This was an extreme Curio, one that had maxed out its demon-slaying attributes.
And to forge such a weapon of mass destruction, the cost of the Flames of Miracle alone was a staggering 15 Crystals, as Chen Li fused a massive number of Entries into it.
Of course, part of the reason for the high cost was that he had deliberately used the flames to enhance the brightness of certain Entries, and some of the other Entries were not conceptually strong, making their modification more expensive.
To accommodate so many Entries, Chen Li spent another 20 Crystals to increase the Curio's initial capacity.
He then spent another 6 Crystals to store six more Entries: [Merit], [Resurrection], [Dragon], [Almighty], [Reincarnation], and [Idealism]…
These were all relatively dim Entries; to use them, he would first need to spend Crystals to increase their brightness.
Not counting the cost of storing Entries, the total forging cost for this Curio was 35 Crystals, even higher than Pale Justice.
Profession Experience +35
Curio Forger: Lv1 (71/100)
The Shikon Jewel's quality was on par with a Relic, but the Ejection Seat and the compass had dragged the average down.
The [Tracking] Entry in particular was crucial, and Chen Li had spent a good amount of Miracle Fire to enhance its brightness.
It was acceptable to not kill a massive number of monsters, but it was unacceptable to fail to kill them.
The same went for the [Sin] Entry from the Ejection Seat.
It was just as important to not mistakenly kill a good person.
Conversely, after some thought, Chen Li decided not to add the [Ejection] Entry from the seat.
Toying with the longbow in his hands, Chen Li stood within the Miracle Barrier and surveyed the circle of youkai surrounding him.
"You're still not leaving?"
"We…"
"Forget it. You don't want to leave? Then none of you have to."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I can't be bothered to explain it to you. You're not worthy of hearing it!" Chen Li held the longbow in his left hand and plunged his right directly into the Flames of Miracle, grabbing the raw, conceptual characters for [Youkai] before they could be empowered.
Since [Miko] represented Midoriko, then [Youkai] naturally represented the fused souls of countless demons that Midoriko had extracted and sealed within the Shikon Jewel.
Chen Li slapped the two characters directly onto the Longbow of Peace.
The souls of innumerable youkai, their very essence almost completely drained, were stored within the bow.
Chen Li had not refined the [Youkai] characters, but since the majority of the longbow's Entries also came from the Shikon Jewel, the condition of these residual youkai souls was extremely poor.
But what did that matter?
As long as they could be used to activate The Reckoning, it was enough.
"The Reckoning! Activate!"
Black flames instantly erupted from the white longbow, and the once-golden engravings turned a sinister black and red.
There was no need to nock an arrow. Chen Li simply placed his hand on the bowstring, formed from pure white light, and drew it back slightly. An arrow made of black and red flames materialized.
Chen Li hadn't studied archery for long, but he at least knew how to draw a bow.
The arrow shot towards the heavens, and the countless youkai below erupted in mockery.
You shot an arrow into the sky? Who are you trying to hit? Yourself?
But in the next moment, the sky instantly turned blood-red. A massive barrier rapidly expanded in all directions. The arrow that had flown into the sky exploded, and a rain of countless black and red arrows descended, blanketing the entire area.
"All youkai… must die," Chen Li said, a perfectly friendly smile on his face.
The Reckoning had a drawback: the poorer the quality and condition of the souls it burned, the smaller the range of its indiscriminate attack.
In the longbow's current state, it could cover a radius of ten li at most.
It sounded far, but it was actually just average.
But that didn't matter. Weren't there plenty of willing sacrifices gathered within one li of him?
Any youkai that came to seize the Shikon Jewel had a high sin value, and since they were all youkai, the arrows of The Reckoning began to slaughter them like a scythe reaping wheat.
Although there were some powerful greater youkai among them who could resist for a moment, as more and more lesser youkai died beneath the arrows, the Soul Reaping effect was triggered over and over again. It was like throwing a massive log onto a dying fire, drastically increasing The Reckoning's attack radius and arrow power. Even the greater youkai met their end here.
And with their deaths, the duration and power of The Reckoning were further enhanced.
The Miracle Card that had appeared when he destroyed the Shikon Jewel floated silently beside him, displaying its effects.
[Soul Severance] (Miracle Card): By single-handedly causing the Shikon Jewel, a treasure bearing the world's fate, to disappear ahead of its time, you have created ripples in destiny.
Effect 1: You will incur the enmity of all youkai in this world who desire the Shikon Jewel. They will continuously flock to your location for the next 24 hours. This effect cannot be negated. However, when you eliminate youkai, you can obtain [Merit].
Effect 2: Damage against treasures that bear the world's fate +1.
Effect 3: Can be used to forge a Curio.
This Miracle Card had appeared as soon as he had begun forging. Effect 1 had activated then, and an hour had already passed. More youkai were still on their way.
Fortunately, Chen Li had deliberately chosen a remote, uninhabited place to forge the Curio. Otherwise, Kikyo's village would have suffered as well.
And now, the harvest began.
"Thank you, heavens, for this gift," Chen Li said, clasping his hands together before drawing the bow once more.
Instantly, another violent shower of arrows rained down.
This world was just too hospitable, letting him both eat his cake and have it too.
---o---
"Looking, looking, looking for a friend, I found a good friend… Oh, here's another living youkai~~" Chen Li blinked, looking curiously at the white dog-youkai before him.
"Wh-whimper…" The creature looked at Chen Li in terror, its hand trembling as it failed to utter a single word.
"Don't be so scared. I specifically set an appropriate sin value range. I won't kill a single good person, but I also won't let a single evil youkai go. Since you survived, I won't attack you again," Chen Li said with a smile.
The Reckoning's sin value threshold could be adjusted.
Only those who exceeded this threshold would be targeted by the Longbow of Peace.
Not all youkai were evil, and not all humans were good.
Chen Li was well aware of this.
Yet, in the other's eyes, Chen Li's amiable smile was no less terrifying than the sneer of a devil.
"My name is Chen Li. What's yours?" Chen Li extended a hand.
"Inu… Inuyasha."
"Excellent, Inuyasha. Could I ask you to do something for me? Can you have the other youkai gathered nearby help me collect any usable materials from the corpses of those youkai?" Chen Li made his request.
"Y-yes." Inuyasha nodded repeatedly.
He didn't want to agree to Chen Li's demand. Right now, all he wanted to do was run, to get as far away from this place as possible, but…
Inuyasha looked around. As far as the eye could see, rivers of blood flowed.
All the youkai who had once mocked him for being a half-demon were now dead.
And the few who had survived the onslaught of the massive youkai army were now squatting on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
They didn't even have the courage to run.
"Very good. Thank you. If any youkai bully you in the future, you can come find me. I can have a talk with them," Chen Li said, patting Inuyasha on the shoulder before turning to leave.
"…" Inuyasha looked around at the other survivors. The youkai who had been drawn here by the first effect of the [Soul Severance] Miracle Card, all greedy for the Shikon Jewel, exchanged glances and then scattered in a panic.
Of course, they weren't fleeing. They were going to collect materials.
Hilarious. Who would dare run?
Would you? Inuyasha certainly didn't.