Chapter 61: Tang Yi's Thunder Technique Displays Its Might, Fatty Xia Challenges to a Duel

Raising a cup to invite the bright moon, making three with the shadows. Before tonight, Song Mo had always taken this as a jest...

“Could it be that the Poet Immortal encountered shadow demons as well?” Song Mo muttered as he watched the shadow beneath his feet wriggle like restless shrimp stirring water weeds.

“What do we do?” Xia Yu swung his broadsword and hacked at the shadow on the ground several times, but the shattered fragments proved stubborn, refusing to be pulled away.

Song Mo’s heart raced with anxiety. He knew well that the people of Changning County had perished because their shadows were taken; under the next day’s sunlight, they turned to nothing—never to enter the cycle of reincarnation again.

While the two fretted helplessly, Tang Yi produced a yellow talisman, his voice cold and clear: “Jade Purity begins anew, the true talisman seals the pact, shifting fate, merging unity to truth. Five Thunders, Five Thunders, swiftly gather Yellow Peace, swirling transformation, roaring lightning, thunder’s flash—respond to my call, release the voice of Yang.”

Before Song Mo and Tang Yi could react, the thunder talisman exploded in Tang Yi’s hand, and a bolt of violet lightning, thick as a finger, appeared from thin air, striking the shattered shadows beneath their feet with unstoppable force.

As expected, the fragments crumbled to ash, powerless against the blow. Celestial thunder had ever been the bane of demons and monsters, and the three escaped disaster with Tang Yi’s thunder talisman.

“Authentic thunder magic—so you’ve been hiding your true strength.” The Mountain Lord’s expression grew grave. If Tang Yi were merely a common constable of the Six Gates, he would have killed him without a second thought. Yet Tang Yi wielded the most orthodox Daoist thunder magic—the Five Thunders.

Recalling the Demon Suppression Bureau’s badge at Tang Yi’s waist, the Mountain Lord sensed Tang Yi’s identity was far from simple. What unsettled him even more was the thunder talisman Tang Yi had produced.

With his keen eye, he saw at once that it was no ordinary charm; its spiritual resonance was terrifying, faintly imbued with the power of true divine punishment.

Such a talisman could only be crafted by a master of the highest rank, and the spirit infused within it must be from an extraordinary source.

“Qiongqi, thunder talismans…” The Mountain Lord’s face darkened as he thought silently, “These two must not be allowed to live, or endless trouble will follow.”

Song Mo could not discern the Mountain Lord’s inner thoughts, but the deepening gloom on his face, coupled with the tightening warnings from his Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart, told him the situation was about to worsen.

“I’d like to see just how many of those thunder talismans you can produce!” The Mountain Lord flicked his right hand, and the flower tea on the table spilled out in a rush.

Before their astonished eyes, the tea scattered toward Song Mo, Tang Yi, and Xia Yu, congealing midair into a mass of black shadow.

“Using water as shadow—what a sophisticated demonic art.” Tang Yi’s gaze narrowed. Instead of reaching for another thunder talisman, he gripped his Willow Leaf Blade tightly.

Others might not know, but Tang Yi remembered clearly: he carried only three of those thunder talismans. One had just been used, and the remaining two must not be spent unless absolutely necessary. Whether they would escape alive depended entirely on the thunder talisman at his waist.

“Is it time to use that thing?” Tang Yi murmured, too low for Song Mo or Xia Yu to hear.

As the flower tea shadow drew near, Song Mo was the first to throw a stone at it.

Water has no form, shadow even less so. The stones hit the mass of tea shadow one after another, but not a ripple arose—they simply fell to the ground.

“I’m out of ideas. It’s up to you now.” Song Mo smiled awkwardly, for at that moment, bitter laughter seemed his only option.

Tang Yi wasted no words, drawing his blade to attack; Xia Yu was even more dramatic, charging at the tea shadow with his broadsword as if to smash it with his whole body.

Blade energy surged, light gleaming coldly in all directions.

The flower tea shadow was hacked into several segments, but instead of falling to the ground as before, it split into multiple masses, as if grafted and transplanted.

Draw the blade to cut water, yet the water flows; raise the cup to dispel sorrow, yet sorrow grows deeper.

The flower tea shadow—both shadow and water—how could water ever be severed by a blade?

As the masses advanced step by step, Tang Yi bit his lip and threw another thunder talisman.

Once the talisman was unleashed, evil spirits scattered. Under the violet lightning, the tea shadows turned to ash.

“Is that all?” The Mountain Lord stood, watching Tang Yi with interest, his blade at his chest.

“You’re welcome to try for yourself,” Tang Yi replied, right hand gripping his blade, left holding the last thunder talisman, his voice low and firm.

“When I draw him away, you two must seize the chance to escape,” Tang Yi whispered to Song Mo and Xia Yu.

“We are ready to fight to the death with you, sir!” Xia Yu dragged his broadsword behind him, making final preparations as his aura surged ever upward.

The Unrighteous have their dignity—especially so, for he was their commander.

“No matter, at worst I’ll just die again.” Song Mo smiled, his casual air startling Tang Yi for a moment.

Indeed, he knew nothing of Song Mo’s past, just as Song Mo knew nothing of his.

“Brother Xia, when we’ve dealt with him, let’s go drink flower wine!” Song Mo declared boldly, pointing at the Mountain Lord.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s do it!” Xia Yu gripped his broadsword with both hands, swinging it from the right toward the Mountain Lord.

Song Mo did not lag behind; he wrapped his arms around a giant stone lantern in the garden, as tall as a man, and swung it from the left.

Clearly, the lantern’s flame was not of this world, for even overturned, not a drop of oil spilled.

Seeing Song Mo and Xia Yu move, Tang Yi put away the thunder talisman for the moment; his Willow Leaf Blade flashed through the air like a blazing silver dragon, swift and precise, thrusting at the Mountain Lord’s throat.

The Mountain Lord’s expression did not change as the three attacked; he merely waved his hand and, from the darkness, a dozen black shadows emerged.

The shadows flew at great speed. Song Mo was caught off guard, knocked full in the chest, and his stone lantern rolled aside in pieces.

Xia Yu swung his blade to strike, but at that moment, Zhang Xiaoguang, hiding behind Zhao Yue, suddenly shouted, “Uncle? Father?”

The shadows were not strangers—they were the shadows of the Zhang family, abducted here.

“Be careful not to harm the shadows—without them, those people will die!” Tang Yi warned loudly.

Xia Yu heard and quickly eased his force, halting his blade mid-swing.

The Zhang family’s shadows took the chance to hurl Xia Yu aside; his sturdy physique proved its worth, for though he landed hard, not a scratch marred his skin.

The shadows did not attack Tang Yi. Tang Yi stepped forward swiftly, his Willow Leaf Blade aimed at the Mountain Lord’s throat.

But just as the blade came within two inches, the Mountain Lord moved.

He raised his right hand lightly, so fast it left a blur in the air.

In a flash, he pinched Tang Yi’s blade between his slender index and middle fingers.

“How strong!” Xia Yu thought to himself; he could never have caught Tang Yi’s strike, yet the Mountain Lord had done so effortlessly.

Song Mo’s heart sank—against someone who could toy with their strongest fighter like a child, what hope was left?

The Mountain Lord gave a wicked smile and, with a casual flick, sent Tang Yi flying.

Tang Yi steadied himself in midair, planted his blade in the ground, and watched the Mountain Lord with grave intensity.

“I challenge you to single combat!”

To Song Mo’s surprise, Xia Yu abruptly thrust his broadsword into the earth, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted at the Mountain Lord.

“Has Fat Xia been hit in the head?” Song Mo worried.

“In truth, my greatest skill is my fists!” Xia Yu formed both hands into fists, glaring provocatively at the Mountain Lord.

“Oh? Interesting. Trying to use me to break through your limits? Fatty, you have some courage—very well, I’ll oblige you!” The Mountain Lord snorted coldly and vanished from sight.

“Careful! He’s behind you!” Tang Yi’s gaze sharpened as he shouted a warning.

In the next instant, the Mountain Lord’s ghostly figure appeared behind Xia Yu.