Chapter 80: This Is Better for Dealing With You!

Seeing the black substance spewing toward him, before Feng Xue could speak, the hot air balloon's nozzle opened, releasing a burst of hot air; the entire balloon suddenly shot diagonally downward.

Though unbalanced, he at least dodged the black mud's strike; Feng Xue immediately stabilized his qi output, continuing to heat the air to maintain flight—only for the black mud soaring into midair to show no sign of falling, instead transforming into a jet-black eagle whose wings spread wide and charged straight at the balloon!

"【BEEP—】!" Feng Xue spat a curse, his left hand pulling out a jade tablet and pressing it against the balloon's basket; the rapidly ascending balloon halted, golden-tinged qi spreading from the point of contact—by then, the giant black eagle had reached the balloon's front, as if one more step would swallow Feng Xue and the balloon whole.

Yet in that instant, the balloon's surface suddenly exploded, brilliant silver light briefly illuminating the heavens; the black eagle cracked with a *pop* into countless black mud specks, some plummeting straight down, yet others coalescing again.

But this time, it did not reform as a bird—it became a floating, humanoid shadow lunging toward them, its shape resembling a ghost, yet clearly distinct from Mo Ying's mochi form.

Feng Xue did not know what this thing truly was, but due to his prior close encounter, Liu Yunxi had already recognized it—

"It's a Xu Shen! Though murky, it's definitely devotional energy!"

"Xu Shen? So this is that *Chong*?"

Feng Xue finally caught on—it wasn't his fault; in his mind, whether it was a malevolent spirit or a Nian Beast, it should've had a concrete form—who could've guessed it was just a lump of black mud!

For a moment, he even wondered if he'd accidentally crossed over into the Moon People's world!

Though his mind swirled with thoughts, Feng Xue knew he couldn't freeze; though the balloon could fly, its maneuverability was abysmal, clearly at a disadvantage against a monster that could reshape itself at will—but landing meant returning to his house, still flooded with tidal black mud.

In a flash of thought, Feng Xue gritted his teeth, pulled out a jade tablet inscribed with the character 【Ghost】 and pressed it against Mo Ying; though Mo Ying, attuned to his will, had no desire to approach the turbid devotional energy, bound by the Spirit-Subduing Pact, he still swallowed the qi Feng Xue poured into him.

"You look like a raptor!"

As Feng Xue spoke, the balloon *boom*-ed into a majestic, pure-white hawk; Feng Xue stood atop the platform Mo Ying had become and began Spirit-riding flight.

"I can't stop this thing—best I can do is suppress it with demonic qi. If you're going to run, do it now!"

As Liu Yunxi finished speaking, she streaked through the night, leaving a silver-white trail as she surged toward the ghostly shadow—but Feng Xue, at that moment, had no intention of fleeing.

Maintaining Spirit-riding flight consumed astonishing amounts of qi; having learned from past lessons, Feng Xue could not possibly refine primordial energy in front of the Xu Shen.

Once his qi ran out, he'd be utterly defenseless—he hadn't forgotten that this was only a small part; the vast majority was still inside his house!

Recalling the vast, surging black mud before, Feng Xue abandoned escape: better to crush this airborne Xu Shen first, then ride Liu Yunxi's stable aerial form and wait for rescue—

He didn't believe such a massive disturbance could go unnoticed by Lu City's xuan cultivators!

With resolve set, Feng Xue took a deep breath and suddenly pulled a jade belt from his Pot-Hearth pouch, wrapping it around his waist; as qi surged into it, dozens of jade tablets—varying in size but linked by golden threads, interconnected—glowed with a luminous white light. Feng Xue reached out, pulled out a Jade Seal filled with metallic primordial energy, and inserted it into the belt's slot; the energy flowed from his dantian, up the Governor Vessel, straight into his mind-sea—then, white droplets charged with lethal aura began falling from within.

Under Feng Xue's deliberate guidance, the droplets gathered into a cluster beneath his soul's left side, then traveled down the Conception Vessel back to his dantian, linking with the jade belt's circuit.

"This is better for dealing with you!"

Feng Xue inserted the 【Transform Lightning】, 【Break Evil】, and 【Iron Armor】 jade tablets into the belt in sequence; a layer of silver-white qi tightly wrapped his form!

"What technique is this?"

Li Maolin, having tossed aside the priest he carried, paused his escape technique upon seeing the silver-white light in the sky—his eyes widened, but remembering his human karmic trial, he dared not delay and immediately activated his escape technique.

Meanwhile, all Entry to the Dao cultivators—except the few holding the Earth-Suppressing positions—were rushing toward Feng Xue's residence, and all had seen the silver-armored cultivator in the sky.

"Though still a Semi-Finished Product, it's enough!"

The ideal ratio for combating malevolent spirits should be three fire, two metal—Perfected Crimson Palace Thunder—but his fire primordial energy was insufficient; he could only summon single-element Metal Thunder now.

White lightning crackled across Feng Xue's body; the silver armor repelled all damage outward, while Mo Ying beneath him shrieked in his mind from the electric shock—but still strained to fly toward the demon bound by Liu Yunxi's demonic power!

"Gengjin Break-Barrier Thunder? Why use this?"

Li Maolin, who had long left his mark in Feng Xue's neighborhood, emerged from his escape technique, watching Feng Xue's thunder art with confusion—but his focus wasn't entirely on Feng Xue; whether appropriate or not, at least this airborne threat couldn't reach him anymore, so he needed to deal with the ones inside the house.

"If I eliminate them myself, I can't offset my human karmic trial—but if I do nothing, I can't be sure the xuan cultivators can handle them, and burning all the Jade Emperor talismans tomorrow would be such a waste…"

As Li Maolin's soul flickered, he made his decision; the Sansha Sect's secret technique unfolded in his hands—the Xu Shen bound by the light band suddenly shuddered, exploding violently into countless mud specks, forcibly breaking free from Liu Yunxi's grip, reforming into a black falcon that dove toward Feng Xue's house.

"Think you can run?" Feng Xue, gripping the Metal Thunder, narrowed his eyes and immediately gave chase—not because he'd lost his head, but because he knew his house still held countless malevolent spirits; if this one merged with them, his entire technique might become useless.

So he had to destroy it before it could fuse with the ones inside!

Mo Ying beneath him sensed Feng Xue's will, enduring the searing pain of the Metal Thunder as he surged forward; Feng Xue struggled to maintain his stance, the crackling of the Metal Thunder in his hand growing louder and sharper.

Believing that mediocre mastery of many skills was worse than deep expertise in one, he'd spent this time strengthening the 【Transformation】 technique tied to primordial energy and qi reservoir attributes, neglecting extensive training in the 【Fixed】 technique, which he could bypass using his cheat-gadget to craft artifacts; now, maintaining this cluster of Metal Thunder required constant qi infusion—if he couldn't unleash it quickly, he'd drain himself dry!

Whether triggered by the classic "Thunder Attribute Stimulates Acceleration" trope or not, Mo Ying, his body flickering with arcs of lightning, surged faster than ever before—far beyond his usual passenger-flight limit; seeing the demon right ahead, Feng Xue leapt upward, pouring all his qi into the belt without restraint—the blinding lightning erupted at point-blank range!

Shotgun range is short? Then just get close enough!

(End of Chapter)