Su Mu’s eyes welled up with a darkness, his Yin Fire raring to go.
What no one present saw was the enormous phantom image that materialized behind Su Mu: its form resembled a serpent, its body was long and slender, with four wings on its back. It was pitch black all over, its head was triangular, and its eyes gleamed with a cold, eerie light.
Facing it, the statue of the Yamata-no-Orochi, with its eight snake heads, flickered with a faint radiance. The very pressure that had been suppressing Su Mu moments ago emanated from this statue.
The phantoms of these two ancient, mythical beasts were locked in a silent standoff, neither willing to yield. To the onlookers, it appeared as though Su Mu was using his sheer personal will to defy the divine presence within the shrine.
Just as it seemed a stalemate had been reached, a wisp of energy drifted out from the jade hairpin. It came from one of the four items obtained from Chuyuan long ago – the crystal.
Almost instantly, Su Mu felt the blood in his veins begin to boil, and an inexplicable sense of majesty welled up inside him.
“A mere deity dares to act insolently before me?”
These words weren’t spoken by Su Mu, but they resounded deep within his consciousness. They seemed to originate from the distant ancient times, crossing the river of time. The voice was gentle yet commanding, sacred and inviolable.
With a loud “boom,” cracks suddenly appeared all over the Yamata-no-Orochi statue, and the oppressive pressure instantly vanished.
Simultaneously, the Yin Fire obediently retreated back into the second sea of qi, clearly quite wary of this newfound divine might.
Su Mu grew increasingly curious. Just who was this celestial being the people of Chuyuan had spoken of, that even ancient beasts like the Yamata-no-Orochi and the Tsuchinoko (the serpent phantom) would show such deference?
And what exactly was the relationship between Qingyi and this celestial being? Could it be that she was the celestial being’s reincarnation?
Su Mu suddenly recalled the Doctor’s unique perspective on soul swapping – that deities combine two parts they favor.
According to that theory, the celestial being was the deity. Between his current self and Qingyi… which of them was the combination the deity favored?
Correspondingly, what fate awaited the combination the deity didn’t favor?
Questions upon questions flooded his mind, causing Su Mu to furrow his brow involuntarily.
Swapping back to his original body seemed far from simple!
He snapped back to reality amidst the noisy chatter. Looking up, he saw the eight shrine attendants staring at him nervously. The one in charge stepped forward and gave him a respectful bow. “Miss, you do not need to participate in the selection. You may enter the mystical realm directly.”
The crowd erupted in an uproar.
What was happening? She had clearly shown disrespect to the deity, yet instead of being punished, she was chosen outright?
Everyone buzzed with noise, voices overlapping in excited discussion.
Then, someone suddenly protested: “I object! Why does she get to skip the selection? It’s not like she was pre-selected!”
The head attendant cast a cold glance at the protester. “How our shrine makes its decisions is not something a junior like you has the authority to question. This young lady was personally appointed by the Chief Envoy. She is not within the twenty places allocated to your Samurai Order. No matter how influential your background, you have no right to revoke this.”
Aside from the twenty places allocated to the Samurai Order, the shrine held the right to seek out other candidates for the mystical realm trial on its own. Although the Samurai Order still controlled the vast majority, neither side openly contested this arrangement on the surface.
The selection for these additional places was usually conducted at other branch shrines. This particular branch was intended solely for recruiting disciples for the Samurai Order. Su Mu was the first exceptional case here.
Sakurai Mei looked at him with bewildered eyes. She couldn’t fathom how Su Mu had managed this.
Hadn’t he just blatantly disrespected the deity…
Following the arrangements of the shrine attendants, a chair was brought for Su Mu. He instantly transformed from a participant into a spectator.
What he found most exasperating was that his chair had been placed ahead of the other five pre-selected individuals.
Although this was a gesture of respect, in Su Mu’s eyes, it was practically a death sentence.
He smiled modestly and proactively moved his chair down to a position among the lower ranks, placing it next to Sakurai Mei, and then wore a harmless, innocent smile.
Sakurai Mei leaned her head closer and asked mysteriously, “Chiba-chan, why are they so respectful to you? What did you just do? Did you control their souls?”
Su Mu let out a small laugh. “Mei-nee, you sure have a vivid imagination! It’s not that complicated. Actually…”
He was about to explain but then remembered how he’d been tormented by cryptic remarks all day. A mischievous grin spread across his face. “Guess?”
Sakurai Mei puffed out her cheeks in frustration. “I’m not a child! Why should I guess? Considering how worried I was about you earlier, just tell me already!”
“Alright, alright,” Su Mu said, not really intending to keep it a secret. He leaned close to her ear and “confided” the “truth”: “Ye Qingyi is actually a Chosen One. The deity who chose her is Tsuchinoko, and Tsuchinoko controls the Yin Fire. So after I tricked— ahem, acquired the Yin Fire seed from Su Mu, a sliver of Tsuchinoko’s divine presence appeared in my body too. It’s very weak, but the hierarchical level is there. Because of that divine presence, I find myself unable to bow or kneel to other deities… after all, they are on the same level…”
Su Mu’s words were a mix of truth and falsehood, making it sound plausible, not like a fabrication. Sakurai Mei was completely taken in.
“Oh… I see,” she said, the realization dawning on her. “So that means you’re also kind of a Chosen One?”
Su Mu thought for a moment, then nodded with slight uncertainty. “I suppose… you could say that? Even though it feels a bit like a knock-off version, that wisp of divine presence is real, and the Yin Fire is definitely genuine.”
While Su Mu was explaining to Sakurai Mei, Kusanagi Kurenai (Grass Red) was eavesdropping nearby. Though he didn’t catch everything clearly, he grasped the gist.
So, she’s a Chosen One, huh…
He narrowed his eyes slightly: This is getting more and more interesting.
Having changed from a contestant to a spectator, Su Mu settled in to watch the matches.
While there were definitely some participants who got in through connections, those who ultimately won were mostly the genuinely skilled ones. For instance, there was a young man with prematurely white hair whose strength was exceptional, almost unmatched.
Su Mu glanced at him with an appreciative look, but was met with a hostile response.
Bewildered, Su Mu was about to ask why when Sakurai Mei beside him whispered a timely warning: “That guy’s name is Uesugi Okai, he’s the nephew of Madame Uesugi. You threatened her publicly before, and his younger brother died in Chiba Keiko’s hospital room. He must absolutely despise you, so you’d better be careful.”
“Uesugi the Nitpicker?” Su Mu put on a contemplative expression, then said with exaggerated seriousness, “Ah, then he must be an excellent troll as well.”
Sakurai Mei: (￢_￢)
…
Hokkaido.
Inside the vast main shrine hall, an elderly man in plain robes slowly opened his eyes. Hidden beneath the aged wrinkles was a pair of truly extraordinary eyes.
Compared to an old man’s eyes, they held less murkiness and lifelessness.
Compared to a middle-aged man’s eyes, they possessed more wisdom and depth.
Compared to a young man’s eyes… there simply was no comparison.
Within his uniquely profound gaze seemed to lie an entire universe. A single glance felt like it could unlock many of the world’s mysteries.
An attendant approached him respectfully. “Chief Envoy, the Junior Envoy has successfully broken through to B-Class. It seems our plan now has an even greater chance of success.”
After a long moment, the old man simply replied, “Mmm…”
A faint ripple passed through the surrounding air.