A Battle That Could Only Be Called a Rout / Bringing Things to a Close

"M-Miko?"

Yotsuya Miko stood outside the gate, her eyes sweeping coldly over the Ghost behind Hana—the Kimono Ghost.

"If I'd arrived any later, I'm afraid I would've had to let you eat those things and grow even stronger."

The moment she saw this "Cursed Building," Yotsuya Miko had already realized what had triggered her sense of danger. After devouring the entire building, the Kimono Ghost would indeed grow much stronger, leaving her powerless to resist.

"But I won't let you have your way."

"What are you talking about, Miko?"

Yurikawa Hana walked toward her, completely unaware of what was happening. The fear on her face grew more intense. She had no idea why the friend who should have been waiting for her had appeared here, much less what Miko meant.

"Miko?"

"Hana, get behind me."

Yotsuya Miko offered no further explanation. This wasn't something she could explain in a few words, and the situation left no room for carelessness.

The Ghost possessing Yurikawa Hana finally realized that the human before it could see it. It let out a nonhuman roar and lunged fiercely at Yotsuya Miko.

Miko had been prepared for this. She stared fixedly at the rapidly approaching Ghost as a streak of black light shot from between her brows. Carrying an ominous aura, it flew even faster toward the Ghost and struck it squarely in one eye.

"This is the Cursed Building. There's a Ghost on you."

Taking advantage of the Ghost's brief pause after being struck, Yotsuya Miko quickly explained. Before the Kimono Ghost could react to the pain, she rapidly pulled several objects from her backpack and scattered them around.

They were small iron balls, each wreathed in gray mist. The instant they struck the ground, they exploded, and the gray mist inside spread in every direction. From Hana's perspective, where she couldn't see them, the mist corroded the bodies of the many Ghosts it touched like strong acid, accompanied by countless wails. Yet the completely dispersed mist left them nowhere to dodge. It even crawled toward Yurikawa Hana, only to be completely neutralized by the powerful Life Energy surrounding her.

"Wha..."

"Get over here, dummy."

Yotsuya Miko cursed as she spoke, but her hands never stopped moving. These methods were merely the beginning of her assault on the Ghost, and it was hard to say whether they had even injured the Kimono Ghost yet. She still needed time to unleash a stronger technique and eliminate the Ghost in one blow.

Around her, countless streams of spiritual energy circulated in orderly fashion, constantly merging and separating before her. Normally, this technique would not require such a complicated and cumbersome process. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy within her was completely insufficient, so she could only cast it this way.

No matter how recklessly Demonic Path cultivators acted, there were very few offensive techniques they could use at the Qi Refining stage. The self-contained Soul Nourishing Artifact Path Understanding was even more restricted. Although it contained many techniques, those techniques needed a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation realm comparable to the Golden Core Path to display their true power. The Qi Refining stage was never meant for killing, and offensive techniques used at this stage consumed far too much spiritual energy. As for offensive techniques that did not rely much on spiritual energy, their side effects were severe. Soul Nourishing Artifact Path Understanding would not contain techniques with such extreme side effects unless their power far exceeded those drawbacks.

Yotsuya Miko did have another option. When Zhang Qiudao created the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, he had also included some offensive techniques related to Spiritual Sense. The Soul Collision Art was one of them. The second technique she could use now was also enough to kill the Kimono Ghost, but she could not bear the price.

She would tear apart half of her Spiritual Sense and refine it into an existence independent of her main body. This strange creation would use her face as a template and possess the same cultivation method from the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record. It could devour Ghosts on its own and grow stronger. Even a freshly refined individual would have no trouble killing the Kimono Ghost.

However, the consequence of this technique, called the Nightmare Refining Art, was that although the creation would not harm its host, it would not be controlled by the host, either. The Soul Devouring Tribulation it incurred while cultivating the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record would be borne entirely by the host.

Even without that price, Miko would likely be unable to avoid the backlash of the Soul Devouring Tribulation she had accumulated earlier after tearing apart half her Spiritual Sense.

"Wyaaaaaa!!!!"

The Kimono Ghost let out a horrendous roar. It stood motionless in the gray mist as its two eyes, originally bound shut by lines, snapped open and broke the threads. Gray-black fluid poured from them. The kimono wrapped around its body was corroded by the mist, revealing a chest covered in countless cracks. Each crack opened into a blood-red eye. Sensing danger, the Ghost unleashed its inhuman form.

And this was only the beginning. The Ghosts that had not been corroded by the mist were seized in its sharp claws and slowly brought to its mouth, where it chewed them. As it swallowed them, its transformation deepened further.

Yotsuya Miko did not take the opportunity to counterattack. She merely looked toward Hana, who had finally come to her senses and was hurrying over, then stuffed a doll into her hands.

"It wards off evil."

With that, she focused her mind on the technique she was casting. As long as she could complete it before the Ghost transformed, everything would be over.

"Done."

She inhaled deeply, guided all the spiritual energy into the small ball before her, and then struck it fiercely toward the Ghost.

"Ten Afflictions."

The fight should count as an overwhelming victory.

Did it hit?

Through her Spiritual Sense, she felt the ball land on the Kimono Ghost with almost no deviation. After meeting slight resistance, it sank into the Ghost's body.

The spiritual energy suppressed inside the ball erupted. Streams of disordered energy flowed through every part of the Ghost's body, carrying a corrosive aura. Under Yotsuya Miko's technique, the properties of this spiritual energy had long since been changed into a poisonous ominousness. No matter what it touched, it would gradually corrupt and dissolve it—let alone when it had been driven directly into a Ghost's body.

Because of this effect, the technique was called "Ten Afflictions." It had always been infamous even in the Xuanhui Realm.

However, because her spiritual energy was so limited, what Yotsuya Miko had used now could probably only barely be called "One Affliction," right?

The Kimono Ghost damaged by "One Affliction" soon became riddled with wounds from head to toe by the poisonous spiritual energy inside it. It could not even devour Ghosts to replenish its strength. It collapsed helplessly to its knees and let out an even more miserable roar.

Looking at the already rotten Ghost, whose appearance was nauseating, Yotsuya Miko relaxed slightly. Just as she was about to explain things to Yurikawa Hana, the aura transmitted through her Spiritual Sense suddenly changed her expression.

That tenacious vitality...

The aura that had been gradually weakening was recovering bit by bit. Despite suffering the damage of such a vicious technique, it was growing even stronger. It had come back from the dead.

As expected, its opportunity to transform was Hana and the Cursed Building...

Yotsuya Miko narrowed her eyes and looked again at the kneeling Kimono Ghost. The kimono, which had been corroded by the gray mist, was being stitched together by black energy. Thick black vapor poured from its body, continuously neutralizing the mist's effects. The Ghost's body began swelling rapidly. Its gray-white, cracked skin started healing, and then another eye emerged, staring venomously at Miko.

"Wgaaaaaa!"

It roared sharply once more. The eyeballs in its facial features tore free from their sockets, still connected by strands of flesh, and swept toward her together on their fleshy roots. The emotions they carried were obvious.

Struggling to rise from the ground, the tall figure now pressed against the ceiling and looked down at the petite human. The long, sharp nails on both hands pointed straight at the floor. Countless cracked eyes covered its exposed chest beneath the loose kimono. They shifted restlessly before all turning toward the human below.

However, even this powerful form could not suppress the spiritual energy boiling and rolling inside it. The chaotic energy continued churning through its body, occasionally tearing open a huge hole in its flesh and spilling gray-black, viscous fluid.

"As expected... this is troublesome."

Sensing how little spiritual energy remained inside her, Yotsuya Miko sighed. She then took some more tools from her backpack and gripped them in her hands.

This was all a low-level cultivator could do with their own techniques. In most situations, they had no choice but to rely on powerful external items.

To prepare for the worst, Yotsuya Miko had climbed out of bed after barely twenty minutes of sleep when she returned home and resumed her busy work of crafting. She had used all the Ghosts she had hunted throughout the night as materials, leaving her feeling somewhat dazed even now.

Yin Thunder Talisman.

She threw several Iron Pellets at the Ghost's face again. Realizing that these things were dangerous, the Kimono Ghost raised both hands to block them and tried to knock the small iron bullets back. Yet the moment its sharp claws touched the pellets, a continuous series of explosions rang out. A flash of black light characteristic of the Demonic Path appeared. When the black smoke dispersed, flesh flew everywhere. One hand had been reduced to half a palm, with only three-quarters of the palm remaining, while the other hand had vanished entirely.

Fragments of its Soul Body flew before Yotsuya Miko and landed at her feet. Completely unfazed, she threw out several more pellets.

Soul Severing Talisman.

Midair, several pellets were drawn together by spiritual energy, producing arcing black blades. They slashed toward the Ghost. Having lost both hands, the Ghost tried to resist again, but the black light cut straight through its arms without the slightest resistance and continued into its chest. Several other blades cut toward different parts of its body, nearly slicing it into separate pieces of flesh—or rather, pieces of soul.

Yet even this was not enough to kill the Ghost completely. Because of the Soul Severing Talisman, the Kimono Ghost, which had lost most of its body again, still stared at her full of resentment. It suddenly charged toward her, so quickly that Miko had no time to draw another tool, as if declaring that this was a turn-based game.

Then its plan fell through.

Soul Screen Talisman.

Yotsuya Miko glanced at the approaching Ghost. The small ornament hanging at her waist had already shattered, announcing the end of its lifespan. As it broke, a faint black screen still stood before her, showing only slight signs of damage.

"It could have blocked several more attacks... What a pity."

Though she spoke regretfully, she pulled more Iron Pellets from her backpack just as the black screen was about to shatter completely.

"Thank you for giving me the perseverance to draw all these talisman patterns."

Miko looked at the hideous Ghost before her and spoke with complete sincerity.

"By the way, you're a little weaker than I expected. Maybe it's because I arrived in time."

Calamity Breaking Talisman.

The last few iron bullets followed the momentum and struck the Ghost's body. The instant the pellets touched the chaotic spiritual energy inside it, they began to explode. In fact, the earlier pellets had not exploded until now.

The talisman patterns named Calamity Breaking reacted violently whenever they encountered anything that could be called "calamity," like cola mixed with a mint candy. They could indeed dispel calamity, but usually only at the cost of completely destroying the object tainted by it.

Just like the Ghost before her.

"Hissss..."

As the sound of gas escaping gradually grew louder, the Ghost before her expanded rapidly like a balloon until it reached a critical point.

Yotsuya Miko silently shifted her gaze to Yurikawa Hana.

"Here it comes..."

"Booooom!!!"

After a pause, Yotsuya Miko confirmed that no sticky fluid had splashed onto her. She then looked gently toward Hana.

"Sorry, Hana."

"What... happened?"

Having witnessed everything, Yurikawa Hana still had no idea what had happened before her because she could not see it. But soon, she would no longer need to know.

Womb Talisman.

Silently using spiritual energy to activate another talisman pattern in the doll she had given Hana, Yotsuya Miko caused Yurikawa Hana to lose consciousness completely the next moment. She collapsed against Miko.

"...You're heavy."

Supporting her unconscious friend, Yotsuya Miko looked toward the Cursed Building. Through her Spiritual Sense, the Kimono Ghost's aura had vanished completely. The spreading gray mist had corroded its Soul Body until nothing remained. Even if the mist had not corroded it, the spiritual energy and Calamity Breaking Talisman she had driven into the Ghost had already rendered its Soul Body unusable, wasting this source of nourishment.

"I still have to clean up the aftermath... Let's see where those iron bullets flew."

As she spoke, she waved her hand and used spiritual energy to recall the used Iron Pellets that had not yet been completely destroyed. Then she looked toward Big Dog, hiding in the corner.

"Hmm... Your name is Kiko, right?"

Yotsuya Miko smiled, but Big Dog whimpered and immediately ran outside from beside her.

"..."

Things had finally come to an end.

Yurikawa Hana felt as though she had experienced a strange dream. In it, she had been on a fighting ring. On one side stood Yotsuya Miko in a gym uniform, while on the other was a tall, indistinct figure.

Miko walked toward the figure and used practiced fighting techniques to lock its throat. The familiar move was Mr. Cave Bear's "Great Serpent Offensive." A fierce aura rose from Yotsuya Miko as she shouted angrily and restrained her opponent, trying to defeat it with a powerful hold.

Her opponent was also extremely strong. Within a few short breaths, it escaped the "Great Serpent Offensive," and the two wrestled again, trading blows back and forth. In the end, Yotsuya Miko gained the slightest advantage. She seized the moment when her opponent grew tired and used the "Great Serpent Offensive" once more, completely defeating it this time.

After that, she woke from the dream.

"You're awake?"

When Hana opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was neither the blue sky nor a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling, but Yotsuya Miko's face. Her golden eyes looked down at her, and for some reason, Yurikawa Hana felt they seemed to be filled with many blood vessels.

"Miko?"

Only after sitting up from her upward-facing position did Hana realize that she had been lying on Yotsuya Miko the whole time—or rather, resting her head on Miko's thighs.

"What happened to me?"

She covered her head in confusion, trying to recall something, but she could not think of any useful memories. She turned to Miko for help.

"You fainted from fright."

Yotsuya Miko wore an exasperated expression and slowly explained what had happened to Hana.

"Do you remember what happened this morning? You ran into the Cursed Building to look for a dog."

"Look for... a dog..."

Those words quickly brought some memories back to Yurikawa Hana. She hurriedly looked at Miko.

"Did you find the dog? You gave it to that child, right?"

"Yes. That child asked me to thank you."

Yotsuya Miko looked at her with the same exasperated expression.

"If I hadn't realized something was wrong and come looking for you, you might have spent the entire day lying inside the Cursed Building."

"Eh? Did I really faint from fright?"

Yurikawa Hana felt embarrassed. It was too humiliating.

"Maybe you fainted from hunger. I don't know. You were already unconscious when I arrived."

Yotsuya Miko pointed at Hana's stomach, then stood up from the park bench.

"But it's already quite late. We should eat lunch."

She dragged her tired body along, feeling that she had probably managed to muddle her way through the explanation.

Although it might not have been a bad thing to tell Hana the truth about her identity, Miko still did not want to drag Hana into this—the world she had originally never had any chance of coming into contact with.

Hana was very timid.

For that reason, Miko could only use talisman patterns to block out everything that had happened today and cover it up, ensuring that Hana would never learn the truth.

In the end, today's battle had still happened because her strength was insufficient.