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

While the battle raged in the Tian Tong Diocese, Ah Xing was also secretly operating, infiltrating the newly built building of the Japanese pirates, the Twin Blades Tower.

The building was incredibly well-defended, with guards every three steps and sentries every five.

Ah Xing isn't some kind of assassin skilled in stealth, so it's impossible for him to go undetected.

However, this is not important to him.

Ah Xing is from Zhang Zhiwei's lineage, so it doesn't matter whether he's discovered or not. As long as he kills everyone who discovers him, it'll be a perfect infiltration.

The guards inside the building gritted their teeth and frantically turned their machine guns, golden bullet casings flying out like flowing water, landing on the ground with a crisp sound.

"Baka! There's an intruder!"

Bullets rained down like a storm, and the Japanese guards shouted and cursed, trying to tear the uninvited guest apart with a barrage of fire.

As soon as the gunshot rang out, a flash of golden light appeared, and Ah Xing's figure approached at lightning speed like a cannonball.

The guards' machine guns couldn't catch a glimpse of Ah Xing; they could only futilely fire at the golden afterimage.

He could only hear the dull metallic clang of bullets colliding with some invisible steel.

The blinding golden light was rapidly approaching him, and in the blink of an eye it was right in front of him.

He suddenly threw down the machine gun in his hand, drew a bayonet from his waist, and instinctively stabbed forward fiercely.

But it was too late. A brilliant golden light filled his entire field of vision and took away all his consciousness.

Ah Xing smashed the Japanese pirate's head with a single palm strike.

However, although he killed the enemy in time, the gunshots had already been fired, and a steady stream of enemies was pouring in from each floor.

"kill him!"

The roar of the Japanese pirates came from outside the door, and a barrage of bullets rained down on Ah Xing, who was protected by golden light.

For a moment, the clanging of metal was like the sound of a blacksmith's workshop starting work, a cacophony of clattering and clanging.

Ah Xing was like Zhang Zhiwei possessed; he didn't dodge or avoid the attacks and charged through the hail of bullets.

Then came a powerful and unparalleled set of Tathagata Palm strikes. It was a bloodbath with no reservations.

Originally, although the Tathagata Palm was extremely powerful, it was not known for its killing power. But in Ah Xing's hands, it was like a mortar and pestle for crushing food, directly beating the Japanese pirates until their flesh and blood were flying everywhere, leaving almost no intact corpses.

Just then, four dark figures suddenly emerged from the shadows and attacked!
Those were four agile ninjas!
The straight passage offered no room to dodge, and the five collided violently. Golden light and the glint of blades flashed intermittently; it was a bloody, close-quarters brawl.

Five silent, lone wolf-like figures moved and crisscrossed rapidly in the narrow corridor. Apart from the "splatter" of flesh breaking and the "clang" of metal clashing, not a single roar could be heard.

Soon, several muffled thuds of heavy objects falling to the ground rang out. The four ninjas died one after another, lying in pools of blood. Ah Xing kicked aside the corpses blocking his path and continued rushing towards his destination.

But soon, a sharp whooshing sound rang out again!

The building's defenses were extraordinary, including not only ninjas but also shrine maidens dressed in long red and white gowns. These maidens wielded longbows, giving them a retro appearance, but the arrows they fired were imbued with exorcising spiritual power, making them incredibly powerful!

Even though Ah Xing is protected by the Golden Light Spell, if he is hit in the same spot by these special arrows, his defenses may be pierced.

Amidst the crisscrossing bullets and arrows, Ah Xing dodged left and right, using the walls as cover, his movements as agile as a monkey.

The witches' special arrows followed them relentlessly, blasting deep craters the size of bowls into the hard cement walls.

With a "whoosh," Ah Xing seized the opportunity and rushed over, wanting to deal with those troublesome witches first.

But the shrine maiden was not without protection; she was accompanied by a samurai wearing heavy armor, who raised his gleaming katana and roared as he clashed with A-Xing!
Ah Xing's fierce charge halted. With his hand enveloped in golden light, he grabbed the samurai's slashing longsword, then slammed his other hand onto the samurai's chest armor, unleashing a burst of hidden energy!

"Crack!"

A sickening cracking sound of bones breaking rang out. The immense force pierced through the armor, shattering the warrior's sternum and internal organs! He was blasted away like a cannonball, smashing through the wall behind him before plummeting from the sky.

Without the protection of the samurai warriors, the shrine maidens, who were not skilled in close combat, were like lambs to the slaughter. Ah Xing had no mercy for them and swiftly and cleanly killed them all, breaking their bones and tendons.

“A shrine maiden is a priestess. The appearance of a shrine maiden means that the target is very close.”

Ah Xing continued forward, and soon, in a secret chamber ahead, he saw a strange shrine. The shrine was covered with densely packed runes, which were glowing, and terrifying ghostly and divine silhouettes were being outlined.

These ghosts and spirits were the same ones that had been waiting outside for the incarnation of lightning.

Previously, these demons had followed Takeshita Yujiro into the parish, but were quickly wiped out by the lightning incarnation. However, these demons are indestructible as long as the true spirit within the lineage remains and as long as there is sufficient faith to sustain them. They are being summoned back into the shrine, ready to rejoin the battle.

And that is also Ah Xing's purpose in coming here.

He knew that these ghosts and spirits were very powerful, and if they were to be restored to their original form and then destroy the shrine again, he would probably have to ask his master to intervene.

Yes, the master intervened.

This mission was personally assigned to him by Zhang Zhiwei. Normally, such matters would be handled by the "Imperial Advisor," but now that Zhang Zhiwei had assigned the "Imperial Advisor" to guard the Tiantong Diocese, he naturally had to keep an eye on Ah Xing.

For Zhang Zhiwei, becoming a spirit medium was not a difficult task. Of course, he could possess spirits like those spirit mediums, but he rarely did so.

Because his cultivation of life force is so strong, if he were to possess someone, it would cause irreversible damage to the life of the possessed person. Therefore, he generally does not use this method.

However, if it really comes to a life-or-death crisis, one should still step in. It's better to be risked than to lose one's life.

Ah Xing naturally didn't want to trouble Zhang Zhiwei with such a small matter.

If the master has to handle such a small matter, wouldn't that make him look like a useless piece of trash?
Before those ghosts and gods had fully formed, he intensified his attack, unleashing a series of Tathagata Palm strikes like a storm, directly shattering the sturdy shrine!
"boom!!"

The shrine shattered, the red light dissipated, and the unformed ghosts and gods let out a resentful roar before vanishing into the air.

When the Japanese pirates who arrived later saw this scene, they were furious.

"Baka! Open fire! Kill him!"

Dozens of tongues of fire spewed out, along with several armor-piercing grenades that were about to detonate, instantly blasting a large hole in the spot where Ah Xing was standing, filling the air with smoke and dust.

But when the smoke cleared, the place was deserted. Ah Xing had smashed through the side wall and disappeared into the depths of the building. Seeing this, the eyes of the Japanese pirates guarding the shrine turned red. They were ordered to protect the shrine, and in the blink of an eye, it had been blown up right before their eyes! This was a heinous crime deserving of seppuku!
"That person ran away! Let's chase after him!"

Just as they were about to chase after them, suddenly, the ceiling above their heads bulged out and then exploded with a loud "boom"!

"Buddha's Palm - Heavenly Buddha Descends!"

A gigantic golden hand, with earth-shattering power, descended from the sky!

It turns out that Ah Xing didn't run away at all! After he broke through the wall, he didn't flee far away, but used his lightness skill to step on the wall and rise into the air, taking advantage of the momentum to launch a surprise attack from the upper floor!

This move was incredibly powerful; the golden handprint instantly filled the vision of all the Japanese pirates. The golden light crashed down mercilessly like a hydraulic press, splattering blood everywhere!
With a single palm strike, Ah Xing, surrounded by golden light, leaped high into the air and disappeared through the large hole above his head, leaving behind only a mess and corpses.

Afterwards, Ah Xing went straight to the next location.

Because the main force of the Japanese pirates was drawn to the battle at the Tian Tong Church, and the spirits in the shrine were also constantly rushing to the church to provide support, the defenses here were relatively weak.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ah Xing launched a surprise attack and, after several rounds of fierce fighting, finally managed to remove several key shrines.

While the battle between the supernatural beings at Tiantong Church was taking place and Ah Xing was removing the shrine, the local garrison in Shanghai also keenly noticed the unusual activity on the river.

Normally, the ship's cannons, which were like the sword of Damocles hanging overhead, were now turned around and aimed at the place called Tiantong Parish, unleashing a barrage of firepower.

"An opportunity! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Inside the frontline command post, a commander suddenly slammed his fist on the table, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Order! All-out attack! Use every ounce of strength you have! While the Japanese naval guns are out of commission, give them a good beating! Drive them into the river to feed the fish!"

As the red signal flare soared into the sky, the elite troops of China, who had been pent up in the trenches for a long time, let out a thunderous roar.

"kill!!!"

Without the terrifying firepower of the naval guns on the river and the bombing raids from the warplanes overhead, the battle finally returned to a relatively "fair" land confrontation.

In the intricate city streets, the numerical superiority and fearless courage of the Chinese army were finally unleashed to the fullest extent.

Wearing German-style steel helmets and well-equipped, the elite troops of the central route army, like a gray torrent, swept across the streets, broke through the smoke of battle, and launched a desperate charge towards the Japanese pirates' positions.

The Japanese army, relying on its strong fortifications and reinforced concrete buildings, attempted to put up a stubborn resistance. They set up Type 92 heavy machine guns, spitting fire, trying to weave a deadly blockade.

Normally, once the Shenzhou army launched its charge, the naval guns on the river would immediately unleash a barrage of fire, blasting the attacking troops to pieces and instantly thwarting the offensive.

But today, that desperate howling sound did not ring out.

"Brothers! The Japanese artillery has fallen silent! Charge! Blow up that bunker!"

A company commander brandished his pistol and led the charge out of the cover.

Countless soldiers followed closely behind, using the ruins as cover, taking turns providing cover as they rapidly advanced. Bullets whizzed past their ears, scattering gravel as they struck the walls, but no one retreated.

Without the threat of heavy artillery, the Chinese soldiers were able to approach the Japanese strongpoints.

"Grenade! Throw it!"

Rows of German-made stick grenades were hurled into the Japanese positions by the soldiers like hailstones.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of explosions rang out, instantly silencing the Japanese machine gun positions, blowing sandbags away, and scattering limbs and torsos everywhere.

"Fix bayonets! Charge!"

Before the smoke of battle had cleared, the Chinese soldiers, bayonets gleaming, charged into the enemy ranks like tigers descending a mountain.

In the narrower alleys, an even more brutal hand-to-hand battle broke out.

Although the Japanese army was well-trained and skilled in bayonet fighting, in this close-quarters melee, they faced a group of warriors who had long since disregarded life and death. They carried large swords on their backs, with red cloth tied to the ends of the swords and tightly wrapped around their arms, roaring as they charged towards the enemy.

"You little devils! Your grandpa's here!"

A flash of light, and a head rolled to the ground. The heavy cleaver displayed terrifying lethality in the confined space.

The Japanese Arisaka rifles were too long, making them somewhat ineffective in urban warfare. Therefore, in their most prized bayonet fighting, they finally suffered a major defeat. Previously, in bayonet combat, the Chinese side would lose at least several soldiers before killing a single Japanese soldier. But today, the situation had reversed.

For the first time, the Japanese army, having lost naval and air support, felt the terrifying pressure from the Chinese army.

They tried to call for artillery support, but the message on the other end of the phone was that the Navy was in a huge predicament and had no time to care about the lives of these army soldiers.

"Baka! You stupid navy idiots! You stood by and did nothing when we attacked the church. Now you want our help? No way! We've lost face, and you'd better lose face too!"

The army commanders were so angry that they cursed, "Idiots! Stupid idiots! A bunch of idiots with absolutely no sense of the big picture! How dare they?! How dare they?!"

"Why wouldn't they dare? They even dare to kill our own intelligence agents!" someone angrily reminded him.

This is indeed true. The navy, having suffered a crushing defeat, in an attempt to save face in front of the army, even concealed the news of the defeat and instead boasted that the attack on the church was a great victory. The army, not believing this, sent their own intelligence department to investigate. However, these intelligence personnel were all secretly executed by the enraged navy.

"Baka! These bastards!"

A commander smashed the phone in despair.

Without the suppression of naval gunfire, the Shenzhou army proved exceptionally tenacious this time. They crossed the firing line, broke through the defenses, and eliminated strongholds.

Like a tireless pack of wolves, they relentlessly tore at the Japanese invaders' defenses. They destroyed tanks with cluster grenades, blocked gun emplacements with their own bodies, and beheaded enemies with broadswords.

In just a few hours, the front line was pushed forward by a significant amount!

On this day, every inch of Shanghai was soaked in blood.

And this blood was no longer a one-sided flow, but rather a price paid by the invaders! (End of Chapter)