Chapter 4: Invoking the Gods

Looking at the changes in his palm, Zhang Yu couldn't help but think, "What on earth does this mean?"

"I won't just drop dead once it's filled up, will I?"

Unfortunately, there was no one to answer the unease currently in Zhang Yu's heart.

After the morning physical education class ended, Zhang Yu dragged his half-dead body to have lunch with Bai Zhenzhen and Zhou Tianyi. After resting for a short while, the afternoon classes arrived.

The first class of the afternoon was history, taught by an old man with a full head of white hair.

After entering the classroom, the old man sat behind the podium on his own, opened his book, and began to lecture casually.

As for the students below, whether they were taking the time to rest, practice breathing, cultivate, or even leave the classroom to train their bodies, he didn't seem to care at all.

Zhang Yu had no interest in listening to the history teacher's lecture. He simply flipped through the textbook quickly, the content constantly replaying in his mind as he integrated it with his own memories to understand it.

"Kunxu has no countries; everything is monopolized and controlled by the Ten Great Sects. Kunxu has thirty-six layers above the ground. The first layer is roughly twice the size of China and is composed of cities of various sizes, each managed by a municipal government set up by a major sect."

"Setting aside the Immortal Dao aspects, the level of technology in the first layer seems similar to my previous life, but the lives of ordinary people seem much harder."

"The first layer of Kunxu is also where Zhang Yu has always lived. As for anything higher... he had only ever seen that on television or in movies."

According to the knowledge in Zhang Yu's memory, only by getting into a university could one enter the second layer of Kunxu, and only by graduating from university and joining a major sect could one ascend to even higher layers.

It could be said that in this Kunxu, only by mastering stronger Immortal Dao power and obtaining higher authority could one climb upward step by step.

And the higher the layer, the more abundant the spiritual energy, the more advanced the Immortal Dao technology, and the more plentiful the various resources were rumored to be.

Recalling this, Zhang Yu couldn't help but look out the window, feeling the sunlight spilling down from the sky.

"Such a realistic sky and sunlight... is this place really inside some kind of super-massive structure?"

"The first layer alone is the size of two Chinas, so how much space does the entire Kunxu occupy? It definitely can't be on Earth anymore, right?"

"And how exactly did I come to this world?"

Unknowingly, his mind recalled the scene of when he first arrived in this world, remembering that eerie ritual, and then his head felt a wave of dizziness.

Zhang Yu quickly shook his head. For him right now, compared to these grand matters, things right in front of him—high school grades, living expenses, making money, physical education class—needed his attention more.

And thinking of grades and cultivation gave Zhang Yu another headache.

In addition to the morning's physical education class, Immortal Dao grades were divided into four subjects: Dao Heart, Mana, Martial Arts, and Dao Techniques.

Among them, Dao Heart accounted for 150 points, Mana 150 points, Martial Arts 100 points, and Dao Techniques 100 points.

According to the memories in Zhang Yu's mind, his recent grade rankings had been sliding across the board; there wasn't a single subject where he wasn't regressing.

At this rate, it seemed like being expelled from Songyang High School was only a matter of time.

Another question popped into Zhang Yu's mind.

"Looking at it now, Zhang Yu's family isn't rich, he doesn't have any outstanding Immortal Dao talent, and his performance during the interview was very poor. How exactly did he get into Songyang High School?"

Zhang Yu recalled repeatedly, only remembering that the original body had entered Songyang High School despite a less-than-ideal interview result.

Thinking of the original body's family, his gaze shifted slightly, and he took out his phone to open his contacts.

"Right, should I contact Zhang Yu's parents and sister after school?"

Zhang Yu spent the afternoon classes reviewing and organizing the memories in his mind, which allowed him to understand the knowledge in his head, this world, and Zhang Yu's identity more and more deeply.

In the blink of an eye, it was six o'clock, time for school to end.

The school's classes for the day were all over, but for the vast majority of students at Songyang High School, the day was only half over. Next, they had to attend their respective tutoring sessions, then study on their own until the middle of the night before they could rest.

Unlike his classmates who were rushing to their tutoring sessions, Zhang Yu was currently sitting in the empty cafeteria.

Having run out of savings and loan limits, he hadn't attended tutoring sessions for two weeks.

So, after finishing his dinner, he pondered for a moment and opened his phone.

"Let's give it a try."

He first called Zhang Yu's mother, then his father, but both were in a state of no answer.

Recalling the memories of Zhang Yu's parents and sister, he finally called his sister in resignation.

"Zhang Yu?"

Listening to the slightly cold voice on the other end of the phone, Zhang Yu braced himself and said, "Sis, can you lend me some money?"

In the silence that followed, 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 elementary school, I told Mom and Dad that you had no Immortal Dao talent and that walking this path was a complete waste of time and money."

"After we separated, Mom believed your delusions and gritted her teeth, wanting to support your high school education alone. She even came to borrow money from us not long ago, wanting to touch my tutoring fees."

"Heh, and now you, this idiot who doesn't know your own limits, want to take out loans to cultivate immortality? To study in high school, you're already in debt up to your ears, aren't you?"

Facing the other party's accusations, Zhang Yu had nothing to say, because according to the memories he had organized, she wasn't wrong.

After his parents separated, each taking one of the siblings, even knowing that his mother's income was insufficient and the family had no money, the original Zhang Yu had been too arrogant. He had gritted his teeth and taken out small loans to cultivate immortality, living off loans until now.

And his mother, after Zhang Yu repeatedly borrowed money, helped him pay it back time and time again, and discovered the hole getting bigger and bigger, finally left him.

The voice on the other end of the phone continued.

"This is the last time we'll be in contact. You pay off the debts you owe yourself."

"One more piece of advice: drop out and go get a job to pay off your debts."

"For the sake of us once being a family, I'll send you 500 in a moment. That money is enough for you to find a job before you starve to death."

Listening to the sound of the call being disconnected, Zhang Yu sighed helplessly: "At least I got 500."

Counting the 500 given by Bai Zhenzhen, Zhang Yu's savings finally broke 1,000.

But walking on the way home, the other party's advice kept surfacing in Zhang Yu's mind.

"Drop out and go to work?"

Lying back on the bed in his rented room, Zhang Yu stared blankly at the moldy ceiling.

Grades sliding, penniless, burdened with huge debts, a body unable to bear the load... he had to admit that dropping out early to work seemed like a rational decision.

Just then, a sharp pain came from his palm, and the symbol that only he could see was finally filled with black at this moment.

At the same time, a crisp female voice sounded from the side: "Kid, the god-inviting ritual is complete. It's time to fulfill three wishes."

Zhang Yu turned his head abruptly and found a ragdoll sitting on the edge of his bed.

Looking at the ragdoll with its yellowed, faded fabric and crooked stitches, as if it could tear at any moment, he suddenly realized: wasn't this the ragdoll he saw in the eerie ritual on the rooftop after he arrived in this world yesterday?

Ragdoll: "Hey, did you hear what I said? Three wishes, not a single one less."

Facing the eerie scene before him, Zhang Yu only wanted to leave.

He was no longer a novice who knew nothing about this world.

After organizing the memories in his mind, he knew that gods in this world were not some ethereal faith, but managers who held authority over countless affairs, big and small, within the entire Kunxu.

But these righteous gods were definitely not ones that a piece of Immortal Dao trash like Zhang Yu could summon casually. The god that could be summoned by Zhang Yu's so-called god-inviting ritual was presumably an evil god from the rumors—one that wreaked havoc everywhere, treated human life like grass, and was severely cracked down upon by the Ten Great Sects and the various righteous gods.

The little stories about mortals making deals with evil gods and ending up dead, their souls scattered, were things the common people of the first layer of Kunxu grew up hearing.

"Zhang Yu, this guy, was at a dead end and actually went to an evil god?"

"No wonder I get dizzy whenever I think about related memories. Is this also the evil god's method?"

Zhang Yu felt the danger immediately and wanted to leave, but upon second thought, he stopped his trembling body.

The reason the original Zhang Yu sought out an evil god was only because he was truly at a dead end.

Was he to be a beast of burden at the very bottom for the rest of his life to pay off debts, or take a risk with his life to gamble on a chance to continue cultivating immortality?

"Evil god! My first wish is for you to help me fulfill 100 wishes!"

After saying this, Zhang Yu swallowed his saliva and looked at the other party nervously, asking, "You can do that, right?"

"Heh heh, of course I can do such a simple thing."

Seeing the smile on Zhang Yu's face, the ragdoll let out a sneer: "But my choice is... no."

"Because after the god-inviting ritual is completed, it is you who must fulfill my three wishes."

"If you choose to refuse to fulfill my wishes, or deliberately delay or fail during the process, you will be torn apart by the backlash of the ritual, your flesh and blood exploding and your soul scattering."

"Alright, my first wish is that you must help me fulfill 1,000 wishes."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu was slightly stunned, cursing in his heart: "No way... I went through such a god-inviting ritual just to fulfill your wishes? Is this Zhang Yu an idiot? And 1,000 wishes? Is that even allowed?"

After the ragdoll finished stating the first wish, it smiled slightly, its hollow eyes made of black buttons continuing to stare straight at Zhang Yu.

"Are you ready? I'm going to state the next wish."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu's heart tightened suddenly: "What kind of wish is this ghost thing going to make now?"

"If I really have to complete a thousand wishes for her, wouldn't I become her slave?"

"Or... if she makes a wish I can't complete at all... wouldn't I be dead for sure?"

The ragdoll said slowly, "I've decided. My next wish is... for you to help me collect a batch of antiques."

Zhang Yu swallowed his saliva: "Antiques?"

The ragdoll giggled and said, "Don't worry, I've already found them for you. You just need to buy everything in your shopping cart."

Zhang Yu paused slightly, then took out his phone and opened his shopping cart according to his memory, only to find that it was already filled with various Buddha statues, offering tables, incense burners, wooden swords... and the prices were not cheap; any one of them cost tens of thousands of yuan.

And if he couldn't afford these antiques, it seemed he couldn't complete the wish. If he couldn't complete the evil god's wish, wouldn't he die an unnatural death under the effect of the ritual?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu hurriedly asked, "Do you think you could change to another wish?"

"I'm afraid I can't afford so many antiques."

"Making excuses..." The ragdoll's gaze focused, and endless malice seemed to pour out of its hollow eyes: "Are you trying to welch on the debt? If you can't afford it, go borrow. If you can't borrow, sell your heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, and lungs. There's always a way for you to scrape the money together."

Zhang Yu looked at the ragdoll seriously and said slowly, "If I did that, I would die just to fulfill this one wish, right?"

The doll chuckled: "So what?"

Zhang Yu: "Are you choosing to lose someone who can help you fulfill a thousand wishes in the future right now?"

"Or will you give me some time, let a future major sect disciple buy these antiques for you, and then go one by one... help you fulfill those thousand wishes?"

"Hmm?" The ragdoll looked at Zhang Yu with some surprise: "Continue."

Zhang Yu: "I've calculated it. To buy these antiques, even if I work in the first layer of Kunxu for decades, I might not be able to scrape together that much money."

"But if I can join a major sect, I can save up this money in just a few years."

Ragdoll: "So?"

Zhang Yu: "That is to say... as long as I study hard, cultivate diligently, keep getting stronger, get into a prestigious university, and join a major sect after graduation, I can use the sect's stipend to fulfill your wishes."

The ragdoll was silent for another moment, then suddenly said, "You mean you're going to study hard, then get a job and earn a salary, and that's how you'll fulfill my wishes?"

"Are you playing me?"

Infinite malice rushed toward him. The ragdoll's eyes were like two huge black holes, about to instantly suck in all the light around them.

Zhang Yu clenched his fists, trying his best to suppress his trembling legs, and stared at the ragdoll in front of him, saying word by word: "Your first wish is for me to complete one thousand wishes for you. The second wish is to collect the antiques in the shopping cart."

"If I'm already dead from poverty while collecting antiques for you, how can I complete one thousand wishes?"

"If I know this, yet still complete the second wish in a way that leads to certain death, wouldn't that be deliberately failing to complete the first wish?"

"Deliberately making myself unable to complete the first wish would violate the requirements of the ritual. I'm afraid I would be killed by the ritual's backlash before even completing the second wish, right?"

"So, studying hard, getting into university, and working hard to make money is the only feasible plan I can think of right now to fulfill the first and second wishes."

Following Zhang Yu's words, there was a deathly silence in the room.

A moment later, the ragdoll's voice sounded.

"Let me see your balance."

When it saw the balance in Zhang Yu's account and the various overdue loan text messages, the ragdoll didn't speak for a long time.

"This kid..." Thoughts surged in the ragdoll's heart: "Normally, one wouldn't encounter this situation. After all, the targets selected by the ritual should be rich people; buying that pile of antiques would just be a matter of moving a finger."

"But this kid... this kid is too poor, so poor that he can't even complete the first wish, to the point that his poverty created a loophole."

"Damn it, didn't I say to find a rich person! How did you find me such a piece of work!"

After a long silence, the ragdoll looked at Zhang Yu and said, "What you said... is not unreasonable."

"Fine, go study hard. I'll come find you when you've earned enough money."

Saying this, the doll sneered again: "But you must remember, all of this is to fulfill my wishes."

"From now on, once you show the slightest slack in the process of fulfilling my wishes, you will die under the backlash of the ritual."

Watching the ragdoll gradually disappear, Zhang Yu let out a sharp breath, his body going limp as he collapsed onto the bed.

Suddenly, he remembered something and shouted, "Wait, this ritual... what exactly did I gain from this ritual?!"

Although he suspected that his transmigration might be related to this ritual, he didn't dare to reveal this secret directly, choosing instead to beat around the bush.

Unless absolutely necessary, he decided to keep the secret of Earth buried deep in his heart, never to be revealed.

The ragdoll disappeared completely, leaving only a voice in Zhang Yu's ear: "Your potential has been stimulated, but everyone's potential is different. As for what it is... go feel it for yourself."

Outside the room, the ragdoll walked along, thinking: "This kid's aptitude is terrible. Stimulating his potential is nothing more than increasing his mana or physical strength, right? I don't think he can even get into university, let alone join a major sect. How can he fulfill my wishes?"

"But his improvisation was quite interesting... let me see how far you can struggle."

Inside the room, Zhang Yu watched the black symbol in his palm gradually begin to change.

(End of chapter)