Tang Bai Li

Chapter 56 Two Finger Heavenly Lightning

The roar of a tiger in the mountains, its lord-level pressure could be felt by everyone, as if an invisible force had enveloped them within a certain domain.

The fierce tiger with a white forehead and piercing eyes looked down at Xu Mu, and everyone simultaneously felt as if they were being targeted by the tiger.

Xu Mu, in his shadow state, felt the same. He sensed that the tiger demon's killing intent had locked onto him, as if it would pounce and tear him to shreds the next moment.

This was the ability of a lord: a domain. Lord-level creatures could possess their own domains, within which all their abilities were amplified severalfold.

Furthermore, domains could have their own characteristics. For instance, Hui Bai Tong had once seen a fourth-stage fox demon whose domain could bewitch everything, even a small pebble. An entire space would actively attack any enemy it wished to target, making everything a potential weapon.

He raised a claw and struck fiercely at the figure on the ground.

The tiger demon was enraged because it saw no emotion in those gray and white pupils.

Facing him without reverence was an act of provocation.

His form was not as large as the stone mountain, only the size of a common farmhouse. But as it descended, even Lin Yan and others who had already fled miles away felt a powerful killing intent and a pressure that seeped into their bones.

Lin Yan and Liang Shanping exchanged glances across a hundred meters, seeing the gravity in each other's eyes.

This claw strike was not aimed at anyone in particular. It was simply because they were all within the domain, and thus had to endure it simultaneously.

But facing such a terrifying attack, how many could withstand it?

"Quickly!"

Golden Horn was the first to reach the target location. He radiated golden light. While running, he opened the teleportation array scroll in his hand, and his vital blood dripped onto it.

*Hum!*

Space twisted, the stars shifted in the sky. The bald man held the scroll in his right hand, pouring his soul power into it, searching for the location of Bu Luo City. His face turned pale at a visible speed.

"Done!"

Golden Horn threw the scroll onto the ground. Instantly, a ring of light, a gate, appeared out of nowhere. It shimmered with brilliant, radiant light, with swirling currents around its edges.

Behind the gate was emptiness, leading to an unknown destination.

"Yin Zhongxiu will take at least seven seconds at the fastest. There's no time!"

Liang Shanping was the second to step into the golden circle, followed closely by Wu Ye, Lin Yan, Chen Jinfeng, and a host of second-tier ability users, all arriving within a second of each other.

"At most three seconds!"

Golden Horn's face was pale. He had already expended a great deal of soul power to activate the grand array. If the tiger demon's giant claw descended, he might not be able to withstand it!

Frost crept in. Three seconds later, Yan Yu arrived with Yin Shuier, punctual as ever. The girl's face was streaked with tears, and neither of them spoke a word.

Everyone looked at Yin Zhongxiu in the distance, a flicker of hesitation in their eyes.

Wu Ye looked up at the giant claw hanging overhead and said in a deep voice,

"Wait another two seconds!"

"We can't wait any longer! This tiger demon is too strong, and I don't want to die!"

Golden Horn roared and directly activated the teleportation array.

Then, space fluctuated violently. In an instant, the golden gate emitted a powerful suction, pulling everyone within the circle into it.

Space returned to its original darkness.

The spectral giant tiger's claw struck down.

Yin Zhongxiu's spear tip manifested a crescent moon, piercing fiercely towards the sky. The second-tier ability users around him, facing imminent death, unleashed their strongest abilities, including Wang Jue, who had just escaped.

The young man watched the teleportation array close, his heart instantly turning cold.

Facing the descending giant claw, two enormous purple vines rapidly rose from the ground between his hands, several dozen times thicker than ordinary old trees, as if to defend against it.

But whether it was Wang Jue, Yin Zhongxiu, or anyone else present, they all knew in their hearts that the gap in their strength was too great, and the hope of resisting this attack was minuscule.

People clearly recognized this problem, and thus, their eyes contained, to varying degrees, a trace of fear.

Yet, the young man closest to the tiger demon was an exception.

Facing the claw descending from the sky, Xu Mu drew his hunting knife without hesitation.

In his eyes, besides the soaring fighting spirit, there was also a hint of icy rage.

Xu Mu in the Heavenly Palace sensed something was wrong and scratched his head.

"Why is he angry?"

Charles also noticed. He drew his saber, seemingly faster than usual.

He couldn't help but sigh,

"Women affect the speed of drawing a saber, it seems this saying is true."

Charles whispered mischievously into Shadow Xu Mu's ear,

"Of course he's angry."

"This guy interrupted his date!"

Hui Bai Tong drew his saber, intending to confront the claw head-on.

He even wanted to try to chop off that towering head.

Well… he was certainly not in love. Considering himself a chosen one, he didn't even know what love was.

But he knew that he liked the feeling of looking into Yin Shuier's eyes. That feeling was something he had never experienced in all his years, even more satisfying than wielding his saber.

And this damnable tiger demon had disrupted their gaze, so he had to act.

He would kill it first, then kill the one who pushed him.

But at this moment, a sturdy old man suddenly appeared.

The word "appeared" here doesn't mean he flashed over or walked slowly.

Instead, in the midst of the overwhelming fog, the old man's figure simply materialized, so naturally, as if he had always been standing there, with a woman in a white dress, whose face was unclear, behind him.

They didn't know how long they had been standing there, yet Xu Mu had never noticed them.

And when they didn't care about being discovered, Xu Mu could see them.

His movement of raising his saber to the sky abruptly halted.

In Xu Mu's gray and white pupils, a rare emotion appeared: solemnity.

Facing the descending giant claw, the old man smiled and extended a finger towards the giant tiger demon.

The tiger demon sensed danger, and the claw above everyone's heads disappeared.

Dark clouds swirled, and in the sky, a blinding bolt of lightning descended, following the old man's gesture.

The fourth-stage tiger demon's eyes widened in terror. He wasn't mistaken; there was indeed danger!

Even though he was outmatched, he still roared with all his might. The heavens and earth manifested an anomaly, and a hundred-zhang spectral form opened its maw and bit down fiercely, actually swallowing the lightning!

"Eh?"

The old man was somewhat surprised that a single bolt of lightning hadn't killed the tiger.

The woman beside him also turned to look at him, but said nothing.

The old man felt a pang of embarrassment, coughed, but offered no explanation. He extended his second finger towards the sky.

*Boom!*

The second bolt of heavenly lightning descended, its roar shaking Mount Xi.

Yin Zhongxiu was utterly astonished and retracted his spear.

Under the blinding lightning, he could see an extremely tall, yet extremely weak, spectral tiger.

The man was shocked. Who was fighting it? And who could cause the heavens and earth to manifest such an anomaly and strike it down like this?

"This…"

Wang Jue stared blankly at the vines before him, a hint of ecstatic joy from surviving the ordeal flashing in his eyes.

He didn't know what had happened. The tiger demon's domain had suddenly been lifted.

But everyone knew that this might be their last chance to escape.

Heavenly lightning descended again.

Xu Mu retreated hundreds of steps.

*Rumble!*

A flash of white light swept past, the earth shook, and a fierce gale was stirred up.

After a period of time, the dense fog gradually dissipated, and the spectral form of the tiger was no more in the world.

It had perhaps turned to dust.

Hui Bai Tong remained silent, standing still. His right arm covered his face, shielding him from the aftermath. His hand gripped the scabbard tightly, appearing somewhat tense.

Charles also fell silent. Xu Mu in the Heavenly Palace was also silent.

"Why didn't you run?"

The old man had a stern face, without a beard or eyebrows. He stood about five paces in front of Xu Mu.

As soon as he spoke, the dense fog in this area vanished.

"Because I'm not afraid."

Xu Mu silently took a breath and replied calmly.

The old man looked puzzled,

"Oh?"

"Why aren't you afraid?"

Xu Mu met his gaze,

"Not afraid is not afraid."

The old man seemed surprised to hear such an answer. After exchanging a look with the white-dressed woman beside him, his gaze towards Xu Mu became more appreciative.

"Where do you live?"

Xu Mu thought of the Heavenly Palace and found it difficult to describe, so he used a line from a poem on Blue Star:

"The clouds are deep and the whereabouts unknown."

The woman in white heard this answer and covered her mouth with her hand, laughing softly.

—Although her face was already covered by a thick veil.

The old man scratched his bald head, thinking that this kid was playing poetic games with him.

"I wasn't asking you that. I mean…" His words trailed off as he didn't know how to describe it. One hand hovered in the air, the other scratching his bald head. "I mean… gasp, how do I say this?"

"Where you sleep tonight."

The woman in white's voice was gentle and lively. She shook her head slightly and spoke.

"Ah, yes! That's where you sleep!"

The old man laughed heartily.

"To be frank, we are travelers and have no place to stay tonight."

"Little friend, you speak quite interestingly. Old man and I will be friends with you. Would you allow us to stay at your place tonight?"

The external body remained silent. Xu Mu, who had just returned to the Heavenly Palace, was dumbfounded.

This person who could kill a lord-level great demon with two fingers wanted to sleep at his home?

Well… but he only had one guest room!

And most importantly, what if the things in the basement were discovered!

"But refusing is not easy…" Xu Mu's face showed worry. Someone who could summon heavenly lightning with two fingers to kill a lord was beyond his comprehension of ability users. And when such a person made a request, how could he refuse?

What if he got angry and summoned a bolt of heavenly lightning? Wouldn't all three of them die!

Thinking of that outcome, Xu Mu nervously swallowed.

"Don't be foolish. Even if you refuse, be polite. Otherwise…"

Before Xu Mu could finish speaking, the Xu Mu outside spoke.

"Yes."

"Excellent, straightforward!" The old man laughed heartily. "Then let's go. Where is your home?"

Xu Mu's expression was peculiar, then he looked at the old man seriously, as if he didn't understand why this senior always liked to ask him such questions.

"In the deep clouds, where whereabouts are unknown."

Xu Mu retracted his hunting knife and answered earnestly.