Tokyo: Proving one's position from behind the scenes

When Akira Nagayama returned to Hoshimiya Inari Shrine, it was already nearly dusk.

On the Shinkansen back to Tokyo from Osaka, he leaned against the window and closed his eyes to rest. His crimson robe had been changed back into his ordinary priest's robe, and his white beard had disappeared, returning him to the appearance of an eighteen-year-old boy.

He returned to his room, closed the paper door, and sat cross-legged on the tatami mat. The shadow of the nandina outside the window was stretched long by the setting sun, spreading obliquely across the paper window, and the outline of the bamboo leaves was tinged with a lukewarm orange-red.

Within his dantian, the golden vortex, now compressed to the size of a fist, was rotating at an extremely slow pace. In the days since leaving Tokyo, he hadn't stopped cultivating; the spiritual atmosphere of this world was no longer the stagnant pool it had been months ago—he could clearly feel that even sitting motionless, the surrounding spiritual atmosphere was flowing at a slow but undeniably present rhythm.

All five elements come together.

The Adachi Ward, a place of bad water; the wood element aura of Hoshimiya Akira; the fire element embers of Yoshida Nobuko; the earth element aura of the catfish at the bottom of the Arakawa River; and his own metal element. These five images intertwine in the sky above Tokyo, forming an invisible net: water nourishes wood, wood gives rise to fire, fire embers return to earth, earth gives birth to metal, and metal transforms back into water.

The five elements cycle endlessly, and although each image is still very weak and far from being comparable to the great world of cultivation in the previous life, the cycle itself has already been formed. There is no need for him to deliberately guide it anymore; the spiritual atmosphere will flow along this net on its own.

Not to mention the mixed-energy monks developed in America.

In the ruins of a temple in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, a wisp of pale golden magical power was slowly circulating in Maeda Shunichi's dantian. The *Buddha's Discourse on the Light of Rebirth* is a Japanese-style Buddhist practice; the "empty sun" refers to the setting sun, suspended in the void, its light inwardly restrained. That image of Japanese virtue was faintly emanating from the Kansai region, echoing the Five Elements network of Tokyo.

The virtues of Yin and Yang, the virtue of the moon resides within himself.

In his previous life, his [Bi Yue] metal essence was forged by that Golden Core True Lord. Although he ultimately returned to Heaven, a trace of the [Bi Yue] image remained in his true spirit. This trace of image was not enough for him to directly cultivate the Moon Virtue Technique, but it was enough to give his destiny an extra layer of "Walking Through the Moon" on the edge of [Ghost Metal].

Akira Nagayama took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

His senses settled into his dantian, where a golden vortex slowly rotated under his conscious gaze. At the vortex's center, a more solidified golden light pulsed steadily, like a tiny, still-developing heart. After reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining, the flow of magical power through his meridians became increasingly smooth. With each major cycle, he could draw slightly more spiritual energy from the surrounding spiritual atmosphere than the previous day. The flow of spiritual atmosphere was accelerating, its density increasing, though the increase was minuscule. His two hundred years of cultivation experience allowed him to precisely perceive this change.

He could sense that he was not far from that level.

Foundation building.

Build a solid foundation for the Dao, master supernatural powers, and attain a lifespan of five hundred years; the path to immortality is within reach.

In his previous life, it took him several years to go from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. It wasn't because he lacked talent, but because in that era of great cultivation, Qi Refining cultivators were at the bottom of the food chain. Every step they took had to be taken with extreme caution, and when breaking through, they had to guard against attacks from all sides. He remembered clearly that when he was trying to break through to Foundation Establishment, he deliberately chose a desolate mountain wilderness far away from all forces. He guided the monkeys in the mountains to awaken their intelligence and perform a ritual to their primordial totem, using imagery to replace spiritual energy. He also set up three layers of concealment formations and two layers of defensive formations before daring to begin his breakthrough.

Even so, the celestial imagery that emanated during the breakthrough still attracted a group of passing cultivators. Like sharks that had smelled blood, they locked onto his location from dozens of miles away.

If it weren't for the formation he set up in advance that bought him enough time to complete his Foundation Establishment before those people broke the formation, the Golden Spear True Man in his previous life might not have even had time to acquire the title of Foundation Establishment Grand Master before becoming a weapon-refining material or human core for some Tribulation cultivator.

This world is different. In this world, there are no advanced cultivators, no tribulation cultivators, and no powerful beings who regard low-level cultivators as waste materials. He occupies a world of his own, and the process of establishing his foundation will not attract any threats from the cultivation world.

But there are other problems.

Nagayama Akira opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the shadow of the Nandina domestica leaves on the paper window, which was dyed red by the setting sun.

Foundation Building is not the same as drawing Qi into the body. Drawing Qi into the body involves igniting the first wisp of magical power in the dantian, a very subtle process, at most resulting in some light appearing on the body's surface and a slight change in the overall aura. However, Foundation Building is a qualitative transformation where magical power becomes the foundation of the Dao. This process requires an imagery that aligns with one's own destiny to propel it forward, and a successful breakthrough will also produce extraordinary phenomena.

The kind of strange phenomena depend on the cultivator's destiny and the cultivation method. When he was establishing his foundation in his previous life, because he possessed the [Ghost Gold] destiny, several [Ghost Gold] Qi Refining level spiritual objects appeared within a hundred feet of him. There were also phantom images of gods and ghosts performing sacrifices. The wailing of ghosts and gods lasted for three days. Mortals within a hundred miles thought that the desolate mountain was haunted, and no one dared to approach it after that. If he were to establish his foundation at the Star Palace Inari Shrine in this life, he had a general idea of ​​the scale of the strange phenomena that would occur.

This is Tokyo. Not the desolate wilderness of his previous life. The area around Hoshimiya Inari Shrine is now a key focus of the Metropolitan Police Department, and American satellites and surveillance equipment have probably long since included this area in their continuous observation range. The anomalies he creates by establishing his foundation here will be noticed by both sides immediately.

Nagayama Akira tapped his knee twice with his fingers. He noticed it, but there were no superior cultivators in this world, and no one could deduce his true cultivation level and the origin of his cultivation technique from the strange phenomenon.

In the eyes of the Metropolitan Police Department and Americans, at most it was just "another supernatural phenomenon has occurred at Hoshimiya Inari Shrine," and it had nothing to do with him, an "ordinary priest." Hoshimiya Akira was a shrine maiden, and any strange things that happened at the shrine could be attributed to Inari, so he didn't need to explain anything.

The real key is the imagery needed for foundation building.

His destiny is 【Ghost Metal】involved with 【Bi Month】. 【Ghost Metal】 represents sacrificial metal, requiring a genuine sacrificial ceremony with many participants, a clearly defined object of worship, and a complete set of rituals. The participants' wishes, reverence, fear, and hope converge on the same object during the ceremony.

【Bi Yue】is the virtue of the moon. Bi refers to the constellation Bi, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, governing border troops, hunting, and widespread chaos. The image of Bi is not the gentle moonlight, but the cold, white light of the moon shining on the battlefield after war, turmoil, and the collapse of order. In his previous life, he had his 【Bi Yue】golden nature extracted by that Golden Core True Lord because his death itself became part of the "widespread chaos" imagery amidst the chaos instigated by the Golden Core True Lord. That fragment of 【Bi Yue】image remained in his true spirit, and its simultaneous activation during Foundation Establishment greatly increased the probability of success.

Sacrifices were performed and the world was thrown into chaos.

Akira Nagayama's lips twitched slightly.

These two things aren't entirely impossible to coordinate in Tokyo right now. The ritual is the simplest—Hoshimiya Inari Shrine is a shrine in itself, and there are already worshippers. All that's needed is to find a suitable opportunity for Hoshimiya Akira to preside over a grand enough ritual as the shrine's priestess, and he can use the momentum of the ritual to build his foundation.

Hoshimiya Ei wouldn't refuse. The child had almost no defenses against "Inari God." As long as "Inari God appeared in her dream and a grand festival was to be held," she would believe it and do it. The number of worshippers wouldn't be a problem either. With the shrine's current reputation, a formal grand festival would be enough to attract hundreds or even thousands of worshippers. Add to that the Metropolitan Police Department and those in the political and business circles who wanted to curry favor with the shrine maiden, and the scene would be quite large.

However, widespread chaos would be more troublesome. This world is not the same as the great cultivation world of the previous one, which was filled with constant warfare. Although local wars have never stopped, in the 23 wards of Tokyo, especially Adachi Ward, it is not something that he can create in a short period of time by himself to create "widespread chaos" enough to trigger the image of [Bi Yue].

However, he doesn't need to manufacture it himself.

Akira Nagayama's fingers stopped on his knee.

Nobuko Yoshida, an American, works for the Metropolitan Police Department, a Japanese yakuza, and the finger of Ryoumen Sukuna.

These pieces are already on the board. He doesn't need to personally create chaos; he only needs to push them together at the right moment, causing them to collide, and chaos will naturally follow. Yoshida Nobuko is searching for Sukuna's fingers, Americans are searching for Yoshida Nobuko and anything related to supernatural forces, the Metropolitan Police Department is trying to control the situation, and the yakuza are Yoshida Nobuko's prey. The clash between these forces, coupled with his continued cultivation of the lie of "the resurrection of Ryoumen Sukuna," is enough to stir up a considerable amount of chaos in Tokyo.

If that's not enough, he can add a few more pieces.

Nagayama Akira closed his eyes, and his magical power slowly rotated in his dantian.

--------------

late at night.

A dark blue van was traveling at the speed limit on the road heading from Osaka to Tokyo.

The vehicle had no markings or police markings; it looked like an ordinary logistics truck. Inside the cargo compartment, several silver-gray metal boxes were fixed to the side shelves, their exteriors marked with biohazard symbols. The innermost box, smaller than the others, was individually secured to a support frame with cushioning material. In addition to the biohazard symbol, it also had a handwritten label with a number and date on its exterior.

The number on the label corresponds to a line of record in the Metropolitan Police Department's classified files: Ryomen Sukuna finger, third finger, recovered from the site of Chirikuji Temple in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture.

The truck was escorted by a black sedan in front and a black sedan in the back, and the three vehicles maintained a fixed distance, forming a small convoy on the highway late at night.

In the car at the front, Murai sat in the passenger seat, holding the silver-gray testing device in his hand.

The instrument's screen was lit in the darkness, with several curves of different colors slowly pulsating against the black background. The waveforms were stable and showed no abnormalities.

The truck driver was from the Operations Unit, with over twenty years of driving experience and having driven numerous missions transporting important evidence. A young police officer sat in the passenger seat, a walkie-talkie tucked into his waistband and a pistol resting on his lap, safety off.

The detector in Murai's hand suddenly emitted a short beep.

He looked down at the screen and made a decision immediately.

"Something is getting closer," he said.

The officer driving glanced at him in the rearview mirror, and his two colleagues in the back seat simultaneously sat up straight. One of them placed his hand on the holster at his waist.

Murai suddenly looked up and glanced out the left-hand window.

To the left of the highway was a slope covered with low pines and miscellaneous trees, and further up was a regular road running parallel to the highway. The streetlights on the regular road were spaced far apart, their orange glow scattered sparsely in the darkness, with large dark areas between each streetlight.

In that darkness, there was a faint reddish light, like a piece of charcoal slowly breathing in the dark, flickering on and off.

The direction in which the light spot moves is parallel to the convoy.

Murai pressed the communicator. "Attention everyone, an unidentified energy source is approaching from the left. Repeat, left."

The two escorting cars reacted simultaneously. The lead car accelerated, increasing the distance between itself and the truck, and its occupants began to observe the road conditions on the left. The rear car slowed down and approached the truck's rear from the right, providing cover. The truck driver gripped the steering wheel tightly, floored the accelerator, and the engine emitted a deep roar, increasing the vehicle's speed from the maximum to above the maximum limit within seconds.

The dark red light above the left slope suddenly accelerated.

It burst from the shadows of the streetlights on the ordinary highway and dashed down the slope. The branches and leaves of the short pines and miscellaneous trees on the slope were illuminated for a moment as it passed, the dark red light outlining the contours of the branches, only to be swallowed up by darkness again after it left. It rushed down the slope so fast that its body was almost invisible, only a dark red line of fire could be seen stretching from the top of the slope all the way to the edge of the highway guardrail.

Then it leaped up.

The dark red light flew over the guardrail, tracing an arc through the night sky before landing on the road between the three vehicles. The moment it touched down, the asphalt surface cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and the dark red light burst forth, illuminating the entire highway.

Nobuko Yoshida stood in the middle of the road.

Her hoodie hood was pulled up, the dark gray fabric appearing almost black under the crimson light. Her right hand gripped the Demon Slayer sword, its tip pressed against the ground. The flame-like patterns on the blade flickered with light and shadow at a much faster pace than usual, like the rapid beating of an enraged heart. Crimson flames spread from the sword to her right hand, then to her entire right arm, tongues of fire licking her hoodie sleeves. The fabric wasn't ignited, but a flowing, crimson sheen appeared on its surface.

The truck driver floored the accelerator, the tires screeching on the asphalt as he sped forward, trying to run them over.

The truck was brought to a stop by Nobuko Yoshida's punch; the front of the truck was smashed, and the driver's condition was unknown due to the direct impact. The escort car behind braked sharply, its bumper almost touching the truck's rear door.

Murai jumped out of the passenger seat of the car in front, the diagnostic device in his hand beeping wildly, the red curve on the screen already exceeding the upper limit of the scale.

His other hand rested on the holster, but he didn't draw the gun—he looked at the fourteen-year-old girl standing in the middle of the road, enveloped in dark red flames, and at the greatsword that was longer than herself, his fingers frozen on the holster.

Nobuko Yoshida took a step forward.

She lifted the demon-slaying sword from the ground, its tip slicing across the asphalt, leaving a thin, still-burning trail of fire. She walked to the truck's cab, turned her head, and glanced at Murai; her dark red pupils reflected two tiny points of light in the windshield.

She didn't make a move, but turned and walked towards the back door of the cargo compartment.

The demon-slaying sword was raised and lowered, the lock on the cargo box snapped, and the door sprang open to reveal a silver-gray metal box fixed to the shelf inside.

Nobuko Yoshida stepped into the cargo compartment, her gaze sweeping over the metal crates one by one, finally settling on the smallest crate that was individually secured at the very back.

She walked over, the tip of her demon-slaying sword piercing the gap between the lid and the box, and gently pried it open. The metal box was pried open, and inside the cushioning foam groove lay that withered finger.

She pulled the severed finger from the sponge groove, held it in her left palm, then turned and walked out of the cargo compartment, jumping off the edge with a soft thud.

Murai stood there, watching the dark red figure emerge from the cargo box. She watched as the severed finger clutched in her left hand, the still-burning greatsword in her right, and she walked step by step towards the edge of the highway guardrail. She reached the guardrail, leaped over it, and disappeared into the darkness below the slope. The dark red light flickered one last time in the darkness before being completely swallowed by the night.

The beeping of the detector gradually subsided.

Murai placed the testing device on the roof of the car, took out his phone, and dialed Naoya Taniguchi's number. The call connected after three rings.

"My finger was stolen! It was Nobuko Yoshida!"