Chapter 4 The incense flourishes
"Old Master, look, there are really newly burned incense sticks on the incense table. It seems that Sister Xiulan really offered incense."

As soon as the group broke into the land temple, a black-faced man started shouting in surprise.

"Old Felt Hat, what do you mean? Can I lie to you?!"

When Feng Xiulan heard this, she became unhappy and started shouting loudly.

——Her husband died early, and she has developed a tough character. She is not afraid of these men!
"Oh, Sister Xiulan, I didn't mean that. I was just saying it casually."

The black-faced man looked embarrassed and quickly shrank back into the crowd.

"The God of Land hasn't appeared in many years, why did he suddenly appear?"

"That's right, I thought the land god was not here."

"Right? Isn't it said that the God of Land only comes down to earth four times a month? Counting the days, today isn't one of them?"

There were murmurs of discussion among the crowd.

"Shut up, what are you yelling about in the temple? Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the God of Land?"

The old man spoke, and his words immediately made the villagers in the temple shut up, with an unnatural look on their faces.

Although the God of Land has not appeared for a long time, what if he is still there?
It turned out that after Feng Xiulan saw the divine appearance, she was so excited that she could not control herself. After sending her son away, she returned to the village and spread the news widely.

Before long, it caused a sensation in the whole village.

Since the matter involved the gods, the village elders did not dare to delay and immediately gathered the young and strong men to come over.

"Quickly take the incense."

The old man took the incense from the younger generation, lit it with candlelight, held the incense with both hands, and prayed respectfully.

"I burn incense to pay respect to the God of Land, wishing peace and prosperity, and may the whole family prosper and have more wealth, and may the descendants produce wise men from generation to generation. May the God of Land always protect the weather in Tian'an Village, and may the village live and work in peace and contentment. I sincerely pray for your blessing."

The ups and downs of the prayer words spread throughout the land temple as the old man hummed.

After the blessing ceremony was over, he lit incense, knelt down on the cushion, and kowtowed heavily.

After this knock, the old man didn't know what happened. He banged his head on the ground and didn't get up again. His body even started to tremble slightly.

"Ok?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and someone even called out tentatively, "Old Master? Are you okay?"

The old man didn't reply, but his body shook even more violently.

Everyone panicked when they saw this!

——Oh no, the old man is too old to do strenuous exercise. He’s been bowing and kneeling for a while, maybe he’s had a stroke?
Several young and strong men hurried forward to help.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I helped the old man up, I saw that his eyes were red and he was crying bitterly!

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

"God, the gods have appeared!"

The old man's lips trembled, his face turned red with excitement and he kept muttering.

"what?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

"Look! Look! What did I say? What did I say? You still don't believe me, but you must believe what the old man said, right?"

In the crowd, Feng Xiulan shouted, her expression showing both pride and a hint of imperceptible loss.

——It turns out that the gods don’t only favor her family!
In an instant, the land temple became lively.

After the villagers looked at each other, some of them immediately followed suit and started burning incense and praying.

Sure enough, before long he became excited and shouted that the gods had appeared, which attracted more and more fanatical worship.

Before long, the news spread like wildfire throughout Tianan Village.

From the old men to the young wives, everyone flocked to the land temple, offered three sticks of incense, and wanted to see the true face of the deity with their own eyes.

Even a three-year-old child could see gods after offering incense and kneeling down in an orderly manner, which made everyone very curious.

For a moment, the whole village seemed to be filled with joy as if it were New Year.

The streets were deserted so much that the threshold of the land temple was almost flattened.

This scene shocked the evildoers of the land temple!

Since they became ghost messengers, have they ever seen such a prosperous incense business?
Even the Tian'an Temple, which is said to have as much incense as the City God Temple, does not have such a grand occasion!
Look at the incense sticks, gathering like a dragon and rising into the sky, making the huge land temple seem to be shrouded in the clouds of the fairy palace. Even the blue bricks and yellow mud outlines have a bit of ancient and vigorous style.

"Master Zhao, you have burned at least fifty or sixty incense sticks today, right?"

A ghost asked Zhao Mancang with envy.

"Fifty or sixty incense sticks? Oh, you haven't eaten good meat before. Let me tell you, in this day, at least a hundred incense sticks must be burned!"

"what?"

"In just one day, you collected all the incense offerings for the whole year?"

The ghosts looked at each other in shock and excitement, thinking that if Gu Bogong ate meat, they might be able to drink the soup too!
……

The crescent moon shines over the nine provinces, some are happy while others are sad.

The ghost officials of the land temple were full of hope, but Master Cui San, who had failed to bribe Grandpa Gu, was dumbfounded and even angry to the point of turning blue!
He never expected that just after leaving the land temple, the villagers of Tian'an would rush into the temple to burn incense and pray to the gods. Even his captured lay disciple, Grandma Zhao, followed over to burn some incense.

The smoke of incense rising up from the sky seemed like a thin veil spreading across the hall and covering the temple.

This scene is even more shocking when reflected in the underworld!
The huge underground palace seemed like the residence of immortals, filled with incense and shrouded in green smoke. It was truly magnificent, attracting the disciples of Dema Hall to look around frequently and talk endlessly.

"To seize the incense with the method of showing the sainthood is like walking to the front. I want to see if you can hold on to this incense."

Master Cui San looked at the incense rising in the distance, a sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth.

……

When night fell, the villagers of Tianan, having satisfied their curiosity, finally went back home in groups of three or four to look for their mothers.

Gu Yunli, who was in the underground palace of the underworld, finally had time to count the incense sticks he had received today, no more, no less, a total of one hundred and eight!

"What a coincidence! One hundred and eight, the number of the rotation of the stars in the sky, a good omen!"

Gu Yunli showed a look of delight, as he had somewhat expected the villagers' enthusiasm.

Showing one's holiness has always been the most traditional and effective means of attracting worshippers.

Ordinary ghost messengers are limited by their supernatural powers and often appear in dreams. Although it is quite magical for three or five people to have the same dream at the same time, it is not as shocking as when they are awake.

With word of mouth spreading from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, it is no surprise that it caused a sensation.

What's more, he always responds to people's requests. How could people not be fanatical?

By the way, this is also the fundamental reason why he took the civil service exam.

If he were to take an unconventional approach, such a large number of followers would probably attract the attention of mountain gods and the land gods in no time.

How cool is it now!

Although the official position is small, it represents the reputation of the immortal court and saves a lot of trouble invisibly.

"I wonder how much these hundreds of incense sticks can help me improve my cultivation?"

After Gu Yunli became excited, he fanned his nostrils slightly and swallowed all the incense lingering on his fingertips into his stomach. Then he concentrated his mind and began to practice.

The technique he was currently practicing was given to him by the county god after he won the first prize in the imperial examination. It was called:

——The Secret of the Six Voids of Ji Earth.

This method is the way of Ji Tu, which belongs to the branch of Tu Dao. Practicing it will give one a special sense of the earth. Together with the curved wooden staff magic weapon distributed by the Immortal Court, it can monitor the surrounding land.

When one practices to the highest level, one can attain the great perfection of refining yang.

He took in the incense in one gulp, and under the transformation of his skills, his cultivation level increased rapidly.

Under the monitoring of Data Daoyi, Gu Yunli can clearly see the rate of his cultivation growth.

The progress of the day trip to the second level of Lianyang... 79%... 81.6%... 84.3%...

Quiet practice increases spirituality and incense also brings prosperity.

Unconsciously, Gu Yunli finished his practice and opened his eyes. Looking at his cultivation level again, he found that his daily practice progress had reached 87.6%!

"No wonder the gods and Buddhas in the heavens are fighting for the incense. It really is a good thing! Just a hundred sticks of incense are worth several months of hard training. It's really mysterious!"

Gu Yunli was amazed and became more excited.

Just at this moment, another stick of incense came in the distance.

"Who burns incense in the middle of the night?"

While Gu Yunli was puzzled, he tapped the ground lightly with a bent wooden stick, and the scene of the land temple in the world of the living immediately appeared.

Then he saw in the dark land temple a young man about fifteen or sixteen years old offering incense and kneeling on the ground.

"Disciple Zhao Cunyuan pays respect to Immortal Lord Yunli. I admire the immortal way and seek the truth with all my heart. I am willing to serve you and only ask you to guide me. I am deeply grateful and I bow down to you!"

Looking at the young man kowtowing in the land temple, Gu Yunli was surprised.

He pondered for a moment, then sent a message to Zhao Mancang via the Internet.

Not long after, Zhao Mancang came hurriedly in response to the call.

"Mr. Gu, you called me?"

"Do you recognize this young man in the temple?"

Gu Yunli pointed at the young man in the land temple in the mortal world.

Zhao Mancang looked at it carefully and said quickly:
"I recognize him! His name is Zhao Cunyuan, the son of student Zhao Jingqi. He was taken away by the Taoist priests of Liuyun Temple two years ago. However, he was sent back after only three months. It is said that he has limited talent and is not suitable for cultivation."

"I see. No wonder you have such knowledge and courage."

Gu Yunli nodded and looked at Zhao Cunyuan who was kneeling in the temple for a long time, his eyes thoughtful.

(End of this chapter)