Chapter 102: Great Onmyōdō Four Paths And Five Elements
“You’re lying to me, right, Shangshan Che! Quick, say you’re lying to me!”
Their noses were almost touching, and Shangshan Che could even feel the astonishing heat radiating from Lili Zi’s body beneath him like a furnace.
She panicked, she really panicked.
Shangshan Che stared into those slightly trembling pupils, thinking that cultivation was truly the number one priority in the world for Lili Zi.
Since she started practicing that heart technique she figured out herself, how long had it been since she last showed such a discomposed expression?
Shangshan Che smiled: “Of course I’m not lying to you. The First Wave passed by completely uneventfully, and Ai Bieli was single-killed by me alone before she could escape.”
Hearing this, Lili Zi realized that this guy in front of her had indeed tricked her.
“Tch.”
Lili Zi let out a cold snort, released Shangshan Che, and closed her eyes while rubbing her temples in great distress: “Shangshan Jun, sometimes I really want to give you a good beating… Saying this kind of thing in front of me is like a Tsundere saying ‘weakling’ in front of a big tree, got it?”
“You’re welcome to teach me a lesson anytime, Teacher Lili Zi.”
Shangshan Che deliberately displayed surging Spiritual Power Fluctuations in front of her eyes and spread his hands: “But outside of teaching time, I won’t specially control my Power.”
Lili Zi’s face darkened.
“Alright.” Shangshan Che took out his mobile phone and showed her the time. “Actually, it’s because you slept too long, and normal methods didn’t seem to wake you up, so I resorted to this.”
Lili Zi stared at the time and roughly calculated that more than twelve hours had already passed.
The girl jolted in shock because her original plan was to sleep only five hours and then get up to continue cultivating—normally, after a big battle without serious injuries, the benefits of immediate cultivation were great.
But her subjective time had only passed one or two hours, and her never-failing biological clock had actually failed?
In that case, if Shangshan Che hadn’t woken her with those devilish words, she might have really slept on the ground for many days and missed the big event of the First Wave.
Lili Zi was speechless for a moment.
So, she had actually wronged Shangshan Che?
On the contrary, she should thank this guy?
Mad, so annoying.
After figuring out the ins and outs, Lili Zi was annoyed but still knew she had to express thanks.
One thing is one thing.
She patted her chest twice with a thud, clicked her tongue unhappily: “This one’s on me. As compensation, you can touch the boobs that can only exist in Chu Nan’s fantasies!”
Shangshan Che looked left and right, pondered for a long time, and finally asked in confusion: “Where? Where is it?”
Two-Foot Adult saw this and trotted over with small steps, standing proudly with hands behind her back and swaying.
Lili Zi flew into a rage, grabbed the bamboo sword leaning nearby, and beat the master and servant duo out.
……
After being chased out the door, Shangshan Che rubbed his sore forehead and looked up to see Shizuma Mafuyu, still pale-faced and leaning against the wall as if waiting for someone.
Shizuma Mafuyu, changed into campus-style clothing, looked at the disheveled duo kicked out of Lili Zi’s room and gave a dry “haha”: “Good morning, Shangshan Jun. Miss Tokugawa still hasn’t come out?”
“It’s already afternoon.”
Shangshan Che read her expression and slapped down on Two-Foot Adult’s proud little head, saying: “I think Lili Zi was too tense, so I told her some Hell jokes to help her relax.”
Shizuma Mafuyu didn’t believe it but nodded as if she did: “Oh, oh!”
“—By the way, Ms. Shizuma, aren’t you going to work?”
“Shangshan Jun, you’re even more like the ‘silent, just dumping work on me’ devil than Lord Nanjo…”
Shizuma Mafuyu sighed weakly: “My injuries aren’t healed yet, so I’m taking a day off. I want to continue following Miss Tokugawa to learn the health-preserving Breathing Technique exhalation.”
Oh, that’s how it is.
Leaving the uncooperative Two-Foot Adult aside, Shangshan Che chatted idly with Shizuma Mafuyu until Lili Zi, neatly dressed and emitting a fresh fragrance, came out of the room.
“Ah, it’s Sister Mafuyu.”
Lili Zi smiled, leaving Shangshan Che aside just like he had left Two-Foot Adult, and intimately linked arms with Shizuma Mafuyu as they walked forward.
Then, she turned back and stuck out her tongue to make a face at him.
Shizuma Mafuyu uttered a couple of “eh”s, thinking this wasn’t right—when did her relationship with Tokugawa Ririko become this good?
Shangshan Che wasn’t in a hurry.
Because Lili Zi would soon be unable to hold back her curiosity and come to his side to ask questions.
……
Sure enough, when they reached the doorway of Sakura Capital High School Kendo Hall, Lili Zi finally couldn’t suppress the hundred questions in her heart and slowed her steps to come to Shangshan Che’s side.
She coughed and asked: “Hey, why did the Spiritual Power on you suddenly increase so much?”
Hey, you…
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow, but he was magnanimous and didn’t quibble with an unremarkable child, casually replying: “Last night I had some enlightenment, went out and absorbed a couple breaths of Spiritual Power, and it became like this.”
Lili Zi narrowed her eyes—could it be that Shangshan Che, besides the Spells from his contracted Shikigami, had also practiced other Onmyōdō and broken through while she was asleep?
Otherwise, there was no reason for the Spiritual Power on him to multiply by dozens or even hundreds of times… probably.
She flatly said “oh”: “So Shangshan Jun, which branch of Four Paths and Five Elements are you cultivating?”
Four Paths and Five Elements?
What was that? It sounded pretty good.
Shangshan Che pulled out his mobile phone and searched, finding only a bunch of nonsensical related entries and ads.
Completely unsearchable.
Shangshan Che honestly put his phone back in his pocket and slightly lowered his head to ask humbly: “Teacher Lili Zi, what do you mean by Four Paths and Five Elements?”
After a long time, no sound came from Lili Zi’s mouth.
Shangshan Che tentatively raised his gaze and found Lili Zi glaring at him fixedly.
Sensing Shangshan Che’s gaze, Lili Zi immediately restrained her micro-expressions that were spilling out: “You don’t know?”
Shangshan Che shook his head: “I don’t know.”
“Not knowing is also normal!”
Lili Zi’s tone rose and fell emphatically.
She took a deep, forceful breath, about to speak, but upon seeing Shizuma Mafuyu nearby, added: “Sister Mafuyu, do you know?”
Shizuma Mafuyu nodded repeatedly: “Isn’t this basic knowledge? It’s taught in onboarding training.”
Yeah, basic knowledge.
Lili Zi chewed on the air in her mouth—but if Shangshan Che didn’t even know this, how did his Spiritual Power increase?
Out of nothing?
It couldn’t be that he practiced those Heretical Paths with incomplete Inheritance or the Great Onmyōdō that only existed in ancient Onmyoji Families, right?
“But that doesn’t make sense. If you were an heir from an Onmyoji Family, would you have nearly been bitten to death by a Kitsune-dog?”
Lili Zi pushed up her nonexistent glasses like a famous detective and pointed at Shangshan Che.
“—So! Shangshan Jun, you’re cultivating Heretical Paths Onmyōdō, right! Come clean, don’t get yourself killed!”
Hearing this, Shizuma Mafuyu came over too, seriously saying: “Heretical Paths… In the end, you either turn into something neither human nor ghost, or blood sacrifice many people, or become Sustenance for the powerful Onmyoji who cultivates this Onmyōdō.”
She suggested: “Shangshan Jun, you can still stop practicing now.”
Damn, is this some black society cultivation world?
Shangshan Che was stunned, but he shook his head: “I’ve never learned any of those weird Onmyōdō you mentioned. Rather, I’ve never even been exposed to Onmyōdō.”
This was a lie.
—Great Onmyōdō Fragment · Spirit Control was also Onmyōdō, but it was taught to him by a netizen on the forum, so better not mention it.
From Lili Zi’s tone, Great Onmyōdō was Onmyōdō that only heirs of ancient Onmyoji Families could learn.
If he admitted to practicing Great Onmyōdō here, it would be like a Backstab to her.
He didn’t know the consequences if the corporate slave netizen’s family found out—but since they were so generous, Shangshan Che couldn’t do that.
Besides, his Spiritual Power surge wasn’t due to practicing Onmyōdō anyway.
Lili Zi and Shizuma Mafuyu exchanged glances; the latter was full of confusion, unable to understand Shangshan Che’s logic and feeling like he was treating them as fools.
—If he didn’t practice Onmyōdō, how did his Spiritual Power grow?
But Lili Zi was already used to it.
—Shangshan Che had “some enlightenment,” so why would he need to practice Onmyōdō?
If his Spiritual Power didn’t surge, skyrocket, explode like this, that would be the strange thing!
This was the perverse and outrageous level of the genius she admired—no extra explanation needed!
She just hadn’t expected that Shangshan Che not only had outstanding talent in Sword Technique and Breathing Technique, but Onmyōdō was no problem for him either.
Lili Zi glanced at the puzzled Shizuma Mafuyu and fell silent… while someone like Sister Mafuyu had no talent in any aspect.
No matter how much she practiced, in her lifetime she couldn’t reach the level of an ordinary Swordsman or Onmyoji.
Pushing Shangshan Che into the dojo, Lili Zi closed the door, clapped her hands, and sat cross-legged: “In that case, let’s add an extra lesson temporarily.”
The girl, who had long memorized all this knowledge word for word, said to Shangshan Che: “Regarding Onmyōdō—Heretical Paths, Four Paths and Five Elements, Great Onmyōdō and… um, just these.”
Shangshan Che also sat down, assuming a listening posture: “Please instruct me, Teacher Lili Zi.”
Lili Zi: “I won’t say much about Heretical Paths and Great Onmyōdō. You’re not stupid, Shangshan Jun; you should get the gist from what was just said.”
“—We should avoid contacting those two things if possible.”
“The former is full of pitfalls; one wrong step and you’re doomed forever. The latter, even if you luckily find the best one, don’t practice it, because the family that masters this Great Onmyōdō might come knocking anytime.”
Shangshan Che nodded.
“The main one is Four Paths and Five Elements. This is also the best and most common choice for Onmyoji besides Spells from contracting Shikigami—at least from what I’ve seen.”
Lili Zi held up four fingers: “The so-called Four Paths refer to Onmyōdō Path, Astronomy Path, Calendar Path, Water Clock Path.”
“Five Elements are the five attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. Ordinary Onmyoji choose one from the Four Paths and one from the Five Elements, setting their future cultivation direction—
Among the Four Paths, Onmyōdō Path has the broadest scope, with the most techniques and Spells.
Astronomy Path observes stars and constellations, can set up Barriers invisibly.
Calendar Path determines fortune and misfortune, excels in divination.
The last Water Clock Path seems to control time, extremely mysterious.”
“You can look up the meaning of Five Elements online.” Lili Zi paused. “Sounds pretty simple, right?”
Shangshan Che understood—this was like selecting a race and profession on a game’s starting screen, then leveling up.
It did sound simple.
Lili Zi sneered: “But in reality, no one stipulates that Onmyoji can only cultivate two, so I hear that nowadays Great Onmyoji mostly master three, four, five, or six kinds. Some master all and are proficient in all—seems not just legend.”
All, all proficient? All hardcore grinders?
No, no matter what, that’s unlikely.
Shangshan Che was shocked. Others couldn’t grind Proficiency like him; wasn’t this the legendary “jack of all trades, master of none”?
Then, Lili Zi resolved his doubt.
“—Because the Tides haven’t come, Spiritual Energy between Heaven and Earth is too thin. No matter how deeply you cultivate, you can’t break the upper limit, so they abandon specialization and cultivate multiple paths.”
She spread her hands: “But I don’t feel it—Breathing Technique digs inward into oneself, Onmyōdō borrows outward from Heaven and Earth Power, so end of dharma or not has nothing to do with us muscleheads who only swing swords!”
Shangshan Che fell into thought.
From what Lili Zi said, many Great Onmyoji had already reached the Mortal Realm limit and couldn’t improve further, so they competed on “who knows more.”
Was this one reason why modern times were calmer than ancient times—everyone’s top combat power was evenly matched, no one gained advantage in fights, maintaining balance.
But if the Tides come… it probably wouldn’t be long before massive upheavals and reshuffles.
As for why Breathing Technique, with no current limit, hadn’t replaced Onmyoji as mainstream, the reasons were probably simple.
First, it required talent, and cultivation speed was so slow it left people speechless—often months of focused practice with little progress, likely still just a strong ordinary person.
As the saying goes, the master leads you through the door; cultivation depends on the individual.
This was completely outclassed by Onmyoji who could quickly contract bizarre Shikigami under guidance with immediate results.
Moreover, the Breathing Technique path required more than just practicing the Breathing Technique.
Matching knife, gun, sword, halberd, or fist and foot martial arts required equal or more time to practice another one, otherwise a body full of Power couldn’t be utilized well.
Just these two points deterred most people from becoming Onmyoji.
Not to mention…
Shangshan Che asked: “Lili Zi, Corona Breathing Technique is common knowledge, right?”
“What else?” the girl retorted.
—Even common knowledge couldn’t be spread casually, far from the Four Paths and Five Elements that anyone could study.
This Breathing Technique cultivation was strictly hierarchical and ascendant to heaven; it was like cosplaying the 81 tribulations of Journey to the West—who could persist were all gods.
Tokugawa Ririko, one of the gods, shook her head: “Shangshan Jun, if you want to learn Onmyōdō, go find someone else. Back to the main topic.”
She raised a finger, using sonic resonance to interrupt the thoughts of the two present: “Spirit Condensing Technique and Jade Heart Incantation.”
The girl looked at the utterly depleted Shizuma Mafuyu in Spirit, Energy, and Vitality: “Sister Mafuyu, you can try learning these too; they’re good for your all-nighters and physical recovery.”
Shizuma Mafuyu hugged her knees and nodded solemnly.
Shangshan Che, who had already queued White Hannya and Three-tailed Fox Demon Incarnations for leveling up to Two-Star, glanced at his remaining Soul Ash and Soul Incense Ash quantities—
Soul Ash: 681
Soul Incense Ash Small ×3, Soul Incense Ash Tiny ×6
After returning to bed last night, Shangshan Che had spent 400 Soul Ash in the initial Half-Star Card Pool, pulling 40 times ruthlessly.
He got 28 Soul Incense Ash Tiny, 6 Soul Incense Ash Small, and 5 pieces of gray quality junk equipment.
And finally, one small Item that might be slightly useful.
And now, with words like Lili Zi’s “teaching about to begin,” the two different specs of Soul Incense Ash in the Storage Bag both lit up.
Previously, Soul Incense Ash Small couldn’t be used.
“Is it because my attributes improved after gaining new Incarnations?”
Shangshan Che thought this made sense, because even Soul Incense Ash Tiny had already refreshed his five senses.
If he had used Soul Incense Ash Small with his previous frail Physical Body, he might have directly gone to Heaven.
Shangshan Che stared at the lit-up Soul Incense Ash Small, his hand itching: “How about trying this?”
The button was lit—how could he not click?
With this thought, Shangshan Che immediately clicked hard with his Thought.
—Soul Incense Ash Small, use!
Splash—splash—
A sound of something neither solid nor liquid flowing passed by Shangshan Che’s ear, like a hundred rivers entering the sea, surging endlessly.
He subconsciously reached out to grab a strand, carefully pinched it up, and held it before his eyes for close inspection.
A semi-transparent “substance” even finer than a hair strand danced at his fingertip with the omnipresent Tide.
It was Spiritual Power.
Although Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Power was originally formless and intangible—even if sensed, untouchable—for some reason Shangshan Che suddenly felt he could do it.
And so, he really grasped a strand of Spiritual Power.
Whoosh—whoosh—
Inside his body, beneath the circulating rush of blood through limbs and bones, another substance fused and rubbed with it continuously, emitting slight heat.
Shangshan Che knew that was the “qi” or “qi” of Corona within him.
Just as he wanted to examine this so-called qi up close like the Spiritual Power, a wave of pain hit his skull.
“Hiss—”
Shangshan Che’s eyebrow twitched, understanding the load on his body and brain after using Soul Incense Ash Small.
Just subconsciously trying something novel caused headache; if before, this terrifying data volume might have rushed him into paralysis?
If Soul Incense Ash Tiny upgraded resolution from 1080p to 4k, then Soul Incense Ash Small raised it fully to 8k!
Everything, in exquisite detail!
Shangshan Che just swept a glance, and his mind instinctively knew Lili Zi and Shizuma Mafuyu’s heights, weights, measurements…
“Pervert—”
Lili Zi immediately sensed this abrupt, naked gaze that seemed to strip her bare without consent, and fiercely glared back while covering her chest with her hand.
But Shangshan Che not only didn’t look away, he stared even deeper.
He surprisingly hadn’t noticed before—Lili Zi was so… beautiful.
Machine-like precise breathing synced with blood flow speed; all qi inside performed duties without waste; each Heart beat fused qi and blood more tightly, indistinguishable…
Everything about Lili Zi was in constant full-effort push toward deeper “cultivation path.”
In comparison, besides his cheat of explosive Proficiency grinding, he was completely incomparable to her.
Lili Zi clenched her fist: “Hey! Keep staring and I’ll poke your eyes out!”
Shangshan Che subconsciously murmured: “So beautiful…”
Even when angry, speaking didn’t waste a bit of cultivation Efficiency; if before, Shangshan Che would just curse her a Rolling Dog!
But now that he could observe and learn, this beauty of Efficiency almost made Shangshan Che drool.
The mortal masterpiece of the god of cultivation sat right before him, and he surprisingly hadn’t noticed before!
—Wanting to observe her, touch her, claim everything of hers, place her before him until squeezing every last bit of value…
“Eh?”
Hearing the unexpected reply, Lili Zi was slightly stunned, her breathing disordered for an instant—like a fierce heavy punch yanking Shangshan Che out of this bizarre state.
Damn!
Shangshan Che felt a chill in his heart, goosebumps rising all over his body.
