“Little thief!”
Guo Xiaodan, no, Black Wheel King’s face was full of ferocity.
The next moment, Black Wheel King suddenly leapt, diving into the forest.
The next moment, a gust of wind and rain blew from the sky. When Black Wheel King looked up, he saw Lu Zheng’s figure already standing before him.
“What!?”
The next moment, Black Wheel King, no, Guo Xiaodan’s body collapsed limply. Black Wheel King turned into a wisp of black smoke, swift as lightning, piercing towards Lu Zheng’s forehead.
Lu Zheng neither dodged nor evaded, merely gazing faintly at the black smoke, a slight smirk on his lips.
“Supreme command, Flying Cloud Breaks Evil, strike!”
“Ah!!!”
Black Wheel King, as if struck heavily, trembled violently in his black smoke form, unable to maintain his sword-like shape, beginning to scatter and dissipate.
Seeing Lu Zheng’s cultivation far exceeded his imagination, and finding himself in his weakest state, Black Wheel King turned, his black smoke clinging to the ground, merging with the grass and trees, fleeing along the earth.
“Come back!”
Lu Zheng gave a soft shout, reached out, and a large white cloud handprint formed out of thin air, descending from above, grasping the black smoke below.
The white cloud was dense and soft, seemingly insubstantial, yet airtight. No matter how the black smoke thrashed, it could not find a gap to escape the white cloud handprint.
“Argh! Damn it!”
Black Wheel King swirled like a whirlwind within the white cloud handprint, his voice dripping with boundless hatred.
“If I achieve the Nine Yangs, I will storm White Cloud Temple, extract your souls, refine them, and end your lineage!”
“You won’t get the chance.”
Lu Zheng shook his head. Black Wheel King’s current strength was less than that of a century-old ghost, truly a matter of a mere flick for him.
The white cloud hand gently squeezed, and boundless cloud energy seeped into the black smoke, crushing it until it vanished completely.
“Hm? Not dead yet?”
Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed, fully alert, his divine sense sweeping the surroundings like a net.
The next moment, a ripple of soul energy emanated from Guo Xiaodan’s corpse. A burst of spiritual force, like lightning, crossed space and surged into Lu Zheng’s mind.
“Die!”
“Golden Palace Heart Sword, slash!”
“Ah? Ah!!!”
Another scream. Black Wheel King’s remaining mana was shattered, his soul’s essence heavily damaged, leaving him utterly powerless.
“Golden Palace Divine Hall, suppress!”
A dazzling golden heavenly palace appeared in Lu Zheng’s sea of consciousness, pressing down on Black Wheel King’s soul.
“Boom!”
A sound inaudible to human ears rang out, and Black Wheel King’s soul completely dissipated.
“Buzz!”
Strands of fortune’s light poured into the jade seal in his mind, over a hundred in total, far exceeding Black Wheel King’s current strength.
Satisfying!
…
The drizzle continued to fall. Liu Qingyan saw Lu Zheng leave for only a moment before reappearing with the wind and rain.
“So fast?”
Lu Zheng embraced Liu Qingyan, his tone very serious, “How can a man be fast?”
Liu Qingyan blinked, not understanding Lu Zheng’s meaning. I was saying you killed Black Wheel King quickly, that’s a compliment. What does it have to do with being a man? Besides, Lu Lang, you are indeed a man.
But seeing Lu Zheng’s teasing eyes and smiling lips, Liu Qingyan quickly grasped his meaning.
“Lu Lang, I’m talking about serious matters~”
Lu Zheng feigned surprise, “This concerns our lifelong happiness. Isn’t that serious enough?”
Liu Qingyan’s jade-like face flushed, and she gave Lu Zheng a playful glare, but her heart eased.
Lu Zheng joking so lightly surely meant Black Wheel King was dead.
…
After arranging follow-up matters and sending ten strings of coins to Guo Xiaodan’s family, the matter of Black Wheel King was fully resolved.
…
Above the clouds, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan stood on a white cloud, drifting towards Tonglin County.
Liu Qingyan held Lu Zheng’s arm, looking down at the ground from the sky with wonder, while Lu Zheng held a human-skin scroll, skimming its contents.
Seeing Lu Zheng read intently, Liu Qingyan couldn’t help but ask, “Lu Lang, this is just a method for refining yang to return to yin, useful only for ghosts seeking shortcuts. Could there be other uses?”
Lu Zheng nodded, “Actually, there is something in it I can use.”
“What?”
Liu Qingyan was surprised, thinking Lu Zheng wasn’t a ghost cultivator, and Shen Ying had no need for this secret method with her endless incense energy.
“A method to refine yin energy.”
Lu Zheng explained, “This secret method, after refining yang to return to yin, has a step to purify yin energy to integrate it without hidden dangers.”
Seeing Liu Qingyan listening closely, Lu Zheng continued, “This method of purifying yin energy can also be used to cleanse treasures tainted by yin energy.”
Liu Qingyan immediately understood, “The treasure mirror?”
Lu Zheng nodded, “Yes, the bronze mirror taken from a ghost king. It’s a Netherworld artifact, refined by that ghost king for decades, incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, it recognises its master, and I can’t activate it. After refining it for over a year, progress has been slow.”
Since they rarely fought, Liu Qingyan had nearly forgotten the mirror. Hearing Lu Zheng hadn’t fully refined it, she was surprised, “Is this mirror that hard to refine?”
Lu Zheng nodded, “That proves it’s a fine treasure! With this secret method, I should be able to speed things up significantly. Soon, I can complete the refining, then re-refine it with White Cloud Temple’s true qi. Then, I should be able to use it and see just how strong this mirror is, considering how difficult it is to refine.”
Liu Qingyan nodded repeatedly, “It must be a very powerful treasure.”
“Hopefully.” Lu Zheng nodded, noticing they had reached Tonglin County.
“So fast!” Liu Qingyan exclaimed, then blinked, stealing a shy glance at Lu Zheng, her face flushed.
Lu Zheng’s heart stirred. With a wave, he summoned layers of white clouds, enveloping them densely.
“Lu Lang~”
How could Liu Qingyan not know what Lu Zheng was thinking? Her heart raced, “Lu Lang, we’re in the sky…”
“Exactly!” Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, drawing closer.
“But, mm—”
…
Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan landed directly in the Liu family courtyard.
Dispelling the clouds and standing on solid ground, Liu Qingyan’s legs were weak, nearly stumbling.
“Sister!”
Liu Qingquan jumped to Liu Qingyan’s side, supporting her, “Sister, what’s wrong?”
Liu Qingyan’s eyes darted away, her cheeks flushed, then she stood with Liu Qingquan’s help, “I was standing on the soft clouds. Landing so suddenly, I wasn’t quite used to it.”
Liu Qingquan nodded, believing her, then eagerly turned to Lu Zheng.
“Brother-in-law! I want to fly too! Let me fly!”
