Thunder Driving Incantation, a group attack.
Its advantages were its many strikes and broad range, allowing it to hit multiple targets at once.
Its disadvantages were that each strike was relatively weak, and with Gu Zhao's current cultivation and control, he found it difficult to pinpoint targets with complete precision, resulting in a certain degree of waste.
But with the enhancement of the Supreme Clarity Spirit Transformation Talisman, those flaws had been greatly compensated for.
Gu Zhao had only tried it once before, in the little grove behind the mountain, just to see its effects. Now that he faced actual combat, how could he hold himself back from using it?
Tell me, among those who practiced martial arts, who did not want to right wrongs and uphold justice when they encountered injustice?
Tell me, among those who served as soldiers, who did not want to fight for their country and plow the earth with cannon fire?
The people who needed protecting in the courtyard were inside the house below. Gu Zhao did not need to worry about accidentally hurting them. The other villagers were sleeping soundly far away, and within the attack's range, there were only the three ghosts who needed special attention.
Since that was the case...
If not now, when?
As Gu Zhao formed hand seals and chanted the incantation, the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth around him unexpectedly gathered moisture, condensing into a small patch of cloud above the courtyard.
The Spiritual Qi within the cloud connected with Gu Zhao's aura, rhythmically channeling his Mana into the cloud according to the incantation. Then patches of purple light flickered within it, giving rise to bolts of lightning.
As the lightning spread through the air, the three ghosts within the courtyard could not help but feel their entire bodies go numb, their ghostly forms trembling.
Sensing the sudden calamity hanging over their heads as though the sky itself were collapsing, the three ghosts no longer dared to linger. They all shrieked strangely, shielding themselves with Magic Artifacts as they turned into black smoke and fled.
But as Gu Zhao finished the final line of the incantation, he raised his right palm toward the clouds overhead and shouted, "Edict!"
The next instant, thunder rumbled and purple light flooded the air.
Dozens of lightning bolts suddenly shot down from the clouds, streaking toward the three ghosts. In an instant, they blanketed the area where the ghosts stood, each bolt following their ghostly aura as it struck.
"Rumble!"
"Aaaah!"
After a round of miserable screams, golden and silver light scattered in all directions. The enormous black serpent turned to ash amid the lightning, while a streak of red silk rose outside the courtyard. Yet it only blocked the attack for a moment before being dispersed by the heavenly thunder.
Still, it bought them a moment. The thunderbolts fell, the thundercloud drifted apart, and the electric light dimmed. But after sacrificing their Magic Artifacts, the three ghosts were merely wounded rather than directly struck dead.
Yet they were already scared out of their wits. Their eyes held endless terror as they looked at Gu Zhao. Though they suspected that Gu Zhao might possess only the strength for that one attack, they did not dare gamble on it again.
"Run!"
"Report back to the God King!"
"Have Boss Ren deal with him!"
The three afterimages tried to flee.
But the moment they turned around, they heard a voice from behind them, as though it were reaping their lives: "Heavenly thunder, earthly thunder, ring and shake the eight..."
Thunderclouds gathered again, and electric light flashed once more.
"No!"
"Rumble!"
After another burst of miserable screams, everything gradually fell silent.
After the second barrage of lightning, the newly gathered clouds began to disperse from their edges. Within only a few breaths, they became wisps of cloud smoke and vanished between heaven and earth.
The lightning that filled the surroundings no longer flashed. Only faint crackling sounds occasionally burst through the air.
As for the black smoky ghostly aura that had just enveloped the courtyard, it had completely vanished beneath the lightning's bombardment, leaving neither trace nor shadow. Not even the slightest chill remained.
Everything seemed as though it had never happen—well, there were still differences. At the very least, quite a few shallow pits had appeared inside and outside the courtyard. Several wayward bolts had been diverted aside, snapping a small tree and destroying a low table.
The Thunder Driving Incantation truly consumed a great deal of Mana, especially since he had cast it twice in succession.
Gu Zhao let out a breath and slowly recovered the greater part of the Mana he had expended. He did not form hand seals a third time. The Five Thunder Token in his mind had absorbed a great amount of Baleful Intent, so he did not even need to check whether the three ghosts had truly died.
"That's it?" Gu Zhao could not help rubbing his hands together. He clicked his tongue, then shook his head with great solemnity. "That felt a little rushed. I still had several talismans and spells I hadn't used. I should've saved the Thunder Driving Incantation for last."
"No, I should've left one alive." At that thought, Gu Zhao came to his senses. He still had some questions.
For example, how had they found this area? Why did they think the white fox had killed that ghost? Would the people behind them trace the aura of their deaths to this mountain village?
If more people came after them, this village would no longer be safe. But when he heard their final words just now, Gu Zhao had been in too much of a hurry to silence them, and had acted somewhat rashly.
"No matter what, I won." As Gu Zhao thought, he jumped down from the roof and arrived at the spot where the three ghosts had last been struck by lightning, beginning to collect the drops.
Children were the boldest; that one had retreated the least. Aside from a few scattered scraps of white cloth on the ground, there was only a pair of golden bracelets and a pair of silver bracelets stuck diagonally into the soil, completely intact.
Gu Zhao pulled out the four bracelets. Then, when he reached the courtyard wall, he discovered that the old man's cane had been split in two by lightning, charred and dried up, clearly unusable.
Crossing over the wall and arriving outside the courtyard, he found that the red-clothed woman had already vanished like smoke. Several strips of shattered red gauze still faintly emitted Yin aura, but they too were rapidly dissipating.
"The quality's all pretty bad!" Gu Zhao shook his head and sighed.
But he was not overly regretful, because he could sense the dense Yin aura contained within these things. They were clearly equipment bound to a specific profession. If he used them to assist his spellcasting, they would only weaken the power of his lightning arts.
"That Old Ghost Qi is useless. Everyone else had Magic Artifacts, but you had nothing at all. Poor bastard." Gu Zhao sighed, then returned to the courtyard.
Inside the courtyard's main house, Bai Ke curled her tail as she formed a pact with Xiuniang and murmured, "It really does seem like I can't catch up."
Bai Ke could not understand it no matter how hard she thought. "He's only a human mage. He's still young, his Mana isn't deep, he hasn't borrowed divine power, and he hasn't formed a pact with a demon... with a Spirit Lord. How can he be so powerful?"
"Phew—my head hurts so much. I can't think anymore. The pact is about to be completed." Bai Ke shook her head and focused on forming the pact with Xiuniang. Human and fox entered a deep exchange of souls.
Gu Zhao roughly cleaned up the battlefield and concealed the traces of battle, at least ensuring that the villagers would not notice anything wrong when they woke the next morning.
A moment later, Elder He was still sound asleep when Xiuniang came jogging out, cradling the white fox—or rather, Bai Ke—in her arms.
"Young Master!"
Xiuniang's eyes shone as she looked at Gu Zhao. Her entire body also carried an aura unlike either Mana or demonic power.
Gu Zhao looked at Xiuniang as well, only then realizing that his earlier estimate had apparently been somewhat mistaken.
"You have Mana now? You can cultivate?" Gu Zhao was utterly stunned. Could this white fox be some kind of cheat too, actually allowing Xiuniang, an ordinary person, to step into cultivation overnight?
"That's what forming a pact does!" Bai Ke said. Her voice was crisp and clear, like that of a sixteen-year-old young girl.
"You can speak now?" Gu Zhao turned to Bai Ke again and asked in surprise.
"I formed a pact with Xiuniang, so naturally I can speak. How do you not even know this much common sense?" Bai Ke said crisply. "What backwater corner did you primitive crawl out of? Why do you look like you understand nothing at all? Did you live your first dozen years for nothing?"
Gu Zhao formed a Heavenly Thunder Seal with his left hand, and a vast, righteous aura instantly filled the air.
"But being so powerful at your age means you put all your time into cultivation. It's understandable that you don't know some common sense." Bai Ke's fox face turned serious as she explained, "Xiuniang's soul and mine are especially compatible, so after forming a pact, we'll cultivate very quickly together."
"I'll be able to take human form very soon!" Bai Ke said happily.
Gu Zhao nodded, half understanding and half not. Souls were compatible, so they could form a pact and cultivate together. The people here were so lazy—they could not even be bothered to invent a new term.
Bai Ke said indignantly, "Once I take human form and master my divine arts, I'm going to raze the Golden Wind Sect!"
"What grudge do you have against the Golden Wind Sect?" Gu Zhao could not help asking.
"That Guardian Ghost God of the Golden Wind Sect is a lunatic!"
Bai Ke complained, "I was just passing through Xiu Yue County and stopped by the Golden Wind Sect's altar to absorb some scattered incense offerings to nourish my soul. Then he falsely accused me, saying I killed their Golden Wind Divine Maiden and stole their incense-burning divine statue, and he chased after me all the way, trying to kill me!"
Gu Zhao, "..."
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