I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Lei Hefeng, a bamboo house by the stream.

After returning to his residence, Zhou Tai immediately brewed himself a pot of tea, then took a big gulp of the hot tea mixed with cold water.

After downing his tea in one gulp, he sighed and said, "Phew, what a bad day! I never thought that disaster would strike me like this while I was just sitting at home. I almost lost my life for no reason!"

After saying that, he muttered to himself with a puzzled look, "But what about that Uncle Sun's Thunder-Patterned Frog? If he got a dead frog, where did the baby frog come from? Could it be some kind of posthumous child?"

"No, I must ask Senior Brother Guo for help in finding out next time I see him. I can't let myself be unfairly blamed like this!"

Shaking his head, Zhou Tai's face turned grim as he quickly got up and walked towards the mountain stream frog pond.

In the days that followed, Zhou Tai spent significantly more time in the mountain stream frog pond than before, and he put much more effort into feeding and electrotherapy.

But at the same time, he also increased the number of times he drew thunder talismans.

This incident served as a stark reminder to Zhou Tai that he was still just a menial disciple with no protection whatsoever, and he was utterly powerless against the threat posed by an inner disciple in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Even if Zhang Yuanjing were to kill him in a fit of rage, he wouldn't be punished much; at most, he'd be fined some spirit stones!

Only by advancing to the outer sect and truly leaving their name on the Spirit Beast Mountain sect's register can they have a certain say when facing the coercion of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

At least within the sect, Foundation Establishment cultivators are strictly prohibited from directly killing outer sect disciples.

Even if evidence is found against an outer disciple, it must be handed over to the sect's criminal law hall for trial and adjudication; the use of private torture is strictly prohibited.

Through repeated failures, Zhou Tai's control over the power of lightning continued to improve, as did his progress in drawing talismans.

That day, Zhou Tai received another message from Aaron Kwok, inviting him to make a deal.

Zhou Tai had been waiting for this day for a long time, and hurriedly went to submit his application.

He had thought that after what had happened before, this application might be difficult or even rejected, but to his surprise, it went very smoothly.

This immediately put him on high alert, and he even considered canceling the deal.

But then I thought, if I suddenly canceled the transaction, wouldn't that just show that I have something to hide?

So, with a heavy heart, he took the talisman and went down the mountain.

Because he has been busy drawing thunder talismans recently, he doesn't have many magic talismans in his possession. This time, he will definitely have to spend a lot of spirit stones to obtain the supplies.

When Zhou Tai arrived at the mountain cabin where they often traded, Aaron Kwok had not yet arrived, so he waited patiently.

Before long, Aaron Kwok was seen flying over on a black eagle.

He watched the black eagle swooping down, and before Aaron Kwok could even get off, he rushed forward and shouted, "Senior Brother Kwok, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you so long these past few days, I've been practically dying of anticipation!"

Seeing his extremely unusual behavior, Aaron Kwok's heart skipped a beat, as if he realized something. He quickly smiled and teased, "I think Junior Brother Zhou wants the spirit stones I have!"

After saying that, he jumped off the eagle's back and ordered the black eagle to keep watch outside the house, while he followed Zhou Tai into the wooden house.

As soon as the two entered the room, Zhou Tai, his face full of worry, cried out, "Senior Brother Guo, you absolutely must help me this time! You have no idea, I almost lost my life this time!"

Without Guo Fucheng asking any further questions, he recounted how Zhang Yuanjing had summoned him.

As the person who orchestrated the theft and sale of frogs, Aaron Kwok immediately understood Zhou Tai's meaning upon hearing his words.

This was clearly an attempt to express dissatisfaction under the guise of complaining, demand compensation, and also a reminder that his trading today might be being monitored.

However, he already had some plans in mind, so he smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Junior Brother Zhou, don't panic. Uncle Zhang must have wronged you. I was just about to say it anyway. Uncle Sun's reward is really generous. I'm even thinking of advising you to switch sides and join his cause!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai was so frightened that he shook his head and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No, no, no, Senior Brother Guo, I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said. I haven't lived enough yet!"

"Haha, Junior Brother Zhou, you're such a coward! I was just kidding!"

Aaron Kwok laughed and made another joke before getting down to business.

"There's something I need to tell you, Junior Brother Zhou. I'll probably be going to the Demon Abyss Mountains in about six months, so you'd better hurry up here."

"Furthermore, Junior Brother Zhou, if you can successfully draw the Thunder Talisman before I leave, I have an even bigger gift for you!"

When it came to serious matters, his expression became much more serious, clearly aware of the pressure his words would put on Zhou Tai.

Sure enough, Zhou Tai frowned deeply after hearing his words.

After frowning and pondering for a while, Zhou Tai looked at him and slowly said, "Senior Brother Guo, you must have your own reasons for being in such a hurry to go to the Demon Abyss Mountains. I won't say much about that. However, if you want me to have results within six months, you'll probably need to help me out with the talisman paper and ink."

"Of course. This time, I've prepared talisman paper and ink worth three hundred low-grade spirit stones for you, Junior Brother Zhou. The talisman paper is made from the branches and leaves of thunder bamboo, and the talisman ink is thunder rhinoceros ink with the blood of the thunder rhinoceros beast added. These are all materials specially made for drawing thunder talismans!"

As he spoke, Aaron Kwok took out all the talismans and ink he had brought.

Zhou Tai looked closely and saw that all the talisman papers were cut to the same size, ten sheets per stack, and there were thirty stacks in total. The talisman ink was in ten pieces, each about three inches long.

He casually picked up a stack of talismans, examined them, and nodded with satisfaction. Then, looking at Aaron Kwok, he said, "Senior Brother Kwok, you're very kind, but I'm afraid I don't have enough spirit stones to give you right now!"

Aaron Kwok waved his hand and said, "It's alright, you can owe me the spirit stones for now. Anyway, with your current talisman-drawing skills, Junior Brother Zhou, you're not worried about not being able to pay me back."

Hearing this, Zhou Tai breathed a slight sigh of relief and immediately nodded solemnly, saying, "Alright, I am grateful for your trust, Senior Brother Guo. I will strive not to live up to your expectations!"

He then handed over the dozen or so fire serpent talismans he had drawn during this period to the other party.

After completing the transaction, the two quickly went their separate ways.

After returning to his bamboo house, Zhou Tai quickly took out the newly acquired talisman paper and ink to study them.

Aaron Kwok was not lying. These so-called Thunder Bamboo Paper and Thunder Rhinoceros Ink were much better than the talisman paper and ink that Zhou Tai had used before, and were even good enough to make a first-grade high-quality Thunder Talisman!

Of course, their prices are also incredibly high.

Three hundred low-grade spirit stones only yielded three hundred talisman papers and ten talisman inks, meaning that the cost of drawing a talisman each time exceeded one low-grade spirit stone.

This put considerable pressure on Zhou Tai.

He knew very well that this was part of Aaron Kwok's compensation for his previous help in stealing frogs, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he had risked his life to obtain it.

If he runs out of talisman paper and ink and still can't produce a single thunder talisman, Aaron Kwok will probably be very disappointed in him and won't be as dedicated to helping him in the future.

After all, Aaron Kwok is about to go to the Demon Abyss Mountains for training. If he comes back alive, he will most likely be busy with Foundation Establishment and won't have much time to care about a useless handyman disciple like him.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of using the best steel for the blade, Zhou Tai did not easily use these talisman papers and inks, but instead continued to use the original talisman papers and inks to test and make mistakes.

More than a month later, Zhou Tai had used up all the talisman paper and ink he had previously stockpiled, and his talisman-drawing progress had reached two-thirds.

His control over the power of lightning has greatly improved, and with a little more progress, he may be able to draw a real lightning talisman.

This situation made Zhou Tai very happy, and he became even more engrossed in it.

Once he started using the Thunder Bamboo Paper and Thunder Rhinoceros Ink to draw talismans, he was immediately pleasantly surprised to find that the talisman paper indeed greatly improved the resistance to lightning power.

Another month passed, and Zhou Tai had only half of the Thunder Bamboo Paper left. But by then, he had already pushed the progress of drawing talismans to 90%, and was only one small step away from completion.

At this point, Zhou Tai, who had experienced many grand occasions and important moments in the past, became unusually calm.

That day, after calmly checking his remaining supplies, he suddenly muttered to himself, "Although I still have half of the talisman paper left, I can't possibly succeed with only one or two out of three hundred talismans. From now on, I should reduce the number of times I draw talismans each day and adopt a slow and meticulous approach to advance the process!"

Aaron Kwok gave him six months, and less than half of that time has passed. He really doesn't need to be too eager for quick success and waste precious resources.