Qi Cultivation Starting from the Repair Panel

Above the firmament, the rising morning sun carried warmth, yet this warmth failed to penetrate the depths of Yuan Dazun's heart.

"As you wish... worshipping gods?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Yuan Dazun repeated Chu Zheng's words, feeling a slight chill in his heart and a trace of bewilderment in his expression.

He could tell at a glance that the few magic artifacts in Chu Zheng's hands were valuable; at least with his prior financial resources, he couldn't afford them.

In one night, Chu Zheng suddenly had these artifacts in his possession, which was difficult to explain by normal reasoning.

Worshipping deities sometimes yielded rewards bestowed by them, but such events were rare, only the most fervent believers could possibly receive such divine rewards.

If it were said that Chu Zheng was a disciple of some deity, everything he had done before would turn into a joke.

Chu Zheng casually tossed the magic artifacts towards Yuan Dazun and turned to step inside his room, where he brought out the divine statue he had crafted.

Looking at the faceless divine statue, Yuan Dazun hesitated,

"Which deity is this? Not even a visage has been left behind... Was there no painter to capture a divine portrait during life?"

Practitioners of the Incense Fire Divine Path, most would have their likeness captured by a skilled painter before death, thus facilitating believers in Forming their Golden Body posthumously Shrouding them in incense fire.

Deities without a visage, as in this case, mostly remained in the Divine Embryo Realm, struggling to amass a sizable Divine Kingdom.

Without a face left behind, naturally, their persuasive power would be significantly reduced.

Even if many mythological tales were fabricated about them, without sufficient strength to prove their prowess, it would still be difficult to attract believers.

Believers follow a method to worship gods, expending their own Vitality, Qi, and Spirit, thus the number of deities one can worship each day is limited.

Believers aren't foolish; they can discern pros and cons, willing to choose deities that benefit them.

A deity so obscure, I fear, will soon be submerged by time, their remains lost, with no incense to perpetuate.

"Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu, a practitioner of the Taoist School,"

Chu Zheng had already decided on a title for the divine statue.

The method he used to craft this divine statue was acquired from the remnants of Zhao Tingxian's hidden abode, the 'God Sculpting Method,' which he had slightly modified.

He added a Yin Yang Diagram at the waist of the divine image as an identifier for 'Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu.'

He intentionally left the features of the statue blank, reserving a blank space, to test some possibilities.

"A Dao Lord?"

Yuan Dazun looked doubtful, as Dao Lord didn't seem like a traditional title recognized by the orthodox Incense Fire Divine Path.

After a silence, he couldn't help but ask, "Were these magic artifacts given by that one?"

"Yes,"

Chu Zheng's eyes flickered with anticipation, "Perhaps, he might fulfill most of your wishes."

If Yuan Dazun was unwilling, Chu Zheng had no intention of forcing him.

During this period, he had received quite a bit of care. These artifacts were enough to compensate for Yuan Dazun's contributions during that time; parting on good terms was sufficient.

Yuan Dazun hesitated, looking at the magic artifacts in his hand and then at the divine statue before him, unsure of his next move.

Relations of vassalage naturally exist among the deities, the Divine Court being the prime example: thirty-six thousand deities, clearly ranked, each serving their own sovereign.

Although the Imperial Divine Emperor was the supreme lord of all deities, sects still divided the Divine Court internally.

Powerful deities had hundreds and thousands of followers, and these followers were also Incense Fire Spirits.

Yuan Dazun had a clear understanding of his own abilities.

Even if he were to practice the Incense Fire Divine Path and achieve divinity after death, his achievements would be limited. Even if he were to enter the Divine Court, he would probably only find a remote rural area to establish a shrine, living meagerly on scant incense fire under the wing of some deity.

Compared to his current circumstances, the only advantage would be the ability to live on indefinitely.

After some hesitation, Yuan Dazun took a deep breath, took out an incense burner, offered up some Spirit Fruit, then lit a stick of Pure Incense, murmuring a chant.

After respectfully notifying heaven and earth, he bowed his head and inserted the Pure Incense into the burner.

Hiss—

The moment the incense entered the burner, the previously burning Pure Incense was instantly extinguished.

Seeing this, Yuan Dazun immediately frowned.

When the incense fire dies, so does the deity.

Unable to offer incense could mean that this Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu either did not exist in the world at all or all his followers had perished.

Besides these two possibilities, there was another: Daoist Venerable Zheng Chu did not wish to accept him as a follower.

Seeing this, Yuan Dazun sighed lightly, knowing that the magic artifacts in his hand couldn't have come from nowhere. Since Chu Zheng had benefited from this deity, it proved that the deity must exist.

It seemed that this Dao Lord had certain standards for selecting followers; one couldn't simply worship if one desired to do so.

Yuan Dazun gave Chu Zheng a somewhat helpless smile and turned to rest inside the house.

As it was his first time worshipping a god, he had spared no effort when he performed the God-Worshipping Method earlier, depleting much of his Vitality, Qi, and Spirit, and he needed time to recover.

Chu Zheng walked around the divine statue, his brow furrowed. He didn't feel any unusual movement, nor did he perceive any fluctuation of Incense Fire Willpower.

Clearly, this undoubtedly meant he had failed.

Practicing the Incense Fire Divine Path, to collect willpower directly without involving cause and effect was a bit of wishful thinking; there are no such perfect solutions in the world.

Chu Zheng was deep in thought, casually picking up the Spirit Fruit from the offering table and stuffing it into his mouth, contemplating whether there had been any oversights beforehand.

Crunch—

The moment the Spirit Fruit touched his palate, the extinguished Pure Incense in the furnace suddenly lit up with a faint glow and began to burn, emitting a rising stream of blue smoke.