The God-Making Project

"It sounds easy, but who can bear the cost of killing a god? Are we supposed to summon those few?"

"Damn it, Mo Ziang is being impulsive!" someone muttered in frustration, tugging at their hair.

The meeting room buzzed with noise.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The sound of fingers tapping on the table silenced the room. Everyone turned to look.

The handsome monk smiled faintly. "The god is not only powerful, but the laws he embodies are beyond our imagination. If we invite the Daoist ancestors or the Buddha to kill the god before he strikes, seize his laws, wouldn’t Huaxia be able to survive this calamity?"

The monk’s smile turned cold. "By then, Huaxia could become the calamity of all realms."

"Xuanyuan Jin, tone it down. Don’t forget you’re a monk. Monks shouldn’t speak so recklessly," someone sharply reminded him.

"Ahem," Xuanyuan Jin realized his mistake, clearing his throat and clasping his hands together. "Amitabha."

"..." The room fell silent.

Xuanyuan Jin was a prodigy among the Buddhist community, listed alongside Su Ze and Mo Ziang as key figures for cultivation. He had remained hidden within the Buddhist order for a long time, his name rarely heard, and only recently had he stepped out into the world.

Though, to be honest… he didn’t quite seem like a monk.

...

"I wonder what kind of level these so-called geniuses are at," Xuanyuan Jin muttered to himself as he stepped out of the meeting room, basking in the bright sunlight. "I’ll test Mo Ziang first."

A golden light shimmered, and he vanished from the spot.

...

The dining table was laden with a lavish spread, but the four people eating remained silent.

Yuan Qinghe kept his head down, focused on his meal. He glanced up briefly, catching sight of his wife’s expressionless face. His hand, about to reach for a dish, froze mid-air.

He was a man who feared his wife. Uesugi Akizuki had never hit him, nor had she ever scolded him harshly, but he was terrified of her. Seeing her like this only made him more afraid.

The little glutton was stubbornly trying to crack open a crab. With a *splat*, the crab split in two, its juices splattering across her face. She blinked in confusion for a moment.

Su Ze sighed, pulling out a tissue to wipe her face.

The little glutton placed half of the crab in Su Ze’s bowl and started munching on the other half herself.

This scene didn’t escape the notice of Uesugi Akizuki and Yuan Qinghe. A flicker of surprise crossed Uesugi Akizuki’s eyes, while Yuan Qinghe showed no reaction, continuing to force down his tasteless meal.

After dinner, the little glutton was taken outside by Yuan Qinghe. Su Ze felt a pang of anxiety—was it to shield her from witnessing something bloody?

Despite his unease, Su Ze’s face remained calm.

"Follow me," Uesugi Akizuki said, standing up and leading him upstairs.

"What’s your relationship now?" Uesugi Akizuki asked bluntly.

"Lovers," Su Ze answered without hesitation.

Uesugi Akizuki visibly stiffened. Su Ze noticed her fists clenching tightly.

Even though she had prepared herself for this, hearing it from Su Ze still made her want to punch him!

It was infuriating—her precious daughter, raised with so much care, had been swept away by this white-haired young man. The thought alone was enough to make her blood boil.

Uesugi Akizuki continued walking upstairs, and Su Ze let out a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed he was safe—for now.

"Do you know about Akizuki’s background?" Uesugi Akizuki knelt before the tea table, starting to brew tea.

Su Ze knelt across from her. "Her family history?"

"..."

"No, I don’t," Su Ze admitted when no response came.

"Do you know why the Rakshasa came to Huaxia?"

Uesugi Akizuki stood up and walked to the table behind her, where a rack of swords stood. She picked up an ornate katana, about 1.4 meters long. Its scabbard was pink, wrapped with intertwined bandages, and the hilt was bound with black cord, forming diamond-shaped patterns.

She returned to her seat, placing the long sword beside her.

Su Ze’s expression didn’t change. "Because the Rakshasa betrayed the yakuza in Japan."

"..." Uesugi Akizuki paused briefly. "You’re right, but not entirely. Have you heard of the God-Making Project?"

Her words made Su Ze’s brows furrow.

"It’s a ritual where children with pure Oni blood are sacrificed to the Oni King. The Oni King’s laws are then infused into a chosen vessel."

"And Uesugi Akizuki is that chosen vessel." Uesugi Akizuki poured a cup of tea for Su Ze. Seeing his slightly puzzled expression, she didn’t beat around the bush and poured herself a cup as well.

"The chosen vessel is merely a temporary container for the laws. Once they find a suitable candidate, they’ll kill the vessel and transfer the laws to that person."

"Guess how many people this ritual will sacrifice?" Uesugi Akizuki held up three fingers.

"Go big?" Su Ze asked.

Uesugi Akizuki didn’t respond, simply raising her other hand to sip her tea.

"Three hundred million."

"..." Uesugi Akizuki struggled to keep the tea from spitting out of her mouth.

Su Ze shook his head. "Japan’s population isn’t even half of that."

"Pfft!" Uesugi Akizuki sprayed tea onto Su Ze’s face.

Su Ze wiped his face, exasperated.

Uesugi Akizuki coughed a few times, regaining her composure, and used a handkerchief to clean up the mess.

"Three thousand."

"...Three thousand… is that all?" Su Ze raised an eyebrow.

Uesugi Akizuki’s grip on the handkerchief tightened, her knuckles cracking as she tried to suppress her anger. "Is that all?"

"...Uh," Su Ze felt a bit awkward, realizing he’d been disrespectful.

Three thousand people seemed trivial to him. On the first day of the Blood Moon, he’d killed over five thousand demons.

"You need to understand, these three thousand are all young Oni. And the Oni population is already scarce!"

Su Ze understood now—it was a matter of rarity, like precious resources.

Moreover, sacrificing young Oni would leave the already dwindling population without a new generation, severely impacting their numbers.

"Akizuki is the way she is… ahem," Uesugi Akizuki coughed, glossing over the details, "because she was chosen as the vessel from a young age and kept isolated in a shrine, cut off from the outside world."

"I led my clan in defecting from Japan to Huaxia, searching for a place to settle."

"Her father, Yuan Qinghe, stayed behind in Japan to protect her, pretending not to know I had betrayed the country. But even so, he’s under strict surveillance."

Su Ze’s assumptions weren’t far off. He could tell the middle-aged man earlier was the little glutton’s father, not only from his casual demeanor around Uesugi Akizuki but also from his resemblance to her.

The fact that Su Ze’s casual joke had nearly short-circuited the man’s brain further confirmed his identity.