Chapter 346: Demon Slayer Returns

"Zhong Kui!"

"It’s Zhong Kui!"

"He’s finally back!"

Voices swarmed in Anji’s head. Unsealing the golden core was easy. Forcing multiple breakthroughs was harder. If not for Gu Ying stabilising her body, Anji might not have succeeded at stabilising her astral body without Grandpa Jin’s golden pearl inside her.

As of now, Anji was at the Enlightened Core stage, rapidly progressing into the Radiant Core territory. Her body was breaking down quicker than it could be repaired, but there was still enough time before daybreak. She still had to gain the approval of all divine beast guardians before she could install the new anchor.

"It’s me," she confirmed. "How has everyone been? We briefly met when Red Palace was getting attacked. How did everyone become so weak since then? Didn’t my shifu strengthen your seals?"

Apart from the White Tiger, who had already been awakened, the Black Tortoise, Vermillion Bird and Azure Dragon sighed.

"Without a connection to the golden dragon scale, we were overworked to keep the array functioning. Just what is going on out there? It’s noisy!" the fussy vermillion bird complained.

Apologising for the commotion, Anji summarised the situation and showed them a new medium containing another part of the golden dragon.

"Will this dragon pearl do?" she asked. "It’s not as powerful as before because Grandpa Jin loaned it to me to stabilise my lifespan."

Examining the pearl, the Azure Dragon twirled his whisker.

"If he loses his pearl, he would cease to become a dragon. Why use such a precious material?"

The two other mythical guardians gave him the side eye. Even after so many years, this dragon still had an inferiority complex about being compared to the golden dragon. Not even the Vermillion Bird and Phoenix fought over the shade of their plumes or identity after three hundred years. Sure, people confused the two of them all the time, but it no longer bothered them. The Azure Dragon was only slightly less popular than the Golden Dragon, but even after so many years, he still sulked like a child.

"Is this really the time to be holding onto ancient grudges? Get over it already!" the Vermillion Bird hissed. "Do you think everyone is as shallow-minded and petty as you? Obviously, he gave his precious pearl to Zhong Kui because it was important. Don’t you sense the calamity outside?"

Unable to find a good comeback, the Azure Dragon bit his tongue. Sensing another fight between two stubborn creatures, the Black Tortoise stepped in calmly to mediate.

"Zhong Kui’s incarnation, what can we do for you?"

Humbly, Anji begged for the three remaining mythical creatures to recognise the new artefact. It was not a difficult task to approve of the new medium. However, she still required a majority vote for the change to happen. Without Grandpa Jin and the White Tiger to give their votes, Anji needed all three slumbering mythical beasts to grant her wish.

"I accept it," the Vermillion Bird gave her seal of approval almost immediately.

Likewise, the Black Tortoise did not object. He handed over his approval calmly and waited for the Azure Dragon to make his decision.

It was difficult to approve of such a sacrifice. As a fellow dragon, the Azure Dragon knew the price to pay for giving up a pearl. Dragons only ever have one pearl in their entire life. It is what makes them different from a Great Snake Spirit. The dragon pearl contains a dragon’s entire soul and karma. If the Golden Dragon gifted Anji such a precious thing, he must have been willing to risk his entire existence for her. The love the Golden Dragon has for Zhong Kui was second to none. Unlike the four mythical beast guardians, he was created from a bead off the Jade Emperor’s crown.

"I... let me speak to the Golden Dragon first," Azure Dragon finally spoke.

Anji hesitated. She knew of the bad blood between the two dragons. Even now, Grandpa Jin remained hidden in her inner world, unwilling to meet anyone else in his weakened state. Without Gu Ying to stabilise her body externally and Grandpa Jin to mediate the connection between her soul and body, Anji would be returning to the cycle before she could accomplish anything. Time was short, but if the Azure Dragon did not give his approval, everything would be for nought.

"Grandpa Jin, he... can’t come out now," she explained carefully. "If he does, I’ll die. Instead, if you have any messages for him, I can pass them directly!"

Die?! The new information shocked the mythical beasts greatly. Has so much time passed that the once mighty demon-slaying god has become nothing more than a speck of diminishing divinity?

Old grudges suddenly held no more meaning. No wonder the Golden Dragon entrusted his pearl to this child. It was the final battle, and if they lost, Zhong Kui’s existence would be permanently erased from the world. He was doing it to save his favourite person’s soul.

"Forget it then," the stubborn Azure dragon raised a claw and gave Anji his seal of approval. "Just tell him not to die. He owes me a real battle from dragon to dragon. We’ll hold the ghost army for you. Quickly finish what you came to do."

Nodding with gratitude, Anji gathered the seals of approval and finally established a new link in the array. Pulling the final threads to complete the transference in her astral body, she waited and watched as the three other gates glowed and summoned their slumbering guardians.

Now that the golden dragon’s pearl had been successfully substituted, it was time to take care of one last problem.

Coming back to her physical vessel, Anji could already tell she had less than an hour left to live. However, from this point onwards, it would be dangerous for Gu Ying and the royal couple to remain. She had to free Song Min from the trap and use it to contain the damage while purifying the soul corruption poison using her remaining divinity after reaching the Heavenly Core.

"Gu Ying," Anji whispered after returning to the physical realm. "Take the royal couple and leave. Do not return until sunrise. The last step is too dangerous. Do not enter the ancestral hall regardless of what you see or hear. And if I fail, please relay my last message to my family and shifu. Anji has not been filial. But I’ve never been unhappy with all the decisions I’ve made in this life. I just wish everyone would live a life more vibrantly than I could ever experience, for my sake."

Unable to refuse Anji’s last request, Gu Ying swallowed tears and gave her young mistress a hug, something she had never done before. Even if the time they spent as bodyguard and ward was brief, Anji had already left a very deep impact on everyone around her.

"Don’t worry, young mistress. I’ll definitely pass the message on and come for you at the first sign of daylight. Please, do your best. Gu Ying will be retreating first."

As soon as the energy transfer stopped, Anji could feel her internal organs collapsing from the immense pressure. Blood started filling her mouth, but she held it in until the royal couple and Gu Ying had left completely before spitting it out.

From his trap, Song Min watched in horror as Anji continued to rev up her cultivation progress, pushing into the Transcendent Core territory. Small spider-like blood vessels started to appear and spread all across her skin like plague, but Anji showed no signs of slowing down. Soon, she was entering the Heavenly Core stage, and by now, any hate Song Min felt had evaporated.

All that was left was disbelief and fear as he watched his mortal enemy walk towards complete self-annihilation to fix his mistakes.