Chapter 4: Inviting a Deity
Looking at the changes on the palm of his hand, Zhang Yu couldn't help but wonder, "What on earth does this mean?"
"I won't just drop dead once it's filled up, will I?"
Unfortunately, no one could answer the unease in Zhang Yu's heart at this moment.
After the morning physical education class, Zhang Yu dragged his half-dead body to have lunch with Bai Zhenzhen and Zhou Tianyi. Then, after a short rest, the afternoon classes began again.
The first class in the afternoon was history, and the teacher was an old man with a head of white hair.
After entering the classroom, the old man sat down behind the podium by himself and casually started explaining the content after opening the textbook.
As for whether the students under him were seizing the time to rest, practice qigong, cultivate, or even leave the classroom to temper their bodies, he seemed not to care at all.
Zhang Yu wasn't interested in what the history teacher was teaching either. He just quickly flipped through the textbook, constantly recalling its content in his mind and understanding it in combination with his own memories.
"Kunxu has no countries. Everything is monopolized and controlled by the top ten sects. There are thirty-six floors on the ground in Kunxu. The first floor is about twice the size of China, consisting of cities of various sizes. Each city is managed by a municipal government built by the major sects."
"The world on the first floor of Kunxu, apart from things related to the immortal path, seems to have a similar technological level to my previous life. But the common people seem to have a much harder life."
"The first floor of Kunxu is also where Zhang Yu has been living all along. As for the floors above... he has only seen them in TV movies."
According to Zhang Yu's memory, one could enter the second floor of Kunxu only by getting into college. And only after graduating from college and joining a major sect could one go to higher floors.
It can be said that in Kunxu, only by mastering stronger immortal path powers and having higher permissions can one climb step by step.
The higher the floor, the more abundant the spiritual energy is said to be, the more developed the immortal path technology is, and the richer various materials are.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu couldn't help but look back out of the window and feel the sunshine sprinkling down.
"Such a real sky and sunshine... Is this really in some super-large building?"
"If the first floor alone is twice the size of China, how big a space does the whole Kunxu occupy? It must not be on Earth anymore, right?"
"How exactly did I come to this world?"
Unconsciously, he recalled the scene when he first came to this world, remembered that strange ritual, and then his head felt dizzy again.
Zhang Yu quickly shook his head. For him at this moment, compared with these major events, high school grades, living expenses, making money, physical education classes... these immediate matters needed his attention more.
Thinking about grades and cultivation, Zhang Yu felt a headache again.
In addition to the physical education class in the morning, there were also four subjects in the immortal path grades: Dao Heart, Magical Power, Martial Arts, and Taoist Spells.
Among them, Dao Heart accounted for 150 points, Magical Power 150 points, Martial Arts 100 points, and Taoist Spells 100 points.
According to the memories in Zhang Yu's mind, his grades had been declining in all aspects recently. There wasn't a single subject in which he wasn't falling behind.
If this continued, it seemed that being expelled from Songyang High School was just a matter of time.
Another question popped into Zhang Yu's mind.
"Looking at it now, Zhang Yu's family isn't wealthy, and he himself doesn't have any outstanding immortal path talent. His interviews in both the first and second years didn't seem to go very well. How on earth did he get into Songyang High School?"
Zhang Yu recalled repeatedly and only remembered that the original body entered Songyang High School with not-so-ideal interview results.
Thinking about the original body's family, his eyes flickered slightly, and he took out his phone and opened his contacts.
"Oh, right. Should I contact Zhang Yu's parents and sister after school?"
During the afternoon classes, Zhang Yu reviewed while sorting out the memories in his mind, which made him understand the knowledge in his mind, this world, and Zhang Yu's identity more and more deeply.
Before he knew it, it was already six o'clock in the evening when school was over.
All the classes for the day at Songyang High School were over, but for most of the students at Songyang High School, only half a day of classes had passed. Next, they still needed to attend their respective tutoring classes and then self-study until after midnight before they could rest.
Different from his classmates who rushed to their tutoring classes in a hurry, Zhang Yu was sitting in the empty cafeteria at this moment.
Since he had no savings or credit limit, he hadn't attended tutoring classes for two weeks since two weeks ago.
So, after finishing dinner, he thought for a while and still opened his phone.
"Let's give it a try."
He first called Zhang Yu's mother and then his father, but both calls went unanswered.
Recalling the relevant memories of Zhang Yu's parents and sister, he finally had no choice but to call his sister.
"Zhang Yu?"
Hearing the somewhat cold voice on the other end of the phone, Zhang Yu steeled his heart and said, "Sis, can you lend me some money?"
Amidst a period of silence, just when Zhang Yu thought the other party would hang up, a voice came from the phone: "When you were in the first grade of primary school, I told Mom and Dad that you had no immortal path talent and that following this path was just a waste of time and money."
"After we separated, Mom believed in your delusion and stubbornly wanted to support you through high school on her own. Even recently, she came to us to borrow money, wanting to use my tutoring fee."
"Haha, and you, this overconfident fool, still borrowed money to cultivate immortality. For high school studies, you've already accumulated a huge debt, right?"
Facing the accusations from the other party, Zhang Yu had nothing to say because according to the memories he sorted out in his mind, what the other party said was indeed true.
After Zhang Yu's parents separated and each took their children away, knowing that the mother's income was insufficient and the family had no money, the original Zhang Yu was too overconfident. Finally, he stubbornly took out small loans to cultivate immortality, surviving by borrowing new loans to pay off old ones until now.
And his mother, after Zhang Yu repeatedly borrowed loans, repaid them time and time again, only to find that the hole was getting bigger and bigger, finally left him.
The voice on the other end of the phone continued.
"This is our last contact. You pay off your own debts."
"Here's another piece of advice for you: drop out of school and work to pay off your debts."
"For the sake of being from the same family once, I'll transfer 500 to you in a while. This money is enough for you not to starve to death before finding a job."
Hearing the sound of the other party hanging up the phone, Zhang Yu sighed helplessly: "Well, at least I got 500."
Including the 500 given by Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu's deposit finally exceeded 1,000.
But walking home, Zhang Yu's mind was still filled with the other party's advice.
"Drop out of school and work?"
Lying back on the bed in the rented room, Zhang Yu stared blankly at the somewhat moldy ceiling.
With declining grades, penniless, burdened with huge debts, and his body unable to bear the strain... he had to admit that dropping out of school early to work seemed like a rational decision.
Just then, a sharp pain came from the palm of his hand. The symbol that only he could see was finally filled with black at this moment.
At the same time, a crisp female voice sounded beside him: "Boy, the inviting-a-deity ritual is complete. It's time to fulfill three wishes."
Zhang Yu turned his head abruptly and found a rag doll sitting on the edge of his bed.
Looking at the rag doll with faded fabric and crooked stitches that seemed to split at any moment, he suddenly realized that this was the rag doll he saw during the strange ritual on the rooftop when he first came to this world.
Rag Doll: "Hey, did you hear what I said? Three wishes, not one less."
Facing this eerie scene, Zhang Yu just wanted to leave.
At this point, he was no longer a novice who knew nothing about this world.
After sorting out the memories in his mind, he knew that gods in this world were not just a vague belief. Instead, they were managers in charge of countless affairs, big and small, within Kunxu.
But these orthodox gods were definitely not something that an immortal path weakling like Zhang Yu could casually invite. The deity summoned by Zhang Yu's so-called inviting-a-deity ritual was presumably one of those notorious demons that caused chaos everywhere and wantonly killed people, severely cracked down on by the top ten sects and various orthodox gods.
Those little stories about ordinary people reaching deals with demons and ultimately dying with their souls dispersed were stories that the common people on the first floor of Kunxu had heard since they were young.
"Has Zhang Yu, who has no way out, finally resorted to a demon?"
"No wonder my head hurts as soon as I think about the relevant memories. Is this also the demon's trick?"
Zhang Yu immediately felt the danger and wanted to leave, but then he stopped his trembling body again.
The reason why the original Zhang Yu sought the demon was that he was really at the end of his rope.
Should he be a beast of burden at the bottom level for the rest of his life to pay off debts, or take the risk and strive for a chance to continue cultivating immortality?
"My first wish is for you to help me fulfill 100 wishes!"
After speaking, Zhang Yu swallowed his saliva nervously and looked at the other party anxiously, asking, "Can you do it?"
"Haha, such a simple thing. Of course I can."
Looking at the smile on Zhang Yu's face, the rag doll let out a sneer: "But my choice is... not to do it."
"Because after the inviting-a-deity ritual is completed, it's you who has to fulfill my three wishes."
If you choose to refuse to fulfill my wishes, or deliberately delay or fail during the process, you will explode your blood and flesh and disperse your soul under the backlash of the ritual."
"Okay, my first wish is that you have to help me fulfill another 1,000 wishes."
Hearing this, Zhang Yu was slightly stunned and cursed inwardly: "Isn't this... After going through such an inviting-a-deity ritual, it's just to fulfill your wishes? Is this Zhang Yu an idiot? And 1,000 wishes? How is this possible?"
After the rag doll finished its first wish, it smiled slightly, and its black button-like empty holes continued to stare straight at Zhang Yu.
"Are you ready? I'm going to say my next wish."
Hearing this, Zhang Yu's heart tightened: "What nonsense is this ghost thing going to say again?"
"If you really make me fulfill a thousand wishes, won't I become your slave?"
"Or... If I make a wish that I simply can't fulfill... Won't I be doomed to death?"
The rag doll slowly said, "I've thought it through. My next wish is... You help me collect a batch of antiques."
Zhang Yu swallowed his saliva: "Antiques?"
The rag doll giggled and said, "Don't worry. I've already found them for you. Just buy everything in your shopping cart."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. Then he took out his phone and opened his shopping cart according to his memory. He found that it was already filled with various Buddha statues, offering tables, incense burners, wooden swords... Their prices were steep, with each one costing tens of thousands of yuan.
If he couldn't afford these antiques, it seemed that he couldn't fulfill the wish and would die a violent death under the effect of the ritual if he couldn't fulfill the demon's wish.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu quickly asked, "Can you change another wish?"
"I'm afraid I can't afford so many antiques."
"Making excuses... " The rag doll's eyes focused, and endless malice seemed to gush out of its black holes: "Are you trying to welsh on the debt? If you can't afford it, borrow money. If you can't borrow it, sell your heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, and lungs. There's always a way for you to raise the money."
Zhang Yu looked seriously at the rag doll and slowly said, "Your first wish is for me to fulfill 1,000 wishes for you. Your second wish is to collect the antiques in the shopping cart."
"If I die of poverty while collecting antiques for you, how can I fulfill 1,000 wishes?"
"If I know this and still try to fulfill the second wish at the risk of death, wouldn't I be deliberately not fulfilling the first wish?"
"If I deliberately fail to fulfill the first wish, then I will violate the requirements of the ritual. I'm afraid I won't even be able to finish the second wish before dying from the backlash of the ritual, right?"
"So studying hard, getting into a good university, working hard to earn money. This is the only feasible plan I can think of to fulfill your first and second wishes."
After Zhang Yu finished speaking, there was dead silence in the room.
A moment later, the rag doll's voice sounded.
"Let me see your balance."
When she saw Zhang Yu's account balance and various overdue loan messages, the rag doll didn't speak for a long time.
"This kid..." Thoughts surged wildly in the rag doll's mind: "Normally, this wouldn't happen because the targets chosen for the ritual should all be wealthy people. Buying that pile of antiques is just a matter of a flick of the fingers."
"But this kid... This kid is too poor. So poor that he can't even fulfill the first wish, creating a loophole."
"Damn it! Didn't I say to find a rich person? Why did you give me such a loser!"
After a long silence, the rag doll looked at Zhang Yu and said, "What you said... makes sense."
"All right, you go study hard. When you've saved enough money, I'll come to you again."
Saying that, the doll sneered again: "But remember, all this is for fulfilling my wishes."
"Once you slack off in fulfilling my wishes, you will die under the backlash of the ritual."
Seeing the rag doll gradually disappear, Zhang Yu suddenly let out a breath and slumped on the bed.
Suddenly, he remembered something and shouted, "Wait, what exactly did I get from this ritual?!"
Although he suspected that his crossing might be related to this ritual, he still chose an indirect approach instead of directly revealing it.
Under no circumstances would he reveal the secret of Earth, keeping it buried deep in his heart forever.
The rag doll completely disappeared, leaving only a voice in Zhang Yu's ears: "Your potential has been stimulated. However, everyone's potential is different. What exactly it is... You figure it out yourself."
Outside the room, as the rag doll walked away, she thought, "This kid has poor aptitude. Stimulating his potential is probably just enhancing his magical power or physical strength a bit. He won't even get into college, let alone join a major sect. How can he fulfill my wishes?"
"However, his on-the-spot adaptability is quite interesting... Let's see how far he can struggle."
Inside the room, Zhang Yu watched as the black symbols on the palm of his hand began to change.