Heavenly Thunder

In his senses, the demon aura flowing through that snake demon was vast and mighty, no weaker than the Mountain Kui beneath Phoenix Nest Mountain.

So, to be safe, he had used a full eight Thunder-Summoning Talismans.

All eight Thunder-Summoning Talismans were activated at once.

Who could have expected it to be blasted to death so quickly?

"Could it be..." Several thoughts flashed through Zhang Jian's mind.

"Where did this sorcerer come from, to actually command thunder magic?"

The black tiger was also greatly startled.

At the same time, a streak of purple sword qi smashed through the flesh shield before him, pierced his ribs, and nearly burst out of his body in a spray of blood mist.

Relying solely on his formidable physique, the black tiger demon forcibly suppressed the wounds erupting within him and remained standing where he was.

At the critical moment, he had still managed to shift his body slightly and avoid his vital points.

After that strike, Heavenly Void Daoist's face had turned deathly pale. Most of the spiritual power in his body had been exhausted, and he had nearly lost the ability to resist.

Looking at the tiger demon that had yet to fall, his lips twitched, but he instead burst into laughter.

"Evil demon, today is the day of your doom!"

He had already spotted Zhang Jian descending from midair. Clearly, reinforcements had arrived, not another mortal enemy!

Yet when his gaze fell upon Zhang Jian as he landed, Heavenly Void Daoist froze slightly. Zhang Jian's face seemed familiar somehow, and then, in the next instant, he remembered.

His mouth opened, unable to conceal the shock in his heart.

At that moment, Zhang Jian casually waved out another thunderbolt, which promptly killed the blood-sucking leech that was still wriggling and preparing to flee.

His thunder magic was exceptionally fierce and forceful.

This confirmed a certain suspicion in Zhang Jian's heart.

It seemed that after stepping into the Nourishing Spirit stage, the Thunder-Summoning Talismans had been nurtured by his refined spiritual power and evolved even further.

The farther one progressed, the greater the disparity in strength between unorthodox sorcerers and orthodox immortal cultivators became.

These Demon Race creatures before him were much like those unorthodox sorcerers, perhaps even inferior.

Most of them had merely sensed the power of heaven and earth and become demons. They only knew instinctively how to absorb the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon, gathering the spiritual workings of the world, yet did not know how to temper their own spiritual essence.

At the same time, several Thunder-Summoning Talismans surfaced once more in Zhang Jian's palm. His eyes, heavy with fierce intent, fixed on the black tiger demon before him.

He had witnessed with his own eyes how this black tiger demon had drained the souls of the abbey's disciples.

The black tiger demon's expression changed completely. Having also heard Heavenly Void Daoist's words, he spoke in a gloomy voice.

"Doom? What arrogant words! Do you have the ability?!"

Seeing the killing intent blazing from Zhang Jian's eyes, he let out a tiger's roar. Countless streams of black qi rose into the air around him, while layers upon layers of black mist suddenly rolled up around his body. Shadowy figures flew out from the black ghost mist and pounced madly toward Zhang Jian.

Each of those illusory figures swirled with eerie spiritual essence and seethed with resentment. Among them were many faces resembling those of the purple-robed disciples lying on the ground.

This was one of the black tiger's innate divine abilities: tiger ghosts!

Any living being killed by him could be refined into a tiger ghost. On the one hand, they could be stored as soul provisions for him to devour and strengthen his own soul; on the other, at critical moments, they could become a vanguard of ghost soldiers, charging into battle with remarkable ferocity.

Heavenly Void Daoist saw the many familiar figures rushing from the black ghost mist, and his heart felt as though it were being torn apart. They were all disciples of Iron Immortal Abbey, yet today they had all been devoured by this evil tiger and turned into tiger ghosts.

"Evil demon, even if this old man must stake his life on it today, I will avenge these disciples!"

Heavenly Void Daoist's face flushed blood-red.

Zhang Jian saw this scene, and a trace of pity appeared in his eyes.

Yet he had long been prepared. Seven or eight black talismans flew from his hand in an instant.

As the black talismans descended, a peculiar radiance of merciful salvation and passage between yin and yang surged forth from within them.

Any tiger ghost struck by the black light paused slightly. The malice filling its eyes then slowly faded, and its illusory body scattered away, with a spark of spirituality returning to heaven and earth.

This was the greatest strength of the Soul-Cleansing Spell. It could not only restrain ghosts and specters, but also deliver wandering yin souls and vicious spirits, sending them onward into the underworld.

Zhang Jian noticed that each time he struck a tiger ghost and its soul body dispersed before passing into some strange space, a wisp of incomparably pure power would descend into the small seal script formed by the Soul-Cleansing Spell within his body. Its black light grew increasingly dense, and its power seemed to be gradually increasing.

So this was how the Soul-Cleansing Spell was cultivated?

Sensing this, Zhang Jian was secretly astonished.

He had always cultivated the three spells after the Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity—Minor Wind-Thunder Technique, Soul-Cleansing Spell, and Myriad Wood Formula—according to the same pattern. Now, it seemed his earlier thinking had clearly led him astray.

Every spell was unique; no single pattern could be applied to them all.

Such realization arose in Zhang Jian's heart. It was like pushing open the door to a new world, filling him with delight.

"My tiger ghosts!"

As the black tiger demon sensed one tiger ghost after another suddenly losing contact with him, he was both shocked and enraged.

A flash of brutality crossed his eyes, yet he showed no fear. Instead, he was filled with savage defiance. His body transformed into a fierce black gale and appeared before Zhang Jian in an instant, pouncing at him. Since he could not prevail through spells, he could only rely on the strongest asset of demonkind—his physique—to fight hand-to-hand.

"Damned cultivator, today I will eat you alive!"

With his furious roar, the black gale suddenly transformed into a terrifying black tiger several zhang tall. The character for king sat upon its forehead, while its eyes could hook souls and seize spirits.

At the sight, Heavenly Void Daoist's expression changed. He hurriedly shouted, "Little Brother Zhang, be careful! This black tiger possesses an exceptionally powerful physique and extraordinary innate gifts. You must not confront him head-on!"

Hearing this, Zhang Jian smiled. "Thank you for the warning, Senior Heavenly Void!"

"It is only a small monster. Hardly worth mentioning!"

The Wind-Walking Technique flowed around his body. Six Wind-Walking Talismans on his limbs emitted a faint glow, and his body transformed into a wisp of clear wind, instantly breaking through the black gale's sweeping assault.

He had truly put considerable effort into the Wind-Walking Technique.

Now, that effort finally revealed its true use. Facing the black tiger's savage pounce, his movements were extraordinarily nimble.

He easily shook off the black tiger's suppression.

He could even calmly take out four Thunder-Summoning Talismans, flicking them into four bolts of lightning that blocked the space before him and restricted the black tiger's room to maneuver in all four directions.

The black tiger feared the terrifying power of that thunder magic and did not dare use his body to meet it head-on.

This gave Zhang Jian an opportunity. After reclaiming the initiative with four talismans, Zhang Jian immediately widened the distance between them. With a sweep of his hand, ten Thunder-Summoning Talismans appeared.

A glint of fierce intent surfaced in Zhang Jian's eyes.

After breaking through to the Nourishing Spirit stage, he could now activate around twelve talismans at full strength. But ten would be enough to deal with this black tiger demon!

This is bad!

At the sight of those ten talismans, the black tiger demon's expression immediately changed.

Sure enough, after more than a dozen peals of thunder, the enormous true body of the black tiger collapsed stiffly to the ground in an instant, blackened all over.

Lying there now, it could only draw breath but not expel it. Its entire body was unable to move, and most of it had been scorched cooked.

The vast demon aura filling its fur had failed to withstand Zhang Jian's heavenly thunder.

With its defenses broken, it had become a living target beneath those dozen bolts of heavenly thunder.

Heavenly Void Daoist stared blankly at the scene. Looking at Zhang Jian, he was utterly amazed!

"To think he possesses such methods!"

Though both were cultivating at the Nourishing Spirit stage, the methods of this eldest young master of the Zhang family were simply too swift and decisive.

But in the next moment, he picked up the purple dharma sword that had fallen to the ground and silently approached the black tiger. He looked toward Zhang Jian, whose eyes moved slightly as he immediately stepped back, making room for Heavenly Void Daoist.

"Senior Heavenly Void, you may act yourself!"

"This old Daoist thanks you first, Little Brother Zhang!"

Heavenly Void Daoist nodded. But when he looked at the black tiger demon, flames seemed to burn in his eyes, and the killing intent within surged. He directly raised the purple longsword in his hand and severed the black tiger demon's head with a single strike.

"My father..."

The black tiger demon did not even have time to beg for mercy before Heavenly Void Daoist slew him in hatred.

"Disciples, your master has avenged you!"

After cutting down the tiger demon, Heavenly Void Daoist seemed to lose all support, his face filled with grief.

Looking at the somewhat dazed Heavenly Void Daoist, Zhang Jian sighed inwardly as well.

Heavenly Void Daoist had treated others kindly everywhere he went, yet he had still ended up like this. Had Zhang Jian not arrived in time, he likely would have ended up just like the disciples on the ground.

The struggle over the situation in this commandery was far too perilous.

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered. He noticed that the unorthodox sorcerers around Iron Immortal Abbey had already retreated when the thunder magic appeared. They did not even dare approach this place. They certainly knew when to yield!

His gaze shifted. At the same time, his keen ears had already caught the rumble of iron cavalry from below the mountain. Through the rolling dust, he could see a vast aura of dragons and tigers rapidly approaching.

The Qi family's reinforcements were arriving.

They had merely come a little too late.

Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon Heavenly Void Daoist as he said calmly, "Senior Heavenly Void, will you leave with me, or remain here and wait?"

Zhang Jian looked toward Heavenly Void Daoist.

His saving Heavenly Void Daoist naturally served his own purposes as well.

It was not an act of pure selflessness.

He was not only using this to lay out plans against the Qi family; he was also quite curious about Iron Immortal Abbey's Daoist arts, especially that flying sword technique!