Burning Cold Stoves!

Jiangcheng No. 3 High School was just letting out for the Friday weekend.

At the school gates, students flowed in an endless stream.

Amidst the crowd, Lu Chen looked around with a mix of bewilderment and vigilance, muttering to himself:

"Unbelievable! One second I was lighting incense to pray at the temple; how did I end up here the next?

And this is a world where everyone has gods? As long as you offer Incense Fire, you can commune with a deity and receive a blessing?

There's actually such a good deal!"

As these memories flooded in, Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

In his past life, he was a young Taoist priest at Clear Breeze Temple; performing rituals and prayers was his daily routine.

Liturgical ceremonies were his specialty.

Through his memories, he learned that the profession of a Taoist priest did not exist at all in this parallel world.

Doesn't that mean his identity came with a built-in buff right from the start?!

As he was whispering to himself, someone tapped Lu Chen on the shoulder from behind.

"Lu Chen, what are you doing?"

He turned his head to look.

A beautiful girl with delicate features and outstanding looks was standing behind him, smiling at him.

—Li Ruoyi.

She was his classmate and the recognized school beauty of Jiangcheng No. 3 High School.

The two of them had a decent relationship.

But getting hit on by the school beauty right at the start?

Lu Chen's heart tightened; he felt a vague, familiar sense of cliché déjà vu.

Sure enough, as expected, the unexpected was about to happen...

"Ruoyi, what are you doing?"

Before Lu Chen could speak, a noisy voice rang out from the side.

A blonde guy with an arrogant, overbearing gait had already arrived in front of them.

—Song Hao.

Li Ruoyi's loyal sycophant and also Lu Chen's classmate.

"Nothing, I just saw Lu Chen standing here in a daze and was curious, so I asked him."

Li Ruoyi's smile faded slightly.

Song Hao looked Lu Chen up and down, just about to start mocking him.

Lu Chen took a step forward and spat, "What are you looking at, you bastard?"

Song Hao's eyes widened in disbelief: "You little punk, you dare curse at me?"

Lu Chen couldn't be bothered with nonsense; he simply rolled up his sleeves and took a step forward.

Taoists believed in keeping their thoughts clear and unblocked; if they could use their fists, they would never waste time arguing.

Song Hao was startled by Lu Chen's posture and instinctively took a step back: "You, what are you doing?"

Lu Chen clenched his fist tight: "What do you think~"

Li Ruoyi hurriedly tried to mediate: "Alright, alright, stop arguing. Lu Chen, what's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood today?"

Lu Chen replied coldly: "No, I've just been annoyed by him for a long time and want to beat him up!"

Song Hao stiffened his neck: "Lu, are you sick? I haven't even offended you."

"I'll beat you even if you haven't!"

"Huh?!"

"Both of you, say less." Li Ruoyi changed the subject: "Classmate Lu, are you going to the God Temple? If you are, let's go together."

The God Temple was the place for worshipping deities.

Lu Chen had originally intended to go to the God Temple to test things out.

But seeing Song Hao on the side, he immediately lost interest.

"Forget it, you go ahead."

"Ruoyi, if he's not going, I'll go. Ride in my car, let's go together."

Hearing that his goddess was going to the God Temple, Song Hao immediately flashed the car keys hanging from his waist.

Li Ruoyi ignored Song Hao and instead looked at Lu Chen with concern: "Lu Chen, the [Divine Service Rating] competition is coming up soon. If you don't hurry up, I'm afraid..."

—Divine Service Rating?

Relevant memories automatically surfaced in his mind.

To put it simply, this thing was an important metric for measuring the connection between a Spirit Cultivator and a deity.

The higher the Divine Service Rating, the greater the chance of receiving a blessing, and the closer the relationship with the deity.

In this world where everyone worshipped deities, the Divine Service Rating was undoubtedly the most valuable "diploma" one could hold.

As long as it reached a certain level, one would never have to worry about food or clothing, and could even attain great wealth and status.

They would be treated as guests of honor by all the major families.

Of course, this was on the condition that the deity's power wasn't too useless.

The only deity the original owner had worshipped so far was Emperor Wenchang.

His Divine Service Rating was a mere 0.5%.

Theoretically, one would have to pray two hundred times to have a chance of success once.

Naturally, that was only in theory; in reality, achieving such odds was extremely difficult.

And among their class, this data was already at the very bottom.

"Thanks for your concern, Li Ruoyi. I'll work hard on my Divine Service Rating. If you're heading to the God Temple, you'd better hurry."

Lu Chen thanked her for her kindness.

Li Ruoyi wanted to say more.

Song Hao urged from the side, "Let's go, Ruoyi. It's obvious this guy has no money, so don't make things difficult for him."

Noticing the gaze Lu Chen cast his way, Song Hao puffed out his chest and said defiantly, "It's no use glaring at me. Did I say anything wrong? Even the most basic stick of incense costs a hundred bucks. Tell me, how many sticks can you afford to burn a month?"

Lu Chen's expression darkened, but he couldn't refute it.

Compared to the families of Song Hao and Li Ruoyi, his own financial situation was indeed a bit worse.

Seeing Lu Chen's embarrassment, Li Ruoyi quickly pushed Song Hao away, "Fine, fine, you take me to the God Temple. Lu Chen, see you next week!"

"Alright, goodbye!"

Lu Chen waved his hand.

"Oh, right, Ruoyi! Which deity are you going to worship?"

"Emperor Wenchang. I plan to raise my Divine Service Rating to 3% today."

"And how much Incense Fire money have you prepared?"

"Five thousand."

"Five thousand? Then it might just work!"

Listening to the sound of their conversation gradually fade and blur into the distance.

Lu Chen secretly unclenched his other fist.

Song Hao was right; he was indeed strapped for cash.

The Divine Service Rating was, in essence, a measure of how much one "pay-to-win."

The more one spent, the higher the Divine Service Rating, and the greater the chance of "winning the gacha."

The key was that Incense Fire money wasn't cheap; even the cheapest incense cost a hundred per stick.

The most expensive Merit incense was even more priceless and impossible to find.

Lu Chen sighed and pulled the last hundred-yuan note from his pocket.

"It's just enough to buy one stick of incense. Looks like I'll have to walk to the God Temple."

"The closest God Temple to the school is a forty-minute walk."

"I reckon by the time I get there, Li Ruoyi and Song Hao will have already finished their offering and left."

No longer hesitating.

Lu Chen set off for the God Temple.

On the way, Lu Chen pondered which deity he should spend his hundred bucks on.

Emperor Wenchang was one of the most worshipped deities because He presided over academics.

As long as it had to do with "learning," one could worship Him and pray for a blessing.

Therefore, He was also one of the most worshipped deities among the student population!

But right now, Lu Chen felt that studies could wait; they weren't the pressing issue.

Because he had a more urgent need!

—Money!

"The original owner's family is so poor they can't even afford meat. If I could pray for wealth, wouldn't that be more practical than praying for academic success?"

Rubbing his shriveled stomach, Lu Chen decided that he would use this hundred bucks to worship the Wealth God first.

He wanted to test if what he had learned in his previous life could be put to practical use here.

If it could, Lu Chen desperately hoped to pray for some windfall to buy meat to take home!

After all, the original owner had not eaten meat for a month, and the body was long since malnourished.

Forty minutes later.

Lu Chen arrived at the God Temple, panting for breath.

He looked up, and the four golden characters on the plaque—Zhao Clan Temple—came into view.

I never expected the God Temples in this world to be privately controlled by major clans. Even without other industries, these clans could make a fortune every year just from the incense fire money.

Lu Chen couldn't help but feel envious. If one day I could own my own God Temple, I would truly be set for life.

Even at this hour after school, the God Temple was filled with a constant stream of pilgrims.

It was even livelier than a shopping mall.

Looking around, some were happy while others were sorrowful.

There were even people sitting at the entrance, weeping bitterly and filled with regret, cursing themselves for spending too much money.

Lu Chen shook his head and sighed. "It looks like a God Temple, but to put it bluntly, it's just a giant casino."

Just then, a conversation drifted into his ears, catching Lu Chen's particular attention.

"Sigh, this Wealth God is really hard to please. I've burned incense hundreds of times, and my Divine Service Rating has already reached 2%, yet I haven't received a single response."

"You're only at 2%, what are you barking about? I'm already at 3%, and I burned incense five hundred times in one go today, but I still didn't get a response."

"What! You didn't get a response even after five hundred times in one day? How much incense fire money did you spend?"

"Nearly fifty thousand! And ten of those were high-grade incense!"

"Damn, fifty thousand?! You're too ruthless! The worst part is that you didn't even get a hit, you're truly miserable."

"Sigh, I can only say that the Wealth God is wealthy and imposing; he doesn't lack our meager offerings at all. Let's go, let's go."

Listening to the conversation between the two dejected pilgrims beside him.

Lu Chen stood where he was, his brows slightly furrowed.

Five hundred times and still no hit? Then isn't my one hundred yuan just a meat bun thrown at a dog—gone forever without a trace?

It stood to reason.

The Wealth God was one of the deities who received the most incense fire in this plane.

Don't look at the fact that the person just now spent fifty thousand, which seemed like a lot.

But compared to truly wealthy people.

Fifty thousand was merely a drop in the ocean.

Those major clans probably offered tens or even hundreds of millions every single day.

Comparing the two, if you were the Wealth God, who would you favor?

The answer was self-evident.

It seems that a deity having prosperous incense fire isn't entirely a good thing. With my measly stick of incense, wanting to succeed on the first try is a bit of a pipe dream.

For a moment, Lu Chen fell into hesitation.

Although his one hundred yuan was just an attempt.

But in all fairness, Lu Chen certainly hoped to hit the mark on the first try.

After all, given his family's circumstances, Lu Chen really didn't have much money to squander.

"Wait!"

Just then, a thought suddenly popped into Lu Chen's mind.

Since the great deities have prosperous incense fire and don't lack offerings, why must I fixate on them? Why don't I... burn incense for the neglected ones?