Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Everyone says it's good to be a god, but who knows how difficult it is?

Gao Erqiang, the god who executed the gods, knew best the difficulties of being a deity.

Being a god is difficult, partly because of the incense offerings at temples across the land, which demand gold, silver, and sacred stones.

You say you have no money?
If you don't have money, you're not qualified to be a god!
Gao Erqiang should have been rich. Everyone knows that Xing Sha Divine Kingdom was originally Wang Hai Immortal City. It once prospered in all industries thanks to the sea and has been prosperous since ancient times. In the past few decades, thanks to the war in the West Sea, under the leadership of Su Qing, the president of Wang Hai Chamber of Commerce, Xing Sha Divine Kingdom has launched a wave of technological upgrading and industrial iteration.

In today's Xingsha Divine Kingdom, Su Ji Puppet Shop's puppets are sold far and wide, both domestically and internationally. Even in the distant Eastern Wilderness, everyone knows that Su Ji Puppet's high price is a good advertisement. The best-selling Passionate Series puppets and Exorcism Series puppets are extremely difficult to obtain.

The armor business of Jia Tianxia has penetrated into many immortal kingdoms such as the Thousand Islands Immortal Kingdom, the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, and the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, and has unified the armor market in the Western Sea except for Penglai.

Leveraging the resource and transportation advantages of Langya Immortal Island, Langya Workshop, as the designated material supplier for the development of the far west, hires Nascent Soul cultivators to escort its cargo ships to the far west every day. The profits are unimaginable. Furthermore, due to Su Qing's influence, shops and merchants of all sizes throughout Xing Sha Tian Kingdom source their materials from her. Making a fortune daily would be an insult. Gao Erqiang only knows that Ye Suo is Ling Ying's lackey, now everyone calls him Young Master Suo. He doesn't receive a monthly salary; he gets an annual salary!
Given that the Kingdom of Punishment and Killing is developing rapidly, Gao Erqiang, as the supreme ruler of this kingdom, should not be worried about spirit stones. Temples should be springing up everywhere, and even gilded statues are considered inferior; only solid gold is worthy of status!

However, the actual experience of Qiang Cheng Shen in his second year of high school was ridiculously different.

Yes, Xing Sha Shen Guo is rich, but the money belongs to others, not to Gao Erqiang.

The Wanghai Chamber of Commerce, an organization established by Su Qing in conjunction with various merchants in Wanghai when he was focused on ascending to godhood, has now become an obstacle to Gao Erqiang's control of the Xingsha Divine Kingdom.

All members of the Wanghai Chamber of Commerce are required to pay 30% of their profits annually as expenses for the Chamber's external business development, the establishment of transnational channels, and security work. The remaining 40% of their profits are to be submitted to the Chamber as a whole to participate in the large-scale development project in the far west. Based on their respective investments, they will hold corresponding shares in the project. After the project becomes profitable, they will receive dividends annually according to their shares.

Given Gao Erqiang's current strength and status, he should be able to easily manipulate these Wanghai merchants, but he just can't bring himself to do it because their protector is his brother Su Qing.

Whether they're brothers or not is another matter. The main thing is that the kid is not easy to mess with. Erqiang owes him a great deal of karma for becoming a god, and his own strength is growing day by day, which makes Gao Erqiang somewhat afraid of him and unwilling to break off relations with him.

He could even accept that the Wanghai Chamber of Commerce would continue to act under Su Qing's will, as long as they paid their taxes on time.

In theory, Gao Erqiang was quite capable. Unlike Di Motian, he didn't impose all sorts of taxes, such as head tax, spiritual energy tax, and cultivation tax. Gao Erqiang only collected three types of taxes: protection tax, incense tax, and income tax.

These three taxes and fees are reasonable, and he actually does his job when he takes the money!

Cultivators and merchants who pay protection tax can all receive Gao Erqiang's protection in the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom. There are many cultivators from other places who come to the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom specifically to escape their enemies and are eager to pay him taxes!
The devout believers who have paid the incense tax, if they or their family and friends have any trouble or misfortune, as long as they come to the Punishment God's Kingdom to burn incense, Gao Erqiang will definitely step forward to uphold justice. That Black Judge is a fake judge, and he, Erqiang, is the real judge!
Income tax, of course, is due. With the situation in the Western Sea so turbulent, aren't these merchants in Xing Sha Shen Kingdom a tempting target for every faction? If it weren't for the pressure from Er Qiang above them, could these merchants have made money so easily? Could their businesses have expanded to all the major immortal kingdoms? Isn't this all thanks to Er Qiang? Or perhaps it's thanks to Su Qing, who's now nowhere to be found?

With low taxes and fees, considering the size of the Xingsha Divine Kingdom, Gao Erqiang only needs the cultivators and merchants within the kingdom to offer a paltry ten million spirit stones each year.

Is that much?
Not at all!
He was just starting out on his path to becoming a god in his second year of high school, and his base of support was already weak. In addition, he was young and ignorant in the past, and he did whatever he could to get away with. As a result, after becoming a god, he had to put in more effort than ordinary gods to change his image. Every year, he needed two to three million spirit stones just for publicity.

Since he lacked the relevant talent under his command, and since Su Qing had organized similar activities when he became a god, he entrusted all matters concerning his personal image as a god of execution and the spread of faith to Su Qing's subordinates, namely Tang Wanqing, his partner whom he had brought back from Demon Smoke City, and her female cultivators.

Aside from being a bit expensive, they did a great job. Activities like inviting gods to the countryside and going deep into the grassroots allowed Gao Erqiang to quickly gain recognition in many mortal kingdoms within the Xing Sha Shen Kingdom. The speed at which his incense and divine power accumulated was as fast as the spirit stones he spent on this project!

Then there's the expense of building temples and hiring clergy.

His second year of high school was incredibly tough. Only the main temple in the Kingdom of Xingsha, built under the supervision of Su Qing, had a gilded statue of a deity. Other temples in various regions rarely used spiritual materials; some even had clay statues.
If other gods came and saw this, they would think that Gao Erqiang, the god, was no longer alive!

While the temples in various places were indeed shabby, the project cost money like water because of the large scale of his business. Moreover, due to the large amount of work involved, there were not enough professional bricklayers, so he reluctantly bought a labor god's divine pattern from Su Qing at a high price and took on the duties of this god. He often personally went down to the front line to move bricks for his temples!
The clergy were also difficult to manage. Gao Erqiang had started from scratch and didn't have much of a team. He appointed a few loyal dogs, such as the Blood Emperor, as guardian deities, but they were not good people to begin with and had a bad reputation. Erqiang didn't want them to show their faces in some daily affairs.

Therefore, he also hired the Wei family's nephews' group. This professional incense-burning team, led by Wei Debao, was really capable. They were responsible for receiving incense burners and guarding the temples at various temples. Both the believers who came to burn incense and Erqiang, who was both a living being in the temple and their employer, were satisfied.

The price was a bit high, though. Not only did he have to provide food and lodging, but he also had to cover their daily expenses at the Red Sleeve Pavilion. This was only fair, since only those with a fiery temper could become incense burners, and as their employer, he naturally had to help them vent their anger. For this reason, Erqiang even got a VIP card at the Red Sleeve Pavilion and deposited 300,000 to 500,000 spirit stones into it every year so that the Wei family could spend money whenever they went. Erqiang would pay for all their expenses!
Are these all the places to spend money?

There are only a few ways to make money, but there are so many things that cost money!

Gao Erqiang was perfectly fine at home when, inexplicably, Su Qing assigned him the task of fighting against the Earth Demon.

He had no choice but to accept this mission, since the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom and the Punishment and Killing God Kingdom were neighbors. If he didn't fight against the Earth Demon Heaven, after he and the Pingxi Martial Kingdom finished attacking the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom, it would be his turn to join forces with the Pingxi Martial Kingdom and the Western Sea Demon Buddha forces to attack the Punishment and Killing God Kingdom.

The saying goes, "If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold." Gao Erqiang must take advantage of the fact that the Demonic Immortal Kingdom is still holding on to lead his team into the Demonic Tree Divine Kingdom and wipe out the old demon's entire family before he can rest easy.

But he's in charge of the business, and theoretically, he's also in charge of the people.

However, the army's provisions and finances had to be managed by representatives sent by the Wanghai Chamber of Commerce.

There was no way around it. This chamber of commerce was the biggest financial backer of the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom's army participating in this war. They were using the slogan of "professionals doing professional work" and "maximizing resource utilization" to try to turn every spirit stone into a cannonball to be fired at the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom. They didn't give Gao Erqiang a chance to get his hands on the army's finances. Instead, they immediately placed a large order for puppets at Su Ji Puppet Shop. Who were they trying to please? Did they really think Gao Erqiang had no temper?

He's really tough in his second year of high school!

For example, right now, he's already having a hard time. He's burdened with huge debts from Xiong Er Bank and is frantically expanding the temple's faith. Isn't he just trying to accumulate more divine power to prepare for the upcoming divine war with the Earth Demon Heaven, hoping to turn things around and bring the Earth Demon God Kingdom under his control?

At such a crucial moment, anyone should know not to disturb him!

There are just some people who don't act like human beings!
First, there was that old Taoist priest Tong Chang, who was no good.

Years ago in the Immortal City of Cloud Mountain, I sincerely sought his guidance in talisman-making techniques, but he bluntly asserted that I would never make a living through craftsmanship, and that cultivating any art would only lead to failure. He told me to either take on responsibilities myself and become a leader, or to act as someone else's pawn and become a Double Red Painting Soul.

That's how my life will be!
That's it!

How can it be repaired?
He Erqiang was never inferior to anyone in his life, so why could Su Qing become a capitalist and make money while he couldn't make talismans and refine weapons to make a living?

Erqiang was a stubborn man who believed in his own destiny and refused to believe the old Taoist's irresponsible prediction.

They say I can't do it? I'll prove them wrong!

He first learned talismans, but failed to master them in ten years. Then he learned artifacts, but exploded twenty-seven furnaces in three years. After that, he learned formations, but failed to learn anything from Lao Liang. Finally, he swallowed his pride and became a disciple of Su Qing. He studied puppetry for five years, but still couldn't figure out how to process materials. Even his apprenticeship gift was returned by Su Qing, which made Erqiang sometimes have to accept his fate!
Hey! You're all a bunch of self-important fools who haven't shown your true skills to Erqiang!
If this old Taoist Tong had taught him the art of talisman making back then, Gao Erqiang would be able to open his own talisman shop in the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom now, earning his own money and spending it as he pleases, without having to worry about the Hai Shang Guild!

Gao Erqiang, who had long harbored resentment towards Master Tong, acted as if nothing had happened when Tong Chang suddenly asked him to do something!
Unfamiliar!

I'm so unfamiliar!
Who is it that invites me to carry out the execution?

The ancient God of Punishment, who was ordered by the Heavenly Emperor to be under the control of the Celestial Master, is dead! The current God of Punishment is Gao Erqiang. He was burdened with a huge debt of gratitude to Su Qing, and he castrated himself to relinquish his authority in the divine kingdom. He worked hard to cultivate to this position. If he goes to the Celestial Master's place as soon as he is summoned, then all his hard work will have been in vain!

Doesn't Gao Erqiang have any pride?

Besides, he didn't have much divine power accumulated, and it might not even be enough to deal with that Earth Demon Heaven, so how could he waste it so easily!

Gao Erqiang felt no guilt whatsoever about refusing Tong Laodao's invitation.

But who would have thought that not only was Old Taoist Tong inhuman, but Su Qing was also inhuman.

He took out the life-saving incense he had given him and insisted that Erqiang make a trip!
Debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay since ancient times.

Gao Erqiang, whose medal of merit for ascending to godhood was half his and half Su Qing's, had no choice but to accept Su Qing's request. With a dark face, he quickly rolled to Tong Laodao's Dragon-Slaying Platform.

Li Hailang felt a vast and majestic aura descend from the sky. Before he could react, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted with a shiver. When he opened his eyes again, his body had already been temporarily requisitioned by Gao Erqiang.

"High God, how have you been? Years ago, I said that your destiny was one in a million, and that it would be too much of a waste for you to be an evil spirit. Now it seems that it is true. You have ascended to the position of God of Punishment and Killing. In the future, you will rise step by step and soar to the top. It is not impossible for you to become the seventh-rank God of Justice!"

Tong Chang was surprised that Gao Erqiang would come immediately after Su Qing burned an incense stick. He thought that Erqiang really cared about his brotherhood and that he would not forget his brothers even after becoming a god. Tong Chang was impressed by him and thought that he was someone he could get to know. In order to take care of his feelings, Tong Chang did not pretend to be a Taoist master and flattered him.

"Hmm, you're pretty good too!" Compared to Tong Chang's enthusiasm, Gao Erqiang was very perfunctory and had no interest in chatting with Tong Chang. His gaze had already shifted to Su Qing.

"Fellow Daoist Su, we meet again. Sigh, if we're talking about being carefree, Fellow Daoist Su is the most carefree. Just a few days ago you were on Langya Immortal Island, then you went to Giant Corpse Island, and now you've come to this Land of No Breath. You can go anywhere in the world as you please. Unlike me, Gao Erqiang, I was born to be a busybody."

Inside and outside the Divine Kingdom of Punishment, there are many busy matters. A group of merchants have encountered trouble in their businesses in other immortal kingdoms, which requires the two of us to step forward and resolve. The threat from the Evil Kingdom of the Demon Tree also requires the two of us to lead troops to deal with it. In recent years, due to insufficient divine power, we have not even dared to go out.

But if Fellow Daoist Su were to encounter trouble, and I, Erqiang, subsequently suffered excessive depletion of my divine power, which affected the battle against the Earth Demon Heaven, leading to my death at the hands of that Earth Demon Heaven, and causing countless lives in the Xingsha Divine Kingdom to be harmed by evil spirits, Erqiang would not hesitate to sacrifice everything for Fellow Daoist Su, even going through fire and water!

Gao Erqiang clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute, and his words were barbed and rude, making Su Qing shake her head repeatedly.

"Fellow Daoist Gao, are you upset? Are you blaming me, Su Qing, for disregarding the overall situation and summoning you for my own selfish reasons, or for delaying the great battle with the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom?"

"No, no, Erqiang, I was just saying there's a possibility! After all, this is just sending a few undead on their way. With Fellow Daoist Su and Fellow Daoist Tong here, why would I, Erqiang, need to come and cause trouble!"

Gao Erqiang waved his hand and said that he could see clearly and understood that if everyone were inside the Land of No Breath, there would be some ruthless characters there. He, Gao Erqiang, might be able to gain some merit and good fortune by coming here.

But Su Qing has always been cowardly, only daring to loiter around the outskirts of this desolate land. Enforcing the law and carrying out punishments here can only attract some small fry. He doesn't even have enough money for this trip. It's only because he has to repay a debt of gratitude that he's here. Otherwise, Gao Erqiang would definitely not have come.

"Fellow Daoist Gao may have misunderstood the current situation. Without further ado, all I can say now is that this job will guarantee you a bountiful return. As long as you can lift that dragon-head guillotine, the merit and fortune you accumulate today will surely be enough to satisfy your hunger. And before you leave, you might even be able to give me three more incense sticks!"

Gao Erqiang ascended to godhood, but he didn't have much influence with Su Qing. He just chuckled and didn't explain anything to Erqiang before gracefully departing, landing at the stern of the Bixi ship on Dragon Island, a hundred miles away.

What does he mean?

Unlimited merit and fortune? I, Erqiang, have been starving for ages. He probably has no idea how big my appetite is right now!
A dragon head guillotine? Is it really necessary to use this? You can't be chopping up a real dragon head, can you?

"Give you three more incense sticks? Am I afraid you'll mess with me to death? Only a fool would give you more!"

On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, Gao Erqiang was full of questions, chasing after Tong Chang and asking him all sorts of questions. But before Tong Chang could answer, when a huge black light surged out from the Land of No Breath and headed straight for the Dragon-Slaying Platform, Erqiang felt a jolt and immediately understood Su Qing's meaning.

This time, he's taken on a really big job!
A dragon-slaying job!

Do you think it's big or not?
But you should at least have asked me beforehand if I could do this job, if I was capable! (End of Chapter)