Lu Chen looked toward the sound.
The shrine before him was clearly in decline.
But compared to the utter desolation of the Zhao family’s temple,
this place at least still maintained a basic appearance—it was presentable enough.
He silently took a deep breath, picked up the incense stick in his hand, and turned his head to say in a low voice, “Could I trouble you all to step back a few paces? Let me try once first.”
Hearing this, Sun Dechang and the others immediately retreated, keeping a distance of more than three meters from him.
Lu Chen lit the incense stick. As the blue smoke curled upward, the secret incantation for summoning the Kitchen God already surfaced in his mind.
He calmed his mind and recited silently:
“Heaven and Earth take their places, Kitchen God who governs destiny;
The world pays respect, and blessings and prosperity all arrive;
Disasters are dispelled, plagues quietly flee;
Relying on your vast guidance, all may attain peace…”
Once the incantation was finished, Lu Chen respectfully inserted the incense into the burner.
Next came the waiting.
The tip of the incense glowed and faded, blue smoke coiled around, and time slipped away in silence.
Until half the stick had burned, the shrine remained silent, showing not the slightest abnormality.
Old Wu sighed softly, not surprised by this result.
He himself had burned incense more than three hundred times, all like stones sinking into the sea.
For this young man to expect success on the first try was simply too fantastical.
Although Old Wu had heard from his son about Lu Chen’s various extraordinary deeds recently,
this household deity… was ultimately different.
After all, this was a being that, when its incense offerings were at their peak, firmly ranked among the top ten in the Three Realms.
Who in the world did not respect the Kitchen God?
One could say he had seen everything.
At one point, Old Wu had even wondered—could it be that the incense offerings were once so abundant
that this Kitchen God now simply did not care about these small offerings?
Thinking it over carefully, it was not entirely impossible.
When the stick of incense burned out, everything remained calm and peaceful.
Lu Chen frowned deeply: Strange, even the divine summoning incantation had no effect?
This was truly a first.
Even when he had previously made offerings to the [Nine Heavens Responding Prime Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Heavenly Worthy], although he suffered backlash, that very backlash proved the incantation’s power had taken effect.
So why, when it came to the Kitchen God, could it not stir up even a single ripple?
Lu Chen refused to believe it.
He picked up another incense stick, lit it, offered it, and silently recited the incantation.
But the incense burned all the way down.
Still, there was no movement at all.
—Again!
Failure!
—Again!
Still failure!
So it repeated, until the eighth incense stick had turned to ash.
That divine statue remained utterly indifferent, not moving in the slightest.
Lu Chen: “…”
—Damn it!!!
For a moment, he was completely numb.
What on earth was going on with this Kitchen God?
By reason, He should be one of the easiest deities among all gods to communicate with.
So why was the difficulty right now even higher than that of the orthodox gods of the [Eight Divisions]?
“It seems it really won’t work.”
Sun Dechang’s voice came from behind. He glanced at the sky and urged, “Xiao Chen, it’s getting late. How about… we call it a day?”
“Yeah.” Sun Yourong also chimed in. “Even Grandpa Wu made three hundred attempts at his own family temple to no avail. Maybe this Kitchen God simply doesn’t want to receive incense offerings?”
Hearing this, Lu Chen seemed to suddenly think of something. He abruptly turned around and cupped his hands toward Old Wu in salute. “Old Wu, you mentioned earlier that the Divine Lord once guessed the Kitchen God dislikes the atmosphere of temples, and perhaps that is the reason He refuses to respond?”
Old Wu nodded. “Correct. The Divine Lord did say that. But the guess is quite reasonable. Household deities are mostly accustomed to the everyday smoke and fire of the mortal world. Temples are too solemn and austere. To them, it may instead feel uncomfortable, making it hard to dwell there.”
Lu Chen’s brows lifted. He cupped his hands again, his tone earnest. “Old Wu, this junior has an unreasonable request. Might I borrow a corner of your temple’s honored grounds to temporarily build a stove and try once more?”
“What!?”
The moment these words came out, not only Sun Yourong and the bodyguards behind him looked stunned, but even Sun Dechang and Old Wu were taken aback.
“Build a stove… inside the temple?” Sun Yourong’s forehead darkened with lines. “Lu Chen, that idea of yours… is certainly unique.”
Sun Dechang also laughed despite himself. “This method… even I have never heard of it.”
His gaze turned to Old Wu, probing. “Old Wu, what do you think about this…”
Old Wu’s brows were tightly knitted, and he was silent in thought.
Seeing this, Sun Dechang understood that Lu Chen’s move was somewhat offensive, so he quickly tried to smooth things over. “Old Wu, Xiao Chen was only making a suggestion. Don’t take it to heart…”
But Old Wu raised a hand to stop him. “No, Old Sun. That is not what I mean. I was thinking… this method might actually be worth trying.”
“Huh!?”
The bodyguards behind him nearly had their jaws drop.
Build a stove inside a temple as an offering?
And… it was feasible?
Had they heard correctly?
Search all the history books, and you would never find such an operation!
Old Wu mused, “Young friend Lu means to simulate the scene of ordinary household cooking smoke, using the aura of cooking fire and smoke to trigger the Kitchen God’s response?”
Lu Chen nodded. “Exactly! That’s the idea. Since conventional methods don’t work, trying an unconventional method is not out of the question.”
Old Wu nodded, his eyes brightening. “Yes, that makes sense. Why didn’t I think of it at the time?”
He immediately turned and gave a deep order to those behind him. “Find several craftsmen at once and bring materials. I want to build a stove in the backyard!”
“Yes, Master!” One bodyguard answered and was about to leave.
“Wait!” Lu Chen added. “Please also bring some firewood and raw rice. If there’s no rice, water will do too!”
“Understood!”
Seeing the solemn divine summoning ceremony about to turn into civil engineering, the Sun grandfather and granddaughter exchanged a glance, both not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Sun Dechang sighed inwardly: When a quick-witted one meets a clever one, they really do hit it off instantly.
Three craftsmen and several staff members hurried over with all kinds of materials.
“Master!”
“Build it right here. Hurry!” Old Wu personally designated an empty spot beside the shrine.
“Yes!”
These masons evidently also possessed cultivation, though only first-rank, their movements were exceptionally nimble.
Perhaps they made offerings to the [Immortal Master Lu Ban] or the [Beam God].
With the three working together, in just five or six minutes, a brand-new stove was built, and they had even finished the white plastering.
The efficiency was astonishing.
Afterward, Old Wu ordered people to pour in raw rice, preparing to cook.
“Let me do it.”
Lu Chen volunteered to take over.
He carefully scrubbed the pot, wiped the stove, then poured in clear water, added raw rice, and covered the pot.
Then he squatted down and fed firewood into the stove.
As the flames leapt,
soon, a bubbling sound came from inside the pot, mixed with the fragrance of rice and the unique smell of firewood, gradually spreading outward.
“Gurgle—”
Behind him, someone’s stomach let out an embarrassing growl.
Had they actually been made hungry just by watching?
Sun Yourong looked at this unprecedented, almost magical offering scene and felt her understanding being severely shaken once again.
She swore she had never seen such a method of summoning a god.
—Respect.
—Truly, immense respect.
When the rice fragrance grew rich and filled the courtyard,
Lu Chen finally walked to the shrine, bowed three times to the statue, and said, “This junior apologizes for the offense, Kitchen God.”
He bent down and carefully took out the statue, placing it atop the stove, letting it fully bathe in the rising steam, rice fragrance, and firewood smoke.
Then, he once again lit an incense stick, focused his mind, recited the incantation, and bowed in worship.
At this moment, everyone behind him held their breath.
Damn it, the stove had been built, the rice had been cooked, and every preparation they could think of had been made.
If it still did not work, then there truly would be no way left.
As the incense stick burned down by one third,
Lu Chen secretly clenched his fists.
Just then.
Suddenly!
An extremely faint yet incomparably clear sensation, like an electric current, flashed through his heart in an instant!
“This is…!”
Lu Chen’s pupils suddenly contracted.
“There’s a divine power fluctuation!”
The moment these words came out, everyone behind him felt their bodies jolt!
“It… it really worked!?”
Sun Dechang simply could not believe it.
So gods could actually be worshipped like this?!
Sun Yourong’s expression also changed. She had never imagined that a deity almost reduced to a “dead god” would actually be conquered by this guy again?
And with such an almost “sinister” method!?
As expected of… the god of burning cold stoves!
Old Wu’s eyes shone even more brilliantly. If Lu Chen really could activate this Kitchen God, then for the Wu family temple, it would undoubtedly be a huge gain!
However, that trace of divine power fluctuation lasted only a moment before receding like the tide, leaving no trace.
Lu Chen waited until the incense stick completely burned out, but still did not receive any further response from the Kitchen God.
But this time, not only was he not discouraged, the fighting spirit in his eyes only burned brighter!
Since there was a fluctuation, that proved this method was effective!
Next would be the grinding work of water, stacking up quantity!
“Old Wu, please help me get ten more incense sticks… no, twenty! Sister Sun, could you help out?”
“Okay!” Sun Yourong did not hesitate. With a flash of movement, she swiftly headed toward the incense window.
Lu Chen turned back, took a deep breath of that air mixed with cooking smoke and incense, and lit the last incense stick in his hand.
“Please, you’ve really got to work!”
When the incense stick was inserted into the burner again, the divine power fluctuation appeared even faster than before!
Before the incense had even burned a quarter, that familiar subtle sensation swept through his heart once more.
But strangely, it still only flashed for an instant before vanishing without a trace.
“What the heck! What’s going on? Gone again?”
Lu Chen grumbled inwardly.
Fortunately, Sun Yourong quickly bought back incense sticks—twenty in total.
—Plenty of ammunition!
Keep going!
Lu Chen picked up incense again…
As time quietly passed through repeated lighting, silent recitation, and waiting,
before they knew it, the sun was sinking in the west and dusk was closing in.
The backyard quickly dimmed, and only the leaping firelight in the stove illuminated everyone’s focused and tense faces.
“Why does it slip away every single time? It just refuses to truly manifest?”
After another ten incense sticks, a trace of impatience inevitably rose in Lu Chen’s heart.
To say there was no reaction at all would not be accurate.
But each reaction was extremely faint, only a shallow taste before stopping.
“Surely it’s not really treating me like a fish to be baited, is it?!”
By the time the thirteenth incense stick burned out, it was still the same.
Lu Chen simply stopped and thought seriously.
Since there was divine power fluctuation, it meant the Kitchen God had already sensed the incense offerings here.
But why did He refuse to truly descend?
It was deeply meaningful…
Lu Chen even had a strange feeling.
This Kitchen God seemed to be deliberately avoiding him.
One person and one god, as if separated by a layer of window paper.
As long as he found the right way to poke through it, the sea and sky would open wide!
The key was, how to poke through it?
“Xiao Chen, still no good?”
Seeing so much time wasted with still no progress,
the hearts of Sun Dechang and the others gradually sank.
That was right. Even Old Wu had made three hundred attempts without success.
This Kitchen God truly was not easy to summon.
“How about… we just call it a day?” Sun Yourong stepped forward, gently patted Lu Chen’s shoulder, and comforted him.
“No!” Lu Chen shook his head righteously. “There’s still one more method! There’s still one last method!”
“There’s still a method?” Old Wu’s already dimmed gaze was reignited. “What method?”
“Do you have sesame candy?” Lu Chen suddenly blurted out something that left everyone baffled. “If there’s no sesame candy, other candy will do too!”
“What do you need candy for?” Sun Yourong was even more confused.
“Yes! I have a lollipop here. Will that work?”
Behind him, a staff member timidly raised a hand, while the other hand had already pulled a lollipop from his pocket.
“That works! Thank you!” Lu Chen stepped forward and took it, swiftly tore off the wrapper, held the round candy in his palm, and immediately heated it with mana.
In a moment, the candy melted, and a little sticky syrup dripped through his fingers.
Lu Chen quickly walked to the statue, dipped his finger in the syrup, and carefully smeared it on the Kitchen God’s lips.
“This is…” Old Wu, who had been astonished all along, only now suddenly realized.
At his age, he naturally knew some history about the Kitchen God.
“It is said the Kitchen God loves sweets, so in the past many people used sesame candy to seal His mouth, hoping He would speak more good words…”
“Exactly!” Lu Chen nodded. “That’s the principle. If this still doesn’t work, then I truly have no other options.”
When the smearing was done, the Kitchen God’s “mouth” was already covered with a thick layer.
“Here, wipe your hands.” Sun Yourong took a wet wipe from her bag and handed it over.
“Thanks.” After wiping his hands, Lu Chen handed it back to Sun Yourong, and she very naturally took it and put it back in her bag.
This subtle interaction fell into the eyes of Sun Dechang and Old Wu. The two exchanged a glance and could not help smiling knowingly.
—Hiss!
Lu Chen straightened up, first took a deep breath, and once he had adjusted his state, lit another incense stick, silently recited the secret incantation, and inserted it into the burner.
At this moment, everyone stared fixedly at that incense stick.
At the statue.
Including Lu Chen himself.
Time passed minute by minute.
The incense tip continued to glow and fade, just as before.
—Thump, thump, thump!
In the silent backyard, one could even clearly hear heartbeats rising and falling.
Especially Lu Chen’s—his heartbeat had long since accelerated madly.
“Could it be… still no good?!”
Seeing this incense stick already half burned,
aside from that earlier electric sensation,
there was still no other reaction.
Lu Chen’s heart gradually cooled.
It seemed this Kitchen God truly could not be summoned…
But in the very instant this thought fell!
—BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
A sudden change erupted!!
The world before Lu Chen’s eyes suddenly fell into an extreme, brilliant white day.
The white light was so intense that it almost instantly drowned his vision, forcing him to close his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings had already completely changed.
Lu Chen found himself standing unexpectedly in front of an old, simple rural farmhouse.
Thatched cottage, tiled roof, curling cooking smoke, warm lamplight shining through the window lattice.
Faintly, a figure could be seen sitting quietly inside.
With a “creak,”
the wooden door opened on its own.
Then a calm and distant voice slowly came from within the house:
“Young friend, since you are so devout, why not come inside and have a talk?”
Hearing this, Lu Chen’s head instantly buzzed, and enormous waves surged in his heart.
—”This is… the voice of the Kitchen God?!!!”
