Perhaps after this battle, I can finally level up, which is why he insists on capitalizing on the experience.

Such opportunities are truly rare, and once I leave this instance, I'm afraid I won't encounter another benefactor as accommodating as Ah Xiu... Moreover, the leveling speed has noticeably slowed down — unlike before when I could level up several times in a single night, now this LV6 has stalled me for quite a while.

Even though the battles encountered afterward have decreased, and many were handled by my teammates, the shared experience from teammates seems to be only a fraction of the total, which has given Gu Mo a sense of urgency.

Looking around at the unfamiliar yet familiar "Viper Divine Domain," he sighed softly to himself:

"It's been so long since I set out, I really should start thinking about going back."

Even though he had previously come to terms with everything and grown more optimistic and open-minded, he now had to face a hard fact — that he had spent nearly a month in this instance and had to return to check on things no matter what.

...

...

No waves occurred, and no unexpected incidents happened; everything ended as it should have.

Perhaps Hidechika's power was too formidable; his demonization turned the battlefield into a massacre. Coupled with the fact that the Demon Ghosts had already been fighting among themselves before the two of them arrived, resulting in significant internal strife, the outcome wasn't surprising.

No real final boss emerged out of nowhere, and for reasons unknown, the Night Blade God never appeared.

Cautiously traversing the hidden path inside the shrine, entering the vast natural cavern space opposite, Gu Mo's expression gradually turned rigid, eventually changing a few times, before he forcibly held back from retching.

— He felt he must have exhausted his lifetime's worth of willpower.

The ground was littered with blood, dismembered limbs, and various chunks of flesh forming piles of corpse hills, leaving virtually no place to set foot. The air was thick with a pungent stench of blood, stinging his nostrils, making him feel that even a slight breath would fill his lungs with the molecules of the blood's scent, and his stomach began to churn.

So gruesome that it was unimaginable; who knows how many Demon Ghosts perished here, more horrifying than any battlefield he had seen before.

There were too many body parts, too much blood — almost as if the density had multiplied the degree of gore several times over.

— I should never have maxed out the "gory performance effect," this could have been turned off...

Despair filled his eyes as he covered his forehead, thinking he might be left with some psychological scars because of this.

Forcing himself to discard these dreadful emotions, he composed his mind and carefully scrutinized this space. Unlike the vast emptiness of the impression of the usual boss battlefield, here felt like... "piles upon piles."

Not only a sea of corpses and blood, but also something inherent to this space that attracted countless demons to swarm here and fight to the bitter end for it — Spirit Stones!

Spirit Stones of immense numbers! These emitted a honey-thick, golden essence; numerous massive crystals jutted out from the ground like spikes, resembling clusters of colossal plants that naturally thrived densely in this space.

Apart from these large crystals, there were smaller, broken ones, and beneath the dense carpet of corpse and blood chunks on the ground, it seemed like a chaotic rocky beach full of various sizes of crystal shards.

Realizing this, Gu Mo's mind was captivated for a moment, his gaze becoming slightly dazed.

......

"Long ago, in the area around Kanesaki, there was a small village called Chu Yeshi, famous for its forging technique and the collection of peculiar stones known as Spirit Stones — it was once the Demon Hunting Land..."

In the secret passage.

Saito Dosan's expression turned grim, speaking in a nearly inaudible voice, as if talking to himself, narrating some past story to someone beside him.

"Spirit Stones are a peculiar type of stone; some think they are just stones from mountains, but in reality, they are essences condensed from grounds of bloodshed, never something good... people mostly don't know this, and those who do often ignore it, instead becoming obsessed with the power Spirit Stones bring."

"Even those who know nothing will naturally understand upon their first encounter with such stones that they can achieve something; they can seduce the heart... Moreover, the more and larger the Spirit Stones, the stronger the allure becomes, the more they can accomplish no matter what ambition or desire."

The samurai in armor beside him, Saito Dosan's most trusted Mitsunari Akechi, nodded lightly, softly agreeing: "But this power defies common sense, only bringing distortion to this world."

"Exactly, which is why I've spent these years collecting Spirit Stones from across the land and storing them here to prevent others from abusing them..." Viper God watched intensely, "So whoever I entrust Mino to in the future, it's like entrusting these Spirit Stones to them as well, and I must understand how that person views this matter."

This is Saito Dosan's test, an issue that the one inheriting Mino cannot escape.

If someone would go to any lengths to achieve their goals, unscrupulously using the power of Spirit Stones, it would fundamentally oppose Saito Dosan's principles, earning his absolute disapproval.

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