Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1520 1492. Essence
Being able to wield a weapon without injuring yourself is a skill that requires training.

Because when ordinary people first get hold of a weapon, they probably don't have much perception of its length, distance, and blade position.

Maybe when making a sword flower, he only looked at his wrist, and as a result, the extended sword blade was swung towards his face during the rotation.

They were still so unfamiliar with their own bodies, not to mention the two swords in their hands.

It takes an experienced person to make them dance rapidly without hindering each other or hurting themselves.

People who can dual wield weapons usually have pretty good basic skills.

Ah Xiu can maintain the coordinated operation of the two swords during continuous, rapid and intensive attacks such as the [Lower Stage Stance], and can do this even more easily with the [Great Upper Stage] stance that emphasizes strength over speed.

The two swords swung in tandem, and every movement brought with it the sound of two sharp blades cutting through tough flesh.

The demon's forehead, which no longer had its horns, was chopped off vertically so hard that only bone fragments could be seen.

At the same time, the other knife swung horizontally and cut more than half of the depth into its muscular arm, which was thicker than an ordinary person's waist.

The structure of [Da Shang Duan] emphasizes strength and compromises on fluidity. There are only three movements in one round of attack, totaling six swords.

It was these six sword strikes that cut off half of the demon's face and split its neck in half when the demon was weakened by the loss of its demonic energy.

The shoulders on both sides were completely cut, exposing the bone sockets.

There was no chance to relax the demonic energy of the ghost at all. Ah Xiu controlled her strength carefully. After six strikes, even the last bit of stubborn demonic energy in the ghost's body was chopped out.

The whole monster knelt on the ground.

Just like when he dealt with the bull-headed ghost before, Ah Xiu put away his two swords and reached behind his waist.

She drew out the short knife that was shining with golden light and had her name engraved on it.

With a "swish", it stabbed into the demon's heart, which was exposed on the side of his ribs because his arms were supporting the ground.

The force of the stab almost pushed the demon's body up, its mouth with protruding fangs opened wide, but it could not even make a roar.

Its claws with red skin and twisted muscles were hanging not far above Ah Xiu's head.

It seemed like I could explode this hateful human’s fragile head in one blow!

But the golden dagger seems to be particularly effective against monsters!
Ah Xiu's technique is also quite skilled.

The claw wouldn't come down no matter what, and the half-demon had already twisted the handle of the dagger, cut a big hole in it, and then suddenly drew back the knife.

The demon fell heavily to the ground, and after a moment, dissipated into black mist.

The golden light quickly floated to the short knife at A Xiu's lower back.

"If I had come a little later, you wouldn't have been able to hold on."

On the wooden floor of the temple that had been nearly broken by Lan En's steps, the witcher spoke as he looked at the pale-faced village chief who was almost fainting from exhaustion.

The village chief priest, who should be called "Gosaku" according to what Lan En heard from Daisuke Kikuchi, was standing unsteadily at this moment, and he barely managed to sit down after trembling.

The Kagura and the prayers just now in the darkness seemed to drain him dry.

And if Lan En and the others had not arrived in time, the ape-ghost, which was strong enough to release Chang'an, would have definitely eaten them alive.

"The sacred cherry tree." The village chief looked pale and was still sweating profusely, but he only kept saying one thing to Lan En, "The sacred tree, huff~ There must be something wrong with the sacred tree!"

"I just felt it! It must be the power of the sacred tree that is weakening!"

"Don't worry about us. There are no monsters here anymore. Please! Please go and check out the sacred tree! It's the lifeblood of the village!"

The two children came out timidly from the side of the shrine. They looked at Lan En with a little fear, but still ran to the village chief and sensibly supported him from behind.

"Boss, we've dealt with all the little monsters, meow!"

The voice of Elu Cat and the sound of silent footsteps sounded at the same time, and A Xiu and the fluffy ball walked over on the wooden floor of the temple.

After listening to the village chief's words, the two of them turned around and continued on their way.

But after taking two steps, he turned around in confusion and looked at Lan En who had not moved.

"Meow?"

The kitten's questioning voice and the half-demon's puzzled gaze came at the same time.

Lan En still kept his head down, looking at the pale-faced village chief with scrutiny.

"How did it come to this?"

The witcher suddenly asked.

"What?" The village chief looked up blankly, then sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. Since you left, the village is still not clean and has a foul smell. And today..."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Lan En interrupted the village chief's narration, "Someone came here specifically to kill people. I know, and I have already dealt with him."

"What I'm saying is, why has the situation here suddenly become so bad?"

"Even if the monsters are attracted by filth, it will take time!"

"That ape ghost just now should be a monster that came out of the mountains. I believe there must be such things in the mountains. Long-lived apes have become monsters."

"But what about the bull-headed ghost in the village cemetery?" The village chief suddenly looked up with a look of astonishment: "What did you say?!"

"There is a minotaur in the cemetery that can shroud the entire cemetery in darkness." Lan En repeated it again, emphasizing it. "That is not something that can appear naturally in the wild!"

"It wears armor that fits it, and holds a weapon that fits it."

"That's a monster that came straight from the underworld, right?"

Even under the best of circumstances it takes time for filth to spread and spread.

And if it is just pure [filth], it can't even last long. It will only be after the monsters are attracted and the monsters emit stubborn evil spirits in the environment.

Pollution can only steadily expand and deepen.

How could there be a situation where the village gate was breached in the afternoon and a bull-headed ghost crawled out from the underworld at night?
There are less than a hundred people in this village. If they were all dead and turned into wild souls out of resentment, it wouldn't be of such a serious consequence!
"So, tell me." Lan En lowered his head and stared into the village chief's eyes. "Why did it develop to this point?"

"." In the silent breathing, the village chief's tall priest hat was tilted, but after this period of silence, he raised his eyes and spoke to Lan En.

"Mr. Lan En, do you know about spirit stones?"

【Spirit Stone】

Lan En remembered the horn on the ape demon's head that he had just chopped off. The golden crystal horn was now lying in the alchemical leather bag on his lower back.

Put it together with the ones I broke off earlier on Jiulin Mountain.

According to Bai Ze, these are two spirit stones.

But until now, Bai Ze has not had the chance to tell him what the [Spirit Stone] is.

"You mean [Spirit Stone]?"

Lan En did not give a direct answer. He answered the question with a question in a subtle and natural way.

"The essence of life, the power of essence, or as those southern barbarians call it, the Philosopher's Stone, the Panacea."

It seemed that he felt that there was no need to be so serious at this point.

The village chief pulled the string under his priest's tall hat and threw the hat aside while speaking.

"As long as you have these golden stones, you can do whatever you want. That's what the southern barbarians say, but I think it's too exaggerated."

"The [Spirit Stone] is indeed the essence of power born from life, but if you don't know how to use it, you will only recklessly turn into a monster."

"It sounds like," Lan En crossed his arms and looked at the village chief, "you seem to know some correct usage?"

"When I was young, I was called 'Gosaku who travels around'. It was during my pilgrimage that I learned a trick at an old shrine in Owari."

The village chief nodded heavily.

"That is a spell that can use spirit stones to easily take care of the livestock within range."

Lan En nodded. It seemed that this was the special feature of the Thirteen Sakura Village, which had become famous and had damaged the profits of Changzai Temple.

The cattle and horses here can easily work without losing weight.

Normally speaking, once they start working, it is normal for large animals such as cows and horses to lose more than ten pounds a day.

It is precisely because of this advantage that Shisanzakura Village has become an inn-type village that can support villagers even without much farming.

"But since you said that there are bull-headed ghosts in the cemetery, then it can only be my fault!"

As he spoke, a heavy bitter smile appeared on the village chief's face.

"Spiritual stones are the essence of life. They may occasionally be scattered in the world, but if you want to obtain them stably, you have to let your life disappear. Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't kill anyone!"

Seeing Lan En's dangerous eyes narrowed slightly, the village chief waved his hands repeatedly.

"I killed cows and horses. This spell only allows the livestock to grow well and not lose weight! It doesn't require so many spirit stones, okay!"

But in the end, he lowered his head and looked at the Shinto priest's clothes on himself, the temple where his family had lived and repaired for generations, and his grandson who was supporting him with a surprised look on his face.

There was also a dead man in the courtyard, wearing Shinto priest's clothes and looking 50% like him.

"Hey~"

He let out the heaviest sigh yet.

"But no matter what, as a priest who is supposed to balance yin and yang, I shouldn't use things like [Spirit Stones] to disrupt the balance. I just, I just want the village to get better. But now, the retribution for abusing Spirit Stones has finally come."

"The village must have been filled with a lot of foul energy and resentment, the resentment of the livestock I killed to shape the spirit stones. It erupted today."

After saying this, the village chief neatly gathered up his scattered clothes and hair.

He walked towards Lan En in a proper manner, kneeling down from his seat.

"Resentment erupts, it's a man-made disaster, it's retribution. You can say whatever you want, but now that things have come to this, I only ask you to save the sacred cherry tree and leave a shelter for the village."

"For the village? What are you going to do?"

"I am no longer worthy of being a priest." The village chief did not raise his head. "I will set out on a pilgrimage again, and I will exorcise the resentment and filth along the way as atonement for using the spirit stone to disrupt the balance."

(End of this chapter)