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In the midsummer season, at the crack of dawn.
In a common residential house, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy was sitting at his computer desk, muttering to himself:
"On the fifteenth of the lunar calendar the gates to the netherworld open, and Evil Demons and malevolent spirits come forth on their own."
Lu Ran stared intently at the screen, watching the scene of ruins and broken walls in the video.
Streets of the night market that should have been bustling were now ablaze with fire and overrun by the figures of vicious black dogs.
Daubed with blood-red patterns and spewing flames from their mouths, they were ravaging everything within sight.
Evil Demon Clan·Blood Disaster Dogs!
This was not a movie clip, but a real news report.
Every fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, various types of Evil Demons would appear, wreaking havoc in the world.
"Truly fierce," Lu Ran murmured to himself.
The video only showed the havoc wreaked by the Evil Demon Clan within the city.
And in the myriad Demon Caves, as well as the higher planes of the battlefield, the war between humans and gods against the Evil Demons, who knew how much more tragic it was!
If one day, the great army of Evil Demons really broke through the defenses and stormed into the world of humans...
"Lu Ran?" Suddenly, a pleasant female voice came from outside the window.
Lu Ran's home was on the ground floor, and he heard the voice quite clearly.
"Hmm?" Lu Ran went to the window, and beneath a large tree, he saw a tall and graceful figure.
The girl was dressed in a long white dress, her jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders.
As if Heaven decided to rain, gusts of wind blew, causing the girl's hair to dance lightly and her skirt to flutter.
"Wow~~~"
Lu Ran exclaimed, looking at his desk mate and class leader.
Seeing Lu Ran's reaction, Jiang Ruyi's cheeks flushed red.
On normal days, she was always in her blue and white school uniform, never having worn her hair down or a white dress like today.
"Oh no!" Lu Ran, resting his elbow on the windowsill, smiled as he gazed at the gentle and lovely girl under the tree.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Ruyi asked, puzzled.
Lu Ran: "Who could even tell the difference between you and Chang'e now?"
Jiang Ruyi's cheeks became even redder, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Lu Ran: "You sure have a sweet mouth."
Lu Ran pursed his lips.
As if you'd tasted it.
"We should hurry, today is Worship God day, don't be late," Jiang Ruyi said as she held a booklet and shook it lightly.
"Oh." Lu Ran turned and walked towards the computer.
The disaster report in the video came from half a month ago; he had specifically dug it out to watch, just to "pump himself up."
Because today was the first day of the sixth lunar month, the annual day of Worship God!
On this day, the Divine would choose Believers among the mortals.
The so-called "Divine" were actually a group of statues, which had come to suppress malevolent spirits.
In the early 1980s, on a full moon night, swarms of demons suddenly emerged, causing chaos in the world.
It was an extremely cruel and bloody period in history.
It wasn't until three months later, when the world was plunged into deep despair, that the dawn finally came!
Mysterious statues descended one after another, spread across the globe, suppressing various spirits.
A war between the Divine and demons thus unfolded and has continued to this day.
And with the arrival of the statues, the Human Clan finally found an effective method of resistance—the demons that were difficult to destroy by human strength could be sanctioned by Divine Power!
From that time on, humanity entered the era of "Worship God en masse."
When people reached the age of 17-18, and their bodies and spirits reached a certain standard, they might be chosen by the Divine as Believers.
As long as one could become a Believer, one could cultivate Divine Power, learn Divine Techniques, and fight against the Evil Demon Clan.
"It's been so many years; it should be my turn now."
Before shutting down the computer, Lu Ran took a deep look at the Blood Disaster Dogs misbehaving in the video.
For Lu Ran, every fifteenth night of the lunar calendar was extremely tough to endure.
He'd had enough of that feeling of fear, weakness, and powerlessness!
"Take an umbrella, it looks like it's going to rain," the girl's voice came from outside again.
"Oh!"
For some reason, it seemed to rain every Worship God day.
Just like how it always rained during the college entrance exams each year, it was quite a mystery.
Lu Ran picked up an umbrella and walked out his front door, quickly approaching the girl, indicating her special attire: "For Lord Sword One?"
"Yes." Jiang Ruyi began to walk, casually flipping through the booklet.
The pages revealed an array of square portraits, all statues of Divine.
This scene, it looked like the hero selection screen in a video game...
There were nearly a hundred Divine within Da Xia, ranked into nine rows, corresponding to nine grades.
And at the very first place of the first row was Divine·Sword One!
This was a female statue.
Her flowing dress and hair, with a sword slung on her back and one hand forming a spell in front of her.
Even as a stone statue, her fairy-like appearance and transcendent aura could not be concealed.
"You'll succeed," Lu Ran encouraged fittingly.
Don't be fooled by Jiang Ruyi's delicate and quiet appearance; her physical test scores, martial prowess, and other comprehensive results ranked in the top three of their entire grade!
"Lord Sword One is a proud Fairy," Jiang Ruyi said, a bit worried.
When Divine selected Believers, besides looking at the Human Clan's aptitude, another factor was the personality.
Numerous examples had shown: the more similar the person's character to the Divine, the easier it was to be accepted as a disciple.
And Jiang Ruyi was of a gentle and tranquil type...
Suddenly, the girl put on a stern face, trying to appear cold and aloof.
Lu Ran didn't understand why, curiously watching the girl in the white dress.
But then he saw Jiang Ruyi slightly lift her chin, feigning a haughty air and said indifferently, "How's this?"
Lu Ran: "..."
Indeed, a woman!
That speed of changing faces was faster than netizens flipping through pages while reading novels!
"Hehe~" Jiang Ruyi easily broke her concentration and looked at the Gods' Album again.
The smile on her face slowly turned back into a worried expression.
Lu Ran comforted her, "Personality is just one reference factor, not a deciding one.
Your talents are solid, and your heart is sincere enough. You're guaranteed to succeed!"
Jiang Ruyi looked at the figure of Lord Jian Yi in the album, with his unrivaled charm, listening to Lu Ran's comforting words.
Gradually, the smile returned to her face: "Mmm, you'll succeed too."
Lu Ran turned his gaze to the third row, the fifth God.
It was a statue of a stern man draped in a large cloak, holding a Spirit Talisman in his hand—Jade Talisman!
He was the God who Lu Xing, his late father, had worshipped.
...
The light rain pitter-pattered as the two of them, sharing an umbrella, arrived at the front gate of Rain Alley City First Middle School.
The campus was swarming with people inside and out; the rainy weather couldn't dampen the enthusiasm for worshipping the Gods.
Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi, amid the blessings of the townsfolk, struggled through the crowd and entered the school gates.
On the sports field, second-year students had already formed neat ranks, waiting for the God Worship ceremony to start.
There were also many third-year students who had failed last year, hoping to try their luck again with the school's organization.
Each year, about 30% of students failed to be chosen, and the success rate for those trying again the next year...
Was almost zero!
Faced with the harsh reality of life without divine protection, many students couldn't bear it, with quite a few making a scene with their crying and commotion.
Lu Ran certainly didn't want to become this sort of person; he had always trained extremely hard.
All for today!
"Ts ts~ These two really dare! Their homeroom teacher is right there, and they're still sticking so close?"
Right as Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi walked into their class line, they heard some murmuring.
"Damn, what's so great about Lu Ran? He's just taller than me, fairer than me, handsomer than me... Ugh, it hurts, I want to cry."
"Just your thoughts are impure. Haven't you seen Jiang didn't bring an umbrella?"
"You brought one! Yours is the biggest umbrella in the class; you could open a stall and sell skewers, but Jiang didn't come under your umbrella, did she?"
"Nonsense! Aren't I just not selling yet? Wait till I set up the grill, and then we'll see if she comes over or not."
"Hey, what the fuck?"
In the midst of the murmurs, Jiang Ruyi, her face reddened, retorted: "Don't talk nonsense."
"Here." Lu Ran stopped in his tracks and handed the umbrella to his deskmate.
Jiang Ruyi refused, "No need, you use it."
Lu Ran: "It's fine, I'll just squeeze in with the guy selling skewers."
"Heh." Jiang Ruyi was initially a little annoyed but was made to laugh by Lu Ran's comment.
Persuaded by Lu Ran, she took the umbrella and headed towards the team.
The weather was still rather kind, the rain getting lighter and lighter.
By nine in the morning, the God Worship ceremony began amidst the drizzle.
A female student from Class 2-1 was the first to ascend the platform and, under the expectant gazes of all, invited a God.
"Wow, a fortune-teller?"
"It's Spiritual Sign! That's Lord Spiritual Sign!" shouted a student with sharp eyes.
High in the sky, a ten-meter-tall male apparition gradually appeared, smiling down at the people below.
He had a slender figure, wearing a gray robe, with one hand holding a bell and the other clutching a flag.
The writing on the fortune-telling flag, however, was somewhat blurred and unreadable.
"This is a fourth-row God! I heard Spiritual Sign's Believers can help with marriage inquiries and fortune telling."
"Come on! For fortune-telling, you still have to go to temples and shrines; Spiritual Sign's Believers are unreliable."
"Agreed, agreed! Especially during battles, they f***ing draw lots and use skills randomly!"
"They're just a bunch of gamblers..."
"You're still complaining about receiving one? This is a fourth-row God! You'd be lucky to get even an eighth-row God!"
There was a buzz of discussion among the students below, while the girl on the stage was thrilled, kneeling down to the God.
Lord Spiritual Sign remained smiling, his fortune-telling flag waving gracefully, and strands of mist descended from the sky toward the platform.
In an instant, the white mist surged into the student's body, and the figure of Divine·Spiritual Sign gradually faded away.
"Did it succeed?"
"Congratulations, congratulations!" Cheers and applause resounded from inside and outside the school.
Yet amid the voices, there were murmurs like "Another gambler" mixed in.
Then, the second student was led up to the platform.
The God this male student had invited was Divine·Nine Bamboo, who was ranked in the seventh row.
The apparition of this God was rather hazy, its gender difficult to discern, but the Bamboo Whip in its hands was quite clear and exquisitely crafted.
Even though the God's rank was lower, the student didn't dare to be negligent and immediately kneeled in reverence...
And it was from this God that the situation took a dramatic turn for the worse!
Classes 1, 2, and 3, totaling over a hundred and twenty people, invited Gods who were all below the fifth rank.
Most of them were sixth, seventh, or eighth-rank Gods.
All sorts of humanoid, animal, and plant Gods dazzled everyone, causing a stir of silent sighs.
Everyone had thought that Fourth-class God·Spiritual Sign was just the beginning.
Who would have thought it was the peak?
That being said, having a God to take you in is still better than having none at all.
After three classes had completed their Worship God ceremony, more than ten students had already failed.
"Only about ten people didn't get chosen?" Lu Ran observed everything, puzzled in his mind.
This year, the proportion of Believers the Gods were taking in seemed unusually high?
Could it be because the Evil Demon Clan was becoming increasingly powerful, so the Gods lowered their thresholds for accepting disciples?
"Get a grip, everyone!" Homeroom teacher Li Yanzhu shouted loudly, snapping Lu Ran out of his thoughts.
Finally, it was the turn of his class, Class 2-4!
At the front of the line, Li Yanzhu led Jiang Ruyi towards the platform: "Show your deepest respect..."