Chapter Forty-One: The Threefold Subduing Fire Divine Thunder

In his previous life, everyone knew that gunpowder was one of the Four Great Inventions, something that changed the course of history. Yet, in the beginning, gunpowder was merely a byproduct produced by Daoists when they refined external elixirs from substances like lead, mercury, and sulfur.

However, within the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Elixir Thunder Method that Wang Zhenling brought from his past life, there was a special section detailing in depth the crafting of various external thunder-fire concoctions. These thunder-fires were not only effective in dispelling evil and destroying ghosts, but also made short work of venomous insects and poisonous creatures.

Ever since his last encounter with the snake gu, Wang Zhenling, recalling this knowledge, casually prepared some thunder-fire and kept it at hand. The torch he had just wielded was crafted in this very manner.

With a bang, two more pills were tossed out, erupting like smoke bombs, billowing yellow smoke everywhere. Instantly, the air was not only thick with the smell of gunpowder, but also a stinging, throat-searing scent. The snake gu, upon inhaling it, twisted their bodies in agony, writhing and knotting themselves, but soon fell utterly still.

More of the snake gu scrambled to escape, rushing away in a retreat as swift as their previous surge, vanishing like the ebbing tide. Only then did the village officials and constables accompanying Wang Zhenling finally breathe a collective sigh of relief. Just moments before, they had almost turned and fled in terror; the mere thought of being devoured by that seething mass of snakes was enough to make anyone wet themselves in fright!

Wang Hu, too, came back to his senses. A cold night wind swept over him, and only now did he realize his back was drenched in sweat.

He blurted out, half in praise, “Impressive skills, Patrolman—”

But Wang Zhenling’s expression remained grave, not relaxed in the slightest. Realizing something was amiss, Wang Hu’s face tensed once more, and he looked in the direction Wang Zhenling was staring.

Suddenly, from the darkness, a wavering, eerie voice sounded, dripping with sarcasm: “Impressive indeed, to handle my snake gu so easily. No wonder you dare oppose the Misty Valley! But do you really believe that’s the extent of our Misty Valley Immortals’ skill? Look around you—what do you see now?”

As the voice spoke, the sound of slithering multiplied. From all directions, more snake gu appeared, encircling them.

Wang Hu’s legs turned to jelly, and he nearly collapsed on the spot. This time, not even escape was possible—the way was completely blocked!

Nervously, he glanced at Wang Zhenling. Their lives now hung on his actions alone. He could only wonder if Wang Zhenling still had any of those smoke-belching pills left.

Yet Wang Zhenling acted as if he hadn’t even noticed the snake gu, and did not reach for the thunder-fire again. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed. “How dare you try to deceive me, fiend? Do you truly think I can’t tell this is an illusion?”

He drew out his official seal and held it toward the source of the sneaky voice.

With a crack, like the tearing of silk, the illusion shattered—countless snake gu dissolved into smoke.

At the same moment, a beam of light shot from the seal, piercing the illusion and illuminating a dark figure. Yet, before the light could strike, a black mist rose in front of the shadow, forming a shield that blocked the glow.

“Heh heh heh! After all, you’re not the county magistrate, just a mere patrol. How much power can your seal truly wield?” the sinister voice jeered.

Wang Zhenling drew a deep breath—the problem lay precisely here.

When the county magistrate’s seal was used, it could break spells and severely injure a Misty Valley cultivator. But Wang Zhenling was only a village patrol; the power he could wield was perhaps one percent of the magistrate’s.

Now, the authority his seal summoned could break illusions, but was far from enough to harm the enemy.

“Yes, let’s see if you can escape this time…”

A new laugh echoed behind Wang Zhenling—a fresh enemy had appeared.

The eerie laughter quickly sharpened into a piercing shriek, stabbing into their ears and nearly driving them mad. Shadows swirled, looming in from all sides.

“Damn it…”

This was more than mere illusion; it was half-real, half-imagined—a phantasm interwoven with genuine specters.

Clearly, the evil cultivators arrayed against them were no longer just one or two.

“This seems like a formation, not the work of one who has reached the Divine Illumination stage…”

Wang Zhenling judged silently.

The Spirit-Departure stage was divided into Spirit Bud, Spirit Growth, Spirit Storage, Spirit Obscuration, and Divine Illumination.

During the Qi Refinement stage, one cultivated until the vital energy solidified and formed a divine chamber, wherein the nascent spirit was nurtured. When the nascent spirit burgeoned and coalesced without dispersing, one reached the Spirit Bud realm, gaining the ability to manipulate objects. When the virtual will and consciousness evolved into a spirit capable of leaving the body, one could finally affect the material world.

At the Spirit Growth level, the divine chamber expanded three inches; the spirit could leave the body and manifest before others…

In the Divine Illumination realm, however, the spirit became radiant and clear, able to create a law domain—a half-real, half-illusory realm that trapped others, rendering reality and fantasy indistinguishable, their fates at the mercy of the practitioner.

At first glance, the scene before them seemed exactly like a law domain cast by a Divine Illumination expert.

Thus, both Wang Zhenling and the county magistrate, upon their first encounters with such situations, naturally assumed they faced a master of the Divine Illumination stage.

But Wang Zhenling, himself a cultivator with two lifetimes of experience, sensed that something was amiss—it didn’t feel like a true law domain.

Though he had not yet mastered such a realm—in fact, he was still struggling on the verge of the Spirit Bud stage—he could tell that if this were a genuine law domain, its operation would not be so crude, nor so easily seen through.

With this realization, Wang Zhenling acted decisively, laughing coldly. “If my official seal cannot subdue you, then taste the power of thunder!”

As he spoke, he flung out several thunder-fire bombs.

These differed from the previous ones. While the earlier thunder-fire produced little explosive force but much smoke, these now exploded with the crash of thunder, shaking the earth—truly like bolts from the blue.

The illusion shattered once more, and even the real ghosts scattered in terror before the thunder, bursting into clouds of black mist that took a long time to reform.

The section on External Thunder-Fire in the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Elixir Thunder Method spoke of more than one kind of Subduing Thunder.

Yet, the three varieties Wang Zhenling had managed to concoct so far were of limited power—sufficient to break simple illusions, but hard-pressed to seriously injure those who dabbled in dark arts.

Wang Zhenling sneered, and in that instant, when he summoned the power of authority, his nascent spirit burst from his body.

Wrapped in the aura of official authority, his spirit seemed to glow with a brilliant light.