Yotsuya Miko Becomes a Devilish Cultivator

Thinking about the last time she went to the shrine made her feel somewhat helpless. She was certain that there were things in that place that she didn't know about, or couldn't even sense.

Ghosts she couldn't see?

No, perhaps it wasn't something as superficial as ghosts. It was like the life energy on Hua's body; her eyes couldn't see it clearly like an ordinary Psychic. Her "sight" seemed to be specific, and very specific at that.

It was also hard to say if there was room for development.

The cultivation of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record itself had the characteristic of strengthening a person's senses, and besides spiritual sense perception, the perception of the eyes was a key focus of this enhancement. Once the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record reached a certain level, her eyes would undergo a miraculous change, a change that could be called "Spiritual Power."

Zhang Qiudao, the creator of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, had analyzed the nature of spiritual sense himself. He believed that spiritual sense was the sum of a person's perceptions. Everyone had spiritual sense, but most people's spiritual sense was weak and differentiated into the perceptions of various organs. The powerful could achieve the outward projection of their spiritual sense, treating everything around them as their own perception. However, this perception, lacking a material basis, could only provide the host with a form of informational feedback, like highly abstract descriptions such as "traces," "auras," or "quantities."

But as spiritual sense grew stronger, the feedback it could provide would be further enhanced. For example, the Eye-Penetrating Incantation was strengthening this feedback, allowing spiritual sense to "see."

As spiritual sense strengthened, a person's original sensory organs would also be enhanced, even to the point of applying spiritual sense to these organs, which could greatly enhance their sensitivity. However, this approach was reckless and would cause the person's overall analysis of an item to become disordered, leading to personal confusion, such as motion sickness.

Enhancing the perception of all organs consistently would not bring about this confusion and would also more easily give rise to the extraordinary nature of the organs. In Zhang Qiudao's words, this was called "Spirit Transformation." If the ears underwent "Spirit Transformation," they could hear for a thousand miles, distinguishing what should and shouldn't be heard, independent of consciousness. If the nose underwent "Spirit Transformation," it could sniff out scents without being affected by noxious ones. If the eyes underwent "Spirit Transformation," they could see through objects and observe others. This was "Spirit Transformation" becoming a form of Spiritual Power.

In the current situation, the most likely to undergo "Spirit Transformation" would be Miko's eyes. Her current eyes could already see ghosts that even powerful Psychics couldn't see. What kind of situation would "Spirit Transformation" bring about afterward? Could it be... seeing more ominous things?

Thinking of this outcome, Miko couldn't help but feel distressed. The ominous things she might see would likely be far more powerful than the ghosts she saw now, far beyond her ability to handle. Perhaps the entire nation wouldn't be able to contend with them. Ah, although it was true that current technology couldn't deal with ghosts either.

Shaking her head, she cast aside these pessimistic thoughts. Yotsuya Miko sensed the amount of Profound Nether Qi and Spiritual Qi in her Soul Repository, knowing that she was likely not far from the next stage.

According to the Golden Core Path, which the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record was benchmarked against, she was currently still in the Qi Refining stage, arguably in the late stage of Qi Refining. Once her spiritual sense grew strong enough to move objects, she could call herself a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The fastest Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Righteous Path took a hundred days, as the Righteous Path believed a hundred days meant perfection, thus attaining the Great Dao. The Devilish Dao, however, did not recognize the concept of a hundred-day Foundation Establishment. They generally did not consider future development, as there were many in the Devilish Dao who achieved Foundation Establishment in just forty to fifty days. Miko's master, Zhang Qiudao, was an anomaly, taking a full five years to complete Foundation Establishment. This was not due to Zhang Qiudao's dull aptitude, as five years for Foundation Establishment was considered quite normal. Three years for Qi Refining and ten years for Foundation Establishment was a benchmark for cultivation in the Xuanhui Realm; if one hadn't achieved Qi Refining in three years or Foundation Establishment in ten, they would basically have no hope of breaking through.

The hundred-day Foundation Establishment of the Righteous Path was also due to the transmission of power by great cultivators. As for the Devilish Dao, it was even more so. As long as they were ruthless enough to commit heinous acts, it was too normal to achieve Foundation Establishment quickly by accumulating resources earned through widespread resentment. However, this was also why the Righteous Path consistently suppressed the Devilish Dao. Compared to the steady foundation of the Righteous Path's hundred-day Foundation Establishment with power transmission from great cultivators, the Devilish Dao cultivators at Foundation Establishment were generally the weakest. They generally had no hope of reaching higher realms and could only steadily surpass most Qi Refining cultivators. Why only steadily surpass most Qi Refining cultivators? Because there were plenty of Qi Refining prodigies; even Zhang Qiudao, who was in the early Qi Refining stage, could easily trap and kill several of them.

This was also why Zhang Qiudao, when creating the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, did not very seriously correspond to the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment realms. After all, if one were to be precise, Foundation Establishment did not exert too much suppression over Qi Refining. At most, it was a slight advantage in the amount of Spiritual Qi, and they also had a few more techniques compared to Qi Refining. The true backbone of a sect still depended on Core Formation and Golden Core cultivators.

However, Foundation Establishment was still somewhat valuable, at least representing a change in realm.

Miko silently looked at the records of Foundation Establishment days in the Xuanhui Realm, feeling that she might be a bit too fast. Her Qi Refining was completed easily. Because she could see, she didn't need the "Peering into the Nether" from the beginning of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, which was the process of independently cultivating a thought of Profound Nether Qi and opening spiritual sense to observe ghosts. This process could hold back ordinary cultivators for a long time.

Her environment provided her with sufficient resources, allowing her strength to climb rapidly. But Miko began to feel a little afraid.

"Perhaps, I need to slow down?"

Cultivation wasn't about being faster being better. Many cultivators' struggles were more about connections and accumulation. Righteous Path cultivators occupied the majority, possessing a foundation that was naturally deeper than the Devilish Dao, which is why they held the advantage when confronting the Devilish Dao. In the Soul Nourishing Artifact Path Understanding and Soul Merging Artifact Casting Understanding, Zhang Qiudao repeatedly emphasized its importance. He greatly admired foolproof plans, which was why he "played it safe" for five years before achieving Foundation Establishment.

However, different people had different circumstances. Those Devilish Dao cultivators who achieved Foundation Establishment quickly were not unaware of these principles; they were simply compelled.

As for Yotsuya Miko, she hesitated for just a moment before sighing.

"If only I couldn't see anything from the beginning."

It was like entering a vicious cycle: the more she could see, the more powerful she needed to be; the more powerful she needed to be, the more she could see.

Chapter 41: Associations Triggered by Clothing

"Have you decided?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke looked at Yotsuya Miko, who was still choosing clothes in front of him, feeling somewhat impatient about the wasted time. If it weren't for helping his mother choose a birthday gift, he wouldn't be wandering around the department store with his sister.

"I don't know if this one is suitable for Mom..."

Yotsuya Miko looked at the light blue long dress in her hand, seeking her brother's opinion.

"Kyosuke, what do you think?"

As she spoke, she brought the long dress in front of Kyosuke.

"Uh, I think it's nice."

He said so, and then in the next second, he expressed his aesthetic.

"However, I think choosing clothes with lion embroidery would be cuter."

"I get it. Pretend I didn't ask."

As expected, she shouldn't have had too many expectations for her own brother.

The saleswoman beside them, however, noticed her hesitation and saw a business opportunity. This saleswoman walked up to the two of them and offered her suggestion.

"If you're considering it, we also offer fitting rooms here."

She said very politely, smiling and pointing to the fitting room nearby.

"We're buying it as a gift for someone else."

Yotsuya Miko was about to refuse, but Kyosuke, who had been waiting for a long time and was already impatient, agreed with the idea.

"Sister and Mom have almost the same body type, so why don't you try it on?"

After trying it on, whether they bought it or not, less time would be wasted. Yotsuya Kyosuke thought this way, already realizing at his young age that accompanying women on shopping trips was a troublesome affair.

Hearing this, Miko found it difficult to refuse, especially since Kyosuke had said so.

She walked towards a fitting room, chose one without any ghosts, pulled back the curtain, and went inside.

"Then I'll wait here."

Yotsuya Kyosuke put his hands behind his head and turned his back to Miko, displaying a form of etiquette. Although his actions appeared childish to others.

For example, the saleswoman standing beside them found the little boy's behavior amusing.

Like a little boyfriend, so cute.

Having worked as a salesperson for so many years, she had naturally seen many couples come to buy clothes together. Most of the time, it was similar to now, with the man waiting idly outside the fitting room, urging his girlfriend to hurry up and try on her clothes.

"You two are out shopping together, you have such a good relationship."

"It's nothing really."

Yotsuya Kyosuke denied it. He had a highly contradictory attitude towards his sister's management of him. On one hand, he disliked her constant supervision, but on the other hand, he didn't want her to distance herself from him. Sometimes, when he inexplicably heard others talking about his sister, he would become unusually concerned, though he would act indifferent.

In short, it was awkward.

"Because Mom's birthday is coming up."

Kyosuke scratched his face and offered an explanation.

But the salesperson's face was still beaming with a smile, showing an "I understand" expression. Having been beaten down by society shortly after entering the workforce herself, she loved seeing all sorts of happy familial, friendly, and romantic interactions, and—when relationships soured.

Back in the day, she was known in her circle as a "sugar bot," proficient in all sorts of pairings and exceptional at finding sweet moments.

"Are you here to buy a gift for your mother? How filial."

Even though certain forbidden images had already formed in her mind, out of morality, integrity, and professional ethics, the salesperson continued to chat with the cute younger boy in front of her as if nothing was amiss. After all, fantasizing wasn't illegal, and as long as she didn't say it, who cared what she was thinking?

"It's... nothing much."

Ah, a boy who looks cool but is socially awkward, I can handle that too.

Seemingly realizing his own lack of conversational skills, Kyosuke silently shifted the pressure onto his sister, urging Miko, who was still in the fitting room.

"Are you done? Can you open it?"

The emotions of a child. The salesperson made an important pronouncement.

Yotsuya Miko, who was changing inside, was also a little helpless. She had heard both Kyosuke and the salesperson, and knew why the boy was suddenly urging her so eagerly. However, she was almost done changing.

After tidying the edges of her clothes, she pulled the curtain aside herself.

"Are you… done?"

Looking at Miko as she walked out, Yotsuya Kyosuke's expression faltered slightly. Then, being straightforward, he naturally offered a compliment.

"You look really good in it, sis."

"You look very beautiful."

Is that so?

Miko turned to look at herself in the mirror in the fitting room, not feeling much. She was more inclined towards neutral-style clothing. And after becoming a Devilish Cultivator, her thoughts had gradually shifted towards Daoist robes. After all, if a cultivator didn't wear Daoist robes, people might mistake them for someone from an urban fantasy setting.

"I'll buy this one."

"Thank you for your patronage. I'm sure your mother will be very happy."

"Mm."

Yotsuya Miko nodded in agreement, then pulled the curtain aside again to change back into her previous clothes.

She then began to ponder where to find Daoist robes. Although she didn't necessarily need to wear them out, it would be as disappointing as a Devilish Cultivator not using a banner for their weapon. Oh, though Miko actually didn't use a banner.

Then, she had an idea.

"I'll refine this outfit into a Daoist robe."

Flipping through the knowledge in the Soul Merging Artifact Casting Understanding, she found a considerable amount of information and blueprints for refining clothing. Yotsuya Miko quickly found a suitable forging method for herself.

Prison Spirit Remnant Soul Clothes.

It had a very complicated casting process. Unlike the inferior goods she was currently refining, this item, while requiring few materials, demanded the inscription of at least forty-eight Talismans to ensure its effectiveness. Yes, the Prison Spirit Remnant Soul Clothes were a derivative of the new Talisman system and artifact forging, a rather high-class one.

Initially, the Prison Spirit Remnant Soul Clothes had no defensive capabilities at all; they could only absorb remnant souls to grow stronger. As a large number of remnant souls were absorbed, they would gradually develop a defensive power tens of times greater than that of a soul barrier Talisman, and also help the host cast spells better, reducing casting delay. However, this growth wasn't infinite and depended on the quality of the materials themselves.

But Miko, accustomed to using inferior goods, wasn't picky about material selection. Firstly, she didn't have much money. Secondly, even if she did, many materials from the Xuanhui Realm weren't available in this world, and finding similar ones was difficult. Thirdly, the new Talisman system had very low material requirements; they could exert more powerful effects with saturated Spiritual Qi. And Miko, who cultivated the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, didn't lack Spiritual Qi; among cultivators of the same realm, her Spiritual Qi reserves were among the top tier.

In conclusion, she began to realize that cultivating the Devilish Dao was a very fortunate thing. A path of cultivation that didn't rely on materials, where the primary cultivation materials were everywhere, cultivation speed was rapid, and combat methods were swift and decisive, was not easy to find. What were those minor side effects in comparison?

Chapter 42: Encountering a Ghost in the Carriage

On the way back, she also bought a set of clothes for Yotsuya Kyosuke.

She had to admit, children's tastes were easy to understand. Looking at Kyosuke excitedly handing over the shark-embroidered clothes, and then glancing at the koala-embroidered T-shirt he was wearing, Yotsuya Miko mused.

"Aren't you going to feed the cat today?"

"No, that guy can take care of himself."

Since Kyosuke had stumbled upon her refining Talismans last time, Yotsuya Miko used that as an excuse to continue refining Talismans. For this purpose, the non-existent kitten had already explained away a significant portion of her expenses. Of course, she didn't refine Talismans outside; instead, she prepared the "ink" needed for drawing Talismans in an alley and took the small boxes of "ink" home to draw them. She had also developed a new hobby – calligraphy.

"What a strange cat."

Yotsuya Kyosuke mumbled, carrying his new clothes, and quickly forgot about it.

He really wanted to see the cat his sister had mentioned, but Miko always brushed him off with the excuse that he had startled the cat last time. When he went alone, he saw nothing. Over time, he lost his enthusiasm for visiting the cat and even began to doubt if the cat his sister mentioned actually existed.

But if you were to say it didn't exist, his sister wasn't so scatterbrained as to buy fish every few days and then throw it away. She could present the receipts for buying fish as evidence.

Therefore, Kyosuke didn't intend to dwell on the issue any further.

As for Yotsuya Miko... she was considering paying for the fish herself. Although practicing calligraphy was a pretense, with her powerful divine sense and having drawn Talismans far more troublesome than calligraphy, her calligraphy skills were actually quite good. While they might lack "intent" or emotion, in terms of the form of the characters, they were passable. She could imitate the handwriting of various famous calligraphers.

So, she was considering whether to sign up for some calligraphy competitions and win some prize money to fund her Talisman-making. Currently, this seemed very feasible.

As he rode the train home after a long day of shopping, Yotsuya Kyosuke, exhausted, had already fallen asleep leaning against Miko, drool escaping the corner of his mouth.

Yotsuya Miko silently took a tissue from her pocket with her still-movable left hand and wiped the corner of his mouth, then pinched his little nose.

The Yotsuya family genes were indeed excellent. Their mother, Yotsuya Touko, was a great beauty, and Yotsuya Miko had inherited her mother's fine genes, looking very pretty. Although her younger brother Kyosuke had a fierce look with his triangular eyes, his young age actually made those triangular eyes highlight his cuteness. After all, he was just a child...

Moreover, when he slept, without his eyes open, his sleeping face created a stark contrast. It was hard to imagine such a seemingly fierce child sleeping so poorly, yet having such a cute sleeping face. She wondered which young girl would get lucky with him.

Miko thought, then silently shifted her gaze past her brother to the ghosts approaching down the aisle, powerful ghosts at that. It was also the first time she had seen a ghost wielding a weapon.

This ghost, which concealed its body with a robe and held a sack and an axe, seemed to possess some kind of rule. It walked towards Miko's row of seats one by one. It approached each person and swung its axe at their head, attempting to pull something out of their bodies.

Pulling out ghosts?

Yotsuya Miko glanced coldly at the passengers beside her. She sensed a ghost within the person next to her. She hadn't intended to cause trouble, but it seemed impossible now.

She silently took an iron pellet from her backpack, casually tossed it onto the floor, and activated the talisman within.

Suddenly, the iron pellet exploded, emitting a buzzing sound that only ghosts could hear. The axe-wielding ghost, which had been using its axe to discern if there was a ghost inside a person, trembled as if injured. However, before it could react, the screams of several ghosts could be heard from various carriages. The ghost possessing the passenger next to Miko was even more miserable. Unable to maintain its human form, it stumbled out of the possessed person and fell to the ground.

A disposable item, the Soul Scattering Sound Talisman.

Considering her finances and energy, Yotsuya Miko didn't intend to kill every ghost she encountered. Lately, her money had been insufficient to refine talismans, and the container for collecting souls was already full; she hadn't had time to refine a second one. Besides, those ghosts had almost no effect on ordinary people unless they foolishly wandered into haunted or ominous houses. Even though the passenger beside her looked uncomfortable from being possessed, it was merely like having a cold for a few days. Once their life energy replenished, the ghost would instantly leave their body.

Therefore, she didn't pay it any mind, as she wasn't a do-gooder.

The axe ghost quickly recovered from the power of the Soul Scattering Sound and grabbed the ghost that had been released from its possession, stuffing it into the sack. It then moved to another carriage, rather than continuing its foolish door-to-door "skull-opening surgery" on ordinary people. Otherwise, Yotsuya Miko wouldn't have minded gaining some Profound Nether Qi. Although the recent Soul Devouring Tribulation hadn't completely subsided, she could still handle a ghost of this magnitude.

However, a ghost like this was quite rare.

Yotsuya Miko silently watched it leave, pondering why it was doing this. What role was it playing by clearing out the ghosts attached to people?

It was like the ghost buffet at Mrs. Donut's place, which she still couldn't figure out. The number of ghosts devoured by the frog ghost was enormous, yet those ghosts still flocked there. Considering the frog ghost's strength, Miko didn't dare to go there and deal with the ghosts, or that massive monster that had swallowed so many ghosts might declare her life over.

From her observations, there seemed to be more than one such buffet, all of them beyond her ability to handle. Not to mention, the sheer volume of consumption was terrifying. The ghosts she had eliminated were likely less than what they ate in one or two days.

"I always feel like I can't quite understand the other side of this world."

Her strength was not enough for her to see more and interact with more ghosts. Even though encountering more troublesome things would only make her situation worse, it was clear that at this moment, she couldn't escape this predicament.