Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
Lu Yao, cradling a steaming cup of warm tea, watched every move within the Simulator.
The Wishing Star was slowly rising.
Isabella, as the assembler of this epic artifact, was temporarily trapped inside the blue sphere, but her entry remained, right above the blue sun.
After some hands-on practice, Lu Yao had a general understanding.
The Wishing Star could be seen as a satellite with special powers, with the Apostle as its pilot and operator.
The Apostle could steer the Wishing Star to ascend high into the sky; without a pilot, the star was nothing more than a giant mud ball that could float in water—it was also the original prototype of the water nest.
Once activated, the Wishing Star would be enveloped in a misty blue halo, like a miniature sun, slowly rotating in the sky.
Above it, a status bar displayed 【Prayer Moment 67/100000】
The number on the left was climbing rapidly.
107
221
399
557
…
About three minutes later, the Prayer Moment showed full. The Wishing Star also stopped rotating, hanging silently, no longer receiving new prayers.
Lu Yao clicked on the numbers behind.
The screen zoomed in abruptly, entering the interior of the Wishing Star.
Inside was a miniature universe, where thousands of stars twinkled in the pitch-black space, quietly floating in the darkness.
Lu Yao casually clicked on a star.
A dialog box popped up immediately, with a bracket behind it containing a flame symbol and the number 2.
"Divine Lord, please bless me to pass the theological college exams and graduate smoothly… I beg you, if I don't graduate, I'll be kicked out and have to go home to raise pigs… (Flame 2)"
Continuing to click on this message, the perspective fell on a little figure's head.
The prayer was a theological apprentice, praying for good luck at the temple.
Lu Yao understood, but still, exams are best passed on one's own merit, and the gods can only cheer you on from afar.
He clicked on another star.
"God Yao, it hasn't rained for one and half month this year, and if this continues, all the sour raspberries and berries will be ruined… Our harvest this year depends entirely on this land. Please have mercy and grant us rain. (Flame 3)"
The prayer was a farmer living by the sea.
The farmer had planted an orchard, lived in a simple thatched cottage, and had three children.
Although the reputation of the three cities of the Yao Clan was growing, not everyone could live there; each pixel person had their own choices and dilemmas.
Lu Yao opened the miracles, expanded the range, and brought down rain around the orchard.
Above the farmer's head, an exclamation mark lit up, then turned into a big smiling face: "It's raining! The Divine Lord has heard our plea… Wonderful, wonderful! The berries are saved, saved!"
"Thank you, thank you! Thank you for your kindness and mercy!"
He knelt on the ground and kept bowing.
The three children also imitated their father.
Lu Yao noticed a Faith +3 prompt appearing in the upper right corner.
That is to say, behind each person's prayer, the flame represents the fire of faith, and the number represents the additional faith that can be generated after their wish comes true.
This gave him a doubt.
Could the Star Sea God really gain a large amount of faith by creating such an artifact?
Ordinary believers could offer some fire of faith, but the amount was small, and to fulfill their wishes, it usually took at least one miracle.
From a purely numerical point of view, it was a losing business.
Lu Yao returned his perspective to the interior of the 【Wishing Star】.
Soon he noticed two stars that were far brighter than the surrounding ones.
Lu Yao clicked on the largest and brightest one.
A long drop-down dialog box popped up.
"Divine Lord, please bestow upon us rain."
"The farms of Yao City desperately need rain."
"The orchards of Yao City need water…"
***
All the people of Yao City were praying for rain, with a total value of 4211 points of faith given for the accumulated wishes.
The second largest Wishing Star was filled with the prayers of the people of Salt City for rain, totaling 2047 points of faith.
Lu Yao figured it out.
The prayers of the believers would overlap, and the same wishes would gather into brighter and larger wish stars. By fulfilling the largest intersecting wish, many people's long-standing desires could be satisfied, thus obtaining a substantial amount of the fire of faith.
On the other hand, Lu Yao also noticed that the water level of the East River had dropped significantly, revealing a large stretch of riverbed.
The pixel world seemed to have entered a drought period, with both Salt City and Yao City starting to lack water and pray for rain.
Lu Yao brought down two rains each in the areas of Yao City and Salt City.
This greatly encouraged the citizens, each with a smile floating above their heads.
"The Divine Lord has seen our prayers! Thank you, great God Yao!"
"God Yao has solved the drought!"
"The omnipotent God Yao, the Wishing Star really works! Devotion is the most important!"
***
Lu Yao saw +4211 and +2047 green number reminders emerging in the upper right corner.
The increase in faith was expected.
He looked at the blue pixel sun floating in the sky and understood the significance of the 【Wishing Star】.
This artifact could not only deeply mine and cultivate the needs of the believers to gain a large amount of faith, but it was also an information radar that could inspect the living conditions of the little people.
It was indeed an epic artifact.
There was just one problem.
Lu Yao found that when the Wishing Star floated in the sky, the pixel people on the ground would stare at it and keep making wishes… This was understandable; if wishing worked, why bother working? Isn't this much faster than labor?
Never mind who the next lucky one is, trying your luck never hurts.
If not used cautiously, this artifact could have significant side effects.
Lu Yao immediately retracted the Wishing Star, and Isabella flew out of it, a tired expression floating above her head.
After asking, Lu Yao learned.
It turns out that being an Apostle inside the Wishing Star was not at all relaxing.
The Wishing Star, as an artifact, could only collect wishes and vows. It required Isabella to sort through those complicated wishes inside, categorizing them and clustering similar ones together, akin to a wish data clerk.
That was the reason an Apostle was needed to pilot it.
With the disappearance of the Wishing Star, the pixel people on the ground initially felt disappointment and regret, but they soon accepted reality and continued their own work; life had to go on.
Lu Yao decided for the time being to release the Wishing Star once a day, which could not only harvest some faith but also reveal some of the true situations of the believers.
For the little people, it was equivalent to a wish every ten years. This way, they wouldn't rely on it too much, affecting the normal order of life.
Lu Yao switched the map, temporarily placing the Wishing Star behind the mountains near the Dragon's Nest, with the wishes inside the artifact still intact.
He opened some of the larger stars and began to read.
These stars represented the same heartfelt wishes of many believers.
Aside from the immediate threats brought by the drought, there were two wishes with a large resonance, especially shining, second only to the wish for rain.
One was for wealth.
The other was for peace.
What caught Lu Yao's attention was that the brightest of the third-tier stars was actually the dwarves' prayer.
"Great and ancient God Yao, please turn your kind and wise eyes towards us. Nuée Ardente sincerely prays that you will bless my good friend, our princess, to brew the most perfect mead soon! I will recite your virtues and mercy day and night, spreading your blessings and kindness."
"Please bless us to drink the mead brewed by the princess."
"Mead, mead… such a thing can only be born under the blessing of the gods and truly passed down to the world. Please bless us, Divine Lord!"
***
42 dwarves actually generated a high 862 points of the fire of faith.
Among the wishers with the same wish, there was also a human.
Hunter Rain.
She was also the princess mentioned by the dwarves.
Lu Yao remembered this little person; she had been robbed and cried by a snowman at the Elf Lake in her youth, and later seemed to be training with Salt Long.
The problem was, he didn't know how to make mead.
Lu Yao double-clicked the wish dialog box, and the screen jumped to the dwarven fortress in the south.
Hunter Rain's personal attribute panel was not much different from other little people, except for one special ability.
【Brewing LV3】: Skilled in brewing, with a certain chance of creating new fine wines.
And under the personal panel, there was another entry.
【Mead Princess】【Endless Hammer Crafting】(Equipped): Immune to drunkenness, morale +1.
She even had a special piece of equipment.
Wait a minute.
Lu Yao's eyes suddenly brightened.
In the pixel world, someone could already craft Transcendent equipment!