Palm Thunder

Gu Zhao had thought he had stumbled into the classic scene of a heroine upholding justice and punishing evil. He had been pondering what excuse to use to strike up a conversation with her, to see if he could learn something about this world from the side.

Unexpectedly, before he could speak, the woman proved even more proactive than he was and bluntly said she wanted to "have a talk" with him.

Yet upon hearing her words, the villagers who had just been looking at her with gratitude instantly had their eyes cleared. With a great commotion, they scattered in all directions. Even the old man who had been trembling and needed support moments ago limped as he sprinted into a nearby house.

Bang bang bang!

A succession of doors slammed shut at once.

"Caw caw caw..."

Other than two crows perched on a tree branch at the entrance of the village, the entire village fell silent as a chicken.

Gu Zhao stood stunned for a moment before he understood.

Running into bandits coming down the mountain to loot might not get you killed, but running into someone who could instantly wipe out dozens of bandits—and who did not seem like a good person either—that was the real danger!

All he could say was that even ancient villagers who barely knew a few words had better survival instincts than he did.

But it was already too late for Gu Zhao to run. Not only was the woman targeting him, he also saw her gently blow another breath toward him.

Gu Zhao's pupils constricted. "I'm dead!"

The next moment, he felt a gust of sinister wind blow into his body, as if it intended to freeze him stiff.

"Don't be afraid." The Woman in Green had already arrived beside Gu Zhao and dipped her head slightly. Not only could Gu Zhao see the faint tremble at her chest, he could even smell the sweet fragrance on her body. "What I blew was not Soul Scattering Wind. It will not scatter your soul."

The woman laughed in a seductive voice. "Don't move. Let me help—"

Before she could finish, Gu Zhao suddenly leaped backward, opening up the distance between them.

Woman in Green: ⊙_⊙???

"I really misjudged you." The woman narrowed her eyes and sized Gu Zhao up with great interest. "So you're a mage after all."

"I'm not a mage. I'm a Daoist!" Gu Zhao took a defensive stance, though his body was still trembling slightly. "Who are you?"

That gust of sinister wind had entered Gu Zhao's body and turned into a chill in the blink of an eye, seemingly intending to freeze him stiff. Yet the instant the chill stirred, it triggered a stress response from the Mana within him.

Though he did not have much Mana in his body yet, the moment that chill touched it, it melted away like ice and snow. Naturally, he was not restrained by the cold.

"A Daoist?" A flicker of confusion passed through the woman's eyes, as though she had never heard the term before.

But she did not care. Instead, she raised a jade-like hand to her lips and chuckled softly. "You can't even tell that I'm not human. You truly are a little mage fresh out of the gate."

Gu Zhao's pupils shrank. "You're not human?"

"I am the Divine Maiden of the Golden Wind Sect. Normally, only sect members who have rendered great merit may enjoy my body. Today, I am giving you a bargain, yet you are not overwhelmed with gratitude. Hurry and come into my arms."

The woman smiled as she walked toward Gu Zhao.

At the same time, her eyes turned completely black. Her face became pale, her crimson lips like blood, and her whole body grew cold yet seductive. A bone-chilling aura instantly spread out, enveloping Gu Zhao.

"Little mage, just obediently submit—"

The woman had only gotten halfway through her sentence when she saw Gu Zhao raise his left hand, press his thumb inward, curl his four fingers into a fist, and tuck his nails within.

The next moment, a vast and majestic aura surged wildly from Gu Zhao's body, directly driving away all the surrounding cold, sinister energy.

Woman in Green: ⊙_⊙!!!

A faint numbness suddenly spread through the woman's body, as though some great calamity were about to descend upon her. She hurriedly stopped and asked, "Who are you?"

Gu Zhao's right hand twitched, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but no words came out.

The woman's expression shifted, and a trace of a smile brushed across her lips, as though she had noticed something.

Gu Zhao opened his mouth again. His right hand froze in midair as though he were exerting himself, but he still could not force out a single word.

The smile in the woman's eyes deepened by another three parts. With a knowing grin, she said, "Little mage, your Mana is too weak. There is no need to force yourself. You might hurt yourself. Why not submit to your big sister here and enjoy the ultimate delight of the mortal world?"

The next moment, Gu Zhao's right hand suddenly moved. As his fingers formed a hand seal, his lips began to chant.

"Thunder and lightning pursue one another, heaven and earth bear witness. Righteous Qi from all directions, electric light flickers!"

After four lines of four characters, sixteen words in all, Gu Zhao raised his right hand upright, then gave it a slight turn and aimed his palm at the woman.

"Edict!"

The moment Gu Zhao suddenly began speaking, the woman sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly flew backward.

When Gu Zhao finished his chant and aimed his palm at her, she stared intently at his palm, raised a plume of black smoke, and prepared to defend herself.

But as the word "Edict!" rang out, she saw a flash of violet light and golden radiance before her eyes. A thunderous crack exploded beside her ears. It felt as though her mind had been struck by a heavy hammer, and her entire body suddenly tensed...

Then darkness fell before her eyes, and she knew nothing more.

Gu Zhao stared blankly at the sight before him: a heap of charred black powder, along with a set of green clothes falling from midair.

Then, unable to help himself, he raised both hands, his eyes filled with delight and disbelief.

"Heavenly Thunder Seal, Palm Thunder, Thunder-Raising Incantation..."

"My god! It really worked!"

When the Mana in his body had suddenly sprung into action to dissolve the other party's cold aura, Gu Zhao had been struck by inspiration.

Since the Five Thunder Token had activated the Innate Qi he had cultivated over ten years of Daoist practice and was gradually filling his body with Mana, that meant the Taoist Scripture he had cultivated was effective.

Since the cultivation methods in the Taoist Scripture worked, could the other Daoist arts work as well?

So Gu Zhao instinctively formed a Heavenly Thunder Seal, also known as the Heavenly Thunder Art, and his entire being immediately felt elevated, as though he had transformed into the righteous Qi of heaven and earth, Thor of the nine heavens.

Thus, brimming with confidence, Gu Zhao prepared to chant the Great Heavenly Thunder Duke Incantation.

But he could not chant it!

Not only could he not chant it, he also felt the Mana in his body churn while his soul grew hazy.

Gu Zhao immediately realized that with his current strength, he could not cast such a powerful thunder incantation. So he switched to the Five Directions Savage Thunder Incantation, but he still could not cast it.

Unwilling to delay any longer, Gu Zhao decisively switched to the most basic Palm Rising Thunder Incantation, and finally managed to cast it.

Then he saw that the Woman in Green, who had just blown dozens of bandits to death in one breath, had utterly no power to resist the bolt of lightning released from his palm.

The gathered black smoke dissipated amid the thunder. Her fair, delicate body disintegrated beneath the electric light. Just moments ago, she had been a beauty both pure and alluring, but now she had become a heap of black powder, no longer even human-shaped.

"Fine, she really wasn't human," Gu Zhao muttered.

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed the Five Thunder Token in his mind tremble and emit a pull. A wisp of aura then slipped into his mind and was absorbed by the Five Thunder Token.

The next moment, he felt that the lightning surrounding the Five Thunder Token in his Sea of Consciousness had grown three parts brighter. It slowly stimulated the Mana circulating in his body, making it flow much faster.

"A cheat!"

"Kill monsters, level up!"