Chapter 167: Chapter 72: Five Thunders Combined

A silence fell over the table at Yang Jing’s words.

“True. With Junior Brother Yang’s talent, becoming a True Disciple is as easy as reaching into his pocket.”

Wang Xu said, his expression conflicted.

Everyone at the table had managed to secure a minor official post in the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion thanks to their Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation. Their family backgrounds and innate talent were certainly nothing to scoff at. But in truth, they were all failures from the Sect’s internal struggle for the rank of True Disciple.

It was precisely because they had failed that they sought other paths, coming to serve in the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion in search of an opportunity to reach Core Formation.

Everyone at the table could see that Pei Jizhen had arranged this banquet to set up Yang Jing with Yang Jingxu. Yang Jing’s words were clearly a tactful rejection.

Yang Jingxu was exceptionally beautiful, with a gentle temperament and a mastery of the Alchemy Skill. Furthermore, she hailed from the Shangshui Yang Family, a Golden Core Clan in the Northern Domain, and had numerous suitors within the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. To see her take the initiative to show her interest, only to be rejected, left a bitter taste in their mouths.

The atmosphere of the banquet instantly grew cold.

Yang Jing, too, was growing annoyed. ’I’ve already made my rejection perfectly clear,’ he thought. ’Why are they still dragging this out?’

Pei Jizhen was groaning inwardly. It was his Daoist companion, Zhang Lu, who had been constantly whispering in his ear, insisting he set up Yang Jing and Yang Jingxu. That was the only reason he had gone to all the trouble of hosting this banquet.

He had tried to tell Zhang Lu tactfully that one look at Yang Jing was enough to know he was the type to focus solely on his cultivation. His ambition was longevity; he was unlikely to tie himself down with a Daoist companion so soon.

But Zhang Lu would not be swayed. She insisted that her junior sister was virtuous, gentle, and an ideal wife, and with her superb Alchemy Skill, she was more than a match for Yang Jing.

When Pei Jizhen first began learning the Puppetry Skill, the costs had been enormous. It was Zhang Lu who had toiled at Alchemy to cover his expenses. As a result, he always treated her with great respect, and was even a bit henpecked.

Whenever Zhang Lu put on a stern face, he could only obediently give in.

Fortunately, everyone present was quick-witted, and the somewhat awkward atmosphere soon became lively again.

A moment later, the two women who had been in the kitchen returned to the table.

Yang Jingxu looked flustered as she hurried over, even the hair at her temples in disarray. When she saw Yang Jing at the table, her expression fell for a moment before she composed herself and spoke.

Her senior sister had coaxed her into helping cook in the kitchen; she hadn’t even known Yang Jing was invited today.

“Senior Brother Yang, I didn’t know my senior sister would take matters into her own hands. I’m so sorry to have put you in such a difficult position.”

“Junior Sister!”

Zhang Lu’s eyes widened in a glare, her voice turning shrill.

“Why are you taking the side of this heartless, faithless man!?”

Yang Jing’s eyes narrowed. ’Something’s not right,’ he thought.

“That’s enough, Senior Sister! The reason I admire Senior Brother Yang is because he killed the Lengquan Three Friends, avenging my brother’s murder. Please, don’t make things difficult for him anymore.”

Yang Jingxu said.

This was a shameful family secret for the Shangshui Yang Family. Because of his exceptional looks, her own younger brother had been targeted by Hua Doushu of the Cold Spring Three Demons and left for dead in a corpse-dumping ground.

The Yang Family had wanted to avenge him, but the Cold Spring Three Demons were as slippery as eels, and their trail had gone completely cold.

Yang Jing had killed the Lengquan Three Friends, achieving the vengeance she longed for. Combined with his heroic and handsome bearing, Yang Jingxu found herself secretly falling for him. She had even confided her feelings to her senior sister, Zhang Lu, never imagining it would stir up such a storm. This was not what she wanted at all.

Zhang Lu’s brows knitted in anger. But just as she was about to speak, Yang Jing suddenly shot to his feet, grabbed her by the neck, and lifted her clean off the ground.

With a deafening CRACK of muffled thunder, a searing bolt of lightning slammed directly into her body.

This sudden turn of events left everyone present utterly horrified. No one could have imagined that Yang Jing would attack so suddenly. Pei Jizhen, in particular, looked as if his eyes would burst from their sockets.

“Yang Jing! What do you think you’re doing!?”

The next moment, in a fit of desperation, he pulled three ten-foot-tall Armored Warrior Puppets from his Storage Bag. The puppets, wielding Azure Dragon Crescent Sabers and clad in Mountain Pattern Armor, completely surrounded Yang Jing.

However, fearing for his wife in Yang Jing’s grasp, he hesitated to command an attack, instead shouting desperately for Yang Jing to release Zhang Lu.

“You scoundrel!”

Lou Chenglong reacted just as quickly. He instantly circulated his Magical Power, and a moment later, a dense Spiritual Light enveloped his body. It transformed into a seven-foot-tall Dharma Aspect that looked identical to him, but with two heads and four arms. Its hair stood on end, crimson vapor spewed from its mouths, and its eyes blazed with fire.

The Dharma Aspect held a sword in one hand, a seal in another, a ring in a third, and a cord in the fourth.

Its presence was overwhelming, its every breath like a clap of thunder.

In an instant, the Dharma Aspect was upon Yang Jing, brandishing its four Magical Artifacts. The sword, seal, and ring came crashing down on him, while the cord shot out to bind the captive Zhang Lu.

An azure-gold Profound Light flashed in Yang Jing’s eyes. He drew upon the Five Elements True Slaughter in his Dantian, pouring all his power into his mastery of the Five Thunders to unleash a Thunder Technique.

The next moment, a five-colored bolt of lightning, writhing like a serpent, leaped from Yang Jing’s body and slammed straight into Lou Chenglong’s Dharma Aspect.

The Dharma Aspect was sent flying back as quickly as it had charged forward. The terrifyingly powerful projection was blasted away by the lightning, utterly powerless to resist, and crashed directly into the manor’s defensive Array Formation.

The once-imposing Dharma Aspect was blown to pieces, and Lou Chenglong landed in a heap on the ground, looking utterly wretched.

“Five Thunders United!”

The ever-prudent Wang Xu cried out in astonishment. This was clearly the Five Elements Thunder Technique cultivated to an extremely high Realm. He had heard that Yang Jing was skilled in Thunder Techniques, but he had never imagined his mastery ran this deep.

He held the others back. Thunder Techniques were the bane of Celestial Demons; anyone who could cultivate them to the Realm of Five Thunders United, as Yang Jing had, could never be possessed and controlled by one.

Besides, if Yang Jing fully unleashed a Thunder Technique of this caliber, even if they all attacked together, they could at best fight him to a standstill. They would have absolutely no chance of saving Zhang Lu.

Yang Jing’s expression remained unchanged. He had already used up half of the Five Elements True Slaughter in his body; he only had enough left for one more blast of Five Elements True Thunder.

’But the Dharma Aspects of the Dharma Image Sect integrate both offense and defense and are endlessly versatile,’ he considered. ’Without empowering my Thunder Technique with Five Elements True Slaughter, it would have been difficult to shatter that Dharma Aspect in a single strike.’

“Everyone, stay calm,” Yang Jing said. “I have some small skill in the Eye of Law Skill and could see that something was wrong with Zhang Lu. I had no choice but to act.”

Though still frantic, Pei Jizhen collected himself. A man of Yang Jing’s cultivation and Realm wouldn’t suddenly lose his mind and brazenly attack a colleague within the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

An act like that would earn him severe punishment, even as a True Disciple and the scion of a Noble Family.

“Junior Brother Yang, what’s wrong with my wife?” he asked, his eyes bloodshot.

“Merely that a Celestial Demon has possessed her.”

As Yang Jing spoke, he reached out and yanked. The crackling lightning formed a chain that dragged an intangible, formless shadow from Zhang Lu’s body. Only its faint silhouette was visible through the light of the electric arcs.

Wang Xu had practiced the Eye of Law Skill. Although his mastery of it wasn’t profound, it wasn’t difficult for him to get a clear look at the Demon Shadow.

“A Five Aggregates Demon!”

After years of fighting against the Demon Sects, he recognized this type of Demon at a glance.

The others either had some skill in the Eye of Law Skill themselves and could faintly perceive the Demon Shadow, or possessed a sharp Spiritual Sense and could feel the Five Aggregates Demon’s vile Qi Mechanism. In either case, the color drained from their faces.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep