The Heavenly Thunder pierced through the air, striking straight at the Mountain Lord, its speed beyond imagination—utterly impossible to dodge.

And worse, the Mountain Lord, now without a physical body, was moving around in an artificial construct, innately sinister, basically like a walking lightning rod—not a chance in hell to avoid it.

The thunderbolt branched out like tree limbs, veering just twice before landing squarely on top of the Mountain Lord's head.

The Mountain Lord's face was as dark as water, one hand waving the plaque, holding it above his head.

The falling thunder smashed straight into the plaque, like sparks from hammered steel; for a moment, countless stars burst forth, flickering in the night, each arc of lightning blossoming, electricity rippling and spreading ceaselessly across the plaque's surface.

Divine light surged atop the plaque, as if the dormant power within was being forcefully triggered.

The Mountain Lord's hand trembled, electric arcs dancing all over his body, and that plaque was knocked loose, spinning away and landing somewhere in the forested hillside.

The Mountain Lord's face darkened further—his other hand was now scorched black.

Heavenly Thunder, pure Yang and uncompromising, was born to be the bane of all that is sinister, naturally including both his artificial body and his soul.

Even the Rakshasa Bird following at his side screeched miserably, almost getting snuffed out just from the collateral impact.

He looked up, staring into the black clouds overhead—those clouds summoned by King Guilong had now become the perfect environment, allowing the thunder's power to climb several levels higher at least.

Sensing intently, he gazed off into the distance—anyone with this kind of strength, at this stage, could only be a purple-robed Taoist from the Shenxiao Sect or Dragon Tiger Mountain, setting up a Dharma Altar and casting spells.

The other side reacts damn fast.

Back in the old days, by the time he'd finished everything, the enemy probably wouldn't even know.

Yet now, with a thousand-mile transmission, it costs not even a dime.

Fly and flee three thousand miles in a day, and it only takes a few hundred bucks.

This really is too absurd.

He knew that the Scorching Sun Department might come prepared, but he never expected them to act so fast—figuring out his target spot, they'd already set up the Dharma Altar.

Judging by the power of this thunder, the altar must've started being set up at least an hour ago.

Thinking of the surveillance above, the Mountain Lord's face remained cold—he could now deeply feel just how troublesome the Scorching Sun Department was.

In fact, the Mountain Lord was overthinking it.

No matter how quick the Scorching Sun Department, there's no way they could predict his trajectory hours in advance.

Their tactic, in fact, began three days ago: as much money, supplies, and people as needed; within a 300 km radius, they'd pre-positioned at least twenty high-grade, half-completed Dharma Altars atop various peaks.

Aside from anything a Taoist priest had to do by hand, even the altar foundations were reinforced—upgraded so much a direct rocket hit wouldn't even blow them up.

Since learning of the Mountain Lord's presence, Cai Qidong didn't rush in blindly, but he certainly wasn't sitting idle.

Based on estimates, the Mountain Lord's activity zone was maybe a hundred kilometers across, but Cai Qidong tripled and a half the range, covering a nearly ten-fold area.

Twenty-plus altars across such a wide swath—when needed, they could send the nearest Taoist priest to an altar in five minutes flat, and within ten minutes, fully kick off the ritual: open the altar, set the stance, chant incantations, burn talismans, invoke the spells—the whole package, beginning to end.

Vehicles and helicopters were on standby at all times. If they needed to "clean the ground," the nearest military district could clear its stockpile within three minutes.

Ninety-nine percent of the Scorching Sun Department couldn't possibly match the Mountain Lord's raw strength, but when it came to everything but head-on confrontation, the Department could do damn near anything flawlessly.

The two guys brought in by Dragon Tiger Mountain were loving it—way easier than wrangling their own disciples for the job.

One was summoning Heavenly Thunder, while atop another peak, on the lofty altar raised high, the other Taoist priest walked the Yu Step, pacing the divine tread, one hand dragging a sixty-four-tier Compass, attuning to local forces, drawing in the roiling qi of the land, and with the other, keeping time as he calculated with his fingers.

As the brilliance of thunder gradually faded, this Taoist priest, with a long beard and a grave expression, immediately looked to his side.

There, several smartphones were lined up, all video-calling.

"Don't bother blocking that Great Demon—his aim is to lure King Guilong into Crouching Tiger Mountain. He wants to borrow the vigorous vitality of the water system, using the power to reverse life, defy the heavens.

Summoning Heavenly Thunder at most destroys his temporary body right now; it can't truly eradicate his core.

Senior Brother, use the Thunder Fighting Technique to block King Guilong. He's lost all reason, there's no time to argue with him."

Before he even finished, the clouds above thickened rapidly, thunder roaring suddenly, and bolts of lightning churning through the mist.

"It's not the Cloud Thunder Fingerprint. We'll need the Thunder Fighting Technique for this."

The Taoist priest finished, just as on the other peak, the one conjuring thunder shook his head, face a mask of gloom.

"It's not me summoning—it's that Azure Dragon. He's gone mad. He's drawing the thunder himself."

"Supreme Taiyi Savior Heavenly Master," the calculating Taoist immediately recited with a sigh of resignation.

The two Taoist priests originally figured that stopping King Guilong would solve everything at the root, because at the moment, even invoking Heavenly Thunder, there was no way they could take down that Great Demon in a short time.

But the other side only needs that short window—once King Guilong is in place, job's done.

Never expected King Guilong was ready to die on the spot—willing to perish if it meant killing the enemy first.

Both priests knew why King Guilong would go this far. But stopping him now would mean having to forcefully kill him then and there—and odds are, in so little time, they couldn't even manage that.

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