Chapter 293: Co-Author Is a Kick-Down-the-Door Feng Xue

"The diseases of this era are still easy to treat… basically just a bit of antibiotics and it's done." Feng Xue again refused the patient's thanks with the excuse that "someone else already paid the fee," though he muttered silently to himself.

Though the medicines in his hand were all veterinary drugs by the standards of the ocean world's ancient civilization, in this world, even diluted to the extreme, they were still miraculous elixirs.

He had to thank the small synthesis kit he'd taken apart from Reide's ship—thanks to that device, Feng Xue only needed to replenish common resources like air and water to synthesize the common medicines of the ancient civilization, and in He Zujie, he had thoroughly tested and confirmed the correct usage and dosage of the drugs.

Even if he truly encountered an untreatable complex illness, he could forcibly prolong life using the medical spell he'd taken from Tina—lock the patient's lifespan, excise the affected area, regenerate tissue with the healing spell, then suture it with thread magic; once the entire procedure was complete, almost nothing was unsolvable, and if something truly was, the patient likely wouldn't have survived until Feng Xue arrived.

Walking this way, Feng Xue finished treating his five patients in just over half an hour, pondering whether to return to the Merit Pool for another task, when Xiao Lingdang finally spoke up:

"I've sensed the presence of Zhuo Yuan."

"Finally appeared? Where?"

Feng Xue stretched his body vigorously, adjusted his three Talismans—【Divine Step】, 【Transform Lightning】, 【Substitute Body】—then inserted a new set of Five Elements Jade into the slots; though his current proficiency allowed him to control many spells directly, to avoid accidents, he still chose the more reliable configuration.

"Hey, you don't need me?" Seeing Feng Xue put on the old-style linked spell unit, Liu Yunxi let out a cry that sounded almost mournful; Feng Xue chuckled and shook his head.

"No need, no need—you're my secret weapon. How could I use you all the time?"

"Sigh…" Liu Yunxi glanced at the sky through the snake eye on her ring, feeling utterly bleak, while Feng Xue had already shifted his attention to the malevolent entity, transforming his Qi into Lei Ting energy and entering the hypercharged state.

…

"Too late again—are all the cultivators in this port city obsessed with grinding?" Feng Xue arrived at the scene just in time to see a group of dispersing cultivators, his expression darkening instantly.

This was already his fourth failed attempt today—despite the fact that from Xiao Lingdang detecting the Zhuo Yuan disturbance to his arrival at the scene took at most one or two minutes, or as little as twenty to thirty seconds, he still hadn't seen a single malevolent entity.

But Feng Xue finally realized: these competitors were all locals who naturally knew where Zhuo Yuan accumulated easily and where malevolent entities thrived; racing against them was pure overconfidence on his part.

Realizing this, he immediately changed tactics and said:

"Xiao Lingdang, ignore the minor fluctuations—look for any Zhuo Yuan signatures that have appeared but haven't been eliminated yet."

As a virtual deity, Xiao Lingdang's perception of Zhuo Yuan was far superior to Feng Xue's, but even so, it took several minutes of intense effort before she finally sensed something—

"It's far—about ten or so li to the east."

"Ten li? That's almost past the city center?" Feng Xue roughly estimated the distance, didn't overthink it, and dashed off in a trail of sparks and lightning.

It wasn't that he didn't want to use Seeing Mo Ying—first, Seeing Mo Ying was a ghost, and flying recklessly through unfamiliar territory would make him look like a malevolent cultivator and get shot down; second, he didn't know this area well, and using a spirit to transport him might get him stuck inside a wall.

Fortunately, this time he didn't miss—after passing through streets sharply divided by contrast, Feng Xue entered a district with a completely different style; unlike other areas adorned with red lanterns, here hung colorful light bulbs and banners, along with red paper scraps bearing bizarre, incomprehensible Chinese characters, making the whole scene feel awkward and giving Feng Xue the eerie sensation of walking through a Chinatown decorated for Christmas.

"Wait, did they just take the whole Christmas setup, tweak it a bit, and hang it up?"

Feng Xue glanced at the shop signs lining the street and immediately realized—this must be Yangrenjie.

But by now, he didn't need Xiao Lingdang to guide him—he simply swept his Qi Vision across the area and clearly saw streams of black smoke.

"Let's go!"

Feng Xue's figure suddenly transformed into a streak of Bai Guang, shooting straight toward the black smoke; though the spells invented by these players were mediocre in power, their visual effects were all maxed out—this sword-light slashed through the night sky, causing even the priest controlling the massive demon to look up.

Mid-flight, the sword-light exploded into a rain of countless blades; the demon formed from the Zhuo Yuan let out a wail of agony. The priests were startled—some raised shields, others dropped to the ground and scrambled away—but the blade-rain seemed to have no lethal force, instead embedding itself into the ground to form the pattern of a Taiji Yin-Yang fish. Immediately after, a colossal sword descended from the heavens, driving straight into the demon's skull.

The demon formed from Zhuo Yuan exploded instantly. Feng Xue stood at the center of the Taiji diagram, holding a small jade vial; with a gentle shake, the remaining Zhuo Yuan obediently flowed into the vial, no trace of malice left.

"Who are you?" came the priest leader's strange, accented Chinese; Feng Xue didn't answer, merely confirmed the Spirit Tablet had recorded the event, then transformed again into sword-light and shot toward the next location.

"That priest's tone wasn't grateful," Liu Yunxi whispered from the sky; Feng Xue nodded.

"I know. The Yishen Sect are all like this—if you don't believe in their god, you're a devil; if a devil helps, it's tempting them to fall. Didn't you notice they didn't even carry Spirit Tablets? They probably didn't even join the Hunting Malevolence operation!"

"Maybe." Liu Yunxi nodded, saying no more; in truth, if pushed to extremes, she actually hoped Feng Xue was wrong—so she'd have a chance to step in. Otherwise, with his current pace of progress, even if she became a Great Demon, she'd never repay her debt.

Passing a row of buildings, Feng Xue spotted his new target: a malevolent entity resembling a tiger—but the ones fighting it weren't the expected cultivators, but…

"Kamikaze?" Feng Xue raised an eyebrow. Though it wasn't unreasonable for Kamikaze to be in Gangdu, some innate distrust always made him suspect these guys had ulterior motives.

But before Feng Xue could act, they'd already noticed his approach—no, not noticed; he'd simply entered their barrier's range.

"Who are you?"

The cultivator dressed all in white shouted in anger, but before his words finished, a series of spectral attacks struck instantly.

"Damn, you said there were no ghosts?"

(End of Chapter)