Master Shanqu couldn’t take his eyes off the papers. “This is too precious!” Suddenly, he looked at Xi Mufu eagerly. “Young friend, can you draw this talisman?”
Xi Mufu shook her head.
She was just an ordinary person—she hadn’t even stepped into the world of mysticism. How could she have such a skill…?
Wait… maybe she could!
Just now, a scene had flashed in her mind, as if it were teaching her how to draw the talisman.
“Do you have yellow paper and cinnabar?” she asked Master Shanqu.
“Of course!” he replied. He happened to carry these materials with him and handed them over immediately.
Xi Mufu took them and focused her energy, beginning to draw.
The officials wanted to see what this talisman-making skill she mentioned was like.
At first, her strokes were slow, but gradually they became fluid. By the time she finished, the talisman was complete in one smooth motion.
“A true genius!” Shanqu exclaimed repeatedly.
Drawing talismans wasn’t easy. It consumed a lot of spiritual energy to manipulate qi and form the seals. Only those with high cultivation could do it smoothly. For someone of Shanqu’s level, drawing one talisman was exhausting—it could take several days to recover, harder than climbing a mountain. Yet Xi Xiaofu completed hers calmly, as if drinking water. Even the elders of Longhu Mountain didn’t draw so effortlessly.
In fact, her talent was so astonishing that “genius” seemed inadequate.
Xi Mufu didn’t feel tired. With the hints in her mind, drawing the talisman was unusually easy. She only wondered how effective the talisman would be.
Shanqu said, “We can test it right here.”
Xi Mufu activated the talisman.
In an instant, the office became spotless. Even the stains on the ceiling vanished, and the stubborn ink on the desk disappeared completely.
“Excellent!” Shanqu clapped and cheered.
After the initial shock, the officials’ expressions turned serious.
This Purification Talisman was so powerful that, even without testing the Telekinesis Retrieval item, it was clear Xi Mufu had supernatural abilities.
So everything she said was true?
Her extraordinary skills, the magical item, and the otherworldly visitors—they were all significant and had to be reported immediately.
Shanqu bombarded the religious association group chat with messages, proudly announcing he had discovered a once-in-a-century talent.
After showing off, his eyes stayed fixed on the diagrams.
Xi Mufu smiled. “Do you want to try?”
Shanqu froze. “I… may I?”
In mysticism, inheritance was sacred. Every sect had secret arts, and family-taught techniques were rarely shared with outsiders. Though he longed for the complete diagram, he didn’t dare speak recklessly.
Xi Mufu said, “Of course.”
This talisman skill wasn’t exclusive to her; she was an amateur, and wanted a professional to study it with her.
Shanqu’s face flushed with excitement. “Thank you!”
Unfortunately, he tried several times using the annotations but failed.
“My talent isn’t enough,” he sighed. In the mystical world, innate talent was everything. Though he was over fifty, he was far below the young Xi Mufu. “Well, one prodigy in the world is enough.”
Xi Mufu: “……”
In any case, she handed over the diagrams and clarified they could be shared with anyone in the mystic sect.
“You are truly a blessing,” Shanqu said, now addressing her respectfully.
Xi Mufu: “……”
Meanwhile, several officials had reported the matter to their superiors.
“We’ll need the young comrade to stay here for a day,” they said. They wanted photographic evidence of the Telekinesis Retrieval in action to strengthen their report.
Xi Mufu had no objection.
·
The next day, after the item’s cooldown ended, Xi Mufu moved a nearby stone lion across the courtyard with her mind.
The officials were speechless.
Even with preparation, the sight was shocking.
Chief Zhang soon received confirmation:
“Special Operations Bureau personnel will arrive tonight.”
This meant Xi Mufu’s case would be fully transferred to the Special Operations Bureau, a mysterious unit capable of mobilizing all resources in critical situations.
In fact, it wasn’t just the Bureau coming—rumor had it that Maoshan and Longhu Mountain sects had also sent representatives, likely stirring up many powerful figures.
Xi Mufu relaxed. With the state as her backing, she had nothing to fear.
In the dungeon, Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi had confirmed the effect of the incense paper. Other players also discovered the secret and sought them out.
The two did not hide anything. When Li Jiandong had called for help in the group chat, all the players rushed to assist, showing that the dungeon players were of good character. If they were selfish or malicious, they would not have shared the secret.
However, when they tried to lead others to the incense shop, no one could see it.
“So only you two got this rare encounter,” said an experienced player, Meng Chen.
Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi exchanged astonished glances. They couldn’t believe their luck.
But when they tried to go to the incense shop again, they found they could no longer leave the campus.
“It really is a rare encounter… something you can only stumble upon,” Kong Yu murmured, regret in her heart. She wanted to see the young shop owner again, to ask if he was a god who had come to save them, dragged into this infinite world.
·
From that point on, Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi progressed smoothly in the dungeon. Using the incense paper, they evaded all NPC tracking, located the culprit and the evidence, and led all teammates to successfully clear it.
—All NPCs in this dungeon were culprits. The little girl had been abused to death by the security guards. Before that, her homeroom teacher had assaulted her repeatedly, even classmates had bullied her, and the principal and headteacher had covered it up to protect the school’s reputation.
“If we hadn’t gathered evidence to expose all the culprits, the little girl could have turned dark, raising the dungeon’s difficulty. We wouldn’t have survived, and someone would have died,” Meng Chen explained during the debrief in the game lobby. “Thanks to your incense paper, all of us survived… Normally, in high- or low-difficulty dungeons, the survival rate is below 1%.”
Eight players had entered the Bright Elementary dungeon. All eight survived. Most were newcomers—a true miracle.
Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi knew their luck came from the incense paper, not from their own abilities.
“Would you like to join the Xihe Guild?” Meng Chen suddenly asked, introducing himself. “I’m deputy captain of the 11th team. I hope to have the honor of bringing you in.”
Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi were wide-eyed.
Xihe Guild was the top guild in the infinite-world game. Its leader was reputedly the strongest among players, and joining elite teams greatly increased survival chances in dungeons.
“But… we’re weak…” Kong Yu hesitated. Meng Chen clearly valued their incense shop encounter, but now they couldn’t trade there again.
Meng Chen smiled. “Doesn’t matter.”
Once they could trade once, they could do it again. Even if not, having them as mascots was harmless. In such a large guild, two more people didn’t matter.
Kong Yu and Xu Wenzi were thrilled. “We’ll join!”
Since visiting the incense shop, their luck had shifted—they not only cleared the dungeon but gained the protection of the top guild.
Perhaps… the young shop owner really was a god, sent to save the players?