Chapter 16: Shanzhai Defense Battle? I'm Holding an Exorcism Ritual!

The next day, just past noon.

Above Black Wind Shanzhai, the originally clear sky seemed to dim slightly, and a cold, sinister aura drifted in from afar, spreading like a tide.

They’re here!

On the Shanzhai wall, Lin Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a green robe (a new one), a profound and unfathomable smile on his face. Behind him, Black Bear and the other bandits were sweating with nervousness, but seeing how calm the consultant was, they forced themselves to stand tall.

Below the mountain, over a dozen black figures drifted over like ghosts; leading them was none other than Deacon You! His expression was terrifyingly gloomy, his gray robes fluttering without wind, emitting an aura even more powerful than before—he had clearly reached the mid-stage of Golden Core! Beside him, in addition to those late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples from before, there were two elders with even more obscure auras and eyes like abysses—they were actually two early-stage Golden Core elders!

The Nether Sect was truly enraged this time; they were determined to succeed!

"Lin Xuan! Get out here and die! Otherwise, I will leave no living soul in this Black Wind Shanzhai today!" Deacon You’s voice was like a cold wind from the Nine Netherworlds, scraping across the Shanzhai and making many low-cultivation bandits shiver.

Lin Xuan picked his ear, strolled over to the edge of the wall, and looked down with a tone of surprise: "Eh? Isn't this the Nether Sect's delivery boy... oh wait, Deacon You? It’s been a few days, why are you so pathetic? Can't win, so you went home to call your parents?"

[Ding! Detected Deacon You’s rage, emotion points +999!]

[Ding! Detected the Nether Sect elders’ speechlessness, emotion points +666!]

"Sharp-tongued brat!" Deacon You trembled with anger. "Today I will extract your soul and refine your spirit to sacrifice to the holy object!"

"Sacrifice to the holy object?" Lin Xuan sneered. "That broken statue of yours tastes mediocre; come back next time with something better."

"You!" Deacon You could no longer hold back and roared, "Attack! Flatten this Shanzhai!"

"Nether Sect disciples, hear my order: form the 'Nether Soul Spirit-Devouring Array'!" a Golden Core elder shouted coldly.

Over a dozen Nether Sect disciples immediately spread out, forming hand seals. Thick black Qi surged from their bodies, intertwining in the air to form a massive black skull that let out a shrill shriek as it lunged toward the Shanzhai! Wherever the skull passed, grass and trees withered, and the spiritual energy was polluted and devoured!

If this array were to strike, the Shanzhai’s defenses would likely collapse in an instant!

Black Bear and the others turned pale, feeling the suffocating aura of death.

However, Lin Xuan remained unhurried, waving his hand: "Brothers! Set up the altar! Perform the ritual!"

"Understood!"

The bandits, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately pulled off the tarps beside them! They revealed large wooden barrels filled with a dark red liquid—black dog blood!

"Splash!"

Following Lin Xuan’s order, dozens of barrels of black dog blood were flung into the air by the bandits, like a rain of blood, accurately meeting the massive black skull!

"Sss—sss—sss—!"

It was as if red-hot iron had been plunged into ice water; the moment the black dog blood touched the Nether death energy, it emitted a violent corrosive sound! The seemingly fierce black skull met its nemesis; the black Qi on its surface evaporated frantically, its volume shrank rapidly, and its shrieks turned into pained screams!

"What?! Black dog blood?!" Deacon You and the two elders were shocked! They never expected the opponent to use such filthy items from the mortal world, meant for exorcism, to counter their array! The key was, this stuff actually worked!

[Ding! Detected the entire Nether Sect’s confusion and anger, emotion points +3888!]

"It’s not over yet!" Lin Xuan chuckled and waved his hand again. "Talisman squad! Fire!"

The "talisman squad" (composed of several bandits with steady hands), who had been waiting for a long time, immediately activated a thick stack of low-grade "Sun Flame Talismans" and "Exorcism Talismans" as if they were worthless!

"Shoo, shoo, shoo—!"

Countless faint golden lights and sparks flew like a swarm of locusts toward the Nether Soul Spirit-Devouring Array, which had become thin after being weakened by the black dog blood!

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The Sun Flame Talismans exploded into clusters of pure Yang flames, and the Exorcism Talismans emitted evil-breaking golden light. The already crumbling array shattered under this dense "carpet-bombing" attack! The dozen disciples maintaining the array suffered a backlash, all spitting out blood, their auras wilting!

"Impossible!" a Golden Core elder said, shocked and furious. "How can mere low-grade talismans break our sect's grand array?!"

"The times have changed, old man!" Lin Xuan stood on the wall, hands on his hips, laughing. "This is called saturation attack! Don't you understand that quantitative change leads to qualitative change?"

He casually picked up a brick from his feet that had been prepared beforehand, covered in crooked exorcism runes, weighed it in his hand, and hurled it at a late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple who was adjusting his breath below!

"Taste my magic treasure! Exorcism Rune Brick!"

The brick traced a strange arc, its speed astonishingly fast!

The disciple had just looked up when he saw a brick smelling of cinnabar and black dog blood rapidly enlarging before his eyes!

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, accompanied by the sound of a skull cracking (exaggerated), the disciple was flattened to the ground and knocked unconscious, a clear rune mark stamped on his face.

[Ding! Detected the Nether Sect disciple’s fear and humiliation, emotion points +1999!]

[Ding! Detected the Black Wind Shanzhai bandits’ fanaticism and excitement, emotion points +2888!]

"Hahaha! Consultant is mighty!"

"Brothers! Smash them!"

With Lin Xuan leading, the morale of the bandits on the wall soared. They picked up stones and bricks covered in runes and, from their high vantage point, hurled them down at the chaotic Nether Sect crowd! For a time, a dense "rune stone rain" fell from the sky!

When had the people of the Nether Sect ever seen such a formation? Their techniques were hard-countered by the black dog blood and exorcism runes; they couldn't even use fifty percent of their strength, and now they had to face this physical-plus-magical hybrid attack. They were immediately beaten into a scurrying, wretched mess.

The two Golden Core elders trembled with rage. They tried to strike personally, but as soon as they approached the wall, they were forced back by the concentrated splashing of black dog blood and dense Sun Flame Talismans. Stained with filth, their spiritual power circulation became sluggish.

"Scoundrels! Scoundrels!" Deacon You was nearly insane. As a dignified mid-stage Golden Core and a Nether Sect deacon, he was being beaten into such a sorry state by a group of bandits using black dog blood and bricks!

"Lin Xuan! Is that all you have? These low-class tricks? Do you dare come out and fight me!" Deacon You roared, his eyes splitting.

"A taunt? Too low-level!" Lin Xuan scoffed. "You lot came to my door to fight, and you want to talk about methods? Besides, against rats in the gutter like you, using black dog blood is acting on behalf of Heaven! This is called professional alignment!"

As he spoke, he secretly gave Black Bear a wink.

Black Bear understood and immediately took a few agile brothers to sneak down from the other side of the wall, circling to the side and rear of the Nether Sect group. What they held in their hands were not swords, but... fishing nets! Fishing nets soaked in black dog blood!

Just as the Nether Sect members were overwhelmed by the "rune stone rain" from the front, several foul-smelling nets flew out from the side, covering several disciples head-to-toe!

"Pull the nets!"

Black Bear and the others pulled hard, and those disciples were instantly wrapped up like zongzi. The more they struggled, the tighter the nets became, and the scent of the black dog blood eroded them, causing them to scream repeatedly.

The scene was completely out of control! This wasn't a battle between cultivators; it was a farce! A one-sided "exorcism" humiliation directed at the Nether Sect!

Deacon You and the two elders watched as their disciples were knocked out, netted, and beaten until they were covered in blood; their mental states completely collapsed.

"Retreat! Retreat first!" an elder roared through gritted teeth. He knew this battle couldn't be won today; if they stayed any longer, even they, the Golden Core experts, might capsize in the gutter!

The remnants of the Nether Sect, as if granted amnesty, helped the wounded, dragged their netted companions, and fled the Black Wind Shanzhai in a panic amidst the flying bricks and rain of black dog blood, several times faster than when they arrived.

They arrived with menacing momentum, but left as wretched as stray dogs!

On the Shanzhai wall, thunderous cheers erupted!

"We won! We won!"

"Long live Consultant Lin!"

The bandits watched the backs of the fleeing Nether Sect members, excited beyond measure, their eyes filled with infinite worship as they looked at Lin Xuan.

[Ding! Detected the extreme worship and ecstasy of the entire Black Wind Shanzhai, emotion points +!]

[Ding! Detected the extreme humiliation and resentment of the entire Nether Sect, emotion points +!]

[Ding! Achieved the glorious achievement "Victory Through Trash"! Reward: Slacker Points, special item "Misfortune Curse Doll (one-time use)"!]

Lin Xuan looked at the system prompts, feeling refreshed. Although a large amount of supplies had been consumed, he had successfully repelled a powerful enemy, protected the Shanzhai, and gained massive emotion points and achievement rewards—a huge profit!

He patted the dust off his body, looked toward the direction where the Nether Sect had disappeared, shook his head, and sighed in a tone that could infuriate anyone to death:

"Sigh, why bother? We are all civilized people; fighting and killing is so bad. Look, you wouldn't listen when I spoke nicely, and you had to force me to hold a ritual."

"Remember to bring your own black dog blood next time; we don't have much stock left in the Shanzhai."

The bandits burst into laughter upon hearing this.

At this moment, Lin Xuan’s prestige in Black Wind Shanzhai reached an unprecedented peak. And the legend of "Black Wind Logistics Chief Consultant Lin Xuan, who repelled the Nether Sect with black dog blood and bricks," began to spread quietly around Qingyun City in various outrageous versions...

(End of Chapter 16)