I'm having fun in Tokyo

After returning from Hanami's house, Kashima became depressed, spending his time either practicing swordsmanship in the mountains or traveling around searching for skilled swordsmen.

The demon god Shenzhi of the Age of Gods, who resides in the demonic realm at the summit, has almost never left the realm, appearing only six or seven times more than four hundred years ago.

On several occasions, she went to search for the shrine maiden of Izumo at that time, and on several other occasions, she appeared when a demigod from the Age of Gods, whom Morikawa Yu did not recognize, came to the Izumo Mountains, drove the demigod away, and sent him back to Shikoku Island in the south.

Then, several hundred years passed. Morikawa Yu saw the shrine maiden Suigetsu, who looked very familiar to him, come to the Izumo Mountains. She spoke to Kashima about something, and then went to the mountaintop alone, seemingly searching for Kamio...

Finally, everything came to an abrupt end, and space began to dissolve.

When Morikawa Yu realized that his consciousness had returned to his body, and that Hanami Yuki and the others had also returned to their bodies, he suddenly realized that the domain had truly shattered.

The historical realm was shattered by Kashima's single strike, even though both his and Hanami Yuki's consciousness projections were still alive.

What he just saw was not a development in the historical field, but a scene that actually happened in history, that is, a historical remnant that his powers had glimpsed.

Now, his consciousness and that of Hanamiyuki and the others have returned to their bodies.

At this moment, he, Hanami Yuki, Inaba Tenshi, and Asaka were all in a gray-white space. Next to them was the main hall of the Mizuwaka Shrine. They stood in the main hall plaza, and not far away was Kashima's massive figure.

Chapter 622 The Inheritance of Swordsmanship (Third Update)

Hanami Yuki also came to her senses, her face pale.

It wasn't just because of the lingering power of Kashima's strike in the realm of history and the dissipation of that realm, but because Kashima's body was crumbling.

It stood where it had been when it was dragged into the dual realm, leaning on the divine sword Futsu-no-Mitama in its hand.

Although its imposing presence remained strong, its body was covered in cracks and it was extremely emaciated. Its once tall body now looked exceptionally small.

Hanami Yuki's eyes widened: "Grandpa Kashima, what... what's wrong with you?"

"Me?" Kashima also came to his senses, looking at his arm and then at his left hand.

In the realm of history, Morikawa Yu severed the left arm of its consciousness projection. In reality, its body remained intact, but its appearance had changed drastically.

It was hunched over, as if it no longer had the strength to support its massive body. Its entire body was covered in cracks, and its breath was growing weaker and weaker.

Moreover, it was surrounded by many sharp, purple-white markings, which emanated from the halo of divine wheels behind it.

After the divine wheel halo shattered and dissipated, these marks, resembling powers, were formed.

However, these marks, like its body, were broken and incomplete, as if they were about to condense but lacked something and failed to truly take shape.

It remained silent for a moment, recalling the strike it had just delivered, then shook its head, its expression a mix of satisfaction and regret: "I think I'm going to die."

Hanami Yuki was stunned.

"Grandpa Kashima, are you... going to die?"

“Yes.” Kashima: “I might die. I was already close to death, and now my body can’t hold on any longer. I’m afraid I don’t have much time left.”

Hanamiyuki: "But..."

“There are no buts, Your Highness,” Kashima interrupted her.

It gripped the hilt of its sword, straining to straighten its body, its expression unusually serious: "I'm afraid I really don't have much time left."

Hanami Yuki opened her mouth, looked at Kashima's figure, but ultimately closed her mouth and nodded.

She could also see that Kashima was in very bad shape, but she couldn't understand why Kashima had become like this.

Just now, when she found Kashima, Kashima was in good condition. He not only followed her, but also asked the monsters in the mountains to help him find Morikawa Yu. But after the battle with Morikawa Yu, he became like this.

Hanami Yuki's gaze shifted to Morikawa Yu standing beside her.

She was captured by Morikawa Yu in the square just now, and in a moment of desperation, she used the last power she had been given by the priestess to pull Morikawa Yu into the realm of history.

After entering the historical realm, her and Morikawa Yu's consciousness projections went to other places, each finding Kashima and Inaba Tenshi, before finally meeting each other.

However, their position in reality has not changed.

She was still standing next to Morikawa Yu, with Morikawa Yu's blade against her neck, and Morikawa Yu pressing down on her shoulders.

However, next to Morikawa Yu was a bright-eyed, pretty girl with long black hair, who was none other than the sword maiden Mikazuki who had just transformed.

She stared intently at Morikawa Yu.

Kashima sighed, "Your Highness, please don't look at Lord Morikawa with that expression. I didn't become like this because of Lord Morikawa. Your Highness, please don't misunderstand him or hold a grudge against him. I became like this because of my own reasons."

Hanami Yuki: "But Grandpa Kashima, you weren't like this before, you weren't like this before..."

“That’s just how I appear, Your Highness,” Kashima said in a deep voice, interrupting Hanami Yuki. “My true condition is not good.”

"Your Highness, do you remember what I told you before? I am no longer a ghost or god."

Hanami Yuki hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

That was when she returned to the Oki Islands and met Kashima, who had come with Shinori.

At that time, she asked Kashima why he had grown old, but Kashima did not answer her, only saying that he was no longer a ghost or god.

She didn't understand it at the time, but she wrote it down and planned to ask her teacher, the priestess.

When Morikawa Yu and the others arrived, she didn't have a chance to ask them anything.

Kashima looked at Hanamiyuki and said, "That was a long, long time ago, Your Highness. Back then, I was weakened by my divinity and almost died. So I left Izumo and traveled around. Finally, I found the priestess at that time and asked her for a way to sever my divinity."

"The method that the priestess gave me was to fight against a strong human, understand the human heart, and then I could sever my divinity."

"Following her directions, I found Urabe at that time, and later met Taro, but I did not succeed until Urabe and Taro passed away."

"I thought about it for a long time and finally came up with a solution: to integrate my divinity into the way of the sword. Every time my swordsmanship becomes stronger, my divinity disappears a little."

As Kashima spoke, he seemed to hear a girl's voice and recall the face of the girl who had taught him swordsmanship.

"...You asked why my hair is white? I guess it's because of the swordsmanship I use. Every time I make a cut with my sword, my hair turns a little whiter, and now it's completely white..."

It didn't quite understand why the sword saint girl's hair turned white at the time, but it eventually figured out the reason.

The other party had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, and his body changed along with his swordsmanship, eventually turning his once black hair into beautiful white hair.

If the opponent discovers this and merges himself with the way of the sword, his body may become inhuman, eventually surpassing the human body and reaching a realm above the sword saint.

It didn't understand at the time, and the other party didn't delve into the reason either.

By the time it understood all this, the other person had been dead for decades.

It itself used this method to fuse divinity with swordsmanship. Unfortunately, it was not human, but a monster that had entered the path of divinity. Long ago, it had condensed the status of a demon god and become a demon god.

The way of the sword is the way of man, and it is destined that one cannot reach the end of the way of the sword.

Kashima continued, "But my method is not the right path, because I am not human. Even if I merge my divinity into the way of the sword, it is only a temporary solution. The day I completely sever my divinity and merge it into the way of the sword, I will also disappear."

"Just now... Just now I completely merged my divinity into the way of the sword, and that's how I unleashed that strike."

Hanami Yuki nodded blankly.

She understood what Kashima meant.

She also saw Kashima's strike just now, and was astonished by the strike that cleaved through the domain.

But now it seems that the strike was incredibly powerful, and the price was equally enormous, so great that Kashima paid for everything and is now about to perish.

Even the slash that Kashima just made using a projection of his consciousness was the same.

A consciousness projection is, after all, just a consciousness projection; the real power comes from their bodies located in the first level of the realm, rather than arising from nothing.

Kashima himself didn't seem to care.

It turned its head to look at Morikawa Yu next to Hanamiyuki and said in a deep voice, "Lord Morikawa, how was my strike just now?"

Morikawa Yu recalled the strike just now and remained silent for a moment: "Truly peerless."

Kashima burst into laughter: "Hahaha, that's good. So, have you mastered my peerless sword strike?"

Morikawa Yu fell silent again.

After a moment, he nodded: "No, but I've memorized it, and I'm confident I can learn it."

Just now, Kashima unleashed a strike in front of it that far surpassed the level of a sword saint.

He didn't understand why Kashima would suddenly slash out from nowhere instead of at him, his enemy. Then it suddenly dawned on him that Kashima might not really want him to catch the slash, but rather wanted him to focus intently on it and remember it.

He heard the system's voice after his consciousness returned to his body.

The system prompted him: "The sword techniques 'One-Sword Technique' and 'Thunderous Strike' have been recorded. Do you wish to immediately study the ultimate sword techniques 'One-Sword Technique' and 'Thunderous Strike'?"

"If the host wishes to comprehend it, he/she may do so at any time."

That's why his feelings became somewhat complicated.

When Morikawa Yu said he hadn't learned it, Kashima sighed, but when he heard Morikawa Yu say he could learn it, it finally smiled. "That's good. If you can learn it, then my effort in making this strike wasn't in vain."

Upon hearing this, Morikawa Yu hesitated for a moment.

"Mr. Kashima, you're just going to teach me swordsmanship like this?"

Kashima didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Looking at Kashima's expression, Morikawa Yu quickly understood what Kashima meant.

It really did want to teach him those two sword techniques.

It just unleashed a sword strike of the highest order, but it is about to die. If no one learns the "One-Sword Technique" taught to it by Urabe Tomotaka and its final strike, the "Thunderous One-Sword Technique," then these two sword techniques will be lost.

At this moment, only he is closest to it in terms of realm, and has a chance to learn these two sword techniques, so it wants to teach him these two strikes.

"Mr. Kashima."

Morikawa Yu said in a deep voice, "I am very grateful for your teaching me swordsmanship, but I hope you can understand that I am here for the sake of Izumo, and my purpose is to find out the reason for the anomaly that occurred in Izumo."

"I will continue to be your enemy, the shrine maiden of Izumo and the great yokai of the Age of Gods, Kamio. By teaching me swordsmanship, you are actually helping my enemy."

He wouldn't accept favors for nothing, especially since Kashima had taught him such precious and even unparalleled swordsmanship.

If he could comprehend and unleash the "Thunderous Blade," he could very well directly reach a realm above Sword Saint without undergoing any trials, and he wouldn't end up like Kashima is now.

Because he is human, and the way of the sword is also the way of humanity, he will only become a being beyond humanity by stepping into the realm above the Sword Saint, rather than disappearing and vanishing.

That's why he wanted to make things clear to Kashima.

If Kashima needs his help with anything, as long as it's not something too outrageous like asking him to give up capturing Hanamiyuki, he's willing to repay Kashima's kindness in teaching him swordsmanship and will agree to Kashima's request.

Chapter 623 The Third Sword, Divine Weapon: Futsu no Mitama (Bonus Chapter for the Helmsman)

Kashima nodded: "Of course I know that you have come for the sake of Izumo."

"But I still hope that you can learn my swordsmanship and that of Urabe and pass it on, even if you are my enemy."

"If you feel guilty, I hope you can help me with two things, which are the only things on my mind right now."

"If you are unwilling to agree, I can understand. I only hope that you can learn these two sword techniques and pass them on. That would satisfy me."

A high level of swordsmanship does not necessarily mean a good character.

As a sword demon, and having witnessed countless sword masters, it understood this point all too well. Although Morikawa's swordsmanship was so high that it was very close to Urabe Asataka's, it was prepared for the worst.

If Morikawa Yu is a person who upholds morality and keeps his word, then it will certainly be happy.

If Morikawa Yu wasn't a good person, but rather a selfish and ungrateful beast who took advantage of others, then it would accept its fate.

Morikawa Yu nodded: "What is it? Please speak freely, Mr. Kashima."

Kashima stared at Morikawa Yu, making sure that Morikawa Yu was genuinely listening to it, and finally nodded.

It turned to look at Hanamiyuki in front of Morikawa Yu: "Then I will say it. The first thing I hope you can protect Princess Hanamiyuki for me."

Morikawa Yu was stunned for a moment, and looked down at Hanami Yuki, who was being restrained by his shoulder.

Kashima wants him to protect Hanamiyuki?

Kashima noticed his astonishment and said in a deep voice, "That's right, I hope that you can protect Princess Hanamiyuki for me."

It paused for a moment before saying, "Do you still remember what I said to you?"

"I came here for your sake."

"More than three hundred years ago, I asked the then Princess Hime whether a sword saint would appear in the future. She said that if we looked back a thousand years, another sword saint would appear, and I would also fulfill the wishes of the Urabe clan."

"I have been waiting for you, until recently when Princess Mizuki came looking for me, and the current Princess Hime also came to see Lady Kamio. I asked the current Princess Hime and learned that I would soon be able to meet the Sword Saint, so I waited for you with Lady Kamio."

Morikawa Yu was stunned for a moment.

Did the priestess tell it about him?