Chapter 162: Chapter 140: Purple Opportunity, Thousand Treasures Level Divine Weapon, Famous Sword Yang Su

Having learned from his experiences with the first two incarnations, Lu Mingyuan was now much more cautious.

’When it comes to putting up a front, you have to go all out.’

’The location has to be real, but the background can’t be too grand, lest I run into the actual person or his disciples. Still, it has to sound impressive.’

The God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming, the Dragon Tiger Xuantan True Monarch.

Thus, the persona was born.

The Daoist Temple’s address was the Luofu Cave Heaven on Mount Emei, an extremely obscure Grotto Heaven. He had flipped through three hundred pages of the Great Yan Atlas before finding this ultimate, incredibly obscure Grotto Heaven that had never been mentioned before.

A Blessed Land Cave Heaven wasn’t necessarily better just because fewer people visited or because it was undiscovered.

To a large extent, the reason no one went there was because it had few resources, or its resources had been depleted, which was why it had been forgotten.

Now that he had a sacred ground, the next step was to create a Golden Stone Statue.

This was even simpler.

But getting into the Thunder Pool Daoist Academy wasn’t easy. He could only replace the statue of a small, forgotten Taoist Sect—the kind that hadn’t seen a single visitor in decades, whose statue was covered in a thick layer of dust, and which had most likely been wiped out.

The Thunder Pool Daoist Academy had a rule: any Sect that received no incense offerings for sixty years would be expelled from the Daoist Academy. This indicated that such a Sect had declined and was no longer qualified to be there.

Every year, walls and walls of such junk were cleared away.

As for playing the part of a ghost or god, that was simpler still.

His own power was average, nowhere near the level of a True Monarch, but he was a master of mystification.

Lu Mingyuan had already reached the Middle Fifth Grade.

He could mobilize nature’s spiritual energy for his own use, and projecting his voice into someone’s mind via that spiritual energy was a piece of cake.

And so, the scene that Lu Yunwan now witnessed came to be.

Zhao Gongming had made his divine presence known!

In the Thunder Pool Daoist Academy, before a high wall, the stone statue began to emit a faint glow.

Seeing Zhao Gongming manifest, Lu Yunwan was overcome with excitement.

“What is your wish? Why do you ask for my aid?”

Lu Mingyuan watched Lu Yunwan kneeling before him and laughed inwardly, but his voice was ethereal and indistinct, as detached and emotionless as a divine being’s.

With tears and snot streaming down his face, Lu Yunwan cried, “This junior has been framed by others and can no longer protect myself! I beg the True Monarch to save me!”

After he spoke, the air fell silent for a moment.

Lu Yunwan, midway through a kowtow, grew anxious, wondering why the True Monarch wasn’t speaking.

Lu Mingyuan let him stew for a moment before saying coolly, “I have just performed a divination. You are embroiled in a succession struggle, your fortune is scattered, and in the face of such a disaster, it is already a great feat to have survived. What more could you ask for?”

Lu Yunwan saw that with just a single divination, the being knew everything about his situation.

His heart filled with even greater piety, and his trust in this Dragon Tiger Xuantan True Monarch deepened.

“This junior is truly unwilling to accept this! To be framed like this… I want revenge! In return, the True Monarch can ask for anything.”

Lu Yunwan remembered something and immediately took out the copper coin he was carrying. “This copper coin is the token. I ask the True Monarch to inspect it.”

The statue flickered slightly, and a hearty laugh echoed. “So that’s how it is. This item was indeed a gift from me. I never imagined such a serendipitous connection would arise from it.”

“Fine, fine. On account of this connection, I shall help you this once.”

“But let’s be clear beforehand. I will not personally intervene. I will only tell you the solution. How you implement it and whether you succeed will be entirely up to you.”

Lu Yunwan’s eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed. He kowtowed several more times.

“Thank you, True Monarch, for bestowing this technique!”

“I observe your circumstances and see two main hurdles: a financial crisis and a succession crisis. As long as you overcome them, all will be well.”

The ethereal voice drifted, indistinct.

Lu Yunwan looked puzzled. “I do not understand the meaning of this term, ’financial crisis’?”

Zhao Gongming explained nonchalantly, “It means whether the assets of the shops under your command can be revived from death, and whether your sluggish commerce association can have its spark rekindled.”

“I see.”

Lu Yunwan had a sudden epiphany.

’As expected of a True Monarch Daoist known as the God of Wealth who has also studied at the Confucian Temple. Even his terminology is so profound and unfathomable.’

“Do you know what the biggest problem you face right now is?”

Lu Yunwan thought for a moment. “Too much tax evasion, leading to a Court investigation and most of my business going down the drain?”

“Wrong.”

“You’ve run smack into a time when the Court is short on silver, and you’ve been targeted by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue.”

Lu Yunwan mulled it over for a moment and felt it made sense. Before, the Court would never have mobilized such a large force that swept across Great Yan. He must have walked right into the line of fire to end up in such a state.

“May I ask, Senior, what is the solution to this predicament?”

A hint of a smile was in Zhao Gongming’s voice. “Very simple.”

In the time that followed.

Lu Mingyuan gave Lu Yunwan a rough outline of the various methods for dealing with a financial crisis from his previous life.

Lu Yunwan truly had a talent for business. He understood with just a hint, and with a little guidance, he grasped the key points.

In this world, although there were no stocks or funds, productivity was ample and commerce was well-developed, with commerce associations and banks already in existence. Some things were simply universal.

He had only given him a starting point.

Lu Yunwan was able to come up with many countermeasures on his own.

After listening, Lu Yunwan felt as if the gates to a new world had been opened. His face was full of worship and admiration, and his heart was filled with boundless respect.

“Listening to your words is better than studying for ten years!”

“You are truly worthy of being the God of Wealth!”

Senior Zhao Gongming’s method could be summarized in roughly three steps.

The first was to proactively pay back the taxes, turning his crime into a meritorious deed. The second was to make the Court realize the importance of the Yunwan Commerce Association; if the association collapsed, it would only make Great Yan even more strapped for cash, causing all industries to fall into a slump and enter a great depression.

The third point was the most important.

After overcoming the crisis, he was to launch economic sanctions against Prince Jin’s Mansion.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep