My personal opinion on Gensokyo

The young man still looked calm.

"As you all know."

An inexplicable gleam flashed in the bright yellow pupils of the Monster Sage.

"I once used my abilities to travel to the Moon's Sea and sneak into the legendary Moon City. I saw something with my own eyes. The Moon City is indeed just as the legend says..."

"...The Moon City is indeed, as the rumors say, located on the lunar sea. It's a pure white city, enveloped by a massive hemispherical barrier. The barrier's construction principle is believed to be derived from the ancient "Dragon Vein" theory of the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains. It deliberately guides the flow of energy throughout the moon, causing it to spontaneously form "pseudo-dragon veins," forming a spiritual energy circulation system somewhat similar to the dragon veins on Earth. At the same time, with ulterior motives, the Moon City, protected by the lunar barrier, serves as the "ancestor dragon" of the lunar dragon veins. Through this self-circulating method, the lunar sages have "embedded" the barrier and the Moon City into the moon itself, making the lunar barrier a part of the lunar energy cycle."

"Theoretically, this lunar barrier won't be short of spiritual energy, because all the sunlight that shines on the lunar sea will be converted into spiritual energy by the lunar dragon veins, spontaneously converging on the lunar barrier. While maintaining the lunar barrier, it also supplies spiritual energy to the Moon City."

"There are traces of primitive Shinto techniques in the operation of the barrier. I suspect it's some kind of defense system that combines both offense and defense. Besides these, I also noticed that there are a large number of position structures and fortress structures distributed outside the Moon City's barrier, but they are all unmanned."

"The Moon City is enormous, its interior magnificent. Each building stands over thirty-three feet tall, yet it is remarkably desolate. The most common sight on the streets isn't the Moon People, but the Jade Rabbits, or Moon Rabbits, that serve as their servants. Even these Moon Rabbits are extremely rare. I roughly estimate there are around twenty-seven thousand Moon Rabbits roaming within the Moon City. There are also Moon Rabbits roaming within several underground structures, bringing the total Moon Rabbit population to under thirty thousand. A strong thermal energy aura permeates the underground buildings, proving that the Moon People have mastered some of the energy conversion principles of the 'Principles of This World.' They've likely used these practical principles to create powerful thermal weapons."

Yakumo Yukari told her without hiding anything, and most of the information she had obtained by herself in the Moon City.

There are two main reasons why the Youkai Sage revealed everything. The first is that there is no need to hide anything. Now she is not inviting small monsters who are completely loyal to their desires, nor are they the monsters who are the main body of the One Hundred Demons Night Parade, but two... or even possibly three big monsters with the same status as her. The initial sincerity is very important; the second is because there is no way to hide it. Not to mention the Yoshinoshan big monster with strange power in front of her, the other mind-reading monster Jue is too troublesome. Although the other party seems to have just completed a level leap, the Youkai Sage is not confident that she can be immune to Youkai Jue's mind reading.

The Yokai Sage's prediction was correct. At this moment, Komeiji Kaku was indeed constantly reading the Yokai Sage's thoughts. Furthermore, Kaku was exchanging ideas with Shangyang through the bridge of mind, a method of communication that both Kaku and Shangyang possessed with unparalleled skill.

What needs to be specially explained here is that after Jue completed the leap to a great demon, the situation in which Jue was unable to read Shang Yang's mind due to the huge gap between the realms of demons and great demons has disappeared. However, there is no sign of the spiritual bridge between Jue and Shang Yang being broken.

This has led to Shang Yang and Jue's current situation: basically, their thoughts are completely transparent to each other...

And although it was called the "current situation", Jue and Shang Yang knew in their hearts that this might be the "permanent situation"...

However, faced with such a situation, Jue, who should have been the most angry, just sighed in his heart.

Let it be. Ever since Shang Yang became a great monster, her mind has been completely transparent to Shang Yang, and she has been unable to read Shang Yang's thoughts. It's fine for the two of them to be like this now.

At the very least, each of them has someone who will never cheat on the other.

"Shang Yang, so far, there is no inconsistency between Yakumo Yukari's thoughts and what she said. I can be absolutely sure that what she said now is the truth."

On the surface, he looked at Yakumo Yukari who was still stating with an expressionless face, but Jue's mind was flashing rapidly.

"Of course, because Jue is here." Shang Yang, like Jue, read the thoughts Jue wanted to convey to him. On the surface, his expression was expressionless, but his mind was flashing rapidly. He exclaimed with emotion, "If you hadn't been here, we wouldn't have been able to hear Yakumo Yukari reveal her purpose so easily."

"Thank you so much for the compliment," Jue mentally complained to the young man as he continued, "But Shang Yang, if the Moon People possess any thermal weapons with a power similar to the thermonuclear weapons you remember, it would be quite a problem for me. Although they are only made according to the 'principles of this world' and only have physical destructive power, they can be dealt with by consuming a certain amount of mana. However, my mental power is not as easy to use as your yin and yang power, which can easily form a conceptual defense layer that negates attacks below the law level. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Don't worry about that," the young man said soothingly, "Wait a moment, after Zi Ma leaves, I'll lend you a divine weapon."

"…What about me?"

Suddenly, Shana's slightly dissatisfied tone sounded in Shang Yang and Jue's minds at the same time.

At the same time, Shang Yang felt a soft little hand gently holding his hand.

"what?!"

Shana's sudden voice startled Shang Yang and Jue, but although they were surprised, they still maintained an expressionless look. Shang Yang glanced at Shana with the corner of his eyes and asked in surprise in his heart.

"Shana, aren't you unable to telepathically communicate when you're outside?"

It was Shana's soft little hand that held Shang Yang's left hand.

"I discovered it after I helped Jue complete the leap," Shana continued to explain in a dissatisfied tone after hearing Shang Yang's doubts. "As long as I can touch you, I can convey my thoughts to you. Of course, this is similar to a spiritual dialogue. Our hearts are not open to each other like you and Jue."

Shang Yang certainly knew the reason for the slight dissatisfaction in Shana's tone. Don't forget, even though he couldn't sense Shana's thoughts, they were spiritually connected, and he could have sensed Shana's mood a long time ago.

At this moment, Shang Yang clearly noticed that Shana was a little jealous of the openness between him and Jue, but was embarrassed to let Shang Yang know everything she was thinking.

Putting aside the double act of Shang Yang, Jue, and Shana, the blond monster sage presented a large amount of information about the Moon City, then paused for a moment, a playful smile appearing on his beautiful face again.

"And speaking of the Moon People, they are a very interesting group, Your Excellency Shang Jun."

"Oh?" Shang Yang also showed an interested look when he heard Yakumo Yukari say that. "What do you mean?"

"The number of Moon People," Yakumo Yukari said, extending her index finger with a mysterious and playful smile, "is 2,997."

"This number has never changed since the establishment of the Moon City thousands of years ago."

"The Pure Land on the Moon actually has a limit on the number of people who can enter." Upon hearing this information, even Shang Yang showed a genuine interest. "Please tell me the reason, Lord Yakumo."

“That’s a long story.”

Yakumo Yukari opened her folding fan with a snap, hiding her smile.

"About a thousand years ago, three thousand ancient humans, not one more, not one less, followed the 'Night Food and Moon God, Tsukiyomi-sama' to the Moon's Sea."

The blond monster sage spoke in a nonchalant tone, revealing a history that was probably hidden deep within the Moon City.

"Delegate her divine power as the Moon God in primitive mythology, Tsukiyomi, the Goddess of Night Food and the Moon, led three thousand hand-picked ancient humans to the Lunar Sea. Upon arrival, Tsukiyomi easily subdued the Moon Rabbits, a unique species of monsters that had always inhabited the Lunar Sea and were born directly from primitive myths, legends, and beliefs."

"The first people to come into contact with the Moon Rabbit were not Tsukiyomi herself, but three ancient humans who had landed on the Moon's surface. These three humans died at the hands of the Moon Rabbit. This angered Tsukiyomi, and using her power as the Moon God, she easily made the Moon Rabbit clan submit and worship her as their sole god. Tsukiyomi decreed that to atone for the Moon Rabbit clan's sin of killing Tsukiyomi's followers without authorization, the Moon Rabbit clan must atone for their sin by becoming slaves of the Moon People. This atonement lasts forever."

"It's important to note that Tsukiyomi wasn't angry about the deaths of the three humans themselves, but rather about the unforeseen disruption to her plan to break free from the constraints of myths, legends, and beliefs. While I haven't been able to find specific information, I know it's related to the Moon People achieving 'immortality' in human form. This is rather regrettable. If we knew her method, we could potentially give rise to a large number of great youkai with divine attributes. However, what is certain is that the three thousand ancient humans Tsukiyomi brought to the Lunar Sea were all her fanatical followers, the key to her breaking free from the constraints of myths, legends, and beliefs. The deaths of three of them meant that she merely merged mythological concepts, becoming the complete 'God of the Night Food and Moon,' but she remained bound by faith. Therefore, 'Tsukiyomi, the God of the Night Food and Moon,' is a 'complete' god, not a 'perfect' one."

"Because of this, although Yue Ye Jian's power growth was successfully integrated with the mythological concepts during the ritual of breaking free from the shackles of myths, legends, and beliefs, it also encountered problems. It can be said that for a whole thousand years, there was basically no improvement. This is supported by the fact that when I infiltrated the Moon City, the ancient Yue Ye Jian did not react at all. Of course, there is also another decisive evidence, that is, the traces of Yue Ye Jian's power that I sensed in the Moon City are not much different from you and me."

"Although the remaining 2,997 ancient humans gained 'immortality' after the death of the three ancient humans, perhaps in order to compensate for the consequences of violating the laws of the world, the remaining 2,997 humans..."

After hearing this, before the Youkai Sage could finish, the young man with gray hair, who was very familiar with the concept of yin and yang in all things, rubbed his hair and guessed.

"Those 2,997 people lost their ability to reproduce, isn't that right?"

"Indeed, you are worthy of being called Lord Shangjun," Yakumo Yukari still hid her playful smile behind her folding fan, her bright yellow eyes narrowed slightly. "It's not that they themselves have a problem, but rather that actions like 'reproduction' have been 'deleted' from the list of actions of these 2,997 people."

"So, for thousands of years, the number of Moon People has remained at 2,997. There has been no increase, no decrease, no births, and no deaths."

"I see."

Shang Yang nodded and said thoughtfully.

He really didn't know that the Moon People were in such a situation. Shang Yang had always guessed that the number of Moon People was around three thousand. He didn't really know the information that Yakumo Yukari mentioned today. However, combining the information he learned from Yakumo Yukari today, and combining it with Shang Yang's knowledge of the "principles of this world" extended from the concept of yin and yang, it solved several questions in Shang Yang's heart, that is, how did the Moon People obtain "immortality", and how did Yue Yejian become a "complete" god.

After getting the answers to these two basically unimportant questions, the young man with gray hair spoke lightly.

"Lord Yakumo, I may now understand how Tsukiya-kun became a 'complete' god."

"……oh?"

When Yakumo Yukari heard Shang Yang's words, she did not show any surprise. The results of Jue's mind reading also showed that Shang Yang's words had almost no effect on Yakumo Yukari's heart.

"Well, I'd really like to hear it."

Observing that the deep-minded Yokai Sage did not relax at all because of his words, the young man ruffled his gray hair and speculated.

"It's very simple, because 'Taiyin means longevity.'"

After hearing Shang Yang's words, Yakumo Zi was a little confused.

"...The moon means immortality?"

"That's right," Shang Yang nodded and said again in a nonchalant tone, "The moon represents immortality. To be more precise, the moon represents 'immortality'."

"Since ancient times, in Tang Dynasty mythology, the moon has been associated with gods, beings, and immortal palaces, and countless stories have been told. A key concept in these lunar legends is that "the bright moon holds the elixir of immortality," or rather, the secret to immortality. A hundred years ago, a brilliant Tang Dynasty poet composed a poem: 'The White Jade Capital in the sky, five towers and twelve cities; an immortal touches my head, and I receive eternal life through my marriage.' This White Jade Capital is the bright moon in the night sky."

"The reason the Tang people firmly believed that 'the moon holds the elixir of immortality' is not only because the moon is eternal, but also because, despite its phases, it always returns to its full fullness. This is the cyclical, unending 'root of immortality.'"

"Since time immemorial, countless myths have spoken of immortality on the moon, and countless people believe these legends. The concept of immortality has been attached to the moon for thousands of years. Perhaps Yue Yejian is exploiting this concept of immortality that has accumulated in the Moon Sea since ancient times. Through her divine status as the Moon God, she is forcibly imbuing the Moon People with all of this immortality, attached to the Moon Sea's immortality myths, upon their followers. Faced with a god who grants immortality to the Moon People, I doubt I need to explain how pure their faith in Yue Yejian will be."

"Yue Ye Jian successfully freed herself from the shackles of mythology, but she still couldn't shake off the shackles of faith. The reason for this is probably that the deaths of the first three people challenged the concept of lunar mythology that "immortality can be achieved within the bright moon," causing Yue Ye Jian to suffer a kind of backlash."

At this point, the young man with gray and white hair, the great monster of Mount Yoshino, shook his head.

"But in my opinion, Yue Yejian might have been destined to stumble in his faith from the very beginning, because..."

"...the Moon People, who have attained immortality and immortality, are no longer human."

Volume 3: Above the Moon Sea: Chapter 95: The Sage's Return

"The Moon People are no longer human..." Hearing Shang Yang's words, the Monster Sage pondered. "The idea provided by Your Excellency Shang Jun is very interesting. Unfortunately, if that is the case, Yue Yejian's method is merely a special case and cannot be repeated. However, the Moon People can no longer be considered human. Not only have they obtained 'immortality' that humans cannot obtain, but also because the Moon People have completely lost the human characteristics that we immortals are familiar with."

"What do you mean?" Shang Yang became more interested after hearing what Yakumo Yukari said. It was obvious that this was not a casual remark. From what she meant, the people of the moon were very different from the humans on Earth.

"As I said earlier, the Moon City is magnificent. With its buildings standing over thirty-three feet tall, even if the entire Moon City housed over a million people, it wouldn't seem crowded. However, a Moon City of this size only houses two thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven Moon Citizens and thirty thousand Moon Rabbits..."

Having said that, the Youkai Sage's gaze quickly swept over the calm-looking Kakui Komeiji. When she saw that Kakui didn't seem to want to speak, Yakumo Yukari continued to maintain a playful smile, but stopped talking.

Seeing the performance of the Monster Sage, Shang Yang reminded him.

"Lord Yakumo, this seems to have nothing to do with the characteristics of the Moon People."

Hearing Shang Yang say this, Yakumo Yukari did not react to Shang Yang's seemingly direct way of speaking, but continued to smile and continue explaining.

"...Of course, I'm only saying this to lay the groundwork for the characteristics of the Moon People."

"There are only three thousand Moon People, yet they live in a Moon City that can accommodate millions. I don't know if this is the nature of the Moon People or if Yue Yejian did it on purpose, but in short, each Moon People lives alone, and no one has ever been seen visiting other Moon People's homes. Unless absolutely necessary, Moon People never go out easily. They leave almost all matters to the Moon Rabbit, while they themselves devote a lot of time to aimless and boring lives. Their behavior patterns are also very different from those of humans on Earth. The family relationships that maintain human society on Earth seem to be completely non-existent among Moon People."

"The Moon People live a life of almost no desires, and their lives are filled with parts that seem boring and meaningless to us."

"The Moon People have only achieved physical immortality, not spiritual immortality. The long years have worn away all of their human mentality, human will, and everything human. Though their bodies remain youthful, within them lies a soul frozen by the passage of time."

"A long time has passed since the founding of the Moon City, but the culture and civilization of the Moon People remain the same as when they first arrived on the Moon thousands of years ago. There has been no change or development."

"But on the contrary, although all are descendants of ancient humans, the humans on Earth are full of ambition, courage, and greed—qualities that we inhuman beings admire. Humanity constantly expands into the mountains, the plains, the forests, the lakes, and even the oceans, incorporating countless lands, bodies of water, and the sea into the realms of what are called 'nations.' Massive human cities, unimaginable thousands of years ago, are also emerging one after another. Not to mention the Heian-kyo, several times larger than their current capital, Heijokyo, that the nations on this land are currently constructing. Across the sea, Chang'an and Luoyang in the Central Plains Tang Kingdom are magnificent cities with populations of millions. A hundred years ago, the Tang Kingdom's ruler, Empress Wu of Zhou, even built a magnificent tower fifty feet high."

"Within a thousand years, the short-lived humans on Earth began to squeeze out the territory of non-human beings and immortal species, expanding their range of activities to every corner except underground and in the sky."

"We monsters... no, the survival and prosperity of most non-human creatures in the world are based on the myths and legends woven by humans. The increase in the human population is a good thing, but the territory of non-human creatures is also gradually decreasing year by year, although we can still hide in the shadows of human society."

"However, Master Yoshinoyama, Your Excellency Shangyang, don't you think that if, in the near future, humans rule the earth, while the non-human immortals live on the sea of ​​​​the moon, enjoying the faith of mankind forever, this would be a very good future?"

Hiding her smile with a folding fan, the Youkai Sage, Yakumo Yukari, revealed her purpose.

"...It does seem like a good choice," the young man with gray hair shrugged after hearing the Yokai Sage speak frankly about his purpose. "Since the Sage is so frank, I can't refuse. Planning for the future of the Yokai is indeed the responsibility of great Yokai like us."

"You and I are both from the monster clan, so I won't be polite with the sage."

"If I accept the Sage's invitation and travel with Lord Yakumo to the Moon Sea, which has hung high in the night sky since ancient times, to launch the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons and attack the Moon City, what benefits can I gain from this Night Parade of a Hundred Demons?"

Hearing the young man with gray hair and the great monster of Mount Yoshino honestly seeking his own interests, the sage of the monsters was not surprised, but turned his gaze to the girl with short lavender hair and the petite black-haired girl beside the young man with gray hair, and a hint of inquiry flashed in his bright yellow eyes.

"Shangyang-kun's position is my position." Noticing Yakumo Yukari's probing gaze, Gu Mingjijue said lightly, "Sage, don't worry about me."

Similarly, Shana, who noticed Yakumo Yukari's inquiring gaze, said nothing, but just bowed slightly to Shang Yang, indicating that everything was based on Shang Yang's position.

Shang Yang was very moved when he saw Jue and Shana's expressions, but on the surface, the big monster of Mount Yoshino still looked calm.

Seeing the two people express their opinions, Yakumo Yukari nodded thoughtfully, then she organized her words and spoke calmly.

"If Your Excellency Shangjun participates in this One Hundred Demons Night Parade attacking the Lunar Sea, I, the Youkai Sage Yakumo Yukari, pledge my full support to Your Excellency Shangjun, the Master of Yoshinoyama, in his role as the Youkai Commander-in-Chief of the Earthly Youkai. After we conquer the Lunar Sea and occupy the Moon City, you may carve out your own territories on the Lunar Sea."

"Also, as far as I know, Master Komeichi is a great monster that lives in the other side of the world. Then, I, Yakumo Yukari, am also willing to support Master Komeichi Kaku as the lord of the monsters in the other side of the world, as a monster sage."

"Although the human world and the other side have not had much contact since ancient times, I believe that the Lord Yama of the other side will not completely ignore my opinions and positions."

After listening to the monster sage's light statement of the exchange of interests, the young man with gray hair seemed to be thinking about something.

It seems that she is estimating whether the reward given by Yakumo Yukari is sufficient.

After a long silence, the young man with gray and white hair who looked no different from a human, the Yoshino Mountain Great Monster, nodded slightly.

"Then it's settled."

Hearing the affirmative answer from the young man with gray and shaggy hair, the blond monster sage also smiled and nodded.

This outcome was exactly what she expected, but it wasn't because the reward she offered met the Yoshino Mountain Master's expectations. Perhaps, when she proposed attacking the Lunar Sea and seizing new territory for the Yokai clan, the Yoshino Mountain Master from Tang had already been planning to agree.

"Oh, there's one more thing, Your Excellency, the Yokai Sage Yakumo Yukari."

At this moment, the owner of Mount Yoshino, a young man with gray and messy hair who looked no different from a human, seemed to have suddenly remembered something and mentioned it seriously.

"Lord Kazami Yuuka, the lord of the great flower fields of Izumo, will also join the One Hundred Demons Night Parade attacking the Moon Sea as part of a large group of youkai from western Japan."

"...There's another big monster?!"

The name Kazami Yuuka instantly surprised the blond monster sage, but the sage of monsters quickly collected his thoughts and looked thoughtfully at the serious, calm, handsome and cool young man with gray hair.

The smile on the beautiful face of the Monster Sage Mei Yilin VII (Eight) Shiqi ④⒌VI became even more intense.

"... Truly brilliant, Your Excellency, 'Heavenly Demon Shang Yang'."

"You're too kind," the master of Yoshino Mountain said calmly after hearing Yakumo Yukari's praise. "It was just a preemptive move, not worth mentioning."

"You are truly too modest," the Yokai Sage said with a smile of admiration, gently stroking the folding fan in his hand. "Well, I will take my leave now. Seventy-two years from now, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, when the moon is at its zenith and the bright moon is reflected in the sky, I will be in Kanto Musashi Province, awaiting your arrival."

After he finished speaking, the great monster of that realm, the monster sage - Yakumo Yukari disappeared into the space crack that appeared out of thin air.

"No delivery."

Watching the golden-haired great monster disappear, the young man with gray and white hair said goodbye lightly.

After feeling that Yakumo Yukari's realm power had indeed left the area extended by her own yin and yang power, the young man with gray hair rubbed his hair, looked at the two girls beside him who were thinking about something, and called them up.