The Xuanming Python / The First Battle Comes to an End

Everyone tacitly and completely shut down all surveillance equipment in the Kawamori area, and thoroughly blocked and encrypted certain information.

Many things are simply impossible for a country to hide, because the difference between an individual and a nation is undeniable. However, a country's resources are distributed widely, making it impossible to dedicate a large amount of money to investigating someone whose case is not yet confirmed.

The matter of Kawamori is enough to make them temporarily shift some of their focus to thoroughly investigate the city of Kawamori, Kawamori's Divine Gate, Kawamori's shepherds, and everything that happened in Kawamori more than ten years ago.

While the commanders were dealing with the immediate disaster, documents and intelligence reports were being distributed to various locations.

Then there's the operation of a state apparatus.

Chapter 149 The Xuanming Python

The crowd gradually thinned out, as if they had been deliberately dispersed.

Yotsuya Miko walked through the streets and arrived at one of the only two Gate of the Underworld.

Before her arrival, no one, or anything, could observe the Gate of the Underworld before her, or the colossal creature that emerged from the Gate of the Underworld and stood upon this land.

Perhaps they existed, but they are long gone.

The enormous eyes were cast in gold, and there was a bulging bulge on the skull that seemed about to sprout horns.

It sat cross-legged on the ground, looking up at the cultivator who was looking up at it with its eyes, and flicked its tongue.

Even without using her Spiritual Sense, Yotsuya Miko already knew what kind of monster was standing in front of her. The oppressive aura emanating from it was truly pressing down on her, even squeezing her bones and muscles, causing her to make a slight shifting sound.

This is a snake, a Netherworld snake that was long dead but was reborn from resentment.

Yotsuya Miko pursed her lips; the Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable's knowledge had already revealed the origins of this enormous creature.

If the Demon Lord of Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable's perception is correct, there is no doubt that what stands before her is a ferocious beast from the Xuanhui Realm, a Xuanming Python with a minimum cultivation level of Foundation Establishment. And the large bulge on its head is not a wound, but the horn of a dragon, which means that this Xuanming Python is about to reach the Golden Core stage, in the late stage of Core Formation.

In layman's terms, the monster before them was a whole realm higher than Yotsuya Miko, almost two realms higher.

"No chance of winning."

Yotsuya Miko lowered her eyes. As a cultivator who had cultivated to the divine realm, such cross-dimensional pressure could not restrain her much for the time being. It was not impossible for her to continue fighting under such pressure, but whether she could win was another matter. Even now, it was hard to say whether the Soul Splitting Flesh Crushing Nail in her hands could actually cause any damage to this Xuanming Python.

Although these Netherworld creatures do not possess the strong physical resistance of ordinary demonic beasts, their peculiar constitution makes them immune to the vast majority of physical damage, with only attacks on the Spiritual Sense and soul having an effect. What's worse, they have extremely high resistance to these types of damage.

For cultivators of the Xuanhui Realm, such ferocious beasts are difficult to deal with even if they are of the same cultivation level. As for fighting across realms, it is almost tantamount to courting death.

Human cultivators' superiority over demonic beasts only begins to manifest after reaching the Golden Core stage, and only far surpasses that of ferocious beasts after reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Before reaching the Golden Core stage, it often takes several cultivators of the same realm to deal with a single demonic beast, let alone a naturally extraordinary demonic beast like the Xuanming Python, which is known as a "ferocious beast."

"But that's in the Xuanhui Realm."

Before she could ponder why such a ferocious beast would appear in this world, Yotsuya Miko looked towards the Gate of the Underworld in the sky. The gate was now teetering on the brink of collapse, but it had not yet broken. Her knowledge was insufficient to discern how the Gate of the Underworld had been created, and it would be extremely difficult to find the answer within the vast ocean of knowledge of the Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable, not to mention that the understanding of knowledge from different realms was on entirely different levels.

The only thing Miko was certain of was that this Gate of the Underworld was far superior to her realm, probably a creation above the Golden Core stage.

"Even for you, your cultivation level will be greatly weakened after passing through this door, so why bother joining in the fun?"

The Gate of the Underworld is not essentially an obstacle, otherwise there would be no need to seal Gate of the Underworld. Its true purpose is to weaken the monsters within. If any monster weaker than the Gate of the Underworld tries to pass through this gate, its strength will be reduced to a certain extent.

Above these Gate of the Underworld are two completely different effects: one is to weaken, and the other is to seal. The degree of these two effects is also different. The seal is extremely weak, and a Blood Sacrifice can easily break the seal, allowing the Gate of the Underworld to reappear.

Weakening is the most fundamental power of the Gate of the Underworld. The monsters that emerge from Gate of the Underworld gate are weakened by it, and their strength is no longer great. The strongest of them could probably be dealt with even by the exorcists of this world fighting to the death. However, the Xuanming Python in front of her is a different story.

"The world inside the gate is clearly more suitable for your survival, but this world is devoid of any spiritual energy and can only attract weak, bloodthirsty Ghosts. Why did you enter this world?"

The seal is used to shield this world from the scent of flesh and blood; it serves no other purpose. And once the scent of flesh and blood is shielded, no powerful being would pay any attention to these lifeless "doors," these "doors" within the world of doors.

For most living beings in the Xuanhui Realm, spiritual energy is no different from the oxygen that mortals rely on for survival.

The same applied to the Xuanming Python before them.

"In this world, the spiritual energy within you will gradually decrease until it is completely depleted."

Yotsuya Miko didn't intend to fight the ferocious beast for the time being; it would be best to deter it with words. She spoke slowly, for Core Formation stage already possessed considerable intelligence and was capable of understanding her words.

"Although you possess a vast amount of spiritual energy, as non-human cultivators, you will eventually run out of it. But I am different. The spiritual energy within me is inexhaustible, sustaining me in battle. As long as I am not dead, I can hunt you to the ends of the earth and use your body as material for Artifact Refining."

Spiritual energy is inexhaustible, a key difference between cultivators and demonic beasts in the Xuanhui Realm. Demonic beasts in the Xuanhui Realm possess a far superior ability to absorb external spiritual energy compared to humans, a unique trait stemming from their enormous size or innate talents bestowed by heaven. However, heaven does not favor demonic beasts. While granting them extraordinary spiritual energy absorption, it also deprives them of the ability to manipulate it, making it difficult for them to perform the same actions as human cultivators, including self-cultivation. These demonic beasts typically only utilize spiritual energy for their innate talents, such as the venom of a poisonous dragon, or more commonly, for physical tempering to enhance their strength.

For this reason, the connection between demonic beasts and spiritual energy is much closer than that between humans. While humans still have mortals who do not cultivate spiritual energy, demonic beasts cannot live without it. Once they lack spiritual energy, their bodies, which have been tempered by it, will wither. Spiritual energy is to demonic beasts what nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are to plants. What's worse, spiritual energy is also an important energy source for demonic beasts.

Lacking spiritual energy as a supplement, these demonic beasts must consume more food, that is, more blood, in order to obtain sufficient energy.

As for the Yotsuya Miko Xuanming Python in front of Yotsuya Miko, lacking spiritual energy, it had to devour more souls as energy, but the spiritualless world beneath its feet had no food to support the survival of such a behemoth.

To put it bluntly, even if it ate both humans and Ghosts, the entire world wouldn't be enough for it to eat for several years.

Its lifespan is at least in the thousands, and the lifespan of a dragon-transformed creature can reach tens of thousands of years. Of course, this is something that humans cannot achieve, and can be considered separately, since lifespan does not necessarily mean how long one can live.

Like the Yotsuya Miko, if it were to settle down in this world, it could barely survive for a dozen years before starving to death. Or it would be killed by Yotsuya Miko before that.

Even so, do you still want to stay here?

However, these words did not move the Xuanming Python at all. The latter merely raised the tip of its tail slightly. Then, it lashed out at Yotsuya Miko, flinging her deep into the asphalt road.

Chapter 150 The First Battle That Ended

He slammed a punch into the monster that was rushing towards him again, twisting its crooked mouth in agony once more. Amamiya Xingqiu felt immense pressure.

The Spiritual Power had an effect on this monster from the Gate of the Underworld. The Spiritual Power attached to the fist tore a large hole in the skin it struck, but the hole slowly closed until the wound was completely healed.

Amamiya Xingqiu couldn't help but look at the man standing to the side, the one from the organization that had released the monster.

After releasing the monster, he made no further moves, seemingly certain that this single monster was enough to kill Amamiya Xingqiu, or perhaps feeling that his plan was foolproof and that there was no need to waste any more effort.

That's probably what Tong Sheng Yuanhe was thinking.

After all, that Blood Sacrifice was irreversible. With the opening of the six Gate of the Underworld, the powerful beings within Gate of the Underworld would all appear in this world. At that time, even if this country wanted to stop this disaster, it would be impossible. The longer the Gate of the Underworld remained unsealed, the lower the possibility of sealing Gate of the Underworld again, until the Gate of the Underworld were permanently fixed in this world.

At that time, the entire Chuan Shou will be reduced to a desolate wasteland, a land of monsters, and even its surrounding areas will not be spared. From then on, everyone in this world will fully understand the transformation that is about to take place, and a supernatural wave will sweep across the globe. It can be called a bizarre resurgence, or perhaps a supernatural resurgence.

He, Tongsheng Yuanhe, will be the pioneer who brings about this opportunity for all mankind, and the direct beneficiary of this extraordinary revival, achieving a powerful existence through his existing extraordinary power. As for those weak Spiritual Power, they will soon be thrown into the dustbin of history.

Thinking of this, Tong Sheng Yuanhe's expression became even more joyful. He was very fortunate to have become the chosen one of that secret scroll back then, inheriting its power. It was worth all the effort he had spent over the years, lying low in the Kawami region, using the power of the Divine Gate and the Shepherds to complete his ritual and enhance his power. Now, it was time for him to reap the rewards.

"Be thankful, I didn't intend to kill you."

Looking at Amamiya Xingqiu, who was struggling against his "hound," he once again deeply felt the superiority of his current power. That power, which far surpassed Spiritual Power and was revered as "Blood Spiritual Qi," allowed him to easily kill exorcists, control mortals who had no Spiritual Power at all, and even implant his control into the bodies of exorcists.

He could easily kill Amamiya Xingqiu now, without breaking a sweat, just like he killed his wife back then. Speaking of which, he should thank that woman; if it weren't for her blood soaking in that secret scroll, he wouldn't know how it could be used.

"You're like an ant, just like back then, completely posing no threat whatsoever."

Tongsheng Yuanhe and unhurried, without even making any defensive gestures, and began to play with the dagger in his hand, suddenly developing a wicked sense of amusement.

"Blood, how beautiful. When the dagger pierced flesh, poured into organs from the back, and was pulled out again, splattering blood, that blood sprayed onto my clothes. I was wearing a black coat that day, but the blood was still red, staining my clothes a dark red. At that moment, a sense of pleasure suddenly rose in my heart. Ah, how interesting, look, how fragile humans are."

"She probably didn't expect it, or perhaps she simply didn't care. After all, in such a chaotic situation, weak Spiritual Power couldn't protect a seemingly powerful exorcist. A mere dagger could kill an exorcist. What kind of power is that? A fragile body, even with unique abilities to deal with spirits, can't change that fact. Those high-ranking nobles see exorcists just like ordinary humans. That's how I see you too."

While they were talking, Amamiya Xingqiu's burly body no longer had enough strength to fight the monster in front of him, and he was finally bitten on the arm. He struggled to shake off the monster's vicious bite, and his right arm was marked with holes from sharp teeth, with blood flowing out. The pain stimulated his nerves, along with his physical exhaustion.

That bite signaled the end of the battle.

The monster was not a spirit, but rather a cunning and treacherous creature like a wolf, possessing extremely strong regenerative abilities. Amamiya Xingqiu was not a powerful exorcist either, and had even neglected his Spiritual Power for over ten years, never having experienced combat again.

It's regrettable, but no miracle happened.

The monster stopped its attack, merely watching the human breathing heavily before it with amusement. It didn't perceive much threat from this human, hence its temporary leniency, hoping the human would play with it a little longer.

"It seems you're no longer able to fight. What a pity."

Tongsheng Yuanhe stroked "Hound's" head, a look of disappointment on his face. To be honest, he didn't intend to end the battle now, because the Gate of the Underworld had only just opened. He wanted to witness the complete fall of Kawamori and admire the changes he had brought about.

"In that case, may you rest in peace. Go and witness the death of your loved ones, witness the destruction of this city, and sink into endless regret until the moment of your death. You will regret that you were too weak to kill me, who was so powerful."

The victor, looking down from his superior position, slowly approached the defeated man before him. Perhaps fearing a final counterattack from the defeated man, his loyal "hound" followed him, its gaze fixed on Amamiya Xingqiu before it.

Nothing could change any of this, that's what Tongsheng Yuanhe thought. But the one thing he hadn't considered was that his "hunting dogs" weren't real dogs, but creations that fought using his senses.

"Bang!"

A sharp, piercing sound came from outside the door—a gunshot.

The bullet's trajectory took it from outside the door all the way to Tongsheng Yuanhe's chest, and a flower of blood bloomed from his back.

The moment the stinging pain reached his nerves, another gunshot rang out, followed by a third, then a fourth, as small holes burst open in his back one after another.

The monster lunged towards the door, just as its master was hit by the first bullet. But just as it lunged at the man with the gun, it began to rapidly transform into a swollen mass of blood, then a thin layer of bloody skin, which fell to the ground.

"Thump."

Tongsheng Yuanhe fell to the ground, his face filled with confusion and bewilderment. He died with his bewilderment forever.

"It seems you're vulnerable too."

The man entered the room and put down his gun. After saying this, he silently walked up to Amamiya Xingqiu, glanced at him, and then silently went to the unconscious Amamiya Tengo on the ground. He helped the old man up from the pile of rubble and carried him on his back.

"Pick up the gun; it's only a matter of time before they realize what's happening and a shot is fired. We still have a lot to do."

Amamiya Xingqiu moved his lips, somewhat unable to react. After a long while, he finally called out the name of the person who had just appeared.

"Shenlang, how could you...?"

Chapter 151 Rescue

Standing in front of Amamiya Xingqiu was Amamiya Shinro, the guy who had luckily dodged the explosion at the beginning.

After making the emergency call, Amamiya Shinro rushed to the basement of the gymnasium staff entrance. If he remembered correctly, while firearms were out of the question in such an emergency location, there were still plenty of things that could serve as weapons, such as crowbars or batons. Even if he didn't intend to fight, the basement was a good hiding place where he could safely await rescue.

Because of the event, the basement door was open and unlocked. Amamiya Shinro quickly found something he could use as a weapon in the basement: a police baton. He gripped the baton tightly and silently walked towards the top of the staff staircase. Just as he was about to ascend the stairs, he suddenly noticed a masked man carrying a gun walking up the stairs, seemingly doing something.

The employee entrance wasn't a single exit, so Amamiya Shinro didn't expect a single locked entrance to hold off the rioters for long. But it seems his luck wasn't good either; he'd run into these terrorists, and they were armed. The good news, however, was that there was only one rioter.

Gun...

Amamiya Shinro slowed his breathing, concealing himself at the corner of the stairs, silently waiting for the thug to come down. He only had one chance; a mistake would mean certain death, but for now, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go for it.

In the quiet employee corridor, the sound of footsteps on the steps was clearly audible and rhythmic.

One, two,...

Amamiya Shinro had a good memory; he silently counted the number of steps on the stairs as a signal to launch his attack.

Twelve,

With each footstep, the baton in his hand was gradually adjusted to a suitable angle for exerting force. Amamiya Shinro's palms began to sweat as he gripped the baton; he could even hear his own heart pounding. But even so, he forcibly held his breath until the next footstep.

Thirteen!

As he shifted his position, he swung the baton violently at the masked man approaching him. With a dull thud, the baton made a striking sound.

Without even checking if he had hit the target, Amamiya Shinro swung his baton again, striking the man in front of him. Only after three or four blows did he stop his trembling hands and finally look at the masked man.

Fortunately, his attack worked; the guy had already closed his eyes.

Without saying much, Amamiya Shinro quickly moved the unconscious thug to the corner of the next floor's stairs, removed his mask, and hit him on the head several more times before stopping.

After doing all this, he put the mask on his head, took off the thug's jacket and put it on himself, and also tied the black cloth strap around his arm.

Then, he picked up the gun from the thug and walked up the stairs.

They didn't encounter any other thugs after that and made their way smoothly to the outside of the top-floor office.

Once there, he removed his mask and pressed himself against the wall to eavesdrop on conversations inside the office, while remaining wary of potential thugs emerging from the open door.

However, things were somewhat different from what he had imagined; the people in the office were not thugs.

But it doesn't matter; he no longer needs to worry about things getting worse.

At the most opportune moment, he pulled the trigger of his gun, pouring bullets onto the strange man standing in front of Amamiya Xingqiu, killing him.

This is the predicament that Amamiya Shinro faced.

Even thinking about what he had done, Amamiya Shinro was still somewhat incredulous. Even more unbelievable was the strange man and his older brother, Amamiya Xingqiu. The strange man had created a monster, and his older brother had actually fought it bare-handed for a long time, though he ultimately failed.

"Are you an exorcist, a supernatural being?"

Amamiya Shinro, walking behind Amamiya Xingqiu, suddenly asked.

From the strange man's mutterings, he learned a lot of information, such as the woman the strange man was referring to.

"... That's right."

"Is Shimizu Muxia an exorcist?"

"Yes."

Obtaining this information didn't make Amamiya Shinro particularly happy, but he managed to piece together some details about his older brother's past.