He was only about ten feet away from the wild dog's body.
The wild dog's body shook incessantly, terrified out of its wits, just a little more, and it would be hacked to death by its own kind.
It had endured humiliation and carried heavy burdens as it escaped back from Great Xia, all to deliver Great Xia's biggest secret, and dying now would leave it unable to rest in peace.
The ninja in black cursed inwardly as he watched the wild dog.
Let's see who you are?
My freaking neighbor, all I see you as is a dog, looking like this, how could I possibly know who you are?
Should I just kill this damned thing and be done with it, no one would know, but if I didn't kill it, I'd be the one to suffer.
He asked cautiously, "May I ask... uh... who are you, my lord?"
"I, Abe no Seimei, augh, can't you even recognize my voice, you fool!!" the wild dog roared with anger.
Humiliated by countless giant wild dogs and having traveled a great distance to come back, then almost getting killed, it continued to seethe with rage, nearly losing its sanity.
You're barking like a dog, how the hell am I supposed to recognize you, damn it!!
The ninja in black quivered with rage, but upon hearing the name Abe no Seimei, he immediately knelt down.
"My lord... you... how did you end up in this... this state of being a dog!"
"Heh heh, I was ambushed by Great Xia and surrounded by a group of Pinnacle First-Rank Warriors, so it's a miracle I made it back alive," Abe no Seimei would never admit that he was beaten to a pulp by two women, leaving him with no room to even struggle, for then he would have no face to live.
"My lord is formidable," the ninja in black said with earnest respect before continuing, "Let me treat your wounds first, my lord. The injury on your buttocks looks very severe, and it's still bleeding."
"ROAR!!"
The wild dog howled: "Don't mention my wounds, just take me to see Lord Amaterasu."
"Right."
The ninja in black immediately lifted the wild dog, the pungent smell nearly overwhelming him to the point of fainting.
His gaze covertly swept around, his heart trembling.
This...
He always felt that these wounds were like piercing injuries, but they probably weren't made by a sharp weapon. What exactly had his lord encountered?
In the darkest depths of Takamanohara.
The ninja in black and the wild dog crawled on their knees, inching forward.
"Abe no Seimei seeks an audience with Lord Amaterasu."
"BOOM!!!"
The terrifying divine might began to stir from the depths of darkness, two dazzling eyes piercing through the blackness looking their way.
"How did you end up looking like a dog?"
The ninja in black trembled, not daring to utter a word, as the wild dog began to sob, shedding dog tears.
"Lord Amaterasu."
"I have suffered every indignity, but at last, I have discovered the cause of the previous palpitations you and the other gods felt."
"Buzz——"
Tremendous, terrifying waves of energy surged, and the ninja lay prostrate on the ground, his fear reaching its peak.
"Is what you say true?"
Abe no Seimei himself wasn't certain, but in order to be resurrected, he had to say it was, pinning the blame on that man named Xia Luo.
Otherwise, without sufficient leverage, he was doomed to be a dog for life.
"My lord, yes, I have discovered it," he affirmed.
"There is a man named Xia Luo in Great Xia, eighteen years old, yet possessing the power to contend with me. The two women by his side are his protectors; with a mere gesture, they blew me away."
The ninja in black overheard his voice and cursed internally.
Didn't you freaking say it was you fighting against countless Pinnacle First-Rank Warriors? How has it suddenly turned into three people!?!
Bravado, right?
"Eighteen years old, able to contend with you, is he a God's Child?" Lord Amaterasu expressed surprise, even though Abe no Seimei's strength was of little concern to him.
But a young man of eighteen defeating him was definitely not a trivial matter.
Logically, there should be no presence of Divine Spirits in Great Xia, especially after that incident years ago, he was a hundred percent sure.
"It must be, he could break through my Shikigami with a wave of his hand, and the two women by his side are even more terrifying," Abe no Seimei explained. "So, the Godchild Luo Yu that Great Xia publicly parades is a fake, a decoy; it's this Xia Luo who Great Xia has been wanting to keep concealed."
"And the reason for your previous palpitations."
"We must destroy him, he must be destroyed; otherwise, this guy will sooner or later become a severe threat to us."
Abe no Seimei let out a roar, his emotions surging uncontrollably; no one knew, no one understood the extent of suffering he had endured on this journey.
If it wasn't for his desperate measures in serving a powerful ferocious beast, numbing it, he would never have found the chance to escape.
He had endured all of this just to reconstruct his body and seek revenge on that man named Xia Luo.
"Are you instructing a god in his duty?"
"Boom!"
The stray dog's limbs burst apart instantly, without any warning.
"It's Seimei's fault, my fault!" the limbless zhū lay on the ground, begging for mercy in terror.
"Your information is very valuable, not bad, Xia Luo from Great Xia? I will remember this,"
"Tell me, what is your wish?"
Abe no Seimei rejoiced.
"Please grant me divine power to help me restore my flesh body."
Amaterasu said, "I can't create a body out of thin air for you; you must choose one, and I will help you possess and strengthen it."
Upon hearing this, the black-clad ninja trembling beside the zhū realized a terrible fact.
"Roar roar."
"Let it be this stupid thing beside me, the person is a bit dim-witted, but this body is nice; I'm very satisfied."
"As you wish."
"No, don't!!! Please, Lord, spare my life." The black-clad ninja kowtowed frantically, begging desperately.
Abe no Seimei remained silent, and Amaterasu deep within cared even less.
In His eyes, as well as in Abe's, life was nothing more than chaff, only of value if it served a purpose to them.
"Hum hum hum!"
Pinkish-black divine power surged out, forming into two giant hands, one reaching for the zhū and the other for the black-clad ninja.
A weak, elderly soul was extracted from the dog's body.
And the black-clad ninja, filled with terror, frantically tried to escape outward, willing to die for his country but not in such an inexplicable way.
"Save me, can anyone save me!!!"
His desperate cries ended in a scream of despair as his soul was pulled out and instantly crushed in mid-air.
The old man's soul was then thrust into his body.
Pinkish-black light sparkled.
"I hereby grant you divine power; go back to Great Xia and bring me that Xia Luo, and do not disturb the other gods who are awakening."
"Boom!"
Three special beams of light flew out of the darkness into the body of the black-clad ninja. His flesh squirmed, growing dense snake scales.
The entire person transformed into a snake-like being, with horns on the head and a long tail growing out from behind, the body covered in white scales.
The eyes turned into triangular snake pupils, showing crimson fangs when speaking.
"Heh heh."
"Thank you, Lord Amaterasu, for granting me divine power."
"I can feel the surging strength!!!"
Abe no Seimei clenched his fist, feeling as though he could easily crush his past self with a single finger.
"Go now, capture that Xia Luo!"
"If you fail to bring him back within three days, your blood will dry up, and you will die!"
The voice echoed indifferently in the dark space. Abe no Seimei shivered and knelt respectfully: "I shall leave immediately."
"Swooosh—"
Abe no Seimei hurried toward Great Xia to seek revenge: "Heh, that damn Xia Luo and your two terrifying female guardians, now that I am endowed with divine power, what can you use to fight me?"
Deep within Takamanopara.
"Amaterasu, do you think that Onmyoji's words are trustworthy?"
"Whether they are trustworthy or not, deceiving us would definitely not end well for him. How is your revival coming along, Tian Yu?"
"Thirty percent of divine power, how about you, Amaterasu?"
"Sixty percent, heh heh, perhaps we brothers will be the first of the gods to be fully resurrected."
...
One hundred meters beneath Mount Li, Luo Yu saw the scene within the dark space, deeply shocked by the sight before him.
A majestic throne hundred meters tall stood in the far distance, below it, countless soldiers nine meters and nine tall.
Densely packed, squared off in formation, there were exactly nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine of them.
Each had an aura far stronger than the soldiers encountered in the underground tomb, almost of the same type.
They all stood on the edge of a bottomless pit.
"More food has come?"
"Tch, someone dares to come here!"
Suddenly, several malicious and ferocious voices rose from the bottom of the pit,