Lightning-Attracting Talisman

Xu Changshou was just about to enter the Thunder Pool.

Suddenly, a gray-robed Daoist ran out of the Thunder Pool. He was an old man of about sixty.

His clothes were disheveled, his hair a tangled mess, and fine streaks of lightning still darted all over his body.

"Oh no, it's Fellow Daoist Wu. He's come out."

"Fellow Daoist Wu, how did it go?"

"Senior Brother Wu..."

Quite a few people turned toward the gray-robed elder.

Trembling all over, his face pale, the elder gave a bitter smile. "This Thunder Pool is far too terrifying. Unless you have a way to ward off lightning, you must never enter. You'll only throw your life away."

"It's that frightening!"

His words sent a chill through everyone.

Even those who had intended to enter the Thunder Pool no longer dared.

"Run!"

"Hurry, run!"

"Quick, quick, quick!"

Suddenly, a clamor rose from within the Thunder Pool.

Immediately afterward, five or six cultivators ran out. Every one of them was scorched black, and one had even lost an arm, the stump charred.

"What happened?"

"We ran into the Black Antelope Thunder Ox and got attacked."

"That's right. In the Thunder Pool, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox is like a fish in water. Only a mighty Foundation Establishment cultivator could match it."

"What should we do?"

"The best way is to lure the Black Antelope Thunder Ox out."

No one dared enter, but neither were they willing to leave. They began discussing ways to deal with the Black Antelope Thunder Ox.

"Senior Sister Ye, I'm going in."

"Wait!"

Ye Shanhua grabbed Xu Changshou, worry written across her face. "Junior Brother Xu, so many people went in, and none of them could match the Black Antelope Thunder Ox. Don't do anything foolish."

"It's fine. I have a way to deal with it."

"You definitely can't beat the Black Antelope Thunder Ox inside the Thunder Pool. How about this? Lure it out, and I'll find a way to slaughter it."

"All right. I'll go in and check things out first."

"Be careful, Junior Brother Xu."

Seeing Xu Changshou slip into the Thunder Pool, Ye Shanhua went pale with anxiety.

"Huh? Someone went into the Thunder Pool."

"A brat at the ninth level of Qi Refining, no less. Is he trying to get himself killed?"

"Who's that brat? What family is he from?"

"Never seen him before."

"Reckless. If you ask me, he's as good as dead."

Inside the Thunder Pool.

Xu Changshou moved swiftly through the Thunder Pool, his body constantly brushing against the surrounding bamboo leaves and drawing out fine, silvery threads of lightning.

Xu Changshou had a lightning attribute spiritual root, which gave him a degree of immunity to lightning. These small sparks had no effect on him.

Even so, he did not dare let his guard down. He held a sword in one hand and more than a dozen Lightning-Attracting Talismans in the other.

The Lightning-Attracting Talismans were his greatest trump card for entering the Thunder Pool. If lightning struck him, they could absorb it directly.

Boom!

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning pierced heaven and earth, striking a short distance ahead of Xu Changshou.

A thick stalk of thunderleaf bamboo was struck and instantly reduced to ash.

Though thunderleaf bamboo could withstand lightning, it had its limits. Lightning was violently destructive; against a stronger bolt, even thunderleaf bamboo could not hold out.

The lightning struck the ground, creating a field of thunder.

Countless silver serpents writhed across the ground, while the nearby thunderleaf bamboo trembled.

Xu Changshou was inwardly shocked as well. No Qi Refining cultivator could withstand such terrifying lightning.

There was something peculiar about the Thunder Pool that made it especially attractive to lightning. Even beneath clear blue skies, lightning occasionally struck.

The weather was gloomy today, and the strikes came even more frequently.

After advancing several li, he was almost at the depths of the Thunder Pool.

Boom!

Just then, a terrifying bolt of lightning crashed down directly above Xu Changshou's head.

"Lightning-Attracting Talisman, activate!"

Without hesitation, Xu Changshou flung a Lightning-Attracting Talisman into the sky overhead. It shone brilliantly in midair, drawing in the boundless lightning before countless streams of it surged into the talisman.

As though unable to withstand the terrifying lightning, the talisman twisted, swelled, and warped.

"Go!"

Xu Changshou swept his broad sleeve and formed a hand seal. The Lightning-Attracting Talisman was drawn several hundred meters away before exploding in midair.

Boom!

Lightning poured out. Silver serpents danced wildly through the area, and the branches of more than a dozen stalks of thunderleaf bamboo were blasted apart.

The sight.

Left Xu Changshou shaken.

The lightning in this Thunder Pool was far too terrifying. Without the Lightning-Attracting Talisman, that single bolt would have been enough to kill him.

At the same time, Xu Changshou felt more confident.

If the Lightning-Attracting Talismans could withstand heavenly lightning, dealing with the Black Antelope Thunder Ox should be even easier.

Moo-

Suddenly, a bellow rang through the clouds.

The ground began to shake immediately afterward.

Xu Changshou looked up and saw an enormous black ox a li away, charging straight toward him.

It was the Black Antelope Thunder Ox. It had actually spotted him, most likely because of that last lightning strike.

Even from afar, he could see that the Black Antelope Thunder Ox was larger than the Savage Bull King. In terms of sheer size, it was fully twice as big.

Every strand of its pitch-black hair stood upright like a steel needle, like iron wire.

Silver threads of lightning coiled around its hide.

Lightning serpents as thick as a little finger flickered in and out of its nostrils and mouth.

Its uncanny eyes gleamed with an eerie lightning glow.

Most terrifying of all was the single lightning-shaped horn at the center of its forehead.

As the thunder ox ran, dense lightning gathered on its horn, seemingly brewing a terrifying killing move.

In the blink of an eye.

The Black Antelope Thunder Ox reached a spot not far from Xu Changshou. It opened its enormous mouth and spat out a vast expanse of lightning, which descended over his head like a gigantic curtain.

Xu Changshou was secretly alarmed. The amount of lightning the Black Antelope Thunder Ox spat out was no less than that of heavenly lightning.

However, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox lacked skill in attacking, and the lightning it spat out was scattered. If it concentrated that power on a single point, its might could rival heavenly lightning.

"Lightning-Attracting Talisman, activate!"

Xu Changshou threw out another Lightning-Attracting Talisman. It soared into the air, seemingly releasing a pulling force that drew in all the lightning.

The boundless lightning surged into the Lightning-Attracting Talisman.

Moo?

The Black Antelope Thunder Ox was dumbfounded.

It had never encountered anything so strange. Someone had actually absorbed its lightning. It was simply inconceivable.

"Go!"

Xu Changshou formed a hand seal and pointed at the Black Antelope Thunder Ox from afar.

The Lightning-Attracting Talisman flew toward the Black Antelope Thunder Ox.

The Black Antelope Thunder Ox had already developed some intelligence. Realizing something was wrong, it turned hoof and ran.

But the Lightning-Attracting Talisman clung to it like a festering sore on the bone, following relentlessly above its head.

Boom!

Before it had run more than a few steps, the Lightning-Attracting Talisman exploded, engulfing the Black Antelope Thunder Ox in terrifying lightning.

Though the lightning could not injure it, the blast still left it dizzy and dazed.

Moo!

Enraged, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox charged back in a few strides, opened its enormous mouth at Xu Changshou, and unleashed another torrent of lightning.

"Lightning-Attracting Talisman, activate!"

Xu Changshou repeated the same trick, once again using a Lightning-Attracting Talisman to absorb the lightning before delivering a resounding slap to the Black Antelope Thunder Ox's face.

The Black Antelope Thunder Ox grew even angrier, but a trace of panic also appeared in its eyes.

It was clear that after unleashing lightning twice, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox had weakened somewhat.

"Kill!"

Xu Changshou unleashed the Wind-Riding Art, charging at the Black Antelope Thunder Ox with his sword in one hand and a Lightning-Attracting Talisman in the other.

Moo-

Unexpectedly, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox let out a long bellow, turned around, and fled. It no longer dared face Xu Changshou head-on.