Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Before he finished speaking, a gourd appeared in Zhu Gaoxi's palm. It was the lightning-struck wooden gourd that he had carried with him in Annam.

The gourd was entirely dark and heavy, its surface covered with natural lightning patterns, like a bolt of lightning frozen in wood.

With a flick of his wrist, the gourd flew out of his hand, spinning rapidly into the sky.

The lightning-struck wooden gourd flew higher and higher, finally hovering above the Oirat position. Suddenly, a muffled rumbling sound came from inside the gourd, as if someone had shaken a sleeping thunder beast awake.

Immediately afterwards, the clouds in the sky began to churn and thicken, as if stirred by an invisible hand.

Deep within the clouds, a silvery light flickered, accompanied by increasingly approaching thunder.

Before Zhu Gaoxu could finish shouting, the sky suddenly brightened.

The thunder rolled out from the depths of the clouds, like a giant beast growling in its throat.

Immediately afterwards, the clouds parted, and several silver lightning bolts struck down from within, hitting the arrows and javelins squarely.

"boom--!"

Several streaks of silver lightning cleaved down from the clouds, tearing through the night and striking the arrows and javelins.

The arrow instantly turned into molten iron in the lightning, then immediately vaporized, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

The spearhead exploded into dust with a "crack" in mid-air.

The lightning bolt continued its relentless advance, following the trajectory of the arrows as if it had eyes, and plunged straight into the Oirat ranks, engulfing the Oirat soldiers who had just finished shooting arrows and throwing spears.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Blinding white light exploded in the Oirat ranks, like several silver pythons writhing and tearing through the crowd.

The person struck by lightning didn't even have time to scream before turning into ashes.

Those nearby only saw a flash of white light, followed by a burnt smell.

When they looked down again, all that remained on the ground were patches of charred human-shaped marks, some deep and some shallow, still emitting wisps of smoke, like shadows crawling out of hell, branded into the human world.

Zhu Gaochi, sword in hand, laughed loudly, "Hahaha! You dare to shoot arrows! Shoot! Shoot again for me!"

"Phew!" Zhu Gaosui's face was initially a little pale, but seeing this scene, he finally felt relieved, knowing that his fourth brother was watching!

He snapped out of his daze, gave the reins a sharp jerk, and Tiger King roared as he took a few steps forward, flanking his second brother on either side, glaring at the terrified Oirat army below.

That bolt of lightning completely shattered the last vestiges of the Oirat people's fighting spirit.

"Eji Tengri—!" Someone shouted first, it was the grassland people's cry of alarm to the Eternal Heaven, their voices hoarse and strained, as if they had been choked.

"Tengri! Tengri is angry!" Another Oirat veteran tumbled off his horse, his knees buckled, and he knelt directly on the ground.

He raised his hands to the sky, his whole body trembling like withered grass in the wind, repeatedly chanting the oldest prayers of the grasslands, begging the gods not to punish him.

The warhorses, which were scattering and fleeing in all directions, were also frightened into a frenzy by the thunder and the might of the heavens.

A chestnut horse let out a long neigh, raised its front hooves high, and threw the rider off its back.

Immediately afterwards, the herd of horses scattered like a tide, running wildly in all directions.

Some ran east, some west, and some ran directly toward the Ming army camp. The Oirat cavalrymen on horseback howled and screamed. Some clung tightly to their horses' necks, while others were thrown into the grass and were left dazed and confused.

Esen's mount stumbled as soon as the first bolt of lightning struck, throwing him off its back.

Esen rolled on the spot to avoid being trampled to death by the chaotic horses rushing up from behind.

Just as he was about to get up, he saw a gourd with a flowing earthy light appear in the sky. It was the beast-taming gourd that his supernatural powers had transformed into earlier. So many warhorses, let's not waste them.

With the gourd's mouth facing downwards, an invisible suction force, like a large, unseen net, descended from mid-air.

One after another, the galloping warhorses were sucked into the gourd.

Whether they had horses or not, one moment they could hear the thunderous sound of hooves, and the next they could only hear a "whoosh".

A Oirat cavalryman was gripping his horse's belly and whipping it desperately when he suddenly felt a gap between his legs. Looking down, he saw that his horse was gone, and he was sitting in mid-air, still in the posture of a horse.

He fell to the ground with a loud "Ah!" and landed hard.

"Where's my horse?!" He sat on the ground, looking around blankly.

"Yeah! Where's your horse?" The person next to him was even more confused.

"Where did your horse go?"

"Your horse is gone too!"

"Tengri! Tengri has taken our horses away!" An older soldier, his face filled with terror, pointed to the sky, his voice trembling. "Only a god could possess such power! We...we have offended a god!"

"Tengri, spare me! Tengri, spare me!" Someone else knelt down, and then it was like a domino effect, with those who were standing, riding horses, or holding weapons kneeling down one after another.

Swords were lost, bows were thrown away, and the ground was covered with kneeling Oirat soldiers, like waves of grass swept down by the wind, stretching from Esen's front to the horizon.

Esen's lips trembled as he looked up at the sky, his earlier bravado completely shattered by the lightning bolt.

"Tengri...Tengri..." he murmured, his voice so soft that only he could hear it.

He suddenly shouted in the Oirat language: "This is a true god! This is the Eternal Heaven descended to earth!"

The generals beside him looked at each other, completely bewildered.

A young general said in a trembling voice, "Grand Tutor, surrender! Is this the arrival of the Eternal Heaven?"

Esen looked at Zhu Gaoxu in mid-air and suddenly threw the scimitar in his hand to the ground.

"We surrender...we surrender! The Eternal Heaven has descended! We cannot resist!"

Zhu Gaochi, who was on the tiger's back, saw everything clearly and laughed loudly, "Why didn't you just surrender earlier? Why did you have to make me really fight!"

Zhu Gaosui was completely bewildered.

What do you mean by "getting serious"? What did you actually do that for real? Wasn't it all thanks to Fourth Brother?

Aside from yelling and pulling out a knife just now, all you did was yell.

He glanced into the distance and understood even more.

A group of Ming cavalrymen were in the distance. Although they were still some distance away, they clearly saw what had just happened.

By now, those people are probably already spreading the word: His Highness the Prince of Han is so powerful that with a single roar, divine thunder descends from the sky.

Well, my second brother has set this up again.

Upon hearing the surrender, Zhu Gaoxu cheerfully turned the tiger's head and waved to the back, saying, "Father, Fourth Brother, come here! Surrender first!"

Not far away, Zhu Di and his entourage arrived on cloud formation.

Zhu Gaoxi lay back on his cloud chair, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said to Pigsy, "Marshal, go down and keep an eye on things for Second Brother. Don't let this fellow try anything funny again."

Yesen: You're overthinking it!

Pigsy shouldered his rake, grinned, and said, "Alright! Old Pig's off!"

He urged the lion to leap down from the clouds, its golden armor drawing a bright arc in the moonlight.

When Esen and the Oirat generals saw the golden-armored god descend from the sky, their bodies, which had just stood up, went limp again.