"It had been a long time since I'd encountered someone like you who cultivated Natural Energy. You must be absolutely delicious!"
The middle-aged man's grotesque face filled with greed once more. He looked at Jigen as though he were food.
By now, the middle-aged man's pupils had completely turned an eerie purplish-black. Foul-smelling drool dripped from the corners of his mouth. Though he should have been an ordinary person, his entire body was covered in evil energy. He no longer looked human, but rather like some kind of monstrous Yokai.
"Y-you... you're Chimimōryō!"
Jigen clutched his chest with one hand and tried to push the middle-aged man away with the other. But with his heart pierced through, he was only wasting his strength. Even speaking took considerable effort.
"Not bad. I didn't expect you to have heard my name. In that case, I'll leave you an intact corpse!"
The middle-aged man let out a strange laugh. A mass of purplish-black, smoke-like energy spilled from the top of his head, transforming into the shape of a grotesque monster. It silently roared at him before abruptly diving toward Jigen's body.
As the Chimimōryō monster left his body, the middle-aged man collapsed to the ground as if he had lost his life, his fate unknown.
"I... have mercy, Buddha!"
Watching Chimimōryō about to enter his body, Jigen showed no fear. His face was only filled with regret. Had he not suffered such grievous injuries, perhaps he could have fought Chimimōryō to a standstill with Natural Energy. But now... Jigen looked at the dagger embedded in his chest. As his life rapidly drained away, he instinctively uttered a Buddhist invocation, then immediately sat cross-legged. All the Natural Energy he had stored within himself surged toward Chimimōryō at once. Even if he could not destroy it, he would exhaust as much of its energy as possible before it took over his body. Perhaps he might even gravely injure it...
With that resolve, Jigen fought Chimimōryō before his death!
"Overestimating yourself!"
Seeing Jigen's actions, Chimimōryō immediately let out a piercing sound, like needle-like metal scraping across an iron plate. It unsettled the mind and made one's ears ring with pain!
The next moment, Chimimōryō swallowed all the Natural Energy pouring from Jigen in one gulp, then even belched. Its purplish-black, sinister eyes looked at Jigen as though he were nothing more than a clown!
He was only a lowly human who cultivated Natural Energy. How could he possibly be a match for a monster of its rank?
Jigen's expression grew even more complicated. As a missionary, the power he had cultivated so arduously was like a toy before this monster. This undoubtedly shattered the beliefs that had guided him to save the suffering. Despair, resentment, regret, and other negative emotions surged forth at once!
So it turned out—
He was still someone who could change nothing...
Filled with despair, resentment, and regret, Jigen's lifeless eyes widened further, while the aura of life around him gradually faded away.
"I'll be taking your body!"
Seeing this, Chimimōryō muttered excitedly before drilling into Jigen's body.
But the next moment, Chimimōryō fled from Jigen's body as though it had seen something terrifying. Human-like fear and terror strangely appeared on its grotesque face!
Countless black lines emerged from Jigen's body, nearly covering him completely in an instant. Then, under the influence of some strange energy, his flesh and physique began to transform...
In mere moments, Jigen became Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. His skin and hair were pale, and a strange, long curved horn grew from his head. His unusual eyes slowly opened, releasing an invisible and terrifying pressure that made the floating Chimimōryō involuntarily prostrate itself on the ground. Its body trembled instinctively, as though crushed by a difference in the very level of life!
"It feels like I've been asleep for a long time."
A faint murmur came from Jigen's mouth. He slowly opened his eyes, and Chimimōryō, lying prostrate on the ground, immediately caught his attention.
"A monster?"
Jigen murmured once more, then stretched out his right hand toward Chimimōryō. The next moment, an irresistible force of attraction erupted. The floating Chimimōryō was dragged over helplessly and, in the blink of an eye, firmly caught in Jigen's hand.
"So weak!"
Feeling Chimimōryō's condition, Jigen spoke sincerely, though he was also somewhat surprised. In his memories, monsters should not have been this weak.
Chimimōryō struggled wildly in Jigen's hand. Purplish-black evil energy gushed from its body, but all of it was absorbed by Jigen and transformed into energy that repaired the wound in his chest.
At once, faint sizzling sounds came from Jigen's chest. Steam-like mist coiled around him as the wound healed at a visible rate. His powerful body even forced the dagger embedded in his chest out.
"Hey, can you understand me?"
After briefly adapting to his body, Jigen asked Chimimōryō in his hand.
"My lord, I can! I can understand!"
Having failed to break free, Chimimōryō naturally understood that it had provoked someone it could not afford to offend. The being before it was unquestionably a monster far more powerful than itself. In particular, the strange twin pupils in his eyes made it tremble uncontrollably. Thus, when facing an existence of a higher rank, it immediately submitted, not daring to show the slightest intention of resistance.
After all, this worldview of the strong devouring the weak and strict hierarchy had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of monsters like Chimimōryō.
"Tell me what happened just now..."
As Jigen stared at Chimimōryō and spoke calmly, a terrifying pressure descended upon it, making it feel as though it had been struck heavily. Already frightened and terrified, it became even more respectful toward Jigen.
So, it immediately recounted every detail of what had happened earlier. It even told Jigen all at once about its origins, abilities, and purpose...
After listening, Jigen pieced together nearly the entire sequence of events.
Chimimōryō was originally a monster from another world. For some reason, it had been drawn by humanity's negative energy and descended from that other world into the Shinobi World. However, because it had expended most of its energy upon arriving in the Shinobi World, its strength had become extraordinarily weak. It could only slowly recover by consuming humanity's negative energy...
After several years, Chimimōryō had gradually recovered much of its strength. This made it begin hunting humans in the Shinobi World with increasing impunity. Earlier, it had noticed Jigen, a special monk who cultivated Natural Energy, and had secretly taken residence in the body of a middle-aged human in advance, waiting for its prey, Jigen, to arrive...
What followed was easy enough for Jigen to understand. It had merely been the process of a hunter stalking his prey. The only difference was that Chimimōryō enjoyed the negative energy humans emitted before death. Especially in the case of a special monk like Jigen, who cultivated Natural Energy and had already transcended the bounds of ordinary humans, his negative energy could greatly restore Chimimōryō's strength. Therefore, rather than killing Jigen directly, it had preferred to admire his expression of despair, resentment, and regret...
"You can absorb Natural Energy as well?"
Having understood everything, Jigen asked Chimimōryō again.
"Yes, my lord. I have already begun adapting to this world's energy, and I can use human bodies to absorb Natural Energy. But I cannot directly absorb the Natural Energy in the surroundings..."
Chimimōryō did not dare conceal anything and hurriedly replied. This was also why it had wanted to devour and take over Jigen's body.
"By the way, do you know Mōryō?"
After nodding, Jigen abruptly changed the subject and asked Chimimōryō.