But that was only speculation—a high probability at best, not an absolute certainty.
Fang Yuan blew on her sharpened shovel, hugging it to her chest with satisfaction.
Currently known:
Liang Du: Candidate for the God of Luck.
Jiang Qiehuo: Candidate for the God of Illusory Dreams.
Ling Chun: Candidate for the God of Love (speculated).
Jun Xihua: Candidate for the God of War (learned from Ling Chun, authenticity currently unconfirmed).
As for Ren An...
Fang Yuan stood up, facing the towering divine pillar as she stretched her arms and loosened her muscles.
Both Ren An and Ling Chun had taken the initiative to approach her, but their motives were entirely different.
Ling Chun was conducting a broad search, and approaching her was merely to confirm something.
But obviously, Fang Yuan wasn't the person Ling Chun was looking for. After searching high and low, Ling Chun had indeed found her target.
Therefore, her search had to be related to a 【Blessing】, and she didn't know who the target was beforehand, requiring personal confirmation.
Ren An, on the other hand, had a very clear target; she had come directly for Fang Yuan herself.
Premeditated, deliberate, feigning familiarity, and driven by a strong motive.
Perhaps Ren An's 【Blessing】 allowed her to identify what kind of 【Blessing】 others possessed.
Sunlight pierced through directly ahead. Fang Yuan raised her shovel to block half of the glaring rays.
Along with the sunlight came the noisy cheers from the crowds surrounding Hero Square.
“It's a miracle! A divine miracle has descended!”
“Gods above, please bless me so I don't fail my exams!”
“Gods above, bless me to strike it rich!”
This divine miracle originated from the sky.
Centered around the towering divine pillar and the surrounding nine divine statues, a golden circular canopy spread outward silently and irresistibly.
The golden light was dazzling, incomparably pure, and dense, like melted liquid gold evenly coating the sky above, filtering clouds, birds, and even the sunlight into a single sacred hue.
This golden tone then cascaded down onto the nine divine statues.
The God of Love wearing a flower crown and holding leaves; the God of Deception wearing a top hat and a mask; the God of Wealth in the form of a child with two small tufts of a mustache holding a large gold ingot; the God of Illusory Dreams clad in a cloak and a mermaid skirt.
The God of War, the only one sitting in a chair resting his head on his hand; the God of Light holding up a sun with both hands; the God of Destiny floating while embracing a giant crystal ball; the God of Luck wearing a pair of golden star-shaped glasses; and the God of Time with a finger hooked around a silver chain dangling a massive clock.
The golden sheen radiated along these divine statues, and the golden light cascaded like a waterfall, silently blanketing the entire square and forming a thick barrier separating mortals from the Candidates.
The instant the golden curtain descended, Fang Yuan's gaze crossed the sea of people. With crinkling eyes, she blew a kiss toward Bai Lingzhi, Wang Wei, and Lin Xu outside.
Before her teasing expression had faded, her returning gaze locked with that of the little girl.
Perhaps Fang Yuan's kiss had been far too charming, or perhaps her features were simply too stunning; the moment the little girl met her gaze, she blew an identical kiss right back without hesitation.
It was almost an exact copy of the kiss.
Even the arch of her eyebrows and the curve of her eyes were identical.
Amused, Fang Yuan gave her a wink combined with another blown kiss.
The little girl seemed to freeze for a moment, but a few seconds later, she sent a wink and blown kiss back to Fang Yuan as well.
Just as Fang Yuan was thinking of teaching her something else, a sudden humming from the divine pillar drew everyone's attention.
The humming originated from deep within the pillar. Amid the irregular vibrations, radiant golden veins rapidly lit up and filled the sky-reaching pillar from bottom to top.
The golden light spread at a steady, majestic pace, climbing upward along every carving and every weathered mark. It rose past the heads of the nine surrounding statues, beyond the boundaries of the square, and shot straight into the cloud-shrouded sky beyond sight.
Ultimately, the square became a completely sealed golden domain.
The sky was gold, the ground was gold, and the light coalesced into visible, slowly swirling halos in the air.
Outside noises were completely cut off, as if all connection to the mortal realm had been severed.
From the apex of the divine pillar, beams of light ripped through the uniform golden glow, plunging straight down to envelop everyone below.
Enveloped within the pillar of light inside the golden space, Fang Yuan heard that familiar voice once more.
It belonged to the God of Deception.
“Whoa! Welcome to the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】! Now, which one are you again? Let me take a peek...”
“Whoa, it's the little liar! Welcome, welcome! Be sure to tell plenty of good lies during the 【God Selection】! I've got high hopes for you!”
Fang Yuan: “...Nonsense. You didn't even remember who I was. That was clearly a canned script.”
“Aww, you caught me! But no reward for you!”
“Alright, alright, there's one more canned line I almost forgot.”
“Do I read the introduction for this part?”
Fang Yuan: “Are you asking me? I think you should. Go ahead and read it.”
“Oh, oh! I left the voice transmission on? So what if I did? My Candidate and I are tight! Yeah, yeah, I know, skip the intro.”
Shoulder-slinging her shovel and holding her hammer, Fang Yuan dug at her ear, trying to pick the voice right out of it.
“You are about to head to the 【Crucible】 within the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】 for the 【God Selection】. Once you step into the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】, your mortal coil shall be shed. We shall watch over you from atop our Divine Thrones.”
“Finished reading! Hanging up! Bye-bye!”
The voice vanished from her ear with a shhh, replaced by an electronic screen glowing with blue light.
Fang Yuan shifted her gaze, and the electronic screen moved right along with her eyes.
High-tech.
Way too high-tech.
It was basically high-tech gear built right into her retinas!
The screen flickered, dense lines of text jumping into view.
【Identity Verification Successful—】
【Candidate for the God of Deception】: Fang Yuan
【Nickname】: sdjifownmflsjflajwi32 (Can be changed once)
【Blessing】: Lies Made Real
Current Lies: Resurrect in a new body after death (Probability of coming true: 78%), Snap fingers to disperse illusions (Probability of coming true: 43%), Teleportation (Probability of coming true: 0.1%)
【Divine Relic】: None
【Luck Value】: 6/10
【Righteousness Value】: -5/100 (It is recommended to increase your Righteousness Value; in the eyes of divine creations, you will be categorized as a guest of poor character)
【Assets】: One shovel, one hammer, none otherwise
【Divine Expectation Value】: 5%
Fang Yuan's eye landed first on her Luck Value.
There wasn't even a marker for her bad-luck state. It seemed this status panel wasn't particularly useful after all.
However, this only strengthened her resolve to steal Liang Du's 【Blessing】.
She licked her somewhat dry lips and curled her mouth upon reading the tip behind her Righteousness Value.
Where didn't she look brimming with righteousness?
She, Fang Yuan, was the most loyal, polite, pleasant-spoken, innocent, kind-hearted person around. She never lied, never committed robbery or theft—she was practically Lei Feng reincarnated!
Slanderous nonsense! This status panel was total slanderous nonsense.
As for this Divine Expectation Value...
So low? Who were they looking down on?
Fang Yuan cast a contemptuous glance over it and tapped on the nickname modification.
The appearance of this nickname gave Fang Yuan a bad feeling.
After all, the 【God Selection】 was supposed to be a contest between divine Candidates. Why go out of the way to set up a nickname system?
She clicked confirm on her modified nickname and swiped her finger down.
Could it be that someone's 【Blessing】 was tied to real names?
She nibbled the skin at the corner of her lip, exceptionally satisfied upon seeing her new nickname.
【Nickname】: The Hammer Star Shoveling You Onto the Stage
Rate on N.U.
