Zhang Yi spread his Spiritual Power over the entire Divine Realm, and his perspective instantly shifted.
He could see a small Elf Tribe within the Dawn Forest. At this moment, all the Wood Elves were gathered together, seemingly holding a ritual of some kind.
On a small altar, the Wood Elf Tribe's only High Priest, Shamiel, had her hands clasped before her chest, silently chanting.
"Great Lord of Elves, God of Nature, and Forest Dominator, it is You who has given us hope, land, and food, allowing us to survive…"
"You are the eternal sovereign, an immortal legend, our everlasting faith, the one we shall serve for all our lives…"
"We will serve You forever and never betray You!"
Shamiel raised her hands high, her face flushed with emotion as she recited loudly.
"We are grateful for Your boons, for sheltering us!"
"We are willing to offer everything we have, to present the sacrifices before us to You. We pray that You will be pleased!"
"We pray that our tribe, under Your protection, may find enough food to survive this harsh winter!"
A ritual! Zhang Yi noted with surprise.
A Divine Being's Believers could use rituals to offer the best things in their tribe in exchange for rewards. If a Divine Being responded to the ritual by revealing a miracle, large numbers of Believers would provide vast amounts of Faith Value. The sight of such a miracle could easily turn General Believers into True Believers, and True Believers into Devout Believers.
The Divine Being, in turn, could harvest a massive amount of Faith Value from the process. After all, Faith Value was not only used to coalesce Divinity and increase a Divine Being's power, but it was also a universally recognized currency for purchasing Divine Domain Cards. A good Divine Domain Card usually cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Faith Value.
The Wood Elves' altar was laden with all sorts of offerings: wild fruits, rabbits, and goats, as well as giant pythons, wolves, and massive catfish…
Having completed the ritual prayer, Shamiel, who had presided over the ceremony, was exhausted and swaying unsteadily. But after a long while, not a single trace of a miracle appeared.
A look of disappointment crossed the face of the Wood Elf Tribe's leader, Elf Queen An Nobel. "Has our Divine Being abandoned us? Will we no longer be sheltered? Or is our faith not devout enough? Are our offerings insufficient?"
"But this was already the most our entire Elf Tribe could offer. For this, more than ten of our Elves have already been injured or killed!"
Faced with Elf Queen An Nobel's doubt and anxiety, the entire Elf Tribe fell silent.
A glimmer of determination flashed in the eyes of the young High Priest, Shamiel. She began to speak slowly, her voice tinged with exhaustion but filled with power.
"Your Majesty, our faith has not weakened. Our hearts remain devout. Perhaps our great Divine Being is testing us—testing our conviction and resolve."
She glanced around, her gaze resting on the face of each Elf as she continued, "We cannot give up. We cannot question the wisdom and mercy of our Divine Being. As long as our hearts remain full of faith, our Divine Being will eventually answer our call."
But just then, from Zhang Yi's perspective, the three Resource Cards he had brought into the Divine Realm started to react.
[Event: Your Clan, the Wood Elves, just held a grand ritual.]
[Detected: The Wood Elves in the host's Divine Realm are conducting a grand ritual.]
[Detected: Host possesses two Four-star Resource Cards and one Five-star Resource Card. The Golden Finger has refreshed to provide three options for the host to choose from.]
[Option 1]: Double the quantity of the Five-star Resource Card, granting 20,000 standard units of food. (One unit provides one meal.)
[Option 2]: Double the quantity of the Four-star Resource Card—Baobab Tree x 500. Its fruit is edible, and its trunk provides water.
[Option 3]: Double the quantity of the Four-star Resource Card—Arable Fertile Land x 50, granting 100 square kilometers of fertile land.
A delighted expression appeared on Zhang Yi's face. As expected of my Golden Finger!
Zhang Yi then calmed himself and began to consider which option to choose.
While Option 1 would solve the immediate problem, it was not a long-term solution.
Option 3 was good, but since it was the dead of winter outside the Dawn Forest, the land couldn't be cultivated, no matter how fertile it was. Furthermore, the Wood Elves had no suitable seeds for planting.
With Option 2, however, the Wood Elves could use their natural Talent for planting to further increase the number of Baobab Trees. The trees also had a short growth cycle, needing only half a month to mature. Moreover, Baobab Trees were highly adaptable; they could grow normally in temperatures ranging from -10 to 30 degrees Celsius. This would completely solve the Wood Elves' food shortage.
The Wood Elves were not completely without food; it was just difficult to acquire. Surviving for another half a month was still achievable for them. As long as they could last that half-month, their food shortage would be completely resolved.
Therefore, after considering all these factors, Zhang Yi chose Option 2.
He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and drew upon the Faith Value within him to answer the Elves' prayers. He chose an empty plot of land on the outskirts of the Elf Tribe, near the small altar. He selected the option and, with a grand gesture, spent several hundred Faith Value like water in exchange for flashy special effects.
Then, on the empty ground near the small altar, motes of green light fell like a curtain of rain. As the light coalesced, small Baobab Trees gradually began to appear, one after another!
[Event: You have loaded the Four-star Resource Card—Baobab Tree x 1,000.]
[Event: Your miracle has astounded a large number of Wood Elves. You have gained a massive amount of Faith Value: 7,556.]
As members of his Clan, the Wood Elves instantly knew the purpose of the small Baobab Trees the moment they saw them, thanks to their innate Talent. At the same time, High Priest Shamiel also received an Oracle.
The next moment, she raised her hands high and cried out, "Praise to the great God of Nature, Lord of Elves, and Forest Dominator! Thank You for the food You have given us! We will serve You forever and never betray You…"
[Event: Due to the manifestation of your miracle, your believer Shamiel has become a Fanatic Believer, An Nobel has become a Devout Believer, and you have gained 26 True Believers!]
Zhang Yi hadn't expected to gain so much from manifesting a single miracle. He had gained 26 True Believers, one Devout Believer, and one Fanatic Believer in one fell swoop! A True Believer could provide 5 points of Faith Value per day, a Devout Believer could provide 10, and a Fanatic Believer could provide 100. At this rate, Zhang Yi could coalesce a trace of Divinity within a month, and that was assuming his number of Believers didn't increase any further.
After the second month, once the Blue Star Will's assessment was over, Zhang Yi could also use Resource Cards to directly increase the number of Elves in his Divine Realm.
Indeed, the study of faith is a subject a Divine Being must learn for their entire life, and it seems I've just begun to grasp the basics! Open the Believers interface!
[Saints]: 0
[Fanatic Believers]: Shamiel (High Priest)
[Devout Believers]: An Nobel (Elf Queen)
[True Believers]: 26
[General Believers]: 256
[Pseudo-Believers]: 4
[Non-Believers]: 0
Although more than ten Wood Elves had already died for various reasons, after this miracle, none of the remaining Wood Elves were without faith.