“What’s the matter? Are you unwilling, my young friend?”
“No, no, no! Lord of Wealth, you misunderstand. It’s just… the impact is so great that I lost my composure for a moment.”
Lu Chen had guessed something good might happen, but he never expected good fortune to punch him right in the face!
An immortal deity wanting to swear brotherhood with a mortal like him?
If word got out, it would be utterly insane!
Lu Chen struggled to steady his nerves and asked tentatively, “My Lord, if I may be so bold as to ask one more question: You are a revered deity. Would becoming my sworn brother cause any trouble for you? Wouldn’t it violate the laws of Heaven?”
The God of Wealth laughed heartily. “My young friend, you worry too much. The laws of Heaven only forbid immortals from falling in love with mortals. When did they ever say an immortal cannot befriend a mortal? If that were the case, why would the concept of ‘Divine Favor’ even exist?”
Lu Chen realized that made perfect sense. If Divine Favor reached one hundred percent, it essentially meant a bond forged through life and death.
The God of Wealth added, “Even if Heaven forbids love between immortals and mortals, history is full of such tales, isn’t it? The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the Seventh Fairy and Dong Yong, Yang Tianyou and the Cloud Flower Fairy. Aren’t these all celebrated love legends?”
Yang Tianyou and the Cloud Flower Fairy?
Oh…
Lu Chen remembered now!
Those were the birth parents of the Illustrious Divine True Lord Erlang—Yang Jian.
The story of “Cleaving the Mountain to Save His Mother” is precisely about the Cloud Flower Fairy.
Seeing that the God of Wealth had gone this far, Lu Chen needed no further encouragement. He immediately knelt on the ground and performed a grand salute toward the statue. “Elder Brother above, please accept your younger brother’s bow!”
Thump, thump, thump. Three kneelings and nine kowtows, each one loud and clear.
When the ceremony was complete, Lu Chen’s forehead was already red and swollen.
“Excellent, excellent! Today is truly a wonderful day! In all my years since ascending to the celestial ranks, I, Chai Rong, have never felt such joy! Please rise, my worthy younger brother!”
Lu Chen felt a gentle force lift him back to his feet.
“Today, as we have sworn brotherhood, I, your elder brother, have no extravagant gifts to offer. I do, however, possess a Fortune-Bringing Ingot. Please accept it, worthy brother. With this treasure, no matter what business you engage in from now on, your chances of success will be boosted by an additional thirty percent.”
A flash of gold appeared before Lu Chen’s eyes—a pendant shaped like a gold ingot, radiating shimmering light. It was clearly no ordinary object.
“A thirty percent boost in any business venture… meaning if I have a seventy percent chance of success, it becomes a certainty? Damn, this is a divine artifact!”
Overjoyed, Lu Chen did not stand on ceremony. He accepted the treasure and immediately put it on.
“Ah, there is one more special property,” the God of Wealth continued. “In your terms, it has a chance to trigger an effect that guarantees one hundred percent success. If you hear the sound of copper coins clinking, that means the effect has been activated!”
Lu Chen was deeply moved. “Holy crap! That’s insane! Elder Brother, this is far too generous!”
“Don’t mention it, worthy brother. Besides this Fortune-Bringing Ingot, I shall bestow upon you one more divine ability. This ability is called: the Treasure-Seeing Eye. With this power, you will be able to discern the true value of all things in the mortal world. Why don’t you give it a try now?”
As soon as the words faded, another beam of golden light shot from the statue and flowed directly into Lu Chen’s eyes.
Lu Chen instinctively closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the world before him had almost transformed into a realm of pure data.
A stone on the ground: “1 Yuan.”
Distant ruined walls: “10 Yuan.”
Various deity statues: “???”
“Huh? Why the question marks?”
Lu Chen was briefly puzzled, but he quickly figured out the reason and nodded in understanding.
“The statues represent deities. Their value cannot be measured by mortal wealth. That’s likely why they appear as question marks.”
He blinked, and the floating numbers vanished from his sight. He had already mastered the ability.
Having received two supreme treasures in rapid succession, Lu Chen bowed deeply from the waist, his voice thick with emotion. “Thank you, Elder Brother, for these priceless gifts. Your kindness is more than I can ever repay.”
The God of Wealth replied with a resonant laugh, “You are too polite, worthy brother. The offering you brought me has also left me profoundly grateful.”
He paused, then his tone turned reflective. “To be honest with you, worthy brother, my current divine power is far beyond what it once was. Were it not for certain… limitations, I would certainly bestow upon you even greater treasures and divine abilities. Alas, my hands are tied.”
Lu Chen, of course, understood how crucial the power of incense offerings and meritorious deeds was to a deity whose sanctification relied on accumulated virtue.
He immediately bowed and made a firm declaration: “Rest assured, Elder Brother. I will spare no effort to dedicate myself and contribute meritorious virtue on your behalf! However…”
Inside the statue’s dimensional space, the smile that had begun to spread on the God of Wealth’s face froze at that one word. “However?” he prompted. “However, what?”
Lu Chen’s expression turned apologetic. “I must be frank, Elder Brother. The secret arts recorded in my family’s legacy are indeed profound and wondrous. However, the requirements for their use are exceedingly strict. They require me to activate incantations with my own magical power. The stronger the incantation, the greater the demand on my own cultivation base. If my personal power is insufficient, I must use my own life essence—my blood—as a medium and an offering.
You must have noticed earlier that the yellow paper package was densely covered in crimson scripture.
Not all of that red was cinnabar.
Some of it was mixed with my life essence.”
The God of Wealth’s voice sharpened with alarm. “What? The secret art requires life essence? A Blood Curse?!”
Lu Chen quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no! It’s not a mandatory requirement for blood. It’s simply that my own power is too weak. I had no choice but to resort to this inferior method. My goal was merely to test whether the art would actually work. Please don’t worry, Elder Brother. If it were truly a Blood Curse, how much blood could someone like me possibly offer before collapsing?”
The God of Wealth breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t a Blood Curse—a forbidden dark art—it was acceptable. As an Orthodox Deity, he could not afford to be tainted by such malevolent practices.
“Do not resort to such methods again!”
“I understand, Elder Brother.” Lu Chen nodded emphatically, then added with a sigh, “What a pity that my own power is so meager. Though I possess the secret art, I lack the strength to fully utilize it. Otherwise, I could surely offer you a hundred thousand incense offerings.”
Lu Chen was making this up as he went along.
This whole “life essence” business was pure fabrication. Drawing talismans and copying scriptures only required some effort and raw materials, nothing more.
He had fabricated this story for two key reasons.
First: He deeply understood the principle that “great favors can breed resentment.” Even though they were now sworn brothers, Lu Chen was perfectly aware of the God of Wealth’s true motive for this sudden fraternity.
The deity was simply eyeing Lu Chen’s ability to provide him with immense merit and virtue.
This led directly to the second reason.
If Lu Chen were to offer the God of Wealth a limitless supply of incense merit, that merit would quickly lose its value.
Should that happen, extracting greater benefits from the God of Wealth in the future would become significantly harder.
Don’t blame Lu Chen for holding something back. Interactions between people are complicated enough, let alone dealings between mortals and gods.
Besides, Lu Chen didn’t believe for a second that the God of Wealth had nothing better to offer. The deity was almost certainly holding a few cards close to his chest as well.
For Lu Chen, performing rituals and crafting offerings were his two strongest trump cards. No matter what, he had to ensure their absolute value and exclusivity!
Thus, he had no qualms about spooking the God of Wealth with talk of a “Blood Curse.”
…
“Sigh. There is no need for impatience, worthy brother. Do not rush. There will be plenty of time.”
Though the God of Wealth spoke calmly, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. He had expected the young man to eagerly shower him with incense merit after receiving such generous rewards. He hadn’t anticipated that executing the secret art posed such significant challenges.
But upon further reflection, he felt a sense of understanding. Such a heaven-defying art couldn’t possibly be easy to perform. That would defy the very laws of the Heavenly Dao. The existence of restrictions made perfect sense.
“Worthy brother, what level of strength exactly does this secret art of yours require?”
“To answer Elder Brother… I’m not entirely certain at the moment. However, my estimate is that I would likely need to reach the rank of a Third-Grade Spiritualist before I could properly activate it.”
In the world of deities, Spiritualists were ranked across nine grades. The First Grade was introductory; the Ninth Grade was the absolute pinnacle.
Third Grade already represented formidable combat strength.
The core method for a Spiritualist to grow stronger revolved around their connection with a deity—their Divine Favor.
The higher the Divine Favor, the more blessings and rewards—such as treasures and secret techniques—the deity would bestow.
The Fortune-Bringing Ingot and Treasure-Seeing Eye he had just received were prime examples of such rewards.
Furthermore, every successful offering made to a deity resulted in a residual trace of divine power being left behind for the Spiritualist.
This residual power would gradually transform into the Spiritualist’s own magical energy.
Even without active blessings or bestowed treasures, a Spiritualist’s internal power would accumulate and strengthen over time with consistent offerings.
This was precisely why Deng Jiajia was so determined to pursue the Martial Path, calling it the fastest route to power.
Martial Deities, compared to other types of gods, were generally easier to communicate with successfully. Accumulating magical power and advancing in rank was also more straightforward.
Moreover, Martial Deities were particularly generous when it came to bestowing treasures, especially divine abilities! After all, when the Spiritualists who served these Martial Deities went out to slay demons and eradicate evil, the deities themselves reaped abundant virtuous merit in return. The mutual benefits between Martial Deities and their followers were arguably the tightest among all divine categories.
“A Third-Grade Spiritualist…” The God of Wealth mused for a moment, then sounded slightly vexed. “As a God of Wealth, I’m afraid my ability to directly enhance your combat power is somewhat limited. Furthermore, we are standing in someone else’s temple, on their territory. This further restricts the amount of divine power I can leave within you. Wait, I have an idea!”
His tone shifted abruptly. “Find out what it would take—what the cost would be—to move my divine presence from this temple to your own home. If you can bring me home to be enshrined there, I would be able to leave at least twenty percent more divine power with you after each offering. That means for every five offerings you make at home, the accumulated benefit would be equal to six made here. It’s a small difference, but better than nothing.
And once you bring me home, whenever you call upon me, no matter the hour, I will answer.
What do you think of this suggestion, worthy brother?”
Bring the God of Wealth home?
Lu Chen’s eyes lit up.
That’s a brilliant idea!
If he could truly bring this deity home, it would mean he had successfully latched onto a supremely powerful benefactor for good!
From that point onward, would he ever need to worry about money again?
It would be like having a treasure bowl right inside his own house.
Lu Chen’s heart swelled with excitement. He was overjoyed.
See? This is exactly why it pays to keep one’s trump cards valuable.
He didn’t even have to think of a solution himself—the deity was already volunteering to solve the problem for him!
