Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The current of the Bian River gradually slowed further downstream. A small boat drifted gently with the waves, silently gliding into a dense thicket of reeds.

Only after confirming that the only sound around was the rustling of wind through the reeds did Ji Xia’s taut nerves finally relax—just slightly.

She looked slightly pale, weakened by the near-total depletion of her Spirit Ink.

A ribbon of light flowed from her seemingly ordinary white robes, coalescing into a small paper figure that landed precisely on her lap.

Yun Ling patted her nonexistent chest, her voice still laced with panic and curiosity:

“Scared… scared this spirit to death! You—how did you do that just now? That terrifying bottomless pit, and that wretched medicinal stench… How could a mere Mysterious Brilliance–grade Inspiration Pen possibly pull off all that!”

Yun Ling couldn’t perceive the Inspiration Pen’s inheritance effect—naturally, she had no idea what Ji Xia had truly done.

Ji Xia didn’t answer immediately.

She sat cross-legged, using meditation to barely restore a sliver of her Spirit Ink before speaking: “Just an illusion.”

Her voice sounded weary, drained by the severe depletion: “With a touch of… psychological suggestion layered in.”

The little paper person remained bewildered, blinking her large eyes at her.

In good spirits, Ji Xia raised three fingers and began explaining to Yun Ling.

“The abyss conjured by 【Floating Light】 is purely illusory—it carries no offensive effect. Its sole purpose was to lock their eyes and minds entirely onto that ‘pit.’”

Then, she folded down one finger.

“Most of them had just emerged from Grand Secretary Zhao’s chaotic instance—and were thus highly sensitive to the scent of herbs lingering from there. I used 【Materialize】 to render one of the most nauseating strands of that scent utterly tangible.”

Finally, the corner of her mouth curved faintly as she lowered the third finger.

“When someone is wholly fixated on staring into the ‘abyss’ beneath their feet—while their nose catches a dangerous odor that recently caused them immense trouble… what do you suppose runs through their mind?”

Yun Ling grasped it instantly; her voice trembled as she began again: “You, you’re so jian…”

Noticing Ji Xia’s sidelong glance, the little paper person wisely shifted course: “Jian… jianzhi is simply too clever!”

She even gave a thin thumbs-up—the scene was quite…

Ji Xia chuckled. “If they’d known the Inspiration Pen’s inheritance effect, they wouldn’t have been fooled so easily.”

That’s why fragments capable of identifying inheritance effects are exceedingly rare—and immensely powerful.

And Huang possessed exactly such a fragment.

At that moment, the little paper person spoke up again: “That Old Lamp…”

Ji Xia blinked in surprise. She looked at her: “What?”

Yun Ling stated matter-of-factly, “The man with the ancient lantern beside him!”

Was “ancient lantern” abbreviated as “Old Deng”?

Ji Xia compared “Old Deng” with that mysterious man—and couldn’t help but laugh.

She rubbed the little paper person’s head and asked, “Is that lantern very old?”

Yun Ling crossed her arms, speaking seriously: “Extremely old! So old it makes this spirit doubt its own senses…”

Ji Xia narrowed her eyes slightly, asking casually: “…Is it a Civilization Vessel?”

Yun Ling replied, “I don’t know. I’m unfamiliar with them—I can’t identify it.”

Ji Xia pondered for a moment—but said nothing more.

That lantern-carrying man clearly didn’t belong to the Rivers and Mountains Pavilion. As for why he traveled alongside them… it was hard to say.

He showed no interest in the Inspiration Pen—so why follow them into the instance?

Could it truly be for the “Divine Cloud Brocade”?

No wonder Ji Xia overthought things—after all, she’d acquired this Sacred Artifact under highly unusual circumstances, and “Mr. Bai” had also appeared rather abruptly.

Yet idle speculation was useless.

What she needed was vigilance—and caution.

Since she’d already decided to activate the “Divine Cloud Brocade,” she wasn’t afraid to wade into these murky waters.

Ji Xia shifted her attention back to the system interface.

After successfully binding the Mysterious Brilliance Fragment, the system granted her expanded permissions.

Her Spirit Ink cap also increased accordingly.

This was precisely why high-grade fragments were so coveted.

Not only did Civilization Fragments possess formidable combat power, but those of Mysterious Brilliance quality and above could also raise the Spirit Ink cap—by a percentage-based bonus.

Though the *Two Principles Painting Scroll* lacked a leveling system, Spirit Ink thresholds defined distinct “Jianghu” titles.

A Spirit Ink cap below 100 points marked “Chu Kui Men Jing” (First Glimpse).

From 100 to 500 points: “Deng Tang Ru Shi” (Entering the Hall).

Beyond that: “Rong Hui Guan Tong” (Mastery), “Chu Lei Ba Cui” (Outstanding), “Chao Fan Ru Sheng” (Transcendent)…

Yet these titles conferred no special effects—they served merely as status badges players could display, enabling only a rough assessment of strength.

It was “rough” because—even among those sharing the same “Deng Tang Ru Shi” rank—possession of high-tier Civilization Fragments, their specific attributes, and resonance levels could produce vast disparities in actual power.

Ji Xia had begun with 150 Spirit Ink. Binding the Inspiration Pen doubled it—giving her a full 300-point cap.

Of course, due to *Misty Swirl*, she was suppressed by half again.

Still, for a newcomer, a 150-point cap remained quite substantial.

Yet the Spirit Ink cost of “Materialize” was staggering. Merely materializing a trace of that medicinal scent completely drained her—not only her Spirit Ink pool and all Spirit Ink Bottles in her inventory, but even several Spirit Coins.

Multiple previously grayed-out functional areas on the system panel were now unlocked—including the search page.

Ji Xia first clicked on 【Guild Search】 and entered the three characters: “Rivers and Mountains Pavilion.”

The information panel quickly popped up on the light screen, displaying rather dismal data:

Guild level Lv.2, member activity marked in red (extremely low), guild assets in the negative, and a string of weak indicators following the list of core members.

Ji Xia felt relieved.

As expected, it was a nobody third-rate guild—no wonder she had no memory of it from her past life.

This time, Rivers and Mountains Pavilion had suffered heavy losses in Grand Secretary Zhao’s instance. Their core fighters had all basically died once, leaving everyone in a weakened state. On top of that, their Spirit Ink caps had surely taken a big hit.

Too bad Ji Xia didn’t have a Fragment Box; otherwise, she could have scooped up quite a few Civilization Fragments.

Even if they were only Common-grade, they could have been sold for Spirit Coins.

As it stood, even if Mad Blade recovered a large number of Civilization Fragments, it wouldn’t offset their losses.

The loss in Spirit Ink caps was what would really kill them—they’d inevitably have to rely on guild subsidies…

They were already in the red, so after a hit like this, they were probably on the verge of disbanding.

Ji Xia then opened the "Regional Chat Channel," where, as expected, there were bits and pieces of talk about her.

"Did you hear? A newcomer beat a hidden instance!"

"She actually bound a Mysterious Brilliance-grade Heritage Fragment! Talk about insane luck!"

"Luck my ass! It’s pure skill. I heard Rivers and Mountains Pavilion couldn’t stop her with dozens of members and ended up getting completely outplayed. Hilarious!"

"Begging for the big shot’s ID! I want to cling to her coattails!"

At the same time, Ji Xia’s friend request icon displayed a bright red "99+."

She clicked on it and was immediately bombarded with a variety of guild invitations, some earnest, some downright fanatical. A few even came with generous offers:

"Sincerely inviting you to join! Not only will we help you cultivate your Mysterious Brilliance Fragment, but we’ll also offer a fat annual salary in real-world currency!"

Seeing the words "real-world currency," Ji Xia’s brow twitched.

—Why did her sister enter the Two Principles Painting Scroll?

—It was precisely to earn real-world currency here.

Pushing down the stab of pain in her chest, Ji Xia expressionlessly tapped "Ignore All." The system panel cleared right up.

Next, she took a deep breath and entered "Scavenger" into the ID search bar.

The light screen flashed, instantly displaying over a hundred results with the same name, a dizzying sight.

Ji Xia sighed helplessly.

The Two Principles Painting Scroll’s allowance for duplicate IDs was a real pain at this moment.

Besides, given A Huang’s cautious nature as an information broker, he wasn’t about to expose himself in such a public search.

It seemed the shortcut of seeking A Huang’s help was a dead end.

Ji Xia continued wading through the flood of info, searching for keywords related to "Lu Ban," "mechanisms," and "Lock City."

A ton of posts popped up, most of them wild guesses or bragging posts.

Just as she was about to close the page, thinking she’d need to save up to buy information from the "black market"…

A system-pinned, bolded, and gold-highlighted regional announcement abruptly jumped out at her:

"System: Congratulations to the 'Starfall Guild' for successfully deciphering 'The Lost Wooden Kite,' earning the first-clear qualification for the large-scale team instance [Lu Ban’s Lock City]! The instance will officially open in 24 hours of game time!"

Ji Xia: "!"

In her past life, her knowledge of "Lu Ban’s Lock City" came entirely from casual conversations with A Huang.

A Huang had indeed mentioned back then that the first-clear opportunity for this large-scale instance had fallen to a guild that drew the short straw.

At the time, Ji Xia had been puzzled and asked, "Isn’t that great luck? Why call them unlucky?"

Scavenger: "That instance’s difficulty is off-the-charts high. The guild was originally thriving, but after entering this instance, ten of their elites got trapped inside, unable to live or die!"

"By the time the Descent Day arrives… they’ll probably have turned into monsters."

At present, the Two Principles Painting Scroll was still relatively calm. Players merely treated it as an in-game instance, completely unaware of the impact it would have on the real world.

And many of the players’ reckless adventures would later sow the seeds for tragic consequences.

Ji Xia reined in her thoughts and searched for information on the Starfall Guild.

Lv.6, an emerging guild, guild leader "Bei Chen."

The guild reputation section was practically flooded with words like "upright," "united," and "reliable."

Ji Xia habitually rubbed the thin callus on her middle finger where she held her brush.

For a top-tier instance with limited qualifications like this, the Starfall Guild would inevitably gather their internal elites to enter and wouldn’t easily allow a non-member to join.

Therefore, her top priority was to find a way to join the Starfall Guild and become one of their members.

However…

Ji Xia glanced at her friend request bar, still dotted with red notifications. Presumably, once the system announcement went out, the Starfall Guild’s membership applications must have already exploded.

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There are red envelope drops in the comments section [Good Luck Lotus].