Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder

From Meng Changxi and the monk's perspective, something seemed to be squirming at the severed neck of the headless clay statue, eerie and terrifying...

"We can't wait any longer!" Though Zhang Xuan had been chatting intermittently with Meng Changxi and the monk, his attention had remained fixed on the headless corpse Buddha and the temple walls.

Although [Nether Candle Mystic Eyes] had already indicated that the Kun position was the gate of life, still...

He knew nothing about the five elements of heaven and earth, yin and yang, or feng shui. Only a damned ghost would know what the "Kun position" was!

He could only resort to the clumsiest method, examining the temple walls inch by inch with his own eyes.

Fortunately, after staring for so long, he finally spotted something unusual on the walls covered in writhing flesh.

One section of the temple wall glimmered with faint azure light—the only spot among the nine hundred and ninety-six strands of resentment that had not been filled with resentment.

Zhang Xuan spoke in a low, urgent voice. "Follow my instructions. When the door breaks, monk, seize your chance to destroy the shrine. If possible, destroy the 'Two-Faced Buddha Head' inside it as well."

Zhang Xuan's gaze swept over Meng Changxi, whose eyes were darting about as he stood nearby. His tone turned icy. "Once the door opens and the monk makes his move, don't hesitate. Follow me and rush out. That's our only chance of surviving!"

A chance of surviving!

Although Zhang Xuan had not spelled it out, the monk understood—whether it was the one who broke the door or the one who attacked the headless corpse Buddha's life-bound treasure, one of them would face the Wild God's frenzied assault.

With their current strength, their chances of surviving were less than one in ten!

"Let me do it instead!"

Meng Changxi suddenly stepped forward, his calm voice carrying a trace of resolve.

Under the monk's astonished gaze, Meng Changxi shrugged and said lightly, "I have, after all, read the books of the sages and listened to their teachings for over a decade. You two saved my life earlier, and I had no way to repay you. Now that I have a chance to help, I must do everything I can. I'll destroy the shrine."

Seeing Zhang Xuan and the monk looking at him, Meng Changxi patted his thigh, riddled with holes, and smiled bitterly. "Masters, in my current state, even if I wanted to run, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I might as well gamble. If that monster comes for me, then I die. But if it chases you instead, I might still have a thread of hope."

Though Meng Changxi sounded frank and open, the monk's brows remained tightly furrowed, his mind heavy with doubts.

Meng Changxi claimed to be a scholar, yet he had concealed a Dagger in his boot, and the movements and strength he had displayed while hacking at the door were beyond an ordinary person. There was certainly more to this man than met the eye.

Although Meng Changxi had done nothing unusual since entering the temple, destroying the shrine was the most crucial step in Zhang Xuan's plan. How could the monk feel at ease entrusting it to an outsider?

Seeing the monk's worried expression, Meng Changxi smiled, picked up the Dagger he had dropped when they saved him earlier, and raised it toward the monk. "You needn't worry about me, Master. I brought an iron weapon to protect myself on this journey. I'll use it to destroy the shrine."

What sounded like an offhand remark was actually intended to dispel the monk's suspicions.

Yet Zhang Xuan seemed not to notice the monk's concerns and immediately nodded to Meng Changxi. "Then, sorry for the trouble, Mr. Meng."

Zhang Xuan was not surprised that Meng Changxi had volunteered.

Otherwise, he would not have needed to spend so much effort introducing the Buddhist treasure to him earlier.

After all—

Greed lurked in the human heart.

The monk had wanted to say something, but when his eyes met Zhang Xuan's, he abandoned the thought of trying to dissuade him.

Those eyes held a steady composure, as though everything lay within his grasp!

Seeing that neither objected, Meng Changxi gripped his Dagger and dragged his hole-riddled thigh along, shakily circling the campfire as he slowly approached the altar.

Once Meng Changxi was in position, the monk tensed his entire body, his muscles swelling. He vigilantly scanned their surroundings, keeping watch for any danger that might threaten Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan slowly exhaled a stale breath. Azure light flickered in his eyes, and a line of small text appeared out of thin air:

[Remnant God Ghost Domain: What should originally have been an immortal's means of creating a pure land gradually became this hellish sight at some unknown point. This Ghost Domain is constructed from the power of incomplete spatial laws, a tangible manifestation of its master's abilities. Do not enter recklessly, or your life and death will lie in another's hands. Remember, remember!]

In his vision, densely packed crimson handprints completely covered the door. Zhang Xuan cursed inwardly. Nothing but useless drivel!

Fortunately, there was another small line at the end of the text: [Note: The Five Thunder Righteous Art can break it!]

When he saw that line, a memory naturally surged into Zhang Xuan's mind...

The Five Thunder Righteous Art was also known as the Thunderclap Righteous Art.

Thunder arose from the energies of yin and yang; thunder was yang, while the thunderclap belonged to yin.

According to the five-element numbers of the Luo Book, "Three in the east, two in the south, one in the north, four in the west: these are the forebears of the great numbers, with five at the center."

Thunder coursed through the central energy of heaven and earth: the Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder of the east, the Crimson Heaven Firelight Baleful-Shaking Divine Thunder of the south, the Upper Clarity Divine Firmament Divine Thunder of the west, the Heavenly Qian Supreme Unity Soundless Divine Thunder of the north, and the Yellow Heaven Shattering Divine Thunder of the center. Thus, they were called the Five Thunders.

The fourth divine art recorded in Zhang Xuan's "Divine Path—Collected Daoist Arts Volume" was one of the Five Thunder Righteous Art's techniques.

—Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder!

Then, an obscure and difficult Daoist scripture flowed from Zhang Xuan's lips in a chant...

"Primordial chaos first opened; the Supreme Ultimate unfolded."

"Now swift, now slow; now concealed, now revealed."

"Within, the one qi circulates; through ten thousand ravines, it never ceases."

"The Five Thunders of Pure Subtlety; divine thunder rumbles unseen."

"My heart is the Dao; the Dao is my heart."

"All evil recoils; ten thousand horrors cannot invade."

"Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder, swiftly obey the command!"

As Zhang Xuan uttered the low cry, his left hand finished forming its seals and settled into a sword-finger gesture, touching the center of his right palm...

This was his only means, and his last!

Zhang Xuan had already used Palm Thunder once yesterday against the Chang Ghost, and he had drawn on a trace of thunder's power to save Meng Changxi earlier. Neither time, however, had been as elaborate as this, with recited scriptures and hand seals.

These were not necessary conditions for casting the technique. When Jiang Jiu had used Palm Thunder back then, for instance, he had activated it almost instantaneously.

Zhang Xuan did all this only because he vaguely felt that it would increase the technique's power.

As Zhang Xuan pressed his sword fingers down...

Under the astonished gazes of the monk and Meng Changxi, a dazzling mass of purple lightning burst from Zhang Xuan's palm. The purple lightning roared like a maddened dragon, wildly scattering electric radiance in every direction, as though it would slip his control and soar into the air at any moment.

The power of the thunder summoned through the complete ritual was as far above what Zhang Xuan had used to kill the Chang Ghost yesterday as the clouds were above the mud...

"Damn it. The greater the power, the greater the drain."

Zhang Xuan clenched his back teeth, veins bulging across his forehead like taut iron wires.

Feeling almost all his essence, qi, and spirit being wrung dry by the Supreme Unity Divine Thunder, Zhang Xuan endured the fierce dizziness and struggled to keep the blazing divine thunder in his hand under control!

With a sweep of [Nether Candle Mystic Eyes], he violently slammed his palm against the section of fleshy wall to the right of the door that had not been occupied by resentment...