Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 199: The Distribution of Power Among the Prefectures of Yongzhou

The small pebble lay motionless in the grass, surrounded by other small stones scattered throughout the meadow. It blended in without a trace of unusual presence, completely inconspicuous.

If the Five Thunder Token in Gu Zhao's mind hadn't been free of malevolent energy, Gu Zhao wouldn't have realized that the man in green had faked his death to escape.

But now that a conclusion has been reached, Gu Zhao used his divine sense combined with the true qi of the Daoist sect to examine it carefully, and naturally he saw that this small pebble was unusual.

After Gu Zhao finished speaking, the room fell silent.

"You think I'm bluffing you?" Gu Zhao chuckled, pointing his right sword finger, and a spark of fire shot out, landing on a small pebble three feet in front of him.

The sparks transformed into a fiery net, instantly enveloping the small pebble.

"what!"

A piercing scream echoed through everyone's minds, and then a ghostly figure emerged from the pebbles, trying to break through the net of fire.

But at this moment, he had almost no magical power left, so how could he break through Gu Zhao's fire shield spell?

He shrank his soul, trying to squeeze through the gaps in the fire net, but the gaps in the fire net seemed to have an invisible barrier, intercepting the man in blue's soul. At the same time, the fire net spread, and wisps of flame stuck to his soul, burning his soul and scorching his spirit.

The soul screamed in agony and with a whoosh, it darted back into the stone. At the same time, a surge of spiritual energy emanated from it—his voice begging for mercy, "Master, spare my life!"

Gu Zhao held the stone in her hand, ignoring him, and turned to Zhuo Qingyan, saying, "Let's pay our respects to Uncle first."

Zhuo Qingyan nodded and waved her hand again to release Yuan Wenrui.

……

Before the incense sticks burned out, Zhuo Qingyan destroyed Yuan Wenrui's spirit and offered sacrifices to her parents.

Before the sun had even dipped below the horizon, the group boarded the carriage to return to the Daluo Palace.

Inside the carriage, Gu Zhao took out the small stone again and gently pricked it with his fingertip. The soul of the man in blue appeared, and the contempt and casualness were no longer visible in his peach blossom eyes. Instead, they were filled with shock, anger, and helplessness.

Bai Ke stepped forward and asked with a smile, "Are we qualified to hear your name now?"

The man in blue trembled, but still managed a forced smile. "It was just a misunderstanding. I was just impatient because I couldn't bear to waste the sorcerer's soul. Please forgive me."

"My name is Deng Lingyun from Jishen Mountain. May I ask how you gentlemen are addressed?" The man in blue cupped his hands and looked at Gu Zhao.

"Jishen Mountain..." Gu Zhao rubbed his fingers together and asked, "Is it in Yongzhou or Yazhou?"

Deng Lingyun was taken aback, not expecting that Gu Zhao, with such a high level of cultivation, would not even know about the Silent God Mountain.

"Mount Jishen is located in Xianshan Prefecture of Yongzhou, and is a famous mountain in Yongzhou." Deng Lingyun tentatively said, "Brother, I was blind just now. We've become friends through this misunderstanding, how about we become friends?"

Gu Zhao gave Deng Lingyun a half-smile.

The embroiderer couldn't help but say, "Do you think we're fools? We beat you until you were just a wisp of a soul. Do you think we'd let you go back and get reinforcements to take revenge?"

"No, no!" Deng Lingyun raised his hand and said, "Brother, your thunder magic is unfathomable. If I am not mistaken, you have at least eight or nine hundred years of cultivation. You would be an elder on Mount Jishen. How could I dare to cause trouble for the sect?"

At this point, Deng Lingyun smiled warmly and said, "Besides, I am a ghost. Even if I only have a wisp of a soul left, I can recover in a year or two. We are not enemies, not enemies at all."

Gu Zhao's eyes flickered. He hadn't expected Jishen Mountain to be so powerful. Even experts with eight or nine hundred years of cultivation were only elders on the mountain. The sect leader's cultivation would only be higher, and there were probably quite a few experts with more than five hundred years of cultivation.

"Xianshan Prefecture, I thought you were from Shide Prefecture," Gu Zhao said casually.

"What is Shide Prefecture?" Deng Lingyun replied casually. "Just a few small sects sharing incense offerings, they're nothing special." Gu Zhao nodded and casually added, "Jishen Mountain is renowned throughout Yongzhou, but didn't it accept any incense offerings from Shide Prefecture?"

“Mount Jishen cultivates the aura of annihilation and has no need for incense offerings from the mortal world.” Deng Lingyun did not answer the first question, but continued, “It is the Netherfire Sect of the Heyan Mansion that needs incense offerings, and they are currently suppressing the Shide Mansion.”

Gu Zhao's eyes flickered, "What is the cultivation level of the leader of the Netherfire Sect?"

Deng Lingyun replied, "It is said that the Netherfire Celestial Venerable has two thousand years of cultivation, and no one in Shide Prefecture can rival him. If it weren't for the combined efforts of those sects, he would have been destroyed by the Netherfire Sect."

Gu Zhao nodded, guessing that the overall strength of Shide Prefecture was probably similar to that of Baishi Prefecture.

"The He Yan family is located north of Xian Shan Prefecture, but they dare not go south. It seems they dare not provoke Ji Shen Mountain," Gu Zhao said with a smile.

Deng Lingyun said smugly, "Although the Netherfire Celestial Venerable is strong, he is no match for my family's Ancestor Jishen. If he dares to be presumptuous, my family's Ancestor will make him disappear with a wave of his hand."

The carriage returned to the Daluo Palace. Gu Zhao's tone became increasingly friendly, even giving Deng Lingyun the illusion that he was chatting with a friend. If he weren't just a remnant soul, he would have liked to have a couple of drinks with Gu Zhao.

However, Deng Lingyun also relaxed a little.

"If you have the time, brother, you are welcome to come with me to Mount Jishen as a guest." Deng Lingyun invited Gu Zhao. "Brother, your cultivation is profound, and you are an honored guest. My master is an elder of Mount Jishen, and he will certainly not neglect you."

"So you are an elder's disciple? My apologies for my rudeness. No wonder you are so arrogant," Gu Zhao said with a teasing smile.

"I dare not, I am far inferior to you, brother." Deng Lingyun bowed with shame. "If you had not shown mercy, I would have been annihilated."

Gu Zhao waved his hand, "Then I'll have to wait for your master's revenge."

“Master doesn’t need to follow my spirit left on the mountain to avenge me anymore.” Deng Lingyun smiled warmly, his eyes narrowing. “We’ve already turned enemies into friends.”

“Indeed, indeed. To be honest, we don’t have any grudges, and I have no intention of provoking Mount Jishen.” Gu Zhao nodded with a smile, then seemed to suddenly remember something and asked curiously, “Brother Deng, why did you come to Changping Prefecture alone?”

At this moment, Deng Lingyun truly didn't care anymore, casually waving his hand, "I need to collect the souls of sorcerers to refine the Annihilation Ghost God. I've been traveling all the way to the northwest, but I couldn't gather them all in Shide Prefecture, so I came to Changping Prefecture."

Gu Zhao understood, pointed to himself, and said, "I am the mage."

Deng Lingyun laughed awkwardly, "Brother, you jest. How could I possibly be your match?"

"If you want to refine a mage's soul, and you encounter a mage, if you can win, then you will naturally kill him; if you cannot win, then you will naturally be killed by the mage."

Gu Zhao nodded, then looked up at Deng Lingyun, "I am a mage, you can't beat me, right?"

Deng Lingyun's expression changed drastically, "Brother..."

Gu Zhao smiled slightly, "So it's only natural that you would die by my hand, isn't it?"

"My master knows..."

Before Deng Lingyun could finish speaking, Gu Zhao pointed a finger at his brow, and a flash of purple-gold light shattered his soul.

Strands of malevolent energy were absorbed by the Five Thunder Token, filling the last empty space on the progress bar for the condensation of the Thunder Seed.

The lightning seed was successfully condensed.

Deng Lingyun's soul was scattered.

Gu Zhao picked up a silk handkerchief from the table and wiped her hands, saying calmly, "I'm going to be busy again."

(End of this chapter)