Chapter 318: Permanent Summoning Item, The Wax Figure’s Malice! At The Road’s End, The Indifferent Fang Xiang Shi
“Playing tricks like a ghost.”
The burly man with a Tachi at his waist and a shaved forehead glanced at the sky, then at Shangshan Che, who showed no dangerous aura, and sneered as he spat onto the muddy ground.
It was White Bone, who had once passed by Shangshan Che and casually beheaded him with a single stroke.
“If that commotion just now was caused by this kid, I’ll write my name backwards a hundred times!”
“Don’t be careless, White Bone.”
The braided big man with distinctive white eyes on his face withdrew his hand and pulled out a Naginata over two meters long from somewhere, slinging it over his shoulder.
He spat out the straw in his mouth,
“If I didn’t see wrong, it was him who stopped the rain.”
“Hey, hey… are you sure your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you?”
White Bone waved his hand in disbelief and strode toward Shangshan Che a hundred meters away with a tiger’s gait: “A move like that just now could only be done by the boss, who is a Ghost God.”
As he spoke, he examined Shangshan Che’s exposed skin and found no calluses,
“This kid has soft skin, probably some young master who fled from somewhere! Heh, he’s already scared silly… I love playing with these young masters and misses the most…”
“White Bone! I told you not to get careless and approach like that…”
The Wax Figure called out, but found he could no longer hold back the grinning White Bone.
This White Bone… usually struts around tyrannically, but when he really encounters a tough opponent, he turns tail without a word.
If not for the fact that there were hardly any amusing companions in Edo Castle worth talking to, he wouldn’t bother mixing with such a filthy creature whose heart stank worse than mud.
He clicked his tongue in displeasure and followed closely behind, eyes fixed on Shangshan Che, who had calm eyes and a smiling face.
—This kid is indeed not a Ghost God.
But this demeanor of his, wasn’t it a bit too calm?
The Wax Figure pondered as he walked.
—Anyway, the boss is in the city now. If the two of them can’t handle it, they can hold out for a while together until reinforcements arrive.
Don’t be fooled by the Wax Figure’s body of muscles as hard as Fine Steel and his exceedingly refined Technique, as if his muscles had grown into his skull.
But he was undoubtedly a brainy type.
Though he bathed in blood and fierce battle every day, treating his life like a ball to smack around, he knew exactly when to fight to the death, when to kneel and beg for mercy, and when to turn and run—these were all second nature to the Wax Figure.
In his own words, “Who says the muscles in my skull can’t think?”
In less than ten seconds, the burly men wielding Tachi and Naginata had slowly approached Shangshan Che.
And he, to this point, hadn’t moved a muscle.
He just smiled as he watched the two who had once beheaded him, eyeing them up and down.
Ten meters apart.
In White Bone’s perception, the Shangshan Che before him was completely ordinary except for slightly thicker Qi and Blood.
White Bone grinned pleasantly and said pleasantly,
“Still putting on a show… I wonder if you can keep that expression when I chop off your legs later.”
The Wax Figure didn’t speak, only narrowing his slanted triangular white eyes into slits.
Though in his perception Shangshan Che was equally ordinary, the “strong opponent alert” in his heart had maxed out and was blaring wildly.
Even the expressionless Wax Figure was almost unable to hold back his urge to draw his blade.
But in the end, two seconds later, he suppressed the impulse, laughed heartily, blocked White Bone with his hand, and spoke again,
“This lord’s name is Wax Figure, a Rōnin of Edo Castle and its surroundings. May I ask your name, little brother?”
Shangshan Che stared at him calmly, without answering.
“What brings you to Edo Castle this time, little brother? Is there anything this lord can help with?”
Shangshan Che blinked, still not speaking.
The Wax Figure wanted to probe further but was interrupted impatiently by White Bone,
“Stop asking, Wax Figure.”
Whoosh.
The Tachi was unsheathed, and White Bone, with a savage grin, casually flourished some blade flowers,
“This kid won’t talk without a taste of pain.”
The Wax Figure frowned: “Don’t kill him.”
White Bone stomped through the mud, splattering it everywhere, and chuckled,
“I won’t kill a pretender like this so easily. If nothing else… making weak little fellows scream for help is what I’m best at.”
Splatter.
Straw Sandals sank into the mud. White Bone stopped in front of Shangshan Che, his vicious triangular eyes leaning close, filled with brutal killing intent and mockery,
“Kid, any last words before you die?”
Shangshan Che remained calm, his gaze unmoving.
This overly calm reaction particularly displeased White Bone, who hadn’t seen the scene he wanted.
“Time’s about up.”
Shangshan Che suddenly said.
“Time? What time?” White Bone raised his thick brows, his right arm gripping the Tachi turning into a blur, “I get it—it’s time to die—”
Clang!
The crisp ring of metal clashing whistled past White Bone’s ear like a violent gale.
His blade was now blocked by another blade with a clear, pristine surface.
Not an inch further.
But Shangshan Che still hadn’t moved.
—What moved was the Daito at his waist!
Noticing this, White Bone and the Wax Figure’s eyes changed simultaneously—one greedy, one gleaming.
That Daito was alive!
Kaga Kiyomitsu shuddered under their gazes, letting White Bone’s pressed-down blade inch closer, precisely against the Qi Circulation barrier.
“No wonder you dare act this way toward me—you’ve got a Treasure like this on you…”
White Bone withdrew his blade, blazing white Qi surging from it along with his greedy laughter: “But that’s as far as it goes!”
Boom!
Qi waves surged.
In that instant, White Bone’s blade was at least three or five times faster than before!
Even in the Wax Figure’s eyes, that blade was impossible to block easily.
Crack.
With a dull sound, the Tachi was caught in the Qi Circulation beside Shangshan Che. Even as White Bone strained with bulging veins, it was futile.
What shocked the Wax Figure standing behind even more…
Was that Shangshan Che still hadn’t moved a muscle!
“—White Bone, fall back! This guy’s off!”
“Hmph, still playing tricks!” White Bone’s face twisted like a Demon, roaring in anger, “Watch me take him down alone!”
As soon as he spoke, just as he turned to unleash a full-power slash, he found his right arm suddenly powerless.
Crimson hot blood sprayed down, along with the thick right arm still gripping the Tachi.
Shangshan Che loosely gripped Kaga Kiyomitsu and spoke his first words to the Wax Figure, whose pupils were shaking,
“Don’t you recognize me, Wax Figure Mister?”
Recognize?
The Wax Figure blinked, quickly searching his mind for matching faces but finding nothing.
Should I know him?
If he’d seen such a handsome face before, he wouldn’t forget.
But the Wax Figure hadn’t…
Seeing his reaction, Shangshan Che sighed lightly, took out the Red Hannya Mask from his waist, dangled it before his face, and spoke again,
“Didn’t Wax Figure Mister behead my Hannya Clone earlier and say you wanted to fight a Ghost God?”
Thud.
A heavy heartbeat resounded in his body, shaking the earth.
Shangshan Che smiled,
“Now, I’ve come.”
Amid White Bone’s furious roar as he wildly slashed with the Tachi, the Wax Figure froze.
He remembered.
That Hannya with weak Strength but exceptionally refined Sword Technique… right, and this blade!
This Daito looked exactly the same!
“It’s you!”
The Wax Figure said in shock, never expecting his casual trash talk to come true in the future.
“That’s right, it’s me.”
Shangshan Che tucked the Hannya Mask back at his waist and turned to look at White Bone, whose frantic attacks had nearly shattered his Qi Circulation.
“I originally wanted to catch up with you and White Bone Your Excellency who beheaded me, but he doesn’t seem to take me seriously.”
A chilling gaze fell, halting White Bone’s mad movements.
Back to his senses.
Gulp…
In that instant, White Bone finally felt the majesty of an unfamiliar Ghost God and realized what stood before him.
He flashed an ugly smile, dropped the Tachi as if electrocuted, and immediately knelt, kowtowing frantically,
“L-Lord, it was this one’s mistake, I…”
White Bone’s words cut off abruptly.
A neat bloodline severed his head from his body, just like when Shangshan Che was beheaded.
Those eyes filled with fear and hatred didn’t close, smashing straight into the muddy water.
【You killed Thousand-Man Foe·White Bone（Three-and-a-half Star）, gained 1211 Soul Ash!】
【You obtained White Bone Tachi!】
【You obtained Oni Warrior Malice·White Bone!】
【Your Main Quest Two progress increased!】
Shangshan Che glanced at the prompts and turned back to the Wax Figure still standing ten meters away, seeing his body trembling uncontrollably.
Not fear like White Bone’s.
But excitement.
Excitement, pleasantness, blood boiling.
Feeling his whole body burning like in fierce Flames, unable to hold back.
The Wax Figure assumed a stance, his white eyes unable to hide thick Joy: “Hannya Your Excellency, you’ve truly given this lord a… big surprise!”
No nonsense, the words “big surprise” fell with his right foot, sending the accumulated mud and sludge on the whole street bursting to both sides!
With just this move, one could see the Wax Figure was on a completely different level from White Bone!
A flash of surprise crossed Shangshan Che’s eyes, and he shouted,
“Well come!”
Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade tip met the Naginata’s, clashing and twisting dozens of times in an instant.
Sparks scattered in the torn, thinned air, the mere leakage of terrifying power already overwhelming the surrounding Thatched Cottages.
If Shangshan Che hadn’t spared some Spiritual Power to protect the Thatched Cottages as his spawn point, they would have long been reduced to ruins.
In the exchange of over a hundred moves in seconds, Shangshan Che noticed the Wax Figure’s Naginata Saber Technique had indeed improved considerably, with shadows of the two strikes he made back then, and much greater Power.
In the time apart, the Wax Figure’s Strength had risen at least thirty or forty percent.
Such improvement in just one or two months was already terrifying.
In no time, the Wax Figure might break through to Ghost God in just one or two years.
“But unfortunately…”
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
Easily deflecting the Naginata’s sudden cold thrust with Kaga Kiyomitsu, Shangshan Che mused inwardly,
“Compared to me, it’s still far off.”
After being repelled by Kaga Kiyomitsu once more, the Wax Figure seemed to understand something and laughed heartily as he retreated a few steps: “Looks like this lord is no match for you at all.”
“So—”
Boom!
The Naginata slashed through the viscous air, emitting rumbling sound waves.
The Wax Figure’s eyes burned hot, his smile savage and twisted: “This lord’s going to use his strongest move!”
“Good.”
Shangshan Che nodded readily, returning Kaga Kiyomitsu to its sheath: “Then I’ll use my Secret Technique too.”
Boom boom boom!
Qi waves and sound waves tore apart Shangshan Che’s following words as the over-two-meter Naginata fell from the sky like a Mountain!
Shangshan Che didn’t look up but pushed out a section of pale blade with his finger pad.
Natural Reason School Secret Technique·Darkness Sword.
In the piercing roar, flesh and blood churned on Shangshan Che’s left shoulder, even his Thunder Bone chipped with dense cracks.
The Wax Figure landed behind him, the Naginata blade in his hand already snapped in two.
“This move is truly divine… heh, dying to it… not a loss for this lord.”
A hoarse, pleased voice rose along with the bloody scent.
Only then did a perfectly neat bloodline slowly appear on the Wax Figure’s thick neck, as if waking from a dream.
The braided head slid off, landing in Shangshan Che’s hand.
Shangshan Che looked down, meeting the white eyes that even in death retained burning battle intent and conviction, then reached out to close them.
Closing his eyes for him.
Then burning the Wax Figure’s body to ash with Flames.
The Mountain once thought uncrossable had now been casually scaled.
Shangshan Che pulled the prompts back into view.
【You killed Thousand-Man Foe·Wax Figure（Three-and-a-half Star）, gained 1804 Soul Ash!】
【You obtained Beheading Naginata!】
【You obtained Oni Warrior Malice·Wax Figure!】
【Your Main Quest Two progress increased!】
As for White Bone’s head, it had been casually stomped by the passing Shangshan Che.
Parts exploded everywhere—really high drop rate.
—In the two Kill Prompts, White Bone dropped only 1200 Soul Ash, while Wax Figure dropped 1800.
Indeed, the latter was much stronger than the former.
Even nearly reaching the “2000 Soul Ash” tier.
In Shangshan Che’s perception, White Bone was slightly weaker than the former Ootama Hoshi, while Wax Figure could slay both.
But in Shangshan Che’s eyes, enhanced by three layers of Demon Incarnation, neither was worth much.
Shangshan Che thought if he could drop Soul Ash, it’d be at least 5000 per kill, maybe even 10k.
After all, the good stuff on him added up to far more than a few tens of thousands in Soul Ash value.
Done with his random thoughts, Shangshan Che looked at the previously unseen Item type.
【Oni Warrior Malice·White Bone】
【Quality: Epic】
【Effect One: Use directly to summon a remnant with all of White Bone’s pre-death memories, Experience, and Strength.】
【Effect Two: Purify the malice and then summon, summoning a blank remnant with 80% of White Bone’s pre-death Strength,】
【—White Bone beheaded over 1212 heads in his life. Enjoyed bullying the weak, with many innocents, elderly, women, and children.】
An old wooden plaque marked with a Tachi symbol fell into Shangshan Che’s hand; snapping it open would use it immediately.
Permanent summon, huh.
He then took out the plaque from Wax Figure.
【Oni Warrior Malice·Wax Figure】
【Quality: Epic+】
【Effect One: Use directly to summon a remnant with all of Wax Figure’s pre-death memories, Experience, and Strength.】
【Effect Two: Purify the malice and then summon, summoning a blank remnant with 80% of Wax Figure’s pre-death Strength,】
【—Wax Figure beheaded over 1943 heads in his life. Enjoyed deathmatches with the strong; hundreds of Samurai and Hatamoto slain, Generals too many to count with one hand, none weaklings.】
Mm, these two are indeed different.
Even from the description alone, White Bone seemed worthless compared to Wax Figure.
Compared to White Bone who delighted in Slaughtering the weak, Shangshan Che felt some fondness for the muscle-brained Wax Figure who thought of Combat all day.
Decided.
Wax Figure could be summoned directly and controlled with a Soul Seal later; White Bone purified for blank summon—this thing was drooling even cured.
After all, Wax Figure’s combat power was probably not far below Nishaku in Benevolent King state, just lacking in moves and survival tricks.
And not overly impulsive, with great growth potential.
Such a loyal subordinate wasn’t easy to find.
Putting away the plaques, Shangshan Che spoke,
“Nishaku.”
“Here~ Does Che Adult have any orders?”
Nishaku, who had obediently stayed hidden per orders, appeared behind Shangshan Che, grabbing his clothes.
“Go find Demons to kill in Edo Castle yourself, train more.”
“Understood, Che Adult!”
After rubbing against Shangshan Che, knowing the importance of training and Strength, Nishaku didn’t linger but headed in the opposite direction from him.
In the time that followed, Shangshan Che with the Myriad Spirit Furnace Core became a super cleaner.
He strolled casually through Edo Castle’s streets and alleys, clearing out Demons and Monsters, Demons and Monsters.
Whenever a prompt with a Demon name popped up, he casually blasted a Spiritual Power beam laced with faint electric arcs.
Anything below Three-and-a-half Star was insta-killed on sight.
Clearing a path unrivaled, Soul Ash gain prompts flooded the screen—pure bliss.
Until Shangshan Che, at the end of a freshly cleaned, arc-shaped street, encountered that familiar crimson-tinged face.
Fang Xiang Shi.
The Samurai’s drooping eyes, not even glancing at him, still brimmed with casual indifference.
Just like the beginning.
