Hogyoku Fusion, Stage Six! The True Perfect Creation!

Goryeo, Gyeonggi Province, Suicheng County.

Inside a secret underground facility far from the city, Jin Yubin, who had appeared in Great Ming not long ago, had now lost an arm.

"How is the situation?"

As he wrapped bandages around himself to stop the bleeding, he questioned the subordinate beside him.

After a moment of silence, the subordinate answered quietly, "Chief, the civilians you rescued have been properly settled."

"However…"

"I’m afraid the high-ranking Demons in Suicheng County have already noticed our presence."

The Goryeo Card Masters led by Jin Yubin had always operated around the outskirts of major cities, as most city centers were home to high-level Demons.

As a small force whose strongest member was only Gold Grade, they naturally could not go looking for death.

Unfortunately, no one could walk by the river forever without getting their shoes wet. Something had gone wrong during this operation to rescue Goryeo civilians.

As a result, Jin Yubin had no choice but to stay behind alone to cover their retreat. The price was, naturally, the right hand that had vanished from his body.

"So that’s how it is."

Jin Yubin lowered his eyelids slightly, his thoughts unreadable.

After a long while, he let out a deep sigh. "Pass down the order. Prepare to relocate."

Looking at the resolute face of the one-armed man before him, the subordinate opened his mouth but did not know what to say.

Of course, Jin Yubin knew what his subordinate wanted to say. There were still many civilians in Suicheng County who had not been rescued, and this decision undoubtedly meant temporarily abandoning them.

But…

What else could he do? All he could do was do his best and leave the rest to fate.

He might have been a good person, but he was by no means a saint. Hesitation only invited disaster. He possessed that much resolve.

Just as Jin Yubin was about to say something else, the secret underground facility suddenly began to tremble, and countless specks of dust fell from above.

His expression changed instantly. He muttered, "An earthquake?"

"Or have we been exposed?!"

At that moment, a woman with a shocked yet bewildered expression hurried over to Jin Yubin. "Chief, an unknown Card Master has attacked Hancheng!"

After saying that, she paused before continuing with some difficulty, "According to our observations…"

"It is likely a battle between Master Grade existences."

Jin Yubin froze where he stood. He immediately guessed the attacker’s identity.

Imperial Ming.

"Benefactor…"

Lu Su’s image flashed through the man’s mind, leaving him momentarily speechless.

However, he soon seemed to recall something and asked with a frown, "Do we have people near Hancheng?"

Since there were basically no humans in Hancheng, Jin Yubin’s resistance force had not stationed anyone there.

Yet in order to avoid being discovered by high-ranking Demons, all of their bases were actually located very far from cities.

Logically speaking, what happened in Hancheng should not have been discovered so quickly.

At his question, a trace of confusion also surfaced on the woman’s face, but she still reported truthfully, "The report says they were able to directly witness the battle in the city."

"…?"

Jin Yubin could not make sense of it for a moment.

Elsewhere.

Fang Wenlong and Zero, one human and one Demon locked in battle, naturally noticed Lu Su and Fox Jiu facing off against each other.

Yet their thoughts in response to the scene were completely different.

Fang Wenlong: Xiao Luo has gotten stronger again compared to when he fought Tempest last time.

Zero: He wants to run.

In an instant, Zero had judged Fox Jiu’s true intentions.

That was hardly surprising. Jin Ping and the others had already told him about the fox’s "glorious" deeds beforehand.

Fortunately, Zero had long prepared for such a possibility.

After exchanging another attack with Fang Wenlong, he used the recoil to fly backward toward Fox Jiu. At the same time, the Armored Wooden Giant rose to its feet once more under its controllers’ command.

Hiss—!

A long stream of white vapor sprayed from Fox Jiu’s enormous nostrils. He lowered his head slightly to look at the tiny Zero by his feet and asked in a voice like a great bell, "Switching opponents?"

He thought Zero wanted to trade opponents with him.

However, in response to the question, Zero merely placed a hand on the fox’s paw, which was covered in thick white fur.

The next moment, a faint sting reached him, and Fox Jiu suddenly pulled back his paw. "Zero."

The Demon Fox had only uttered two words when he sensed an unknown presence invading his body.

The clarity in the fox’s eyes was instantly covered by a layer of blood-red. He roared in disbelief, "You set me up!?"

Zero, whose aura had weakened considerably, merely said indifferently, "Preventing… escape."

Fox Jiu had been struck right where it hurt, and he immediately flew into a rage from humiliation. Yet he had no idea how to refute him.

Besides, he no longer had the strength to argue.

The giant fox had discovered that half a soul had appeared inside his body.

Zero’s.

In the distance, Lu Su frowned as he looked at the two Demons. He murmured softly, "Infighting?"

Before he could think it through, Fox Jiu slammed his left paw against the ground and pounced toward him.

In an instant, the massive fox collided with the purple-armored wooden giant once again.

Yet the moment they clashed, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, who were controlling the Armored Wooden Giant, noticed that something was wrong. For some reason, Fox Jiu’s strength had increased immensely compared to just moments ago. In a pure tug-of-war, the Armored Wooden Giant was already struggling to match him.

But…

Card Masters had never been a profession that fought alone.

A piercing howl came from Fox Jiu’s side, and a purple energy blast slammed into his body in an instant.

Boom—!

Flames shot into the sky as the violent explosion swallowed nearly half of the fox’s body.

Yet the pain only provoked Fox Jiu’s ferocity.

He abandoned the Armored Wooden Giant before him and turned to pounce at Aizen, the culprit.

Aizen had already evolved to the fourth stage under Fox Jiu’s previous attacks, only one step away from his strongest form in the original work.

Unfortunately, the fourth stage alone was still not enough against the increasingly deranged Fox Jiu.

Lu Su frowned slightly as he watched the giant fox in the distance attack Aizen madly and without reason.

At first, he had believed they were fighting among themselves, but after seeing them clash again, the youth overturned that guess.

After all, what kind of infighting made someone stronger?

However, he had also sensed something strange just now. Fox Jiu’s strength had indeed increased, but considering his current mental state, his combat ability had actually declined somewhat.

Thus, Zero’s actions now seemed completely counterproductive to Lu Su.

Fang Wenlong, who was fighting him in the distance, felt the same way.

He could tell that Zero’s condition had declined somewhat compared to before. This was undoubtedly related to what had just happened.

"What’s the purpose?"

For a moment, neither Lu Su nor Fang Wenlong could understand why the other side had done this.

Meanwhile, Aizen had already entered the fifth stage of Hogyoku Fusion under Fox Jiu’s attacks. White wings with six heads stretched wildly behind him, while terrifying Spirit Pressure filled heaven and earth, weighing heavily upon the hearts of every Demon present.

Combined with Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki, some weaker Demons had fallen unconscious under the terrifying pressure despite being extremely far away.

If Demons were monsters, then fifth-stage Aizen was a creature even more monstrous than monsters, both in appearance and strength.

And in this stage, Aizen had finally become barely capable of confronting the berserk Fox Jiu head-on.

Deep-purple Radiant Blasts continuously shot from the six heads at the tips of the brown-haired man’s wings toward the giant Demon Fox before him.

Massive explosions erupted across the battlefield without pause. Unfortunately, although attacks of this level could make Fox Jiu feel pain, they could not truly injure him.

"At this rate, this is going to drag on for a long time." Lu Su’s gaze flickered as he looked at the Nation-Destroying Fox Spirit being besieged by his cards. "But what do they gain by doing this?"

"Nothing more than buying time."

The youth did not believe Zero and Fox Jiu would do something so pointless.

At that moment, his expression suddenly froze as though he had thought of something. "Wait."

To analyze the motives of the two Demons, he naturally had to consider who would benefit from this.

And since both Master Grade Demons had come to Goryeo under the orders of the City within a City, the beneficiary naturally became obvious.

Finally, if Lu Su and Fang Wenlong remained tied down in Goryeo, what would happen?

Great Ming would be left with only the old (Bai Yueming), the woman (Ji Weirui), and the crippled (Ye Zhou) as combatants.

Without question, if Jin Ping had some scheme in mind, this would be an opportunity he absolutely could not miss.

Having realized this, Lu Su immediately shouted at Fang Wenlong, "Master Fang, something may happen in Great Ming!"

The moment he spoke, Fang Wenlong, who was fighting Zero, quickly grasped the crucial point as well. His expression changed abruptly.

Seeing his creator’s scheme exposed, a slight fluctuation appeared on Zero’s featureless face, and his offensive immediately grew fiercer.

But Fang Wenlong no longer had any desire to continue fighting. After blocking several attacks, he seized an opportunity to break free from his entanglement with Zero and flashed back to Lu Su’s side.

"Xiao Luo, what do we do next?" The middle-aged man knitted his brows tightly and quietly asked Lu Su for his opinion. "Even if we want to retreat, they definitely won’t let us leave."

"I’ll stay behind and cover the retreat."

The two of them certainly could not ignore Zero and Fox Jiu and simply flee. Besides, their opponents would never sit back and watch them do so.

And even if they escaped, the two Demons could still enter Great Ming and cause destruction themselves.

Without question, only two paths lay before them. Either they fought to the death here, returned to Great Ming only after dealing with the two Master Grade Demons, or one of them stayed behind to fight both Demons alone.

Against a weakened Zero and a mindless Fox Jiu, Fang Wenlong believed he could handle them.

Just as Lu Su lowered his head to consider whether there was a better solution, Zero, who had somehow appeared atop Fox Jiu’s head, suddenly uttered two words. "What a pity."

As his words fell, he vanished from the spot. Immediately afterward, Fox Jiu’s aura began to surge wildly.

Within only a few breaths, the pressure the giant fox exerted on Lu Su had faintly surpassed Tempest’s.

Seeing this, the young man sighed softly. "Master Fang, it seems they haven’t given us a choice."

Zero had used some unknown method to merge with Fox Jiu, leaving them only the second path.

Because if both of them chose to stay and besiege that Demon, their opponent would definitely employ guerrilla tactics, fighting while retreating.

With that thought, Lu Su turned to Fang Wenlong and said solemnly, "Leave this side to me. Master Fang, return to Great Ming first."

As though to dispel the other man’s concerns, he added, "You know my mobility, Master Fang. Don’t worry. If things go badly, I’ll retreat immediately."

Lu Su had confidence in his current strength. Even if Fox Jiu had been enhanced, he still believed he could defeat him.

After all, he had won against Tempest even without Aizen. If he could not beat Fox Jiu now that he had Aizen, would all his growth have been for nothing?

With things having been said to this point, Fang Wenlong naturally had no reason to refuse.

He silently patted Lu Su’s shoulder, then flashed away from the battlefield.

With only himself left behind, Lu Su let out a soft breath and turned his gaze toward Fox Jiu, who was howling at the sky in the distance.

No, he should not be called Fox Jiu anymore. Looking at Little Spider’s latest appraisal information, Lu Su could not help tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Name: Fox Jiu (Zero)

Title: Perfect Fox

Level: Master Grade

Droppable Material: Calamity Fox Spirit

However, although both his name and title had changed, Fox Jiu’s dropped material remained the Calamity Fox Spirit.

Now that the fusion between Fox Jiu and Zero was complete, his sanity had returned. However, he was no longer the only one in control of this body.

The Demon Fox nearly gritted his teeth as he roared inwardly, "Zero, I’ll remember this debt!"

"Compensation… later."

At such a critical moment, Zero naturally could only placate the giant fox for now.

Upon hearing that there would be compensation after everything was over, Fox Jiu temporarily suppressed his dissatisfaction. Feeling the immense power within his body, he felt better than he ever had before.

Then, seeing that only Lu Su remained on the other side, the fox suddenly felt like he was standing tall again.

At this moment, every card belonging to Lu Su stood ready for battle.

Kurosaki Ichigo had already entered the Mugetsu state, while Aizen was only a small amount of accumulation away from the sixth stage.

However, considering that they would need to return to Great Ming to provide support after dealing with the Demon before them, Lu Su’s cards could not reveal all their trump cards right now.

The battle erupted once again, with Aizen making the first move.

Four massive rings of solid purple Spirit Pressure instantly trapped the Demon Fox at their center.

Upon catching the threatening aura emanating from them, Fox Jiu immediately tried to break out.

But Aizen was no longer alone as he had been in the original work. While he was charging the extremely slow Ultimate Radiant Blast, crimson Myojinmon had already descended from the heavens in an attempt to restrain the Demon Fox.

Unfortunately, Fox Jiu’s strength after merging with Zero was no longer what it had once been. With only a slight exertion of force, he broke free from the Myojinmon’s restraint.

The next instant, he broke through the solid Spirit Pressure created by the Ultimate Radiant Blast and bore down on Aizen.

Aizen did not choose to evade. The other cards on the battlefield also launched attacks at Fox Jiu, showing no concern whatsoever for their companion’s life or death.

Faced with this situation, the two Demons sharing one heart immediately felt that something was wrong.

Boom—!

A terrifying explosion suddenly engulfed the spot where the two stood, and all manner of energy continuously spread outward.

Yet as the energy fluctuations soon dispersed, a Fox Ball appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Just as he had at the Shanghai City coast, Fox Jiu once again wrapped himself into a ball with his nine tails. With Zero’s enhancement, his defensive power had now increased drastically.

But he had no time to care about such trivial matters.

At that moment, purple Spirit Pressure so dense it had become tangible surged up from the ground, scattering the clouds in the sky.

Even the air blurred under the immense pressure, releasing a silent wail.

Amid the silent battlefield, an arrogant male voice suddenly rang out.

"I am very pleased, Little Fox. Thanks to you, I was able to enter this truly perfect form ahead of time."

"Now, let me thoroughly test this power."

The speaker was a brown-haired man with three pairs of silver-white wings floating behind his back, purple radiance like starlight constantly flowing across his body.

Sosuke Aizen, Hogyoku Fusion Stage Six, had arrived.