Dead silence.
Inside the cave, there was a dead silence capable of freezing the soul.
Lu Cheng's light words, like the most vicious curse, echoed repeatedly in this empty space, again and again, torturing Ise Ryuichi's dignity.
He stood, his body stiff as a stone sculpture, only his chest heaving violently, proving he was still alive.
The bone fragment that Lu Cheng had casually tossed down lay quietly at his feet, like a huge, silent mockery.
Bone broth?
Ise Ryuichi could no longer suppress it, and a mouthful of scalding essence blood gushed from his throat!
"Pfft—!"
The golden essence blood splattered on the ground, making a "sizzling" sound, corroding small pits into the hard rock.
He lost.
Lost so completely, so... ridiculously.
From beginning to end, he was like a self-important clown.
He performed with all his might, but he didn't know that from the moment he stepped onto the stage, he was merely an entertainment show arranged by the sole audience member below.
Beside him, Kamiya Makoto had completely turned into a walking corpse.
His eyes were hollow, his pupils dilated, as if his soul had been completely drained by the cruel scene just now.
Hope?
What was that?
When a person, in a short period, has the flame of hope repeatedly ignited and then stomped out, crushed, and even spat upon with different methods... what remains is a void that even despair cannot describe.
After an unknown amount of time, Ise Ryuichi slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
His eyes, which had burned with golden flames, now had all their light contained, leaving only a darkness more dangerous than the abyss.
He turned around and, with steps heavy as lead, walked back the way they had come, one step at a time.
Each step was like treading on his own crushed pride.
Kamiya Makoto, like an unconscious puppet, followed behind him.
When they finally walked out of the suffocating cave and saw the sky outside again, the dazzling sunlight made Ise Ryuichi's eyes narrow slightly.
He suddenly thought of a question that almost made his blood freeze.
Ruzuki Rin, that woman... So, from the very beginning, Lu Cheng's goal was not just to humiliate him, not just for the Demon Blade Muramasa!
His hand had already reached into the Amaterasu Group!
He had an even bigger scheme!
This realization, like a cold lightning bolt, instantly split through the chaotic emotions in his heart, leaving only a bone-chilling coldness!
This was no longer Ise Ryuichi's personal grudge.
This was a silent... declaration of war from a man from Dragon Country against the entire Amaterasu Group, and even against the entire extraordinary world of Dongying!
He suddenly turned his head and looked at the dispirited Kamiya Makoto beside him.
"Get in the car."
...The black car drove silently on the road.
Ise Ryuichi did not return to downtown Tokyo but sped off in the opposite direction.
He had to go somewhere.
A place he never wished to set foot in as a "loser" in his entire life.
But now, he had no choice.
To deal with that demon-god-like man, it was absolutely impossible for him to do it alone.
He had to borrow that supreme power.
The car finally stopped deep in the mountains of Mie Prefecture.
This was the most sacred and inviolable forbidden land in all of Dongying—the Ise Grand Shrine.
Unlike the outer shrine visited by tourists, this place had ancient trees reaching to the sky, was pure and solemn, and the air was filled with an extremely pure and sacred aura... Kamiya Makoto's muddled mind cleared slightly when this aura washed over him.
He stared blankly out the car window at the ancient palace shrouded in mist, his heart churning with stormy waves.
Ise Grand Shrine... The highest deity of Dongying was enshrined here!
Ise Ryuichi got out of the car, and the shrine priests guarding the entrance immediately bowed when they saw him.
"Lord Ryuichi."
Ise Ryuichi merely nodded slightly and, taking Kamiya Makoto, passed through the torii gate and stepped onto the bridge leading to the main shrine.
Beneath their feet was a crystal-clear stream; legend had it that the water here could wash away all the defilements of the mundane world.
Kamiya Makoto walked on the bridge, looking down at his reflection in the water, his pale, numb face, etched with failure, was so glaring.
He suddenly felt like a drop of sewage, falling into this pure sacred realm, completely out of place.
Walking through a long path, Ise Ryuichi headed to the deepest part of the shrine, an independent courtyard covered by a barrier, forbidden to outsiders.
"You, wait here."
He dropped these words and walked in alone.
Kamiya Makoto stood still, watching his figure disappear into the glow of the barrier, and a preposterous thought suddenly arose in his mind.
What was this man's identity?
And who was he going to see?
Moreover, how could he so casually enter and exit this legendary forbidden land?
At this moment, inside the courtyard.
A woman dressed in a pure white kariginu, with silver hair flowing like moonlight, an exquisitely beautiful face, and an ethereal temperament, was quietly kneeling on the corridor, watering a pot of elegant orchids.
She seemed to be one with the entire heaven and earth, every movement carrying an indescribable Dao rhythm.
When Ise Ryuichi's footsteps sounded, she did not turn around but spoke softly.
"The sun on your body is crying."
Ise Ryuichi's body stiffened abruptly.
He walked behind the woman, slowly knelt down, and lowered his proud head, which had never bowed to anyone.
"Sister."
The woman before him was the current Amaterasu Shrine Maiden, the highest chief priest of the Ise Grand Shrine, and the embodiment of Dongying's entire National Luck—Ise Hinata!
Ise Hinata slowly put down the watering can in her hand and finally turned around.
Her eyes, like two moons, seemed to penetrate everything, reflecting all things in the world.
"You lost."
She used a declarative sentence, not a question.
Ise Ryuichi's fists clenched instantly.
"Yes."
He squeezed the word through his teeth.
"A man from Dragon Country."
Ise Hinata's gaze was completely unperturbed; she just looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue.
"His name is Lu Cheng."
When this name was spoken from Ise Ryuichi's mouth, Ise Hinata's ancient, unmoving eyes finally rippled slightly.
"He stole the demonic power of Yomotsu Hirasaka, subdued the Demon Blade Muramasa, and even... his servants have infiltrated the Amaterasu Group."
Ise Ryuichi's voice trembled uncontrollably due to extreme suppression.
"Sister, I need power!"
"I need to borrow the origin of the shrine, the power of Amaterasu's National Luck, to wash away this humiliation!"
"To completely purify this madman who dared to covet Dongying!"
He suddenly looked up, and a trace of mad flame reignited in his dim eyes!
However, Ise Hinata merely looked at him quietly, with even a hint of pity in her eyes.
She shook her head.
"Ryuichi, you are mistaken."
"Mistaken?"
Ise Ryuichi was stunned.
"Do you think you are only facing a beast?"
Ise Hinata stood up, walked to the veranda, looked up, and gazed at the blue sky divided by ancient trees.
Her voice became distant and ethereal, as if from ancient times.
"The moment you stepped into the shrine, the oracle descended."
She slowly turned around and looked at her proud younger brother with an unprecedentedly solemn gaze.
"That is not a beast."
"That is an abyss capable of devouring the sun and moon."
"And he also knows you came to see me."
"He is watching us."