Miko Becomes a Demonic Cultivator

With that, before Yotsuya Miko could react, an invisible force forcibly pushed her body up from the ground. The tears at the corners of her eyes turned to ash and scattered. After that, no more tears could flow.

"I saw your exceptional talent, and that is why I made you my disciple. You should know that someone like me is rare."

As he spoke, he seemed somewhat moved.

"But heaven and earth are merciless; even I cannot escape death. Yet my true teachings need a successor. Are you willing?"

Yotsuya Miko had no idea what this Ghost was plotting, so she naturally refused to agree. Yet the invisible force once again forced her body to bow down, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing.

"Miko is willing."

Those words were not spoken by her, but they did come from her mouth.

"Zhang Qiudao" revealed a satisfied smile.

"Good, good, good. You shall be my first true disciple, and also my last. Though you are a bit older in years, with your talent, it can still be made up for. Since that's the case, there's no time to waste. I should teach you the methods of immortal cultivation."

"Miko, do you know how many techniques I have under my tutelage?"

"I do not. I await Master's guidance."

No, I don't want to know at all.

The struggle in Yotsuya Miko's expression was fully visible through her golden eyes, yet her manipulated body could not respond in the slightest, as if this body was not hers.

By this point, utter despair had settled over her.

Am I going to die?

"Under my tutelage, there are three techniques that can reach Enlightenment. The first is the White Bone Spirit Transformation True Method, refining bones into spirits, where bones give birth to all things. The second is the Crimson Marrow Sea Absorption Heart Technique, refining blood into a sea; as long as the blood sea is inexhaustible, one is immortal and indestructible. The third is the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, refining the soul into a spirit, where the spirit achieves eternal life. Which technique is my disciple willing to cultivate?"

"Zhang Qiudao" looked at her kindly and released the restraints on her.

"If you want to leave this illusion, then choose one, my good disciple."

Without the restraints to support her, Yotsuya Miko's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

"If you want to kill me, then do it."

Having no exposure to cultivation culture, she completely failed to understand what was happening to her. From her perspective, she had simply been caught by this powerful "Ghost" and forced to do strange things.

"Whatever it is, I can't escape anymore."

"If you want to leave this illusion, then choose one, my good disciple."

"Zhang Qiudao" still repeated that sentence with a smile, as if he had completely lost his wits.

"I won't choose anything."

"If you want to leave this illusion, then choose one, my good disciple."

"..."

Yotsuya Miko stared at him, this strangely named old man. He kept speaking words she couldn't comprehend, yet made every syllable understandable to her.

"Who are you?"

"This old man is named Zhang Qiudao, the Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable of the Xuanhui Realm."

"Why... do you want to take me as a disciple?"

"You have visible talent."

"What is the Xuanhui Realm?"

"If..."

"Zhang Qiudao" began repeating his earlier words again, which made Yotsuya Miko understand something.

So, she pulled herself together and stood up again.

"What is a technique?"

"If..."

"What is Enlightenment?"

"If..."

"...What happens if I choose a technique?"

"If..."

There was no feedback at all. Yotsuya Miko sighed. She looked around; aside from her and this old man, there was only pure white.

And her entire body was still dressed in what she had worn to sleep.

"I choose..."

If she didn't make a choice, Miko didn't know what consequences she would face.

At this moment, she truly had no choice left.

Hesitating, she finally chose the technique that she could barely understand.

"Nine... Nether... Profound... Soul Treasure Record."

Struggling to follow the old man's pronunciation, she forced out the sounds of these words.

"The Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record? Good, good, good! In that case, your master shall infuse the methods of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record into you. Remember, the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record requires living souls as its material; without living souls as material, it is difficult to advance. When you have cultivated a wisp of Profound Nether Qi, then come find your master again."

With that said, he tapped Yotsuya Miko's forehead.

"Mark this well: Nine Nether evil souls harm the mortal realm, soul extraction and spirit refinement empty the underworld; Profound souls are not easy, years stretch long, once the path is achieved, heaven and earth relax."

"Wake up!"

In bed, Yotsuya Miko's eyes snapped open. She threw off the covers with both hands. The ghost that had been lingering on her abdomen was gone, but for some reason, a few buttons on her neatly fastened clothes had come undone, revealing her pale belly button.

She stared blankly for a few seconds, then let out a sigh of relief and pulled the covers back down.

The pile of salt placed beside the bed had been disturbed at some point, scattered in large clumps—at least Yotsuya Miko knew this stuff was completely useless against ghosts now.

After tidying her clothes, she walked to the sink to wash up. The black handprints on the mirror and the ghost lingering there had also vanished, as if they had never been there at all.

But clearly, not everything had dissipated.

For instance, Miko now knew very clearly that something had been stuffed into her mind—something called the "Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record" and the vast amount of information within it filled her brain, impossible to forget.

It described methods for making a person grow stronger through Soul Bodies, and those Soul Bodies—she could now see them clearly.

"As I thought, I really did end up..."

Yotsuya Miko pondered the being in her mind—that powerful ghost... no, perhaps not a ghost; he called himself the "Myriad Transformation Devil Venerable."

"Should I practice it?"

The girl thought, then gave her answer without hesitation.

"Even if I die, I will never practice this creepy thing. Absolutely not."

Hopefully, the flag she just raised wouldn't be pulled down too soon.

Chapter 3: Meeting a Ghost Again on Campus

Setting out from morning all the way to school, the sunlight was bright, the scenery lovely—that vibrant vitality, the realm where all things competed to flourish, was still before her eyes.

For a moment, Yotsuya Miko felt as if she had returned to the mortal world.

But clearly, this situation didn't last long.

In the school hallway, after suffering a chest attack from her good friend Yurikawa Hana and being mentally drained from the whole series of ghost-scaring incidents last night, she barely crawled back from the brink of death. Just as she was about to greet her friend, she spotted something from the third-floor window that she absolutely did not want to see.

"Hey,"

Miko turned her head expressionlessly toward the window sill, "This is the third floor, right?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Yurikawa Hana looked at her strangely, "Did you hit your head when you got scared just now?"

"No,"

Looking at the empty window sill, Miko shook her head, "I think it must be..."

Just as she spoke, a female ghost with disheveled hair, eyes that far surpassed any anime character's, with pupils occupying almost her entire eyeballs, tilted her head and looked at Miko from outside the window.

Seeming to sense Miko's gaze, the female ghost passed through the wall from outside, walking with slow steps toward Yotsuya Miko.

The monster, exhaling black breath that surely smelled terrible, thrust its head between Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, its head twisted nearly ninety degrees as it greeted Miko.

"Good morning."

Its mouth split open, teeth and lips trembling as it spoke.

"Tea...cher..."

Yotsuya Miko pretended not to see, ignoring the drawn-out "teacher" from this thing.

Seeing this, the female ghost brought its head even closer to Yotsuya Miko's face, almost shoving its wide, black-breathed mouth against the tip of Miko's nose.

"Good morning..."

As expected...

Yotsuya Miko's heart sank. Her eyes... well, they didn't well up with tears again, because she had already been broken by last night's ordeal.

She could see it all too clearly.

In an instant, many things flashed through her mind.

Last night, Eye-Eye, the heavy rain, the ghost, Zhang Qiudao, the cultivation method, the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record...

Fragmented pieces churned her thoughts.

She understood one fact very clearly: she couldn't avoid these things anymore.

Their eyes had locked completely.

What to do?

Desperately searching her mind for ideas, she suddenly recalled that "Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record" now deeply etched into her brain.

I absolutely will not...

"Mi... Miko?"

Looking at Yotsuya Miko, who was staring at her with a blank expression, Yurikawa Hana was a little confused. From her perspective, she naturally couldn't see those ghosts, so to her, Miko's current behavior seemed a bit off.

"What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Hey, are you listening?"

Lost in thought, Yotsuya Miko didn't react. Besides, faced with the female ghost in front of her, she was at a loss.

"Can you see me?"

The female ghost kept talking, its mouth opening and closing.

"Do you..."

It repeated the same phrase again, but seeing Yotsuya Miko still looking completely unfazed, it finally gave up.

"See me not..."

It said, showing a disappointed expression, then pulled through the wall and left Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana.

Thank goodness, it's gone.

Thinking this, Yotsuya Miko finally turned her gaze to Yurikawa Hana, about to ask what she had just said.

But to her surprise, the latter was acting shy.

"Could it be..."

Hana brought her index fingers together at her chest, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Are you..."

"About to confess to me?"

"..."