Please control me, my divine being!

As she recited the mantra aloud.

Li Qinghe took out the traditional wedding candles, which she had prepared beforehand, and placed them in the very center of the ceremonial diagram.

She didn't know much about the initiation ceremony.

After all, she entered the Daoist path in a daze, and all the steps she is taking now are in accordance with the guidance of the gods.

Moreover, Jiang Chuling is about to enter the path of controlling ghosts and communicating with the underworld. The altar, ritual diagrams, and mundane objects all point to this path.

She knew nothing about this path and could only watch from the sidelines.

However, at that moment, her body was suddenly controlled by the gods.

……

As a traveler, when you spread your faith in the divine, you must also shoulder the responsibility of being a guide.

You have prepared a complete ritual and ample offerings, and begin to invoke the gods to bestow blessings upon this new believer...

Splash!

A completely different picture from the "street life" unfolds before your eyes.

The overall tone of the painting is dark and eerie, with a chilling wind and ghostly shadows, resembling the netherworld. Yakshas and Rakshasas roam the mountains and forests, while demons and monsters lurk in the shadows, ready to devour anyone who dares to cross them.

Within this realm of Senluo.

Will-o'-the-wisps flicker, and spirit banners flutter in the wind.

Some people summon souls and spirits, call upon ghostly soldiers to clear the way, and travel through the netherworld.

The wedding candles, a common item offered in the ritual painting, instantly transformed into wisps of yin energy, merging into the scroll and illuminating one of the figures on it.

It was an old man holding a green candle and carrying a demon.

The path has been lit, the candle bearer.

[The art of communicating with the spirits and controlling ghosts involves candle makers and sellers who often wander through villages and wilderness. They can use candlelight to guide wandering ghosts into the underworld, or to keep watch at night, exorcise evil spirits, and find ways to break formations...]

Zhou Qing looked to one side.

[The altar—a terrifying altar for the netherworld; the ritual diagram—a terrifying diagram for the netherworld; the secular object—a wedding candle of resentment]

[Gain five points of divine power!]

[Offerings and Sacrifices: Huang Shiliugong's Origin Incense and Blood Beads]

[Gain 40 points of divine power!]

Because he had been constantly improving Li Qinghe, his divine power had always been insufficient, but now he finally received a large sum of money.

"This Huang Shiliu Gong is still alive. If I kill him, I can not only obtain a huge amount of divine power, but also upgrade my divine tablet."

Zhou Qing felt regret.

After absorbing the River God's divine tablet last time, my own divine tablet leveled up significantly.

Within the Shinto system, in the rank column, the progress "50%" appears next to the God of the Case.

Having absorbed most of the experience from the dying River God, if he could completely kill Huang Shiliugong, he might be able to advance to the next level.

Unfortunately, he cannot be killed.

The speed at which the knife coin was activated was too slow, and the opponent had already noticed. In a desperate attempt to survive, the opponent cut off its tail and fled back to the Five Turbid Heavens on the verge of death.

"Forty-seven points of divine power, if allocated properly, can not only strengthen Jiang Chuling, but also push Li Qinghe to a higher level. However, it cannot be used up all at once; some needs to be reserved in case of unforeseen circumstances."

Zhou Qing did not intend to raise Jiang Chuling's attributes too high all at once.

It needs to be done step by step.

Moreover, this guy has a lot of secrets.

Before finding out about the Jiang family from Lin Xiangqing, it's best not to invest too much divine power.

I don't know if this blind man is reliable or not.

If that doesn't work, the only option is to have Green Plum take the warrant and go to the government office to investigate the case files. But doing so would leave too many traces, and he doesn't want to make such a big fuss unless absolutely necessary.

Extend your finger and tap on the "Candle Holder" icon.

A scroll with the same dots as Li Qinghe's appeared, only this one was pure black, exuding a sinister aura.

Zhou Qing looked at each node.

"Huh, the basic attribute nodes are actually different from the paths of the common people and martial arts world!"

Spirit and intuition do exist.

However, it does not have the "Strength" attribute, but instead has an additional "Ghost Transformation".

[Ghost Transformation: A person who can communicate with ghosts and spirits, walking between the yin and yang worlds, between the living and the dead, can transform their body into a ghost-like form, entering and leaving the Yellow Springs and traversing the Nine Netherworlds.]

"Therefore, the Ghost-Controlling and Netherworld-Communicating lineage cannot use the Great Brick Flying technique."

Each lineage is different.

Without hesitation, Zhou Qing immediately chose his route: the first mundane skill of a candle maker, [candle making].

Unlike the tooth-wielding people.

The folk arts of candle makers are all strongly interconnected.

All the mundane arts that follow the path of Taoism are built upon the most basic mundane art of candle making.

Zhou Qing clicked on several major mundane techniques: [Ghost Candle], [Evil-Illuminating Candle]...

They are almost all candles with different effects, as well as various special ways to use candles.

"Six attribute nodes are enough to activate this mundane technique."

Zhou Qing slid his finger and raised Jiang Chuling's Spirit, Sense, and Aura to level two, consuming a total of nine points of divine power.

Afterwards, I activated the common skill of "Candle Making," which consumed another five points.

After Jiang Chuling acquired a mortal skill, the entire painting dimmed, making it impossible to add any more points.

"It seems that the blessings bestowed upon believers during a single sacrifice are limited. This is just right; there are still thirty-three points of divine power remaining."

Zhou Qing glanced at Jiang Chuling's panel.

[Believer: Jiang Chuling]

[Faith: One]

[Blessings: Spirituality (II), Intuition (II), Spiritual Transformation (II)]

[Traditional Skill: Candle Making]

That's all for now.

He closed the scroll depicting the communication between the underworld and the spirits, and then opened another scroll depicting the everyday life of ordinary people.

Li Qinghe's current level seems to have reached a bottleneck, with no further advancement possible.

On the whole picture.

All the other smaller nodes had dimmed, except for one large, golden node in the center, which was shining brightly.

[Promotion]: To activate this node, you need to nourish your whole body with popularity, have a faith level of three, possess two worldly arts, and one worldly item from the path of the tooth-wielder.

Having purchased the goods from the brokers at the market, all these conditions have now been met.

Zhou Qing nodded.

The enormous golden node suddenly expanded, and its divine power was rapidly depleted.

[Promotion begins...]

[Currently pushing through the checkpoints...]

[In the process of sublimation...]

Zhou Qing watched as his divine power gradually decreased at an extremely rapid pace.

For an instant.

It dropped by more than ten points.

But that wasn't the end of it. The divine power continued to decrease until it was reduced to only fifteen points, at which point the golden node finally exploded.

"You can now choose the second-tier common techniques and nodes!"

Zhou Qing's heart stirred.

In the first level of folk arts, there's still the [Tongue-Drumming] skill that I haven't selected, because this folk art isn't suitable for young girls, so I haven't lit it up yet.

Besides wasting divine power, every mundane technique also harms the body, making it difficult for many cultivators to acquire even one. However, Zhou Qing had to consider the burden on his body.

In gaming terms, it means you have a limited skill slot, so you have to prioritize learning the useful ones.

New folk arts naturally emerge on the second level, but new mechanisms also appear.

In the middle of the entire second layer of the dotted diagram, there is a bright red circular node, about the size of a coin, with the word "一" (one) written on it in a prominent way.

Zhou Qing touched it.

[Life-threatening challenges: Obstacles encountered on the path of enlightenment. Overcoming these challenges leads to personal elevation. Passing five life-threatening challenges allows one to tread the path to divinity.]

[Current Critical Situation: One]