Chapter 156: Everything Arranged Perfectly

The crimson giant serpent appeared, filling the entire Domain of the Sovereign with a thick mist of blood.

The blood mist was crimson and foul, smelling as pungent as sulfur. Just a single whiff was enough to make one double over and retch.

Frowning, Ye Yan muttered, "What kind of freakish thing did this guy suddenly pull out?"

Relying on his perception of the deep night, Ye Yan could clearly sense that the enormous eight-headed snake within the domain was the source of this dense blood mist. The energy fluctuations radiating from it were heart-pounding, reminiscent of a primordial fierce beast.

Just as Ye Yan was looking the Yamata no Orochi up and down, Miyamoto Isshin and Gaima Yoshito climbed up from the ground nearby.

They, too, felt the oppressive atmosphere and heavy tension hanging in the air.

"The Yamata no Orochi?!"

Miyamoto Isshin, in particular, recognized what had appeared the moment he sensed the surrounding blood mist.

His voice carried a slight hesitation, and his gaze towards the direction of the Yamata no Orochi was filled with disbelief. "To think this fellow would actually release such a monster. Isn't he afraid the Netherworld won't be able to suppress it?"

"Senior... what is this?"

Compared to the long-lived old monster of the Miyamoto family, Gaima Yoshito appeared far too naive.

He did not know what the eight-headed monster before him was, but he could clearly sense the terrifying power contained within its body.

"This Yamata no Orochi is a calamity god originating from the native soil of Fusang Island. It appears in mythology far more often than in folklore."

"Mythology claims it was slain by Susanoo, but the reality is that it was never killed. Instead, it was suppressed at the very bottom of the Nether Ghost Realm..."

"The Yamata no Orochi?"

Gaima Yoshito gasped upon hearing these revelations for the first time.

Clearly, he had never imagined that the Abe family harbored such a lethal entity.

"The dark zone covering the surrounding area is too bizarre. It will be very difficult to break through it with just this body of mine alone... But if we add this monster to the mix, it might just be worth a try..."

Miyamoto Isshin said calmly.

He had a clear grasp of his current physical state and knew that it would be difficult to contend with Ye Yan by himself, even with Gaima Yoshito's assistance.

However, if the Yamata no Orochi joined forces with them, the situation might take a favorable turn.

As the two spoke, the crimson serpent released from the Nether Ghost Realm flicked its forked tongues and violently shook its massive body, causing its dense layer of fine scales to rattle with a rustling sound.

Its sixteen brightly colored, gem-like pupils swept across the surrounding darkness, as if searching for something.

After a long while, the most robust of the eight snake heads growing side by side opened its huge maw, unexpectedly uttering a hoarse human voice,

"This familiar, suffocating darkness... that deep-sea leviathan symbolizing calamity and tyranny has awakened before us..."

The hoarse voice of the black snake head had barely faded when the slightly smaller white snake head growing beside it let out a disdainful scoff.

"Awakened? Wasn't that deep-sea leviathan's head smashed in by its destined rival? Didn't both perish together in the Twilight War? How could such a creature still have a chance of revival?"

"Why not?"

To the left of the black snake head, a dark green snake head—a size smaller than both the black and white ones—involuntarily swayed its head.

"Even we have a chance to wake from our slumber. It reviving doesn't seem like such a strange thing, does it?"

"..."

The eight snake heads of varying colors conversed within the pitch-black Domain of the Sovereign, reminiscing or perhaps discussing past events...

Such a scene naturally displeased Abe Shimaka. "Enough... I released you to deal with the enemy, not to chat. If you want to chat, you can crawl back to the very bottom tier. You'll have all the time in the world there."

Forcibly releasing the Yamata no Orochi from the lowest depths of the Nether Ghost Realm had consumed a massive amount of spiritual power, leaving his face deathly pale, as if he had just recovered from a severe illness.

Hearing his words, all eight snake heads and sixteen eyes turned toward him almost simultaneously. A crushing pressure instantly shifted onto him.

"So it's just a brat from the Abe family. No wonder he speaks with such a sharp tongue. His temperament and disposition are exactly the same as his ancestors..."

It was the black snake head that spoke.

And just as that hoarse voice trailed off, the white snake head beside it gave a sinister, cold chuckle, its expression displeased.

"Little brat, you'd better mind your manners. We are not your servants, and we don't have to take your orders."

"Hah—"

At these words, Abe Shimaka remained unfazed, letting out a cold laugh of his own. Amidst the darkness, he gazed toward the Yamata no Orochi.

"Don't want to take orders, eh? Very well, very well. Then I'll just send you back..."

Abe Shimaka slowly raised his hand, feigning an intent to manipulate the Nether Ghost Realm and seal the newly summoned Yamata no Orochi back away.

Noticing his action, the deep-blue snake head patterned with lightning stripes among the eight heads seemed somewhat flustered. It hurriedly intervened to stop Abe Shimaka's movement,

"Boy of the Abe family, it's best not to be so hot-headed... You called us out to fight, didn't you? Just tell us where the enemy is."

"Indeed..."

Having finally gotten a rare chance to emerge from the lowest depths of the Nether Ghost Realm, the Yamata no Orochi naturally had no desire to be sent back so easily.

Abe Shimaka's description was concise and direct: "In the darkness, the person wearing the black hoodie."

"Got it..."

The black snake head of the Yamata no Orochi nodded, its deep, pitch-black vertical pupils piercing straight through the boundless darkness.

It could genuinely sense the presence of several people over there.

Among them was the person Abe Shimaka had mentioned—the one in the black hoodie—who was presumably the opponent in this battle.

"Time to work..."

The black snake head leisurely opened its mouth, gathering black points of light within it. In the next second, they transformed into a thick pillar of black light that hurtled toward Ye Yan.

Boom—

The beam of light cut across the sky, merging seamlessly with the surrounding darkness. The terrifying energy it contained felt as though it could tear the very space apart.

"...Not good."

Ye Yan's figure vanished in an instant, causing the sweeping black beam to miss completely.

The moment his figure flickered and landed, vast waves of glaciers, lightning, rain of fire, and toxic miasma rushed toward him head-on.

The radiation range of these converged energies was extremely wide, sealing off virtually all space around Ye Yan and leaving him no room to dodge.

Ye Yan's figure vanished once more, reappearing in another corner of the domain. Yet the floating clusters of energy pursued him relentlessly, as if they had locked onto him entirely. The restricted vision brought by the Domain of the Sovereign seemed useless against them.

"Interesting..."

Pure teleportation was useless; it would only turn him into a moving target. Ye Yan gave up on the idea of dodging.

He raised his right arm high, spread his fingers, and violently clawed at the empty air. In the next instant, space shattered, and a massive, orange-yellow figure materialized out of thin air. It stood before Ye Yan, using its colossal body to block all the incoming glaciers and fiery rain.

[Secret Technique: Chaos]

"Yee-ah!"

The moment ice and fire collided, billows of white steam rose into the air. Melted water splashed onto Chaos's massive body, causing the ancient fierce beast, round as a ball, to emit a remarkably manly shout.

Chaos Weak Water... As water droplets covered its body, its massive form began to shrink continuously. In the blink of an eye, it went from dozens of meters down to a few meters, before ending with a muffled 'bang' and dissipating into smoke.

As if it had never appeared at all.

Chaos, which had just been summoned, was wiped out in an instant, but Ye Yan showed not a trace of panic.

His original intention in summoning Chaos was merely to block the highly pervasive area-of-effect attack and buy himself some time...

And that was already enough.

Following the disappearance of [Chaos], the green light of the Yokai Banner unfurled behind Ye Yan reached its absolute peak.

Accompanied by a heaven-shaking dragon roar, a massive ink-wash dragon materialized behind him, standing tall at a distance opposite the Yamata no Orochi.

As soon as the ink-wash dragon appeared, it flew toward the Yamata no Orochi at Ye Yan's command.

The two colossal beasts rolled and locked in combat, biting, headbutting, and lashing their tails. Every single clash made the earth roar incessantly...

Splashing ink and various energy clusters flew continuously. The shockwaves alone plowed the ground over and over again, snapping countless trees in half.

From the moment the Yamata no Orochi appeared, the nature of the battle had transformed from a mortal brawl into a clash of deities.

Even Gaima Yoshito and the Miyamoto family's ancestor—who had originally been the main combatants—were instantly shoved aside to become spectators on the sidelines.

It wasn't that they didn't want to intervene, but trapped within the vision-blocking darkness without the advantage of time and terrain, stepping in would simply mean courting a futile beating... Better to stand aside and watch honestly.

The ink-wash dragon conjured from the Wang family's Divine Painting Scroll was formidable, but it fell somewhat short when pitted against a ferocious entity like the Yamata no Orochi.

Though it was a one-on-one match on paper, eight heads ganging up on one head... could also be considered a group beatdown, and the ink-wash dragon naturally found itself at a disadvantage.

Ye Yan did not intervene either. Taking advantage of the ink-wash dragon drawing the Yamata no Orochi's attention, he stealthily tossed a brand onto its head.

A banner yokai delivered a thousand miles away—though the gift was light, the sentiment was heavy. It would be a waste not to claim such an excellent banner yokai. Ye Yan wasn't someone ungrateful, so naturally, he couldn't let down the other party's kind intentions.

Of course, while branding the Yamata no Orochi, he didn't forget to casually slap a brand onto the Miyamoto family's ancestor as well.

Back at the martial arts school, when Miyamoto Isshin first used the [Niten Dojo] and the Miyamoto ancestor first emerged, this exact thought had crossed Ye Yan's mind. However, given the occasion back then, it hadn't been convenient for Ye Yan to make a blatant move.

So he had let it go.

But now, the situation was different. It was pitch black, and with the Domain of the Sovereign draped over them... whatever he did inside remained unknown.

Besides, one banner yokai is a catch, and two is a haul... No more chattering, just get to work.

The greenish-green banner yokai brands had already been imprinted upon the heads of the Yamata no Orochi and Miyamoto Isshin respectively.

Neither the man nor the serpent, currently locked in battle and spectating respectively, had the slightest clue about Ye Yan's sinister intentions, continuing to mind their own business.

Watching those two greenish brands, old man Ma—who had already dealt with the Hyakki Yagyo and was currently squatting in a corner cracking melon seeds—spat out a seed shell. He glanced at the Golden-Tongued Lord beside him and sighed helplessly,

"Well, we might as well start preparing in advance to welcome the new colleagues later."

"With more newcomers arriving, our work won't be easy to carry out from now on."

"..."

Old man Ma's voice carried a hint of helplessness.

With the brands all set, there was no need to dwell on the details—that's two more happy additions to the new minions.

No, make that two.

As the self-proclaimed Commander of Banner Yokai and Lord of the Banner Yokai Harem, these miscellaneous chores were mostly handled by old man Ma, saving Ye Yan the trouble.

"That big long-worm can go team up with that stupid dragon to form the Spirit Banner Brigade later."

"As for that blade-wielder, hmm... doesn't look too weak, let's assign him to the Funeral Pantheon first. Our ranks are growing increasingly grand, and training cadres must start with the recruits..."

At old man Ma's words, the Golden-Tongued Lord nodded in agreement.

"I think that works. It's been quite a while since any newcomers joined our ranks, and washing clothes, cooking, and serving Brother Yan's daily needs has all fallen on the Tide-Caller Jiao alone. That blade-wielder looks pretty capable—he seems like a dab hand at chopping things up. We can just bring him over to assist the Tide-Caller Jiao..."

With just a few words between old man Ma and the Golden-Tongued Lord, the notoriously infamous calamity beast of Fusang Island and the ancestor of the Miyamoto family were neatly arranged for.

Meanwhile, Ye Yan, having spent a moment making preparations, finally finished imprinting the brands completely.

The moment the branding solidified, a rich, deep green radiance erupted abruptly...

Not far away, the man and the serpent enveloped by that deep green light seemed to sense something.

Their complexions changed drastically.

......

......

Fusang Island.

Niten Dojo.

Inside the dojo, Miyamoto Gusan, clad in samurai attire, knelt before the ancestral tablets, his empty, pupil-less gaze staring fixedly at the glowing shrine.

"In just a few short days, the ancestors have been summoned up twice already... What on earth is Isshin doing over in the Dragon Country?"

Doubt hid within Miyamoto Gusan's eyes.

Of course Miyamoto Gusan knew about Miyamoto Isshin going to the Dragon Country. The Yahoshu had also sent someone to pass a message saying that within these few days, the delegation visiting the Dragon Country would return to Fusang soil.

Since the visit was over, the rest was just travel logistics. Logically speaking, there should be no need for Miyamoto Isshin to invoke the [Niten Dojo].

Half an hour ago... the ancestral tablets enshrined by the Miyamoto family were summoned away once again, heading in an easterly direction.

This left Miyamoto Gusan unable to figure out what was happening.

Just as Miyamoto Gusan was pondering what Miyamoto Isshin could have possibly encountered in the Dragon Country to summon the ancestors up back-to-back...

Suddenly, within the shrine before him, the previously calm ancestral spirit tablet began to vibrate violently.

"Clack, clack—"

"Clack, clack, clack—"

"Clack, clack, clack, clack—"

"..."

"What is going on..."

Miyamoto Gusan's expression turned to one of utter shock. It was his first time encountering a situation like this.

Concerned with the heritage of the [Niten Dojo] and the foundational footing of the Miyamoto family, Miyamoto Gusan dared not neglect it in the slightest and rushed forward to investigate.

Yet before Miyamoto Gusan could fully approach, the ancestral spirit tablet inside the shrine suddenly burst into a dazzling red light. The next instant, to Miyamoto Gusan's horror-stricken eyes, it abruptly shattered.

Amidst the scattered debris on the ground, the broken characters 'Musashi' appeared particularly striking...

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