Chapter 109: Proficient Level Breathing Technique, The Tide Approaches
【Due to your overall rating level being S, you have obtained the corresponding S-level reward—Soul Ash 1000 points. Walking Assembly Token（Special Item）! Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder（Special Item）!】
Two Special Items?
Special Items differ from ordinary weapons and equipment in that they have no specific quality divisions, but most possess irreplaceable uniqueness.
Shangshan Che first took out the “Walking Assembly Token,” which was another item related to his identity as a Walker.
He hadn’t expected that the related task for the “Fractured Walker Token” obtained last time wasn’t completed yet, and now he had obtained another token.
A cold sensation came from the palm of his hand, and Shangshan Che struggled greatly to lift it up for a close examination.
—After his Physique attribute became “1,” he felt like a bodybuilder who had been carbon-deprived in the Katsura River for several days; even though his appearance hadn’t changed at all, his power had decayed to an extreme, making even normal breathing very strenuous.
Purely strong on the outside but weak on the inside.
【Walking Assembly Token（Special Item）】
【Usage: Consume 100 points of Soul Ash to permanently activate this Assembly Token. After activation, inject a small amount of Spiritual Power to use it.】
【Note: This token can only be used in the Eternal World.】
【—A ancient, dust-covered Assembly Token, which perhaps long, long ago belonged to a Walker who measured the entire Eternal World.】
The Assembly Token differed slightly in appearance from the Walker Token he held; though called a token, it was more like a perfectly curved round disc.
Shangshan Che wiped away the thick dust on it with his wrist, revealing an ancient-style “Assembly” character in the center of the token.
Although he still couldn’t read the character, just like before, he could understand its meaning without needing to read it.
“Assembly… so that means, I might encounter other Walkers?”
Shangshan Che pondered, but after seeing this final note and recalling Katsumi’s words, he shook his head.
Nowadays, even the existence of Walkers is extremely rare.
So, among those who obtained this Assembly Token and could access this so-called “Assembly,” there would surely be even fewer; it was best not to hold any hope.
For now, he put away the Assembly Token and took out the second Special Item he obtained, the “Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder.”
The so-called Divine Fortune Sticks are actually Japan’s traditional divination method—in shrines or temples, for one or two hundred yen, one can take a cylinder filled with sticks inscribed with “auspicious,” “inauspicious,” and the like, confirm the matter in mind, shake it, and obtain a fortune stick related to the matter.
However, Shangshan Che knew that most shrines and temples, for the tourists’ experience, stuff the cylinders full of “auspicious” and better fortune sticks, with “inauspicious” ones being very rare.
So Shangshan Che had never believed in such things.
But the stick cylinder in his hand was absolutely nothing like those artificially manipulated wooden sticks—
The stick cylinder was neither light nor heavy, overall in a slender cylindrical shape, with delicate wooden textures covering every part; holding it in hand, Shangshan Che could feel a warm and moist touch.
Looking through the lid engraved with intricate cloud patterns, he could see that inside it seemed divided into two, with neat rows of Divine Fortune Sticks arranged in the deep cylinder.
Just by holding it, Shangshan Che felt the thoughts in his mind slightly stirred—as if the stick cylinder was unhurriedly asking him “What do you want to ask.”
【Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder（Special Item）】
【Usage: The Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder has two cylinders: “Fortune-Drawing” and “Fortune-Changing.”
The Fortune-Drawing cylinder can be used once every three days; confirm the matter in mind and draw a stick. The more specific the matter, the more accurate the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of the fortune.
The Fortune-Changing cylinder can be used once every ten days. After a successful fortune draw, use the Fortune-Changing cylinder to randomly transform the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness; if dissatisfied after the transformation, discard the stick without changing it.】
【—Misfortune depends on fortune, fortune harbors misfortune.】
“Predicting the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of future events…”
Shangshan Che stared into the deep interior of the stick cylinder, immediately making a decision in his heart.
He closed his eyes and silently recited in his mind several times “The impact on me after the First Wave arrives tomorrow,” then gently shook the stick cylinder.
Clack.
Soon, a slender and smooth Divine Fortune Stick slid out from the mouth of the cylinder, falling beside Shangshan Che’s hand.
With some curiosity, he picked up the Divine Fortune Stick—
【Divine Fortune Stick·Auspicious】
Below the prompt, a short note also popped up.
【—The great tide has arrived; go with the waves.】
“Do you have to speak in such riddler four-character phrases.” Shangshan Che looked at the note for a while and breathed a sigh of relief. “But since it’s ‘Auspicious,’ it means the First Wave won’t cause too many problems.”
After all, above “Auspicious,” there’s only “Great Auspiciousness”; this already indicates the matter is very good.
And it was impossible for him to leave Arakawa Ward tomorrow, which also meant the arrival of tomorrow’s First Wave wouldn’t produce excessive negative impacts on Arakawa Ward.
It seemed that after Ai Bieli’s death, the remaining small fries couldn’t stir up any waves—the Special Affairs Office’s preparations over the past few months weren’t in vain.
Thinking carefully, the First Wave wouldn’t cause excessive harm to Mortal Realm society; instead, it would allow ordinary people to gradually contact the Supernatural, Onmyōdō, and Demon Supernatural Phenomena.
Letting everyone steadily realize that a new era seemed to have arrived was the normal phenomenon.
Although the Eternal World was surfacing, it was still an unknown number of tens of thousands of miles away from the Mortal Realm.
Even if Heaven and Earth and Demons began reviving together, what would emerge at most were some Half-Star or One-Star Lesser Demons.
And the Onmyoji of the Special Affairs Office had long known the Tide was coming and planned meticulous and comprehensive countermeasures.
The massive casualties and crisis in Arakawa Ward were mainly due to the existence of one of the Eight Sufferings, Ai Bieli— the previously highly harmful Friendship Club was her doing, and the Red Tide that nearly wiped out the entire Arakawa Ward was also her handiwork.
Aside from that, the biggest Supernatural Event was just the “Dormant Block” incident caused by the Demon Guide Association’s Nue a few days ago, which ordinary people hardly knew about.
It only dared to secretly send Living Beings in the dead of night to scrape Living Souls bit by bit, not daring to confront the Special Affairs Office head-on at all.
Satisfied, Shangshan Che tucked the Divine Fortune Stick into his waist, put away the stick cylinder, listened to the surroundings for a while, and only after confirming no one was around did he take out what might be the greatest gain from this incident.
—Mythical Material·Dissolving Love.
This was the material obtained after slaying Ai Bieli.
It was also through this that Shangshan Che learned there was a quality called “Mythical” above “Legendary.”
For Shangshan Che, who currently had only two Epic items both gifted by others, this was simply unimaginable.
Shangshan Che looked down, and a crystal-clear heart came into view.
It was still beating extremely faintly, firmly attracting his gaze.
Shangshan Che was momentarily speechless, finding that no word except “beauty” was sufficient to describe the heart he held.
He even had the thought of swallowing the heart in his hand in one bite.
【Dissolving Love】
【Quality: Mythical】
【Effect One: Can serve as the core material for promoting a Six-Star True God to Seven-Star.】
【Effect Two: When carried on one’s person, it will slowly temper the carrier’s State of Mind in a special way.】
【—Ai Bieli.】
It wasn’t until Shangshan Che saw “Effect Two” that he suddenly jolted.
Looking at the Dissolving Love in his hand again, the bizarre and grotesque attraction from before had completely vanished.
Shangshan Che quickly circulated the Jade Heart Incantation to guard his mind, inwardly cursing that this was how it “tempered” in a “special way.”
The Panel only listed two effects; who knew what bizarre effects would occur if he actually swallowed this heart.
Becoming the new Eight Sufferings·Ai Bieli wasn’t entirely impossible.
“Dead and still not peaceful…”
Shangshan Che forcefully squeezed the Dissolving Love and threw it back into the Storage Bag— even if it could be used to temper his State of Mind, he would wait until at least all his attributes recovered.
Just glancing at it earlier had nearly caused a disaster; Shangshan Che didn’t dare to keep this thing nearby any longer.
As for Effect One, it was even more unattainable for him… Aside from letting him know that Six-Star level existences were called “True Gods,” it offered no help for now.
After all, this thing’s quality was simply too high; it wasn’t a material Shangshan Che should have obtained at this stage.
Ai Bieli, after being defeated by Nanjo Emi, had instantly escaped from Arakawa Ward through the air to Ota Ward at the southernmost end of Tokyo; it shouldn’t have been possible for anyone to detect, let alone catch up.
But Shangshan Che had relied on the nail head from the nail-headed seven arrows that Katsumi gave him—a prop from Mythical legends—to achieve it.
“No wonder Ai Bieli showed an expression of confusion at the time…”
Shangshan Che stared at the nail head in his hand, now blooming with strands of deep cracks—even a part of the legendary nail-headed seven arrows was damaged because of this.
If it had been a tracking item of slightly lower quality, it probably couldn’t have been used at all.
At that time, Two-Foot Adult’s Curse Positioning had also been erased and vanished in an instant.
“Luck.”
With a sigh, Shangshan Che browsed the remaining Proficiency prompts.
First was the Corona Breathing Technique, which had successfully broken through to Proficient Level after the fierce battle with Ai Bieli.
【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique, has been upgraded to Proficient Level!】
【Corona Breathing Technique（Proficient 550/3500）】
【Effect: Strengthens the five viscera internally, Qi connects to the four limbs, exhalation like fire.】
【Due to your Corona Breathing Technique upgrading to Proficient Level, your Physique +5!】
【Due to your Corona Breathing Technique upgrading to Proficient Level, your Internal Qi capacity has increased!】
“Proficient Level already requires 3500 Proficiency points; what’s it going to be like later?”
This was still after Shangshan Che’s 30% Proficiency reduction; originally, it would require a full 5000 Proficiency points to break through to Mastery Level.
And further on, it would be 10000 points, then double again…
Five-digit or even six-digit Proficiency requirements—who knew how many years it would take to grind.
“I wonder what the so-called ‘Qi connecting to the four limbs’ feels like.”
Shangshan Che moved his quite powerless fingers and glanced at the Spirit Control Technique, which he had squeezed in 20 Proficiency points in the past couple of days.
【Spirit Control Technique（Beginner 0/300）】
【Effect: Command the Qi of Heaven and Earth, connect to the spirits of all things.】
【Due to your Spirit Control Technique upgrading to Beginner Level, your Spiritual Arts +3!】
Aside from adding 3 points to his Spiritual Arts attribute, the Spirit Control Technique showed almost no changes.
However, this fragment of Great Onmyōdō required pitifully little Proficiency; Shangshan Che didn’t mind grinding it during rest times— who knew, maybe at Mastery or higher, it would show miraculous effects.
After the two skills broke through, the attribute Panel changed again—
【Shangshan Che】
【Physique: 1（25→30）】
【Willpower: 1（13）】
【Charm: 1（9）】
【Spiritual Arts: 1（10→13）】
Now, even without using any power related to Demon Incarnations, Shangshan Che could exorcise One-and-a-Half Star or even Two-Star Demons; if he equipped all his gear, he probably wouldn’t feel intimidated against ordinary Two-and-a-Half Star Demons.
“Right, there’s also Kaga Kiyomitsu.”
Remembering the unknown change prompt that appeared for Kaga Kiyomitsu after slaying Ai Bieli, Shangshan Che took out Kaga Kiyomitsu, only to be stunned to find he couldn’t draw it from the Scabbard now.
“Hm?”
【Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation undergoing unknown change: 4%】
Shangshan Che clicked his tongue: “This Ai Bieli really has to keep asserting her presence even after death.”
Boom—
Thunder rumbled between Heaven and Earth.
Placing the lifeless Kaga Kiyomitsu on his lap, Shangshan Che, hearing the rumbling, instinctively looked out the window at the continuous drizzle.
Shangshan Che silently savored the rising Spiritual Power concentration around him; he believed everyone who could faintly sense Spiritual Power would understand one thing—
This Heaven and Earth they once knew was about to become different from any time before.
The Tide was coming.
……
“The Tide is coming.”
On the Rooftop, Kondo Yuya spoke after the wind and rain washed away the bloody smell from his body.
Lili Zi gazed at the distant fires being extinguished one by one, then at the uneasy crowds, and asked somewhat urgently: “Great Officer Kondo, have you seen Nanjo Emi after that?”
“If she stepped forward to announce that Ai Bieli has been defeated and everything is over, it could stabilize the current panicked hearts and accelerate the restoration of order in the entire Arakawa Ward.”
Kondo Yuya shook his head,
“Tokugawa, no one in Arakawa Ward now can command her, not even me.”
Lili Zi’s gaze shifted slightly: “Meaning, you know her location.”
“I don’t know what Nanjo is thinking now, so don’t think about dragging her back…”
Kondo Yuya said halfway, then helplessly changed his words,
“Five Person Council.”
“—She probably went to the Five Person Council because of those escaped officials.”
……
“You don’t have an appointment, and the Five Person Council hasn’t notified—”
In front of an unremarkable single-family house, the tall, burly black-suited Agent retreated two more steps, blocking the Doorway and saying stiffly.
“I said, in special times, special circumstances require special treatment. I’ll take full responsibility; whatever happens after has nothing to do with you.”
Nanjo Emi raised her eyes slightly, making the Agent feel all his Spiritual Power drained in an instant, his limbs numb and powerless.
“Now, I’ll say it one last time.”
Nanjo Emi raised her fingertip, aiming at the trembling Agent,
“Move aside.”
Click.
The door behind the black-suited Agent suddenly opened, causing him to fall backward uncontrollably.
A voice came from the empty single-family house: “Let her in.”
The Agent was greatly relieved and scrambled to the side on hands and knees.
Nanjo Emi ignored him, crossed the threshold alone, and entered the Darkness.
Last two days of the month, brothers, begging for monthly votes!
——
Recommending a friend’s book:
《Plague Weird: Starting from Immortality》
This world is sick.
An unknown distortion occurred at the source, and any disease parasitizing the human body turned into Plague Weird; They tear open people’s skin and parasitize within.
Chu Cheng transmigrated to an ancient dynasty ravaged by Plague Weird and discovered he had the ability to exempt costs.
And his first extraordinary trait was immortality.
【Cancer Weird: Immortality】
【Cost—Useless organ proliferation, flesh decay（Exempted!）】
