The Blade-Wielding Legend

A rumor quickly spread far and wide.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi is critically ill!

As soon as the hero who almost unified Japan collapses, a power vacuum will immediately form.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshie, Mouri Hideyoshi, Uesugi Kagekatsu... all major powerful clans, along with the Mystical Sect forces supporting them, like the Tiantai Sect behind Tokugawa, or the True Word Sect close to the Maeda Family, dispatched their most elite masters and spies to the Capital City.

The officials, monks, Kakarinja, Sword Masters who had just suppressed the Hundred Ghosts and had no time to catch their breath, were instantly swept into the vortex of the power struggle.

Currently, the Capital City, though seemingly in post-disaster reconstruction, is in fact undercurrents surging, with all factions intertwined, guarding against each other while spying, like a Gunpowder Barrel ready to explode with just a spark.

And this spark was deliberately ignited quickly.

"Our portraits... have been posted!"

Kong Shangzhao returned with a sullen face after stealth reconnaissance, bringing back a crumpled bounty notice torn from a bulletin board.

On it, the faces of Li Yan, Wang Daoxuan, Sha Lifei, Kong Shangzhao, and Long Yan’er were clearly depicted in Japanese script, along with crimes like "Divine State demon," "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade culprit," "attempted assassination of Kanpaku," and "theft of Divine Country treasure."

The bounty was frighteningly high, enough to make any Ronin, wandering Samurai, or even small aristocratic family turn crazed.

The signature shockingly was a joint sign by the Yin Yang Hall and the General Mansion!

The news spread like a plague down the mountain.

The Ranger Groupings and wandering Samurai groups who suffered heavy losses during the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade and were burning with fury inside, as well as the lone Sword Masters and Kakarinja eager to make their mark or get rich overnight, and even some subordinate Samurai under certain daimyo keen to showcase their achievements, were instantly ignited by this huge bounty and the righteous cause of "removing threats for the country."

At this moment, countless people were searching for them.

Everyone looked at each other upon hearing this.

The current scene was reminiscent of the chaos previously in Guangzhou, where pirates and Red-haired Barbarians caused trouble, followed by being hunted down by the entire Divine Land Mysterious Sect.

Li Yan looked at the bounty notice, his eyes sharp as a blade.

He abruptly stood, the Duan Chen Blade clanged as it slid back into its sheath, "We can’t stay here any longer! Let’s move immediately, find a ship back to the Divine State!"

No unnecessary words.

Wang Daoxuan immediately extinguished the campfire, carefully burying the ashes with soil.

Wu Ba carried the still weak Night Crying Man, securely fastening him onto his broad back with a rope.

Lv San quickly gathered the remaining rations and medicine. Long Yan’er released several small pathfinding Gu Worms, silently exiting the cave.

The group moved quietly like a raccoon blending into the night, quietly leaving the cave where they had sheltered for many days, swiftly stealthing along the rugged, steep, and rarely trodden mountain ridges towards the sea, away from the Capital City.

They avoided all possibly inhabited roads, villages, and post stations, choosing instead to travel through the hardest to navigate dense forests, deep gullies, and rocky slopes.

Lv San’s hawk and Long Yan’er’s Gu Worms scouted the path ahead, while Wang Daoxuan frequently used Daoist Secret Method to sense the surrounding aura, avoiding potential large beasts or ambush points.

The mountain forest was silent, filled only with their rapid yet suppressed breathing, the rustling sound of clothes brushing against bushes, and the faint noise of steps on fallen leaves and stones.

The night wind wailed, swaying the branches of towering ancient trees, casting shadows like ghostly claws.

They ran several dozen miles until a faint light appeared on the eastern horizon, pausing briefly in a mountain hollow covered with thick vines.

Here the woods were deeper, with fog pervasive, reducing visibility, temporarily preventing the feeling of pursuers’ presence.

The group leaned on cold, damp rocks or tree trunks, taking the opportunity to catch their breath and share the remaining hard biscuits and clean water.

"Should’ve... lost them temporarily, right?" Sha Lifei licked his cracked lips, cautiously scanning the depths of the white fog.

Kong Shangzhao shook his head, his face solemn: "The bounty is too heavy, there are too many spies. We can’t underestimate those tracking dogs and ninja means."

However, the pursuers arrived much faster than expected.

Just as they were crossing a damp valley, a sudden change occurred.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment, then several figures almost blended into the shadows, like phantoms silently slid out from the surrounding giant tree branches, the hollows piled with rotten leaves, and even from behind jagged stones, instantly sealing all escape routes.

The three leading individuals had sinister and strange auras.

The one in the center wore a faded, dark monk’s robe over which was draped a kasaya embroidered with twisted, painful human shapes and black rope patterns.

"Be careful, he is the leader of the Black Rope Ksitigarbha, Konghai Temple Zongyan..."

Li Yan and the others didn’t recognize him, but the long-hidden Night Crying Man quickly explained in a weak voice: "This person was once a monk at Biwei Mountain Yannli Temple, but was expelled for practicing the Esoteric Forbidden Technique ’Black Rope Hell Transformation Diagram.’ He merged esoteric hand seals with Japan’s Grudge Spirit Technique, creating his own Evil Dao that extracts soul power through painful torture."

"His right hand is unlike that of ordinary people, with a natural six fingers, capable of forming a reverse ’卍’ seal, claiming to be the human incarnation of the Womb of the Earth Bodhisattva."

"To his left, the pale witch named ’Lóng Chē Sacrificial Master,’ was an Ise Shrine witch serving Amaterasu Omikami, but was exiled for her obsession with the ’Yellow Springs Filth Skill’..."

"The one on the right, the lean monkey, is Kakou Shadow Escape Group Leader Feiyuan Jateng, skilled at tracking. It was likely him who found us."

Li Yan and others squinted their eyes slightly, raising their vigilance.

Anyone whose name Night Crying Man could call out was no ordinary person.

"Divine Land demons causing havoc in the Capital City and still wish to escape unscathed?"

Konghai Temple Zongyan’s voice was dry and hoarse.

Before his words were finished, his six-fingered monstrous hand suddenly swung forward!

Several black ropes, soaked in corpse oil and emitting a stench, shot like silent, lightning-fast venomous snakes toward Li Yan and the Night Crying Man upon Wu Ba’s back!

Before the ropes even arrived, a chilling curse power that could freeze souls and strip away the five senses had already encompassed them.

It was precisely his signature Black Rope Soul Binding Curse!

Almost simultaneously, the Lóng Chē Sacrificial Master rapidly chanted distorted Divine Path Blessing Words, her hands forming a reverse seal — Reverse Coffin Prayer!

In an instant, the space in front of her twisted and fluctuated, and a massive Lóng Chē Shikigami materialized, formed from concentrated grudge, shattered limbs, and wailing faces!

This was condensed from black smoke Evil Qi.

The rolling wheels emitted an ear-piercing sound of bone friction, crashing toward them with a flood of filthy grudge aura.

It was her Shikigami, Hundred Demons Lóng

Feiyuan Jateng’s silhouette seamlessly blended into the shadows of the forest as the Lóng Chē appeared, as if he had never existed, while murderous intent surged in the darkness.

His Kakarinja spread out like phantoms, launching poison-coated shuriken and shuriken from unexpected angles, coordinated with the Black Rope Group’s swinging, grudge-entwined locking scythes, forming a deadly web.

"Form a formation!"

Li Yan shouted lowly, the Duan Chen Blade instantly unsheathed, with the blade light precisely cutting toward the approaching black ropes.

This thing was considered extremely Yin and evil, a domineering spell feared in the Japan Mystical Sect, but the Duan Chen Blade happens to be adept at breaking evil.

With a crackling sound, several black ropes were directly severed.

Wu Ba roared, pushing the Night Crying Man toward Wang Daoxuan’s side, his massive body advancing instead of retreating, wielding the modified heavy Tiger Crouching Cannon Tube to fiercely smash toward the approaching locking scythe, sparks flying.

Sha Lifei’s firearms exploded, the pellets shattering several well-angled shuriken, while Kong Shangzhao’s longsword transformed into a light screen, guarding the flank.

Lv San’s demon gourd again released a swarm of Poison Bees, buzzing toward the Kakarinja aiming to ambush from the shadows.

Battle erupted in an instant, the narrow valley turned into a chaotic scene.

Though the opponents were numerous and powerful, they gained no advantage at all.

Konghai Temple Zongyan’s expression grew increasingly grim; he hadn’t expected this group of Divine Land people to be so troublesome, especially that Duan Chen Blade, which faintly suppressed his Hell Curse Power.

He fiercely bit his tongue, spraying a mouthful of vital Essence Blood onto the six fingers forming a seal, dramatically increasing the black rope curse power, conjuring more soul shadows filled with pain and wailing.

The Lóng Chē Sacrificial Master also began screeching, the grudge in Hundred Demons Lóng Chē again surging, the wheels passing; trees and grasses instantly withered.

Such uproar immediately attracted other searchers within the mountain forest, with more figures converging toward this direction...

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!