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

Chapter 175 A Big Shot Arrives, This Time There's No Way to Keep a Low Profile...

After a night's rest.

The next morning, Lu Chen, full of energy, went to Caomiao Village again with Sun Yourong and Xin Yao.

“I say, Young Master Lu—no, to be precise, I should call you Patriarch Lu.” Xin Yao looked him up and down, her eyes smiling. “Judging from your energetic appearance today, you haven’t already thought of a way to break the formation, have you?”

Lu Chen subconsciously glanced at Sun Yourong beside him, who gently shook her head.

She would naturally not reveal Lu Chen's secret, not even to her best friend.

"Really? Miss Xin, I'm fine," Lu Chen said with a smile.

"Still pretending? You can barely hide the smile on your face." Xin Yao observed very carefully.

"Really not." Lu Chen waved his hand. "I'm just a newly promoted elite, how can I compare to you scions of powerful families?"

Xinyao pouted: "I've never seen anyone at your age become a rising star. I didn't think much of it before, but the more I think about it, the scarier it seems. Never mind, I won't ask anymore. Although I don't know how you did it, I still wish you success. I'll stay with you for one more day today, then I have to go back. My dad has already been urging me to call."

Lu Chen nodded: "Okay, next time you come to Jiangdu, I'll treat you."

"You can also look for me when you come to Jiangyang City, and I'll take care of you."

Xinyao patted her chest, feeling quite pleased.

……

One hour later, at Caomiao Village.

Compared to yesterday's bustling traffic, there were significantly fewer vehicles on the road today.

"It seems that after these two weeks, most people still couldn't hold on and left." Xin Yao shook her head and sighed, "At the peak, the entire road was blocked, with at least several thousand cars. Today, only a few dozen remain... I have to say, the imperial court really made a fortune from this secret realm mission."

"Let's go."

The fact that there were fewer people was actually a good thing for Lu Chen.

After all, he has always preferred to keep a low profile.
The three of them walked to the village entrance to prepare for security checks, only to find that a large number of people had already gathered in the open space in front of the village. Judging from their clothes, they were all scions of various newly wealthy families.

"Strange, what are they all doing gathered here?"

The yamen runner in charge of checking the documents took the documents handed to him by Lu Chen, looked up and replied, "The city lord of Rongcheng and the young master of the Wang family are about to arrive. Please come and greet them after you enter the village."

Xin Yao and Sun You Rong were both taken aback: "The Wang family?!"

"That's right." The constable verified the information and waved for them to pass.

As soon as she stepped into the village, Xinyao took a deep breath: "I didn't expect this... The Wang family has finally made their move. They even waited until most of the other families had left before coming. Is this because they are confident, or are they afraid of making a mistake and it would look bad if the news got out?"

Lu Chen looked at Sun Yourong: "Sister Sun, what does 'welcoming the emperor' mean? Is this a grand affair for such a prominent family?!"

Sun Yourong lowered her voice and explained, "To put it this way, if there is only one prominent family in each province, then it will control the temples of all the major families and newly rich families in the province and set the relevant rules."

In our Jiang Province, the Wang family is the only prominent family.

So strictly speaking, all our temples are under the control of the Wang family.

For example, the price of one stick of incense is one hundred yuan, which was set by the Wang family, including the price for inviting gods.

Moreover, the Wang family can also take a cut from each incense stick burned and from various projects.

It's as if all the temples in Jiang Province are indirectly working for the powerful families.

Do you think the ostentation should be grand?

Lu Chen: "That's so awesome?!"

However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

After all, families at any level earn their positions through their own strength or background.

Having greater influence and more resources is only natural.

Otherwise, why would the lower-ranking families strive so hard to climb the social ladder?

The same principle applies to his rise from commoner to nobility.

Xinyao chimed in, "You think that's all? The influence of prestigious families goes far beyond that."

Lu Chen: "What do you mean?"

Sun Yourong continued, "Lu Chen, have you ever wondered why the deities worshipped by these major families in Jiangdu City are so similar? For example, Lei Zu, Wenchang Dijun, Caishen, Shouxing, Yue Lao, Zhenwu Dadi... almost every family's main hall has these deities. It's not just Jiangdu, even Xin Yao's Jiangyang City is the same."

Xin Yao nodded: "Our Xin family's main hall also enshrines Lei Zu, Zhenwu Emperor, and Huo De Xing Jun."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow: "Impressive, they're all True Gods at the Star Lord level or above."

Xinyao: "That was accumulated over two generations of our ancestors. We don't know how many divine missions we had to complete before we could invite it."

Lu Chen turned to Sun Yourong: "So, this is also related to the Wang family?"

Sun Yourong nodded: "That's right, the core deities worshipped by the Wang family are Lei Zu, Wenchang Dijun, and Caishen."

Although these deities were already popular figures, the fact that they have been so revered in Jiang Province in recent years is inseparable from the support and promotion by the Wang family.

They can directly assign tasks to powerful clans in various regions, requiring them to make offerings to these individuals. Otherwise…

"Otherwise what? Can a prestigious family simply wipe out an entire clan?"

"That's not necessarily the case, but it's common for them to make things difficult for you. The simplest way is to raise the price of incense for disobedient families. Other families charge 1100 for a stick, but yours is 150 or even 200. How can the temple stay open like that? Why would worshippers come to your temple for the same deity, unless your temple is exceptionally efficacious and its effects far surpass those of others?"

"Is this okay?"

"Why not? Managing temples and setting market prices are the responsibilities of prestigious families. If they want to discipline a powerful clan, they don't even need to get involved themselves. They can simply manipulate the pricing and make people obediently submit."

After listening, Lu Chen nodded slowly: "I thought that the big families were already impressive enough, but I didn't expect that the prestigious families are on another level. It seems that every family has its own troubles. I used to think that the newly rich were already powerful enough, but now I see that the newly rich are definitely at the bottom of the family hierarchy."

Sun Yourong chuckled, then said seriously, "Don't underestimate yourself—I'm not praising you, but based on your methods and abilities, even the Wang family is far inferior to you."

She said the second half of the sentence telepathically. Lu Chen just smiled.

"However, compared to other prominent families, the Wang family is quite good. Unlike the Hong family in the neighboring province, they practically treat local families like servants." Xin Yao seemed to have a decent impression of the Wang family.

Sun Yourong chimed in, "The Wang family is quite reasonable in their dealings with people, and they're not overbearing. Especially this young master of the Wang family, he's quite an interesting person."

The group was talking...

--"roar!!!!!!!"

Suddenly, a deafening tiger's roar descended from the clouds, its sound waves rolling and terrifying.

Xinyao exclaimed softly, "The young master of the Wang family has arrived!"

A streak of light shot out from the distance and stopped abruptly above Caomiao Village.

The members of the various families below all tensed up, their pupils shrinking slightly.

In the void, nearly a hundred guards stood solemnly, holding halberds and swords, their silver armor gleaming coldly, their bodies exuding a chilling aura.

"All of them are fourth-rank experts?"

The spectacle caused a collective gasp of astonishment to rise from below.

Even Lu Chen's gaze sharpened, and his heart stirred slightly.

For most powerful clans, a third-rank guard is considered an absolute elite.

When the Wang family appeared, they had over a hundred fourth-rank guards.

"It's definitely different."

However, this level of strength was not considered amazing in Lu Chen's eyes.

What he cared more about was the spirit beast pulling the chariot—a tiger with a leopard's tail, a single horn on its head, majestic and imposing, its rank at least fourth grade or higher.

Just then, two golden beams flew out from the carriage, landed on the ground, and transformed into an old man and a young man.

The old man should be the city lord of Rongcheng, while the young man looked only a few years older than Lu Chen, with a round, chubby face and a modern-style custom-made brocade robe. He must be the young master of the Wang family.

Sure enough, as soon as Lu Chen had the thought, some people around him bowed first:
"Greetings, City Lord Lin and Young Master Wang!"

Sun Yourong gently tugged at Lu Chen's sleeve.

Lu Chen didn't stand out and bowed along with everyone else.

"Greetings, City Lord Lin and Young Master Wang!"

After the chubby young master of the Wang family steadied himself, he swayed his round body and waved his hands repeatedly:

"Hey, what era are we living in? Still bowing? How outdated! Get up, get up."

As he spoke, he personally helped the people in front of him up.

"Make yourself at ease, I don't like this kind of thing."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen raised an eyebrow slightly.

He originally thought that the young master of such a prestigious family was most likely the same kind of person as Zhao Wanliang.

The result was quite down-to-earth.

Sun Yourong is right, this young master of the Wang family is indeed quite interesting.

"Young Master Wang, why have you come in person?" someone in the crowd asked.

"What are you saying? How could the Wang family not come to our Jiang Province's secret realm?"

The chubby boy had a "does that even need asking?" look on his face, then grinned and said:

"However, I heard that this secret realm is quite difficult. I was afraid that if we came too early, you wouldn't be able to unleash your full potential, so I deliberately waited until there were fewer people before coming. But there are still so many people. What a blunder!"

He shook his head, feigning helplessness, then suddenly pointed at the crowd:
"Let me make this clear first! If I fail, none of you are allowed to tell anyone! Otherwise... I'll get angry too!"

He deliberately put on a stern face, but no matter how hard he tried to keep his chubby baby face straight, it couldn't reveal any fierceness.

"See? I told you he was afraid of embarrassing himself and the news getting out." Xin Yao covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Did you hear that?" Young Master Wang said, hands on his hips.

"We heard you! If Young Master Wang succeeds, we will spread the news far and wide; if he fails, we will keep it a secret!"

"Yeah!"

Everyone laughed and agreed, and Lu Chen nodded along with them.

Lord Huang, standing to the side, stroked his beard and chuckled, “Young friend Wang has already reached the fourth rank at such a young age, and he also has magical treasures and spirit beasts by his side. In my opinion, young friend Wang is the most promising candidate this time.”

"Old Huang, you're too kind. I know my own limitations." Young Master Wang waved his hand, turned around and looked towards the village, his eyes eager: "Everyone, where is the secret realm? Let me go and have a look!"

"Young Master Wang, this way please!"

Immediately, someone led the way, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the same young master of the He family from yesterday—He Xun.

"Lu Chen?" Sun Yourong asked, casting an inquiring glance.

"It's alright, let him try first. It'll be good for him to see the methods of a scion of a prestigious family."

Lu Chen had just wanted some peace and quiet, but now so many people had gathered around to watch.

Especially this young master Wang and the city lord of Rongcheng.

This inexplicably elevated the level of the "audience" involved...

"Looks like I won't be able to keep a low profile this time..."

(End of this chapter)