Chapter 56: Fragmented Information

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The fight and slaughter of combat meant that lives were at stake.

Those fights went up to tens of minutes in novels and television series, including those that fought from day till night, were all artistic add-ons.

Even if both parties had the same capabilities, in combat, the fight would end as quickly as it started unless one of the parties intentionally dragged the fight out.

When Kazuki was at Akichi High School, the Multi-armed Demon would have been a piece of cake, if he had a consciousness. Even with the help of Enchanted Talismans, there was no way he could run.

Holding onto the hilt of his sword as he felt the scattered reiki from the surroundings being absorbed and also the joy coming from the sword, Kazuki smiled to himself.

The Sun and Moon Sword used only to be able to absorb minimal reiki from the air that was only enough for it to feel a little full. Now that the blood-sucking bat was dead and all its reiki started to disperse, his sword was finally able to have a full meal.

Of course, the reiki would finally end up in his body in aid of him cultivating his body and expanding his sea of reiki.

In his joy, Kazuki suddenly jolted to a stop as the Sun and Moon Sword vibrated lightly, nudging him to enter. The next moment, Kazuki’s consciousness went into the Sea of Consciousness of his sword’s spirit.

As his gaze swept across the area, he noticed that the Sea of Consciousness of his sword’s spirit was still as vast as a room. The sword’s spirit would be able to grow so long as there were sufficient amounts of reiki.

However, this was not the point as after Kazuki had stepped in, he quickly noticed an abnormality, “This is… the Tsukumogami’s information fragments?”

The so-called information fragments was a commonly-used term in the Spiritual Academy used. Most people would call it memory fragments which were actually a form of impurity.

Without the sword’s spirit, he would have absorbed some of the information fragments in the process of incorporating the scattering reiki when he killed the bat-like Tsukumogami.

He would have needed to waste a lot of time in getting rid of the information fragments. His own memory and information fragments would get mixed up quickly, increasing his chances for a descent into insanity. That was why, during the era of the recuperation of reiki, there was basically nobody killing demons to evolve. The only reason Kazuki did it was because he had no other choice.

Thankfully, he had the sword’s spirit. It would filter through the information fragments and the impurities within the reiki to allow only pure reiki into his body, helping him in his cultivation. Moreover, the consciousness of the sword’s spirit was extraordinarily pure and untainted. Thus, it would not be affected by the information fragments.

As Kazuki browsed through for a while, his face suddenly became serious. Within the information fragments of the blood-sucking bat, there was one memory that caught his attention.

It was the memory of the blood-sucking bat when it had just developed its consciousness where it was being held by an Onmyoji. He was only able to recognize the person as an Onmyoji because of the old man’s hunting clothes.

The old man swiftly arrived at a desolate shrine, and as he walked downwards along the shrine, he came to a dark underground area. The old man took out a carving of Buddha and placed it beside a pond. After that, it was as if the carving of Buddha sensed something horrifying and transformed into a bat in under five seconds and flew away.

As there were no sounds, Kazuki did not know what happened after that.

By the looks of it, the Tsukumogami Buddha carving was meant to suppress something, but the blood-sucking bat turned out to be too timid, it had flown off immediately.

During the era of the recuperation of reiki, many people knew of the existence of demons. Most of them did not understand how ordinary people before the recuperation of reiki were able to tame or destroy such demons.

This was a point of curiosity for Kazuki in the past. There was once a teacher from the Weapons Refinery Division who could satisfy his curiosity. According to him, most people had used weapons to suppress the demons before the recuperation of reiki.

As for formations, reiki in the air had been too thin even to lay one out, what more of triggering the formation?

Hence, the cultivators of low capabilities previously had invented a type of method to subdue demons. With the cultivator’s body, his Sea of Consciousness and his soul as primary materials, the Weapon Masters had created a weapon capable of subduing demons. These weapons were named Founding Weapons by the cultivators of the past.

Of course, since humans were very protective of their lives, it would usually be those that would soon pass away that sacrificed their body for the making of weapons.

What about here in Japan? Kazuki did not know of the past, but now… Could it be that they use Tsukumogami to fight demons? After all, it is well-established that the power of each Tsukumogami differs.

As for using cultivation to suppress demons, that was a joke. If one started cultivating at the age of five until the Metamorphosis State, then it would require up to 120 years.

That meant that almost 100% of the people in the process of achieving the Metamorphosis State would have passed away.

Thus, Kazuki felt that it was a pity he did not know where the information fragments originated from because there were no distinct markings of any sort. Of course, he could guess that the shrine was somewhere around Kyoto. That was because the carving of the Buddha was gifted by Kubo Yuki’s friend from Kyoto.

But… if it is Kyoto… Kazuki sighed.

Kyoto had once been the capital of Japan for a long time, allowing the city to grow rich in its history and the historical markings left behind. Furthermore, it was also one of the principal cities that contained the traditional cultures of Japan.

The place was filled with shrines and Buddhist pavilions. If Kazuki were to go there, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, given his circumstances as a high school student, it would not be possible for him to stay away for long.

As he thought about it, Kazuki looked at another information fragment, and as he looked on, he could not help, but pause and heave a sigh, “What a shame.”

According to Kubo Yuki’s description before that, he still had one doubt.

Why did the blood-sucking bat not forage for its own food? After all, it was Dajin Karate Dojo on the outside, and there were many people around. With the power that the blood-sucking bat exhibited just now, it could fully control the blood in a human body, and to an average human, that would have meant a death sentence.

Now he finally understood why.

Before feeding on Kubo Yuki, the blood-sucking bat had swallowed a soul. The soul was of a female, Kubo Yuki’s wife, Kubo Sakurako.

From the information fragments, it seemed like this was a spirit.

After the blood-sucking bat came here, the first thing it did was to swallow Kubo Sakurako. Due to Kubo Sakurako’s strong will to protect, powerful energy might have erupted before her being swallowed, merging her and the blood-sucking bat together.

After that, the blood-sucking bat developed characteristics of a Land Bounded Spirit and was unable to leave the study.

It was a shame that Kubo Yuki did not understand. As long as he had sealed the room shut, the Tsukumogami would be sealed away with no blood to absorb, leading to its death.

After understanding the situation, Kazuki’s consciousness quickly returned to his body. As he looked at Kubo Sabae who was knocked out on the ground, he ignored him and stepped outside of the door to wave at the anxious Kubo Yuki and signal for him to come over.

“Sabae!” Kubo Yuki was still in shock for not hearing anything during the fight. As he came to the entrance of the study, he could see the collapsed Kubo Sabae and was terrified to the core.

“Relax, he fainted due to blood loss. It’ll just take some time to recuperate.”

Upon hearing this, Kubo Yuki gave a sigh of relief. He examined his surroundings uneasily. The study was left in good condition, while the carving of Buddha, sliced in half, now laid on the floor.

Kazuki came to a corner and picked up an item that had fell out from the blood-sucking bat, which was also the Buddha carving.

His eyes flashed with curiosity as he ran his hands over it. Seeing Kubo Yuki look over, Kazuki lightly quipped, “This thing fell from the inside of the Buddha carving, and it seems a bit strange. I’ll need to investigate it, so this can count as the payment you give me.”

Kubo Yuki looked at the thing in Kazuki’s hand to see that it was a piece of grey Magatama.

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