While I was in Mondstadt, I never imagined becoming a god.

Of all the people he had met.

Even Skykirk, who has a natural affinity for the power of the abyss, must use her rationality to suppress the restless power within her.

The abyss never gives anything away; the power it bestows comes at a price.

Only by completely stripping away the pure memories and the filth can the future Hana-sanri truly be reborn.

Instead of merely existing as a filthy appendage.

Hana Sanri stared at Xu Chuan's hands, her eyes beneath the white fox mask filled with curiosity.

She saw him carve runes upon runes on his mask, the golden light trailing and intersecting beneath his fingers, as if weaving an invisible net.

She couldn't figure out what this person was up to.

To refine oneself into a creation similar to a shikigami?

Or should we seal this mutilated body inside the mask?

Hana Sanri silently considered several possibilities in her mind, then rejected them one by one.

However, whatever he wanted to do was in vain.

Hana-san is very clear about her true nature.

She is not a living being, nor is she any kind of being that can be preserved by conventional means.

She is a filth with memories, a reflection of the power of the abyss in human form.

The moment the Great Purification of Divine Cherry Blossom is completed, the filth that sustains her existence will be completely eradicated.

At that time, her consciousness and memories, everything accumulated over the centuries as a flower-scattering place, will evaporate like morning dew.

Through the roots of the Rai-zakura, Hana-sanri sensed that in several other locations, impurities were being removed simultaneously.

Beneath Konta Village, the shrine maidens of Narukami Shrine are clearing away the burls that have accumulated on the roots of the Rai-zakura tree.

The young shrine maidens held sacred coins and chanted ancient incantations, infusing purifying power into the intricate root system.

Beside an abandoned shrine in the desolate sea, someone is using talismans to remove dark purple stains clinging to a stone lantern.

On the mudflats surrounding the shrine, the shrine maiden and the samurai who were appointed by the shrine worked together to dispel the miasma seeping from the ground.

As for the Forest of Guardians.

Yae no Miko stepped inside alone.

She came alone, passing through the moss-covered torii gates, and walked to the sealed stone statue.

"Wu Baizang, it's been a long time."

……

Knowing all this, Hana Sanri slowly closed her eyes and stopped paying attention to the outside world.

The successful completion of the Divine Cherry Blossom Great Purification is the sole purpose of my existence.

Hundreds of years ago, before his death, Fox Palace's obsession was to protect this land.

Having inherited that memory, she took it as her mission.

Now that the mission is about to be completed, there is nothing left to cherish in this world.

In the darkness after she closed her eyes, she heard the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree slowly wriggling deep in the soil, heard the faint mournful sound of filth being purified, and heard the wind blowing through the reeds at the foot of the mountain.

Everything was proceeding step by step towards its end.

Half a day has passed.

Xu Chuan's work on the mask was nearing completion.

On the ground in front of him, there was a ring of alchemical material residue.

These materials were melted into a liquid by the golden light, seeping into the mask and merging with the golden cloud patterns.

The entire refining process took longer than Xu Chuan had anticipated.

To embed a complete talisman array without damaging the original properties of the mask requires extremely precise power control.

"Just one last step."

Xu Chuan stretched out his right hand, hovering it above the mask.

Golden light condensed into a sharp blade in his palm, slicing through it.

Blood, a mixture of bright red and gold, gushed from the wound.

The instant blood is exposed to air.

Throughout the entire underground space, all the filthy ghosts simultaneously let out a silent roar.

The warrior ghosts, who were being suppressed by the Spirit Binding General, were originally in a distorted, still position.

But the moment the scent of Xu Chuan's blood spread, they began to struggle frantically.

The fragments of armor collided with a piercing noise, and will-o'-the-wisps burst forth from the empty eye sockets.

Every ghost was using all its strength to try to break free of its restraints and rush toward that drop of blood.

It was an instinctive, pure yearning for life.

Hana Sanri, who had closed her eyes, suddenly opened them.

Her body was trembling.

That longing did not come from consciousness, but from an instinct that welled up from every bit of filth that constituted her existence.

It was like land that had been parched for hundreds of years finally smelling the scent of rain.

This instinctive craving surprised her greatly and terrified her.

Because she discovered that she, too, was yearning for the blood of the young man before her.

If it weren't for the restraint of the spirits, all the filthy ghosts would have swarmed forward at the same moment and devoured Xu Chuan.

They only follow their instincts, wanting to swallow that purest power into their bodies.

"It seems I've become the Tang Monk's flesh in your eyes."

Xu Chuan said in a low voice, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The spirits were bound and sent to transmit to him all the changes of the filthy spirits.

The intensity of each ghost's struggle, the strength of its desire, and its reaction when suppressed by the golden light.

However, Xu Chuan was not surprised by this.

In fact, ever since his encounter with Dulin's spirit at Longji Snow Mountain, he had been studying his own blood.

Abel had taken a blood sample from him and conducted a series of analyses using alchemy. The conclusions reached left both of them silent for a long time.

His blood contains a very special kind of energy.

When used in alchemy, his blood can produce synergistic effects comparable to high-level catalysts.

Adding a drop of blood to an ordinary alchemical potion will instantly elevate the potion's quality by a level.

But what concerned him even more was another discovery.

Each time one's spiritual realm is elevated, the life energy contained in one's blood will also surge.

From its initial imperceptible appearance to its later visible golden sheen, his blood was undergoing a continuous transformation as his strength increased.

Xu Chuan conducted an experiment.

He mixed a drop of his blood into ordinary wound medicine, and the wound healed completely in no time after application, leaving no scar.

This is also why he was able to fully recover in a very short time despite suffering several serious injuries.

Even after being ambushed by General Thunder, his charred skin reconnected at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the new skin was as smooth as ever.

There were no signs of injury.

The few drops of blood that flowed out were enveloped in golden light and floated in mid-air.

Then, little by little, it was incorporated into the fox mask.

The golden cloud patterns on the mask suddenly shone brightly after absorbing blood, and the entire mask emitted a clear, melodious hum, as if responding to some kind of summons.

"What, Miss Hanaharari wants one too?"

Xu Chuan turned his head and his gaze fell on Hua Sanli's slightly trembling fingertips.

"Undeniably, your blood is extremely alluring."

Hana Sanri took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging impulse back into her heart.

Her eyes regained their clarity, and her face beneath the mask returned to calm.

"That vibrant and vigorous life force is no different from a light in the darkness."

"That's a fresh analogy."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Hana Sanli stared at Xu Chuan with a complex look in her eyes.

"This friend of the Divine Child is becoming increasingly difficult to discern as to what is true or false."

Xu Chuan didn't respond to that question; he simply looked down at the fox mask that had already been completed.

With the fox mask successfully crafted, he had achieved half of his goal.

But the main event is yet to come.

Xu Chuan held the mask in his left hand and raised his right hand to place it on Hua Sanli's shoulder.

His fingers tightened slightly as he felt the form formed from filth beneath his palm trembling slightly.

It felt like holding a wisp of mist that could dissipate at any moment.

"It might hurt a little now, so please bear with it, Miss Hanasanri."

"No need to care, I am already a departed spirit, a little pain is nothing to me..."

Chapter 197 The Change of the Divine Child

Hana Sanri didn't finish her sentence.

Golden light surged from Xu Chuan's palm, pouring into her body like a flood bursting its banks.

The light was pure and radiant, and also contained a trace of the power absorbed by the Heavenly Nail Crystal.

Wherever the golden light passed, the dark purple mist that made up her body hissed, like water droplets falling into boiling oil.

Hana Sanri's calm and composed pretty face twisted in an instant.

This cannot be described as "a little pain" at all.

My soul felt as if it were being torn apart; the moment it touched me, I felt an indescribable burning pain.

She gritted her teeth and didn't cry out, but every inch of her body was trembling violently.

Soon after, fine cracks appeared on his forehead, from which a dark purple light seeped out.

As a result, remarkable effects were achieved.

Strands of dark purple, foul power were stripped away and purified from her body under the golden light.

Those abyssal remnants that had entangled her body for hundreds of years.

Like weeds uprooted, they were ripped from her body, carrying a putrid stench.

Dark purple mist swirled around her, then vanished into nothingness in the golden light.

The moment when the last trace of abyssal filth that sustained the existence of Hana-san-ri was drawn away.

Her body also lost its support.

The shape became transparent to the naked eye.

First, the edges began to blur, and then the entire outline became illusory and uncertain, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.

Her feet could no longer maintain their shape, turning into wisps of smoke that slowly dissipated.

But just before she was completely reduced to nothingness, the power of binding spirits acted like a sturdy frame, firmly supporting her almost transparent form.