On the way back.
Lu Chen kept mulling over Deng Jiajia’s words.
If what she said was true.
The academy is starting to reform their system starting with their batch of senior students.
Giving them the right to take on missions early.
For Lu Chen, this is definitely a fantastic piece of good news.
Originally, following his plan.
He would earn money steadily for the next few years, worship a few obscure gods here and there, and slowly improve his strength.
Then, after graduation, he would start taking on missions, earn rewards and military merits, and step by step climb to the peak of his life.
But now, this waiting time is going to be greatly shortened.
Which also means Lu Chen can save himself a few years of hard grinding.
The mission hall is filled with a dazzling array of missions, all kinds of them.
From the big ones, like entering dungeons to kill monsters and level up.
To the small ones, like accepting various commissions and completing tasks.
In theory, as long as you have the ability, there will always be endless missions to do, endless money and military merits to earn.
And these missions often require you to come into contact with all sorts of different deities.
That’s why this world has given birth to so many support professions, like the Fortune Transporter I mentioned earlier.
But working for someone else? No way.
“I have so many neglected altars to burn offerings at! Why would I work for someone else? As long as the reward is right, I’d even take down the Four Emperors!”
Lu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. “The path of martial arts is good, but for me, the mission hall offers a much wider world.”
“Besides, with this two hundred thousand, I won’t be short of money for incense offerings for a while. It’s time to think about improving my combat power. After all, one is Lord Wenchang and the other is Lord of Wealth, Jun – both are support-type deities. I should probably start worshipping a combat-type deity too.”
Lu Chen decided to head back to the temple.
But before going, he still needed to prepare some things.
To be precise, some offerings!
He wanted to see if performing a ritual would actually work on these deities.
And also to fulfill his vow of thanks to Lord of Wealth, Jun, for the [Blessing].
If you don’t fulfill your vow after receiving a blessing, it won’t just greatly affect the possibility of receiving another blessing next time, it might even reduce your Divine Servant Degree.
No sooner said than done!
Lu Chen set about preparing the offerings and kept busy until the afternoon…
Only after everything was ready did Lu Chen, carrying a backpack, return to the Zhao Family Temple once more.
The temple was still bustling with incense-offering visitors.
Lu Chen went straight to the incense counter.
“Please give me a stick of black incense for Lord of Wealth, Jun, Chai Rong. Thank you.”
Lu Chen scanned the detector. 5%.
The purchase condition for black incense requires a Divine Servant Degree of 5% or higher.
Lu Chen currently just met the requirement.
“Twenty thousand.”
“Hiss~“
Lu Chen sucked in a breath. This black incense was actually a full two hundred times more expensive than the regular incense.
Oh, well!
Twenty thousand it is.
After paying, he took the black incense. Just as he turned around, he noticed the surrounding visitors were all looking at him, unable to hide their envy and jealousy.
“So young, and already able to buy black incense. Pretty impressive, young man.”
A visitor couldn’t help but praise him.
Lu Chen gave an awkward chuckle and took the incense to line up at the entrance.
Not long after he left.
At the incense counter, a staff member suddenly made a phone call, his eyes fixed on Lu Chen’s retreating figure.
“Boss, that kid from yesterday is here again. Looks like he’s here to fulfill his vow.”
“Back so soon? This kid really is greedy. Alright, got it!”
A cold laugh suddenly came from the other end of the line.
…
The back courtyard.
Lu Chen lit the black incense and once again used the [Incense Praise Incantation] to respectfully invite Lord of Wealth, Jun.
…
The Heavenly Court, Lord Jun’s Wealth Hall.
On a meditation cushion, Lord of Wealth, Jun, Chai Rong, suddenly took a deep breath, and an especially rich and potent incense smoke drilled into his body.
It refreshed his spirit.
“It’s that young man again. Looks like he came into a pretty big windfall.”
Lord Jun savored the feeling. “The quality of this incense offering is much better than before. He’s quite thoughtful.”
A flash of golden light.
Lord Jun vanished from the cushion.
…
The back courtyard.
Lu Chen waited devoutly.
“Young man.”
The ethereal, sacred voice rang out again.
Lu Chen’s heart leaped with joy, and he quickly bowed with clasped hands. “This junior respectfully welcomes Lord Jun.”
Since Lord Jun kept calling him “young man,” why should Lu Chen stand on ceremony? He directly referred to himself as a junior.
Lord Jun didn’t say anything about it.
An invisible golden light shot out from the statue, instantly flowing all over Lu Chen’s body, then returned to the statue.
Lord Jun suddenly understood and said with a teasing laugh, “You’re quite eager, young man. In just half a day, you’ve already squandered the fortune I bestowed upon you. So, how does it feel to be suddenly rich?”
Lu Chen stuck the incense into the burner and grinned. “My Lord, your divine power is immense. With just a slight effort, you’ve already reached the limit of blessings at this level. This junior’s admiration for you is like an endless, mighty river that never ceases!”
“You young man, yesterday you were so respectful, and today you’ve learned to be glib-tongued. But since you’re still quite thoughtful, I won’t hold it against you.”
Lord Jun’s words were critical, but he didn’t actually seem upset.
“However, I must still remind you, young man. Windfall comes easily and goes just as easily. I gave you a blessing because I see your sincerity, but don’t get so lost in the pursuit of this quick money that you can’t pull yourself out.”
Lu Chen nodded in agreement.
Lord of Wealth, Jun, Chai Rong, is the deity of merchant wealth.
In other words, the God of Wealth that businesspeople worship.
Commerce represents legitimate, stable wealth.
No wonder he looks down on this kind of windfall.
Zhao Gongming, on the other hand, accepts both legitimate wealth and windfalls without discrimination.
Their customer bases are quite different.
Zhao Gongming’s customer base directly includes Chai Rong’s customer base.
With this shift, it’s no wonder the latter gradually became an obscure, neglected deity.
“My Lord, your teachings are deeply remembered by this junior. From now on, I will definitely walk the right path and never let this windfall cloud my mind!”
“That’s very good.”
Chai Rong accepted the incense offering and prepared to return to the Heavenly Court.
But before leaving, he thought for a moment and still added a piece of advice: “If you’re sincere, come to this temple every now and then to offer a stick of incense. Sincerity brings fortune naturally.”
Lu Chen almost lost his composure upon hearing this.
Lord Jun’s meaning was crystal clear. As long as he came to offer incense more often in the future, given enough time, he would voluntarily look after him and grant him blessings.
But he’s a deity, after all, and couldn’t just directly ask for it.
So he put it as: Sincerity brings fortune naturally.
“It seems mortals love money, and deities love incense offerings just as much. After all, They need to eat too!”
Lu Chen immediately nodded emphatically. “Yes, my Lord Jun. This junior will remember your kindness. But please wait a moment, my Lord. This junior has something to present to you!”
Lord Jun was just about to return to the Heavenly Court when he heard this and couldn’t help but be stunned. “Present to me? What is it?”
Lu Chen took out something he had prepared earlier from his backpack.
“What is this?!”
Lord Jun looked somewhat puzzled as he saw Lu Chen holding a yellow paper packet in his hand.
Lu Chen’s mouth curled up. “My Lord, inside this packet are some valuable offerings. I hope you won’t find them too humble.”
“Valuable offerings?” Lord Jun laughed derisively. “Young man, I only consume incense smoke. I’m not worthy of enjoying your mortal world items. Take them back.”
“My Lord, please don’t rush. These valuable offerings are different from ordinary valuable offerings. Let this junior try. If it works, consider it a small token of my appreciation.”
Worried about prying eyes.
Lu Chen planned to burn the thing first and then explain.
To avoid being discovered.
He placed the yellow paper packet on the ground and lit it with a lighter.
This yellow paper packet, in Taoist tradition, is called a [Golden Thread Box]. Inside, it contains some paper money and scriptures.
And this paper money isn’t ordinary paper money either.
It’s called [Nine Gold], specially offered to the deities up above.
If it were offered to those below, it would be called [Great Silver], also known as underworld currency, or hell banknotes.
Besides that, Lu Chen also put a piece of [Dragon-Phoenix Robe] inside. This isn’t money, but an item.
Lu Chen had drawn a few sets of clothes on it, to serve as casual wear for Lord Jun.
Finally, Lu Chen also copied a copy of a merit scripture as the grand finale gift.
These were all the preparations Lu Chen had made after leaving the lottery shop.
From buying materials to carving stamps, to copying the scripture.
For those four or five hours, Lu Chen barely rested a moment and barely managed to finish just in time.
Luckily, Lu Chen had done this kind of work many times in his previous life, so copying scriptures was something he could do fast and furiously.
Otherwise, for just one Golden Thread Box, someone else might not even finish it in three days.
On the other hand, seeing Lu Chen do all this, Lord Jun was very confused.
Why was he suddenly burning paper money with such a bang while they were talking?
Throughout history, when mortals make offerings, besides incense, they offer various sacrificial items.
However, as times have changed, these offerings have long since transformed from the original fruits and snacks into all kinds of spiritually enlightened items that contain great merit and great divine power.
But these spiritually enlightened items are extraordinarily precious.
How could they ever be available to ordinary deities like them, who achieved sainthood through merit?
They’ve long been treated as spoils by those high-level, primordial spirit deities.
That aside, since when did burning paper money become an offering?
Lord Jun considered himself a deity who had been around for quite a while, but this was the first time he had encountered something that touched the limits of his knowledge.
