Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 119 A Shocking Secret! Clericism Can Be Used Like This?!
After saying that, the two of them put away their emotions.

Jun Caishen carefully examined the blueprints, and after a moment, he said with great satisfaction, "Not bad, really not bad! My good brother has put in a lot of effort."

"As long as my brother is satisfied, I will have the skilled craftsmen carve it according to this blueprint. By the way, besides the main statue, do we need to arrange two additional subordinate deities?"

The term "guardian deity" also means "protector deity".

They are always by the side of the main deity.

"No need for now. To be honest, my brother, my incense has been declining for several hundred years, and the few gods that were once my brothers have all left."

"Are even the gods in Heaven this pragmatic?"

"There are differences between immortals and mortals, but there are also similarities. The immortals with thriving incense offerings have a constant stream of guests, while those of us with dwindling incense offerings naturally suffer neglect. However, thanks to you, my brother, since your trip to Longhu County, you have attracted a lot of incense offerings for me. I also plan to recruit a few more subordinate gods to serve me."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen had a sudden thought: Could it be that there's another priesthood he could receive?

Unexpectedly, the God of Wealth seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and laughed loudly, "Brother, rest assured. Once my incense offerings have recovered a bit, I have a good job for you. This mere subordinate god is naturally not worthy of my brother."

i wipe...

This has a... critical hit bonus!?

Lu Chen scratched his head and laughed, "Brother, then I... I'm so embarrassed."

"You rascal, why are you being so polite with your elder brother?" Jun Caishen said with a playful laugh.

Lu Chen didn't ask any further questions: "Since that's the case, then how about this, brother? Besides the main statue, I'll have someone carve a few more soldiers and generals as embellishments, otherwise this God of Wealth Temple will seem a bit empty. If there are other subordinate gods later, we can replace them then. Also, how about I add the Well Dragon King to the main statue as well? Since he is your guardian golden dragon, his presence will make the main statue even more majestic and imposing."

“Brother, please make the arrangements as you see fit. I will be content with just one temple.”

“Ah, brother, you are mistaken. People rely on clothes, and gods rely on gold. This pomp and circumstance is the ‘first incense’ that believers see for the first time, and it must not be taken lightly.”

“What you say is absolutely right, my brother. We will do as you say!” Jun Caishen said with a hearty smile.

"Alright, then brother, please wait for my news!"

"Okay!"

End the conversation with your brother.

Lu Chen took the design drawings back.

"Strange, I have a feeling that my brother isn't in a high mood this time."

Recalling his conversation with Jun Caishen, Lu Chen vaguely felt that his brother seemed somewhat absent-minded compared to before.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Lu Chen shook his head, then lit another incense stick and inserted it into the incense burner of the King of Hell...

"Boy, why did it take you so long to contact me? You really don't take me seriously at all."

The King of Hell's cold shout rang out.

Lu Chen deliberately said, "Godfather, I just contacted the God of Wealth and the Plague Emperor, so..."

Yama was taken aback: "Oh, then it's alright."

The voices immediately became much clearer.

"So, you've come to keep your promise?"

"Oh dear, do you think I would cheat on a mere fifty million ghost coins?"

Previously, when they were in Chenghuang Street, Niu Tou went to the Underworld to ask Yama for help. Lu Chen asked him to convey a condition: a reward of 50 million.

The way they're chasing me for the debt right now, are they afraid I won't pay?

Lu Chen was speechless.

"Don't worry, in a couple of days, once my machine is up and running, the fifty million won't be short a penny." Lu Chen said, then got to the point: "Actually, the reason I called Yan Jun up today is to tell him some good news."

"Oh, what's the good news?"

Lu Chen repeated the story of opening the temple and taking up the post of "Plague Master".

"Wow! You're really lucky, kid! Such a stroke of good fortune!"

"It was just luck, nothing more," Lu Chen said modestly.

"You, the Plague Prince, hold a position equivalent to the Plague Envoy of the Five Directions, and are the guardian deity of the Plague Department!"

King Yama was surprised and suspicious, thinking to himself that it was strange.

Doesn't the Plague Department have a Plague-Controlling Prince?
How did this kid end up with this divine position?
Could it be that the former Prince of Plague has been deposed?
But then Lu Chen's urging voice came: "King Yama, get down to business. How do you plan to regulate the Yama Palace?"

A temple must be composed of the three elements of "Heaven, Earth, and Man," none of which can be missing.

However, the "underworld" in other temples is entirely for show.

But this time, Lu Chen was serious and wanted to give the Underworld a proper makeover.

After all, his most relied-upon supernatural power right now is the power of the underworld.

In particular, the divine position of "General of Majesty and Righteousness" allows one to command the troops of the underworld.

Putting everything else aside, just consider the bizarre dungeon alone.

The supernatural powers of the underworld are truly infinitely useful!
It works incredibly well!
King Yama asked, "So, how big of a palace do you plan to build?"

Lu Chen: "How about I share my thoughts first? At my current level, I can't support the Five Ghost Emperors or the Great Emperor of Fengdu in the Underworld. So I plan to regulate the Underworld according to the standards of the Ten Kings of Hell. What do you think?"

Unexpectedly, Yama retorted, "You brat, have you taken the wrong medicine? If I remember correctly, this newly established temple has at most sixty deity slots. You've already taken ten for the Underworld alone, and you need at least a few for the God of Wealth. As for the Plague Department, there's the Plague Emperor and the Five Plague Envoys, making six in total."

That means you have a maximum of forty god positions left.

"You really don't plan to worship any deities who are popular with worshippers, and just rely on us, the ones with few worshippers, to keep things going for you?"

"Well... that's not impossible." Lu Chen scratched his head. "As long as you put in some effort and use your ingenuity, a cold stove can eventually become a hot stove. We can't stay a cold stove forever, can we?"

Lu Chen only said half a sentence, leaving the other half unsaid.

That is, if I'm stuck in this cold spot my whole life, then all my hard work will have been for nothing?
The ultimate goal of a cold stove is to turn it into a hot stove!

This is the ultimate meaning of using a cold stove!
"Anyway, from my point of view, it's not wise for you to divide things like this right now. As for the underworld, you only need to worship me first. Why bother with the Ten Kings of Hell? You can worship the other nine when you have a bigger family and more business later."

"Oh~"

Lu Chen smiled meaningfully: "So, King Yama is afraid that other Kings of Hell will take away his offerings."

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I'm such a narrow-minded person?!"

"Look how anxious you are, so anxious."

I recalled how the old King Yama had boasted to King Qin Guang.

I almost got beaten up with Hades' Bell.

Lu Chen wanted to laugh.

But on second thought, what the old Yama said made sense.

Arranging ten at once is indeed too many. If there are other arrangements later and there aren't enough seats, it will be troublesome.

After all, it's easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away.

Once someone enters the temple, there's no reason to ask them to leave.

Unless it's a separate invocation of the gods.

However, this way of asking is completely different from the way of asking above.

"Besides, you have to reserve two divine positions for yourself first, right?"

"what?"

Old Yama's sudden remark almost made Lu Chen's hair stand on end.

"King Yama, what did you say? I reserved two divine positions for myself?"

"That's right, you now hold two major divine positions, General Zhengde of the Underworld and Prince Zhi of the Plague Department. Don't you plan to enshrine these two divine positions as well?"

"King Yama, what kind of international joke are you talking about? What kind of logic is it to offer sacrifices to a living person? Are you just saying that I'm too lucky and have too long a lifespan?"

Lu Chen was speechless.

In past history, there was a typical case of a living person receiving offerings.

—Qin Shubao. Because he saved Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, his portrait was made and worshipped by the emperor every day.

The results of it……

Such a great hero ended up having to sell his mace and horse, and almost starved to death.

Of course, besides these, there are also many cases of erecting shrines for living people.

However, most of the shrines built in the countryside are spontaneously created by the people.

In addition, the recipient of the offering has deep blessings and can withstand it.

However, these shrines built for living people are often products of their time and are quickly lost to the annals of history.

Wei Zhongxian, a powerful eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, also known as the "Nine Thousand Years Old".

He wielded immense power during his lifetime and enjoyed erecting shrines in his honor throughout the country.

In the end, he suffered the consequences of his evil deeds.

In short, these kinds of things are pretty shady.

Lu Chen knew the ins and outs of it all, but had no interest in getting involved.

Even if you're lucky, that's about it; you don't see many people achieving enlightenment or becoming immortals.

If things go wrong, you might lose your life.

"Why are you so scared, kid? I told you to be appointed as the 'Majestic and Upright General' and the 'Plague-Suppressing Prince,' not to put yourself in that position."

"I am angry," Yama scolded.

"What does that mean?" Lu Chen still didn't quite understand.

"Still don't understand? What I mean is, you should put the two great divine positions in there first. Later, when you have gained fame and have the opportunity to achieve perfect merit and ascend to immortality, or once you attain a certain rank, these divine positions will become the source of your offerings. Do you understand now?"

Lu Chen frowned, pondered for a moment, and then asked in a way that was both an answer and a question: "You mean that others worship the Mighty General Zhengde and the Plague-Suppressing Prince, not me, Lu Chen, and that when I really have the opportunity to achieve a high position in the future, these divine positions will be equivalent to my incarnations?"

"That's right! You do have some brains. I might as well tell you, don't be fooled by the fact that there are so many gods in the Heavenly Court. Actually, there are many hidden ways in this world. Some of the great gods you know are actually just incarnations of a few powerful beings."

Therefore, you feel that some deities do not need incense offerings.

But in reality, the deities that have branched out from Him are already very popular.

There's no need for Him to suffer it personally; do you understand now?

Lu Chen understood this theory instantly.

He had said before that there were 365 righteous gods in the Heavenly Court.

Don't be fooled by the large number of people.

In fact, most of them are just one "person".

There is a serious problem of inbreeding.

Take Yuanshi Tianzun as an example.

Its nine yang energies transformed into the Eastern Azure Emperor, one of the Six Emperors.

That is, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun.

Her innate Yin energy transformed into the Mother of All Stars—Doumu Yuanjun.

Doumu Yuanjun then gave birth to nine sons.

His eldest and second sons were among the famous Six Emperors.

—Emperor Gouchen.

—The Purple Star Emperor.

The remaining seven are the famous Big Dipper.

—Greedy Wolf.

—The Giant Gate.

—Lu Cun.

—Wenqu (文曲).

—Lian Zhen.

—Wuqu (武曲).

—Po Jun (破军).

In other words.

The origin of all these celestial giants comes from Yuanshi Tianzun, one of the Three Pure Ones.

There is even a claim that the "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder and Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable" is one of the incarnations of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.

The incense offerings that are transformed into the true form can also nourish the original deity.

Moreover, the avatar is immortal, and the original body is immortal...

and many more!

The avatar is immortal, the original body is immortal?!

Lu Chen's mind suddenly raced.

—General Zhengde, the mighty general.

—The Plague-Slaying Prince.

According to Yama, he only needs to wait until he attains a certain rank in the future.

Those two divine offices are then equivalent to one's own incarnation.

Collecting incense offerings is the simplest task.

But if we think about it more closely...

There are many benefits to this.

They not only placed their own forces in Heaven and the Underworld...

It's like having two extra lives...

Holy crap, I think I've suddenly discovered a unique way to use the [Cleric] class!

"Hey, judging from your expression, you seem to have grasped something."

The voice of Yama (the King of Hell) came.

Lu Chen hurriedly asked, "Godfather, if I may ask, I don't have any official rank right now. I'm just a clay statue. If someone worships me, how should I respond? If I don't react, isn't it useless?"

"Foolish! If you can't do it yourself, you can arrange for a guardian deity to listen for you. Otherwise, what's the point of having guardian deities?"

Yama, the King of Hell, spat.

"Xie Qingyi, Fan Rusong?!"

Lu Chen suddenly realized.

"But I, the Plague Prince, have no guardian deities?"

"I can't do anything about the Heavenly Court unless you find a deity who is willing to be your guardian deity."

"Me, a mere mortal, and you expect gods to be my guardian deities?"

Lu Chen's head was buzzing.

Oh well, at least we know a way.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Chen suddenly asked again, "Godfather, judging from your tone, there must be many hidden talents in the world. I must not be the first person to use this method, right?"

"Of course, there are always people more powerful than you. Do you think you're the only one with a powerful backer? So many powerful beings, whose backers are they?"

hiss~
The King of Hell's words were damn meaningful...

　Two chapters totaling over 7,000 words have been presented. The third major chapter will return to the content you envisioned. The Dragon and Tiger chapter and the Prefect chapter were primarily intended to set the tone and gradually develop the world-building. Many exciting short segments have been prepared to fulfill everyone's expectations.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)