Becoming a Devilish Cultivator's Miko

If her strength had been a little greater, she wouldn't have fought like this in front of Yurikawa Hana, but would have ended the battle in a quicker, more silent manner. Furthermore, even if the fight had been smooth and without any disadvantage, it was only because the Ghost hadn't gotten close to her.

Humans and Ghosts have different physiques. Even low-level cultivators can't necessarily say their physiques are superior to ordinary people, as they primarily focus their minds on cultivating Spiritual Qi. Only body cultivators can physically clash with Ghosts at low levels. For cultivators like Miko, who only cultivate their divine sense, nurturing their divine sense is the priority, to the point where all their Spiritual Qi is gathered in their Soul Repository and brain. After all, their sect's ultimate goal is to shed their physical bodies and achieve divinity through their true spirits, so strengthening the body would actually make it harder for the spirit and flesh to separate.

When dealing with that Ghost, she only had two Soul Curtain Talismans for defense. If that Ghost had attacked a couple more times, it would be hard to say if she would have survived. Fortunately, that Ghost didn't know how to deal with a long-range, high-attack, low-defense combat unit. It acted solely on its instincts, causing it to miss the best opportunity to deal with Miko under her attacks.

But this was all hindsight. In reality, this operation yielded no benefits whatsoever. She had used all the Talismans she had painstakingly crafted, yet the Ghost's soul body was completely annihilated. It provided no help in improving her strength. Perhaps the only benefit was that this Ghost made Yotsuya Miko realize that even she still lacked the confidence to face extreme situations.

In terms of combat experience or preparation, she had no mental fortitude. Even dealing with such a Ghost, she could only kill it by throwing Talismans. But just because this Ghost could be killed this way, did that mean other Ghosts would be the same?

Strength, and the corresponding combat experience, she had neglected. But luckily, it wasn't too late; things hadn't reached an irreversible point.

Thinking this, Yurikawa Hana had already emerged from the unpleasantness of her recent unconsciousness and turned her gaze to Yotsuya Miko.

"Never mind, the matter is resolved anyway. Miko, let's go eat."

"Mhm."

Yotsuya Miko nodded, looking at Yurikawa Hana, who didn't suspect her at all, and felt a slight release from her worries about her strength. In her divine sense, the life energy emanating from Yurikawa Hana was still flowing continuously, announcing her presence to the surroundings. This powerful life energy had already become a new hidden danger for her during this time, and when the host of this life energy could no longer supply the energy due to her own circumstances, then trouble would truly arrive.

She had to find a way to hide Hua's life energy.

She chanted inwardly, finally having a plan for how to proceed. But for now... she could at least let her relax from her worries about Ghosts.

Miko's face broke into a smile, and she walked to Yurikawa Hana's side, discussing their plans for the day.

Hua, as always, displayed her passion for food, proclaiming which dishes tasted exceptionally good. Yotsuya Miko followed her words, either agreeing or teasing, without the slightest displeasure. For the two of them, this kind of interaction was a part of their daily routine.

And for Yotsuya Miko, it was also the only way she could currently alleviate her inner turmoil. After becoming a Devilish Cultivator, her life could no longer be like it was before, living as an ordinary person. Just as her master had said, the Devilish Dao fears the strong and dreads the weak.

Those who walk the Devilish Dao fear the strong, and even more, they fear their own weakness, because weakness often brings more misfortune.

Chapter 36: Yuria's New Doll

Futamido Yuria, rather than being a visible Psychic, was more like a chuunibyou patient who could see Ghosts. After being ostracized by her peers, she, who was already not very cheerful, became even less adept at interacting with people.

But, the things one does must be borne by oneself.

Looking in from outside the classroom, the clamor clearly reached her ears. She watched the students clustered in small groups, and a sense of discomfort washed over her again. This noisy, boisterous atmosphere made her extremely uncomfortable, even to the point of finding it annoying. Her gaze shifted away from the crowd, and she finally saw a familiar figure—Yotsuya Miko.

A powerful but extremely ill-tempered Psychic, Yuria thought.

Her power was undeniable. After personally witnessing the enormous Ghost being killed by the golden-eyed girl, Yuria sadly realized the gap between herself and the other. But precisely because of this, she naturally assumed such a powerful person wouldn't need her, and those overly affectionate gestures were caused by her ill-tempered personality.

Why ill-tempered...

Yuria gritted her teeth, holding a bag of bread.

After all, the moment she thought she could get along with this person, she would suddenly face betrayal. She really didn't want to experience that kind of thing a second time.

"Um..."

Walking into the classroom and approaching the girl named Yurikawa Hana, Yuria placed the bread in her hand on the orange-haired girl's desk.

"Want to eat?"

Hua, who was chatting with Yotsuya Miko, glanced at the owner of the voice, somewhat surprised.

"You're... Yuria-chan?"

Standing up, completely uninhibited, she took the bread.

"For me? Thank you, Yuria-chan."

As she spoke, she seemed to recall something.

"You ran away in a hurry that day, I thought you didn't like me."

It wasn't like she liked her or disliked her, it was mainly that person...

Yuria glanced at Yotsuya Miko, who seemed to notice her gaze and offered her a smile.

"I didn't expect you to bring me food, thank you so much."

As she said this, she hugged the petite Yuria, her chest pressing against Yuria so hard she could barely breathe.

"Oh, next time I'll treat you to Butt Mochi."

Butt Mochi? What was that?

The thought flashed through her mind, but the suffocating feeling still made her uncomfortable. She wanted to break free from Hua's embrace, but found herself completely unable to muster the strength to struggle. Her pleading gaze drifted to Miko beside her.

Miko avoided her gaze and focused her attention outside the window. Although the Evil Banishing Talisman was activated, its small range did little to stop the wandering Ghosts. Outside its perimeter, the Ghosts were still bothersome. And after her recent experience with the kimono Ghost, Yotsuya Miko realized it was better to kill them than to let them be, as she needed to increase her strength and guard against the appearance of the next powerful Ghost. Those weak Ghosts were not only hers but also sustenance for the powerful ones.

It would be best to... eliminate their gathering place in one fell swoop.

With that thought, Yotsuya Miko finally reached out and rescued Yuria, who was on the verge of passing out from suffocation, and used it as an excuse to take her to the restroom.

"Sorry, Hua's just like that."

She apologized verbally, but there wasn't a trace of guilt on her face. Instead, she smiled at Yuria, as if she was deliberately watching her make a fool of herself.

Yuria pouted. The thought that the person in front of her was also a powerful Psychic made her feel even more depressed.

Why wasn't her own strength as great as hers?

As she was thinking this, Miko's voice reached her ears.

"It's a bit sudden, but Yuria-chan, do you know any places where ghosts gather in large numbers?"

Compared to me, who only recently gained the ability to see them, Yuria, who has seen them since childhood, must be far more concerned about such matters. Moreover, she's quite fond of imagining herself becoming a powerful Psychic.

"A place where a large number of ghosts gather?"

Hearing this, Yuria suddenly became interested and looked excitedly at Yotsuya Miko.

"Are you saying you're going to exorcise spirits?!"

Her voice was so loud it was hard to believe it came from such a petite girl. Miko quickly waved her hands, telling her to lower her voice.

"Calm down, ordinary people can't know about this."

"I know, I know."

Yuria showed an expression of understanding, feeling that the image of the Psychic in her heart was becoming clearer.

"Since you've said so much, then I, Futamido Yuria, will lead the way. I know of a Cursed Building nearby. There are many ghosts inside, so I imagine even you..."

"Ah, that... you don't need to."

Miko waved her hand, knowing where she was referring to.

"Are you scared...?"

Yuria looked at her dejected face, assuming she understood Miko's thoughts again.

Is that so? I knew it, she's not as I thought...

"No, actually, that place has already been dealt with."

Yotsuya Miko sighed. As soon as she thought of it, her heart began to ache. After counting her talismans afterward, she realized that most of them were almost scrap. Including the flesh and blood she bought to draw the talismans, her allowance had shrunk by more than half. This wasn't a fight, it was clearly a waste of money.

Not only that, but she had directly annihilated all the ghosts in the entire building, leaving none that could be utilized.

"Wh-what? You got rid of them all?!"

The renewed loud voice made the girls in the restroom start to get annoyed.

"Hey, you two..."

"I'm very sorry, I'll take her out now."

She apologized readily, then grabbed Yuria by the collar and walked to a corner of the stairs, starting to get a headache from her shouting.

"The ghosts in there weren't as strong as the one you saw last time."

Not counting the ghost in the kimono.

"But... but... that's an entire building full of ghosts."

Yuria looked at Miko, who was calmly stating this, and felt that Miko's reaction was the most abnormal.

That was an entire building of "ghosts," not some stray cats or dogs. Even the Psychics in those movies didn't display such powerful abilities, because that would be too outrageous.

"Okay, okay, an entire building. Are there any other places?"

"...There are a few other places, but since you're looking for powerful ghosts, I'll take you next time."

Yuria felt she still needed to see for herself whether this girl was telling the truth or not. If she weren't in school, she would have already run to the "Cursed Building."

Seeing Yuria's face full of disbelief, Miko had nothing more to say. She shook her head, suddenly remembered something, and took out a small item from her pocket.

"Right, this is for you, as compensation for breaking my prayer beads last time."

"This is?"

Lying in Miko's right palm was a small doll shaped like a fly agaric mushroom.

"It's for warding off evil, it can dispel ghosts. I saw a similar accessory last time and thought of your hair accessory, so I bought it."

Saying that, Miko placed the doll in Yuria's hand.

"Then, I'll see you after school."

Yuria seemed not to have heard, staring at the doll in her hand until Yotsuya Miko disappeared from her sight.

"What's the big deal... it's just a doll... The Godmother's prayer beads are much stronger than this."

Even so, she obediently put it away.

Chapter 37: Journey to the Tunnel

It wasn't until Yotsuya Miko truly began to focus on cultivating the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record that she realized how friendly her world was to Devilish Cultivators. Well, for Devilish Cultivators who relied on ghosts for cultivation.

Countless ghosts, or rather, soul bodies referred to as "spirits" in her country, coexisted with humans in the same world, with very little interaction between them. These vast numbers of ghosts were enough to support the cultivation of a sect in the Xuanhui Realm, although the quality might not have been sufficient. However, Devilish Cultivators were not picky.

In the Xuanhui Realm, the only places to find a large number of ghosts were the Ghost Domain or the Underworld. To find ghosts in the mortal world, one would either have to slaughter an entire region of living beings or only find residual souls to collect.

Given the powerful figures who ruled all ghosts in the Ghost Domain like "kings," and the several figures in the Underworld who were in slumber or awake that even those who had attained Enlightenment could not deal with, Devilish Cultivators generally made the rational choice to slaughter villages and cities. Although doing so would attract the attention of the righteous path, the deterrence of the righteous path was insignificant compared to the Ghost Domain and the Underworld. After all, the righteous path did not protect mortals out of righteousness, so they rarely made a big move against Devilish Cultivators. However, there were often disciples with a sense of righteousness among their ranks.

Whether it was the righteous path or the Devilish Dao, in the end, they were both far superior to mortals, and their view of mortals was naturally condescending. It was impossible to treat them as equals, and the emergence of classes was normal. It's just that the actions of the righteous path were still better than those of the Devilish Dao because public opinion weighed more heavily. As for the Devilish Dao... while they couldn't be said to be highly respected, they were at least notorious.

Since a knife had to be used anyway, people were more willing to accept a soft cut, at least keeping their lives. Moreover, the knife of the righteous path was soft and hidden; ordinary people lacked the insight to see it. Little did they know that the imperial court they cursed was the one cutting their flesh to give to the righteous path.

All of the above was Zhang Qiudao's mockery of the righteous and devilish paths.

To Zhang Qiudao, he always had a clear understanding: no matter what kind of extraordinary power existed, it was merely a disaster for mortals. Rather than living in a world with the extraordinary, it would be better to live in a world without it. In this regard, Yotsuya Miko quite agreed with his idea. After all, before she could see ghosts, she lived in such a world.

Also, she silently disdained Zhang Qiudao's attempt to instill his "correct theory of the Devilish Dao" in her. No matter how much this unscrupulous master, who forced her to become his disciple, tried to clarify, his stance ultimately leaned towards the Devilish Dao. Even in the cultivation methods he left behind, he constantly analyzed and criticized the righteous path, attempting to shift the divergence between the righteous and devilish paths from a matter of justice to a matter of interest.

But evil is evil. Yotsuya Miko looked at the trees blurring past the window and sighed at the sight of the continuous green wall formed by their leaves. In the end, the Devilish Dao is the Devilish Dao. Even if she devoured the souls of ghosts, she would still be met with others' ill will, which would soon turn into fear. Furthermore, the creator of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record didn't just consume ghosts; high-level cultivators were far more pure and clean than ghosts.

This cultivation technique that devours ghosts and people—no matter how you try to justify its righteousness, it's as laughable as discussing human rights at a lighthouse.

"Screech—"

The car stopped at the station. Miko cast aside the sudden philosophical debate about righteousness and the Devilish Dao, turning her gaze to the petite figure beside her.

"Yuria, is this the place?"

"Mm, it is."

Yuria nodded. She was about to say something but saw Yurikawa Hana holding a camera beside her and silently swallowed her words, fiddling with the Death Cap mushroom doll next to her.

She truly couldn't get used to Yurikawa Hana's enthusiasm, even after meeting her several times. This person was like her natural enemy.

"Waaah... Is this it? Miko, are there really any good sights here?"

"Mm, there are."

Yotsuya Miko said with a smile, making Hana even more excited about the upcoming attractions.

However, Yuria still didn't understand why they brought Hana along for an exorcism.

She looked at Miko with confusion. After interacting with Yurikawa Hana, she knew Hana was just an ordinary person with strong life energy. Letting an ordinary person participate in something like this seemed too careless.

Miko didn't offer much explanation. Instead, she re-examined the small talismans she had placed on Hana, ensuring they would activate the moment they encountered a ghost.

After the incident with the ghost on the kimono last time, she understood from the completely ruined Evil Banishing Talisman Ram Rabbit doll that a single talisman couldn't resist a ghost's intrusion. Therefore, she continuously worked on Hana's safety measures, eventually creating a new talisman doll with her research results.

Currently, Hana's new doll contained all the talismans from her lifetime of study. The reason for bringing Hana to a place frequented by ghosts was naturally straightforward—to test the new doll. Only when she confirmed that the doll could kill all ghosts without harm would she feel a little at ease. Incidentally, Yuria's Death Cap mushroom doll was similar to this one.

After confirming that the Spiritual Qi was abundant and the talismans were intact, the three of them got out of the car and walked towards the mountain path. Miko hadn't lied to Yurikawa Hana; there were indeed beautiful sceneries on this mountain, but one had to pass through a tunnel first—a tunnel no one cared about.

"Ooh—it's already got a great atmosphere."