Chapter 890 - 18: The Advancing Maiden
"How do I know if what you’re saying is true or not..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs took a deep breath, coldly said, still maintaining a guarded stance with her blade, her body tense, clearly ready for battle.
The spiritual power within the girl’s body remained highly active, like a river surging, ready to rush down at any moment. At the same time, she kept urging the Chaotic Red Lotus through her connection with the spirit beast, trying to boost her reliable spirit beast’s morale.
However, the latter just lay on the ground like a frightened puppy, whimpering non-stop, not daring to lift its head. Its twelve eyes dared not move around randomly, and its tail, which was like a combination of many snakes, hung low, obediently and motionlessly adhering to the ground.
The Dragon Might that shook all beings truly terrified it.
Even just a trace of that majesty was enough to shatter Chaotic Red Lotus’s will, shaking its spirit... Completely trapped in shock and daze, amid a terrifying pressure only it could perceive.
But, after all, it’s a spirit beast and can’t relay precise information to its master. So Kenshan Yellow Springs, oblivious to the situation, found herself annoyed with her spirit beast’s lack of spirit but didn’t give up on self-rescue.
If the spirit beast was unreliable, then she could only rely on herself. After all, based on the power shown by the opponent, if they really harbored ill intentions, even with Chaotic Red Lotus, she wouldn’t stand much of a chance...
She simply didn’t want to give up the struggle, coopting temporarily with a façade, trying to buy herself some time and, at the same time, trying to stabilize her opponent, hoping the Strategy Room would notice her... Stalling time, seizing any opportunity she could.
If she ultimately couldn’t escape, then at least she wanted her sacrifice to have some value...
So—there was no difference.
With such a thought rising in her heart, she clenched her teeth, making up her mind, the slight fear that instinctively welled up inside her ebbing away like a tide.
"Proving it is indeed a bit difficult, since so much time has passed, and there aren’t many who know about the shrine’s existence, let alone understand what happened back then..." the young man with black hair and white clothing said with a slight smile.
He certainly understood the girl’s suspicion and distrust of him, but he didn’t care much, because it just proved that his creation was indeed flawless, and the creation had indeed moved from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom, becoming an independent entity of flesh and blood.
Moreover, for the persona he was currently choosing, causing suspicion was quite normal, expected, and what he wanted.
Once everything had settled, and all developments unfolded as he anticipated—
Then, as much as they doubted his identity before, they would believe it in the future.
..."So there’s no way to prove it?"
The black-haired girl said coldly, seemingly tightening her grip on the hilt of the Treasure Blade, though her delicate features tensed up, her heart involuntarily felt a bit anxious.
From earlier until now, she stayed in place without moving, had the chief and others failed to notice something off? There wasn’t a bit of movement, had they keenly noticed something wrong and were quickly mobilizing manpower to rescue, or had they not noticed at all?
Wait, or... had this suspected A-level Evil Spirit seized the opportunity—
Done something?!
Realizing a bit late, the girl perceptibly diverted a bit of her attention to her surroundings, and only then discovered something seemed off with her current scene.
Even though it was still a pitch-black mountain forest, with the clear, bright moonlight flowing, and she could faintly hear noises coming from afar in other directions, even the concentrated gunfire from special tactic squads... However, they kept going like this, appearing repetitive and monotonous.
Like pre-recorded background audio, replaying continuously.
When she was tense and overly focused, she didn’t notice it; but now, with doubt rising, under deliberate comparison with her sharp spiritual sense, she naturally quickly determined the issue...
Was it a technique-created Illusion Realm?
When did she fall for it?
Kenshan Yellow Springs suddenly realized, no wonder her earlier attacks directly fell short, like exerting a full-force blow landing on soft, unresisting cotton... It was just an illusory shadow, naturally immune to damage.
Though powerful, yet...
At least, she could perceive the unnatural flaws in the Illusion Realm, this realization slightly eased her heart, making her feel a sudden sense of security.
——However, she didn’t know, this was actually a deliberate so-called flaw left by the other side.
"If you ask some of the elderly in that mountain village over there, maybe they might remember something..." Gu Mo pointed casually in one direction, though his tone sounded slightly uncertain, "I’m not sure either, they probably don’t remember."
"However, to show my sincerity, I can first tell you the location and key to accessing that shrine, at least that part you can verify, and naturally, you’ll know whether what I say is true or not..."
He revealed a playful smile, seeming quite confident and assured.
This is quite interesting, openly putting a label on that Evil Spirit’s head, then guiding the Hero’s team to defeat this BOSS, while also testing if my Technique operation is running smoothly, whether there are bugs, and coincidentally achieving the goal of silencing...
It’s simply killing multiple birds with one stone—
That man-eating Evil Spirit is, in some sense, indeed a very useful tool.
......
Perhaps it’s an event happening simultaneously.
In a realm of illusion and unknown space.
The environment seems to overlap with the mountains and forests, yet doesn’t seem to be in the same dimension as the current world. In this strange and bizarre otherworldly dimension, one can vaguely see an ancient, barren, and dilapidated shrine sitting atop a mountain, with tall Bird House standing under the faint night sky.
No sacred and noble aura, only a particularly sinister feel, like the place of the dead, land of impermanence, with the air faintly filled with an ominous and uneasy atmosphere.
In the deepest part of the shrine, the body of the oppressive source is tangled, enveloped in extremely dense black gas—resentment, malice, greed, everything accumulated from countless grievances and bloodshed over the years.
One can faintly see innumerable grotesque giant white bones, countless human skulls and fragmented limbs pieced together, along with long fur and hair interwoven, eventually forming a massive outline...
However, at this moment, the space suddenly seemed to twist—
As if rippling, akin to someone throwing a pebble into a calm pond, causing circles of ripples to swiftly spread outward, only to be reflected back upon hitting the pond’s edge, colliding and overlapping with subsequent ripples.
"Roar—!!"
The colossal figure immediately let out an enraged howl, the illusory sound resonating across this illusion realm, lingering endlessly.
Despite not knowing what happened, it could sense some foreign Power forcibly interfering with the Domain it controlled... Naturally perceiving this as a provocation, it unapologetically prepared to launch the fiercest Attack, tearing apart the reckless intruder.
However—
This super Evil Spirit didn’t realize its good days were over.
This wasn’t another of its kind to contest territory, but a decree from Outer Gods beyond the heavens.
......
...
"Hearing the sound of Ling means you’re close to the shrine..."
"You mustn’t take its Ling bell, that will make you a sacrifice..."
"It also commands two Evil Spirits, appearing like small foxes but very ugly and disgusting. Their Power might not be stronger than the B-level Evil Spirits you mentioned, but as long as its body exists, it won’t be destroyed, it’ll constantly regenerate..."
The figure of the young man had already vanished, Kenshan Yellow Springs under Chaotic Red Lotus’s protection, waiting for the room leader to come and support her while repeatedly playing the secretly recorded audio on the special phone.
The opponent might have already realized her discreet act, yet didn’t mind, and didn’t impede her, instead faithfully imparting valuable intelligence...
Maybe what he said is really true... Wait, this kind of inclination cannot exist! At least before confirming all this, there mustn’t be any slack thoughts! Awakened promptly, Kenshan Yellow Springs realized she almost made a common-sense mistake.
No matter what, even if the opponent appears very credible, you can’t easily believe the opponent without verification; making judgments like that no different from being deceived... It’s common knowledge in the Mind Industry, and countless Demon Exorcists condense this through bloody and tearful experiences over the ages.
What is the concept of an A-level Evil Spirit?
The reason why they’re far apart from mid-low level Evil Spirits, besides having qualitative breakthroughs in Power, mainly lies in their high intelligence, which is one of the main reasons why their threat levels surge wildly.
Unlike B-level and below Evil Spirits—
Even if their Power is intimidating, they often can’t escape acting entirely on instinct, just like beasts in nature; though no one can deny that once they enter urban areas, they’ll inevitably cause great disaster, yet beasts remain beasts, actions without wisdom predestine the outcome.
When Evil Spirits, in some sense, become another kind of intelligent Life distinct from humans, that’s when true calamity arises.
Thus Kenshan Yellow Springs remained vigilant, refusing to easily believe the words of the opposing youth, still considering them an A-level Evil Spirit... deep within still preparing for the worst, convinced this Evil Spirit might be attempting to deceive her.
These are lessons learned from numerous predecessors.
—Firmly believing in the memories within her mind, she chooses to trust the long-standing legacy and history of the Mind Industry!