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

Chapter 134 The treacherous minister has jumped out on his own!

"Thank you very much, Mr. Wu!"

Lu Chen bowed deeply and solemnly, then bent down and respectfully lifted the statue of the Kitchen God with both hands.

To consecrate the "Fireworks Album," four rituals must be performed:

——【Purification】

——【Invoking the Gods】

——[Dab eyes]

——【Sealing Spirits】

Besides that, the most crucial element is the arrangement of the altar.

Unlike the open-air altars set up in Longhu County for praying for rain, the altar opening this time needs to be in accordance with the divine qualities of the Kitchen God.

The power of the gods is drawn by the smoke from countless homes.

The day after tomorrow, from 5 pm to 7 pm, will be the most auspicious time of day, just as smoke rises from the chimneys of countless households.

Therefore, Lu Chen decided to set up the altar in Nanshan Community, using the smoke from the cooking fires of thousands of households in the community as a "catalyst" to ignite this consecration ceremony.

only……

Unlike the previous rain-seeking ceremony in Longhu County, this time the altar opening will likely be difficult to conceal and will surely attract the attention of Jiangdu City.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen took a deep breath.

Well, some secrets can't be hidden forever.

When the time comes to reveal themselves, let nature take its course.

Then Lu Chen and his group said goodbye.

However, Mr. Wu insisted on fulfilling his duty as a host and warmly invited everyone to stay for dinner.

It was lunchtime, and we were treated to a meal by Mr. Wu and Mr. Sun Dechang.

Lu Chen couldn't very well refuse.

I could only call my mom first and tell them to eat first, and that I wouldn't go back to eat myself.

"Haha, I didn't expect young friend Lu to be so family-oriented."

Seeing that Lu Chen even had to report to his family before eating out, Old Wu and Sun Dechang exchanged a smile, their eyes full of approval.

What a good child!

"Let's go! I've already made a reservation." Old Wu led the way.

The group stepped out of the temple gate.

Shortly after the group stepped out of the temple.

Inside Chenghuang Street.

Li Chenghuang, who was sitting in the grand chair, suddenly opened his eyes.

The image of the City God, which had been blurry, became clear again.

Although the City God has the function of observing, controlling, and monitoring a city, his scope is ultimately limited.

For example, the area inside this temple is a place that city gods from all over the country cannot even peek into.

The reason is simple: the deities enshrined in the temple are the true gods of the three realms, how could the City God possibly have the right to see them?
Similarly, if a deity is worshipped in a home, the City God cannot investigate the area within a hundred meters.

However, this does not apply to "privately requesting" deities.

If any mortal privately invites the gods, the City God even has the right to notify the government to come and investigate and arrest them.

Furthermore, if a deity with higher magical power or divine authority than the local City God descends, the City God cannot see within a radius of five li.

Therefore, as soon as Lu Chen and the others stepped out of the temple, Li Chenghuang appeared in front of the screen to check.

"This statue is... the Kitchen God?" Looking at the Kitchen God statue in Lu Chen's hands, Li Chenghuang's eyes sharpened, and he frowned slightly, saying, "It's neither a private request nor an official offering. Could it be... a temporary offering?"

"But in any case, I didn't expect that he would actually be able to invite him out. It seems that the Kitchen God has already communicated with him in spirit."

Li Chenghuang narrowed his eyes slightly.

As far as he knew, when household spirits entered a temple, the temple's incense offerings were often insufficient, and their power would be greatly diminished.

The duties of the Kitchen God overlap considerably with those of the Four Duty Officers, both possessing the power to oversee the human world.

"It seems... he must have reached an agreement with the Kitchen God. As long as he achieves a certain goal, the Kitchen God will help him capture the culprit behind the corpse dissection."

"Heh, he's really impatient. I've already promised to do my best, but he still wants to invite another deity. It seems his wariness of me... hasn't lessened at all."

Li Chenghuang's lips curled slightly, revealing a meaningful smile. ...

Shortly after.

Inside a private room at a five-star hotel in the eastern part of the city.

Everyone toasted and exchanged drinks.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became increasingly lively, and the conversation naturally turned to other topics.

"Young friend Lu, I heard that you were just an ordinary student half a month ago, but now you have become the undisputed rising star of Jiangdu. You have a lot of good fortune and are very lucky. I really envy you. Come, young friend, let me toast you again."

"Grandma Wu, you're too kind!" Lu Chen stood up, raised his glass, lightly clinked it with Grandma Wu's, and then drank it all in one gulp.

Ugh, this wine... it's really awful!
"If you can't drink, then drink less." Sun Yourong transmitted her voice secretly.

Lu Chen nodded calmly.

Old Wu smiled again and said, "On the way here, I heard Old Sun mention that when you were making offerings at the Zhao family temple, it seemed that you had some disagreements with the Zhao family?"

Lu Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "It's not really a grudge. It's just that I was a junior at the time and my voice was weak, so it was inevitable that I would be looked down upon."

"I see." Old Wu smiled knowingly. "The Zhao family really misjudged this time, and they must be regretting it now. With your talent, young friend, you are on the verge of becoming a rising star. Given time, it will not be difficult for you to join a powerful clan. At that time, the Zhao family will probably no longer be able to dominate the north of the city."

Sun Dechang nodded upon hearing this: "In recent years, the Zhao family's behavior has indeed become increasingly arrogant and domineering, especially towards newly wealthy families, where they have been particularly harsh in their suppression. Those three newly wealthy families in the north of the city have suffered quite a bit at their hands."

Old Wu's expression hardened: "Since Old Master Zhao passed away, the Zhao family's style of doing things has changed drastically. Logically speaking, local powerful families should take care of the local new elites, but the Zhao family has done the opposite. By suppressing the new elites, they have seized more than 60% of the incense offerings in the north of the city. It's really... hard to say."

Hearing this, Lu Chen put down his chopsticks and asked with a puzzled look, "By the way, Elder Wu, Grandpa Sun, when you mentioned this, I suddenly have a question I'd like to ask you both."

"You can speak freely, my friend."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Our Jiangdu City has four major families and ten rising stars, totaling fourteen temples. Jiangdu's population is relatively stable, so there's bound to be competition between the temples. Since the four major families already occupy most of the market, the competition in the remaining market should be even fiercer. Could it be... that every temple is making a fortune? Shouldn't there be a siphon effect between them?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Dechang and Wu Lao exchanged a smile.

"Xiao Chen, are you worried that your Lu Clan Temple will be unable to compete with the other families in Jiangdu in the future?" Sun Dechang asked with a smile.

"Well... I do have some concerns about that, but not entirely," Lu Chen admitted. "After all, the deity I'll be worshipping in the future is different from the common ones. I believe I can forge my own path!"

His main curiosity was about how the temple survived.

After all, as Elder Sun just mentioned, the Zhao family alone has seized 60% of the incense offerings in the north of the city, which shows that the "siphoning effect" does exist and is quite serious.

"Since you are confused, young friend, let me explain it to you."

Old Wu's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "First of all, I can tell you clearly that although temples are a highly profitable business, not every temple is as profitable as you imagine, and some even lose money."

"To explain this issue clearly, we need to go through three steps."

Step 1: When a family officially becomes a new elite and obtains the qualification to establish a temple, it will first go through a "sprint period".

During this period, you can use any means necessary to promote your temple, with almost no scruples.

Of course, "using every means possible" does not mean resorting to any means necessary. If it involves illegal activities, then it is certainly not feasible.

However, actions such as distributing flyers at other temples or directly soliciting worshippers are actually tacitly permitted.

This sprint period typically lasts for one year.

During this period, as long as things didn't go too far, the major families and newly rich would turn a blind eye.

You can think of this as a kind of implicit rule.

"The second step..."

Old Wu raised his second finger and continued, "After the sprint period, the temple has accumulated a certain base of worshippers, and some of the outrageous methods used before need to be restrained. At this time, the real test of whether the temple's incense is thriving will come."

"For example, if you were to establish a temple in the north of the city in the future, you would inevitably face suppression from the local temples."

Such as smearing and defaming, taking the opportunity to cause trouble, etc.

Since it's a business transaction, I think you can understand these underhanded competitive tactics.

Whether the temple can withstand the pressure depends entirely on its accumulation and operation.

If they cannot withstand the pressure, they will only become vassals of other temples;
But if they can withstand the pressure, establish their own unique style, and even challenge the established clans...

That leads to the third step!

Old Wu raised his third finger.

"The third step is 'diversion'!"

　Just a moment, there will be another update later.

　　I promised six updates, and I definitely won't miss it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)