The Miao Silver Bangle for Expelling Illness was not only elegant as jewelry, it also provided the ability to cure illnesses, detoxify, and prevent pregnancy through spiritual energy. With such practical functions, Song Miaozhu decided not to take it off anymore.
Master Wu Qingfeng's Thousand-Eyed Bodhi Beads were by far the most popular among the high-tier spiritual items. Any item with storage space perfectly aligned with every cultivator's fantasy of immortal cultivation. Many elite masters had one strand, some even two.
Song Miaozhu had purchased one as well. The only downside of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhi Beads was that each storage or retrieval of an item consumed spiritual energy. The amount depended on the size and weight of the object. Additionally, the internal space had no preservation ability.
From her perspective, the ghost shop's warehouse combined with Yin-wood boxes and racks was actually more practical. Still, she wore the bead strand around her wrist, using it as a cover for her ghost shop's storage. At the very least, she would no longer need to pretend to pull things out of a physical bag when around other cultivators. That alone made things far more convenient.
As for Master Yu Lichuan's Xiezhi Jade Seal and the Peace Talisman, the Peace Talisman could not be actively triggered. Like the Paper Armor, it activated automatically for defense, so there was no direct way to test it. Song Miaozhu strung it on a red cord and wore it around her neck. You could never have too many defensive items.
She played around with the Xiezhi Jade Seal a bit.
The contract read:
Clause: No vocalization permitted.
Contract holder: Song Miaozhu.
Contractee: [Paw print]
After being summoned to remove its pregnancy aura, the white fluffball, Snowball, had clung to her side and refused to leave. Song Miaozhu pressed its paw onto the contract paper sealed by the Jade Seal. Initially, she was just experimenting since there was no one else around to try it with.
To her surprise, the moment Snowball mewed curiously at seeing its paw print, the contract combusted on its own. She even felt a strange sense of a link being severed—probably what Zhao Huoyan had mentioned before about failed contracts triggering a sensation.
In the Elite Masters' chat group, other masters had begun sharing videos of themselves using the paper servants and the spirit kites. Song Miaozhu followed suit, asking one of her little paper servants to record her demonstrations. She uploaded them all, one by one.
[Zhang Yunxi]:Haha! Did you seriously use the Miao Silver Bangle to spay your cat? (≧∇≦)ﾉ
[Gong Anyan]: I often use it to remove pregnancy aura from the pigs in my village. It helps them grow better. (￣ω￣)ゞ
[Yu Lichuan]:Young people really do think outside the box! I never imagined the Jade Seal would work for a cat contract! (＠°▽°＠)
[Yuan Liben]:Why is there no video of my Blue-and-White Jade Dew Bottle? That dew is the real treasure! (｀ε´)ﾉ┻━┻
[Zhang Yunxi]:The item is great, sure, but it takes a million units of spiritual energy to produce a single drop! (;一_一)
[Zhang Yunxi]: That's a steep cost. There are too many other uses for spiritual energy. I need to save up for over a month just to condense one drop…
[Le Pengkun]:@Miaow Zhu, try out my Spirit-Breaking Tang Blade! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ:･ﾟ✧*
[Le Pengkun]:I've already sent over a Spirit-Nurturing Pearl with the spirit kite.
[Xie Wushuang]:(☉_☉)?
[Xie Wushuang]: I thought trading dangerous spiritual items privately was prohibited?
[Le Pengkun]:This isn't a private trade. Master Song has the highest priority access in the High-Tier Spiritual Item Vault for dangerous items. (⌐■_■)ﾉ
[Le Pengkun]: According to protocol, we are allowed to proceed with the trade.
[He Zhen]: I just checked. Out of all applicants in my queue, Master Song is top priority. (´･ω･`)ﾉ
[He Zhen]: I'm sending over the Spirit-Nurturing Pearl too.
[Zhang Yunxi]:Same here! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ:･ﾟ✧*
[Yin Chunan]:My spirit kite is already en route. Make sure to check your delivery, (｀∀´)Ψ @Miaow Zhu!
[Wu Qingfeng]:So what's going on here? We've been in line forever and still have no estimated date! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
[Miaow Zhu]:(・人・;)!
[Miaow Zhu]: I have no idea either!
She really didn't know. If she had known, she wouldn't have been watching the dangerous spiritual item demonstration videos in the group so intently.
Out of curiosity, she checked the High-Tier Spiritual Item Vault herself. Sure enough, she was indeed listed at the very end of the queue for each dangerous item—but her purchase priority was ranked first.
When it came to dangerous items, the queue order didn't matter. What mattered was the priority level.
[Le Pengkun]:I know how this works. Usually, SEIU branches that take on high-risk missions get priority allocation for dangerous items. Only frontier cities' SEIU teams typically qualify.
[Yu Lichuan]:So what dangerous mission did Master Song take on? (°ロ°) !
[Yu Lichuan]: Didn't the SEIU promise that elite masters wouldn't be forced to accept missions? We're only supposed to focus on cultivation and exploring spiritual techniques, not risking our lives!
[Zhang Yunxi]:Miaozhu! Don't tell me you volunteered for some dangerous mission? (＠Д＠;)
[Zhang Yunxi]: Don't be reckless! We may be cultivators, but we can't move mountains and fill seas. Many dangerous items are still less effective than modern weapons. Don't put yourself in danger needlessly!
At this point, Song Miaozhu had a sudden realization.
[Miaow Zhu]:I think I know what's going on. Let me go check. (･ω･)ﾉ━☆ﾟ･:｡ﾟ･*
She gave Zhao Huoyan a call.
Zhao Huoyan said, "You voluntarily took on the most severe and dangerous ongoing supernatural incident in the country. Since you are trying to subdue ghost infestations, you are authorized to access these items for your protection. Just inform me after each use, especially if there is major environmental damage. Our unit will handle cleanup and eliminate lingering threats."
His tone was steady, measured—but beneath it was something close to respect.
Though Song Miaozhu had never contacted the SEIU after retrieving the archives of various haunted locations, the ghost infestations had steadily disappeared. Three regions—Sanyuan River in Yuncheng, Wutong Mountain in Huacheng, and Shuangfeng Valley in Lancheng—had already returned to normal.
The SEIU didn't know how she did it, but they had stopped asking questions. The results spoke for themselves. That alone made her eligible to wield dangerous spiritual items. No one else in the country had handled so many high-risk sites with such quiet efficiency.
And now, they were offering her unrestricted access.
As she listened to Zhao's voice, firm and strangely considerate, Song Miaozhu felt a faint, almost unfamiliar sensation.
Recognition.
It wasn't praise, not exactly. But it was something close. As if her long hours of crafting, her meticulous curses, her sleepless nights sharpening technique after technique—had finally been seen.
For a fleeting second, it felt like her curse work was no longer just for herself. Like it might actually matter to someone else. Like her paper curse work was now a service to the nation.
She quickly dismissed the thought.
She hadn't tracked down the spirits of foreign soldiers because she wanted to protect others. It had all started near her own home. The first ghost site had been too close for comfort. Every haunting she had cleansed since then was a continuation of that instinct.
That was all it was.
Self-preservation.
And yet, despite knowing this, she found Zhao Huoyan's words oddly reassuring.
The SEIU had changed. They no longer treated her like a threat to be monitored or restrained. They had stopped probing, stopped interfering. Now, they were offering trust. Cautiously, but sincerely.
"This was what a proper agency should be", she thought. "Not blindly hostile, not drunk on control—but measured, fair, and capable of recognizing merit."
"It was… nice."
That night, she quietly revised her plans. From now on, she would double her training schedule. More paper rituals, more curse simulations, more spiritual threading drills. Her techniques had to grow sharper, more precise. If the SEIU was trusting her to wield dangerous items, then she would live up to that trust—on her own terms.
Not for them. Not for their cause.
But because power was the only shield she had.
And she had no intention of giving that up.
By the end of the day, she had received them all: the Tiger-Bear Embroidered Fan, the Lanting Sword Scroll, the Spirit-Breaking Tang Blade, and the Fire Dragon Paper Sculpture.
But as she looked around her small courtyard, Song Miaozhu couldn't bear the thought of testing such destructive items here.