Chapter 172: The Seventh Battle Among Heaven-Treasure Holders

Meanwhile, the captain couldn’t help glancing at Li Shuyang.

This kid looks at most ten? Don’t schools today teach kindness? How come this child’s killing intent is heavier than ours, who’ve been on the front lines for years?

“Take them both back first.”

“Isolate and interrogate them. We’ll decide after the investigation.”

The captain waved his hand in command; the other team members immediately stepped forward, placing special wristbands on both of them—devices developed to partially suppress spiritual power.

But these bands had little effect on either Zhou Ming or Li Shuyang; they were mostly for show.

Zhou Ming knew this well, so he didn’t refuse—only glared fiercely at Li Shuyang, their eyes locked until they were shoved into the armored vehicle, never once breaking contact.

Such an intense battle had occurred in Chaoyang Park; even at night, it was frequented by citizens taking strolls or youths jogging.

Although the crowd had kept their distance due to the terrifying aura of their clash, videos filmed from afar had already begun spreading online.

Even the later arrival of Tian Shu Bureau personnel had been captured on camera.

At first, because it was night, few had seen it—the video only circulated on local forums and small circles; but as dawn broke and countless people woke up, instinctively reaching for their phones and opening social platforms:

#ChaoyangPark: Two Heaven-Treasure Holders Engage in Deadly Combat#

#Ji Guo Yuan Yi vs. Muzan Kibutsuji: Battle Between Heirs#

#Real-Life Demon Slayer#

Half of the top ten trending topics were related to this fight!

In the video, crimson blade-light tore through the night, and fleshy tentacles regenerated wildly; especially Li Shuyang’s final move—“Sun Breathing: Tenth Form”—a fire tornado strike that illuminated half the park as bright as day, so shocking even the filmer couldn’t help cursing.

The comment section was now utterly bewildered:

【Wait, what’s going on? I just slept, and now there are two Heaven-Treasure Holders fighting each other?】

【Of course the Demon Slayers would fight the demons—but how do we know it’s Ji Guo Yuan Yi and Gui Wudie Wucan? The footage’s too far; we can only confirm it’s Sun Breathing.】

【Even if it’s Sun Breathing, it doesn’t mean it’s Ji Guo Yuan Yi—Tanjiro can use it too. And if this guy had Ji Guo Yuan Yi’s template, even facing Gui Wudie Wucan’s template, he’d run without hesitation, not fight.】

【Not so fast—wasn’t Gui Wudie Wucan originally one of the most arrogant, then instantly cut down by Ji Guo Yuan Yi? Maybe the template requires experiencing this exact scene to increase compatibility.】

【Hey! Don’t say it—but you’re right! I think this is the truth!】

【If that’s true, then the guy using Sun Breathing is just reenacting Ji Guo Yuan Yi’s battle with Gui Wudie Wucan? Are they faking it?】

【Impossible—the one using Sun Breathing was clearly getting beaten. Can you imagine Ji Guo Yuan Yi getting pounded by Gui Wudie Wucan? Gui Wudie Wucan wouldn’t even dare dream of it.】

【Isn’t this the world’s first-ever deadly clash between Heaven-Treasure Holders? Ye Shen fought Gu Che, Lu Jing, and others before—but those were sparring matches.】

【Sparring? More like one-sided beatdowns. Dog face.jpg】

【.】

Although the video was taken from a distance, anime fans’ obsessive attention to detail revealed that Li Shuyang used Sun Breathing—and that his opponent, who could resist Sun Breathing and fight him to this point, had obtained Gui Wudie Wucan’s template or abilities.

But they couldn’t determine whether Li Shuyang was the heir of Ji Guo Yuan Yi, or of Tanjiro.

Because Li Shuyang hadn’t displayed the absolute dominance Ji Guo Yuan Yi showed over Gui Wudie Wucan.

He was clearly the weaker one early on, then suddenly seemed to go berserk, his techniques becoming overwhelmingly powerful.

Still, overall, they didn’t dwell on it—after all, whether template or heir, the Demon Slayer world’s power ceiling was low, nowhere near the scale of most other Heaven-Treasure worlds.

Instead, people from other cities began joking about how Chaoyang City’s Tian Shu Bureau would resolve this “feud” between the two Heaven-Treasure Holders.

The world’s first-ever deadly clash between Heaven-Treasure Holders? This was no easy situation.

Indeed, not easy at all.

At this moment, in Chaoyang City’s Tian Shu Bureau meeting room, they were drowning in a sea of public outrage.

“We can’t suppress it—everyone online is talking. But luckily, because the distance was great, neither Zhou Ming nor Li Shuyang’s faces were captured.”

Li Ming stared at the scrolling trending data on screen, his temples throbbing.

Logically, one Heaven-Treasure Holder appearing in Chaoyang City was a huge blessing; two was double the fortune.

But these two had acquired mutually lethal abilities—they met and immediately tried to kill each other.

No, not even when they met—they’d sensed each other through psychic connection and gone straight to each other’s homes.

After last night’s interrogations, they now understood the full story.

“Zhou Ming, 25, ordinary office worker. One day ago bought a ‘Shenguang Stick’ from a street vendor, received a plastic flower as a gift—the flower transformed into the blue Amanita from the Demon Slayer world, fused into him during sleep, awakening Gui Wudie Wucan’s abilities.”

“Time, location, surveillance footage—all match. But we can’t rule out he altered his appearance using his power.”

“But we can confirm he has never taken a human life.”

They were confident about this—though psychic users weren’t as strong as Heaven-Treasure Holders, their abilities were diverse, and many things were possible.

“Regarding appetite, Zhou Ming claims his power comes from Gui Wudie Wucan—he doesn’t need to eat humans. Gui Wudie Wucan did so only because he didn’t care; but Zhou Ming does. And as Li Shuyang said, Zhou Ming only follows rules now because he’s too weak—if he grows stronger, he won’t.”

“Zhou Ming’s explanation? He’s just thinking. Thinking isn’t illegal.”

A few stifled laughs echoed in the room.

The screen switched to Li Shuyang—the boy, even seated in the interrogation chair, sat with perfect posture.

“Li Shuyang, student at Chaoyang City No.1 High School, heir of Ji Guo Yuan Yi. Awakened the Demon Slayer’s Mark and broke through to Stage Three during his battle with Zhou Ming.”

“He says he found Zhou Ming due to an instinctive hatred for demons granted by Ji Guo Yuan Yi’s inheritance.”

“Using this instinct, he tracked Zhou Ming to his home and attacked without hesitation.”

“According to our psychological experts’ evaluation, this child holds an unnatural obsession with demons—clearly a profound psychological impact from Ji Guo Yuan Yi’s inheritance.”

“Though he claims to possess only Ji Guo Yuan Yi’s inheritance, such an inheritance alone couldn’t cause this change. We suspect he awakened a psychic ability—specifically designed to locate demons.”

Here, they could barely suppress their expressions.

It wasn’t a secret in the Tian Shu Bureau that Heaven-Treasure Holders sometimes awaken psychic abilities tied to their treasures—Gu Che, Lu Jing, Shen Mo, all had done so.

But how much hatred for demons did Li Shuyang harbor, to awaken a psychic ability specifically targeting them?

“Enough with the stiff faces.”

Li Ming watched the team members forcing seriousness while barely holding back grins, and sighed.

He pulled up two files and projected them on screen.

“Zhou Ming himself is not a problem.”

“As he said, we can’t condemn a person just because of the power they gained. Gui Wudie Wucan’s ability is dangerous—but which Heaven-Treasure Holder or Stage Two+ psychic isn’t?”

“If we’re talking destructive power, how much worse are Gu Che, Lu Jing, Lin Ruoxi, Shen Mo?”

A few light laughs filled the room; the tension eased slightly.

“As for his inner thoughts—”

“Who hasn’t fantasized about using power to gain status? Do any of you not want my position as director?”

“Wanting to improve isn’t a bad thing.”

Li Ming shrugged; the deputy director couldn’t help coughing.

“Now, Li Shuyang.”

“His methods were extreme, but his intent was correct.”

“The problem is—he underestimated human will. No, I mean, Gui Wudie Wucan’s will.”

“Gui Wudie Wucan wasn’t incapable of restraining his desires—he simply refused to restrain them for humanity’s sake. But Zhou Ming can.”

“Whether he’ll truly do so in the future? We don’t know. But for now, I believe we should trust him.”

He tapped the table, making his decision.

“In extraordinary times, use extraordinary measures.”

“Forcing them to coexist peacefully is unrealistic. But both are precious Heaven-Treasure Holders. My suggestion is—”

“First: impose limited supervision on Zhou Ming—regular psychological evaluations, but no restriction on freedom;”

“Second: have psychological experts guide Li Shuyang—reduce his killing intent.”

“Third.”

Li Ming suddenly smiled, a knowing, cryptic smile.

“Since they’re so full of energy, why not form a special operations team? Dedicated to handling mutated creature incidents.”

The room fell silent.

The deputy director opened his mouth:

“Director… are you making them love-hate each other?”

“That’s resource optimization.”

Li Ming spoke seriously.

“They’re going to fight anyway. Might as well fight someone worth fighting.”

“But what if they refuse to join the Tian Shu Bureau?”

Chen Zhen asked curiously—strictly speaking, neither Zhou Ming nor Li Shuyang were Tian Shu Bureau personnel.

The room fell silent again.

Director Li Ming slowly raised his head, smiling—but the smile didn’t feel like a smile at all:

“They’ve caused this much chaos now—do you think they can just opt out?”

“Zhou Ming is suspected of violating Article 17 of the Psychic User Public Security Regulations: using a high-risk psychic ability in public and causing unrest. Li Shuyang violated Article 17, and also Article 19: attacking and threatening innocent civilian Zhou Ming.”

“Now we give them two choices.”

“Either sign a contract and join the Tian Shu Bureau—under supervision, but with official benefits; or face punishment under the Psychic User Public Security Regulations.”

Everyone shuddered in unison.

Punishment under the Psychic User Public Security Regulations was no joke—in fact, because the offenders were psychic users or Heaven-Treasure Holders, the penalties were stricter than standard regulations.

Three years was the minimum sentence.

“Of course, we will fully respect personal choice.”

"I believe they will make the right choice."

Li Ming smiled warmly.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Zhou Ming stared at the contract’s clauses—“five insurances and one fund,” “annual salary of ten million,” “housing allocation”—then glanced at the silver bracelet beside him, his lips twitching:

"Even if I were an idiot, I’d know which one to pick."

In the next room, Li Shuyang frowned at a document titled “Special Operations Team Formation Plan for the Ghost-Slayer Unit.”

Ghost-Slayer Unit? What’s with the hyphen? Ghost-Slayer?

Why separate those two characters?

It can’t possibly mean I’m supposed to work with that guy, can it?

Time slipped away unnoticed, and before long, it was the second month.

The impact caused by Li Shuyang and Zhou Ming gradually subsided, as official announcements and follow-up reports from the Tian Shu Bureau quieted the public frenzy.

On the third day after the incident erupted, the Chaoyang City Tian Shu Bureau publicly released information about Li Shuyang and Zhou Ming, including Li Shuyang’s inheritance of Jin Kuo Yuan Yi’s legacy and Zhou Ming’s accidental acquisition of the “Sunlight-Resistant Version of Muzan Kibutsuji’s” abilities.

Because Zhou Ming’s acquisition of these abilities was highly dramatic, and because Muzan Kibutsuji himself could never withstand sunlight, it was specifically highlighted in the report.

“Plastic flower bought for fifty yuan from a street vendor, attached to a light rod, accidentally transformed into a Celestial Treasure—the Blue Bian Flower—fused to grant Muzan Kibutsuji’s powers while remaining immune to sunlight.”

This anecdote was even turned into an internet meme, captioned: “Where to find the best street bargains? Chaoyang Night Market—look for Zhou Lang.” No one had anticipated that the Blue Bian Flower, which Muzan Kibutsuji had sought his entire life, would become linked to him in such a way.

Some people tried to pay Zhou Ming a high price to transform them into demons, but the Chaoyang City Tian Shu Bureau outright refused.

Zhou Ming could resist the demon’s will—but that didn’t mean others who became demons through him could.

Yet the most unexpected development was still the Chaoyang City Tian Shu Bureau’s decision to assign Zhou Ming and Li Shuyang to form the “Ghost-Slayer Unit,” tasked with handling mutated creatures in Chaoyang City.

“LOL, the official team is forcing a couple.”

“Jin Kuo Yuan Yi and Muzan Kibutsuji never imagined they’d be linked like this.”

“Can this team even function? I swear, Li Shuyang’s look at Zhou Ming makes me think he’s about to stab him any second.”

“A plastic flower from a light rod bought on the street turned into a Celestial Treasure? What luck! 😍”

“.”

Ye Xuan noticed this incident, but to him, the appearance of Li Shuyang and Zhou Ming was no different from Shen Xuan’s emergence in Bibo City—just another city with two holders of Celestial Treasures.

The fact that their abilities originated from the same world, and from enemies, was interesting—but he didn’t care much.

Perhaps one day, Jin Kuo Yuan Yi and Muzan Kibutsuji themselves might descend into the real world.

When that happens, it’ll be interesting enough.

Besides, he had something more urgent to attend to now—the Seventh Celestial Fishing.

(End of Chapter)