Tokyo: My Hundred Demon Scroll

Even for the three-tailed fox, who is a demon, the Sky Fox is a legendary existence: "Eight hundred years ago, the Spirit Fox and the Demon Fox were of equal strength. Eight hundred years later, the Demon Fox continues to grow stronger, while the Spirit Fox will become weaker and weaker."

"But when they reached the Celestial Fox Realm, even the six-tailed fox demon, which had also cultivated for 1,600 years, was no match for them."

It can be said that, given the same amount of training time, the Celestial Fox is stronger than the Demon Fox.

Upon reaching the Void Fox Realm, perhaps only Tamamo-no-Mae, the most unique among the Nine-Tailed Foxes, could defeat them.

Just like the three-tailed fox said, there are two kinds of nine-tailed foxes: one is called Tamamo-no-Mae, and the other is called other nine-tailed foxes.

Chapter 26 The Four Heavenly Kings of Wild Fox Zen

"The Mitsuchi family, which we are going to visit today, enshrines a celestial fox that has cultivated for thousands of years."

Grandpa told everyone the purpose of their visit, and the three-tailed fox's eyes widened: "Celestial Fox? But, wasn't it said that we were going to reinforce the seal?"

"Yes, a celestial fox that has been sealed away."

"Is it so powerful?"

Gu Yun asked curiously, "This family is incredibly powerful to be able to seal the Heavenly Fox."

"It's really great."

There seemed to be a deeper meaning in Grandpa's smile. Gu Yun felt that the purpose of this trip was not simply for this commission.

"Hundreds of years ago, the Celestial Fox wreaked havoc in the mortal world, summoning a hundred ghosts to parade in broad daylight and disrupting the order of the human world."

"Finally, with the help of the gods, the ancestors of the Mitsuchi family sealed away the Heavenly Fox and guarded it for generations."

If it can summon a hundred demons to parade at night, then this celestial fox can be called a 'great demon' even if it is classified as a demon.

Moreover, even the gods intervened, which shows just how powerful the Heavenly Fox of the Mitsuchi family is.

"But don't worry."

Grandpa smiled and said, "The Celestial Fox has been sealed for hundreds of years, and its power is no longer as strong as it used to be."

The power of the spirit fox comes from the offerings of all living beings and the spiritual energy of nature.

The existence of the sealing barrier prevented the celestial fox from absorbing spiritual energy.

So after hundreds of years, the current Heavenly Fox, having broken free of its seal, is probably only at the level of a lower-level demon.

"Unless it chooses to completely transform into a demon, it won't cause any trouble."

Although the spirit fox lost a lot of spiritual power, its foundation was still there, just like an empty bucket.

The real crisis would be if the Celestial Fox chose to corrupt spiritual power, turning it into demonic power, and then recklessly absorbed all the curses and resentment that filled the era.

"impossible."

The three-tailed fox directly denied this possibility, explaining to everyone, "For a celestial fox, absorbing demonic power is like making a human drink sewage."

People would never drink dirty sewage unless they were forced to.

“Miss Three-Tailed Fox is right,” Grandpa said. “Even if the Celestial Fox were to break free of its seal, it would not collude with demons.”

The Celestial Fox is, after all, a spirit fox. Even if it does evil, it will at most play pranks and would never easily take human lives.

"Alright, Miss Three-Tailed Fox, please conceal yourself."

The group arrived at the station and boarded the tram bound for Mitsugawa. An old man led a girl and a boy, just like a grandfather taking his grandchildren on an outing.

Soon after, the grandfather, grandfather, and grandson arrived at their destination before evening.

Mitsugawa Station is situated in the middle of a field, and the platform is quite shabby, with a rusty bench, a metal sign with the platform name, and so simple that it doesn't even have a light bulb.

"Oh dear, thank you so much for your help this time, Ms. Iijima."

The person who came to greet the Iijima family was an elderly woman. She was hunched over, with her hands behind her back, and she was wearing a red and white shrine maiden outfit.

"Long time no see, Granny Sanchui."

Granny Mitsumi holds the most power in the Mitsumi family, but she is not the head of the family.

Anyway, when Iijima Rei (Grandpa) was young, Granny Mitsuchi already looked like an old woman, but fifty years later, she still looks the same.

In a way, she's also a monstrous old woman.

“These two are…”

"My grandson and granddaughter, the boy is named Gu Yun and the girl is named Nai Yang."

"Hello, Granny Sanchui."

Gu Yun and Hayasaka Nao bowed to her together.

"Oh, what polite little ones, hello."

Granny Sanchui glanced at the two of them, then led everyone into a young man's car.

The young man's name is Mitsuchi Tatsuhiko. He is nineteen years old and is the younger brother of the current head of the Mitsuchi family.

The Mitsuchi family has almost always been headed by women.

Only women from the Mitsuchi family can inherit the power of the Water Spirit and protect the region as Water Priestesses.

"Since Ms. Iijima brought her child here, it must be to continue the bond between our two families."

Granny Sanchui invited Grandpa to use his power to strengthen the seal on the Heavenly Fox. Incidentally, it was also a way for Gu Yun to meet some fellow practitioners and make more friends.

"Ah, among the Five Elements families, only the Water Spirit's Three Hammers are somewhat related to me."

"Well, we can't refuse to help each other out."

Grandma Mitsumi had received many favors from Grandpa in her early years, so she was very willing to help the Iijima family after his death.

"However, there are many more things that I am powerless to change."

Granny Sanchui said helplessly, "It's not like fifty years ago anymore. The five families have all declined and are having a hard time."

"The Five Elements Family?"

"Didn't Ms. Iijima tell this child about us?"

"Xiao Gu Yun has only recently awakened his spiritual power," Grandpa said with a smile, "but now is the perfect time. Grandma, why don't you introduce this child to us?"

Demons exist in this world, and there are also humans who have awakened spiritual power.

Naturally, wherever there are people, there are conflicts and power struggles.

Since ancient times, the supernatural world of this country has been jointly controlled by ten families, known as the Ten Famous Families.

Among them, Gu Yun already knew about the Abe family.

Abe came from an Onmyoji family, but he abandoned the use of magic in battle early on, instead specializing in divination, prophecy, and feng shui. From the Heian period onward, he stood at the pinnacle of the supernatural world.

They control the economy and politics; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them the shadow rulers of the country.

"The Abe family wields immense power, but their magical abilities are rather lacking."

Like her grandfather, Granny Mitsuchi would unconsciously speak of the Abe family with a hint of sarcasm: "When they really encounter powerful demons, it's up to families like ours to step in and vanquish them."

Simply put, the Abe family is rich, but they're not good at fighting.

Perhaps out of self-awareness, the Onmyoji of the Abe family generally do not participate in battles involving exorcism, demon-slaying, or the elimination of ghost stories.

"Besides the Abe clan, the Five Elements clan was also once one of the ten most prestigious clans."

However, that was a long time ago. My mother-in-law said, "It's a pity that during the Warring States period five hundred years ago, the daimyo ruled over their respective regions, and the Five Elements Clan separated due to their different ideologies."

One family split into five, and the Sanchui family was the one that separated from the Five Elements family.

They inherited the element of water from the Five Elements and then established their own family.

In addition, there are Fire Flower Diamond, Wood Forest, Earth Moon Field, and Metal Heavenly River.

Together with the Three Hammers of Water, the five families are collectively known as the Five Elements Clan among the Ten Famous Families.

"Because of the split, the Mitsumi family, now a separate family, is no longer one of the Ten Famous Families and has no say in the matter."

Granny Sanchui sighed, seemingly recalling the past glory of the Five Elements Family.

“That’s still better than me,” Grandpa said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m just a charlatan.”

The Iijima family was neither a prestigious family nor a powerful exorcism clan. In the supernatural community, they were defined as "wild fox Zen," meaning they were self-taught and had no affiliation with any sect.

Wild fox Zen has a very high ceiling but a very low floor.

The powerful ones, like my grandfather, can command several top-level demons and are strong enough that even the ten most prestigious sects dare not provoke them.

The weaker ones might be like Tamaki Iijima, who can see monsters but can't use magic.

Even more outrageous, some people start exorcising spirits without even seeing any monsters, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

This is why people in the industry generally look down on unorthodox Zen practices.

"We used to be at the very bottom of the social hierarchy."

Gu Yun didn't care much about these things. Hayasaka Nao listened quietly and got a general understanding of the Iijima family's situation.

"Don't listen to what Iijima-sensei is saying."

Granny Sanchui snorted: "The man who can be called one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Wild Fox Zen is only good at his self-created Spirit Control Technique. If you are willing to ask, the Ten Famous Sects will immediately give you the vacant position."

The "Ten Famous Families" is just a title; there are actually not ten families or forces in total.

The empty spaces were meant to attract folk masters like my grandfather.

"The Four Heavenly Kings of Wild Fox Zen, what are they?"

When Gu Yun first heard this term, he thought to himself that the chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) of the Japanese people was indeed ingrained in their bones; they had to have four Heavenly Kings for everything.

"What, didn't you even tell this child, Ms. Iijima?"

Grandma Sanchui sighed, and Grandpa quickly said, "Xiao Gu Yun has only been learning magic from me for a month. These things are too early for him."

"Besides, the Four Heavenly Kings are just empty titles."

Wild Fox Zen is a group of martial arts practitioners from the Five Schools of Wumen, and among them, four folk masters emerged.

Each of them created a powerful forbidden technique that even the top ten sects coveted, and based on this, they forged a formidable reputation.

“Goshiro Kotaki, Reiko Natsume, Shiro Tsubagi, and young master Tanigumo, your grandfather Rei Iijima.”

Granny Mitsumi seemed to admire these four people, showing them at least more respect than the so-called Abe family: "These are the Four Heavenly Kings of Wild Fox Zen, hidden among the common people."