Swallow Return

The lotus flowers were several feet in size, and inside each one lay a naked woman. Some were as delicate as cardamom buds, just beginning to bloom; some were as beautiful as peaches and plums, ready to be picked; and some were as sweet as honey, laden with abundant fruit.

All these women looked like they were seriously ill; their faces were flushed, their breathing was rapid, beads of sweat kept appearing on their foreheads, and they had fallen into a deep sleep.

Liu Yun looked at them carefully for a long time, and after a moment of stunned silence, she realized that they were all nine-tailed foxes.

This should be the so-called "Kunizu God's" divine kingdom in the virtual spiritual world.

Or rather, it is a lair built by some ancient monster clan outside the material world.

Why does the appearance and posture of the nine-tailed fox seem unstable and constantly changing every time I see it? Because it is actually countless different forms under the same soul.

When Liu Yun realized this, the scene before her suddenly changed.

To be precise, the scene hasn't changed, but my inner perception has, so what I see has changed.

All superfluous elements have disappeared, and now only a woman's body, completely exposed and unmasked, remains in the entire space.

It was a body of utmost perfection, beyond description in human language, possessing both a holy and solemn radiance and an alluring and seductive aura.

All the beauties Liu Yun had seen before, whether it was the sisters Iori and Sara, or the demon ninjas Asagi and Rinko, or the elegant and noble Guicho, the quiet and healing Nene, or the charming and bright Oichi, none of them could compare to her.

This must be the true form of the nine-tailed fox!

He immediately understood—

The so-called "secret seventh ritual" is to send oneself here so that the power of the same origin can help the nine-tailed fox prolong its life.

As for the specific operating methods, they are naturally self-evident.

Liu Yun could sense that this spiritual space was filled with extremely powerful and mysterious elements. The perfect female body, in particular, contained a dangerous power capable of captivating all beings and bewitching all who beheld her.

Under normal circumstances, anyone sent here to have intimate relations with the true form of the nine-tailed fox would inevitably become completely ensnared, both physically and mentally, and turn into a loyal servant who unconditionally obeys all orders.

Neither the peerless sword saint nor the Yin-Yang School master could be exempt.

Within Liu Yun's comprehension, he couldn't think of anyone capable of countering such power.

Even the most powerful "Suzukayama Ōtakemaru" she had ever seen would not be able to gain an advantage on the Nine-Tailed Fox's home turf, and would most likely have to submit.

however……

The current situation is that the Nine-Tailed Fox was severely injured by Oda Nobunaga using some kind of magical method, and is completely unable to exert her normal strength. Originally, even if she was severely injured and unable to control the outsiders, as long as she remained basically conscious, she could at least protect herself and negotiate with Ryuun to reach a cooperation agreement—this was probably her original plan.

But now the nine-tailed fox has completely fainted and can no longer even maintain her senses.

In this situation, believers might bring an outsider with the same source of power into the Kingdom of God. Then, Liu Yun could seize control, usurp the throne, and brand the outsider with his own mark, thus altering the ownership.

He doesn't need to do it intentionally, and he can't even choose not to do it.

Simply follow the ritual's instructions, merging your body with the various parts of the nine-tailed fox's "divine body," continuously transferring energy to it. 2

These energies benefited the entire body of the nine-tailed fox, providing it with the resources to survive.

It also changed the appearance of the entire space.

Liu Yun's soul gradually connected with this "divine kingdom" and then merged with it.

He felt as if he had stolen some indescribable power.

The nine-tailed fox embodies two concepts: on one hand, it is a deity, enjoying the offerings and worship of believers; on the other hand, it is a monster, maintaining itself by exploiting the dark side of ordinary people's hearts.

It's like having two software service terminals set up on a single server.

Liuyun has now obtained the highest management privileges on the server.

After performing a sufficiently long ritual with the nine-tailed fox using various postures, the power within him erupted, permeating every part of her body from head to toe. This was also a necessary way to prolong her life.

Although this was happening in the spiritual realm and had nothing to do with the actual physical body, Liu Yun still felt a pleasant sense of exhaustion.

Chapter 291 He left as soon as it was over.

When the nine-tailed fox opened her eyes and woke up, more than two-thirds of her divine kingdom had changed. It was no longer an ambiguous pink, but a simple and minimalist industrial style with a cool gray tone.

That's because more than two-thirds of the power was taken away by Liuyun.

The world, composed of pure spirit and devoid of any material substance, automatically transformed into the form he found most comfortable.

Even the nine-tailed fox's original body, from head to toe, was eroded and stained, bearing the mark of Liu Yun, and no longer belonged solely to her.

To use a concept that we can understand in the real world, it's like an outsider entering a luxurious manor, taking away two-thirds of the gold, silver, valuables, antiques, and paintings, changing the locks on all the doors, and even breaking into the most private bedroom in the heart of the manor, capturing the mistress and wantonly humiliating and defiled her.

It sounds like a heinous and lawless act of evil.

However, Liu Yun felt he could face the Nine-Tailed Fox's eyes with a clear conscience.

Because he did it intentionally.

Although it was indeed an invasion of someone else's divine realm and the possession of the nine-tailed fox's true form, it was all for the purpose of helping to save people.

Moreover, they were invited by the believers of Izumo Taisha.

This is equivalent to the mistress of the manor falling seriously ill, and the servants calling in a doctor for treatment. During the process, physical intimacy is inevitable, so it's understandable that they shouldn't be blamed.

The subsequent replacement of the locks and the usurpation of ownership were merely side effects.

It can even be inferred that the mistress of the manor had previously harbored malicious intentions and wanted to imprison and control this "doctor".

This is completely different from the situation between Igawa Asahi and Akiyama Rinko back then.

Since that's the case, Liu Yun certainly doesn't need to feel guilty.

You can be perfectly justified.

In any case, the "treatment" is currently proving quite effective.

The nine-tailed fox still seemed to be seriously injured, but she had regained some consciousness and could at least open her eyes and prop herself up on her elbows.

Her expression was dazed, like that of a newly awakened infant; her movements appeared weak and feeble, yet she possessed a unique, languid, and graceful charm.

Her gaze met Liu Yun's, and the two of them—or rather, the human and the demon—immediately connected in their thoughts.

In an instant, the nine-tailed fox understood the current situation.

But she showed no reaction of panic, anger, sadness, or fear.

Not a single negative emotion was shown.

On the contrary, the nine-tailed fox blushed slightly, lowered her head gently, like a delicate flower trembling in the cool breeze, and revealed a faint, sweet smile, murmuring softly, "Ever since I learned of Lord Liuyun's existence, I've always thought it would be wonderful to have you as my servant. I never expected that we would actually have that kind of relationship, and that you would be my master...hehe..."

Judging from her words and actions, she didn't seem disappointed at all; on the contrary, she seemed quite happy.

He was, after all, a great demon, whose thoughts were different from those of mortals and were difficult to fathom.

Liu Yun wasn't in the mood for idle chatter; he was focused on the important matter at hand: he had just seen most of the memories within this space, but he didn't understand how Oda Nobunaga had managed to injure the Nine-Tailed Fox so badly. What exactly happened? What was the current situation?

These questions were meant to be asked, but with a thought, they entered the other person's mind without needing to be spoken.

At the same time, without the Nine-Tailed Fox's consent, it automatically extracts her thoughts and sends them back for Liu Yun to read.

"Oh dear, I'm completely controlled by Lord Liuyun! I can't even resist his thoughts, this is terrible..."

The nine-tailed fox spoke with a resentful tone, yet her eyes held a strange excitement and anticipation.

Liu Yun ignored the other party's flirtatious advances and focused on analyzing the useful information.

The reason why Oda Nobunaga was able to injure the Nine-Tailed Fox to such an extent was that one of the Nine-Tailed Fox's clones, Mori Ranmaru, who was originally responsible for supervising and communicating with Nobunaga, actually changed his stance and turned against him, revealing the weakness of the main body.

It's quite strange that a clone can betray its original body.

I don't know if it's because His Highness the Demon King is too powerful, or if there's something special going on with Mori Ranmaru.

In any case, the result was that Oda Nobunaga made a few big moves in the Kinki region, launching a strange and mysterious attack on the Nine-Tailed Fox from afar.

It doesn't harm the body, but rather directly dissolves the concept.

Even with the Nine-Tailed Fox's memories, Liu Yun couldn't fully understand this point; he still felt it was a metaphysical concept that couldn't be explained in words.

Oda Nobunaga almost succeeded.

The nine-tailed fox was already on the verge of death, and even with Liu Yun's help, she was only given a temporary reprieve and remained in danger.

But at least we've had some breathing room.

That's enough to go back to the Kinai region and settle all scores with Oda Nobunaga.

Previously, Liu Yun and dozens of female believers worked together to hold the so-called "Seventh Secret Ritual" before they arrived at the divine realm.

Now there's no need for such trouble. Since we've already usurped power, we can come and go as we please.

With a change of heart, Liuyun returned to the real material world.

Before leaving, he heard the nine-tailed fox's plaintive, coquettish voice in his ear: "Lord Liuyun, are you leaving already? Waaah... You just held me in your arms and now this..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun almost lost her footing and stumbled and fell.

To be fair, although the nine-tailed fox's tone was a bit off, it wasn't entirely distorting the facts.

……

The time spent in the Kingdom of God was not short.

However, when Ryuun returned to the real world, he saw dozens of shrine maidens and nuns still lying unconscious on the ground in the main hall of Izumo Taisha Shrine. None of them were awake; they all had dazed and intoxicated expressions.

It seems that they have not yet recovered from being overworked.

Liu Yun frowned.

Although seeing this scene made me feel quite accomplished, it was also a bit of a hassle.

There are still a lot of people at the shrine outside. If the shrine maiden and nun just stand there in a daze, it will definitely attract a lot of unnecessary attention.

After all, this "seventh secret ritual" is already quite a hot topic.

We need to wake up at least a few people...

As Liu Yun pondered this, he suddenly realized that he had developed a mysterious, invisible connection with those witches and nuns. This connection varied in strength, but they all shared the common feature of allowing him to exert a one-way influence on their minds, including issuing commands and sharing power.

He quickly realized that this was because he had usurped the Nine-Tailed Fox's authority and taken over the management of the faith.

The group of witches and nuns before them were theoretically believers, but their actual level of piety varied greatly. A few were extremely fanatical and therefore had strong spiritual perception; a few were complete false believers with almost no spiritual perception; and most were just ordinary people who were half-believing and half-doubting.

It just so happens that the nun Huizhen is an absolute fanatic.

It was much more effective for Liu Yun to manipulate her, whether it was issuing commands or sharing power.

With just a thought, the nun Huizhen, who was lying dizzy on the ground, suddenly woke up and got up.

She was still completely naked, but having experienced such close contact (or rather, negative distance) before, she showed no shame whatsoever. She solemnly knelt down and eagerly asked, "Your Excellency, was the ritual successful? Did it help Her Majesty the Mother Goddess?"