Chapter 1 Kyoto's Unease

In Kyoto, Emperor Goyōzei’s retainer, Xu Fu, held the Eight Mirrors, but saw only a dim grayness. As during the Honnō-ji incident, he had already shattered two of the Niō Treasure Mirrors, preventing Xu Fu from observing the situation through them. "He was on guard against the last divine artifact from the start? He seems to know something about our country’s artifacts, deliberately destroying the mirrors… No, perhaps not deliberate. For him, is there anything on this land he wouldn’t destroy?"

"Perhaps the Niō Treasure Mirrors reflected his tainted image, and he flew into a rage."

Xu Fu set down the Eight Mirrors. Toyotomi Hideyoshi looked at him, and Xu Fu said, "The woman of the Tachibana clan is likely doomed. I can’t sense her aura, but the Miyamoto boy's aura still exists."

"The Ama-no-Habakiri and Ama-no-Murakumo swords have been taken. It's the same situation as with the Spear of Heaven; there's no way to retrieve them."

"I don't know what method he used to erase the connection between the divine artifacts and the divine realm. I thought it was a coincidence last time, but now it seems he truly has mastered this wicked magic." Xu Fu frowned slightly, but showed no hint of panic. On the contrary, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, as the highest authority, looked as if he were facing a great enemy, as if Xiang might charge into the heart of Kyoto at any moment and descend upon Emperor Goyōzei. "What are we going to do? Two divine swords lost just like that!"

"We still have gods! We still have gods! Are there any other great gods?"

"The shrines everywhere! Yes, mobilize the shrines everywhere, the temples, any divine artifacts, treasured implements that can be used, or spiritual implements if possible! And even treasure tools and magical implements, bring them all here!"

"With the help of priests and mages from all over, we can surely defend Kyoto!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was very flustered, and the fear surged in his heart, uncontrollable.

The battle between Xiang and Xu Fu was still fresh in his mind. If that demon regained his power in a short time, Kyoto would suffer the same fate as Ōsaka!

"Don't panic. He won't come here."

Xu Fu spoke, "Don't lose your composure."

"With the power of a nation nourishing me alone, it still takes seven days to fully recover. The Heavenly Demon only swallowed some incense and defeated two or three Pure Yang experts; it’s not a big deal."

"His methods are strange. If he recovers to near-pseudo-immortal level, killing Pure Yang experts will be easy for him, just requiring a little effort. What I didn't expect was that he could subdue two swordsmen wielding two of the Three Spirit Swords of the Realm in such a short time." Xu Fu rubbed his temples. "However, in his current state, it's impossible for him to directly attack Kyoto. Before engaging, beasts test each other, especially since both sides are heavily injured. And in Japan, his power is always waning."

That was the power of a pseudo-immortal; the name "defense tower" wasn't just for show. Xiang's magical power had recovered a lot, but if he stayed in Japan, subsequent recovery would be more difficult. Therefore, he needed to constantly plunder incense in battle, but even if he fully recovered, he couldn't sustain another battle at the immortal level here. "Suppression" was upon him!

The divine realm did not welcome outsiders!

Toyotomi Hideyoshi finally regained his senses and realized, "So, he'll leave?"

Xu Fu nodded. "That's natural. I said, although he has another option—to continue killing at those shrines and temples, seizing incense for rapid recovery—the longer he stays in Japan, the greater his consumption will be… it will become increasingly larger."

"He will soon feel it and fall into crisis. Even if I haven't fully recovered, once I seriously injure him, he won't be able to escape."

"So, his best option right now is to leave this land. It doesn't welcome him. It's just a pity I wanted to capture and kill him, but now it seems impossible. Things from the heavens are ultimately not on the same level as things cultivated from the earth." As Xu Fu said this, resentment surfaced in his eyes, but it wasn’t directed at anyone; coupled with his tone, it seemed as if he were resenting himself. Toyotomi Hideyoshi understood, "You resent not being born a god?"

Xu Fu admitted, "Ah… That's right. Of course. It's like someone born into the realm of immortality versus someone who cultivates bitterly from an ordinary person to the realm of immortality. Whose starting point is higher, whose talent is better? That's self-evident, isn't it?"

"It's impossible for mortals to defy fate with inferior talent, so they must take heavenly medicines to change their aptitude."

"But some people are born at the finish line." Xu Fu said, even feeling a sense of emotion, lamenting that heaven and earth were not absolutely fair, only relatively fair, and that he was not the favored one. Toyotomi Hideyoshi asked again, "The Ama-no-Habakiri and Ama-no-Murakumo swords have been taken. Those are our country’s two thousand years of accumulation. How can we swallow this loss!"

"The time is not yet ripe."

Xu Fu interrupted Toyotomi Hideyoshi. "In twenty years, after twenty years, these divine artifacts will return. Twenty years later, when the inner mountains and rivers descend, these divine artifacts will be useless."

"Otherwise, what do you want to do?"

Xu Fu retorted. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was silent for a long time, and could only sigh with resentment. "What's gone is gone, and what's new will come. Let him go."

Xu Fu's gaze was without joy or sorrow. What was lost could not be regained, and once Xiang left Japan, he probably wouldn't see him for a long time. So retrieving those divine artifacts was impossible. "We have offered too many pseudo-immortals, to the point that there are no strong generals available for the time being."

The Pure Yang realm was already the strongest available force, and not every shrine had cultivation comparable to the purple-robed woman of Heian Shrine. This battle had already been a heavy loss for Japan. Continuing would only further deplete their own strength. They could only think of it positively; at least, there were still twenty years of development time, enough to make a comeback, wasn't it!

Outside the ruined Honnō-ji, the old abbot fled all the way back, and when he saw his temple turned to rubble, he stood there, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. It was fine when he left; how did the facade collapse when he returned?

Then, seeing a young samurai sitting at the rotten entrance, he was shocked. Although he felt that this young man should be a samurai, he didn't see any swords in his hands. "Are you the abbot of Honnō-ji?"

The old abbot was very wary; he felt that the young man before him was likely very powerful, although he didn't know why he had that feeling. "Even when a tiger dies, its skeleton still stands. Young man, who are you, and why are you in front of this poor monk's temple?"

"This place isn't safe."

Did the mountain gate become ruins because Lord Nobunaga's corpse turned into a demon god and revived?

Earlier, he had seen demonic energy rising from the direction of Honnō-ji from afar, and the Heavenly Demon from the Ming Dynasty turned into golden light and disappeared. He was still worried about what to do. "Even though you are the abbot of Honnō-ji, you cannot enter."

Miyamoto Musashi didn't answer the old abbot's question, or rather, he never intended to let the old abbot answer. He just asked casually. Then, he pointed to not far from the mountain gate. The old abbot looked back, and his pupils suddenly contracted, and his whole body stiffened. Beside a broken beam, a dozen corpses were lying. From the residual magic power, these people were all extraordinary great cultivators in life, at least at the Innate level or above. Kyoto was where the emperor resided, and many cultivators lived here, even spreading their teachings. Among the dead, there were several that the old abbot recognized, whose cultivation was much higher than his own. They were usually arrogant, but now they had become a pile of corpses, their limbs torn apart, some even cut in half. Their physical bodies were destroyed to this extent; they hadn't reached the Pure Yang level, so these bodies were naturally useless. "These are all great cultivators of Kyoto. They must have seen the demonic energy soaring from Honnō-ji, so they came, but didn't expect to lose their physical bodies here." The old abbot sighed, but Miyamoto Musashi interjected, "Not physical bodies, their corpses."

"Do you think their nascent souls can escape?"

The old abbot turned back, and it took him a while to digest the meaning of Musashi's words, and he couldn't help but be alarmed. "You said they were all completely killed?"

"Even their nascent souls were destroyed?!"

Musashi was dejected, answering indifferently, "Of course they were killed. Could I let them go and then let them bring more people to cause chaos?"

"The master is at a critical moment of breakthrough. To kill these intruders, we must eliminate all future troubles. They are the root of the trouble, so naturally they cannot be allowed to return. Dying here is their only end."

"If there's blame, blame them for overestimating themselves."

As Musashi said this, the color of disdain on his face deepened. Those who overestimated themselves were as numerous as the passing river, and he was just one of them. And the Pure Yang aura exuded by Musashi made the old abbot's hair stand on end, and a chill ran from his tailbone, horrified. "Quasi-Immortal!"

"What quasi-immortal? Pure Yang is Pure Yang, the human realm is the human realm. Without setting foot in the immortal realm, how dare you call someone an immortal?" Hearing the honorable title of quasi-immortal, Musashi's expression even showed a touch of indignation at this time. Being flattered too much made him think he really possessed supreme power. When another force brought him down from the clouds, he realized he had nowhere to retreat. The higher he was held, the harder he fell. To survive, he had defected to the Heavenly Demon, willingly entered the demonic path, and could not turn back. What a mockery was the title of quasi-immortal! How foolish!

The old abbot didn't dare to speak for a while. His cultivation was too far from Pure Yang. And at this moment, deep within Honnō-ji, demonic energy surged, and in the next moment, it began to contract!

The wind and clouds of heaven and earth suddenly changed!

Thunder rumbled, the sky and earth darkened, and even the dust on the ground rolled on its own, flowing like water towards the depths of Honnō-ji. Deep within Honnō-ji, Xiang completely swallowed all the demonic energy from the Vanquishing Heaven Demon King, completing the final refining step. The Chaos Qi, the Dust of Supreme Simplicity, the Earthly Demonic Qi, the Heavenly Demonic Qi, mixed together to change the nascent soul. A wisp of smoke rushed out from Xiang's brow. The essence of incense manifested in the form of a nascent soul, surprisingly finding itself covered in a cyan light. At the turn of a thought, the cyan light surged with the thought, astonishing Xiang. The blood hadn't turned into cyan qi, but cyan light had already appeared on his body. The changes in the immortal realm exceeded Xiang's knowledge. The wars of the Yuan Dynasty led to the extinction of many inheritances, so Xiang didn't understand what omen the cyan light was. But he thought it should be a good thing. Because the pain of solar body refinement had completely disappeared. Xiang couldn't feel any physical pain at all. After a moment, the smoke returned, the nascent soul returned to the physical body and recombined. The cyan light flashed on the physical body and disappeared. Chapter of Annihilation (Second Level): You have refined all the demonic energy from the Vanquishing Heaven Demon King. Not only have you not been corrupted by it, but you have turned around and corrupted him. You have embodied the path of the True Demon!

Chapter of Annihilation (Second Level): Bright Subtlety allows the truth of deep and subtle things or principles to be revealed. You can eliminate the source of any poison from its root, and find the true name of the subordinate. Names contain the power of heaven and earth. After entering the immortal level, you cannot easily call out the other party's true name, otherwise the immortal will sense it and manifest. The effectiveness of its annihilation and poisoning affects objects up to the Heavenly Heart realm. Below Heavenly Heart, it is ineffective against Great Luo Scattered Numbers, and Great Luo Scattered Numbers cannot cause any form of poisoning or harm to you. Chapter of Annihilation (Second Level): Reverse Jade Purity Heavenly Demon will have a feeling about an upcoming event. If this event can be sensed, then the outcome of this matter can be artificially intervened in and reversed. If an event is about to happen but is not sensed, then this matter cannot be artificially reversed. Recklessly interfering is an act against heaven. Failure to interfere will be punished by heavenly tribulation. Jade Purity Heavenly Demon is a God King of Trial, and cannot independently do things against heaven!

Chapter of Annihilation (Second Level): Ancient Heavenly Demonic Qi. You have absorbed Chaos Qi and Dust of Supreme Simplicity, and Heavenly Demonic Qi has been transformed into Ancient Heavenly Demonic Qi.