Gamers Are Fierce

"Are all of you enjoying yourselves?"

Bai Yongyan surveyed the guests with a smile. After receiving affirmative responses, he picked up a patterned ceramic plate. He claimed, "The fruit of these trees is very precious and can be used as a special ingredient to assist in casting Unique Spells." With this justification, he collected the fruit pits from each guest. Then, flipping his palm, the plate full of fruit pits vanished from sight under everyone's watchful gaze, displaying yet another Odd Art.

Normally, this level of talent display would have been sufficient. The guests had had their fill of spectacles and peaches, affirming Bai Yongyan's status as the top Guest Elder of Shu Palace. The Old Spider Dancer clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth in hidden rage.

However, Bai Yongyan still did not intend to stop there.

He clapped his hands and announced with a loud laugh, "Next, I will perform the long-lost Live Crab Technique."

Live Crab Technique?

The audience perked up their ears, their curiosity clearly piqued.

They had never heard of such a Spell, let alone witnessed it. Could it possibly be more magical than the Spell that transformed the withered wood into a peach tree just now?

The audience awaited with bated breath, eager to witness the novel spectacle. Yet Bai Yongyan casually took a plate with a crab on it from his own desk. He returned to sit cross-legged next to the peach tree, placing the plate on his knees. Pursing his lips, he closed his eyes in deep thought, as if communing with Deities in the unknown, seeking divine revelations.

Seeing his solemn demeanor, nobody dared to utter a sound, and a tense mood silently spread among them.

After a long while, Bai Yongyan suddenly opened his eyes, his hands quickly forming inscrutable hand seals in the air, almost leaving afterimages.

He rapidly intoned the nine sacred words: "Presence! Arms! Combat! Power! All! Formation! Column! Forward! March!"

Bai Yongyan's eyes were wide open, his index fingers pointing to his temples, and he exclaimed in a low, forceful tone, "I call upon the God of Food to possess me!"

Among the audience were Magicians who recognized at a glance that Bai Yongyan was performing a ritual to summon a Deity. This involved using hand seals, talisman water, and incantations to call forth Immortal Buddha Spirits from the unseen to possess him, granting him various strange and mysterious abilities.

This ritual of summoning gods dates back to Ancient Times, its origins even predating the emergence of Taoism. In those eras, Shamans and Prophets from primal tribes used similar methods to communicate with primordial Spiritual Bodies.

After Zhang Tianshi suppressed temples and eliminated numerous heretical cults, he set down rules regarding the nature of such rituals—the summoning of gods, divination using a Divination Child, or spirit medium dances, were all considered grandstanding and deceptive to the common folk.

As the saying goes, righteous Deities do not possess bodies, and any that possess are not righteous Deities. Furthermore, all genuine immortal gods and celestial generals do not attach to living bodies. Those that claim to speak through possession are surely evil spirits and heretical deviants.

Even though Longhu Mountain and Zen Buddhism recognize the existence of Divination Children, their directives strictly forbid Disciples from engaging in such practices. Violators were not only expelled from their sects but might also face pursuit and reckoning from their respective sects.

Yet, the tradition of the Divination Child was too ancient. Even Longhu Mountain and Zen Buddhism found it hard to eradicate the widespread influence of the art of the Divination Child in folk customs. In many backward areas, Shamanistic practices still prevailed. These practitioners used mediums to communicate with the Souls of deceased ancestors for the common people, helping to eliminate disasters, cure diseases, and answer doubts.

These practitioners were widespread and their lineages chaotic; even the Cultivators of Longhu Mountain found it hard to count their exact numbers. They knew that the vast majority had no mana and were purely conning the ignorant masses; only a rare few possessed a slight and sometimes accurate innate spiritual sense.

This Bai Yongyan, he knew the art of the Divination Child too?

And what exactly was this "God of Food" he had summoned?

The audience was curious and watched Bai Yongyan without blinking.

"HAAH!" Bai Yongyan bellowed, his eyes, now bloodshot, snapping open. "I am the God of Food, Island Master Old Ba!"

His voice turned deep and hoarse as if he had become someone else entirely.

Had he truly become possessed?!

Many guests in the audience had never seen a practice of the Divination Child from such a close distance with their own eyes, and they instinctively craned their necks and leaned forward to get a clearer view.

"My friends!" Bai Yongyan's ice-cold, commanding gaze swept over the crowd as he spoke with authority, "There's nothing Old Ba can't do, only things you can't imagine! We might not be at the same point in time, but we are in the same Royal Mansion! Today, I, Old Ba, will once again take on the challenge of eating a crab! Alright then, cheers, brothers!"

With those words, Bai Yongyan slapped the ground fiercely, causing the plate on his knee to jolt upwards, launching the big crab within it into the air.

SMACK!

Bai Yongyan seized the large crab in one grasp, holding it in his hand, and spoke in a cold, domineering, and devilishly wild tone, "My brothers, we're not eating the good stuff, not the expensive stuff! Today, we're having something super crunchy! Join me, let's do this!"

Somewhat inexplicably, upon hearing Bai Yongyan's words, a surge of impulsiveness rose in the hearts of the audience. They couldn't help but salivate at the sight of the crabs on their plates. As if possessed, they picked up the crabs. With synchronized movements, they tore off the claws. Unwittingly following Bai Yongyan's lead, they began to eat the crabs in perfect unison.