Chapter 115

Now, back to the scene.

After an hour of continuous roasting, Chef Lin suddenly spoke: "That's about enough."

Hearing this, Qi Xing immediately stepped forward with his spear—Elaine and the [Association] had re-mounted the spear of longinus head from Qi Xing's hands onto a newly consecrated shaft. It was far from a perfect match, but it would at least suffice for this battle.

"Are you saying it has been refined inside?"

He asked while examining the cavern.

"I was hoping to roast it a bit longer, but Lin, can your energy hold up? Don't push yourself too hard."

"My flames have no upper limit," Lin said calmly. "What limits me is my stamina, not my supernatural energy."

Her gaze remained fixed on the rock wall as she said in a calm voice, "I just get the feeling… that the state of the Mahamayuri inside the cave has changed. When the situation changes, it's best not to keep doing the same thing."

Everyone has heard the story of Taishang Laojun refining the Monkey King in his furnace; not everything gets better just by doing it for a long time.

Suddenly, she glanced at Qi Xing again.

"On the contrary, Qi Xing, I don't think you should overuse the dark power. It isn't good for you."

She was, of course, referring to the silver coin.

However, to be honest—Qi Xing himself was a bit surprised by this.

This time, he had used the Silver Coin of [Illusion] to create a large-scale illusory solar eclipse covering Japan, which had lasted for a full hour.

Yet, not only did he not feel any signs of [overexertion], but his condition was unusually good. He didn't even need to deliberately practice breathing exercises; just by breathing, primordial qi surged from within him endlessly, like a rushing tide.

It was as if some sealed lid inside him had been opened, allowing pure power to flow continuously with every breath.

It was even a bit… too comfortable.

Never mind one or two hours; even if it lasted for ten days or half a month, Qi Xing didn't feel like it would be a burden to maintain.

It wasn't just his energy that was in good condition; his physical state was also a bit strange—previously, when Elaine prepared nutritional meals for him, Qi Xing even had a strange illusion: no matter how much he ate, he wouldn't feel full, but even if he didn't eat, he wouldn't feel hungry.

No one else could notice this subtle change.

But Qi Xing certainly knew that ever since he last used the [Dominator] silver coin to order his entire body to turn into lightning, his Sage Body had begun to undergo some fundamental changes.

Lin's intuition had always been sharp; her concerns were not unfounded.

However, Qi Xing decided to ignore these things for now.

"Hey, Sasa,"

He asked with a casual smile towards the Loli Evil God above his head,

"What do you think? Is the heat enough? Is it ready to be taken off the stove?"

"I never supported this plan of yours from the start."

Sasa rolled her eyes while grabbing his hair,

"Using a power of unknown origin to roast a Giant Spirit of unknown status… don't come looking for me if something actually goes wrong."

"Then do you have a better idea? Like a quick-victory plan to deal with the Mahamayuri?"

"Sure. Run away."

Sasa sneered,

"Continue refining your power and collecting the silver coins. So what if one-fifth of Asia gets formatted? Once you've collected all the silver coins, you can restore this world with a single thought; why take the risk now?"

Clearly, this was a method Qi Xing would never adopt; it wasn't even worth discussing.

After speaking, Sasa looked up at the sun in the sky, which was obscured by the power of [Illusion], and her expression suddenly turned strange: "But to be honest… the speed at which you are adapting to the silver coin is indeed much faster than I expected. If it continues like this, in less than two years, you will be able to confront a Giant Spirit head-on with your own power. Why are you in such a rush now?"

Qi Xing was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

He always felt that her words… sounded a bit strange.

"The situation has changed! The Mahamayuri is coming out!"

Suddenly, Lin shouted a warning!

Almost the moment she spoke, the entire mountain suddenly trembled—but that was definitely not an earthquake.

It wasn't the shaking of tectonic plates, but an extremely unnatural tearing, as if the fabric of this reality was being forcibly crumpled and squeezed by an invisible giant hand.

A vast and unspeakable existence was awakening—and was attempting to re-intervene in human reality.

"Retreat quickly!" Gojo Masamichi shouted, his face deathly pale.

Those volunteers and Exorcists who had originally been standing on both sides of the altar, playing the roles of the eight million gods, could no longer care about the ritual and began to evacuate in a panic.

The "gods" wearing ancient costumes and feathered headpieces stumbled down the hillside; some tore off their elaborate kimonos, while others tripped on the mountain path, knocking over the sacred sake jars and taiko drum stands used for the sacrifice.

The scene was chaotic and disheveled, even slightly comical.

But this was not funny.

Most of these people were not professional warriors. Although many knew magic, they were not combat-oriented and had never even experienced real combat in their lives. They had volunteered to follow Qi Xing, daring to perform a banquet outside the door of a giant god that could wipe them all out with a single glare, participating in a battle to [re-enact a myth].

To Qi Xing, such courage was more than enough.

This group of people was willing to perform the ritual of the gods gathering and feasting in front of a deity, just to win a chance to save their homeland (and, of course, to save themselves). This courage alone was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Therefore, Qi Xing did not think they were cowardly.

Such courage was enough to make him willing to stand up and fight for these people.

"Don't look back, retreat quickly outside the barrier!"

So Qi Xing shouted, his voice like thunder.

Once the Mahamayuri escaped from the Heavenly Rock Cave, the extras were to evacuate immediately; there was no need to force them to become cannon fodder in the battle against the Giant Spirit and be killed in vain—this was the plan Qi Xing had decided on from the beginning.

Meanwhile, the giant rock sealing the cave entrance began to move, slowly and with great difficulty.

Accompanied by the low rumble of the earth, the surface of that giant stone began to melt. Lin stopped roasting it with her divine fire, retreated quickly to distance herself, and moved in front of Qi Xing, shielding him behind her.

Then, a pale, semi-molten arm reached out from the cave and pressed against the rock wall.

It was not a human hand, nor was it as holy as a god or Buddha, but a strange hand that looked like semi-molten ceramic, with knuckles that seemed to be flowing, and a palm that revealed Buddhist seal fire patterns.

The Mahamayuri crawled out.

Its state had clearly changed significantly; the surface of its body was charred and peeling, as if it had been roasted. Of the three faces, the Amaterasu face representing [Joy] still occupied the main position, still holding the Yata Mirror high, its eyes sunken and blazing, like a white sun rising from hell.

However, what Qi Xing was most concerned about was the golden shackle on its body, which Yaobikuni had created using the faith of the [Tomb of Christ]. It had now melted more than halfway under the fire of [Reddening], and it looked like it could break at any moment.

Very good.

Maintaining his vigilance, Qi Xing raised the spear of longinus (temporary), kicked off the ground, and turned into a bolt of lightning, rushing straight forward!

—Although he had rarely used it in recent years, as a Martial Sage of the human world, Qi Xing's spear and staff skills had never been neglected.

In an instant, the Mahamayuri's three faces vibrated in unison, with the [Joy] face still occupying the dominant position and the Yata Mirror held high. But more rapidly, one of its upper right arms suddenly clenched—

Totsuka no Tsurugi!

In a flash of lightning, the Mahamayuri swung its sword straight down, the blade carrying an arrogant divine power, like a surging tsunami, like a roaring typhoon, slashing down from high above, crashing down with a boom!

"Well come!"

With a shout, Qi Xing raised his long spear diagonally, his true qi flowing into his spine like lightning snakes, gathering in his arm, facing the god-Buddha's strike head-on!

Boom!!!

The holy spear and the divine sword collided instantly, the shockwave exploding like the roar of ten thousand thunders. The mountains and forests shook, the heavens and earth changed color, and the fierce winds and lightning rolled and roared at the intersection, twisting into a brilliant vortex of light, tearing apart the rock walls and shredding the surrounding ground like paper!

Qi Xing was forced back a step, the mountain rock beneath his feet shattering inch by inch, the spear shaft vibrating violently, his tiger's mouth numb.

Even after being roasted by divine fire for an hour, the Giant Spirit's power, even weakened, still exceeded human limits. Although he held off the Giant Spirit's sword momentum, Qi Xing's long spear was also knocked aside.

The Giant Spirit was indeed a nemesis of humanity that Samael had spent great effort to design.

—But with this strike, Qi Xing had still seized the initiative!

"Lightning Qi acceleration."

He channeled his power.

The thunderous true qi traveled from the dantian below his navel to his internal organs, and then settled into his spinal cord.

—Martial arts, qi refining, aren't they all about understanding one's own body and the power within, and then controlling and manipulating it?

Borrowing the momentum from his spear being knocked aside, Qi Xing did not retreat but advanced, using amazing footwork to spin, pouring all his power into a horizontal sweep, not attacking the main body of the Mahamayuri, but aiming straight for its waist, at that segment of the golden shackle that was about to melt!

In an instant, the holy spear drew a blazing arc of light in the air, slashing fiercely at the shackle!

Clang!!!

An ear-piercing sound of breaking erupted!

The chains binding the Mahamayuri finally could not withstand the heavy blow of the holy spear, and the moment the spear tip struck, they shattered into light dust, turning into specks of golden light that scattered across heaven and earth!

The Mahamayuri's whole body immediately froze.

Among its three faces, the Joy face trembled slightly for an instant, the divine light in the Yata Mirror dimmed accordingly, and the six-armed divine weapons made a subtle, misaligned sound, as if some instruction [that did not belong to it] had been cleared from the system at this moment.

"Very good."

Qi Xing retreated with his spear, keeping his distance, and watched intently.

The golden shackle had been broken.

Next… what would happen next?

112: You have awakened the true Giant Spirit.

The Giant Spirit felt [incredulous].

It did not have emotions like humans, but when encountering contradictions, its intelligence would still perform necessary recalculations.

Over the past thousands, tens of thousands of years, in the long span of history, humans had countless times staged this kind of meaningless [resistance]. Some dug giant pits, attempting to make it fall in; others built temporary walls, attempting to block its advance.

If the Giant Spirit could have human emotions, it would surely be dumbfounded and amused by these childish and fragile actions.

There had also been hundreds, thousands of mages joining forces to cast spells, attempting to weaken, seal, or eliminate its existence… but the final outcome was without exception, all ending in instant collapse and meaningless death.

There was no cruelty, no anger, no pity. The Giant Spirit possessed no emotions, not even a sense of weariness.

It was just a [Machine of God], operating like an insect, following orders to prune all [weeds] that should be eliminated.

But this time—the situation seemed different.

The human before it looked like it indeed had a human form, but it itself was not human.

From him came that aura that should have long since disappeared—the aura belonging to the [Lord].

There appeared the reaction of the long-extinct Creator, that is, [God].

The Giant Spirit, born as an agent of God, naturally possessed the ability to distinguish between humans and gods.

That was not God.

God had long since died.

Even so, that thing still transmitted the same reaction as God.

Yet why—did that thing stand in front of the Giant Spirit, posturing to protect the [elimination target]?

The Giant Spirit was not omnipotent; facing unreasonable situations, confusion was only natural.

But the Giant Spirit would not feel fear.

The Giant Spirit would only calmly perform an analysis.

The Giant Spirit's past experience and logic could not provide an answer.

But it still quickly reached the most reasonable conclusion…

—

The golden shackle had been broken by the holy spear.

The Mahamayuri's movements stopped.

Qi Xing retreated with his spear, keeping a vigilant distance, watching intently.

But the Giant Spirit's actions seemed to have indeed… stopped. Its six arms hung down, its three faces were silent, and its god-body, as towering as a skyscraper, stood rigid amidst the charred rocky ground, motionless.

"Did I win?"

After a moment of silence, Qi Xing couldn't help but speak.