Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

Chapter 74 Rewarding Meritorious Service, City God Temple Fair

In Dongsang and Xisang villages, a group of deities descended from the sky and landed at the earth god temple beside the stone bridge.

Because it was daytime, Su Ji only greeted them briefly before returning to his post as a day-roaming spirit soldier and patrolling around.

After about a hundred breaths, the local spirit soldier flew over happily and said, "Day-roaming spirit soldier, it's your turn to receive your reward. I'll take your place on a patrol for a while!"

Clearly, the divine reward made the Earth Spirit Soldier very happy, his face beaming with barely suppressed joy.

For working people, nothing is more exciting than a promotion and a raise, not to mention the local spirit soldiers or government deities.

Su Ji's monthly salary is thirty strands of divine power, which is the most basic salary for a spirit soldier. As long as he makes contributions, his salary will gradually increase.

If a spirit soldier's salary increases to fifty strands per month, he will be qualified to become a spirit general or even a spirit official.

The Earth Spirit Soldiers have been working for seven or eight years, and their monthly salary has already increased to thirty-nine strands. Obviously, this time it has increased by quite a bit again.

The Earth Spirit Soldier laughed and said, "I've only worked hard, and my salary has increased to forty-eight strands of divine power per month. But you, Day Wandering Spirit Soldier, might be able to leap into the realm of forty strands of divine power per month!"

During the ghost incident, the local spirit soldier impersonated the local earth god to lure the snake out of its hole; during the monkey spirit ghost king incident, the local spirit soldier remained stationed at the earth god temple, refusing to budge an inch...

The ability of a land spirit soldier to gain the equivalent of seven or eight years' worth of merit in half a month is not just due to hard work.

Su Ji shook his head and smiled, "How could my contributions compare to those of a local spirit soldier? My monthly salary increase can't possibly exceed ten strands of divine power..."

The Earth Spirit Soldier just smiled and said, "In the past few years, I didn't gain much merit. It was only after the current Earth God captured the previous Earth God that I gained six strands of divine power in one fell swoop."

"If I count it all, I've gained a total of fifteen strands of divine power over the past month, so how could you not have gained ten strands?"

Su Ji then realized that he had forgotten that the local spirit soldier had already gone to the state community before taking up his post here.

It's not that the pantheon is inefficient; it's just that if you don't claim your rewards, you'll have to wait until the end of the month for them to be distributed.

Su Ji calmed himself down and landed in the underworld of the Earth God Temple. To show respect, he did not fly, but walked slowly in through the entrance.

The City God had visited once and remembered that the City God Temple's daily procession spirit general had once praised this Earth God Temple's daily procession spirit soldier, so he nodded in acknowledgment.

The local earth spirit official, a capable-looking middle-aged man, saw the day-roaming spirit soldiers arrive and said, "The day-roaming spirit soldiers of the East and West Sang Earth Temples, although they have been in office for less than a month, have made many merits. Now, they will be rewarded according to the rules of the earth god system..."

"Capture one treacherous spirit...reward with one hundred divine powers, and a promotion of one level;"

"In the case of the Monkey King Demon King, the vengeful ghost was turned from an enemy to a friend... The Taoist priest and the county government troops were promptly invited to protect the local temple... He was rewarded with two hundred divine powers and promoted two and a half ranks."

Level 1 means a monthly salary increase of 3 strands. Su Ji was promoted 3 and a half levels, which indeed exceeded 40 strands, reaching a monthly salary of 40.5 strands.

Su Ji quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for the gift, God!"

The "Shang Shen" refers to both the local spirit official and the person in the local deity system who is responsible for this matter.

Moreover, there is only a hierarchy among the gods, and even if the person in front of him is a Spirit Lord, there is no need to kneel down. Su Ji's behavior is impeccable.

At this moment, the local earth spirit official looked to the side.

The City God Spirit Official nodded and said, "The East and West Sang Earth God Temples were cleansed of the walking corpses, and the Monkey King, Snake Demon General, and several demon soldiers were captured. Several snake demons were killed... and the people of Jinfeng County were protected."

“Every spirit soldier present may go to the City God Temple to select treasures. For day-roaming spirit soldiers, your standard is within one hundred and fifty strands of divine power.”

The treasures selected internally are definitely at internal prices. If you're interested, you can even resell the selected treasures for at least 20% more.

This is not just a rumor; after the City God's Spirit Realm opened, the entry qualifications were divided into internal and external categories.

For example, in the Bright Moon Spirit Realm of Wusheng's hometown, the deities inside only need three hundred strands of divine power, while other cultivators must pay three hundred and sixty strands of divine power in the form of treasures.

Some treasures, whose market value is equivalent to 108 strands of divine power, are only worth 100 strands of divine power at the City God Temple...

Su Ji bowed again, saying, "Thank you for your reward, City God!"

This reward was definitely decided by the City God.

The City God's generous reward might even be an attempt to compensate the local earth god temple.

After all, when the Earth God Temple sought help last time because of the walking corpses, the City God Temple did not send reinforcements.

What surprised Su Ji even more was that after his spirit weapon level increased to level three and a half, it wasn't counted until next month, but was reflected in this month's salary.

Yan Tianchou immediately summarized: "I have received a reward of three hundred strands of the Earth God's power, thirty-six strands of my monthly salary, and I can collect a treasure worth one hundred and fifty strands of divine power from the City God Temple..."

Su Ji officially became a Day-Roaming Spirit Soldier on the fifth day of the second month, and his salary was only thirty-six strands of divine power.

However, this is not the final result.

The local earth spirit official and the city god spirit official both had important matters to attend to and declined the so-called delicacies offered by the Yin-Yang realm.

Su Ji understood, after all, there were many things to do at the end of the month, and missing out would be their loss.

Subsequently, the local earth god began to reward those who had contributed.

You could say that the local deity is trying to win people's hearts, or you could say that the local deity is trying to compensate as much as possible.

For example, if the Well God Spirit Soldiers and the Toilet God Spirit Soldiers were to tour the Southern Mountain, they would receive an additional five strands of divine power each month thereafter.

The Earth God, who often cultivated himself, delegated the tasks to the Earth Spirit Soldiers, and offered ten strands of divine power as compensation. The Monkey King's eyebrow-length staff was worth no less than a thousand strands of divine power, and the Earth God could not keep it all; each spirit soldier received a share of twenty strands of divine power.

Even more so, the Earth God privately transmitted his voice to Su Ji, saying, "Persuading the pig demon is extremely important. Although it wasn't reported to the state shrine, I still need to reward you. Keep these two hundred and seventy strands of divine power safe!"

Two hundred and seventy strands of divine power were just enough to buy the qualification to enter the City God's Great Sun Spirit Realm, which was also equivalent to nine months' salary for an ordinary spirit soldier, so it was quite a lot.

However, if Su Ji hadn't persuaded the pig demon, things would have turned out very differently, and it's uncertain whether the Earth God would have been able to find the Monkey King.

Su Ji did not refuse and accepted the reward that belonged to the local earth god.

Yan Tianchou immediately summarized: "After working at the Earth God Temple for a month, I currently possess 625 strands of divine power, a blazing crystal that contains the sunlight, a mid-grade flawless spiritual artifact copper coin, a golden toad clone at the level of a minor demon... and nearly 50 taels of silver."

The medium-grade, high-quality spirit artifact, the Golden Toad, is the core driving force behind the Golden Toad clone, so it is not listed.

Even more remarkably, a physical golden toad appeared in Zhang Xiaolian's real dream.

It wasn't that Su Ji deliberately guided her, but rather that Zhang Xiaolian often thought of the ancient golden toad, and so another one naturally appeared.

Once this figurative golden toad reaches the mid-grade excellent quality, that will be the time for Su Ji to fuse with the spiritual weapon again. With the blessing of divine power as a guarantee, he will definitely be able to obtain a mid-grade flawless spiritual weapon golden toad.

Su Ji sighed with some emotion: "The compensation from the government is indeed not as high as the compensation from the private settlement by the mountain god temple!"

The single blazing crystal that the Mountain God Temple compensated with was worth no less than a thousand strands of divine power, not to mention the total compensation to the Earth God Temple.

Yan Tianchou affirmed, "In terms of compensation, private settlements have always been more common than public settlements... That's the money the Monkey King paid to save his life, and it's also the Mountain God Temple's way of cutting its losses."

The matter escalated, and the Mountain God Temple found it difficult to handle. The Earth God and the City God Temple, mindful of the power of the Bloodline Demon King Tiger King, ultimately facilitated a private settlement.

Of the four elements—wealth, companionship, law, and location—wealth comes first.

For the Earth God, even giving up a few thousand strands of divine power would be painful; for the Thunder God, a few thousand strands of divine power was merely a matter of descending to the mortal realm once...

Su Jiyue realized more and more that the God of Wealth Plan was his greatest asset for cultivation.

That night, the Li couple and Zhou Lan all had the same dream.

In their dream, they opened a restaurant called "Fulai Restaurant" in Jinfeng County. Customers came and went in an endless stream, and they made so much money that their hands were sore from carrying it...

Early in the morning, Zhou Lan arrived at Zhou Wen's house and quickly explained his purpose.

"Open a restaurant in Jinfeng County?"

Zhou Wen was startled. He had sixty taels of silver left over after deducting the budget for silkworm farming.

However, Zhou Wen was very clear that for a restaurant that cost several hundred taels of silver, the money he had was simply not enough.

Zhou Lan smiled and shook his head, saying, "No one gets fat overnight. We can open a restaurant first. The rent will only be twenty or thirty taels of silver a year..."

"It takes time to acquire the necessary equipment, and we also need to apply for business licenses and alcohol sales permits. Even if we start preparing now, we won't be able to open for business until April or May!"

"Overall, it will take about 60 or 70 taels of silver to open before the business opens, and I've asked more than just you."

"The Li family couple from Xisang Village, who were in charge of the funeral and wedding ceremonies, contributed manpower and money, and with ten taels of silver, they held a 40% stake."
"I will contribute twenty taels of silver, taking a 20% share."

"The Zhang family, who live not far from my home, contributed twenty taels of their savings as a 20% stake."
"You should also contribute twenty taels of silver, so that you can at least have a share."

Around mid-April, the first batch of silkworms will generate profits, and it won't be difficult for Zhou Lan to come up with twenty taels of silver at that time.

Zhou Wen's eyes suddenly lit up, not only because of the Li couple's improved cooking skills in the past few days, but also because of the Zhang family that Zhou Lan had mentioned.

It should be noted that the Zhang family, with two generations sacrificing their lives for the public, had a certain reputation in Jinfeng County.

Putting everything else aside, with the Zhang family's investment, at least in terms of their business acumen and their qualifications to sell alcohol, no one will be able to create any obstacles for them.

Zhou Wen even thought of more: "After the Zhang family girl found the golden toad in the river, Wu Lao Er, who had made things difficult for the Zhang family, died, and the Wu family was also half ruined."

"Now, the Zhang family can actually come up with twenty taels of silver at once... The rumors about the golden toad spitting out money are probably not unfounded!"

The 120 taels of silver that Zhou Wen received were in the name of the local earth god and Zhou Wu, and had no connection with the golden toad.

Now, Zhou Wen had many thoughts on his mind. Seeing that no one was around, he cautiously asked, "Fourth brother, is this matter related to the golden toad of the Zhang family?"

Zhou Lan just smiled without saying a word, then changed the subject, saying, "Third Brother, I've given you this opportunity; whether you can seize it is up to you!"

Although Zhou Lan did not give a direct answer, Zhou Wen understood and said with some excitement, "Shareholding? Of course I want to share! Twenty taels of silver isn't enough. How about I give you another twenty taels of silver and give me an extra ten percent share?"

Zhou Lan shook his head: "The number of shares for each restaurant has already been decided, but the restaurant is still short of staff. Third Brother, you've been to school, so you could be a bookkeeper..."

Before Zhou Wu went mad, his family was considered small landlords in the village. Zhou Wen had attended school and could barely work as an accountant.

Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt brimming with energy: "Then I'll take advantage of the fact that the restaurant hasn't opened yet and study with the old teacher in the village for a few more days..."

Zhou Lan nodded and smiled: "Then it's settled. Let's take advantage of the City God Temple Fair and go choose a location for the restaurant now!"

The Chenghuang Temple Fair in Jinfeng County starts on the first day of March and lasts for three days.

Today is the first day of the third lunar month, which is the first day of the City God Temple Fair.

(End of this chapter)