The Impression in His Eyes

Stamina and spirit surged through his body, like a mighty river rushing towards an unknown distance. The river water continuously poured down, disappearing at the end, as if swallowed by the unknown downstream.

Gu Mo could feel himself calling out to a being on the other side of space and time. It was a connection he had felt ever since he obtained his Guardian Spirit... a subtle, mysterious link felt instinctively on a sensory and spiritual level, without any specific reason.

This allowed him to feel the precise existence of his Guardian Spirit and naturally understand that while it appeared to be beside him, it was actually something akin to a projection.

Therefore, normally, it could only provide constant protective effects, like a halo buff granting passive bonuses that weren't too significant or insignificant... But if he wanted to actively unleash the powerful strength the Guardian Spirit possessed and directly interfere with the material world, he would need to expend spiritual power.

He didn't possess magical powers like Spiritual Power, Yokai Power, or magical energy, so naturally, he could only compensate with his own physical strength and spirit.

From the other side, it arrived on this side, wrapped in shining light swirling with cyclones and burning flames, a noble form as mysterious and beautiful as a legendary mythical beast.

Its form was fox-like with nine tails, and its entire body was covered in fiery red fur...

Its size was relatively large, likely because it was originally a very large fox, no less imposing than fierce beasts like lions and tigers. Its vast nine tails, like burning flames, gently swayed behind it, visually adding to its sense of volume.

It was as if the mythical beast's form, surrounded by scorching flames and emerging from the endlessly overflowing dazzling light, occupied all the space, making the corridor instantly narrow.

Its eyes were sharp, and it stood proudly in front of its protected target, seemingly looking down at the Nurarihyon rushing forward, the five or six-meter-long half-human, half-snake Yokai whose body was on fire.

At the same instant, the latter, who had been charging rapidly, suddenly began to brake. Due to its speed, inertia, and weight, it plowed a long, deep mark into the corridor floor before successfully stopping. Its originally resentful and hateful eyes were instantly filled with fear and disbelief.

But everything was already too late.

The elegant Nine-Tailed Fox seemed to make no movement at all, as if an invisible shockwave swept through space, or as if a huge laser beam flashed through the air... In short, Gu Mo, standing behind the large fox, wasn't too sure either; he couldn't see clearly.

The five or six-meter-long great snake's movements froze, stuck in its original position, maintaining that strange braking posture, as if its entire body had stiffened, like it had turned to stone.

Then, in the next instant, it shattered without warning. Its body exploded into fine pieces, scattering into a pile of ash on the ground...

It turned out that at some point, the entire great snake had been turned into complete charcoal from the inside out. Its body wasn't just cooked; it was directly incinerated, as if the invisible wave that just swept through the air, or the laser beam that flashed through the corridor, had reduced it to ash from a cellular level in just an instant!

Quiet and silent.

Only the distant wood crackled and popped as it burned in the flames.

This terrifying lethality left Gu Mo a little stunned. He had expected a spectacular duel or hunt, or at the very least, the Nine-Tails using fire, with flashy effects flashing everywhere like they were free, dramatically instantly killing this Nurarihyon who could disguise itself as a human.

But who could have imagined it would be like this? It was almost as if with just a look from the large fox, enemies in a straight line ahead would be incinerated into charcoal from a molecular level, leaving behind scattered piles of burnt inorganic ash.

However, the rapidly draining energy quickly brought him back to his senses, his expression subtly changing.

The intense consumption from summoning the Guardian Spirit, coupled with the constant drain of energy while in the Perpetual Darkness, under the double drain, made him feel extremely overwhelmed, especially since he had already consumed a considerable amount of energy before. Now, he felt like he was about to collapse.

Gu Mo quickly made a decision. Just as he was about to use this precious time to have the Guardian Spirit race against the clock and rush to the center of the battlefield he had left not long ago, he suddenly felt his body lighten.

The black and white space removed its underworld filter...

The Spider Lilies scattered on the ground no longer bloomed after wilting...

Everything in his field of vision returned to its normal colors and appearance, no longer feeling like walking in a world of ink paintings. The Perpetual Darkness suddenly receded at this moment.

Had the powerful Yokai that had cast this Perpetual Darkness realm been defeated by Axiu at this critical moment?!

Gu Mo immediately reacted. Although he felt a little regretful for not getting the final kill, he didn't hesitate at all to interrupt the continuous summoning of the Guardian Spirit. The feeling of a dam breaking and flooding finally stopped, and his stamina and spirit were no longer plummeting wildly.

Surrounded by flames, yet completely unharmed by them despite their proximity, the great Nine-Tails fox turned around and sat there quietly, elegant and noble. Its calm eyes reflected his figure.

Then, after a few breaths, as if it had lost its intersection with the present world, its outline began to blur, and its figure gradually became transparent and ethereal, eventually disappearing from the present world... Of course, this was what happened on an objective level. What Gu Mo himself saw was not like this.

Because he could always see his Guardian Spirit, and he could always feel that warmth and heat that others couldn't. So, the scene he saw didn't change at all. To him, the great fox was still there, watching him quietly.

Not minding the dirty ground, under the fox's gaze, he sat down with a sense of security and once again pulled out the green bamboo tube to take a big gulp.

A cool sensation spread, and the fatigue in his limbs and bones was also dispelled by the cool chill. He let out a long sigh of relief, felt a little better... Then he looked at his Guardian Spirit, and then at the pile of ash in the distance. The Nurarihyon had been precisely targeted and killed, but the surrounding environment hadn't even suffered any splash damage.

He couldn't help but slightly twitch the corner of his mouth.

It was indeed very strong, but the time it could last was too short. Although it was also because he had consumed a lot before and was currently in the Perpetual Darkness.

But it seemed unable to last even ten seconds and was about to drain him completely, which was indeed a problem...

To solve this problem, he either had to continue adding points, as adding points could solve all problems; or he had to quickly master special powers similar to Spiritual Power, magical energy, etc.

Thinking about it carefully, if he wanted to fully excavate the Nine-Tails' potential and harness its powerful strength for his own use, it would be best to do both simultaneously. This thing had boundless potential, but it was not something he could control right now... It was like a child wielding a large hammer; it looked fierce, but it was actually beyond his control, and he could easily injure himself if he wasn't careful.

Because the Nine-Tails was a very powerful Guardian Spirit.

Each of its nine tails was said to house immense Yokai Power, and it was also called a being that could bring about both an era of chaos and an era of peace. As long as it appeared, the world situation would soon take a turn for the better...

Perhaps this was not just boasting, because not only was it backed by the System, but also by the information Gu Mo understood and had, and what he had just felt. Guardian Spirits were a large category, appearing to be diverse and all-encompassing, with most being quite ordinary, but the very top few among them possessed extremely buggy powers.

—Like Minamoto no Yoshitsune's Guardian Spirit, Kurama Tengu, which could travel through time...

—Like Ōtakemaru's Guardian Spirit, Baku, which would read the thoughts of its protected target and continuously provide assistance to fulfill their wishes...

—Or like William's Guardian Spirit, Saoirse, which could grant the host the ability of death regression, allowing them to resurrect repeatedly almost limitlessly...

Compared to these Guardian Spirits, each more unreasonable and terrifying than the last, things like Yaobikuni granting eternal youth, Heavenly Eye Peacock being able to foresee the future, Six-Tusked Elephant manipulating celestial phenomena and influencing the battlefield climate, etc., these divine abilities that ordinary people would dream of were just minor feats.

The Nine-Tails was probably similar. Its ability might not be as buggy as the ones mentioned above, only manifesting in its subtle influence on destiny, but the power it possessed was undoubtedly extremely vast.

Especially in Gu Mo's feelings just now, he felt as if he had become a component of a mysterious ritual. His body had completely become a circuit connecting the spiritual body and matter. Amidst the rapid consumption of spiritual power, non-human realms were connected, forming a brief channel.

This allowed a very, very small part of the vast power from that unknown dimension to actually squeeze into the real world...

It was like using his existence as a base station to transmit the signal from over there to here.

However, due to the issues with his "communication technology" on this side, the bandwidth, delay, etc., were fatally bad, greatly limiting the signal transmission from over there... Therefore, although he had summoned the power of the Guardian Spirit, he could only summon a tiny bit.

This means that the large fox the Guardian Spirit summoned just now, while it appeared in the real world, was still not its full form, but merely the tip of the iceberg... And even so, just summoning that little bit, his energy didn't last long.

It seems he still has a long and arduous journey ahead of him.

"And it can even be upgraded..."

Remembering the submenu for the Guardian Spirit that the Idiot System had listed, Gu Mo's mouth twitched. As his vision blurred, he felt a faint ache in his liver. If the Nine-Tails were to be upgraded through him, with the help of the Idiot System, it would surely become even more powerful, right? So wouldn't the usage requirements become correspondingly higher?

He was probably going to work himself to death...

Crisp footsteps sounded as the black-haired girl quickly walked over. Seeing him sitting on the ground, she unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Although she had been constantly observing him, paying attention to the fluctuations in his aura and knowing he was alright, seeing him with her own eyes was the confirmation she needed.

Looking at the room burning at the end of the corridor, with the fire threatening to spread, Hidechiyo raised an eyebrow slightly.

A huge shadow resembling a shark, circling her body as if swimming in the void, leaped into the fire in a single bound... If there were ordinary people present, they would probably notice that, without anything seemingly happening, the spreading fire was slowly being suppressed. The flames grew smaller and smaller, eventually extinguishing.

"No need to go back. Someone as sharp as Tokichiro will definitely come looking for us on his own once he notices the Perpetual Darkness receding..."

Hearing the girl stop beside him, Gu Mo, who was deep in thought, looked up and waved his hand lazily, "Let's rest here for a bit. Anyway, we've cleared out most of the Yokai along the way. It's a good chance for the soldiers to rest here, they must be very tired..."

Listening to his words, which sounded so righteous and considerate of his subordinates, and then looking at him sitting on the ground with an expression of deep exhaustion, Hidechiyo also sighed.

Just who is the one who's really tired and needs to rest for a bit...

However, she was already used to her companion's strange remarks. Besides, he was just tired; he wasn't injured much, which was good... In any case, the girl didn't want to see a repeat of what happened at Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, although thinking back on it now, she felt a subtle sense of being deceived.

"Oh right, Axiu, are you really not having any? Even if you're not tired, you should still drink some water, right?"

Gu Mo held up the bamboo tube in his hand towards the girl and shook it gently. The clear liquid inside sloshed.

"Don't worry, this tube is unopened! Brand new!" Seeing the girl about to habitually shake her head again, he quickly added, emphasizing, "I haven't drunk from it. You really don't need to feel disgusted."

The black-haired girl still hesitated slightly. Gu Mo shrugged, feeling a little helpless, and was about to put it away. The next moment, he saw her still hesitating before reaching out. Her fair, slender fingers gently took the green bamboo tube he offered.

He exhaled, feeling slightly relieved.

This counts as progress, doesn't it?

Successive footsteps sounded chaotically. The clanging of armor colliding and scraping echoed, just as Gu Mo had said. After seeing the Perpetual Darkness disappear, Tokichiro immediately rushed in with his men. Following the traces along the way, they quickly found them deep within the mansion.

The Monkey called out excitedly. Seeing Gu Mo sitting on the ground, he was greatly startled and rushed forward to ask how he was doing. Only after confirming he was alright did he relax.

A moment later.

As the soldiers found places to rest, the three of them gathered together to discuss their current achievements.

They had fought their way up the mountain, taking down countless Yokai along the way, and then swept through the mansion, temporarily resolving the issue... Tokichiro believed that the next step should be to gather a large army to drive out and kill the other scattered Yokai on the mountain.

"We'll talk about that later. For now, let's thoroughly inspect this mansion from the inside out. There might be some stragglers, and we also need to figure out why there's a Yokai infestation..."

Gu Mo shook his head, having a different opinion.

The Viper's Divine Realm scenario shouldn't be over yet, because there were unknown spaces inside the mountain. However, unlike in the game where Saito Dosan's mansion was a single building, and you could just turn right or left a few times after entering the door to exit through the back and step onto the path leading to the caves inside the rocky mountain—

In this real world, the mansion on the mountain occupied a vast and complex area, and the hidden doors and secret passages leading into the mountain were hidden in who knew where... Of course, this was normal. If you could see them right after entering, Saito Dosan wouldn't have been able to hide his secrets here; he would have been treating everyone like fools.

Gu Mo couldn't explain, so he could only hope that a thorough search would trigger this clue.

"Yes, yes, yes, the mansion is the top priority..."

The Monkey nodded like a pecking chick, and his face wrinkled into a bitter gourd shape at the thought of this.

"We must solve this problem beautifully and figure out what's going on, so at least we can explain it properly to Lord Dosan... Alas, we've only been in Sagiyama Castle for a short time, and this is truly a disaster out of the blue. Brother Gu Mo, if Lord Dosan blames me later, you must put in a good word for me."

"Asking Axiu for this would be useful, what's the point of asking me..." Gu Mo blinked and glanced at the slightly unnatural black-haired girl beside him.

"Ahahaha, well... asking you and asking Miss Axiu, isn't it the same?" Tokichiro chuckled dryly.

"How could it be the same? That old geezer already dislikes me. Maybe he'll even take his anger out on me this time. You shouldn't count on me saying anything for you..."

"How could that be! Lord Dosan values Brother Gu Mo greatly!"

Tokichiro quickly shook his head. He had participated to some extent and heard Saito Dosan's words, so he basically had some idea of what was going on. He knew that although the Viper was unhappy with the person in front of him because of his daughter, objectively, he still thought highly of him.

"Cut it out, who knows what kind of image I have in his eyes..." Gu Mo waved his hand.

Tokichiro spoke eagerly, using all his eloquence:

"I know what Lord Dosan is thinking. He told me before that he feels you have grand ideals and ambitions, but that alone isn't enough! Because you will be making countless enemies, Lord Dosan hopes that in addition to determination, you will also be persistent, have unwavering resolve, and put in effort physically, without being discouraged or wavering even in failure..."

"Mm... grand aspirations, unwavering resolve, physical effort, not being discouraged by failure, and making countless enemies?"

Gu Mo rubbed his chin, pondering.

"Why does this sound so familiar... Wait, so in his eyes, my image is that of the final boss?"