In Tokyo, the dungeon master

Guiyi Sect Headquarters.

Gu Meng's clone has arrived; let's see what's going on here.

Because of the special identity of the person on the other end, in his previous life, the leader of a cult was not someone that an ordinary person could do; he must have some skill or ability.

There are also many ascendants above the seventh rank who ascended as leaders of esoteric sects, so Gu Meng is still a bit cautious.

However, in this world, 99.99% of the cultivation methods are beyond the reach of ordinary people, so Gu Meng wasn't that careful, and his clone only had the most basic concealment.

"Putting everything else aside, this sect is quite wealthy." Gu Meng looked around at the buildings; they were very luxurious.

"If I ever need money, I'll become a cult leader, yay!"

He thought to himself with amusement, and it wasn't entirely a joke. In his previous life, he had actually done this job. Gu Meng himself was one of the high-ranking esoteric cult leaders who had achieved spiritual ascension.

According to the information gathered by the Soul Search, the person who usually serves as the founder of the Guiyi Cult, named Shinichi Utsunomiya, should be on the top floor... No, what is he doing in the underground chamber below today...?

Gu Meng's clone was also a ghost, so he could pass through walls and arrive at the basement in an instant without needing to swipe a card for verification.

"These formations are interesting. They seem to be the shapes of ancient, real magic arrays joined together. If there were any external magic, it would only ignite and cause self-immolation; at best, it would drive the user mad, at worst, it would explode... Have you assembled the array yet...?"

……

The dome of the underground chamber was sealed with a thick black cloth, with only a few oil lamps casting a dim light, making the entire space feel eerie and oppressive.

On the ground, the enormous summoning circle had already been set up according to the legacy left by Shinichi Utsunomiya's father. The dark red patterns meandered and intertwined like living things, and each line was soaked in the blood of the sacrifice, gleaming ominously under the dim light. Some of the blood was even human blood.

In order to find this pure virgin blood, the Guiyi Cult even went to elementary school students to draw blood.

They forced these church members and parents to believe it was a holy act, and thankfully, those members actually believed it and were willing to give up their children.

At the center of the formation is a black ancient jade left behind by the previous patriarch, which is said to be a replica of the Yasakani no Magatama, one of the three sacred treasures of Japan.

The jade pendant is engraved with obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient divine inscriptions, making it the most crucial medium for the inheritance of knowledge.

A thousand years ago, during the Genpei War in Japan, the Taira clan was defeated and took the young Emperor Antoku hostage, along with the Three Sacred Treasures, into the sea. Since then, all the Three Sacred Treasures that have been passed down in the world are imitations, and even the Imperial Family does not possess the genuine articles.

Gu Meng also saw it. If these pieced-together patterns still had some value, perhaps they were remnants of an extraordinary person from ancient times, then this broken jade was truly nothing.

Like gem magic, special jewels can amplify magical power, but the evaluation system for extraordinary individuals and the evaluation system for ordinary people are completely different.

For the extraordinary, the wondrous reaction between jewelry and magic is the most important thing, which is the kind of jewelry Gu Meng chose for Wan Hua. However, the value of jewelry in the eyes of ordinary people is determined by the fashion trends of different periods.

For example, diamonds are a very expensive mineral. As the saying goes, "A diamond is forever." They are also quite sparkly. The United States has made many movies depicting diamond heists, claiming that diamonds are extremely valuable... But for all sorts of extraordinary people, diamonds are worthless.

The material of this replica of the Eight-Foot Magatama may be very precious among mortals, but it is nothing to the extraordinary.

Gu Meng's eyesight is never wrong. Even though he no longer possesses extraordinary power, he can still tell that the items in the Shirakawa family's collection are of exceptional quality.

The jade in front of me is probably only a few decades old. It wasn't made using any extraordinary techniques; it's just a deception.

Shinichi Utsunomiya was unaware of the secrets of this ritual; he was simply following his father's instructions.

He was now dressed in a cult robe embroidered with bizarre totems, his face painted with dark red ceremonial patterns, and his fingertips still stained with undried blood.

He stood in the center of the summoning circle, his gaze gradually shifting from initial fervor to solemnity—the ritual had been going on for a long time, yet the summoning circle remained motionless, and the summoning incantations recited according to the inherited records had long since come to an end.

The eight-foot-long magatama at the center of the formation remained cold and without the slightest glimmer of light.

"It seems we've failed again."

Shinichi Utsunomiya murmured softly, his tone revealing an undisguised sense of loss and resentment.

He raised his hand and stroked the replica of the eight-foot-long magatama at the center of the formation. His father, on his deathbed, held his hand and instructed him, "The legacy I left behind is real, and the power of the evil god is real too. This world is not as simple as mortals imagine. When the stars return to their positions..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was killed. At the time, Shinichi Utsunomiya was also fooled by his father, thinking that his father was really some kind of powerful cultivator.

It turned out that the Guiyi Cult was just like that, purely for making money. All those extraordinary events and miracles were fake. It turned out that his father had been a liar all his life, and in the end, he even lied to himself before he died.

The summoning circle before him was deathly silent, as if it were just a useless pattern he had carefully drawn, without even a trace of the aura of an evil god appearing.

As it turns out... now it seems that not only Old Deng, but also Zhong Deng was fooled. Shinichi Utsunomiya even wanted to laugh a little.

He gave a self-deprecating smile, turned around, and was about to wave away the waiting believers around him, and then give the female prime minister who was watching the ceremony a brief explanation.

It's not that I don't know magic; this is not my fault, it's just that the evil god isn't home.

Yes, there are important guests nearby.

The Guiyi Church is no longer qualified to be disrespectful to the female prime minister, nor is it qualified to have her visit for two consecutive days. It was only because the incident in Adachi Ward was too bizarre that Tsuchimikado Miki became interested and turned down relatively unimportant work to come and see—surely no one really thinks the prime minister is so busy that she has no personal time at all.

Tsuchimikado Miki, dressed in a smart black suit, stood tall in the corner of the secret room, next to her elite male bodyguard.

Given the assassination attempt and the fact that she is a woman, she doesn't need a once-in-a-millennium beauty bodyguard.

Although she also has the face of a giant, she is a few years younger and has a better physique than Gu Mengqian's counterpart in her previous life. She is not very lewd... Of course, she is still quite ugly, just not as ugly as the person in her previous life.

Her face carried a hint of nonchalant indifference. Coming from a family with a long tradition of learning, she had also studied some of the Onmyoji doctrines within her family as a child out of personal interest. She was practically an expert. As soon as she saw the array patterns, she felt that the Korean father and son were probably unreliable and that their copying skills were mediocre.

Although they also copied Onmyoji, they had some of their own elements, and they only copied from Tokyo University.

As Koreans, the Guiyi Sect has stitched together elements from Japan, Dongda University, and Christianity. This is not how the three religions should be united; the method is too crude. She even saw the sexual foundation of Hinduism.

In her view, Shinichi Utsunomiya's so-called fatherly inheritance and summoning of evil gods were definitely gimmicks used by cults to bewitch people, no different from those absurd rituals in the past. She even felt that Shinichi Utsunomiya's current obsession was just because he was blinded by the supernatural events in Adachi Ward... She herself was also out of her mind. At times like this, the old folks in the clan were definitely more reliable. Why trust outsiders?

She lowered her eyes slightly, not even glancing at the summoning circle, waiting for Shinichi Utsunomiya to admit defeat so she could discuss the next steps with him and give him a warning: this sect is too arrogant, it's not a good thing.

Just as Shinichi Utsunomiya was about to touch the summoning circle's patterns and order the ritual to be canceled, the replica of the Yasakani no Magatama at the center of the circle suddenly burst out with a blinding dark red light. Immediately afterward, the entire summoning circle's patterns seemed to be awakened and began to flash wildly.

A faint green light spread along the patterns, enveloping the entire secret room in an eerie halo.

Shinichi Utsunomiya froze, abruptly withdrawing his hand. The disappointment in his eyes was instantly replaced by shock, and his pupils contracted sharply as he stared intently at the strange phenomenon before him.

"Masaka, is he coming?!"