Chapter 99: Demon Incarnation Three-tailed Fox
Katsumi was stunned for a long time before taking out the gold-inlaid pocket watch salvaged from the Factory Owners, opening it and checking the almost absolutely precise time on it.
The hour hand on the pocket watch hadn’t even moved half a circle, or even a quarter?
In just a few short hours, how exactly did this Walker Adult acquire hundreds or thousands of portions of Soul Ash?
If the time were stretched to two or three days, or even shorter to just twenty-four hours, Katsumi wouldn’t be so shocked.
But a few hours…
Katsumi had also been at Kisaragi Station for three or two days, and had roughly figured out the characteristics of this special area shrouded in fog.
So he naturally understood that it was very difficult to obtain Soul Ash from the “chi” wandering everywhere here.
But in such a short time, let alone using special methods to leave this area and search for scattered demons in the wilderness, even if good luck brought that train, the round trip time on the train would be longer than this.
And this Hannya Walker appeared to not even have reached the Two-Star rank.
Such potential, such methods…
Katsumi pondered for several seconds, already calculating in his mind.
He immediately took out those two Cold Steel Armguards, grinned and waved his sleeve to collect one thousand points of Soul Ash, then slightly bowed and said: “Thank you for your patronage, Adult. Welcome to visit again~”
Shangshan Che silently nodded, suppressing the joy in his heart as he prepared to leave here and return to the Mortal Realm to do Gacha Pulls.
Just as he was about to step out the shop doorway, he was blocked by that folding fan surging with waves.
“Adult—wait a moment!”
Katsumi had at some point switched to a golden mask that looked somewhat festive and joyous. Meeting Shangshan Che’s scrutinizing gaze, he took out from his sleeve a straw doll wrapped in white cloth with a blank label stuck on its head.
Katsumi handed over the doll: “This item is a gift for you, Adult.”
As Shangshan Che touched the end of the doll, a prompt immediately popped up before his eyes—
【Life-Replacing Doll】
【Quality: Epic】
【Effect: After writing your real name in blood on the “Life-Replacing Cloth,” upon death, you can resurrect once via the doll. Ineffective if killed by Six-Star or higher existences. Cannot take effect across the barriers between the Mortal Realm and Eternal World.】
【—Where to place the doll is a question.】
It’s just resurrection, I can resurrect two times a day too…
Shangshan Che’s gaze sharpened as he saw the last line after the effect description.
Isn’t this saying that this doll can take effect between the Mortal Realm and Eternal World?
Hiss—
This is completely equivalent to an extra life.
“If Adult recognizes it, that’s for the best.” Katsumi smiled, letting go so the doll fell into Shangshan Che’s hand. “Katsumi wishes to form a good connection with Adult through this item, and hopes Adult won’t disdain it.”
That’s right, after realizing the significance behind this one thousand points of Soul Ash, Katsumi’s decision was—additional investment!
He had originally thought this Hannya Walker was just a conscientious Walker, and conscience is a good thing that Katsumi liked, but only liked.
Perhaps in the future, the two would meet again for transactions, but that would be the extent of it.
But to bring back so much relatively high-quality Soul Ash in just a few short hours, this triggered Katsumi’s sensitive merchant instincts, discovering that the one before him seemed not just to have a good conscience.
But more likely… a true dragon still swimming in shallow waters, yet to encounter wind and clouds!
The tide is rising, the golden great era is already near at hand.
At such a critical juncture, Katsumi naturally wouldn’t be stingy.
After all, at worst it’s just losing a slightly rare Life-Replacing Doll.
But if he could form a good connection with one of the protagonists who might stand on the future stage, even if just making him remember him at a glance, the return on this investment could multiply tenfold or even a hundredfold.
“Thank you.”
Though he didn’t understand what Katsumi had figured out in this brief time, the effect of this Life-Replacing Doll was obvious.
So Shangshan Che put away the doll, turned back, and placed the Ox Demon’s Fang, the decayed samurai large sleeve, and an extra Soul Ash Conversion Box on the counter: “Please appraise the value of these three items, Katsumi Boss.”
Katsumi nodded, glancing over the three items.
“Good quality Ox Demon’s Fang, that’s 40 portions of Soul Ash, but this large sleeve… isn’t worth much, at most 10 portions of Soul Ash.”
Being able to exchange two completely useless pieces of junk for 50 points of Soul Ash was already a pleasant surprise, so Shangshan Che naturally nodded in agreement to the transaction.
Immediately after, Katsumi picked up the Soul Ash Conversion Box, examined it, and let out a sound of surprise: “This is a production line product from the Demon Guide Association?”
Shangshan Che was startled and pretended to casually ask: “Katsumi Boss, do you know of the Demon Guide Association organization?”
“Of course.” Katsumi spun the Soul Ash Conversion Box on his fingertip, then placed it on the counter with a snap. “I was the one they invited to design this box.”
“The raw materials for the Conversion Box are good, that’s 200 portions of Soul Ash.”
Shangshan Che nodded: “Agreed.”
After seeing the Soul Ash reserves return to “1394,” Shangshan Che asked: “Katsumi Boss, how much do you know about the Demon Guide Association?”
This was openly asking Katsumi for information about the Demon Guide Association.
But Shangshan Che figured that since Katsumi had just given him a Life-Replacing Doll, he naturally wouldn’t be stingy with some surface-level information.
Katsumi’s tone was drawn out: “Before that, could you tell me your name, Adult?”
Shangshan Che: “Che. Just call me Che.”
“Then, Che Adult.” Katsumi paced back and forth a few steps before slowly saying, “The so-called Demon Guide Association is just a self-formed organization of lesser demons that aren’t much of a threat, with a history that’s decently long, but that’s about it.”
“The public-facing leader… no, should say leadership group, is a council formed by Ghost Gods and Wild Gods who call themselves ‘Overlords.'”
Katsumi sighed as if finishing a dramatic performance: “With this tide coming, they must have their own plans too.”
Ghost God, Wild God… lesser demon?
Ghost Gods commonly referred to in the Eternal World are equivalent to Four-Star.
While Wild Gods naturally rank above Ghost Gods, they are truly terrifying great demons that establish shrines for offerings and can absorb Incense, reaching the Five-Star rank.
Shangshan Che’s face stiffened under the Hannya Mask—yet Katsumi called these Four-Star and Five-Star existences inconsequential lesser demons?
Just how many terrifying existences has this shop boss witnessed?
But this also gave Shangshan Che a baseline, letting him understand that the Demon Guide Association isn’t a top existence in the Eternal World, at least far below entities like the Blue Lantern or Shuten Doji.
Shangshan Che nodded: “I understand. Thank you, Katsumi Boss, for the explanation.”
“No need. To help Che Adult with just a few words is truly my honor.”
Katsumi slightly bowed toward Shangshan Che as he left the shop, then sang out again: “Che Adult—then let us meet again after the great era curtain rises!”
Katsumi’s farewell voice slowly faded, and after a surge of water pressure, Shangshan Che returned to the Mortal Realm.
……
Just as he opened his eyes, without needing to look back, Shangshan Che felt an intensely strong gaze hitting him from behind.
He slightly lowered his gaze and saw Two-Foot Adult clinging to him like an octopus, sweetly asleep while sucking on her finger.
Of course, he also saw the girl’s big white legs under her skirt wrapped around and through his left leg like a lock, making it obvious who would see it.
Two-Foot Adult is a Supernatural Phenomenon, so she’s not afraid of the cold and didn’t cover with bedding at all, while Shangshan Che, warmed all over by her healing embrace, naturally hadn’t realized he needed to cover up either.
After silently staring for a while, Lili Zi withdrew her gaze and began carefully laying out futon on the cold floor.
Shangshan Che’s scalp tingled a bit. After thinking for a moment, he proactively said: “Lili Zi, Two-Foot Adult is just healing me…”
“Shangshan Jun, you really weren’t asleep.” Lili Zi interrupted him, her tone flat. “I just felt your internal luck fluctuate a bit, and thought it was an illusion.”
“Also, no need to explain anything to me.”
Lili Zi glanced at him: “My heart isn’t as narrow as you imagine. Besides, I’m quite curious to see how Eight-Foot Adult grows step by step from small to big.”
“I have to say, Shangshan Jun, I’m a bit envious that you contracted such a shikigami who knows how to enjoy life.” Lili Zi heavily emphasized “enjoy life.”
No, there is, absolutely there is!
After spending so much time with Lili Zi, just from her tone Shangshan Che could tell she was being sarcastic.
If Two-Foot Adult weren’t truly healing him, she probably would have rushed over with her bamboo sword to strike long ago.
But with the healing excuse, even if Two-Foot Adult did more, or even groped him freely in front of Lili Zi, she would just turn a blind eye.
Lili Zi always knew very well what mattered more.
Lili Zi lay down, pulling the thin blanket over herself: “Go to sleep, Shangshan Jun. And remember to cover up. Metabolism drops after falling asleep, don’t catch a cold now that the seasons are changing.”
—She’s really… I’m dying of emotion!
Even after being blatantly caught in the act, she could still say such heartwarming words on a cold night.
Compared to Lili Zi, those female protagonists from romance anime novels who get jealous over tiny things are utterly inferior!
Shangshan Che sighed in his heart, and the inexplicable guilt that just arose was ruthlessly cut away—he hadn’t done anything shameful at all!
Shaking off the stray thoughts, Shangshan Che half-closed his eyes and opened the Gacha page of the “Desolate Shrine” for the first time in a while.
He stared dead at the largest Three-tailed Fox in the Gacha Pool silhouette,
“Third ten-pull, you’ve taken all the stock in the pool and still won’t come out?”
After madly chanting in his mind for a full ten seconds, Shangshan Che used his thought to viciously click “Summon Ten Times”!
Gacha Pull, startup—!
Rumblerumblerumble—
Vibrations came from within the shrine, growing stronger over time.
Could this be the omen of it coming out?
Shangshan Che stared tightly at the trembling shrine, watching two Three-tailed Foxes continuously carry piece after piece of Soul Incense Ash from the depths of the shrine.
“How come they’re all junk Experience Bottles?”
Shangshan Che laughed. The first eight were all Soul Incense Ash, just differing in tiny, small, and medium sizes—his luck was terribly bad.
For the last two, even without pity pull, at least give me a blue…
As if hearing Shangshan Che’s inner voice, the slightly panting Three-tailed Fox that ran over carried a faintly glowing blue orb to the shrine doorway.
It looked like a scroll.
“Rare quality Spell Scroll?”
A fine quality scroll adds 100 proficiency points; this higher quality one should add at least three or four hundred.
“This one’s pretty good.”
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow, then held his breath, waiting for the Three-tailed Fox running to the shrine depths to bring out the result of the final pull.
Rumble—
The shrine continued shaking, but gradually, the entire shrine silhouette rapidly faded, and finally the Gacha Pool interface disappeared from Shangshan Che’s view along with it.
Desolate Shrine, gone.
“Huh?” Shangshan Che put a question mark in his mind. “No way, a bug? It hard-swallowed my last pull?”
Wait, no.
Shangshan Che then remembered that after one Three-tailed Fox carried out the Spell Scroll, it had stood on that pile of white and green orbs and hadn’t left until the shrine disappeared.
Could it be…
Shangshan Che stared tightly at it; the translucent Three-tailed Fox seemed to sense his gaze as well.
It unhurriedly licked its two tails, then looked up. After locking eyes with Shangshan Che, its whole body burst into a huge deep blue glow!
Whoosh—!
A flash-like sound effect exploded by Shangshan Che’s ear. The Three-tailed Fox atop all the orbs slowly dissipated amid the intense light.
Finally, it transformed into an exquisite card with “【Shirotsu】” engraved on the border, wrapped in flowing mercury patterns.
On the card face, three huge fluffy tails occupied a small half the area.
A beauty clad in gorgeous Priest’s Robe veiled their face with a folding fan, slightly turning back from the top of the card to reveal the upper half of a face meticulously sculpted by a Master Craftsman, stunningly beautiful and androgynous.
【You obtained a new Demon Incarnation·Three-tailed Fox!】
The deep blue prompt hovered before Shangshan Che’s eyes. After being stunned for a good while, he reacted to the sudden turn of events.
Holy shit, it actually came out!
Shangshan Che had been prepared to throw another ten-pull into the lower pool, but unexpectedly, after this ten-pull the Gacha Pool directly disappeared.
Even more unexpectedly, this new Demon Incarnation transformed from the gatekeeping Three-tailed Fox.
Thirty pulls—you know how I scraped together this full thirty pulls!
Shangshan Che reached out carefully, pinching the gossamer-thin beautiful card and scrutinizing its information—
【Three-tailed Fox（Youth Body）】
【Quality: Rare】
【Rank: One-and-a-Half Star】
【Rank Cap: Two-and-a-Half Star】
【Talent: Thousand Faces, Bewitchment, Spirit Roaming, Wrathful Gaze】
【—Myriad Faces, Illusory Reality.】
Four talents! One more than Hannya’s talents!
Though Hannya’s “Ghost God（Weak）” talent is equivalent to three talents combined, for “Rare” quality, four talents on the Three-tailed Fox is absolutely solid.
Moreover, none of these four talents are filler!
【Thousand Faces: Consume Spiritual Power to shape appearance and height into any form.】
The first talent is a heavy hitter.
With “Thousand Faces,” Shangshan Che almost never needs to worry about being exposed, and no longer needs to buy a Hooded Coat to dumbly cover himself.
Not to mention, this talent can turn him into men, women, elderly, or children. Given enough time, Shangshan Che could create countless new identities.
【Bewitchment: Consume Spiritual Power to plunge the target into a confused state. Effect strengthens with higher Charm and Spiritual Arts Attribute.】
The second talent is a strong control skill; the description seems standard.
But the exact effect needs real combat testing to see what this “confusion” does and how much impact it has.
Shangshan Che thought he could enter the Eternal World again later to test this talent’s effect on chi.
After the appetizer, the next two talents are even heavier hitters!
First is “Spirit Roaming.”
【Spirit Roaming: When incarnated as Three-tailed Fox, consume Spiritual Power to actively detach the Demon Incarnation for free manipulation outside. Spiritual Power consumption gradually increases over time.】
【Note: After Demon Incarnation death, requires 48 hours cooldown before reuse.】
Paired with “Thousand Faces,” Shangshan Che would call this the foundational logic of the Three-tailed Fox incarnation.
Because together, they let Shangshan Che easily conjure allies from nothing, gaining a bunch of “friends” and “demon friends” to take the fall for him.
Some things inexplicable by Shangshan Che himself could be resolved by having the Three-tailed Fox and Shangshan Che appear together via this “Spirit Roaming” talent.
Not to mention, the Demon Incarnation that revives in just 48 hours even if killed in the Mortal Realm can explore dangerous places for him or multitask in combat…
Though multitasking is still a question mark.
Theoretically no issue, but whether Shangshan Che can fight enemies while controlling the Three-tailed Fox incarnation is uncertain.
Lili Zi could definitely do it, but for Shangshan Che right now, it’s unrealistic.
Casual talking and walking is fine, but in life-or-death fierce battle, even 0.1 seconds of hesitation—or even shorter—is a huge opening that could collapse the battle and lead to death.
“Clear Sword Heart, huh…”
As long as he reaches Clear Sword Heart realm, let alone two-tasking, three, four, or five wouldn’t be much pressure.
But Clear Sword Heart is too distant for current Shangshan Che; better to first aim for Unity of Man and Sword or get used to “Spirit Roaming” to minimize split-focus time.
Finally, the ace burst talent.
【Wrathful Gaze: During skill activation, Physique doubles, Willpower doubles, Spiritual Arts doubles, Charm halves, lasts two hours. After skill ends, all attributes fixed at 1 for 24 hours.】
Aside from being vulnerable to miniboss headshots post-duration, “Wrathful Gaze” is a perfect talent.
Pure stats, pure power.
Satisfied, Shangshan Che was very satisfied.
Compared to Hannya whose talents all boost combat, Three-tailed Fox leans toward support and utility, but “Wrathful Gaze” nicely compensates.
Though the Three-tailed Fox body lacks attack means, Shangshan Che has a pile of gear supporting him from past to now.
Priest’s Robe, Blessed Folding Fan, Koma-inu Bell…
From now on, the lightning from the folding fan isn’t just for briefly stunning enemies at key moments—it can directly Heavenly Thunder insta-kill them.
The Koma-inu summoned by the bell—who knows how much stronger, Half-Star or the absurd One-Star?
“Also, finally time to practice Spirit Control Technique.”
Shangshan Che looked at his greatly changed Spiritual Arts Attribute, murmuring in his heart.
【Shangshan Che】
【Physique: 20】
【Willpower: 9】
【Charm: 9】
【Spiritual Arts: 1→7】
That originally pitiful “1” point Spiritual Arts Attribute jumped by 6 points at once, immediately letting Shangshan Che sense the thin Spiritual Energy dissipating in the surrounding air.
With just two casual breaths, he felt the scant Spiritual Power in his body steadily growing.
7 points Spiritual Arts is already like this—what about 29?
Shangshan Che couldn’t wait, closed his eyes, and returned once more to Kisaragi Station.
—Demon Incarnation·Three-tailed Fox!
—Equip, Hannya Mask!
Clack.
Takagi wooden clogs with peach wood grain lightly stepped onto Kisaragi Station’s platform. Snow-white robe adorned with Cherry Blossoms draped down, a golden bell hung on the red waist sash, and three snow-white fluffy tails cleverly emerged from the robe’s slits, gently swaying in the air.
Shangshan Che held the Blessed Folding Fan, deeply inhaling with his still robust body.
Thus, like a whale swallowing, a small Spiritual Power vortex instantly spun rapidly around him.
Feeling his body’s dry Spiritual Power rapidly growing, Shangshan Che smiled, appraising his utterly complete, gorgeously transformed Attribute Panel—
【Shangshan Che（Three-tailed Fox Incarnation）】
【Physique: 20→31】
【Willpower: 9→11】
【Charm: 9→14】
【Spiritual Arts: 7→29】
The total of the four attributes impressively reached 85 points, exceeding the sum during Hannya incarnation by a full 18 points!
Of course, part of this was thanks to the “Hannya Mask,” a special equipment gained after Laughing Hannya’s quality reached Epic.
Shangshan Che savored the wonderful sensation of Spiritual Power gradually filling his body and circulating alongside Internal Qi, then awkwardly wagged his three tails.
These tails still feel weird.
It’s like suddenly having three extra fingers on a normal person—controllable, but feels off everywhere.
And this absurd 14 points Charm.
Shangshan Che’s base 9 Charm already woke him up handsome every day—what’s 14 then…
He curiously looked up, glimpsing his current appearance in the reflective glass of the Convenience Store.
Shangshan Che was slightly entranced for a moment.
Damn, almost drooled over myself.
Shangshan Che quickly raised his hand, flipping off his reflection in the glass.
Only then did he lean in close to scrutinize himself from top to bottom.
Turns out not only three big white fox radish tails swaying behind, even his hair and eyebrows are snow-white.
“Bro turned into a white-haired Fox Demon…”
Shangshan Che tsked, pinching this alluring face that almost didn’t register as male with his fingers.
This slippery face is way too easy to mislead people.
This wasn’t Shangshan Che bragging; if he saw this face on a pink or white app’s manga cover in his previous life, he’d definitely click in for a close look.
“No, this won’t do!”
Shangshan Che removed the Hannya Mask from his waist, fastened it on his face, and only after another look was satisfied and withdrew his gaze.
Now this is dignified and elegant!
After admiring himself several more rounds on the platform, Shangshan Che reluctantly prepared to return to the Mortal Realm to see what new Gacha Pool unlocked after getting the One-and-a-Half Star Three-tailed Fox.
As Shangshan Che prepared to return to the Mortal Realm, he turned and saw the empty station, suddenly realizing.
Why hasn’t the train come?
Where’s Ye Chun?
