212: Chapter 212 It's time for Jinguji to wake up!

On the blacksmith's rugged face, his eyes had turned into two orbs of dark red fire.

He looked at Lu Cheng and the others, his voice as hoarse as metal scraping against stone.

"You shouldn't have come out..."

As the words fell, the blacksmith swung his iron hammer violently. Bang!

A monster crawling out of the well beside him had half its body blown apart by his strike. Blood splattered everywhere.

Black blood sprayed onto the wall, looking like a patch of rotting flowers.

Jiang Xuance's mouth twitched. "Is he helping us?"

The next second, the blacksmith turned his head. Those dark red eyes fell upon the group.

"Go back." "Before dawn." "No one is allowed to leave."

Heavenly King Lin grinned, his battle-axe resting on his shoulder. "Looks like he isn't so friendly after all."

The wooden houses on both sides of the village path shook simultaneously. Door after door was pushed open. The villagers they had seen during the day stepped out from the houses.

Lu Cheng raised a hand. "Don't scatter." "Retreat toward the village entrance first."

Xu Xinglan immediately deployed a Source Array. Pale blue array runes lit up beneath everyone's feet, forming a temporary defensive perimeter.

Gu Changqing stepped forward, drawing his longsword. As the sword light swept past, the monsters in the front were slashed into several pieces.

Ye Beihan pressed a palm to the ground, and mysterious frost spread, freezing half of the muddy road.

Reinhardt stood at the rear, drawing his silver bow to its limit. Moonlight arrows pierced the night, shooting down the long-necked children on the rooftops.

Lan Jin, Yue Wujiu, and Yun Qi also joined the fray. As Lan Jin raised his hand, dark golden fire runes emerged from his palm, and flames landed on the monsters, burning scorched marks onto them.

But soon, everyone noticed a problem. The monsters Gu Changqing had slashed into pieces were squirming on the ground, their severed limbs reattaching as if pulled by threads.

From the villagers frozen by Ye Beihan, a creaking sound emerged from within the ice. The ice surface cracked, and rotting palms slowly reached out.

The long-necked child whose skull had been pierced by Reinhardt's moonlight arrow climbed up with its head dangling against its chest, grinning.

Tang Zhiwei's expression darkened. "They are regenerating."

Jiang Xuance swatted away a lunging monster with a claw, his scalp tingling as he watched its broken neck slowly reattach. "How are we supposed to fight this?"

Heavenly King Lin split a farmer in front of him with his axe. The farmer's upper body flew off, while the lower body continued to walk forward.

Three seconds later, several black threads stretched out from the muddy ground, stitching the two halves of the body back together. Heavenly King Lin cursed. "These things are endless."

Lu Cheng took action as well. The Holy Dragon Armament covered his right arm. He punched, shattering the chest of the old man mending nets.

The old man and the fishing net on him exploded, and his eyeballs rolled all over the ground. However, those eyeballs swiveled in the mud, quickly crawling back into his shattered body.

The old man stood up again. Lu Cheng frowned. "Troublesome."

These monsters were not individually strong, but they simply couldn't die. Every time they were killed, incinerated, frozen, chopped up, or crushed, they would reassemble in a very short amount of time.

Furthermore, with each resurrection, their aura became increasingly cold and sinister.

While maintaining the Source Array, Xu Xinglan analyzed the situation rapidly. "There must be a special resurrection rule here." "As long as the rule remains, simply killing them is meaningless."

Yue Wujiu's bronze compass vibrated violently. He looked up toward the distance. "The center." "The source of the resurrection is at the back mountain of the village."

Lu Cheng followed his gaze. In the distance, a half-collapsed torii gate stood in the darkness. Below the torii gate, it was hung with humanoid paper dolls.

The paper dolls swayed gently with the wind. With every sway, the wounds on the monsters nearby would recover a little.

Xu Xinglan immediately said: "Go to the torii gate." "There must be something there."

Lu Cheng nodded. "Concentrate on breaking through." "Don't get bogged down in fighting."

The group immediately changed direction. The Dragon Kingdom Team cleared the way in front, while the Nordic and Tianlan teams followed closely behind.

Heavenly King Lin and Ye Beihan were responsible for frontal suppression. Gu Changqing cleared the flanks. Tang Zhiwei and Xu Xinglan were responsible for preventing monsters from getting close to the rear.

Reinhardt's moonlight arrows fell continuously, pinning down the monsters on the rooftops and in the distance. Lu Cheng walked at the very front.

Golden-white Dragon scales lit up in the darkness; with every step he took, the muddy water beneath his feet was blasted away by his Dragon aura.

Watching the group advance toward the torii gate, the expression on the blacksmith's face changed for the first time. He gripped his iron hammer tightly, his voice low. "Stop."

No one stopped. The blacksmith rushed out violently. His speed looked much faster than during the day. He smashed his hammer toward Lu Cheng's back.

As if he had a premonition, Lu Cheng's Yueyao Pulse captured the trajectory of the hammer in advance. He dodged sideways and backhanded a punch into the blacksmith's chest. Bang!

The blacksmith flew backward, crashing through a wooden house. Countless children's shrill laughter erupted from inside the house. The next moment, the blacksmith stood up from the ruins. The collapsed part of his chest recovered rapidly.

He raised his hand and wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth. "You shouldn't disturb her."

Lu Cheng's gaze sank. "Her?" This "her" could only be Jinguji Ayane.

The group continued to charge forward. There were more and more monsters. The entire village path was blocked. Those things crawled out from the rooftops, walls, well openings, and fields, rushing toward them like a tide.

But the torii gate was getting closer and closer. Finally, Lu Cheng punched through the last group of monsters. The group saw the scene beneath the torii gate.

In the center of the dilapidated torii gate, there was a bright mirror. The mirror was suspended in mid-air, like a trapped moon. Complex array runes were carved around the mirror.

The array runes spread outward, connecting to those humanoid paper dolls, as well as to every wooden house, every well, and every paddy field in the village.

And in front of the bright mirror stood a young girl. Jinguji Ayane. She wore a white and red shrine maiden outfit. Her long hair was draped loose, with a red hair tie hanging on her shoulder.

She stood barefoot in the muddy water, with tiny bells tied around her ankles. She was dancing, and every time she spun, the bells on her ankles would ring. Ding. Ding. Ding.

The sound was clear, yet it made one's heart run cold. She had her eyes closed. Her face was pale. There was not a hint of color on her lips. It was as if she couldn't hear the sounds of the battle outside at all.

Jiang Xuance was stunned. "Why is she here?" Tang Zhiwei frowned. "Her state isn't right."

Lu Cheng could tell, of course, and he was just about to walk forward. An aged voice sounded from the side. "Please do not disturb the shrine maiden."

The village chief walked out from the darkness. He was still leaning on that wooden staff, his back slightly hunched. His face wore the same gentle smile as during the day.

But at this moment, the one-armed blacksmith stood beside him. The wound on the blacksmith's chest had recovered, the iron hammer was resting on his shoulder, and the face of the hammer was still dripping with blood.

Behind them, all sorts of monsters emerged from the village path, wooden houses, and the shadows of the torii gate. The bloated corpses that had crawled out of the paddy fields were dense and packed, surrounding the torii gate completely.

The village chief looked at Lu Cheng, his voice very soft. "Guests." "Going out at night is very dangerous."

Lu Cheng stared at him. "What's going on with Jinguji Ayane?" The village chief smiled. "She was always meant to come here."

"She is a child of the Jinguji family." "The blood in her veins can allow this village to continue existing."

Reinhardt's expression darkened. "So you have been waiting for her from the very beginning?"

The village chief did not look at him. His gaze remained fixed on Lu Cheng. "We have waited a long time." "So long that many people have forgotten why they are still here." "Fortunately, she has come."

Lu Cheng exhaled slowly. "It sounds like you intend to use her as fuel." The village chief's smile remained unchanged. "This is her mission."

Jinguji Ayane was still dancing. The light from the bright mirror was getting brighter and brighter. With every turn she made, her face grew a shade paler.

Lu Cheng's gaze turned completely cold. He took a step forward. "Move aside." The village chief shook his head gently. "Please do not disturb the shrine maiden."

The surrounding monsters lunged instantly. Lu Cheng charged into the swarm of monsters. His fist exploded with power. The Holy Dragon Armament covered part of his body, and the golden-white Dragon scales tore through the darkness.

He punched and shattered a faceless long shadow. He backhanded and grabbed a child monster, throwing it into the paddy field. But the next second, the shattered monsters regenerated again.

The faceless long shadow crawled up from the mud. The child monster hung back onto the eaves, emitting shrill laughter. Lu Cheng frowned deeper. These things multiplied the more he killed them. The more he killed, the more troublesome they became.

Since entering the Meridian Opening Realm, it had been a long time since he encountered such troublesome things. They couldn't be killed, couldn't be blasted away, and the malice of an entire village was pressing down here.

Lu Cheng looked at Jinguji Ayane, who was still dancing in the distance, and several items suddenly flashed through his mind. Those things... the ones Jinguji Ayane said would be useful in Pseudo-Takamagahara...

Lu Cheng's eyes shifted. "Almost forgot." He raised his hand and reached into the System space. The next instant, an ancient longsword appeared in his hand. The Tiancong Yun Sword.

The sword body was gray and dim, with cracks on the surface. The sword, which had originally shown no reaction, suddenly erupted with dazzling white light the moment it appeared in Pseudo-Takamagahara.

Hum! The sword's hum resonated throughout the entire Tianyuan Village. The movements of all the monsters nearby stopped simultaneously. Even the smile on the village chief's face stiffened for an instant.

The blacksmith gripped his hammer tightly, retreating half a step for the first time. "That sword..."

Lu Cheng looked down at the Tiancong Yun Sword in his hand. The cracks on the sword body were filled with white light. An extremely ancient pressure awakened from within the sword.

Immediately afterward, several other items in Lu Cheng's System space also resonated. The Three Bright Swords. The tamamo-no-maes demon heart. The three sword-shaped items and the fox-patterned demon heart lit up simultaneously.

The light wrapped around Lu Cheng, as if coating his Holy Dragon Armament with a layer of new divine runes.

Xu Xinglan watched this scene, her eyes shaking. "Those items are responding to the rules here." "They can suppress the monsters of Pseudo-Takamagahara."

The village chief's face sank completely. "Stop him." As the words fell, several cherry-colored talisman lights suddenly appeared all around.

Five figures walked out from both sides of the torii gate. Sakura Island team members. Including the person who had disappeared earlier, they were all there.

They wore tattered combat uniforms, with no expression on their faces and hollow eyes. But the aura radiating from their bodies had completely surpassed the Meridian Opening Realm. General-level.

On all five Sakura Island team members, General-level auras had actually appeared. Jiang Xuance's pupils constricted. "Are you kidding me?"

Two of them instantly attacked Lu Cheng. The remaining three charged toward the Dragon Kingdom Team, the Nordic team, and the Tianlan Alliance. They moved extremely fast, with afterimages of shikigami appearing behind them.

One had a phantom of a dog god growing from its back. One was wrapped in black snakes. One had talisman paper in its hand turning into ghost fire. One had its entire face covered by a fox mask. And another had an armored warrior behind it.

They had already lost themselves, becoming guardians of the ritual. Lu Cheng looked at the two rushing toward him, his eyes slightly cold. "You've got some nerve..."

He couldn't kill those small monsters before because they were bound to the village's resurrection rules. But these Sakura Island team members were different. They were living people. They were Puppets whose auras had been forcibly raised to General-level by the ritual.

Lu Cheng slowly gripped the Tiancong Yun Sword tightly. "I can't kill those small monsters for the time being." "But you? Can't I kill you?"

Boom! The Holy Dragon Armament and Flame Demon Transformation were fully activated. Golden-white Dragon scales instantly covered his upper body. Black-red flames ignited in his molten-gold pupils.

The Fire Luminary Meridian operated frantically, and Battle Intent exploded in his chest like a furnace fire. The Tiancong Yun Sword shone with brilliant white light. The three sword lights of the Three Bright Swords hovered behind him.

The tamamo-no-maes demon heart released a pale golden fox-patterned halo. Snow Spirit jumped into mid-air, spreading her two tails. The Ice and Fire Luminary Meridians resonated with the fox-patterned demon heart, turning into a layer of star flames protecting Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng's current aura skyrocketed instantly. Multiple powers stacked together, making him look like a war god draped in Dragon scales and divine fire.

The two Sakura Island Puppets had already charged in front of him. Lu Cheng swung his sword. The first sword strike. The white light slashed through the phantom of the dog god. The dog god phantom collapsed on the spot.

The talisman rune on that member's chest exploded, and he was blown away by the sword light, turning into a cluster of cherry-colored light fragments the moment he landed. He didn't die. After the terminal failed, the competition elimination mechanism had also changed.

But the Pseudo-Takamagahara rules still rejected him, his body swallowed by the light, disappearing from the spot.

The second Puppet broke in from the side, with black snakes wrapping around Lu Cheng's neck. Lu Cheng backhanded a punch. Black-red flames exploded. The black snakes shattered inch by inch.

The next instant, a sword light from the Three Bright Swords fell, extinguishing the shikigami afterimage behind it. The second Sakura Island member was also blasted into cherry-colored light fragments.

Lu Cheng didn't stop. He turned and charged toward the other three. The third ghost-fire Puppet, which was suppressing Xu Xinglan, had just released talisman fire when the Tiancong Yun Sword slashed down from above. The talisman fire was extinguished. The figure dissipated.

The fourth fox-masked Puppet tried to interfere with Reinhardt using illusions. Snow Spirit let out a soft cry. The Spirit Fox Phantom Sound shattered the illusion. Lu Cheng stepped in front of him and smashed the fox mask with a single punch.

The fifth armored warrior Puppet was the strongest, actually able to hold its own against the combined efforts of Heavenly King Lin and Ye Beihan for a short time. But after Lu Cheng arrived, the situation ended instantly.

A kick bolstered by the Holy Dragon Armament directly cracked the warrior phantom. The Tiancong Yun Sword pierced through the talisman rune on its chest. The fifth cluster of cherry-colored light rose. All five Sakura Island members were forcibly driven away by Lu Cheng.

The surrounding monsters lunged again. But this time, the white light of the Tiancong Yun Sword covered the ground. The small monsters that could originally resurrect continuously began to smoke the moment they approached the range of the sword light.

Lu Cheng swung his sword in a horizontal sweep. The white light spread out. A large area of monsters screamed as they were torn into ashes by the sword light. This time, they didn't regenerate immediately.

The village chief's expression finally changed. The blacksmith gripped his hammer tightly, blocking the front of the torii gate. "Stop." Lu Cheng looked up. Jinguji Ayane was still dancing.

The light in the bright mirror was about to swallow her. He walked forward step by step. The muddy water beneath his feet was evaporated by the white light. The Dragon soul behind him spread its wings.

Snow Spirit landed on his shoulder, the star pattern on her forehead shining like a tiny star. Lu Cheng looked at the shrine maiden in the center of the torii gate, his voice very low. "Jinguji." "It's time to wake up."