[With the death of the Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace, the colossal barrier covering the palace city gradually dissipated.]
[Under the clear moonlight, the palace city’s buildings had been reduced to rubble by the fierce battle. At the far end of the ruins near the city gate, firelight flickered, and distant sounds could be heard, clearly a large force approaching…]
[The Calamity Mage’s massive body shrank, and using Art of Transformation, it reverted to the appearance of a decrepit old man.]
[But the old man’s form was riddled with wounds, his robes soaked through with blood.]
[The Calamity Mage seed as if it wanted to say sothing to you, but its thin silhouette gradually turned transparent and vanished.]
[You knew this ant the summoning ti had ended. Having exhausted its strength, the Calamity Mage had no choice but to return to Dragon Marsh Temple.]
[Supported by the Valkyrie, the Ninja Master coughed incessantly. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, staining his collar.]
[He braced himself on the Dragon Sword, trying to help you flee, but his legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.]
[Ninjas were always extre in their offense but fragile in defense. Having repeatedly intercepted the shikigami’s fatal blows on behalf of the Calamity Mage, he was grievously injured and triggered his old ailnts.]
[Throughout the climactic battle, the Ninja Master had barely held on. Now that it was over, he finally could not stay conscious and fainted…]
Lin Xun knew that the battle in the palace city had been far too intense, and the colossal Absolute Barrier Seal of the Ten Directions was too conspicuous to go unnoticed.
Even if it was late at night, the city defense troops were neither blind nor deaf. That they had only now reached the palace was most likely due to the barrier’s obstruction.
Lin Xun recalled the Valkyrie and, without hesitation, pressed the possession option, seizing the Palace Master’s shell!
[You have possessed the shell of the Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace!]
[Do you want to take the Ninja Master and leave imdiately, or remain here?]
Of course, he chose the forr.
Although he now held the identity of the Palace Master of Iya Palace and might be able to rely on that status to remain safe, the Ninja Master was the instigator of this whole affair and would almost certainly be arrested by the city defense troops.
If he didn’t want to start a conflict, it was better to leave first.
[You have possessed the shell of the Fire-Worshipping Heartless Flow Chunin!]
[You carried the Ninja Master on your back and, using the cover of darkness, escaped beyond the palace walls…]
[…]
The escape was not as smooth as Lin Xun had imagined.
Outside the palace walls, the city defense troops had completely encircled the area, sentries posted every few paces, leaving not the slightest gap.
Lin Xun moved stealthily along different sections of the wall before finally discovering a narrow opening.
Because he was carrying soone, the Chunin could not use invisibility to slip away, and he nearly got spotted by a patrolling samurai.
Fortunately, although the Chunin’s overall strength was pitiful, he hadn’t neglected the core skills of a ninja.
He crept along, hiding in shadows and avoiding open spaces, and only reached the foot of the No-Illusions Shrine mountain after midnight.
With the Ninja Master on his back, he vaulted across roofs and walls, eventually climbing into a guest room at the Ka-maru Inn.
Just as he slipped through the window, he spotted an unconscious young woman lying inside the room.
Lin Xun’s mouth twitched. He tossed this ‘faithful young wife’ back into the neighboring room…
After settling the unconscious Ninja Master, he finally had a mont to examine his spoils.
Without a doubt, the greatest gain from the Iya Palace battle was the Palace Master’s shell. Eagerly, he opened the shell panel to check the attributes.
[Shell – Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace]
[True Na: Taira Genichi]
[Compatibility: 126% ( 55%) Compatibility has surpassed the critical threshold, shell quality increased!]
[Shell Quality: Legendary]
[Shell Level: 65]
[Shell Equipnt: Palace Master of Iya Palace Hunting Robes (Epic Armor): Splendid robes sewn from twilled silk, adorned with golden diagonal embroidery. Only the Palace’s most exalted master may wear them. While equipped, all Barrier Formation-type skills are greatly enhanced.]
[Shell Equipnt: Palace Master of Iya Palace Eboshi (Epic Armor): A tall black gauze cap made of moonweave silk, wide at the base and narrow at the top, embroidered with the yin-yang motif. While equipped, all Onmyo Talisman-type skills are greatly enhanced.]
[Shell Skill: Onmyo Talisman: United Resolve (Epic Skill): Slightly increases the power of your shikigami.]
[Shell Skill: Onmyo Talisman: Filth Purification Rebirth (Epic Skill): Massively increases shikigami power at the cost of overdrawing their source life force.]
[Shell Skill: Onmyo Talisman: Karmic Inferno Descent (Epic Skill): Fires a small cluster of pitch-black karmic flas, severely burning enemies.]
[Shell Skill: Barrier Formation: Absolute Barrier Seal of the Ten Directions (Legendary Skill): Creates an immovable golden barrier to protect a chosen target. Until the barrier breaks, all damage to the target is nullified.]
[Shell Skill: Onmyo Arts: Exorcism Decree (Legendary Skill): Allows you to rge with the spirits of suppressed yokai or liberated oni, subduing them as your shikigami. Current Decree Slots: 0/5.]
[The effects of Onmyo Talisman, Barrier Formation, and Onmyo Arts skills are all influenced by the ‘Karmic Fire’ stack count. The higher the stack, the stronger the skill effects.]
Lin Xun browsed for a long ti, finally reviewing all of the Palace Master’s equipnt and skills in detail.
Not only did this Legendary-quality shell boast a staggering level of 65, it also ca with two pieces of equipnt and five skills, the weakest among them still Epic-tier, with two even reaching Legendary status.
However, such an overwhelming shell also had a clear limitation, it required the special ‘Karmic Fire’ attribute…
Since joining the Chaotic Origin Dragon Oath, Lin Xun’s Karmic Fire attribute had never increased, remaining stuck at the fourth stack.
To advance it further, he might have no choice but to defect to the Ancient Heavenly Enma faction…
Becoming an Oathbreaker was definitely not a good idea. The little dragonkin’s yokai skills were all tied to Dragon Embryo. Changing factions would an giving up any further improvent of the Dragon Embryo.
“Can’t have your cake and eat it too…”
He let out a long sigh, then began cursing the damned ga’s faction chanics.
After grumbling for quite a while, he suddenly rembered Amateru Sakiina’s special quest.
At present, both the Ancient Heavenly Enma and Chaotic Origin Dragon deities were secretly under the control of the Extre Delusion Fruit.
If he could unite the two factions and shift their relationship from hostility to alliance, maybe there was a chance to raise both special attributes.
Lin Xun’s eyes lit up. That just might work.
Children were the ones who made choices, adults naturally wanted it all.
Though he understood the crux of the matter, actually uniting the two factions would require going to Sakura Falls’ Kyoto to find the Great General…
He kept browsing his panel to check the attributes of the three powerful shikigami.
But the panel showed absolutely no information about them.
He opened the Palace Master’s panel again, and in the Exorcism Decree skill entry, the slots for housing shikigami were clearly listed as 0/5!
“Where are my three shikigami? Damned ga, are you kidding ?!”
Obviously, the three powerful shikigami had perished along with the Palace Master’s soul.
Earlier, when the Ninja Master killed the Vice Palace Master, that one’s Karasu Tengu had also disappeared for the sa reason.
The Exorcism Decree skill’s description of ‘spirit rging’ was likely akin to a soul contract. Because of the soul binding, when the master’s soul was annihilated, the shikigami had to die with them.
“If a trainer loses all their Pokémon, what the hell are they supposed to fight with?!”
Lin Xun couldn’t help but grind his teeth in frustration, wanting nothing more than to curse this damned ga a hundred tis over to vent his anger.
“Wait, didn’t I still have a yokai I haven’t subdued yet?”
He quickly opened his inventory and looked at the reward he’d won in the Shikigami Ritual Assembly.
[Snow Woman’s Suppression Token (Item): Click this item to release the unsurrendered Origin-Tracing Snow Woman of the Mountain. Click again to recall the Snow Woman. Remaining recall uses: 3/3.]
“The Snow Woman… huh, why did that suddenly make think of widows?”
Lin Xun shook his head hard, banishing those wicked thoughts.
The inn guest room was no place to release an untad yokai. After thinking for a mont, he decided to carry out his ‘Snow Woman Subjugation Plan’ in the wilderness outside the city.
He summoned the wounded Valkyrie to guard the still-unconscious Ninja Master.
Lin Xun slipped out of the inn alone, using stealth skills to move unseen.
Perhaps because of the Iya Palace battle, most of the samurai on patrol had been redeployed, so his departure from the city was surprisingly easy.
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