Chapter 246: Elimination Spots: 128 Seats, Two-foot Adult’s Return Method, Key To Ascending To Ghost God!
The first few familiar names were still manageable.
But what the hell are “Tsuchimikado” and “Kamo”?
Tsuchimikado is actually the direct descendant of the Great Onmyoji Seimei from the Heian Period, with a history of inheritance spanning a full thousand years up to the present.
Moreover, the Tsuchimikado Family even received strong support from the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo Period, establishing “Tsuchimikado Shinto” and holding real power over the entire Onmyo-ryo at one point.
Although Tsuchimikado Shinto was later abolished, even a glimpse from the widely known historical records reveals a bit of its profound heritage.
The Kamo Family, though not as famous as the Tsuchimikado, is also an ancient Onmyoji Family passed down from the Heian Period to the present.
Just these two great families alone could stand shoulder to shoulder with the “Three Great Families” that control the Four Extremes Breathing Technique.
More importantly, Shangshan Che had never heard of this “Tsuchimikado Ran” or the name “Kamo Kiichi” before.
In other words, these two have been cultivating in seclusion within their mountain-dwelling families until now, with all information unknown except their names.
This isn’t anything unusual.
Before the World Revival five hundred years ago, all Onmyoji Families announced the sealing of their mountains, once turning the term “Onmyoji” into a vague and ethereal legend.
It was precisely because of this that the title of Great Onmyoji Che could spread so widely and quickly.
After memorizing the names of these few competitors clearly from various Onmyoji Families, Shangshan Che continued looking downward.
Below them were core disciples from various schools’ dojos, as well as pure grassroots geniuses unearthed by the Special Affairs Office.
At the end of the table was a general overview of the Seed Battle and its rules.
—Tokyo’s District 23, with a total of forty-nine seeds selected.
—And in the surrounding areas’ “local Seed Battles,” which have mostly concluded, the top four competitors from each local battle can enjoy the same rights as the seeds from the Tokyo region.
Tokyo’s 26 cities, 5 towns, and 8 villages under its jurisdiction, Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, and finally Shizuoka Prefecture.
Excluding Tokyo, which has too many cities and towns under its jurisdiction and thus nine advancement spots, all other prefectures advance their top four directly to the elimination tournament.
This way, out of the mere 128 spots in the elimination tournament, only forty-two remain vacant.
Thousands of sea selectors from the Eastern Region, capable of defeating peak Two-Star puppets, will engage in round after round of brutal fierce battles to compete for these pitifully scarce forty-two spots.
During the Seed Battle, multiple Ghost God level experts skilled in medicine will be on standby around the arena.
Even if you accidentally blow your opponent’s head off, it’s fine—as long as the entire body isn’t annihilated, they can come back.
“But I remember, Shizuoka Prefecture clearly belongs to the central region, right?”
Shangshan Che opened Google again and searched, confirming it was indeed so.
But for some reason, the Eastern Region Seed Battle included Shizuoka Prefecture as well.
Probably because the central region doesn’t have such a large-scale match, so Shizuoka Prefecture’s Special Affairs Office proactively applied to join?
After finishing the long list that followed, Shangshan Che glanced at Yagyu Oshi, who had already fallen into a deep sleep beside him.
Now, Ryūgen Jun and his previous opponent Kawakami Jun were also standing on the same stage as him.
And without needing to beat up a peak Two-Star puppet to prove they had at least Three-Star strength, rather than entering the elimination tournament purely through office politics and backroom deals.
Besides, Kuzuha Chihaya from Obscure Moon Hall, whom he had defeated in the True Sword Match before, was also on this list.
She happened to be Kanagawa Prefecture’s fourth place.
As for the other two from Obscure Moon Hall… the crow little brother was eliminated in Kanagawa Prefecture’s top 32.
Akatsuki Ran is now in uniform, working as one of Sister Nanjo’s workhorses, with no time at all to participate in this match.
Huh?
On the second scan of the list to confirm no powerful opponents were missed, Shangshan Che discovered that Kyuuketsuin Kin, whom he had encountered in the Sengoku Secret Realm before, wasn’t there.
Clearly, if he participated, he would at least be a top three contender in the Seed Battle, or even a strong candidate for champion, easily gaining massive cultivation resources.
But the other party didn’t register at all.
He suddenly realized.
Turns out the rumors of being Buddhist weren’t just Kyuuketsuin Kin’s persona—it was factual.
During the rest of the journey, Shangshan Che searched Google and the Special Affairs Office APP for each name in his mind, trying to gather their related intelligence and information.
Of course, he didn’t forget to tell Huijue on LINE that he was back in Tokyo.
……
After several somewhat lengthy hours, the shuttle van stopped at the roadside directly opposite the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Office.
Shangshan Che shifted his gaze from the screen to the window, seeing the new moon already hanging in the sky.
And that old van bathed in silver glow—the engine hood of the car in the Eye of Interpretation was still steadily emitting heat, probably just parked by Shizuma Manatsu not long ago.
“Wake up.”
Yagyu Oshi, who opened his eyes the instant the shuttle stopped, stood up and shook Tamamo, whose drool had flowed onto her collar.
“Mmm… Huh!? What’s wrong, what’s wrong!”
Tamamo jolted awake, instinctively pulling out her work phone from her pocket, her smooth combo already about to open “Emergency Plan Notification.”
Shangshan Che on the other side quickly snatched the now-red-screened phone, pointing outside: “We’re here.”
With that, he handed the phone back to the dazed Tamamo.
“Oh, oh…”
It took a while for Tamamo to pull herself out of her bizarre dream, embarrassedly rubbing the back of her head,
“I haven’t switched out of work mode yet, sorry…”
“No problem, maintaining a sense of crisis is a good thing.”
Shangshan Che pushed open the door and got out, shrugging at her: “After all, in this damn world, you never know what might happen next.”
Just as he finished speaking, Shangshan Che noticed Tamamo, who had slightly raised her head, mouth agape, stammering: “Sh-Sh-Sh-Shangshan big brother! Look above you!”
Shangshan Che puzzledly raised an eyebrow and looked up following her words.
Thus, he saw the shuttle-shaped flying object hovering at least a kilometer high in the sky, its surface flickering with Buddhist seals and Sanskrit script.
The next moment, a humanoid figure wrapped entirely in golden light fell from it.
At a terrifying speed, it rushed straight toward them!
Shangshan Che, already sensing the bone-chilling threat from a great distance, had his hand on Kaga Kiyomitsu. He stepped back half a pace, brows twitching,
“Sister Nanjo! Aren’t you managing the airspace?!”
Before his words finished, that streak of golden light drew a brilliant flame tail and landed in front of the three.
But the anticipated huge commotion and battle didn’t occur.
Tamamo, who had retreated a full two and a half steps, peeked out from behind Shangshan Che and Yagyu Oshi.
The golden light slowly dissipated.
The first thing revealed was a face quite familiar to her.
—On the white T-shirt was a big-headed Hatsune Miku holding a leek.
Tamamo’s originally tense expression froze.
She tilted her head, showing an extremely baffled look.
—Your meaning is, a being who jumped straight down from who knows how many hundreds of meters in the sky without making a sound is wearing Miku merch?
Two seconds later, the golden light fully receded, revealing the bald youth with a slightly surprised expression.
He was looking at Shangshan Che, smiling as he spoke,
“Shangshan benefactor, long time no see—we truly have a fateful connection.”
Shangshan Che, who had already prepared the Darkness Sword, was momentarily speechless. He sighed: “Master… your entrance is truly unique.”
“Also.” Shangshan Che looked up, finding the shuttle-shaped aircraft had already vanished, “What was that in the sky just now?”
“Oh, benefactor, you saw it?”
Huijue thought for a moment and roughly explained,
“Simply put, it’s a product combining modern technology and Buddhism, or you could understand it as combined with Onmyōdō. The Special Affairs Office is experimenting in this direction.”
Shangshan Che got it.
The Special Affairs Office wants to fuse technology and spiritual energy to create new weapons, but it’s probably still in the testing phase now.
Without pressing further, Shangshan Che then noticed that the Huijue in front of him seemed somewhat different from before.
He still emitted no Ghost God aura or pressure, so his overall strength shouldn’t have fundamentally changed.
So, it was his state of mind that changed?
Due to his previous experience with Myriad Branches, Shangshan Che’s state of mind had greatly improved in essence, making him quite sensitive to this aspect.
The reason he hadn’t advanced to Hundred Refinements now was that he hadn’t found, or formed, a fully suitable “Heart Embryo.”
The Heart Embryo is extremely important for state of mind cultivation, setting the direction from here on out, and even the formation of Sword Heart would be influenced by it.
—Previously, Huijue’s state of mind was already higher than Lili Zi’s, and now with another improvement, hadn’t he reached the final stage equivalent to Clear Sword Heart?
Shangshan Che felt he should gasp.
Innate Dao Body, terrifying as this.
Huijue noticed the change in Shangshan Che’s gaze and smiled faintly: “Benefactor, you’ve changed a lot.”
“You too.”
After responding, Shangshan Che turned to the hesitant Yagyu Oshi: “This is Master Huijue from the Buddhist sect, you could call him my friend.”
Hearing his words, Yagyu Oshi truly lowered his guard, greeted Huijue, and headed into the Special Affairs Office Building.
“Buddhist Master?” Tamamo and the Miku on her merch exchanged glances, scoffing, “Real or fake?”
Huijue had faced such doubts thousands of times daily, so he didn’t say much, just smiling warmly at Tamamo.
Then, he looked seriously at Shangshan Che: “Shangshan benefactor, let’s first take a look at your shikigami’s condition.”
Shangshan Che nodded, taking out the Ksitigarbha Statue wrapped in flowing golden Sanskrit script.
Before he could hand it over, Huijue’s pupils suddenly contracted.
“Such massive Wish Power…”
A sense of shock entered Huijue’s words.
Huijue carefully took the Ksitigarbha Statue, nearly speaking but ultimately swallowing his question, focusing his gaze on it.
Tamamo behind blinked, and upon noticing the heavy atmosphere between the two, didn’t interject but ran a bit farther away to snap photos furiously.
Several minutes later, Huijue heavily exhaled: “In the current situation, this poor monk thinks we should first take it to some major temples to remove the excess surface Wish Power.
This way, at least we can stop the Wish Power’s slow erosion of your shikigami, Shangshan benefactor.”
Shangshan Che was stunned: “Nishaku has clearly self-sealed, but the Wish Power is still eroding her willpower?”
“Indeed.” Huijue sighed helplessly, “If sealed under normal circumstances, all dynamics would naturally return to stasis.
But the Wish Power contained in this Ksitigarbha Statue is so vast that even the seal can’t fully contain the erosion.”
Shangshan Che was speechless.
Huijue continued: “For the follow-up, even this poor monk wouldn’t dare attempt anything rash, as such special cases have never been seen before.”
He subconsciously asked in confusion: “Control over Wish Power is still quite strict now, so how exactly did this situation of extreme massive Wish Power exposure occur…”
Halfway through, Huijue realized this likely involved unspeakable matters and stopped himself.
Huijue sighed: “Shangshan benefactor, your shikigami really loves you…”
“This poor monk can hardly imagine what kind of willpower she held to withstand such terrifying Wish Power baptism, then self-seal into it.”
“In short, Shangshan benefactor, your Ksitigarbha Statue needs to stay with me for a while.”
Huijue stated frankly: “First, we need to remove the surface Wish Power, then discuss with many masters and consult historical scrolls for ideas.”
After a brief silence, Shangshan Che slowly nodded: “Then, I’ll trouble you, Master.”
“This is a good deed.” Sanskrit script flickered in Huijue’s hand, dimming the Ksitigarbha Statue’s surface glow a bit, “If perfectly resolved, it would accumulate merit.”
Shangshan Che shook his head, thanking Huijue once more.
As the two were about to continue talking, a voice from nearby interrupted.
“—I was wondering who the ‘troublemaker’ was, turns out it’s you two.”
Shangshan Che followed the familiar tone and saw Nanjo Emi, unchanged in every way—uniform still neat, dark circles still deep, work mode still sharp.
She sent the gate guard, who had been watching them for a while, back, and beckoned them,
“What are you doing blocking the doorway? Come in.”
The two complied smoothly.
As for Tamamo, she had already run to the convenience store a hundred meters away in this time, saying she hadn’t eaten dinner and wanted to buy a midnight snack.
“Trouble for you to come all the way to Tokyo, Master…”
“Trouble? Huijue was coming anyway.”
In the Special Affairs Office lobby, the three walked and talked.
Her heels clicking on the marble floor, Nanjo Emi pressed the elevator button and said: “For this Seed Battle, Huijue is one of the referees.”
Referee?
Shangshan Che sensed the qi again, confirming Huijue still wasn’t a Ghost God.
He puzzledly said: “If anything, shouldn’t Master Huijue be a competitor?”
After entering the elevator, Nanjo Emi shook her head,
“Though Huijue isn’t a Ghost God yet, strictly speaking, he belongs to the ‘previous generation.’ Participating in the Seed Battle would be a bit bullying.”
In her work mode, she explained clearly: “Similar to the eldest brothers and elder sisters of the Three Great Families. Though most are Ghost Gods, a small portion still lack that one step.
Even so, they didn’t participate in the Seed Battle—same reason.”
Huijue also smiled and explained: “The Ghost God realm, though hard as ascending to heaven, isn’t the ultimate end… It’s just one segment in a long journey.”
With that, Huijue gently exhaled,
“This poor monk’s accumulation is still insufficient; I’m missing one key thing from my ideal form.”
He looked at Nanjo Emi: “Sometimes, I really envy benefactor Nanjo—possessing world-class talent and aptitude, untroubled by such mundane matters.”
Huijue shifted his gaze: “Shangshan benefactor, you’re not lacking either…”
Though he didn’t understand what “key thing” he was missing for Ghost God.
But he got the gist.
—Current Huijue could smoothly ascend to Ghost God if he wanted, but because of that key thing in his words, he couldn’t achieve a “perfect ascension.”
Thus, as a quasi-Ghost God, Huijue naturally wouldn’t participate in the Seed Battle.
……
At this time, in the first floor lobby of the Special Affairs Office.
Lili Zi, called by Kitano Runa to serve as guidance teacher, crossed the threshold and, on her way to the elevator, unexpectedly ran into a girl hugging files taller than herself.
The girl wobbled as she walked, but with the lobby empty, she could only struggle to move on her own.
Faced with this scene, Lili Zi had to lend a hand no matter what.
This Special Affairs Office… even hires child labor.
Without a greeting, Lili Zi directly took over more than half the files, and before reaching the elevator asked the girl which floor,
“Nanjō Great Officer’s office.”
The girl blinked her big sparkling eyes, smiled at her, and said a highly informative sentence,
“Looking for Shangshan bro.”
