Does God really exist?
"Hey, what era are we living in? You still believe in this stuff!" Zhou Xuan waved his hand dismissively.
"Your ability is to God Invocation, don't you believe it?" Shen Heng looked up at Zhou Xuan with some curiosity.
Zhou Xuan crossed one arm over his chest and rubbed his chin with the other.
"Well, although my ability is to God Invocation, I feel that changing my name might be more appropriate?"
"What's your name?" Shen Heng asked.
" The Power of Belief!" Zhou Xuan looked at Shen Heng with a serious expression.
"The power of belief...?"
Shen Heng tried his best to maintain his composure.
"Yes." Zhou Xuan nodded vigorously. "Headquarters sent researchers to study my abilities, and they said that although it looks like I'm God Invocation, it's actually the power of the 'collective unconscious'."
"Collective unconscious?" Shen Heng frowned slightly.
"Hmm." Zhou Xuan snapped his fingers.
"Researchers at headquarters say that the so-called 'God' is actually a projection of humanity's collective beliefs."
"When enough people believe in the existence of something, this belief forms an 'image' on a spiritual level, and my ability is to temporarily connect with these images."
Shen Heng nodded thoughtfully.
"So, if you invite ' Holy Emperor Guan,' you're not borrowing the real Guan Yu, but rather the concept condensed from people's worship of loyalty, righteousness, and bravery over thousands of years?"
"So, what's called a man-made god?"
"Yes, that's right, that's exactly what I mean!" Zhou Xuan nodded excitedly.
"So this is what I meant by the Power of Belief —as long as everyone believes, then I can invite them over!"
"..."
Shen Heng looked at Zhou Xuan speechlessly.
He felt a little awkward about what he had just said, but considering what he had just said, it didn't seem like a problem.
He shook his head, recalling Zhou Xuan's actions just now, and asked:
"So you just made offerings to the Earth God and the City God because of a lack of ability?"
"Yes, making offerings is like maintaining the connection between me and the image of the god I can invoke, so that I can quickly summon the god when needed." Zhou Xuan nodded.
Shen Heng nodded slightly. This was essentially the same as cultivating a closer relationship in normal times, making it easier to get help when needed.
"But why did you invite the local earth god and the City God instead of a more powerful deity?" Shen Heng looked at Zhou Xuan with some doubt.
"Sigh!" Zhou Xuan sighed.
"It's complicated. Simply put, the more advanced the imagery, the harder it is to establish a connection."
"Furthermore, there are designated seats for me when I God Invocation. Each time I ascend First Tier, an additional seat appears in my consciousness, and each seat has a corresponding rank."
"Each time you fail to register, the seat number will become slightly less prominent; if you fail multiple times, the seat will disappear completely."
"When I was at Tier 0, I didn't understand this. I kept thinking about asking Erlang Shen or Sun Wukong for help, which caused me to lose my Tier 0 spot."
"Later, a researcher came over and made suggestions, so I only invited the Earth God at Tier 1 and the Lord City God at Tier 2."
At this point, Zhou Xuan changed the subject, a smile spreading across his face.
"However, it doesn't really matter if the Tier 0 seats are wasted. The gods invited earlier in the hierarchy will be weaker, and later on, the gods invited earlier won't be needed!"
Shen Heng nodded slightly. "So, different gods have different abilities, right?"
"Of course!" Zhou Xuan said, "If you ask the Earth God, the abilities you can obtain are basically related to the land. If you ask the Lord City God, the abilities are things like releasing pressure and summoning Yin Soldiers."
"You can only invite one god at a time, right?" Shen Heng asked.
"Of course, you also want two gods on your shoulders?"
Shen Heng chuckled. So, only one type of spirit can be targeted at a time, which implies different combat styles?
This ability is undoubtedly far more complex than others.
As far as Shen Heng knew, the only person with more complex abilities than him was Le Gu Nan.
but...
Shen Heng recalled Zhou Xuan's introduction, pondered for a moment, and asked:
"Are you only able to invoke the intentions of some being that people believe in?"
"Yes, didn't we just talk about that?" Zhou Xuan nodded.
"So, you can actually invite not only our gods, but also gods from the West and the Middle East?" Shen Heng continued to ask.
Zhou Xuan pondered for a moment upon hearing this.
"I haven't tried that. Besides Odin and Zeus, I don't recognize many of their gods, but theoretically it should be possible!"
Shen Heng nodded thoughtfully. He glanced at Zhou Xuan's age, pondered for a moment, and said:
Do you... believe in light?