Primordial Era, Celestial Calendar Wuyin Year: The Three Teachings cease war, co-found the Heavenly Court!
Profound Vault Era, Celestial Calendar Gengshen Year: Buddhist scheme, Golden Cicada descends to earth!
Celestial Pivot Era, Celestial Calendar Zimao Year: Heavenly Pivot collapses, spiritual energy vanishes!
......
Dharma-Ending Era, Celestial Calendar Jiachen Year:
Present day, AD 2024.
Tens of thousands of meters high.
Lightning fissured the sky, howling winds roared.
Unending thunderbolts lashed down upon Fang Zuo.
"Why won't it stop?
The sect's ancient texts said the tribulation lasts an hour.
It's been a whole goddamn night!"
"Gods of Thunder and Lightning, heed my command! By the celestial mandate!"
"Wind, rain, thunder, lightning—retreat! Begone!"
Fang Zuo shouted, hand-seals flashing.
A thunderbolt thick as a Shanghai skyscraper—
As if summoned—slammed into him.
Damnable heavens. Just you wait.
His body shattered. A pale nascent soul escaped, plummeting toward the eastern archipelago.
Shibuya, Tokyo. A basement.
Dozens of white candles flickered in gloom.
Blood spatter stained white walls.
Shadows writhed as candlelight danced.
"Stop! Shigeru-kun!"
A voluptuous beauty hung naked from the ceiling.
Blood-matted black hair touched the floor.
Rope bit deep into porcelain skin.
Beneath her, a pentagram bled crimson.
At its center lay a pale young man in police fatigues—freshly dead.
Blood still seeped from his gut wound.
Kneeling before the sigil, a middle-aged man panted wildly, knife dripping scarlet.
A blood-slicked left hand pressed upon a tattered black Bible as he chanted:
"A-si-de-na-za-si..."
"Lord... your servant begs... your descent..."
Dark mist flooded the room.
The pentagram glowed obsidian, devouring the corpse.
Enormous horned shadows rose slowly.
The pentagram pulsed—six points now.
Next, a samurai helmet emerged.
Then a faceless head with burning crimson eyes.
"Nani...?"
The suspended woman raised her head, exquisite face frozen in shock.
Eyes ablaze, the man shrieked:
"Master?! You've returned! Lead the Shibata clan to glory!"
The demon warrior now revealed its hulking frame.
Giant black hands slammed the floor.
Horns shook violently.
"More... not enough..."
"Blood... I am Nobunaga the Sixth Demon King... FEED ME!"
The man's eyes turned void-black as he locked onto the woman.
He stood, flipping his knife.
"Forgive me... Shibata's revival needs... noble Shiraishi blood."
She struggled wildly—ropes only bit deeper.
Suddenly—
Her eyes widened at something behind him.
Fang Zuo's nascent soul crashed through the ceiling.
"Stray demon dare covet my vessel?!"
"*HALT!*"
A yellow talisman materialized, plastering the faceless head.
The demon froze mid-roar.
"*REFINE!*"
Golden chains coiled around it, condensing into a fruit.
Fang Zuo inhaled sharply.
The infamous spirit vanished down his throat.
Pathetic ghost calling itself a Demon King.
He smacked his lips.
Pure yin energy—perfect nascent soul sustenance.
Only the gaping pair remained.
"My time dwindles..." Fang Zuo's soul became white light.
It slammed into the dead policeman's body.
Almost true death.
The corpse sat bolt upright.
"A little worse for wear..."
The youth stretched pale limbs.
His stomach wound healed visibly.
Melt flesh. Reforge vessel.
First, an illusion spell over himself.
Then a cleansing charm rinsed blood from the uniform.
Fang Zuo surveyed the room.
The couple stared, jaws slack.
"Su-sugoi..." the woman breathed.
Fang Zuo instinctively reached for his whisk—absent.
Awkwardly clearing his throat:
"Greetings. Now... Japanese was... ah, memories merging..."
"Konnichiwa? No... morning now."
"Ohayou gozaimasu! I am Maoshan's Master Xuanyan."
The man snapped alert: "MASTER?!"
He scrambled past Fang Zuo, clawing at the blood-smeared hexagram.
"Where?! WHERE DID HE GO?!"
Whirling back with void-black eyes: "YOU! Tono Gen! Sacrificial trash should be DEAD!"
"DIE!"
The knife stabbed forward—
—and reversed its arc.
Thunk.
Embedded in its owner's throat.
Blood gushed as shocked pupils flickered back.
"M-masterrr..."
He collapsed.
"Blood rituals for demons? Unforgivable." Fang Zuo tutted. "Besides... now I'm Tono Gen, Tokyo Exorcism Patrol."
He smiled up at the woman.
"Well, Madam? You will give a... suitable statement to HQ?"
"You wouldn't want your husband ruined? Ah—"
He glanced at the corpse. "Current husband. Tricky..."
Sighing, he pulled out a phone.
SNAP-hiss!
Flash bursts lit the cellar.
"Evidence collection. Standard procedure."
Fang Zuo swiped through photos. "Much obliged."
"You do know... what stays unsaid?"
He leaned in, voice honeyed:
"Surely... the Shiraishi name deserves no... scandalous rumors?"