The Blood Sacrifice Begins

For Amamiya Tengo, after this match, Ten'gu Sanae and Amamiya Xingqiu will have to leave Kawamori, and the Tengu Family will have to continue packing up and relocating elsewhere. After that, it will probably be difficult to see each other again.

For Yamanaka Saigawa, he was probably quite happy, perhaps because the competition was finally coming to a safe end, or perhaps because the shepherds were finally about to be wiped out.

"Mr. Tengo, today is truly a wonderful day."

"That's probably how it is for the contestants, Chairman Yamanaka."

The old man replied calmly and politely, without saying anything more. He was feeling down; although he had prepared for the separation, he still found it somewhat difficult to accept today.

He didn't understand Shimizu Muxia, only filled with hatred, but now he realized that such hatred was meaningless. Because the outcome was already decided. So this unresolved emotion returned to the person involved— Amamiya Xingqiu, who abandoned the Tengu Family no matter what.

He couldn't forgive Amamiya Xingqiu, but after seeing Ten'gu Sanae, he felt a sense of helplessness towards his granddaughter. The affairs of the older generation shouldn't involve the children, especially since this was a sensible child. In his interactions with this little girl, the old man felt a sense of kinship that he seemed to have lost long ago.

This sense of family ties, whether from his eldest son or his second son, has long been forgotten.

Then, Amamiya Tengo sighed deeply.

"Hopefully, the match will proceed smoothly."

As time went on, the contestants and the audience were ready.

Because it was the final, and the competition happened to be on a weekend, the audience was very lively, and the venue was packed. The lively atmosphere also enhanced the competition, making every contestant feel a stifling heat wave. The heat wave brought tension mixed with joy, and every contestant was well prepared.

In this atmosphere, the little girl realized something was wrong, because Yotsuya Miko still hadn't arrived.

What happened Miko Sister Jianzi?

She was thinking, but time was running out, and as the host began his speech, the contestants entered the arena one after another.

Meanwhile, a planned arrest operation is underway.

The personnel from Divine Gate's Special Affairs Department, along with most of the Investigation Department staff and external collaborators, participated in this arrest operation. After repeated confirmation, they were certain that the Shepherds were indeed preparing to gather at the location reported by the spy.

Although there were still many doubts, there was no time for them to think about it further, and the members of these shepherds had not been left behind. There would be plenty of time to ask them about those doubts after the arrest operation was completed.

Shimizu Tenpu sat in the car, a sense of unease settled over him. He hadn't learned a single thing about the leader or Tong Sheng Yuanhe from espionage or investigations, and even with this arrest, he wasn't sure if the mysterious leader would be uncovered through the clues.

He recalled the Kaishoku Shugaku incident, which was essentially a covert operation similar to the current one. However, the Shepherds wouldn't be so ruthless as to use all their high-ranking members as bait. Even if they dared to do so, they wouldn't have many people available to do anything else. The Shepherds' numbers were limited, and they only had a handful of psychic users. Unless the leader had a group of ordinary people as his subordinates, but these ordinary people didn't understand Spiritual Power and couldn't do anything.

Shimizu Tenpu was thrown into chaos. He couldn't fathom what the leader of the Shepherds could possibly accomplish on his own. Could he participate in Blood Sacrifice ritual like Huai Cheng Data? No, that would be a losing proposition. Sacrificing the entire Shepherds for a single, devastating loss that the Divine Gate could tolerate would ultimately result in the Shepherds' defeat. Although the Gate of the Underworld was difficult to deal with, the Divine Gate's accumulated resources could still handle it.

At least, they can indeed deal with a Gate of the Underworld.

As for the Blood Sacrifice ritual opening multiple Gate of the Underworld? Impossible. Such a thing has never happened in the history of Divine Gate. If it were possible, the Shepherd would have destroyed Kawamori long ago.

The Blood Sacrifice rituals investigated by the Divine Gate have an extremely long process and distinct characteristics. The stronger the spirituality of the person acting as the Blood Sacrifice, the shorter the time required to break through the Gate of the Underworld, but in any case, this time will not be too short. They didn't pay much attention to the case involving Huai Cheng's data, because they would notice Kaishoku Shugaku's Blood Sacrifice sooner or later. The fluctuations of the Blood Sacrifice are very obvious.

Throughout the history of Divine Gate, both more than a decade ago and in the more distant past, this has always been the case.

But... just because it's always been this way, does that necessarily mean it's right?

He silently began to recall his past experiences, his experiences within Kawamori. The spy's sudden appearance had caught him completely off guard, rendering him unable to continue his investigation into the inner Divine Gate.

There must be something he overlooked.

However, he completely missed the opportunity.

At that critical moment, his phone suddenly rang.

A phone call from a newcomer— Futamido Yuria.

Chapter 143 The Blood Sacrifice Begins

"Spiritual Sense is not omnipotent."

Yotsuya Miko sighed and used her spiritual energy to heal the wound on her arm.

"The information about Divine Gate is also incomplete."

She looked at the Gate of the Underworld that had just closed before her and gave a bitter smile.

Both Huai Cheng's knowledge of the Blood Sacrifice method from his data memories and Divine Gate's knowledge of the Blood Sacrifice method misled her, making her think that this thing was not very useful.

"Blood Sacrifice rituals, in essence, are a common form of defilement used in the Xuanhui Realm to erode the spirituality of certain seals, formations, or artifacts. The cruder the Blood Sacrifice, the more constraints and limitations it requires. Kaishoku Shugaku's Blood Sacrifice requires the blood of a spiritual being, and breaking the seal of the Gate of the Underworld would cause a commotion. But I should have understood then why such a Blood Sacrifice didn't cause as much of a stir when it came into my hands."

Miko touched her arm; the scratches had faded to a faint mark. She had just conducted an experiment.

"It's not because I only opened a small part of the Gate of the Underworld, but because I used spiritual energy."

After learning more about this from Zhang Qiudao, she lost all hope for the seal she had placed on the Gate of the Underworld. Her own seals were no match for the Gate of the Underworld's own seals, only slightly hindering the Blood Sacrifice process.

"By the same token, if it were me, I wouldn't need any complicated Blood Sacrifice to break through the six Gate of the Underworld of the underworld of Kawakiri without making a sound. I could do it with just my own blood, because my blood is the best filth."

She sighed and looked towards the place she was supposed to be, the stadium.

"I never expected this. These guys actually managed to evade my search by sheer luck."

She did not use her Spiritual Sense to conduct a large-scale search within the stadium, as this would greatly damage her Spiritual Sense. It was for this reason that things beneath the stadium escaped her search.

If Miko is not mistaken, it is an array, something that should not exist in this world.

"A Blood Sacrifice formation that can be activated with just the blood of mortals, as for the target..."

She looked at the spot in front of her, and only after opening the Gate of the Underworld did she finally discover the connection between the formation and the Gate of the Underworld.

The bad news is that she can now detect the fluctuations in the formation with her Spiritual Sense, while Divine Gate is probably unaware of these fluctuations. Without mastering the Falcon Spirit Wind Control Incantation, she can forget about reaching the stadium before anyone is sacrificed; it's too late.

"The only thing we can do for now is to sever the connection between a few of the Gate of the Underworld and the formation."

Yotsuya Miko took out her phone and made a call.

There are still five connections to the Gate of the Underworld waiting for her to sever; she needs to hurry.

"Hey, Yuria, please relay my exact words to Okita Qishen."

"The stadium where the Kawatsuki calligraphy competition was held was a place of Blood Sacrifice."

"What?!"

Shimizu Tenpu leaned forward, his mind preoccupied with the message from Yuria, and asked questions as if he had lost his mind.

"What are you talking about? How is that possible?"

There was Yamanaka Saigawa, Amamiya Xingqiu, and his sister's daughter, Ten'gu Sanae. He understood it very clearly; even as soon as the sentence entered his mind, he had already considered a possibility.

Yamanaka Saigawa was the initiator of this Blood Sacrifice.

"We can't reach the stadium in time... No, Okita has ordered us to go to the other Gate of the Underworld from breaking open. One Gate of the Underworld has already had its connection to the Blood Sacrifice severed. Please proceed to the nearest Gate of the Underworld immediately."

After saying that, the phone was hung up.

From Yuria's urgent tone, he realized that now was not the time for him to ask questions. He quickly glanced at the personnel behind him who had already begun the arrest, and Shimizu Tenpu abruptly stepped on the gas, leaving his post without any explanation.

The recent Gate of the Underworld... flashed through his mind, and a number on his phone was dialed the moment he departed.

Before the other person could ask, he quickly recounted the details about the stadium.

"Be careful of Yamanaka Saigawa, he's one of the shepherds. Take good care of Sanae!"

"Varied--"

The sound of the speeding car drowned out the man's confusion. Shimizu Tenpu stared intently ahead, no longer having any other thoughts.

Now that he is a member of the Divine Gate, he has a clearer understanding of the disasters that the opening of the Gate of the Underworld will bring.

"We must catch up."

"The second one."

Yotsuya Miko didn't have time to heal the wound on her arm again. She silently channeled her spiritual energy to strengthen her body, ignoring the surprised looks from others, and sped off on the road once more.

The distance between each Gate of the Underworld wasn't too far, but without mastering high-speed movement, no matter how fast she went, she was only slightly faster than a car, far too slow to reach the six Gate of the Underworld. By the second Gate of the Underworld, she was already feeling the fluctuations of the Blood Sacrifice formation more and more; perhaps the third Gate of the Underworld was her limit.

"Damn it... if I go to the competition today..."

Unable to find peace of mind, she had given up the idea of participating in the competition and decided to investigate the situation of the Gate of the Underworld, but in the end, she still ended up getting back to the competition.

Blinded by her own Spiritual Sense and by the information from the Divine Gate, she failed to break free from her existing constraints until the entire conspiracy and truth were finally about to be revealed.

"The Straw Rope Doll in Yuria's hand can help me stall for a while, but as for Shimizu Tenpu... no, it's too late."

Hastily arriving at the location of the third Gate of the Underworld, she scratched her arm with her fingernail, and as the seal was broken, the Gate of the Underworld slowly emerged. Without hesitation, Yotsuya Miko looked at the aura entangled above the Gate of the Underworld, and several spells rushed up to wipe it away. She then closed the Gate of the Underworld and headed to another Gate of the Underworld without stopping.

On the way, she suddenly looked up at the sky and realized that this was the last Gate of the Underworld she could deal with.

"The Blood Sacrifice... has begun."

At that moment, her expression darkened more than ever before.

"In the end... we missed it."

A dark purple mist erupted from her surroundings, and in that instant, she finally abandoned her concerns about being human. As the thick fog enveloped her, the mutation once again manifested on her body. This time, the mutation was in her legs.

The three claws tore through the original shoes and socks, and the snow-white legs were covered by dark, diamond-shaped nail plates, with countless barbs hanging from them.

These mutated legs, by simply bending slightly towards the ground, provided a strengthening effect on the body far superior to that of spiritual energy.

Yotsuya Miko abandoned concealing this transformation and headed towards the fourth Gate of the Underworld at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Chapter 1 The Monster at the Gate of the Underworld

Yamanaka Saigawa glanced at his mechanical watch; the hour hand was pointing to a specific time period.

He smiled and left the office temporarily, using an excuse.

Amamiya Tengo didn't dwell too much on his departure, still basking in the aftermath of the match. However, even this sorrowful feeling was still disturbed.

A rapid knocking sounded, and the staff member who entered looked at the elderly man.

"Mr. Tengo, a viewer said he has something urgent to discuss with you. He said his name is Amamiya Xingqiu."

The clerk explained the reasons one by one, Amamiya Tengo couldn't help but frown.

Amamiya Xingqiu? What brings him here at a time like this?

He didn't understand, but he still gestured to the staff to let the people in.

At this moment, Amamiya Xingqiu, who was standing anxiously outside waiting, was extremely worried because he understood the meaning behind Shimizu Tenpu's words.

Before arriving at Kawamori, Shimizu Tenpu had come to him about the shepherds, because among the shepherds was Tong Sheng Yuanhe, the bastard who had murdered his wife.

This evil organization has now begun to threaten his daughter, and everything else he has left.

Although he desperately wanted to rush onto the field and take Ten'gu Sanae away without hesitation, his reason told him that this was impossible. The guards wouldn't just stand by and watch him cause trouble, and if he alerted them, the Shepherds' operation might be launched sooner than planned.

The only solution was to find the person who organized the event. His father, Amamiya Tengo.

Instruct Amamiya Tengo to cancel the match and inform everyone to take emergency evacuation.

With the security guard's permission, Amamiya Xingqiu hurried towards the gymnasium's office. Things hadn't reached the worst point yet. He looked at the old man in front of him, trying to persuade him to agree to his plan with a reasonable explanation.

But he couldn't do the "-moon-ripple-mark".

He simply opened his mouth and uttered the most straightforward words.

"Cancel the match immediately! Sanae is in danger!"

These cryptic words, unsurprisingly, made Tengo frown.

The old man looked at the panting man in front of him, wanting to know what had happened, what reason he had to cancel the match, and what danger his granddaughter was in.

Just as he was about to question them, he caught a glimpse of the open door and realized that the person standing behind Amamiya Xingqiu was Yamanaka Saigawa, the president of the Kawamori Calligraphy Association.

He held a dagger high, seemingly about to strike in front of him—

"Later!"

A roar followed, then without hesitation, it dodged to the side, violently crashing into the wooden furniture next to the office with a dull thud.

Before Amamiya Xingqiu could even feel the pain coming from the left side of his body, he stood up again in a few breaths and looked at the middle-aged man standing in front of the gate.

Unfamiliar faces, but...

He looked at the dagger that had fallen from the Yamanaka Saigawa, and the mechanical watch on his wrist. The figure from his past memories finally merged with this stranger.

"Tongsheng... Yuanhe."

He whispered the name, hatred and anger filling his anxiety.

Yamanaka Saigawa remained silent, simply standing there watching him rise and sheathe his dagger.

After a long while, as if remembering something, he finally came to his senses.

"The Blood Sacrifice has begun. What a pity, you're going to lose your loved ones again."

He chuckled softly, a hint of pleasure appearing on his face. He even straightened his clothes to make them look neater.