Chapter 112: Four-tailed Fox Jade Token, 【great Fortune】 Fortune-telling Stick
May 8, 2024, Sakura Capital High School, Sunny.
A week has passed since the full onslaught of the First Wave, a period that felt incredibly short for many, yet immensely long for others.
The concentration of spiritual energy between heaven and earth continuously climbed, reaching its peak three days after the Tide arrived.
According to an average taken from multiple locations by the Special Affairs Office, the current spiritual energy concentration has risen and stabilized at 11.8 times that of before the Tide arrived.
A spiritual energy concentration as high as 11.8 times brings far more than just 11.8 times the cultivation speed… Supernatural phenomena whispered about in legends are successively reviving, and demons can hide with greater ease.
Of course, more importantly, under the current environment, cultivation—that is, the threshold for touching and entering the extraordinary—has greatly lowered. Numerous ancient texts and methods have been released by the Special Affairs Office, and a golden age of universal cultivation is about to dawn.
This morning, inside the gymnasium of Sakura Capital High School in Arakawa Ward, Tokyo.
The originally standing basketball hoops have been dismantled, and the nearly thousand-square-meter smooth wooden floor is lined with the entire second-year student body of Sakura Capital High School.
This is their first “Demon Class,” as previously mentioned by Nanjo Emi, but more accurately, it is a major branch of Demon Class—Onmyōdō Class.
An Onmyōji, sent by the Special Affairs Office to teach Onmyōdō and sporting a slicked-back hairstyle, stands in the very center of the gymnasium.
At the Onmyōji’s feet, Shangshan Che, Lili Zi, and Kitano Runa are seated in a row, listening to the Onmyōji speak about the so-called 《 Basic Spirit Absorption Method 》.
Knowledge about basic demons and cultivation has already been widely disseminated. This large-scale class for the entire year is intended to assess the cultivation talent and potential of all students in the year.
Reality is not like a game; of course, it’s impossible to use a piece of black technology to measure a student’s talent and potential when they haven’t cultivated at all.
Therefore, the method adopted by the Special Affairs Office is to teach the most basic and most peaceful Basic Spirit Absorption Method to the students.
—Aside from its slow cultivation speed and low ceiling, this method has no other peculiar side effects.
Furthermore, those who cultivate the Basic Spirit Absorption Method can still freely choose a path that suits them among the Four Paths and Five Elements without any added difficulty.
One must understand that if an Onmyōji apprentice first chooses a Water-element path, the difficulty of later cultivating Fire-element would more than double.
How long it takes to learn the Basic Spirit Absorption Method, the time it takes to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth after learning it, the speed at which the first pulse of spiritual power is successfully absorbed and expelled, and the number of days required to complete the first Heavenly Cycle Circulation…
These data points can all serve as standards for the Special Affairs Office to judge a student’s talent, and future resource allocation will be based on these as an important criterion.
This might have been difficult to achieve in the past.
But this is the era of information and big data. As long as data can be collected correctly, such a simple matter can be easily handled by any clerk at the Special Affairs Office with an Excel spreadsheet.
Completing the aforementioned evaluation metrics is merely taking the lowest step out of the ordinary, and one would most likely not even be able to defeat an ordinary wandering soul.
The vast majority of an Onmyōji’s time is not spent fighting but in solitary refinement.
—The Onmyōji one sees at the Special Affairs Office have all traveled a considerable distance on one of the Four Paths and Five Elements, have contracted Shikigami, and possess the ability to act independently.
“So, Shangshan Jun, Lili Zi… did you understand any of the gibberish he was talking about?”
Kitano Runa, feeling utterly lost, rubbed her temples, displaying a confused expression akin to listening to a calculus lecture and eyes that were clear yet foolish.
“Basic Spirit Absorption Method, the name is quite fitting,” Shangshan Che murmured, stroking the jade token in his hand and flipping through the brand new, thick textbook. “Easy to start, difficult to improve, and indeed rather slow to practice, but it should be stable.”
Lili Zi also blinked and nodded in agreement, “It sounds very concise and fundamental.”
The two looked at Kitano Runa, who was sitting between them, and both showed expressions of bewilderment, “Are there any difficult points that are hard to understand in this method from beginning to end?”
Kitano Runa hugged her knees and rolled her eyes, “Alright, you two, stop talking to me. My small, fragile pride can’t take any more blows!”
Shangshan Che complied, but Lili Zi didn’t forget to take care of her good friend.
She pulled Kitano Runa closer and, breaking down the Basic Spirit Absorption Method from start to finish, explaining every knowledge point and critical juncture in vivid detail.
Although Lili Zi herself couldn’t sense even a trace of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, this didn’t prevent her from fully understanding this extremely basic Onmyōdō technique and applying her experience with Breathing Techniques to draw parallels.
“You two are whispering in front of me?! Are you going to come up and teach then?!”
The Onmyōji, already displeased about having his private cultivation time interrupted and being forced to teach these high school mortals, looked down at them.
Kitano Runa was startled and quickly looked down at the floor, then nudged Lili Zi with her toe.
He frowned, pointing at Lili Zi, who was still patiently explaining, oblivious, “Yes, you! The girl in the first row, eighth seat! Still talking! Are you ignoring me?!”
—It seems this unfamiliar Onmyōji might have just returned from elsewhere and isn’t very familiar with newcomers like Lili Zi.
Shangshan Che had a peculiar expression and nudged Lili Zi’s waist with his elbow.
The latter bared her teeth and glared back, “What are you doing? I’m teaching Runa!”
Shangshan Che tilted his chin, “He’s asking you to come teach, perhaps he thinks you teach well and wants to exchange experiences.”
“Oh! That’s great. He probably doesn’t know me.” Lili Zi gave a thumbs-up to the Onmyōji on stage and then turned her head to say, “It’s really commendable that he’s willing to humbly learn from a mere student like me.”
Saying that, Lili Zi stood up amidst the crowd’s gaze.
She smiled and clasped the Onmyōji’s stiff hands with both of hers, then, under his stunned gaze, walked boldly onto the high platform, cleared her throat,
“Hello everyone! Since Teacher Nakajima has invited me to share my experience, I will offer some superficial personal insights. Please point out any errors.”
The entire gymnasium erupted—among the second-year students, there wasn’t one in ten who didn’t know Tokugawa Lili Zi, and the remaining one who didn’t now did.
The Nakajima Onmyōji, inexplicably pushed off the stage, blinked in surprise, “Ah?”
Just as he was about to go onstage and properly reprimand this ignorant student, he felt his robe being tugged.
A spiritual power that made him freeze arose from behind him.
Nakajima Onmyōji immediately turned his head and saw Shangshan Che smiling at him, his tone involuntarily softening,
“This student, you are…”
Shangshan Che: “Mister Nakajima, Lili Zi on stage is also from the Special Affairs Office, so perhaps you should first listen to what she has to say?”
This high school girl is my colleague?
Nakajima raised an eyebrow and chose not to offend the young man whose spiritual power was surging, nodding, “Another perspective is good too.”
He then added, “However, I must ensure the rigor of the teaching content.”
The implication was that if Lili Zi didn’t teach well, she would have to come down and be lectured by him.
But could such a thing happen?
Shangshan Che sized up this Nakajima Onmyōji—the spiritual power fluctuation emanating from him was not weak; before the Tide arrived, he could have almost touched the bottom line of “Junior Officer.”
However, in the current era, such a level of spiritual power fluctuation was very common.
—Because of the immense spiritual power brought by the Tide, almost all Onmyōji below Three-Star easily moved up a level.
“Moreover, he is likely an Onmyōji studying the Astronomy Path and Earth Element, with an estimated strength of around Two-Star.”
Shangshan Che thought to himself—in these seven days, he had already found and studied all the introductory texts for the Five Elements among the Four Paths and Five Elements, having prepared them all.
Although most of his proficiency levels were only Beginner or Not Yet Proficient, this laid a solid foundation for his understanding of others.
For instance, right now, aside from the Shikigami that haven’t shown themselves yet, he had seen through Nakajima Onmyōji completely, while the latter even believed him to be a strong Onmyōji as well.
The gap in information-gathering ability was displayed almost instantaneously.
Shifting his gaze away from the oblivious Nakajima, Shangshan Che realized that the gymnasium had suddenly fallen silent, with only Lili Zi’s soft and clear teaching voice echoing.
Looking at Nakajima’s face again, Shangshan Che saw that he too wore a shocked, disbelieving expression.
Nakajima looked up and murmured, “This understanding… is far deeper than mine.”
Following this, a strong sense of curiosity appeared on Nakajima’s face.
Several minutes later.
“—That is all my personal, humble understanding. I hope it can be of help to everyone.”
After finishing, Lili Zi bowed to everyone and, amidst thunderous applause, trotted down.
The surrounding area immediately became noisy with discussions—
Someone suddenly burst into laughter, “I get it, I get it, hahahaha!”
Others were too engrossed in watching and didn’t hear anything, “I’m just going to hug Goddess Tokugawa’s black stockings and long legs and gnaw on them!”
More were discussing that Lili Zi’s explanation seemed, perhaps, a bit better than that of the previous Onmyōji, Nakajima?
This was an undeniable fact.
Because even Nakajima himself was shaken by this profound understanding.
What perplexed him even more was that this girl named “Tokugawa Lili Zi” emanated not even a sliver of spiritual power.
One must know that unless one has reached the Ghost God level or above, or cultivated some extremely special method, it is difficult for an Onmyōji to control the dissipation of their own spiritual power.
Doesn’t this mean one fact—that his young colleague is not an Onmyōji?
Nakajima curiously asked her this question.
Lili Zi responded as a matter of course, “I have delved deeply into the path of Breathing Techniques, so it’s natural for me to understand these basic methods by drawing parallels. It’s not difficult.”
Is this… is this right?
Don’t people who practice Breathing Techniques endure the heat of summer and the cold of winter, with muscles that have grown into their brains? How could they understand Onmyōdō?
Nakajima, his mind filled with questions, walked back onto the stage, raised his hand slightly, and a faint dispersal of spiritual energy immediately silenced the entire gymnasium.
He said, “Alright, I’m sure after Miss Tokugawa’s explanation just now, you all understand how to get started with the Basic Spirit Absorption Method.”
“So, from now on, please all students enter a meditative state where you are and strive to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and absorb your first pulse of spiritual power.”
Eager students for the extraordinary closed their eyes, trying to calm their minds and enter a meditative state.
And those restless troublemakers were also stimulated by the spiritual energy released by Nakajima just now, so they hushed and stopped their whispering.
Seeing that everyone was quiet, Nakajima also went down and pulled Lili Zi aside. His previous impatient demeanor was gone, and he humbly began to ask Lili Zi for guidance.
“The spiritual energy within the gymnasium seems to be much higher than outside.” Seeing Lili Zi being pulled aside, Shangshan Che also made a decision, “Let’s take this opportunity to max out the Beginner level proficiency of Spirit Control Technique.”
Unlike the previously arduous cultivation of Spirit Control Technique.
After the quality of the Three-tailed Fox Incarnation… no, it should be called the Four-Tailed Fox Incarnation now, was raised to “Epic,” Shangshan Che’s cultivation in Onmyōdō had also entered easy mode.
Not only had cultivating many texts among the Four Paths and Five Elements significantly improved his Spiritual Arts Attribute, but the Epic quality Four-Tailed Fox Incarnation also brought him pleasant surprises.
Shangshan Che stroked the finely carved, cool jade token in his hand, recalling its attributes—
【 Four-tailed Fox Jade Pendant 】
【 Quality: Epic 】
【 Effect One: Increases the wearer’s spiritual power affinity. 】
【 Effect Two: Grants the wearer one-third of the Spiritual Arts Attribute of “Demon Incarnation · Four-Tailed Fox.” Current Spiritual Arts Attribute +11. 】
【—A warm jade pendant engraved with a lifelike four-tailed fox, feeling cool to the touch. 】
Shangshan Che only then realized that the attributes of the items formed after each Incarnation was promoted to Epic were different.
However, with this, and including the attribute increase from the jade token, Shangshan Che’s personal attribute panel became—
【 Physique: 30 】
【 Willpower: 14 】
【 Charm: 9 】
【 Spiritual Arts: 23→34 】
His Spiritual Arts attribute had now reached a terrifying 34 points, becoming Shangshan Che’s highest attribute—of course, it was now comparable to the spiritual power value within that Onmyōji named Nakajima.
However, while this 11-point increase in Spiritual Arts attribute was not small, it was overshadowed by the jade token’s Effect One—”Increases spiritual power affinity.”
Shangshan Che initially didn’t pay much attention to this effect.
But when he studied the texts of the Four Paths and Five Elements and truly began cultivating, he realized that the cultivation speed was almost twice as different depending on whether he wore this jade token or not!
It was precisely because Shangshan Che had been wearing this seemingly unremarkable jade token around his waist that
he was able to, within seven days, without neglecting other matters, consecutively raise all the introductory texts for “Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth” among the Four Paths and Five Elements to the Beginner level, bringing himself a total of 5 points of Spiritual Arts attribute bonus.
The proficiency required to upgrade these introductory texts was high, and the attributes and new skills gained after upgrading were minimal, so Shangshan Che stopped after raising them to the Beginner level.
“The proficiency required to reach the Proficient level is about the same as reaching Mastery level for Spirit Control Technique, but it only grants a few Onmyōdō spells like Fireball and Waterball. Who would bother training that…”
【 Basic Onmyōdō · Metal （ Beginner 0/600 ） 】
【 Basic Onmyōdō · Wood （ Beginner 0/600 ） 】
【 Basic Onmyōdō · Water （ Beginner 0/600 ） 】
【 Basic Onmyōdō · Fire （ Beginner 0/600 ） 】
【 Basic Onmyōdō · Earth （ Beginner 0/600 ） 】
Spirit Control Technique is a remnant of Great Onmyōdō; it might bring unexpected surprising effects when leveled up further.
But what future do these basic Onmyōdō techniques, which the Special Affairs Office has made available on their website for everyone to view, hold?
They might cap out at the Proficient level.
Glancing at the string of zeros behind the Five Elements Onmyōdō in his status panel, Shangshan Che shook his head.
Moreover, even now, Spirit Control Technique seems to already exhibit some utility different from these common Onmyōdō spells.
—Fast cultivation.
That’s right, the cultivation speed of operating Spirit Control Technique is truly fast.
Shangshan Che had tested it; even without the Four-Tailed Fox Jade Token, the time it took to absorb the same amount of spiritual energy using Proficient level Spirit Control Technique was one to two times faster than spells like “Basic Onmyōdō · Metal.”
Compared to the 《 Basic Spirit Absorption Method 》 taught to the general student body, it was more than three to four times faster!
Fast cultivation means faster proficiency grinding, allowing Shangshan Che’s Spiritual Arts attribute to grow more rapidly.
—Even if he currently cannot use exquisite Onmyōdō, he still has the Folding Fan’s Heavenly Thunder and the Four-Tailed Fox’s innate skills to use!
With this thought, Shangshan Che couldn’t help but calm his mind and fully circulate the Spirit Control Technique, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy throughout the gymnasium, causing his proficiency to soar.
Kitano Runa, sitting beside him, opened her mouth, but seeing that Shangshan Che had completely entered his cultivation state, she didn’t want to disturb him.
Consequently, those students whose talents were good and were about to sense their first pulse of spiritual energy from heaven and earth showed confused expressions.
How can such a basic sensing be interrupted?
Did I learn something wrong?
But as time passed, sweat began to bead on their foreheads—Wh-why can’t I sense it at all?
Meanwhile, the Nakajima Onmyōji, who was earnestly discussing improvements to the Basic Spirit Absorption Method with Lili Zi, felt his phone vibrate.
He put on an embarrassed expression and impatiently answered, “Speak quickly if you have something!”
Then, a voice came from the phone, “Um… Mister Nakajima, please check if the Spirit Gathering Barrier has been activated properly.”
Nakajima raised an eyebrow, “Could there be an error in a barrier I personally set up?”
“Ah, sorry… perhaps it’s not the barrier’s problem, but our data detection shows that the spiritual energy concentration in the gymnasium hasn’t changed, and has instead decreased significantly. Could you check the reason?”
The spiritual energy concentration hasn’t changed; isn’t this indirectly saying his Spirit Gathering Barrier is problematic?
Nakajima was thinking this when his eyes suddenly widened.
In his spiritual vision, two exaggerated funnels of spiritual energy, one large and one small, were surging towards the center above the entire gymnasium, not even sparing the spiritual energy outside the gymnasium.
Upon closer inspection, two people were actually sitting at the bottom of these funnels.
At this moment, the “whoosh” of spiritual energy flow finally reached Nakajima’s ears.
He had been too engrossed in discussing with His Excellency Tokugawa to notice this bizarre phenomenon!
Nakajima glanced at the time and realized that over twenty minutes had already passed—no wonder no student had reported sensing spiritual energy within these twenty minutes.
Students who could sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in such a harsh and absurd environment would truly be divine beings.
Nakajima brought his mobile phone back to his ear and was silent for a moment, “Without a doubt, my Spirit Gathering Barrier is in operation.”
He added, “If there were a problem, the spiritual energy in the gymnasium would have been drained by now.”
“Huh?” The staff member on the other end of the phone questioned.
After some explanation, Nakajima said again, “To avoid affecting the other students, I’ll take them separately to test them first.”
“Then we’ll trouble you, Mister Nakajima.”
…
Shangshan Che felt someone pat his shoulder, interrupting his cultivation.
【 Your skill, Spirit Control Technique, proficiency +30! 】
【 Spirit Control Technique （ Proficiency 392/600 ） 】
The giant spiritual energy funnel above the gymnasium trembled and dissipated.
Nakajima’s mouth twitched as he saw it. He patted Kitano Runa’s shoulder again, and then saw the smaller spiritual energy funnel dissipate as well.
“To think something this absurd could actually happen, this trip wasn’t in vain…”
He sighed and then explained the situation to the displeased Shangshan Che and the other person.
“No wonder the spiritual energy concentration increased so much, yet my cultivation speed didn’t improve much.”
Shangshan Che poked Kitano Runa’s shoulder, “So Student Kitano, you were also absorbing a lot.”
He then looked at many students who were already sweating profusely and looking uncomfortable, and coughed somewhat apologetically, “In that case, it was indeed my fault.”
Shangshan Che left the gymnasium with Kitano Runa, following Nakajima. He watched Nakajima clap his hands and then explain the sudden situation to the students.
For a moment, Shangshan Che could feel hundreds of gazes falling upon him simultaneously.
Some envious, some questioning, some scrutinizing…
But Shangshan Che didn’t flinch. After yawning, he showed a punchable smile, “That’s right! I was the one who absorbed too much spiritual energy just now, causing everyone to be unable to sense it. Sorry, sorry, I’m very sorry!”
The gymnasium fell silent for a moment before erupting into a roar. Shangshan Che, standing at the doorway, pondered for a moment and then released his spiritual energy, imitating the technique of Onmyoji Nakajima.
The noisy curses immediately stopped, and the gymnasium became silent once more.
Shangshan Che nodded with satisfaction and then left.
Lili Zi followed behind him and nudged him with her shoulder, “Why are you being so ostentatious today?”
“Does this count as ostentatious?” Shangshan Che retorted. “This is a good opportunity to let everyone recognize the stark difference between them and me.”
“Lili Zi, haven’t you noticed that many people’s gazes towards you have changed today?”
Shangshan Che pouted. “If I continue to keep a low profile and make a fortune in secret, who knows how much trouble will find me. Then, after dealing with the small ones, the big ones will come, which is truly annoying.”
“—The best way to deal with trouble is to prevent it from happening.”
He didn’t want to be forced to play the cliché game of “playing a pig to eat a tiger,” thus wasting precious time on cultivation and exploring the Eternal World.
Lili Zi nodded in agreement, “That seems to be the case.”
She blinked and slung an arm around Kitano Runa, who became silent when there were many people around, and grinned, “Then why don’t we make a fortune loudly?”
Lili Zi raised a finger, “I read a report before that the Special Affairs Office allocates resources based on our students’ talents.”
“I estimate that they should be conducting special talent tests for us soon.”
Lili Zi suggested, “Since we’ve already made such a splash, we might as well take this opportunity to reach the pinnacle of Arakawa Ward, and even all of Tokyo. Completely eradicate any potential melodramatic plot twists, and meet other geniuses along the way.”
Shangshan Che nodded. “That’s a good idea. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it thoroughly.”
“Uh…”
Kitano Runa, who was once again sandwiched between them, remembered her special constitution and weakly raised her hand, “Can I not participate…”
“No!” Lili Zi interrupted her. “I heard that Runa, you tend to encounter ghosts easily, but that’s precisely why you need to become stronger, because not every time will there be good luck that allows ordinary people to escape.”
The logic was sound.
However…
Kitano Runa always worried that after she became strong, she might encounter more terrifying ghosts and stumble into more bizarre supernatural events.
“—Please, the three of you, follow me.”
Ahead, Nakajima’s assistant spoke, leading the three to a room in a corner of the teaching building.
Shangshan Che peered into the room, which still bore traces of being a classroom, and saw a sphere engraved with incantations, filled with a pale blue liquid.
Behind the sphere was a pile of instruments that looked outrageously expensive.
“Given your recent performance, we’ve temporarily modified this place to test the limits of your spiritual energy absorption speed.”
The assistant explained patiently, “The sphere contains liquid spiritual energy. When you two enter the room, touch the sphere, and absorb as much spiritual energy as possible within one minute.”
Such a good thing?
Shangshan Che was stunned. He smiled kindly, “Then I’ll trouble you.”
“Me first, me first!”
Lili Zi withdrew her gaze from the hesitant Kitano Runa and eagerly raised her hand towards the assistant.
The assistant made a phone call, and Nakajima’s affirmative voice could be heard.
So he nodded.
Lili Zi walked in with her head held high.
One minute later.
Lili Zi opened the tightly closed door, still looking proud.
She declared loudly, without any concern, “My spiritual energy absorption speed is—zero times that of an ordinary person!”
Staring at the data copied onto his mobile phone, the assistant fell silent, even suspecting that the instrument might be malfunctioning.
Zero times?
This would be equivalent to a naturally born Spirit Nullifying Sacred Body, completely devoid of any connection to spiritual energy or Onmyōdō?
The assistant had reviewed thousands of data files on spiritual energy absorption speed, but this big “0” was still a first for him.
The assistant suddenly felt a tickle in his head, “Uh… next.”
Hearing this, Lili Zi pushed Kitano Runa from behind and grinned at her, “Runa, good luck!”
With the precedent of “zero times” before her, Kitano Runa felt less nervous—she knew that in this changed era, cultivation was a hurdle she had to face.
Kitano Runa walked into the room.
Another minute passed.
Kitano Runa came out with her head down, looking nervous.
Looking at the absurd data on his phone, the assistant fell silent once more, “It was zero just now, and now it’s two hundred and eighty-seven times the standard value? Is the instrument really broken?”
A few seconds later, a shining golden “S” appeared on the phone screen, causing the assistant to be slightly taken aback.
Immediately, his expression turned serious, and he bowed slightly to Kitano Runa, “Student Kitano, due to your outstanding performance, after internal discussion at the Special Affairs Office, your potential level has been rated as ‘S’.”
“—Someone will contact you later.”
Kitano Runa: “Huh? Huh? Me?”
Lili Zi immediately embraced the astonished girl and showered her with praise.
“It seems that the ‘unusual phenomenon’ that Mister Nakajima mentioned earlier was indeed Student Kitano,” the assistant thought.
He calmed himself and said, “Next.”
Shangshan Che took his gaze off the pleasant sight before him, nodded, and walked into the room.
As soon as he placed his hand on the sphere, Shangshan Che felt a slight regret—the spiritual energy in this sphere was truly abundant. If only he could transform into the Four-tailed Fox.
“Student Shangshan, begin absorbing when you’re ready.”
Shangshan Che sighed and closed his eyes, fully activating Spirit Control Technique.
【 Due to your first contact with liquid spiritual energy, your skill, Spirit Control Technique, proficiency +50! 】
【 Due to Spirit Control Technique absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy, your Spiritual Arts Attribute +1! 】
The minute passed in an instant. Shangshan Che reluctantly moved his hand away from the sphere.
However, his body now felt like it was about to burst from the spiritual energy. Even if he absorbed more, he could only last a few dozen more seconds.
Shangshan Che pushed open the door with slight regret and saw the assistant looking as if he had seen a ghost, with Onmyoji Nakajima standing beside him.
Hmm? Are they looking at my data?
Shangshan Che curiously moved behind the two of them and clearly saw the text displayed on the phone screen.
【—The tester’s spiritual energy absorption speed is 499 times the standard value! Potential level directly rated as ‘S’! 】
【—Error! Potential level rating conflict! 】
【—Correction! This tester’s potential level has been personally rated as ‘Seed’ by ‘Onmyo Major Official·Nanjo Emi’! 】
He asked, “What level is ‘Seed’? Is it higher than ‘S’, which emits a golden legendary light?”
Nakajima and his assistant were startled and looked at Shangshan Che as if they had seen a ghost.
499 times… Is this still human?
When he saw the two spiritual energy vortexes in the gymnasium earlier, Nakajima felt that things were about to get interesting—perhaps he would encounter a great genius whose spiritual energy absorption speed was a hundred times the standard value!
But 500 times?
Let alone Arakawa Ward and Tokyo, it was uncertain if there was anyone comparable in the entire Eastern Region or even on Honshu Island.
An absorption speed of spiritual energy ten times the standard value indicated talent for becoming an Onmyoji, and above 50 times was considered genius.
Nakajima’s spiritual energy absorption speed was 46 times the standard value, barely on the borderline between ordinary people and geniuses. That’s why he had reached his current position in just a few years of studying Onmyōdō.
And 500 times… Even if Shangshan Che was otherwise mediocre, his future achievements would far surpass his own.
Not to mention that he was personally rated as a “Seed” by Nanjō Great Officer.
Nakajima took a deep breath and began to explain to the three.
After a while, Shangshan Che understood.
The so-called “Seed” was the individual with the highest potential in each administrative district, who also received the most cultivation resources. There were two slots.
One was recommended by the district’s Great Officer, and the other was selected from numerous S-class potential individuals.
The relevant regulations had only been preliminarily issued by the Five Person Council five days ago, so they were far from rigorous and perfect. Currently, they were only being piloted on a large scale within Tokyo to observe the situation.
“Good, good.”
Shangshan Che nodded with pleasure and then eagerly discussed matters concerning “resources” with Nakajima.
—Although the events that had just transpired were all good, in these seven days, quite a few bad things had also happened.
Shangshan Che, who hadn’t died once in the entire week, had made no new discoveries in Kisaragi Station.
Soul Ash had not increased and had even slightly decreased due to cultivation consumption. The driver and the mountain inn from the main supernatural phenomenon still hadn’t appeared.
The only thing that had increased was the least useful map exploration progress, reaching 82%.
The reason he hadn’t gone to Edo Castle to kill demons during his free time was twofold: first, Shangshan Che was waiting for a new gacha pool to appear and didn’t lack Soul Ash at the moment; second, Lili Zi had been staying by his side these days.
With a perfect sword technique teacher beside him whose strength had once again undergone a qualitative leap and who was on standby 24 hours a day, Shangshan Che was exhausted just from training every day and had no energy left to fight demons.
However, Shangshan Che had already drawn a fortune slip from the Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder, and he knew he wouldn’t be stuck.
The matter on his mind was—whether he could find the mountain inn within five days.
The answer from the Divine Fortune Stick Cylinder was 【Great Blessing】.
And today was the fifth day since drawing the fortune slip.
Volume Two, startup!
February’s massive update, startup!
Requesting monthly votes, startup!
————
Added later: From now on, the title will be changed to a numerical format, as it looks neater.
