Chapter 1: Starting as a Feral God — A Hundredfold Offering

A white-feathered bird beat its wings and soared through the clouds.

White clouds drifted like hounds across the sky as mountain ranges swept past below.

The bird's sharp eyes scanned the earth beneath it, then it suddenly plunged downward.

With graceful ease, it snatched a small fish from a stream and took flight again, weaving past towering trees, flowers blooming in every color, and the busy hum of a bee swarm — until a humble village came into view.

It landed on an old willow tree at the northern edge of the village, its gnarled branches speaking of many years gone by.

As it preened its feathers, it gazed down at the crowd of villagers kneeling before a worn and weathered Land God Shrine.

"All the villagers of Li Family Village offer their reverence — may Lord Zhangyue bless us with favorable winds and rains in the year to come!"

Village Chief Li Deyang bowed low, his voice full of sincere devotion.

"All the villagers of Li Family Village offer their reverence — may Lord Zhangyue protect the men of our village from demons and evil spirits!"

Behind the village chief, more than a dozen elderly villagers kowtowed with trembling limbs, their voices equally fervent.

"All the villagers of Li Family Village offer their reverence — may Lord Zhangyue grant peace and prosperity to all within our village!"

The able-bodied men, women, and children behind the elders bowed in unison, speaking as one.

"Light the incense!"

The village chief called out in a booming voice.

Every person lit the three sticks of incense they held.

"Bow again to Lord Zhangyue!"

The village chief raised his three sticks of incense and bowed.

Everyone followed suit.

Wisps of pale smoke curled upward, wreathing the Land God Shrine before them in a haze of mist and vapor.

It was as though a divine being sat enthroned high in the nine heavens, savoring the Incense Faith of the villagers!

"We invite Lord Zhangyue to receive the offering!"

"Third bow to Lord Zhangyue!"

The village chief bowed for the third time.

"We invite Lord Zhangyue to receive the offering!"

"Third bow to Lord Zhangyue!"

All the villagers followed with their third bow.

Li Yue was thoroughly dazed.

He stared at the sea of kneeling villagers before him, all dressed in plain, rough clothing.

Then he looked down at his own semi-transparent body.

And he realized something else —

He was inside the earth god statue, trapped within a cramped space no more than three meters across.

The statue seemed to have become a cage, one he could not escape.

"I've transmigrated?"

"And into an earth god statue, of all things?"

"What in the world is going on?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and found that new information had appeared in his mind.

[Three billion people from Blue Star have transmigrated, beginning as Feral Gods.]

[The three billion Feral Gods are divided into thirty thousand regions, with one hundred thousand Feral Gods per region.]

[You may access six interfaces: "Personal Status," "Personal Mission," "Believer Status," "Regional Chat," "Regional Marketplace," and "Divine War."]

[Across The Myriad Realms, develop your Believers, ascend your Divine Rank, cultivate Subordinate Deities, and compete for the ultimate Heavenly Emperor Seat!]

"Three billion people from Blue Star transmigrated and became Feral Gods…"

"Not even a proper Land God — just a Feral God…"

Li Yue's mouth twitched.

He didn't quite know what to say.

Could something this absurd really happen?

Just how vast was this world, to accommodate three billion Feral Gods?

Wait —

The information had mentioned The Myriad Realms. Could it be that the three billion Feral Gods were scattered across many different worlds?

He opened the "Personal Status" interface.

[Personal Status]

[Name]: Li Yue

[Divine Name]: Lord Zhangyue

[Divine Rank]: Feral God — "Reach Ninth Grade (Lower) to be promoted to Earth God"

[Divine Grade]: Unranked — "Spend 100 units of Divine Power to advance to Ninth Grade (Lower)"

[Divine Power]: 2 units

[Incense Faith]: 765 units — "Every 1,000 units of Incense Faith condense into 1 unit of Divine Power"

[Divine Arts]: Dream Visitation Art (1 Divine Power), Golden Blade Art (1 Divine Power), Ghost Soldier Consecration (1 Divine Power), Temple Priest Consecration (1 Divine Power)

"Dream Visitation Art… Golden Blade Art… Ghost Soldier Consecration… Temple Priest Consecration…"

Li Yue murmured to himself.

He could feel that if he wished, he could cast any of these four Divine Arts with a mere flick of his hand.

However, the Dream Visitation Art required a sleeping living being as its target.

The Ghost Soldier Consecration required a ghost as its target.

And the Temple Priest Consecration required certain conditions to be met first.

Only the Golden Blade Art could be used freely at any time.

Though he was curious about the Golden Blade Art's power, he currently had only 2 units of Divine Power.

He dared not waste a single unit on experimentation.

This was the very foundation of his existence right now!

"To advance from Feral God to an official Earth God, I need a full hundred units of Divine Power…"

He furrowed his brow.

One thousand units of Incense Faith condensed into just one unit of Divine Power.

A hundred units of Divine Power meant accumulating one hundred thousand units of Incense Faith!

That was clearly no easy goal to reach.

"So for a god, Incense Faith is the most important thing of all…"

"With Incense Faith, anything is possible."

"Without it, you're nothing but a clay idol…"

"No wonder the gods in myths and legends placed such importance on Incense Faith…"

"It truly is the lifeblood of a deity."

His eyes flickered with thought.

He immediately opened the "Believer Status" interface.

Where did Incense Faith come from? From Believers, of course!

Believers were a god's most vital asset!

He had grasped this truth with remarkable speed.

He was adapting fast.

[Believer Status]

[Daily Incense Faith]: 124 units

[Dao-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 100,000 units of Incense Faith per day"

[Heaven-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 10,000 units of Incense Faith per day"

[Saint-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 1,000 units of Incense Faith per day"

[Jia-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 100 units of Incense Faith per day"

[Yi-Grade Believers]: 5 — "Provides 10 units of Incense Faith per day"

[Bing-Grade Believers]: 65 — "Provides 1 unit of Incense Faith per day"

[Ding-Grade Believers]: 91 — "Provides 1 unit of Incense Faith every 10 days"

"The vast majority are Ding-Grade Believers — the quality of my congregation is quite poor…"

Li Yue raised an eyebrow.

He looked out at the dense crowd of kneeling villagers beyond the Land God Shrine.

They all appeared so devout, yet it turned out they were mostly going through the motions.

He turned his gaze to the offering table before him.

On it sat the offerings brought by the villagers.

Alongside the customary three sacrificial animals, there was one item that glowed with a soft white radiance in his eyes.

That item —

Was the true offering the villagers had prepared for this Grand Sacrifice, held twice a year!

"As a god —"

"At each Grand Sacrifice, I may receive one Offering from my Believers."

"This Offering is amplified by the Divine Path Rules, receiving a twenty-percent enhancement."

"And each Grand Sacrifice also grants a one-time windfall of ten days' worth of Incense Faith."

Li Yue murmured.

This too was knowledge that had surfaced in his mind — giving him a basic understanding of what it meant to be a god.

So —

The two Grand Sacrifices each year were of great importance to any deity!

After all, having the quality of an item enhanced by twenty percent was an extraordinary boon for anyone.

For a Feral God like him, it was naturally even more precious.

Of course —

There were requirements for what could serve as a Grand Sacrifice Offering.

It could not be tainted by even the slightest direct karmic connection to a deity.

In other words —

Only items obtained entirely through the Believers' own efforts could qualify as a Grand Sacrifice Offering and receive the amplification of the Divine Path Rules.

He reached out with a gentle gesture.

At once, the item on the offering table that glowed white in his sight rose into the air and flew into his Divine Domain.

That cramped three-meter space was his Divine Domain.

[Your Believers have completed a Grand Sacrifice.]

[Your Believers have offered you one first-grade Body-Strengthening Herb.]

[You have received 1,240 units of Incense Faith.]

[Divine Path Rules amplification in progress.]

[The Offering — first-grade Body-Strengthening Herb — has received a hundredfold amplification from the Divine Path Rules.]

[You have received one fourth-grade Dragon Blood Blaze Herb.]

Li Yue froze. "…A hundredfold amplification???"

What in the world?

Wasn't it supposed to be a twenty-percent enhancement???