Chapter 775 The Third Phase

Chen Xiaolian had spoken with a very flat tone. But when Heavenly Attacker’s team of three heard those words, they felt extremely terrified.

Naturally, it was not the words that were terrifying. It was his strength.

Heavenly Attacker knew that he was not the strongest amongst the Players and Awakened ones. For example, Shen, the Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild, was generally recognized as the strongest amongst the Players.

Nevertheless, Heavenly Attacker was confident that, if he had to face Shen on his own, he should still be able to put up a fight against him. Even in the most extreme circumstances, he would not be killed.

There was an unwritten consensus amongst Players and Awakened ones. Unless it was an unavoidable battle to the death, those who have reached [S] class would have a very hard time killing one another, regardless of which side they were on.

For someone at the [S] class, unless they were restricted by the system quest, they would be able to escape.

Heavenly Attacker had never imagined that he would be trampled like this by a single opponent.

Run! I must run right now!

Heavenly Attacker knelt on the ground, clutching his still-bleeding right arm. Quickly, he activated all the thrusters on his suit of armour and flew towards the roof.

He didn’t even have the luxury to give his two team members any orders through the guild channel.

That said, there was no need for Heavenly Attacker to give them the order.

Humans possessed the instinct to run.

Driven by fear, the two did not hesitate. One of them also activated his thrusters while the other one abruptly stamped both feet, summoning out a bone dragon from beneath him. Flapping its wings, it brought the summoner with it as it flew towards the entrance of the hall.

Contrary to Sawakita Mitsuo’s expectations, Chen Xiaolian simply watched as the three of them ran, not taking action to stop them.

“Chen-san…”

Just as Sawakita Mitsuo was about to speak up, he saw a longbow suddenly appear in Chen Xiaolian’s hand.

It was a silvery-white longbow with exquisite patterns engraved on its surface. A blade extended out from each of its two ends.

By then, Heavenly Attacker had already broken through the roof. His two team members had also charged out through the entrance of the hall. Chen Xiaolian, though, continued to raise the longbow. He did not even take aim with it.

The pulled longbow took the shape of a full moon.

There was no arrow or anything of the sort on the bowstring. But when Chen Xiaolian released his fingers, the bowstring promptly shone.

Three arrows, composed of light, split into three different directions as they flew out.

…

Heavenly Attacker had only just charged out through the roof when the Tactical Rubik’s Cube on his body transformed again.

Only a thin layer of it remained on his body as the rest reassembled into a motorcycle-like aircraft. There were two large thrusters on its back.

This was actually the Tactical Rubik’s Cube’s offensive mode. This was the first time Heavenly Attacker had used it to escape.

Blue flames erupted from the thrusters, reaching a length of tens of metres. Instantly, the aircraft reached maximum velocity.

With this… safe!

With the successful activation of dash mode, Heavenly Attacker inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Given the speed of the dash mode, it would be impossible for anyone to catch up to him.

The instance dungeon was not yet completed, but the area involved was too big. Almost all of Japan was included in this instance dungeon. Thus, there were many places to hide.

Next up, he only needed to find a place to hide and wait for the instance dungeon to end.

Even if it meant being subjected to the punishment from the system because he could not complete the quest for the next phase, Heavenly Attacker simply didn’t care about it anymore.

He had already obtained four of the mitama, after all. Even if the system were to punish him, it would not directly kill him off. At most, he would simply have to participate in a punishment-type instance dungeon.

He was an [S] class expert, after all. There was almost no chance of him dying in a punishment-type instance dungeon.

It would be better than getting killed by this monster that came out of nowhere.

Right after those thoughts came to his mind, however, he noticed a silvery light appearing out of the corner of his eyes.

Three beams of silvery light shot out through the roof of the shrine and formed arcs in the sky before shooting towards him and his two team members.

Their speed far exceeded that of the Tactical Rubik’s Cube that had been pushed to its limit.

Heavenly Attacker had no chance to even let out a cry before the silvery light was all he could see.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Three silver-coloured fireworks burst out in the sky at the same time.

“Come, let’s go pick up the seed.”

Chen Xiaolian snapped his fingers to signal Miao Yan before walking out the hall.

…

“Chen-san’s kindness, this old man truly… I do not know how I could ever repay you.”

When Chen Xiaolian leisurely made his way back to the entrance of the shrine, he saw the back of the head of three figures.

Sawakita Mitsuo was in the front while Nagase Komi and Naito were standing side-by-side behind him. The three of them were kneeling towards Chen Xiaolian, their hands on the ground and their foreheads touching the ground.

This was Japan’s highest form of courtesy, the dogeza.

“Teacher Sawakita…” Chen Xiaolian revealed a wry smile and he hurriedly moved aside to avoid it. He then walked towards Sawakita Mitsuo from the side and pulled him up. “You are already so old. Why show such courtesy to me? How can I accept this?”

“I only think that it’s not enough. What is this about how you can accept it?” Sawakita Mitsuo shook his head, but Chen Xiaolian forcefully pulled him up while sighing softly.

Sawakita Mitsuo had not expected to encounter Heavenly Attacker again in this instance dungeon.

On top of that, the one that Chen Xiaolian was looking for was actually Heavenly Attacker.

If it weren’t for Chen Xiaolian, he would not have chosen to wait at the Izumo-taisha with his team members. Earlier, however, Heavenly Attacker mentioned that he had obtained four of the mitama. That meant that he would also target the mitama that was in their possession.

Due to that, it was just a matter of time before Heavenly Attacker found him.

He was not too confident in his ability to escape from Heavenly Attacker one more time.

Even if he could escape, albeit barely, Nagase Komi and Naito would surely die.

That was especially true of Naito.

Heavenly Attacker had made it very clear just now. He was interested in two people.

One was Chen Xiaolian. Naturally, the other one was Naito.

If they hadn’t met Chen Xiaolian in this instance dungeon, the three of them from the Fourth Shogunate Guild would likely have died here.

On Naito’s part, he had originally harboured a well-concealed feeling of resentment towards Chen Xiaolian due to the destruction of his mech. That feeling, however, had long since vanished. How could he dare to be disrespectful?

More importantly, Chen Xiaolian’s display of strength had utterly subdued him.

Killing Heavenly Attacker and his team was practically as easy as blowing off dust for him. This power had completely surpassed the limits of his imagination.

In fact, he was feeling terribly fearful. Earlier, when he had only just exited the hatch of his mech, he had actually displayed a disrespectful attitude towards Chen Xiaolian.

If it weren’t for Great Teacher and Nagase-senpai, who cut off his pinky finger to apologize…

He might have died over a hundred times by now.

“Komi, do I have to pull you up too?” Chen Xiaolian smiled at Nagase Komi. “Get up. This is just a trivial matter.”

Nagase Komi and Naito then got up and stood behind Sawakita Mitsuo.

“Chen-san, you have now gathered all the mitama of the Gods of the Land, right?” Sawakita Mitsuo lightly rubbed his moustache and said in a heavy tone, “But the system still hasn’t given any new quest notification. Looks like, even if we gather up all the mitama, it would not start the next phase in advance.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Chen Xiaolian waved it off. “We’ll deal with it step by step. With me here, are you afraid that we will not be able to complete this instance dungeon?”

“The item that Chen-san entered this instance dungeon for, didn’t you find it already?” Sawakita Mitsuo smiled. “I thought that you would leave first.”

While it was absolutely impossible for participants to leave before completing the instance dungeon, Sawakita Mitsuo – after witnessing Chen Xiaolian’s terrifying strength – believed that it was no longer an impossibility for him.

“It’s fine. I’m not in such a hurry.” Chen Xiaolian revealed a faint smile and shook his head.

“I’m already here. I can spend some time here. Also, since I’ve encountered an old friend, I might as well escort you fellows while I’m here.”

“In the future, no matter what instructions Chen-san may have for me, I, Sawakita Mitsuo, and the entire Fourth Shogunate Guild, will surely give it our all to accomplish it, even in the face of death,” Sawakita Mitsuo said solemnly.

…

A few more hours passed. This time, no other teams came to disturb them.

Finally, when the timer within the system reached 0, a new quest prompt appeared.

[Prompt: You own the Gods of the Land’s mitama after the 24 hours are over. Total number of mitama: 5/5. Okuninushi, Omononushi, Takeminakata, Shiinetsuhiko, Kotoshironushi. The second phase is complete. Entering the third phase.

[Quest for the third phase:

[As you possess the Gods of the Land’s mitama, you will be assigned to the Gods of the Land’s faction. The location of the Gods of the Land’s mitama will no longer appear on the other Players’ radars.

[Quest for the Gods of the Land’s faction: Snatch the Three Sacred Treasures.

Head to Ise Shrine and snatch the Yata-no-Kagami.

Head to Atsuta Shrine and snatch the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

Head to the Tokyo Imperial Palace and snatch the Yasakani-no-Magatama.

[By obtaining all the Three Sacred Treasures, the body of the Gods of the Land can be reformed and resurrected.

[If all five Gods of the Land are resurrected, Susanoo will awaken.]

The Three Sacred Treasures here are the actual Imperial Regalia of Japan:

1. The sword, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, formerly known as the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.

2. The mirror, the Yata-no-Kagami.

3. The jewel, the Yasakani-no-Magatama.

Per Wiki, the actual status of these legendary treasures is unknown as they are intentionally kept from public view to symbolize authority.