The Leeks Have Grown Another Crop (New Book—Please Support!)

Looking at Rider, her clothes disheveled as she sucked blood from his index finger, Shinji somehow found her even more alluring.

For a hot-blooded man like Shinji, seeing something like that first thing in the morning was no small stimulation.

But when he thought of his still-young little sister at home, Shinji cast aside the wicked thought that had flashed through his mind.

What if Sakura heard them while he was doing bad things?

No, no. It would corrupt children.

Come to think of it, should he tell Rider that he had picked his nose with that index finger before going to bed last night and hadn't washed it?

During the few minutes Shinji spent letting his imagination run wild, Rider's originally translucent body had completely solidified. Even the clothes that had nearly failed to stay intact gradually covered the dangerous areas again.

Rider released Shinji's index finger and slowly rose to her feet.

"Barrier."

"Huh?" Shinji voiced his confusion, but immediately sensed something. With a casual wave of his hand, he said, "Disperse."

At his command, the formation restrictions in the room vanished. At the same time, the mana connection channel came back online, and Rider once again felt her connection to Sakura.

"Looks like you didn't properly take in what I said yesterday, Rider..."

Shinji curled his lips slightly and murmured softly.

Strangely enough, Rider felt no displeasure at all as she looked into Shinji's faintly smiling eyes.

Before leaving, Rider gave Shinji one last look, then turned and transformed into spirit form, vanishing from the spot.

Grandson, please collect your mission reward.

Only then did Shinji remember that he had completed the main quest yesterday. He immediately pulled up the System interface with an excited expression.

But...

The moment he saw the lone silver metal ring in the inventory, which looked incredibly cheap, his face went blank.

Are you screwing with me?! It's just a lousy ring?

At least put a diamond on it!

Did you buy this from a roadside stall for ten yuan?!

And where did all the stuff I'd saved up over the years go?!

Did it grow legs and run off by itself?

It's inside the ring.

"Huh?" Shinji's expression eased slightly as he took the ring from the inventory.

Looking at the utterly ordinary ring in his hand, like something bought from an accessory shop for two hundred yen, Shinji remembered that in the few xianxia novels he had read in his previous life, there was something called a storage ring.

Could this be...

That's right. Satisfied?

Satisfied my ass! I spent so many points and ten years completing the main quest, and all I got was this lousy ring?

Was the System Space not big enough or something?

Did I really need to use something like this?

Give me back my youth! Refund me! Fuck your mother!

Don't be ungrateful. This is merely a bonus. You should already know the real reward.

Tch!

Shinji curled his lip, got up, and walked over to the desk. He opened a drawer, casually took out a thin platinum chain, threaded the ring onto it, and hung it around his neck.

This thin platinum chain was one of the few belongings left behind by the mother Shinji had never met, which he had found after searching every corner of the house.

The System was right. The true reward was not this storage ring with only a hundred cubic meters of space, but something Shinji desperately needed at this stage.

Humans had Three Souls and Seven Po.

The Three Souls referred to the "Heaven Soul, Earth Soul, and Human Soul," known in ancient times as "Fetal Light, Refreshing Spirit, and Hidden Essence." Some also called them the "Main Soul, Awareness Soul, and Life Soul," or the "Primordial Spirit, Yang Spirit, and Yin Spirit," or the "Heaven Soul, Consciousness Soul, and Human Soul."

The Onmyoji path called them the Primordial Spirit, Yang Spirit, and Yin Spirit. They were all essentially the same thing.

Of the Seven Po, the first was Heavenly Surge, the second Spiritual Wisdom, the third was Qi, the fourth was Strength, the fifth was the Central Soul, the sixth was Essence, and the seventh was Heroism.

In truth, the so-called Seven Po were the seven chakras, the seven energy fields, described in Tibetan esoteric Buddhism, located along the body's central channel from the crown of the head to below the hips.

The Heavenly Surge Po was at the crown chakra, the Spiritual Wisdom Po at the brow chakra, the Qi Po at the throat chakra, and the Strength Po at the heart chakra, while also connecting to the centers of both palms and the soles of both feet. The Central Soul was at the navel chakra, the Essence Po at the reproductive chakra, and the Heroism Po at the root chakra.

The Three Souls and Seven Po were both concrete manifestations of the spirit, though they differed somewhat.

If the Three Souls were related only to the spirit, then the Seven Po were not merely spiritual—they were also the source of the human body's life energy.

That was why the Onmyoji Body-Tempering Po realm was the true dividing line. Before reaching it, one might completely surpass ordinary people, but at the root of it all, one was still merely mortal.

Only upon reaching the Body-Tempering Po realm could one truly shed one's mortal body and be reborn, accomplishing things beyond the reach of human power, including technology—or, in other words, wielding the powers of ghosts and gods.

But Shinji was missing one Po, and it was the most crucial one: the Central Soul that held the other six Po together. That was why he had been unable to break through into the Body-Tempering Po realm for so long.

And the reward the System had mentioned was the most important Central Soul that Shinji lacked...

Half of it.

"Damn it, and you have the nerve to call half of it a reward."

Shinji curled his lip and muttered disdainfully as he took stock of the mission rewards.

A hundred thousand points, one hundred-cubic-meter storage ring, Hades' Hat that had appeared inside the ring, a large-scale magecraft analysis device (single-use), and half a Central Soul...

When Shinji saw the large-scale magecraft analysis device (single-use)—a silver metal device only half the size of a palm, with an LCD screen—he smiled faintly. The original reason he had wanted to poach Medea no longer existed.

This Dog System had finally done something decent for once.

Because half a Central Soul held the other six Po together, Shinji successfully broke through his bottleneck and entered the Body-Tempering Po realm while asleep. Though he had yet to temper even a single Po and had not entered the first stage of the realm, he was now a genuine Onmyoji of the Body-Tempering Po realm.

Wasn't something missing?

After taking stock of all the rewards, Shinji raised the question.

Where's my weapon? I can use magical artifacts at the Body-Tempering Po realm now, right?

If you don't give me a weapon, what am I supposed to fight people with?

And what the hell is Hades' Hat?

Did you steal it from the treasury of some citizen named Jin?

And doesn't it overlap with the method I developed in the Soul-Condensation realm to conceal my presence?

Exchange it for something else!

Mission rewards cannot be exchanged.

Damn it!

As for weapons, the Point Shop has just added a new batch. Since grandson performed well in this mission, you get a one-percent discount.

Looking at the entry-level magical artifacts in the Point Shop, none of which cost less than ninety-eight thousand points, Shinji fell silent once more.

He had sensed it before, but this time, the scythe blade was simply far too obvious.

It was as though it were saying: the leeks have grown another crop. Time to harvest them.

"Dog System, can we discuss something? Next time you plan to harvest me, could you make your intentions a little less obvious? Can't you leave us both some basic dignity? Do you have to be this blatant? This isn't even about whether we tear off the mask anymore!"

...I'll listen to grandson.

"So how about changing that one-percent discount to fifty percent?"

...No.

Well versed in the System's tricks, Shinji continued, "Let me ask in advance. You have something like Artifact Refining Basics, right? How much is it?"

Buy an entry-level magical artifact, and Artifact Refining Basics will be included as a gift.

"What if I only buy Artifact Refining Basics?"

Gifts are not sold separately. Of course, you can obtain it through a draw. Artifact Refining Basics is guaranteed in a five-pull now!

Shinji:...

At seven in the morning, Shinji sat by his bed, the corner of his eye twitching as he looked at the tiny Peachwood Sword in his hand. After haggling for an hour, he had finally bought it for eighty-five thousand points. It was made from peachwood that had likely been cut from a tree not long ago, only an inch and a half wide and a foot and a half long. Then he looked at the first page of Artifact Refining Basics in his other hand.

Peachwood Divine Sword for Protecting the Home, Expelling Spirits, and Warding Off Evil.

Required materials—fresh peachwood, carving knife.

Refining method: Carve the peachwood into whatever sword shape you like, carve on whatever patterns you like, then hang whatever ornaments you like on it...

Shinji had no desire to keep reading. He raised his hand and viciously slapped himself across the face.

Smack!

I'm such a fucking idiot!