Chapter 279: The Choice Of The Complete Divine Treasury! “so I Came To Save You, Nishaku.”
“What’s wrong?”
Lili Zi’s words stopped, and she looked toward the small Ksitigarbha Statue in Shangshan Che’s hand.
She immediately understood: “This is the familiar you mentioned before, storing your shikigami…”
“Yes.”
Shangshan Che nodded, sensing that the Ksitigarbha Statue had completely opened a channel to external thoughts: “I’m going to bring Two-Foot Adult back.”
“Master Huijue said that people with higher state of mind cultivation will have an advantage entering it.” Lili Zi said, “If that’s the case, as long as you tell me the precautions, Shangshan Jun…”
“I’m not that low.”
Shangshan Che, who had experienced Myriad Branches, shook his head,
“Moreover, your relationship with Two-Foot isn’t that close, right? Even if you enter without being confused at all, you might not be able to get her out.”
He continued to add: “If two people enter, it might trigger some unknown phenomenon, which would be troublesome.”
“Oh.”
Lili Zi understood that Shangshan Che had already made up his mind.
Since that was the case, whatever she said wouldn’t change this guy’s thoughts.
Thus, the girl no longer talked about this matter and instead asked: “So, is it urgent?”
Shangshan Che knew Lili Zi wanted to resolve the unfinished topic from before, so he replied,
“It’s not to the point where I have to enter in the next second.”
“Good, then I’ll make a long story short.”
Lili Zi responded, speaking quickly,
“Earlier we talked about the three acupoint opening routes of the Minor Divine Treasury—【Eightfold Mugwort】, 【Swift God Vein】, 【Blue Breath Network】, which develop the body, spirit, and energy respectively.”
Among the three, Shangshan Che still had some impression of the term “Eightfold Mugwort.”
《Kojiki》 records that after Amaterasu Great God angrily hid in Ama-no-Iwato, causing the Mortal Realm to fall into darkness and breed demons and evil.
The eight million deities, to attract Amaterasu back to the Mortal Realm, decorated the cave entrance with various beautiful objects.
The shimenawa woven from Eightfold Mugwort, also called the sacred grass rope, was one of them.
Nowadays, many shrines use shimenawa to delineate Sacred Realms, and its prototype is the Eightfold Mugwort at the Ama-no-Iwato doorway—similarly, it is also used in Astronomy Path rituals.
Eightfold Mugwort represents the entwining spiral of vitality.
Therefore, Shangshan Che felt that the Eightfold Mugwort route not only simply enhances physique but also elevates life essence to some extent.
Of course, this was just intuition.
Tokugawa Yugoro in the Memory Orb did not choose Eightfold Mugwort but took the Swift God Vein path.
“—But I think hesitating and choosing at the Minor Divine Treasury, that is, the first 28 acupoints, doesn’t have much meaning.”
Lili Zi stared into Shangshan Che’s eyes and said calmly: “I won’t stop here, and neither will you.”
Whether it’s the Minor Divine Treasury composed of 28 acupoints, the Major Divine Treasury of 72 acupoints, or the complete Divine Treasury achieved by very few.
As long as it’s a Divine Treasury, it requires the cultivator themselves to “confirm” it for the already opened acupoints to truly light up.
And once “confirmed,” it means the acupoint cultivation ends there.
Whether it’s a cultivator who only opened the Sunday Acupoint or one who opened 107 Great Acupoints, they can no longer continue opening subsequent acupoints.
“If we’re doing it, we do it the best.” Lili Zi said matter-of-factly, “Otherwise, don’t do it.”
“If we don’t stop here, the Minor Divine Treasury won’t take effect, and if we don’t stop midway, the nine routes of the Major Divine Treasury don’t differ much.”
The girl raised a finger: “My goal and yours, Shangshan Jun, is the complete Divine Treasury that requires opening all acupoints.”
In other words, before formally opening all 108 Great Acupoints, they can only get the weak effects from individual acupoints.
This is an investment with extremely high cost, but it’s unknown if there will be returns.
Because if only lighting the Major Divine Treasury, there’s no essential difference between the 72-acupoint Major Divine Treasury and the 107-acupoint one.
A lot of time and energy is wasted by overreaching cultivators.
But in contrast.
The effect of the complete Divine Treasury is terrifying even without reaching the third stage of “Divine Treasure Containment” in the Life River Breathing Technique.
Tokugawa Yugoro in the Memory Orb lit the complete Divine Treasury 【Take-Mikazuchi Hub】 after a relatively long hard road.
After that, his sword became incomparably fast, even faster than lightning that flashes and vanishes.
And Shangshan Che, who consumed the Memory Orb, felt it even more clearly.
Before lighting the complete Divine Treasury, Tokugawa Yugoro still needed considerable effort to defeat demons and opponents.
But after lighting it, all battles ended in at most a few seconds.
—The three Minor Divine Treasury paths lay the foundation, the nine Major Divine Treasury paths vary greatly, and finally converge into three complete paths.
The complete Divine Treasury delineates a vast Star River Qi Sea, and their combination causes a leap in life essence, allowing cultivators to almost rival Ghost Gods.
This is the essence of the Life River Breathing Technique · Sea of Qi chapter.
Shangshan Che, who had studied the Life River Breathing Technique for a day, ended his brief thinking and subconsciously asked,
“So, how many complete Divine Treasuries does the Tokugawa family have?”
Lili Zi rolled her eyes: “How would I know?”
Shangshan Che was about to say you can ask Tokugawa Hoshi, but recalled that even when Tokugawa Hoshi gave Lili Zi the notebook, she didn’t reveal the existence of the Life River Breathing Technique at all.
This shows that the current Tokugawa family strictly controls the Life River Breathing Technique, extremely strictly!
Revealing it might trigger extremely dire consequences.
Just as Shangshan Che waved his hand saying forget it, Lili Zi, who had pondered for a moment, spoke up,
“But there are two people I’m pretty sure about…”
“First is Tokugawa Ryuji, he definitely lit an unknown complete Divine Treasury, otherwise that old thing wouldn’t have nearly publicly designated him as the next head of the Tokugawa family.”
Good grief, not calling him Eldest Brother after meeting.
Ignoring the subtle change in Shangshan Che’s expression, Lili Zi propped her chin and thought for a bit before continuing,
“And Tokugawa Haruhiko, a long time ago he came to brag to me that he was on the path to the Major Divine Treasury.”
She smiled: “At that time, I couldn’t understand what he was saying at all and got mocked.”
The later result everyone knows: Tokugawa Haruhiko hasn’t become a Ghost God even now, nor does he have outstanding strength like Minamoto Shizuka or Kyuuketsuin Kin.
So he definitely lit either the Minor or Major Divine Treasury, with higher probability the Minor one.
Shangshan Che memorized it word for word, picturing that old face begging for a punch in his mind,
“What about Tokugawa Motoyasu? That old guy has been head of the Tokugawa family for so many years, his strength can’t be bad and surely can’t be hidden.”
Lili Zi didn’t speak.
She silently stared at Shangshan Che for a while, and only after realizing he really didn’t know did she slowly say: “That old thing is just a normal person.”
Shangshan Che widened his eyes in shock.
A normal person?
The head of one of the Three Great Families, the Tokugawa family, is actually a normal person?
This works?
He heard Sister Nanjo say that old thing is at least ninety, maybe over a hundred years old, and a normal person lived that long…
No, that’s not the important part.
Rather, a mere normal person climbed to the head position in the Tokugawa family full of geniuses and Ghost Gods, and sat there for so long.
Shangshan Che’s mouth twitched slightly.
Hard to imagine how many overt and covert means that old thing used to seize and hold the position.
Seeing Shangshan Che’s expression, Lili Zi snorted coldly: “No more talking about these unlucky guys.”
“After this time, I’ve at least confirmed I can’t improve or discover new routes in the short term, so let’s pick from the existing choices.”
【Nine Molting Dragon Robe】, 【Take-Mikazuchi Hub】, 【Konohana Sakuya】.
All three complete Divine Treasuries require 108 Great Acupoints to light, but the order of acupoint opening differs, and their focuses are completely different.
“I’ll choose Nine Molting Dragon Robe.”
Lili Zi poked Shangshan Che’s arm, then pinched her own, sighing deeply at the numerical gap: “My current body is really too weak…”
Shangshan Che naturally wouldn’t make the same choice.
Under the premise that all three complete Divine Treasuries can change life essence, he certainly doesn’t want numerical values obtainable by simple means.
Moreover, there are the Four Great Ultimate Forms of the Palace of Flesh waiting for him.
Lili Zi wants to shore up weaknesses, while he wants to make strengths even stronger.
Shangshan Che himself leans toward Konohana Sakuya—extreme energy manipulation and strong recovery efficiency, which is better for his Dual Cultivation of Spirit and Martial Arts.
But he had “personally” seen Tokugawa Yugoro complete Take-Mikazuchi Hub; the latter’s sword was too fast and too strong, utterly unreasonable.
So Shangshan Che was a bit undecided.
“Whatever, let’s go with the Minor Divine Treasury · Blue Breath Network acupoint opening route first; later I can choose any complete Divine Treasury.”
It’s just that changing the order makes late-stage acupoint opening slightly harder.
Discarding the last hesitation, Shangshan Che placed the Ksitigarbha Statue in front of him.
Seeing the Ksitigarbha Statue placed out, Lili Zi restrained her extra expressions and asked: “Do it back in the room, or start here?”
“Here can bathe in moonlight, so here.”
Shangshan Che swallowed a portion of Soul Incense Ash, then took out the Soul Incense Candle and placed it beside.
The suddenly appearing fresh fragrance immediately drew Lili Zi’s attention; feeling her whole body become more sensitive because of it, she twitched her nose: “This is…”
“Soul Incense Candle, a treasure that boosts the spirit.”
Shangshan Che stared at the white incense candle for a moment, first set a simple barrier on the rooftop with spiritual energy and Qi Barrier, then used Qi Barrier to cut it in half.
A flame ignited at his fingertip.
This was the first time since Shangshan Che obtained the Soul Incense Candle that he tried to light it.
Just the passive effect was （slightly） more than half of Soul Incense Ash; if lit…
The next moment, with the candlelight igniting, Shangshan Che immediately felt the world sway before his eyes.
Like his soul accidentally detached from the body and was yanked back.
The light in Lili Zi’s eyes flared up because of it, making her already clear Sword Heart even brighter.
The girl, expressionless, saw Shangshan Che nod seriously to her,
“Next, I’ll trouble you to watch over me, Lili Zi.”
“No problem.” Lili Zi took Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was also intoxicated by the fragrance, and assured: “Go ahead without worry.”
Shangshan Che said no more, extending his abnormally clear and sensitive consciousness to envelop the Ksitigarbha Statue before him.
A faint attractive force immediately appeared; Shangshan Che didn’t resist.
…
Two-Foot Adult, why do you like cute children, and why do you like pretty people?
Two-Foot Adult, how did you first appear, and how did you evolve from a bound spirit to a Supernatural Phenomenon passed mouth to mouth?
If asked, she would probably answer “I don’t know” or “I forgot” or similar.
But does she really not know?
Two-Foot Adult probably doesn’t know herself, maybe she knows, maybe not.
But Wish Power is different.
Whether human, demon, or Supernatural Phenomenon, as long as there is intellect and memory, no matter how denied verbally, deep in the heart there are regrets, things wanted to change.
There will be “wishes.”
So Wish Power knows.
…
Edo Period, Keichō 8.
That year, Tokugawa Ieyasu became Great General Who Conquers the East, formally establishing the Edo Shogunate that lasted nearly three hundred years into the future.
That year, the long Sengoku Period and turmoil officially ended.
From then on, people could live stable, happy lives lasting until they, their descendants, and descendants’ descendants died, far from ending.
No longer mysteriously conscripted as ashigaru to die, nor often slain by mysteriously passing samurai.
But unfortunately.
This hopeful, bright future to come had nothing to do with the little girl now lying on the ground, weakly reaching out her palm.
Had nothing to do with the future Two-Foot Adult.
In the drafty ruined temple, several ragged, short, skinny men leered.
They grabbed the boy who was sitting beside Two-Foot two minutes ago—whose beauty couldn’t be hidden even by thinness—one in each hand.
Some among the men were even skin-and-bones thin, but subduing a ten-year-old child was more than enough.
“Heh heh… with such a face, turns out he’s a boy.”
“Tsk tsk, what a great beauty, interesting interesting!”
“Get off me! Let me go! Xiao Jiu, run! Run fast!”
“Didn’t expect you two to be so close… hee hee hee, then let her stay here, keep her eyes wide open and watch!”
Two-Foot stared blankly at the scene, nearly losing language ability.
“Bro…”
She murmured in confusion and fear, not understanding how yesterday was fine, just now was fine, but in a blink became like this.
After an unknown time, sadness in Two-Foot’s heart overpowered fear; she crawled forward on hands and knees, grabbing one man’s trouser leg pleadingly, tremblingly murmuring,
“Gentlemen… please let, let my bro go… I can…”
“Ugly thing, get lost!”
Two-Foot was kicked to the ground.
She only felt her vision filled with blurry red, sounds by her ear fading from noisy to quiet.
Finally, the dead silence of a storm.
Splash.
The chill of rain awakened Two-Foot’s stupor, making her scramble to the boy’s side.
Then, Two-Foot felt she grasped something far colder than rainwater.
She said nothing, letting rainwater stream over her face, just mechanically digging up the deep pit where they once hid their wishes, burying the boy inside.
Whether lucky or not, Two-Foot, drenched in storm all night, didn’t die but recovered health after a low fever.
For the next dozen years, she wandered aimlessly, finally staggering back to this village’s ruined temple, dying silently here like most wanderers.
It should have been like that.
“If only back then, I wasn’t so powerless.”
Two-Foot thought.
On her deathbed, a little monk with prayer beads, hands clasped, weird smile approached her side, softly asking,
“Xiao Jiu, do you crave power?”
“Yes… I want it!”
Like a last burst of light, Two-Foot, unfed for days, widened her eyes and roared almost hoarsely.
The little monk smiled: “As long as you promise to become a Bodhisattva and save Under Heaven, you can gain the power you want.”
Two-Foot was stunned.
She stared hard at the little monk, full of incomprehension, retorting: “Why save them?”
The dying girl, with raw anger, said firmly, word by word,
“These guys all deserve to die!”
“Is that so.”
The little monk still smiled, unchanged by Two-Foot’s answer: “Looking forward to your next answer.”
The little monk left the ruined temple.
The girl died.
—Two-Foot Adult, having lost memory, rejected Wish Power’s assimilation and power in the Ksitigarbha Statue for the first time, welcoming her first death.
Then, it repeated.
Two-Foot Adult, with vague memories, repeatedly lived through her life as a human.
But unlike the first time, whenever emotions fluctuated intensely, Two-Foot Adult’s previously repeated memories would trigger and appear.
Remembered by her.
But like the first time, the powerless Two-Foot Adult still couldn’t do anything or change anything.
After unknown hundreds, thousands of times.
The smiling little monk looked down at the dying girl: “As long as you promise to become a Bodhisattva and save Under Heaven, you can gain the power you want.”
Two-Foot was silent.
In the long wait, she vaguely gave an answer different from countless previous times,
“I promised an important person I won’t become such a thing, nor accept such power.”
“Important person?” The little monk smiled, “Who?”
“I don’t know…”
—Shangshan Che watched the ruined temple scene, heard the girl and little monk’s last exchange, and fell into confusion.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What’s the situation?
But experienced Shangshan Che didn’t alert them; he silently watched the little monk leave the ruined temple, ignoring his own figure standing blatantly at the doorway.
Then he felt heaven and earth darken, everything restarting.
“Still this girl…”
Shangshan Che blinked, shifting gaze from the two small backs before him, discovering everyone around couldn’t see him.
So, I’m now in an unobservable “ghost” state?
This special state might break if he does something.
So Shangshan Che didn’t act rashly, just silently watched, gathering information, letting everything unfold.
Soon, Shangshan Che discovered the time flow in the Ksitigarbha Statue was bizarre; clearly over a dozen years passed, but he only felt a few minutes.
Soon, Shangshan Che, who silently witnessed everything, saw the smiling little monk for the second time and heard their full conversation.
Then, everything restarted again.
Shangshan Che opened his eyes, staring at the carefree smiling little girl.
He lowered his gaze.
He understood.
This is the “dream” of endless reincarnation in the Ksitigarbha Statue, Wish Power’s means to erode Two-Foot Adult’s willpower and self.
Possibly also Two-Foot Adult’s past life.
Thus, the next time seeing the smiling little monk in the ruined temple, Shangshan Che stepped out and kicked the monk who only smiled and asked aside.
“‘Please save me’… you once said that to me.”
Shangshan Che squatted down, gripped the confused girl’s hand, and said softly and calmly,
“So I’m here to save you, Two-Foot.”
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Next chapter, Two-Foot Adult · Great Western King Bodhisattva grand return!
