Please be my partner.

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The village chief picked up the top pebble from the pile and handed it to Mellen, saying, "This small offering can only last for a day, but it's enough to ward off evil spirits along the way and protect our guests as they arrive at Fengshan City."

When Mellen took the pebble, he found it wasn't cold to the touch, but rather had a warm, smooth feel. He could clearly feel a gentle power emanating from the pebble, enveloping him.

After fiddling with the pebbles for a moment, Mellen suddenly asked, "Old man, what are evil spirits and ghosts?"

The village chief was taken aback, clearly not expecting Mellen to ask such a question, and subconsciously replied, "Evil spirits, they are evil spirits."

Seemingly realizing he had said something pointless, the village chief thought for a moment and then said, "I once heard a senior official in Fengshan City say that these evil spirits are nothing more than pitiful creatures that have lost something important. Although I don't know the explanation, since the senior official said so, there must be some truth to it."

Mellen nodded slightly, asked no further questions, expressed his gratitude, and then left Xiaosha Village.

On the way to Fengshan City, Mellen held the pebble in his hand to study it. He found that the energy in it was not much, and as it slowly dissipated, it could only last for about a day.

Mellen tried to connect with this energy and found that it was essentially the power of incense offerings and prayers, only purer.

It should be noted that whether in the starry universe or in the celestial realm, Melen has studied faith and incense. Normally, the incense collected directly is extremely mixed, containing the chaotic thoughts of all living beings. If this were used directly, even a god would basically be unable to escape the fate of going insane in the end.

Therefore, the divine path that relies on incense to cultivate often has various methods of purification and reshaping. The simplest of these is to establish a hierarchical system, similar to a divine court or heavenly court, to collect the power of incense from the lowest level, forming a 'filter' layer by layer. When the massive power of incense finally converges at the top level, it will naturally become incredibly pure. Moreover, this method is also worry-free and effortless.

Of course, this method is only the foundation of the overall framework. From the bottom to the top, various smelting and purification methods are needed to supplement it in order to form a complete cycle.

However, it is somewhat strange that the incense offerings gathered at the lowest-ranking land temple in Xiaosha Village are so pure.

Along the way, Mellen encountered some sinister creatures. Some clung to the sides of a large tree, seemingly bound and unable to leave; others had blank expressions and could only walk back and forth along a specific route; still others were extremely cunning, lurking in the shadows, ready to launch an attack at any moment…

With the pebbles there, these evil spirits would avoid Mellen, even those that clearly had their own consciousness and looked at Mellen with greed, they were unwilling to provoke them easily.

Looking at these sinister and ghostly creatures, Mellen ultimately suppressed his suicidal thoughts and decided to wait until he obtained the power of the Ghost Carriage World before conducting any research.

Currently, it seems that the power system of the Ghost Carriage World is different from the conventional martial arts system of the Outer Heaven, but is more like the Shinto. However, there is still some information available, and Mellen is not in a hurry to draw a conclusion.

The distance of forty or fifty miles was nothing to Mellen. Without rushing, he arrived at Fengshan City in just two hours.

If midnight in the Ghost Carriage world corresponds to noon in other worlds, then three or four in the morning is the busiest time.

Mellen glanced at the cobblestones; only a small portion of their power had dissipated, so their safety should be guaranteed if they entered the city. Clearly, they wouldn't need them.

Fortunately, through his research along the way, Mellen had figured out some rough methods. He manipulated a layer of qi and blood to cover the pebbles, and the flow of incense and vow power became extremely slow. Although it could not be completely stopped, it extended the time that the incense and vow power remained in the pebbles from one day to ten days to half a month.

The reason for doing this was that Mellen vaguely felt that these offerings and prayers might still be useful later.

Upon entering Fengshan City, the first thing Mellen had to do was, of course, to exchange some local silver.

Murren loved to eat and play, so he developed a good habit when he traveled the world: to carry some gold, silver and jade with him, so that he could exchange them for local currency in different worlds.

In most worlds, gold, silver, and jade are of considerable value, and the Ghost Carriage World is no exception.

It is worth mentioning that Mellen also left some loose silver in Little Sand Village as payment for his lodging and a big meal. Although the village chief tried his best to refuse, he naturally couldn't persuade Mellen otherwise.

In a pawn shop, Mellen exchanged a gold ball... which was originally a gold bar, but Mellen transformed it into a gold ball on the spot with his bare hands. This was partly to demonstrate his strength and avoid trouble, and partly to remove the original marks from the gold bar... for a large amount of local currency, enough for him to live a luxurious life for a long time.

Chapter 671 Eccentric People in the City

Several days later, at Chunfeng Tower.

During his post-coital reflection after playing with the courtesans, Mellen began to think about the intelligence he had gathered over the past few days.

The first thing that can be confirmed is that everyone in the Ghost Carriage world seems to have some kind of problem!

On the surface, they all exhibit some characteristics similar to ghosts, such as stiff bodies, or a lack of yang energy and an abundance of yin energy.

This seems to be related to the rules of the ghost sedan world itself, where yin prevails and yang declines.

This seems to be why martial arts, a supernatural system that requires vigorous blood and energy in its early stages, has no room to take root. Therefore, although there are fighting techniques in the Ghost Carriage world, they have nothing to do with martial arts.

Instead, a different system of power emerged: the underworld deities.

In the world of Ghost Carriage, there exists something called the 'Heavenly Book Catalogue'... It might be a divine artifact, a rule, or an unknown power. In any case, its existence permeates this world and is the foundation of the extraordinary.

People in the Ghost Carriage world can gain recognition from the 'Heavenly Book Register' through certain actions; in this world's terms, it's called... being included in the register.

Once included, one will gain recognition from the 'Heavenly Book Register' and the authority to exercise its power.

Of course, being included in the register is only the most basic step. To further enhance one's authority and wield more power, one must continuously act in accordance with the rules of the 'Heavenly Book Register'. The simplest and fastest way to improve is to maintain the stability and prosperity of humanity.

That is, to establish a stable order for humanity and maintain it for a long time.

Once the person included in the register has raised their authority to a certain level, they can even directly control the power of the 'Heavenly Book Register' within a certain range, and appoint or dismiss those who come after them.

Against this backdrop, after a long period of chaos and development, the ghost sedan world formed regional forces, with the highest ruling class called the City God, and below them were judges, underworld officials, ghost generals and ghost soldiers, etc.

Because of the monopoly of the pioneers, those who come later can only join the forces of these City God systems if they want to improve. Even whether they can be included in the system is up to the former. Moreover, once included in the system through this method, they can only be integrated into the system and controlled by others.

Mellen naturally didn't want this approach. It wasn't that he couldn't accept being someone else's subordinate; after all, given Mellen's experience and knowledge, it was only a matter of time before he turned the tables and became the master.

The key point is that getting accepted into the Fengshan City is not a simple matter. First, one needs to study at the government school, and after learning to a certain level, one must pass the government's examination in order to qualify for acceptance.

Of course, this only qualifies you. To be officially enrolled, you still need to wait in line. There are only a few enrollment slots each year, and there might be people with connections cutting in line. It's normal to wait for ten or twenty years.

That alone was enough to make Mellen lose all his patience.

And this is just the beginning. After being recorded, one basically follows the underworld judge system. Each city god has a different underworld department. For example, there is the Yin-Yang Department, which assists the city god in supervising the realms of the living and the dead; the Swift Reporting Department, which is in charge of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, and issuing official documents; the Merit and Demerit Department, which is responsible for recording good deeds and adding blessings to one's present and future lives; the Merit and Demerit Department; the Various Blessings Department; the Retribution Department; the Merit Examination Department...

Those who wish to be included must join one of the underworld departments as a trainee at the lowest level, so that they can have practical experience and improve themselves step by step.

The divine system has always emphasized strict rules and regulations, and this is true in any universe.

Even if he joins the system and climbs the ranks, Mellen is confident he can reach the top, but the time required is simply too long.

If Nasus were with Melron at this time, he could try to take this path, after all, Nasus had studied the pantheon and made considerable achievements.

Unfortunately, no if.

In order not to waste time, Mellen needs a faster way to obtain the power of the Ghost Carriage World.

And on this point, Mellen has already made some progress. You see, the original 'List of Heavenly Books' did not require 'examinations'. It was the pioneers who monopolized each region, thus blocking the path for those who came later.

In other words, all Mellen needs to do is find a way to act according to the ancient methods, and he can be listed in the 'Heavenly Book Register' just like the original pioneers.

Currently, the fundamental rule of the 'Heavenly Book List' can be described in four words: ...the prosperity of humanity.

So, all Mellen needs to do is follow this direction. As for further improvements after being included, that can wait until later.

Having shaken off those clingy courtesans, Mellen was ready to get down to business.

Heading west towards Fengshan City, after a few turns, we arrived at a secluded little street.

The houses on both sides of the narrow street were quite old, and the street was rather deserted. Occasionally, Mellen could sense hidden gazes coming from those houses, but they would quickly disappear.

Ignoring them, Mellen went straight to his destination, a coffin shop with many funeral supplies displayed outside. A white banner hung on the shop door, on which something seemed to have been written, but it was covered in grime and was no longer legible.

As Mellen entered the coffin shop, he saw an old man leisurely resting in a rocking chair. The outside light shone in from the doorway, separating the old man from his lower body, which was in the light, while his upper body was in shadow and could not be seen clearly.

Before Mellen could speak, the old man said quietly, "Young man, you don't seem to be here to buy anything. Stepping into this place so abruptly is not a good omen."

"Sir," Murren asked, "how do you know I'm not here to buy anything?"

The old man chuckled and said, "My old eyes may be a little dim, but I'm not blind yet."

As he spoke, the old man stood up and came to Mellen's side. His eyes were covered with a layer of murky white, making him look extremely eerie.

Seeing that Mellen wasn't frightened, the old man was somewhat surprised and said, "Speak, young man, what brings you to this old man's place?"

Mellen stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "I've heard that you're an extraordinary person in the streets, and I'd like to learn some skills to help myself."

The old man seemed to suddenly lose interest, sat down in the recliner, waved his hand, and said, "Young man, no matter where you heard it from, it's all false. I'm just an ordinary old blind man, what ability do I have to teach you?"

"I see that you have the appearance of longevity and good fortune. If you really want to achieve something, you should go and pray to the City God."

Mellen said calmly, "Sir, since I've come here, I've naturally confirmed and am confident that I can learn some skills from you. You can also make some requests, and if I can fulfill them, I won't refuse."

The old man scoffed and ignored him completely.

Mellen didn't take it seriously. As he looked at the coffins in the shop, he said, "Old sir, as far as I know, you don't seem to have any family. Are you just going to watch your skills be lost?"

The old man chuckled, "You've investigated this old man quite thoroughly."

Mellen shook his head and said, "It's not really an investigation. The old man's information isn't a secret. You can find out by asking around."

The old man snorted and fell silent again.

Mellen said, "To be honest, sir, I want to learn your skills in order to follow the path of destiny. I'm piecing together information based on what I've gathered. It seems that you also walked this path when you were young, but you failed in the end. Don't you want to know if this path is even viable?"

The so-called "divinely bestowed way" naturally refers to being granted the way by Heaven and Earth.

The old man's expression turned solemn. After a moment of silence, he said, "Young man, I see confidence and ambition in you. If you can't succeed on this path bestowed by heaven, that's fine. But if you do succeed, won't another Ghost King emerge in the end?!"

Mellen astutely grasped the key information and immediately asked, "Ghost King? Old sir, why do you think that after I become the one who receives the Heavenly Inscription, I will become the Ghost King?"

The old man did not explain, but fell into deep thought.

Mellen could tell that the old man was deep in thought, so he didn't disturb him.

After a short while, the old man suddenly said, "Young man, it's not impossible for you to learn my skills, but I have one condition."

"Please speak," said Mellen.

The old man said, "Make me coffins for three years first, then we'll talk."

Mellen said somewhat speechlessly, "Sir, you really used the word 'we'll see' very well."

Then Mellen shook his head and said, "If I'm willing to wait three years, I could be admitted to the City God Temple by now. I know the old man wants to test my character and observe my personality."

"But, to be honest, neither the City God nor the old man is enough to make me waste three years. I can accept any level of test, even if it is difficult, as long as it is not impossible to complete. The premise is that it cannot take too long."

The old man said with some displeasure, "What an arrogant brat! Do you think my skills are something you can learn so easily?"

Mellen laughed and said, "Sir, I don't actually want to use such a tricky method as a challenge, but if you want to test my abilities, I don't mind showing you what a genius is."

"Ha! How arrogant!" The old man stood up again and said, "Since we've already come this far, let's make a bet. I can teach you something. If you can master it in ten...three days, then I will impart all my knowledge to you."

Mellen replied with a smile, "If I can't master it, I'll just stay and learn the craft of making coffins from you."

The old man nodded in satisfaction, but then he sensed something was amiss. It seemed that regardless of winning or losing, this young man was determined to cling to him?

"Teacher, let's get started quickly," said Mellen.

Upon hearing the word "teacher," a trace of pain and longing flashed in the old man's eyes. He waved his hand weakly and said, "No need for such formality. Just call me Old Man You."

Mellen readily complied, bowed respectfully, and said, "Elder Yu."

Murren has always believed in learning from those who are knowledgeable, so he takes seriously anyone in the world who can teach him.

Old Yu seemed quite satisfied with Mellen's attitude. He ignored the coffin shop and led Mellen directly to the back of the shop. The shop was very large, with a small courtyard and several rooms in the back in addition to the front.

Old Yu told Mellen to wait in the courtyard, then went into a house and came out a moment later with a stack of yellow paper in his hand.

Old Yu placed the top yellow paper in front of Mellen. The paper was covered with complex and strange patterns, which looked like some kind of script or some kind of symbol.

Old Master You said, "This is called a talisman. It has the effect of warding off evil spirits and protecting the home. The one you see is the most common home protection talisman. As long as you stick it on the main beam of your home, it can protect the home and keep the area safe for a period of time."

"If you can draw a home-building talisman within three days, I'll admit you do have some talent."

Looking at the talisman, this time he didn't nitpick over the wording but simply said, "Okay!"

On the table in the courtyard were writing brushes and ink. The brushes were ordinary calligraphy brushes, but the ink was more special, being pine soot ink mixed with cinnabar. Although they were very simple things, they were more than enough to draw the most basic talismans.

Seeing Mellen grinding ink while intently looking at the Anjia Talisman, Old Master You chuckled inwardly. He was naturally making things difficult for Mellen. Normally, even with a teacher's hands-on instruction, it would take at least a year or two to successfully draw an Anjia Talisman.

Because copying talismans is only the simplest and least technically demanding part. The real key is the application of willpower, which does not refer to incense offerings, but rather to a certain power deep within the artist's own heart.

Learning to guide one's own willpower is no easy task, let alone drawing it out continuously and smoothly.

Thinking of this, Old Man You even felt a little apologetic towards Mellen, feeling that he might have been too harsh on the young man. However, when he thought of Mellen's 'arrogance,' Old Man You put that apology aside, believing that young people should suffer more losses so that they can avoid taking detours in the future.

Just as Old Master You was lying on the recliner, gradually drifting off to sleep, a voice came from afar, disturbing his sweet dream.

Old Yu raised his eyelids and saw Mellen striding towards him from the small courtyard.

Old Master You frowned and said unhappily, "Boy, giving up halfway is not a good habit. Since I have given you three days, you should finish trying in these three days. If you don't even have this much willpower, then you might as well get lost."

"Give up?" Mellen blinked, not giving the other party a chance to misunderstand, and laughed, "No, no, no! Of course I didn't give up, but rather, I've already succeeded."

"Success?" Old You paused, his tone becoming even more unfriendly, and said, "Well..."

Before he could finish speaking, Mellen took out a home-protecting talisman, flicked it lightly, and an invisible wave of warmth spread out, enveloping a small area.

Old Master You's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, then he seemed to realize something and was about to speak.

However, Mellen had already anticipated his prediction. He took out the sample of the Anjia Talisman that Elder You had given him and said, "If you don't believe me, I can draw another one right away."

Chapter 672 The Way of Talismans

In the courtyard, Mellen drew three home-settling talismans in a row, and each time he made significant progress. Even so, he could not dispel the suspicion in Old Man You's eyes.