An emperor in his later years is summoned by his sister to save the nation's fate.

"Yosh! If I devour just one more C-rank monster, my Yamata no Orochi will be promoted to B-rank! At that time, who in the entire Eternal Night Wasteland will be my match?" Yagyu Souichirou's eyes were filled with fanaticism and greed.

Unbeknownst to him, he followed a dense aura of yin energy and stepped into an unfamiliar black pine forest.

Here, he encountered a bizarre creature that reeked of stench, had a swollen belly, and constantly oozed bluish-gray mucus from its mouth.

Grade B Starving Monster!

This is different from the C-rank monster that Hiiro Shinobi encountered before.

The Starving Ghost possesses terrifying potential; its upper limit is not C or B grade, but the legendary S grade! As long as it continues to feed, whether on living people or other ghosts, its level will continuously increase!

At this moment, the B-rank starving monster, with its dead fish eyes filled with greed and hunger, stared intently at Yagyu Soichiro.

Not only was Yagyu Souichirou unafraid, he excitedly licked his lips: "Good! Orochi, eat it!"

The Yamata no Orochi let out a deafening roar, and its eight enormous heads simultaneously opened their blood-red maws, tearing at the starving monster.

However, the next second, Yagyu Soichiro's smile froze on his face.

Faced with the golden monster's attack, the B-grade starving monster did not dodge. Instead, it suddenly opened its enormous mouth, which was so exaggerated that it tore apart the entire lower half of its face, and spewed out large swathes of thick, bluish-gray mist.

The fog rolled in and instantly enveloped the black pine forest that stretched for miles!

"Is this... a ghost realm?"

Yagyu Souichirou's expression changed drastically. The Ghost Domain—this was a rule domain that only B-rank or higher ghosts could master!

In this bluish-gray mist, space and perception were completely distorted, and he was unable to detect the true form of the Starving Ghost at all!

"Snap!"

A chilling chewing sound rang out in the mist.

One of the eight-headed serpent's heads let out a piercing scream.

The Starving Demon appeared and disappeared mysteriously in the Demon Realm, completely ignoring the Yamata no Orochi's supernatural defenses, and bit off one of its heads!

For multi-headed monsters, the gnawed heads cannot regenerate automatically; they must consume other monsters to grow back.

"Baka! Get out here!" Yagyu Soichiro roared in terror, frantically swinging his katana, but all the blade energy he unleashed disappeared into the mist, like stones sinking into the sea.

"Snap!" "Snap!"

Two more screams rang out as the Yamata no Orochi lost two more heads once more, thanks to the strange stealth and biting force of the Starving Demon!

With the loss of its three heads, the aura of Yamata no Orochi began to plummet wildly.

The pressure that was about to break through to B-level plummeted like a deflated balloon, falling directly from C-level all the way back to D-level!

As a demon hunter, Yagyu Soichiro also suffered a backlash, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"No... I can't die here!"

Sensing the threat of death, a ruthless glint flashed in Yagyu Soichiro's eyes.

He gritted his teeth, formed hand seals, and forcibly detonated the two heads of the Yamata no Orochi!

"Boom—!"

The violent, eerie shockwaves generated by the self-destruction of the two heads finally tore a brief opening in this grayish-blue eerie realm.

Soichiro Yagyu scrambled out of the gap and fled frantically toward his territory without looking back, like a stray dog.

……

Lu Li's voice echoed in Lu Xueyao's mind.

"Xueyao, go deep into the Black Pine Forest."

Lu Li's voice carried an absolute sense of control: "Now that you've enclosed this forest within the city walls, you can't allow any unstable factors to exist inside."

Today, I'll take you directly to eliminate the source of this eeriness in the forest.

Hearing her brother's words, Lu Xueyao showed no fear in her eyes, but instead a fighting spirit ignited.

She took the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls and the Banner of White Bones and followed the dark path in the Black Pine Forest deeper and deeper.

The further you go, the more withered and twisted the surrounding trees become, and the air is filled with a biting chill and a faint fishy stench.

When Lu Xueyao passed through the last dense forest and arrived at the deepest part of the black pine forest, she stopped in her tracks.

In front of her, a black pool of water, about half the size of a football field, suddenly appeared.

The pool water was as black as ink, so calm that not a ripple could be seen, and it exuded an extremely cold aura that sent chills down one's spine.

This is the core material for creating the spring – the Nine Netherworld Water!

However, Lu Xueyao's gaze did not linger on the Dark Water.

Because in the very center of that pool of water, floated a striking, bright red coffin that looked as if it could drip blood!

The stark contrast of colors appears incredibly eerie and terrifying amidst the oppressive black rain.

"Brother... in that coffin..." Lu Xueyao swallowed hard. Lu Li's divine sense, which could see through the origin of everything, only glanced at the red coffin and immediately came to a conclusion.

"A-level anomaly." Lu Li said calmly, "The thing lying in there is the Ghost Bride."

Upon hearing the words "Grade A," a look of seriousness flashed in Lu Xueyao's eyes.

The Ghost Bride!

This is a terrifying entity with an unsolvable pattern of murderous activity.

Once a living person approaches its perception range, it will forcibly regard them as its husband and force them to undergo a sworn brotherhood and marriage ceremony.

Once the wedding ceremony is completed, the living person who is married to the bride will be completely assimilated and transformed into a mindless monster!

The moment Lu Li revealed its identity, the originally pitch-black Nine Netherworld Water seemed to be cursed, and it began to churn and turn red from the center of the pool at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In just a few breaths, the entire black pool turned into a pool of scarlet blood!

"Waaaaah..."

A chilling suona sound, a mixture of crying and laughter, suddenly rang out in the silent black pine forest.

From behind the withered trees all around, dozens of eerie figures emerged, their limbs twisted and dressed in tattered red clothes.

These are all "ghost slaves" that this A-grade ghost bride has assimilated over the long years!

What's even more despairing is that at the edge of the pool of blood, four pale-faced, pupil-less paper figures are eerily carrying a large, blood-red sedan chair, swaying and staggering towards Lu Xueyao with strange steps.

The curtains of the bridal sedan chair moved without wind, and an invisible and irresistible powerful pulling force enveloped Lu Xueyao, attempting to forcibly pull her into the sedan chair!

"This is a derivative of the rules of the Cursed Bride!"

Lu Xueyao's expression changed drastically, and she immediately waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in her left hand.

Strange hair, headless shadows, strange eyes... all the strange creatures she had taken in swarmed out, trying to block the red sedan chair.

The white bone banner on his right hand also unfurled with a roar, and the four-meter-tall white bone demon general charged forward with a furious roar.

However, under the suppression of the bizarre and absolute rules of Class A!

The White Bone Demon General's bone spear pierced the sedan chair as if it had struck nothingness, passing right through it.