PCJ – Chapter 285 Sudden Uprising

A man and a dog quickly ran out of the Liao’a Ridge. Even as they passed by Liao’a Pond, Zhang Jiaohua had no intention of stopping. However, he glanced at the pond out of the corner of his eye, and that glance made him abruptly stop in his tracks. His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the center of Liao’a Pond.

What is that?

In the middle of the pond, Zhang Jiaohua clearly saw an exquisitely crafted piece of porcelain. Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t describe its beauty; it was simply the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He couldn’t find words to describe its beauty, and it seemed like a beauty that shouldn’t belong to this world.

Zhang Jiaohua felt an intense desire to get his hands on this item. He couldn’t help but move towards the pond.

The mountain leopard didn’t understand what its master was doing but sensed a strong feeling of danger.

“Woof woof woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof…”

No matter how much the mountain leopard barked, it couldn’t wake Zhang Jiaohua, who was mesmerized by the beautiful porcelain in the pond. He took step after step, already at the edge of Liao’a Pond.

The mountain leopard suddenly pounced and bit Zhang Jiaohua’s rear end hard.

“Ah!”

Zhang Jiaohua jumped up, but he was now fully awake. There was no exquisite porcelain in the middle of the pond! The water was green, and the pond was said to be several fathoms deep. Even if there were something in the water, it would be impossible to see clearly from the shore. There was something strange here!

But now, Zhang Jiaohua was most concerned about his rear end! It really hurt, and he wondered if it had broken the skin. He pulled down his loose pants and glanced at his rear end, where two red bite marks were glaringly visible.

“Leopard! Are you trying to kill me!” Zhang Jiaohua glared at the mountain leopard with reddened eyes.

The mountain leopard wagged its tail and rubbed its head against Zhang Jiaohua’s leg. Zhang Jiaohua was angry but knew the leopard was trying to save him. Still, he was furious.

He had almost been trapped! He realized how Jin Hu and the others might have met their fate. They might have seen something that didn’t exist, just like he did. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a mountain leopard to warn them. They had walked step by step into an abyss.

In his anger, Zhang Jiaohua began to perform a protective ritual by the edge of the pond, forming hand seals and reciting a spell: “I beseech the Five Emperors of the Five Directions and the Five Thunder Gods to descend from the heavens and smite the world. Guard over the three thousand realms and prevent fire and lightning from striking the body. If any evil practitioners come to challenge, let the Five Thunders turn them to dust. I now invoke the Five Thunders, hoping they will descend!”

Zhang Jiaohua, in his anger, used all his skills. This time was different from before; in this moment, Zhang Jiaohua fully entered a state of selflessness, as if merging with the world. The power of heaven and earth was drawn. Zhang Jiaohua’s recitation seemed not just a spell but a command to the energies of heaven and earth.

The previously clear sky suddenly gathered a dark, dense cloud, which covered Liao’a Pond.

The mountain leopard trembled, lying on the ground with its paws tightly covering its ears.

Wild animals around Liao’a Ridge fled in panic. Two egrets collided during their escape and fell from the sky into a nearby rice field, dazed for a while before they managed to stagger to their feet and then flew away, desperately distancing themselves from Liao’a Ridge.

A massive whirlpool suddenly appeared in the center of Liao’a Pond, and the water level dropped by several feet.

“Boom!”

The first bolt of lightning struck Liao’a Pond, exploding like a bomb in the center, sending up several feet of water spray. The commotion was substantial.

The first time Zhang Jiaohua used the Five Thunder Spell, a single divine thunder had exhausted all his magical power. But today, the power of the divine thunder was many times greater, and Zhang Jiaohua did not exhaust his power. The spell did not consume his own magic but drew upon the power of heaven and earth. The first attempt was limited in skill, nearly failing and causing a backlash. But Zhang Jiaohua was no longer the inexperienced practitioner he once was. His understanding and control of spells had reached a higher level.

“Boom! Boom!”

Two bolts of divine thunder struck the pond simultaneously, causing even greater water splashes, reaching almost to the mountain top. The fish in the pond suffered greatly; the divine thunder not only killed all the fish within its range but also those near the strike points.

And it wasn’t over yet; two more bolts of divine thunder came down.

The water in Liao’a Pond boiled as if it were being heated, churning for a while before settling down. The water temperature had risen significantly, changing from cold to warm like a hot spring.

After completing the Five Thunder Spell, Zhang Jiaohua felt weak. This spell was his limit, and with its completion, his frustration was also released. He couldn’t know how much harm it had caused to whatever was in the pond. He knew that reaching this point with his current abilities was already his utmost limit.

“Let’s go!” Zhang Jiaohua left Liao’a Pond with the mountain leopard. When they reached the outskirts of Liao’a Ridge, the big water buffalo was still grazing peacefully on the grass. Not caring about the time, he led the buffalo towards Mei Zi Pond.

The buffalo was indeed obedient. While other buffaloes might run away if led, this buffalo followed Zhang Jiaohua calmly. Although Zhang Jiaohua held the lead rope, the buffalo followed slowly, not straying to munch on the soybeans by the roadside.

When they returned to Mei Zi Pond, Zhang Manyin and the others were also finishing work, each holding a sickle as they headed home.

“Jiaohua, why are you back so late? If you hadn’t come soon, I’d have gone up the mountain to look for you,” Zhang Yuanbao, also holding a sickle, said. Though he was not much older than Zhang Jiaohua, he had already started helping with the family’s farm work.