"All right, now it's time to complete the first deal!"
Chen Fan put away the contract and gave the River God a look.
The River God's dead-fish eyes rolled as he nodded to the Shrimp and Crab Spirits beside him.
Thud! Thud!
Two dull thumps sounded as two Crab Demons and a Shrimp Demon revealed their true forms, each three zhang tall.
The three demons stirred up the riverbed, soon digging up heaps of black sludge.
Demonic Beasts had immense strength. In the blink of an eye, they'd piled up a mud hill by the riverbank.
"There's at least a thousand shi of sludge here. That should be enough, right?"
Seeing this, Chen Fan nodded and gave Dazhuang a look.
Dazhuang immediately grinned, thumped his chest, then beckoned eight of his companions over.
Then Dazhuang and Xiao Zhuang lined up with the eight young men.
Each held an ordinary stick of grass incense and bowed before the Incense Altar.
The next moment, ten strands of nearly pure-white incense smoke rose above their heads.
"What pure incense!"
Zhang Tianshou had thought that what she'd witnessed today was already enough to astonish her.
She hadn't expected another surprise.
Incense and Wish Power this pure, with almost no karmic impurities mixed in—
In her several thousand years of life, Zhang Tianshou had seen it only a handful of times.
"Smack! This incense tastes really pure!"
Under the resentful gazes of the shrimp and crab demon soldiers, the River God gulped down all the incense in one go.
Its flavor sent a wave of delight through him, leaving him thoroughly satisfied.
When he opened his eyes again, he gazed at the villagers of Zhao Family Village with ravenous greed.
If he could enjoy incense this pure every day,
he could break through to a new realm in at most half a year.
Chen Fan thought it over, then added Zhang Tianshou and Zhang Tianxian's names as witnesses.
Only then did he nod with satisfaction and speak loudly.
"All right, the deal is complete. The contract is binding!"
Rumble!
As Chen Fan's voice rang out, golden auspicious light finally descended from the sky.
Zhang Tianshou looked up sharply. She'd noticed the names Chen Fan had written down.
Her heart filled with gratitude. Chen Fan was giving her merit!
"Sir, this... sigh, the karmic consequences are rather great!"
Merit Golden Wheel, River God's Ambition!
"Sir, I can never repay your great kindness!"
Tears shimmered in Zhang Tianshou's eyes, leaving Chen Fan utterly baffled.
"What do you mean?"
Chen Fan was dumbfounded. Had something gone wrong in Zhang Tianshou's head?
He'd only added her name because she was powerful, and her presence could serve as a deterrent.
As long as they could keep the River God in check for a while, he wouldn't get to call the shots for long.
The Great Tang's heavenly troops weren't a joke. They could raze mountains, destroy temples, slay gods, and exterminate demons.
Human dynasties hadn't been founded through the kindness of demons, immortals, and gods.
They'd been won through bloodshed and ironclad force.
When the Son of Heaven's royal army, the Heavenly Strategy Cavalry, charged forth, Human Dao Dragon Qi swept across heaven and earth.
Any demon, monster, or deity could either avoid their edge or bow their head and await death!
With Zhang Tianshou's standing, they could keep the River God in check for a while.
Once news spread that Zhao Family Village had enjoyed a bountiful harvest—an exceptionally bountiful one—
everything Chen Fan had done would naturally be reported to Li Shimin in full.
After all, in the first four years of Emperor Taizong's reign, the Great Tang had suffered disaster after disaster.
Rumors abounded that the Heavenly Dao had been enraged because Li Shimin had killed his brother and imprisoned his father.
Li Shimin desperately needed achievements and auspicious signs to prove he'd made the right choice.
"It's nothing, sir. Please don't mind me."
Zhang Tianshou smiled faintly. Chen Fan was merely mortal.
Though the Merit Sacred Artifact pot had purified his body, leaving it free of impurities,
he still couldn't see the sight of Golden Light of Merit shining across the world.
Besides, if the sages of humanity were driven by too much self-interest,
it would create needless obstacles when they eventually sought enlightenment.
As the Supreme Sage had said, following the natural course of things was the true path!
Chen Fan gave Zhang Tianshou a suspicious look as the Merit Auspicious Cloud drifting in the sky descended.
Six tenths of it settled upon Chen Fan, and the Golden Wheel of Merit behind his head flickered.
A second layer of Golden Light of Merit formed atop the first.
"Wow! An ordinary True Immortal who possesses Golden Light of Merit is already a perfected sage.
Even a Golden Immortal can't obtain a single Golden Wheel of Merit, no matter how desperately they seek one.
He's just a mortal, yet he's condensed two layers of the Golden Wheel of Merit.
And this contract isn't a one-time deal. The merit will keep accumulating in the future.
Even a third layer of the Golden Wheel of Merit won't be out of reach!"
Zhang Tianxian gazed at Chen Fan in amazement, his eyes flickering slightly.
Suddenly, of the remaining four tenths of the merit, one tenth landed on the contract in Chen Fan's hand.
Another tenth scattered, sinking into the bodies of the Qinghe Village villagers and the water demons.
Of the remaining tenth, six parts went to Zhang Tianshou and four to Zhang Tianxian.
The final tenth split into three portions.
They flew toward the Fish Head River God, the village chief, and Zhao Family Village.
But the moment that merit landed on the Fish Head River God,
a layer of black qi rose from him, vanishing like snow under the Golden Light of Merit.
One by one, faces filled with hatred and resentment softened beneath its radiance.
The next moment, hundreds upon hundreds of faces disappeared.
Most turned into showers of light and flew to all corners of humanity.
The rest sank into the Underworld, heading for the true spirits of their original bodies, who had yet to be reincarnated.
In the end, only a thin layer of black qi remained on the Fish Head River God.
The merit hadn't completely erased the sins and karmic ties on him.
A Divine Talisman then rose up, suppressing and concealing what little Karmic Debt remained.
"Hm? Why do I feel so much lighter?"
The Fish Head River God's eyes seemed much livelier, and even the bottleneck that had plagued him for years began to tremble.
Blinded by Karmic Debt, the Fish Head River God hadn't noticed the merit appearing.
He assumed it was all thanks to the pure incense.
His greed for the villagers of Zhao Family Village only grew.
If he could get those villagers and force them to provide him with a constant supply of pure incense,
he could keep breaking through: True Immortal, Mystic Immortal, Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Divine Venerable.
One day, even the lofty Heavenly Emperor would have to bow and scrape before him.
But before that, those pesky people had to be dealt with!
Before you continue