Chapter 208: The Birth of the Drought Demon

As the Internal Scene Body Deity Appearance of the Tiangang Great Sage was just born, Xu Jia felt a sense of thunder and fire surging.

On one hand, he commanded the heart to transport heart-fire, and on the other, he ordered the kidney deity, Chunyuan Zhen, to transport kidney-water.

Previously, it was "Water and Fire Fusion," drawing Kan and filling Li, and Heaven and Earth Intercourse, transforming into Small Medicine, which was then harvested and refined into Dharma Power.

Now, the cultivation of Thunder Law uses heart-fire for forging and kidney-water for quenching, much like Laojun forging weapons in the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Journey to the West once said: "This is to forge the divine ice-iron, grinding and polishing it until the Works Official shines bright. Laojun himself moves the bellows and hammer, while the Fire Star personally adds charcoal dust. The Five Emperors of the Five Directions use their ingenuity, and the Six Dings and Six Jias expend much effort."

This seems to be talking about Taishang Laojun forging the Precious Rake, but it is actually expounding on internal alchemy; after all, from the perspective of Daoist thought, Journey to the West is a book on alchemy.

Xu Jia's mind acted as "Laojun," but what was being forged was not "divine ice-iron," but Thunder Sha; the already cultivated body deity, the Spleen Lord, acted as the furnace, the Heart Lord burned the fire, the kidney deity quenched it, and the Tiangang Great Sage personally refined it.

He saw the ritual he had just set up to draw in the Thunder Sha gradually pulling the Evil Qi into his body, first forged by the sun and moon, then refined by water and fire.

Ordinary Evil Qi is extremely cold and violent, but Thunder Sha is fiery by nature; in terms of traditional medicine, it is likely something like "Thunder Pill," possessing the efficacy to kill a hundred insects and exterminate a hundred evils.

This Evil Qi entering the body merely followed the direction of the Tiangang Qi he had just transported.

On the side, the Golden Toad watched, sensing danger, because from the perspective of the Dharma Realm, the ritual was already filled with the sensation of "crackle-pop" electric sparks, and Xu Jia's image in the Dharma Realm had also transformed into a "Tiangang Great Sage."

It was just dazzlingly white, as if he were the intense light itself, the lightning itself, even reaching the realm of "Void Chamber Producing White."

Moreover, there was a trend of it becoming brighter and brighter, like a super-high-wattage lightbulb, dazzling people so much that they couldn't open their eyes or see clearly.

Thunder Sha entering the body is the most unruly and rebellious, refusing to be easily subdued.

Once it entered the Internal Landscape, these Thunder Sha felt out of control; first, the five viscera resonated, causing an impact. The Qi of the five viscera and the Thunder Sha could transform into the Five Directions Thunder Kings, but that was not what Xu Jia wanted to cultivate. Furthermore, Xu Jia had only internally refined the heart, kidney, and spleen; the lungs and liver were not yet refined. Rashly introducing Thunder Sha would only destroy the lungs and injure the liver.

Moreover, lung-metal and liver-wood are naturally wary of lightning energy.

Lung injury leads to shortness of breath and Qi deficiency; Qi deficiency means the heart cannot be nourished, and heart failure leads to systemic failure. Liver injury leads to depression, and depression leads to lethargy, belching, loss of appetite, and injury to the spleen and stomach, eventually becoming weaker and weaker until one dies.

This is precisely the viciousness of internal alchemy that draws external Sha into the body.

Fortunately, Xu Jia had swallowed the Tiangang Great Sage Thunder Talisman in advance. The Tiangang Great Sage is a thunder god who holds the Tiangang Seal, guards the Kidney Pivot Tiangang Acupoint, solidifies True Qi, drives away evil spirits, and balances yin and yang.

A surge of defensive Qi resisted this external evil, forming a barrier. Merely borrowing the path of the meridians, there was still an "electric shock sensation," and his muscles twitched involuntarily. Once this Thunder Sha entered the Tiangang Acupoint, it actually became docile, as if it had been subdued during the process of transportation.

The appearance of lightning is the "Dragon Horse"; transporting and following the Qi is the act of subduing an unruly Dragon Horse.

This Dragon Horse was thrown into the furnace, and instantly the furnace fire flared up, transforming into a piece of thunder-iron.

Ding-ding-dang-dang, the body deity was tempered a thousand times. Xu Jia's mind shook. Viewed from the outside, a mass of white smoke emerged from Xu Jia's body, hovering above his head, condensed and not dissipating, looking like the legendary "Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown."

At the same time, a "burnt fragrance" wafted out. Xu Jia had previously achieved a small success in his cultivation, and his body had a "True Fragrance" that was faint and elusive, only detectable by those in cultivation—it was a pure and natural fragrance. But now, there was an added "roast meat smell." If there were any monsters nearby who were accustomed to eating humans, they would surely be salivating and want to come forward to taste the fresh flavor.

Soon, Lao Zhupo and Hai Sanniang both smelled the scent and came over, curiously asking the Golden Toad: "Master Xu, why have you made yourself smell so fragrant? Even more fragrant than Lingzhi."

Just as they were speaking, the Lingzhi pony that had been "violently sucked" by Xu Jia earlier appeared out of thin air, vengefully wanting to take a violent suck at Xu Jia as well.

But before it could get close, an electric arc flashed from the ritual barrier Xu Jia had set up, knocking it away. It lay stiffly on the ground, already numb.

But soon, the Thunder Sha gathered on the ritual transformed into a thunder-rope, entering through Xu Jia's nose, and the surrounding Thunder Sha was completely consumed.

At the same time, the "Army-Breaking Star" among the Big Dipper suddenly shone brightly in the sky, and a beam of Army-Breaking starlight penetrated through the Baihui point on the top of Xu Jia's head, combining with the light of the sun and moon to form the "Three Lights and Three Treasures."

It is as the saying goes: The Heavenly Three Treasures are Sun, Moon, and Star; the Earth Three Treasures are Water, Fire, and Wind; the Human Three Treasures are Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Having obtained the starlight, the Thunder Sha in the furnace suddenly exploded, transforming into three treasures.

One was a precious sword, one was a suit of armor and regalia, and the other was a "firearm."

The Tiangang body deity was equipped with the regalia, holding a precious sword in one hand and a firearm in the other, with a Thunder Sha Dragon Horse accompanying him on the left and right. What a "Tiangang Great Sage," what a Big Dipper Army-Breaker! One could see him in plain silk robes, golden armor, hair disheveled, holding a Tiangang Thunder-Fire Divine Flame Gun in his left hand, a sword in his right, standing on one foot in the Ding stance, his face purple, with three eyes, observing all the Evil Aura of heaven and earth. Two streams of Qi emerged from the top of his head, one green and one white, and within the green and white, green-red Qi emerged again. This was precisely the Tiangang Qi, Thunder Qi, and Vast Noble True Qi.

From now on, by cultivating the Internal Scene Tiangang Thunder Law, one can first harvest and refine the Three Lights to cultivate Tiangang Qi, second, harvest and refine Thunder Sha, and third, perform righteous deeds and hold righteous thoughts to gather Vast Noble True Qi. With these three advancing together, the Thunder Law can be perfected.

Now it can be considered a small initial success; among the gods of the universe, there is one more residing in the Kidney Pivot, and the progress of internal refining has taken another step forward.

After Xu Jia slowly opened his eyes, it was so piercing that the onlooker Hai Sanniang dared not meet his gaze. But immediately, his divine intent was hidden within; if he were to suddenly release a beam of white light from his eyes, it would be an "Escape God," and his efforts would fall short of success.

The Tiangang Great Sage Method is both a path of Protection of the Dharma and a part of internal cultivation. After Xu Jia succeeded, he had more spells he could apply.

For example, the "Tiangang Big Dipper Army-Breaking Divine Sword Qi." This technique takes Tiangang as the lead and obtains the stern, killing intent of the Big Dipper Army-Breaker to cultivate sword Qi.

Of course, the so-called sword Qi is not an invisible blade, but a kind of "Qi force," which can be a palm, a fist, or a "Dotting the Acupoint" method, good at destroying Vitality and possessing the appearance of the decay of all things.

Xu Jia's Ruyi Heart-Following Staff can trigger this kind of sword Qi.

However, these are all "means to protect the Dao," similar to the "Three Yin Demon-Slaughtering Blade Qi," and cannot be considered a method for Longevity.

The most important thing about cultivating this method is that it can use Inner Thunder to refine Outer Thunder. Next, Xu Jia is going to make the Master Xu version of "Outer Tiangang Divine Thunder."

As for the remaining "Lushan Thunder-Summoning Talisman," it was originally intended for Xu Jia to summon thunder in case the Thunder Sha was insufficient, but now it seems it is no longer needed.

"Master Xu truly has boundless Dharma Power! Even the Thunder Sha left over from the evil god being struck was subdued. This thunder was originally for punishing evil and breaking demons; being refined by Master Xu can be considered his Merit and good fortune! That evil god was struck for so long and still had such an opportunity and blessing to be noticed by Master Xu—that is truly his Karmic Connection of several lifetimes!" The Golden Toad started a spiral-ascending rainbow fart on the spot.

Not to mention, it actually sounded quite pleasant, but the rainbow farts Xu Jia had heard in his previous life were even more exaggerated than this. They were more famous than Ding Chunqiu of the Su Sea, and the titles were more numerous than "Big Ice"—things like the Sage born once every five hundred years, the culmination of the three teachings, the number one person in actual practice, the leader of the San Francisco sect... "You had better just do your business well; there is no need to learn these flamboyant styles."

The Golden Toad chuckled. Xu Jia picked up the now-stiff Lingzhi pony and took another violent suck, sucking it back to life. It struggled constantly in Xu Jia's hand. Xun Taizi also came to join in the fun, opening his mouth to exhale, blowing the Lingzhi pony out of Xu Jia's hand. It fell to the ground, escaped into the earth, and disappeared, returning to its original body to recuperate.

Xu Jia took a breath and felt refreshed; the meridian burns left behind by the Thunder Sha just now also began to recover.

"Good stuff! It's a pity there's only one; it must be well-tended so it doesn't get sucked to death."

The Ginseng Fruit in Journey to the West can make one live for three hundred and sixty years just by smelling it. This Lingzhi pony cannot compare to the Ginseng Fruit, but it is still an Immortal Grade item of the Daoist school. It is just too much of a pity to eat it directly; leaving it here to be a mushroom farmer who grows Lingzhi is what maximizes its value.

Xu Jia took the Lushan Thunder-Summoning Talisman and said to the Golden Toad: "During this period, purchase a large amount of sulfur and saltpeter for me."

Xu Jia was about to start refining Outer Thunder. Among the ingredients for Outer Thunder, charcoal is the easiest to find, but it needs to be ground into powder, which is an extra step, while sulfur and saltpeter still need to go through several purification processes.

Now, Xu Jian, who had become his godson—that is, the Shanju Guan Ancestor, Caiyu Zhenren—had already told Xu Jia the method for refining Outer Thunder, and Xu Jia, combining his experience from his previous life, planned to make earth-method thunder tubes and earth-method bombs.

Although this world does not have pressure cookers, they have Daoism, so why can't there be a cultivation-world version of "I reckon"?

The Golden Toad heard this: "Sulfur, saltpeter... do you want some mercury too? Is this researching the alchemy of turning stones into gold?"

This child, even after being cured, still drools.

"Just go and do it."

Ancient saltpeter is generally relatively scarce, only collected around cesspools and pigpens, and some is produced in salt lakes, but it is very expensive. This is because saltpeter can be used to make ice, and after the ice melts, the saltpeter can be recycled and reused. Therefore, many peddlers in the summer would use it to make iced refreshments to relieve the heat.

After all, those who can afford to use ice directly are high-ranking officials and nobles, harvesting ice in winter and enjoying it in summer. However, in the Jiangnan West Circuit, river water does not often freeze, unlike in the north, so there are many various earth-methods for making ice.

A small amount of saltpeter can also be bought at pharmacies, but Xu Jia's thunder refining requires more than a small amount to make Tiangang Divine Thunder. He could only let the Golden Toad purchase it like futures.

Although the Golden Toad didn't know why, he obediently followed orders. Now that his business was large, he understood one truth: only using money to make money is the fastest way; everything else is slow. Buying with the left hand and selling with the right, one in and one out, earned quite a lot of money.

Nowadays, these bonds are selling quite briskly. Because they are profitable no matter what, everyone likes to invest their money. If this were a later age, one would surely just grab the bucket and run, absconding with the funds, but Jin Chan is aiming to become a True Wealth God.

It is just that there is one pressure now: the Longevity Sect is running rampant. The government does not come because there is no profit to be made, but if you make a lot of money, the government officials will come sniffing like flies, and there are far too many who want to follow the trend and get a piece of the pie. Jin Chan did not tell Xu Jia, because many things can be resolved on their own; if it were to reach Xu Jia, who knows how much trouble it might cause.

Having cultivated this Thunder Law, Xu Jia did not stop and headed straight for the blacksmith shop.

The blacksmith in the village had also been incorporated by the Fox Immortal Hall. Xu Jia had originally thought the blacksmith here used charcoal, but he saw that coal was already piled to one side. The old blacksmith mixed the coal with water and burned it in the furnace, producing a blue flame. Inside, a kitchen knife was being forged, and it went *ding-dang, ding-dang*, as if he were sculpting iron like clay, or as if he were forging a peerless divine weapon like Mo Ye.

However, the possibility of hand-crafting a "Firearm" was still too low.

The blacksmith was focused on his smithing and did not see Xu Jia, but the Immortal in the hall sensed Xu Jia and revealed his form. It was just that this Immortal was one Xu Jia had not seen before; he was a Red Ghost.

"Greetings, Dharma Lord!"

"When did you enter the hall? Why was I not aware?"

"This small one is the Stele Immortal of the Luejue Mountain God seat. It was the Diaoke Immortal who introduced me to the hall. I died by burning; regarding the Fire Sha among the Five Elements Sha, my home was originally in Jiujiegou. My father was first gored to death by an ox spirit, and then a nameless fire burned me to death in my sleep. I drifted in the Dharma Realm, muddled and confused, until I met the Diaoke Immortal, and only then did I gain spiritual clarity."

Xu Jia thought to himself: It matches up. Truly, it is a grudge from a past life; your family killed a mother and son in a past life, and in this life, you were killed by someone.

But when will the cycle of vengeance end? Thus he said: "What work do you do in this hall?"

"I only do some work of fanning the flames. If the furnace temperature is not reached, the iron will not melt. He offers me a stick of incense every day, and I assist him a little. It is barely enough to eat, not like the other halls."

Xu Jia looked at him carefully and recalled that when he was preaching in Japan back then, Japan had a "Ghost-God Forging" method, where ghosts and spirits would possess a blacksmith to assist in forging weapons with power.

It could actually be taught to him. The essence of this method is "spirit-writing possession," but it requires the ghost or god to master forging techniques and possess exquisite craftsmanship. If a ghost or god does not understand forging, even if they possess the body, they might not be able to forge good things. But the ghost or god is only an assistant; it mainly depends on the blacksmith himself. It is the blacksmith's intent, and the ghost or god reacts, achieving what the human body cannot—control over the furnace and the force. As for whether teaching this to a rustic blacksmith is a waste of talent, that depends on whether Xu Jia needs it.

Therefore, Xu Jia directly taught this method to the Fire Sha Ghost and said: "I want twenty-seven Dragon-Suppressing Nails; these nails should be about the same as coffin nails."

Coffin nails are generally wooden nails; they are actually a type of bolt-rivet structure, usually quite large, as seen in Lam Ching-ying's zombie films.

But if forged from iron, they would be quite large and heavy.

"I fear there is not that much iron," the Fire Sha Ghost said. "This shop only recycles scrap iron for material, repairing and patching; there are not many iron ingots."

The imperial court has a salt and iron monopoly and does not allow the common people to store large amounts of iron ingots. Although the neighboring Dexing is not afraid of iron and has people who steal ore to sell, which circulates outside, it is not something a village blacksmith shop can find.

Xu Jia said: "Jiangnan West Circuit is full of iron-rich soil, such as the red silt by the river, it is just not that obvious. Collect this iron soil, mix it with lime and charcoal, knead it into balls, and burn and forge it; then you can refine iron. You can refine a large amount using an earthen kiln."

What Xu Jia wants is not "steel," just iron nails; there is always a way to solve it.

The Fire Sha Ghost nodded slightly upon hearing this. Although it seemed a bit unreliable, he still said: "I will work on both ends, but how long will it take to refine?"

"You only need to refine the head; leave a stem, and fitting it with wood is the same." Xu Jia did not make things difficult for him: "Can you produce them within seven days?"

"With the Ghost-God Forging method taught by the Dharma Lord, I can succeed in five days."

"That is for the best." Xu Jia was concise. Thinking later, he asked if he could make iron pellets.

"That requires a mold."

Xu Jia had to give up. After all, he wanted to blow up the Earth Dragon. If he added iron pellets, iron shards, or broken porcelain, who knew who would be hurt by the indiscriminate attack when it exploded? He might even be the one to kick the bucket first.

Even if he had to deal with that Dharma King, refining this kind of Divine Thunder would not break the Intermediate Achievement. But it is very useful for dealing with those fallen evil gods; after all, those who can achieve the Intermediate Achievement are few. In the future, all kinds of Longevity Sect Evil Masters can have a taste.

Especially that White Bone Hall Saintess who escaped earlier; her husband, the Evil Daoist, was the murderer of the original body, and Xu Jia has an even deeper grudge with her.

Xu Jia is not the kind of protagonist in a power fantasy who thinks with his crotch when he sees an evil demoness; cutting weeds and eliminating roots is Xu Jia's true nature.

After ordering the Dragon-Suppressing Nails, Xu Jia went to think about what to use for the shell of the Tiangang Divine Thunder. Previously, they used jade powder as glaze to fire jade porcelain, saying it could constrain the fire nature to prevent accidental explosions. How could Xu Jia fire them on the spot? He could only go to the place where ceramics were sold to see if there were any "pickle jars" or similar things that could be used for the Divine Thunder.

Pickle jars also have a lid, which is better for sealing, and they have a large capacity, making them most suitable for blowing up mountain bodies.

For smaller, suitable ones, there were tea canisters or brush pots, and Xu Jia bought some of each.

When night fell, Jin Chan brought the sulfur and saltpeter Xu Jia wanted. Xu Jia did not want to craft the thunder at home, so he summoned Kan Yinwu. Xu Jia did not care much for this rat spirit, but the matter of mixing medicine was too dangerous, so he could only let Kan Yinwu mobilize the rats to assist. They found the Qingfeng Pavilion where they had previously treated the Reverse-Feather Chicken; it was very open and deserted, so it would not hurt anyone when it exploded.

Generally, earth-method landmines use saltpeter and wood ash to produce potassium nitrate, but Cai Yu used saltpeter and silver to prepare silver nitrate. Silver nitrate is more volatile than potassium nitrate and explodes more easily; it explodes with the slightest collision or friction. It is inherently a fierce explosive, generally used for "igniting fire."

Xu Jia felt it was too dangerous and decided to first use the earth-method black powder to make the Tiangang Divine Thunder.

Of course, he also had to try the preparation of silver nitrate; he could be a "true hero who never looks back at explosions!"

Kan Yinwu saw Xu Jia hiding very sneakily behind cover, calling for him to control the rats to mix the powder there. At first, he did not care, until a rat didn't know which step it operated incorrectly, and with a direct "Bang!", all the surrounding rats spiraled into the sky, scattered all over the ground, moistening things with sound, nourishing the earth.

Only then did Kan Yinwu realize the severity: "Is this the gunpowder inside fireworks?"

He recalled that back in the day, one of his descendants was caught by some mischievous children, tied to a few large sky-rockets, and sent into the sky to explode; even if it didn't kill him, he fell to his death.

Xu Jia's thing was even more ferocious than a sky-rocket.

Xu Jia just adjusted the plan a little and let Kan Yinwu continue to summon small rats to work.

But these things were inherently volatile, not to mention they needed heating, and soon the pot used for boiling the medicine exploded.

Xu Jia recited the Rebirth Mantra for these rats, but they had to continue, and he said to Kan Yinwu: "Some rats die lighter than a feather, while others die heavier than Mount Tai. They made sacrifices for our Thunder Law cultivation, so they are heavier than Mount Tai."

This rhetoric of Xu Jia's was that of a proper Evil Sect leader.

However, it did make Kan Yinwu have less of a psychological shadow, and he just said: "They committed sins in their past lives, which is why they became rats in this life. Dying early means being reborn early; how many people want Master Xu to recite mantras for their salvation but cannot!"

Xu Jia could not tell if he was sincere or fake, so he did not say more. Xu Jia was skilled in heavenly calculation; every time an explosion occurred, he would calculate it to know where things went wrong.

After failing about seven or eight times, the many rats finally succeeded in mixing a portion of gunpowder.

Xu Jia directly used materials on the spot, filled some bamboo tubes, and after filling them, he activated the Tiangang Thunder Law to refine them.

The gunpowder contained much Earth Fire Sha, which is formed by the essence of earth minerals, while the Tiangang Thunder Law draws from the Sun, Moon, and Stars in the sky. With the harmony of Heaven and Earth, it has great power, not to mention it requires offering to a spirit tablet and sacrificing to the Tiangang Great Sage.

However, Xu Jia omitted much; after all, his own Body God already included a Tiangang Great Sage. Worshipping the god is worshipping himself; there is no need to worship again, it is merely borrowing the power of the Big Dipper to eliminate evil.

After refining the Tiangang True Qi with the Thunder Sha, the first Tiangang bamboo tube Divine Thunder was made. This thing does not need a fuse; it explodes as soon as it is thrown.

Like a large-scale throwing firecracker, it would explode with the slightest pressure.

He ordered Kan Yinwu to dig a hole, placed the Tiangang bamboo tube Divine Thunder inside, and carefully covered it with soil. Then he activated the reserved Tiangang True Qi to trigger it. Only a "Bang!" was heard, dust rose three zhang, sand and dust scattered everywhere, and the pit just dug was blown open a bit more, emitting white smoke, with a faint "Sha Qi" of the earth's disturbed soil rising from the pit.

If there were a person nearby, they would certainly be injured; even if it didn't kill them, they would surely be disabled.

Of course, viewed from the Dharma Realm, the sound traveled a hundred miles, the thunder and fire purified the world, and those wandering Dharma Realm creatures and Yin demons were directly shaken until their soul forms dissipated; the Dharma Realm at the edge of the explosion turned into a patch of scorched earth of thunder and fire.

It seems that besides causing harm to living people, it also causes significant harm to ghosts and gods.

Xu Jia nodded, satisfied with this power. Although it was still a bit inferior to the Jade Porcelain Divine Thunder that could blow up Wugong Ling with just three, and it was not very convenient to use, it would be great if he could hand-craft a Divine Firearm someday; it would use less medicine and have greater power.

The medicine materials sent by Jin Chan were almost used up. Next, he would craft a few more, but not here; he would craft the thunder where he intended to bury it. After all, transporting them on mountain roads was too dangerous; it was better to make them on the spot and use them on the spot.

After completing this matter, Xu Jia was planning to leave, but the pit that had just been blown open had increasingly thick Sha Qi.

Xu Jia felt strange, so he began to calculate.

It turned out that buried under Qingfeng Pavilion was the previous life of the green ox spirit, that pregnant woman who was killed for cutting open her belly to pray for rain.

The master who presided over the rain prayer at the time also knew her Resentment Qi was heavy, so he had her corpse buried face down, back up, on the official road, so that she would never be able to turn over for eternity and could never return to take revenge.

After some more time passed, the official road was repaired, and this corpse was dug up; it had died but did not rot, appearing particularly ferocious and terrifying. In one night, quite a few people died, all having died from colliding with the Evil Qi.

Among them, a master saw that she was about to turn into a Drought Demon, and also knew how innocent she had been in the past; if he used raging fire to burn her, it would only accelerate the accumulation of fire nature, turning her from a tangible Evil Corpse into an intangible Divine Evil.

Thus, he designed Qingfeng Pavilion to use the cool breeze to resolve this evil, and at the same time, the octagonal pavilion secretly corresponded to the Eight Trigrams, which was also a good method for suppression.

Even later, when this place was occupied by a nest of chicken demons, it was all because there was "wind" here.

But later, Xu Jia slaughtered the chicken demons, and Qingfeng Pavilion became the Fox Immortal Pavilion because of the fox demon's inscription; with less wind and no cool breeze, the Feng Shui here became unbalanced.

This is also why the green ox spirit sensed that its previous life's corpse was about to emerge, because it really was about to emerge.

It just so happened that Xu Jia was making external thunder here, and after several explosions, the thunderous power was so intimidating that any other zombies were also shaken until their Evil Qi dissipated.

Later, when the ground was broken open, the accumulated Evil Qi was dispersed; if pedestrians were to come into contact with this Evil Qi, they would fall into a great illness, but this zombie also fell short of success at the last moment, unable to become a major threat, and was forced to emerge prematurely.

Xu Jia stared carefully and saw the ground of Qingfeng Pavilion move slightly, and then a hand reached out; that hand had distinct joints and was a dried corpse hand. Jiangnan West Circuit could not possibly breed dried corpses, further confirming that this was a fire zombie.

The next moment, the other hand also came out, but the fire zombie did not come out first; instead, the next moment, it held a dark brown placenta high, and inside the placenta, one could see a dried infant corpse, shriveled and ugly.

As soon as this dried infant corpse came out, Xu Jia felt an unbearable dry heat; it turned out that it was not the green ox spirit's previous life that had become a Drought Demon, but the infant corpse that had become a small Drought Demon! This, in turn, corresponded to its Soul transforming into a "Spirit of Fire."

After holding the infant Drought Demon high, the female zombie wobbled and crawled out of Qingfeng Pavilion.

Then she locked eyes with Xu Jia.

For a moment, Xu Jia actually saw the emotion of "surprise" in her gaze; this zombie had actually birthed intelligence. A corpse birthing intelligence actually has nothing to do with the Soul or the original body; it is called a corpse monster, or Corpse Demon, belonging to "dead things becoming monsters!"

It is not the same thing as the zombies in web novels that "jump out of the Three Realms and are not within the Five Elements."

This corpse monster hugged the Drought Demon infant and ran away, and Xu Jia hurriedly went to chase.

Kan Yinwu even directly used a Divine Ability: "Freeze!"

But it was unknown if this Divine Ability was only useful on "living beings," as this female zombie was not disturbed at all.

Xu Jia employed the Jia Ma Technique, combined with the method of shrinking the ground, covering seven or eight zhang in one step, and soon arrived behind the female zombie. He slapped down with a palm of Heavenly Gang True Qi, and the female zombie immediately spat out a mouthful of baleful Qi and almost fell, yet she still protected the Drought Demon infant.

Xu Jia slapped her down with another palm, then drew a Corpse Fixing Talisman in the air, and only then said: "I know you have intelligence, and your life story is pitiful; I also pity it, but I cannot let you emerge to cause harm. I already have enough headaches before me; I cannot have one more."

The female zombie could not open her mouth, but her eyes remained fixed on Xu Jia. Logically speaking, if a zombie's eyes lose moisture, they are just two sockets, but this female zombie's eyes were like two black gemstones, clearly also having had some fortuitous encounter.

(End of this chapter)