Chapter 320: Was I Overthinking It?

“The rewards are quite generous—it’s not just for dealing with malevolent spirits, but also for uncovering the little devils’ conspiracy.” Feng Xue felt the feedback from the devotional energy and nodded thoughtfully; he had to admit, in a world where heaven watches and ancestors know, it was comfortable—do good, and that’s all you need to do; but those who do evil had far more to worry about.

Yet this system wasn’t without flaws, because the human dao varied by region—for instance, in war-torn areas, moral standards were relatively weak, and the local human dao’s vitality naturally became more lenient; cultivators living under such conditions, upon moving to peaceful regions, still remained tied to their original human dao system until they fully integrated into the new one.

This meant they could be far more ruthless than locals—that’s the so-called “foreign monks chant better.”

“Doesn’t matter. If the human dao can’t handle them, the Netherworld will. A bunch of little devils causing trouble on Shenzhou soil? The big bosses below will deal with them. I’ll just focus on how to spend this devotional energy.”

Feng Xue shook his head and stopped thinking about the little devils, walking toward his new home while pondering how to use his newfound wealth.

If this were when he first transmigrated, he’d have Haobuyouyu fed it all to the Jade Rabbit (though back then he didn’t even have one), but now he still had over twenty years of yang life, the Jade Rabbit still had the Sea World’s faith reservoir, and Xiao Lingdang’s “Magic Power Calculator” and “Artificial Intelligence” systems were still under development—no need to rush growing it.

Gidora, on the other hand, was meant to be an Outer Dao Nascent Soul; feeding it as a prop would be wasteful, and Xiao Lingdang had never lacked anything to begin with.

After much deliberation, Feng Xue decided to store it away for now and wait to see if research into impure devotional energy made progress before deciding how to use it.

Though it was already the first day of the New Year, Feng Xue felt no real sense of it, having been constantly on the move; moreover, entertainment in this world was extremely scarce, leaving him with absolutely no New Year atmosphere.

Feng Xue turned Liu Yunxi back into human form and told her to prepare some late-night snacks, then resumed his previous research—first and foremost, the Transformation Technique, which had lacked a proper experimental environment in the online game world.

“But I can’t borrow my own intelligence—if it turns into a dumb [ Bi ——] that can’t even react, that’d be too stupid. Better to draw from Huiye’s wisdom; she’s got no brain anyway, and a little more won’t hurt.”

Thinking thus, Feng Xue lit incense and candles, designing a ritual to “share the wisdom of the Moon and the God of Longevity with all beings,” following Mei Luo’s data combined with certain offerings and liturgical systems—it wasn’t overly difficult.

But like coding, it was fundamentally a physical task; one moment of inattention, and nearly an hour had passed.

“This should be enough. Though crude, there are plenty of big shots in this world—better not draw too much attention, to avoid misunderstandings.”

Looking at the offering table, its surface covered in scribbles like an elementary school desk passed down for decades, Feng Xue found a window where moonlight could enter, placed the incense and candles just right, ensuring the moonlight fell precisely on the table’s center, then retrieved the exquisitely carved jade statue of Su’e Huiye.

The statue had been painstakingly shaped by Feng Xue using the Jade-Resolving Method; it still depicted a fairy in palace robes, feathered cloak draped over her shoulders, long hair flowing—but Feng Xue had subtly adjusted her posture to show her holding a medicinal jar in both hands, as if offering precious medicine.

He placed the jade statue where the moonlight fell, and beneath the slightly tilted jar, set a white jade cup.

Gently stimulating the spirit of the mindless Xukongshen , Feng Xue slowly released his magic power, and with Xiao Lingdang and Mo Ying’s assistance, inscribed a series of square, precise characters.

Compared to the ritual, the symbolic weight of the characters was heavier; in a sense, they could be understood as “activating homogenized cognition in heaven and earth”—for instance, the middle finger gesture carried insult in most cultures; here, on land where Hanzi was universally used, the characters themselves carried the ultimate ritual symbolism.

Moonlight and Feng Xue’s magic power slowly merged, guided by the characters, flowing through the ritual and into the jade statue of Su’e Huiye.

The statue, carved from the finest mutton-fat white jade, glowed with a soft luster, as if brimming with moonlight, about to radiate outward—but the moonlight did not truly disperse; instead, it followed Feng Xue’s pre-set ritual, gradually condensing until it gathered entirely within the medicinal jar held by Su’e Huiye’s hands.

Translucent, luminous white, like nectar, like jade dew, almost solidified into paste, emitting a refreshing, soothing fragrance.

“Worked? Feels different from what Mei Luo described.” Feng Xue studied the drop of liquid, its appearance impeccable, and frowned—Mei Luo himself could produce bowls full of Transformation Elixir to pour into the sea; Huiye only gave him this tiny amount? Was it because she lacked intelligence?

“Dinner’s ready, come eat some… Huh? Where did you get Emperor’s Flow?!”

Feng Xue was about to collect the “intelligence top-up” when Liu Yunxi suddenly cried out—he froze, glanced at the statue, then at her, and asked blankly:

“Emperor’s Flow?”

“Of course! What else?” Liu Yunxi stared at the drop in the statue’s hands, her expression growing increasingly complex; Feng Xue seemed to understand something, and nodded.

“How do you preserve this?”

“You can’t preserve it—or if you could, demons wouldn’t be so rare. Aside from demonic lineage inheritance, only those who happened to be present and cultivated the Emperor’s Flow during the one night every sixty years could awaken their spirit and become demons. Even elders wanting to awaken their descendants couldn’t collect it—they had to take them out to receive it directly. Honestly, I’m surprised your statue can even hold it!”

Hearing this, Feng Xue waved his hand.

“Then forget it. Let’s eat.”

“Got it!”

…

“Why so much?” Feng Xue grinned at the table, piled high with enough food for twenty people; Liu Yunxi replied without hesitation:

“It’s New Year’s Eve dinner—should be lavish. Besides, with the Food Absorption Technique, nothing goes to waste. Still, we’ll leave some leftovers—don’t you know ‘may there be surplus every year’?”

“I know, I know.” Feng Xue nodded, thinking: no wonder she was a snake from the Northeast Fox Sect—her speech was identical to those Northeast buddies from his past life.

But as he ate, Feng Xue began to sense something off. He narrowed his eyes, studying Liu Yunxi.

“What’s going on with today’s dishes?”

“?” Liu Yunxi tilted her head. “Nothing unusual—all ingredients were delivered by the broker. I checked them—no problems.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Feng Xue sighed, picking up a round, plump slice of meat.

“What’s this?”

“Coin meat!”

“And this?” He picked up another slice—cut into flower patterns and stir-fried with squid, its color brownish.

“Lamb kidneys!”

Feng Xue picked up a shell-covered…

“Oysters! Freshly harvested—super fresh!”

“… ” Feng Xue stared at Liu Yunxi, who looked utterly innocent, completely unaware of anything odd, and finally shook his head, dismissing it as his imagination—but inside, he couldn’t help muttering:

“Does this broker have a mental illness? Why did he send all these things?”

But upon reflection, it made sense—cultivators’ cultivation drained yuan qi, so they naturally needed yang-nourishing ingredients.

“Maybe I really am overthinking?” Feng Xue thought, then decided to eat anyway—after all, the taste was quite good.

But…

“Wait—did you really come to my room wearing that sheer black silk qipao… or am I just imagining things?”

(End of Chapter)