Chapter 26: Pact Successful, the White Fox Can Speak

Thunder-Driving Spell, area-of-effect attack.

Its advantage is numerous strikes, wide coverage, capable of hitting multiple targets at once.

Its disadvantage is that each strike's power is relatively weak, and with Gu Zhao's current cultivation and control, he cannot perfectly pinpoint targets, resulting in a certain degree of waste.

However, with the enhancement of the Shangqing Transformation Spirit Talisman, these disadvantages were largely compensated.

Gu Zhao had only tried it once before in the small forest behind the mountain to see the effect; facing actual combat now, how could he resist using it?

Ask any martial artist: who does not wish to act righteously when seeing injustice on the road?

Ask any soldier: who does not wish to fight for the nation amidst cannon fire and plow the earth?

Anyway, the people needing protection in the courtyard were in the house below; Gu Zhao need not worry about collateral damage. The other villagers were sleeping far away, and within the attack range were only the three ghosts requiring special attention.

In that case...

If not now, then when?

As Gu Zhao formed the hand seal and chanted the incantation, the surrounding heaven-and-earth Qi actually gathered moisture, condensing into a small patch of clouds above the courtyard.

The clouds' heaven-and-earth Qi connected with Gu Zhao's aura, rhythmically drawing his magic power into the clouds according to the spell, then patches of purple light flickered within the clouds, generating bolts of lightning.

These lightning bolts spread through the air, causing the three ghosts within the courtyard range to feel a numbness throughout their bodies, their ghostly forms trembling.

Sensing the sudden rise of what felt like an overwhelming disaster above their heads, the three ghosts dared not stay any longer. They let out strange cries, used their magical artifacts to protect themselves, turned into black smoke, and fled.

But as Gu Zhao finished the last sentence of the incantation, he pointed his right palm at the clouds in the sky and shouted, "Command!"

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

Dozens of lightning bolts shot down from the clouds, rushing toward the three ghosts. In an instant, they covered the ghosts' positions, with each bolt of lightning following the ghostly aura to strike down.

"Boom—!"

"Aaaah!"

After a bout of screams, gold and silver lights scattered and flew apart. The black giant snake turned to ash amidst the lightning. A strip of red silk rose outside the courtyard, but it only managed to block briefly before being shattered by the heavenly thunder.

But at least it delayed them. Now that the thunder had struck, the thunderclouds drifted apart, and the lightning dimmed. Yet those three ghosts, after sacrificing their magical treasures, were only injured, not instantly blasted to death.

However, their hearts and spirits were shattered. The look in their eyes toward Gu Zhao revealed endless terror. Although they suspected Gu Zhao might only have this one strike left, they dared not gamble again.

"Run!"

"Report to the God King!"

"Let Ren the Elder come to deal with him!"

Three afterimages tried to escape.

But just as they turned, they heard a voice from behind that sounded like a death knell, "Heavenly Thunder, Earthly Thunder, Resounding and Shaking the Eight..."

The thunderclouds re-gathered, and lightning flickered once more.

"No!"

"Crack!"

After a bout of screams, everything gradually fell silent.

The clouds re-condensed for the second time dissipated from the edges after the lightning strike. In just a few breaths, they turned into wisps of mist and vanished between heaven and earth.

The lightning spreading in all directions no longer flickered; only occasional crackling sounds occasionally exploded in the air.

As for the black smoke and ghostly aura that had just covered the courtyard, it had completely vanished under the bombardment of the lightning, leaving no trace, and the slightest chill could no longer be felt.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened... well, there was a difference. At least there were now several shallow pits inside and outside the courtyard, and a few misdirected lightning bolts had been guided aside, splitting a small tree and destroying a low table.

The Thunder-Driving Spell indeed consumed magic power, especially since he had cast it twice in succession.

Gu Zhao exhaled, slowly restoring the magic power in his body that had been depleted by more than half. He did not form a third hand seal; the massive amount of evil Qi absorbed by the Five Thunder Talisman in his mind meant he didn't even need to check if those three ghosts were truly dead.

"Is that it?" Gu Zhao rubbed his hands, making clicking sounds, then shook his head with exaggerated seriousness. "I feel I was a bit too hasty. I still have several other talismans and spells unused. I should have saved the Thunder-Driving Spell for last."

"No, I should have left one alive." Realizing this, Gu Zhao came to his senses; he actually still had some questions.

For instance, how did they find this area? Why did they think the white fox killed that ghost? Will their people behind them follow the scent of their deaths to this mountain village?

If more of them come later, this mountain village will no longer be safe. He just heard their last words, and Gu Zhao was in a rush to silence them, so he was a bit too hasty.

"Anyway, we won in the end." Thinking this, Gu Zhao jumped down from the house, arrived at the spot where the three ghosts were last struck by lightning, and began collecting the dropped items.

The child was the bravest, retreating the closest at the time. Now, on the ground, besides scattered fragments of white cloth, there were only a pair of gold bracelets and a pair of silver bracelets slanted in the soil, intact and undamaged.

Gu Zhao pulled out the four bracelets, then went to the courtyard wall, only to find that the old man's cane had been split in half by the lightning, charred and withered, clearly unusable.

Crossing the wall to the outside of the courtyard, the woman in red had also vanished into thin air. Several fragments of broken red silk faintly emitted a yin aura, but they too were rapidly dissipating.

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

But he did not regret it too much, because he could feel that these items all contained a deep, chilling yin aura. Clearly, they were equipment bound to specific professions. If he used them to assist his spellcasting, it would only weaken the power of his thunder magic.

"That old ghost Qi isn't any good. Everyone else has magical artifacts, but you have nothing. Just a poor beggar." Gu Zhao sighed, then returned to the courtyard again.

In the main house of the courtyard, Bai Ke curled her tail during the pact formation with the He Xiuniang, murmuring, "It seems indeed I can't catch up."

Bai Ke was utterly puzzled. "He is just a human mage. He is young, his magic power is not deep, he did not borrow divine power, nor did he form a pact with a demon... nor with a Spirit Lord. How can he be so powerful?"

"Huff—My head hurts so much, I can't think anymore. The pact is about to be completed." Bai Ke shook her head, focusing on forming the pact with the He Xiuniang. Human and fox entered a deep level of spiritual soul communication.

Gu Zhao roughly cleaned up the battlefield, covering the traces of the fight, at least so that the villagers waking up tomorrow would not notice anything wrong.

Moments later, while He Laozhang was still fast asleep, the He Xiuniang came out trotting, holding the white fox in her arms—no, Bai Ke.

"Young Master!"

The look in the He Xiuniang's eyes toward Gu Zhao shone with light, and she herself carried an aura distinct from either magic power or demon power.

Gu Zhao also looked at the He Xiuniang, only then realizing that his previous estimation seemed slightly wrong.

"You have magic power now? You can cultivate?" Gu Zhao was shocked. Could this white fox also be a cheat, enabling the ordinary He Xiuniang to enter cultivation overnight?

"This is the pact!" It was Bai Ke speaking, her voice clear and crisp, like that of a sixteen-year-old maiden.

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

"Since I have formed a pact with the He Xiuniang, naturally I can speak. How do you not even know this basic common sense?" Bai Ke's voice was crisp. "From which remote corner did you, a primitive, leap out? You seem to know nothing; have you lived in vain for over ten years?"

Gu Zhao formed the Heavenly Thunder Seal with his left hand, and a righteous qi instantly spread.

"However, the fact that you are so powerful at this age shows you have devoted all your time to cultivation, so it is understandable that you lack some common sense." Bai Ke's fox face grew serious as she explained, "My divine soul and the He Xiuniang's are especially compatible, so after forming a pact, our cultivation speed together will be very fast."

"I will be able to take human form very soon!" Bai Ke said happily.

Gu Zhao nodded as if he understood, though he didn't quite. Divine souls compatible, so they could cultivate together after a pact; people here were so lazy, too lazy even to invent new terms.

Bai Ke was indignant. "Wait until I take human form and my divine skill is fully accomplished, then I will go and destroy that Golden Wind Sect!"

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

"That Dharma Protector Ghost of the Golden Wind Sect is a madman!"

Bai Ke complained, "I was just passing through Xiuyue County and stopped by the Golden Wind Sect's altar to absorb some scattered incense to nourish my divine soul, but he wrongly accused me, claiming I killed their Golden Wind Goddess and stole their Incense Statue, then chased me all the way to kill me!"

Gu Zhao: "..."