Chapter 264: Victory Through Foreknowledge, Flame Armor Obtained! Regional Rankings End, Proficiency Skyrockets In A Few Days
“Duel, begin!”
As the fox-faced woman’s voice fell, Shangshan Che and the Onmyoji, sitting opposite each other before the fifty neatly arranged and face-down Karuta Cards on the ground, both focused intently at the same time.
“The people of the world are truly pitiable…”
Before the fox-faced woman could finish the first half of the line, Shangshan Che and the Onmyoji simultaneously locked eyes on the same Karuta Card.
【The people of the world are truly pitiable, the people of the world are also hateful.】
The second half of this waka was—
【The mortal realm is full of Bitterness, my heart is filled with sorrow and anger.】
Without reaching out to grab it, Shangshan Che flicked his fingertip slightly, and an imperceptible lightning flashed out in an instant, tightly wrapping around the Karuta Card in front of his opponent.
He yanked it right to himself!
In this first round, Shangshan Che won without a doubt!
The Onmyoji, who had just begun to raise his hand, was slightly stunned, then laughed heartily while slapping his thigh moments later,
“Good Lightning Magic! Truly excellent Lightning Magic! Manipulating lightning to such a precise degree is something I’ve never seen in my life!”
Shangshan Che pretended not to hear, showing no carelessness at all.
The speed of the Five Thunder Technique was indeed very fast, making it the best choice to replace hand grabs in Karuta.
But getting the Karuta Card without hindrance the first time was just hitting the opponent’s blind spot in thinking.
Next, this Onmyoji with profound strength would definitely come up with corresponding countermeasures…
The fifteen-minute Karuta Competition passed in a flash.
Shangshan Che lost without suspense.
The score was 7-43.
After relying on the Five Thunder Technique’s swift first moves to claim five points, Shangshan Che only stole two more points from the subsequent forty-five Karuta Cards.
He silently raised his gaze, staring at this Onmyoji whose aura was blurred all over, with his face and exposed skin shrouded in faint flames.
—This person’s techniques and Onmyōdō were truly vast as the sea.
In just one Karuta Competition, Shangshan Che had witnessed nearly two hundred kinds of Onmyōdō wielded with perfect control.
He was convinced of his defeat.
The Onmyoji laughed heartily and cupped his hands: “Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox, I concede!”
“I concede.”
Shangshan Che let out a breath, pondering the variations of each Onmyōdō in his mind while smiling back in response.
Then, he said something the Onmyoji didn’t quite understand: “But our real combat has only just begun.”
……
Over several days, Shangshan Che restarted fully ten or so times and was defeated by this mysterious Nameless Onmyoji ten or so times.
The opponent’s initial claim of wanting to seize the Karuta Champion title didn’t seem baseless.
But fortunately, even while keep losing, Shangshan Che’s record was getting better and better.
From the initial 7-43 to the current 23-27.
In Karuta Competition, each person starts with 25 Karuta Cards in front of them, and whoever has more Karuta Cards left in front at the end wins.
So Shangshan Che was only 3 Karuta Cards away from victory.
Tonight, he was confident he could defeat this Nameless Onmyoji whose skills were ghostly divine!
Apart from the fixed evening card-playing sessions, during the other times over these days, Shangshan Che had been cultivating together with Lili Zi and Yagyu Oshi.
With companions for focused cultivation exchange, plus Little Jia’s “Dual Cultivation” and Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound and Medicinal Bath assistance, Shangshan Che’s skill proficiencies had grown considerably.
The proficiencies that increased the most were naturally the Corona Breathing Technique and its complementary Five Thunder Technique.
Over these days, the combined proficiency of these two skills had nearly increased by 2000 points!
This would have been almost unimaginable last month!
【Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union（Expert 104/5600）】→【Five Thunder Technique·Qi Union（Expert 888/5600）】!
【Corona Breathing Technique（Profound Flesh 214/2500）】→【Corona Breathing Technique（Profound Flesh 1514/2500）】!
Because his energy was focused elsewhere, even though Shangshan Che absorbed a lot of spiritual energy quickly, the Spirit Control Technique’s proficiency growth was relatively less, only about 300 points.
【Spirit Control Technique·Qi（Expert 3001/4000）】→【Spirit Control Technique·Qi（Expert 3306/4000）】.
For the Embracing the Core realm, with daily close guidance at night from Lili Zi, a Core Formation expert, it was steadily progressing.
【Embracing the Core（2.5/100）】→【Embracing the Core（10/100）】.
Natural Reason School cultivation was temporarily set aside, used only as warm-up training to maintain feel, gaining only a dozen or so proficiency points over several days.
Sword Skill and Sword Principle were similarly hard to increase.
But due to full mental vigor, the Rin Character Technique had been comprehended by Shangshan Che through persistent effort to 9%, and it would likely break through the 10% threshold before the Seed Battle.
During this time, after mastering the first two sections of the Life River Breathing Technique, Shangshan Che subtly probed if Lili Zi wanted the “Acupoint and Sea of Qi” method.
The answer was no.
Lili Zi had often been lost in thought and contemplation lately; she said that perhaps soon she could figure it out using her own body and Shangshan Jun’s body.
Thus, Shangshan Che held off for the moment and didn’t teach her that part of the Life River Breathing Technique.
Wait a bit longer; it wouldn’t be too late to let her verify it against her own researched method later.
This evening, after completing the day’s cultivation, Shangshan Che asked Yagyu Oshi who had just pushed open the door and walked in,
“Ryūgen Jun, has the ranking match ended?”
“It just fully ended today.”
Yagyu Oshi took out a badge with a bronze sheen, with the number 【62】 engraved on the back.
Ranking sixty-two, a middling position.
But for Yagyu Oshi, who had taken First Place in Shizuoka Prefecture, it was definitely low; going all out, he should be able to get a ranking before fifty-five.
Shangshan Che smiled: “Looks like Ryūgen Jun held back.”
Yagyu Oshi, slightly mentally fatigued, shook his head: “A few ranking spots aren’t that important; revealing all means and getting thoroughly scouted would be the real mistake.”
“What about you, Lili Zi?” Shangshan Che turned and poked the soft cheek of the girl lying on the ground, “Has yours started yet?”
“Probably the day after tomorrow?”
Lili Zi swatted his finger away and stared at the ceiling: “The format is quite complex; I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Immediately after, she spread her hands,
“But these minor details don’t matter; just go on stage when called and keep winning, right?”
Shangshan Che nodded: “Fair point, yeah.”
She smacked her lips and yawned: “Alright, I’m sleepy; you should rest soon too, Shangshan Jun.”
With that, Lili Zi closed her eyes and lay on the ground again, looking as if her soul had wandered off.
Shangshan Che said no more; over these days, he had gotten used to Lili Zi sleeping on the floor.
He just hoped she would figure out the Acupoint issue soon; sleeping on the floor wasn’t good.
Waving to Yagyu Oshi, Shangshan Che took Kaga Kiyomitsu back to his own room.
—Two days ago, Huijue, on his way back to Tokyo, ran into some issue, saying it was a “little trouble” that Shangshan Che figured was definitely not small.
—But Huijue guaranteed the Ksitigarbha Statue wouldn’t have problems and he would return before the Seed Battle Elimination Round began.
Shangshan Che felt Huijue’s character was very reliable.
Shaking his head, Shangshan Che stopped thinking about other things.
Next, defeating the Nameless Onmyoji in the Hanafuda Market was the top priority.
Lying on the bed, covering with a small quilt.
Shangshan Che’s consciousness sank to the seabed, then opened his eyes before the empty Karuta Factory.
Everything was as before.
After a set of silky-smooth task-skipping procedures done ten or so times, Shangshan Che sat opposite the Nameless Onmyoji again.
“No choice; I’m here for the Under Heaven First title!”
The Onmyoji was as confident as the first time.
“Then, let’s begin.”
After numerous combat memories and possibilities rose in his mind one by one, Shangshan Che, with imperceptible lightning flowing through his ten fingers, spoke.
“Duel, begin!”
Dazzling Onmyōdō bloomed endlessly, but all were precisely shattered by ever-changing lightning.
The fifteen-minute Karuta Competition passed in a flash.
Shangshan Che, going all out, barely secured the victory!
The score was 26-24.
“Duel ends.” The fox-faced woman’s tone was somewhat shocked, “Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox wins.”
In the noisy silence, the Nameless Onmyoji sat silently in place, not yet reacting from the earlier step-by-step killing intent and intensely fierce confrontation.
He was stunned.
He clearly aimed for the Karuta Under Heaven First, yet lost in the first round?
The Onmyoji looked up and saw Shangshan Che, hands lowered, clearly very tired as well.
This Six-tailed Fox Great Demon’s Karuta technique was so formidable, almost like he could predict the future…
After a long while, the Onmyoji sighed: “Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox’s technique is superb, and your Lightning Magic is masterful.
I admit I’m inferior!”
After another brief silence, the Onmyoji shook his head and laughed loudly,
“But this Karuta Competition let me see there are people beyond people!”
With that, the Nameless Onmyoji tossed over the Memory Orb containing 【Flame Armor】.
Shangshan Che caught the orb: “Your Excellency is quite straightforward.”
“Failure and loss are normal in life.” The Onmyoji exhaled deeply, his emotions restored, “Drawing nourishment from them to keep advancing is their true value.”
“Alright, Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox, use this Memory Orb right now.”
The Onmyoji said: “If there are questions, you can ask me on the spot.”
“Good!”
Shangshan Che replied loudly and immediately accessed the Memory Orb.
His vision went dark then bright.
Shangshan Che understood he had entered the cultivation memory related to Flame Armor.
—The so-called “Flame Armor” gathered spiritual energy to form flowing flames, resisting external attacks like real armor.
In the Memory Orb, the first Onmyōdō the cultivator encountered was this Flame Armor.
Naturally, the first “Flame Seed” was placed in the heart.
Flame Seeds were not only the foundation and core for forming Flame Armor but also constantly nourished the Onmyoji’s five viscera and body, providing spiritual power and vitality.
In the Flame Armor Technique, planting five fire seeds in the five viscera counted as Minor Accomplishment.
Subsequently, continuously strengthening the fire seeds to connect them throughout the body, then using Astronomy Path runes and spells to construct the complete Flame Armor talisman structure, would be Completion.
The benefits of complete Flame Armor were numerous—not only could it fully envelop the body like Qi Circulation, but it could also rapidly draw spiritual energy from heaven and earth for high-burst attacks and highly active iron-wall defense.
Even zero-frame startup for instantly casting various fire spells.
The downside was enormous spiritual power consumption.
Right, even though Flame Armor could absorb heaven and earth spiritual energy on its own, it could only maintain minimal operation.
To do anything else required spiritual power.
Massive spiritual power!
Conveniently, Shangshan Che had plenty of spiritual power.
The Memory Orb wasn’t long but detailedly recorded an Onmyoji cultivating this Flame Armor Technique from zero to Ghost God.
Shangshan Che could simply follow suit to quickly cultivate this powerful Onmyōdō to Perfection.
At the instant the Onmyoji in the Memory Orb broke through to Ghost God, Shangshan Che felt heaven and earth invert, and the sounds of the Hanafuda Market surged back into his ears.
He opened his eyes, and a Prompt popped up—
【Due to learning part of a certain Nameless Onmyoji’s memory, you are learning Onmyōdō·Flame Armor…】
【You have learned Onmyōdō·Flame Armor!】
【Flame Armor（Beginner）】
【Effect: Five viscera five seeds, flowing flames on the body, can be armor or spear.】
【—An ancient Onmyōdō method created at the end of the Heian Period but not yet completed; using it as a foundation might reach the Legendary Ghost God realm.】
No “might”—it definitely could.
Shangshan Che rubbed his temples; with the previous experience absorbing Tokugawa Yugoro’s memory, the mental strain this time was much less.
Huh?
Shangshan Che’s gaze shifted slightly; he noticed that after Flame Armor, there was only the （Beginner） Prompt, with no proficiency display.
This was different from the techniques and skills he had learned before.
Perhaps this Onmyōdō sat between minor tricks like Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound and major paths like Spirit Control Technique and Natural Reason School.
After reading the effect and description word by word, Shangshan Che looked up thoughtfully.
He said: “This Flame Armor seems like an ancient Heian Period method, incomplete with some flaws.”
“Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox has sharp eyes!”
The Onmyoji’s voice carried slight surprise: “This Flame Armor method is indeed incomplete; I obtained it decades ago from an ancient text in a fallen Onmyoji Family.”
“The spiritual energy concentration there wasn’t high; no one in that family could cultivate it, not even daring to plant the fire seed in the heart.”
The Nameless Onmyoji smiled: “I have talent; I mastered it in just a few days.”
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow in confusion; he had clearly felt the cultivation difficulty and danger of this method in the Memory Orb.
One wrong step, and the whole person would be consumed by flames.
—Heian Period old folks really didn’t value cultivators’ lives.
So Shangshan Che asked: “Your Excellency, with such talent, why after decades haven’t you reached Ghost God?”
“Haha, didn’t Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox say it earlier?”
The Nameless Onmyoji’s voice was light: “This ancient method from the Heian Period is incomplete.”
“It can indeed reach Ghost God, but it’s wrong at the root, with too low a ceiling.” The Nameless Onmyoji waved his hand, “It can serve as a method, but not a foundation.”
“Unfortunately, I only realized this after cultivating it to the end.”
Shangshan Che was slightly stunned and sat up straight: “Could it be Your Excellency…”
“Correct.”
The Nameless Onmyoji didn’t tease and directly confirmed Shangshan Che’s thought: “I discarded the Ghost God cultivation I spent decades of life achieving and started over.”
“Impressive!”
Even Shangshan Che couldn’t help but sincerely cup his hands and bow to the other.
To go from mountain-moving, sea-filling Ghost God to a near-sixty-year-old ordinary old man in one go—the sheer drop alone would drive most people mad.
Let alone… this Nameless Onmyoji even withstood the pressure and recultivated to this point in old age.
This was a person of great resolve and boldness!
Shangshan Che believed the Onmyoji before him must have left a heavy mark in the Edo Period—and his name might even appear on those stone tablets in the City of Disorder!
“It’s nothing; I’m just an ordinary person walking the path of Onmyōdō.”
The Nameless Onmyoji laughed: “See, I got eliminated in the first round of Karuta by Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox.”
He sighed softly,
“The distance to Under Heaven First is still very, very far.”
After a moment of silence, Shangshan Che asked,
“Then, Your Excellency, has this Flame Armor method been completed now?”
“I’m still researching it too…”
The Nameless Onmyoji stroked his chin pleasantly: “How about this: if in the future we have the fortune to meet again, let’s have another Karuta duel.
If Your Excellency Six-tailed Fox wins, I’ll give you the Completion method.”
“If we don’t meet.” The Nameless Onmyoji continued without pause, tone straightforward, “Then consider it pointing out another obscure path for the people of this world.”
This was… intending to spread the Flame Armor method?
Shangshan Che thought.
Then, after returning to the Mortal Realm, wouldn’t he have a chance to find this completed Flame Armor method in the Special Affairs Office Archive Room?!
