Chapter 364

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 364: A Passing Ordinary International Friend

Having mentioned the transcendence of heroic spirits countless times before, it is now time to add a few more words.

In many countries, ceremonies and rituals are held, as people seek out heroic spirits.

All the heroic spirits were reincarnations of great leaders, akin to the reemergence of emperors. They were born with immense supernatural abilities, much like possessing the ‘Supreme Bone’ and ‘Profound Pupils’ that could be easily perceived with just a glance.

In the Ming Country, a grand ceremony called the "Mount Tai Enfeoffment Ceremony" is conducted, derived from the concept of Mount Tai Enthronement. All eligible boys and girls across the nation, aged from ten to twelve, will be sent for examination. This process lasts for three years and attendance is mandatory. On the other hand, Yingzhou employs the "Mount Tai Prefect Sacrificial Rite," where the Mount Tai Prefect is revered as the supreme deity of the underworld. Through the ritual, the reincarnated heroic spirit can be quickly identified and located.

This kind of test has an error rate of less than one in a hundred million, which is almost negligible. Each time the test is conducted, there may not even be millions of eligible children, making it highly unlikely for any mistakes or omissions to occur.

In the Ming Country, an ceremony was held to find two new generation second-grade heroic spirits, guaranteeing the discovery of two formidable reserves of power that could be used for deterrence.

Yingzhou, on the other hand, had a more tragic situation. In recent decades, no new generation heroic spirits have been discovered there. The entire situation relied solely on the support of the Shogun to maintain appearances.

Fortunately, the higher-grade heroic spirit had a long lifespan, able to protect and nurture the development of Yingzhou for many years. However, the downside was that the burden of overseeing Yingzhou fell solely on the shoulders of the Shogun. Balancing the responsibilities of governance, implementing steady reforms, and countering foreign spies became a daunting task. In the early days of assuming the position, the Shogun worked tirelessly, leading the charge in exhausting overtime and promoting a culture of overwork within the entire administration. This drive propelled Yingzhou towards modernization and industrialization. The esteemed higher-grade heroic spirit, worn out from these efforts, withdrew into seclusion at the top of Osaka Castle for the past three years, since witnessing the initial results.

In the end, it all came down to Yingzhou’s shortcomings.

In another country, could a heroic spirit of such high standing suffer like this? No, it simply didn’t exist.

However, the Shogun wanted to delegate power, but no one was able to handle it. There wasn’t even a second-grade heroic spirit available to take on the responsibility.

Until this moment, Saki Jingūji appeared.

The fact that she possessed the Heroic Spirit Principle couldn’t be hidden. Ever since the incident in the mountains, she had been questioned and troubled by it.

Saki Jingūji, a humble shrine worker, had no desire to become a revered heroic spirit. She was content with her daily routine at the shrine, battling monsters. However, as time went on, her heroic spirit lineage began to awaken, reaching a point where it could no longer be concealed.

Especially after being returned this time, to ensure she wasn’t corrupted by the dark aura of the Underworld, Blossom of Life Taker bloomed fully throughout. The other person took a tube of blood to be tested, and when the results came in, it startled everyone. Huh, there was no blood at all, only Blossom of Life Taker.

As the age of information technology gradually arrived, a phone call could be made from Shikoku to Hokkaido, and news could not be hidden at all.

Surely, the shogun must have already known, but he had yet to make any public statement. The shrine priests remained here, guarding the place with utmost caution, for this very reason.

As for Bai Wei, he had already anticipated this outcome early on, but upon seeing the reaction of the group of people, he also found it a bit exaggerated.

It’s not like I’m in charge, so what’s the fuss about?

When he acted as the emperor, he single-handedly crushed a total of five second-grade heroic spirits on the battlefield. These five spirits were regarded as guardian deities by five different nations, boasting incredible combat prowess. Once they stepped onto the battlefield, they would either be blown up in mid-air or kneel and worship before being defeated.

In the memories, possessing a formidable second-grade heroic spirit was undoubtedly a rarity. For example, there was the second-generation saintess of the Sacred Religion, Cecilia, who held the title of ‘Restraint,’ one of the Seven Virtues. Her ability was sealing, exerting indiscriminate suppression over the mysteries of both allies and enemies.

Bai Wei thought that the saintess’s ability was incredibly useful on the battlefield, so he recruited her from the Sacred Religion.

Under the Pope’s crown, her restraint is formidable. Now she belongs to me.

Of course, the saintess would never surrender to the Empire, so Bai Wei instilled in her progressive ideas, helping her see through the essence of things. As a result, she had an awakening and immediately turned red.

Unfortunately, this saintess, though strong, remained a subordinate.

She, along with the third saintess, fought against the invasion of the Sacred Religion, buying time for the resistance army. They died under the watchful gaze of the Supreme Deity of the Sacred Religion.

The two saintesses never wavered in their faith from beginning to end. When the projection of the Supreme Will appeared, they willingly gave up their resistance and met their demise with grace and generosity.

This was the most regrettable sacrifice for Bai Wei, and it was also the first time he entertained the speculation that the Supreme Will might have…

The strength of a second-grade heroic spirit is truly limited, to the extent that even bullying ordinary legends could potentially end in disaster.

Ultimately, the Heroic Spirit Principle is a remnant from a previous life. If in this lifetime one cannot achieve a corresponding breakthrough or develop an effective set of unbeatable ruffian battle techniques, they will never be able to dominate and rampage like a crab.

After multiple tests, it became evident that the strength of the Fairy Principle was not particularly exceptional among the numerous Heroic Spirit Principles. Additionally, considering Saki Jingūji’s innate temperament unsuited for conflict, her ability to shine and thrive in the shrine was just right. Forcing her to succeed the general in the shogunate would only result in her contemplating moving to a foreign country within two weeks at most. She had never endured such hardship before.

Bai Wei expressed his doubts precisely because of this simple reasoning.

Of course, after all, being a heroic spirit, it was only a matter of time before complete awakening and reaching the next level. Clinging onto their coattails, achieving great success, the idea was indeed correct.

Belonging to the normal thinking of someone who sees high-quality stocks about to take off and decides to invest along with them.

Unfortunately, there were no more stocks available on the market, so they thought of carrying out transactions outside the market.

So at this moment, those with ulterior motives became particularly noticeable.

"Do you need me to provide a cover for you?" Yoshine Ise asked. "At a time like this, the name of Ise Shrine can still be quite useful."

Bai Wei politely declined, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, but I don’t like pretending to be strong when I’m not."

Igarashi Shimizu asked, "The other party will surely stop you, are you planning to fight back?"

Bai Wei pressed the elevator button and thought, "Why has it come to this? I am a civilized person, after all."

"We’ll see you off," Yoshine Ise added kindly.

"No need, both of you stay in the hospital and rest well," Bai Wei stepped onto the elevator and gave a respectful bow, saying, "Farewell for now."

After politely declining several times, the two sword witches also hesitated to follow her.

Igarashi Shimizu looked at her reflection in the window and said, "Did I forget to put on makeup today? Am I not pretty enough, and that’s why people don’t like me?"

She took a few deep breaths and said, "I don’t have bad breath… I just ate two mint candies a moment ago."

"It’s not because of that," Yoshine Ise said. "Maybe it has something to do with Jingūji, or perhaps… he doesn’t want to get involved with us," she added.

"I know, why do you have to say it out loud? It’s really hurtful to someone’s self-esteem," Igarashi Shimizu sighed softly. "I know sword witches don’t have good luck with the opposite gender, it’s normal for them to avoid me, but can’t I hold on to a little bit of hope?"

Yoshine Ise pressed the button. "Let’s go back," she said. "Mr. Bai doesn’t want to stay with us, so there’s no need to trouble him anymore."

Igarashi Shimizu whispered, "I just don’t quite understand."

Yoshine Ise opened the book in her hands and said, "Actually, I can understand."

"What did you understand?"

"Just like reading a book," Yoshine Ise said as she flipped through the pages. "I haven’t finished this romance novel yet, so I’m very curious to know the rest of the story."

Igarashi Shimizu, who didn’t understand, asked naturally, "So, what happened next?"

Ise said, "But imagine this, if there was a book that when you opened it, there was only one page with crooked handwriting that said, ‘I want to know more about you, I think I like you, I want to talk to you more.’ Would you still want to read it?"

"Such books don’t exist…" Shimizu persisted, or rather, struggled to admit.

Yoshine Ise pulled out a brochure of tourist attractions. "Here, there are pictures and words, each line telling you ‘This place is great, come visit!’ But would you really be interested in such stacked-up words?"

Igarashi Shimizu understood and said, feeling downhearted and deflated, "So, it turns out that I am a brochure, and Mr. Bai is a romance novel."

Yoshine Ise flipped through the book. "So I was very curious about the stories that followed, as well as the stories from his past. This curiosity perhaps occupied most of my thoughts."

"And what about you? Are you also a flyer?"

It doesn’t matter whether I am a flyer or not. What matters is, in his eyes, whether I am a flyer… Everyone is like a book, everyone is changeable. The cover and content of a book change every day. Some people find it interesting with just a glance, while others casually throw it aside. Ise pressed the first floor button in the elevator. "It’s just that we didn’t have enough affinity, right?"

Shimizu bent down and whispered, "I understand now… You’re actually comforting yourself."

"Not at all!"

Shimizu and I played around in the elevator for a while. With a cheerful ding, we arrived at the first floor. The elevator doors opened, and Shimizu pushed the wheelchair into the hospital lobby.

The two sword witches, who were usually full of laughter and banter, were taken aback when they both unexpectedly saw the scene in the first-floor lobby.

Afterward, wanting to confirm if they had made a mistake, they glanced at each other, and once they confirmed that the scenery before them was not an illusion.

The blood pressure of the two sword witches suddenly skyrocketed.

Her delicate face was filled with a deep-seated anger, her power surged, and her dark hair fluttered in disarray.

"What are you guys up to, you bunch of rascals?!"

…

In the hospital lobby, a mechanical spirit and a fiery serpent occupied almost half of the floor.

The target aimed at the passing ordinary international friend.

Bai Wei faced these seemingly intimidating paper tigers without expression.

Onmyoji, they are also a group of onmyoji… No, onmyoji practitioners.

Kashihara Shrine had declined to the point where it needed to rely on an alliance with Onmyoryou to maintain its power, or rather, both were like dying insects seeking warmth in a group.

After all, they were both outdated institutions on the verge of decline, so it was only natural for them not to be willing to give up at the sight of the last glimmer of a possible revival.

But… what does this have to do with me, a passerby from the Ming Country?

"You’ve got the wrong person," Bai Wei said, "The heroic spirit is up there."

"Do not try to deceive me! I am never mistaken, hand over the object!"

"Bai Wei, what thing? Is it a dog thing?" Bai Wei said, "Isn’t that right in front of me?"

The middle-aged man shouted, "It’s hidden within you! How dare you steal the crystallized power of the Heroic Spirit Principle? You have an audacity beyond measure! I cannot let you escape!"