Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 331 - 330: Is Qiantiao that kind of woman?

"A Chrysanthemum’s Tavern," a chilling, haunting presence swiftly attacked from behind.

With a clang, the sharp essence of a drawn sword cleaved through the air.

Without any hesitation, Qian snatched her sword from its sheath and slashed horizontally, turning to face her attacker.

The demon blade Zong Zheng’s keen edge glided through the air, easily severing six "human heads" to the ground.

However, there was no scene of blood spraying wildly.

Becauese what stood before her were not humans, but "ghosts."

At the severed necks, there was no sign of crimson but rather black spiritual bodies emerged, their forms grotesquely swelling and rapidly expanding into strangely shaped, translucent ghostly monsters. The six monsters increased in size, soon merging into one gigantic creature that filled the entire tavern, devouring the tables and chairs and rapidly dissolving them within its body.

Su Lun’s gaze sharpened as he recognized this famous monster of the Mountain Hermit.

[Glutton Ghost], a spectral ghost creature, immune to physical damage!

Qian reacted quickly, seeing that a single slash was ineffective, she knew instantly what was happening. A bizarre green flame suddenly erupted on her demon blade. Without any hesitation, she slew once more in reverse, slicing open a flaming gash across the monster’s belly.

The demonic power of "Ghost Maru Homayumi Zong Zheng" scorched the creature’s soul, followed by a spine-chilling scream echoing beside their ears.

"Run!"

Qian commanded in a low shout, leading as she surged forward and smashed through the window, leaping out.

Su Lun did not dare delay and followed swiftly.

Once outside, they saw the previously peaceful lantern-lit night market suddenly turn sinister. The rows of lanterns inexplicably came to life, shifting in shades of black and red, roaming everywhere along the streets.

Su Lun inspected them and also identified them as a type of monster — [Lantern Fiends].

Qian wielded her sword and with two strikes of her Sword Qi, "boom" "boom" sounded like grenades exploding, the fierce flames blasting over.

In his senses, countless malevolent creatures surged towards them.

Su Lun released the Herald of Death to observe from the sky; the vast Edo Castle had now turned into a Ghost Town.

To the naked eye, dense hordes of ghosts swarmed in the streets and alleys, boiling like a scalding oil pan. Like a dark torrential flood, they swept through.

Edo Castle housed several hundred thousand residents, and the Netherworld had no fewer.

The sheer number made one’s scalp tingle.

Su Lun shouted, "The Senso Temple is in the south city, let’s head out of the city first!"

Qian responded solemnly, "Okay!"

The two did not dare delay for even a moment and dashed towards the south with all their might.

....

Qian led the way, clearing a path with her sword, her armor released, six arms wielding six blades, air-tight defense.

Su Lun didn’t hold back either, pulling out a rocket launcher, and bombarded a concentrated area of the North Sea Fleet pirates with a barrage of cannon fire.

He thought this action might help draw some of the ghostly creatures’ attention to the pirates.

"Bang!"

The intense explosion created a flame wave several tens of meters high on the street.

Yet even with such a loud commotion, even as people around them transformed into terrifying monsters, the majority of the pirates showed no reaction at all.

They continued to indulge in excessive eating and drinking at their stalls, and ravaging the female ghosts...

The pirates’ eyes were glassy, their expressions numb as if they had lost their souls. Even as malevolent spirits swarmed around them, treating them as delicious food, biting into their flesh, they didn’t stop... until they died physically and turned into "ghosts."

Over ten thousand well-equipped pirates were almost wiped out without resistance in the Netherworld.

Seeing this, Su Lun and his companion felt a shiver of fear.

If they didn’t know earlier that they couldn’t eat anything here, they might have ended up assimilated in the same way, unaware of how they died.

Realizing this, Su Lun understood why this place was rated as a "T-class space" by the All-knowing Eye!

However, his barrage was somewhat effective.

A few high-ranking officers of the Ninth Fleet, whose wills had not been fully corrupted, jolted awake upon hearing the unexpected explosion, as if awakened from a dream.

Battle instincts prompted them to overthrow the evil spirits gnawing at their bodies.

But the food and seductive ghosts had acted like "anesthetics," numbing their minds and bodies.

Having been contaminated with too much aura from the Netherworld, they staggered to their feet in a dazed and clumsy struggle.

The physically huge ’Gluttonous Grand General’ Yixier Peion was the strongest among them. His talent [Gourmet King] allowed him to absorb energy from various foods, even evil spirits!

In that moment, his survival instincts triggered him to deploy the "Gluttonous Domain."

Suddenly, a devouring black vortex appeared, as if engulfing everything like a whale, the evil spirits were swallowed in a blink.

His power was unrivaled, without equal in combat prowess.

Watching the activity there, Su Lun breathed a sigh of relief, at least those surviving pirates could help them contend with most of the city’s ghosts.

However, he also knew that Peion would not last long.

Because he had diagnosed earlier that absorbing spiritual power in the Netherworld would also lead to assimilation.

The strength of the Gluttonous Domain was in devouring the local spiritual energy for its own use; theoretically, any energy could serve him.

But this was the Netherworld!

Even for a ninth-tier alchemist, there was no known method of 100% equivalent exchange; the remaining part of the Netherworld aura would contaminate and assimilate his body.

The result was, the more he absorbed, the quicker the assimilation progressed!

Peion, possessing astonishing fighting power, devoured hundreds of evil spirits in a short time. Yet he himself appeared to be intoxicated, the more he ’drank,’ the more severely ’drunk’ he became.

His entire presence was becoming more and more ghost-like.

Moreover, Su Lun had sensed the presence of a formidable entity among those evil spirits.

Those capable of resisting the "Gluttonous Realm" were great demons with at least sixth-tier combat strength.

And there were several of them!

They absolutely couldn’t continue to stay in the city.

....

Even though the pirates had delayed many of the evil spirits, the situation for the two of them was equally terrible.

They faced hundreds of thousands of monsters, a number they simply could not match.

Even professionals of the seventh tier would eventually be surrounded and killed, and they were no exception.

They could only flee the city while Peion was still alive.

Although they weren’t sure what was at "Asakusa Temple," that Granny Aju had advised them to go there, but they knew the number of monsters outside the city would definitely be fewer.

The two of them sprinted all the way.

Qian Tiao was a grand swordmaster, and with the Demon Blade in hand, hardly any evil spirits could survive a single slash from her sword.

The two of them cooperated, and they moved forward without much danger.

However, Su Lun noticed that the pressure on Qian Tiao was immense—despite her Sword Qi slashing through dozens of meters and chopping monsters like vegetables.

But actually, executing Sword Qi Slash consumed a lot of her Inner Dark Spiritual Power.

Killing a hundred, or even a thousand, was manageable, but these hundreds of thousands of ghosts and demons were endless!

And, ordinary ghosts and demons were one thing, but there were also some bizarre fiends.

"Don’t go near the river. The sludge in the water hides the ’Rotten God.’ If the river isn’t dry, it can’t be killed! Don’t waste your energy..."

"’Wind Raccoon’ isn’t harmed by cuts, target its head with area hammering strikes!"

"Be careful of your shadow; a ’Shadow Woman’ has entangled it. It fears light!"

"..."

Beneath their feet, in the air, within shadows, rivers, walls, trees, stone carvings... Those demons could emerge and attack from anywhere.

If it weren’t for Su Lun’s Soul Perception that allowed him to detect demons all around, and the All-knowing Eye that could pinpoint weaknesses instantly, if they had blindly charged ahead, these bizarrely tactical monsters would have killed them over and over again.

Su Lun was a Puppeteer, accustomed to winning through sheer numbers. Now, he too felt the terror of being overrun by the quantity of his enemies.

Because they were fleeing, the puppet theater was useless; he only carried around twenty to thirty puppets, which shattered again and again.

Moreover, Qian Tiao was in no better condition.

She was at the forefront of the charge, already accumulating wounds.

Moreover, to harm spectral monsters, or reviving special ghosts like ’Ghost Warriors,’ she had to use the demonic power of ’Onimaru Hyakume Zakusōji.’ Although she had tamed this demon blade, utilizing demonic power also required a significant consumption of her Inner Dark Spiritual Power, a tremendous burden.

But even so, their situation did not improve at all; instead, it was getting worse, as more and more monsters were attracted to them.

Su Lun shared a look with the death birds in the sky, saw that the road to the southern city had been blocked by various monsters, and immediately decided, "If this continues, we can’t escape, we need to find a place to hide!"

Qian Tiao responded, "Okay!"

Just then, Su Lun’s monocle lens flashed, and he suddenly took out several high-explosion smoke grenades and threw them forward. A thick smoke instantly filled the streets, and Qian Tiao immediately understood and dashed in.

In an instant, the shadows of the two figures charged in from one end and rushed out from the other.

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A group of evil spirits also followed in pursuit.

Seeing this, two people in Gold-Patterned Cloaks inside a wooden house breathed a sigh of relief.

Black crow, adhering only to the paper puppets made by the Princess, "Robert’s Monocle," created almost real illusions, temporarily deceiving the group of evil spirits and giving Su Lun and Qian Tiao a chance to breathe.

The alchemical cloaks made by the Mirror Organization greatly prevented their scents from leaking, seeming also to have deceived the demons’ perception.

Su Lun looked at Qian Tiao’s pale face and asked, "Are you alright?"

Qian Tiao’s chest heaved violently and her forehead was covered in sweat, clearly showing she had not lightly consumed her energy. She replied, "I’m okay."

Su Lun said, "Those illusions won’t last long, we need to leave here."

"Mhm."

Qian Tiao nodded and took the recovery drink Su Lun handed to her, gulping it down.

The two only stayed for a few breaths before silently sneaking out the door.

But after all, this was a "T-grade Cursed Space."

They had not walked far when Su Lun’s expression suddenly changed drastically.

Because by then, they saw a handsome young man in a floral robe standing at the entrance to the alley. With his chest bared and a heavy demonic aura on his face, he stood there exuding an overwhelming demonic pressure without leaking any demonic power.

Qian Tiao also sensed the terrifying pressure that felt like a thorn in her back, slightly shifted to position herself in front of Su Lun, her gaze serious, "If you find a chance, just go. Don’t worry about me!"

Being a person of resolute decision, she naturally understood that it was time to separate life and death; to let even one escape would be worthwhile.

Hearing this, Su Lun narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent.

The name identified by the All-knowing Eye was "Ghost King Shuten Douji."

One of the most terrifying Ghost Kings from the legends of the Mountain Hermit’s Hundred Ghosts, impervious to blades and spears, its strength unfathomably deep.

This was also the strongest entity detected by Su Lun’s Soul Perception.

Shuten Douji, with a mocking smile playing on his enchanting face, looked at them and said, "Humans, you do have some clever tactics. It’s been a long time since the Netherworld was this lively... I really don’t want to kill you just like that."

Su Lun immediately realized that the Gold-Patterned Cloak could not hide their presence from this entity, and he quietly retreated back into the house.

Shuten Douji naturally noticed his action, scoffed and said, "It seems your companion wants to escape."

Qian Tiao’s face remained expressionless as she slowly drew the long sword that had already been sheathed at her waist.

"It’s a good sword. Too bad, your proficiency in the Sword Dao is still lacking a bit."

Shuten Douji looked at the Demon Blade, his eyes flashing coldly, yet he didn’t show much dread.

As he spoke, his forked crimson tongue, similar to a snake’s, suddenly licked his lips, showing even more interest in Qiantiao’s body, "Tsk tsk, the sweet scent of a virgin... And such a rare pure Yang energy, it must be a delicious body indeed."

At these words, the atmosphere should have instantly become tense.

But Su Lun didn’t know why, something about what he heard felt odd.

He knew that Shuten Douji liked to eat humans, but Qiantiao was actually... what?

Qiantiao ignored the comment, gathered her Sword Qi to its peak, seized the moment, and charged forward with her blade drawn: "Single Sword Style·Demon Funeral!"

The Demon Blade was wrapped in a layer of green flame, as the blade traced a green line through the air.

In a flash, Qiantiao’s blade struck Shuten Douji.

With a clang, it sounded as though it had struck metal.

On closer inspection, Shuten Douji had a face full of contemptuous smile and in his hand, a bundle of red lotus fire, easily catching the blade strike. Explore more at novelbuddy

Qiantiao pulled back her blade and retreated explosively. Her hands formed a sorcerer’s seal and for the first time, the fiery, vertical silhouette of a Rakshasa appeared behind her. Six arms, six blades, she was finally about to unleash a powerful attack.

Seeing this, Shuten Douji finally took a proper look, "Huh... A Rakshasa Woman? Turns out it’s a human who practices the Hell Path. Hehe, this is getting interesting."

With a loud pop of stepping on air, Qiantiao stomped on the ground and surged forward.

Suddenly, her Sword Qi filled the air, sending stones and sand flying.

Shuten Douji was not to be outdone. His fists, wrapped in red lotus fire, met her attack head-on, filling the sky.

That Sword Qi, which could slice stones and cleave gold, didn’t even scratch his true form.

In the air, waves of ripples spread, and buildings around were sliced down...

....

Watching from not far away, Su Lun wasn’t surprised by this, as the legend says, Shuten Douji, the Ghost King is immune to blades and spears.

He also knew Qiantiao was fighting desperately.

However, despite the Rakshasa Woman’s strength, her energy consumption was also exponentially greater. Given the situation, it was clear that she couldn’t hurt the enemy, and the outcome was predictable.

Su Lun still hadn’t made a move. Joining the fight blindly now wouldn’t change anything.

The light swirled in his left eye, and he observed something else, thinking, "This demonic power is so condensed... It’s not that the ’Demon Blade’ isn’t sharp, but the red lotus fire formed by that demonic power is a big problem. It’s somewhat similar to a sixth-tier professional’s ’dominance’—unable to break through that demonic field, even the sharpest blade can’t hurt its true form. Moreover, that guy’s combat skill is really superb…"

After observing for a moment, Su Lun still couldn’t see any opportunity to exploit.

He was facing a Ghost King. The Ghost Path techniques were not very effective, and since the Demon Blade hadn’t blinded him, the black umbrella probably would be limited in use too.

So...

Su Lun knew he had only one method that might hurt that child, and that was "Xiupunos’s Scythe of the Night!"

But the guy’s combat skill was indeed superb, very crafty.

In a battle of skill, Qiantiao had no upper hand. Even if she launched a powerful strike, he could either withstand it or block and avoid it.

Su Lun had no confidence he could hit him with a surprise attack using the scythe.

In an instant, his mind was like a computer, rapidly calculating all the possibilities,

With such a powerful Ghost King appearing, the situation had dramatically worsened. But the upside was, with this guy taking the lead, the other monsters seemed very wary of this Ghost King and hadn’t dared to approach.

Looking again toward the movements of the North Sea fleet in the distance, they were getting smaller and smaller. Dragging it out further would become increasingly unfavorable for them.

Qiantiao also realized their predicament, initially thinking there might be a chance to fight for it, but now it seemed, there was no chance of victory at all.

An indestructible corporal body, already in an invincible position.

Seeing that Su Lun had not left, she used the communicator to send a mental message, "You go first!"

She knew Su Lun’s escape techniques were strong, and with her holding this guy back, he could possibly get out alone.

A stern look flashed in Su Lun’s eyes, not saying much, he replied, "Qiantiao, I have a method…"

.....

As soon as the words were out, Su Lun’s hands rapidly formed a sorcerer’s seal, "Rune Vajra·Concentrate!"

Another look, and his skin suddenly shimmered with a dark gold luster, revealing densely packed dark gold runes.

And that wasn’t all!

Veins bulged at Su Lun’s temples, his expression fierce and twisted as he clenched his teeth, his hands shifted the sorcerer’s seal, and he roared, "Flesh Alchemy: Hormone Rampage!"

For the first time, he activated the fourth tier state in combat.

As the sorcerer released the seal, hormones crazily rushed into his limbs and organs. His muscles visibly swelled up, his body brimming with eruptive, volcanic strength!

"Rune Vajra" plus "Fourth Tier Hormone Rampage," he only had three minutes.

Su Lun’s muscles began to heat up, steam pouring out, and with a ferocious laugh, he explosively sprang forward like a cannonball.

With a pop of Stepping on Air, the figure he left behind flew apart.

Another look, and his figure had already charged a hundred meters away.

His speed had reached an extreme!

The commotion was not small and naturally didn’t escape Shuten Douji involved in battle.

Seeing Su Lun charging towards him, knowing he couldn’t dodge, his demonic power surged as he punched out in anticipation.

"Boom!"

The severe shockwave swept through streets like a tidal wave.

A dark and a red torrential wave collided, Su Lun was knocked back dozens of meters, while that child was pushed back three steps.

Feeling the exaggerated power of that punch, Shuten Douji looked at Su Lun, looking like a bronze man, and became more excited, "Hey, I underestimated you. Even though your cultivation isn’t high, you possess such power. A secret technique that stimulates the body’s potential? Tsk tsk, it reminds me of someone I once encountered who practiced the ’Art of Escaping Armor.’"

"..."

Su Lun didn’t bother arguing with it.

From this collision, he immediately concluded that he could fight it!

Though impervious to bladed and blunt weapons, it was only adept at physical attacks and was not skilled in Teleportation or Spell attacks—this was also where Ghost King Shuten Douji fell short!

Despite fighting, it occasionally murmured a few words.

But in fact, thousands of swords, and his own fists, posed a significant threat to it!

Su Lun’s punch was ineffective, and he charged forward again.

Simultaneously, Qiān Tiáo also silently drew his sword, and the two attacked together.

"Clang," "Clang," "Clang"...

"Thud," "Thud," "Thud"...

The attack frequency was extremely high, and their fists and sword gleams sparked numerous sparks on Shuten Douji’s body.

The Ghost King realized it couldn’t completely dodge their high-frequency attacks and simply stood its ground, generating a layer of fierce red lotus flames on its body surface. It remained unmoved by any attack method used against it.

As legends had it, Shuten Douji was arrogant, conceited, and haughty, and Su Lun had verified this after such a long test.

Even then, it kept murmuring.

"Tsk... such methods won’t hurt me..."

"Tsk tsk, you both seem incapable, don’t you?"

"..."

Just as the legends suggested, this creature enjoyed verbally humiliating its opponents.

After fighting for so long, Su Lun also knew that it must have recognized its weakness!

And that was that its corporeal Secret Technique wasn’t lasting.

In fact, Su Lun’s body was nearly at the point of collapse.

After intense combat, numerous muscle fibers in Su Lun’s body felt like they were about to snap, his bones showed cracks, and his body temperature made his skin seem like molten metal.

This was not his own strength, but rather obtained by squeezing his body to its limits.

The longer it dragged on, the more severe the injuries became.

Just then, Su Lun’s condition visibly weakened in the midst of the battle. Seeing his chance, Shuten Douji punched him in the lower ribs. Su Lun’s breath hitched, he instinctively twisted his body, curling his arms around his ribs like a large shrimp, trying to protect his vitals, but he exposed a huge opening in his abdomen.

"Hmm!"

Seeing this, Shuten Douji inwardly sneered.

This kind of opportunity required no thought; its hand, sharp as a blade, instinctively stabbed forward.

"Pfft" Despite it being a hand strike, it sharply pierced through Su Lun’s Rune Vajra, and blood spurted out.

Shuten Douji thought that even if this strike didn’t kill him, there would be no suspense afterward. Just as it was about to stab fiercely again, at that moment, Su Lun suddenly let go and clamped down on its arm.

"Eh... courting death?"

Shuten Douji couldn’t understand why Su Lun would make such a move, but at the same time, six long swords were placed on its body.

Not to injure it, but to restrain its other arm.

"You think you can capture me?"

Shuten Douji was baffled by this move. What could these two do by restraining it?

If it was restrained, weren’t these two as well?

Moreover, it could break free from such a level of restraint instantly!

But a death instinct told it that something was off.

....

"Puh~"

A hole was stabbed in Su Lun’s abdomen, and he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood tinged with a metallic taste. Yet, a sinister smile crossed his lips, "String Control Secret Art: Titan’s Hand!"

In an instant, silver threads that had never appeared in the battle suddenly coalesced like a corpse.

These were his hairs, recently inscribed with "Sixth-order Resilience Runes," demonstrating the strongest single-entity control technique from the Puppeteer.

In just a moment, the threads tightly wrapped around both Su Lun’s body and Shuten Douji’s arm.

The grotesque Shuten Douji finally changed color, faintly realizing something. It forcefully tensed its arm, snapping numerous threads, attempting to break free.

But just then, it suddenly saw a figure with a black scythe looming behind Su Lun!

The moment their eyes met, it seemed to see the gaze of a higher being, causing its gaze to falter.

Seeing this, Su Lun was overjoyed, "It worked!"

As he anticipated, a second-phase Death manifestation could still intimidate such a high-level ghost creature!

At such a close distance, even a momentary shock from the Death manifestation was enough.

Almost precisely calculated to the millisecond, a spatial rift suddenly appeared at Shuten Douji’s neck, drawing a fine line.

The usually infallible spatial rift cut through the indestructible demon-protected body like a knife through cowhide, not too smoothly.

"Eh..."

It was the first time Su Lun encountered such resistance when cutting with the black scythe.

But the outcome was still favorable, as the shock from the Death had not allowed Shuten Douji to react, and this slice ultimately severed its head.

Su Lun, watching the dissipating "gray mist" from the corpse, didn’t know if the ghost mist had other ways to revive, but he gave no opportunity, directly allowing the Death manifestation to devour it.