121: decapitation operation

Shen Xiaochuan stood in the Main Hall of Dragon City, watching the battle situation on the crystal screen.

Three legions were attacking the Wa Nation.

The Vermilion Bird Legion had rushed out of the underground river, the Azure Dragon Legion had opened the granary gates, and the White Tiger Legion had blown up the communication tower.

One piece of good news after another was transmitted back.

But he did not smile.

He stared at the six red dots in the top right corner of the map.

Those were mobile energy sources, heading straight for the central fault line.

That was the flank of the Vermilion Bird Legion, which was very dangerous.

"It's here," he said softly.

At this moment, the communicator rang.

"Shen Xiaochuan, can you hear me?" It was White Snow Princess's voice; she lowered her voice, "I've intercepted an order. Higashino Guitian is not on the front line; he is at [58369, 586], right under the core tower of the King-level Divine Domain."

"How is the defense?"

"There is a nine-layered Blood Cherry Blossom barrier outside, which cannot be opened by ordinary means. But due to troop deployment on the front lines, the defense between the third and seventh layers is empty. You only have two minutes and seventeen seconds."

"That's enough," he said.

The communication cut off.

He walked to the Faith Mall interface, and many exchangeable items appeared before him: skill books, blueprints, scrolls, Materials... He clicked directly on a sword at the very bottom.

(S-rank Melee Weapon · zanpakuto)

Cost: 108,000 faith points

Effect: combat power +390, duration 2 hours 30 minutes

Note: Can only be used once, cannot be stacked

He glanced at his faith points: 117,421.

It was just enough; it was what he had saved up over three days.

"Redeem," he silently thought.

The System flashed, and golden light spread from his eyes to his entire body. His hand sank as a long, black-handled sword appeared. The blade was narrow, its edge gleaming, and two characters were engraved on it: "Soul Severing."

The panel popped up:

【Current combat power: 1190】

"I can hold on," he said, gripping the hilt until his knuckles turned white.

He looked down at his cuff, where a bronze Gear Pendant hung, feeling slightly warm. This was given to him by his parents, and he had always worn it. A few days ago, he had buried several jamming devices in the southwest corner, relying on this pendant as a signal point. Now, it would come in handy.

He pulled open the back door of the Main Hall. The sky outside was gray, and the air smelled of burning. There were shouts of battle in the distance, but it was quiet here.

He walked along the wall, his heart racing, taking every step with extreme caution. As he approached the third layer of the barrier, he felt a chill. He took a deep breath, dashed out suddenly, and slashed down with his blade. The barrier cracked, and he immediately jumped in, landed with a roll, and hid in the shadows.

A few paper shikigami flew past, their eyes red. Only after they had flown far away did he continue forward.

He did not go to the Main Hall.

He turned and ran toward the barracks in the south.

Three thousand garrison troops were assembling, wearing red armor and holding spears. Several commanders were shouting orders.

Shen Xiaochuan said nothing and charged in, sword in hand.

The first slash cut down the standard-bearer, the flagpole knocking down two others; the second slash swept across, severing the arms of three men; before their screams could even finish, the third slash slit their throats. He was like a blade, carving a path through the crowd.

"Enemy attack!!" someone shouted.

"The southern line is under attack! It's the people from Huaxia!!"

The drums were chaotic, and the horns were blown off-key. The barracks were in a mess. Some ran toward the Main Hall, some wanted to counterattack, but most stood frozen.

Shen Xiaochuan stood amidst the corpses, caught his breath, and looked up at the sky.

The sky was fiery red.

He knew that this move had thrown the entire Divine Domain into chaos.

The Main Hall would surely panic, orders would change, and all attention would be drawn to the south. No one would expect that his true target was not here.

He turned and ran toward the northwest.

Scouting shikigami began to appear on the road, hiding under the eaves, lurking in lanterns, their eyes darting around. He slowed his pace and walked along the wall. He didn't care that his clothes were stained with blood, only keeping his hand on the pendant.

The pendant vibrated gently—the jamming device had activated.

Two shikigami flew past, paused for a moment, and then left.

He let out a sigh of relief and quickened his pace.

Passing through a long, incense-filled corridor, the ground was made of white jade bricks, making his footsteps silent. On both sides were bronze lamp stands, the flames flickering. At the end was a flight of ninety-nine steps leading to the Main Hall platform.

He stepped onto the first step.

The ground beneath his feet shook—the defensive Formation had sensed him.

He did not stop.

One step, two steps, three steps... his pace became increasingly steady.

Halfway up, a curtain of light rose, blocking his path. This was not a barrier, but a detection net; passing through it would reveal his location.

He raised his left hand, aiming the pendant at the light curtain.

Hum—

The light curtain flickered and split open a crack.

He was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood: the jammers he had buried earlier weren't just for avoiding shikigami; they had also altered the rules of the Formation here. He had even forgotten about it himself.

"Lucky," he whispered.

He passed through and continued upward.

The wind grew stronger, making his clothes flap loudly. The Main Hall was right in front, with a golden roof and red pillars. At the entrance were two stone beasts, their eyes closed.

He had eight hundred meters left.

Suddenly, his body hurt, as if his blood vessels were being torn open. It was the backlash from the zanpakuto beginning.

He gritted his teeth and tried to breathe steadily. Every step was painful, but he kept walking.

Seven hundred meters... six hundred meters... five hundred meters...

Inside the Main Hall, the candlelight flickered.

Higashino Guitian sat on a high seat, with a projection of the battlefield in front of him. He frowned, quickly swiping through the images to check the data.

"What's going on with the southern line?" he asked.

"Reporting, my lord, the enemy raided the barracks, killed over two thousand people, and are still mopping up."

"Who is it?"

"Unclear, it's too fast, we can't see their face."

"What about the northern line?"

"The Azure Dragon is approaching the second resource point, Ling Feng has led the White Tiger to cut off supplies, and Yang Lie has blown up the altar."

"What about Tang Long?"

"Still fighting two Transcendents on the front line; the Golden-Winged Great Peng has not retreated."

Higashino Guitian sneered: "Trying to make a feint to the east while attacking in the west? Too naive."

He stood up and walked to the window to look outside.

The south was ablaze with fire.

"Send two Transcendents to the southern line, and have the others keep an eye on the three main forces. Once reinforcements arrive, none of them will survive."

He turned to give the order.

At this moment, a guard rushed in, his face pale.

"M... my lord! Alarm in the southwest! Someone has broken through the incense corridor and is climbing the white jade steps!"

"What?!" He turned his head sharply.

The guard swallowed his saliva, trying to stay calm.

"How many people?"

"O... one person."

"One? How could they possibly pass through the nine-layered barrier?I"

"I don't know. But he has a sword, and he just broke through the detection net..."

Higashino Guitian's eyes tightened.

"What does the sword look like?"

"It's black, engraved with 'Soul Severing'..."

He was silent for a second, then suddenly roared: "Close the doors! Activate the inner ring defense! Send two Transcendents here! Quickly!!"

As soon as he finished speaking—

Boom!!

A piece of the Main Hall's outer door exploded.

In the smoke and dust, a figure stood in the center of the steps.

Wearing dark blue work clothes, with blood on his sleeves, he held a black sword in his hand.

He lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold.

Higashino Guitian stared at him intently: "You... who sent you?"

The man did not speak.

He simply raised his sword.

The tip of the blade pointed at him.

One step, he walked into the Main Hall.