Henry Parker has also made great progress recently, successfully evolving to the rank of Earl within two months, especially since he no longer needs to drink blood, breaking free from the most basic trait of the vampire clan. Taking a talisman from his pocket, Henry Parker imitated the ritual quite convincingly, “Heaven and earth, spirits of gold, heed my command, act swiftly as decreed!” The yellow talisman turned into a faint golden light and shot out. Sss! Even the hard granite was sliced off in a small chunk. Henry Parker looked at the mirror-like, gleaming cut and burst into wild laughter—ha, ha, ha!

“Boom!” A bolt of lightning as thick as a water barrel and of unknown length struck down right at the entrance of the cave where James Clark was meditating, not far from Henry Parker. Crash! Amidst the chaos, the cave where James Clark was secluded was blasted to pieces, and the flying debris battered Henry Parker’s face black and blue, making him scream and wail. Henry Parker hurriedly transformed into his original form, using his wings to shield his entire body.

It took a while for the falling rocks to stop. Henry Parker stared at the area, about three zhang in radius, where the rocks had been shattered, and at the now-vanished cave entrance, his mouth gaping like a toad!

“Whoa! That was way too powerful, at least ten times stronger than a hand grenade, almost as strong as a bomb. I hope Master is okay! Why did lightning suddenly strike out of nowhere? Could it be the legendary heavenly tribulation?”

While he was lost in wild thoughts, a fierce sword aura burst out from the rubble of the collapsed cave entrance. Covered in dust and looking utterly disheveled, James Clark landed in front of Henry Parker. However, James Clark’s eyes shone with a piercing light, his gaze almost tangible, with a faint, sharp sword aura emanating from him that made people shiver involuntarily. Even Henry Parker, a complete outsider to Daoist arts, could tell that James Clark’s power had advanced greatly.

James Clark took out a fingernail-sized piece of dark green jade talisman from his pocket and swallowed it whole. Instantly, the brilliance in his eyes vanished, his energy completely withdrawn, making him appear no different from an ordinary person.

Henry Parker’s jaw dropped even further. With a wave of his hand, James Clark said, “We’ll talk when we get back. That commotion just now attracted a lot of attention.” With that, without waiting for Henry Parker to speak, he slapped a movement talisman onto his leg and disappeared in an instant. Henry Parker muttered a few curses under his breath, pushed his speed to the limit, and managed to keep right on James Clark’s heels.

Not long after James Clark and Henry Parker left, a sword light several zhang long shot over from the distant sky, stopping right above the valley where James Clark had been meditating. A strikingly handsome young man in white, standing atop a golden sword three feet long and four fingers wide, hovered three zhang above the ground. If James Clark were still there, he would have recognized that this person also practiced the “Sword Qi Soaring to the Sky Technique” and had reached an extremely advanced level, able to fly on his sword—just one step away from the unfathomable Nascent Soul stage!

“Hmph! Those old, undying elders spoil their junior brothers and sisters too much, even giving away Taiyi refined gold. Now look what’s happened—not only were all the flying swords stolen, but people were seriously injured, and even the sect’s secret techniques were taken, forcing me to come investigate.” The young man’s expression was extremely arrogant.

Carefully examining the valley that had been blasted to pieces by lightning, the young man’s expression suddenly changed. With a grasping motion, a piece of rock that had been sliced by James Clark’s sword aura flew into his hand. The young man then turned into a streak of golden light and flew south.

“Master, why did the lightning suddenly strike down?” Back at their residence, Henry Parker asked, still shaken.

James Clark was also still unsettled, his face grave as he said, “I won’t hide it from you. For the past two months, I’ve been studying our sect’s ultimate art, the ‘Divine Summoning Chapter.’ It’s about connecting one’s heart to the will of heaven, invoking the power of the gods. Just now, I happened to sense the thunder god’s power from the nine heavens and borrowed a bit of it. I didn’t expect it to be so powerful.”

Henry Parker nodded, “Yeah, it really gave me a scare just now. Hmph! With that move, even ten Kulaks would be blown to dust! Master, when can I learn that trick?”

“You haven’t even learned to walk, and you want to run.” James Clark said, “First, master all the talismans and incantations. That’s the foundation, just like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in math, or vocabulary in English. The essence of our Daoist arts lies in talismans and their application, which is also the basis of formations. Although the ‘Divine Summoning Chapter’ is very powerful, it’s extremely dangerous. I almost got myself killed by my own lightning just now. Do you still want to learn it?”

Henry Parker chuckled foolishly, “If you’re not afraid to die, you might become an immortal. But, yeah, you have to be careful with power you can’t control.” Henry Parker’s eyes darted around, clearly scheming something.

“Let’s not talk about it for now. Tomorrow we’ll go handle the paperwork and head to Las Vegas to make a big haul. With my power greatly increased, what’s there to fear from a few American grannies?”

James Clark had truly experienced the inefficiency of government offices. What should have taken just a few days to process ended up taking more than ten, even after James Clark had said all the right things. In the end, he had to use a mind-bending formation to get it done.

Chapter 005: The Art of Puppetry

Sitting in the airport lounge, watching the bustling crowd, James Clark recalled his own past: from elementary school, to middle school, to university, he had always lived a peaceful life. He had really gotten used to such a calm existence! Now, suddenly about to embark on an exciting life, he felt a bit out of place!