Chapter 17: Three Thunders Destroy One Ghost

"Boom!"

"Ah!"

The embroiderer opened her eyes.

The speaking voice might have been an auditory hallucination, but this thunder was deafening and absolutely not fake, especially since it was accompanied by that man's ghastly scream; he had not screamed so terribly even when struck by the first Great Expansion Talisman.

Then the embroiderer saw all the black qi surrounding that man scatter, his pale face seeming to bear burn marks; not only was his clothing tattered and scattered, but even his form had dimmed somewhat.

"Damn!"

Upon hearing this catchphrase, the embroiderer knew Gu Zhao had arrived, for she had heard Gu Zhao say it a few times over the past two days; it was reportedly a dialect expression of shock from his hometown.

"What a powerful ghostly creature!"

Although according to traditional sayings, all demons, monsters, ghosts, and evil spirits must have their souls and spirits destabilized upon hearing the sound of thunder, let alone being struck directly by thunder; brushing against it causes injury, and touching it causes death.

But Gu Zhao knew that since the thunder techniques within the "Great Five Thunders Method of the Divine Firmament Jade Pivot for Executing and Investigating" have distinctions of strength, it naturally implies there are ghostly creatures and evil spirits that ordinary thunder techniques cannot subdue.

Take this black-clothed male ghost, for instance; he was obviously far stronger than the previous green-robed female ghost, having withstood a Palm Thunder strike from him without any intention of dissipating into smoke and vanishing.

I never expected the second ghostly creature I encountered in this world to be immune to Palm Thunder!

Gu Zhao sucked in a cold breath, and in his shock, he hesitated not at all; his left hand's Heavenly Thunder Seal did not loosen at all, while his right hand formed the seal and chanted the incantation again: "Thunder and lightning pursue, heaven and earth as eyes. Righteous qi from eight directions, lightning flashes!"

"Boom!"

Another beam of purple light, swift as a white colt passing a crevice, flashed and struck the man's stunned and shocked face in the blink of an eye.

"Ah!"

The man screamed in agony once more, and his form instantly scattered.

The man was completely dumbfounded; he was an old ghost with decades of cultivation, who had long absorbed incense and prayer power, carrying a trace of divinity within his soul and spirit, further assisted by the Golden Prayer Threads bestowed by the Sect Master; ordinary spellcasters were simply no match for him.

But after that single thunder technique from the opponent, all his defensive means were as good as useless; had it not been for the slight resistance of that trace of divinity deep within his soul, which stabilized his soul and spirit form, he would have been struck dead immediately.

This fellow is neither a deity nor a Spirit Lord, yet is merely a human Great Spellcaster?

A Great Spellcaster capable of manipulating thunder and lightning?

But before he could recover from the shock of the first thunder, the second thunder had already struck straight down, giving him no time to react at all, directly scattering his ghostly body, which had long since dimmed by three parts and was merely stubbornly holding on.

Had it not been for that remaining trace of divinity, this single thunder would have directly annihilated his soul and spirit.

But at the same time, the man also became completely clear-headed, for he knew clearly that he absolutely could not withstand a third thunder.

The man, whose form had already scattered into a faint, shadowy silhouette that was human yet not human, "saw" that suddenly appeared youth withdraw his right hand again and begin forming the seal and chanting, "Thunder and lightning pur..."

The twisted shadow involuntarily let out a strange cry, then transformed into a ball of black smoke the size of a basketball, fleeing rapidly towards the distance.

He did not want to think about anything now; he only wanted to escape, only wanted to flee back to the Divine Sect, to tremble in fear under the Sect Master's protection and release his terror.

But the demonic sound from behind clearly entered his ears.

"... pursue, heaven and earth as eyes. Righteous qi from eight directions, lightning flashes!"

Several strands of golden threads surfaced on the black smoke's surface, struggling to meet the purple lightning that arrived in the blink of an eye from behind, then melted away like ice and shattered like tiles the moment they intersected with the purple lightning.

In the next instant, the purple lightning spread into the black smoke behind the threads; if time were slowed down, one could see the purple lightning penetrating deep into the black smoke like a butcher dissecting an ox, gradually piercing through the black smoke, filling its interior, while all the black smoke contacting the purple lightning vaporized instantly.

From an ordinary person's perspective, one would simply see that after the purple lightning touched the black smoke, that ball of black smoke dissipated almost in an instant, turning into flying ash and powder, vanishing between heaven and earth.

"Ah!"

After a faint, barely audible scream, the entire mountain forest fell silent; insects did not chirp, birds did not sing; only two humans and a fox stood quietly not far apart.

In the next instant, Gu Zhao felt the Five Thunders Talisman absorb another wisp of qi, merging it into the surrounding thunder and lightning, then slowly augmenting his cultivation and strengthening his inner qi.

This wisp of qi was greater than when he killed the female ghost; Gu Zhao carefully sensed it and found that this qi seemed to be a kind of malevolent qi, which the Five Thunders Talisman absorbed and transformed into pure energy to supply himself.

As the Five Thunders Talisman absorbed the qi again, its ability gradually recovered, allowing Gu Zhao to clearly perceive the nature of this malevolent qi.

This malevolent qi has nothing to do with the opponent's strength, but only with whether the opponent is evil; one who actively commits evil deeds carries malevolence in their soul and spirit; this ghost's evil deeds were worse than those of the green-robed female ghost, so the malevolent qi was also greater than that of the green-robed female ghost.

Although this malevolent qi can only be absorbed by the Five Thunders Talisman after the opponent's death, as long as the opponent casts spells or makes close-range contact, allowing the Five Thunders Talisman to sense their qi, the Five Thunders Talisman can judge whether the opponent carries malevolent qi and warn Gu Zhao.

"Does this count as opening the Heavenly Eye?" Gu Zhao clicked his tongue, then looked around, "Done and dusted!"

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

Movement arose in the forest again; the embroiderer and Gu Zhao both turned their gaze towards it and saw that white fox trembling like a sieve.

And upon sensing Gu Zhao's gaze, the white fox instantly rolled over, lying on the ground and exposing its belly, though its four limbs and entire body were still trembling, causing the grass and fallen leaves beneath it to make a "rustle" sound.

Seeing the white fox so frightened, Gu Zhao and the embroiderer exchanged a glance and could not help but smile; the atmosphere immediately relaxed.

Gu Zhao had no intention of attacking the white fox, for the Five Thunders Talisman showed no reaction when facing the white fox; recalling the white fox's earlier rescue of the embroiderer, this must be a good demon.

"Young Master!" the embroiderer said, her voice choked with sobs and joy, and a touch of guilt.

Gu Zhao waved at the embroiderer and also breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, I made it back in time."

He had accompanied Zhang Hang in the afternoon to film his beauty visiting shops, finishing dinner early; originally, Zhang Hang had invited him to party together that night, but Gu Zhao decided to return here instead, to recover his condition early and improve his strength as much as possible.

Gu Zhao calculated the time here, first packed up several dishes, then returned home and traveled back to this mountain forest.

He did not expect that while walking back, he sensed a fluctuation of magic power not far away, along with the sun and moon heavenly light qi of the Great Expansion Talisman; in shock, he immediately rushed over, just in time to see the shadow blocking the path, the white fox resisting briefly before hiding behind He Xiuniang.

Then he acted, three Palm Thunders striking down, killing this ghostly creature that looked quite formidable.

"Young Master..." the embroiderer approached Gu Zhao hesitantly.

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

The embroiderer nodded, "Young Master said you would return tonight; I waited at the village entrance for some time, then thought to come in to fetch you; I never expected..."

"... to encounter a ghostly creature and a demon." Gu Zhao looked at the white fox beside him; are there really so many ghostly creatures and demons in this world?

Seeing the embroiderer approach and speak to Gu Zhao, realizing that Gu Zhao was the "Young Master" the embroiderer mentioned, the white fox seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then rolled over and climbed up, revealing a very anthropomorphic smile of appeasement.