Chapter 21: Interlude: The Shrine and the Inheritance

PS: This chapter is mainly dialogue with little substance; it serves as supplementary explanation for some matters, so I opened a separate chapter. The next chapter of the main text will be updated soon.

Only after a soul possessing supernatural abilities dies can it be integrated into Uesugi Muneyuki's Dharma Body as an Incarnation Technique through a parasitic method; furthermore, if Uesugi Muneyuki has need of it, he can retain the soul to communicate with him.

Communication also requires consuming the soul's energy and "Courage," so it cannot be done at all times. When Uesugi Muneyuki does not need the soul, they will fall into a deep sleep to recover Soul Power.

This determines that the communication time between Uesugi Muneyuki and the old Shrine Maiden Kurosawa is limited, and since this old hag's attention has always been on other things, it was only after Uesugi Muneyuki emphasized it repeatedly that Ms. Kurosawa reluctantly answered his questions.

【What exactly is the Inner World like? How did you learn supernatural abilities?】

Uesugi Muneyuki first asked the question he was most interested in.

【I don't know. My master taught me seriously back then, but I didn't remember anything.】 Ms. Kurosawa shook her head lazily: 【In short, the Inner World is a place very similar to the real world. We entered it through a special method. It is exactly the same as Kurosawa Shrine, the only difference being that the visibility is very poor; I couldn't see the area outside the shrine, and my master wouldn't let me go out either.】

【My Diamond Dharma was learned in the Inner World, but I don't remember how I learned it anymore.】 Ms. Kurosawa continued: 【Anyway, it wasn't very pleasant, and I didn't study it seriously. Once I could sense a little bit of strange power, I felt I had mastered it.】

【As it happens, my master told me that the Inner World is a dangerous place, so since I said I had mastered it, she didn't take me in again.】

Uesugi Muneyuki hung his head, speechless.

Her mind is already full of the debauchery of Tokyo, isn't it?

【Did your master talk about anything else regarding this?】 Uesugi Muneyuki could only continue to press: 【For example, about Barriers? Or the source of supernatural abilities and such?】

【All I know is that supernatural abilities must be learned in the Inner World; once you've learned them, it doesn't matter anymore. As for Barriers, my master only told me... uh, let me think.】

Ms. Kurosawa racked her brains, hunching her body in great discomfort, forcing herself to pull away from decades of wonderful memories—indulging in nightlife, visiting host clubs, skiing three times a year, flying to Hawaii twice, shopping for new arrivals at boutique fashion stores on the Champs-Élysées in Paris once, endless Hakone hot springs, Michelin-starred candlelight dinners, high-end sushi restaurants, Chanel perfume, and Harrington jewelry—to recall the boring and desolate cultivation life of her youth.

【Oh right, my master once said that the Barrier is for guarding dead gods. These dead gods are both the source of danger and the source of supernatural abilities.】 Ms. Kurosawa thought for a long time before suddenly realizing: 【Do you know? My master told me that there were some legendary figures in ancient times in history, and they were all "gods" once!】

【Any specifics?】 Uesugi Muneyuki raised an eyebrow; he had finally reached the point.

【I don't know.】 Ms. Kurosawa shook her head.

【Then do you know what god the Kurosawa Shrine Barrier is guarding?】 Uesugi Muneyuki pressed further.

【I don't know.】 Ms. Kurosawa still shook her head.

【Then your Dharma method...】

【I don't remember, I don't know where it was passed down from.】 The old Shrine Maiden continued to shake her head with an indifferent face: 【My master didn't seem to care much either.】

And you call yourself a successor of a shrine!

You haven't inherited a damn thing!

Uesugi Muneyuki was simply speechless at this old Shrine Maiden.

But he still understood Ms. Kurosawa's choice. To put it bluntly, the wealth created by a modern industrial and commercial society is unimaginable to ancient times, and for these ancient professions, the temptation is even more fatal. It is understandable that Ms. Kurosawa did not have the mindset of "the shrine's inheritance is my responsibility," and she did her best to give back to her hometown after using supernatural abilities to play the stock market and make money.

Having asked enough about the Barrier and the shrine, and with Ms. Kurosawa unable to remember anything else, Uesugi Muneyuki hurriedly asked another question he was interested in: 【Have you ever encountered other supernatural ability users?】

【If you mean face-to-face, the answer is none at all.】 Ms. Kurosawa smiled: 【I have lived for sixty-five years and mastered the Vajra Cutter Dharma for fifty years; the only other person I know who possesses supernatural abilities like me is my master.】

【But speaking of this, my master did tell me that I must do everything possible to avoid being known by others.】 Ms. Kurosawa concluded: 【So I never told anyone. In the years I played the stock market, I moved every year or two. Looking back, when stocks were hottest, I was divining every day. After doing that for two years, I encountered strange people investigating near my house, so I moved away immediately...】

【After playing the stock market for a few years, I used up most of my power. You should know, little handsome guy, that supernatural power does not recover; the more you use it, the less you have. I used it all on stocks.】

【I see.】 Uesugi Muneyuki understood. He had one last question: 【Then, how much do you know about the Kanto Shrine Alliance? Could there be other super-powered individuals inside?】

【Unfortunately, I don't know. My master handled all those things.】 Ms. Kurosawa chuckled and shook her head in embarrassment: 【Maybe there are one or two, but it's not public internally. I have also traveled to many shrines in Kanto, and I can confirm that 95% of the shrines have already lost their inheritance.】

【Understood.】 Ms. Kurosawa's Soul Power was already very weak before his eyes. Uesugi Muneyuki asked the final question: 【Then look at me now...】

【Don't go, they have many people!】 Ms. Kurosawa immediately shook her head: 【Little handsome guy, with just your current skills, you're just waiting to die if you go in. You must use the Diamond Dharma I taught you to fight the enemy.】

【I never practiced any combat methods, and I don't understand martial arts or Kendo at all, but even someone like me, little handsome guy, is not someone you can rival right now.】

【There's still a little time, visualize an incarnation and attack me.】

When Ms. Kurosawa died, she was old and frail, and the supernatural power in her body was completely exhausted; to fight normally, she had to borrow it from Uesugi Muneyuki.

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded. Visualizing an incarnation required consuming a lot of Courage, but he had to know what he was worth.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Muneyuki immediately consumed a large amount of Courage to create an incarnation. In front of the Aizen Myoo Golden Body Dharma Image, he lunged straight at Ms. Kurosawa's Dead Soul incarnation in his visualization.

Ms. Kurosawa was unhurried. As Uesugi Muneyuki lunged over, she seized the moment to raise her right hand, lifting her forearm exactly into the path of Uesugi Muneyuki's attack, easily blocking his wild assault.

【Vajra Cutter! See through!】

This attack felt like shoving his arm into Uesugi Muneyuki's face, but under the blessing of the Diamond Dharma, Ms. Kurosawa's Dead Soul was as immovable as a mountain and as hard as iron. Uesugi Muneyuki could do nothing about her forearm. Just as he was about to attack again, Ms. Kurosawa had already used her left hand to force Uesugi Muneyuki's body to the other side, while simultaneously swinging her right hand, her index finger hardened and accurately pointing at Uesugi Muneyuki's temple.

【You still need to practice, little handsome guy.】 Ms. Kurosawa laughed strangely: 【Just relying on brute force is useless. Go learn some martial arts; otherwise, if this strike had gone in, your brains would have already sprayed out. You learned my Diamond Upholding Dharma, so you know how hard this is.】

The index finger pressing slightly into his temple made Uesugi Muneyuki's forehead veins bulge from the pain. Under the blessing of the Dharma method, the hardness of Ms. Kurosawa's finger was astonishing. If this had really struck in, even if his head hadn't been pierced, his skull would certainly have cracked.

【Without techniques to coordinate, you can't beat anyone. Go find a formidable martial arts master.】 Ms. Kurosawa had already exhausted all her Soul Power by this time: 【Practice more techniques, then combine them with the Dharma method I gave you; only then will you have a glimmer of hope when facing those monsters.】

【I am deeply grateful!】

I checked, the Japanese were indeed rich once.

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(End of chapter)