The demon monk in the second dimension

puff!

The sharp axe blade whistled through the air, and with one blow, the heads of two shikigami standing side by side were chopped off.

The two shikigami's corpses fell to the ground, but did not dissipate into spiritual energy.

Xia Zhi looked around and then suddenly turned around.

After killing the two shikigami, the fox god of the Mitsuko-dani shrine finally appeared.

This is a creature that is over four meters tall, with its head almost touching the torii gate, resembling a white fox, but it is not a white fox at all.

Its claws resemble human hands, its mouth is divided into four parts like the cardinal directions, it has a pair of horns on its head that look like ears, and it has six thick and flexible tails behind it.

But Xia Zhi could see that this was just a facade.

This shrine must have had genuine divine power before, but somehow it was stolen by this thing, allowing it to disguise itself as a deity and even have the ability to cultivate shikigami.

Xia Zhi could smell the stench emanating from the other person's body, which belonged to an evil spirit, as soon as she got close.

Seeing that Xia Zhi had killed two of his shikigami, the fox god roared at Xia Zhi.

"Roar!!!"

It stretched out a claw as white as gold and jade, and fiercely grabbed at Xia Zhi.

Xia Zhi raised his wood-chopping axe and clashed with his opponent.

Pong!

The fox god's claws collided with the sharp wood-chopping axe, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound.

In the midst of the fierce collision, Xia Zhi realized that she could not sever the arm, so she settled for a less desirable option.

With a flick of his right wrist, he altered the mark left by the axe blade, leaving a very deep gash on the fox god's arm.

At the same time, Xia Zhi swung the axe and severed one of the fox god's fingers.

If it were any other wandering spirit, it would have lost an entire arm at this point.

"This fox god is much stronger than the ones I've encountered before! If I devour it, I can immediately undergo my next evolution!"

Thinking this, Xia Zhi flicked her right hand and channeled her soul power into the wood-chopping axe.

A black, incredibly sharp soul blade extended from the axe blade.

With one finger severed, the Fox God looked down at the injury on his arm.

The next moment, its head unfolded into four petals like flower petals, each petal with extremely sharp fangs on both sides, revealing the true form of the fox god.

This is a monster that is the size of a lizard but as huge as an elephant, with many arms.

Its two eyes are made of golden bells, and it wears an unchanging smile on its face. Its skin is as gray as a dead person, but like two shikigami, it emits a faint golden light.

Many bells hung below its neck, each bell representing a life, in which resided the souls it had devoured, providing power to the fox god.

At the same time, the fox god can also share some power with these spirits, turning them into shikigami and giving them the ability to release energy waves and gravity fields.

In Xia Zhi's view, both the ability to manipulate gravity and the ability to generate energy waves should be powers originally possessed by the gods of the shrine.

When the prototype of the fox god appeared, the surrounding land seemed to be awakened as well.

Many wandering spirits revived, crawled out from underground, and surrounded the summer solstice.

"This is truly a feast!"

Xia Zhi smiled and reached out her left hand to tear off the bandages on her body.

What was exposed beneath the bandages was not a body, but nothing at all, except for a clump of black mud suspended in the center of the body, releasing power.

Whether it's a cloak, rope, burlap sack, axe, or bandages, they are all supernatural objects controlled by Xia Zhi.

This black mud is its true core.

Chapter 416 The Bell and the Mastermind

As the bandages on Xia Zhi's body came loose, the power of the black mud began to drive them, turning them from their original white to black.

Under Xia Zhi's control, each bandage resembled a snake, seemingly possessing its own consciousness, as it coiled around the enormous fox god.

The fox god's two eyes, composed of golden bells, darted around, its foolish smile still on its face, but it opened its mouth and roared at Xia Zhi.

"Roar!!!"

The roar created a sonic wave that whipped up a raging wind, trying to blow away the bandages that the summer solstice had stretched out.

Faced with this fierce wind, people weighing less than 100 pounds would be blown away, and those weighing less than 150 pounds wouldn't even be able to stand steadily.

But the originally light bandages were not hindered at all and quickly wrapped around the fox god's body.

Upon closer inspection, these bandages were all wrapped in a layer of black spiritual energy, like a spiral drill bit, capable of breaking through the surrounding gale.

These bandages may not seem numerous, but they are actually quite long.

They pulled on the bound fox god, dragging it forcefully towards the summer solstice.

The fox god wasn't stupid; he wouldn't just stand by and watch himself be captured.

It slammed its hands on the ground and crouched down, using its massive size to resist.

At the same time, many slender and narrow arms extend from the abdomen of the fox god.

These hands with sharp, black nails tugged at the bandages wrapped around the fox god, trying to tear them apart.

"If you won't come over, then I'll go to you."

Upon seeing this, Xia Zhi, now only wearing a cloak and a few bandages, floated up and, pulled by the bandages, flew towards the Fox God.

Xia Zhi opened her cloak, directly covering the Fox God's head.

The next moment, a loud chewing sound came from inside the cloak.

At first, the fox god struggled desperately, tearing at the cloak with both hands, trying to tear it open.

At the same time, its body was writhing in agony on the ground, and the bells on its body were ringing extremely loudly.

But soon, the fox god's struggles subsided.

Its hands fell limply to its sides, and its body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Summer Solstice's cloak swiftly devoured the fox god's head, then continued down the body, consuming the enormous fox god in just over ten seconds.

Meanwhile, the bandages on Xia Zhi's body were also in use.

With so many wandering spirits appearing here, these bandages each seek out their targets, grabbing one wandering spirit after another and letting the black mud devour them.

Xia Zhi's gray cloak was like a black hole, continuously absorbing the wandering souls around her to strengthen herself.

This is the strongest, and also the most dangerous, state during the summer solstice.

Whether the bandages or the cloak are damaged, the black mud belonging to Xia Zhi's true form will not be affected.

But if someone were to destroy this small lump of black mud at this moment, Xia Zhi could call GG amidst laughter and cheers.

Ten minutes later, the wandering spirits around the shrine were all devoured by the summer solstice.

As he expected, Xia Zhi received another buff.

Besides the increase in his spiritual power, he felt that he was now able to touch reality.

Xia Zhi manipulated a bandage and gently pushed it open the inner gate of the Sankodani Shrine.

A ceremonial platform immediately appeared in front of Xia Zhi.

Inside the shrine, four ropes extend from the four corners of the ceiling and connect to the central ceremonial platform.

A small golden bell hangs above the ceremonial platform, and it looks to be the same style as the bell on the fox god's body.

Four candles were lit around the bell, and in the very center was something about the size of a human head, wrapped in cloth.

Xia Zhi lifted the bandage and saw that it really was a white skull with no flesh on it.

As he removed the skull, two figures suddenly appeared in front of him.

Those were the two shikigami that Xia Zhi had previously cut in two.

After they appeared, the two fox-like faces shattered like masks, revealing their true forms to Xia Zhi.

There was a female shaman who looked to be about thirty years old, dressed in a proper yin-yang robe, and a girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a divine robe with a hood that covered most of her face.

The girl shikigami who used gravity waves knelt down before Xia Zhi and solemnly expressed her gratitude.

"I am Sankotani, the original true master of the shrine. Thank you for eliminating the fox god and freeing me from this predicament."

The same applies to another shamanic shikigami that uses energy waves.

"I am Oka Touko, formerly the matriarch of the old town, now bound by the fox spirit. Thank you for your help."

Seeing the golden bell behind Xia Zhi, Three Fox Valley reminded Xia Zhi.

“My benefactor, I was originally a minor deity at the Three Fox Valley Shrine, but I was controlled by someone. The fox god was created by that person using this bell, and he stole the power that originally belonged to me.”

"I'm sure I'm not the only shrine that has been harmed. My benefactor, you've ruined their arrangements, so please be careful."

Upon hearing this, Xia Zhi's eyes flickered.

"There's a mastermind behind this? I understand."

He nodded to Sanko Valley and Oka Touko, watching them dissipate into faint golden light.

Then, Xia Zhi grabbed the golden bell behind her and threw it directly to the black mud to be swallowed.

"No matter what kind of arrangements you make, do you think they can withstand the evil of this matter?"

Within the black mud, golden bells trembled continuously, emitting a clear, ringing sound.

But in the blink of an eye, its shell began to fade and char, and it was eventually completely swallowed up.

At the same time, in an unnamed, desolate mountain, a long-abandoned shrine suddenly trembled.

A colossal creature, no smaller than the fox god, crawled out from it, and it too wore a golden bell around its neck.

……

After absorbing the bell, Xia Zhi examined the skull in her hand.

For some reason, when he saw the skull, a sudden inspiration struck him.

Xia Zhi used the bandage to pick up the skull and placed it on her head.

Then, the scattered bandages returned to their original position, wrapping the skull and forming a head again.

Xia Zhi, now back to her bandaged monster form, rubbed her chin with her bandaged hands, then tapped her no longer empty head, and exclaimed in surprise.

"After wearing this skull, I feel like I've become stronger, and I can even control two shikigami like the fox god. Is this the rule of this world?"

"This is really interesting!"

After making sure there was nothing else missing, Xia Zhi walked down from the torii gate and met up with Yotsuya Miko, who was anxiously waiting inside a burlap sack.

While hiding in the burlap sack, Yotsuya Miko heard many roars around her.

She knew these screams were from wandering spirits, so she kept her mouth tightly shut, squatted on the ground, and put herself in a burlap sack.

As long as she hides in the burlap sack, these wandering spirits will ignore her presence.

Summer Solstice came to the outside of the burlap sack and spoke to Yotsuya Miko.

"You can come out now, to see Zi."

Upon hearing this, Yotsuya Miko carefully opened the burlap sack and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Natsumi's figure.

Chapter 417 Yurikawa's Crisis

Xia Zhichong, seeing Zi, smiled.

"This shrine is quite impressive. Not only is there a huge creature inside, but there are also nearly a hundred wandering spirits around it, which has been quite rewarding for me."

Upon hearing this, Yotsuya Miko immediately shuddered.

Nearly a hundred wandering souls?

If she had been discovered just now, she would have been dead!

Yotsuya Miko was immediately filled with fear, and tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily.