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

Chapter 144 I want it! It stirred up the entire city!
On the other side, Nanshan Residential Area.

Witnessing this awe-inspiring and earth-shattering momentum, Lu Chen felt surprisingly calm.

After all, it's not comparable to the grand Buddhist ceremony with 100,000 participants in Longhu County.

This "consecration" ceremony was clearly somewhat lacking.

But, even so.

This momentum was enough to shake the entire city.

Yes!

The greater the momentum, the more renowned the reputation.

At that time, his "Lu Family Temple" will also be able to ride the wave of today's events and rise to great heights.

With the appearance of the [Fireworks Book], it came into being.

Now, we come to the third ritual – [eye-dotting].

The so-called [eye point].

The essence is "inviting the spirit into the body".

The spiritual energy of the deity corresponding to the statue or ritual implement is infused into it using one's own magical power.

The spiritual energy required for the [Fireworks Book] is naturally the energy of fireworks.

Lu Chen looked calmly at the altar.

The many talismans that were burned during the previous "invitation to the gods" ritual have been reduced to ashes after undergoing nine cycles of the Lesser Three Transformations.

He deftly twirled his peach wood sword, then with a gentle flick, swept all the ashes into the prepared copper basin of water.

Immediately afterwards, the incantation began again:
"Heaven and earth possess spirit, and all things return to their origin; with my sincere heart, I dot your eyes!"

"Wow——!"

The clear water in the copper basin, mixed with incense ash and talisman residue, began to spin rapidly without any wind, forming a turbid vortex!

"open!!!!"

Lu Chen exhaled and spoke, and the peach wood sword slammed down, the spine of the sword striking the edge of the copper basin heavily!
"clang--!"

A clear, melodious, and long tremor sounded.

The water in the basin burst open with a sound, turning into countless tiny droplets that defied common sense and rose up, hanging in mid-air!
call--

A strange sight occurred.

Countless tiny points of light could be seen drifting out from every household in Nanshan Community.

That's the purest, most natural, human warmth that arises from cooking food.

These points of light seemed to be summoned from all directions, converging to form a hazy band of light.

Then, it was thrown at an extremely fast speed towards the huge illusory image of the [Fireworks Book] in the air, where it was slowly absorbed and merged.

……

"I see."

Above the dome, the Emperor of Fengdu nodded slightly, having already seen through the key to the matter.

Behind him, Ghost Emperor Yang Yun suddenly realized: "This technique is quite ingenious. The Kitchen God's magical artifact had long since lost its spiritual power, yet this method can actually ignite the smoke from countless homes, rekindling its divinity and replenishing its essence?"

Zhang Heng, standing to the side, gasped in astonishment: "This kid is definitely someone important! This magic... it's both righteous and evil, and its methods are unpredictable. No wonder he can concoct such incredibly realistic ghost money. I really don't know where his background comes from!"

……

Not far away, the Zhao family uncle and nephew stood in mid-air, also staring intently at the towering pillar of light.

Zhao Jiutang stood with his hands behind his back, his face serious, and suddenly let out a long sigh.

"Second Uncle, why are you sighing all of a sudden?" Zhao Wanliang asked from the side.

His complexion was completely different from Zhao Jiutang's, showing an unhealthy paleness, with a faint bluish-black tinge on his cheekbones.

He looked gloomy and sickly.

Zhao Jiutang frowned: "Ten thousand taels, that idiot Zhao Zhihong looked down on people before, and I'm afraid he offended Lu Chen badly."

These days, this kid's tricks are getting more and more outrageous... I, his second uncle, am really worried."

"Worried? Worried about what? Worried that the God of Wealth he invited will steal the incense offerings from our God of Wealth, Zhao?"

"That's not entirely true. I think this kid is too lucky and his methods are too strange. Plus, he's in the north of the city. If we let him continue like this, it will be bad for my Zhao family!"

"Why not try a different approach? Befriend them instead of using the same methods you used on the other newly rich families, otherwise..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Wanliang interrupted him: "Second Uncle, why boost the morale of others and diminish our own prestige? Don't forget, the north of the city is still the stronghold that the Zhao family has built up over many years! We can treat them differently, but we must never lose the Zhao family's attitude of looking down on the new elites!"

He paused, his cold gaze sweeping over the beam of light: "Besides, if we really do as you say, treating him differently while continuing to apply high pressure to the other families, do you think those families won't react? If you do this, you might make our Zhao family the target of everyone's criticism."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiutang pondered for a moment and felt that there was indeed some truth to it.

If handled improperly, it will please neither side and instead plunge the Zhao family into even greater trouble.

"So, according to your plan, the Lu family will be treated the same as the other families from now on?"

"Just go with the flow and proceed step by step. Why put yourself in shackles now about the future?"

Zhao Wanliang spoke in a light tone.

……

Meanwhile, the strange phenomena in this place intensified, attracting more and more attention.

Many fourth-rank spiritual practitioners couldn't contain their curiosity and tried to fly closer from all directions to get a better look.

boom--! ! !
A burst of incredibly powerful flame shot out, instantly turning a three-kilometer radius area around the pillar of light into a temporary forbidden zone!
Yu Feng, clad in crimson armor, stood proudly in the void, resembling a fiery war god.

His personal guards, each wielding a divine weapon, stood watch at their respective positions, their eyes sharp as eagles, coldly scanning any who attempted to approach. Yu Feng's voice, icy and chilling, carrying an undeniable authority, boomed across the room: "Everyone, retreat to the outer perimeter and observe! Anyone who dares to trespass..."

Before the words were finished, the surrounding wall of flames suddenly rose several meters higher with a "boom," the flames raging and the scorching waves were overwhelming!

"Yes! I will obey the city lord's orders!"

Seeing that it was City Lord Yu Feng personally overseeing the situation, all the spiritual practitioners who tried to approach were terrified, stopped in their tracks, and retreated far away, not daring to offend in the slightest.

……

However, the situation at the ceremony suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse.

In the air, the streams of light formed by the smoke and fire of countless homes continued to fly towards the [Fireworks Album].

But the "Fireworks Book" was like a bottomless black hole, greedily devouring every wisp of smoke, yet remaining completely unchanged itself.

There was neither a spark of inspiration nor a flow of divine charm; it remained as dull as ever.

Lu Chen's home in Nanshan Residential Area.

The stove fire never went out, and Lu's mother cooked one dish after another.

The smoke rising from the pot seemed to possess a spirit; as soon as it emerged, it transformed into a faint light that pierced through the window and flew towards the sky.

"That's strange, the fire is getting smaller and smaller! Did you not turn the gas on high enough?!"

Lu's mother shouted anxiously at Lu Jianming.

Lu Jianming looked aggrieved: "I've already turned it on full blast! The gas tank is almost empty!"

"What?! Oh dear! Why do you always mess things up at crucial moments?!"

Mrs. Lu stomped her feet in anger. Seeing the warmth of home cooking dwindling, she was frantic: "Oh no, what do we do when the warmth is getting weaker and weaker?"

As if echoing her anxiety, similar noises came from the neighbors upstairs, downstairs, and all around.

"Oh no, my gas has run out!"

"Oh dear, all the dishes are cooked, there's nothing left to cook!"

"Damn it, the fire was too strong, the pot really burned through!"

……

In an instant, the smoke and aroma of cooking wafting from each household decreased at a visible rate, and even stopped flowing altogether.

Even the thin river of light has shrunk considerably.

However, the absorption speed of the [Fireworks Book] did not slow down; on the contrary, it seemed to become even more rapid due to its "hunger," like a whale swallowing water, instantly absorbing all the remaining light spots.

"Not enough...not enough!"

Lu Chen's expression hardened, and he inwardly cried out in alarm.

He underestimated the amount of smoke and fire needed to reignite the magical artifact.

The trail of fireworks in the sky had completely died down.

The strange phenomena around the altar began to rapidly diminish, and the towering pillar of light became thinner and more transparent at a visible speed. The brilliant light and shadow in the sky fluctuated violently, showing signs of dissipation.

……

This sudden turn of events immediately provoked reactions from all sides.

……

"Oh no! The ritual's spiritual energy is running low; something's going to go wrong!"

Sun Qingcang's expression changed drastically, and he blurted out.

Beside her, Sun Yourong's pretty face turned deathly pale, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes.

……

"It seems... it all came to naught in the end."

Zhao Jiutang gazed at the soon-to-disintegrate pillar of light from afar, his tone carrying a hint of regret, yet also a touch of schadenfreude.

"Depend on!!"

However, Zhao Wanliang, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but mutter a curse.

Zhao Jiutang was taken aback.

Why does Wan Liang seem so eager for this ceremony to succeed?

……

In the direction of the Wu family in the east of the city, Old Wu looked at the flickering, soon-to-be-extinguished pillar of light and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"It is a real pity that such a huge momentum was generated, but it ultimately failed due to insufficient foundation."

“Yes,” his son, Wu Jingzhi, echoed.

……

Above the dome, Ghost Emperor Zhang Heng also shook his head: "The range it can trigger is ultimately limited. Unless..."

"Unless he can ignite the entire city's residents and the smoke from every household's chimneys, creating a torrent."

Ghost Emperor Yang Yun interjected, "But that requires immense magical power and precise control, which is impossible for this kid with his current strength."

"Impossible?"

The Emperor of Fengdu chuckled and said, "That's not necessarily true."

　Chapter Two still needs polishing, which will probably take a long time. I'll check it tomorrow morning; I've finished writing it, but I'm not satisfied with many details.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)