Chapter 137: Beware the Phantom Deity Turning into a Slime Monster

The dangers of casually invoking deities had long ago been earnestly warned against by the Elder Brother of the Funeral House when Feng Xue first encountered occultism in the Folklore World.

Feng Xue naturally did not forget these taboos; in fact, what he used now was not the orthodox Xuan Sect method of summoning ancestral masters, but a technique learned from Senior Li, originating from the shamanic tradition of invoking phantom deities.

Compared to traditional invocation, this method emphasizes "forceful summoning," because the phantom deities cultivated by shamans often possess singular devotional energy and lack subjective initiative, essentially being nothing more than clusters of volitional energy with directional tendencies.

Thus, summoning such phantom deities into one's body is less an invocation and more a forced insertion into one's own flesh.

Under normal circumstances, Feng Xue would never use this tactic on a natural deity with autonomous consciousness (Note ①).

But now, with Xiao Lingdang's precise calculations and Mo Ying's exact control, this became possible.

Amid the magical suction, the Mawu clinging to the human head could no longer resist this force; its curses were cut short before completion, yanked out of its still-beautiful skull, trembling as it flew toward Feng Xue.

Just as that moonlit spiritual radiance was about to enter Feng Xue's body, his hand slammed down sharply on his waist; the jade talisman inscribed with "Substitute" channeled magical energy, and at the moment of contact, Feng Xue's form abruptly flickered one meter away, leaving behind only a paper doll.

Before the paper doll could drift down from midair, Feng Xue reached out, seized it, crushed and rolled it into a thin strip, then shoved it into a jade vial.

The entire process was controlled by Mo Ying using the ghost-possession technique, seamless and fluid; as the cork was shoved into the vial's mouth, Feng Xue summoned earth-elemental energy and, using his finger as a brush, carved a grotesque "Seal" character onto the vial's surface.

"So ugly!"

Feng Xue stared at the ugly character that nearly ruined the lamb-fat white jade vial and grimaced; no sooner had he spoken than Mo Ying exploded:

"If you think it's ugly, do it yourself next time! You already called me stupid before—now you blame me for the carving? Your magical flow was too sluggish, or I wouldn't have written such an ugly character! And Xiao Lingdang's calculations were flawed too—this stroke count came from her! I just copied the character from the model! You should blame the one who made the template!"

"Ah, this…" Feng Xue didn't quite grasp Mo Ying's outburst, but Xiao Lingdang spoke up then:

"It's just for sealing—just write the fastest character possible! If characters didn't inherently hold power, I'd have just told you to draw a circle…"

"…."

Mo Ying, who had been furious moments ago, fell silent at Xiao Lingdang's remark, suddenly feeling it was pointless to debate aesthetics with an AI idiot. Meanwhile, Sara had boarded the boat and, gazing across at the natives chasing them with torches, mused:

"Should we just kill them all? Maybe we can get the Pawa alloy formula?"

"Didn't you see that tentacle is still there? What we caught was just an avatar similar to Xiao Lingdang—if the original shows up angry and descends, we're all dead!" Feng Xue ordered Xiao Lingdang to pilot the boat while shedding his transformation; as the magical energy faded, intense aching spread through every limb and bone.

His legs buckled, yet Feng Xue instinctively blurted out a rapid chant:

"You look like a cushion!"

"Thud!"

A puff of smoke appeared, and Liu Yunxi transformed into a cushion, cushioning Feng Xue's fall, while Sara clutched the white jade vial tightly, terrified of dropping it and releasing whatever was inside.

"Don't worry—it's pretty sturdy."

Feng Xue rolled onto his back atop Liu Yunxi, staring up at Sara, utterly motionless; Mo Ying and Xiao Lingdang's coordination was excellent, but the physical toll was immense.

For the first time pushing himself to full capacity, Feng Xue's mind screamed for a painkiller—but then he remembered Feina's current state, and forcibly restrained the impulse.

"You look like a person."

Thud!

Liu Yunxi reverted to human form; though her face was full of resentment, she still helped Feng Xue sit up.

Feng Xue gritted his teeth against the aching, stabbing pain throughout his body, fished out a Moonstone, and handed it to Liu Yunxi:

"Try collecting efficiency with this later—but first, get me something to eat. Mo Ying, ghost possession!"

No sooner had he spoken than Mo Ying, who had just returned to the scroll, was summoned out again, directly possessing Feng Xue; though his body still ached, with Mo Ying acting as an interface between his consciousness and body, Feng Xue no longer feared his movements becoming distorted.

Seeing Feng Xue could now "move on his own," Sara sighed in relief, placed the jade vial on the altar, then asked:

"What are you planning to do with this? Keep it like Xiao Lingdang—as a pet?"

"How dare you speak like that? Xiao Lingdang is the master's thoughtful little cotton-padded jacket—you're the dog!" Before Feng Xue could respond, Xiao Lingdang countered through the Dayun's broadcast; Sara didn't understand why an AI would care about the derogatory connotation of "dog," but she didn't press it, merely waiting for Feng Xue's reply.

Feng Xue picked up the jade vial, shook it twice like a rattle, then spoke:

"This is different from Xiao Lingdang—there's no point in taming it. But I'm interested in the Moonstone. Let's see if we can extract any information first. As for later… we'll see how it turns out."

Feng Xue wasn't lying; without the original's authorization, an avatar is nearly impossible to tame. Xiao Lingdang only slipped through because of a program permission setting—and even then, Xiao Fengling held the same access rights to Xiao Lingdang's database.

And Mawu, clearly a product of indigenous belief, looked nothing like something that could be tamed.

The best outcome would be turning it into a ritual mask or similar summoning artifact; if it proves ineffective, Feng Xue planned to dismantle it and feed it to Xiao Lingdang.

After all, shamans cultivating phantom deities is essentially like those idiotic pre-transmigration ads about raising Kun—just keep feeding.

Different devotional energy ratios produce different functions.

For example, the shamanic branch known as Wu You customizes roles based on their needs, thereby collecting corresponding devotional energy, constructing a framework, then seeking complementary devotional energy to fill and enhance the framework's performance.

Take a martial deity as an example.

A shaman wanting to cultivate a martial deity would start by selecting a widely known martial figure as the framework—like Nezha or Sun Wukong.

Then collect devotional energy tied to that figure: traditional Wu You would perform operas and dance as the deity themselves, while modern practitioners simply harvest energy from famous actors or performers, build the framework, and erect a tablet—thus forming an embryonic form.

But note: the tablet must not bear the official worship name. For Nezha, you may call him Nezha the Third Prince, the Divine Vanguard of the Investiture, or even Demon Child, Caijing, or Oubei—but never the Great Sea Assembly of Three Altars.

Then seek devotional energy similar to dragon-slaying, rebellion, killing, immense strength, three heads and six arms, and infuse it into the phantom deity—its power will grow stronger.

But don't overdo it. Don't mindlessly feed it just because its power looks good. For Nezha, feeding it devotional energy of sea god, death god, or plant god is fine—but if you feed it dragon god or filial piety energy…

Hmm, in Digimon terms, it's like eating too many conflicting data packets and turning into a Slime Monster.

(End of Chapter)