Night fell on the second day.
Seeing that there was no one around, Su Li quietly entered the military camp, which was still brightly lit.
She arrived at the deepest room in the corridor, took a deep breath as she looked at the room number, and gently knocked on the door.
*Click.*
The door opened, and a tall figure, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, looked at her from inside and slowly said, "It's you."
"I've come to retrieve the fragment of the Yata no Kagami."
"Heh..." The man's eyes swept over Su Li with disdain, then he moved aside, "Come in."
"Wait a moment." The man settled Su Li onto a sofa, turned, opened his bedroom door, and stepped inside.
Su Li sat on the sofa, her gaze listlessly fixed on a flowerpot, lost in thought.
After a moment, the man emerged, holding a piece of jade wrapped in silk. He scanned Su Li again, as if trying to discern something from her.
Su Li ignored his gaze and continued to stare at the flowerpot.
"Take it," the man said, handing the item in his hand to Su Li.
Su Li heard him and shifted her gaze to the man's hand, reaching out to take the fragment.
In an instant, Su Li’s left hand tightly gripped the fragment, while her right hand conjured a black folding fan and slashed fiercely at the man’s neck. The man, however, chuckled and, disregarding the fan aimed at his carotid artery, merely bent his body slightly and threw a straight right punch directly at Su Li’s abdomen.
The punch was faster than the fan, striking first despite being launched later. The outcome was decided.
Su Li, hunched over like a boiled shrimp, knelt on the ground clutching her stomach and retching painfully. The fan had long since dispersed due to the disturbance in her spiritual energy.
The man sneered, snatched the fragment from Su Li's hand, and with a burst of strength, the jade turned to dust.
"I knew you wouldn't be honest," the man said, reaching into his chest and pulling out an identical piece of jade. "Didn't expect this, did you? The fragment of the Yata no Kagami in your hand is fake. You can't absorb any power from it."
"I advise you not to have any ulterior motives. With the Master here, you can't cause any trouble." After speaking, the man casually waved his hand, and Su Li and the jade were simultaneously thrown out of the room through the air, their backs hitting the wall with a heavy thud.
*Bang.*
The door slammed shut heavily.
...
Mo Chuan was rinsing his mouth with boiled river water when the system’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
"Ding! Detected that the host meets the upgrade conditions. Do you wish to proceed with the system upgrade?"
"??? What kind of operation is this?" Mo Chuan was dumbfounded and thought, "Upgrade."
"System upgrading..."
"Acquiring update resources..."
"Initializing..."
"11%..."
"39%..."
"67%..."
"92%..."
"100%..."
"System upgrade complete. Please check new functions yourself."
"Distributing subsidies: Skill Enhancement points +1, 400 gold coins."
"That's it? I was prepared to faint on the spot..." Mo Chuan opened the system panel and checked the interface within.
"This is..." Mo Chuan discovered a new function labeled "Fusion" and asked, "System, please introduce the fusion function."
"The host can fuse two or more skills with a compatibility of over 50%. The cost will vary depending on the skill's manifestation and gold coins. Generally, more powerful fused skills will cost more. Furthermore, fused skills can still be fused again."
Mo Chuan scratched his head and casually threw "Nether Prison" and "Pollution" into it.
"Ding! Skill compatibility 58%, meets fusion conditions. Estimated cost 400 gold coins. Do you wish to fuse?"
"Hmm? It works? The gold coins they gave me are gone again. This damn bourgeois system." Mo Chuan said indignantly, "Fuse!"
"Ding! Fusion successful. Host has obtained the skill: [Netherworld Hell]."
"[Netherworld Hell]: Passive: Restores 4% of maximum mana per unit killed.
Creates a Nether Prison that surrounds you. Targets passing through walls will suffer magic damage, be slowed by 99% for 20 seconds, and simultaneously break the wall. (If the target is too weak, they will suffer the same effects but cannot break the wall.) Also, a target will not be affected by multiple walls simultaneously.
Simultaneously, a pollution field will form within the walls, dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies every second. If enemies remain in the pollution field for more than 5 seconds, they will be slowed by 10%.
[Netherworld Hell] will last for 10 minutes. When [Netherworld Hell] disappears, it will deal magic damage to surrounding enemies, the maximum of which is equivalent to the damage of activating the pollution field for three seconds. (Cooldown: 12 hours)"
"Holy crap, the system is awesome!" Mo Chuan then thought, and his brow furrowed. "Huh? I haven't used my skill points yet... Enhance Skill [Netherworld Hell]!"
"Ding! Enhancement successful!"
"Enhancement effects: 1. The duration and area of [Netherworld Hell] are no longer fixed but depend on the host's mana consumption per second and can be adjusted freely.
2. Within [Netherworld Hell], the bonus of [Hellish Curse] is increased by 10%."
Mo Chuan leaned back in his chair and let out a long cry to the heavens—what is this, a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?!
With this AoE active, he wasn't afraid of ten or even eight of them!
Seeing Mo Chuan looking so spirited, Mo Fei was surprised and asked, "Brother, what are you so happy about? Let me see!"
...
Noon, Military Camp Forest Proctoring Department.
Yu Yuju stubbed out her cigarette, and the female officer beside her said, "Officer Yu, our proctors have discovered some anomalies."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"They say the demonic beasts in the forest have all hidden themselves, and very few examinees have collected ten test tubes. Now, many examinees are starting to snatch test tubes from others, and there have even been casualties."
"Don't mind it. This is a normal examination procedure. Those who could ask for help have already done so. Those who died are just fools who didn't know their own strength... Besides, they signed a life-and-death agreement before entering."
"But..."
"This is also part of the examination content. If you don't have the strength to protect what's yours, soldier, you'd better not question me."
...
Dusk, Kinai Prefecture, Kyoto Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Hour of the Demon.
Yamamoto Rokujoshi took a deep breath. He knew that this incident could either be his ascent to success or his doom, but he had no choice.
"Chairman, it's time," Ozawa said bitterly, putting down his tablet.
"Begin."
"But... Chairman..." Ozawa clearly wanted to make a final attempt.
"Ozawa Chizaburo, if you don't want to be my document secretary, I believe many people would be happy to replace you in this position."
"But..."
"You are fired. Please leave here immediately, or I will arrest you on charges of attempting to disrupt the plans of the Esper Union. Tsuchimikado Fujitora, you have been promoted. You are now my document secretary."
A burly man with a full beard emerged from the crowd behind and bowed to Yamamoto Rokujoshi.
Ozawa, looking at Yamamoto Rokujoshi whose eyes were already filled with feverish red, quietly shook his head and turned to leave.
Watching Ozawa Chizaburo slowly walk away, Yamamoto Rokujoshi turned his gaze back to Kiyomizu-dera Temple under the twilight and said again:
"Begin."