As Yun Che plummeted through the air, the scenery below began to shift before his eyes. The plain grasslands and jagged rocks blurred into a wave of green and brown as colossal trees erupted from the earth, their trunks stretching several stories high. Mountains rose in the distance, and deep canyons carved themselves across the land as if time itself were fast-forwarding.
By the time he neared the ground, what lay before him was no longer the barren plain he had known—but a vast, living world. Rolling meadows spread endlessly beneath a warm golden light. Trees swayed in a gentle breeze, their shadows dancing upon the grass. Somewhere nearby, the murmur of flowing water drifted through the air. Hills rolled softly into the horizon, and the distant cries of unseen birds echoed from above.
The air was fresh and sweet, carrying the scent of leaves, soil, and wildflowers—so completely different from the cold, rocky plains of moments ago. Turning in every direction, Yun Che saw nothing but an unbroken expanse of life and color. Even the eternal night of the trial realm had been replaced by day, with an artificial sun glowing faintly in the far-off sky.
"This is… the next trial ground?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing as he took in the serene landscape. "It doesn't seem… to have any hint of danger."
Everything around him had transformed—the terrain, the air, even the time of day. Only one thing remained unchanged: the spiked obsidian tower from which he had leapt.
The sunlight shimmered off his shoulder as Jasmine shielded her eyes from the glare, her ethereal figure faintly visible beside him. With the forest stretching endlessly below, she could only trust him to handle what awaited next.
The fall took nearly two full minutes—long enough that anyone below the Sky Profound Realm would have been terrified beyond reason. But Yun Che? He welcomed the drop. The rush of air, the thrill of the descent—it excited him far more than it should have.
When his boots finally met the grassy ground, he exhaled and glanced around once more. The stillness of this place was almost mocking.
"Right… 99,999 spirit beasts in less than five hours," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "How in the world am I supposed to pull that off?"
He chuckled dryly to himself. For most cultivators, such a task would take months—if not years. Even with his strength, five hours sounded absurd.
"If I take it easy," he said under his breath, eyes sharpening with resolve, "I might need ten hours. But…" A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Who said anything about taking it easy?"
The blasted patch beneath the spiked tower had been swallowed up along with the rest of the realm. Where scorched earth and cracked stone had lain moments before, grass now waved and saplings pushed through soft loam. The transformation had been surgical: the tower remained, a dark monument in a sea of new forest, but everything else had been remade. Yun Che dusted the dirt from his shoulder and walked the trial grounds, feeling the hush of the place press in around him as he waited for the event to begin.
A cold echo rang in his skull — the system's voice, clinical and inevitable.
================
[Ding… Second Trial Initiated: Defeat 99,999 spirit beasts in under 5 hours.
Duration: 05:00:00
Difficulty: Suicidal
Reward: Dragon God Crystal Fragment.]
================
He closed his eyes and stretched, testing his limbs and the steady rhythm of his breath. No pointless fatigue, no lingering aches. He couldn't afford surprises. "Time to go crazy," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
A voice rolled down from the sky — deep, resonant, and devoid of mercy. The Azure Dragon.
"Normally challengers are teleported to a separate realm for this trial," it intoned. "For you, I will bring the beasts here and remake this world. I bid you luck. Fail, and only death awaits."
Yun Che snorted internally. Helpful, he thought. That explains why I didn't get a separate realm. He smiled, a dangerous curl. "Bring it on. One thousand or ten thousand—hell, a hundred thousand. I'll tear them to pieces." He slid Zangetsu from the sheath at his back and set the blade behind his head, its black edge catching the sunlight like a promise. This would be the first time in this world he faced numbers that large—and within a tight, savage time limit.
He needed backup. Not because he couldn't fight, but because numbers were cruel. He reached out with the faintest mental thread.
"Yo, Hoyuu — you there?"
A hollowed, amused voice answered inside his head. "What's up, King?"
Yun Che's grin flickered. "You up for a little challenge?"
Hoyuu's laugh was a slow, predatory thing. "You challenging me? Heh. What's the game?"
"I got you an extra takeover window — three minutes more for today only." Yun Che kept his tone casual, as if he were offering a trinket. "But it's capped. Ten minutes max per possession. Any attempt to push it further and your hollow instincts will start spilling out."
Hoyuu's voice slipped through Yun Che's mind, a thin thread of annoyance. "Chee. That damned system. Fine — ten minutes it is."
Yun Che arched an eyebrow. "Ten minutes?"
"It gave you ten minutes every hour today," Hoyuu continued, tone clipped. "You heard the dragon, right?"
"Loud and clear." Yun Che smirked. "Kill ninety-nine thousand plus beasts in five hours. Ordinary chaos, really. Why do you get all the fun?"
Yun Che rolled his eyes and laid out the plan. "Alright — contest. The system keeps track. We see who cuts down more beasts."
Hoyuu hummed, calculating. "My takeover window is capped at ten minutes. What about the rest of the time? You'll rack up kills when I'm out."
"Listen," Yun Che said, patient and sharp. "You get ten minutes every hour — that's fifty minutes total over five hours. Here's the trick: I'll kill as many as I can during my ten minutes, then I'll hand the body to you. The system only counts kills made during whichever minute window it registers — yours or mine. Anything outside those tracked minutes doesn't count. Fair?"
A slow, malicious laugh answered him. "So we fight in bursts. Ten minutes for you, ten for me — over five hours. Fifty minutes each of pure slaughter. Interesting. You're on, King."
Hoyuu's voice curled through Yun Che's mind like a blade. "Bastard. You don't throw out deals for free. What do you want?"
Yun Che paused, weighing his options. He didn't want Hoyuu's hollow to take over and unleash Evil God Arts — those would amplify Hoyuu in ways that made Kido look child's play. Then an idea brightened his expression.
"If I win," Yun Che said slowly, "you hand over twenty-five affinity points."
There it was: a neat, surgical way to drain points from his account so he wouldn't be tempted to fight Hoyuu with forbidden arts later. It would buy him breathing room.
Hoyuu's laughter snapped like a wire. "Twenty-five? Are you trying to die? Those points are the only legal leash I have in a scrap with you. You asking for twenty-five is robbery." His tone sharpened until it tasted of threat. "Seven points, and I might consider it."
"Seven is a joke," Yun Che shot back. He kept his voice light, but there was steel under the words. "Fifteen. Fair split."
Hoyuu's silence was the click of a lock turning. "You crazy? Ten points. Final." There was a grinning cruelty in it — he wanted the fight just as much as the prize.
Yun Che felt the tug: push for more and risk dragging Hoyuu into a rage that'd make the battlefield a nightmare; accept and gain something valuable without bloodletting. He exhaled and let the grin come. "Fine. Ten points it is."
The bargain sealed, the hollow in Hoyuu's voice hummed with hungry anticipation. Fifty minutes each, ten minutes bursts every hour — and ten affinity points shifting hands by the end. The real game wasn't only about slaughter; it was about leverage, limits, and whatever pieces of themselves they were willing to trade for a laugh.
They sealed the pact with the same crooked grins they always used. Hoyuu's voice laced with mischief. "Heh, you bastard. So what happens if I win?"
Yun Che tilted his head. "What do you want?"
Hoyuu's tone dropped low, hungry. "From now on, boost my possession to ten minutes instead of three. And I get to walk free whenever I want." The hollow's eagerness was plain as daylight — a perfect excuse to slip into the real world and wreak a little havoc. Yun Che hadn't summoned him as often lately; boredom gnawed at Hoyuu. This contest was his ticket out.
Yun Che considered it for a heartbeat. Let Hoyuu loose for longer and risk the hollow's instincts bleeding through — or keep the leash and deny him the chaos he craved. He saw the calculation in Hoyuu's voice and the glint of hunger behind it. In the end he nodded. "Hoo. Going for the maximum, huh? Fine. But you're not getting away with it without earning it."
Hoyuu's smirk widened, like a blade finding a sheath. "It's a deal. You're going down, King. I can't beat your ass in training — maybe this time I will."
Yun Che let a confident chuckle answer him. "Hoho… you wish."
The bargain hung between them, darker and heavier than the forest shadows. Ten affinity points on the table, ten minutes each burst across five brutal hours — and now the prize carried an extra, dangerous weight: Hoyuu's potential freedom. One wrong move and the battlefield would be the least of Yun Che's worries.
Leaves whispered. The first rustle of movement in the undergrowth gathered into a growing rhythm. The trial's clock had already begun, even if the system hadn't displayed another ding. They had traded promises and threats; now they only needed carnage to keep their side of the bargain.
Yun Che flexed his fingers on Zangetsu's hilt and felt the familiar hum settle into his bones. Hoyuu's hollow answered with a low, eager whisper at the edge of his mind.
===============
[Ding… Stand by.]
[Ding… Stand by.]
[Initiating Dragon God Second Trial.]
[Beasts Remaining: 99,999][Time Remaining: 04:59:59]
================
The world froze for a heartbeat—then erupted in light.
Columns of brilliance speared the sky, scattering across the vast plains as far as Yun Che's eyes could reach. Beneath each pillar, the air trembled and tore, and out of the rifts came the shapes of beasts—hundreds, then thousands—materializing in a storm of claws, scales, and killing intent. The ground quaked beneath their roars as their shadows swallowed the horizon.
Above it all, the voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon rolled across the realm like thunder.
"Reaper, welcome. This is the Dragon God Trial's second ground.
Here, there is no limit… and no escape.
You will either complete the trial—or be buried beneath the bones of the fallen."
The voice deepened, its echo vibrating through his chest.
"These beasts are unending. Their strength has been adjusted to match yours.
And because you bear a twofold trial, your time limit remains—five hours.
Be warned: the stronger among them far surpass the Stone Dragon Warriors you once felled."
Yun Che exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he watched the tide of monsters solidify. The smell of spirit energy and bloodlust thickened the air until it was almost tangible.
"Well, no shit," he muttered under his breath, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Would've been boring if none of them were stronger than that. So some of these bastards can hit Tyrant Profound level, huh?"
The grin widened into something sharp, dangerous.
"Perfect."
Wind swept through the grass as he planted Zangetsu's tip into the earth, aura beginning to coil around him like a living storm. Far ahead, the first line of beasts stirred, their howls building into a thunderous wave. The light of the artificial sun gleamed off his blade as he whispered—
"Let's begin."
"To these spirit beasts," the Azure Dragon's voice resonated, ancient and vast, "this realm is paradise. But to you, it is peril itself — an abyss filled with shadows of death. Once they sense your aura, they will descend upon you in an endless storm. Under my soul's guidance, every nearby beast will be drawn to you. You will be hunted without rest, unable to sleep or eat in peace."
Yun Che's lips curved into a dangerous grin. "Good. Saves me the trouble of finding them myself. Five hours is a long time — I'm not wasting even a second."
The dragon's voice faded, and with it, the realm shifted. The gentle air thickened into a suffocating gloom.
Then, the world roared.
From every direction came howls — sharp, deep, and countless. The plains trembled as shadows surged through the trees. The first wave burst forth: dozens of spirit beasts, their eyes blazing, auras flaring like torches in the dark. The weakest among them radiated power at the Peak of the Sky Profound Realm.
In moments, Yun Che stood encircled — a lone figure in a tightening ring of monsters.
The Azure Dragon had not exaggerated. The beasts were moving with unnatural coordination, guided straight toward him. Every instinct in the air screamed hunt.
"Fine," he said softly, Zangetsu already half-drawn from his back. "Let's see what you've got."
He vanished in a blur.
The ground cracked beneath his leap as he shot upward, twisting midair. Spirit energy surged around him like a cyclone, condensing into a blade of raw destruction.
"Getsuga—"
He swung.
"—Tenshō!"
A crescent of black and silver light ripped across the plains, tearing through the first line of beasts. The slash didn't just cut — it devoured. The air rippled violently as shockwaves expanded outward, scattering blood and fragments of aura like shattered glass.
SLASH!!!
The sword wave tore across the plains, splitting earth and sky alike. Wherever it passed, spirit beasts were shredded into dust and ash. The once-green meadow now glowed faintly with residual spiritual light — the only trace of those who'd stood against him.
As each beast fell, the familiar chime of the system rang in his ears like a drumbeat of slaughter.
=================
[Ding… Congratulations, you have slain a Spirit Beast. Experience +1000]
[Ding… Congratulations, you have slain a Spirit Beast. Experience +1000]
[Ding… Congratulations, you have slain a Spirit Beast. Experience +1000]...
=================
Yun Che clicked his tongue, watching the numbers scroll. Figures. Spirit beasts only. The exp gain's garbage.
==================
[Ding… Spirit Beasts Remaining: 99,976]
==================
Then, a new set of notifications flared before his eyes.
==================
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 23
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 09:45
====================
He blinked once. "Shit—already counting down?"
A low, mocking laugh rippled through his head.
"Better get a move on, King," Hoyuu taunted. "Those are rookie numbers."
"Shut up!" Yun Che snapped aloud, leaping into the air. "I'm working on it!"
He scanned the horizon — then spotted it. A dense cluster of auras pulsing like a stormfront in the distance. Hundreds of them. Perfect.
Kicking off the air, he blurred toward the mass, wind screaming around him as Zangetsu flared with power. "Alright," he muttered, his voice a growl of anticipation. "Let's pump those numbers up."
As he plunged toward the oncoming horde, energy gathered around his blade, forming a swirling vortex of darkness and light. His next technique would make the first strike look like a whisper.
The plains below began to tremble.
"Star Scorching Demon Lotus!!!"
Yun Che's shout split the air. His leg ignited in brilliant crimson flame as he vaulted high into the sky. A heartbeat later, he crashed down into the densest cluster of beasts like a meteor.
BOOM!!!
A blinding lotus of fire erupted from the point of impact, its petals blooming outward in an inferno of scarlet. The explosion swallowed the landscape in waves of phoenix flame, melting everything it touched into glowing embers. Dozens of spirit beasts were obliterated instantly, their cries cut short in the blaze.
Even those that survived flinched back, unwilling to approach the seething lotus. The heat warped the very air; the ground beneath it glowed like molten steel.
"Spiritual bodies or not," Yun Che muttered, "you still know fear."
He twirled Zangetsu into his grip, raising it high. "Then let's make it quick—"
"Getsuga Tenshō!!!"
The first crescent of blue-white energy roared out from the center of the burning lotus, slicing clean through the encroaching horde. Then came another. And another. Four colossal arcs of spiritual might ripped outward in all directions, colliding with the waves of beasts like divine blades. The explosions shook the plains for miles; the air turned to a wall of shock and sound.
When the light faded, the field was a wasteland of smoke and glassed earth.
==================
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 581
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 08:25
==================
Hoyuu's voice snickered in his head. "Looking good, King. Eight minutes left."
"STOP TELLING ME!"
Yun Che snarled and shifted tactics. His mind flashed — Hoyuu's style. If the hollow wanted to taunt him, fine. He'd use his methods instead.
He swung Zangetsu outward, the weapon's long straps snapping through the air. Flames flared along its length, devouring its edge until it glowed like a blade forged in the depths of hell.
"Let's see how you like this," he growled.
The flaming weapon spun faster and faster until it became a blur — a roaring, molten cyclone. Then, with a single whip of his arm, Yun Che hurled it into another swarm of beasts.
BOOM!!!
The explosion flattened the nearby terrain, scattering fire and ash. Before the flames had even cleared, Zangetsu snapped back into his grasp, still spinning. He launched it again — another impact, another eruption.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
Every strike birthed a fiery tornado that devoured everything in its path. When any beast dared to close in, Yun Che pulled the blade back, spinning it once more. The air screamed as the inferno tore through the charging horde.
The plains became a dance of fire and steel, a maelstrom of heat and destruction. Spirit beasts were incinerated by the hundreds, their roars drowned beneath the raging winds of his phoenix flames.
And through it all, Yun Che stood at the center of the storm, eyes burning like molten gold — the Reaper in his element.
As Zangetsu danced across the battlefield, waves of searing phoenix fire swept through the plains. Each swing carved arcs of flame that forced the spirit beasts to scatter, only for the next wave to consume them. The sheer heat warped the air, turning the ground into molten streaks of red and gold.
These creatures were leagues above the Stone Dragon Warriors from the first trial — stronger, faster, and far more cunning. Yet, for all their might, they were still constructs of spirit particles. To Yun Che, that meant one thing: they could die just as easily.
Every time they charged, he met them with a single slash — either a roaring sword wave or a thunderous Getsuga Tenshō. Beasts fell by the hundreds, but the pressure only grew. What came at him now wasn't a skirmish — it was an unending flood. The weight of it all far exceeded what the Stone Dragon Warriors could ever muster.
But Yun Che didn't falter. He laughed.
The force pressing down on him only made his blood boil with excitement. The ground shook beneath his feet; the forest around him was a storm of destruction. Trees, hills — everything in the blast radius was reduced to ruin. The once-lush landscape became a wasteland of ash and light.
====================
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 1,351
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 06:15
====================
His grin widened. This… this is the kind of fight I live for.
Thousands of enemies. Endless waves. Not some single opponent — but an army.
A flicker of memory passed through his mind — Retsu.
He almost laughed aloud. "Damn… if only she were here. She'd love this."
Instead, all he had was the smug hollow in his head.
"Fine," he muttered. "Guess I'll just have to make the fireworks bigger."
Zangetsu cleaved another line of beasts, and Yun Che leapt onto a high rock, overlooking the sea of incoming monsters. His expression turned cold — focused.
"I've never used this spell at full power before," he murmured. "Last time, it was Retsu who pulled it off. Let's see what happens when I do it myself."
He raised his right hand, index and middle finger together before his chest. The air instantly shifted — pressure building, the ground trembling beneath him.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!"
Blue flames began to coil around his fingers, swirling faster and faster, forming a burning vortex of azure light. The spiritual energy around him responded violently, shaking the rocks loose from the ground.
"Truth and temperance," he continued, his voice resonating with authority. "Upon this sinless wall of dreams — unleash but slightly, the wrath of your claws."
The glow around him reached a fever pitch. Lightning crackled through the air, wrapping his arm in radiant arcs.
He opened his right hand, aiming at the approaching tide of beasts. "Let's see what happens if I pour a quarter of my energy into this spell."
His eyes flashed.
"Way of Destruction #33 — Blue Fire, Crash Down!!!"
BOOM!!!
The world exploded in blue.
A blinding surge of spiritual fire burst from his palm, expanding into a torrent of annihilation. The beam of blue energy ripped through the sky, vaporizing the plains beneath it. For a moment, it seemed the realm itself had been split in half.
The explosion's roar echoed for miles. The blinding azure light engulfed half the realm, searing everything in its path to nothingness.
High above, Jasmine's eyes widened in disbelief. From the tower, she could only watch as a wall of blue flame swept across the horizon, rising high enough to touch the artificial sun.
"This…" she whispered, unable to hide her shock. "That was a Kido spell?"
Even the Primordial Azure Dragon — ancient and unflinching — fell silent. Its colossal eyes narrowed, stunned by the sheer scale of power.
The wind howled across the scorched earth, carrying with it the faint scent of ozone and fire. Yun Che stood at the center of it all, right hand still smoking, cloak whipping behind him in the fading light of destruction.
He looked down at his own palm, a faint grin tugging at his lips."…Yeah. That'll do."
The silence after the explosion was deafening. Half the realm still shimmered faintly under the lingering glow of blue fire.
The Primordial Azure Dragon finally exhaled — a low, thunderous rumble that rolled through the tower like distant thunder.
"This Soul Reaper…" It sighed, shaking its massive head. "This dragon has no words left. Even after all this time, he continues to defy expectations. Perhaps… five hours truly isn't a challenge for him."
Beside it, Jasmine's arms were folded, her expression composed but her eyes sharp with disbelief.
"You're not the only one," she said quietly. "This princess always thought that spell was just some minor incantation — something he used to blow up rocks for fun. Looks like he fooled me too."
The Azure Dragon turned its enormous head toward her, eyes narrowing.
"A simple spell?"
Jasmine nodded with a perfectly straight face.
"That spell he just cast? He used it to destroy small rocks. All the time."
The dragon blinked once. Slowly. "…"
Jasmine didn't elaborate further. She didn't need to. Even she had been shaken. The light Yun Che unleashed covered half the trial realm.
This reminded Yun Che of another scene, long ago: when Byakuya unleashed his true power against Renji. Back then, the petals of light had reached across Soul Society. This, however, was far worse. If Yun Che had poured even a little more energy into that spell, the trial realm itself might have been erased.
Good thing he'd only used a quarter of his spirit force.
Good thing he hadn't combined it with the Heretic Arts Destructive Power.
As the blinding light finally faded, the scale of destruction became clear. A massive trench split the battlefield in two, stretching far into the horizon. Spirit beasts that hadn't been vaporized outright had tumbled into the ravine, their roars echoing faintly from below. The air was thick with heat and static, the lingering aftermath of overwhelming spiritual compression.
Jasmine's lips pressed into a thin line. "Kido arts… they're ridiculous. That was only the thirty-third spell. At that level, he could level a city if he got careless."
The Azure Dragon lowered its gaze toward the wasteland below, its voice soft with grudging respect.
"He wields destruction as if it were instinct. To think such force came from a spell meant for training…"
A faint chime cut through the heavy silence.
================
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 2,514
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 05:45
================
In less than a minute, Yun Che had wiped out over a thousand spirit beasts in one strike. If not for muting the notifications, his ears would have been ringing non-stop.
He stood at the heart of the devastation, exhaling slowly as the spiritual pressure around him began to settle. His right arm still smoked faintly from the sheer energy output.
Twenty-five percent of total spirit force, he thought, flexing his fingers. For a single Kido… Not bad.
Then, as the earth continued to tremble from the aftershocks, that familiar grin crept back onto his face.
"Alright," he muttered. "One quarter down. Let's see how long before the rest of the realm catches up."
"Bastard," Hoyuu said with a mix of awe and irritation, his hollow laughter echoing through Yun Che's mind. "You really are a cheat character, King. Overpowered to the core."
Yun Che smirked, Zangetsu resting casually against his shoulder as the flames around him began to die down. "What can I say? I aim to please."
He took a long breath, watching the devastation he had unleashed stretch across the plains. The Great Way of the Buddha was already at work — gentle golden ripples flowing through his body as his depleted spirit force began to recover. It would take at least seven minutes for a full restoration, but that didn't bother him. Between his natural regeneration and the mana potions in his pouch, he had fuel to spare.
Still, the battle wasn't slowing. Despite the massacre, the spirit beasts kept coming — endless, fearless, driven by the Azure Dragon's will. Their roars rolled like thunder over the wasteland. The ground trembled as the next tide approached.
"Persistent little bastards," Yun Che muttered, raising his sword. "Guess I'll just have to hit harder."
He swung Zangetsu back over his shoulder, spirit force beginning to gather along the blade. The weapon trembled with power, glowing brighter with every passing second until it was wreathed in pulsating blue light.
"Let's test that move, shall we?"
"Hoo?" Hoyuu drawled. "And what move would that be?"
Yun Che's grin widened. "The one Jasmine taught me a while back. She'd kick my ass if I didn't use it at least once."
Hoyuu chuckled darkly. "I learn what you learn, King. So go on — show me the might of that move. I'll use it to crush you later."
Yun Che ignored the jab, focusing his spirit force. The ground beneath his feet began to split and crack under the pressure of his energy.
Then, he roared—
"SKY WOLF SLASH!!!"
A shockwave burst from his body.
Behind him, a colossal blue wolf materialized — its form made of pure spirit energy, eyes blazing with a divine, feral light. Its aura blanketed the land in raw, crushing dominance. For an instant, Yun Che looked less like a mortal and more like the divine wolf itself, standing between heaven and earth.
He swung Zangetsu downward.
The wolf howled.
A massive crescent of blue energy, shaped like a roaring wolf's head, shot forth — its snarl shaking the sky. The energy tore through the battlefield like a comet, carving a luminous path across the plains. Every spirit beast in its wake was erased, their dying roars lost in the cataclysmic detonation that followed.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The shockwave leveled the terrain for miles. Light consumed everything. When it faded, there was nothing left — no trees, no beasts, no hills. Just silence, and a deep trench carved by the wolf's divine fury.
High above, Jasmine watched, a soft smile curving her lips. For the first time in a long while, she wasn't merely surprised — she was proud.
"Sky Wolf Slash…" she murmured. "He really did it."
Her eyes softened as the azure light reflected in them. The way he released it — the stance, the timing, the control — it was exactly like her brother's. But under Yun Che's hand, the technique had evolved, carrying an edge of power her brother never possessed. He didn't even need a heavy sword; Zangetsu alone was enough.
Even the Azure Dragon watched in silence, its great eyes narrowing in contemplation.
"To channel that technique through a weapon not born of this world… extraordinary."
Below, Yun Che lowered his blade, the last traces of blue energy fading into the air. His breathing steadied as he looked over the empty battlefield.
"Holy shit—that was tyrannical." Yun Che turned, the silhouette of the blue heavenly wolf still roaring faintly behind him. He smiled, breath still warm from the aftershock. "Thanks, Jasmine."
=====================
[Ding… Host has achieved the achievement 'Heavenly Wolf — First Step'.
Unleashed the power of the Heavenly Wolf Tome onto the world.
Experience +10,000 — SP +5,000]
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 3,514
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 03:45
====================
Grounds exploded like thundercrackers as Yun Che fed the plain a steady diet of Getsuga Tenshō and Sky Wolf Slash. Each strike chewed through the horde in great, glorious arcs; each arc left craters and ash in its wake. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands—numbers climbed like a fever.
====================
[Ding… First Ten-Minute Window — Kill Count]
Yun Che: 5,597
Hoyuu: 0
Time Remaining: 00:00
=====================
Hoyuu's laugh snapped through his head, hands clapping like a madman. "Hooo! What a start. You don't want me to win, do you, King?"
"You bet your white ass I won't," Yun Che shot back, wiping blood and steam off Zangetsu's edge. "You're the last person I want taking over."
"Fine," Hoyuu purred. "Tag me in. My turn." His voice turned sly. "Don't mind if I go a little… rampage, right?"
"This realm's locked down," Yun Che warned, eyes drifting to the tower where Jasmine watched. "There's no exit. The tower's the only thing that's sacred. Don't make a mess of her."
Hoyuu's grin was audible. "Hmph. I know better than to touch your little princess. She's the only one I bother teasing."
Well, Yun Che couldn't deny it — Jasmine was always the one Hoyuu liked to tease the most.
"All right," he muttered, cracking his neck. "Let's tag. Wouldn't want you whining about fairness again."
With that, he vanished in a flash of light, reappearing high in the sky. Below him, thousands of flying spirit beasts immediately changed course, shrieking as they surged upward to pursue. Their wings beat the air with a storm's fury, the wind screaming around him.
Dodging through their attacks with effortless precision, Yun Che extended a hand. "Second Evil God Art — activate."
A translucent barrier of divine energy expanded outward, wrapping him in a shimmering dome of protection. Beams of light and fiery blasts struck against it, exploding harmlessly in the air.
"All right," he said, eyes narrowing as the beasts swarmed closer. "Your turn, man. Show me what you've got."
================
[Ding… Host's Hollowed Spirit requests takeover.
Takeover limit has been increased to 10 minutes every hour for five hours.
[Valid only for today.]
================
"Fine," Yun Che said, exhaling as he tapped the command on his console. "Don't disappoint me."
The world around him dimmed — sound faded, light blurred, and his consciousness detached from his body.
=================
[Initiating Takeover…]
=================
For a few seconds, Yun Che's body hung motionless in the air as the spirit beasts crashed into the barrier again and again. Cracks spread across the divine shell — then, with a shattering roar, it collapsed.
But what the beasts faced next… wasn't Yun Che.
White particles shimmered across his face, forming a jagged, half-mask that crept from his right cheek to his jaw. His once-calm features twisted into something feral and cruel. His lips curled into a jagged grin, and when he opened his eyes, the calm blue had turned to golden-yellow with black, slit pupils.
The aura around him shifted — no longer blazing like divine fire, but screaming like a storm of hatred and chaos.
"Yo," a distorted, hollowed voice drawled from his mouth. "'Bout time you let me out, King."
Black and crimson energy burst from his body in a spiral, carving through the air like liquid death. The surge vaporized everything nearby — hundreds of flying beasts reduced to nothing more than particles of fading light. The explosion's radius expanded for miles, leaving behind only the lone figure floating at the epicenter: the man with the half-mask, grinning like a devil freed from his cage.
On the distant tower, Jasmine's eyes narrowed, her expression tightening as she felt the energy crash through the realm like a pulse of pure corruption.
"Chee…" she murmured, the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at her lips. "Looks like you didn't want to miss this trial after all, huh?"
The Azure Dragon rumbled softly beside her, its gaze heavy and ancient. "This… is not the same power as before."
Jasmine crossed her arms, her tone calm but her aura wary. "No. That's Hoyuu — the hollow in him. When he comes out, the battlefield doesn't survive."
Far below, Hoyuu stretched Yun Che's body, rolling his shoulders as red-black flames licked along his arms.
The Primordial Azure Dragon's expression changed; the aura that now poured from the Soul Reaper was familiar but warped. It carried the same raw, mask-born energy he'd seen before — only this time it was fouler, tyrannical, and threaded with a darkness the dragon recognized as devilish and far stronger.
Jasmine's eyes widened. Where a blue heavenly wolf had stood moments ago, a massive red demonic wolf now loomed—its form soaked in shadow, eyes pitch-black and fixed on them with a hunger that made the air chill. The spirit beasts, however, felt no fear; they attacked regardless, driven by the dragon's guidance. Intimidation did nothing to stop them.
Hoyuu didn't need fear to fight—he merely needed delight. He flicked the blade once, and the same crescent slash Jasmine had shown Yun Che cleaved through the nearest horde, but this time it carried a demon's hunger. The strike wasn't just powerful — it was obscene. Power in a human hand had become monstrous in a hollow's.
"HAHAHAHA… IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAD FUN IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD!!!" The voice ripped across the plains, jubilant and cruel. Where Yun Che's calm demeanor had been, now the body moved with Hoyuu's brand of gleeful violence. The half-mask on his face glittered with crimson light; the grin beneath it was all fang and malice.
The blue Heavenly Wolf behind him twisted, bled into shadow, and reformed as a black-and-red abomination — a hollowfied twin that snarled with an unnatural intelligence. It matched its master's appetite.
Hoyuu's voice spilled from the host like spilled oil. "Well now," he purred, delighting in the scale of the slaughter, "how should I break you pathetic insects?"
The demonic wolf answered with a roar that split the sky, and the field erupted anew. Hoyuu's movements were a blur of unrestrained savagery — strikes carved with unpredictable angles, feints that weren't deceptive so much as malevolent, and explosions of hollow energy that left craters and screaming echoes.
This was no longer a contest of honed techniques and measured brutality. It was a spectacle of chaos — the hollow's artistry in slaughter, painted in black flame and red light.
Jasmine's face hardened, a flash of worry passing her eyes even as a strange, reluctant admiration creased her features. Beside her, the Azure Dragon growled low, ancient and wary. "This is not the same mask as before," it said, voice carrying a weight of a long memory.
Hoyuu laughed, a sound that tasted of iron and smoke and the demonic wolf lunged, the hunt resuming with a terrible new conductor at its heart.