Chapter 331: Why Not Use the Cheat?

Although that’s what they say, it’s mostly just talk.

Feng Xue had considered using firearms, but first, his carrying capacity was limited; compared to guns, items like fish cakes, food/medicine synthesis units, various drones, pre-civilization electronics, and gold or jade—materials that could serve as magical currency—were clearly more cost-effective.

Second, his spells were actually more practical than firearms, as proven in combat against the Kasei assimilation forces; whether targeting single or multiple enemies, in controllability or lethality, spells outperformed guns, not to mention his high mana pool.

For these ninja who carried bombs and grenades and blew themselves up at the slightest provocation, Feng Xue had lost all desire to tangle with them; the ground’s yin thunder surged like a living thing, churning mud that was in essence clusters of magical energy, which normally inflicted no damage on inanimate objects.

But that was only when Feng Xue had no such intent; as his destructive urge rose, the wooden floor rotted, paper doors grew mottled, hidden lights flickered, and the once-classical Japanese-style mansion instantly transformed into a horror-film setting.

“Bang!”

“Duang—”

A sound of wind and thunder came; Feng Xue raised his arm and felt a sharp pain—he looked closer and saw a dog’s head biting his arm.

“Inugami?”

Although in his past life’s anime, Inugami were often portrayed as loyal, reliable spirits akin to dogs, as a struggling writer, he knew they were cruel, ritual-bred malevolent spirits.

That malevolent spirit, devoid of any aura, would never release its grip once it bit—and this was often a prerequisite for certain curses.

“Zzzzz!” Blue-white lightning exploded across Feng Xue’s body; the Inugami’s spirit trembled and frayed, yet refused to let go. As the dog’s head twisted, Feng Xue’s aura-sight caught a series of “fine threads.”

“After Inugami comes Kuchibue? That’s a classic combo—but why not use Iryu-ji? Isn’t that faster?” Feng Xue muttered, directly channeling power to Mo Ying.

Against physical-world beings, Mo Ying’s strength was spiritual interference; but as a ghost, Feng Xue’s qi wasn’t wasted on her!

The cute mochi ball grew in the wind, transforming into a classical-style young lady, every gesture exuding refined elegance—until the next instant, she shattered it herself: with one hand, she snatched the whirling Kuchibue threads, squeezed and kneaded them into matchbox-sized balls, then pressed her left hand onto the dog’s head gripping Feng Xue’s arm, twisted hard—the dog’s jaws, locked tight, couldn’t resist her strength, bending backward nearly two hundred degrees. Then she shoved the Kuchibue ball into the dog’s mouth, clamped shut, kneaded again, and finally compressed the melon-sized dog head into a ping-pong ball.

Feng Xue stared, dumbfounded; Mo Ying noticed his gaze and rolled her eyes.

“These things are easy to handle—why make such a big show?”

“You really do handle them… literally.”

Feng Xue pulled out his jade gourd, shook it at the ball without even chanting a spell—Mo Ying immediately shoved it inside.

“That’s gonna look totally uncool.”

Feng Xue sighed; using the gourd to capture people looked cool, but if you first sent out a beautiful girl to crush the enemy into a ball, then shove it in, it was just absurd.

“Who cares? No one’s watching anyway.” Mo Ying reverted to her mochi form and flew into Feng Xue’s sleeve. He rolled his eyes—too drained to argue.

But as Feng Xue and Mo Ying bickered, the yin thunder didn’t idle; the omnipresent black sludge had filled the entire mansion, spreading further through rat holes and other gaps.

Yet yin thunder wasn’t omnipotent; due to its intense corrosiveness, Feng Xue couldn’t attach his consciousness to it, or he wouldn’t have flooded the mansion with magic energy and still not located the main target.

“I know already.” Xiao Lingdang suddenly spoke; instantly, a floor plan unfolded in his mind, a red line tracing the path forward, pinpointing the location of the spirit’s connection.

“It’s time to end this.”

Feng Xue kept his usual style, advancing straight ahead; the mansion, already ruined by yin thunder, was so damaged even a child could break through any wall.

With the target just one wall away, Feng Xue didn’t kick the door—he extended his over-the-shoulder view into the room.

The viewpoint, two meters from his third eye, passed through the wall and revealed the interior of the Japanese-style room.

The electricity had been fried by yin thunder, leaving the room dim; the tatami floor was slightly dirty, covered in dust as if long neglected. Against the east wall stood an altar table with incense and candles, but no spirit tablet.

“No one? A decoy?” Feng Xue didn’t doubt Xiao Lingdang—he just figured the opponent had sensed being tracked while he was coming, so feigning unawareness made sense.

But he was someone with a cheat—Gu Tian Shou activated instantly; three strings of lifespan numbers appeared before his eyes.

“Two thirty-year spans, one forty-year span—for cultivators, these aren’t long lives at all.”

Feng Xue muttered, and his spiraling ball suddenly turned black, infused with yin thunder; it emitted a mournful wail as he tossed it toward the hidden target in the corner.

“Shhh!”

A short blade stabbed out from the left wall the instant Feng Xue attacked; the black-clad ninja carried a strange aura, like a mix of ghostly and demonic energy.

But the ninja, whose position had already been exposed by his lifespan, had no chance for ambush; even before his blade reached its highest point, his heart was already charred by lightning and fire.

Before the last one could appear, blades of lightning and fire coalesced behind him—fiery heat and furious thunder compressed into three-foot blades, all piercing the final lifespan.

But…

“Pfft…”

A flatulent muffled sound echoed in the room, like a switch being triggered; every lightning-fire blade instantly went dark. Only then did Feng Xue suddenly realize—

The dusty room had no yin thunder at all!

“Now this is starting to get interesting!”

(End of Chapter)