Chapter 344: The Multi-Headed Monster

When Pu Han You Zhu and Sang Yuan He Zhen learned of the actual existence of the Demon Realm, they were utterly baffled.

How come, right after finishing the Dark Tournament, another ominous-sounding name just popped up?

This world is divided into the Human Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Spirit Realm where souls reside; the Demon Realm is unfathomably deep, while the Spirit Realm, nominally governing the underworld and all souls, actually controls only a tiny fraction of the Demon Realm.

Though not on the same dimensional plane, imagine the Demon Realm as a vast building buried deep underground—Yan Wang’s domain reaches only the first basement level, and even then, only half of it; no one knows how many levels the Demon Realm has or how vast it truly is.

Beyond that, it’s too dangerous to penetrate further; only through countless years of slow, painstaking effort could territory be gradually expanded.

This matter is recorded in the Dark Continent arc of *Hunter x Hunter* and the Gourmet World arc of *Gourmet Hunter*; beneath the seemingly ordinary civilization lies darkness brought by the will of mighty beings.

Thinking oneself invincible, only to realize moments later that one has been peering at the sky from a well—with enemies everywhere beyond—this is precisely the situation.

In the lower depths of the boundless Demon Realm, there are countless A-rank demons and S-rank demons beyond A-rank; those with demonic power exceeding ten thousand are commonplace, the strong abound, and for centuries they have fought endlessly, never unified.

Naturally, some among them are interested in the Human Realm, but the subspace between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm is sealed by powerful barriers.

Like a fishing net, demons and demon-men with demonic power reaching A-rank cannot pass through due to their excessive “size”; only weaker demons can slip through like “fish escaping the net.”

Fei Ying and Zang Nan both had to suppress their demonic power to an extreme minimum just to barely enter the Human Realm; returning is even harder.

“Hmm… I still need to ask Shi Yu about Fei Ying and Xue Cai’s situation. Although the Spirit Realm’s barrier only restricts demonic energy and humans can pass freely, their strength has already exceeded the barrier’s upper limit—they can’t return. Even if we open a Demon Realm tunnel, they’ll still be blocked outside.”

Little Yan Wang stroked his pacifier in thought; he wasn’t unwilling to help, but even he felt powerless in this situation.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea.”

“Shut up with your stupid ideas.”

Little Yan Wang was stunned, nearly jumping up to kick Jia Ji’s knee—this man’s plans were always brutally simple; the time he kidnapped Zang Nan was one, and challenging Hu Yu Lu Di was another.

So he utterly disbelieved Jia Ji could propose any decent solution.

“You’re not seriously thinking of deliberately destroying the barrier between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm, are you? The Spirit Realm Special Forces won’t allow it.”

Little Yan Wang didn’t know what Jia Ji was thinking, but as ruler of the Spirit Realm, he would never permit anyone to disrupt the fragile balance between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.

This wasn’t because he doubted Jia Ji’s strength or feared he couldn’t stand against the hordes of demons pouring from the Demon Realm; out of duty and responsibility, Little Yan Wang had to stop him.

“Didn’t I say? Go find the former Spirit Realm Detective, You Hu’s predecessor—the Multi-Headed Monster—Xian Shui Ren.”

Jia Ji narrowed his eyes, looking distinctly eager.

…

“Why the hell are we doing free labor for that guy?”

Sang Yuan couldn’t help complaining; he didn’t care one bit about Xian Shui Ren or whatever.

And according to Jia Ji, the man mastered all kinds of martial arts, forged an incredibly strong body, and possessed extraordinarily high spiritual power—each of these alone was flawless.

He even mastered Lie Cu Quan, hailed as the greatest martial art in history, and infused it with spiritual power to create his own unique technique, Ling Guang Lie Cu Quan; if talent were the measure, he was equal to no one, and his strength was arguably the greatest among humans—of course, within this world.

Such a powerful being—why on earth would we go provoke him? Isn’t that just inviting trouble and risking our lives?

“It’s for Fei Ying and his sister… Though I don’t know how Xian Shui Ren could bypass the barrier, that guy probably isn’t lying to us.”

Zang Nan replied.

He hadn’t lied—just deliberately omitted some things, like “You Hu’s power is already sufficient for bloodline awakening—he just needs to die once more,” or “Sang Yuan’s sword can split dimensions.”

“Then it’s settled—Xue Cai’s matter is my matter!” Sang Yuan thumped his chest, his whole body seeming to burn with fierce determination.

But Xue Cai had lived in the Human Realm for five years; though socially withdrawn, she was no longer the innocent, soft, sweet girl she once was—her forcible imprisonment of Fei Ying proved that; if it came to battle, she wouldn’t hold back.

And at this moment, Sang Yuan had neither rescued a damsel in distress nor enjoyed any success since his debut; worse, he was poorly educated, having never even finished junior high.

Xue Cai was a high school student, an A-rank demon ice maiden, powerful, cute, academically excellent, and capable in every household task—how could she possibly be interested in a delinquent boy inferior to her in every way?

Unless she inherited Esdeste’s mating standards from the original timeline, it was highly unlikely.

Zang Nan didn’t know if Sang Yuan had any chance, but he thought the odds were slim; the immediate priority was still finding Xian Shui Ren.

Yet a small doubt lingered in his mind.

“Multi-Headed Monster… what exactly does Jia Ji mean by that? Xian Shui Ren is a genuine human—did he turn himself into a demon with three heads?”

But Zang Nan recalled the black-haired girl he had fought—when she heard that term, she covered her mouth, as if barely suppressing laughter—and found it strangely odd.

“Whatever—it’s enough that we just defeat him.”

Fei Ying finally broke his silence, coldly speaking.

The four members of the Spirit Realm Detective Team, following Jia Ji’s information, arrived in Chongji City, where Xian Shui Ren was said to appear.

Chongji City was small, only a town of 250,000 people, but finding one person within it wouldn’t be easy—especially when that person was a former Spirit Realm Detective.

“Damn it, why didn’t he give us clearer details? How are we supposed to find someone in a place this big?”

Sang Yuan kicked a roadside pebble in frustration; they were great at fighting, but terrible at searching.

Clack, clack.

The stone rolled into a roadside ditch, splashing a little water.

“Look behind you, red-haired brat.”

A sinister male voice came from behind the delinquent; a tall, thin black shadow gripped Sang Yuan’s shoulder, immobilizing him with terrifying force.

“I heard you’re looking for me, right?”

(End of Chapter)