Miko Becoming a Demonic Cultivator

Wearing slippers, she walked out the door and headed to a vending machine near her home.

Looking at the dazzling array of drinks inside, Miko quickly found the one she wanted.

"It's cold today, I'll get red bean soup."

She said, then took out a coin she had.

"I'll buy one for Kyosuke too, since it's so cold."

Holding the coin between her fingers, she was about to insert it into the vending machine when, as expected, she loosened her grip slightly and the coin dropped to the ground, sliding under the machine.

"..."

Yotsuya Miko crouched down. Her Spiritual Sense told her there was a very weak Ghost under the vending machine, but surely such a weak Ghost wouldn't suddenly go crazy and scare her, right?

She peered under the vending machine and saw the coin, and next to it, a tiny Ghost.

It looked... indeed very weak.

The moment the Ghost saw her gaze, it scurried away, stumbling halfway, looking incredibly clumsy.

"Little Old Man?"

That must be the Little Old Man that celebrities often talked about seeing on TV.

As she thought this, the Little Old Man stumbled again.

So they really exist.

Yotsuya Miko picked up the coin and watched the Little Old Man disappear around the corner, raising an eyebrow.

Unexpectedly weak, it probably couldn't even produce Soul Extract.

She wasn't interested in chasing after this Little Old Man, especially since there was a bigger one near the corner.

Two cans of red bean soup...

She successfully inserted the coin into the vending machine and retrieved two still-warm cans of red bean soup. Yotsuya Miko was about to head home but couldn't resist glancing towards where the Little Old Man had turned.

Speaking of which... that seemed to be a powerful Ghost. Should she... kill it?

Sensing the aura transmitted through her Spiritual Sense, Yotsuya Miko began to hesitate. Her Soul Devouring Tribulation wasn't over yet, and she was currently relying on the energy from her Prayer Beads to maintain normalcy. As for strengthening her Spiritual Sense, it was still arduous work, especially since the Profound Nether Qi in her body was ultimately too scarce.

After thinking it over again and again, she decided to give up.

She didn't like causing trouble for no reason. After all, that Ghost hadn't provoked her, and it was uncertain whether exchanging some of her Prayer Beads' energy for Profound Nether Qi would be worth it.

She'd wait and see. If there were stronger Ghosts...

With this hopeful thought, Yotsuya Miko carried the two cans of red bean soup back home.

"What do you all think?"

Pushing open the living room door, the first thing she saw was Kyosuke, wrapped from the waist up in a blanket.

"You're back?"

"Yeah, we're out of cola."

Yotsuya Miko handed one can of red bean soup to Kyosuke and opened her own.

"This is all there is. Drink it while it's hot."

"..."

Kyosuke looked at the red bean soup in his hand and couldn't help but glance at his sister, who had already started drinking hers.

"You didn't want to buy me cola, did you?"

"There really isn't any cola."

"I don't believe you."

"Whether you believe it or not, there isn't any."

Miko sat down on the sofa, ignoring the two Little Old Men who had entered from under the sofa at some point. Such weak auras, it could only be them.

"Let's keep watching 'Horror'."

"...Mm."

Kyosuke reluctantly opened the red bean soup and took a sip.

"It's too sweet..."

"I went to the trouble of buying it for you."

"I wanted cola..."

"There isn't any."

Chapter 22: My Sister is Acting Strange (Promised Bonus Chapter)

As a demonic cultivator, the Talismans and artifacts she created naturally carried a strong demonic aura.

After bidding farewell to Yurikawa Hana, Yotsuya Miko strolled down the street. Her desire to create a Talisman or artifact to ward off Ghosts grew stronger.

Today at school, Ghosts were rampant as usual.

(Some content has been omitted due to content policy conflicts)

Although she could clearly distinguish the aura of Ghosts, the difference was very faint when sensing the people coming and going on the street. After all, everyone was an ordinary person, and her Spiritual Sense couldn't perceive people's life energy.

However, looking at Yotsuya Miko holding the fish that had been dead for some time, she had to put aside that feeling of being watched. If anyone were to truly pose a threat to her, her various Incantations as a demonic cultivator would be more than enough for them to handle.

She walked into a small alley and, seeing the Ghosts gathered inside, Yotsuya Miko unceremoniously used a newly learned Incantation to send them on their way.

Using Spiritual Qi to collect the Soul Bodies scattered on the ground, she took out the fish corpse and the plate of fish blood and placed them on the ground. She then began to make the Talisman.

The process was very simple: first, she used Spiritual Qi to shred the Soul Bodies again until they were as fine as flour, and then she sprinkled this Soul Body flour into the fish blood and stirred.

The intact fish corpse was also minced into a bloody paste, and then it was drizzled with the fish blood mixed with Soul Bodies. After that, she infused several streams of Spiritual Qi into it as a primer. The rest was to continue using Spiritual Qi to shred this mass of bloody paste until the infused Spiritual Qi guided the paste to transform into a state similar to thick ink.

The technical skill required was almost zero, except for the specific guidance needed for those few streams of Spiritual Qi.

Once the thick ink took shape, Yotsuya Miko poured it into another small dish she had prepared—also bought from the convenience store. Then, she took out a brush and dipped it into the blood-colored thick ink.

The final step was to draw the Talisman on white paper and then transfer it to the doll "Eye-Eye."

Just as she was about to take out the white paper, her Spiritual Sense finally locked onto the figure whose gaze she had felt, as this guy had brazenly appeared behind her.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Yotsuya Miko's hand, reaching for the white paper, froze. She stiffly turned her head to look at the newcomer.

"Why are you here?"

Chapter 23: Drawing the Talisman

How to deal with her younger brother discovering her making Talismans?

Miko took a deep breath and then calmly stated her excuse.

"You scared the cats away."

As she spoke, she quietly put the thick ink back into the convenience store bag, using a layer of Spiritual Qi as a lid to prevent it from leaking.