Chapter 736: Thunder Strikes Before One Can Cover Their Ears

"Crackle—"

A sound of electric current rang out; that was the sound of the Daoist driving the Thunder Light.

At the same time, a vast Shadow suddenly appeared in the sky, instantly shrouding the entire Wangfu.

Although this Shadow was gloomy, the sky over Jingcheng was already filled with dark clouds and was quite dim, so the Shadow's darkness was not particularly noticeable. Up close, the Shadow could still be distinguished, but from a distance, it looked like nothing more than a blurry mass.

Just looking at it, it did not necessarily seem terrifying; what truly made one's heart palpitate was the oppressive aura contained within it.

Qi, no...

Yin Qi!

It came from another world!

Tang Zhao's expression changed. He had originally thought that no matter who the intruder was, even if a Sword Immortal had popped out of thin air, he would not be moved. But when it truly appeared, that dense Yin Qi still left him suspicious and uneasy—

Could it be... from over there?

The Shadow expanded extremely quickly. In the blink of an eye, it had surrounded the entire Wangfu from all directions. Countless illusory tentacles hung down from the Shadow in the sky, one right next to another, crashing down upon the entire estate like a waterfall.

"Begone!"

With a loud shout, Thunder Light erupted!

Bright lightning exploded from the sky! It was not a Heavenly Thunder drawn down from the rolling thunderclouds above, but rather Thunder Light rising from the flat ground. The thunder came from the small sword in the Daoist's hand, surging upward to meet the attack!

Tang Zhao had seen lightning, natural lightning, the lightning released by his senior brother's Thunder Wing, and he had even seen the destructive Heavenly Thunder released by the Imperial Preceptor in the palace. He had also modified Chain Lightning Talismans himself; those were all very powerful forces.

But never had he seen lightning more powerful than this!

It was not Thunder Light gathered from bolts of lightning, but true spherical lightning; it did not flicker with speed, but shattered enemies with pure power!

The sphere was filled with an aura of violence and destruction; within that sphere, nothing could survive.

Both powerful and pure!

This contest was fierce from the very beginning. The Shadow rolled in carrying endless power, and that lightning ball met it, also carrying endless power. Neither side used Sword Law or technique; it was simply power against power—

A head-on collision!

The forces in the sky crashed together, creating intense fluctuations. Not a single person present could stand steady; everyone was pressed to the ground, not even daring to look, with their heads all pressed against the earth. Sensing the aura was now useless, because while the two forces had originally been distinct and could be told apart, once they collided, they could no longer be separated, merging into an unimaginable energy!

The crowd could not distinguish between them, nor could they tell which was stronger, and naturally, they could not guess the winner.

Except for Tang Zhao!

Tang Zhao's perception was sufficient to distinguish the two entangled forces. Not only could he distinguish them, but he was also prepared at all times to step in if the Imperial Preceptor's power showed signs of defeat. Doing so would certainly attract attention, but since this power of the Imperial Preceptor had already been consumed, it would be difficult for the people of the Dao Palace to strike again in the short term. If he stepped in now, it shouldn't be too hard to retreat unscathed after winning, right?

Surely the Imperial Preceptor couldn't be utterly crushed when striking an enemy, yet be full of vigor when striking his own people?

However, Tang Zhao was overthinking it.

The Imperial Preceptor's power was definitely not weak, and it looked like it was gaining the upper hand!

At first, there was a period of stalemate, but then the lightning overwhelmed the Yin Qi, rumbling as it pushed it back.

That struggle was like fire meeting ice; the ice could hold out without melting at first, but once it truly began to melt, it quickly vanished completely.

The Yin Qi was the same. It burned rapidly in the Thunder Light, and once burned up, it was gone without a trace.

A moment later, the Thunder Light extinguished, as if a plaster had been peeled off the sky, revealing smooth skin underneath.

The Shadow had disappeared. Above was the square sky of the courtyard, and one could see the layers of thunderclouds pressing down on everyone's heads.

The invading enemy had been eliminated?!

So fast?!

When the crowd looked up, they all felt a sense of bewilderment, as if everything just now had been a hallucination.

"Haha, haha..."

At this moment, someone laughed out loud; it was the leading Daoist.

Although his laughter was not the kind of wild laughter that required others to ask "Why does Senior Brother laugh?", he was still overjoyed and could not stop laughing, saying: "How about that? Everyone, what did I say? That thief was only so arrogant because he had the advantage of being in the dark while we were in the light. How could he possibly compare to the Imperial Preceptor when it comes to pure power? Did you see? Wherever the Heavenly Thunder passes, all becomes dust! We won, we won!"

Wang Fei scrambled up and immediately followed his words, saying: "Exactly! Who can compare to the Imperial Preceptor? Doesn't he repel all evil? Many thanks to the Imperial Preceptor and the Immortal Official for ensuring the safety of my family."

For a time, both sides were in high spirits, flattering each other, and Wang Fei even specially ordered people to bring out treasures as gifts.

However...

Was it really that simple? To come with such great momentum, only to be eliminated without a sound?

Was the series of extermination cases finally over?

"Senior Brother Guo."

Someone called him softly.

Tang Zhao snapped back to reality and saw the black-robed Daoist who had just examined the corpses calling him softly and winking at him.

Was this asking him to go out and offer a reminder?

Oh? You noticed something wrong too?

Then why don't you step forward, and instead ask me to do it?

Tang Zhao didn't really want to go, but the role he was playing should be willing, and he still had to stay in character, so he stepped forward and said: "Senior Brother, has the mastermind really been eliminated?"

That senior brother's laughter stopped abruptly, and he said: "What do you mean?"

Tang Zhao said: "Could there be a trick in this?"

That senior brother said: "Are you saying the enemy was defeated too easily?"

So you knew that too?

But that was not what Tang Zhao was suspicious of. It was not unheard of for an enemy to come aggressively only to be cut down by a single sword. He himself could do such a thing. Since returning from Wangliang Mountain, his realm, to put it colloquially, could be called the peak Great Perfection of two-thirds of a step to Sword Immortal. If an ordinary Sword Hero challenged him without seeing the situation clearly, being killed instantly was to be expected.

The problem did not lie there.

"May I ask Senior Brother, if we hadn't come here, would the family of Prince Chun have died just like the family of Prince Hengchang?"

Uh...

This question stunned the Daoist, who didn't react for a moment, but then he immediately understood what he meant:

The Shadow that attacked this time is completely different in technique from the Hengchang Prince Mansion incident!

Although they hadn't yet managed to see how the Shadow would kill this time, it was clearly inclined toward the bizarre; with so many tentacles pressing down, the state of the dead would likely be either a complete mess or a sudden death without external injuries, and it was even possible for the physical body and the Soul to dissipate together, but the one thing it could not be was like the Hengchang Prince Mansion over there, where everyone died under blades and swords with blood covering the ground.

Not to mention, over there, the buildings were completely undamaged, not a single person was missing, and there were even people who died indoors; no matter how you look at it, it was a group of people who broke into the Wangfu and eliminated everyone one by one. It bears no resemblance to the Shadow descending here.

The leading Daoist was silent, then said, "Could it be that this murderer has many changing techniques and acts as he pleases? Perhaps this time he just wanted to try this bizarre move?"

What do you think?

Tang Zhao added, "Did you feel any Yin Qi just now, Senior Brother?"

The leading Daoist paused for a moment and sighed, "I know what you mean... such a large-scale leak of Yin Qi can actually be detected; if such massive Yin Qi had appeared before, Qingtian Temple should have raised an alarm. Junior Brother Guo, take my token and go to Qingtian Temple to ask if there has been any large-scale gathering of Yin Qi in the vicinity of Jingcheng these past two days."

If there was, then it is still possible that the same culprit is just changing their method of attack; if there was not, and this is the first time, then the problem is huge.

Because Yin Qi is such an uncommon thing, even if one were to set up a diversion, one could not find so much ready-made Yin Qi. That leaves only the possibility that the enemy really came from "over there."

They all knew that even without verification, it was almost certain. Junior Brother Guo was right just now; if there really were such frequent large-scale Yin Qi, Qingtian Temple would likely have raised an alarm long ago. Many government offices are not operating during this lockdown, but Qingtian Temple carries on as usual, constantly monitoring the world's fortune; the Yin Calamity does not care about whatever political coup you are staging.

Therefore, since Qingtian Temple did not raise an alarm, it means there was none. Thus, it is clear that Tang Zhao's trip was in vain.

However, Tang Zhao himself was quite happy to make this trip, for a simple reason—he could leave the group.

As Guo Mingfan's responsibilities grew more important and he had to act as a strategist at all times, Tang Zhao felt something was amiss. He was not a natural actor like Wei Se; it was easy to make mistakes when speaking too much, and once a mistake was made in this tense situation, he would surely be treated as a thief, and he wouldn't be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. Therefore, he wanted to abandon this identity and retreat back into the corner of Doubt and concealment. As for investigating the mastermind and stabilizing the situation in Jingcheng, these were not Tang Zhao's most pressing tasks, but the responsibilities of the Imperial Preceptor and the Dao Palace. If Tang Zhao were to overstep his bounds, he would have to see if others were happy about it.

Tang Zhao hurried out, while the leading Daoist stood there pondering in silence, finally asking, "Your Highness, although I have always felt that this attack might just be a diversion, I still want to ask, does your mansion have any enemies?"

There is too much infighting among the powerful in Jingcheng; if you speak of wishing for the other's death, that exists, but it is very rare for someone to actually take action to wipe out an entire family.

The tacit understanding at the top is not to assassinate each other lightly; if you let it go and start assassinating each other, in this world where Sword Guests run rampant, it would be very easy to play until everyone is extinct.

Wang Fei was also a bit confused and said, "How long have we been in the capital? We haven't made such great enemies. If there are any, it would be the Turtle Bandits."

The Daoist was a bit puzzled and said, "Turtle Bandits? Are they remnants of the previous dynasty? Do they have a grudge against you?"

The Snow Mountain King and the Turtle Bandits have been locked in battle for many years; it can be said to be a local war of great significance in the world, and the forces invested by both sides are quite considerable. But in the Jingcheng Imperial Court, it is not a matter of urgency. The Imperial Court has long been unable to manage local affairs; they are already too busy fighting among themselves right here. Furthermore, the Dao Palace is far removed from court politics, and the Daoist did not know the grievances between the Snow Mountain King's lineage and the Turtle Bandits.

Wang Fei sighed and said, "If it were the Turtle Bandits hunting us down, it wouldn't be strange for them to stir up Yin Qi; I heard that the Eternal Night Court and the Non-Dual Moon have long been in collusion..."

Suddenly, the space not far away flashed, and a person appeared out of thin air in the courtyard.

"How bold!"

The Daoist was both shocked and angry; before he could think, a bolt of Thunder Light had already been struck out.

Seeing the Thunder Light strike with extreme speed, already reaching the person's face, suddenly, a light swept over from the side, shielding the newcomer.

The next moment, the Thunder Light extinguished, and the person in front had already Disappearance.