Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Before the first fighter jet exploded, the lightning-fast figure had already passed through its wreckage and then sliced ​​through the second fighter jet in the same way.

Subsequently, the two fighter jets exploded in mid-air, turning into two huge, burning fireballs that slowly fell to the ground.

Just then, several black figures with wings on their backs fearlessly rushed through the exploding fireball, shrieking as they chased after the silver lightning figure.

Those dark figures, each with black wings, crimson faces, and long noses, were none other than the legendary "Great Tengu" of Japan!
These were the powerful shikigami that the Shinto Grand Master had placed here. The Shinto Grand Master was quite perceptive; he noticed that the Tentong Diocese was shrouded in a huge Qi formation.

Without knowing the specific function of this Qi formation, he did not rashly send people to break into the Tiantong Church. Instead, he placed some powerful spirits and deities around it to deal with any potential crises.

The Grand Master of Shintoism holds a very high position in Japan, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he is the number one figure in the world of supernatural beings in Japan. The demons and gods he summons are naturally not to be underestimated.

Although these ghosts and spirits are no match for the lightning in one-on-one combat, their sheer numbers and fearlessness allow them to put up a fight.

If Zhang Zhiwei's lightning avatar is not around Zhang Zhiwei, nor within the parish where Yang Hao's Well is located, the faith power it carries will be limited, and it cannot last long under high-intensity combat.

Therefore, the existence of these ghosts and spirits does indeed, to a large extent, limit the effectiveness of the lightning incarnation.

After shattering two fighter jets, the Lightning Incarnation did not continue fighting these demons and gods. With a flicker, it transformed into a bolt of lightning and turned back to the parish.

Because these ghosts and spirits are ultimately manifestations of the power of faith, even if they are all destroyed, as long as the source remains, the other party can summon them again at any time.

Given this incident, even though the Peace Hotel was indeed an excellent location for offices and intelligence relay, Lu Yusheng, Huo Tianhong, and others had no choice but to immediately abandon the place and lead their core personnel to quickly relocate to the Tiantong Church.

At that very moment, not far from the Tian Tong Diocese, atop a building marked by two crossed swords supporting a round sun, Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa and Yujiro Takeshita witnessed everything that had just happened.

Takeshita Yujiro slowly lowered his binoculars and said, "Although I couldn't see it very clearly, it seemed to be a humanoid being made of pure lightning. Is it similar to the spirit summoned by the Grand Master? After all, Taoism in Shenzhou, like our Shintoism, is skilled in the art of commanding spirits."

Hasegawa nodded: "Very likely. That little celestial master has deployed a powerful 'guardian spirit' here, hoping to influence the battle. The Grand Master is also responding in kind, deploying several powerful shikigami here to restrain the other side. This is a battle of wits, a clash of generals, and now it's a battle of wits."

“It’s supposed to be a ‘pair,’ but judging from what happened just now, it doesn’t seem to have been very successful.” Takeshita Yujiro’s tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction: “The demons that the Grand Master set up couldn’t restrain that lightning demon.”

Hasegawa pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "Taoism is profound and has a long history. That young Taoist master was one of the most outstanding Taoists of this era, so it's not surprising that his methods could break through the Grand Master's restrictions on spirits and gods. However... that's precisely why it's our turn to take action, right, Senior Takeshita?"

Takeshita Yujiro nodded and said, "That's right. Since the old man can't do it gracefully, then we'll have to help him do it gracefully."

"Then, Senior Takeshita, it's up to you now. The elites you brought from the mainland should be enough to wipe out the entire Tiantong Diocese, right?" Hasegawa said with a smile.

“That’s possible,” Takeshita Yujiro nodded, then added, “but bring your marines with you.”

"Do we need the corps' firepower for cover and suppression?" Hasegawa asked.

Recently, the war in the north has been raging, and a large number of extraordinary people from China have also participated in the war. In fighting against these extraordinary people with unpredictable abilities, the Japanese pirates have also accumulated some experience.

They discovered that using their own skilled superhumans to directly confront the enemy, supplemented by the powerful firepower of ordinary soldiers, often yielded remarkable results, allowing them to defeat the strong with the weak and easily kill those powerful superhumans.

“It’s not just that.” Takeshita Yujiro’s old eyes gleamed with the sharpness of a hungry wolf. “The Special Higher Police reported to me that the Tentsu Parish was sheltering many babies, orphans, and a large number of believers who had gone in to take refuge. Even a lot of supplies to support the front lines were hidden there.”

"When we go in this time, we're going to kill them all!"

"In ancient China, there was a way to intimidate enemies: cut off their heads, pile them up, and build a Jingguan!"

"This time, I'm going to follow suit! I'll kill everyone inside, regardless of age or gender, cut off their heads, and then build a mound of heads as tall as the Tiantong Cathedral on its ruins!"

"When that time comes, I don't believe that the Little Celestial Master, the legendary Master of the Heavenly Connection Sect, will still be able to sit still! And once he makes his real appearance, in the words of the people of China, this will be called 'luring the enemy into a trap'!"

Hasegawa picked up the conversation, a sinister smile spreading across his face: "Then, it's like 'catching a turtle in a jar'."

"It's truly like catching a turtle in a jar. I just don't know how strong this turtle is, or how thick its shell is..."

Takeshita Yujiro grinned maliciously, "By the way, in order to have a legitimate reason for attacking the Tiantong Church, at the same time, send a diplomat to deliver a document to the Municipal Council of the Concession."

"Say that an Imperial aircraft was shot down by an enemy military target hidden within the concession while on a mission. To ensure the safety of Imperial military personnel and civilians, the Imperial Navy will enter the concession to thoroughly eliminate the military target and its associated facilities. This is an act of self-defense by the Empire, and we hope that you will not interfere; otherwise, you will bear all the consequences!"

Upon hearing this, Hasegawa clapped his hands and laughed, "Hai! The old fox is still the wisest! I'll go arrange it right away!"

Meanwhile, atop Tianmen Peak in Longhu Mountain, Zhang Zhiwei stood with his hands behind his back, gazing towards Shanghai.

Through these encounters with the Shinto priest, he roughly figured out what the priest's spirits were all about.

The chief priest was a clever man; he saw through the arrangements made there and took some countermeasures.

Those ghosts and spirits were set up by him specifically to restrict his lightning avatar, so when the battle started, his lightning avatar did not intervene much.

During this time, Zhang Zhiwei was trying to figure out where these ghosts and spirits came from and where their power came from.

After several encounters, he roughly understood what arrangements the Shinto priest had made.

Around the Tian Tong Church, there must be some talismans for summoning spirits and deities, set up by the high priests of Shintoism, as well as magical artifacts containing a large amount of faith power. The talismans can sense the lightning incarnation, and once the lightning incarnation appears, it will summon the corresponding spirits and deities to intercept it, while the faith power within the magical artifacts will provide those spirits and deities with sufficient strength.

Ghosts and spirits, to put it simply, are entities projected from the spiritual essence within a lineage of magic, combined with the power of faith. As long as the spiritual essence within the lineage isn't completely eradicated, even if you defeat them, you can't fundamentally harm them. This is similar to the "Summoning the Five Warriors" talisman in talismanic arts; you can defeat the Five Warriors, but they can still summon them again with another talisman.

Outside the Tiantong Diocese, the ghosts and gods are replenished by the power of faith within the magical artifacts, allowing them to be summoned continuously. However, without the power of the Yanghao Well, the lightning incarnation is not only significantly weakened but also lacks the ability to recover. After killing the ghosts and gods several times, it will become completely exhausted.

Of course, if the demons and spirits were to enter the religious area, with the blessing of the Yanghao Well, the lightning incarnation would annihilate them as easily as playing a game. However, perhaps due to the orders of the Shinto High Priest, these demons and spirits would never cross the line.

Therefore, simply killing these ghosts and spirits is meaningless. Only by finding and eliminating the magical artifacts and talismans that serve as sources of power around the Tian Tong Church can this matter be truly resolved.

Zhang Zhiwei had no intention of personally removing these magical artifacts and talismans. He still had plenty of people he could use in Shanghai; if he had to do everything himself, the existence of the Tiantong Church would be meaningless.

Zhang Zhiwei took out the Yin-Yang paper and quickly wrote and drew on it, transmitting the approximate locations of all the magical artifacts and talismans to A-Xing.

Inside the Tian Tong Cathedral, after some rest, Ah Xing had recovered. His ability was that of a primordial saint who stole energy, and the primordial energy of heaven and earth constantly nourished his body. In terms of pure Qi and physical strength, he didn't need to recover at all; what he needed to recover was the depletion of his mental energy.

The best way to restore one's mental and physical well-being is to do nothing, rest quietly, and ideally, have a long, deep sleep.

Ah Xing had been sleeping ever since he got back yesterday. After waking up, he glanced at the message Zhang Zhiwei had sent, then got up and went out.

Outside, the landlord and landlady were looking at him with worried expressions.

"Ah Xing, where are you going?" the landlady asked with concern.

"Go and complete the task Master gave me," Ah Xing said.

"Will there be any danger?"

“We’ll go with you!” the landlord said.

"With Master's protection and the Vice Leader's support, what danger could there be?" Ah Xing laughed. "This time, it's not about killing or fighting anyone, it's just about destroying something. I can go alone, which will make it easier to move and retreat."

The landlord and landlady felt much more at ease thinking about Zhang Zhiwei's unpredictable supernatural abilities and the even more terrifying power of his inner demon, the "Vice Cult Leader." Putting everything else aside, if things went wrong, the "Vice Cult Leader" could possess them and resolve ninety-nine percent of the dangers in the world. Their presence might only be a hindrance. With this in mind, the two decided not to try to persuade him any further.

Subsequently, Ah Xing left the Tian Tong Diocese.

As soon as he stepped outside, he spotted a group of Japanese pirate soldiers keeping watch on the perimeter. Without any attempt to conceal himself, he headed straight for them.

The Japanese soldiers spotted him approaching and, almost without hesitation, pulled the triggers of their machine guns.

“Da da da da da—!”

Bullets shot out, and the bright yellow cartridge cases kept popping out of the gun barrel like popcorn.

However, although Ah Xing was Zhang Zhiwei's disciple, he wasn't the kind of disciple who received oral instruction and personal guidance, so he didn't learn some of Zhang Zhiwei's "little habits." Even with the Golden Light Mantra protecting him, he didn't have the habit of not dodging or avoiding and directly withstanding all of the enemy's attacks.

He dodged and weaved through the hail of bullets, his movements as elusive as a ghost. The dense bullets left nothing but unsightly bullet holes in the ground and walls behind him.

He slammed his feet into the ground, landing like a cannonball in front of the group of Japanese pirate scouts. Seeing the enemy charging at them, the Japanese soldiers shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and charged towards Ah Xing with their bayonets fixed.

But what responded to them was Ah Xing's large, golden handprint.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Several Japanese soldiers were instantly smashed into a bloody pulp by a single palm strike. Then, Ah Xing leaped away and disappeared from the spot.

In the beginning, Ah Xing was not so ruthless and decisive. He often left room for maneuver when he made a move and would not easily take someone's life.

However, while cleaning up the criminal gangs in Shanghai, he encountered too many human tragedies and realized that some people were not actually human; they just looked like humans.

Since then, Ah Xing has become much more ruthless. He never shows mercy to those who deserve to die.

He was all too aware of what the Japanese pirates had been doing in China and Shanghai during this period, so he would show no mercy and kill them one by one.

Based on one of the directions given by Zhang Zhiwei, Ah Xing quickly arrived at the foot of a building that the Japanese pirates had built a few years ago.

The building was about the same height as the Peace Hotel, but on top of it stood an "X"-shaped structure made of two intersecting steel blades, with a huge sun-like disc in the middle of the intersection.

"I remember the fat bishop saying that this building was constructed to disrupt the church's feng shui. I didn't expect that the Japanese pirates would make other arrangements here besides disrupting the feng shui. The defenses here must be very strong, right? I wonder how they compare to the Japanese pirates' warships?"

Ah Xing thought to himself, and with a swift movement, he used his lightness skill to step on the building's walls, walking upwards as if on flat ground.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Japanese Marine Corps.

Admiral Takeshita Yujiro, along with his meticulously organized elite force composed of local superhumans and five thousand fully armed marines, set off with their sights set on the Tentong Cathedral! (End of Chapter)