105: Chapter 97 All Land Under Heaven Belongs to the King

On the surface of the hundred-meter-tall barrier, dense cracks spread rapidly from the point of impact, sprawling like a spider's web until the entire wall was covered.

A dark, gloomy light flashed twice in quick succession.

Then, the entire barrier seemed to have its internal support suddenly removed. With a muffled 'bang,' it shattered into massive chunks of stone that crashed down onto the blood-red earth, kicking up dust that soared into the sky, obscuring half the heavens.

The moment the barrier broke, a heavy, dark gold Imperial Might surged out from the gap, pressing down in all directions.

The blood-colored sea mist that had enveloped the land suddenly churned violently, completely swept away by this overwhelming, descending current of air.

Before them lay a scene of chilling, clear skies.

Amidst the dark gold radiance, a figure descended.

Wearing a profound black Imperial Robe and a twelve-bead Crown, he stepped over the remnants of the shattered barrier, which had crumbled into powder, walking neither fast nor slow.

The First Emperor of Qin did not speak.

The supreme law belonging to the Eternal Emperor spread outward with every step he took. The sharp gravel beneath his feet was ground into fine powder by this invisible pressure, without even a chance to make a sound.

Xu Mo and Lin Sa felt as if something had clenched their chests, causing them to tighten abruptly. Instinctively, both bent over, bracing their hands on their knees, gasping for air.

Behind them, the Chinese Heroic Spirits gradually quieted down.

Those tattered souls stopped trembling. Their faint blue soul fires settled, burning brightly and purely.

The vanguard of the Japanese Demon Army was the first to endure this oppressive force.

Hundreds of Red Ogres and high-level Shikigami didn't even manage a single cry before they were directly pressed into the blood-soaked soil by that invisible weight. The sounds of them hitting the ground were continuous. The talismans on the high-level Shikigami's bodies spontaneously ignited without fire, turning into fine ash and scattering completely.

Tamamo-no-Mae's smile froze.

Her nine fox tails behind her quietly contracted inward, pressing tightly against her spine.

The demon realm's vanguard fell into brief panic and stagnation.

Pei Duo took a deep breath, lowered her numb hands, and looked up at the tall silhouette.

Ignoring the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, she raised her head and shouted directly, "Where is my brother? His broken jade pendant went silent just now. Where did he go?"

When Xu Mo heard this question blurt out carelessly from Pei Duo's mouth, he rapidly ran through every possible worst-case scenario in his mind. Then, with extreme calm, he turned his gaze elsewhere, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

Tamamo-no-Mae, however, managed to draw a breath after hearing the question.

The moment the First Emperor of Qin's gaze shifted toward Pei Duo, seven-tenths of the invisible pressure that had pinned her nine fox tails down dissipated.

The fox tails slowly broke free amidst trembling. Moving even an inch felt like tearing at her spiritual roots. A fine, long line of blood secretly bloomed inside the sleeve of her right arm.

Tamamo-no-Mae forcefully swallowed the metallic sweetness in her throat and rapidly calculated in her mind—the Underworld Son of Heaven was not present. The First Emperor of Qin, detached from the fundamental support of the Eastern Underworld, was ultimately a rootless tree in this land dominated by the rules of Yomi Hirasaka.

Imperial Might could suppress, and military formations could wear him down, but the resources beneath her feet were endless.

The nine fox tails slowly stretched out again behind her, one by one, concealing calculation.

The First Emperor of Qin slightly tilted his head and glanced at Pei Duo.

She was covered in wounds, dusty and disheveled, sitting on the ground gasping for breath with a streak of blood still clinging to her lip. Her tone of questioning sounded like she was demanding an explanation from a relative who hadn't come home after work.

A trace of extremely faint emotion flickered across his stern eyes.

He raised his hand and casually brushed the dust from his wide, profound black sleeve. His tone was flat, devoid of any inflection.

"That kid found the riffraff here too weak to warrant him drawing his sword. Half an incense stick ago, he single-handedly cleaved open the gate of Takamagahara to go find Izanami."

Tamamo-no-Mae's body suddenly jolted.

The perfectly maintained composure on her face twisted in that instant.

The attack on the native supreme deity meant that the entire Takamagahara divine system was currently suffering a devastating blow.

She could no longer concern herself with the current situation. Raising her right hand high, she issued a command to drive the entire demon army.

A sharp howl tore through the air over the plain.

Tens of thousands of Yomi Hirasaka troops responded to the command, surging forward like madmen, trampling over their fallen comrades in the front ranks to re-form an impenetrable square formation.

Overwhelming Yin energy surged up from the ground, transforming into substantial black clouds that pressed downward.

Tamamo-no-Mae lifted off the ground, hovering in mid-air, looking down upon the First Emperor of Qin. Relying on the inexhaustible native rule resources of this land, she opened her mouth with mockery.

"The Underworld Son of Heaven is absent. You are merely a visitor who has strayed from his Eastern Divine Position and barged into a foreign territory alone. No matter how strong your Imperial Might, with the power of one man, how can you stop my hundred thousand Yomi Hirasaka troops!"

The First Emperor of Qin did not move.

Facing the descending demonic energy and the clamoring army of a hundred thousand, he stood rooted to the spot, raising his eyes to look at Tamamo-no-Mae in mid-air. His dark gold eyes held no fighting spirit at all; there was only the casual indifference one shows when noticing weeds by the roadside.

"A barbarian land, gazing at the sky from the bottom of a well."

"You, a mere wild fox spirit, dare to speak of military might before Us?"

As his gaze swept over them, the substantial black clouds pressing down rapidly disintegrated and vanished without a trace.

Tamamo-no-Mae was horrified to find that her nine fox tails, which she prided herself on, froze once more the moment his gaze locked onto them, losing all control.

The hands of the surrounding demon generals gripping their spears and great swords began to shake uncontrollably, their weapons colliding and emitting a rapid metallic clang.

The First Emperor of Qin slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the Tianwen Sword at his waist.

With a crisp 'clang,' the ancient, dark gold longsword was drawn three inches.

He flipped his wrist, pointing the blade diagonally toward the blood-red earth of Yomi Hirasaka.

The surrounding air instantly solidified. Even the breaths of the demon generals seemed to be forcibly cut off—it became silent.

His voice was not loud, but every word exploded in the depths of every opponent's soul.

"Under heaven, all lands are His domain; on the shores of every land, all are His subjects! Since I have established a foothold here, this place is the territory of the Great Qin!"

"Rise!"

The thunderous roar exploded in the void. The highest-level Imperial Edict smashed heavily into the Japanese netherworld.

The ground of Yomi Hirasaka violently churned and cracked over a large area. The soil layers flipped to both sides, and endless bloody mud was lifted into the air by the immense force.

Harsh sounds of pottery friction rang out continuously.

The metallic sound of weapon loading echoed across the entire plain.

Tens of thousands of black-armored Terracotta Warriors, holding bronze long-ge and heavy repeating crossbows, broke through the earth with heavy, perfectly synchronized steps.

Every clay body carried a fighting spirit carved into its bones, and a dark red military soul fire burned deep within their eye sockets.

War chariots crushed piles of rubble, and bronze ge blades cut cold arcs through the air.

In the blink of an eye, these Great Qin soldiers, who felt no pain and knew only military orders and slaughter, were fully assembled.

They advanced outward with unstoppable steps. The ten thousand strong Great Qin formation encircled Tamamo-no-Mae's ten thousand demon troops from the opposite direction. The formation was layered and dense, blocking out every sliver of wind in the space.

The Great Qin Black Dragon Banner fluttered and snapped above the military formation.

Tamamo-no-Mae stared at this legion that had appeared out of thin air, the color draining completely from her face.

Ten thousand against ten thousand, the momentum of the opposing side had already stomped her proud trump card into the mud.

Xu Mo and Lin Sa were stunned into a blank by this dimensional suppression originating from two thousand years ago. Their usually proud tactical deductions found no initial logical starting point at this moment—their minds were completely empty, filled only by the sight of this formation that swept across the Six Directions, heavily occupying their vision.

The native laws of Yomi Hirasaka let out faint, mournful cries under the military might of the Great Qin soldiers. The surrounding environmental rules automatically retreated, unable to interfere with the battlefield any longer.

The morale of the encircled Japanese demon army completely collapsed. Their orderly ranks fell into chaos, and the monsters shrank back toward the center in terror, the sound of dropped weapons hitting the ground rising one after another.

The Chinese Heroic Spirits standing behind Pei Duo looked up at the invincible military formation of their ancestor that swept across the Six Directions.

The Old Ghost in Zhongshan Suit straightened his back, his damaged face twitching violently with excitement.

He led the way, raising his only remaining, nearly transparent arm, and let out a heaven-shaking cheer suppressed for millennia.

"Wind! Great wind!"

Tens of thousands of Terracotta Warriors simultaneously raised their weapons in response.

The mechanisms of the repeating crossbows were tightened, and the thick bronze bolts were all loaded. Tens of thousands of bronze ge blades stood upright, their edges flashing with cold, metallic light.

All weapon points were aimed at Tamamo-no-Mae.

The nine fox tails suddenly contracted, pressing tightly against her back.

The First Emperor of Qin slowly withdrew his gaze from the formation and settled it on Tamamo-no-Mae's face. His tone was lazy, as if shooing away a flock of wild pheasants that had wandered into a field.

"Expel them."