Chapter 121

A massive excavation project is underway.

With vast human and material resources, only half a day passed before thousands of golden skeletal remains were unearthed across this six-thousand-square-meter area.

As budgeted, the number of skeletons surged from an initial 278 to over 1,900, quickly exceeding projections.

Meanwhile.

At Saito's direction, researchers selected a household one kilometer outside the excavation zone, purchased the house, and began digging beneath its foundation.

"We've hit something!!"

At two hundred meters underground, archaeologists and researchers were both stunned and elated.

They were elated because they had not betrayed Saito's decision to acquire civilian homes and dig underground despite the pressure—here too were golden skeletal remains!

They were stunned because the quantity of remains here matched exactly that of the farmland zone, meaning this was not yet the edge—the burial region for golden corpses was far larger.

"At least five kilometers of burial ground—possibly more, maybe even ten."

Holding the golden skeletal remains unearthed beneath the civilian home, researchers shuddered.

Ten kilometers of burial ground—how many golden corpses lay buried here?!

Ten thousand? Fifty thousand? Or a hundred thousand?! No, perhaps even more.

The higher-ups had speculated that golden corpses were almost certainly the remains of transcendent beings, for according to the Otomo family's power classification, transcendent bodies vastly surpassed ordinary humans, no longer within the human realm—bronze skin and iron bones were not metaphors but reality, and merely the beginning.

Thinking of this, researchers trembled with dread, their faces filled with shock.

Over a hundred thousand golden corpses—were they not over a hundred thousand transcendent beings?!

"What exactly happened here…" he whispered in awe, his entire body trembling uncontrollably at the thought of over a hundred thousand transcendent beings buried here.

As excavation deepened further.

From two hundred meters to three hundred meters.

The archaeological team made a new discovery.

"This is!"

The archaeologists stared at the unearthed artifacts, their faces turning pale.

Shattered, incomplete armor, riddled with grotesque scars; broken, rotting swords, spears, and lances—though ancient and decayed, the armor still retained a faint aura of iron-boned desolation, and the blades still radiated the lingering chill of a will that once dared to fight all eight directions.

They revealed to the world, without words, a once-catastrophic, horrifyingly bloody war.

"A war among transcendent beings!" Saito learned these weapons and armor had been worn by golden corpses.

Each transcendent was extraordinary, possessing power to shatter gold and split stone; the strongest could move mountains and fill seas.

Impossible to imagine.

A massive battle between over a hundred thousand transcendent beings—what scene would that be? How terrifying? How grand?

Report it immediately—send the news to Director Takahashi and others at the fastest speed, and dispatch more personnel as soon as possible.

Also! Acquire and requisition civilian homes across all regions, dig beneath them—there will surely be more golden corpses. The more we excavate, the closer we'll get to uncovering the truth of this great war!

"Saito, new discovery! New discovery!"

Researchers rushed over, eyes gleaming with excitement, sprinting like Olympic athletes at full speed.

Without a word, they grabbed Saito and ran.

The farmland zone.

As the midday sun set, the area glowed with luminous, crystal-clear light, pure as white jade, blindingly bright, forcing eyes to shut.

Where was the scene of excavation and archaeology? Before them blazed radiant light, as if standing beneath the ninth heaven's blazing sun—approaching it, a divine aura crushed down, nearly making Saito's legs buckle and forcing him to his knees.

Saito covered his eyes with both hands, peering through a narrow slit toward the light—and froze.

The dazzling radiance was not from countless mirrors reflecting sunlight—it emanated from layer upon layer of crystal-clear, jade-like skeletal remains.

Crystal-jade bones!

Unprecedented crystal-jade skeletal remains, entirely radiant—where golden bones were divine weapons, these crystal-jade bones were divine generals, great generals among gods, dominating all eight directions.

"Dig! Deploy more machinery—dig deeper!"

With the appearance of jade-bone corpses, Saito realized this burial site concealed a great secret—he no longer cared about budget constraints or saving funds. He waved his hand, ordering more excavators and additional personnel brought in.

The situation was spiraling into something stranger and more extraordinary—high-ranking officials of the Transcendent Response Division in Tokyo, including Director Takahashi and Takeshi Mori, could no longer sit still.

They boarded helicopters and arrived at once.

Massive manpower, police forces, even the Self-Defense Forces were mobilized to secure the site. Soon, many observant individuals noticed unusual activity in Tochigi Prefecture, compounded by the government's large-scale acquisition of civilian homes—news leaked out through gossipy citizens.

Within a single day, rumors of a mysterious transcendent event in Tochigi Prefecture went viral, known to millions of netizens.

"Breaking news!"

Multiple Japanese newspapers and reporters rushed to Tochigi Prefecture.

Not just reporters—major livestreamers were also heading to Tochigi Prefecture to gain views and traffic.

"Dear viewers, I'm off to Tochigi Prefecture to bring you firsthand updates—support me with some gifts, okay? Muah."

After speaking into her phone, livestreamer Miyagi Nao boarded a flight bound for Tochigi Prefecture on Honshu Island.

Now that transcendent beings and yokai had been revealed to all, everyone knew that such entities truly existed.

Naturally, people grew curious.

Topics like the glory and power of yokai and transcendent beings, or what ancient times with such beings were like, never ceased—whenever anything touched on yokai, transcendent beings, or gods, it instantly became a trending topic.

With the successive appearances of the Six-Eyed Yokai, Master Konghai, and Abe no Mokuro, the power of transcendent beings and yokai had been laid bare—people no longer limited themselves to discussion and debate; they turned to fanaticism and worship, yearning to become transcendent themselves.

No one did not long to become transcendent; all fantasized about achieving transcendence, reveling freely in heaven and earth, unbound by any constraint, dreaming of becoming transcendent heroes who slew yokai and demons and earned the reverence of millions.

No wall is without cracks—under relentless investigation by the first reporters and livestreamers to arrive, Higashio Dashan, standing nearby, used high-powered binoculars to photograph the excavation site and uploaded images of golden and jade bones to the internet—immediately igniting a wildfire online.

The news that Tochigi Prefecture had unearthed massive quantities of transcendent corpses spread like wildfire; tens of thousands flocked to the site, and even government roadblocks could not stop the public's frenzy.

These were transcendent corpses—perhaps one could inherit transcendent legacies from them.

Even if flights to Tochigi were grounded, even if subway access was sealed—people would crawl there if they had to.

For a time, sales of Japanese cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and other vehicles surged dramatically.

Population movement in Tochigi Prefecture reached an all-time high.

On the other side.

As time passed, the number of unearthed transcendent corpses increased—two thousand, three thousand, five thousand, over ten thousand…

Vast quantities of golden corpses, jade-boned remains, and broken blades, spears, swords, and helmets were excavated.

Amid the growing awe of Director Takahashi, Minister Saito, and others, the number of corpses reached one hundred thousand.

One hundred thousand transcendent corpses altogether—the scene was staggering, shocking the world.

Just as Director Takahashi and the others were stunned by the number of transcendent corpses, trembling at how many had died here, as the one-hundred-thousandth corpse was unearthed…

Sudden transformation erupted!!

…