I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

Is it a large barrier?

Li Cheng understood.

As the shrine maiden who protects the Great Barrier of this alien paradise, Reimu Hakurei is able to unleash combat power far exceeding her own limits by harnessing the power of the Great Barrier.

Although this place is not within the Great Barrier, the cause of this anomaly is the merging of the Great Barrier and this shattered space. Because of this, even here, Reimu Hakurei can still unleash power close to that of a Transcendent by utilizing the power of the Great Barrier.

With a deafening roar, the howling monster was once again struck down by Reimu Hakurei, one of its four arms already blown off by the magic bullet attack. The black slime fell into the city ruins, dissolving and splitting the already dilapidated buildings.

The monster, roaring and trying to stand up again, was enveloped by a golden barrier and crushed into the ruins amidst its mournful cries. Unable to lift itself, it could only stare intently at the priestess in the sky with its huge pupil filled with madness.

"A priestess's duty is to exorcise evil spirits. I had hoped we could at least have some communication, but since you're nothing more than a remnant of resentment, then purify yourself right here!"

Reimu Hakurei's voice was icy as she brandished her gohei (magic weapon), unleashing powerful magic that began to disintegrate and destroy the monster's body with overwhelming force. Amidst screams of agony, the monster's body crumbled inch by inch, dissipating into the air.

In less than five minutes, this girl, who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, easily destroyed a terrifying monster that would make most of the world's A-level powerhouses retreat.

...No, it's not over yet.

Li Cheng suddenly remembered that the monster, throughout the previous battle, hadn't seemed to demonstrate any ability to control temperature. What Reimu Hakurei suppressed was merely a giant monster fighting on instinct, smashing and jumping around wildly. So, where did the thing that created the freezing phenomenon go?

"Ahhh...ah..."

Like a zombie from a fantasy movie, a hoarse howl emanated from the monster's gradually disintegrating body and from its enormous eyeball. A small, thin figure stumbled out from within.

It should have been a woman, at least judging from the long hair at the back of her head and the structure of her body. However, her entire body, devoid of any clothing, was shrunken and dehydrated, her body a completely mummified corpse, with only two dark eye sockets remaining where her eyes should have been. Perhaps she was very beautiful when she was alive, but now she was just a living, ugly corpse, radiating a chilling aura.

Li Cheng's eyes widened, and for the first time, he showed an expression of disbelief.

He felt the same immense pressure he had once felt from his mentor, Ji Wen, emanating from this mummified corpse. It was like the oppressive force he had felt that night on the beach when he confronted Ji Wen—a force so powerful that simply looking at him felt like it could destroy one's mind. And now, the pressure from this swaying, mummified corpse was even greater than the pressure Ji Wen had exerted on him.

Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me? Zi, you clearly said that these things at most have power close to the level of a Transcendent, so how come this guy's aura seems more terrifying than a living Transcendent?

Could it be that this guy was a top-tier transcendent being on par with the King of Heroes and the Old Man of the Mountain in his previous life? But if he really was a transcendent being of that level, how could he have fallen to this state?

"Hmm, this seems a bit tricky..."

Meanwhile, on the other side, the young shrine maiden also realized something was wrong. She cautiously looked at the desiccated corpse, which seemed to have lost its mind and was just wandering aimlessly, and took a small step back.

The next moment, the mummified corpse that had been standing blankly in the ruins suddenly appeared in the air, its two black eye sockets on its withered face staring at Reimu.

"Well!"

Almost reflexively, she used her teleportation ability again, but she only managed to move once before a chilling sense of crisis suddenly enveloped her. The aura locking onto her was incredibly cold, freezing her spiritual power in an instant, making it impossible for her to move. But at the critical moment, a dark rift opened beside her, and Li Cheng reached out and pulled her directly into it.

The next moment, the two of them appeared directly at the edge of the ruins, thousands of meters away.

"What is this thing...?"

Although she dodged as fast as she could, a tiny scratch appeared on the cuff of Reimu's right sleeve. She looked down and noticed that the scratch was being covered by frost, so she tore it off without hesitation, leaving her right hand bare in the icy ruins.

"Whatever that thing is, it's no match for us. Miss Hakurei, I personally suggest we leave here as soon as possible."

The thing didn't seem to have a strong enough sense of self. Li Cheng felt that if he left as soon as possible, it probably wouldn't catch up with him.

Then he saw the ice spikes growing around him, and a long-haired, desiccated corpse that had appeared not far in front of him at some point, swaying as if it might fall to the ground at any moment.

"Uncle, you make it sound so easy, but the problem is, we can't leave now even if we want to."

Reimu spoke with some distress, then suddenly jumped up and down, revealing a troubled expression.

"Oh no, the space has been sealed off."

Upon hearing her words, Li Cheng immediately tried to activate the gap as well, but unsurprisingly, he found that the gap's power was also unusable. This seemingly fragile, easily knocked-over, dried-up monster had unknowingly sealed off the space, leaving no movement skills to ensure their escape.

I should have just used the gap to run far away.

Li Cheng felt a little regretful.

The mummified corpse was still staggering towards the two, but neither Li Cheng nor Reimu Hakurei believed that it was really that slow. At this point, only a direct confrontation remained.

"Oh dear, you're making that trouble-gone look again, aren't you, sir~"

However, things may not be entirely hopeless.

Completely different from her usual appearance in pajamas, Zi, now dressed in a magnificent Taoist robe and holding a parasol, descended from behind Li Cheng with a half-smile on her face. On the other side, a girl who bore a striking resemblance to Hakurei Reimu, yet exuded a dense aura of calamity, also appeared with a cold expression, looking at the swaying, desiccated corpse.

“I clearly told you not to do anything dangerous, but you’re really giving me a headache,” Zi said with a slightly dangerous smile as she approached Li Cheng. “Tell me, after this is all over, how should I punish you? Hehehe.”

"sorry!"

At that moment, Li Cheng decisively chose to admit defeat and apologize. After all, he had indeed underestimated the enemy's strength and acted rashly, which led to the current situation.

Reimu Hakurei stared in disbelief at Li Cheng and Zi's bodies almost touching, then suddenly remembered the gap ability that the man had demonstrated earlier. Her expression became incredibly complex, to the point that she completely ignored the girl on the other side who looked remarkably like her.

"Alright, let's not talk about that now. The formidable enemy before us is more important."

Zi chuckled softly, her gaze finally turning to the mummified corpse that was still slowly swaying.

"I must say, thanks to you this time, you've really found something extraordinary."

…………

Thank you to readers Feng Yong Sui You Fei, Ye Luo Feng Fei, Ying Jiang Over, Terrifying Rabbit, Yu Sheng Lin Qing, Zhuo Yue De Wu Li, Da Tu Zi, and Zui Mo Yao Wang EX for their recommendation votes.

Section 307, Chapter Seventeen: The Battlefield of the Transcendent

Within the frozen city, an endless storm is raging.

Li Cheng did not see the battle between the transcendents. As soon as the battle began, he was teleported by a gap to a dilapidated hill outside the city.

"Cheng is too weak. He'll only get in the way in a fight of this level, so you'd better stay away a bit."

Zi, showing no regard for Li Cheng's male dignity, covered half of her face with a folding fan, said with a smirk, and then summoned a gap to take him away.

This feels so embarrassing...

"But, ironically, there's absolutely no way to refute it."

Li Cheng covered his head and sighed.

The Hakurei Reimu wasn't teleported over. It seems that because of the protection of the Great Barrier, the seemingly young girl was able to approach the level of a Transcendent in terms of combat power, thus barely being able to join that terrifying battle. He, who hadn't yet fully mastered the power of the Boundary, had no choice but to stay away from the battlefield.

boom--

A violent tremor accompanied a beam of pitch-black light shooting into the sky from the frozen city. It was a twisted, evil power, filled with ugly and vicious curses. Li Cheng knew that this was the power of calamity, the power that Zi had once told him about—the power she wielded as the embodiment of all the malice and negativity of all creatures in Gensokyo.

At the same time, erupting alongside the dark power was a slightly less powerful white light, radiating a tranquil and melodious glow, seemingly imbued with a touch of divinity. That must have belonged to Reimu, the mysterious power displayed by the shrine maiden at her utmost effort.

At the same time, the entire city was also exhibiting abnormal distortions. A purple halo covered the entire city, constantly rewriting its patterns and energy distribution, continuously strengthening the two forces and weakening the extreme cold aura. Meanwhile, it was also radiating a deep purple glow.

Even from a distance of at least ten kilometers, Li Cheng could clearly see the ground beneath his feet slowly cracking and trembling. In an instant, the city vanished into nothingness as countless rays of light collided and exploded, and countless energy shockwaves of all sizes spread in all directions. One of these shockwaves struck a city ruin two or three kilometers away from Li Cheng, instantly vaporizing it.

Li Cheng had no choice but to use the gap to retreat again, going as far away as possible. The fully unleashed power of the Transcendent level had suppressed the surrounding energy activity to the point that even breathing became difficult, and the scattered energy fragments were equally threatening. These seemingly beautiful energy specks could easily blast away several city blocks or even an entire city.

"■■■——!!!"

The mysterious, cold-blooded zombie continued its powerful roar, its increasingly chilling aura causing large and small ice balls to condense in the gray mist and float in the air, resembling scattered white sesame seeds from afar. Meanwhile, the dark light continued to grow, and the wild laughter of the monstrous creature could be faintly heard within it.

Yukari's power hadn't fully recovered, and Reimu, even with the help of the Great Barrier, couldn't reach the level of a true transcendent being. However, Hoshino was undeniably a powerful being who, despite being human, had achieved transcendence, even to the point of becoming a conceptual being. In the past, due to a vow, she had remained in that dilapidated shrine, and Li Cheng had never witnessed her truly unleash her power. But to witness this power now was undeniably terrifying beyond imagination.

"Hahaha, is that all? Or is this all that's left of you as a mutilated corpse? Pity you, I'm starting to feel sorry for you."

The black light surged wildly, quickly overshadowing the other two beams of light. Huo, now unleashed, displayed unparalleled power. The dark patterns seemed to come alive, covering her entire skin, while her scarlet pupils shone even brighter. Letting her pale white hair dance wildly, Huo relentlessly pursued the icy corpse, so much so that the other two could hardly intervene.

"Tsk, this guy, is he a mad dog unleashed?"

Nearly injured by the black light, Reimu clicked her tongue, but ultimately chose to dodge. She no longer interfered in the battle between the monster and the zombie.

"Oh dear, it's understandable that you want to move around a bit after sleeping for so long."

Zi, who had also stepped back, sat on a narrow gap, swinging her little feet and talking with a grin. She had already seen the difference in strength between Huo and her opponent, and knew there was no need to continue interfering, so she simply retreated to the side as well.

"Whatever happens, it's fine, but you, how come your strength has weakened so much? And that man, why can he use your abilities, and why does he have a similar demonic aura to you? Could it be that you really are with him..."

Reimu glanced at Yukari, asking a question that sounded unnatural. Yukari paused for a moment, then realized that the shrine maiden was unaware of the existence of the two gap-bound youkai. Seeing that the girl had mistaken her for someone else and was clearly making a lot of connections, Yukari couldn't help but smile slightly, before quickly covering her pleased expression with her folding fan.

“Oh dear, Cheng is our husband, so is it wrong for us to share our strength and flesh with him?”

Trying her best to hide the smile on her face, Yukari said to Reimu in a serious tone.

"W-what, you actually..."

Reimu's face showed a shocked expression as if her worldview had been shattered, while Yukari simply smiled lightly, using her folding fan to hide her barely concealed joy, and turned back to continue watching the battle before her.

Consider it a small act of revenge against that guy.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Cheng noticed someone rapidly approaching from behind. Turning around, he saw Marisa riding a broomstick, flying towards him. Seeing that Li Cheng had spotted her, she happily waved to him.

"Hey, uncle, we meet again!"

The girl with a bright smile quickly came to Li Cheng's side, and then noticed the continuous roar of the battle not far away.

"Wow, this is pretty intense! Who's fighting whom here?" Unlike Li Cheng's caution, Marisa seemed quite interested in the chaotic and terrifying energy storm before her. "Should we go and join in? It looks like it would be very interesting."

"No, no, no, I just think the possibility of dying on the spot is greater."

Li Cheng quickly waved his hand to refuse, and at the same time, a dark light swept across the building debris not far from them. The ruins, which were at least twenty or thirty stories high, exploded on the spot, shattering into nothingness.

"Hmm, it's that powerful? Looks like it's safer to just be a spectator."

"So you do have moments of calm down?"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot like Cirno. I can distinguish real danger."

Marisa landed beside Li Cheng as she spoke, dismounting from the broom and observing with interest the pitch-black light that had almost swallowed everything in front of her. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she tugged at Li Cheng beside her and asked:

"Speaking of which, who was fighting whom?"

"Hmm, Mura and Yukari, uh, you don't seem to know Mura, anyway, he's a very powerful person, and Yukari is the Gap-Gap Demon Yakumo Yukari, you should know this person, right?"

“I know, I know,” Marisa nodded. “Even a youkai like Yukari Yakumo has to team up with others to fight head-on. It seems that the opponent is really not to be underestimated.”

“Hmm, although he was a guy whose identity and background were unknown, he was indeed a very terrifying opponent,” Li Cheng recalled the terrifying aura emanating from the cold, mummified corpse, and couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. “However, the shrine maiden Hakurei Reimu stayed in the combat zone. That girl is really strong, to be able to stay in a battlefield of this level.”

Li Cheng did not expect that after hearing that Reimu Hakurei had stayed in the combat zone, Marisa suddenly froze on the spot, and the cheerful smile on her face also froze.

After a couple of seconds, she finally seemed to realize what was happening, and gave a stiff smile, but had already unconsciously lowered her head.

"Is that so? Even in a battle of this magnitude, Reimu can still participate?"

She muttered to herself softly, a fleeting hint of disappointment crossing her face.