"Pfft—"
Seeing Shen Qi's darkened face, Lu Zhi, having easily exited the barrier, couldn't help but laugh. "Is this a new welcome ceremony?"
Shen Qi's expression was blank. He placed his palm on the golden characters of the barrier, and red energy flowed from his hand. The ear-piercing cracking of glass grew louder, and the entire divine tower began to shake violently.
Lu Zhi was shocked. "Stop it! Hurry!"
Shen Qi withdrew his power with a sinister gaze and sneered, "We haven't seen each other for many years, and your intelligence has improved. You've even learned to threaten me."
Lu Zhi: ...Insulting someone's intelligence right off the bat. You really deserve this special treatment, don't you!
"I can go in by myself." Lu Zhi glanced at the sky. "It's getting dark. Why don't you go back and take a nap? Maybe I'll be able to get out tomorrow morning?"
Shen Qi seemed to be considering the feasibility of this, his entire demeanor radiating an extremely low pressure. Meeting Lu Zhi's smiling black eyes, which were bright and sparkling, Shen Qi finally relented. He pointed to the location of his imprint and said, "I haven't told you yet how to use the power of the imprint, have I?"
Lu Zhi froze. He had thought the purpose of the divine imprint was merely for Shen Qi to descend to the mortal world in his divine capacity. However, Shen Qi could freely switch between his divine and human forms to walk in reality without being restricted by world laws.
The power of gods was too immense. Their dwelling places had always been the divine realms, and they could not descend in their true forms. Even if they could, their divine power would be greatly diminished.
"The imprint can use your power?" Lu Zhi instinctively placed his hand on the location of the imprint, clearly feeling the hard touch that retained his body heat. "How do I use it?"
Shen Qi held his hand, pulling him closer, and pressed his forehead against Lu Zhi's. "You are my only believer. Your soul, your body, are all mine alone."
Shen Qi cupped Lu Zhi's face with both hands, his deep voice murmuring like a lover's sweet words, "How should a believer use a god's power? Hmm?"
Lu Zhi had always known Shen Qi's eyes were beautiful, possessing a kind of magic.
At this moment, Lu Zhi felt as if he were trapped by Shen Qi's gaze, unable to break free, and involuntarily revealed his most genuine thoughts: "To beseech... the god's mercy."
Shen Qi's lips curved slightly. He kissed Lu Zhi gently, pressing against his lips, and said, "The god has heard your plea and is willing to lend His power to my most beloved believer."
Lu Zhi's pupils widened slightly. He saw a galaxy in Shen Qi's eyes, a staggeringly beautiful and magical, crimson-gold nebula, pouring into a crystal-clear diamond, where it was frantically absorbed by a red flower seedling.
The surging power spurred the seedling to grow leaves, which then quickly withered, only to be replaced by vibrant red petals – the Lycoris radiata, or Higanbana, that Lu Zhi had seen before. Flowers bloom without leaves, and leaves appear without flowers.
Suddenly, the imprint on his chest emitted a scorching heat, which in the next second turned ice-cold. It was as if he could hear a seed breaking through the soil. A pleasant floral scent, the same as Shen Qi's body, faintly emanated, enveloping Lu Zhi's body, filling him from the inside out with the divine aura.
At this moment, Lu Zhi suddenly understood. This was the true divine imprint, becoming the possession of a god.
Lu Zhi, now regaining his senses, asked, "Shen Qi, did you... deceive me again?"
He had always borne the divine imprint but had never truly received the god's recognition.
The crazed possessiveness that flickered in Shen Qi's eyes at this moment startled even Lu Zhi.
Shen Qi nuzzled Lu Zhi's nose affectionately, chuckled, and murmured, "You gave yourself to me. You have no chance to regret it."
After a long moment, Lu Zhi managed to utter, trying to regain some dignity, "Am I the kind of person who goes back on their word?"
Shen Qi, his mood pleasant, caressed his face. "Of course not. Anyway..."
"Anyway what?" Lu Zhi frowned. "If you speak halfway, you'll be struck by lightning."
Shen Qi's mouth parted slightly, but Lu Zhi interrupted him directly, "Forget it, forget it. You'd better not say it. Hurry up and leave. I need to go in."
After speaking, he glanced at the sun, which had completely submerged below the horizon. He remembered something and said seriously, "I know you're hiding something. I hope that when I come out of the divine tower, you'll tell me yourself, understand?"
Shen Qi raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.
Lu Zhi took this as his tacit agreement. He turned and entered the divine tower, completely unaware of Shen Qi's cold, icy gaze fixed on Miss Ma Wei.
Ma Wei: ...Help, help me!
...
After Lu Zhi stepped through the grand gate of the divine tower, he was stunned by the boundless plain before him.
He finally understood why Jiang Yue and the others hadn't rushed him when he hadn't entered the divine tower for so long. The moment he crossed the threshold, they had seemingly entered another fantastical world.
An endless green grassland stretched before him. From the white yurts, figures emerged—beings with the bodies of humans and the heads of horses. The only thing that comforted Lu Zhi was seeing Wang Cao Tian walk out of one of the yurts.
"Senior Wang." Lu Zhi called out. Although they were separated by a river about three meters wide, Wang Cao Tian couldn't hear him.
Just as Lu Zhi was about to step on the stones across the river, a little girl's voice sounded from behind him, asking, "Are you also a guest here to play on the horse plains?"
Lu Zhi spun around abruptly, prepared to face a little girl with a horse's head. However, he found a very cute human little girl.
Lu Zhi was certain that there had been no one behind him, not even a horse, unless he considered the "horse people" in the yurts.
Lu Zhi felt no danger from the little girl, but he remained cautious. "Hello."
The little girl, about five or six years old, wore a pink princess dress and had cute twin pigtails. She circled Lu Zhi, sniffed, and immediately pinched her nose in disgust. "Why do you smell of that bad thing?"
Lu Zhi instinctively sniffed his arm and clothes. Thinking of the barrier that had blocked Shen Qi, he had an epiphany and asked, "Shen Qi?"
The little girl's expression immediately turned ugly. She put one hand on her hip, pointed at Lu Zhi, and glared with her round brown eyes, fiercely asking, "Tell me, what's your relationship with that mad dog!"
Lu Zhi: ...Good heavens, calling Shen Qi a mad dog right off the bat. That barrier must have something to do with her.
Before Lu Zhi could ask about the little girl's identity, she continued, "Never mind. Humans who associate with mad dogs are all bad."
Lu Zhi: ...Shen Qi, I understand you now. Little brats need discipline.
"You're also here to seek the gods' recognition and obtain the blessings bestowed by the gods, right?" The little girl raised her head haughtily and said, "First, you have to answer one question for me."
Lu Zhi: "Ask away."
Little girl: "In this world, what is the most, most, most beautiful and good-looking animal?"
Lu Zhi: ...No wonder Shen Qi sarcastically said her intelligence had improved.