Calculated ambush on the unsuspecting, succeeded instantly!
However, Zhang Jian did not relax his vigilance.
The Thunder Talismans in his hand were painted by him, numbering in the dozens, the fruit of his meticulous effort over half a month.
After successfully striking, he waved his hand again, pulling out another five or six Thunder Talismans from his sleeve. His Spiritual Power could control five or six of them at once, which was about his limit; any more would be uncontrollable, and could backfire.
As his hand raised, another six bolts of thunder flew out.
The thunder exploded.
Zhang Kang, who had been shakily trying to summon his Lifebound Demon Corpse, was once again engulfed in Thunder Light.
When the smoke cleared, the black-clothed Divination Master lay charred on the ground, only his chest slightly heaving, indicating he was still barely alive.
Seeing this, Zhang Jian showed no mercy, pulling out a Yellow Talisman from his person, activating his Spiritual Power, and turning it into a red thunderbolt as thick as a snake that struck his barely moving chest. This time, the Heterodox Sorcerer was completely silent.
"Got him!"
Seeing this scene, Zhang Jian breathed a sigh of relief; after two or three consecutive attacks, his substantial Spiritual Power had been depleted by at least a third.
Fortunately, it was all worthwhile.
At this moment, Zhang Kui was commanding his brave men to kill most of the bandits in the mountain stronghold.
The fierce bandits had long lost their previous courage, making them much easier to deal with once their morale had dropped.
The stubborn resisters, like Song Heihu and Zhang Bao, were no match for Jian Yao.
He also saw the fight in the woods.
Witnessing this, his expression was somewhat surprised and filled with admiration.
With rich combat experience, he could immediately see the whole story; clearly, the Warlock hiding in the grove had been ambushed by his precocious nephew.
"Indeed, my teachings were not in vain!"
"He who strikes first gains the advantage!"
"These Immortal Magics, however, are truly terrifying..."
His gaze swept over the trees shattered by the thunder, leaving a charred and tragic sight.
Zhang Kui was filled with deep feelings.
How can mere mortal flesh withstand such fierce Magic?
However, according to his nephew, as long as the Court's orthodoxy remains, those imbued with Dragon and Tiger Qi have notably higher resistance to these Heterodox Techniques than other Martial Artists, which was a slight relief for him.
Once Song Heihu, Zhang Bao, and the others were cornered and killed by Jian Yao, he promptly shouted loudly again.
"Clear the battlefield, search the entirety of Phoenix Tail Mountain, and make sure no one slips through!"
"Yes!"
The many brave men were now full of high morale. Completely annihilating the entire bandit stronghold on Phoenix Tail Mountain would certainly be a great accomplishment, and when they returned, rewards would surely be given.
In this operation of suppressing the bandits, the five hundred soldiers suffered minimal casualties, with only a few unlucky ones being caught in traps at the foot of the mountain, and two too eager for merits were killed by Song Heihu's hidden weapons; few were actually injured.
The presence of the Nine-Bead Divine Crossbow largely ensured their survival rate.
Zhang Jian also witnessed this scene; the money spent was truly worthwhile, though it's a pity the Zhang Family could not procure the Breaking Prison Armor or Iron Fang Shield from the military.
"Forming a private army really is a money pit!"
He sighed inwardly.
Zhang Jian's gaze fell upon the body of the Heterodox Sorcerer before him, and he stepped forward to search Zhang Kang's corpse. After a moment, he found a Turtle Shell and an iron sheet in his hands.
These were the only two intact items left on him.
Having endured his Celestial Thunder strikes, their intactness was certainly valuable.
Soon after, Zhang Jian, with the help of the soldiers, found two Demon Corpses that Zhang Kang had not yet released.
At this moment, the two Demon Corpses were placed in the back mountain, with fangs bared and eyes tightly shut, surrounded by a shocking Yin Qi.
A nauseating bloody human stench clung to them.
With a glance, Zhang Jian casually took out two Thunder Talismans to destroy the corpses on the spot, ensuring no hidden dangers remained.
...
Three days later
On the rock upon the mountain, in the morning light, Zhang Jian was collecting Sunrise Qi. Morning and evening are the best times to gather Sun and Moon essence, and Cultivators spend most of the time collecting the Power of Heaven and Earth to nourish themselves. However, orthodox Great Dao Techniques also collect the Power of the Three Lights, which best nourished the three treasures, though non-orthodox schools found these hard to harness.
Zhang Jian didn't know all this then; he was meticulously collecting the Power of Heaven and Earth, combining it with the medicinal power of exotic treasures from the Immortal Realm within himself to temper his Purity Body.
His advancement was extraordinary, with his internal Spiritual Power growing more abundant daily.
His soul, already strong, was nearing the brink of a breakthrough as it received nourishment from Spiritual Power.
He couldn't imagine reaching the Peak of Qi Cultivation within such a short time frame.
Evidently, utilizing the medicinal power of Fire Apricot and Golden Lotus Seed, his Purity Body had been fully honed, gaining major benefits. As long as these were fully absorbed, progress would naturally follow as a matter of course.
This reduced his need for twenty to thirty years of arduous cultivation.
However, next, he had to quell the delusional thoughts within his Spiritual Sense before successfully forming Divine Thought, passing the stage of cultivating the soul.
Of course, the prerequisite for this was full and harmonious energy, providing the foundation for nurturing one's Divine Thought.
Once Divine Thought was nurtured, one could gradually map out their Life Plate, encounter some profound mysteries of the Great Dao, and establish the foundation for building a Supreme Dao Foundation.
Having finished collecting Rising Sun Spiritual Mechanism in the morning light, Zhang Jian slowly opened his eyes, his gaze falling upon the two items beside him.
The items retrieved from Zhang Kang had considerable value.
The dark iron sheet contained a segment of a Yin Yang Corpse Refining Fragment, focused on refining two Protective Corpse Demons and controlling Corpse Ghosts to accomplish being a Yin Yang Body-Protecting Demon.
Its sinister and venomous nature was apparent.
Extremely dangerous if it backfired, it could easily transform oneself into something akin to Zhang Kang, half-human, half-ghost, ultimately degenerating into a Corpse Ghost and gradually losing humanity.
Zhang Jian had no interest and refused to meddle with it.
Instead, the Turtle Shell with "Turtle Origin Strategy" caught Zhang Jian's interest; he picked up the Turtle Shell, and on its jade-like back was an inscription of about eight hundred characters in minute seal script, a piece on metaphysical principles of easy logic.
The entire piece detailed discussions on the four directions, celestial phenomena, and hexagrams, profound and unspeakably mysterious, full of specialist terms that left Zhang Jian mildly comprehending.
Zhang Jian reckoned this was Zhang Kang's original expertise.
Yet Zhang Kang evidently abandoned the path of a Divination Master, losing his way into the wrong practice.
Zhang Jian took a glance, finding some interest, but simply used it as a corroboration for his understanding of the world's principles, uninterested in adopting the Divination Master's line of work.
Divination Masters steal Celestial Secrets from Heaven and Earth; this practice can easily result in backlash from these very secrets, just like Zhang Kang himself, who hadn't foreseen his own demise here.
Zhang Jian regarded it merely as an ordinary book to pass the time.
RUMBLE!!
As sunlight shone upon the back mountain, accompanied by a loud bang, Zhang Kui's joyful voice was heard.
"Brother Jian, the Mian King's Tomb has been excavated!"
"It seems we have secured a gift for Grandfather's birthday!"
Zhang Jian instantly laughed.
He stepped forward, facing a deep tomb entrance; nearby, Zhang Kui had already called upon accompanying "professionals" to survey the area.
Zhang Jian released his Spiritual Sense, his expression somewhat solemn.
Mian was an ancient prince from a thousand years ago, leaving a substantial mark on Fengyang County; the dams nestled against the mountains and rivers here were legacies of Mian. In his youth, he was considered wise and valiant.
However, as he aged, he grew foolish, seeking Longevity, madly scavenging Fengyang's wealth, burning lead and refining mercury in Shuangfeng Mountain, aspiring to refine a Golden Core for life extension.
In fear of retribution before his death, he purposely concealed his tomb amidst the mountains.
Zhang Jian was also very curious about how many treasures remained in the Mian King's Tomb.