16
In Zhou Huai's mind, information about that SS-Rank Expert surfaced.
Chong Wenguma.
The previous head of the Kujo Family, a direct cousin-uncle of Kujo Koji.
He became famous very early, and his strength is unfathomable.
Yet he never participates in Clan disputes, nor does he care about worldly affairs outside.
In Sakura Country, his more widely known identity is that of a historian and archaeologist.
A scholar obsessed with studying ancient history.
Zhou Huai seemed to understand something.
"So he guards there, not for the Kujo Family, but for himself."
Nakamura Shinichiro nodded heavily, lowering his voice even further.
"Yes, Master."
"Lord Chong Wenguma is the top scholar in Sakura Country, and he has dedicated his life to studying ancient civilizations."
"Guarding the Ise Grand Shrine is also to study the secrets inside."
Zhou Huai understood.
No wonder Kujo Koji couldn't wait to resurrect Qinze Taichiro.
He was really short of manpower.
Chong Wenguma is his cousin-uncle, so he can't order him around at all.
The only obedient one in his hands is Wada Hirayama.
That person's strength is still far from being an opponent to Soma Kosuke.
Zhou Huai had already begun to imagine the possibility of cooperating with the Omiya Family.
The enemy of my enemy is a friend.
At least his goal and that of the Omiya Family at the current stage are consistent, which is to prevent the Kujo Family from continuing to use the Pendulum of Life.
It's just that now doesn't seem to be the best time to talk about cooperation.
The Omiya Family hasn't been forced to the point of a life-and-death struggle with the Kujo Family yet.
They won't easily cooperate with other external forces.
Popping up at this time makes it easy to be hit as a focal point.
He could only watch the changes quietly.
Zhou Huai was pondering silently, while Nakamura Shinichiro had already taken the initiative to open the car door for him.
"Master, this is the cabin where this subordinate once lived, and the facilities inside are complete."
"I will greet the guards here, and unless there are special circumstances, no one will come to disturb."
Zhou Huai looked around.
This is a typical Sakura-style single-Clan courtyard, located in an extremely secluded corner of the Takamagahara district.
Tall walls completely isolated the hustle and bustle of the outside world, and the courtyard gate is made of thick log material, exuding a rustic charm.
Pushing the door open, it is a carefully managed dry landscape courtyard.
The white sand and gravel are raked into layers of ripples, symbolizing flowing rivers.
Several cyan rocks of various shapes are dotted among them, like isolated islands in the middle of the river.
In a corner of the courtyard, a rugged-looking black pine stands quietly.
Zhou Huai walked across the pebble-paved path and pulled open the wooden sliding door.
The entrance is clean and tidy, and the air is filled with a faint fragrance of tatami.
The indoor decoration is completely different from the rustic appearance, full of modernity.
The living room is spacious and bright, and outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows is that quiet courtyard.
Zhou Huai nodded with satisfaction.
He took the suitcase down from the car and instructed Nakamura Shinichiro: "Go ahead and get busy first. If the Omiya Family has any new moves, remember to report to me."
Nakamura Shinichiro responded respectfully, and was just about to turn around to drive.
Zhou Huai thought of something and called him to stop.
"Right, does the Omiya Family have'Spell-Breaking Spiritual Incense'?"
Nakamura Shinichiro's figure couldn't help but pause.
Of course he understood what Spell-Breaking Spiritual Incense is used for.
That is specially used to dispel the Shinto curse inside the Ise Grand Shrine.
Could the invasion of the Ise Grand Shrine a few days ago be related to the Master?
This thought flashed through his mind and was then forcibly extinguished by him.
Matters of the Master are not for him to ask.
The sensible Nakamura Shinichiro didn't ask anything, but replied even more respectfully: "Yes, there is."
"If Master needs it, I will fetch it for you right now."
Zhou Huai nodded.
"Go ahead."
Watching Nakamura Shinichiro's car disappear at the end of the alley, the expression on Zhou Huai's face completely relaxed.
Since he can obtain the Spell-Breaking Spiritual Incense from the Omiya Family, then the curse on Polina's body will also have a way to be resolved.
He was still planning to keep Polina and Kalen to act as troublemakers.
He couldn't let them exit the stage just like that.
Zhou Huai pulled open the huge black suitcase.
He carried out the unconscious Natsume Rinku from inside and gently placed her on the clean tatami.
The little girl's eyes were still tightly closed, and fine beads of sweat oozed from her forehead.
Her brows were tightly locked, her expression painful, as if she were deeply trapped in some inescapable nightmare.
Zhou Huai could feel that the mysterious power in her body had not subsided, but instead, like a trapped beast, was frantically crashing against the cage.
This should be a battle for physical possession.
A tragic slaughter between her own consciousness and that unknown existence.
Zhou Huai was powerless about this and didn't care either.
The only thing he could do was that when the energy inside Natsume Rinku's body couldn't be controlled again and overflowed, he let the dozen or so Parasites lurking in her body open their greedy mouthparts to absorb it all.
"System Prompt: Obtained Experience Value + 10000"
"System Prompt: Obtained Experience Value + 10000"
...
The intermittent prompt tones were like the most wonderful movement.
Insect Emperor Caesar's Level 21 Experience Value bar rose by a huge chunk again at a visible speed.
Zhou Huai sighed inwardly.
Sure enough, bringing along the little girl Natsume Rinku was a wise choice.
She was simply a mobile, renewable super experience baby.
He originally thought the little girl would wake up soon after tossing and turning all night.
As a result, a full three days passed.
Natsume Rinku still showed no signs of waking up, only occasionally uttering one or two vague murmurs in her nightmare.
And Zhou Huai's Insect Emperor Caesar had already reached Level 22.
Among them, aside from the credit of Natsume Rinku as the "experience baby", Zhou Huai also manipulated Insect Emperor Caesar to release more Parasites in various corners of Takamagahara.
Nearly five thousand Classer, like diligent worker bees, continuously transmitted hard-earned experience values to Insect Emperor Caesar twenty-four hours a day, greatly enhancing Insect Emperor Caesar's leveling efficiency.
In addition, the number of Hell-Grade Armored Beetle boss templates in the Insect Tide space also reached an astonishing nine.
Under Zhou Huai's instruction, Insect Emperor Caesar, controlled by the Intellect Core AI, basically soaked in the major dungeons of Takamagahara.
The purpose was only one.
Madly elevating the Level of those few Hell-Grade Armored Beetles.
...
Meanwhile, Donghai City.
Inside the temporary headquarters of the Evernight Guild.
Zhuge Kongming's dungeon design also had huge progress.
"Mr. Kongming, thi... this is the dungeon space you created?"
Gao Yuan followed behind Zhuge Kongming, stepping into a brand-new world in one step.
The expression on his face instantly turned from initial anticipation into indescribable shock.
Underfoot was a flat and smooth white marble plaza, and the plaza was so large that it could accommodate tens of thousands of people.
In the center of the plaza quietly stood a magnificent goddess statue.
The goddess was draped in a sacred white robe, her face compassionate yet majestic; she held a staff inlaid with a huge blue gemstone, raising it high as if praying to the firmament or blessing the land beneath her feet.
An inviolable sacred aura permeated from the statue.
Gao Yuan subconsciously held his breath; he could feel that the statue contained an extremely pure and majestic energy.
He looked around, and four wide roads extended from the four directions of the plaza, leading to four distinct regions in the distance.
To the east was a dense primeval forest, where beast roars could be faintly heard.
To the west was a barren Gobi desert, filled with wind and sand.
To the south was a rolling lava volcanic zone, and the air carried the burning heat of sulfur.
To the north was a frozen snowfield, with biting cold.
Gao Yuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in his heart.
As a lecturer of dungeon architecture at Dongning Academy, he had seen no less than eighty or a hundred dungeon spaces.
But not a single one could bring him such a strong sense of reality like the one in front of him.
The mountains, water, wind, and even the flow of energy elements in the air here were no different from the real world.
If he hadn't watched Zhuge Kongming open the space anchor with his own eyes, he would have even thought he had been teleported to some unknown Secret Realm.
"Mr. Kongming, your talent... is truly... truly..."
Gao Yuan searched his brain, only to find that any words of praise seemed so pale and powerless before such miraculous creation.
In the end, he could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
"I have studied dungeon architecture for half my life, and today I finally know what it means that there are heavens beyond the heavens."
Zhou Huai manipulated Zhuge Kongming, a faint smile hanging on his face.
"Teacher Gao flatters me."
"They are just some low-grade little tricks."
Gao Yuan's mouth twitched.
This is still called a little trick?
Then wouldn't the things he taught not even count as kindergarten graffiti?
He looked at the goddess statue in the center of the plaza and the four roads leading to different areas, deep in thought.
"Looking at this layout, it seems to be a typical city-defense dungeon."
"I wonder if Mr. Kongming has given this dungeon a name?"
Hearing this, the smile on Zhou Huai's face grew even thicker.
"Name?"
"I thought of it long ago."
"Let's call it..."
"Defending Athena."