The following night.
Around ten o'clock.
"Young monk, please wait!"
Ahead, an old man and his seven disciples blocked Mountain Demon, who had been crossing mountains as easily as walking on level ground.
They stood in Li Xia's path.
Hmm?
On the Poison Flood Dragon's back, Li Xia abruptly opened his eyes, roused from his brief rest.
"Who are you?"
Knowing that his actions would most likely cause a major stir, he had already prepared himself for being intercepted along the way. But the first to step forward and stop him were not unaffiliated demons, but several human monks. That was slightly unexpected.
"My name is Yunya. I have been traveling with my disciples, subduing demons and eliminating those that plague the lands.
"Young friend, is this Mountain Demon a Shikigami you contracted?
"Is he completely under your control?"
The elderly monk held a staff in one hand and offered a salute with the other.
He introduced himself while also raising his questions.
"That's right."
Li Xia readily admitted it.
There were actually quite a few traditions that allowed practitioners to contract demons.
Black Miko Tsubaki possessed one.
However, Tsubaki's method leaned toward selling her own soul to a demon, thereby granting the demon some of the spiritual power characteristics of a miko.
Moreover, this method often allowed contracts across enormous gaps in strength. A miko or monk with immense Four Souls Potential could even win a great demon's favor and form a contract despite being weak.
Li Xia's tradition, however, focused more on enslaving demons and controlling their souls and bodies.
This type of contract demanded greater power from the practitioner.
For instance, when he contracted the Great Katsura Tree Mask, he had taken advantage of the Flesh-Bodied Human Face's extreme weakness. Had that human-faced body been at its