Three Thunders Annihilate a Ghost

"Boom!"

"Ah!"

Xiuniang opened her eyes.

The voice might have been a hallucination, but the thunderclap was deafening and definitely not fake. What's more, it was accompanied by the man's shrill scream, a scream far more agonizing than when he was hit by the first Heavenly Dipper Talisman.

Then Xiuniang saw the black energy surrounding the man completely dissipate. His pale face bore scorch marks, his clothes were tattered, and even his form seemed to have dimmed.

"Holy crap!"

Hearing that exclamation, Xiuniang knew Gu Zhao had arrived. She had heard him use it a few times these past two days, apparently a dialect from his hometown to express shock.

"What a powerful ghostly creature!"

Although according to traditional beliefs, all manner of demons, sprites, ghosts, and malevolent spirits would become unsettled just hearing thunder, let alone being struck by it directly. A mere graze would injure, and a direct hit would kill.

But Gu Zhao knew that since there were varying strengths within the Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method's Thunder Magic, it naturally meant there were ghostly creatures that ordinary Thunder Magic couldn't handle.

Take this black-clothed male ghost, for example. He was clearly much stronger than the previous green-clothed female ghost. He had taken a Palm Thunder strike from him and showed no signs of vanishing into smoke.

He hadn't expected the second ghostly creature he encountered in this world to be immune to Palm Thunder!

Gu Zhao gasped, his heart pounding. Without hesitation, he kept his left hand on the Heavenly Thunder Seal and formed another hand seal with his right, chanting, "Thunderbolts chase each other, heaven and earth are eyes. Eight directions of righteous qi, lightning flashes!"

"Boom!"

Another purple light, like a white steed fleeting past, struck the stunned and shocked face of the man in the blink of an eye.

"Ah!"

The man screamed again, his form instantly scattering.

The man was dumbfounded. He was an old ghost with decades of cultivation, who had absorbed incense offerings and faith for years. His soul carried a trace of divinity, and he was aided by Golden Thread of Faith bestowed by the Sect Master. Ordinary mages were no match for him.

But with just one Thunder Magic strike from the opponent, all his defenses were rendered useless. If not for the trace of divinity deep within his soul offering some resistance and stabilizing his soul and form, he would have been struck dead.

This guy wasn't a god or a Spirit Lord, but a great Mage who was human?

A great Mage who could control lightning?

But before he could recover from the shock of the first strike, the second bolt of lightning descended directly, giving him no time to react, and shattered his already dimmed, purely sustained ghostly form.

If not for a trace of divinity remaining, this bolt of lightning would have annihilated his soul.

But at the same time, the man's mind cleared completely, for he knew with certainty that he couldn't withstand a third bolt.

The man, who had already dispersed into a faint, human-like black shadow, "saw" the young man who had suddenly appeared retract his right hand and begin forming a hand seal and chanting, "Thunderbolts chase..."

The distorted black shadow couldn't help but let out a strange cry, then transformed into a ball of black smoke the size of a basketball and fled rapidly into the distance.

He didn't want to think about anything now. He just wanted to escape, to flee back to the cult and tremble under the Sect Master's protection, releasing his fear.

But the demonic sound behind him clearly reached his ears.

"...chase each other, heaven and earth are eyes. Eight directions of righteous qi, lightning flashes!"

A few golden threads appeared on the surface of the black smoke, weakly meeting the approaching purple lightning. Then, upon contact with the purple lightning, they melted away like ice.

The next moment, the purple lightning spread to the black smoke behind the threads. If time were slowed down, one could see the purple lightning penetrating the black smoke like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox, spreading throughout its interior. All the black smoke that came into contact with the purple lightning instantly vaporized.

From a normal person's perspective, they would only see the ball of black smoke almost instantly dissipate after being touched by the purple lightning, turning into dust and vanishing into the heavens and earth.

"Ah!"

After a faint, almost imperceptible scream, the entire mountain forest fell silent. No insects chirped, no birds sang. Only two people and a fox stood quietly not far apart.

The next moment, Gu Zhao felt the Five Thunder Token absorb another aura, integrating it into the surrounding lightning, slowly enhancing his cultivation and strengthening his internal qi.

This aura was greater than when he killed the female ghost. Gu Zhao felt it carefully and discovered that it seemed to be a malevolent aura, absorbed by the Five Thunder Token and converted into pure energy to supply himself.

As the Five Thunder Token absorbed the aura again, its abilities gradually recovered, allowing Gu Zhao to clearly sense the nature of this malevolent aura.

This malevolent aura was unrelated to the opponent's strength, only to whether they were evil. Those who actively committed evil had malevolent auras in their souls. This ghost's evil deeds were worse than the green-clothed female ghost's, so the malevolent aura was greater.

Although this malevolent aura could only be absorbed by the Five Thunder Token after the opponent's death, as long as the opponent cast spells or was in close proximity, allowing the Five Thunder Token to sense their aura, it could determine if they carried a malevolent aura and alert Gu Zhao.

"So I've opened my heavenly eye?" Gu Zhao clicked his tongue, then looked around. "All done, let's pack up!"

"Rustle rustle..."

There was movement in the woods again. Xiuniang and Gu Zhao turned their gazes over, seeing the white fox trembling like a sieve.

Upon feeling Gu Zhao's gaze, the white fox instantly flipped over and lay on the ground, exposing its belly. Its limbs and entire body continued to tremble, causing the fallen leaves and grass beneath it to rustle.

Seeing the white fox so terrified, Gu Zhao and Xiuniang exchanged a glance and couldn't help but smile. The atmosphere immediately relaxed.

Gu Zhao had no intention of attacking the white fox, as the Five Thunder Token remained unresponsive when facing it. Recalling the white fox's earlier rescue of Xiuniang, this was likely a good monster.

"Young Master!" Xiuniang's voice was filled with tears, joy, and a hint of guilt.

Gu Zhao beckoned to Xiuniang, also letting out a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, I made it back in time."

He had accompanied Zhang Hang to film a food review in the afternoon and had dinner early. Zhang Hang had invited him out to have fun that evening, but Gu Zhao decided to return here, recover his condition early, and improve his strength as much as possible.

Gu Zhao calculated the time and, after packing up some dishes, went home and then traveled back to this mountain forest.

Unexpectedly, as he was walking back, he sensed fluctuations of mana not far away, along with the aura of the Heavenly Dipper Talisman's Sun Moon Heavenly Light. Alarmed, he rushed over immediately, just in time to see the black shadow blocking the way, the white fox resisting for a moment before hiding behind He Xiuniang.

Then he made his move, three bolts of Palm Thunder striking and killing the ghostly creature that seemed quite formidable.

"Young Master..." Xiuniang walked hesitantly to Gu Zhao's side.

Gu Zhao asked, "Did you come in looking for me?"

Xiuniang nodded, "Young Master said you would return tonight, I waited at the village entrance for a while and wanted to come in to pick you up, I didn't expect..."

"To encounter a ghostly creature and a monster." Gu Zhao looked at the white fox beside them. He wondered if there were so many ghostly creatures and monsters in this world.

Seeing Xiuniang approach and speak with Gu Zhao, and realizing Gu Zhao was the Young Master Xiuniang mentioned, the white fox seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. It then flipped over, got up, and revealed a very human-like, fawning smile.

Thanks to Fellow Daoist Cat Dad Zhu Family Sixteen Young Master for the 500 reward.