Miko Who Becomes a Demonic Cultivator

Miko Becomes a Demonic Cultivator

Author: Luanma Zhengzai Luanma

Synopsis:

If you can see them, that is a massive problem.

But, why choose to run away?

If they are more powerful than humans, why not transform yourself into an even more powerful existence?

Yotsuya Miko, you have the aptitude to become a Demonic Venerable.

(Pre-reading note: Please do not attempt to map different power systems onto one another.)

Chapter 1: Zhang Qiudao Meets Miko and Entrusts His Final Wishes

Nanamisaki Academy High School, just another peaceful day.

However, today Yotsuya Miko was having a bit of bad luck; her newly purchased "Eye-Eye" was missing.

"As I thought, I dropped it at school."

After laboriously retrieving the lost doll from beneath the podium and stepping out of the school gates once more, the sky had already turned dim, and a torrential rain was pouring down.

Braving the downpour, Miko hurried her steps toward the bus stop.

"This is terrible. I really should have brought an umbrella."

As she spoke, she brushed the raindrops from her hair and looked down at her skirt, which was already soaked through, her mood souring along with it.

"Sopping wet."

She gripped the hem of her skirt and wrung it out hard, a large amount of liquid dripping from her fingertips onto the ground. It seemed she was drenched to the bone.

Her high-quality beige coat had managed to block a good portion of the rain, so she likely wouldn't catch a cold.

Having wrung out her skirt a little, Miko looked toward the platform, muttering about the next bus.

She pulled her phone from her bag; on its blue casing was that same "Eye-Eye." An image of a single-eyed creature with its mouth stitched shut—she truly didn't know why she liked it so much.

"The phone should be fine, right?"

She turned on the screen, which displayed a message from six minutes ago, sent by her close friend Yurikawa Hana.

"Did you get caught in the rain?"

"I lost something, and I'm soaked to the skin."

Yotsuya Miko replied, taking the opportunity to send a photo of herself looking like a drowned rat to express her current miserable mood.

However, the second after she sent the photo, Hana sent a photo back—an identical copy of the one she had just sent.

"The same photo?"

Yotsuya Miko blinked, feeling utterly bewildered.

Before she could even ask her friend what was going on, Hana sent the exact same photo again.

"What is going on?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you clearly."

Before she could figure out what was happening, the voice of a strange woman came through the phone, seemingly saying something to someone else.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you clearly."

The strange female voice repeated the phrase, while on the phone, Hana continued to send the photo, over and over again.

The bizarre situation left Miko at a loss; she stared at the photos on her screen.

The rapidly flooding images looked like a playing video; the version of her in the photos was gradually distorting, becoming increasingly grotesque.

In the end, Miko saw a monster in the photo that looked nothing like her.

A thing with hollow eyes, wearing the same clothes as her.

"BOOM--!"

At that very instant, a sudden flash of thunder tore across the sky.

The lightning briefly illuminated the entire heavens, and the thunder seemed to chase the flash, roaring in the blink of an eye.

Startled by the double shock, Miko retreated in a panic, her grip loosening on the phone, which tumbled to the ground.

It clattered loudly.

Yotsuya Miko gasped for air, trying to calm her racing heart in the face of the eerie situation.

It felt like a long time before she recovered from the terror.

She cautiously glanced left and right, confirming that she didn't see anything strange.

Gripping her bag straps tightly, she finally summoned the courage to walk forward and pick up the phone that had fallen to the ground.

She turned the phone back on; it was still the messages sent by Yurikawa Hana.

The communication was normal; she had just sent that photo of herself looking like a drowned rat, and below it was a concerned message from her friend sent six minutes ago.

"Wow—(crying face), do you want me to bring an umbrella over?"

Looking at this normal message, the girl let out a sigh of relief. Recalling the scene that had just occurred, it all felt somewhat surreal.

"I must be a little too tired today."

As she spoke, she rubbed the corner of her eye with her left hand, trying to dispel the feeling of mental exhaustion.

However, when she looked forward again, a face with hollow eyes was staring straight at her.

"Can you see me?"

As if feeling a bit shy, the Malevolent Ghost, which stood half a head taller than Yotsuya Miko, tilted its head and confirmed once more.

"Can you see me?"

The girl stared at the Malevolent Ghost with a blank expression. When she finally realized what was happening, she forcibly suppressed the terror gripping her body. Her left hand, which was clutching the hem of her skirt, was still trembling violently, but after a few seconds of stalemate, the trembling finally ceased.

She turned her face away calmly, sighing as if she were a normal person.

"Ah, the bus is so slow."

Fortunately—no, that couldn't be called fortunate at all.

On the other side of her field of vision, an old man with a translucent lower body was staring straight at her, as if he had seen something incredible.

"You can see me?"

Although this old man didn't look like the previous ghost and still possessed the face of a normal person, the faint purple gas surrounding his body and his translucent lower half made her realize that this thing was not human.

"Is... is it not here yet?"

Yotsuya Miko felt like she was about to cry. She endured the trembling, but the ghost on the other side didn't let her go either, twisting its head right in front of her.

"Can you see me?"

"Can you see me?"

The old man also drifted leisurely in front of Yotsuya Miko.

And so, Yotsuya Miko chose to escape.

"Ah,"

She let out an "ah," as if remembering something, and "composedly" picked up her phone.

"I haven't replied yet."

Having said that, she ignored the two ghosts and pretended to be focused on typing a reply on her phone.

This trick actually worked. The tall Malevolent Ghost stared at her for a few moments before turning to leave.

"Can't see..."

"She's not looking..."

"She can't see me..."

Like a jilted sycophant, it walked away in low spirits before dissipating into the air.

However, one ghost still kept its eyes locked on her.

"It's gone, that Soul Body is gone."

"You can see me, can't you, little girl?"

The old man stood in the distance, watching Yotsuya Miko—a normal person who was still pretending not to see him or that Soul Body—and understood the reason.

"Very well, you cannot see me. This old man is named Zhang Qiudao, a Demonic Path cultivator from the Xuanhui Realm."

Zhang Qiudao spoke with a bitter expression; he had failed after all.

When that Golden Giant Eye told him he "could not see the shape of the Dao," he had already lost. The Heavenly Dao had used a power beyond his comprehension to shatter the Soul-Devouring Dao Body he had forged with the strength of an entire realm, and it had even fractured his True Spirit.

Fortunately, he had kept some cards up his sleeve. Relying on the countless contingencies he had laid out over two thousand and two hundred years, he had finally managed to escape the Xuanhui Realm right under the nose of the Heavenly Dao.

Perhaps this was also what the Heavenly Dao intended, allowing him to leave; after all, as a mere remnant spirit, there was nothing left for him to do.

In short, he had lost completely.

"The Xuanhui Realm is but one of the myriad realms, and this old man is also a traveler from the outside. This current appearance is merely the result of a life-and-death struggle against the heavens and earth, but a bet is a bet. It is just that this old man is unwilling to let a lifetime of cultivation turn to ash, nor am I willing to simply give up because of the heavens saying 'you cannot see the Dao.' Since you... can see it, no, since you can gaze upon it, you can also gaze upon my remnant spirit, and perhaps you can also gaze upon... the Dao."

Having said that, he walked toward Yotsuya Miko. With every step, his form grew weaker, until by the time he reached her, only his head retained any semblance of a physical form.

Looking at Yotsuya Miko, who could no longer suppress her trembling, Zhang Qiudao sighed.

"If you enter my path, you shall be of the Demonic Path. Remember, the Demonic Path fears the strong and bullies the weak."

His translucent finger tapped against her forehead, and he immediately dissolved into dust.

When she was truly certain that both ghosts were gone, Yotsuya Miko finally relaxed a little.

She pressed her lips together tightly, refusing to let go of her phone, while her mind was frantically venting her terror.

"That was terrifying, what even was that!?"

"I could see it so clearly, I could see it so clearly."

She grumbled, though tears were already welling in the corners of her eyes.

Clearly, she had been scared out of her wits.

Chapter 2: Preaching in a Dream

Yotsuya Miko's streak of bad luck today had lasted until nightfall; whether it was seeing Ghosts in the bathroom sink or finding them in her own bed, her mind was on the verge of a breakdown.

The piles of salt were completely useless...

Clinging to her fear, Yotsuya Miko eventually closed her eyes.

In her daze, she seemed to hear someone calling out.

"Yotsuya Miko... Yotsuya Miko..."

"Who is it?"

The person's voice was deep, like that of an old man, and the pronunciation didn't seem to be Japanese. Yet, strangely, she could understand it, just like... just like at that train station.

Realizing this, Miko snapped her eyes open and saw the old man standing before her.

And when she saw his appearance clearly, the fear in her heart caused her to completely collapse.

"Why... why did you choose me?"

The pressure accumulated from seeing a series of Ghosts finally broke this girl, who lacked an iron will; she knew this monster before her had truly set its sights on her, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, she could no longer brush it off.

Tears slid down the corners of the girl's eyes.

"Hmm?"

The old man before her, Zhang Qiudao, couldn't help but frown. Seeing her in such a pathetic state, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"A disciple of Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable should not be like this. Stand up and speak."