Thunder Talisman

The peach wood sword gleamed a coppery purple and carried a pleasant fragrance. Crafted through more than a dozen processes, its blade was razor-sharp. With Innate True Qi infused into it, it was nearly as sharp as an ordinary iron sword in the mortal world!

And its target was the vital spot at the throat. An ordinary person struck there would surely be doomed.

"Hm?"

He felt no blade sinking into flesh. Instead, it was as though he had struck smooth fur. The sword glanced aside, and Wu Ming gave a soft cry of surprise.

"Damn it!"

A flash of light enveloped Zheng Qian as he sprang backward, both relieved and furious. "You country bumpkin, have you ever even seen a magical artifact? I have the Yin Gathering Banner to attack with, and a magical artifact to protect me. What can you possibly do to me..."

Pop!

At that moment, the golden light around Wu Ming also collapsed. Zheng Qian faltered, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha... Your talisman's power is spent. Let's see what you'll use to hold off my army now!"

"A magical artifact? A defensive one?"

Wu Ming's expression remained wooden as he watched the encroaching ghosts, not moving an inch. "Judging by the Black Gold Ring, even magical artifacts can't be used without limit... Looks like I'm about to strike it rich!"

His thoughts turned, but his hands never slowed. Several yellow talismans shot out in an instant.

The talismans burst into flames in midair and fell onto the vines. They caught like oil-soaked kindling, flames spreading along them until the vines burned to ash.

Whoosh!

Another layer of golden light burst open around Wu Ming. It even formed a golden suit of armor over his body, forcing the Evil Ghosts back.

"Damn it... How many talismans did you bring?"

The muscles in Zheng Qian's face twisted.

Anyone would have felt their mind reel at the sight of Wu Ming spending talismans as if they cost nothing.

With so many merit points, he could have saved them up for a high-grade magical artifact or cultivation technique. Instead, he'd spent them on one-use talismans? Zheng Qian felt as though he'd just met a spendthrift even richer than himself. The whole thing left him with a crushing sense of unreality and frustration.

A flash of swordlight, cold and piercing!

With the golden armor protecting him, Wu Ming drove the ghosts back once more and charged straight at Zheng Qian.

Zheng Qian scrambled to dodge, rolling across the ground in a thoroughly wretched fashion.

"Why aren't you taking it head-on anymore?"

Wu Ming smiled as he pressed forward, step by step. "Even a defensive magical artifact can only be used so many times. Once it exceeds its limit, or its power runs out, it's no better than scrap. Am I right?"

"You..."

Zheng Qian started to speak, but Wu Ming's hand was already holding another burning talisman. It pulsed with a strange energy. "Shake!"

In an instant, Zheng Qian's eyes glazed over. Then a sword tip sank into his throat.

"My... my big brother... won't let you get away with this..."

Blood seeped from Zheng Qian's nose and mouth as he crumpled to the ground.

"Hmph! So you had powerful backing? Figures... A spoiled heir with two magical artifacts must come from a formidable family..."

Wu Ming sneered and stepped forward to search the body without hesitation. "But this is a mission where we're enemies. I'd cut down even the King of Heaven. Who do you think you are?"

"Hm?"

Now that Zheng Qian was dead, the little banner in his hand sucked in the black mist like a whale swallowing water. The ghost army filling the sky vanished.

"What a fine magical artifact!"

Knowing how precious such things were, Wu Ming gave it a quick inspection and hurriedly put it away.

Then he noticed something concealed in Zheng Qian's right hand. He pulled it out and found a silver talisman, its golden runes wriggling like tadpoles. A powerful force radiated from it, and Wu Ming's heart tightened. "This man really did have plenty of trump cards... He simply hadn't been tempered by experience. My Soul Shaking Talisman has plenty of limitations and only a weak effect, but used at just the right moment, it's razor-sharp!"

Wu Ming's hands moved like the wind. He noticed that Zheng Qian's long robe was unusual, its inner stitches fine and shimmering with a faint light, so he stripped it off as well.

The moment he touched the robe, he felt something peculiar. It was clearly a rare treasure.

"What a pity... What a pity..."

After pocketing the two magical artifacts, Wu Ming searched further, but found only a little loose silver and some miscellaneous odds and ends. He couldn't help shaking his head.

"But..."

One item among the pile of clutter caught his eye: a white talisman, its writing too faded to make out. It was made of grayish-white stone, with a faint halo around it.

"Could it be..."

Wu Ming's heart leaped. He immediately put it away, then hurried toward the other battlefield.

"Blood Sword Technique!"

Ling Guhong's eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his face bulging as beads of blood welled up.

The long sword in his hand seemed to turn into a streak of blood-red light, flying toward Great General Black Wind.

"A Sword Immortal? A flying sword!"

Great General Black Wind lunged with both claws, meeting the blood-red streak head-on. Sparks flew amid a thunderous clash. One claw was severed and fell, but the Golden Wind ancient sword was caught in his other hand.

"A pity... If you were a true Sword Immortal, I'd have run as far as I could. But now... Heh heh..."

Great General Black Wind cackled. Opening his ratlike snout, he crunched the Golden Wind Sword to pieces and swallowed it.

"Beast!"

The sword seemed to be linked to Ling Guhong's mind, tempered with his blood. The instant it was destroyed, he spat out a mist of blood and collapsed, unconscious, his life hanging in the balance.

"How brutal..."

Wu Ming arrived to find Shan Lan slumped on the ground, holding a sky-blue talisman streaked with lightning. She muttered an incantation as blood dripped from her fingers. Her face was etched with despair, but when she saw Wu Ming, relief flashed across it. "Help me hold this monster back!"

"Honestly..."

Wu Ming shook his head. A thought struck him, and he took out the Six Ding Six Jia Divine Talisman he'd obtained from the City God Temple. "By command!"

Whoosh!

Golden light flashed. A divine being clad in golden armor and wearing a mask strode through the air. Red and white qi swirled around him, and his icy eyes brimmed with killing intent as he grappled with Great General Black Wind.

"Damn it! You're one of the City God's..."

Great General Black Wind's furious voice rang out. Wu Ming stood with his sword ready before Shan Lan. "I don't know how long this thing will last. Hurry and perform the rite!"

"Hold that monster in place. Don't let him move if you can!"

Shan Lan's face lit up with delight. She gave Wu Ming a knowing glance, then closed her eyes.

After several breaths, blood had nearly covered the entire talisman, turning it into a blood talisman.

"Heavenly Heart Five Thunders Talisman! Rise!"

The talisman, saturated with blood, floated into the air and hung there, radiating a tremendous power and blinding arcs of lightning.

"This isn't one of the basic talismans I use... It's a much higher-grade one... But this woman clearly doesn't have much magical power. Did she refine it with her blood, too?"

Wu Ming backed away several steps, his expression shifting.

Under the influence of the thunderous aura, Great General Black Wind grew even more frenzied. He lunged again and again, shouting, "That woman's up to no good! Don't bring this on yourself. Take me with you!"

"Hahaha! I'm only a wisp of a divine being's incarnation. If I can die alongside you, I'll earn merit. A loss on one side, a gain on the other—I still come out ahead!"

The golden-armored divine being laughed and suddenly wrapped both arms around Great General Black Wind. "Do it!"

"By command!"

Shan Lan hesitated no longer. Sweat streamed down her forehead as she pointed at Great General Black Wind.

Boom!

Lightning crashed down with a deafening roar. Air blasted in every direction, raising clouds of dust.

"Thunder magic! What a talisman! What a talisman!"

Wu Ming could only gasp in amazement. "Compared to this, my pile of talismans looks like scrap paper! I wonder what it's worth. I should exchange for a few to protect myself sometime..."

"It's not as easy as you make it sound!"

Shan Lan rolled her eyes at him. "If you're not a proper cultivator, how could you use a high-grade talisman? This Heavenly Heart Five Thunders Talisman alone took connections and a great master to reforge. Only then could I barely activate it with my bloodline power... And now I'm still smarting over the cost!"

"I see..."

Wu Ming answered casually, keeping his eyes fixed on the smoke, his gaze wary.

"Don't worry. After taking my Heavenly Heart Five Thunders, even a great demon would have to—"

Shan Lan had only gotten halfway through her sentence when a wounded Giant rat, its fur scorched black, burst out of the smoke and lunged straight for Wu Ming. Her face went pale, despair rising in her eyes. "Oh no!"

The Heavenly Heart Five Thunders Talisman had indeed been her final trump card. She'd even burned through seventy or eighty percent of her vital essence to activate it. If Wu Ming died in the ambush, the whole team would likely be wiped out.

"Die!"

With danger bearing down on him, Wu Ming's face remained as calm as still water, his mind utterly clear.

As the Giant rat lunged to bite him, he turned cold-eyed, clenched his left fist, and smashed it toward the gaping maw like a Vajra hammering an anvil.

Whoosh!

Crack!

Teeth snapping shut and flesh bursting apart—the sounds made Shan Lan close her eyes.

"A Rat Demon, all right. What tenacity!"

Wu Ming's calm voice reached her. Shan Lan opened her eyes in surprise, then stared even wider.

Wu Ming's entire right hand was buried in the Giant rat's mouth. Two deep holes marked the base of his arm, and blood poured from them.

Great General Black Wind's bean-sized eyes stared open. A gaping hole had been torn through his lower body, his innards spilling out. He was clearly dead.

At the same time, the Black Gold Ring on Wu Ming's left hand flashed once, then grew even dimmer.

He had deliberately offered his fist for Great General Black Wind to swallow, then seized the chance to unleash the Gold Blade Spell inside his belly.

No matter how tough its fur or how tenacious its life, its internal organs were still vulnerable. Once they were blasted from within, it would take a miracle to survive!

"Open up!"

Wu Ming pried apart the rat's teeth and saw that the bite had gone terribly deep, almost cutting through muscle to the bone. A moment later, and he would have lost his whole arm.

"This..."

Shan Lan stared blankly at Wu Ming as she bandaged him, deeply shaken.

To face death without changing color, even using himself as bait to lure the tiger in before striking—she knew she wasn't ruthless enough to do that.

And even if she could bring herself to do it, his timing had been nothing short of miraculous.

Someone like him would stand out anywhere.

"Miss Shan Lan, if you have time to stare at me, why not check on Brother Ling?"

Wu Ming's calm voice brought a faint blush to Shan Lan's face.

A short while later, the three of them gathered around the corpse, as large as a yellow ox. Excitement shone on all their faces.

"We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich!"

Shan Lan's eyes gleamed. "This Rat Demon's Dao Cultivation could be more than a hundred years old. It might have a core! Even if it doesn't... its flesh, organs, and marrow are all great tonics. And its fur is especially valuable. Made into leather armor, it would be light and offer protection comparable to iron armor! How should we divide it?"