“Thank you, Old Wu!”
Lu Chen gave a solemn, deep bow, then bent down and respectfully lifted the Stove Lord statue with both hands.
To perform the [Consecration] on the [Smoke and Fire Register], one must go through four layers of ritual:
—[Purification of Impurities]
—[Invocation of the Deity]
—[Dotting the Eyes]
—[Sealing the Spirit]
Beyond these, the most critical part was the arrangement of the [Ritual Altar].
Unlike the open-air altar set up for rain-seeking in Longhu County, this altar had to align with Stove Lord’s divine characteristics.
It needed to draw divine power through the smoke and fire of ten thousand households.
And the evening after next, from five to seven o’clock, was the most auspicious time of the day—exactly when cooking smoke rises from countless homes.
Therefore, Lu Chen decided to set up the altar in Nanshan Residential Complex, using the cooking smoke of a thousand households as a “catalyst” to ignite this consecration ceremony.
Only…
Unlike the rain-seeking in Longhu County, this time the altar would be hard to conceal. It would inevitably draw the attention of all Jiangdu City.
At this thought, Lu Chen secretly took a deep breath.
Well, so be it. Some secrets ultimately cannot be hidden forever.
When the time comes to reveal them, let nature take its course.
Afterward, Lu Chen and his group prepared to take their leave.
But Old Wu insisted on playing the host and warmly urged everyone to stay for dinner.
It was mealtime, and under the enthusiastic insistence of Old Wu and Sun Dechang,
Lu Chen found it hard to refuse.
He could only call his mother first, telling them to eat without him—he wouldn’t be coming home for dinner.
“Haha, I didn’t expect young friend Lu to be such a family man.”
Seeing that Lu Chen had to report to his family even for a meal out, Old Wu and Sun Dechang exchanged a smile, their eyes full of approval.
What a good kid~
“Let’s go! I’ve already reserved a spot.” Old Wu led the way.
The group stepped out of the shrine’s main gate.
And not long after they left the shrine—
Inside City God Street.
Li City God, seated on the grandmaster chair, suddenly opened his eyes.
The originally blurry image on the City God Seal became clear once more.
Though the City God has the functions of insight, surveillance, and monitoring over a city, his range is ultimately limited.
For instance, inside a shrine—that is a place no City God from any region can peer into.
The reason is simple: the deities enshrined within are all orthodox gods of the Three Realms. How could a City God possibly spy on them?
Similarly, if a household enshrines a deity, within a hundred meters of it, the City God cannot investigate either.
But “private invocation” of deities is not covered by this restriction.
If a mortal privately invokes a deity, the City God even has the authority to report it to the authorities and send people to seize and arrest them.
Furthermore, if a deity with magical power or divine rank higher than the local City God descends, within five li of that deity, the City God cannot peer either.
Therefore, when Lu Chen and the others stepped out of the shrine, Li City God flashed to the image to take a look.
“This statue is… Stove Lord?” Looking at the Stove Lord statue in Lu Chen’s hands, Li City God’s gaze sharpened. He frowned slightly: “It’s not a private invocation, nor an official worship. Could it be… a temporary offering?”
“But regardless, I didn’t expect him to actually invoke it. It seems Stove Lord has already had divine contact with him.”
Li City God narrowed his eyes slightly.
From what he knew, when household immortals enter a shrine, most suffer from insufficient incense, and their strength is greatly reduced.
And Stove Lord’s divine duty overlaps considerably with the Four Time Meritorious Officials—he also holds the authority to monitor the mortal world.
“It seems… he must have negotiated terms with Stove Lord. Once a certain goal is achieved, Stove Lord will help him capture the culprit behind the corpse liberation.”
“Heh, he really is impatient. I already promised I would do my utmost, yet he still insists on invoking another deity. It seems his guard against me… remains undiminished.”
Li City God’s lips curled slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.
…
Not long after.
In a private room of a five-star hotel in the east of the city.
Everyone was raising their glasses and toasting.
After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere grew livelier, and conversation flowed more freely.
“Young friend Lu, I heard that just half a month ago you were still an ordinary student. Now you’ve become Jiangdu’s undisputed super rising star. Young friend, your fortunes are deep and your luck is extraordinary—this old man is truly envious. Come, young friend, let me toast you again.”
“Old Wu, you’re too kind!” Lu Chen stood and raised his glass, lightly clinking it with Old Wu’s, then drank it all in one go.
Ugh, this liquor… really is unbelievably harsh!
“If you can’t hold your liquor, drink less.” Sun Yourong transmitted her voice secretly.
Lu Chen nodded imperceptibly.
Old Wu smiled again: “On the way here just now, I heard Old Sun mention that when you previously made offerings at the Zhao Family Shrine, it seems there was some friction with the Zhao family?”
Lu Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled: “It can’t really be called friction. It’s just that at the time, this junior was insignificant and was inevitably looked down upon.”
“I see.” Old Wu smiled knowingly: “Then the Zhao family really misjudged this time. Now they’re probably regretting it bitterly. With your qualifications, young friend, rising to new nobility is already within sight. In time, joining the ranks of the great families won’t be difficult either. By then, the Zhao family in the north of the city will likely no longer be able to dominate alone.”
Sun Dechang nodded upon hearing this: “The Zhao family’s behavior in recent years has indeed become increasingly domineering and arrogant, especially toward new noble families—their suppression is particularly harsh. The three new nobles in the north of the city have suffered no small amount of grievance from them.”
Old Wu’s expression turned serious: “Since the passing of Old Master Zhao, the Zhao family’s style has taken a sharp turn for the worse. Logically, local great families should look after local new nobles, but the Zhao family does the opposite—by suppressing new nobles, they’ve seized nearly sixty percent of the incense in the north of the city. It’s truly… hard to comment on.”
Hearing this, Lu Chen put down his chopsticks and asked with a puzzled look: “By the way, Old Wu, Grandpa Sun, speaking of this, this junior suddenly has a question for you both.”
“Go ahead, young friend.”
Lu Chen nodded: “Our Jiangdu City has four great families and ten new nobles—fourteen shrines in total. Jiangdu’s population is basically stable, so competition between shrines is inevitable. Since the four great families already occupy most of the market, competition in the remaining market should be even fiercer. Can… every shrine really earn a fortune? Shouldn’t there be a siphon effect between them?”
At these words, Sun Dechang and Old Wu exchanged a smile.
“Xiaochen, are you worried that when your Lu Family Shrine establishes itself in Jiangdu in the future, it won’t be able to compete with the others?” Sun Dechang asked with a smile.
“This… I do have some concerns in that regard, but not entirely.” Lu Chen admitted: “After all, the deities I’ll be enshrining in the future are different from the common ones. I believe I should be able to carve out a path of my own!”
He was mainly curious about how shrines actually survive.
After all, Old Sun had just mentioned that the Zhao family alone had seized sixty percent of the incense in the north of the city. This showed that the “siphon effect” did exist, and was quite severe.
“Since you’re confused, young friend, let this old man explain it to you.”
Old Wu’s expression turned serious: “First, I can tell you plainly—although running a shrine is a highly profitable business, not every shrine is as profitable as you imagine. Some even operate at a loss.”
“And to explain this clearly, it needs to be broken down into three steps.”
Step One: When a family officially rises to new noble status and gains the qualification to establish a shrine, they first go through a “sprint period.”
During this period, you can use every trick in the book, employ all manner of methods to promote your shrine, with almost no restrictions.
Of course, “every trick in the book” doesn’t mean unscrupulous means. If it involves breaking the law, that’s naturally not allowed.
But things like handing out flyers at other shrines or directly soliciting worshippers… such behavior is actually tacitly permitted.
The sprint period typically lasts one year.
During this time, as long as you don’t go too far, the great families and new nobles will turn a blind eye.
You can think of this as a kind of unspoken rule.
“Step Two…”
Old Wu held up a second finger and continued: “After the sprint period, the shrine has accumulated a certain base of worshippers. Some of the more outrageous methods used earlier need to be reined in. At this point, the shrine faces the true test of whether its incense will flourish.”
“For example, if you establish a shrine in the north of the city in the future, young friend, you will inevitably face suppression from the shrines in that area.
Things like smearing, slander, and stirring up trouble at the slightest opportunity.
Since this is a commercial activity, I trust you can understand these shady competitive tactics.
Whether you can withstand the pressure depends entirely on the shrine’s accumulated foundation and operations.
If you can’t hold up, you’ll be reduced to a vassal of another shrine;
But if you can withstand the pressure and establish your own presence, even challenging the great families…
Then you enter Step Three!”
Old Wu held up a third finger.
“This third step is ‘divergence’!”
