"Boom!"
"Aah!"
Xiuniang opened her eyes.
The voice speaking might have been a hallucination, but the thunderclap that shook her ears was unquestionably real. What was more, it had been accompanied by that man's shrill scream. He had not screamed nearly this badly even when the first Heavenly Dipper Talisman struck him.
Then Xiuniang saw all the black qi around the man collapse and scatter. His pale face seemed scorched, his clothes were tattered and hanging in strips, and even his figure had dimmed somewhat.
"Holy shit!"
The moment she heard that habitual phrase, Xiuniang knew Gu Zhao had arrived. She had heard him say it a few times these past two days; supposedly, it was a hometown expression for shock.
"What a powerful ghost!"
According to traditional belief, all demons, monsters, ghosts, and evil spirits would have their souls shaken simply by hearing thunder, much less being struck by it directly. A graze would wound them; a hit would kill them.
But Gu Zhao knew that since the thunder arts within the <Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method> varied in strength, there were naturally ghosts and evil spirits that ordinary thunder arts could not subdue.
Take this black-clothed male ghost, for instance. He was obviously far stronger than that blue-clothed female ghost from before. He had taken a Palm Thunder head-on, yet showed no sign at all of vanishing into smoke.
He had not expected the second ghost he encountered in this world to be unafraid of Palm Thunder!
Gu Zhao sucked in a cold breath. Startled, he did not hesitate in the slightest. His left hand maintained the Heavenly Thunder Seal without relaxing, while his right hand formed another incantation gesture as he chanted, "Lightning chases lightning, Heaven and Earth are my eyes. Righteous qi from all eight directions, electric radiance flickers!"
"Boom!"
Another streak of purple light flashed past like a white colt passing through a gap, striking the man's dumbfounded, shocked face in the blink of an eye.
"Aah!"
The man screamed again, and his figure instantly scattered.
The man was completely dumbstruck. He was an old ghost with decades of Cultivation Level. He had absorbed Incense and Fire Thought Power year after year, gaining a trace of divinity in his soul, and he even had the Golden Thread of Faith bestowed by the cult leader to aid him. Ordinary spellcasters were no match for him at all.
Yet when that single thunder art descended upon him just now, every defensive measure he possessed had become as useless as paper. If not for the slight resistance of that trace of divinity deep within his soul, which had stabilized his soul form, he would likely have been struck to death on the spot.
This fellow was neither a god nor a divine lord, yet he was merely a human grand spellcaster?
A grand spellcaster who could command lightning?
But before he could recover from the shock of the first bolt, the second had already come crashing straight down. It gave him no time to react, directly blasting apart his ghostly body, which had already dimmed by thirty percent and was only holding on by sheer force.
Had that trace of divinity not still lingered, this thunderbolt would have wiped out his soul entirely.
At the same time, however, the man finally came fully awake. He knew with absolute clarity that he could never endure a third bolt.
The man, now dispersed into a vaguely visible, inhuman black shadow, "saw" the suddenly appeared young man draw back his right hand again and begin forming an incantation gesture. "Lightning chases..."
The twisted shadow involuntarily let out a strange shriek, then transformed into a ball of black smoke the size of a basketball and fled swiftly into the distance.
He did not want to think about anything now. He only wanted to run, to flee back to the divine cult, to tremble beneath the cult leader's protection and release his fear.
But the demonic voice behind him rang clearly in his ears.
"...lightning, Heaven and Earth are my eyes. Righteous qi from all eight directions, electric radiance flickers!"
Several golden threads surfaced across the black smoke's surface, barely managing to meet the purple lightning that arrived in an instant from behind. The moment they collided with the purple lightning, they melted away like ice and shattered like tiles.
The next instant, the purple lightning spread into the black smoke behind the threads. If time were slowed, one would see the purple lightning carve into the black smoke like a master butcher dissecting an ox, gradually piercing through it and filling its interior. Every wisp of black smoke it touched vaporized in an instant.
From an ordinary person's perspective, however, all they saw was that after the purple lightning touched the black smoke, that mass of smoke nearly vanished in an instant, turning into ashes and powder that dispersed between Heaven and Earth.
"Aah!"
After a faint, almost nonexistent scream, the entire forest fell silent. No insects chirped, no birds sang. Only two people and one fox stood quietly not far from one another.
The next moment, Gu Zhao felt the Five Thunder Token absorb another stream of aura, merging it into the surrounding lightning before slowly strengthening his cultivation and bolstering his inner qi.
This aura was greater than the one he had received from killing the female ghost. Gu Zhao sensed it carefully and discovered that it seemed to be a kind of Killing Intent, absorbed and converted by the Five Thunder Token into pure energy to nourish itself.
As the Five Thunder Token absorbed aura once more, its abilities gradually recovered, allowing Gu Zhao to clearly sense the nature of this Killing Intent.
This Killing Intent had nothing to do with how strong the opponent was; it depended only on whether they had committed evil. Those who willingly committed evil carried Baleful Intent in their souls. This ghost's wicked deeds surpassed those of the blue-clothed female ghost, so his Killing Intent was greater as well.
Although this Killing Intent could only be absorbed by the Five Thunder Token after its target died, as long as the other party used magic or came close enough for the Five Thunder Token to sense their aura, it could determine whether they carried Baleful Intent and warn Gu Zhao.
"Does this count as opening my heavenly eye?" Gu Zhao clicked his tongue, then looked around. "All done. Time to call it a day!"
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
Movement returned to the woods. Xiuniang and Gu Zhao both turned their gazes toward it, only to see the white fox trembling like a sieve.
When it sensed Gu Zhao's gaze, the white fox instantly rolled over and lay on the ground, exposing its belly. Yet its limbs and entire body still shivered violently, making the fallen leaves beneath it rustle.
Seeing the white fox scared so badly, Gu Zhao and Xiuniang exchanged a glance and could not help smiling. The atmosphere immediately relaxed.
Gu Zhao had no intention of attacking the white fox either. The Five Thunder Token showed no reaction whatsoever when facing it, and considering how the fox had just tried to save Xiuniang, it should be a good demon.
"Young Master!" Xiuniang's voice carried sobs, joy, and a faint trace of guilt.
Gu Zhao waved Xiuniang over and let out a breath of relief as well. "Good thing I made it back in time."
That afternoon, he had accompanied Zhang Hang to film a beauty-review shop visit. They had finished dinner early, and Zhang Hang had even invited him to party that night. But Gu Zhao had decided to return here, recover his condition early, and raise his strength as much as possible.
After calculating the time on this side, Gu Zhao first packed several dishes before going home and crossing over into this mountain forest.
He had not expected that while walking back, he would sense Mana fluctuations nearby, along with the Sun Moon Heavenly Light aura of a Heavenly Dipper Talisman. Alarmed, he had immediately rushed over, arriving just in time to see the black shadow blocking the way, the white fox resisting briefly, and then hiding behind He Xiuniang.
Then he acted. Three Palm Thunders had killed this ghost that looked rather formidable.
"Young Master..." Xiuniang timidly made her way to Gu Zhao's side.
Gu Zhao asked, "Did you come in to look for me?"
Xiuniang nodded. "Young Master said you would return tonight. I waited at the village entrance for a while, then thought I would come in to meet you. I didn't expect..."
"You ran into a ghost and a demon." Gu Zhao looked at the white fox nearby. Were there really so many ghosts and demons in this world?
Seeing Xiuniang step forward to speak with Gu Zhao, the white fox realized that he was the Young Master Xiuniang had spoken of. It seemed to sigh in relief, then rolled over and climbed to its feet, revealing an extremely humanlike ingratiating smile.
Thanks to fellow Daoist Cat Dad Zhu Family Sixteen Young Master for the 500 reward
Before you continue