The Corpse Water Monster looked like a mass of living slime, spreading and crawling toward them at high speed.
Xu Yuan saw his stepmother raise a candlestick. In her other hand, she held an oil can—it was an Artisan Cultivator's invention that could spray lamp oil, which the candle flame would then ignite...
Xu Yuan stepped forward. "Why go to all that trouble?"
Inner Fire burst from his mouth without warning.
Boom!
Flames surged skyward.
Over the past two days, Xu Yuan had used Aunt Wang's cultivation method, Five Tripod Cooking, and made considerable progress in his Pill Cultivator cultivation.
The Inner Fire he spat out was now fifty percent more powerful than it had been on Ghost Witch Mountain!
The Corpse Water Monster was just about to worm its way into the house when a torrent of fierce flames doused it from head to toe.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
The corpse water evaporated rapidly. The bizarre creature writhed in agony and let out a piercing, strange cry, like a baby wailing.
The Corpse Water Monster splattered across the ground and tried to flow away, but Xu Yuan's Inner Fire spread with it, covering most of the courtyard.
In no time, the Corpse Water Monster had been burned to a crisp!
Lin Wanmo's red lips parted. She glanced at Xu Yuan in astonishment.
Xu Yuan spread his hands. "The guy outside is probably a Divine Cultivator. My Inner Fire happens to counter him, so why not use it?"
Lin Wanmo couldn't help shaking her head inwardly. She'd been too caught up in appearances.
Xu Yuan was right. Though he was below her in rank, his ability happened to counter their opponent's. Why shouldn't she let him take a turn?
Old Qian clutched his chest—his heart was breaking!
Every one of the bottles and jars had been carefully cultivated by him. They weren't in the Southern Capital anymore; this little county town by the mountains didn't have many good materials. It would be difficult to cultivate more of them later.
"I'll kill every last one of you!"
He snatched up several pottery bottles...
Before he could even open them, a figure suddenly vaulted over the wall in front of him.
Still midair, the figure opened his mouth and spat: Whoosh—
Flames surged, turning into a river of fire. They drove back the dense yin energy around them and rolled straight toward him.
Old Qian stepped forward, shielding the bottles and jars.
This kid was an Eighth Stream Pill Cultivator. His Inner Fire was pretty decent, but don't let him hurt my children.
Still, he was only an Eighth Stream Pill Cultivator. His Inner Fire couldn't hurt me.
What surprised Old Qian was that the kid actually dared to charge out and attack him.
Xu Yuan's thinking had always been simple: Why should I let you use every trick you have before I start trying to counter them?
Sorry, I didn't make a habit of hiding in a tortoise shell and taking hits without hitting back.
The moment I found an opening, I'd charge out without hesitation and give my opponent a taste of his own medicine.
Xu Yuan had Riding Wind and Soaring Cloud talismans pasted to his legs. He easily leaped over the courtyard wall and spat out a stream of Inner Fire.
Then he realized, to his surprise, that this Divine Cultivator had actually positioned himself in front of the Nether Artifacts holding all kinds of yin soldiers!
Without hesitation, Xu Yuan raised the Three-eyed Firearm.
With a target this good, not blasting you would be an insult to the finger I had on the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Xu Yuan fired three shots in a row.
The firearm roared like thunder exploding in the night sky. The yin soldiers inside the bottles and jars were startled and instantly grew restless.
At the first shot, Old Qian had still been thinking about calming his children. But the moment that thought crossed his mind, the second shot blew his head apart.
Red flesh, white skull, and yellow brain matter sprayed in every direction. The farthest pieces flew more than three meters.
The third shot blasted into Old Qian's chest. It was already a waste.
The instant Xu Yuan charged out, Lin Wanmo's heart skipped a beat with fright! That little brat was unbelievably reckless. If anything happened to him, how could she face her master in the afterlife?
Lin Wanmo rushed out right behind him. By the time she reached the courtyard, she saw Xu Yuan clutching the umbrella she'd just given him. She finally felt a little reassured: the kid was reckless, but he wasn't stupid.
Then came three thunderous gunshots. Lin Wanmo vaulted over the wall too, and stared in astonishment as Old Qian's headless corpse crumpled to the ground!
Their opponent was at least a Seventh Stream Divine Cultivator!
Even if Lin Wanmo hadn't needed to protect Xu Yuan and could have fought him without holding back, she would still have needed to work hard to defeat him.
Most Artisan Cultivators had no "fire" that could counter Divine Cultivators.
Only a very small number could counter them, if the "fire within the aperture" happened to be among the "spiritual apertures" they opened through cultivation.
So, in Lin Wanmo's eyes as a powerful Artisan Cultivator, tonight's enemy had been a tough one to handle.
Xu Yuan had Inner Fire that countered their opponent, but his rank was low. At best, he could provide a little support from the sidelines.
Who would have thought that the kid would charge out recklessly and blow the enemy's head apart?
Their enemy had cultivated to the Seventh Stream. He shouldn't have been so foolish as to use his own body to shield the yin soldiers from an Artisan-made hand cannon.
Then Lin Wanmo turned the thought over in her mind and understood what had happened: Old Qian had never imagined that Xu Yuan would have an Artisan-made hand cannon.
Old Qian had extensive experience in magical combat. So, after the Hanged Ghost and Drowned Ghost had attacked in turn, he'd realized that the Artisan Cultivator in the courtyard was a seasoned Old Artisan.
At the very least, that Artisan's skill matched his own.
The higher an Artisan Cultivator's rank, the deeper the divide between Old Artisans and New Artisans.
At Lin Wanmo's level, she would never use a New Artisan's creations.
Nor would she allow anyone around her to use them.
Lin Wanmo was an outlier among the Old Artisans, and she spoiled Xu Yuan too much. Not only had she let him use one, she'd even gritted her teeth and repaired the Three-eyed Hand Cannon herself.
Old Qian had no idea Xu Yuan had New Artisan tricks up his sleeve. Seeing an Eighth Stream Pill Cultivator charge out, spewing fire all over the place, Old Qian had naturally stepped in front to protect his "children."
By rights, an Eighth Stream Pill Cultivator shouldn't have had enough means to kill a Seventh Stream Divine Cultivator.
And then... bang! His head exploded.
Lin Wanmo thought Old Qian had simply paid for a bad call born of his own experience.
She didn't know that Xu Yuan's Eight Directions Injury fate had also played a part, just as it had with the Saint Aunt.
Old Qian was a higher rank, and had made only one small mistake. But that mistake had cost him his life.
Xu Yuan had already landed. Happily, he began gathering up the spoils.
His stepmother warily watched the darkness around them. "Back inside. Now!"
Although night travel wasn't forbidden tonight, eerie, hair-raising presences still drifted through the darkness on the wind.
Xu Yuan was very good at taking advice just then. He gathered up the bottles and jars on the ground, grabbed Old Qian's corpse, and hurried back through the front door.
His stepmother only began backing away slowly once Xu Yuan was inside.
Xu Yuan worked in perfect sync with her. Once inside, he set down the things and the corpse, then stood by the window and spat a stream of Inner Fire at the cage in the courtyard where the Hanged Ghosts were imprisoned.
The Hanged Ghosts shrieked in agony, one after another turning into blue-green ash.
By the time Lin Wanmo stepped back into the house, all the Hanged Ghosts had been refined away. She beckoned, and the cage turned back into window bars, clacking automatically into place.
The house's defenses had no gaps now.
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