Chapter 6: Advancement, Yanagi and the Tengu (Eighth Update)

The two circuits, Fracture and Hidden, need no further explanation. They had remained with him for a long time, yet had never been chosen as the circuits to advance alongside his life armor.

It was not that they were weak; rather, compared with the others, they simply did not suit Zhou Yan’s style.

He looked at the cores of two new circuits. One came from Taketori’s Resolve; the other from Ibuki’s Destruction.

[Runic Circuit Core: Resolve (1)]

[Grade: 0-Star, Tier 2]

[Effect: When attached to life armor, increases Sensitivity by 1 and Spirit by 2, and activates "Resolve Circuit (1)"]

[Resolve Circuit (1): When coexisting within the same life armor with the three runic factors of Spirit, Grace, and Durability, additionally grants "Spirit Recovery Speed +20%," "Spirit Resistance +20%," and "Negate one spirit attack from an opponent of the same rank or lower (cooldown: 1 day)"]

—

[Runic Circuit Core: Destruction (1)]

[Grade: 0-Star, Tier 2]

[Effect: When attached to life armor, increases Constitution by 2 and Sensitivity by 1, and activates "Destruction Circuit (1)"]

[Destruction Circuit (1): When coexisting within the same life armor with the three runic factors of Constitution, Curse, and Grace, additionally grants "Charged Attack Power +10% to 20%," "Weak Point Damage +20%," and "Damage to Lower-Rank Enemies +20%"]

To be honest, both new runic circuits were excellent.

But Zhou Yan still made his choice at once: Resolve Circuit.

The reason was the same as before. With his Superfusion talent, his destructive power and all his other attributes already far surpassed others of the same rank. What he feared most was unexpected injury or underhanded tricks that could drive him into an extreme situation before he could even fuse.

So his primary direction of enhancement was to prevent himself from being killed outright.

Besides, the other circuits would not vanish. He could equip them and activate them at any time in new rune slots, merely with a bit more trouble.

After deciding on the circuit, he simply arranged the combination of runic factors: three Constitution, two Sensitivity, two Spirit, one Grace, one Durability, with the circuit core as Resolve.

Advance!

Mysterious bands of light spread across his entire body, then sank into his life armor.

The runic circuits and all runic factors were completely absorbed by the life armor.

[Advancement Complete]

As the light faded, Zhou Yan’s life armor underwent another transformation.

The basic attributes granted by the life armor now became:

[Constitution +42, Sensitivity +36, Spirit +33]

Maximum durability also increased by another 50, reaching 400.

Beyond that, the outward appearance of the armor changed further. Hard plates of the same material as the chest and abdomen armor now extended over his back and hips.

At this point, the main trunk of his body was well protected. Only the limbs and the head and neck remained uncovered. Perhaps with the next advancement, he would complete full-body defense.

Zhou Yan stood up and raised his left hand to look at it, his mind stirring.

[Equip "Oni King Arm, Revised"]

In an instant, his left arm changed dramatically. The life armor vanished into thin air, and his forearm took on a blue-white, ghostlike, ethereal form. Even the hand that had once been severed clean at the wrist grew back out of nothing.

So this is the "ethereal body" state. Zhou Yan looked with satisfaction at the illusory spirit hand, then tentatively pressed it against the surface of the shrine platform beside him.

There was no obstruction at all. The spirit hand passed straight through the table. Zhou Yan bent down and looked, and sure enough he could see his left arm split into two halves by the tabletop.

He could not help thinking: I have a feeling this could be developed into many wondrous, even dangerous uses.

Zhou Yan withdrew his left hand and held it before his eyes.

With another shift of thought, the spirit arm quickly changed into flesh and blood, taking on the appearance of an ordinary left hand.

Finally.

Zhou Yan’s eyes shone with excitement as he murmured, "I finally have a real left hand."

He tried it out and found that this materialized spirit limb was no different from his original left hand. No, it was even stronger than his dominant right hand.

Feeling the abundant strength and agility of the left arm, he remembered the effect description of this spirit limb: in its material state, it possessed the qualities of a standard 0-Star, Tier 4.

Yet his own actual Constitution and Sensitivity were only 18 and 14 points.

In other words, his left arm was now the strongest part of his entire body.

Zhou Yan clenched his fist.

What four-tier material, what runic circuit? To him, none of it felt as important as this spirit limb.

But would a materialized spirit limb be covered by the life armor?

As Zhou Yan looked at the exposed spirit limb, the thought had barely crossed his mind when he saw the life armor rapidly forming and spreading, wrapping his entire left arm in an instant.

He nodded in satisfaction. Now only the right eye remained.

After completing the advancement, Zhou Yan re-equipped the remaining runes in the item bar, and with the Hidden Circuit once again installed, the ten empty rune slots in his life armor were now filled to seven: one Constitution, one Sensitivity, one Spirit, one Curse, and two Destruction.

He went out and severed the huge tusks of the boar monster, pried out the expensive gems used to light the cave, and tucked Ibuki’s demon horn into Lum’s little pouch.

Then he carried the sleeping Lum on his back, with Demon Severer tied at his waist.

This trip to Mount Ogasaka had yielded him a rich harvest.

It was time to go down the mountain and collect his reward from that county magistrate.

He could only imagine how astonished the magistrate would be to see that he was still alive.

Far away, in a hidden place within Edo, a tall and powerfully built figure suddenly crushed the wine cup in his hand.

"Ibuki... I can no longer sense your demonic power."

"Interesting. So even my sworn friend dares to kill? Interesting."

*

Lum seemed to have been trapped in an endless nightmare.

In the dream, she was possessed by the soul of a powerful swordsman from the Hidden Current style, cutting down demons below and gods above, killing her way from Musashi Province all the way to Yamashiro Province. In the end, she was driven to a desperate duel with another powerful Hidden Current swordsman.

After defeating that swordsman, she herself was left critically wounded and on the verge of death. Yet she had not expected the Hidden Current master who possessed her to finally show a moment of mercy, trading his last strength and his own eternal descent into hell for her survival.

"County Magistrate Osuga, my bounty is only five ryo of koban. What do you mean by giving me fifty ryo?"

In her dazed state, the girl vaguely heard the familiar voice of a man beside her, clear and pleasant, touched with a hint of teasing, and enough to stir her soul.

Whose voice is that?

She struggled to recall.

Lord Hiko!

Her eyes flew open, and she immediately saw an old man sitting a few meters away, wiping his forehead and smiling carefully with forced politeness.

This person... was the county magistrate from Eastern City County, wasn’t he? Why is he sitting across from me?

As Lum thought this, she suddenly became aware of her current state.

Behind her was a broad, solid chest, and the smell that reached her nose was familiar and comforting.

She realized that, like a little cat, she had curled up in the lap of Lord Hiko.

Lum immediately lifted her head and happened to see Zhou Yan, wearing a simple eye covering, looking down at her with gentle eyes.

"It seems my Lum has awakened."

"Hiko... Lord Hiko," Lum asked blankly, "we’re... back?"

"Yes." Zhou Yan tightened the arm around her waist slightly and winked at her. "We succeeded in subduing Taketori and, at last, did not disappoint County Magistrate Osuga’s expectations."

As he spoke, he looked up at the county magistrate, who was still wiping sweat from his brow. "Isn’t that right, Your Honor?"

The old man across from him kept dabbing at the sweat on his forehead and said with a servile smile, "Indeed. Mister Hiko’s martial prowess is astonishing. Even a fearsome yokai like Taketori was no match for you. To show my respect, I took the liberty of raising your bounty from five ryo to fifty. I hope you will not mind."

"Haha, increasing my bounty is a tremendous good thing. How could I dare blame Your Honor? You worry too much." Zhou Yan’s expression was faintly smiling, not quite smiling. Then he asked leisurely, "As for my earlier request to take the county’s official ship to Musashi Province..."

"Of course! I will immediately arrange for someone to escort Mister Hiko to depart. I shall not delay your time!" The county magistrate’s eyes lit up, knowing his life had been spared, and he hurriedly summoned his deputy at once.

Both he and Zhou Yan understood perfectly well.

Zhou Yan’s ability to descend from Mount Ogasaka after subduing Taketori, unscathed, meant something profound.

It meant Zhou Yan was strong enough to leave the mountain safely in the hands of that legendary monster.

That alone was enough to make County Magistrate Osuga tremble.

There was even a second possibility: Zhou Yan had defeated, or even killed, that legendary great demon and returned unharmed.

If that were true, Zhou Yan’s strength would be unimaginably deep. Not to mention a mere county magistrate like himself—even if the feudal lord of Tono Province were sitting here, he would be sweating coldly and worrying about losing his head!

Now that Zhou Yan was willing to accept fifty ryo of koban and leave peacefully, it meant he was agreeing to let the matter rest.

The county magistrate thought this was the most worthwhile bargain imaginable.

After personally seeing Zhou Yan out and watching him depart with his deputy, County Magistrate Osuga could only sigh and return to his room.

At first glance he saw the scarred swordsman standing there, his expression grim.

"He’s gone?"

The magistrate sighed and nodded. "He’s gone. I suppose he didn’t think me worth his attention and spared my life."

Then, with a trace of resentment, he looked at the swordsman. "Mr. Yagyu, if I had known he could easily contend with even that great demon, I would never have hidden the information from him as you instructed. Fortunately, that great gentleman does not hold a petty man’s offense against him..."

"Shut up!"

The scarred swordsman’s face twisted viciously, and he cut the county magistrate off, making him stare wide-eyed.

"Do you think he has the ability to kill you, but I do not?"

Boom.

As the killing intent of the scarred swordsman named Yagyu burst forth, County Magistrate Osuga felt as though he were facing a terrifying demon. His limbs went weak on the spot, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.

He lowered his head in fear and said, trembling, "I-I would never dare think such a thing... Mr. Yagyu’s swordsmanship is unmatched in the world, and you are also the strongest swordsman of the Demon-Slaying Hall. That Mr. Hiko is absolutely nowhere near your equal!"

He muttered for a long while. When he finally lifted his head again, the swordsman of the Demon-Slaying Hall had already vanished.

On the road outside, Yagyu Tsukito strode away in haste, his face full of ferocity.

"Hidden Current... Hidden Current!"

"You are going to Musashi-Edo, undoubtedly to attend the Demon Exorcism Imperial Gathering."

"We shall settle matters there once more, and determine life and death!"

As he muttered under his breath, black miasma unseen by ordinary eyes spread behind him, constantly shifting and changing.

Slowly, it coalesced into a huge, terrifying figure wearing a long-nosed mask.