Chapter 43: Heavenly Thunder

In his perception, the demonic aura swirling around the snake demon was vast and formidable, not inferior to that of the mountain spirit beneath Phoenix Nest Mountain.

Therefore, to be cautious, he actually employed eight Thunderwalking Talismans.

Eight Thunderwalking Talismans were directly activated.

Who would have thought he would be blasted to death so quickly?

"Could it be..." Several thoughts flashed through Zhang Jian's mind deep within.

"Where did this sorcerer come from, actually mastering thunder magic?"

The black tiger was also greatly startled.

At the same time, a streak of purple sword qi suddenly pierced through his front meat shield, penetrating his ribs, nearly bursting out of his body, accompanied by a spray of blood mist.

Relying solely on his formidable physique, the black tiger demon forcibly suppressed the internal injuries erupting within him, still standing firm in place.

At the critical moment, he still managed to shift his body slightly one or two times, avoiding vital points.

After another strike, Daoist Tianxu's face turned deathly pale, his internal spiritual energy largely depleted, he had nearly lost his ability to resist.

Gazing at the tiger demon still not fallen, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and instead he laughed loudly.

"Evil demon, today is your doom!"

At this moment he had already seen Zhang Jian leaping down from midair; before his eyes, reinforcements had clearly arrived, not enemies!

But when his gaze fell upon Zhang Jian's descending form, Daoist Tianxu's expression flickered slightly in surprise; the face of Zhang Jian before him seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, yet in an instant he recalled it.

He opened his mouth, unable to conceal the shock in his heart.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jian casually waved his hand, releasing another streak of startling thunder, which, following momentum, struck down the blood leech still writhing, preparing to flee.

His thunder magic was extremely fierce and vigorous.

This confirmed a certain suspicion in Zhang Jian's heart.

It seemed that after stepping into the Nurturing Spirit stage, his Thunderwalking Talismans received nourishment from pure spiritual energy, further evolving.

Heretical practitioners and orthodox cultivators, the further they advance, the greater the disparity in their strength becomes.

These demon tribes before him were no better than those heretical practitioners, and even inferior.

Most of them merely became demons by sensing the power of heaven and earth, only instinctively absorbing the essences of heaven, earth, sun, and moon, gathering heavenly and earthly spiritual mechanisms, yet they do not refine their own spiritual mechanisms.

At the same time, several Thunderwalking Talisman incantations reappeared deep within Zhang Jian's palm; his eyes concealed a fierce and stern gaze as he stared at the black tiger demon before him.

He had personally witnessed the black tiger demon's earlier act of absorbing the souls of the observatory's disciples.

At this moment, the black tiger demon's entire body changed color, and he also heard Daoist Tianxu's words; a gloomy voice sounded.

"Doom, what a big mouth! Do you guys even have this kind of ability?!"

He saw killing intent burst forth from Zhang Jian's eyes; the tiger let out a roar, and only then did one see countless black vapors surge upward from his entire body, layers upon layers of black mist swirling up around him, within the black ghost mist, shadowy figures flew out one after another, wildly lunging at Zhang Jian.

Those illusory figures each surged with gloomy spiritual mechanism, filled with resentment, and among them were not a few whose appearances resembled those of the purple-robed disciples on the ground.

This is a kind of innate divine ability of the black tiger, called Gui Gui!

Any living being he kills can be refined by him into Gui Gui; one, it can serve as reserve soul food to nourish him in devouring and strengthening his soul; two, at critical moments it can transform into a unit of ghost soldiers to charge forward in the vanguard, very formidable.

Daoist Tianxu had already seen numerous familiar figures rushing out from within the black ghost mist, yet he felt a sharp pain in his heart—these were all disciples of the Iron Immortal Observatory, today all devoured by this evil tiger and transformed into ghosts.

"Evil demon, today this old man will risk his life to avenge these disciples!"

Daoist Tianxu's face swelled with blood-red.

Zhang Jian witnessed this scene, and a hint of pity also appeared in his eyes.

Yet he had long been prepared; in his hand, seven or eight black talismans flew out instantly.

The black talismans fell, and instantly within them arose a wondrous light of compassionate salvation and transcendence of yin and yang.

Any Gui Gui struck by the black light would momentarily pause, then the malevolent qi filling their eyes would gradually dissipate, their forms becoming insubstantial and directly scattered, a hint of spirituality returning to heaven and earth.

This is the strongest aspect of the Soul-Purifying Dharma Incantation: it can restrain ghosts and evil spirits, guide wandering souls and feral souls to transcendence into the netherworld.

And Zhang Jian noticed that each time he struck a Gui Gui, as its soul body dissipated and before it transcended into a strange space, a thread of extremely pure power descended into his body, condensing into the small seal of the Soul-Purifying Dharma Incantation, making the black light grow denser, faintly increasing in power.

"So this is how the Soul-Purifying Dharma Incantation is cultivated?"

Sensing this, Zhang Jian secretly marveled.

He had always treated the three talismans behind the Tongshan Qingjing Jiuzhang—the Minor Wind and Thunder Technique, the Soul-Purifying Dharma Incantation, and the Myriad Wood Art—as a single pattern for cultivation; now seeing this, his previous idea was clearly misled by himself.

Each talisman is unique and cannot be applied using a single pattern.

This realization arose in Zhang Jian's heart; this insight felt like opening a door to a new heaven and earth, making him feel greatly delighted.

"My Gui Gui!"

At this moment, the black tiger demon felt one Gui Gui after another suddenly lose connection with him, and he was instantly both startled and enraged.

A flash of brutality crossed his eyes, yet he felt no fear at all, instead filled with arrogance; his form transformed into a streak of intense black wind, instantly appearing before Zhang Jian and lunging at him, since magical combat was futile, he would have to rely on the strongest physique of demonkind to engage in close combat.

"Damned cultivator, today this lord will devour you alive!"

Accompanying his roar, the black wind suddenly condensed into a terrifying black tiger several zhang tall, its head bearing a king character, while deep in its eyes lay soul-hooking and soul-seizing gazes.

Daoist Tianxu witnessed this scene and could not help but change color; he hastily shouted loudly: "Zhang Xiaoxiong, be careful—this black tiger's physique is extraordinarily strong, its innate endowment exceptional, you cannot match it in strength!"

Hearing this in his ears, Zhang Jian laughed: "Many thanks for the reminder, Senior Tianxu!"

"It's just a little small monster, not worth mentioning!"

His body flowed with the Windwalking Technique; six Windwalking talismans on his limbs emitted a faint glow, his form transforming into a wisp of clear wind that instantly broke through the black wind's sweep.

He had indeed put in considerable effort into the Windwalking Technique.

At this moment, this hard work finally bore true fruit; facing the black tiger's ferocious pounce, his form became extraordinarily agile.

He easily shook off the black tiger's suppression.

Moreover, he could calmly take out four Thunderwalking talismans, raise his hand to transform them into four bolts of thunder blocking before him, and also restrict the black tiger's maneuvering space in the four directions left and right.

The black tiger feared the power of that terrifying thunder magic, and thus dared not clash head-on with his flesh.

This gave Zhang Jian the opportunity; after reclaiming initiative with the four talismans, he immediately opened distance, and in his hand appeared ten Thunderwalking talismans.

A faint, stern hue flickered in Zhang Jian's eyes.

After breaking through the Nurturing Spirit stage, he could now fully activate about a dozen talismans, but ten talismans were enough to deal with this black tiger demon!

"Uh-oh!"

Gazing at the ten talismans, the black tiger demon's expression changed instantly.

Indeed, after a dozen or so thunderclaps, the massive black tiger's true form collapsed straight down on the spot, its entire body pitch black.

At this moment, lying on the ground, it had only the breath going in and out left, unable to move its body, with most of its body scorched.

The immense demonic aura filling its fur could not withstand Zhang Jian's heavenly thunder.

Its defense shattered, it became a target under the dozen or so heavenly thunders.

Daoist Tianxu stared blankly at this scene, looking at Zhang Jian, he was somewhat astonished!

"Such methods exist!"

As fellow cultivators at the Nurturing Spirit stage, the techniques of this eldest son of the Zhang family are indeed too swift and clean.

But in a flash, he picked up the fallen purple magic sword, silently approached the black tiger, his gaze toward Zhang Jian, Zhang Jian's gaze shifted, and he immediately stepped back one step, making space for Daoist Tianxu.

"Senior Tianxu, you may act on your own!"

"Old Daoist first thanks you, Young Brother Zhang!"

Daoist Tianxu nodded, but when he looked at the black tiger demon, his eyes spat fire, killing intent surged in his gaze, and he directly raised the purple long sword in his hand and beheaded the black tiger demon with one stroke.

"My father..."

The black tiger demon didn't even have time to beg for mercy before being slain with hatred by Daoist Tianxu.

"Disciples, your master has avenged you!"

After one sword strike felled the tiger demon, Daoist Tianxu seemed to lose his support, his face fell with sorrow.

Zhang Jian gazed at the somewhat dazed Daoist Tianxu, and his heart also felt a sigh.

Daoist Tianxu also treated everyone kindly, yet still ended up like this; if he hadn't arrived in time, he probably would have shared the same fate as the disciples on the ground.

The situation in this prefecture is too perilous.

Zhang Jian's gaze fluctuated; he noticed that the left-path practitioners around the Tiexian Guan had already retreated when the thunder magic appeared, they even dared not approach this place, which is quite timely!

His eyes fluctuated, and his sensitive ears had already heard the rumbling of cavalry from the mountain foot, and he saw amidst the rolling dust, a majestic dragon-tiger aura rapidly approaching.

The reinforcements of the Qi family are on their way.

They just arrived a bit late.

Zhang Jian's gaze fell on Daoist Tianxu, and he said lightly: "Daoist Tianxu, will you leave with me, or wait here?"

Zhang Jian looked at Daoist Tianxu.

By stepping forward to save Daoist Tianxu, he naturally also had his own motives.

It was not purely selfless.

Not only was he using this to layout the Qi family, but he was also quite curious about the Daoist arts of Tiexian Guan, especially that flying sword technique!