Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu pondered for a moment but then decided to move closer to the direction of the light.

If he could find someone dealing with the Disaster, there was a chance they could take him out of this area.

After making up his mind, he didn't delay, and he went down the building and walked towards that direction.

But shortly after leaving the bank, a sense of alarm suddenly arose in Ma Lu's heart.

Having experienced battles across three planes, although he mostly relied on "cheats" and was still quite unskilled, his fighting instincts had nevertheless developed somewhat.

When he sensed something was wrong, Ma Lu immediately turned around and saw a shadow behind him.

That shadow was much taller than the one he had seen when he first arrived, already the size of an adult. Seeing this, Ma Lu didn't say a word and took off running.

But this time, the shadow pursued him closely.

Moreover, after Ma Lu had been running for a while, two more shadows, one fat and one thin, rushed out from the neighboring insurance company, joining the chase.

Ma Lu decisively turned right, plunging into another alley.

Then, he faced tragedy, for that alley turned out to be a dead end.

Ma Lu was essentially trapped like a turtle in a jar by those three shadows.

As the three shadows rapidly closed in, Ma Lu saw what they looked like — they didn't have faces or solid bodies; they were truly just three shadows.

What kind of monsters were these?!

Ma Lu was surprised and, seeing that his much-awaited "golden finger" had not yet come online, he had to find a way to save himself.

First, Ma Lu performed Ma Sanli's "play with you" routine, followed by rubbing his thumbs together.

Just as the three shadows were about to pounce in front of him, a beam of light suddenly shot out from Ma Lu's body, piercing the sky and illuminating the entire city enveloped in darkness.

With his eyes closed, Ma Lu waited for a while and didn't feel any attack.

So, he grew bolder and stealthily stuck his head out of the beam of light.

Even without staring directly at the beam, the surrounding light was still somewhat blinding.

But Ma Lu still managed to see his surroundings — the three shadows had disappeared without a trace, and at the same time, there were three small green stones on the ground.

Ma Lu activated the ingredient scanning feature of his Traveler's Bracelet, but there was no reaction.

So, just as it seemed, they were inedible.

Ma Lu moved closer to one of the stones, but it didn't change, so he eventually jumped onto it and used the beam of light to purify the stone thoroughly before picking it up.

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He didn't know what the use of the green stone was, but it felt like since it was a dropped item, it should be worth some money.

Ma Lu did the same for the other two green stones, pocketing them before continuing towards the light.

Realizing that his new Illumination Technique could eliminate those shadows, Ma Lu felt much more secure.

He went from not wanting to encounter the shadows to somewhat hoping to run into them.

However, he wasn't attacked for the rest of his journey, and Ma Lu suddenly realized that perhaps he was a bit too conspicuous, causing the shadows to subconsciously stay away from him.

The constant glow was starting to irritate his eyes, so Ma Lu decided to turn off the Illumination Technique for a while and would only activate it if monsters appeared again.

Sure enough, his scheme of luring the creatures was effective. After crossing another street, the darkness once more revealed shadows attracted to Ma Lu, chasing after him.

By this time, Ma Lu had rested enough and had recovered his physical strength, so he started leading the shadow in a run.

It was unclear if these shadows had some means of communication among themselves, but soon one of them had called for companions.

This time, there were four of them, enclosing Ma Lu from three directions.

He was not frightened, but rather pleased; he ran towards the only direction without shadows, continuing to recite "play with you". By the time he got to the third line, another shadow flashed in front of him.

Judging by its size, it might have been an old acquaintance. Ma Lu didn't hesitate, adjusting his stance and leading the shadows to encircle him, then rubbed his fingers together.

A blinding pillar of light shot up to the sky, and all of the shadows vanished, leaving behind only green stones on the ground.

Six kills!

Unfortunately, there was no one to witness his spectacular performance, so Ma Lu could only applaud himself.

Just as he was planning to move on, he spotted another shadow emerging from a nearby alley.

Hmm, there was still one not afraid to die?

Ma Lu didn't mind adding another notch to his record. However, as the shadow drew closer, he realized it wasn't quite like the others.

Although it was also black, it had facial features and even half a body; only the other half had turned into a shadow. It wore a blue coat and a large-brimmed felt hat on its head.

As it approached Ma Lu, the black shadowy half seemed on the verge of dispersing, and pain surfaced on the remaining half of the face.

So the figure stopped advancing and stood still, then bowed with a fist in hand, "Esteemed sir, I am the principal of Hou De Talisman Master School, Shadowless Divine Walk Cao Jinhua."

"Ah, you're human? How did you end up like this?"

A bitter smile spread across Cao Jinhua's face, "It's all because my skills weren't refined enough; I was invaded by a Shadow Demon."

"No worries, I can get rid of that Shadow Demon you mentioned." Ma Lu said, about to walk toward Cao Jinhua.

Cao Jinhua was shocked at the gesture and hurriedly said, "No, no, the Shadow Demon has already taken half of my body. Even if you defeat the Shadow Demon, I won't be able to survive without half my body."

"This…" Ma Lu scratched his head, feeling somewhat stuck.

On the contrary, it was Cao Jinhua who offered consolation, "Being a Talisman Master, injury and death are inevitable. Perhaps my luck has run its course. I've been dragging this out in hopes of meeting someone else. I have one thing to ask, no, two requests."

"Tell me what you want me to do first."

Ma Lu was cautious and did not immediately agree. After all, he and Cao Jinhua had just met by chance. If Cao Jinhua's request was too dangerous, Ma Lu had to weigh whether it was worth it.

Cao Jinhua seemed to be truly beyond help. In just a short time, the remaining left leg had also turned into a shadow, and his half-body looked as if floating in mid-air.

"Cough, cough, to be honest, I came to Xindu this time to recruit new students. Her name is Qiutong. I was originally planning to bring her back to the school myself, cough, but I encountered a Disaster on the way.

"I thought since I was already nearby, I would handle it along the way, which would also give Qiutong a chance to experience a real battle early on. But unexpectedly, sigh, the Disaster this time was precisely the kind that countered my Shadow Demon.

"After I was affected, fearing that I'd turn into a Shadow Demon and harm Qiutong, I left her temporarily on the second floor of the Sunrise Bookstore. After my death, I hope you, an esteemed person, could protect her for me. Unfortunately, the recruitment period for other schools has ended, and she won't be able to transfer this year."

At this point, Cao Jinhua seemed to struggle a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed, writhing for a while, almost completely vanished before continuing.

"And also, I would like to ask you to be the new principal of Hou De School."