Chapter 53: Newbies Are Indeed Short on Experience

As Liu Yunxi complained, bulges were already appearing on the metal door; even a mansion for the wealthy couldn't withstand much longer against such force, given the steel production of this era.

Feng Xue, seeing this, his mind raced—running was out of the question, and few doors inside the house could withstand this strength.

"Fine, let's gamble!" Feng Xue gritted his teeth, that reckless daring to risk everything for a cross-dimensional leap surged again; he pulled out the Jade Seal and infused it with Qi, and immediately Mo Ying floated out from the scroll in the bedroom.

"I'll pour some Qi into you—go to town and find someone to save us. Shout at any martial arts school or rice shop—tell them to find a master or the county magistrate. If you can't find anyone, just scream on the streets that a zombie's here—but fly high, don't let them mistake you for a demon and destroy you!"

Before she could speak, Mo Ying heard Feng Xue's rapid-fire instructions; her reaction was swift—feeling the Qi surging into her body, she nodded and flew straight through the ceiling.

Seeing Mo Ying act without needing further explanation, Feng Xue exhaled in relief, then pulled out a jade tablet engraved with the character 【Jin】 and rushed to the door, pouring his abundant Qi into the tablet, flooding the door with pale golden energy.

"Stick this on the door—it should hold longer!"

Feng Xue shoved the jade tablet into Liu Yunxi's hand, then began pulling incense, candles, and an altar from his storage pouch, maintaining Qi flow into the jade tablet while hastily constructing a ritual platform nearby.

As he built, he couldn't help asking:

"What exactly is going on? Weren't we told it was a zombie and a ghost? Where's the ghost? Did it already get inside? And how did you make the zombie keep banging on the door like a stubborn fool?"

"Of course I tied it down!" Liu Yunxi clutched the jade tablet engraved with 【Jin Shen Zhou】, instantly feeling the pressure ease; she kept pushing against the door and said,

"You think I'm standing here just to hold the door? Don't you see the dog leash in my hand? But hurry up and think of something—I'm only a three-year-old spirit, I can't hold out much longer!"

Hearing this, Feng Xue finally looked from over her shoulder and saw the taut, moon-white rope in Liu Yunxi's hand, soft as moonlight.

Not fully understanding Liu Yunxi's meaning, he stepped closer to the nearest window, using the over-the-shoulder view's two-meter out-of-body range to peer outside—and saw an absurd scene:

A zombie clad in classic official robes stood at the door, violently slashing at the door emitting Jin Guang, while on its shoulder, a woman's head—neck and half-shoulder attached—glared at the door with venomous hatred; those crimson eyes alone made one shudder just by looking.

But the most striking sight was the white light-rope extending from behind the door—it wrapped around the zombie's and the red-eyed demon's necks like a couple's scarf, just like a dog leash, restraining both.

Unfortunately, every time the zombie moved, the light-rope tugged tight—demon energy clearly had little grip on the zombie; it was only because the ghost was pulled that they couldn't leave the doorway.

Understanding this, Feng Xue relaxed slightly—at least for now, things wouldn't get too bad.

He grabbed the iron rod by the wall, meant for thieves, and placed it before the altar; he infused Qi into the jade tablet engraved with 【Zhan】, and as the tablet scraped the rod, silver-white light flowed into it, while Feng Xue carefully controlled his Qi, using the two candlesticks as guides, sealing the 【Zhan Yao Zhou】's purifying power inside the rod.

Just like the earlier test with the seal, when a spirit-imbued effect lasting months is transferred to another object, its duration drops to seconds—so while using the jade tablet alone to output Qi worked fine, actually enhancing other items required an extra casting of the Spirit-Infusion Cursing Method, or the spell wouldn't stabilize; otherwise, Feng Xue wouldn't need to continuously supply Qi to the 【Jin Shen Zhou】 tablet just to maintain the door's hardened state.

Of course, at this moment, he could simply lock the 【Spirit-Infusion】 and easily coat the rod with a thin outer layer—though inferior to direct infusion, it would slow Qi leakage—but Feng Xue dared not unlock his Life Lock now, so he had to rely on his half-baked Spirit-Infusion Cursing Method; luckily, after days of training, his self-infused enchantment could now last over ten minutes—plenty for a short battle.

With a weapon ready, Feng Xue took two jade tablets engraved with 【Su】 and slipped them into his shoes; there was no need to specially enchant the Divine Step Technique—when fleeing, just dump Qi into the shoes.

Fully prepared, Feng Xue redirected his Qi to reinforce the 【Jin Shen Zhou】 energy on the door.

Seeing this, Liu Yunxi panicked and shouted:

"What's the point of hardening the door? It's banging now because I've tied it down—if my demon energy runs out, it'll break in somewhere else!"

"That's why I haven't finished yet…" Feng Xue began, but then saw the moon-white glow on Liu Yunxi's body dimming and flickering—he froze.

"You're kidding."

"So who told you to cripple me? I've only three years of cultivation—I can suppress the red-eyed demon fine, but add a hundred-year-old zombie? I really can't hold on!"

Liu Yunxi's voice now carried a hint of dark amusement, as if she didn't care if she died.

Feng Xue was used to her "complaining but doing the right thing"—if she truly wanted him dead, she wouldn't be holding the door.

So…

"Here, take this!"

"Huh?" Liu Yunxi stared at the "shiny silver rod" Feng Xue shoved at her, momentarily stunned; Feng Xue rolled his eyes and said:

"I can't fight—I'm useless. You've the strength and your Core Technique's protective artifact—you've got to be up front! Hold onto the jade tablet too—I'll keep feeding you 【Jin Shen Zhou】—at least your hand gripping it can act as a shield!"

"Who made me owe you?" Liu Yunxi sighed, shaking her head helplessly, then reached out and took the iron rod—too hot for her hands—and turned back:

"When you're ready, say the word—I'll open the door."

"Alright, let me refill my Qi."

"Don't—"

Before Liu Yunxi could stop him, a surge of primordial energy leaked from Feng Xue's body; his already full spirit soul greedily sucked it in, and within his spiritual mind, a rain of Qi poured down, forming streams—only half a beat later did Feng Xue ask:

"You were going to say what…?"

"Too late!" Liu Yunxi sighed, as a piercing female shriek exploded outside—the entire house trembled.

The already faint demon-energy rope snapped instantly, and the ambient primordial energy in the room vanished as if sucked dry by a pump.

"…" Feng Xue instantly knew what he'd done—just as he opened his mouth, Liu Yunxi had already darted in front of him; the next moment, glass shattered, and a figure crashed into the room!

Regarding the Spirit-Subjugation Cursing Method's artifacts…

The protagonist makes many artifacts because the Summoning Technique marks them, so he never picks the wrong one—he keeps them all together. Even identical artifacts may exist in multiples due to functional differences—for example, the Divine Step Cursing Method: he doesn't plan to specialize in it short-term, but it's too useful, so to avoid his poor control holding him back, he made two—one for each shoe; just pour in Qi and use it, no need to worry about even distribution.

The Spirit-Subjugation Cursing Method is different. As mentioned, many spells are composite, but the protagonist can only lock one at a time, so for spells with clearly separated functions, he must split them—the Spirit-Subjugation Cursing Method is one such case.

Normally, if the main body (like the scroll) is nearby, he just issues commands and transmits Qi directly.

But if it's not, Feng Xue can use a spirit-contract seal to remotely summon (once his skill is sufficient) and transmit Qi to bring the ghost to him.

And earlier, holding the jade tablet to activate the Spirit-Subjugation Cursing Method was another use—didn't I say spirits can serve as Qi carriers to enhance spell effects? But the protagonist must maintain 【Life Lock】, so transforming Qi requires the jade tablet artifact.

It's like a TV and a set-top box: the Jade Seal is the TV remote—it wakes the spirit, summons it, even charges it; the jade tablet is the set-top box remote—it decides which channel you watch.

Of course, the protagonist also made backup spirit-contract jade tablets (the ones engraved with ghosts).

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(End of Chapter)