As for Li Ke's side, he naturally hadn't been killed by the explosion. The instant he detected that something was wrong, he was fully capable of running away. The problem, however, was that right behind him were the five Sailor Guardians who had stepped forward to fight. Although Li Ke had never actually watched their stories and had only ever seen a few specific individuals among them—particularly that green-clad Sailor Guardian in certain fan comics—this didn't stop him from holding the line for them.
Because of that, he hadn't fully dodged the blast.
But fortunately, he didn't just possess the ability of fire.
The moment his own flames were turned back against him by the monster's self-destruction, he condensed blood-qi and water to form a shield in front of himself. Using the water, he scooped up the Sailor Guardians from the ground and dived straight beneath the bridge.
So, although the explosion above had been terrifying, he had only sustained minor injuries.
The reason he didn't show his face...
Was simply because he was worried about the police.
The reason he had been waiting by the bridge in the first place was that the river water here was deep enough. He possessed a secret water-controlling technique. Although he couldn't form a fast-moving water bubble underwater on such short notice, providing oxygen to these Sailor Guardians was not an issue.
Furthermore, Li Ke figured that these Sailor Guardians wouldn't want their identities exposed either.
Controlling the sphere of water to move rapidly through the river, Li Ke finally used the water currents to bring them ashore once they reached a relatively secluded area. He dragged the five Sailor Guardians, who remained in their sailor suits even after falling unconscious, onto the bank.
Only now did he finally have the time to check his own condition.
The injuries weren't severe—just some burns along with cuts from the shattered fragments of his greatsword. For him, a few days would be more than enough to fully heal.
That monster's self-destruction had been incredibly decisive, and no strange entities had ended up inside his body.
Yet, when Li Ke extended his hand and a ball of golden light condensed in his palm, he couldn't help but knit his brows.
Because this monster was somewhat different from the one back in the Demon Slayer world.
The World Power he obtained from destroying the monster was incredibly scarce, practically negligible. Although it had transmitted some information to him, just as he had thought, completely purifying the distorted World Power that had appeared was impossible.
Thus, Li Ke immediately began to absorb the World Power, and then let out a sharp click of his tongue.
"Damn it, this mission really is as troublesome as this world."
The monster had escaped! It had left behind only a tiny trace of World Power, truly a case of a lizard breaking off its own tail to survive.
Its main body had undoubtedly used the opportunity of Brother Crow's self-destruction to flee, but it had also been heavily wounded by Li Ke and wouldn't be able to show itself for some time.
What annoyed Li Ke, however, was that he couldn't figure out exactly when the monster's main body had slipped away.
Nevertheless, as long as Li Ke continued to interfere with the original "plot"—wrapping himself in a sort of thing that Li Ke felt should count as providence or causality, but in reality had no actual effects of providence or causality—that monster would be forced to come looking for him.
Otherwise, the monster's power would only grow weaker and weaker.
Because this monster required the causality or providence of being "destroyed" to grow stronger. Without destroyed providence and causality, it couldn't gain power.
Or rather, it used some rule unknown to Li Ke to obtain power in this world.
If Li Ke went out of his way to disrupt the plot, most of it would become entangled around Li Ke himself. Unless the monster showed itself before Li Ke and became entangled with him, it wouldn't be able to obtain any power.
But the catch lay exactly there: the deeper its entanglement with Li Ke became, and the greater the strength of the causal lines on Li Ke's body, the stronger the power it could obtain.
However, the hundreds of years of power it had just gathered in this world had been utterly shattered the instant it clashed with Li Ke. For the short term, Li Ke didn't need to worry about being unable to handle the opponent.
Even so, he had to kill it as quickly as possible; otherwise, a monster that even he couldn't handle might truly appear.
Unless Li Ke could find another way to settle the causal lines on his body, this race against time would persist.
As for how to settle it...
The riddle-like World Power hadn't specified.
"...These monsters really are incredibly bizarre."
Li Ke was somewhat annoyed, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it. A monster capable of devouring a world was clearly no simple creature. Fortunately, it hadn't yet reached a level where he, Li Ke, was completely powerless to deal with it for the time being.
However, ever since it encountered Li Ke, that monster had gained a true physical entity. It had fallen from being an unkillable, undetectable existence into something that could be killed and perceived. Now, even the people of this world could sense its malice and help Li Ke eliminate it.
Even so, Li Ke was still somewhat troubled.
After all, these monsters were incredibly elusive, and as for his compass...
Casually ripping off his soaking wet upper garment, Li Ke pulled out his pocket watch. He discovered that the compass needle was still spinning aimlessly, pointing this way and that, utterly useless. The most outrageous part was that it systematically pointed at the rear ends and long legs of the five Sailor Guardians lying on the ground, one by one!
"Hiss... Come to think of it, doesn't this thing expose the fact that yours truly is a total lecher who wants to sleep with someone?"
Li Ke suddenly realized this point, and he couldn't help but suck in a massive breath of hot air, drastically slowing down the rate of global warming.
"Sure enough, treasures must never be shown to others!"
Directly putting away the pocket watch, which was practically garbage to him, Li Ke casually tore off the remaining scraps of fabric from his clothes. He then discovered that while the gold he carried with him wasn't lost, his Hong Kong dollar notes had all been shredded. Now, only a few coins remained, and even those were completely melted by his own flames.
"Damn it, don't let me catch you, you bastard."
Thinking about how that bastard had not only escaped from his hands but also destroyed his wallet, Li Ke couldn't help but grit his teeth, resolving to obliterate the creature with a single sword strike next time.
The problem, however, was that his new sword was ruined too. The sword he had now recorded the strike of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba world's 'World Will,' and he didn't plan on using it here.
So, he needed to forge yet another weapon.
Sorting through his things, Li Ke let out a sigh of relief. After all, the truly important items were in his inventory, so he didn't have to worry about going hungry.
Yet, now that he was free, his eyes naturally fell upon the Sailor Guardians he had lined up side by side.
Five beautiful girls, each with her own distinct style, lay on the ground, some flat on their backs and others on their sides. Their pristine feet were clad in high heels, and their fair thighs were completely exposed to the open air.
Because Li Ke hadn't wiped the water off their bodies, not only were their clothes soaking wet, but their thighs were also covered in glistening water droplets. Incredibly, though water droplets clung to their skin, there was no mud or dirt anywhere on their bodies, which caught Li Ke quite by surprise.
What surprised him even more, however, were their bust sizes. Although they didn't look particularly large, they were all very well-developed, and each girl's shape differed slightly to match her individual style.
Juxtaposing these pristine young girls against the filthy ground alongside their peaceful sleeping faces, it would be entirely unscientific if Li Ke's little brother didn't rise to the occasion!
And it would be absolutely impossible for Li Ke not to take an interest!
"Those legs are so fair, and their chests aren't small either. Wow, their rear ends are nice too. They all have supermodel figures."
Stroking his chin, Li Ke admired the thighs of these beautiful girls. Truth be told, he didn't feel much of anything toward their costumes, thinking that these uniforms actually detracted from their looks.
However, since sailor suits and Sailor Guardians were permanently bonded, Li Ke could only appreciate it as a unique regional flavor.