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

Chapter 135 The Mastermind Emerges...

"Diversion?"

This word surprised Lu Chen quite a bit.

Old Wu nodded and said, "Let's take my Wu family and the Sun family as examples. My Wu family follows the path of literature, while the Sun family follows the path of martial arts."

The three main halls of my Wu family enshrine the Wenchang Emperor, Venus, and the Moon Goddess, respectively. These are the foundation upon which my Wu family was founded.

The other three newly wealthy families in the east of the city also each have their own venerable deities, such as the Matchmaker God and the God of Wealth.

"The so-called 'diversion' does not mean that we directly give the worshippers to other places."

No one can force anyone to do this; which temple a worshipper chooses to worship at is entirely voluntary, and we have no control over that.

"The real 'diversion' is, to put it bluntly, avoiding direct competition with subordinate elites for worshippers."

For example, the "Longevity God" worshipped by the Xiong family in the east of the city is the most efficacious, so my Wu family simply decided not to set up a "Longevity God" shrine.

Pilgrims with this need will naturally flock to the Xiong Clan Temple.

"Of course, as you know, young friend, the Zhao family's 'Longevity Star' is also very effective. Even your Uncle Sun went to the Zhao family before, not the Xiong family."

Such cross-regional competition for incense offerings depends on each party's own abilities.

However, most pilgrims prefer convenience and tend to choose the nearest efficacious temple.

Those who specifically travel from the east of the city to the north to offer sacrifices are ultimately a minority and won't affect the overall situation.

"I see." Lu Chen suddenly realized.

I never imagined there were so many intricacies between the temples.

Sun Dechang then chimed in, "This is precisely why we say the Zhao family acts arrogantly."

The most efficacious deities in their Zhao family temple happen to overlap with the main deities worshipped by several other newly wealthy families in the north of the city.

This created direct competition, and instead of diverting customers, it actually drew away worshippers from other establishments, which was truly unbecoming of a prominent family.

"Hehe, Old Sun, the Zhao family's ambitions extend far beyond just the incense offerings in the north of the city."

Old Wu's words carried a hint of coldness: "In recent years, they have been vigorously promoting the worship of [Lei Zu]. At first, they even offered incense for free, which attracted a large number of worshippers. For a time, their popularity even surpassed that of your Sun Family Temple."

You should know that Lei Zu is the main deity worshipped by your Sun family.

The Zhao family has quite the ambition; they not only want to claim the civil deities, but they also want a share of the martial deities.

"And you're talking about me," Sun Dechang snorted. "Didn't they also steal a lot of incense offerings from your Wu family's Wenchang Emperor? You're probably even more anxious and upset than I am, aren't you?"

Old Wu sighed, "Alas, when Old Master Zhao was alive, they were still somewhat restrained. Who would have thought that after Old Zhao passed away, young Zhao's behavior... it's truly astounding..."

The following words were clearly vulgar, but Old Wu swallowed them back before he could finish, stopping short of saying anything more.

Lu Chen recalled meeting Zhao Jiutang, the head of the Zhao family, at yesterday's meeting, and murmured, "I never expected that the Zhao family head, who looks so gentle and refined, would have such a polarized reputation..."

"The head of the Zhao family? You mean Zhao Jiutang?" Sun Yourong asked upon hearing this.

"Yes, during yesterday's meeting, I thought he was quite refined in his speech and manners, I never expected..."

Upon hearing this, Sun Dechang and Wu Lao exchanged a glance and suddenly burst into laughter.

Even Sun Yourong covered her mouth and chuckled.

"What's wrong? What are you laughing at?" Lu Chen asked, puzzled.

“Young friend, you’ve misunderstood,” Old Wu said with a smile. “Zhao Jiutang is only the nominal head of the Zhao family. The one who truly controls the Zhao family is not him at all.”

"Huh?!" Lu Chen exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s right.” Sun Yourong explained, “The real power holder in the Zhao family is Old Master Zhao’s grandson, who is also Zhao Jiutang’s nephew, named Zhao Wanliang. The Wanliang in ‘ten thousand taels of gold’.”

"Zhao Wanliang?"

Holy crap!

As expected of someone who worships the God of Wealth, even their name is so straightforward!

“However, this person…” Old Wu frowned slightly, “has a terrible reputation! He has almost all the vices that a spoiled brat should have.”

"Hmph!" Sun Dechang snorted coldly for no apparent reason: "This brat actually dares to covet my Rongrong, he's just delusional!"

"Grandpa~" Sun Yourong glanced at Lu Chen out of the corner of her eye, seemingly unwilling for Sun Dechang to bring up the matter further.

Sun Dechang understood and said no more.

Old Wu smiled, then said seriously, "This boy acts eccentrically and without any scruples."

Over the years, he has bullied several of the newly rich in the north of the city.

However, this young man does have the right to be arrogant. Putting aside the vast business left by the Zhao family patriarch, he is also extremely talented.

It is said that his affinity with Lei Zu has reached over 30%.

The Zhao Clan Temple was able to persuade the Thunder God to enter the temple, and this young man deserves the greatest credit. His current strength should also have reached the fourth rank. Considering his age, his future is indeed limitless.”

"Lei Zu? This person cultivates thunder magic?" Lu Chen thought of something and raised his voice.

The others looked on in surprise: "What's wrong, young friend Lu? Cultivating lightning magic... isn't that quite common?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Lu Chen waved his hand and smiled. "I was just a little surprised that the head of a major literary clan would specialize in thunder magic."

"Yes, that's why I said this child is exceptionally talented. After all, a spiritualist who can raise their Divine Serving Ability to over 30% is truly a rare breed."

Although Old Wu didn't have a good impression of Zhao Wanliang's character, he did acknowledge his talent and strength.

"To be honest, I met him a few times when he was a child. I thought he was a cute and lovable kid. How did he grow up to be like this?"

Old Wu frowned.

“It must have been due to family misfortunes. His parents died early, and he was raised by his grandfather. He was already lacking in love, and then Old Zhao suddenly died a few years ago. These repeated blows probably completely warped his personality.” Sun Qingcang paused. “Speaking of which, I saw him once last year.”

"Oh? You've seen him before? The last time I saw him was at Old Zhao's funeral. He was only sixteen or seventeen then. He must be twenty-two or twenty-three now."

"Yes, he's a year older than my Rongrong, so he should be 22 this year. Speaking of which, this kid has changed a lot. He looks terrible, his face is as pale as paper, and he looks like he's been drained by alcohol and women and is sickly."

His steps were unsteady.

I'm not cursing him, but at this rate, he might not even live to his father's age, let alone surpass his grandfather.

"Really? Could it be... that he has contracted some kind of serious disease?" Old Wu pressed.

Sun Dechang shook his head: "Who knows? Anyway, this kid has always been mysterious. Logically speaking, at his age, he should be taking charge, but he still lets Zhao Jiutang hold the title of family head. Don't you find that strange?"

Old Wu nodded thoughtfully, "There is indeed something strange about it. So where did you see him?"

Sun Dechang: "This guy wants to marry my Rongrong. He came to propose to her once last year."

Seeing his inhuman and ghostly appearance, I resolutely refused.

My grandson-in-law may not be very capable, but the most important thing is that he has excellent character and is in good health!

Otherwise, there is no point in discussing this matter.”

As he spoke, Sun Dechang glanced at Lu Chen out of the corner of his eye.

However, at this moment, although Lu Chen remained outwardly calm, his heart was in turmoil.

— Cultivating Thunder Magic.

—The body is weak, as if plagued by a serious illness.

—Ruthless methods.

— He holds a high position of power and is the head of a clan.

These conditions combined immediately reminded him of Yin Thunder Wood and the Five Hells to Immortality.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Could this young master of the Zhao family be related to achieving immortality through corpse liberation?"

Of course, these were just wild guesses from his brainstorming session and had no factual basis.

Perhaps it was because he was so eager to solve the "corpse dissection case" and obtain the 20,000 military merits that he became somewhat sensitive.

However, in any case, most people who can perform such secret techniques of corpse dissolution will meet the above characteristics.

—"Zhao Wanliang".

Lu Chen murmured the name to himself several times.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. The food's getting cold, let's eat!"

At this moment, Mr. Wu waved his hand again to preside over the meeting.

At the dinner table, the clinking of glasses and toasts resumed once again.

……

Inside Chenghuang Street.

Looking at the lively scene inside the private room.

Li Chenghuang stood with his hands behind his back, a chilling glint in his eyes.

"What a fine Sun Dechang, what a fine Wuzhong."

"Okay, very good..."

In the silent, soulless hall, a series of crisp, cracking sounds rang out as a fist clenched into a fist...

(End of this chapter)