CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: INTIMIDATION

Rumble!

A massive thunderclap echoed in front of the small temple.

Carmine lightning directly locked onto the beautiful woman who was ’posing seductively’.

Completely unprepared, the woman was immediately struck by the Thunder Talisman.

"Argh"!

Accompanied by a painful howl, under the carmine thunderlight, its entire body became charred black, while a hoarse, rough voice emerged.

"Damn cultivator!"

In an instant, the beautiful woman coughed up a nauseating stench from deep within her throat, and a gigantic tongue broke through the air towards Zhang Jian.

"It has shown its true form!"

Zhang Jian deployed his Spiritual Power to use the Wind Walking Technique, appearing a hundred paces away like a ghostly apparition, but that gigantic tongue swept across the sky once more, followed by the sound of fabric tearing. The beautiful woman’s body was continuously undergoing a bizarre transformation, with countless tufts of blue hair bursting from its surface as it faintly morphed into a giant ape.

Seeing this enormous, monkey-like creature, Zhang Jian couldn’t help but frown slightly.

This looked much like the Mountain Demon from folklore, a kind of spirit monster adept at transformations, often morphing into handsome men or beautiful women to deceive people, taking delight in abducting living beings!

As for what happens to those it captures, it goes without saying.

"How dare you harm my wife? You court death!"

At that moment, the swordsman flew into a rage, his eyes blood-red as he drew his long saber, sending a fierce saber light towards where Zhang Jian stood.

He appeared to be a Body Refining Martial Artist, with a strong physique, having completed the Yijin stage of body forging and stepping into the bone marrow cleansing stage, a phase where martial artists are incredibly powerful.

This was even more formidable than the third stage of Inner Cultivation Martial Artists, Nourishing Essence.

Seeing him charge madly, Zhang Jian was speechless.

He glanced again at the enormously built, blue-haired monkey monster, surprised by the swordsman’s taste, especially since this Mountain Demon was actually male.

He soon speculated that the swordsman in front of him might have been bewitched by this Mountain Demon.

The Mountain Demon had just tried to ’charm’ him.

Gathering Spiritual Power in his hands, the crimson lightning struck the swordsman like a deluge, blasting him back ten meters, leaving him unconscious on the ground.

Fortunately, his control over the Thunder Walking Technique was becoming refined, otherwise, this strike would have killed the swordsman instead of just stunning him.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Demon moved swiftly, its two furry giant claws ferociously pounding towards Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian noticed that although several Celestial Thunder strikes had somewhat injured the Mountain Demon, the damage wasn’t as severe as he thought.

The Mountain Demon’s body was enveloped in a layer of hazy blue spiritual mechanism, like ancient, resilient wood in the mountains.

Only parts of it were somewhat charred.

This was the first time Zhang Jian had ever encountered a demon resistant to thunder and lightning.

"Looks like I’ll have to make a bit more effort next!"

Zhang Jian’s brow furrowed slightly, but fortunately, the Thunder Walking Technique wasn’t entirely ineffective.

He moved like the wind, dodging a hundred paces, the gigantic hand falling to the ground, smashing it so hard that even the hard surface was like tofu pierced by a giant hand.

At this moment, Zhang Jian noticed something strange in his eyes; while operating the Thunder Walking Technique, a golden treasure pearl in his sleeve jumped abnormally during the thunder’s appearance, emitting invisible traces of spiritual mechanism.

It seemed to resonate with the crimson lightning within his body, showing signs of overflowing.

Zhang Jian felt something out of the ordinary; since he got hold of this golden Spirit Pearl, he had researched it extensively, but even with spiritual power stimulation, it yielded little effect. Yet, now, the power of Celestial Thunder from his internal Thunder Walking Technique had triggered a change.

He casually took out six Thunder Talismans from his hand, infusing them with Spiritual Power, and the six talismans flew out — this time, rather than directly covering the Mountain Demon, they aimed at its eyes.

He didn’t believe the Mountain Demon’s eyes could be as tough as its body, and even if they couldn’t harm its eyes, they might at least blind it and disrupt its spiritual sense.

However, when the six carmine thunder strikes fell, the Mountain Demon had already shielded its head with its arms; the six Celestial Thunders struck its arms, although leaving its body blackened and floundering, the damage seemed limited.

But the Mountain Demon’s actions became sluggish and somewhat disoriented.

This was the opportunity he wanted; taking advantage of this chance, he picked up the Ring-Headed Long Saber dropped by the swordsman on the ground. The saber was exceedingly sharp, emanating a ghostly glow even in the night.

He activated the Wind Walking Technique, instantly appearing behind the Mountain Demon, and seized the moment of its dazed reaction to stab the saber deep into its crimson behind.

This was possibly the Mountain Demon’s most vulnerable spot.

Though the saber merely pierced its skin, it left the bewildered Mountain Demon howling in pain.

And the moment the saber penetrated, Zhang Jian already knew that he had won half the battle.

Even if this Mountain Demon had skin as tough as armor, capable of withstanding frontal lightning strikes, it was doomed.

Seeing its arm sweeping back to protect itself, he ascended to its head, manifesting six more Thunder Talismans in his hand.

With grim eyes, driven by Extreme Yang Spiritual Power, six carmine thunder lights pierced the dark forest, accompanied by the Mountain Demon’s despairing wails, finally shattering the protective layer of blue spiritual mechanism spinning around its body.

The Celestial Thunder followed the long saber piercing the tiger-headed position, fervently pouring in as if it was boiling its insides to about fifty to sixty percent cooked.

At this moment, the Mountain Demon raised its head, the brutal fur-covered face showing a primal, fearful, pleading look, but Zhang Jian mercilessly struck it with two more Thunder Talismans on its Leader of the Six Yang.

Without the special protective layer of blue spiritual mechanism, its eyes instantly turned into two dark cavities, its aura extinguished.

The Mountain Demon was finally vanquished by him.

This transformation did not bring Zhang Jian much joy.

Activating the Thunder Talisman was not easy, and after two rounds, a portion of his Spiritual Power was depleted.

This couldn’t help but cause Zhang Jian some anxiety; within the mountains, there weren’t just Mountain Demons; he had already noticed the spiritual mechanism fluctuations appearing on the Soul Purifying Talismans on the walls at the edge of the dirt temple, suggesting other supernatural threats were approaching the Mountain God Temple.

Many ants can kill an elephant.

His expression was somewhat solemn; something was happening in Phoenix Nest Mountain; with just two phoenix cries, this forest was suddenly teeming with alien races.

He was previously quite sure there were no such creatures around the earthen temple.

"Young Master!"

At this moment, at the temple’s entrance, that person called Xiaoxie pointed tremblingly into the darkness, and following his gaze, Zhang Jian realized that the swordsman who had fainted on the ground was gone.

He sensed a strong, eerie presence momentarily flash around the surrounding forest.

Zhang Jian’s expression turned grim, shouting, "Retreat into the temple, don’t come out!"

He noticed that although there was also a penetrating dark spiritual mechanism within the temple covered in Soul Purification Talismans, the dark beings still dared not enter the temple.

He immediately took out a stack of Yellow Talismans from his sleeve, giving them to Hu Shan and the other brave warriors, instructing them not to wander around.

He himself stood at the temple door.

He could only hope that his Thunder Technique could deter these sinister beings.

As long as he didn’t encounter another demon like the Mountain Demon, he might manage to endure the night.