A Tall Tree Catches the Wind!

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.

He had not expected the person in charge of the Zhao Clan Temple to dare use force in public?!

Lu Chen's expression changed.

Looks like his premonition had been right!

Something was indeed going to happen today.

"What's wrong, little brother? Too excited?"

Zhao Zhihong wore a warm, genial smile.

Only Lu Chen knew what sort of person this guy really was.

But circumstances were stronger than he was.

For now, Lu Chen had no choice but to play along. "I'm very excited."

Zhao Zhihong laughed. "Of course you're excited. If I were you, who knows how excited I'd be. Little brother, let me ask you one more thing: is our Zhao Clan Temple effective or not?!"

Lu Chen sneered as he watched him perform. "Effective!"

Zhao Zhihong laughed heartily. "Everyone, did you see that? Our Zhao Clan Temple has always enjoyed a sterling reputation. When it comes to granting wishes and bestowing blessings, it's second to none! Some of you may not know this little brother's background. Yesterday was his first time visiting our Zhao Clan Temple. He worshipped Lord God of Wealth and, with just one stick of incense, obtained a Divine Service Rating of 5%!"

"What?!"

Quite a few worshippers erupted in uproar.

"That's right, just one stick of incense! But compared to today, yesterday was child's play. As you can see, today he shot straight up to 43%. Wouldn't you call that a miracle, everyone?"

Zhao Zhihong raised an arm and shouted.

Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought he was enthusiastically promoting Lu Chen and Lord God of Wealth.

"Yes, exactly!"

"That's ridiculously effective! I'm going to try it later too!"

"Me too!"

The worshippers were eager to give it a try.

Zhao Zhihong raised a hand to quiet them, smiling. "Everyone can go try it! But..."

Seeing his tone shift, Lu Chen knew that after all that buildup, the main act was finally beginning.

Looking at Lu Chen, Zhao Zhihong smiled. "Little brother, to be honest, after you came yesterday, your situation drew the temple's serious attention. After careful discussion by our panel of experts, we reached a conclusion at the time—and after your performance today, that conclusion has been one hundred percent confirmed.

We unanimously believe that you and Lord God of Wealth must share a fated bond from a past life!"

"A fated bond from a past life?!"

The moment those words came out, the worshippers erupted once more.

Even Lu Chen frowned.

So this was the excuse they had come up with...

What was a fated bond from a past life?

Simply put, it meant that a spiritual practitioner and a deity had some sort of connection from a previous life.

In that case,

once the spiritual practitioner worshipped the relevant deity, they would naturally receive that deity's favor.

It would also greatly raise their Divine Service Rating.

To put it bluntly, it was like possessing an innate "talent" in a certain area.

But cases like this were isolated exceptions that could not be replicated at all.

It was purely a case of "Heaven handing you a bowl of rice to eat"!

What a piece of work. To keep me from smashing their signboard, they even made up such a high-sounding excuse.

Lu Chen sneered inwardly.

Clearly, their goal was exactly what he had guessed.

They were afraid his Divine Service Rating would soar, causing all the worshippers to go worship Lord God of Wealth and neglect Zhao God of Wealth instead, smashing the Zhao Clan Temple's signboard.

That's awfully sensitive. Do I not understand that smashing someone's rice bowl is like murdering their parents?

Lu Chen was speechless.

Still, since they were not targeting him personally, he did not mind helping the temple put on a show.

"A fated bond from a past life? So that's why my Divine Service Rating rose so quickly."

Lu Chen feigned surprise.

"Yes. Little brother, you must have shared a deep connection with Lord Jun Cai in your past life. That is why you have won His special favor."

Seeing that Lu Chen knew how to play along, Zhao Zhihong finally removed the hand he had placed on Lu Chen's shoulder.

Sure enough, after hearing this, the worshippers looked at one another, each utterly disappointed.

"I thought this deity was really effective. So it turns out there's a fated bond from a past life involved."

"I knew it. How could some obscure deity be this effective? What a waste of my feelings."

"Good thing I didn't buy in, or I would've taken a huge loss."

"I was wondering why this kid was so freakishly amazing. Turns out it was Merit accumulated in his previous life. No wonder I got jack shit when I prayed to Lord God of Wealth yesterday. I wasted two thousand yuan."

"Don't buy obscure cars, and don't worship obscure gods. That's a truth that has stood unshaken through the ages."

Seeing how these worshippers had been excited out of their minds just moments ago, only to instantly change their tune over such a flimsy excuse, Lu Chen sneered again and again.

Honestly, worshippers like these were better off gone.

"Come on, young man, let's take a photo together as a memento. Thank you for choosing our Zhao Clan Temple!"

With the threat already strangled in its cradle, Zhao Zhihong was in high spirits and took the initiative to have a staff member take several photos.

As the two stood shoulder to shoulder and smiled at the camera,

Zhao Zhihong's voice transmission entered Lu Chen's mind again.

"Young man, since you performed well, you're welcome to come worship other deities at our Zhao Clan Temple in the future. But Lord God of Wealth is out of the question!"

The smile at the corner of Lu Chen's lips instantly froze.

He did not know voice transmission, so he could only speak quietly. "Why?"

This time, Zhao Zhihong did not use voice transmission either, speaking in the same low voice. "You're a smart man. You shouldn't need me to explain."

Lu Chen said, "I don't understand. Even if Lord God of Wealth and Zhao God of Wealth are considered rivals, He is still a deity worshipped by your temple. If His Incense Fire flourishes, your temple loses nothing!"

Zhao Zhihong pulled Lu Chen to another angle for the photo and snorted. "Your analysis is correct, but you missed the most important point. What is our surname?"

Lu Chen paused, realizing there was no room for negotiation. Too lazy to argue further, he said, "Then what if I insist on coming?"

Zhao Zhihong let out a laugh. "If I don't want you worshipping Him, do you think you'll be able to?"

Lu Chen snorted. "The authorities have explicitly stipulated that unless a worshipper has a bad record, a God Temple cannot stop them from making offerings. Are you planning to knowingly break the law?"

The photos were finished.

Most of the surrounding worshippers had already left as well.

Zhao Zhihong no longer bothered to hide it, saying mockingly, "Don't slap labels on us. Our Zhao Clan Group operates legally and has never done anything illegal or undisciplined. I'm not stopping you from coming to our temple to make offerings, but I have plenty of ways to make sure you can't worship Lord God of Wealth."

Lu Chen frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zhao Zhihong said, "The temple has the authority to handle deity positions as it sees fit. We can bring in new deities, and we also have the right to remove deities whose Incense Fire fails to meet the standard. If I remove Lord God of Wealth's deity position, tell me, how will you worship Him? Oh, and let me tell you one more thing. In all of Jiangdu City—no, in all of Jiang Province—our Zhao Clan Temple is the only one that worships an obscure deity like Lord God of Wealth. If we remove Him, I'm afraid you won't find a second place anywhere in Jiang Province where you can worship Him."

Zhao Zhihong made no effort to conceal his ridicule.

Lu Chen's face turned livid. He truly had not expected the Zhao family to be this shameless and this sensitive.

He and Lord God of Wealth had only interacted twice so far.

Although his Divine Service Rating had risen a little too quickly,

that alone had already put the Zhao family on alert. They even seemed determined to strangle the threat completely in its cradle.

It had to be said, their response was far too swift.

Didn't people say villains had no brains?

This was having too much brain, damn it.

Looks like this tall tree has caught the wind!

Lu Chen reached a conclusion inwardly.

To be fair, if they continued letting him develop, he really would become a thorn in the Zhao family's side.

After all, the foundation that the Zhao Clan Temple relied on most was Zhao Gongming.

The Incense Fire from Zhao God of Wealth alone probably accounted for more than half of the Zhao family's annual revenue.

No wonder the Zhao family had reacted so strongly.

But while Zhao Zhihong thought he had a strategy worthy of Zhang Liang, did Lu Chen not have a ladder to cross the wall?

You wanted to remove the deity?

Fine, no problem!

Then this poor Daoist would summon one!