Soul-Bonding Successful, White Fox Can Speak

Thunder Driving Incantation, area of effect.

Its advantage is the high number of attacks and wide coverage, allowing it to strike multiple targets at once.

The disadvantage is that the attack power of each strike is relatively weak, and with Gu Zhao's current cultivation and control, it's difficult to precisely target all enemies, leading to some waste.

However, with the enhancement of the Supreme Clarity Spirit Transformation Talisman, many of these shortcomings have been compensated for.

Gu Zhao had only tried it once before in the small grove behind the mountain, observing its effects. Now, facing a real battle, how could he resist using it?

Which martial artist doesn't want to act justly when they see injustice?

Which soldier doesn't want to fight for their country, with cannons plowing the earth?

Anyway, the people who needed protection in the courtyard were in the house below, so Gu Zhao didn't have to worry about friendly fire. The other villagers were fast asleep far away. The only targets within the attack range were those three ghostly creatures that needed special attention.

Since that's the case...

If not now, then when?

As Gu Zhao formed the hand seals and chanted the incantation, the surrounding spiritual energy gathered moisture, condensing into a small cloud above the courtyard.

The spiritual energy in the cloud connected with Gu Zhao's aura, rhythmically channeling his Mana into the cloud according to the incantation. Then, patches of violet light flickered within the cloud, generating bolts of lightning.

These lightning bolts propagated through the air, causing the three ghosts in the courtyard to feel a tingling sensation throughout their bodies, their ghostly forms trembling.

Sensing a doomsday-like feeling emanating from above, the three ghosts no longer dared to linger. They let out strange cries, protected themselves with their magical artifacts, and turned into black smoke, fleeing immediately.

But as Gu Zhao finished the final incantation, he pointed his right palm at the cloud in the sky and shouted, "Decree!"

The next moment, thunder rumbled, and violet light filled the air.

Dozens of lightning bolts suddenly shot down from the cloud, rapidly striking towards the three ghosts, instantly engulfing the area where they were. The lightning bolts followed the ghostly energy and struck down.

"Rumble!"

"Ahhh!"

After a round of screams, golden and silver light scattered. The giant black snake turned to ashes in the lightning, and a red ribbon rose outside the courtyard, but it merely offered a slight obstruction before being dispersed by the heavenly lightning.

However, it did manage to delay the attack for a moment. As the lightning struck and the thunderclouds dissipated, the electric light dimmed. Although the three ghostly creatures had sacrificed their magical treasures, they were only injured and not directly killed by the lightning.

Nevertheless, their hearts were filled with terror, and they looked at Gu Zhao with boundless fear. Although they suspected Gu Zhao might only have this one powerful strike, they dared not gamble again.

"Quick, leave!"

"Report to the Divine King!"

"Let Boss Ren deal with him!"

Three afterimages attempted to flee.

But as they turned, they heard a voice behind them, like a death knell, "Heavenly lightning, earthly lightning, resounding through the eight..."

The thunderclouds reconvened, and the electric light flickered again.

"No!"

"Boom!"

After a round of screams, everything gradually quieted down.

The second cloud that had condensed began to dissipate from its edges after the lightning strike. In just a few breaths, it turned into wisps of smoke and vanished into the heavens and earth.

The lightning that had permeated the area also ceased to flicker, with only faint crackling sounds occasionally erupting in the air.

As for the black smoke and ghostly energy that had enveloped the courtyard, they had completely disappeared under the bombardment of lightning, leaving no trace and no lingering chill could be felt.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened... well, there were still differences. At least there were many shallow pits inside and outside the courtyard, and a few stray lightning bolts had been diverted, striking and breaking a small tree and destroying a low table.

The Thunder Driving Incantation indeed consumed Mana, especially when he cast it twice in a row.

Gu Zhao exhaled, slowly recovering the Mana that had been depleted by more than half. Without forming the hand seals a third time, the vast amount of malevolent energy absorbed by the Five Thunder Token in his mind made him not even need to check if the three ghosts were truly dead.

"Is that it?" Gu Zhao couldn't help but rub his hands together, clicking his tongue, then shaking his head with a serious expression, "It feels a bit too rushed. I still have several talismans and spells I haven't used. I should have used the Thunder Driving Incantation last."

"No, I should have left one alive." Thinking this, Gu Zhao realized he still had some questions.

For example, how did they find this area? Why did they think the white fox killed that ghostly creature? Would the people behind them follow the scent of their deaths to this mountain village?

If more people were to come later, this mountain village would not be safe. However, hearing their last words, Gu Zhao was in a hurry to silence them and acted a bit too hastily.

"Regardless, I won in the end." Gu Zhao thought as he jumped down from the house and went to the spot where the three ghosts were last struck by lightning, starting to pick up the loot.

Children are the bravest. At that time, he had retreated the closest. Now, on the ground, apart from scattered pieces of white cloth, there was only a pair of gold bracelets and a pair of silver bracelets stuck diagonally in the soil, completely intact.

Gu Zhao pulled out the four bracelets and then went to the courtyard wall. He discovered that the old man's walking stick had been split in two, scorched and dry, clearly unusable.

Crossing the wall and going outside the courtyard, the woman in red had also vanished, with a few fragments of red silk ribbons faintly emitting a ghostly aura, but they were also rapidly dissipating.

"The quality isn't very good!" Gu Zhao sighed and shook his head.

But he didn't feel too regretful, because he could sense the dense ghostly energy contained within these items. They were clearly bound-profession equipment. If he were to use these items to assist his spellcasting, it would only weaken the power of his Thunder Magic.

"That Old Ghost Qi or whatever isn't good. Everyone else has magical artifacts, but you have nothing. You poor slob," Gu Zhao commented, then returned to the courtyard again.

In the main house of the courtyard, Bai Ke shrunk its tail while undergoing the Soul-Bonding with Xiuniang, muttering, "It seems I really can't keep up."

Bai Ke couldn't understand, "He's just a human Mage, not old, his Mana isn't deep, he hasn't borrowed divine power, nor has he formed a Soul-Bonding with a Yao... or a Spirit Lord, how can he be this powerful?"

"Hoo—my head hurts, I can't think about it anymore, the Soul-Bonding is almost complete." Bai Ke shook its head, focusing on the Soul-Bonding with Xiuniang, the human and the fox entering a deep divine soul communication.

Gu Zhao tidied up the battlefield, concealing the traces of the fight, at least so that the villagers waking up tomorrow wouldn't discover any problems.

A moment later, while Elder He was still fast asleep, Xiuniang trotted out, holding the white fox, no, Bai Ke, in her arms.

"Young Master!"

Xiuniang looked at Gu Zhao with shining eyes, her entire being exuding an aura distinct from Mana or demonic power.

Gu Zhao also looked at Xiuniang and realized he might have miscalculated before.

"You have Mana, you can cultivate now?" Gu Zhao was shocked. Could this white fox also be a cheat, capable of making an ordinary person like Xiuniang step into cultivation overnight?

"This is what Soul-Bonding is!" Bai Ke spoke, its voice clear and crisp, like a young girl of sixteen.

"You can talk now?" Gu Zhao turned to Bai Ke again, asking in surprise.

"Since I've Soul-Bonded with Xiuniang, naturally I can talk. Don't you even know this basic common knowledge?" Bai Ke said crisply, "Where on earth did you crawl out from, you primitive person? Why do you seem to know nothing, like you've lived in vain for over a decade?"

Gu Zhao formed a Heavenly Thunder Seal with his left hand, and a surge of righteous energy instantly permeated the air.

"However, being this powerful at your age indicates you've dedicated all your time to cultivation, so it's understandable you wouldn't know some common sense." Bai Ke straightened its vulpine face and explained, "My divine soul and Xiuniang's are exceptionally compatible, so our cultivation speed will be very fast after Soul-Bonding."

"I'll be able to shapeshift soon!" Bai Ke said happily.

Gu Zhao nodded, half-understanding, half-not. Soul-bonded divine souls could cultivate together. These people here are so lazy, they can't even be bothered to think of new terms.

Bai Ke said indignantly, "Once I shapeshift into a human and achieve great divine power, I'll go raze that Golden Wind Sect!"

"What grudge do you have with the Golden Wind Sect?" Gu Zhao couldn't help but ask.

"The Guardian Ghost God of the Golden Wind Sect is a lunatic!"

Bai Ke complained, "I was just passing through Xiu Yue County and decided to absorb some scattered incense to replenish my divine soul at the Golden Wind Sect's altar. But then he falsely accused me of killing their Divine Maiden and stealing their incense, and chased me all the way!"

Gu Zhao, "..."