A Hot Stove Is Hard to Stoke!

The next morning, at eight o'clock.

The entrance to Southern Mountain Residential Compound was already a bustling scene.

Three brand-new coaches stood neatly lined up, waiting bright and early.

Lu Chen stood at the head of the convoy, calmly organizing the scene.

"Uncles, aunties, everyone, board in order. Don't rush!"

More than a hundred people surged forward in a lively crowd, every face written with impatience.

Quite a few of them had dark circles under their eyes. Clearly, they'd been too excited to sleep last night.

"Yo, where are you all headed? A community team-building event?"

Some uncles and aunties passing by from the neighboring residential compound were drawn over by the spectacle and curiously came up to ask.

"Old Liu, perfect timing! Come on, come with us. We'll take you somewhere nice!"

"What nice place?"

"The Sun Clan Temple in the south of the city."

"What are you going to a temple so early for? Praying for blessings? Which deity?"

"King—Yama!"

"What? King Yama?! Have you all gone mad? Did you collectively take the wrong medicine?"

"Come or don't!"

"Don't leave yet, explain yourselves..."

"Fine, here's what happened..."

In the end, the three coaches, each rated for one hundred and thirty passengers, were not only filled to the brim, but even their aisles were packed with standing passengers.

The actual number had reached a full one hundred and fifty—forty more than expected!

Seeing this, Sun Yourong, who had come specifically to receive them, was so stunned she couldn't speak. Only after a long while did she turn to Lu Chen with a laugh that was half amused and half helpless. "How on earth did you pull this off?"

Lu Chen hadn't expected so many extra people either. This showed just how terrifying the power of viral spread could be.

He smiled faintly but didn't answer.

After all, his relationship with the Sun family was, at its core, one of employment and cooperation. Since his task had been to recruit worshippers, it was enough that he had completed it perfectly.

There didn't seem to be any need to explain the exact process in detail.

Seeing that Lu Chen didn't wish to elaborate, Sun Yourong tactfully stopped asking. "Let's go. Ride with me."

"Sure." The coaches were already packed so tightly not even water could pass through, and Lu Chen was happy to have some peace and quiet.

He still had something unfinished from yesterday to do at the Sun Clan Temple today—pray for blessings from the Thunder Ancestor.

Last night had dragged on too late, delaying the matter.

Today was the perfect chance to test whether these popular gods were really so hard to worship!

The moment she got into the car, Sun Yourong took out her phone and began tapping away.

Before long, Lu Chen received a bank notification: thirty-five million had been deposited into his account.

"Huh? Didn't we agree on thirty million total? Why is there an extra five million?"

"Consider it an extra reward. Your efficiency is astonishingly high." As Sun Yourong spoke, she took a ring of keys from the sachet she carried and handed it over. "Here. These are the keys to the villa at Cloudtop Manor. It's already been cleaned. You can move in with just your bags."

Taking the keys, Lu Chen couldn't help laughing. "Miss Sun, are all rich people this generous? First cash, then a house?"

"That depends on who it's for and what they've done. What you did was worth however much we spent." Sun Yourong answered openly and gracefully.

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."

With thirty million safely in hand, Lu Chen was in an excellent mood.

"By the way, which honored gods are the main deities worshipped at your Sun Clan Temple?"

"Our temple has three main gods: the Thunder Ancestor, the True Martial Great Emperor, and Wang Lingguan."

"Whoa—" Lu Chen couldn't help marveling. It seemed the original owner's knowledge had been far too limited.

"That lineup of gods at the Sun Clan Temple has its combat power blowing through the roof!"

"Our temple originally came from a martial temple lineage."

"True. Then which main god do you worship?"

Unexpectedly, the question made Sun Yourong look a little awkward. A faint, nearly imperceptible blush even rose to her face.

"What? Is it inconvenient to say?"

"Not exactly..." Sun Yourong took a deep breath, her gaze sharpening. "I can tell you, but you're not allowed to laugh later."

"Laugh? Why would I laugh at you? I worship King Yama myself."

Lu Chen laughed.

Sun Yourong thought about it and agreed, but she still hesitated before saying, "Actually... I worship the Giant Spirit God."

"What?!" Lu Chen's eyes widened at once. "You! You worship the Giant Spirit God?!"

Sun Yourong shot him a sidelong glance. "What, is that not allowed?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean." Lu Chen hurriedly waved his hands. "I just find it surprising. Why don't you worship the Nine-Heavens Mysterious Maiden or some other goddess? Why pick the Giant Spirit God of all gods?"

The Giant Spirit God's majestic image immediately appeared in his mind: a face like blue-black indigo, a giant axe at his side, towering ten thousand zhang tall, eyes like bronze bells.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't have guessed that Sun Yourong would choose him as her main god.

"When I was born, my father hired someone to read my fortune. That fortune teller said the Giant Spirit God and I had a 'fated bond from a past life,' so..." Sun Yourong explained.

Lu Chen suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. No wonder you're always dressed in fitted combat clothes—it was because of that. Miss Sun, don't tell me your weapon is a Xuanhua Battle-Axe?"

"What, is that not allowed?!" Sun Yourong lifted her chin, unexpectedly showing a rare touch of haughty cuteness.

"No, I just think the contrast is off the charts."

Lu Chen had just been about to laugh, but remembering his earlier promise, he forcibly swallowed it back down and changed the subject. "Then what's your Divine Service Rating with the Giant Spirit God now?"

"37%."

"Hiss! As expected of a fated bond. Second Grade or Third Grade?"

"Early Third Grade." As she spoke, Sun Yourong's lips curved slightly upward. She looked at Lu Chen with a hint of provocation. "Mr. Lu, I wouldn't dare boast about anything else, but when it comes to fighting, I'd say I have some skill."

That was the truth.

With the strength of Third Grade martial cultivation, if she truly fought, she could probably easily suppress a Fourth Grade literary cultivator, and might even be able to battle a Fifth Grade literary cultivator.

After all, for martial cultivators to challenge literary cultivators above their rank was as commonplace as eating and drinking.

Good grief. The Giant Spirit God is that fierce? If I called Xiao Qing, Xiao Ru, and Ox-Head and Horse-Face all over, could we beat her?

Lu Chen pondered silently.

At the thought of Sun Yourong wielding a Xuanhua Battle-Axe in all her splendor, he truly wasn't confident.

"By the way, judging by your age, you should be in the advanced class too, right?"

Sun Yourong's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Lu Chen came back to himself and nodded. "Yes."

Sun Yourong suddenly smiled. "Then you've caught a good time. Did you know that your academy, along with every academy in the country, is about to undergo reforms?"

Lu Chen's heart jolted, and he stared directly at Sun Yourong. "You know the inside story?"

"From the look of you, it seems you've already heard about the reforms? Ninety-nine percent of people still don't know about this."

Sun Yourong paused and frowned slightly. "I don't know the specific details either. I only know that starting with your class, students can accept missions in advance. As for the finer details, you'll find out when you go to school tomorrow."

Sure enough! Deng Jiajia's prediction had come true!

The core of these reforms was to let students accept missions ahead of time, further screening out top-tier talent.

"Hiss!"

Lu Chen took a deep breath.

His heart instantly surged with excitement!

If that was the case, was his golden age truly about to begin in full?!

About an hour later, the convoy arrived at the Sun Clan Temple.

At the temple entrance, Sun Qingcang led all the staff in putting up banners, having waited for quite some time. When he saw so many people getting off the coaches, he froze completely.

"This number... seems to be more than one hundred and nine, doesn't it?"

"Uncle Sun, I brought them all to you!"

"Xiao Chen, Uncle Sun truly doesn't know how to thank you!"

Sun Qingcang tightly gripped Lu Chen's hand, so excited that he refused to let go.

Afterward, the temple staff began warmly receiving the visitors.

To properly host the residents of Southern Mountain Residential Compound, the temple had even specifically closed its doors to other visitors for the day.

Such an attitude of service left the residents feeling flattered.

After all, ordinary temples usually had signs on their walls reading, "Beating or scolding worshippers is prohibited," while the service at the Sun Clan Temple today was practically comparable to a five-star hotel.

After settling the residents in, Lu Chen once again bought ten incense sticks and headed straight for the Thunder Ancestor's main hall in the Sun Clan Temple.

The resplendent, golden Thunder Ancestor statue stood in the center of the hall, its divine might awe-inspiring, as though it could cleanse every evil spirit from the world.

"As expected of the number one Orthodox God of the Thunder Department!"

Lu Chen no longer hesitated.

He lit the incense, silently recited his prayer, and began making his offering for blessings.

As the Incense Fire rose, a wisp of invisible vital essence drifted upward and once more slipped into the void...

Within the Divine Empyrean Jade Palace of the Heavenly Court.

Thunderclouds churned endlessly for a hundred thousand li, jade palaces rose in towering majesty, and thunderfire coiled around golden steps.

Above the heavens, countless streams of Incense Fire poured into the Divine Empyrean Jade Palace like rivers flowing into the sea.

The ten-thousand-zhang-tall Nine-Heavens Thunderbolt Universalizing Heavenly Venerable sat cross-legged upon a prayer cushion, divine radiance illuminating infinity.

Faced with this vast Incense Fire, the supreme deity of the Thunder Department had his divine eyes slightly closed, long since accustomed to it.

Suddenly, something stirred within him, and his eyelids lifted slightly.

Among the countless streams of Incense Fire, one stream imbued with unusual fortune was racing toward him.

"Where did this petty wretch come from, daring to use such a trick of opportunism?"

The Thunder Ancestor's fury carried its own majesty. One divine finger forming a seal flicked lightly.

That stream of Incense Fire burst apart with a bang into scattered starlight. It didn't even reach the gates of the Divine Empyrean Jade Palace before vanishing without a trace.

The Thunder Ancestor then closed his eyes again and continued enjoying the endless offerings of the mortal world...

At the same time, inside the temple, Lu Chen suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly withering.

"This is... backlash from praying for blessings? Why did I suffer backlash on my first attempt?"

Lu Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze gradually darkening. "Looks like this hot stove isn't merely hard to stoke..."