"Oh, it's just a projection? I would have thought you'd want to come see another world with your real body, Elysia," Chen Li said, greeting the girl before him.
"I was in the middle of a bath," Elysia said with a hint of grievance in her voice.
"Ah, this…" Chen Li was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Just kidding! Actually, I was on my way back to the Flame-Chasers just now. After all, not much time has passed since you left," Elysia said with a mischievous smile, hopping in front of Chen Li to observe his flustered expression.
That was why it wasn't convenient for her to respond to the summons with her real body.
"…"
"Are you shy? Alright, alright, let's not talk about that. Is this your home world? It looks so… uh, the greenery is very well done," Elysia said, looking at the surrounding scenery. She seemed to want to say something else but stopped herself, finally squeezing out that phrase.
According to Kikyo, the location where she had summoned Chen Li was in a forest not too far from the village.
What met Elysia's eyes was a sea of verdant green, with no trace of modern civilization.
She had assumed Chen Li's world was a modern society with a level of civilization comparable to her own.
"It's not. This is another different world. I had just gotten home when I received another commission, so I came over to help. This world is a place where humans and youkai coexist, and its current level of civilization is in an ancient era," Chen Li explained.
"Hmm, it sounds like… the people here must have a very hard life," Elysia keenly perceived from his introduction.
"As this era moves forward, it will eventually become a modern society. The youkai will recede into the shadows, and humanity will take center stage. But at this point in time, life is indeed not easy. But that's why I'm here," Chen Li said, hands on his hips.
"Oh? What are you going to do? Is there anything I can help with?" Elysia's eyes lit up.
She had always been very interested in the goal of helping humanity.
"According to my conversation with the client, I'm going to forge a peerless treasure—one that is said to grant wishes and causes endless conflict among the youkai—into a divine bow that can be used to slay demons and exorcise evil."
"That sounds impressive, but it doesn't seem like it will solve the fundamental problem."
"That's because you don't understand Curios," Chen Li said.
"Then I'll look forward to the final product. So, why did you call me here?" Elysia asked.
"To protect me, of course, Ms. Elysia!"
"Curios may be powerful, but you shouldn't neglect your own training," Elysia couldn't help but laugh at his brutally honest reply, then reached out and ruffled his hair vigorously.
"I know. I already have two knights' training regimens to complete. I'll start as soon as I finish forging this Curio. For close combat, both Jingliu and Argenti are experts, and their knightly gifts might even drop something good. As for ranged combat… I've already arranged with the client to borrow this Curio for a while after it's made. And I'll have to ask Teacher Elysia for archery lessons."
"A teacher?" Elysia was instantly intrigued.
"Mhm. The day after tomorrow at the latest, I should be able to return to the Flame-Chasers," Chen Li said.
The advantage of the "knight's training" was the massive time dilation between the training space and the real world.
So, completing two training sessions should only take a day.
"I understand. I'll prepare the training materials as soon as I get back to the Flame-Chasers. But before that… is that a youkai?" Elysia asked, looking curiously into the distance.
"!!!" Seeing the several-meter-tall minotaur nearby, Chen Li's eyes widened.
---o---
"…" To be honest, looking at the dense swarm of youkai surrounding him, Chen Li felt a bit disgusted.
He hadn't expected that by simply having Kikyo spread the word that the Shikon Jewel was about to be destroyed, hundreds of youkai would gather in just half a day, relying solely on word-of-mouth in this era of poor communication.
Worst of all, some of the youkai were hive-mind creatures formed from swarms of smaller beings.
His trypophobia was acting up.
By now, Chen Li had already summoned the Miracle Barrier, and the forging platform before him was ready to be ignited.
In his hand, the Shikon Jewel pulsed with a brilliant light.
The jewel actually had two forms. In the hands of a pure and kind-hearted person, it was the purified "Naohi." If it fell into the hands of an evil person with wicked intentions, it would become corrupted, a form known as "Magatsuhi."
Only after seeing that the jewel did not become corrupted in Chen Li's hands did Kikyo finally relax and entrust it to him.
"Hey, kid! Throw out the Shikon Jewel right now, and we might spare your life!" a minotaur shouted at Chen Li.
"Idiot. Come and get it if you've got the guts," Chen Li shot back, flipping him the middle finger.
"…"
Chen Li was arrogant, but there was nothing they could do about it.
It wasn't that no one had tried to attack the barrier surrounding him, but even their combined attacks had been fruitless.
Moreover, the last one to lead a charge had already been killed by arrows from Kikyo and the pink-haired girl.
"If you don't have the courage to come over here, then shut up and watch me destroy the Shikon Jewel." Amidst the countless youkai's gazes of desire and fury, Chen Li tossed the jewel into the forging platform.
The ethereal blue flames burned silently. Before everyone's eyes, the Shikon Jewel began to decay, until Chen Li reached into the fire with his bare hands, pulled it out, and crushed it.
Standing on high ground, the moment Kikyo saw the husk of the Shikon Jewel being crushed, her heart was put at ease.
Even if the Curio forging was unsuccessful now, she would have no complaints.
Chen Li took out the giant ejection seat. The moment it touched the Flames of Miracle, it instantly shrank.
As the Magic Tracking Compass was added, more and more Entries were revealed…
[Soul], [Soul Extraction], [Purification], [Exorcism], [Merit], [Fusion], [Faith], [Idealism], [Youkai], [Miko], [Karma], [Bewitchment], [Purity], [Resurrection], [Dragon], [Oni], [Immortal], [Fate], [Almighty], [Spiritual Power], [Reincarnation], [Ejection], [Bloody], [Slaughter], [Sin], [Survival], [Tracking], [Magic Power]…
The moment he first got his hands on it, the Entries on the Shikon Jewel had been a real eye-opener for Chen Li.
As expected of a treasure that carried the fate of an entire world; it even had an Entry like [Almighty].
Though its brightness wasn't particularly high.
Carefully, Chen Li extracted the [Miko] Entry from the flames, tossed it out of the Miracle Barrier, and allowed it to dissipate into the world.
This Entry represented the miko named Midoriko.
In this world where reincarnation was not a myth, although the [Miko] Entry was certainly useful, Chen Li still chose to release her back into the cycle.
As for the [Youkai] Entry, it wasn't so lucky.
If it wasn't used in this forging, what awaited it was the chaotic and disorderly recycling bin of the forging platform.
The youkai outside the barrier saw the Shikon Jewel truly disintegrate, and they grieved as if they had lost their own parents, but they did not leave.
One reason was their hatred for the one who destroyed the jewel; the other was their curiosity about what he was making with it.
Maybe they could pick up some scraps.
Standing on high, Kikyo felt something and looked up at the sky. She saw a dignified miko with a gentle smile dissolving into the heavens.
"What a lovely girl. She seems like a gentle person, too."
Kikyo looked at the girl beside her who had spoken, somewhat surprised.
"What is it?" Elysia retracted her gaze from the sky and tilted her head.
"No, it's nothing."
Ignoring the Miracle Card that popped up the moment the Shikon Jewel was destroyed, Chen Li entered forging mode.
---o---
In the mountain forest, the sound of hammering continued for a long time. The number of youkai gathered in this desolate place only grew. Left with no choice, Elysia and Kikyo also entered the Miracle Barrier.
The rhythm of the hammer strikes gradually slowed until, for several minutes, not a single blow fell.
At this, the youkai knew that Chen Li's forging was complete.
A longbow, pure white in color but intricately carved with fine, thread-like golden patterns, lay before Chen Li.
This was one of the Curio blanks he had prepared back in the Flame-Chasers, and now he was finally using it.
Chen Li examined the effects of this new Curio.
[The Price of Peace]: How can peace be achieved? Only through blood for blood, a tooth for a tooth, and ending killing with killing!
Effect: Only a person of pure heart can wield this bow. When holding this longbow, the sins of all beings will be clear at a glance.
① Sunder Evil: When attacking an enemy with this weapon, the more sins the enemy bears, the higher the damage the arrow inflicts. The arrow will also automatically track the target, pursuing it relentlessly until death. When the target is a youkai, demon, ghost, or monster, the damage is further increased, and they will be afflicted with [Vulnerability] and [Weakness].
② Soul Reaping: Arrows will have the effect of striking the soul directly. Upon wounding a soul, the arrow will devour it, storing the soul fragment within the longbow. The pain and despair will act as a power source, providing energy to the weapon. If an enemy is killed and their complete soul is obtained, it can be released when needed, controlling the enemy to fight on your behalf.
③ Eradicate Root and Stem: A target wounded by an arrow will be marked upon the threads of karma, forever revealing their real-time location. Any arrows fired at them will inherit the auto-tracking, relentless pursuit property. By tracing the cause and effect, all living beings connected to the target can be marked one by one.
④ Ultimate: The Reckoning: Instantly burn all the sinful souls stored within the longbow to pass judgment on all sinners in the vicinity, carrying out an indiscriminate attack. The area of effect of The Reckoning will gradually shrink after half the evil souls are consumed, but killing enemies can extend its duration, increase its range, and enhance the arrows' power.
⑤ Passive Effect—Life-Taking: Every time a sinful being is killed, the cost of The Reckoning is permanently reduced, and its upper limit is increased. Calculated after The Reckoning ends.
⑥ Passive Effect—Severing Karma: Those killed by this bow will have their karma erased. All their lingering regrets will be burned to nothing, and they will never enter the cycle of reincarnation.
PS: To take a life is to protect life, to sever karma is not to sever the person! Kill! Kill them all! Exterminate your nine familial exterminations? No! Exterminate your ten! Now, count up your sins!
(Miracle: Master, to be honest, even as a blackened consciousness, I think this thing is a bit too extreme.)