"Great Deity Qinghu?"
Araki Kōshi's face showed a hint of surprise.
Great Deity Qinghu was the deity enshrined at Yamazaki Shrine.
However, Araki Kōshi scanned the cave and found no sign of the deity.
She failed to notice that the lake, which should have been crystal clear, had become murky without her knowing, to the point where it was completely impossible to see through.
It wasn't until bubbles began to rise from the lake's surface, boiling and churning like water coming to a boil, that Araki Kōshi looked over with a surprised expression.
As soon as her gaze fell upon the lake, with a splash, a dark figure suddenly emerged from the water and landed before her.
It was a person with a fox's head, or rather, a fox with a human body.
It was wearing a blue robe embroidered with auspicious clouds.
Despite having just leaped out of the water, there was no trace of moisture on its body, not even its fox fur was wet.
"Mizukawa Inko pays respects to Great Deity Qinghu!"
Mizukawa Inko bowed respectfully to Great Deity Qinghu.
However, she did not move her body throughout the entire process.
The poisonous fang dagger in her hand remained at Araki Kōshi's neck, giving Araki Kōshi no chance to escape.
Great Deity Qinghu nodded its fox head slightly. Before it could speak, two more splashes sounded from the lake.
Two more figures leaped out of the water.
One was the Black Crow Great Deity, with the head of a crow and the body of a human, from Suzuran Shrine.
It wore a long-brimmed straw hat and carried a sword umbrella on its back, which was its weapon.
The other finally resembled a human, with a handsome human face, but with two deer antlers growing from its head.
And from its torso downwards, it had the body of a male deer, with bulging tendons and a strong, developed physique, and four well-proportioned, slender deer legs.
This was the Deer Man Great Deity from Hanajima Shrine.
With the three Great Deities gathered, Araki Kōshi's heart sank.
If they were to be defeated one by one, she believed her master had a hundred percent chance of defeating them, and the Dog General Great Deity was a prime example.
However, with three Great Deities gathered together, the difficulty multiplied.
Moreover, for some unknown reason, her master had fallen into a stupor.
Before the three Great Deities, he was like a fish on a chopping block.
"Mizukawa Inko pays respects to Great Deity Deer Man and Great Deity Black Crow!"
Upon hearing the voice, the Deer Man Great Deity merely glanced at Mizukawa Inko.
His handsome face was filled with arrogance, and he paid her no attention.
"Amaterasu Omikami was too cautious, ordering us to hide in the lake, but it's been suffocating!"
It said with displeasure, its tone impatient.
Qinghu snorted and said seriously, "There's an old saying in Kyushu: 'Caution steers a ship for ten thousand years.' If Amaterasu Omikami hadn't set up a barrier for us on the water, this child would have discovered us before even approaching."
"So what if he discovered us? Are we afraid of him?"
The Black Crow snorted, its dark, beady eyes filled with disdain.
"To deal with him, I've already consumed the twenty thousand followers who followed me, greatly increasing my strength. Even if it's a head-on battle, what is there to fear?"
As it spoke, the sword umbrella on its back hummed, exuding infinite battle intent.
"Hmph, twenty thousand followers are nothing. My fifty thousand followers were also swallowed by me in one gulp!"
The Deer Man said in a deep voice.
Mizukawa Inko was shocked. The Dog General had only eaten a few thousand followers to increase his strength.
She never expected that the Deer Man and the Black Crow would count their followers in the tens of thousands.
Qinghu did not comment on this matter. As for him having swallowed a hundred thousand followers, he felt there was no need to mention it at all.
"Enough nonsense, quickly take this brat's life and report back to Amaterasu Omikami!"
The Black Crow drew its sword umbrella, and killing intent instantly permeated the dragon cave.
"No!"
Qinghu immediately stopped it, "It's not time yet!"
"Why isn't it time? Qinghu, this guy is already unconscious. If we don't kill him now, when else?"
The Deer Man asked in confusion.
"Not so."
Qinghu explained,
"This child has fallen into my Qingqiu Illusion, entering an infinite cycle. In just a moment, he will lose himself, his will will collapse and disintegrate. At that time, we won't have to act, and we can take his corpse back to report."
"Conversely, if we act now, the Qingqiu Realm will immediately become invalid, and our previous plan will be ruined. We will also fall into a difficult battle."
Hearing this, the Black Crow and the Deer Man fell silent.
A moment later, the Deer Man suddenly glanced at Qinghu and said in a low voice, "Qinghu, in this way, all the credit will be yours, and we two will have come for nothing..."
Hum—
In the Black Crow's hand, the sword umbrella vibrated, and its target was directly aimed at Qinghu.
Seeing that internal conflict was about to erupt, Araki Kōshi's eyes ignited with a glimmer of hope.
However, in the next moment, her small flame of hope was extinguished.
Qinghu reached into its chest and took out a purple magatama about the size of a palm.
"This is, the Amaterasu Command?"
"Qinghu, how do you have the Amaterasu Command?"
The Black Crow and the Deer Man were both shocked to see this magatama.
Because this Amaterasu Command was the token of Amaterasu Omikami.
Seeing this magatama was like seeing Amaterasu Omikami's true form.
Moreover, it was not just a token; it also contained a portion of Amaterasu Omikami's power.
It was precisely because of this that the Black Crow and the Deer Man dared not act rashly.
"Amaterasu Omikami has ordered that this operation will be led by me entirely. You shall obey my orders!"
Qinghu raised the Amaterasu Command in its hand and said indifferently, leaving no room for doubt.
...
Chen Xiao had no idea what Qingqiu Illusion he was trapped in. He just kept making choices and then repeatedly reincarnating.
Once and again, life after life.
He experienced countless partings and reunions, tasted the warmth and coldness of human relationships, and the joys and sorrows of the world.
His heart grew cold and then warm, his blood cooled and then heated.
After countless deaths, he entered a new round of choices.
The choices seemed to be only two, but in reality, they were countless.
Because after each choice, life would be different, and the outcome would also be different.
However, the situation Qinghu spoke of, 'losing oneself, one's will collapsing and disintegrating,' never happened to Chen Xiao.
This was Chen Xiao's most unique quality.
Resilient and growing stronger with every challenge!
Even if all his abilities were stripped away, this innate quality was his instinct.
No matter how terrible things he experienced, he could face them with a smile.
Then, start over.
In this process, his spirit became increasingly powerful.
If the Nine Li Abyss was a tempering of his physical body, then this infinite cycle was a tempering of his spirit.
After experiencing countless choices and restarts, Chen Xiao suddenly thought of a choice he had never made.
...
In the real world, half an hour had passed.
The three Great Deities observed Chen Xiao motionlessly, waiting for Chen Xiao's self-collapse.
However, their eyes were strained from staring, and that situation did not occur.
"Qinghu, what's going on? We've been waiting for so long, why hasn't he collapsed yet?"
The Deer Man touched its antlers, looking very troubled.
"I'll wait another ten minutes. If the situation you mentioned still hasn't occurred, I'll kill him. If you stop me, I'll kill you too."
The killing intent in the Black Crow's eyes grew stronger. It had grown impatient.
"Why are you in such a hurry? No matter who it is, once trapped in the Qingqiu Illusion, only death awaits them!"
Qinghu said proudly with its arms crossed.
Its tone was confident, but in reality, it was somewhat nervous.
Because this situation was something it had never encountered before.
Being trapped in the Qingqiu Illusion for more than half an hour was enough to experience hundreds of cycles.
No one could withstand such torment; their spiritual power would become increasingly weak, emitting a decaying scent.
However, at this moment, Qinghu not only didn't feel the scent of decay and corruption but also felt an increasingly strong vitality.
It was as if something was growing inside Chen Xiao's body.
This situation was extremely abnormal, but due to its confidence in the ancestral illusion array, Qinghu was not overly worried.
As long as it waited, he would definitely collapse.
Just as Qinghu was thinking this, Chen Xiao suddenly blinked.
Seeing this, Qinghu also blinked.
Its first reaction was that its eyes were playing tricks on it, that it was hallucinating.
After rubbing its eyes, it found that Chen Xiao was still looking at it, not in the unfocused state as before.
"You, you're awake?"
Qinghu asked in disbelief.
It tried its best to conceal its inner panic, but even so, its voice trembled slightly.
"Yes, I'm awake."
Chen Xiao nodded and asked calmly, "Did you trap me in there?"
"How could you possibly wake up? There's no precedent for anyone escaping the Qingqiu Illusion. How did you escape?"
Qinghu was incredibly shocked and curious about how Chen Xiao had escaped the Qingqiu Illusion, even forgetting the danger for a moment.
"Heh heh."
Chen Xiao smiled slightly and said faintly, "Since I can choose to live, I can also choose to die... Death corresponds to rebirth!"
Qinghu suddenly understood and exclaimed, "I understand, you committed suicide in the illusion! Life is death, and death is life. So the Qingqiu Illusion is not invincible..."
Qinghu was so excited that it couldn't control itself, as if it had grasped some profound truth.
"Since you understand, then I will now send you to embrace rebirth."
Chen Xiao said calmly.
As soon as the words fell, a great hand formed by divine sense emerged from the void and grasped Qinghu's body.
Qinghu's face showed panic, and a chill spread through its heart.
It was only then that it snapped back to reality.
But it was too late.
In the countless trials within the Qingqiu Illusion, Chen Xiao's spiritual power had undergone a leap in evolution.
His divine sense had transformed into divine thoughts, vast and pervasive, like threads, filling the entire space.
Under the cover of his divine thoughts, Chen Xiao could control life and death with just a single thought.
Before anyone could react to what was happening, they saw the Great Deity Qinghu, with a bang, crushed into a mist of blood...