Please control me, my divine being!

Bronze Wine Cup

[Type: Folk Artifact]

[Note: A traveler beyond the dust, an immortal among wines. This wine vessel, bearing the weight of countless years, possesses the power to protect the illusory. Through repeated blood sacrifices by the cultivator Li Qinghe, exhausting his mind and spirit, the long-dormant power within the wine vessel was finally activated, allowing it to once again radiate extraordinary abilities.]

【Effect:

The Wine Immortal—awakened by Li Qinghe's intense longing, a trace of her mother's lingering obsession remained within the wine cup, transforming into a complete spirit that resides within the cup, protecting her safety.

Note 1: This obsession is closely related to Li Qinghe, and the mundane object can only be driven by Li Qinghe.

Note 2: If the obsessive spirit is injured or dissipates, it can be re-formed by adding "Li Qinghe's blood" to the wine vessel.

"A vulgar thing..."

Zhou Qing muttered something under his breath.

At this moment, the entire game interface has turned into an enormous, ink-wash progress bar.

[On a boat...]

There was nothing going on on the ship that required Zhou Qing to take special action.

Because there were no new locations or new characters to meet, the plot almost came to a standstill.

In the game text next to it, you can see these sentences almost repeatedly:

[Li Qinghe is holding a wine glass, talking to herself and laughing...]

Shen Cishuang is currently writing a travelogue...

[Grandma Yang is giving the zombie a treatment...]

Jiang Chuling is learning to make candles...

It's the same old stuff, nothing new.

It is estimated that new developments will only be possible after they disembark and arrive in Jiangnan Province.

"It will probably take some time."

Zhou Qing tapped the edge of the interface.

After boarding the ship and leaving Huangshui Town, a summary rating popped up at the edge of the interface.

It's somewhat like the in-game evaluation given after completing an adventure on a map.

As you touch it, a form appears before your eyes.

【The Wind Rises in Qinghe】

[Map: Huangshui Town, Lianshan City]

[Exploration Level: 70%]

[Event Completion Rate: 87%]

[BOSS defeated: He Bo, Pang Ziyue, Huang Shiliugong]

[Completed storyline: Human slave trading hideout, River God temple rituals, temporary stronghold of the Legalist sect, grudges among human slave traders, underground Taoist temple of the Legalist sect, Huangxian Village in Lianshan City, the death of the River God, secret talks at Zhuoxian Village.]

[Review: A cautious playstyle is understandable, given that in this world where a moment's carelessness can cost you your life, there are no second chances. However, a more aggressive and daring approach might yield additional rewards, though it would also expose you to greater danger.]

[Reward: A new chapter begins! Gain the power "Divine Travel".]

Splash!

The sound of pages turning filled my ears.

Zhou Qing immediately opened the Divine Path System and entered his own temple.

The statue above still looks the same, but there is now an incense burner and a stick of incense on the altar below.

Touching the idol.

A detailed attribute panel appears.

[Deity: Zhou Qing]

[Honorable Name: Azure Mysterious Balance Celestial Venerable]

[Position: An Shen (57% chance)]

[Faction: None]

[Walking: Li Qinghe]

[Powers: Gathering of All Ages, Divine Travel]

[Great Achievement: Burning Away Deep-seated Illness]

[Blessings: Strength (3), Spirit (3), Intuition (3), Humanity (1)]

[Common Skills: Keen Insight, Hidden Secrets]

[Superior power: ten points]

"As expected, after adding points to Jiang Chuling, I did not gain the common candle-making skill, nor did I gain any ghost-like attributes."

Zhou Qing didn't know if it was because her faith level was too low, or because she wasn't playing a character and couldn't get attribute feedback from an uncontrollable character in her own game.

This still needs to be verified later.

However, Zhou Qing naturally couldn't invest too much divine power in nurturing those who couldn't receive timely feedback. After guiding them into the Dao, he could simply use them as divine power conversion machines.

The more "value" of offerings the other party can provide, the more divine power they can generate, and the corresponding blessings will be bestowed upon them.

They can also charge a brokerage fee.

After all, among the mortal gods of the various Daoist lineages, his own god, who grants every request, is already considered to have an extremely high moral standard.

It is common for many to consume the offerings and then bestow no blessings upon the believers.

The Yin Corpse Venerable is being specifically criticized.

The fact that Granny Yang is still so ambitious and hardworking at such an advanced age, almost to the point of death, is all thanks to the Yin Corpse Lord's exploitation of her over the years.

And the believers couldn't say anything yet.

After all, the two sides are completely unequal in status. The believers' cultivation depends entirely on the gods, and they are like fish on a chopping board, which can be manipulated at will.

Zhou Qing turned his gaze to his new power, "Divine Travel".

【Divine Travel: Using the position of the deity, seek out and communicate with the gods and evil spirits of the common people and the underworld.】

Zhou Qing directly used the new powers.

Soon, a new prompt appeared on the interface.

Following the instructions, Zhou Qing inserted the incense stick that appeared on the offering table into the incense burner.

After the incense stick is inserted and lit, wisps of blue smoke rise up.

Several lines of text immediately appeared on the game interface.

[The incense of the common people has been used!]

[Dreaming...]

[The deity has been found; the thief is unreachable.]

[The deity, Lord of a Hundred Plays, has been found, but communication is impossible.]

[The deity, Sui Po, has been found and communication is underway; contact is being established...]

A dialog box pops up on the game interface.

Grandma: 𪉷𪘁𪏭𪐷𪀔.

Zhou Qing: Can you speak normally?

Grandma: 𪓄𪓋𪓑𪓟𪓩.

Zhou Qing: ...

Zhou Qing was speechless.

No, can this thing even be considered something that can communicate?

Enhancing one's spiritual awareness, or cultivating talents in literary societies or other forms of intellectual practice, can lead to a better understanding of various divine languages.

A small hint appeared below.

As time passed, the incense finally burned out, and the time for this spiritual journey came to an end.

Like the "Collection of Ten Thousand Generations", the Divine Travel also has a cooldown period. The incense sticks on the table are re-condensing, but the speed is extremely slow.

"Never mind, let's take a rest first."

Zhou Qing closed the book, exited the game, and stretched.

……

For the next few days, Zhou Qing's daily routine was to log into the game and take a look.

The game continues with the ship journey, the progress bar moving slowly, and no events are triggered in the accompanying text.

With plenty of time left, Zhou Qing could only return to reality and wander around the Prince's mansion.

During this time, Zheng Chi invited several opera troupes, and Su Tangyu also visited the Prince's Mansion several times. There were also some well-known acrobats and other entertainers, but none of them were very interesting.

Zhou Qing himself was also secretly trying all sorts of extraordinary methods.

First, there are the altars for learning the Dharma, namely the Water and Fire Subduing Demon Altar and the Netherworld Fear Altar.

However, the results were not very good, and they were completely different from the effect of Pang Ziyue's work.

Then there's their current fighting strength.

He found more than ten elite guards at the Prince's mansion, and he could easily deal with them without even having time to warm up.

Ordinary people, unless they are an army with powerful bows and crossbows and full armor, pose no threat to him at all.

"We can ask Su Tangyu to practice."

Zhou Qing practiced his martial arts in the palace, then took a relaxing bath in the tub. He went to the warm pavilion, habitually opened a book, and entered the game.

However, this time things finally changed.

It wasn't on Li Qinghe's side, but on the interface for searching for new characters.

Previously, when the game was reviewed and summarized, there was a reward called "Opening a New Chapter," which in the game meant that you would have an extra playable character slot.

If you start the game directly, you will be randomly selected as a character.

However, Zhou Qing has the opportunity to select characters, so he will wait until he selects the characters that meet the requirements before entering the game, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of starting.

The search has been going on for some time, and now a suitable candidate has finally been found.

Zhou Qing opened the interface with great anticipation.

[Character: Gu Qinghan]

Cultivation Level: Not yet broken through the Life Gate (Unranked)

[Taoist Lineage: Invite the Corpse to Ride the Evil]

[Path of the Corpse (Twisted)]

[Faction: Has defected]

Click to start the game and explore to your heart's content!