Back Mountain.
On a steep cliffside path.
Kikyo walked unsteadily, like a drunk, utterly distraught.
In a moment of distraction, her foot suddenly found empty air, and she was about to tumble off the cliff. Just then, a powerful hand reached down from above and caught her icy left wrist with unerring precision.
"Who are you...?"
Looking up at that handsome, sharply defined face, the girl's eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.
The one holding Kikyo's wrist was Li Xia, who had moved faster because he was uninjured.
Beside him, Inuyasha had also reached out with his scorched left hand, but he had been half a beat slower.
"Up you come!"
With a slight tug from Li Xia, Kikyo rose from below the cliff and returned to the path above.
Most of the other Clay Figures Urasue had created resembled terracotta warriors: expressionless and rigid. Kikyo's Clay Body was entirely different. Though still cold to the touch, it had flesh and blood. The wrist in his grip was soft, with the unmistakable suppleness of a real limb. Her expressions were also remarkably varied, indistinguishable from a normal person's even in the smallest details.
This figurine could easily pass for the real thing!
Was this what made Advanced Demon Art worthy of its name?
No wonder the little girls whose hands Kikyo had held in the original timeline had never noticed anything unusual about her.
"What could you possibly gain by saving me?
As I am now, I was born of resentment.
If I refuse to let go of it, I will keep hating Inuyasha!
If I do let go, I will simply fade away...
Saving me was utterly pointless!"
Kikyo sneered.
Beside her, Inuyasha was heartbroken to see what had become of his former lover.
His hatred for the demon behind it all grew even deeper.
After a moment's thought, Li Xia posed two questions:
"Miss Kikyo, do you still bear the responsibility of protecting the Shikon Jewel? And how do you feel about the mastermind who coveted the Shikon Shards and plotted against you and Inuyasha back then?"
As long as Kikyo took up her responsibility again, that would be a good start.
Without even waiting for this extraordinary woman to answer, Li Xia smiled, nodded, and promptly turned to leave! He left all the time and space to the two of them.
"Thanks, Mr. Xia!"
Inuyasha called out.
He had already lost count of how many times he had thanked him.
Li Xia merely waved without turning around and strode away at ease.
What happened next no longer mattered. He had done everything he ought to do and would not insist on every last little detail.
He had other matters to attend to now.
Halfway up the mountain.
A fair-skinned girl of thirteen or fourteen with long brown hair was hurrying along a woodland trail.
Her eyes were orange-yellow, and her hair was tied in a high ponytail.
Though she was young, a weary aura of death hung about her.
Without a doubt, this girl was a Clay Figure resurrected through Advanced Demon Art, just like Kikyo.
As she passed through the small grove and reached a clearing, a calm voice sounded behind her:
"After Urasue resurrected you, that old hag kept you under her control, didn't she? You even acknowledged that old monster as your adoptive mother and helped her make a great many Pottery Soldiers! Now that Urasue has met her end, you're free of her control. In a roundabout way, you've gained your freedom!
That makes us your benefactors, you know!
Isn't it a little ungrateful to leave without so much as thanking the people who helped you?"
The speaker was Li Xia, who had hurried after her all the way.
The girl stopped short, her expression changing dramatically.
When she turned around, her face was full of wariness.
"What do you want?"
The corners of Li Xia's mouth lifted slightly.
"Give me the old hag's Advanced Demon Art, and we'll call it even. What do you think?"
The girl simply shook her head.
Li Xia frowned.
"What? You're unwilling?"
Demoness Urasue was dead, reduced to ashes scattered on the wind. Not even the Shikon Shards could bring her back.
But her Demon Art, which resembled Impure World Reincarnation, had not been lost.
The girl before him had inherited it in full.
Her name was Enju, and in life, she had been a [Ceramic Artisan] of some renown. That was precisely why Urasue had resurrected her, adopted her, and taught her how to make pottery figures. Until Urasue's death, she had obeyed the old hag and created many Pottery Soldiers.
Not long ago, she had personally witnessed the resurrected Kikyo kill her adoptive mother, Urasue, in an instant.
With Urasue no longer restraining her, Enju had immediately regained her freedom.
According to the original plot, before the Mount Hakurei incident, Urasue's other masterpiece, Wamaru, would imprison her and force her to keep making Pottery Soldiers. In return, Wamaru would supply the dead souls Enju needed to survive, along with the materials required to fire the pottery figures.
That would continue until she encountered the Protagonist Group, when Kikyo would save her body, Kagome would reforge her soul, and Inuyasha would atone for her sins!
In the early stages, on a battlefield of mortals, this girl alone could match an army.
Why? Because of the Demon Art Urasue had taught her.
Used well, Advanced Demon Art was a divine skill.
Li Xia had come for that legacy.
At the moment, however, little Enju was being rather uncooperative.
"Thank you for giving me my freedom! But you're human, and alive at that, so you can't possibly master Demon Art or the method for making Pottery Soldiers!"
The girl spoke apologetically.
If all she had to do was hand over the teachings she knew, she would have no qualms whatsoever.
But neither Demon Art nor the methods for creating Pottery Soldiers belonged to a realm the living could reach.
She had no way to fulfill the request of the man before her.
After hearing Enju's explanation, however, Li Xia actually breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's fine. You only need to pass Urasue's legacy on to me! Whether I can learn it in the end is my own concern. Even if I can't, I won't take it out on anyone."
Demon Power? With the Great Katsura Tree Mask and several Shikon Shards in his possession, he had no shortage of that!
With him having gone that far, the girl had no reason left to refuse.
Another refusal would mean an outright falling-out.
"The Demon Art I learned is divided into three main sections...
The first is Basic Demon Art. It allows you to make ordinary Pottery Soldiers. These retain none of their memories from life and only obey orders mindlessly.
The second is Intermediate Demon Art. It allows you to make pottery figures with independent awareness and individual emotions, as well as some of their memories and talents from life. I'm a product of Intermediate Demon Art.
As for the third section, Advanced Demon Art?
That requires the caster to possess considerable Demon Power and use a special ritual implement! The Miko who killed Mother not long ago was a masterpiece of Advanced Demon Art!
Those resurrected through Advanced Demon Art are generally people who possessed special powers in life!
Once resurrected, they not only have independent awareness and all their memories from life, but also retain all their former talents and abilities! Their Clay Bodies are also more humanlike! Apart from lacking internal organs, breath, a pulse, body heat, and so on, they can practically be considered real people in many other respects! For example, the Miko who killed Mother regained the Miko powers she had in life after her soul was summoned and she was resurrected..."
The thought of Kikyo stirred a measure of fear in her.
Even her voice began to tremble slightly.
"What else?"
Li Xia listened carefully, recorded everything, and humbly sought her instruction.
He did not miss so much as a punctuation mark.
The two of them headed back up the mountain together as they talked.
"Yes, there are indeed a few other things to watch out for! Whether an application of Demon Art succeeds depends not only on whether the Clay Body contains enough of the deceased's bones and ashes, but also on whether their soul still exists in this world and whether it has reincarnated... If it has already reincarnated, success is usually impossible!
Also, the completeness of the Clay Body is extremely important..."
Enju told him everything, down to the smallest detail.
Naturally, Li Xia was very pleased.
At the end, the girl grew a little hesitant again.
"What is it?"
Li Xia asked.
With her head lowered, Enju pressed her lips together before finally looking up to meet his eyes.
"May I ask why you want to learn Demon Art?"
Li Xia smiled openly.
"First, to protect myself!
I have ideas of my own, and there are many things I must do! Along the way, I'll encounter all kinds of vicious demons! You could say my life is constantly under grave threat!
Demon Art can give me an additional means of protection!
Second, to increase productivity.
Enju, have you ever considered helping the people in poor villages resurrect their deceased relatives? The resurrected could help their families farm and clear land, greatly reducing the burden of labor! And in this world overrun with demons, they could offer a little protection to their families, clans, and villages!
Never leave a good deed undone just because it is small!"
Without a timely supply of dead souls, the pottery figures would cease functioning before long anyway.
That also meant the world of the living would not be overrun by the dead.
"So that's it!"
Enju, whose future had seemed utterly clouded, felt as though she had caught a ray of light.
A new spark appeared in her eyes.
She seemed to relax considerably.
"Then I'm sorry for the trouble I'll be putting you through, Teacher Enju...!"
Li Xia smiled and bowed.
The girl was a little flustered, looking quite adorable.
After saying goodbye to Inuyasha and the others and reminding Two-Dog to return to the village and recover properly, Li Xia stayed behind.
Li Xia stayed with Kikyo and Enju.
"Choosing materials, shaping the body, firing it, summoning the soul-there can be no mistakes in even the smallest detail..."
Before you continue