Yotsuya Miko Becomes a Devilish Cultivator

Silently watching the bell the Mountain God offered, silently watching the shrine maiden resist the Mountain God, silently tearing apart her own Spiritual Sense, drawing out the Spiritual Qi from the Talisman Iron Pellet Rom returned.

With this bit of Spiritual Qi, she couldn't cast any spells, but it could serve as a catalyst, much like the Soul Collision Art. She had once wanted to avoid using this spell, but she never imagined that no matter what, after the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record was accepted by her, this spell had already been deeply etched into her memory.

Nightmare Refining Art.

As half of her Spiritual Sense was torn away, Miko's face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye. The Soul Devouring Tribulation, which had been suppressed by her Spiritual Sense, erupted all at once, pressing down on her reason and clarity.

She could only grit her teeth and continue casting the spell until a woman with black-red hair and crimson eyes, whose face resembled her own, appeared before her. Like the Mountain God before her, this woman was also a monster, a monster born from her own memories.

"Please..."

She said, making her request to this monster she couldn't control. It was a gamble, but she believed in her memories, believed in this monster born from her memories.

Having barely uttered this sentence, this Devilish Cultivator named Yotsuya Miko slumped to the ground, her consciousness completely eroded by the Soul Devouring Tribulation, having unleashed all her means. Truly, she had done her best.

"..."

The monster with blood-red eyes said nothing. She looked at her host, a look of disdain on her face.

"What a complete brute, lacking the basic responsibility of a Devilish Cultivator. Now look, in such a dangerous situation, you're actually counting on the creation from the Nightmare Refining Art to obey your command. If you had had such resolve earlier, would you have ended up in this state?"

As an individual born from Miko's memories, she knew everything that had happened to Yotsuya Miko. In a sense, she was another Miko, an enhanced version of Miko.

Seeing the two figures about to be struck by the Mountain God in the distance, she immediately cast a few spells on herself and charged towards the monster at a speed several times faster than Miko's.

"You seem to have completely ignored me."

As she spoke, she cast a blood-red light on Takeda Mie and Rom, and their consciousness quickly fell into a coma. Using blood-red Spiritual Qi, she moved the two to Yotsuya Miko's side, then finally revealed a ferocious smile.

"That kind of stifling fighting style doesn't suit me."

Looking at the Mountain God before her, she clenched her fist tightly, and then, with a punch that could tear through the sound barrier, struck the Mountain God's face. The sonic boom only arrived later, after the Mountain God was repelled to the side of the Shrine, smashing through its fence.

"That idiot didn't notice what was placed inside the Main Hall, did he really treat his Spiritual Sense as mere decoration?"

After the punch, she rubbed her reddened right hand and glanced at the Main Hall. The "monster" looked at the Mountain God, whose face bore a scar from the punch, and said nothing more.

A red light flashed from her body. Just as the Mountain God angrily swung at her, her figure darted onto the Mountain God's back like a ghost, raising one leg high.

"You're hunched over, so get down."

As she spoke, her raised heel descended, smashing onto the Mountain God's back. The crisp sound of bone fragments, the dull thud and vibration as it hit the ground, and the large clouds of dust painted the entire scene.

The Mountain God, its body already half-deeply caved into the ground, let out a roar, as if cursing, as if begging. However, the "monster" paid no attention to its roar and delivered another kick without mercy.

"It's only fair that if you hit me once, I hit you twice."

Saying this, she then slowly got off the Mountain God's back and walked into the Main Hall where the human skull was placed, crushing the bone into fragments.

"Indeed, who would have thought this Mountain God was a jinchuriki, used to suppress another, more powerful Ghost. But, you are free now."

Glancing at the girl who emerged from the bones and the woman who was originally a shrine maiden standing beside her, the "monster" silently watched the Shrine crumble, feeling the tremors from beneath the ground. She felt this was likely outside the scope of her commission, so she couldn't be bothered.

However, the dissipating Okamotozuko and the girl who was the sacrifice looked at her. Finally, Okamotozuko asked her question.

"Who are you?"

"Me? That guy didn't have time to give me a name yet."

The "monster" said so.

Chapter 79: Divine Name

Yotsuya Miko woke up in bed, a dull ache throughout her body and an excess of Profound Nether Qi in her Spiritual Sense.

She silently glanced at her clothes, which were intact. She got out of bed and looked at the full-length mirror beside her. In the mirror, she looked as if she had never fought the Mountain God, and therefore had no torn skin or wounds.

But a faint link in her Spiritual Sense revealed the outcome.

The Nightmare Refining Art, the creation born from her consciousness, had already linked with her.

Don't go to that mountain.

This was the message left by the still-nameless creation, with a warning tone.

Did something happen on that mountain?

Yotsuya Miko didn't know. She covered her swollen head with one hand, and countless memory fragments flooded her mind. These fragments were accompanied by the warning.

Defeated... Mountain God... Jinchuriki... Tampered with memories... Entered...

Only after she had accepted all the information did she reveal a complex expression. Sensing the abundant Profound Nether Qi stored in her Soul Repository, Profound Nether Qi several times greater than before was constantly nourishing her Spiritual Sense. The Soul Devouring Tribulation, which should have acted up, was suppressed to the point of immobility. This new Profound Nether Qi seemed to originate from the soul of an exceptionally powerful Ghost, hence the extremely low impurities, making it difficult for the Soul Devouring Tribulation to act up.

However, her memories did not mention the source of this Profound Nether Qi. They only told Miko that she had dealt with the Shrine, altered Rom and Takeda Mie's perception of the Shrine's demise, and attributed the merit of killing the Mountain God to her. After that was "the Gate."

"The Gate," the nameless creation told her. This guy had entered "The Gate" and never returned. The information completely ceased after she entered "The Gate," and only a faint link could be perceived.

After receiving all the information, Miko silently felt the Profound Nether Qi in her Soul Repository, looking around the room. She took out the artifact that had been smelted into an iron plate from her pocket, the iron box that had once held the Talisman Iron Pellet.

She threw the iron plate into the trash can.

"A failed battle."

She evaluated herself this way, recalling the scene when she encountered the Mountain God. Reckless, not knowing how to cherish the Talisman Iron Pellet, and not even discerning the Mountain God's true form, she had simply used Spiritual Qi crudely to fight it.

The weak Ghosts around her had not given her much combat experience. Even that one in a kimono was easily crushed by her. These battles, which could hardly be called battles, had not changed her at all. She had even desperately wished for these Ghosts to remain so weak.

Thus, her outwardly strong but inwardly weak self suffered a heavy blow from the Mountain God. If not for her timely defenses, she might not have survived the Mountain God at all.

Only through such a crushing defeat can one truly awaken.

Miko discarded the iron shard, feeling a sudden emptiness in her heart, a sense of clarity. She looked at herself in the mirror, a pale, haggard Yotsuya Miko still recovering, and somehow, she smiled again.

"How pathetic."

That heavy rain, that old Taoist, that sigh, and the eternal truth of the Xuanhui Realm:

"The Devilish Dao fears the strong and dreads the weak."

She suddenly had a new understanding of this saying.

"Then, I should try to enter."

The mountain remained unchanged in the eyes of ordinary people. Even the tremors were dismissed by those nearby as aftershocks of an earthquake. However, some people did realize that something unusual had happened on the mountain.

"Captain, there are several impact marks here."

"Captain, we found a large number of small silver balls here, but many are broken."

The person called captain simply looked at the marks deeply embedded in the ground, and the bag of broken balls handed to him by his subordinate, falling into thought.

He glanced at the white-browed elder in a kasaya beside him, and from the latter's shock, he realized the seriousness of the matter.

"Master Sanliu... what are you thinking?"

Sanliu did not answer his confusion. He simply closed his lips tightly, fingering his prayer beads. Only after a few breaths did he finally calm his emotions.

"Does the benefactor know the origin of this mountain?"

He asked in return, and the captain, who had already reviewed the files, thought for a moment and recalled the mountain's past unusual history.

"In ancient times, the people in this area had a custom of worshipping the Mountain God. They cruelly offered virgins as sacrifices to appease the deity. After the Meiji Restoration, the new army forced the local people to change this custom and demolished the shrine on the mountain. But afterward, thirty-two soldiers from this army disappeared mysteriously and were never found. Since then, few people have come to this mountain."

He paused and continued with related matters.

"Even though the people near the mountain were forced to stay away, several people would still go missing on the mountain every so often. Among these missing people were those who claimed to be exorcists, but since the exorcist Okamotozuko, who was somewhat famous in the media, disappeared on this mountain over a decade ago, no similar disappearances have occurred. However, what does this have to do with what happened on the mountain?"

The captain did not associate these disturbances with ghost stories. He completely scoffed at such legends, yet he had to admit that he was assigned by his superior to invite the "master" present to participate in the investigation of this mountain.

"Someone... no... it should be a god who killed the evil god that has long occupied this mountain."

Sanliu looked at him and stated his deduction.

"Its aura has completely dissipated, and even all the ghosts in the entire mountain have been cleared out."

As he spoke, he still felt shocked by such an act in his heart. The evil god he spoke of was not the one enshrined in the shrine. As the heir of an exorcist force, he knew far more secrets than exorcists like Rom and Takeda Mie. This was why he had not intervened for a long time, even though he knew the shrine on the mountain was luring humans. Once the Mountain God used to restrain it was killed, it would bring even worse consequences.

"Hmm?"

The captain grunted, dismissing his ramblings as a joke. However, he patiently continued to question Sanliu.

"I wonder which god has such power? Could it be the Great God Kōzō?"

His words were laced with mockery. Yet, Sanliu carefully looked at the bag of broken iron pellets in his hand and pondered for a moment.

"It seems... it's probably that Silver Ball God who descended here for some unknown reason... but it has never revealed its name."

"Never revealed its name?"

The captain had likely never even heard of the legend of the Silver Ball. Upon hearing his words, he glanced at the broken iron pellets in the bag.

"Then how about calling it... Broken Ball—"

Before he could finish speaking, the bag of iron pellets suddenly burst open, and only a hiragana character appeared from the powder on the ground.

This bizarre scene silenced the captain. He seemed to realize something and stiffly turned his gaze to Sanliu. The latter simply looked at the character on the ground and said nothing more, only a brief sentence.

"It seems the god doesn't like your joke."

Chapter 80: Reconciliation and Confession? (End of Volume 1)

Yotsuya Miko had very few friends.

Since entering high school, the only person she could truly talk to was Hana, and now Yuria had joined them.

Because she had few friends, she cherished her feelings for them deeply and never wanted to cause any trouble for her best friend because of her own affairs.

This was how she was; she wanted to resolve these matters alone, to face the ghosts that frightened her by herself, and to hide everything from Hana.

Of course, in the end, she didn't have the mental fortitude to keep it hidden. That kind of anxiety and worry couldn't be hidden from anyone who cared deeply about her, including her closest friend, Yurikawa Hana.

All things considered, this was probably the first time they had a disagreement.

But if one were to ask who felt better, neither of them was not saddened by losing a friend. It was precisely because she valued this friendship that Hana wanted to share Miko's worries and anxieties, and it was also why Miko didn't want to hurt Hana with these matters, or even make Hana distance herself from her.

The two met again at school, looking at each other awkwardly, and walked past each other in silence. Both wanted to say something, but felt too awkward to speak.

However, when they had walked a considerable distance away, Yotsuya Miko suddenly turned around and called out to Yurikawa Hana.

"Hana, can you listen to me for a moment?"

She looked directly at the girl who hadn't stopped walking, prepared to be rejected. As expected, the latter only paused for a moment before walking further away, seemingly still angry about her affairs.

As expected...

Even though she was prepared, Miko still felt disappointed. She sighed lightly and turned around, ready to wait indefinitely for Yurikawa Hana's forgiveness. Even if she really had no intention of reconciling with her.

Because she had very few friends, and if she lost one, it would be difficult for another to appear.

Perhaps this was a better choice for her, allowing her to focus wholeheartedly on her cultivation until she could truly fight like a Devilish Cultivator, protecting herself and everything around her in this world overrun by ghosts.

However, what her Spiritual Sense perceived next stunned her. She slowly turned around, and a figure, as if completely unprepared for such a situation, stumbled into her arms, knocking the still-recovering "patient" to the ground in the process.

Pain shot from behind, but Miko ignored it, tightly hugging the person who had fallen into her embrace. The sunlight chased away the clouds in her heart.

"You forgive me?"

"When did I say I'd forgive you! Let go of me!"

Hana struggled in her arms, annoyed and embarrassed that her plans had been ruined.

"Why can you still tell it's me behind you in this situation! And hurry up and let go of me!"

"No."

The girl named Yotsuya Miko smiled, closed her eyes, and paid no mind to the onlookers.

"When you forgive me, I'll let go."

When she noticed the pounce, Miko understood that Hana didn't hate her; she was willing to listen to her explanation.

"If you don't get up soon, more and more people will be watching! Let go of me."

Hana said this, but looking at Miko, who was finally smiling, she couldn't help but curve her lips. With a muffled sound, she buried her head in Miko's chest.

"Alright, alright, I forgive you. Get up now."

After returning home, the girl named Yurikawa Hana finally understood. That kind of secrecy wasn't about distrusting her, but simply about not wanting her to worry. Yotsuya Miko, just like always, hadn't changed at all, quietly protecting her in her own way. What she should do then wasn't to make Miko sad over her sulking, but to be understanding, and to take on the burden when the fool finally couldn't bear it anymore.

However, understanding it was one thing, being angry was another. She planned to ignore Yotsuya Miko for the entire day, but when she saw the bitterness appear on Miko's face, she couldn't. This girl named Hana had completely shed all her anger, leaving only regret.

So, she awoke and rushed towards Yotsuya Miko, just like she always did.

Miko released her grip and looked at Yurikawa Hana, who was getting up from her. Gazing into her beautiful eyes, all of Miko's worries dissolved.