161: Unable to compete, they were drained dry.

As all eight types of divine blood were poured into the blood pool, the blood within suddenly burst with a dazzling light, as if it had been activated.

Yamata no Orochi's completion was not just about absorbing eight types of divine blood; it was a complex sacrificial ritual. The entire blood pool was an offering, which was why he had said Su Ze was seeking death by entering it.

Under this light, Yamata no Orochi raised its eight necks. Aside from the one head, the other seven malformed lumps of flesh were wriggling, seemingly on the verge of growing heads.

Once he successfully grew eight heads, it would mean the completion was a success, and the true Moonlight-rank Divine Beast, Yamata no Orochi, would be born.

Yamata no Orochi looked at the tiny living creature at the other end of the blood pool and spoke: "Human, since you are willing to take the initiative to be my sacrifice, then let me hurry and enjoy you alone!"

"After all, after this, I will have seven brothers competing with me for food!"

It licked its lips; fortunately, it was just eight heads on one body.

Otherwise... who would that Little Phoenix belong to?

It's not like they could all have it together, right? Well, it wasn't impossible... Yamata no Orochi smiled evilly and then prepared to lung forward to swallow Su Ze in one bite.

Seeing this, Feng Qingyi on the shore transformed into her original form and flew over the blood pool, using flames to stop it.

Emperor Meiji laughed at the sight: "You finally couldn't hold back?! I knew I wasn't wrong; you really weren't controlled by the yata no kagami!"

"But no matter what scheme you have, from the moment you entered the blood pool, the outcome was already decided. Die!"

Just as he thought he would see Yamata no Orochi swallow the sacrifice in a large gulp.

Yamata no Orochi's massive Snake body froze in place as if it had sensed something inexplicably shocking. It didn't move even as it was scorched by Feng Qingyi's flames, emitting bursts of meaty fragrance.

Then, flicking its tongue rapidly and uneasily, it said, "Human, what did you do?"

While Emperor Meiji was completely bewildered, he suddenly saw the light in the blood pool converge toward Su Ze and be rapidly absorbed.

"That represents the source power within the Divine Beast Essence Blood. A human body cannot possibly withstand it..."

"Could it be that this guy is actually a humanoid monster?" Emperor Meiji said with a face full of disbelief.

Then he hurriedly commanded, "Yamata no Orochi, what are you still standing there for? That is the power you need to complete your bloodline. Hurry and snatch it back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yamata no Orochi opened its massive maw toward the sky, and a powerful suction force erupted from its body, drawing the light toward it for a moment.

But then, Su Ze felt the scarlet blood egg beneath his feet act as if it had been offended, starting to throw a tantrum.

The light instantly converged entirely onto Su Ze—or rather, it was actually being absorbed by the scarlet blood egg below.

Yamata no Orochi cried out anxiously as if exhausted, "No... I can't out-compete him!"

Emperor Meiji was also dumbfounded. He had guessed what kind of methods Su Ze might use to stop Yamata no Orochi's completion.

For example, a sneak attack, or poisoning the blood pool.

But he had always been on guard against Su Ze and even Xiao Xu. Completing the bloodline only required absorbing power, so there was no way to be poisoned.

But he never expected this situation: a total interception.

At this time, Xiao Xu had also walked through the passage and arrived at the blood pool.

As for Zaraki Kenpachi, with Lin Xi around, he was currently sleeping soundly upstairs.

Not just him; all the high-ranking members of the Hidden Guards had entered their dreams.

This was the benefit of Xiao Xu serving as the General Commander these past few days. He could naturally come into contact with all the high-ranking officials and quietly plant Lin Xi's marks around them.

At the appropriate moment, he could activate them, sending all the high-level powerhouses into dreamland.

As for Xiao Xu, he intended to take advantage of the critical moment of Yamata no Orochi's completion to appear before Emperor Meiji and kill him in a sneak attack.

Before the soul dissipated, Lin Xi would burn all his power and that of the Nightmare Lord to perform a soul contract severance and transfer.

Currently, Lin Xi had become Xiao Xu's tamed beast via a soul contract. This ability would cut himself out and then fill in the contract for Yamata no Orochi.

Presumably, if it didn't want to weaken along with its master's death until it died, it wouldn't resist too much.

But what they didn't expect was that after descending into the shadows using the Nightmare Lord's power, the scene they saw while preparing to ambush the Emperor was like this.

"Why is Su Ze in the blood pool too? Isn't this just messing around?" Xiao Xu and Lin Xi said as they stepped out of the shadows, no longer caring about being exposed.

They could see that the scene before them had deviated from the plan by who knows how far.

Because judging from the despairing expression on Emperor Meiji's face, Yamata no Orochi's completion was a failure, so there was no Moonlight-rank Divine Beast contract to usurp.

"You brat... is this what you meant by ruining our plan? In the end, it was all for nothing, and no one gets any benefit." Lin Xi smiled bitterly.

Because this meant his physical body had died in vain.

You see, although his soul had now merged with the Nightmare Lord, granting him a long lifespan.

And he no longer needed to burn his soul to cut the contract according to the original plan.

But the problem was that in this state, he could never drink his favorite wine again.

"Wait, maybe it's not a complete failure. Looking at the situation... why does it seem like Su Ze is snatching all the power needed for Yamata no Orochi's completion? Can humans turn into divine beasts too?" Xiao Xu marveled as he carefully observed the scene.

However, Lin Xi, existing in a spiritual state, could see the flow of energy more clearly. He said, "No, the power is converging beneath that brat's feet. He's hidden something! You really are something!"

Lin Xi said happily.

He remembered what Su Ze had asked before: "Does Great Xia only need one Moonlight-rank Divine Beast, no matter what it is, even if it's Fuso's Yamata no Orochi?"

Clearly, he was now giving his answer. There was no need for Yamata no Orochi; he could produce a Moonlight-rank Divine Beast himself.

Then the old yet new question arose: "This kid... where on earth does he get so many powerful monsters?"

While he was thinking, Su Ze also felt that the scarlet blood egg beneath his feet had reached its limit and begun to absorb indiscriminately. If he had even a single wound on his body just now, he probably would have been sucked dry.

Su Ze hurriedly raised a hand. Feng Qingyi, flying in the air, received his instruction and immediately dove down to grab him out of the blood pool.

At the same time, the scarlet blood egg rose high out of the blood pool, surrounded by blood.

A powerful suction force pulled toward Yamata no Orochi, who still hadn't given up and wanted to snatch some of the power.

This time, he had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it.

Under the powerful suction of the scarlet blood egg, seven bloodlines shot out from its seven bloody, malformed lumps of flesh and were absorbed. Instantly, the entire snake became shriveled.

Seeing this, Emperor Meiji cried out in shock and wanted to attack the scarlet blood egg.

But it was already too late. Fine cracks began to appear on the scarlet blood egg; the Divine Beast inside was about to hatch.