Chapter Sixty-Eight: Ambushed

The Jade Clear Divine Thunder Technique was created by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, the saint of the Hunyuan Jade Clear Pangu lineage, and possesses supreme power. Its full name is the Jade Clear Purple Palace Thunder Command, and it stands as an extraordinary secret art, only slightly inferior to a select few such as the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder and the Divine Thunder of All Heavens. It is renowned as the foremost thunder law in the prehistoric world, the very essence of thunder arts originally comprehended by Primordial during his attendance in the Purple Firmament Palace, based upon the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder of Patriarch Hongjun, combined with a portion of the Dutian Divine Thunder passed down from Pangu in his inherited memories, aided by the insights gained through thousands and tens of thousands of years of cultivation. Truly, it could be said to seize the wonders of creation, unraveling the mysteries of sun and moon.

In fact, not only Primordial, but also the Supreme of the Great Clarity and the Lord of the Upper Clarity each developed their own thunder arts: the Great Clarity Purple Palace Thunder Command and the Upper Clarity Purple Palace Thunder Command. Overall, the Three Pure Ones’ divine thunder arts are similar, each with its own strengths. It is said that, when cultivated to its pinnacle, they possess the power to open heavens and earth, and even at the minor attainment stage, their might rivals that of innate spiritual treasures.

Qingxu’s mastery of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder Technique was not insignificant; in theory, he had reached the minor attainment stage, though he had long struggled with insufficient cultivation to fully unleash the thunder’s power. Now, with a clone at the early stage of True Immortal of Taiyi, he could finally demonstrate a portion of the Jade Void lineage’s profound thunder arts.

“Is the Jade Clear Divine Thunder truly the disciple of Primordial Heavenly Venerable?” Qiongqi, clearly knowledgeable, instantly recognized the thunder and lightning forming upon Qingxu’s hands as he performed his incantation, and was shocked. It understood well the power of this technique; with its own abilities, Qiongqi feared it could not withstand it.

“Heaven follows the Dao, Earth’s law is infinite; thunder rumbles, locking the clouds above. Jade Clear Divine Thunder, summon—annihilation!” Qingxu exerted himself fully, employing the net of fire to trap the shadowy spirit. Though using the thunder technique while maintaining the net diluted its power considerably, it was still more than enough to easily slay a beast of Qiongqi’s strength at the early Celestial Immortal stage. The blood fiend miasma was formidable, but under the supreme power of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder, which subdues demons and wards off evil, it was completely restrained.

“No!” The shadowy spirit cried out in terror, desperately trying to control the Qiongqi beast to flee, forgetting its own safety in the process and abandoning the net of fire to its fate.

The Qiongqi beast spread its wings wide, soaring with unparalleled speed, covering hundreds of miles in a blink. Previously, it had focused on ambushing Qingxu, pushing its speed to the absolute limit. When it realized the Jade Clear Divine Thunder was being deployed, it was already within just a few miles behind Qingxu. In such circumstances, it could not escape the range of the thunder’s attack.

“Wretch, you’ve been fooled!” Qingxu had no intention of harming the Qiongqi beast; after all, he needed all four fierce beasts to evolve the devouring king beast. This Jade Clear Divine Thunder was truly aimed at the shadowy spirit. Seeing Qiongqi’s attention wholly focused on its beast, Qingxu wasted no time in unleashing the thunder incantation. A flash of clear purple light flickered from his palm, and at that moment, a bolt of purple-blue lightning, thick as a water barrel, came crashing down from the heavens, striking directly at the shadowy spirit trapped in the net of fire.

“Damn!” Qiongqi was panic-stricken. Though the shadowy spirit dwelled between illusion and reality, it could not ignore the Jade Clear Divine Thunder, nor could it reduce its power by much.

The net of fire was fierce and scorching, but the Jade Clear Divine Thunder was different: it concentrated all its force into a single point, a single strike. That one blow was enough to instantly reduce a Celestial Immortal to ashes, body and soul alike. The Qiongqi beast’s body was indeed formidable, but it was only at the Earth Immortal stage. Under the thunder’s attack, it would likely be reduced to dust, if not utterly annihilated. Qiongqi had its own plans and would not tolerate the destruction of its beastly body.

“A gamble won!” Qingxu, too, had prepared for this. He could not be sure whether Qiongqi would choose to abandon its beast’s body, so he had two plans ready. If the Qiongqi beast did not flee, he would divert part of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder to attack it—not to kill, but at least to incapacitate it temporarily. However, this would render the remaining attack against the shadowy spirit almost ineffective. Thunder arts seek a single, decisive strike, leaving no room for hesitation or division. Splitting the thunder’s force would immediately diminish its sharpness, reducing its power by seventy or eighty percent. But with the Qiongqi beast fleeing, Qingxu was secretly overjoyed.

The charged Jade Clear Divine Thunder crashed down upon the shadowy spirit. The thousand-foot-long thunderbolt resembled Pangu’s giant axe, carrying the force to open heaven and earth, shattering the void and forming layers upon layers of spatial fissures. In that moment, the shadowy spirit felt both time and space had come to a standstill; it wished to flee, but was horrified to find itself utterly immobilized, as if pinned in place.

Facing the terrifying power of the divine thunder, the shadowy spirit could only endure it head-on; there was no other choice.

“Damn it, the unique power of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder to intimidate demons remains unchanged. This cultivator’s strength clearly surpasses the Celestial Immortal realm, perfectly capable of subduing me!”

The Three Pure Ones’ divine thunder arts each have their advantages, but the most distinctive feature of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder is its ability to subdue evil and demonic arts. This stems from Primordial’s nature; everyone knows that among the Three Pure Ones, Jade Clear Primordial always held himself in high esteem, looking down upon demons and heretics. Thus, his divine thunder was naturally imbued with powerful effects to intimidate such beings. It can be said that a cultivator of the Jade Void lineage wielding the Jade Clear Divine Thunder, as long as the opponent’s cultivation is inferior and of the demonic or heretical path, will find escape impossible. Even if their cultivation matches the caster’s, evading it becomes ten times harder.

Qingxu, fully attuned to his clone, was undoubtedly at the early stage of Taiyi True Immortal. The shadowy spirit, gifted by nature, would not necessarily lose against an ordinary Taiyi True Immortal, but ultimately, it was still at the peak of Celestial Immortal and a demon by nature. Thus, it was inevitably restrained by the intimidating effect of the Jade Clear Divine Thunder, unable to dodge.

Qiongqi reacted quickly, immediately transforming the shadowy spirit into a phantom form. Meanwhile, the Qiongqi beast made a desperate assault upon Qingxu, seeking to distract him and weaken the power of the thunder and fire net.

A classic strategy: attacking Wei to save Zhao!

Unfortunately, Qingxu was prepared and unflustered. He combined the five energies in his chest, using his immortal power to manifest a cloud of blue lotus and a golden lamp, and then summoned the central Xu-Yi Apricot Banner for two layers of defense. He was confident that the Qiongqi beast would not breach his defenses immediately, allowing him to focus on eliminating the shadowy spirit before dealing with other threats.

Turning the shadowy spirit into a phantom form greatly reduced the damage from the thunder, but increased the refining effect of the fire net. Compared to its corporeal form or a mixed state, this was still far superior.

Boom! Crackle! Sizzle!

The Jade Clear Divine Thunder struck down like a bamboo splitting, unerringly hitting the shadowy spirit. In the thunder’s impact, the dark, illusory mist of the spirit was mostly annihilated, with the remainder being refined by the purple-blue lightning and the Jade Void fire net. At this rate, it would not be long before it perished on the spot, vanishing without a trace.

Almost simultaneously, as Qingxu attacked the shadowy spirit, the Qiongqi beast’s assault arrived. The blood fiend miasma was indeed extraordinary, forcibly elevating its attack to the early Celestial Immortal level.

A focused strike from an early Celestial Immortal just barely broke through the defense of the central Xu-Yi Apricot Banner. Even the blue lotus and golden lamp were depleted by ninety percent, but they still managed to hold. Just as Qingxu relaxed slightly, the dying Youqiong clan member, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly flashed with fierce light in his eyes. His body radiated a powerful, murderous, and savage aura. Strange blood-red runes appeared on his body, and his eyes turned icy cold, bright red like blood.

Swift!

Too swift!

Almost simultaneously with the clan member’s transformation, he shifted to just an inch behind Qingxu and struck a fierce blow to his back.

Qingxu had not yet reacted; he only felt a surge of evil, violent energy rampaging within him. This energy was utterly destructive, vast as the sea, unstoppable. It invaded his body and wreaked havoc upon his organs, meridians, bones, and flesh, injuring him inside and out, and ultimately crashing straight toward his upper dantian, the palace of the mud pill.