The newbie gift pack brought another surprise. William Lynn looked at the scorched ground struck by lightning, remained silent for a while, and only after a long pause let out a deep breath: “Fortunately, although there are too many restrictions and it’s troublesome to use, at least its power didn’t disappoint.”

William Lynn touched his nose. With this Nine Heavens Thunder Summoning as a prelude, it would be much easier for him to impress Old Miller and Little Ben the next time he appeared. After all, in their eyes, he had caused such a commotion with just a tiny protective talisman.

If William Lynn were to face Old Brooks and Little Jack head-on, he could still win, since the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique he practiced far surpassed the miscellaneous Daoist arts those two cultivated.

But there was absolutely no way he could achieve such a shocking result. If he did, his disguise as a reclusive master would be exposed.

How could it be as effortless as now—one strike for an instant kill, easy and unhurried, waving his sleeve and leaving without a trace?

As for the surviving Old Brooks, William Lynn didn’t pay him any mind. Although this man had dodged the center of the lightning strike, he was already seriously injured by the aftermath. Old Miller and Little Ben would be more than enough to deal with him.

William Lynn now planned to quietly slip into the village chief’s courtyard, sit there leisurely, and wait for Old Miller and Little Ben to return. This would better showcase his foresight and calm demeanor.

By then, would he still have to worry about Little Ben not bowing down to him?

Oh right, when Sam Bell was born, to make it easier to move through the wild mountains and forests, he had changed out of his Daoist robe and was now wearing coarse homespun clothes, looking just like an ordinary mountain villager. He needed to remember to change back into his proper attire.

“My first disciple is finally about to be mine.” William Lynn thought gleefully, turned, and walked toward the village entrance. But when he looked up, his smile instantly froze and gradually faded from his face.

Because he clearly saw that on the old tree at the village entrance—which should have been lifeless and charred—there was actually a new branch sprouting!

On the tender branch, a few pink peach blossoms were vivid and dripping with color, swaying gracefully.

William Lynn swore that when he first arrived at Stone Village half a day ago, this old tree definitely hadn’t bloomed with such bright peach blossoms.

What was even more unsettling was that, although the peach blossoms looked incomparably beautiful, they faintly exuded a strange, demonic aura.

“Just woke up, and there’s already so much food…”

William Lynn felt a slight daze in his mind, as if he heard a low, hoarse woman’s voice singing softly in his heart. The tone was joyful and enchanting, yet sent chills down his spine!

He shuddered and snapped back to his senses, looking around. He saw Old Brooks’s face also change dramatically, glancing around in panic.

But everyone else seemed completely unaware, still fighting desperately.

William Lynn looked back in horror, only to see the brilliant peach blossoms on the new branch, their petals drifting down one by one, flying toward the battlefield a mile away.

The petals, light and effortless, seemed delicate, but their speed was as fast as lightning. Hundreds of petals, like meteors from the heavens, danced along mysterious trajectories into the crowd.

Old Brooks tried to dodge, but how could he outrun these bizarre peach blossoms?

With grim determination, he struck out with his palm, but the seemingly fragile petal pierced straight through Old Brooks’s hand and stuck directly to his forehead.

William Lynn’s eyes widened as he saw Old Brooks’s face twist in utter terror. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

Old Brooks’s flesh and skin shriveled rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, until he was reduced to a dried corpse!

The peach blossom petal on the dried corpse’s forehead became even more vivid and beautiful.

William Lynn’s heart sank to rock bottom. He looked around and saw that everyone—human or beast—who had a petal stuck to them on the battlefield was drained into a dried corpse in a short time.

Leonard Wolfe, who had been shouting to kill Little Ben to avenge his grandson, and Little Sam, who had always been at odds with William Lynn… people he had spoken with not long ago—all now had the light of life gone from their eyes, making William Lynn shiver all over.

The next moment, the petals detached from the prey they had drained, streaking pink trails across the night sky as they flew back to the old tree.

The peach blossoms settled back onto the branches, dazzling and breathtaking.

William Lynn stared intently at the old tree, and sure enough, two more new branches had sprouted from the charred trunk!

The peach blossoms on the three new branches swayed gently in the night wind, looking so delicate and lovely, their fragrance drifting on the breeze, intoxicating.

But in his heart, William Lynn cursed, “Damn it, there’s definitely something wrong with this tree!”

He observed carefully and found that, except for Old Brooks, everyone drained by the peach blossoms was a villager from Wolf Village; none of the fierce beasts were spared either, but the villagers of Stone Village were not attacked.

Old Miller and the others stared blankly at the scene before them. Suddenly, a villager knelt on the ground, bowing toward the old tree at the village entrance, chanting, “The Peach Immortal has manifested! The Peach Immortal has manifested!”

More and more people believed that the old tree at their village entrance was the Peach Immortal showing its power to help them kill their enemies, and they all knelt in worship.

Little Ben looked at the crowd in confusion, scratching his head in bewilderment.

Old Miller gazed at the old tree with a complicated expression, wanting to speak but hesitating.

William Lynn, who had never shown himself, wore a blank expression, his heart cold, as if that low, hoarse woman’s voice was still echoing in his ears: “Let’s leave it at this for today, the rest can wait…”