The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

She then gently pressed her chest, finding it cold and lifeless to the touch; her "heart" seemed to have turned completely cold at that moment.

Yes, I am no longer the priestess who guarded the Shikon Jewel fifty years ago. I am merely a ghost who has returned to the world through ashes and grave soil... My heart and soul are filled only with resentment, so it is enough for me to harbor resentment and seek revenge. I need not be distracted by anything else... Once I regain my spiritual power, I will immediately go find Inuyasha...

As if she had convinced herself, the confusion in Kikyo's eyes quickly dissipated, and her gaze, which had eased slightly after half a month, turned cold again.

……

Not long after, Su Qi and his three companions left the village and went to lie in wait in the back mountain where the shrine was located. The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Oh no! Did I go too far and mess things up?

In the woods, Su Qi discreetly observed Kikyo's sculpted profile, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart. He had only intended to use this opportunity to train his future partner, to see if she could overcome her overly kind nature, but now it seemed… all his hard work over the past two weeks might have been for naught.

Chapter Fifty-Nine: I'm Going to Fight Ten!

The shrine guarded by the siblings Dokkura and Shishimaru is located on the top of the mountain behind the village. It is a typical small to medium-sized Japanese shrine. The approach starts from the mountainside and has two torii gates, a worship hall and a main hall. It is surrounded by the forest that guards the shrine.

At this moment, Su Qi, Kikyo, Dokuro, and Shishimaru were hiding in the forest halfway up the mountain. The pilgrimage route was not far away, and some villagers were already coming down the mountain. So even if Su Qi wanted to sound out Kikyo, the time and place were not suitable.

So he could only finish his dry rations for breakfast and then went into meditation to cultivate himself.

More than an hour later, when the sun was high in the sky, the Komainu siblings, who had been secretly observing from the roadside bushes, ran over to report that most of the people had already left.

"Have all the villagers left?"

"Most people have already gone down the mountain, but there should still be a dozen or so left at the shrine. They didn't leave together, and some of them will stay longer."

"It's alright, a mere dozen or so people won't be an obstacle. Let's get started."

In fact, for Su Qi, even if there were dozens or hundreds more people, it wouldn't be a big problem.

Soichiro had previously been able to rout an army of over two hundred men, so there was no reason for him to be weaker than Soichiro now, especially since his opponents were just ordinary villagers. The main reason for waiting until most of the villagers had left before starting the battle was actually out of consideration for Kikyo, to prevent her from being burdened by his compassion.

Even so, considering that Kikyo's spiritual power had not fully recovered and that she was an archer who was not good at close combat, he still planned to charge in himself and not let her do anything.

He wasn't being arrogant when he made this plan.

Based on the intelligence we have gathered so far, the so-called Myoken Reijin is likely a monster skilled in illusion. Having undergone so much training, he is already determined, and his visualization techniques are extremely effective against illusions. So this is practically a dragon charging in; how could he possibly lose? He can just go straight for it.

"Dokuro, Shishimaru, as we agreed before, you and Kikyo will meet up outside the shrine later. I'll rush in alone and take down the demon. You just need to make sure Kikyo is safe, understand?"

"Please rest assured, we will protect Miss Kikyo closely."

"Okay, okay, you're so long-winded."

Seeing that the Komainu siblings had made their promise, Su Qi turned to Kikyo and asked, "What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions?"

The latter shook his head slightly, indicating no.

So the group took advantage of the fact that no one was coming down the mountain to leave the forest, step onto the approach to the temple, and climb the steps from the mountainside. Soon they arrived at the first torii gate.

Su Qi took the lead and was about to pass under the wooden torii gate when he suddenly felt something was wrong and stopped.

"There seems to be something ahead..."

Standing four steps below the torii gate, his eyes narrowed slightly. He reached out and pushed forward, quickly touching a thick, flexible, rubber-like membrane of air.

"This is the barrier you were talking about?"

He quickly realized what was happening and looked at the komainu siblings behind him.

"Yes, we can't break its barrier."

"Interesting, this is the first time I've ever seen a barrier."

Su Qi curiously poked and squeezed his hand inside, testing the feel, before looking at Kikyo, an expert in barriers.

"A barrier of this strength is easy to break."

The latter calmly drew his bow and aimed at a bronze mirror hanging below the crow diagonally above... "That's one of the nodes of the barrier. Shall we break it now?"

"Wait, let me ask you first, after this barrier is broken, will the person who set it up sense it?"

"meeting."

"Is it possible to sneak in without being discovered?"

"This is a completely isolated barrier, which I cannot achieve with my current spiritual power."

Are there any blind spots?

"Only underground."

"Alright, if that's the case, let's get started."

As soon as she finished speaking, Kikyo let go.

With a whooshing sound, the feathered arrow, enveloped in dazzling spiritual light, flew like a shooting star and instantly appeared before the invisible barrier.

bang bang bang bang...

A series of explosions erupted in the air, and the arrow, unstoppable and like a white rainbow piercing the sun, crashed heavily into the bronze mirror hanging under the torii gate with a clang.

The next moment, the arrow pierced the mirror, and dozens of cracks immediately spread out from it. Then, with a loud bang, the bronze mirror shattered, and fragments flew like rain, dazzling the eyes in the sunlight.

Suddenly, Su Qi saw a flash of white light before his eyes, followed by a blinding blur. When he came to his senses and looked around, he realized that he was now the only one left on the approach. At the same time, a white mist suddenly rose behind the torii gate in front of him, enveloping the second torii gate and the main body of the shrine, making them difficult to see.

"What's going on? An illusion? Using the reflection from the mirror shards as a trigger?"

Su Qi remained calm and looked inward. He saw that his spiritual light was clouded and his consciousness seemed to be being pulled and slightly fluctuating.

"It really was an illusion, but poor kid, you chose the wrong opponent."

He circulated his spiritual power to stabilize his consciousness and perception. Then, he narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings. He saw that everything in front of him was double-imaged. The whole world was like a garbage 3D version of Berserk, full of flaws and falsehoods.

This is an illusion, the whole world is fake, but why aren't Kikyo and the others here?

Not finding the other three, Su Qi thought for a moment, then climbed the steps and headed towards the shrine at the top of the mountain.

He wanted to see if he could find any clues in the shrine. Moreover, even if he could guard his mind and see through the illusion, he would still have to destroy the core node to get out of this illusion created out of thin air; unless his spiritual power could completely overwhelm the caster and directly break the illusion.

There wasn't a soul in sight along the way until I passed through the second torii gate and arrived at the shrine gate. There I saw a handsome young man dressed in a floral shirt sitting on the stone steps in front of the gate, waiting for me leisurely.

"Hey, young man, we meet again." Soichiro looked up and said with a smile, "You were the one who cut off my head last time, so this time I want to see if I can cut off yours. So... shall we continue our fight?"

Su Qi snorted coldly, exaggeratedly raising his chin, almost pointing his nostrils at him, and said arrogantly, "A defeated opponent, what is there to talk about? But why are you here? Confess honestly, and I'll leave you a whole corpse this time."

"It's not just me."

Soichiro smiled broadly and clapped his hands lightly. The next moment, nine more Soichiros filed out from the door behind him, lining up on both sides with him as the center. Each of them had an icy expression and was full of murderous intent, staring intently at him.

"So what?" Su Qi remained unfazed and arrogant. "You think I'll go weak in the knees just because there are more of you? Let me tell you, this time I'm going to take on ten of them! Come at me all at once!"

Chapter Sixty: Illusion

Just as Su Qi was preparing to take on ten, in the shrine's main hall in the real world, a middle-aged man with a mustache, wearing a black hat and a white hunting robe, was holding an ancient mirror. His eyes were tinged with crimson as he chuckled sinisterly, "Hehe, the prey has taken the bait. Indeed, the souls of cultivators are the most delicious, and these two meals look quite appetizing... Oh, and those two stinky rocks that always cause me trouble, daring to come knocking on my door, they're really courting death."

The round mirror in his hand was made of bronze, with a rainbow serpent with heads at both ends engraved on the back. A pinkish-purple fragment of the Shikon Jewel was inlaid on the mirror knob, shimmering with an eerie light.

On the other side, iridescent light shone from the mirror, projecting four circular beams onto the opposite wall. Within these beams, the figures of Su Qi, Kikyo, Dokuro, and Shishimaru were displayed.

"Fear...fear...indulge in your deepest fears until your soul is completely devoured by me."

The man sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the four round lights on the wall. His pale, deathly face was filled with hunger and greed.

……

The setting sun was like blood, the grass was lush and green, and the bellflowers stood on a slope, their clothes fluttering in the cool evening breeze.

"here it is……"

She found herself here in a daze. Looking around, a sense of familiarity welled up in her heart, and a strange sense of unease surged up from it.

Why...why am I here?

A look of confusion flashed in her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a cold touch in her palm. Looking down, she saw a pale purple, eerie jade.

"The Shikon Jewel? Right, I'm here to fulfill my promise and bring the Shikon Jewel to Inuyasha so he can wish to become a human from a half-demon..."

Remembering her purpose, Kikyo looked around, trying to find Inuyasha, when a mocking voice suddenly rang out behind her, "Stupid woman, are you looking for me?"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, blood gushed out, and he was knocked to the ground by a claw.

"Inu...Yasha!?"

Looking up in disbelief, he saw a boy standing before him, dressed in blood-red robes, with long silver hair and white dog ears on his head—it was Inuyasha.

"It's me, you stupid woman."

Stepping on her right wrist and picking up the Shikon Jewel that had rolled to the ground, the boy sneered, "What's wrong, Kikyo? You look so incredulous... Can't believe I would betray you? That's why I called you an idiot... Wishing to become human? How could I, Inuyasha, do something so stupid! Blame yourself for being too naive and believing me, a half-demon!"

Damn it! I was so incredibly stupid to actually believe this half-demon! The Shikon Jewel must not be taken by him!

Kikyo lay on the ground, her white clothes stained with blood, struggling to hold on and reclaim the Shikon Jewel. But the other party threw the Shikon Jewel in front of her and sneered, "Not enough, not enough... The Shikon Jewel is not beautiful enough now. It needs more blood of resentment to nourish it. So I'll give it back to you for now. Anyway, you're going to die soon. When you die with endless resentment, the Shikon Jewel will become more perfect. At that time... I will take it back."

Having said that, he laughed loudly and disappeared before her eyes.

"Inu...Ya...Sha!!"

Kikyo gritted her teeth, forcing out each word, brimming with resentment, from between them. At that moment, the pent-up resentment that had been filling her mind and body, like flammable gunpowder, finally exploded completely.

She clutched the Shikon Jewel tightly, stood up unsteadily, and muttered to herself, "I won't give it to you... I absolutely won't give it to you..." as she staggered toward the village in the setting sun.

……

Thunder and lightning raged, and torrential rain poured down.

Shishimaru stood on the ruins of the shrine, his face flickering in the flashing lightning, outlining an incredibly cold and handsome profile.

"I've had enough!" He stared at Du Le, his eyes cold and filled with murderous intent. "My sister is always causing trouble, she's unrepentant, she's lazy and incompetent, she shirks her responsibilities... Now she's even ruined our home... A sister like that... a sister like that scum should just die!"

"Wait!" The latter said with a look of horror and tears in his eyes, "Shishimaru, I really didn't mean it this time, please give me another chance! I will definitely correct it this time!"

"Too late! Die, you useless sister!"

……

Dark clouds rolled in, covering the sky and the earth.

The land was a scene of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, with endless white bones covering the entire earth.

At the summit of the towering mountain of corpses, Du Le sat imposingly on the throne of bones, clad in a ferocious all-black armor, his blood-red cloak fluttering in the wind. His small face held a cold and arrogant disdain for all living beings, and endless demonic energy soared into the sky like smoke from a wolf's beak. He was like a super demon king descending to earth.

"Sister, stop!" Shishimaru confronted her with a large group of exorcists and monks, his eyes filled with pain and regret. "You've killed too many people. If you continue like this, there will be no turning back!"