Wind and Thunder

The most representative of them was lightning.

Zhang Jian found that his progress in comprehending the Minor Wind-Thunder Technique far surpassed that of the other techniques.

Especially the Thunder-Walking Formula within the Wind-Thunder Technique.

The Minor Wind-Thunder Technique could be divided into the Wind-Walking Technique and the Thunder-Walking Formula.

The Wind-Walking Technique was a divine movement art for controlling the currents of wind.

The Thunder-Walking Formula, meanwhile, could control a portion of heavenly lightning. Its power was exceedingly astonishing, but it was also exceedingly dangerous. This was not the invisible yin lightning formed by the collision of yin and yang condensed within one's body, but heavenly lightning that filled heaven and earth—supremely hard and supremely yang.

The Minor Wind-Thunder Technique formed by combining the powers of wind and lightning was exceptionally powerful.

Whether it was the Wind-Walking Technique or the Thunder-Walking Formula, he progressed with astonishing speed, as though he possessed an innate resonance with the lightning spread throughout heaven and earth.

Zhang Yi had no such perception. No matter what he did, he could not sense the wind and lightning qi between heaven and earth.

Nor could he sense the yiwood essence qi required by the Myriad Wood Formula.

Zhang Jian guessed that this was a spiritual root.

It might have been connected to his consumption of the Fire Apricot.

Still, though his comprehension was not slow, Zhang Jian needed to borrow certain means to strengthen that connection—for instance, talismans.

The two immediately had Zhang Lu personally purchase a batch of cinnabar from outside, while also buying some excellent talisman brushes and yellow paper from Phoenix Roost Temple.

Great sums of silver were spent, and these resources were delivered in an unceasing stream into the Zhang family residence.

Half a month later, through meditation, Zhang Jian gradually sensed two illusory runes forming within his spiritual consciousness. They were two incomparably profound runes. With the slightest tremor, they seemed able to condense into form in the void and transform into wind and lightning that struck outward.

"Thunder-Walking Formula!"

Zhang Jian opened his eyes. A crimson talisman painted in cinnabar appeared in his hand, and in an instant, a great surge of spiritual power poured from his body, transforming into a streak of red racing lightning that shot forth and landed upon a boulder before the ancestral shrine.

Rumble!!

With a deafening boom, the man-high boulder before him shattered at once, its core scorched black.

"Did he succeed?"

Two other figures were watching from afar.

Zhang Yi and Zhang Yi.

Zhang Jian and Zhang Yi had not concealed their entry onto the path of cultivation from Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi also attached extraordinary importance to the matter.

Yet he had been only half-convinced. Now that he saw Zhang Jian command lightning with his own hand, he had no choice but to believe. His heart overflowed with delight.

However, he was deeply calculating. After taking a deep breath, his expression remained calm.

With two more extraordinary masters in the Zhang family, the entire family had a greater hope of realizing that dream.

"Too fast!"

Over there, Zhang Yi had to admit that he was a little sour.

He and this nephew of his had entered the gates of the Great Dao together. Among the three techniques, only the Soul-Cleansing Spell had allowed him to barely touch upon the threshold. He simply had no way to cultivate the other two.

They felt impossibly difficult to him; he had even suspected that the two techniques were fake...

Yet Zhang Jian had touched the threshold so quickly. Even if he had relied on a talisman to cast it, Zhang Yi could not help but envy him.

"I'm still far from it!"

Zhang Jian shook his head. When cultivated to profound realms, such techniques could follow one's thoughts directly, without the need for talisman paper. Condensing lightning with his bare hands—that was the realm he aspired to.

Next, he still needed long periods of practice, drawing talismans to imprint this Thunder-Wind Talisman into his heart, ultimately reaching the supreme realm where the technique arrived with a thought.

Over the following days, Zhang Jian and Zhang Yi spent most of their time jointly studying the three techniques around the ancestral shrine.

Though the Wind-Thunder Technique had taken initial form, it required extensive practice.

As for the other two techniques, because his soul was particularly powerful, his comprehension of the Soul-Cleansing Spell was likewise swift, no slower than the Wind-Thunder Technique.

The Myriad Wood Formula was clearly slower, but compared with Zhang Yi, who had no perception whatsoever, Zhang Jian found himself doing far better.

Time slipped by soundlessly, and in the blink of an eye, another half month had passed.

In the rear garden,

Accompanied by two burly maidservants, Gu Xiu'er glanced from afar at Duanmu Yan.

Duanmu Yan still could not get out of bed. He could only be carried out and laid at a distance on a bamboo chair, his entire body unable to move.

His expression was somewhat despondent, and he had not noticed Gu Xiu'er's presence.

"Niece Gu, are you satisfied now? But we are deeply dissatisfied. Your father sent people to damage a precious treasure of my Zhang family, yet he has not made the slightest gesture. How do you think I should treat the two of you?"

"Though the Zhang family is generous, certain rules must be observed. Otherwise, how will this uncle unite the clansmen and serve as the head of the family in the future? Wouldn't you agree?"

Zhang Yi stood with his hands behind his back, his face calm.

Hearing this, Gu Xiu'er looked at Zhang Yi, bitterness rising in her heart. She knew that the Gu family must have run into a wall.

Otherwise, neither the Gu family nor her master would have remained completely silent for so long.

This situation might amount to nothing for the Gu family, but for the two of them, it was likely the most unfavorable outcome.

After some thought, Gu Xiu'er said, "Uncle Zhang, Xiu'er is willing to write a letter and ask Uncle to take it back to the Gu family. Xiu'er believes my father will certainly send someone here soon!"

"However, Uncle Zhang, Xiu'er is insignificant and her words may not carry much weight. Please prepare yourself mentally, Uncle Zhang!"

After a slight pause, Gu Xiu'er raised her head and added, "Also, Xiu'er has an idea that may perhaps help Uncle Zhang with a small matter. It may not make up for the mistake, but it can count as a small compensation!"

"Oh?"

Zhang Yi's gaze shifted.

But after Gu Xiu'er finished speaking, his expression turned stern, and he swiftly departed.

Gu Xiu'er remained where she was, her delicate brows furrowed. She looked around the Zhang family residence, then sighed inwardly. The Zhang family's surveillance over her was extremely strict. No matter how clever she was, she was now only a bird in a cage.

For the time being, she could only protect herself.

With Yang Qing no longer causing trouble from within, the Zhang family's series of plans was gradually carried out. Whether it was disaster relief, winning over the people's hearts, or forming a civilian protection force under the pretext of unrest among the refugees, all were put on the agenda.

The Zhang family did not lack money, and they also had "professional" personnel. Before long, they had assembled a guard force.

Naturally, in name, it was still a joint petition by the prominent local households of Fengxi County, requesting Yang Qing to establish a local guard force to protect the villagers and prevent the county town from being affected by the tide of refugees from Fengyang Commandery.

Meanwhile, after Ji Ming and Wang Yuanlang had suffered a setback, they could no longer easily resort to other methods.

Ji Ming could only send the news back and wait for a reply.

Having suffered greatly this time, Ji Ming had also grown wary of the Zhang family.

It was his first time encountering someone capable of commanding lightning arts.

Ji Ming felt lingering fear in secret. This time, he intended to further advance his Spirit-Summoning, General-Commanding Technique before returning to cause trouble.

His Spirit-Summoning, General-Commanding Technique was an orthodox great art. If cultivated properly, it could raise an army of yin soldiers and ghost generals to guard one's side at all times, responding in urgency and answering every call in times of crisis. When casting techniques or fighting spells, they were exceedingly fierce, cutting down all that was inauspicious!

Unlike now, when he could only cultivate four or five feral soldiers.

That was to say, merely four or five ordinary ghosts.