Chapter 296: You Dare Act Tough on My Turf?

Ibaraki-dōji dropped to one knee.

Scalding blood gushed from his severed arm and quickly ignited into flames. From the blaze, a new limb rapidly regenerated.

Two deep sword scars crisscrossed his chest, with lingering Sword Qi still gnawing viciously inward.

Though the attack hadn’t defeated him, it had made Ibaraki-dōji's aura grow even more frenzied.

"Interesting! You actually managed to wound me!

And you even dared to cut off my arm... Do you know what I hate the most... is losing a f***ing arm!"

Ibaraki-dōji let out a twisted grin as he slowly rose, his body visibly swelling.

He couldn't remember the last time he had suffered such a serious injury.

With his indestructible body and insane regeneration, he used to rampage through tens of thousands of samurai without a scratch.

It wasn’t until Minamoto no Yorimitsu and others tricked him with poisoned wine to weaken his strength that several samurai captains were finally able to jointly banish him to the subspace beneath Rashōmon.

He had escaped once—only to have his arm chopped off by Watanabe no Tsuna, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, before being forced back in again, badly injured.

He still hadn’t avenged his exile and lost limb.

But now... the age of samurai was long gone.

The newly revived Onmyōji factions and samurai clans were just a bunch of clueless chicks.

During the Hyakki Yagyō in Osaka, he had led a horde of demons to dominate one region, convinced that no one in this world—aside from the gods themselves—could hurt him.

And yet, here in the East, he had encountered one.

“I was only planning to kill ten, but... your struggle is really getting me pumped!”

Ibaraki-dōji’s voice grew rough, like muffled thunder, and his body continued to rise—soon towering nearly three stories tall. His skin turned crimson, muscles bulging like jagged cliffs. The horns on his forehead extended more than a foot, and blood-colored demonic flames wafted around him like mist.

The severed right claw was fully regrown, now morphed into a monstrous demon claw covered in black scales.

Even the air trembled with his every breath.

The atmosphere warped under the heat.

He stepped forward—

The ground cracked beneath his foot, and water from burst underground pipes instantly evaporated into steam under the heat of his body.

In his wrath, Ibaraki-dōji no longer cared whether his actions would offend any mysterious higher beings.

All he wanted was to crush every human before him to bits in this Ōeyama Demon King form.

Seeing his aggression, Zhao Ying was already preparing to retreat with her team.

Evacuation of the surrounding area was mostly complete.

Now it was just about buying time until backup arrived—no need to take this head-on.

But her intention to flee had already been seen through by Ibaraki-dōji, betrayed by a single glance.

“Trying to run?”

Ibaraki-dōji sneered.

If he couldn’t find any descendants of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, then these Huazone people would do for venting his anger.

Without moving a muscle, a ghostly afterimage of a demon formed behind him. The phantom swiftly formed hand seals. With a mournful howl, the ground split open in jagged fissures—pale skeletal claws reached out from below, grabbing the legs of Zhao Ying and the others.

These claws weren’t just physical.

Everyone who tried to struggle felt a tearing pain deep in their souls.

“Die!”

Flames erupted in Ibaraki-dōji’s eyes.

In a blur of motion, his massive body streaked forward, crossing over a hundred meters in an instant and appearing right before Zhao Ying and her team.

The black-scaled demon claw slashed through the air—

Howling wind shrieked with its descent.

Sparks flew from the friction between claw and air. Even before it landed, the pressure alone from the displaced air crushed down on their chests—so hard they nearly blacked out.

Watching that massive claw fall toward them—

Zhao Ying felt utterly frozen.

In that instant, she suddenly remembered something Chen Huaian had said to her and Xiang Xiaoyuan before heading to the Monster Hunting Tournament:

“This world is dangerous. Real strength is what truly matters. Resources are great, but if you rely on them too much, one day you’ll fall. You still have to work hard on your cultivation…”

She used to think the C Province Exorcist Division was unbeatable.

Now she realized... they were still far from enough.

Zhao Ying clenched her jaw, shut her eyes, and quietly said her goodbyes in her heart.

She didn’t notice the space in front of her suddenly twist violently—

A blurry figure appeared out of nowhere.

It was a figure much smaller than Ibaraki-dōji. But though small, it radiated a demonic aura even more terrifying than Ibaraki-dōji’s own.

CRACK—!

A pale finger pressed against Ibaraki-dōji’s incoming claw.

Sparks burst as nail met black scale.

Chen Huaian, in his Demonic Form, had arrived and stopped Ibaraki-dōji cold.

A whirlwind burst from where the two forces collided.

“Hey, little Neon punk.”

Chen Huaian looked up.

His vertical pupils of fiery gold locked with Ibaraki-dōji’s beast-like eyes.

“Trying to hurt my people on my turf... You’re seriously lacking manners.”

Just as he finished speaking, his pupils narrowed to needle points.

His fingers curled, grabbing Ibaraki-dōji’s massive claw—

With a sudden explosion of strength from his arm, he hurled the demon with a judo throw straight into the air and smashed him to the ground.

The area, already wrecked by the demon’s rampage, was completely reduced to rubble.

Ibaraki-dōji crawled out from the debris, heart pounding in fear at the strange human who had suddenly appeared.

“Wh-What the h*ll are you?”

“This Venerable One…” Chen Huaian’s figure flickered and vanished.

Zhao Ying and Xiang Xiaoyuan couldn’t even track his movement.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Huaian was already above Ibaraki-dōji’s head.

He punched down—

BOOM!

Stones and bricks from the whole street shot into the air and then rained back down.

Chen Huaian stood in the crater,

One foot stomping Ibaraki-dōji’s head into the dirt.

He tilted his stiff neck, vertical pupils blazing with demonic fire:

“This Venerable One, Containment Item 0 of the C Province Exorcist Division, codename—Tyrant.

Feel free to come start sh*t here again anytime.”

The demon before him was only a projection.

Chen Huaian knew he couldn’t keep it here.

With one final stomp, he sent a shockwave through the ground, shattering Ibaraki-dōji’s body into pieces.

Mission complete.

Chen Huaian casually pulled on the last pair of boxers he had left.

He’d have to be more careful about hiding his Sword Dao strength in the Cangyun Realm going forward.

Priority for secrecy was:

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Dragon Soul

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Green Lotus Sword Manual and Sword Intent

As for the terrifying physique and power of the Heavenly Demon Art—

That could be exposed.

After all, mutated monsters were everywhere these days.

He was just… more thoroughly mutated.

With a “Containment Item” label on him, people were less likely to suspect anything.

And it wasn’t like he meant to smash a crater in the ground.

It was just—without the pit, everyone would’ve seen him standing there butt-naked.

“Governor!”

Zhao Ying and Xiang Xiaoyuan, overcome with emotion, nearly burst into tears.

Xiang Xiaoyuan quickly pulled out a leather jacket and ran over—

It’s freezing out here! If he catches a cold bare-chested, then what?!

But before she reached him, a graceful silhouette had already appeared at Chen Huaian’s side.

She gently draped a coat over him, her expression tender—

But the sideways glance she gave carried a veiled warning and subtle chill.

Xiang Xiaoyuan paused mid-step, stunned.

Zhao Ying looked at Li Qingran, struck by a sense of familiarity—as if she’d seen her somewhere before.

But she couldn’t quite place it.

“Who’s this…?”

Hearing Zhao Ying’s question, Chen Huaian actually didn’t have a ready answer.

After all, he had just happened to fly over in a helicopter, saw something was wrong, and jumped straight into the fight.

“Ahem!”

From the back of the crowd came a dainty cough.

Lin Lingling walked out with a swagger like she owned the place, one hand under her chin, expressionless:

“Allow me to introduce! This pretty lady right here is…

the C Province Exorcist Division’s Group Resource Management Liaison Department’s Overseas Hidden-World Investment CEO!”

…