Miss Heber is fighting her way out of the Lostbelt!

Bright words appeared before Heber's eyes.

[Current Main Path: Sword Seeking (Completed)]

ps: There is another chapter being written

Eastern Volume: 115 One Thought, No Thought

When Hebe cast her eyes on the rice that seemed to be made of gold, more words eagerly jumped out in her sight.

[Current Main Path: Sword Seeking (Completed)]

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether a spear slew a dragon lurking in the mountains or a fox demon who also lives there. A rice plant might be plucked by Tamamonomae in the Heian period, or offered to the god of fertility. The ruling party prunes and finalizes the minutiae of history, guiding it toward a brighter future.

"At a time when no one witnessed it, the September ruler touched the rice you had lost with his flaming fingers. This is only a possibility. And thanks to the tireless efforts of your followers, this possibility has been confirmed, waiting only for your witness."

"You have witnessed it."

The golden, heavy rice plant was one meter long.

This is the "sword" that truly belongs to Hebe.

[Thousand Ears of Eternal Abundance]

[Nature: Cup (represents the principles of desire, temptation, and pain.)]

[Feature: Bonding. While holding this sword, you can forge "bonds" through contact with others. Through "bonds," you can develop an exceptionally close connection with the bonded one. Over time, you can accumulate up to seven "bonds" with the same target.]

“The formation and accumulation of ‘fate’ can be accelerated through certain specific behaviors.”

[Feature: Wish-fulfilling. When "Fate" reaches the seventh level, consuming a certain number of levels of "Fate" can make other people's wishes come true.]

"Excessive desires can easily get out of control. When the wishes of others exceed the tolerance of 'fate', they will be fulfilled in a distorted and abnormal way."

[Feature: Echo. When you fulfill any wish of others, you accumulate a level of "Hope" for yourself. Consuming a certain number of "Hope" levels can make your wish come true.]

"Hope is the currency of the Holy Grail, with which He guarantees the world."

It looks very much like a naginata.

Rather than being a weapon for slashing, it is more like a magical weapon similar to a "magic sword" or a "ritual sword".

But if Hebe really wants to use it to chop something, it can also cause considerable damage.

Hebe reached out and once again held the rice plant that she had picked in her palm.

【You are reclaiming the "Sword Intent."】

Sword Intention: Divine Water and Mysterious Thoughts - One Thought, No Thoughts

......

The sound of the bell slowly faded away from my ears.

A brief moment of confusion appeared in Li Xi's eyes.

Then she recalled her previous experience, and when she turned around, she saw Heber standing in the Buddhist temple, and was really scared.

Her movement was not a big deal, but she saw the fox demon slowly turn around, holding a rice in his hand, with the heavy golden rice ear resting on his arm.

"You, are you Tamamonomae's obsession, or..." Tanuki asked with gritted teeth.

"Do you really want to be freed from the constraints of the 'Amulet'?"

Heber was clearly standing not far in front of Li Xi on the left, but the voice seemed extremely high and far away, as if it was rolling down from the distant sky above his head, or like an empty echo coming from the valley.

Li Xi raised her head and looked at Heber carefully.

Perhaps it was the first time that he took a good look at Hebe, and Li Xi discovered that the fox demon looked the same as he remembered, but with some subtle changes.

The flaxen-haired girl pursed her lips, her brows relaxed. Her deep green eyes, devoid of any emotion, were like flawless glass. Her already delicate features now possessed a temperament that made one's mind wander.

The moment Li Xi looked into those eyes, all the hidden thoughts in his heart melted away like snow under the warm sun, leaving only the answer that came out of his mouth stiffly.

"Yes!"

Heber's expression did not fluctuate.

"You think the amulets are just to protect you from the general, but they're also amulets that shield the Yokai Forest from the influence of the real world," Heber explained to Tanuki with seemingly great patience. "What's truly causing the decline of Yokai is the environment after the general's eradication of the mysteries—you're no longer suited to the current era."

"Now, do you still want to break this contract and destroy this amulet?" Heber asked.

"Yes!" Li Xi answered without hesitation, "The Ghost King refused to tell me the real reason. The demon foxes might also be trying to protect the contract, but the amulet is entangled with too many demon foxes' oaths. If it is not destroyed, the oaths will take the demon foxes' lives first."

"As you wish, then."

Heber's eyes fell on the amulet on Li Xi's wrist.

An invisible humming sound was heard.

A faint light shone from Heber's fingertips, passing over Li Xi's eyebrows, chest and wrists.

Without her making any movement, the half-faded amulet broke apart, fell to the ground and turned into ashes.

Li Xi shuddered suddenly, her lips trembling as she looked at the amulet that fell to the ground. A sense of uneasiness suddenly surged from deep in her heart for no reason.

Something seemed to have changed.

"Is this the end?" Li Xi asked in disbelief. "Is the contract over?"

At this time, Ryunosuke had just gone up the mountain, so Heber asked him to come over.

"Go down the mountain from another direction, then go back to the village wellhead. When you get out, you'll reach Inari Shrine."

Hebe put his hands in his sleeves.

Her words were calm and her tone was not intense, but Ryunosuke and Tanuki nodded involuntarily, then obediently walked in the other direction.

Only after they left did Heber let out a long sigh.

If the secret sword is the standard equipment of a swordsman, then the sword intent is exclusive to the sword saint.

In other words, it's like a mark and an achievement.

But it is used more extremely in offense than marks and deeds.

Hebe's sword intent is called [Dishui Canxuan Yi Nian Feixiang Sword]. This sword intent has no substance. It is said that "it comes from the heart, exists in the mind, is honed in the body, can be increased or decreased freely, and has infinite fantasy."

This sword intent is closely related to the "Nine-Tailed Fox". Once activated, an invisible and intangible sword energy will be generated from Heber's mind.

This colorless sword energy lies between reality and illusion. In addition to being used for direct combat, it can also be used to sense the inner thoughts of others, making them infatuated, forgetting themselves, and unable to hide any secrets.

"Just now, this fox demon was struck by my sword energy, causing it to answer every question asked, and the seven levels of fate were directly maxed out. I helped her realize her 'wish' and also added a layer of 'hope' to myself." Heber pulled the corners of his mouth and almost laughed out loud.

Heber felt that he had found the correct way to use [Chiho]: that is to first use the sword intent to fill up the fate, then control the target to make a simple wish, and then realize it effortlessly, so that he can quickly accumulate "hope".

In addition to this, the most terrifying feature of this sword intent is this.

It is able to attack the target directly at the conscious level.

The sword will become what the sword wielder can imagine it to be.

Whatever the sword receiver thinks it is, that is what it will become.

All of these things are known only to the one who draws the sword and the one who receives it.

......

This was the last gift that Saga brought to Hebe after he traveled around the East and erected two hundred golden statues.

She created the image of the nine-tailed fox in the hearts of the people and fixed it. And the feedback of the people on the image of the "nine-tailed fox" was gathered into one through the "magic sword" forged by Tian Sui himself.

This is what Hebe gets at the end of his sword search.

She has entered the door of sword master.

[Current Lostbelt Progress: 99%].

②Cage scar〕b兀ling久衤三轳K咎玲梦东国卷:116 The last lesson

All sensations seemed to disappear from my fingertips like quicksand, and my body felt as if it was falling into the clouds.

The sound of the wind gradually faded away, and the suppressed pain gradually became dull and seemed not so unbearable.

"I never thought that even death would be so troublesome..." the Ghost King muttered.

Before the destined deadline arrives, no matter how hard he tries, it will be difficult for him to die.

After his death, there will be no more pure-blooded ghosts in the world, and everything about the ghosts will become a faded and yellowed stroke in history.

But now the Ghost King no longer had any obsessions, and for a moment he actually felt a little bored.

And at this moment, a familiar throbbing came from deep within the body——

Sakata Kintoki opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced his dried-up heart to beat. Red thunder replaced the blood, circulating in his body, allowing this broken body to stand upright again.

......

When Souji Okita passed through the gate of Mt. Oga, he felt an inexplicable hunger deep in his body.

She knew that it was the "ghost" side of her that was waiting for blood.

She had wantonly taken away so many lives on the battlefield, which had caused the "ghost" in her body to begin to stir. It wanted to devour more lives to satisfy its own desires.

"If it weren't for Miss Tamamo's blood..."

If it weren't for the blood that Heber gave her before the battle, Okita Souji would have inevitably degenerated into the Sword Demon Shura on the battlefield.

But Okita Souji still wanted to go into battle because she knew Heber would not sit idly by. If she did not die on the battlefield, Heber would definitely wipe her out.

Although Okita Souji hadn't fallen on the spot thanks to the fox's blood, when it stopped killing, the withdrawal reaction that came from within his body almost made Okita Souji want to dig out his internal organs, tear out all his bones, and tear every inch of his skin apart...

Pain, struggle. These emotions surged from the demon's blood, reverberating and surging through the young swordsman's mind like a tidal wave.

Then, inexplicable anger and sorrow emerged from his chest, and Okita Souji knew that it was the fate passed down in the blood of demons - about genocide, desire, death, and history.

She understood from the ghosts' blood how the great ghosts in the mountains throughout the ages had struggled to escape the fate of eating flesh and drinking blood, but how they had fallen into it helplessly.

She saw that there were more than one generation of ghost kings who wanted to throw off the fate of fighting among their relatives and seek a stable future, but were murdered by their own descendants. In their dying moments, they saw their children gnawing on their internal organs with tears of joy in their eyes.

She saw ghosts who thought they had escaped their fate walking out of the mountains, disguising themselves with painted skin masks and living in human society. However, fate caught up with them again, and through a trifling combination of circumstances, they were exposed to the public eye.

She saw the ghosts' destiny finally coming to an end, a future all ghosts had envisioned since birth—they lay in a field of bones, wrapped in yellow and black animal skins, their shrouds adorned with thorns, blades, and flames. Their eyes were opened to the sky, their bodies wounded and cold.

She saw the ghost king of Mount Oeyama make one last attempt to escape his fate—how he allowed ghosts to cohabit with humans, how he forced them to engage in sinful intercourse, how he made them eat each other, and how he caused them to give birth to offspring again and again. Most of these offspring died young, but some survived.

Souji Okita vomited on the side of the road, tears streaming down her face.

For the suffering of his ancestors, for his own profaned bloodline, and especially because he was still hungry and thirsty for blood.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

The Ghost King's voice rang in her ears.

Souji Okita looked up and saw corpses scattered all over the ground behind the vermilion torii gate, with a dead cannon lying on the side.

A burly man covered in wounds was standing on the stone steps, leaning on an axe, looking at her fiercely.

Okita Souji noticed a familiar feeling coming from his body - it was pure demon blood!

......

Sakata Kintoki looked at the young swordsman whose pupils were gradually filling with scarlet.

"It's so fucking disgusting." He was not talking about the sword ghost who was now immersed in the desire for killing, but the ghost kings who tried to create hybrid ghosts in the past.

The Ghost King had also seen those memories deep in the blood, and he saw them more clearly and comprehensively than Okita Souji.

So he knew how the plan was finally aborted by the fox demon, and how those half-blood ghosts eliminated themselves in history.

Sakata Kintoki suddenly felt like laughing: the last two ghosts in the world would meet in this way.

"Alright." The Ghost King laughed, "Let me teach you how to break free from your ghostly fate!"

In response, he was met with a violent yet still graceful sword light.

......

[Secret Sword: Wuming]

[Nature: Blade (representing the principles of fighting, resistance, and domination)]

【The more damaged, the sharper it becomes.】

[The less lifespan and energy the wielder of this secret sword, the higher their damage and sword speed! This secret sword is invincible and penetrates the target, dealing three times the target's maximum health. After using the secret sword, all subsequent damage is real damage.]