As the doors were suddenly pushed open, what lay inside was a shocking sight: rows upon rows of ancestral spirit tablets, each one radiating a distinct Heavenwood aura. Even Ryan Ling and the Ghost Elder were momentarily stunned—every single tablet here was made from pure Heavenwood.
The truth was, even most of the Chiba Shrine folks didn’t know: when they performed secret rites and prayed for ancestral blessings, they thought it was their forebears helping them out. In reality, all that power came from the ancient Heavenwood cores inside these tablets—there were so many, the life-liquid produced was immense, and that’s what they called ‘ancestral blessings.’
Seeing this treasure trove, Ryan didn’t hesitate for a second. He grabbed one tablet, instantly shattering it—the Heavenwood core inside poured straight into the Demon-Snaring Bowl. His Heavenwood sapling, suddenly infused with the core, surged with energy and vitality in a flash!
“Such good stuff, leaving it here is a total waste!” Ryan said, and with that, over a hundred tablets floated up at once.
“Master, w-what are you doing?” Chiba Wako was completely dumbfounded by Ryan’s insane move. She’d always resented Chiba Shrine, but even she wouldn’t dare commit such blasphemy against their ancestors.
“Quit the chatter, get out of the way!” Ryan snapped, not wasting a second on explanations. His glare flashed—and every tablet exploded at once.
Beside him, Chiba Wako was so scared she practically peed herself, collapsing on the floor. Ryan’s actions were beyond insane—no one had ever dared defy Chiba Shrine like this. It was like lighting a match to the whole shrine, maybe even the entire empire. The fury that would follow could burn them down to dust.
But Ryan couldn’t care less. He just felt a rush of excitement—his long-awaited goal was finally within reach!
If all these ancient Heavenwood fragments fused into his body, that little Heavenwood sapling would grow at least four or five times bigger. Then it could absorb the purest spiritual qi, maybe even touch Immortal qi. That kind of power boost would be absolutely game-changing for Ryan!
But the instant all those tablets exploded, Chiba Shrine went into full earthquake mode. Every onmyōji, inside and out, leapt out of closed-door cultivation, faces twisted with rage—their killing intent was so fierce, it felt like the whole shrine was about to burst into flames.
At the same time, every statue in sight exploded, and a whole army of even more terrifying evil gods showed their true, man-eating faces like never before.
"Who is it? Who dares trespass in the forbidden zone of Chiba Shrine, disturbing the resting place of our ancestors? Whoever it is, I'll have them torn to pieces!"
"Kill, kill, kill! Not only will I slaughter him, I'll wipe out his entire clan, sacrifice his soul alive—Bakayaro!"
"All onmyōji, listen up! Surround the entire forbidden back-mountain area—don't let even a fly escape. If anything alive is inside, kill it all, leave no survivors!"
...
In a split second, over a thousand onmyōji and more than a hundred evil gods had Ryan's location completely surrounded. The crushing pressure made the whole ground tremble, splitting open with terrifying cracks as magma gushed up from below.
"Oh my god!" Wendy "Wako" Chiba was shaking all over. In this moment, she felt like Ryan had just poked a hole through the entire sky of Japan.
It was obvious things had gotten way out of hand—there was no way to smooth this over. Wendy "Wako" Chiba stared at Ryan in terror, feeling like she'd hitched herself to a literal demon king from Hell. She shrank into a corner, wishing she could just crawl into one of those cracks in the ground and disappear.
With so many top-tier experts attacking, there was absolutely no way out.
And if they got caught, not only would the two of them be sliced to ribbons, but the Mitsui family and the Chiba family would be dragged down too—both clans would be massacred, their souls tormented forever, and they'd be spit on by all of Japan for eternity.
Right now, the word "despair" was basically spinning over Wendy "Wako" Chiba's head.
"Ryan, forget everything else for now—just focus on fusing with the Primeval Heavenwood essence. That's your number one priority! I'll hold off everything else for you!" The Ghost Elder knew Ryan had finished the first step—the most crucial one—gathering all the hidden Primeval Heavenwood fragments in Japan. Next up: fuse with them completely and truly make them his own. Once he nailed this, even if his realm didn't level up, he'd get a crazy-strong 'undying body.'
Sure, this 'undying body' wasn't literal immortality, but it was enough to tank all the onmyōji attacks, block a hundred Great-Saint-tier evil gods, and maybe even go toe-to-toe with a Sub-Saint.
Sub-Saints were just below Saint Kings, their power was off the charts. Ryan had always felt confident against a Saint King, but Sub-Saints were still tough. Now, with all this Primeval Heavenwood power, he was finally ready to take them on—and this boost would help with his future Nascent Soul breakthrough, too.
"Got it!" Ryan knew that at this critical moment, the Ghost Elder would definitely step up. Plus, Hell Judge Zoe Zhong and the ten Ghost Generals were all on deck. Zoe was peak Great Saint—top-tier, no question. Honestly, she looked a little miffed about being assigned as Ryan's sidekick.
And just as he finished speaking, Zoe Zhong and the ten Ghost Generals charged out without hesitation, with the Ghost Elder coordinating from the center. The whole situation instantly hit maximum tension.
"Where did these evil ghosts come from? They don't seem Japanese—surround them all and use the onmyō ghost-control technique! Wipe them out completely!"
"Wait, they're from Huaxia! Are these 'Sick Men of East Asia' really trying to bully us? Today, we need to sacrifice them alive!"
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"Enough talk—everyone, attack! All onmyōji, join forces! Evil gods, take the high ground! Wipe out these Huaxia evil ghosts first!"