As the three of them stepped into the factory—
“Hello, who… who are you looking for?”
A worker of the Rakshasa Cult suddenly spotted a few strangers barging in and hurried over to ask.
“We’re not looking for anyone. We’d like to see the underworld currency your factory makes.”
“Oh, so you’re here to buy underworld currency. Just a moment.”
The worker let out a sigh of relief.
The three of them varied in height, yet each exuded an imposing presence.
He himself was a Second-Rank Spirit User, yet before these few people, he couldn’t muster even a trace of wayward thought.
Before long, Wang Zhidong, who was left in charge of the factory, came rushing over upon hearing the news.
“You gentlemen are here to buy underworld currency, right? Next time you can go directly to Jishi Hall, newly opened in the north of the city. But since you’re here today, how much would you like?”
“Jishi Hall?” The refined-looking man gave a faint smile. “I like that name.”
“I?”
At that self-reference, Wang Zhidong’s heart suddenly tensed.
In this world, what kind of person would dare to refer to themselves that way?
The burly, powerfully built man beside him cut in coldly: “Enough talk. Take us over to have a look first. Whether we buy or not, we’ll decide after we see it.”
Wang Zhidong immediately sensed something was off and instinctively stepped back a few paces. “You… just what background are you from?”
“Hm?!”
The tall man let out a low hum.
Whoosh—
In an instant, an unimaginably terrifying force swept across the entire factory.
Everyone was frozen in place, unable to move.
Even the dust floating in the air and the branches swaying outside the window were completely locked in that very moment.
Only Wang Zhidong alone could still move.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. “You—who exactly are you?”
A faint red gleam flickered in the refined man’s eyes. Wang Zhidong’s pupils instantly went unfocused; he stood up with a dazed expression and woodenly led the way.
The group arrived at the warehouse where the underworld currency was stored.
The moment they pushed open the door, silver light filled their vision, piled up like mountains.
“This much underworld currency?!”
The tall man and the burly man couldn’t help but gasp.
The refined man casually picked one up and examined it closely.
The two attendants beside him each took one to inspect as well.
But after looking, the two were stunned. “Supreme One, this item only resembles it in appearance—it’s not underworld currency.”
“Indeed, this is nothing but a rubbing.”
Just as the two finished speaking, Wang Zhidong, who seemed bewitched behind them, murmured: “What you’re holding are only semi-finished products… These are the real underworld currency.”
He flipped his palm, and a genuine large silver note appeared, which he handed over.
The refined man took the large silver note. The instant his gaze fell upon it, the calmness in his eyes turned sharp as a blade.
“There really is the [Note Seal] of our Netherworld Treasury’s currency!”
“How is that possible?” The burly man beside him blurted out. “That [Note Seal] is woven by the Heavenly Court’s Incense Registry, each one manifested from merit—how could human power replicate it? Even if he stole the method of the [Note Seal], where would he steal so much merit to empower it from??”
These two big men were none other than Zhang Heng and Yang Yun—the Northern Ghost Emperors, one of the Five Directional Ghost Emperors under the command of Emperor Fengdu.
The two shared a single post of orthodox deity.
They governed Luofeng Mountain, the very palace where Emperor Fengdu resides.
On ordinary days when Emperor Fengdu toured the Netherworld, the two often attended at his side.
Recently, the repeated incidents of surging underworld currency in the Netherworld had already alarmed the higher-ups.
After investigation, they found that all this underworld currency came from a mortal young man named Lu Chen.
However, this person’s commotion went far beyond that.
Not only underworld currency—this person had even revived the Netherworld’s incense offerings that had lain dormant for a thousand years, and had caused a scene at the Jiang Province City God Conference, resulting in the beheading of a prefectural City God.
Message after message was sent back to the Netherworld.
Even Emperor Fengdu was alerted.
This trip served two purposes: on one hand, to inspect the City Gods.
On the other hand—
The Emperor also wanted to see for himself whether this underworld currency was genuine or fake.
At this moment, Emperor Fengdu’s divine gaze swept over the large silver note. After a moment, a trace of imperceptible realization flickered in his eyes.
He curled his lips into a smile. “So that’s how it is…”
“Supreme One, you’ve figured it out?” Zhang Heng ventured.
“No need to ask. Since someone is rushing to send money to the Netherworld, why refuse?”
The Emperor gave a light laugh and looked at the warehouse full of silver light. “How much underworld currency is here?”
Wang Zhidong answered woodenly: “About one billion.”
“One billion?!”
The two Ghost Emperors’ pupils shrank sharply.
That amount would more than suffice even if their ten-thousand-year salaries were paid out—and their term was only three thousand years.
Emperor Fengdu’s eyes blazed with brilliance. “Good! With this, the resources for building the Nineteenth Layer of Hell are secured!”
“Supreme One, are we really going to let this boy keep ‘making’ it? Then wouldn’t the authority over our Netherworld’s currency fall into his hands?” Yang Yun couldn’t help saying.
“Counterfeiting?” Emperor Fengdu laughed heartily. “This underworld currency is even more ‘genuine’ than what the Netherworld mints. Even I had trouble telling true from false at first glance.”
“This!!”
The two Ghost Emperors were startled.
“Let’s go.”
Having finished investigating, Emperor Fengdu was about to turn—
Boom!!!
Boom!!!
Boom!!!
From the distance, violent spiritual energy tremors suddenly came surging like crashing waves.
“Who is casting a spell?!”
Yang Yun’s expression turned stern.
“What powerful mana fluctuations!” Zhang Heng also furrowed his brow.
Emperor Fengdu’s gaze shifted; in an instant he understood everything, and the smile at the corner of his mouth deepened. “This kid… his foundation is truly extraordinary.”
Before the words faded, his figure had already vanished from the spot.
Zhang Heng and Yang Yun followed close behind.
Within the factory, the terrifying ghost domain that had shrouded everything instantly dissipated.
Everyone resumed their movements, as if that frozen instant had never existed.
Only Wang Zhidong stood in the warehouse, looking around blankly. “I… wasn’t I outside just now?”
…
Meanwhile.
Nanshan Residential Complex.
The setting sun was slowly sinking into the distant mountains, the sky dyed full of orange-red, and the smoke of daily life curling upward.
The auspicious hour had arrived.
On the small plaza at the center of the complex, Lu Chen wore a black Daoist robe, held a peachwood sword, and stepped the Heavenly Stems steps.
With every step he planted and every sword stroke he made, the air around the altar trembled lightly.
Invisible ripples spread outward from him as their center, growing ever more intense.
—”Heaven and Earth, the Ancestral Source of All Qi; cultivate countless eons, to prove my divine powers!”
As the incantation was spoken, on the altar, the Bagua mirror suddenly rippled with a layer of pale golden radiance.
The halo was not blinding, yet it illuminated everything within three zhang with crystal clarity.
A majestic surge of mana burst forth, like a clear wind sweeping away filth, cleansing the surroundings in an instant—even the cooking-oil smoke drifting from afar dissolved without a trace.
First step of opening the altar: [Purification].
—Complete.
Next came [Igniting the Furnace].
Lu Chen stilled his steps and gathered his stance, lifting a bronze incense burner with both hands—just as he had in Longhu County last time.
The incense sticks in the burner were unlit.
This step was to consult the deity.
If the deity agreed, the incense in the burner would ignite without fire.
If not, it would mean the invocation had failed.
He raised the incense burner high above his head and slowly chanted the “Furnace-Igniting Incantation”:
“I now open the furnace, the Eight Deities descend… Azure Dragon ever guards, steadfast and true together…”
…
Beside him, within the Kitchen God statue.
In that pastoral consciousness-sea secret realm, the Kitchen God stood in the courtyard, gazing up at the ceremonial scene projected on the dome.
He saw that as Lu Chen chanted, endless golden light poured down from the dome, winding around his body.
The Kitchen God squinted slightly. “Good lad, he truly has some divine skill.”
He let the golden light surround him without the slightest resistance.
…
In the incense burner, the incense indeed ignited without fire.
A wisp of blue smoke rose straight up, continuous and unending.
At the same time, in the residential complex, people from every household leaned against their windowsills, watching Lu Chen’s every move below.
“Daddy, what is Brother Lu Chen doing?”
“Not sure… looks like some kind of ritual. Your Brother Lu Chen, I suspect, is inheriting immortal arts!”
“Immortal arts? Wow—when I grow up, I want to be like Brother Lu Chen too!”
“Now that’s ambition! Daddy supports you!”
Amid the father-daughter exchange, a shout came from the kitchen: “Come serve the dishes already! The pot’s about to burn through!”
“Coming, coming!”
…
Down at the scene, Zeng Rou gazed at this mysterious ceremony, the shock in her heart already surging like tides, impossible to calm.
She could see clearly.
The Cult Leader had not used a single bit of his own spiritual power from beginning to end.
Relying solely on the directional positions of his step patterns, the trajectories drawn by the peachwood sword, and the ancient incantations chanted from his mouth, he had generated such an astonishing resonance with the surrounding heaven and earth.
With a casual wave, the mana ripples that震荡ed outward were pure and majestic.
Their might… was already in no way inferior to a Sixth-Rank—even an early Seventh-Rank—Spirit User going all out!
“The Cult Leader… he is truly unfathomable.”
Just then, Lu Chen in the field suddenly pressed his palms together, and the rhythm of his incantation abruptly quickened, the tone growing ever more profound.
As the incantation progressed, his Daoist robe billowed without wind, flapping loudly, and an indescribable majesty climbed steadily higher.
“East Kitchen Director of Destinies, Kitchen God of the Hearth; receiving food from one household, inspecting good and evil…”
After [Purification], came the second ritual—[Invocation].
Lu Chen’s hand seals formed faster and faster, afterimages flying.
—”Now there is disciple Lu Chen, respectfully inviting the Kitchen God to descend to the mortal realm!”
The final command rang out sharp and clear!
Boom!!!
At the center of the altar, that simple ancient Bagua mirror suddenly erupted with unbearable blazing light!
Not one beam!
But countless golden rays converging into bundles, twisted into a majestic pillar of light.
It shot up from the mirror’s surface into the sky, boldly piercing through the darkening dusk, straight into the clouds!
In that instant, the night sky seemed torn apart by this radiant pillar, illuminating half the sky bright as day.
This earth-shattering phenomenon was too dazzling—not only Nanshan Residential Complex, but even the neighboring blocks, the crisscrossing roads, the high-rise commercial districts…
At this moment, throughout all of Jiangdu City, countless people who looked up clearly saw that sacred pillar of light connecting heaven and earth!
…
“Wh-what is that thing?!”
An office worker who had just gotten off work and was riding an electric bike slammed on the brakes, staring up blankly, the dazzling light reflected in his glasses.
“Look at the sky! There’s light! Golden light!”
“Is it a construction site’s floodlight? No… this feeling is completely wrong…”
“Take a picture! Quick, take a picture!”
On street corners and in alleys, pedestrians stopped in their tracks, faces full of shock and bewilderment.
Countless people pulled out their phones to film, and the news spread through the city like wildfire.
…
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Almost at the same moment, from various parts of Jiangdu, waves of mana fluctuations of different colors and strengths eagerly shot into the sky!
Yu Feng stood alone atop a high-rise rooftop, robes billowing.
In the direction of the Sun family, three figures—Sun Qingcang, Sun Changguo, and Sun Yourong—appeared in midair, expressions grave.
Zhao Jiutang and Zhao Wanliang emerged from different directions, their gazes like lightning, shooting toward the source of the light pillar.
Deep within the Wu family, Wu Zhong and his son, the current family head Wu Jingzhi, also stood proudly in the void, gazing at the wondrous sight connecting heaven and earth.
At this moment, the city’s Four Great Families, Ten New Nobles, and all powerhouses at Fourth-Rank and above were thoroughly alerted!
No one could sit still.
They hovered at different positions above the city, looking into the distance—some shocked, some terrified, some in disbelief.
Their minds were seized by that earth-shaking momentum, setting off towering waves in their hearts.
“Rongrong, is this the… ‘ritual’ you mentioned before?”
Sun Qingcang’s voice was hoarse.
Sun Yourong pressed her red lips tightly together and gave a slight nod.
Sun Qingcang sharply drew in a breath of cold air, his heart already tossing like a raging sea.
On the previous trip to Longhu County, Sun Yourong had mentioned the power of the ritual.
But witnessing it with his own eyes now, this indescribable shock was truly hard to believe!
How could this still look like an ordinary Spirit User casting a spell?
This was clearly invoking—even commanding—the magnificent power of heaven and earth itself!
“Xiao Chen… where on earth did he learn this heaven-defying secret art?”
At this moment, there were countless people across the city voicing similar sentiments to Sun Qingcang’s.
…
Inside the City God Temple.
City God Li watched the scene at Nanshan Residential Complex through the City God’s seal.
That usually stern face was likewise filled with utter disbelief, even a hint of bewilderment.
“This… how is this possible?!”
A Spirit User of merely Second or Third-Rank cultivation—even with a secret art—how could he invoke such a scale of pure heaven-and-earth power?
This completely defied his understanding!
Just as he was reeling in shock, in the projected image, a new transformation occurred!
At the top of that heaven-piercing light pillar, the vast golden light churned violently!
A massive illusory tome—blotting out the sky, wholly black, brimming with an ancient aura—slowly materialized atop the pillar.
It was the Kitchen God’s lifebound treasure—the [Smoke and Fire Registry].
At this moment of universal attention, it manifested in the world!
“Hiss—”
In that instant, whether residents watching on site or powerhouses gazing from afar in the sky, countless people’s pupils shrank sharply as they gasped.
The ultimate shock of this divine miracle gripped every one of their hearts.
…
At the highest reaches of the cloud dome, in a dimension no one could perceive.
Emperor Fengdu’s gaze focused, his smile no longer concealable.
“This child… is truly… interesting!”
