Chapter 202: An Irresistible Kiss, Affliction Drops Panacea, Natural Reason School Expert Level!
By the time Shangshan Che’s consciousness recovered again, it was already the next day.
Blurry sunlight filtered through the thin latticed window paper and fell into the room, shining directly on Shangshan Che’s eyelids.
“Hoo…”
Shangshan Che breathed heavily, forcing his eyes open a crack to see the surroundings.
Room beams, wooden floors, tatami mats… This setup was almost identical to what he had seen before, indicating it was a typical noble’s room.
The difficult and weary effort to open his eyes meant that the 48-hour aftereffects of Anger had not yet passed.
But as Shangshan Che slightly shifted his gaze and moved his wrists, he discovered that his clothes had been changed into a clean and neat kimono.
His body, which had originally been soaked in the blood of demons and his own, should have been utterly foul-smelling after more than ten hours, but now it emitted a refreshing and clean faint fragrance.
Shangshan Che sniffed and found that the scent was similar to the fragrance applied during his previous passive bath, though slightly different in details.
But as for what those details were, Shangshan Che, who knew nothing about fragrances, couldn’t say.
After wriggling like a pupa under the covers several times, Shangshan Che finally pressed his back against the wooden wall and relaxedly checked the mountain of piled-up prompts.
—That’s right, his body was unexpectedly covered with a rectangular piece of cloth like a quilt, thin but better than nothing.
【Current stage quest completion: 63%.】
“The Imagawa Clan’s efficiency is pretty good… They raised the completion by 3% in such a short time.”
Shangshan Che listened intently for a while before hearing, from far away outside the room, the continuous sounds of armor clashing and samurai roaring, along with the endless thanks from the common people.
Of course, there were also the Affliction Kin emitting shrill screams as they neared death.
“Don’t let even one escape! The cleanliness of this castle is Lord Imagawa’s face!
The group that slays the most demons will get extra meals and pay tonight!”
From a distant distance, Okabe Motonobu’s highly distinctive cold voice line penetrated through layers of obstacles into the room.
Since it was Okabe Motonobu leading the team, by tonight, all remaining Affliction Kin in Nishio City should surely be cleared out.
Next would be starting from the Nishio City and the ashigaru armies outside Mikawa Province to purge all the Affliction Kin across Mikawa Province.
“However… There are also high-level kin like the Chongke God.”
Shangshan Che frowned, but then quickly relaxed it.
Because kin like the Chongke God, three-star and above with high intelligence, would definitely sense Affliction’s death immediately.
And thus realize that their great momentum was gone.
Apart from reasons like “avenging Affliction by killing the Great Onmyoji,” such high-level kin had no reason to fight to the death against the Imagawa Clan’s army in vain.
On the contrary, he still had to be careful.
That Shangshan Che even hoped they would come more—coming meant turning into hundreds or thousands of soul ash points.
After setting aside the read prompts, just as Shangshan Che was about to look further down, he heard familiar footsteps.
He looked toward the sliding door.
Whoosh.
Draped in luxurious and heavy twelve-layer robes, expressionless and inscrutably minded, the great daimyo, head of the Imagawa Clan, appeared at the doorway.
Imagawa Yoshimoto slid open the door, exhaled tiredly as usual, rubbed her nose bridge, and the indifference on her face slowly melted like ice and snow under warm sun.
“Lord Yoshimoto, if you’re tired, you can have someone else take care of me.” Shangshan Che said, “Wouldn’t it be better to catch up on sleep with the extra time?”
Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was removing her wooden clogs to step onto the room floor, paused and looked at Shangshan Che, who was already leaning against the wall.
She blinked quickly twice, then decisively shook her head,
“I’m not at ease.”
This reason was impeccable.
After all, Imagawa Yoshimoto didn’t know he could resurrect.
If a demon or spy from another clan mixed in among his caretakers, the unconscious Shangshan Che would have no power to resist.
Shangshan Che said no more, just watching her approach step by step and sit down in front of him.
Imagawa Yoshimoto examined him repeatedly a few times, thoughtfully saying: “Tetsu-kun… Compared to last time, you seem much more relaxed?”
Shangshan Che caught his breath and sensed his internal condition.
Now that she mentioned it, it seemed true.
It appeared to be because of the Sea of Qi.
Even though all his attributes had decreased and Qi Circulation was hard to maintain, the Sea of Qi, guarded by the incarnation card, was still continuously producing qi, which then nourished his body.
Shangshan Che nodded and casually made up a reason: “Indeed, because preparations were sufficient, this time’s consumption wasn’t as great as last time.”
“That’s good.”
After Imagawa Yoshimoto spoke, the two in the room began staring at each other with big eyes, falling into an oddly atmospheric silence.
She was the one who broke the silence first, explaining to Shangshan Che about the external situation during his coma,
“Motonobu has already brought several hundred samurai, and the main army has entered Mikawa Province, preparing to sweep through all of Mikawa in the next couple of days.”
At this point, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally let out a long-held breath: “The remaining demons and unrest will end soon.”
Shangshan Che nodded slightly, indicating he understood.
Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled the sights along the way since entering To-ōmi Province and slowly said,
“Tetsu-kun, this time it’s all thanks to you that things have progressed so smoothly to this point.”
“Just doing my duty.”
Shangshan Che had lost count of how many times he had said this.
Because frankly, more than half the reason he did these things was for himself.
Whether for quests or to boost the favor of the girl before him.
—Helping Imagawa Yoshimoto was just an objective fact, not a subjective strong desire.
Probably.
After a brief exchange, the room fell back into a subtle silence with no one speaking.
Silence, silence.
Imagawa Yoshimoto silently stared at the weakened Shangshan Che on the sickbed, her eyes unconsciously recalling last night’s majestic figure of him wearing the Hannya Mask with crimson fox tails swaying behind.
She knew that if she asked the words in her heart now, their relationship might never return to how it was before.
Or perhaps, this Great Onmyoji who had assisted her for just one or two short months but helped in countless matters big and small would soon leave her and the Imagawa Clan.
But Imagawa Yoshimoto still asked.
Without any beating around the bush, no foreplay or preamble.
Just like that, at a critical crossroads in life, she went straight to the point.
Without hesitation.
Imagawa Yoshimoto stared straight into Shangshan Che’s eyes, her lips and teeth colliding as she clearly spat six words at him,
“Tetsu, are you a demon?”
Shangshan Che, who had prepared a draft and was ready to respond smoothly, was stunned, not expecting Imagawa Yoshimoto to ask so bluntly.
He opened his mouth, suddenly feeling a thousand possible responses unable to unfold before these six words.
Damn, she wasn’t afraid that he really was a demon, this appearance all an act, and after being exposed, he’d fly into a rage and claw her to death?
But at the same time, Shangshan Che could only laugh helplessly in his heart.
This was so Imagawa Yoshimoto.
Only she would dare to act according to her own thoughts even after knowing the possible bad outcome.
So he responded just as bluntly: “No, I’m not.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto quietly watched him, waiting for facts to prove these four words.
Shangshan Che said no more and, right before the girl, transformed into a four-tailed fox.
A terrifying charm value over twenty appeared in this not-so-large room, but it didn’t shake Imagawa Yoshimoto’s expression in the slightest.
“Mm…”
The girl in twelve-layer robes examined the fox ears, then the four fluffy fox tails swaying in mid-air.
She extended five fingers and rubbed the fox ear somewhat forcefully to confirm its reality.
Imagawa Yoshimoto withdrew her hand, staring at the pure white fluff on her fingertip, unable to help raising an eyebrow: “Isn’t this it?”
“The four-tailed fox form is just one of my appearances.”
Shangshan Che, in this fox spirit form, explained without much persuasiveness,
“You can think of it as a Great Onmyōdō that lets me transform into various monsters to become stronger.”
—The Demon Incarnation Card could count as a “Great Onmyōdō,” no issue.
—An all-purpose Great Onmyōdō, pretty amazing, right.
Imagawa Yoshimoto placed her hands on her knees and said faintly: “Tetsu-kun, whether you’re human or demon doesn’t matter.”
“I’m not like many people who care about that.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto propped her chin with her palm, looking down from above: “Human or demon, as long as you’re my vassal, I must fulfill my duties as lord.”
“So.”
She gazed at the pale-faced fox spirit on the futon with a half-smile,
“I just want to know if you’ve deceived me or not.”
Shangshan Che hummed and counter-asked: “So, Lord Yoshimoto, what do you think now?”
Imagawa Yoshimoto answered immediately: “For now, no.”
“Don’t deceive me, Tetsu-kun.” The girl raised a finger to emphasize, “I really dislike being deceived by others, no matter who they are.”
“I won’t.”
Shangshan Che said expressionlessly.
“That’s good.”
At this point, a complacent, gentle, and relieved brilliant smile finally bloomed on Imagawa Yoshimoto’s cheeks,
She lowered her head, her blazing gaze filled with intense anticipation falling into Shangshan Che’s eyes.
—World Revival is coming, the decades-old pattern will be rewritten in a blink.
—And she has the strongest Great Onmyoji under heaven.
Sensing this scorching straightforward gaze, a bad premonition suddenly rose in Shangshan Che’s heart.
He wanted to wriggle to the wall corner, but a fair palm pressed on his shoulder, pinning his weakened body firmly onto the tatami mat with only a simple layer of padding.
“Don’t think of running.”
The sunlight was blocked.
The twelve-layer robes draped down, casting a thick and massive shadow that completely enveloped Shangshan Che’s upper body.
If someone slid open the door now, they would see this scene—
A fox-eared, exquisitely beautiful weakened fox spirit pinned under someone, and pinning him was the Imagawa Clan’s head, the world-renowned great daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto.
Shangshan Che glanced at the palm pressing on his shoulder.
It exerted enormous yet perfectly measured force, making him unable to move.
In his current state, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t break free from Imagawa Yoshimoto’s restraint.
Shangshan Che raised his hand and said: “Lord Yoshimoto, I think the distance between us should be more reasonable…”
“Tetsu.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto called his name directly, interrupting his words.
Then, in a gap too fast to react, Imagawa Yoshimoto leaned down without the slightest hesitation.
Shangshan Che, still plotting how to dodge the girl, already felt an irrefusable heat on his cheek.
Dominant, scorching, and stiff.
Finally, a deliberate clash of lips and teeth brought stinging pain.
Shangshan Che shuddered and heard someone by his ear enunciate word by word, as if proclaiming a decree with an unquestionable tone,
“You are mine, Imagawa Yoshimoto’s, no one can take you away, and no one can.”
In astonishment, Shangshan Che saw the girl in luxurious robes rise, gently wiping the strand of silver thread from her lip corner under his gaze.
The same spot, experienced for the second time.
But this time, it was far more intense, leaving an undoubtedly much deeper impression.
Shangshan Che fell silent wordlessly.
After a long while, suppressing his twitching expression, he asked: “Lord Yoshimoto, is this a declaration of ownership?”
“Something like that.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto straightened her disheveled hem, her face pleasant and complacent.
“By the way, where’s Two-Foot Adult?” She asked casually as if nothing had happened, “How come I haven’t seen her?”
Shangshan Che subconsciously touched his cheek with a fingertip and replied: “Because she absorbed too much wish power, she had to fall into long-term sleep.”
“Is that so…”
Imagawa Yoshimoto instantly discerned Shangshan Che’s emotions, so she pulled him into her embrace: “You don’t need to worry about any external affairs anymore, Tetsu-kun, there’s still me for everything.”
“Sounds really reliable.”
Knowing he couldn’t resist anyway, Shangshan Che stayed still contentedly.
Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, grabbed the fox ears twice, and said: “If I can’t even handle this much, what qualification do I have to be your lord?”
Shangshan Che was speechless; why did everyone like to rua his ears when getting close?
After speaking, they lingered warmly for a dozen seconds before Imagawa Yoshimoto also rose and walked toward the door.
She waved her hand, her voice strong,
“Tetsu-kun, from now on, please take care of me.”
……
Watching Imagawa Yoshimoto’s figure leave his sight, Shangshan Che’s thoughts were a bit chaotic for a moment.
He did want to raise Imagawa Yoshimoto’s favor, but not in this direction.
—Couldn’t it be something like good brothers, brothers for life!
—Good brothers, forever blue thunder sound purple!
Shangshan Che felt a headache just thinking about Imagawa Yoshimoto discovering his existence after he returned to the mortal realm.
With her personality, who knew what she might do.
“That would really be getting more troublesome…”
Leaning in place, after some fruitless random thoughts, Shangshan Che finally decided to set aside these possible or impossible messy matters for now.
—Better to clear all the red dots on the prompts first.
Improving strength is the most important!
If he had four-, five-, or six-star strength, everyone would have to listen to him Shangshan Che and seek his opinion!
But that scene was probably still very far away…
Shangshan Che sighed, bringing the still continuously refreshing prompts before him—
【You obtained, Wish Power Crystal blue special material purple!】
【Wish Power Crystal blue special material purple】
【Quality: None】
【Effect One: Consume directly. All attributes greatly increase, choose any Demon Incarnation for quality upgrade, rank upgrade.】
【Warning: After consumption, will enter unknown state.】
【Effect Two: As forging material, add unknown effect to equipment item.】
【Effect Three: Place before the plaque of a God Bestowal Path shikigami to slowly increase that shikigami’s level up progress without side effects.】
【—The distorted wishes of sentient beings, the wishes of all beings.】
After reading the Wish Power Crystal’s description in one go, Shangshan Che took a deep breath, temporarily setting aside what just happened and entering analysis mode.
He took out the Wish Power Crystal, holding up this small golden-white prism.
Every facet of the prism was perfectly flat and exquisite, though the internal color arrangement was somewhat chaotic.
This was the only material dropped after killing Lotus Light, even including the soul ash portion.
It should have good quality and effects.
But eating it directly like the Mountain God’s Heartstone, or using it on Kaga Kiyomitsu like Suitable Spirit Gold, Shangshan Che absolutely wouldn’t do.
Because anyone with eyes could clearly sense the enormous power solidified within this crystal.
Chaotic and twisted.
Moreover, this thing might even become key to rescuing Two-Foot Adult later.
After returning to the mortal realm, he’d ask Sister Nanjo and Huijue—especially the latter.
Huijue was originally the top disciple of Hongyuan Temple, the successor to Jodo Shinshu, and even had an Innate Dao Body… Heaven knows why an Innate Dao Body entered Buddhism.
But such minor details were irrelevant; the key was that Huijue would likely not refuse his request.
So it couldn’t be touched.
This was an outcome that didn’t even need thinking.
Shangshan Che tossed it back into the storage bag: “Next one.”
【You obtained, Panacea blue special item purple!】
【Panacea】
【Quality: None】
【Effect: After consumption, cures all diseases and forcibly restores the consumer’s body to peak condition for two hours.】
【Current remaining: 3/3】
【—Medicine bottle carried by Affliction to avoid repeating the previous serious mistake.】
“This…”
Shangshan Che looked at the effect description, momentarily at a loss for words.
Cures all diseases?
Isn’t that a bit too exaggerated?
But thinking it dropped from the source of plague, Affliction, as a quality-less special item, Shangshan Che felt it might actually be possible.
And those two hours afterward—if given to some near-death old monster, what effect would it have?
Temporarily living a second life?
Shangshan Che didn’t dare think.
He took out the small porcelain bottle containing the Panacea, pulled the tiny stopper from the top, and peered inside.
In the bottle, three crystalline, liquid-like cyan-blue small balls lay quietly at the bottom.
From the appearance, they were unremarkable, identical to the grown-up water babies many people raised as kids.
“If this works even on those above Ghost God…”
Shangshan Che’s thoughts began to wander: “Doesn’t that mean my Sea of Qi’s defining object is in sight?”
Or perhaps a more complete breathing technique that could completion both the Sea of Qi and Palace of Flesh stages.
If the Panacea truly works undiminished on existences above Ghost God…
Then these might not be fantasies!
Extremely—nay, twelve times—satisfied, Shangshan Che put the Panacea away: “This has potential, really has potential.”
As for the Panacea’s true effects… The Special Affairs Office always has ways to test them; they couldn’t let a drug of this level slip away, right?
Then came a barrage of countless soul ash and soul spirit points prompts.
Shangshan Che waved them all away and directly pulled up the data panels for both.
Instantly, two somewhat exaggerated numbers made Shangshan Che’s breath hitch.
【Soul Ash: 6122】
【Soul Spirit Points: 2188】
Holy beans.
Shangshan Che rubbed his eyes, confirming he wasn’t seeing wrong.
Two thousand soul spirit points were secondary; upgrading one or two effects would exhaust them.
But… six thousand soul ash?
Unnoticed, he had become a soul ash tycoon?
This was enough for forty consecutive gacha pulls in Edo Castle’s gacha pool; no matter what, it should be enough to smash out the Hundred-Eyed Demon Incarnation.
Thinking of this, Shangshan Che suddenly remembered the pile of useless items in his bag.
—Selling all this stuff to Katsumi would net at least one or two thousand soul ash points.
That way, wouldn’t he have the divine power of fifty consecutive pulls?
“Now just waiting for Hundred-Eyed Demon to evolve to yellow Epic+ purple quality…”
Shangshan Che spoke, then noticed a dense pile in his bag that would give anyone trypophobia—a bunch of large compound eyes.
These were his gains since arriving in Nishio City, most swept up after killing Affliction and Lotus Light.
“Almost forgot to feed these eyeballs to Hundred-Eyed Demon.”
As soon as Shangshan Che opened the Edo Castle gacha pool page, he saw the Hundred-Eyed Demon loli boredly stepping barefoot in a muddy water puddle.
One light step, one heavy, getting sticky mud all over her body, looking from afar like a little calico cat.
She seemed not to have noticed his arrival.
Shangshan Che thought for a moment, then took out a single eyeball and tossed it into the gacha pool.
Plop.
The eyeball fell from the sky, splashing into the puddle right before the Hundred-Eyed Demon loli.
Muddy water splashed up, leaving her staring at the eyeball in a daze for a while.
After a long time, Hundred-Eyed Demon suddenly looked up, several utterly different expressions appearing on her pale, translucent little face.
Shock, astonishment, embarrassment, anger…
Finally, unifying into a fierce threat.
Shangshan Che chuckled: “Caught being shy?”
He said no more, waving his hand grandly to instantly clear all the eyeballs from his bag.
The next moment, in Edo Castle’s background, the falling rain threads were instantly replaced by goosebump-inducing compound eyes.
Eyeballs like a storm, pattering down relentlessly onto Hundred-Eyed Demon’s face.
Huh?
That originally fierce little face froze, momentarily not understanding what was happening around her.
But the eyeballs ignored her thoughts, falling relentlessly.
Patter patter patter patter.
Thousands of Shijie Worm compound eyes were enough to fill the entire area under Hundred-Eyed Demon’s feet, even piling up to her calves.
Soon enough, Hundred-Eyed Demon realized what was happening before her wasn’t an illusion.
—In such a short time, harvesting so many!?
Shock appeared on her face.
Realizing this, she scooped up the sea of eyeballs at her feet, no time to threaten or rage at the guy who happened to be peeking at that exact moment.
Quack quack quack, quack quack quack.
Shangshan Che watched Hundred-Eyed Demon in the gacha pool page arching around like a starving tiger pouncing on prey, and the steadily rising quality upgrade progress bar.
He revealed a harvest smile like a proud old father.
“Eat up, eat more…”
Though the pile of eyeballs together was quite grotesque, Hundred-Eyed Demon’s “eating manner” was especially enticing, so Shangshan Che patiently watched her mukbang.
Several minutes later, Hundred-Eyed Demon, like a demon lord descending from heaven, swept away thousands of eyeballs like a whirlwind and collapsed onto the White Bone throne.
She contentedly patted her belly, which bulged high and wasn’t fully digested yet.
Hundred-Eyed Demon rarely narrowed her eyes, her little face showing the expression called “happiness” for the first time.
She waved her hand casually, indicating previous matters were written off.
Shangshan Che saw that the long, wide progress bar was firmly stuck at yellow 80% purple.
“Still quite a bit short…”
The remaining 20% would take at least a thousand Shijie Worm compound eyes to fill.
In the Sengoku Period, scrounging them one by one everywhere would be hard to gather.
It seemed a trip to Shizuoka Prefecture was definitely necessary.
Once there, getting high-quality big eyeballs for Hundred-Eyed Demon to eat, then he could use his 50 consecutive pulls to forcibly marry her home!
But the time until gacha wasn’t short; soul ash couldn’t just sit idle, it had to be used fully…
Spending 2000 points to unlock the third “Fishing Master,” or buying a Sea of Qi’s Five Elements Realm defining object from Katsumi while selling stuff, were good choices.
Especially Katsumi; he could also ask if he had ways to rescue Two-Foot Adult.
Waving smilingly goodbye to Hundred-Eyed Demon in the gacha pool, Shangshan Che, in great pleasantness, turned his gaze to the now still bottomless prompt sea after viewing so many.
These prompts were really numerous.
Not bad, not bad.
Looking further, Natural Reason School-related prompts burst forth instantly!
【Your skill, Sword Technique · Natural Reason School has reached Expert Level!】
【Natural Reason School blue Expert 0/10000 purple blue 198 proficiency points remaining unused purple】
【Effect: Foundation laid, the sword master path lies at your feet.】
【Due to your Natural Reason School reaching Expert Level, your Physique +5!】
【Due to your Natural Reason School reaching Expert Level, all your sword techniques damage greatly increased!】
【Due to your Natural Reason School reaching Expert Level, your Willpower +10, Sword Principle state of mind greatly increased!】
【Due to your Natural Reason School reaching Expert Level, you learned Natural Reason School ultimate technique · Darkness Sword!】
【Your understanding of stances has deepened!】
【Your understanding of sword skills has deepened!】
【Your understanding of Sword Principle has deepened!】
【Note 1: Due to your Heart Embryo not yet formed, state of mind cannot be increased temporarily.】
【Note 2: Due to not yet selecting Natural Reason School focus direction, proficiency cannot be used temporarily.】
【Please select your Sword Technique · Natural Reason School’s future focus direction as soon as possible.】
After the prompts, only two options remained before Shangshan Che’s eyes—one gold, one silver—
【Sword Skill】【Sword Principle】
【Please select your future focus in Natural Reason School.】
Two paths to the heavens were laid before Shangshan Che.
Just like not having lost an axe, yet a kind river god suddenly emerged from the river, holding a gold axe and a silver axe in each hand, benevolently asking him,
“Did you drop this gold axe, or this silver axe?”
Shangshan Che stared at the two shining options, falling into long contemplation.
Finally, puzzled, he counter-asked,
“Why can’t I have both?”
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