Chapter 101

A thunderous roar!

A spear of unimaginable length, incomparably massive, descended from the heavens, piercing straight down into the Sea of Blood!

The moment the spearhead struck the surface, it churned the sea, kicking up waves of red ten thousand zhang high, causing the entire world to tremble!

Only after the tides receded did Qi Xing see it.

On the shore, a massive, sprawled creature was quietly emerging from the spray.

It was a dead water snake, its body winding like a mountain range, scales shattered, flesh torn open, its size so immense it could coil around mountains and peaks.

Its giant maw, once capable of swallowing cities, was now half-open, its eye sockets hollow; it was dead, yet its divinity remained awe-inspiring.

The Sea of Blood, the divine spear churning the ocean, and the [Corpse of a God] washed up on the shore.

"Huh?"

In an instant, Sasa was already alarmed and furious!

In an instant, Qi Xing also came to a realization.

"There is actually no reason for us to kill each other, is there—Master Leipu?"

They heard the smiling voice of [Amaterasu] drifting over,

"The blessed one, chosen by the White God and the Peacock King?"

The play reenacting the myth of this day had already raised its curtain.

099: Shrine Maiden of the White God

A boundless sea of blood.

A giant spear descending from the heavens, churning the Sea of Blood.

And, the corpse of a dead snake god washed up on the shore.

"There is actually no reason for us to kill each other, is there—Master Leipu?"

The white-haired shrine maiden stood beside the massive head of the snake god, speaking with a smile.

Honestly, Qi Xing completely failed to understand her logic.

Why was there no reason to kill each other?

No reason? What kind of joke is that?

He couldn't even help but frown: "Ha?"

"Have you never thought about it, Master Leipu? In fact, we are the same."

The white-haired shrine maiden was unhurried, patiently explaining like a teacher lecturing primary school students,

"The White God, True Buddha, Peacock King, Samael, Maheshvara… It doesn't actually matter what you call her."

"But didn't you also receive the blessing of that Creator God?"

Oh, just that.

Qi Xing glanced at the super-small Sasa crawling onto his shoulder, noncommittal.

"The power of the White God is great, isn't it? That is the highest law of this universe."

"Even if you only understand a mere fragment of it, you can gain the great power to realize your own wishes."

The white-haired shrine maiden giggled,

"But, I suspect you have also begun to realize that this power will tempt your heart."

"No matter what kind of willpower you use to resist, even if you cultivate an immortal body and keep your heart as still as water, there is no way to completely nullify the influence of the silver coin."

"It is not that you are not firm enough, but because what you are holding is the Silver Coin of [Illusion]."

Her tone softened, as if she were speaking of the most ordinary matter: "That is why you have been hesitant, worried, and afraid of change lately, especially fearful of your own changes—right?"

These words finally made Qi Xing furrow his brows tightly.

It wasn't because [Amaterasu] had exposed his previous state—Qi Xing actually didn't care much about that, he wasn't ashamed to admit his own problems—the point was, this white-haired shrine maiden clearly knew too much about the silver coin.

How could she know so much? Just because she had lived long? This was definitely not information that could be grasped simply by [having lived long enough].

It was likely because there was indeed another Silver Coin Messenger standing behind this white-haired shrine maiden.

A Silver Coin Messenger who had perhaps existed for a long time, or at least had been hiding for nearly a thousand years.

The Church had previously told Qi Xing that few Silver Coin Messengers would actively reveal their identities. Because when it comes to the silver coin, while it is indeed powerful, its flaws are also too obvious.

The vast majority of silver coin holders eventually lose control and bring about their own destruction, or their actions become too extreme and they are besieged by the righteous path, ultimately causing heavy casualties for everyone.

In other words, if there really was a Silver Coin Messenger hiding in this world for a thousand years, their control over desire must have reached an astonishing level, practicing self-restraint and seclusion, remaining undiscovered by the world… or perhaps they had long since ceased to be human, and the current world had already become a part of the results of their desires.

As for why she knew that Qi Xing possessed the Silver Coin of [Illusion], that was not hard to understand. After all, Qi Xing had previously used [Illusion] to turn invisible and punch her, and had also used [Illusion] to transform into a water dragon twice. If a person already understood the silver coin well, it was indeed possible for them to guess it. Perhaps.

In any case, catch this white-haired shrine maiden first!

No sooner said than done!

In the next instant, Qi Xing's figure was like lightning, shattering the air, transforming into an afterimage as he swept across the Sea of Blood, pouncing straight toward the white-haired shrine maiden standing smilingly beside the snake god's corpse!

She had barely blinked when Qi Xing appeared before her, one hand lightning-fast as it clamped onto her right wrist, instantly tearing through tendon, bone, and flesh!

"Caught you."

Without mercy, Qi Xing's next action was to tear off her left hand and leg!

But the white-haired shrine maiden gave a cold smile, and her whole body immediately began to burn violently!

It was not ordinary fire, but an eerie, strange fire as dark as blood, exploding from within her body outward. The flames instantly engulfed her whole body, exploding from her internal organs to her skin!

Qi Xing never allowed unknown substances from enemies to touch him during battle. He instantly let go and retreated rapidly, his true qi rebounding to disperse the scorching heatwave. The surrounding little world was almost caused to shriek by the flames of the white-haired shrine maiden's self-detonation.

And when he had retreated more than ten meters—

"Endless, aren't you."

Qi Xing already saw the blood-red sea churning into a whirlpool again, and a figure slowly emerging from the water.

White hair like snow, golden eyes shimmering as before, still wearing the white bridal kimono that resembled a burial shroud, still holding that ancient bronze mirror in her arms.

Another white-haired shrine maiden came walking barefoot on the water, the surface still and waveless beneath her feet.

Even though he was accustomed to demons and evil paths, this scene still made Qi Xing feel quite absurd. Because every [her] looked exactly the same, showing no fatigue, not even the smile changed.

"What a headache. You are so impulsive, we have no way to talk at all."

The white-haired shrine maiden sighed, a helpless smile that seemed to come from the heart appearing on her face,

"Fine, I will say it myself first."

Then she said in a light tone, as if she were speaking of some ordinary, trivial matter.

"Master Leipu, it is useless to kill me, and it is useless to try to destroy my body to imprison me."

"Because anyone with even a little bit of brain, after obtaining an immortal body, should consider the clichéd situations of 'how to prevent oneself from being sealed' or 'how to prevent a situation where one cannot live and cannot die', right? Naturally, I have already thought about it."

"So I can self-detonate with a single thought, and will automatically self-detonate if I lose consciousness for too long; I can easily break top-tier binding spells, and I have more than a few resurrection points—so please stop wasting your effort."

"Trying to kill me repeatedly to wear me down so that I eventually cannot resurrect is also impossible. I am not one of those fools who drank a bit of Waka-mizu and thought they were completely immortal. Today I just want to chat with you. If you really won't cooperate, I'll just reincarnate somewhere else."

Damn, she seemed really much smarter than most of the idiot villains Qi Xing had killed before, much smarter than most of the brain-rusted idiot villains in this world. Even if they obtained an immortal body, they wouldn't consider the problem of 'what if I get captured, tortured, and brainwashed'.

This white-haired shrine maiden, it seemed, had actually, to a certain extent, jumped out of the stereotypical thinking mode of this butter-mud-pit world.

Just this point alone made Qi Xing secretly quite surprised.

"So could you please patiently wait a moment and have a good chat with me?"

She said, the corners of her mouth curling into a very sincere and gentle arc.

Clearly, the white-haired shrine maiden was trying very hard to make Qi Xing understand the difficulty of killing or capturing her alive.

One of the words made Qi Xing have to be vigilant, and he finally spoke: "Reincarnation?"

He couldn't help but glance at Sasa on his shoulder: "Does this world have reincarnation?"

"Normally, no. At least not the kind of reincarnation in general folklore concepts."

The Dark Creator shook her head, narrowing her eyes,

"There is no unchanging self that keeps reincarnating. Most people's lives only have one chance."

"But the power of one [silver coin] can indeed bring about an exception."

When she said this, she also clicked her tongue,

"I probably know which [silver coin] the [Messenger] behind her holds."

Others could not hear what Sasa said to Qi Xing. But coincidentally, almost just as Sasa finished speaking—

"Do you know what happens after people die?"

The white-haired shrine maiden asked with a smile, her tone so gentle it hardly seemed like she was talking about death,

"The dead soul will fall into the Underworld, Yellow Springs, Hades—use whichever term you like, but in the end, it will all be swallowed by the whirlpool of eternal calamity."

"Consciousness, memory, self will all dissolve, mix into it, until they completely disappear. A fairly easy-to-understand ending, right?"

Indeed. When Qi Xing first fought Sasa, he had also fallen into the [Sea of Disintegration], so it was not hard to imagine what that concept and feeling was. But if that was the case, where did reincarnation come from? Unless…

The white-haired shrine maiden seemed to read his question, chuckling: "You guessed right."

"Every time I die, the great power of the White God maintains my self, preventing it from being swallowed and dissolved. It brings me out of the whirlpool intact, and I can immediately re-emerge."

"Actually, I don't have an [immortal body] at all."

"Every time I have truly died, it's just that I can reincarnate immediately every time I die. This is true reincarnation of a spiritual child, seeing one's own nature, mastering life and death, without beginning or end."

She looked very proud, standing before the snake god's corpse, as if she really were that eternal, undying, and immortal existence.

She was indeed a bit clever.

But Qi Xing still immediately noticed two points of doubt.

First, reincarnation of a spiritual child is one thing, but who brings their original body with them when they reincarnate? Shouldn't you immediately turn into a baby?

Second, a true [Silver Coin Messenger] can bring their own infinite divine power, having enough energy to engage in wanton destruction. Qi Xing was very clear about this.

But this white-haired shrine maiden should only have shared the authority of the [silver coin], and did not bring her own divine power. Where exactly did the energy come from for her to perform so many death-and-resurrection operations?

Magic has its price, magic has its rules. To do big things, either you possess immense energy… or you have discovered a system loophole that can be exploited.

It must be Sasa's fault again!

The killing intent didn't decrease but increased, but brute-force killing was not the way. Qi Xing restrained his temper and asked her: "What exactly do you want to talk to me about?"

…

The words the white-haired shrine maiden said next finally took Qi Xing by surprise.

"I can help you, so that you can completely master the power of the [silver coin]."

[Amaterasu] was still smiling, as if she had been waiting for him to ask this question,

"That is to say, letting you no longer be affected by the power of the [silver coin] in body and mind—what do you think?"

This was too surprising.

"Impossible."

Sasa stood on Qi Xing's head, scoffing,

"There is no way in this world to still completely master the power of the [silver coin]. Don't believe her nonsense."

But Qi Xing would not, like Sasa, speak so absolutely.

Furthermore, just because [this world] doesn't have it, doesn't mean other worlds can't.

"Tsk."

Qi Xing already understood.

At this moment, he even finally realized: why the other party had gone to such great trouble to lure him alone into the deep layer of the [Inner Realm].

"It is the [Shrine Maiden of the Black God]—you want to capture Jingo Rin."

That's right.

Once this sentence was spoken, Sasa's expression froze.