Struck It Rich! Fortune-Bringing Gold Ingot, Treasure Appraisal Eye!

"Why? Are you unwilling, little friend?"

"No, no, no. Lord Jun Cai misunderstands. The shock was simply too great, and this junior lost control for a moment."

Lu Chen had guessed that something good would happen, but he had never expected good fortune to throw a critical punch right at him!

A lofty immortal actually wanted to become sworn brothers with a mortal like him.

If word of this got out, it would be utterly brutal!

Lu Chen did his best to steady himself and asked tentatively, "Lord, please forgive this junior for asking, but you are a divine being. Would becoming brothers with this junior cause any trouble? Would it violate the Heavenly Law?"

Lord God of Wealth laughed heartily. "You worry too much, little friend. The Heavenly Law only says that immortals cannot fall in love with mortals. When has it ever said that immortals cannot be friends with mortals? Otherwise, why would there be such a thing as a Divine Service Rating?"

Lu Chen thought about it and realized that was right. If one's Divine Service Rating reached one hundred percent—

That was practically a friendship forged in life and death.

Lord God of Wealth added, "Even if the Heavenly Law forbids immortals and mortals from falling in love, have there been few such examples throughout history? Cowherd and Weaver Girl, Seven Fairies and Dong Yong, Yang Tianyou and Yunhua Fairy. Aren't they all beloved love legends?"

Yang Tianyou and Yunhua Fairy?

Oh...

Lu Chen remembered!

The birth father and mother of Erlang Manifestation True Lord—Yang Jian.

The tale of splitting the mountain to save his mother was about Yunhua Fairy.

Since Lord God of Wealth had already said this much, why would Lu Chen waste any more words? He immediately knelt on the ground and performed a grand bow before the divine statue. "Elder Brother above, please accept your younger brother's bow!"

Thump, thump, thump! Three kneels and nine kowtows, each one resounding like thunder.

By the time the ritual was complete—

Lu Chen's forehead was already red.

"Good, good, good! Today is truly a wonderful day! I, Chai Rong, have been among the immortals for so many years, and today is the happiest day of them all. Worthy Brother, rise!"

Lu Chen was lifted up by an unseen force.

"Today, you and I have become sworn brothers. Your elder brother has little to offer, but here is a Fortune-Bringing Gold Ingot. I hope Worthy Brother will accept it. With this treasure, no matter what business you undertake in the future, your chances of winning will increase by an additional thirty percent."

A flash of golden light appeared, and an ingot-shaped pendant materialized before Lu Chen's eyes. Golden radiance spilled from it; at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary item.

"An additional thirty percent chance of winning in any business? In other words, as long as I have a seventy percent chance, it becomes a guaranteed success? Damn, this is a divine artifact!"

Lu Chen was delighted inside. He did not stand on ceremony, immediately accepting the treasure and putting it on.

"Oh, right. This treasure has another special effect. In your terms, it has a chance of triggering a one-hundred-percent guaranteed success effect. If you hear the sound of copper coins falling, that means it has triggered successfully!"

Lu Chen was deeply shaken. "Holy shit! That awesome?! Elder Brother, isn't this far too precious?"

"No need for courtesy, Worthy Brother. Besides this Fortune-Bringing Gold Ingot, your elder brother will also bestow upon you a divine ability. This divine ability is called Treasure Appraisal Eye. With it, Worthy Brother will know the value of all things in the mortal world. You may try it now."

The moment his words fell, another beam of golden light shot from the divine statue and flew straight into Lu Chen's eyes.

Lu Chen instinctively shut his eyes. When he opened them again—

The world before him had nearly turned into a digitized world.

The stone on the ground: "1 yuan."

The ruined walls in the distance: "10 yuan."

The various divine statues: "???"

"Huh? Why are there question marks?"

Lu Chen froze, but he quickly understood the crux of it and came to a sudden realization.

"These divine statues represent deities and cannot be measured by mortal wealth. That must be why there is a string of question marks."

When he blinked again, all the numbers before his eyes vanished.

He had already mastered this divine ability with ease.

He had obtained two supreme treasures in a row.

Lu Chen immediately bent at a ninety-degree angle, so moved that tears nearly streamed down his face. "Thank you, Elder Brother, for bestowing these treasures. Your younger brother is endlessly grateful."

Lord God of Wealth laughed aloud. "Worthy Brother is too polite. I am likewise endlessly grateful for what you gave me."

After a pause, Lord God of Wealth suddenly sighed with emotion. "To be honest with Worthy Brother, my current divine power and abilities are no longer what they once were. Otherwise, I would certainly give Worthy Brother even better magical treasures and divine abilities.

It truly is... a case of willing heart, powerless hands."

Lu Chen naturally knew how important Incense Fire Merit was to a deity who had attained sainthood through Merit.

He immediately bowed and declared, "Elder Brother, rest assured. Your younger brother will go through fire and water for you and offer up Merit! However..."

Within the divine statue's space, Lord God of Wealth's smile had just begun to rise when he heard that turn in the conversation. His smile immediately froze. "However what?"

Lu Chen said with a troubled expression, "To be honest, Elder Brother, the secret arts and divine abilities recorded by my ancestors are profound and miraculous, but their requirements are also extremely harsh. This junior must use his magical power to drive the secret incantation, and the stronger the incantation, the greater the demand on one's own strength. If one's strength is insufficient, then one must use one's own essence blood as a medium for the offering.

Elder Brother must have noticed the densely packed red scriptures written on the yellow paper packet just now.

That red was not entirely cinnabar.

It was also mixed with this junior's essence blood."

Lord God of Wealth said in shock, "What? This secret art actually requires essence blood—a blood curse?!"

Lu Chen hurriedly explained, "No, no, no. It does not necessarily require essence blood. It is only because this junior is too weak that I had no choice but to settle for the next best thing. The purpose was also to verify as soon as possible whether this art truly worked. Please put your mind at ease, Elder Brother. If it were really a blood curse, with this junior's body, how many times could I possibly let blood?!"

Only then did Lord God of Wealth relax. As long as it was not a blood curse. Otherwise, as an Orthodox God, would he not have been tainted by an evil art?

"Do not act this way again!"

"This younger brother understands." Lu Chen nodded heavily. After saying that, he could not help but sigh.

"It is a pity that this younger brother is weak and insignificant. Though I possess the secret art, I cannot use it. Otherwise, I would certainly offer one hundred thousand portions of Incense Fire to Elder Brother."

Lu Chen casually made up that nonsense.

What essence blood? It was all bullshit he had fabricated.

Drawing talismans and copying scriptures only cost him some effort and raw materials.

There were two reasons he said it.

First, he deeply understood the principle that a bushel of rice earns gratitude, but a cartload earns resentment.

Although the two had already become sworn brothers, Lu Chen knew perfectly well why Lord God of Wealth wanted to become sworn brothers with him.

The other party had simply taken a fancy to his ability to provide vast amounts of Merit.

And that led to the second point.

If he truly gave Lord God of Wealth unlimited "refills,"

then this Incense Fire Merit would become worthless...

In that case, it would probably not be so easy for him to get more benefits from Lord God of Wealth in the future.

Do not blame Lu Chen for holding something back.

Relationships between people were complicated enough.

Let alone relationships between mortals and gods.

Besides, Lu Chen did not believe Lord God of Wealth had nothing better to offer.

The other side was definitely holding something back too.

For Lu Chen, conducting rituals and making offerings

were the two strongest trump cards in his hand.

No matter what, he had to ensure the absolute value of those two cards!

That was why he did not hesitate to frighten Lord God of Wealth with a "blood curse."

"Ah, Worthy Brother, do not be impatient. No rush. The days ahead are long."

Though Lord God of Wealth said this aloud, disappointment was unavoidable in his heart.

He had thought that after receiving the benefits, this boy would immediately contribute Incense Fire without stopping for breath.

Who would have thought that using the secret art came with such immense difficulties?

But upon further thought, he felt relieved.

This secret art was so heaven-defying that if it could be used effortlessly, it would simply defy the Way of Heaven.

It was only right for there to be restrictions.

"Worthy Brother, what kind of strength is required to use the secret art you mentioned?"

"In reply to Elder Brother, this... this younger brother does not know for now. But this younger brother estimates that I would at least need to become a Third Grade Spirit Cultivator before it might be possible."

In the world of deities, Spirit Cultivators were divided into nine grades.

First Grade was the entry level, while Ninth Grade was the highest.

Third Grade already represented considerable combat strength.

The core of improving a Spirit Cultivator's strength was relying on their connection with deities—in other words, their Divine Service Rating.

The higher the Divine Service Rating, the more blessings one could receive, as well as all kinds of rewards from deities, such as magical treasures, secret arts, and so on.

Fortune-Bringing Gold Ingot and Treasure Appraisal Eye were excellent examples of this.

Furthermore, every time one successfully made an offering to a deity, the deity would leave behind a portion of divine power for the Spirit Cultivator.

That portion of divine power would then be converted into the Spirit Cultivator's own magical power.

Even if the deity did not actively grant blessings or reward magical treasures and secret arts,

as long as the offerings continued for long enough, the magical power within a Spirit Cultivator would accumulate day by day and grow ever stronger.

This was also why Deng Jiajia had insisted on choosing the martial path, saying it was the fastest road to improving one's strength.

Because martial deities were easier to successfully communicate with than other deities.

They also made it easier to accumulate magical power and increase one's grade.

Moreover, martial deities were particularly generous when bestowing magical treasures, especially divine abilities!

After all, when the Spirit Cultivators who worshipped these martial deities went out to slay demons and exorcise evil, the deities themselves would also receive abundant Merit in return.

The mutual benefit between both sides was closer than that between other types of immortals and Spirit Cultivators!

"A Third Grade Spirit Cultivator..." Lord God of Wealth pondered for a moment, looking somewhat troubled.

"As the Wealth God, your elder brother's help in improving your strength is limited to begin with. Besides, this is someone else's God Temple, someone else's territory, which further limits the amount of divine power I can leave on you. How about this!"

Lord God of Wealth changed the subject. "Go ask around and find out what price it would take to invite your elder brother back to your home. If Worthy Brother can invite me home for worship, then each time I can leave at least twenty percent more divine power for you. That way, every five offerings you make would be equivalent to one additional offering compared to the God Temple. The difference may not be great, but it is better than nothing.

As long as Worthy Brother invites me home, whenever you call upon me, your elder brother will certainly answer your invitation.

What do you think, Worthy Brother?"

Invite Lord God of Wealth home?

Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

This was a great idea!!

If he truly invited him back, it would mean that Lu Chen had completely latched onto this powerful thigh!

From now on, why would he need to worry about money?

It would be like having a treasure basin right in his home.

For a moment, Lu Chen's heart surged like a tide, and he was overjoyed.

See?!

This was exactly why he had to preserve the value of his bargaining chips.

He did not even need to think of a solution himself—the other party had already learned to solve the problem on his own!