Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 66 A Huge windfall! Heading home! A long procession of ten miles accompanies Lu Chen's departure!
Suppressing the restless emotions in his heart, Lu Chen took a deep breath.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind, and he asked, "By the way, Old Dragon King, will your four nephews be male or female? Oh no, I should ask if they will be dragon sons or dragon daughters?"

"Well..." Huai Lie was taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this matter... I truly do not know. However, my dragon clan has a tradition: if the firstborn child is a son, then the entire generation will be dragon sons; if the firstborn child is a daughter, then the entire generation will be dragon daughters."

"I see." Lu Chen nodded. "Don't worry, since I have agreed to this, as long as it is within my power, I will ensure their safety for life."

"Thank you for your promise, Your Majesty!" Huai Lie bowed deeply, his gratitude overflowing. "If Your Majesty ever needs my services, I, Xiao Long, will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"Very well, I won't stand on ceremony with you. I won't trouble you unless absolutely necessary. From now on, please protect Longhu County so that the weather is favorable and the people are healthy and well."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, I, Xiaolong, will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Lu Chen nodded: "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now. My trip to Longhu County is over, and I should return to Jiangdu City today."

"Your Majesty, let me, Xiaolong, see you off!"

After leaving the Spring Source Water Palace, Lu Chen returned to the First People's Hospital of Longhu County with the Earth God.

"Earth God, thank you for your help this time. I am deeply grateful!" Lu Chen bowed solemnly to the Earth God.

“Why do you say such things, Your Majesty! It is my honor to serve you!” The Earth God hurriedly turned aside to return the greeting, not daring to accept it fully.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, you will certainly have plenty of offerings in the future. I always act with a clear system of rewards and punishments, rewarding those who have made contributions and punishing those who have made mistakes, without any favoritism."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The Earth God's voice trembled slightly, filled with gratitude.

Lu Chen said no more, waved goodbye, and turned to walk into the hospital.

Inside the hospital lobby, Sun Yourong was sitting on a bench, her fingers anxiously swiping across her phone screen.

She caught a glimpse of a figure at the doorway out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly stood up, her voice tinged with reproach: "Lu Chen! Where did you go? How come you disappeared in the blink of an eye? I've been looking for you for ages!"

"Sorry, I had to go out for a while and forgot to tell you." Lu Chen scratched his head.

"Huh? Where are your bandages and plasters?" Sun Yourong noticed that his injuries had healed and couldn't help but look him up and down curiously.

"I was blessed by the Dragon King of the Well and I'm completely healed," Lu Chen casually offered as an excuse.

"I see." Sun Yourong wasn't surprised and didn't press further. She changed the subject, saying, "It's getting late. Uncle Chen and Uncle Wang are still waiting for us. They couldn't find you earlier, so they went to the county government office first. Let's meet up there and then head back to Jiangdu City."

"OK, no problem."

The two drove to the county government office and went straight into Wang Zhongmin's office.

"Xiao Lu, come here, look at this, this is what I promised you!"

Not long after he sat down, Chen Tiansheng took out a wooden box about a foot square from beside him and gently placed it on the coffee table.

The moment the box was opened, the sight that came into view made everyone present widen their eyes.

"The Qilin Blade! The Divine Mystery Manual?!" Sun Yourong exclaimed in a low voice.

"Wait, Uncle Chen," Lu Chen was also taken aback, "It's true that I want to learn that supernatural power, but I didn't say I needed these two treasures. What are you doing...?"

He spoke sincerely. When he made his request, he might have had designs on the "Mysterious Manual of Divine Communication," but he had never coveted the Qilin Blade. After all, it was a treasure passed down through generations, and Lu Chen certainly knew his place.

Chen Tiansheng's smile was gentle and sincere: "Mr. Lu, or perhaps I should just call you Xiao Lu, it sounds more intimate. Since I've brought these two items out, I've made up my mind. To be honest, when you first mentioned this matter, I did consider giving you only the 'Divine Scripture.' But after today's rainmaking ritual, especially after witnessing your blood oath, I made up my mind that only this Qilin Blade can express my full gratitude and appreciation."

"But……"

"No need for 'buts,' Xiao Lu." Chen Tiansheng waved his hand to interrupt, his tone resolute. "Compared to the people of the city, what is a mere Qilin Blade? It is true that it is a family heirloom of my Chen family, but to be honest, we Chen family rarely have the opportunity to use it. More often, it is passed down as a symbol. You don't need to refuse. I only hope that you will treat this blade well in the future, and then you will not have let my efforts today go to waste."

Chen Tiansheng's attitude was firm and brooked no refusal.

Wang Zhongmin also smiled and advised, "Xiao Lu, just accept it. You may not fully understand your Uncle Chen's personality; he never takes back what he says. With this Qilin Blade in hand, and combined with the practice of the 'Divine Profound Scripture,' your learning will definitely be twice as effective! So, don't be polite anymore."

Lu Chen's gaze fell on the two treasures. He took a deep breath, stopped being coy, stood up and bowed deeply to Chen Tiansheng: "Uncle Chen, rest assured, this junior will cherish these two treasures and will never let them be covered in dust."

Chen Tiansheng laughed loudly: "Good! With your words, I am completely relieved! By the way, you can slowly comprehend this supernatural ability on your own. With your aptitude and talent, it should be no problem for you. However, Uncle Chen has a few points to remind you."

His expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "First: You must never rashly create images of the Three Pure Ones, the Six Emperors, the Five Elders of the Five Directions, the Five Ghost Emperors, or other innate deities! Otherwise, at best, the divine power of the Qilin Blade will be damaged, requiring a long period of recovery; at worst, you yourself will suffer a severe backlash, damaging your sanity. In the past, several unworthy descendants of my clan disregarded the prohibition and recklessly attempted it, ultimately ending up insane and mentally unstable."

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded solemnly: "I've got it. And the second one?"

Chen Tiansheng continued, "Secondly, even those deities who have achieved physical sainthood cannot be made into images to communicate with the gods. These deities are all anomalies among the gods, not only possessing profound and unparalleled magical power, but also rumored to have aloof and arrogant personalities, sometimes even defying heavenly rules and regulations. Furthermore, they do not require incense offerings, and their physical bodies are inherently indestructible! To rashly make images to communicate with the gods is a matter of luck if it fails, but if, by some twist of fate, one manages to gain a sliver of divine secrets and achieve divine communication, one could very well incur divine punishment for blaspheming divine authority. The consequences would be far more severe than beating someone into a madman! That's why I'm mentioning this separately, and I hope you will remember it!"

Lu Chen nodded again: "I'll remember Uncle Chen."

Sun Yourong interjected, "Speaking of immortals who achieve sainthood in the physical body, I remember one with the title 'True Lord of Pure Origin and Wondrous Path,' who achieved sainthood in the physical body. It is said that his magical power is boundless and extremely formidable."

Chen Tiansheng nodded: "That's right, I've also heard of this deity. Legend has it that He has 1,200 grass-root gods under His command, and these grass-root gods are all powerful beings at the level of demon kings and demon saints. With just these 1,200, He can rival 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, and His strength is terrifying. Moreover, His execution ground is said to be not in the Heavenly Court, but in the mortal world, and it seems to be a place called [Guanjiang Estuary]. As for where it is exactly, no one knows, but it must be protected by a barrier."

Wang Zhongmin gasped in shock: "Twelve hundred men can defeat a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals? This immortal who has achieved sainthood in the physical body is so terrifyingly powerful!"

Sun Yourong's expression also stiffened; she couldn't believe it.

At this moment, she noticed that Lu Chen's lips were inexplicably slightly upturned, as if carrying a knowing smile, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "It's nothing."

Sun Yourong frowned slightly, a hint of suspicion in her eyes: "No, you must be thinking about something strange."

Lu Chen: "...Really not. I just feel that you guys know a little too little."

Sun Yourong retorted, "You also know this Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun?"

Lu Chen smiled slightly: "Of course, I definitely know more than you. After all, you don't even know about the Book of Life and Death." Sun Yourong was speechless for a moment, then glared at Lu Chen irritably: "Then tell me, what else do you know about this deity?"

Lu Chen cleared his throat and began to recount the legends with great familiarity: "Legend has it that this god is handsome and elegant, always dressed in yellow, proficient in the Eight or Nine Arcane Arts, and possesses unparalleled magical power. More notably, he has a third divine eye on his forehead and wields a three-pointed, double-edged sword. He is also known as Erlang Shen. He also has a divine dog under his seat, named Xiaotianquan, also known as the [Sun-Swallowing Star Lord]."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be making it up, Sun Yourong nodded and smiled helplessly: "Alright, alright, you're pretty good. You make perfect sense."

Chen Tiansheng and Wang Zhongmin, who were listening from the side, nodded repeatedly and sincerely praised, "Xiao Lu, you are so knowledgeable. We have never heard of these secrets before."

After saying that, Chen Tiansheng patted his knee and looked at Wang Zhongmin: "That's all I have to say. Old Wang, it's your turn."

Wang Zhongmin picked up the conversation and said with a smile, "Xiao Lu, I'm not like your Uncle Chen. He's the head of a clan and the only newly wealthy family in our county. He can afford such a generous gift. Your Uncle Wang can't afford such a treasure. However, I also have some good news for you."

I have just held a meeting and decided that from now on, our county government will allocate a special fund every year for the two deities, the God of Wealth and the God of Spring Source, to support their worship.

At the same time, our county will spare no effort to promote the benevolence and power of the God of Wealth and the God of Spring Source, ensuring that their incense offerings continue uninterrupted.

The same goes for that local earth god.

This can be considered an explanation for your previous request.

Rest assured, from this day forward, these two will be the main deities officially worshipped by the Longhu County government! We will do everything in our power to ensure their continued prosperity and worship!

Chen Tiansheng nodded in agreement: "That's right!"

This news undoubtedly brought Lu Chen an even greater surprise. Longhu County has a population of hundreds of thousands, and for Jun Caishen, who desperately needs offerings, this is like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

He immediately stood up, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Then this junior will thank you, Uncles, on behalf of the God of Wealth!"

"You're welcome, you should."

After all the matters were settled, Wang Zhongmin took out the county government seal and stamped it neatly on Lu Chen's task document.

The bright red mark signifies the official and successful completion of the mission in Longhu County!

Lu Chen and Sun Yourong did not delay any longer and immediately set off to return to Jiangdu City.

"You drive!" Sun Yourong sat in the passenger seat without hesitation.

Lu Chen smiled helplessly, carefully placed the box containing the Qilin Sword and Xuanben in the back seat, and got into the driver's seat himself.

"Uncle Chen, Uncle Wang, we're leaving now."

"Okay, be careful on the road! Come back and visit often when you have time!"

"must!"

The vehicle slowly drove out of the county government gate.

To Lu Chen and Sun Yourong's surprise, the streets outside the county government office were already lined with people who had come after hearing the news.

The crowd was bustling, all eyes fixed on the slowly pulling car, their eyes filled with gratitude as they waved continuously.

Some people even unfurled banners that clearly read, "Thank you, Master Lu!"

"Take care, my benefactor!"

"May you have a safe journey, Daoist Master!"

"You are welcome to visit Longhu County again anytime!"

Hearing the heartfelt farewells coming from both sides of the road, Lu Chen was deeply moved and his heart was filled with emotion.

He rolled down the car window, stretched out his arm, and waved vigorously to the enthusiastic villagers.

Thank you everyone! Goodbye, take care!

The vehicles moved slowly forward, and the farewell procession seemed endless, stretching for miles.

It seems that the people of the entire Longhu County spontaneously gathered here to offer their sincerest gratitude and blessings.

at the same time,

"hold head high!!!"

Above the sky, the wind and clouds surged, and a golden dragon rolled continuously.

Jinglong Wang Huailie also bid farewell to Lu Chen in this unique way.

Beneath an old tree as the car drove by, the Earth God, leaning on his cane, bowed respectfully, gazing at the receding taillights.
"My lord, may you have a safe journey!"

The crowds disappeared only after Lu Chen's vehicle drove away from the downtown area and was about to turn into the intersection leading to the suburban expressway.

"How does it feel?" Sun Yourong asked with a smile from the passenger seat.

Lu Chen clicked his tongue: "I have a feeling... that I'm very kind and great!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yourong chuckled.

As their vehicle passed an intersection and entered a forest trail.

In the shadows of an inconspicuous corner, a black sedan silently started up, like a ghost, and sped off down a faster side road, giving chase without a sound...

　It's a chapter of nearly four thousand words, I won't break it down.

　　There will be more later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)