The sect gate was broken, and Ji Xiang emerged from within. Miyamoto Musashi retreated to the side, while the old abbot, looking at Ji Xiang whose demonic energy had completely vanished, had an incredible thought. He couldn't help but ask:
"Great Demon... that... Lord Nobunaga's demonic corpse..."
He could no longer sense the existence of the Sixth Heavenly Demon King.
Then, there might only be one answer.
"Ate it. I refined him."
Ji Xiang responded as a matter of course. The old abbot's thoughts were confirmed, and his face showed even greater reverence.
"Let's go. We're leaving here. While in Japan, my recently recovered magic power is slowly draining."
Ji Xiang decided to leave Japan because the national prestige of this land was suppressing him more and more. He hadn't felt this problem before, but now...
This was the consequence of entering another country's territory. Cultivators entering land not belonging to their own country faced extremely obvious sanctions.
"Go... how should we leave?"
Miyamoto Musashi actually didn't want to leave. After all, this was his homeland. However, since he had already betrayed the Regent, staying here would only lead to a dead end. Therefore, from the moment he surrendered to Ji Xiang, he had no way to turn back.
The old abbot let out a long sigh: "There's no need to overthink the choice between life and death. Thank you, Great Demon, for sparing my life."
He expressed his gratitude at this moment.
Ji Xiang looked at him: "Dying for one's country is also a noble act. However, you were deceived by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and others. If you continued to cultivate at Honno-ji, you would eventually encounter great problems. Since you've made up your mind to leave, I don't mind lending a hand. No need to thank me."
"Although I kill without batting an eye, often borrow incense offerings, and am very disrespectful, I am still a good person at heart."
The old abbot and Miyamoto Musashi: "..."
Ji Xiang was very dissatisfied with their reactions.
What was there to doubt?
As a pure Jade Pure Heavenly Demon, he naturally acted in accordance with the heavens. We Heavenly Demons are here to test humanity with demonic tribulations, and the places we borrow incense from are always temples of evil gods. This is at most like a wolf preying on another wolf. How can this be considered doing evil? Moreover, if it's like a wolf preying on another wolf, then rounding it up, isn't it eliminating demons and upholding righteousness? Isn't that doing good?
He was a great person!
"Do you think the demonic path is just about killing everywhere?"
Ji Xiang reprimanded them righteously:
"Too superficial! This is a one-sided impression! The true path of a Heavenly Demon is for the sake of all living beings. The existence of demonic tribulations is precisely to filter out those unqualified villains."
"In this day and age, the cultivation world is a mixed bag. If we Heavenly Demons didn't act on behalf of heaven, who knows how many would become immortals and how many would become ancestors!"
"Killing also has rules. Look at Heian Shrine, I didn't kill everyone, did I? Before killing that witch, I asked her some of her thoughts. Little monk, you heard it. She said she wouldn't disobey Xu Fu's orders, so I definitely had to kill her. She was clearly an unqualified villain!"
"Being with people like that, how can there be a good cultivation environment? How can one cultivate properly!"
"See, you two also made a move on me at first, and I only gave you a slight punishment. As long as you surrender and enter my Heavenly Demon Path, you are reformed. I will then be lenient with you and spare your lives, giving you a chance to be reborn."
The old abbot and the young samurai both lowered their heads, looking as if everything he said was correct, not daring to breathe loudly, let alone refute him.
Especially the old abbot, he really wanted to say at this moment that he was just running away with you, so how did he enter the Heavenly Demon Path!
So, staying at Honno-ji was falling into demonic ways, and running away also meant falling into demonic ways? Then the run was in vain.
His thoughts could not be known by Ji Xiang. The two followed Ji Xiang to escape the place, but the old abbot found that Ji Xiang did not seem to be using any escape techniques, but was flying all the way on clouds. He couldn't help but ask:
"Great Demon, didn't you have a technique similar to escape before? Why can't you use it?"
A golden light flashed from Heian Shrine, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared. Although the old abbot didn't have much experience, that was definitely a type of escape technique, and an extremely profound one.
Unexpectedly, Ji Xiang replied:
"That's just the lowest of the thirteen great escapes, the Golden Escape. Do you think it's that easy to use?"
"Thirteen Great Escapes!"
The old abbot was quite surprised. Seeing the monk's surprised expression, Ji Xiang asked strangely, "The Thirteen Great Escapes, do they surprise you so much?"
"Although your country's magical arts have different paths from the Central Plains, their origins are all from Tang Dynasty techniques. Tracing further back, it's roughly the sorcery of Himiko of Yamatai, and Xu Fu's methods are also from the Qi Refining masters of the pre-Qin era. Moreover, during the Tang Dynasty, many people from the West came, or people from the Central Plains migrated eastward. There were also peerless immortals like Master Bidao. Therefore, escape techniques should have been passed down."
The old abbot hurriedly replied: "Escape techniques do exist, but they are all ordinary methods, and they cannot reach the level of disappearing without a trace the moment a thought is turned, like the Great Demon."
He stated that Japan's escape techniques were indeed passed down from the Tang Dynasty, and there were also the Five Elements Escapes, but they were not profound arts. This was because the Five Elements Escapes were the most complex, with varying levels of skill. Great escapes were rarely seen, but small escapes were common. As for the abilities mentioned in Central Plains legends, such as escaping thousands of miles with just a drop of water or a grain of dust, they had only heard of them but never seen them.
Therefore, even the Golden Escape, the lowest of the great escapes, was an eye-opener for the old monk here.
As for a group of ninjas who specialized in studying the Five Elements Escapes, those were merely mortal tricks. After all, Japan's cultivators were controlled by Xu Fu, and large-scale conflicts between high-level cultivators were absolutely not allowed.
"The Golden Element Great Escape requires the assistance of gold artifacts that have been imbued with one's own aura, but there are also distance limitations. Especially with the collision of the fortunes of three countries, it is impossible to transfer directly to the Korean battlefield."
Ji Xiang simply explained the principle of the Golden Escape. The reason why the Golden Escape was the lowest of the thirteen great escapes was because of such troublesome matters. Although his shadow soldiers had his gold artifacts, Japan's national prestige blocked all magical arts outside the country. This was a pseudo-immortal's divine kingdom, and foreign magic was not allowed to enter, naturally, it could not be used to leave.
To use the Golden Escape, one must first leave Japan's national borders.
"Won't the Regent send people to chase us?"
Musashi asked at this moment, he was somewhat suspicious, always feeling that powerful beings were lurking in the heavens and earth, including the ancient gods and spirits worshipped and nurtured within the country. These were the methods of the divine spirit path, entering and exiting invisibly, and no matter where you went, you could find traces of you.
"If a cultivator of your level could be sent by Xu Fu to stop me, do you think he has any remaining energy to gather stronger people?"
"As for ghosts and spirits, he doesn't have the guts."
When discussing the methods of the divine spirit path, Ji Xiang couldn't help but sneer.
The foundation of the divine spirit path in this country had been destroyed by him, and it could hardly be re-established. The divine spirit path would only continue to weaken and could not rise again, unless Xu Fu, this pseudo-immortal, willingly entered the Yellow Springs and never came out again, using his power in the immortal realm as the source of power for the divine spirit path. Otherwise, the divine spirit path had no chance to rise.
In twenty years, when the Inner Mountains and Rivers descend, all the order of the Outer Mountains and Rivers will be crushed.
However, his other goal had not been achieved. This time, the rash entry was just a test, and it was very regrettable that he did not see the "Golden Crow Jade Rabbit Collection."
The position of the Lord of Mount Tai had not been recovered either.
He had only retrieved an unimportant Buddhist artifact, "Five Peaks Brightness."
The sea of clouds swirled, and the night gradually receded. The sun began to rise, spreading from one side of the sea to the mountains and rivers. The entire Japan welcomed new light.
As daylight arrived, a great immortal aura could be sensed more clearly, and it severed this land from the mortal world. From the mountains and rivers to the seas, from the rivers to the temples, everything was completely separated from the outside world.
Sensing all of this, Ji Xiang's mind inexplicably blurted out four words.
Isolationist policy.
This was truly a hateful phrase.
However, in this time and space, the Central Plains would probably not have time to implement such an isolationist policy. Twenty years would not be enough to clean up the mess left by the previous generation, nor would it be enough to deal with the immortals who descended upon the world.
The ancient immortals in mythology would all appear, and those who were once thought to be gone would also return.
It was both a great fortune and a great catastrophe.
Moving southwest from Kyoto, the mountains and rivers suddenly became brighter.
"We have arrived in the land of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni."
Miyamoto Musashi spoke in a timely manner, and Ji Xiang also sensed a vast divine power appearing ahead. This divine power enveloped the land below, stretching for thousands of miles, blocking the path of Ji Xiang and the others. This divine power was like a heavenly barrier separating the two realms, insurmountable, unless the divine kingdom's fortune was also destroyed.
"In mythology, this place is called Izumo Province, and it is also the original land of Japan. Amaterasu Omikami reigns here, so the mountains and rivers here are more spiritually rich than other places."
"In ancient times, Yamatai Kingdom was here. And several legendary great vengeful spirits also manifested here."
"This place is protected by divine power and shares the same destiny as the divine kingdom. It cannot be easily entered..."
Ji Xiang asked him: "Is this divine power pervading heaven and earth due to the existence of Amaterasu Omikami's divine position?"
But before Miyamoto Musashi could respond, Ji Xiang looked down from the clouds.
There was no one.
Demons, groups after groups of demons, were born from this land where divine power surged. Just as the Japanese generals in the Korean battlefield thought, when one day, all the people of the country entered the battlefield, and only a group of demons constructed from wishes remained on their homeland, they existed without life or death, filling this world, and living like ordinary people. The former human kingdom became a demon kingdom, and it was probably like this.
Ji Xiang scanned this world and suddenly had a feeling.
This was more accurate than a sudden whim. His eyes actually generated a future illusion!
The method of reversing Qiankun had begun to take effect, and he would have a premonition of what was about to happen.
"So that's how it is, like the Alaya Consciousness of Buddhism, like foresight!"
This was a passive divine ability that could see partial future illusions!
The feeling told him that if he killed these demons at this time, it might be related to the Golden Crow Jade Rabbit Collection, which would help him obtain this book in the future.
In the future illusion, Ji Xiang saw a thread, and this thread extended forward, which was the thread of causality.
If these demons were not killed, Japan would accumulate strength based on these demons in the future, transforming them from beings created by wishes into real existences. Moreover, the "Golden Crow Jade Rabbit Collection" also flashed by in the illusion. This future illusion was fragmented, only some snippets, not continuous, but possessed strong connections.
The existence of these demons, their gradual strengthening, was closely related to the rise of the divine kingdom, and it would elevate the "Golden Crow Jade Rabbit Collection" to a higher-level immortal scripture!
Then...
More chaotic fragments flickered. There was the Lord of Mount Tai standing on the land of Japan, then immortals lying dead here, followed by the Central Plains turning into ruins, and his spies like Tokugawa Ieyasu being refined into vengeful spirits and other beings. Xu Fu created two new born heavenly gods, all of which were related to the elevation of the "Golden Crow Jade Rabbit Collection."
Then, Ji Xiang saw that several dark figures appeared beside Xu Fu, and the Heavenly Palace floated in the clouds. The places where they appeared were on the land of the Central Plains.
"Calamity..."
"Alright."
"Before I leave, I'll do a good deed for your country."
Ji Xiang suddenly spoke. Miyamoto Musashi knew what Ji Xiang was going to do when he heard it, and quickly stopped him:
"Even those pseudo-immortals can hardly enter here. You have also sensed the vast divine power here. For a country, such a place is like an immortal mountain and blessed land. It cannot be easily entered even in the Central Plains."
"Although I am young, it is known to the world that Izumo cannot be easily entered. You are about to leave here, and Shenwu... Xu Fu did not pursue you. Isn't this a good thing?"
Musashi was a little afraid.
It wasn't that he doubted Ji Xiang's ability to break through the divine power barrier. On the contrary, he knew that Ji Xiang might really have this ability, which was why he was afraid!
This was equivalent to openly provoking Emperor Shenwu. Such behavior might provoke pursuit!
At that time, Ji Xiang, this powerhouse in the immortal realm, would not be afraid of Xu Fu, but what about himself? After recognizing the huge gap between the human realm and the immortal realm, Musashi no longer believed that he could avoid being affected by the battles of immortal realm powerhouses. Perhaps at that time, he would not even have a渣 left, and his soul would be scattered!
"No, I must kill these demons. As for provoking Xu Fu, what if I provoke him?"
Ji Xiang glanced at Miyamoto Musashi: "You have entered the Heavenly Demon Path, and you still care about Japan's rules?"
"I..."
Musashi fell silent.
Ji Xiang said to him: "I have a reason to do this."
"Come."
As he spoke.
The crimson divine banner appeared, accompanied by the ancient Heavenly Demon aura of all laws being unrestrained, burning the heavens!