“Brother, with such ambition, you put me to shame!”
Lord Cai Shen’s tone was clearly touched, yet carried a faint hint of regret, as if times had changed.
But the next moment, his voice seemed to burst into flames as he declared without hesitation:
“Brother, the way you treat me leaves me deeply moved and admiring! Just go ahead and do what you need to do—I will support you with all my strength! If you run into any trouble later, come find me anytime. Even though I’ve been quiet in the Heavenly Court for many years, I still have some old friends and favors I can call on. Protecting you should be more than enough!”
Before, Lord Cai Shen’s words were just polite formalities, but now, they came straight from a sincere heart.
“I understand, brother. Then later, I’ll prepare another hundred thousand gold for you, so you’ll have some on hand in case of emergencies?”
“T-Ten… a hundred thousand gold?!”
Lord Cai Shen froze for a moment, then laughed despite himself, thinking: Who exactly is the God of Wealth here?!
“Well… then I won’t stand on ceremony. But if you’re going to use your own blood essence as an offering…”
“Don’t worry, brother. I’ve made some progress in my magic lately. I should be able to manage.”
“Brother, please don’t push yourself.”
“Brother, I know my limits.”
“Well… alright then.”
Ending the conversation with Lord Cai Shen, Lu Chen let out a long sigh.
Now, everything was ready; all that was missing was the final push!
“Let this fire in the Underworld burn even brighter! When the time is right, I’ll roll out the Hell Note plan!”
Lu Chen schemed quietly, not wasting a moment.
He turned and went back to his room.
His gaze swept over the piles of yellow paper, gold foil, silver foil, and other materials scattered across the floor.
He squinted slightly.
“School starts tomorrow. Since I still have some free time today, I need to prepare more. You can never have too much money—it makes everything easier!”
So for the entire afternoon, Lu Chen stayed in his room, focusing all his attention on making spirit money.
“Sigh, this efficiency is still way too slow. In the future, I need to set up an assembly line—producing at least several hundred billion a day.”
But then he reconsidered: “No, that could cause inflation. I still need to control the exchange rate and issue it steadily. That’s the right way to do it.”
After a busy afternoon, Lu Chen managed to produce a full five hundred thousand “Heavenly Gold” and two million “Hell Notes.”
The raw materials had visibly dwindled, while the finished products piled up like a small mountain.
Once he was done, Lu Chen stretched his stiff muscles.
“I’ll give Lord Cai Shen a hundred thousand as reserve funds, and then present Old Lord Yama with a million as a tribute. I refuse to believe I can’t hook this ‘big spender’! What’s the use of just four underworld guards? If I can’t get ten thousand, at least five thousand, right?”
When the time comes to raid dungeons in the demon realm, just imagine five thousand underworld guards lined up behind him!
Just thinking about it sent a thrill down his spine.
Then, no matter what Ghost King, Ghost Emperor, or Ghost Sovereign showed up—they’d all kneel before this humble Daoist and sing their praises!
——-
Time slipped by, and soon it was evening. Lu Chen’s parents came home from work.
“Mom, I got the villa keys. Pack up a bit—let’s move in as soon as possible.”
During dinner, Lu Chen handed over one of the keys.
But to his surprise, his mother pushed the key back.
“Your father and I talked it over. We’re pretty comfortable living here. If you want to go, you move in first.”
“Yeah, I’m the neighborhood manager now. I have to stay here.”
Although his father’s eyes lit up at the sight of the key, he still shook his head.
Lu Chen was speechless for a moment.
“You guys stay here during the day, then go over at night. It’s not far.”
“Eh, running back and forth is such a hassle. We’re not used to big mansions anyway. You go ahead. You’re old enough to have your own space. Besides, you can free up your room for Wanwan so she doesn’t have to keep squeezing into bed with us.”
“If you’re not coming, what’s the point of me living alone in such a big, empty house?”
“You can still come home to eat, can’t you? It’s not like we’ll never visit. Just save us a room. When we feel like staying over, we’ll come for a couple of days.”
“Exactly! Big brother, you have to save the biggest room for Wanwan!”
Lu Wan, with her face shiny from eating, chimed in loudly.
Lu Chen laughed helplessly. “Fine, the biggest one is yours!”
Seeing his parents’ firm stance, he didn’t push further and handed back the key.
“Well, at least keep one key.”
“Alright, I’ll come by regularly to clean up for you.”
Lu Chen: “…”
——-
Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.
After washing up, Lu Chen lay on his bed.
“Maybe I’ll try cultivating that ‘Underworld Judgment Lightning’!”
Lu Chen sank his divine sense into the King of Hell’s Command. Several divine abilities swirled within the realm of Mount Sumeru, but currently only [Underworld Judgment Lightning] was lit up.
“‘Heart-Stirring King of Hell Mantra’?”
Lu Chen glanced at the description of another divine ability.
It required a fifth-rank or higher cultivation level to practice, and it could summon an avatar of Yama, greatly enhancing one’s own strength.
When Yama appears, a hundred miles turn dark, falling into a death domain, allowing the caster to control life and death, taking whatever they desire.
“Not bad. Old Lord Yama may hold a civil position, but his combat power is nothing to sneeze at.”
He focused his mind and began to comprehend the “Underworld Judgment Lightning.”
The divine ability’s incantations surged into his body like a flood, transforming into countless characters that coursed through his limbs and bones.
With a mere thought, Lu Chen opened his eyes and raised his hand. In an instant, crackling sounds erupted from his palm as black serpents of electricity shot out.
“Just like that… I’ve mastered it?”
“No way. Even for a blessing-type divine ability, ordinary cultivators would have to train for a long time.”
“How come with me, it happened instantly?”
“Could it be… that legendary protagonist halo? My comprehension is just heaven-defying?”
Pfft.
Lu Chen couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Nice, nice! This humble Daoist loves fast-forwarding to the moment of mastery (and showing off)!”
“I mean, since I’ve already transmigrated, if I still had to grind away at cultivation like everyone else, wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose?”
He casually threw a bolt of Underworld Judgment Lightning at a nearby water cup.
The expected scene of the cup shattering into pieces never came. Instead, the cup simply vanished into thin air!
“Huh? Where’s my cup?!”
Lu Chen’s pupils contracted, and the answer automatically surfaced in his mind.
It turned out that anything hit by this Underworld Judgment Lightning—
No matter what it was—would be struck directly down into the Underworld.
“Whoa! This lightning is seriously sneaky!”
In other words, once hit by this dark lightning, you’d be sent straight to reincarnation on the spot.
You wouldn’t even need Black and White Impermanence to guide you.
“I wonder how my dark lightning compares to the Thunder Ancestor’s yang lightning?”
Lu Chen squinted slightly, suddenly feeling an urge to test it out.
“Alright, my divine ability is ready. Time to sleep! Now I just wait for tomorrow’s reforms to see what earth-shattering policies will come out.”
That night, Lu Chen slept more soundly than ever.
In his dream, he saw the Lu Family Temple soaring ten thousand zhang high, gleaming with gold and splendor beyond compare!
The temple gates stood wide open, housing countless gods and buddhas. The incense offerings were so abundant that it could rightly be called the ancestor of all temples!
Just as the dream reached its most beautiful moment, he woke up, and the sky had already brightened.
Lu Chen sprang up like a leaping carp, never before so eager to go to school.
Jiangdu No. 3 High School, Senior Class—or Advanced Class, as it was called.
By the time Lu Chen arrived, most of his classmates were already there.
Everyone was chatting animatedly.
The moment Lu Chen sat down, a crisp voice sounded from behind him.
“Lu Chen, you’re here.”
Li Ruoyi walked over and handed him a paper bag. “Here, I brought you breakfast.”
“I already ate at home.”
“Then have a little more.”
Lu Chen couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, Li Ruoyi, please don’t make people jealous of me. Look over there—that idiot’s face is already green.”
As he spoke, he pointed.
Li Ruoyi looked in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, saw Song Hao not too far away, his face so dark it looked like it could drip water.
