Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 808 Going Home with You

Based on the intelligence gathered so far, the Orochi Project was originally a trump card of the Yin-Yang Institute. It was an ultimate weapon that they had to develop by taking an unconventional approach in order to counter the overwhelming Golden Core Realm combat power of the Riku Kingdom.

However, it is obvious that the blood sacrifice ritual was interfered with by Shinbara Shimee midway, which led to its unlimited expansion and turned it into a self-destructive bomb that destroyed the Onmyōin and even the entire country.

After the flesh-and-blood serpent that was ravaging the Sakura Empire was dealt with, the Onmyōin branches in Kanto, Tohoku, and Hokkaido recently announced the establishment of a provisional government. Moroboshi Taiga, one of the original four great demon kings, has enthroned a new emperor and established the Regent's Office.

Since the original royal family and council were almost completely wiped out by Kambara, it's hard to say whether the puppet monarch put forward by Moroboshi Taiga actually has any bloodline.

However, what is certain is that in the Regent's Office established by Moroboshi Taiga, all the important officials who were originally elected politicians have now been replaced by powerful Onmyoji, while the civil service system remains unchanged.

The extraordinary become officials, while the elite mortals become bureaucrats. The daily operation of secular society is still controlled by the civil service system, while the extraordinary are more like military aristocrats wielding swords, forcing civil officials to change the country according to their will.

The emergence of this strange structure undoubtedly set a bad precedent for the surrounding areas in East Asia. The reaction from the Riku Kingdom was the most intense. It quickly sent Yuichiro Yui back to the Sakura Empire and, together with the Onmyō-in and administrative agencies in other regions, also established a provisional government. It continued to use the original separation of military and political power, with the Onmyō-in in charge of the supernatural beings and the secular government in charge of the administrative agencies.

The division between the east and west was thus established. The mainland's news media referred to them as "Western Cherry" and "Eastern Cherry," respectively. The former was a vassal force highly dependent on the mainland, while the latter was an autonomous force with greater independence.

But whether it's Western Cherry or Eastern Cherry, they can only submit to the Lu Kingdom from now on, lest they displease their father/elder brother and find a reason to make things difficult for them.

With the rule of the East and West Sakura clans stabilizing, a large amount of confidential information held by the original Onmyōin headquarters was compiled by Korechika and Moroboshi Taiga and sent to the Privy Council of Riku Province.

The Yamata no Orochi, strictly speaking, is not the Yamata no Orochi of mythology, but a monster created by borrowing that shell.

The giant serpent can split into eight, or the eight can merge into one. Each clone possesses the strength of the top-tier Golden Core Realm and can briefly influence the surrounding celestial phenomena. The corresponding abilities are cold, heat, lightning, gravity, airflow, light, darkness, and flesh and blood.

It sounds like a classic Sakura Empire-style fantasy element classification method, and the actual effect is pretty much the same.

The five giant serpents of the Asian region are as follows: the Bohai Serpent of the Land Kingdom can create an extremely high gravity environment around it; the Northern Serpent can endlessly absorb heat and create an extremely cold hell; and the Southern Serpent is the exact opposite, able to heat the surrounding air to over a thousand degrees, drying up seas and rivers, carbonizing forests, and turning plains into scorched earth wherever it goes.

The creature ravaging the Sakura Empire's homeland is a giant, flesh-and-blood serpent that devours lives, while the serpent that lands on the Korean Peninsula can unleash a catastrophic storm, with the corresponding tsunami already reaching Gangneung and Busan ahead of schedule.

The giant serpent heading towards Sulu is obscured by cumulonimbus clouds, suggesting its abilities are related to lightning. As for the two giant serpents heading towards Honolulu and South America, military satellite images show one resembling a small, luminous sun and the other like a black hole, though their specific abilities remain unknown.

Of the seven remaining giant serpents, the one that Lu Guo was most concerned about was naturally the gravity serpent located in the Bohai Sea.

According to intelligence, the Gravity Serpent can absorb energy from tectonic plates, thus gaining almost unlimited regenerative abilities. Like other giant serpents, it prioritizes human settlements and its deepest instinct is to kill humans for blood sacrifices.

Because the northern border is sparsely populated, it is possible to relocate the residents around the giant snake in advance and then deploy a large number of livestock to lure the giant snake in a specific direction, but the land kingdom would find it difficult to do so.

Because Tianjin, located along the Bohai Sea coast, has a permanent population of 1100 million. Relocating such a large number of people inland would be far more than just a crippling blow to the Lu Kingdom. And even if you were to relocate everyone from Tianjin, guess where the next population cluster will be?
Old Ping, Beijing!
Therefore, five Golden Core cultivators were stationed on the western side of the Bohai Sea. Liu Longtao, Xie Ruoxi, Su Yunjin, Yang Linhui, and Zhou Hongyu recently resumed their 24/7 relentless bombardment and damage of the gravity serpent.

Once the gravity serpent is injured, it will be forced to plunge its tail into the seabed, reaching the depths of the tectonic plate. While recovering from its injuries, it will naturally be temporarily unable to approach Tianjin.

Three days later, Yan Yu, who had returned to his villa in Jinling Prefecture to rest, finally received a new task from his superiors:
He escorted Ye Yunzhen, who had just survived her tribulation, to Tianjin, cooperating with her work throughout the process.

"What's going on this time?" Yan Yu asked on the way.

"There's a formation we're going to test in the Bohai Sea," Ye Yun replied.

"Nonsense, I can't expect you to use magic to kill the giant snake," Yan Yu said irritably. "What kind of formation is it exactly?"

"There are confidentiality requirements."

"There's no one else here. If you use telepathy, no one will know."

"Sigh." Ye Jun sighed helplessly, "Teacher Mei and I are developing a new formation, and we're going to try it out on that giant serpent in the Bohai Sea."

Although she remained tight-lipped, her words were essentially meaningless. However, an array capable of dealing with the Bohai Giant Serpent must first and foremost cover a vast area; otherwise, the array master would have been crushed by the high gravity environment before even getting close to the serpent.

Secondly, the formation's offensive power must also be formidable. It's important to understand that this giant serpent's defenses are so strong that the Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire could only pierce its scales, and the Giant Thunder Dragon could only blast open its flesh; neither could inflict a truly fatal wound.

In that case...

"The Taiyi Zhou Tian Zi Yun Grand Array?" Yan Yu asked tentatively.

Ye Yun's sword light trembled, almost separating her from the person. After barely regaining her footing, she revealed an extremely incredulous expression and transmitted her voice to Yan Yu:

"Where did you know that?"

"Of course I learned it from Teacher Mei," Yan Yu replied quickly. "I just wanted to ask you for the specific details."

Yan Yu was not lying here, after all, Teacher Mei in his previous life was Teacher Mei.

Ye Jun was unaware that he was playing a word game here, and thought that Mei Yingxue had told Yan Yu.

Given Mei Yingxue's personality, it's highly likely that Yan Yu was already granted access to this confidential information; otherwise, she certainly wouldn't have revealed it.

“Alright,” Ye Yun said frankly. “This time, I’m going to set up an independent distributed node of the Taiyi Zhou Tian Zi Yun Grand Array around the Tianjin city area.”

"...What node?"

“Independent distributed nodes,” Ye Yun explained succinctly. “They can be taken out individually to form a large defensive array covering Tianjin and even the western side of the Bohai Sea. If more nodes are deployed in the surrounding area in the future, this array can then be combined with other arrays to form a larger array… Just think of it as a Transformer; it can be used individually or assembled together.”

"Sounds pretty impressive," Yan Yu said sincerely. The Taiyi Zhou Tian Zi Yun Grand Array from his previous life, also borrowed from the European Shroud of Turin barrier, but it surpassed its predecessor. It possessed both the normal defensive and suppressive effects and the active offensive capabilities of a secret realm's restriction, demonstrating its formidable power.

With Ye Jun's help, the appearance of the Purple Cloud Formation has been brought forward considerably, which can be considered another small achievement for Yan Yu since his rebirth... No need to boast, just silently accept the merit.

The two flew on their swords to the outskirts of Tianjin. Su Yunjin and Zhou Hongyu had already received the news and came to greet them in advance.

Why didn't Xie Ruoxi come? Because it was her and Liu Longtao's turn to be on duty, and they were currently bombing the Bohai Giant Serpent!

"Why didn't you bring any materials for setting up the formation?" Yan Yu asked in surprise. "Is it just the two of you?"

"Materials?" Su Yunjin blinked.

“But nobody told me what materials to bring,” Zhou Hongyu said bluntly.

Yan Yu looked at Ye Jun with suspicion. "If you want to set up a formation that can cover an entire city, you'll need a lot of materials and manpower. Shouldn't you prioritize requisitioning people from Tianjin?"
Ye Jun smiled slightly and took out the Hundred Lifetimes of Mortal World Scroll.

Ye Yun, who is now at the Golden Core stage, injected high-quality true essence into it and then forcefully pushed it to spread out.

The scroll was instantly unfurled, from which a large number of phantom cultivators poured out. Some rode swords, some floated on the air, some rode the mist, and some soared through the clouds, carrying or holding all sorts of materials in their hands, and quickly scattered in all directions.

Yan Yu was utterly amazed. "I almost forgot you had this magic weapon!" The Hundred Worlds of the Mortal World Map not only solved the problem of manpower for setting up the array, but it could also be used as a storage bag to easily store a large amount of materials used for cultivation. It was even more useful than Chen Lingyun's Prison Banner.

In short, without the need for any local military or government cultivators to intervene, and without the need for a large amount of supplies to be transported, Ye Yun, holding the activated Red Dust Hundred Worlds Diagram, assigned all the tasks and then followed Yan Yu and the others to the nearby camp.

The cultivators were stationed in the Caofeidian port area, where the Dingbei Army's land-based missile unit was also stationed. If it truly came to the point where even the cultivators couldn't stop the giant serpent from landing, then some unconventional methods would have to be considered.

It's not that bad yet. The land-based missile camp is eerily quiet, with almost no one venturing out. The cultivators, on the other hand, are numerous, with military personnel constantly coming and going, reporting on the real-time battle situation at the front.

In the command center, everyone was watching the video feed transmitted back from the drone.

Xie Ruoxi's Thunder Dragon spell was still powerful enough to send bricks flying, forcibly breaking through the high gravity zone and smashing into the giant snake, instantly turning it into a bloody mess.

Liu Longtao's Five Dragons Soaring Through the Sky lacked the Thunder Dragon's ability to forcefully take to the air using its abundant true energy. However, he devised a method: casting the spell from an extremely high position downwards, so that even if dragged by gravity, he would have enough time to aim and dive.

The two bombarded the giant snake relentlessly, its tail digging deep into the seabed, while its wounds healed rapidly.

Yan Yu then recalled the giant flesh and blood serpent he had dealt with in Sakura Empire. No matter how many times it was killed from the outside, it could always regenerate through the accumulated life force of its flesh and blood. The final kill was achieved by going deep into its belly world—just like Sun Wukong entering Princess Iron Fan's stomach.

Even if the Bohai Giant Serpent has a setting similar to an inner world, due to the high gravity environment around it, ordinary Golden Core cultivators cannot even get close to it, so this method will not work.

Yan Yu was pondering when he suddenly heard Su Yunjin and Ye Jun chatting.

"Ye Yun, I remember you're from Tianjin, right? Aren't you going home to visit?"

"I don't dare go back," Ye Yun said. "If I go back, I'll be pressured to get married."

"Why are you still being pressured to get married even after becoming a cultivator?" Su Yunjin covered her mouth and laughed.

"In my dad's words," Ye Jun said vividly, "Even if you were a cultivator, or even if you became the Queen Mother of the West, you'd still have to find me a Jade Emperor to marry, otherwise I can't bear the shame!"

She glanced at Yan Yu discreetly, then smiled and asked:

"I plan to take Yan Yu home after things are settled here, to appease my parents first. You don't mind, do you?"

Zhou Hongyu remained silent, while Su Yunjin subtly tugged at her sleeve, signaling her not to lose her temper, but smiled and said:

"Of course I don't mind. But you'll have to ask the captain's opinion."

"I'm asking you." Ye Jun elbowed Yan Yu in the ribs.

“Sure,” Yan Yu quickly replied. “After all, we signed a couple's agreement, and I’d like to find some time to visit Yun Jin and Hong Yu’s house.”

Su Yunjin's face brightened, her smile growing even more pronounced. Zhou Hongyu, however, lost her icy expression and coldly said:
"I don't have any elders in my family that you need to see."

"Then let's just have fun when we get back," Yan Yu said with a smile. "We just need a bed at home."

Yang Linhui listened silently from a distance, unable to suppress his feelings.

In traditional Chinese marriage culture, women often choose to marry into a higher social class. A female PhD earning 100,000 yuan a month might insist on finding a male PhD earning 200,000 yuan a month, regardless of whether she can find him or not; she makes her wish based on her own circumstances.

Female cultivators are even more extreme in this regard. Even the weakest folk cultivators almost never consider male mortals when choosing a spouse. They always say that they can't let their future children lose half of their cultivation aptitude because of their father... making it seem as if your trashy aptitude is so worth passing on.

Vice Captain Ye has been in the Longxiang team for so long, and I heard that Jing's family once tried to matchmake the two of them, but they just weren't attracted to each other. Jing himself is rather chauvinistic and likes petite, dependent girls, so what about Vice Captain Ye? She didn't say why, but the team mostly guessed that she probably didn't like Jing.

You don't even think much of Master Jing, so how high must your standards be? Now the answer is clear: Yan Yu!

As the top cultivator in the Lu Kingdom, Captain Yan has almost managed to capture all the top-tier, beautiful female cultivators. Yang Linhui may be envious, but he doesn't feel the slightest bit jealous of him—because he believes he understands these female cultivators' psychology better. They are probably not attracted to strength, but rather feel that they have no choice but to marry someone of equal social standing. So, there will be plenty of drama in the Yan family's inner quarters in the future!
Marrying a wife should be like Master Jing's—marrying a submissive woman who depends on you in every way. If you insist on finding so many top-tier female cultivators… hehe, I'm always looking for a good show, so the more the merrier!

(End of this chapter)