The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Hand over the Shikon Jewel, and he won't kill that woman. That's what Naraku told me to say."

She dared not hesitate for a moment longer and immediately blurted out everything Naraku had told her.

Since his last adventure ended in near-death by Sesshomaru's Meido Zangetsuha, Naraku realized once again that even with the armor of the Hades beast, his safety was not guaranteed. Therefore, his desire to collect the Shikon Jewel became even more urgent. After escaping, he immediately turned his attention to Su Qi and even went so far as to personally take action to complete his plan.

This time, he not only wanted to plunge Su Qi into an abyss of regret and pain, but also to kill two birds with one stone and take away the Shikon Jewel fragments from Su Qi's body.

"Get out of the way!"

Su Qi ignored him completely. With his ability to reload save files, he didn't need to pay any attention to Naraku's threats. Right now, all he wanted was to "calmly" kill Naraku.

Kagura dared not stop her any longer and immediately stepped aside, saying as she made way, "You'd better be careful. Naraku has prepared a demon sword that can steal the power of enemies, just to make you kill each other."

"You're going to betray Naraku, aren't you afraid of death?"

"How much longer can I live?" Kagura said expressionlessly, "Rather than being manipulated to death by Naraku, wouldn't it be better to enjoy freedom before I die, even if it's just for a moment?"

Just like this time when she was sent to stop the possibly enraged Kenshin Shishio, she has been repeatedly assigned missions that are likely to result in death. She has come to realize that Naraku disregards her life and that she may die at any time.

If that's the case, what else does she have to fear? If she can't get freedom, then she might as well die.

Su Qi did not respond, but only glanced at her before urging his demon horse to gallop towards Turtle City.

……

Liuli accepted the Demon Blade Stealing.

No matter who she intends to take revenge on, power is essential, so she takes up the demon sword, even if it means becoming a demon herself.

Afterwards, Jinglian invited Liuli to join her in tracking down the murderer Shishio Kenshin, and Liuli agreed.

After their discussion, the two, who had temporarily become companions, left the dojo to prepare for the funeral arrangements of the headmaster, Hachirin, and the other disciples.

Just then, a white horse with its hooves on fire neighed and galloped across the sky above the front courtyard.

The next moment, Su Qi descended from the sky, shattering the ground with a bang, and landed in front of the two.

As he rose from the dust, his first glance was at Liuli, whose face was haggard and eyes were lifeless. His sharp gaze softened instantly, and he said in a complicated tone, "Liuli... I'm back. How are you?"

As she spoke, Jinglian's pupils contracted upon seeing his appearance, and she was greatly shocked.

Damn it!! How could he be here?! How could he be so fast?! This woman hasn't turned into a demon yet, and her demon sword hasn't absorbed enough demonic power. She's no match for him at all!

He was talking to Ruri and didn't get a chance to see Kagura's most powerful perspective, so he was caught off guard by Su Qi's sudden appearance.

The script that had been written was suddenly interrupted by a major accident. At this moment, Naraku was both shocked and angry, but he was not afraid at all.

In his memory, Su Qi's strength was still at the level of the last battle. Now, with the Armor of the Hades Beast and the Mirage Pearl, he could ignore the attacks of others, except for Sesshomaru's Meido Zangetsuha.

No… calm down… the worst isn’t over yet, I still have the upper hand. Right now, I need to play the role of Jinglian well.

After a moment of shock and anger, Naraku calmed down. Before Su Qi could speak with Ruri, he stepped in front of her, his face full of vigilance, and said, "Miss Ruri, step back! This murderer returned immediately after killing your father; he must be trying to eliminate any future threats!"

Before he could finish speaking, with a soft "thud," a blood-stained blade pierced through his chest, reflecting a bright, cold light in the last rays of the setting sun.

"You've finally turned your back on me, murderer."

Liuli stood behind Jinglian, gripping the hilt of her knife tightly. Her words, filled with boundless hatred, burst forth one by one from between her teeth. Her eyes burned like will-o'-the-wisps, as if she wanted to grind the person before her to dust.

"How...is this possible?"

Looking down at the knife tip protruding from her chest, Jinglian's face was filled with astonishment.

"Why not?"

Ruri gripped his shoulder tightly with her left hand, twisting the hilt of her sword to make the blade churn wildly inside her enemy's body, while she sneered repeatedly, saying in a low voice, "Do you think I'm an idiot? How could Kenshin's swordsmanship be so clumsy? And that fragment you gave me isn't some Shikon Jewel, is it? As a martial artist, I can feel that it's just stimulating my body, draining my life force, temporarily numbing my pain like poison, allowing me to move."

"So, Jinglian, can you explain this? As a compassionate nun, why would you entrust me with this? And you appeared right after that man left, carrying a demon sword that was practically tailor-made for me. Don't you think this is a very coincidental thing?"

"I see."

Jinglian—no, Naraku's astonishment quickly subsided. As Liuli stirred the knife inside his body, there was no sign of pain on his face. He simply said calmly, "It's a pity. I thought you would be blinded by hatred and wouldn't notice these details. It seems I miscalculated. But it doesn't matter. As long as your life is still in my hands, we can still achieve our goal."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden bulge appeared behind him, his clothes burst open, and more than a dozen intestine-like tentacles shot out, wrapping around the glass that was right in front of him.

But the next moment, a flash of cold light appeared, the tentacles were severed, and Su Qi quickly retreated while holding Liuli.

"Can they escape?"

Naraku's eyes narrowed, and Liuli in Su Qi's arms suddenly groaned, her face showing pain.

"Bring her here quickly!"

Just then, Kikyo landed and, seeing this scene, hurriedly said, "There is a crystal of miasma inside her body. It must be removed immediately, or her life will be in danger."

Su Qi flashed forward and immediately arrived, handing Liuli to Kikyo. Looking at Naraku, he saw that the guy, seeing that something seemed wrong, decisively enveloped himself in miasma, took to the air, and prepared to leave.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and in an instant he swung his sword, the blade whistling and slicing through the air. The miasma in mid-air exploded, revealing Naraku shrouded in a spherical barrier.

Su Qi took a step forward, the ground beneath his feet shattered, and his afterimage flashed through the air as he instantly appeared above Naraku. Then, with a flash of light, he slashed down with his sword.

boom!!

A shockwave exploded outwards, shattering the roof of the dojo. Naraku was slammed down like a ball, crashing into the dojo.

Chapter 109 When Players Lose All Shame

"Naraku!"

With a furious roar, a vast wave of blades swept down, cleaving the entire dojo in two with a deafening boom.

Suddenly, the earth cracked, wood chips flew everywhere, the temple collapsed with a roar, and dust billowed into the sky.

Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!! What on earth happened?! Why did Kenshin Shishio suddenly become so strong?!

Amidst the ruins, Naraku had reverted to his original form and was still maintaining the barrier. Although he was unharmed, his expression was extremely grim.

The script was ruined, no matter; as long as he was alive, he would eventually get his revenge. However, Su Qi's inexplicable surge in strength within a short period sent a chill down his spine. Who knew if Su Qi would easily kill him in a few days?

boom!!

Suddenly, a violent storm arose, the ruins exploded, and Su Qi swept away the remains of the dojo with a single slash, revealing Naraku's figure.

"Naraku, manipulating people's hearts is really fun, isn't it?"

Stepping onto the dojo, which had almost turned into a white expanse, Su Qi pointed his long sword diagonally at the ground and walked towards Naraku with a smile on his face. However, although it was a smile, there was no smile in his eyes. Instead, they were as cold as a blizzard, chilling to the bone.

"Ah, indeed..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Qi's figure instantly appeared in front of him.

"I wasn't asking you the hell!!"

boom!!

The ground shattered, air blasts exploded, and the spherical barrier collapsed, shaking incessantly, but it finally withstood the blade.

Naraku was momentarily stunned by Su Qi's sudden outburst, but quickly regained his composure. He faced off against those burning black eyes that were so close to him through the blade, and said coldly, "It's useless. Even if you become stronger, you can't break my Naraku's barrier."

Before he could finish speaking, a white rainbow shot out, shattering the barrier with a bang and embedding itself in his body.

"What!?"

Naraku's expression changed, then a flash of cold light appeared, and his head, filled with astonishment, rolled to the ground.

"That arrow is coated with mud stained by the obsession of the demon spider; your barrier can't stop it," Kikyo said coldly as she approached.

"So what!?"

The next moment, his headless body suddenly burst through his clothes, rapidly expanding and growing larger, instantly transforming into a giant headless spider with a human upper body and sharp black armor covering its lower body. At this point, it could be seen that the demon-piercing arrow from before had not penetrated his body; it was merely stuck in the gaps of his carapace.

"Even if you can break through my barrier, you will be helpless against the most durable armor of the demon king beast."

As they were speaking, Naraku's head, which had rolled to the ground, suddenly transformed into a mass of flesh and blood that crawled toward his main body. Meanwhile, another of Naraku's heads grew out from the neck of the headless body on the spider.

For him, who already possesses high-speed regeneration abilities and is further enhanced by the Shikon Jewel, even if he loses his head, it's just a matter of growing another one.

Su Qi ignored Naraku's sarcasm and stared at the armor on his body. In his pseudo-heavenly eye, the fine and intricate patterns of the armor were as clear as the lines on his palm.

The next moment, he flashed into the air and slashed at Naraku's chest, which was covered by armor.

boom!!

The shockwave exploded, the ground trembled, and cracks suddenly appeared in Naraku's black armor, centered on the spot where Su Qi had struck.

"how is this possible?"

Naraku's pupils contracted, his heart filled with fear, and he dared not be careless again. Suddenly, he curled up his legs and body, and his outer shell continued to multiply and layer, transforming into a huge black sphere more than three zhang tall.

Not enough...

Su Qi showed no joy. The structure of the Hades Beast Armor was too hard and complex. Even with the newly mastered sword technique, he could only cleave a small portion, not completely disintegrate it. And as long as it couldn't be broken quickly, Naraku, possessing the Shikon Jewel, could continuously regenerate, allowing them to wear each other down indefinitely.

So the current situation is that Su Qi's own strength is overwhelming, making it impossible for Naraku to even run away, but it is difficult to break through his turtle shell and drag Naraku out to kill him.

I need a knife, a knife that can easily cleave the shell of the Naraku turtle...

Su Qi took a deep breath to calm himself down, then looked intently at the black sphere that Naraku had transformed into, and chose to die on the spot.

……

He immediately reloaded the save file, which was from the day he returned to the Hakurei Shrine. Without waiting, Su Qi went straight to Kikyo, told her that he had figured out how to kill Naraku, and persuaded her to set off together.

Without a word, the latter immediately grabbed his bow and arrows and followed him away.

Where to go next?

Standing at the crossroads at the foot of the shrine, Kikyo asked a similar question once again.

"Go find a monster, but before that, first subdue two shikigami for transportation."

Su Qi answered calmly, his face expressionless. He was no longer in the mood for witty remarks; he just wanted to crush that bastard Naraku, who kept jumping around like that.

……

A few days later, in the swamp full of rotting debris, Shunfeng'er heard that Su Qi and the other two had come looking for him. Just as he was about to ask the question that interested him, a sword aura suddenly cleaved down, splitting the entire swamp in two.

"Die, or come with me. Choose one."

Looking into the man's cold and terrifying eyes, he decisively chose to follow his heart.

……

Several days later, a wetland filled with poisonous miasma and littered with the bones of humans and animals was discovered.

Inside the thatched hut, the short, sinister-looking Gray Blade held up the newly forged demon sword in both hands, admiring the beautiful scale patterns on its blade. He exclaimed with a look of ecstasy, "A masterpiece! A masterpiece! This Demon-Slaying Sword must be one of Gray Blade's greatest masterpieces in his life. It will definitely surpass all the demon swords forged by that old man, Totosai!"