Chapter 1 Initial Draft

The news of the Cangshan Oni King [Red Goblin] being killed spread.

Over half a day later, Suren discovered all sorts of monsters and spirits gathering at the foot of the barren mountain where the shrine was located. Some were there to investigate, some were there to spectate, and some were drawn by the scent...

Chitiao was still "spacing out" in front of the golden statue of "Takemikazuchi no Kami," and Miko was busy studying the Shinto inheritance on the stone tablet. The two women showed no sign of leaving the underground palace any time soon.

Such an opportunity was hard to come by, and Suren naturally wouldn't let the monsters disturb them.

Just like when he fused with the implanted armor a few days ago, now it was Suren's turn to cover for the two of them.

He went down the mountain and fought off several waves of monsters.

When he encountered a tricky monster, he would lead it away in circles.

Suren was meticulous and decisive in his killing, and the strange monsters were completely bewildered.

Unfortunately...

After extracting some monster souls, he discovered a problem: no matter how many layers of barriers there were, Miko's yang energy would attract a steady stream of monsters.

Some monsters with sensitive senses still detected Miko's presence and quietly approached the mountain.

If he really let it go, there would be a large wave of monsters coming later.

After weighing the pros and cons, Suren had no choice but to bring Miko out of the underground palace.

Miko was a Shinto priestess and couldn't do anything that would damage the shrine.

But Suren didn't have so many concerns. He directly cut off all twenty-four reliefs, and packed them up with a space seal scroll and took them away.

Then, it turned into Suren running around with Miko.

.......

Over half a day later.

Two figures were moving quickly through the mountains and forests. From time to time, a thread would appear, strangling a monster hiding in the shadows, ready to ambush them.

Suren's methods were still very effective when it came to killing small monsters.

Because they were running fast enough, and there were black crows in the sky, the two of them weren't besieged by a large number of monsters.

Before long, the two of them arrived at a desolate mountain village.

"Mr. Suren, there's no sign of monsters in this area. We can rest here for a while."

Miko's Shinto secret techniques had a much wider range of soul perception than Suren's, and she was especially sensitive to detecting monsters. With her by his side, the two of them could finally have a moment to catch their breath.

"Okay."

Suren also let out a sigh of relief and put down Miko, whom he had been half-hugging.

He could have used threads to carry Miko like a puppet, but he felt that would make both of them feel awkward, as if he really was carrying a burden, and it would also feel distant.

Fortunately, after asking Miko, she didn't mind, so he hugged her all the way.

After hugging for so long, both of their clothes retained each other's body temperature.

Although it was out of necessity, there was still a difference between men and women.

Miko straightened her clothes, her cheeks slightly red, and bowed politely with an apologetic expression, "I've caused you trouble."

The two of them were familiar with each other, so they didn't stand on ceremony. Suren was used to Miko's habitual politeness. He smiled and didn't say anything, but instead said, "Then let's eat something here and rest for a while."

Miko nodded, "Yes."

Suren took a few steps and found a house in the village that looked like it wouldn't be blown down by the wind and rain, then took out a field stove and started a fire to cook.

After running for most of the day, he was exhausted and hungry.

Only then did he realize how much pressure Chitiao had been under during the two days he was in seclusion fusing with the implanted armor.

The monsters didn't give people any time to breathe, and would appear at any time, from anywhere.

Before long, the instant canned food was heated up, and the aroma of meat filled the air.

Suren and Miko sat around the stove and began to eat.

The black crows on the roof were very quiet.

Perhaps because he had cleaned up the small monsters near Cangshan when he killed the Red Goblin, there was no sign of monsters in this desolate village that looked like a ghost village.

It was rare to be able to rest peacefully for a while.

After a simple meal, Miko helped Suren clean up the cooking utensils. The two of them didn't rush to leave, but began to rest.

Miko took out a stone tablet she had found in the shrine's underground palace and studied the "Divine Priestess Dance" on it.

This was a secret passed down within Shinto, and although Suren was curious about those secret techniques that "could communicate with the gods," he didn't want to explore them. He was engraving runes on the silk threads.

But as he was engraving, he suddenly heard the clear and melodious sound of bells beside his ear.

Ding-ling-ling~

Ding-ling-ling~

He looked up and saw Miko holding a Kagura bell, imitating the movements on the stone tablet, and murmuring some obscure ancient incantations.

Although she didn't use spiritual power, the rhythm and melody gave people a feeling of corresponding with some kind of law of heaven and earth.

It was very magical.

Seeing Suren looking over, Miko responded with a smile, without hiding anything, and explained, "This is a kind of kotodama magic, 'Divine Priestess Incantation - Celestial Auspicious Jade Sound'. It's usually used to summon gods and pray for blessings, and ordinary people will feel their minds at peace when they hear it."

Suren revealed a look of realization, "Oh."

Miko then asked, "Mr. Suren, am I disturbing you?"

Suren smiled and shook his head, "No."

He had the ability to multitask, so even while he was talking to Miko, his engraving movements didn't stop.

The two of them continued to chat.

"Wasn't Mr. Suren curious about the 'Shikigami Substitute Technique' of the Onmyoji lineage before? I also saw some records on this stone tablet..."

"The stone tablet also records Onmyodo?"

"Yes. Not only that, but the stone tablet also records some historical events from before the 'Great Collapse Era'. However, I haven't figured out how to interpret many of them yet, and I'm still studying it."

"Oh. Is it okay to talk about this content?"

"Apart from Shinto secret techniques, other religious rules don't prohibit spreading it... Of course, Mr. Suren can't spread it either."

"Okay."

"..."

Suren was indeed quite interested in that fragmented history before the "Great Collapse." It was rare to encounter it, so the two of them exchanged information.

They analyzed as they talked.

However, not much content had been deciphered from the stone tablet yet, and the conversation came to an end after a few sentences.

They gradually started chatting about other things.

This cursed space was like a prison, and if they couldn't get out, this might be the last time of their lives.

So it seemed like there were no topics to avoid.

Cultivation, life, royal anecdotes, childhood experiences...

They could chat about anything.

This brought some fun to these days of being chased around by monsters and relieved some of the tension.

From time to time, bursts of hearty laughter came from the dilapidated house.

Suddenly!

As they were chatting, Suren thought of something and casually asked a question, "By the way, Chitiao told me before that Miss Miko had something she wanted me to try? And that it was a 'surprise'?"

This was something Chitiao had secretly told him when the three of them went to the shrine, saying that he should ask Miko when he had time.

He hadn't had time to ask in detail while running all the way just now.

Now that he had some free time, he asked.

"..."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the house suddenly became a little strange.

A flush instantly appeared on Miko's pretty face, and her ears were burning hot.

That... that couldn't be tried casually!

But when she glanced at Suren's serious expression, she immediately guessed that both of them had been tricked by Chitiao.

She couldn't help but blush, but she didn't know how to explain the topic, stammering, "Ah... this..."

The soft light of the magic lamp illuminated a pretty face full of peach blossoms, and Miko was full of shyness.

As soon as Suren saw her expression, he immediately understood and gave an awkward laugh, "Ah... I must have been tricked by Chitiao again."

"..."

Miko didn't dare to answer.

But when the topic was mentioned, she instinctively thought of Chitiao's rogue behavior when they slept together, and her eyes involuntarily glanced down at the magnificence of her chest.

Suren noticed her expression, and the corner of his eye twitched.

His eyesight was excellent. It would have been fine if he hadn't deliberately looked, but once he looked, he saw into the open collar of the priestess's robe, a white smoothness, with deep cleavage.

He had bathed with her before, and he had been hugging her all the way, so he naturally knew that Miko's figure was well-endowed and impeccable.

Thinking of Chitiao's bold personality, he probably guessed something, and then showed a wry smile, not knowing what to say, "Chitiao is really..."

Miko was a friend.

That was good enough.

As soon as Miko heard this, she immediately understood what he had guessed, and her eyes became even more afraid to look directly at him.

......

The two of them hadn't been able to rest peacefully in the dilapidated house for a few hours before a wave of monsters attacked the desolate village.

They had to run away again.

Moreover, Suren had discovered some troublesome information from the memories of the monsters he had killed.

The Oni King [Red Goblin] had been killed, and some other great monsters had received the news and were preparing to besiege them. Even several notorious Oni Kings had come out of the ghost city.

Originally, this was good news. Suren needed to devour demon energy to upgrade his Shinigami Phantom.

But with Chitiao, the main combat force, still in the shrine, the risk was very high if they were to fight head-on.

Suren's current combat power was still very sharp against small monsters, but he was a bit dependent on luck when facing Oni Kings. If he encountered a single Oni King, he might have a chance to win if he risked his life, but he couldn't risk his life every time.

What's more, he was carrying a Miko.

The two of them could only hide here and there.

Two days passed in a flash.

They encountered dozens of waves of monsters, and Suren killed those he could.

Those he couldn't kill, he cleverly avoided...

But in the end, the monsters were very intelligent, and some were good at scheming and had special methods.

They figured out Suren's and Miko's perception methods and began to systematically encircle them. A group of monsters chased after them, and some ambushed them. Even though Suren was very careful, the situation was getting worse and worse.

This was after all the Yomi, where everyone was an enemy.

As the two ran, they finally ran into a large encirclement of monsters.

......

On this day.

In the dense forest.

Suren, who had released the Eight-Armed Spider Spear, was running wildly with Miko in his arms.

Having just broken through the encirclement, both of them were covered in black blood.

Behind them, a large mass of black hair floating in the air was relentlessly chasing after them.

This was a monster at the Oni King level, called [Hundred-Faced Hair Demon].

It had no body, only infinitely extending hair. Under the tidal wave of hair, dozens of crowded, terrifying ghost faces looked extremely frightening. Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at Suren and Miko, making a strange, cackling laugh in their throats.

Suren didn't dare to fight at all.

This monster greatly restrained his abilities. Once he used puppets, they would be entangled by the hair.

Moreover, according to his perception, this guy had dozens of soul fires. Every ghost face in the hair had soul fluctuations, and even if he used the Black Scythe, Suren didn't know which one to kill first.

The only advantage was that this hair monster feared fire.

Suren knew [Mu-sashi], so he was safe enough on his own.

However, the black crows in the sky also discovered the movements of some monsters in the distance, which made Suren see the shadow of some kind of military tactic.

He realized that they were surrounded.

Miko in his arms also saw that the situation was critical and asked, "Mr. Suren, do you want me to take action? I have a technique that can severely damage this [Hair Demon]."

Suren shook his head, "Not for now. There aren't many light-type gems left, so save them for the most critical moment. Besides, that monster obviously wants to force us into the valley to the south, where there must be an ambush. We only have one way now, and that's to go to the Cangshan Shrine."

Miko nodded, "Yes."

If they joined up with Chitiao, they could counterattack.

......

The two of them ran wildly all the way, and soon they could see Cangshan in the distance.

But at this moment, suddenly, the black crows in the sky cawed.

Miko also sensed something, and her face changed, "There are large-scale ghost energy fluctuations ahead!"

Suren narrowed his eyes and suddenly understood something, analyzing in a deep voice, "We've been active near Cangshan these past few days, and those monsters have obviously noticed our range of activity."

They hadn't run too far these past two days, in order to be able to take care of each other with Chitiao.

But those monsters had obviously noticed this and had already arranged their tactics.

As he expected, there were also capable people among the monsters.

However, Suren said this very calmly.

Because Chitiao had already sent back a reply.

She said, they could be killed.

......

The black crows' warning indicated that there were at least some very powerful monsters.

Sure enough, after running only a few steps, Suren and Miko encountered another Oni King.

Suren looked at the general wearing broken armor and identified him. He was actually a historical figure.

The great figure from the Warring States period hundreds of years ago in Yamagakure - [Ghost Hero - Toyotomi Hideyoshi].

And behind him, there was a [Ghost Warrior] army of more than five hundred, covered in black energy, lined up neatly!

As soon as Suren saw these soldiers, he knew that this encirclement was most likely their doing.

Without giving the two of them any time to react, as soon as they showed their faces, the group of Ghost Warriors who had been prepared for a long time suddenly raised their bows and released countless arrows into the sky.

"Swoosh", "Swoosh", "Swoosh"...

The arrows were as dense as thunder and rain, covering the sky and the sun.

With a flick of his hand, Suren summoned several mechanical shields out of thin air. With a few crisp metallic clanging sounds of "ka-chak" and "ka-chak" as the mechanical shields quickly connected to form a shield wall, they instantly blocked the four sides around the two of them.

After completing the defense, he flicked his hands and formed a mage seal, and a dark golden luster flowed across his skin.

Just as he was protecting Miko in his arms, he heard the sound of "pa-li, pa-la" like rain hitting banana leaves.

The filthy ghost energy exploded on the shield, and waves of energy shock waves, like the cold of winter, pierced the bones.

After one round of arrow rain, without much of an interval, the second round of alternating arrows was shot again.

The dense crossfire coverage did not give people any time to escape.

Suren's heart sank.

The black crows in the sky shared their vision, and he clearly saw the Ghost Warriors charging over.

It was easy enough to deal with wandering ghosts and spirits, but these well-trained Ghost Warriors were the most troublesome!

Suren looked at the agreed time and didn't plan to leave, so he stopped where he was.

There was no need to go up the mountain now. It would be better to fight here than to be blocked on the mountain.

If there were any changes, there would still be a way out.

Moreover, he had enough experience in dealing with these Ghost Warriors, and he wouldn't be at a disadvantage for a while.

Suren made a decision.

"Miss Miko, prepare to fight! You help me block the [Hair Demon]!"

"Okay!"

He put down Miko, flicked his hands and formed a mage seal, and shouted softly, "Puppet Art - Puppet Theater!"

In an instant, a hexagram formation lit up under his feet, and a huge cross quickly condensed in the sky above his head.

Suren took out a few scrolls, and hundreds of puppets exploded out with a "peng, peng, peng".

Miko on the side also had a solemn expression, and she drew out her bow and arrow like lightning, bit her finger and drew blood-colored runes on the arrow shaft, and shot it at the hair monster chasing from behind.

"Swoosh~"

The arrow wrapped in white Amaterasu sun fire easily penetrated the Hair Demon, directly destroying several ghost faces in a wide range. The monster wailed and retreated in a row.

On the other side, Suren's puppet army had already charged into the Ghost Warrior army.

You have legionary tactics, and so do I.

The Ghost Warrior army's battle formation was very strict, and its collective combat power should not be underestimated, even not inferior to an "Oni King".

But the [Ghost Warriors] here were not like those previously controlled by Abe Taiwa, who could be resurrected infinitely. The puppet army would also be reduced in number as soon as it charged into battle.

There was also Suren's mechanical armor, which loved this kind of flesh-and-blood wall of legionary charge the most.

Steel against ghosts, no matter how good the armor was, it would be swept away by the steam-powered Zanbato!

Moreover, they were humanoid ghosts, which could be controlled with mental tentacles, and Suren would use silk threads to control some whenever he had the chance.

With give and take, the puppet army gained the upper hand.

Suren himself also released the fourth stage of hormone runaway and went head-to-head with [Ghost Hero - Toyotomi Hideyoshi].

This Oni King was probably at the level of a fifth-level professional. It wouldn't be easy to kill.

The battle instantly became extremely fierce.

Moreover, with two great Oni Kings holding them back, various monsters continued to pour in from all directions.

The situation seemed very unfavorable to them,

But Suren didn't panic at all.

Because the countdown in his heart was almost over.

15, 10, 5...

Sure enough, at this moment.

From the direction of the dilapidated shrine on the top of the mountain, there was suddenly a soaring sword intent, and lightning flashed in the sky.

Suren's eyes sharpened, "Here it comes!"

......

Very abruptly, thunderclouds suddenly appeared in the sky above the desolate mountain of Cangshan.

Moreover, in the blink of an eye, the black clouds rolled, and the rolling thunderclouds had already covered a large area nearby. Like an apocalyptic scene, thick purple-red lightning snakes flashed in the clouds.

A solitary figure stood under the thunderclouds.

After pausing for a moment... she charged down the mountain!

"This commotion is a bit too exaggerated..."

Suren didn't know if Chitiao had attained enlightenment in the Sword Saint realm in the shrine's underground palace, but she couldn't beat them before, so she could only ask for help.

Now, seeing the soaring sword energy, he knew it was done.

This scene was familiar, as if he had seen the "Sword Saint" Akutagawa Ryuichi's "drawing sword hell" in a sea of corpses and blood before.

But the difference was that behind her, there was a "Thunder Hell"!

Moreover, what was even more amazing was still to come.

Chitiao charged down like lightning, and the six-armed Rakshasa phantom suddenly appeared behind her. Unlike before, three comma-patterned thunder drums had appeared behind the phantom!

These were thunder drums condensed from pure elements. As she moved, the thunderclouds in the sky responded to her. All the way, fire and electricity, thunder and sword intent covered her body, forming a layer of thunder-flashing astral qi on her surface.

Her speed was extremely fast, leaving a long trail of thunder behind her.

That momentum was like a Thunder Dragon descending to earth, slashing down from the top of the mountain.

Overbearing and exposed.

Suren's pupils shrank when he saw this scene, "Chitiao has also become overbearing!"

This was the biggest hurdle for a sixth-level professional, and she had finally crossed it.

In the blink of an eye, the thunder light had arrived.

Suren only heard the sound of a long sword being unsheathed, as if a faint sound from hell was coming from somewhere, "One-Sword Style - World Exile!"

Suren only saw a sharp ray of thunder light flash past, as if the world in front of him had been split in half by the blade light.

The speed was so fast that people couldn't react at all!

Looking again, the [Hundred-Faced Hair Demon] that Miko was struggling to fight suddenly froze there, and its dozens of hideous ghost faces showed expressions of horror and fear.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still.

A crack opened from the center of the monster's dozens of faces, and then lightning flashed in the crack. Immediately, a purple thunderbolt crashed down from the sky. The heavenly light exploded, like a thunderous hell.

This "Oni King", along with its black, tidal-like hair, also collapsed into a pile of dust in the thunder light.

Annihilated.

The sound of gravel falling rang in his ears, and when he looked again, a small hill a hundred meters away behind the monster had actually been cut off.

Chitiao sheathed her sword, stood there lazily, raised her eyebrows, and muttered, "Sorry, I just realized this 'Thunder Hell' and couldn't control my sword energy."