At Mt. Yougou, Narukami Shrine—
The soft pink petals of the Sacred Sakura Tree fluttered down gently with the breeze. Nolan placed his hand on Lumine's smooth, fair forehead, channeling "Spiritual Energy" through his arm into the golden-haired girl.
Soon, the "Spiritual Core" was drained of all its "Spiritual Energy" again.
As the one who granted Lumine the "Spiritual Core Attribute," Nolan could sense through the connection of the Spiritual Core what attribute she had gained.
He activated the Spiritual Core to perceive it.
Lumine's feedback ca instantly:
[Spiritual Core Attribute: Abyssal Princess] : This attribute only appears for specific individuals. Those who possess it can freely enter or exit the "Abyssal Princess" state. In this state, the individual's thoughts beco highly rational, and they are immune to any negative ntal effects from entities below twice their level. Furthermore, their mastery of Abyssal energy increases, allowing them to interfere with others' use of Abyssal powers. All attributes are doubled in this state.
"…"
Nolan blinked, doubting his eyes for a mont.
Did Lumine get lucky with Klee or sothing? How could she "pull" such an incredible attribute on her first try?
The fact that it only appears for "specific individuals" and the na "Abyssal Princess" practically spelled out that it was tailored for Lumine herself!
Immunity to ntal debuffs, mastery over Abyssal power, and a full doubling of attributes… This attribute was absolutely outrageous. Nolan had to admit he was a bit envious. It seed he'd need to try harder to get himself a similarly strong attribute, refreshing until he found one that matched!
But for Lumine, there was no need to refresh; this attribute had imnse growth potential and was already perfect for her.
"Hmph! Now that you're done, could you move your hand away already?"
Lumine slapped his hand away in mild annoyance, clearly embarrassed by his lingering touch on her forehead. While it might have been fine at ho, being seen like this in public was a bit much.
"Ahem, it's done. You can take your ti to sense the changes yourself," Nolan said with a light cough, smiling nonchalantly.
"Mm."
Lumine nodded slightly. She already knew what attribute she had gained and felt a complicated mix of emotions.
It was an Abyssal power—sothing only those associated with the Abyss could control.
Curious, Lumine imdiately activated her "Abyssal Princess" state to see what it entailed.
In an instant, her appearance and aura underwent a drastic transformation. Her golden hair turned platinum white, her amber eyes beca dazzling gold, and her fair, rosy skin took on a crystalline, translucent sheen, like pure snow.
Her presence exuded an icy aloofness, as if she were an untouchable being from another world.
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"Wha—Lumine! What's happened to you? You look like a completely different person!"
Paimon shrank back in fear, hiding behind Nolan.
"Oh my, what a significant transformation," Yae Miko remarked, her lavender eyes glinting with intrigue. "Before, Lumine's strength was impressive but not enough to make feel threatened. Now, rely standing near her is enough to make my instincts scream."
She glanced at Nolan with a hint of curiosity. Could this little rascal's "Spiritual Core Attribute" be this powerful? If Ei were to receive one, could she perhaps surpass even the two great powers of Snezhnaya and Liyue?
The corners of Yae Miko's lips curled slightly in amusent. The idea was tempting.
Still, for now, the priority was to pull Ei back from the stagnant path of "Eternity."
Lumine only tested the state briefly before withdrawing from it, refraining from attempting to use Abyssal energy.
However, she did take a mont to sense the energy within her body. It was different from the Abyssal corruption she had encountered before, such as the force that had corrupted Dvalin. Her power was purer, completely under her control, and it did not clash with her three elental powers, allowing them to coexist seamlessly.
Realizing this, Lumine breathed a sigh of relief.
If she had gained the corruptive Abyssal power she knew from before, she would have demanded that Nolan replace the attribute imdiately! She was far too principled to rely on such dark forces.
"Whew, you turned back. So, how does it feel?"
Paimon let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Lumine revert to her normal self. She quickly flew closer, eager to hear about the experience.
Lumine rested her pale finger against her chin, pretending to ponder deeply. Then, with a serious expression, she said, "Hmm… how did it feel? When I transford, I felt like a world-destroying demon king. The mont I saw Paimon, I wanted to swallow her whole!"
With that, she lunged playfully toward Paimon.
"Ahhh! Paimon don't want to be eaten!" Paimon scread, flying away in a panic.
Halfway through her retreat, she realized that Lumine had already exited her transformation and wasn't going to eat her.
Paimon puffed up angrily, realizing she'd been tricked. She flew back, pinched Lumine's cheeks, and started pulling at them in revenge!
Both Nolan and Yae Miko couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.
After a bit of playful chaos, the group settled back down to eat. They continued to chat curiously about Lumine's transformation into the "Abyssal Princess."
After lunch, they took a brief rest before resuming their training with Yae Miko to learn techniques for countering Raiden Shogun.
Ti passed swiftly.
The sky turned from blue to golden, then to a soft, inky black.
When evening arrived, Nolan asked Yae Miko if she knew any secret techniques for invisibility.
She told him that without yokai power, he couldn't learn such techniques. However, she could craft talismans that would allow him to achieve similar effects.
Since talismans couldn't be upgraded or fused like skills, Nolan decided it wasn't worth troubling Yae Miko for them.
In the end, he resolved to find ti to learn ninjutsu from the Kamisato Clan and later seek out Yelan in Liyue to master her invisibility techniques.
Actually, it wasn't entirely impossible for him to acquire yokai power.
If he used the "Harmony" specialty on Yae Miko, he could take advantage of the "energy transfer" trait to directly borrow the yokai energy within her.
In this way, he would essentially cheat his way into acquiring yokai energy and could start learning yokai arts.
Unfortunately, the relationship between the two of them was still far from reaching that level, so he'd need to continue working on improving their bond.
---
The Next Day
Instead of continuing their theoretical studies at the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko decided to have them engage in actual combat training to test their learning progress.
After all, they were scheduled to et the Raiden Shogun tomorrow, and having no combat experience was out of the question.
The practical training consisted of Yae Miko simulating the Raiden Shogun's attacks, giving Nolan and Lumine the opportunity to practice dodging and countering.
Yae Miko, like the Shogun, wielded the power of Electro. Though her abilities weren't on the Shogun's level, and she didn't use a blade, her imnse strength alone was enough to put significant pressure on them.
This training was ant to provide at least a tiny bit of experience should they actually have to face the Raiden Shogun.
The training took place at the foot of the mountain and lasted until noon. Once Yae Miko saw that Nolan and Lumine could effortlessly dodge her attacks, she finally relaxed a bit.
She thought to herself that if Nolan had to stand before the Shogun, at least he might be able to survive a few more seconds.
In the event of a sudden confrontation, this could buy her and Lumine so ti.
In the afternoon, Yae Miko busied herself with preparing every last detail for Nolan's audience with the Shogun the next day, so they paused the training.
After all, they had already reached a decent level, and further improvent in such a short ti would be difficult.
Not wanting to waste the free ti, Nolan and Lumine decided to explore the area around Chinju Forest, checking for any hidden treasures or strong monsters.
Unfortunately, after a whole afternoon of exploration, they didn't find any treasures, nor did they encounter any formidable monsters.
The only surprise ca in the form of two stray Hydro Slis that approached them.
To be fair, Chinju Forest was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Narukami Shrine. It was likely that Yae Miko had tasked her yokai spirits or the shrine maidens to clear the area of dangerous creatures on a regular basis.
After all, if there were too many monsters around, it would deter visitors from coming to pray at the shrine.
That said, Paimon was delighted.
By noon, Nolan's "Spiritual Core" had once again filled with spiritual energy, allowing him to assign another attribute.
As promised, he gave this new trait to Paimon:
[Spiritual Core Attribute: Foodie Constitution]: This trait only appears in individuals who are passionate about food. Those who possess it gain the "Blessing of Cuisine" whenever they eat sothing that brings them happiness and satisfaction. The effect of the blessing varies depending on the quality of the food, and each dish can only grant a blessing once.
Compared to Lumine's [Abyss Princess] attribute, this one seed far more mundane.
But for Paimon, it was perfect—she could grow stronger simply by eating! A dream co true for any food lover.
After receiving the attribute, Paimon imdiately sought out one of the shrine maidens and asked for a serving of sakura mochi made with petals from the Sacred Sakura Tree.
After eating it, she felt a surge of happiness and delicious satisfaction, effortlessly obtaining the [Blessing of Sakura Mochi].
This blessing allowed Paimon to summon an illusory sakura mochi, which she could hurl at enemies to cause slight paralysis.
Using this newfound power, she paralyzed the two Hydro Slis and then defeated them with her signature "Paimon Cyclone" attack.
Having defeated monsters on her own for the first ti, Paimon was overjoyed.
To express her gratitude to Nolan for the attribute, she generously decided to cancel the fancy al he owed her from before. Furthermore, she even treated both Nolan and Lumine to dinner in Inazuma City, using her own Mora.
Nolan was touched beyond words—Paimon actually took the initiative to treat him to a al!
Of course, he had to agree—after all, Lumine had already activated the teleport waypoint at the Grand Narukami Shrine, so there was no worry about not being able to teleport back.
---
Another day passed, and it was finally the day for Nolan to et the Raiden Shogun.
Before setting off, Yae Miko handed him a talisman from the Grand Narukami Shrine. Normally, one cannot enter the "Plane of Euthymia" without the Raiden Shogun's permission.
After all, it was her inner world.
However, this talisman was different. It was imbued with Yae Miko's magic, allowing her to monitor Nolan's surroundings in real-ti.
In case he encountered any unusual situations upon entering the Plane of Euthymia, Yae Miko and Lumine could teleport inside to assist him imdiately.
It was an incredibly powerful safeguard.
In the original story, this talisman indeed played a critical role, so Nolan gladly accepted it as insurance.
---
That morning, the weather was clear and pleasant, neither too hot nor too cold.
Flocks of small songbirds were already chirping lodious tunes around the shrine, while Nolan, with Lumine's help, teleported to Inazuma City via the waypoint.
Lumine then returned to the Grand Narukami Shrine to stand by while Nolan headed to Tenshukaku alone.
After all, there was a chance things wouldn't escalate into a fight. If everything went smoothly, the matter could be resolved peacefully.
If a fight did break out, Lumine and Yae Miko could always join in to help.
---
Nolan strolled leisurely through the streets toward Tenshukaku. Along the way, the citizens of Inazuma gave him looks of admiration.
Clearly, they recognized him as the adventurer who had withstood the Musou no Hitotachi a few days prior.
Although Nolan was a humble and low-key person, he couldn't help but feel a bit pleased by their admiration.
Even his footsteps beca quicker and more confident, his stride brimming with energy.
Just as he approached the area near Tenshukaku, a notification popped up on his character interface:
[Fa Accumulated. Title "Outstanding Adventurer" Upgraded to "Legendary Adventurer."]
"Oh?" He glanced at the notification in mild surprise.
Nolan had always expected that he would eventually achieve the title of "Legendary Adventurer," but he hadn't thought it would happen so soon.
He opened the details of his new title to examine its effects:
[Legendary Adventurer: As an adventurer, your na and deeds are widely known and celebrated. From now on, you gain an additional 30% Adventure EXP when defeating powerful enemies.]
The bonus experience from defeating enemies had increased from 10% to 30%.
This boost t Nolan's expectations and would make it much easier to accumulate Adventure EXP in the future. It was tily, especially now that he was at level 90, where the Adventure EXP required for leveling up had increased tenfold.
The arrival of this new title was perfect.
Once he successfully got past the Raiden Shogun, he planned to hand over the "Sword God" to Jean and have "her" explore the Beast Realm(Abyss) alongside the Knights of Favonius, racking up Adventure EXP en masse.
Speaking of Acting Grand Master Jean, she was currently still in the "Wonderland" and would only return to her duties with the Knights of Favonius after his eting with the Raiden Shogun.
If things escalated into a fight, the "Land of Dandelions" skill tied to her affection was an indispensable trump card for dealing with the Shogun.
---
"Greetings, I have an appointnt with the Shogun," Nolan announced upon reaching the gates of Tenshukaku, only to be stopped by the guards of the Shogunate.
"Oh, so you're the adventurer who withstood the Shogun's strike? Incredible," one of the Shogunate guards exclaid before confirming Nolan's identity. "You may proceed. Soone ahead will guide you to the Shogun."
"Thank you," Nolan replied with a smile before stepping into Tenshukaku.
Guided by another Shogunate soldier inside, he walked quite a distance before finally reaching the location where he was to et the Raiden Shogun.
"The Shogun is inside. Please enter on your own," the escorting soldier said before returning to his post.
Nolan gave a slight nod, then pushed open the large doors before him.
(End of Chapter)
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