Xu Fu's punch blew Taisai Seikun's head apart, and his body toppled backward. Yet just as he was about to hit the ground, he suddenly halted his fall in an iron-bridge stance, both feet fixed to the earth as if cast from iron.
Losing one's head meant death—but that was only common sense among mortals. For a god, it did not even count as a fatal wound.
Xu Fu was about to follow up with another strike when Taisai Seikun produced eight Extinction Malefic Stars in the blink of an eye, and her expression changed drastically.
At some point, a rope condensed from golden light had wound itself around a great tree behind Xu Fu. It yanked her sharply backward, allowing the speeding particles of light to skim past in front of her by a hair's breadth.
"[DISMANTLE]"
Even while dodging, Xu Fu did not forget to return several invisible slashes at Taisai Seikun.
Great sprays of blood suddenly burst across the headless body. As if the act of cutting itself had been skipped, slash wounds appeared abruptly on Taisai Seikun's body, slicing open even the ground beneath him.
By consuming a piece of Seer Flesh, Taisai Seikun restored himself to perfect condition once again. Seeing this, Xu Fu did not lose heart. She pressed her palms together and continued using the technique, refusing to give him even the slightest chance to catch his breath.
"[DISMANTLE]"
A storm of invisible slashes enveloped Taisai Seikun. Blood sprayed outward, and in an instant, his entire body was divided into dozens of pieces.
Repair, cut open. Repair, cut open...
In the blink of an eye, Taisai Seikun had lost seven pieces of Seer Flesh.
Seeing Taisai Seikun consume Seer Flesh and recover once more, Xu Fu used the technique Dismantle again. This time, however, the slash produced by the technique was strangely deflected the moment it struck Taisai Seikun.
"Interesting. How many pieces of Seer Flesh does that make? Since the day I was born, this is the first time anyone has ever fought me to this extent."
Fully restored, Taisai Seikun rolled his neck. The eyes he fixed on Xu Fu were filled with fanatical fighting spirit and delight.
Xu Fu noticed Taisai Seikun's left hand. He was maintaining a particular hand seal.
The contents of Senji Ryakketsu: Apocrypha were mainly divided into three parts: techniques onmyoji used for exorcism and subjugation, protective arts for countering curses, and methods of using divine energy.
The first section recorded four techniques.
Cun Si was a technique based on the idea that gods dwelled separately within the internal organs. By outputting spiritual energy from each organ into the body, it increased durability and recovery. In ancient China, it was also known as Cun Shen, an art that achieved longevity and cured illness through divine possession.
Yu Step was a stepping method that traced the symbols of the hexagrams and the Big Dipper in order to call down spiritual energy, such as that of the stars or the leyline, and strengthen the body. It was a common step used by Taoists in rituals to pray to the gods. Tradition held that it was created by Yu the Great of Xia, hence the name Yu Step.
Ying Mu preserved power by stopping one's breathing, then released that stored power upon breathing again. In battles where there was no leeway to hold one's breath, closing the left or right eye could produce the same effect, called "Left Ying Mu" or "Right Ying Mu" depending on the situation.
Hand Seals were techniques that used incantations or gestures to actively launch attacks.
The second section, "protective arts for countering curses," recorded five techniques.
Da Liuren was an evasion art that divined ill omens, obtained prophecy, and avoided misfortune while seeking good fortune. Used purely as a technique, it could even reach the level of "prophetic sight" or "future sight." This move reminded Xu Fu of Abe no Seimei from the TYPE-MOON world, who had never appeared but was already confirmed to possess future sight as well.
Armored Body Protection was a protective art that interfered with the flesh and mind through spiritual ability in order to repel curses. It could parry curses that affected the body and spirit and was more practical than substitutes or protective talismans.
Binding Curse was an immobilizing art that sealed a target's movements.
Protective Invisibility Method was a protective art that prevented spirits from perceiving the caster's existence.
Full Return, as the name implied, reflected curses—and could even reflect a curse back at its original caster with several times the power.
And what Taisai Seikun was now using was Armored Body Protection.
The advantage of this technique was that it could perfectly repel all curses and supernatural phenomena. Its flaw was that Armored Body Protection could only repel one kind of curse at a time. Therefore, the way to break it was to cast two different curses on the user simultaneously.
It had to be "simultaneous." Even a half-second gap would not work.
What Xu Fu was curious about was whether, under Armored Body Protection's judgment, Dismantle and Cleave, both of which manifested as slashes, counted as the same curse or two different curses. And did Blue and Red count as the same kind of curse?
Xu Fu looked ahead and adjusted her breathing.
Taisai Seikun attacked first, rushing forward while forming two Extinction Malefic Stars in his hand and firing them out.
Xu Fu did not dare take them head-on. She ran to one side, avoiding the incoming light particles, but by then Taisai Seikun had already closed in.
Using the momentum of his charge, Taisai Seikun leapt up and drove a knee toward Xu Fu's face. Xu Fu blocked with both hands. When Taisai Seikun landed, he followed with a downward elbow strike that smashed into Xu Fu's shoulder, though thanks to the golden light protecting her, it caused no serious harm.
Taisai Seikun struck toward Xu Fu's shoulder with his palm, and a shining Extinction Malefic Star rested in that palm. Xu Fu understood that her protective golden light could not withstand this attack. She chose to avoid its edge, twisting at the waist to dodge Taisai Seikun's attack, then locking both arms around his arm. With a standard shoulder throw, she slammed Taisai Seikun heavily into the ground, raised her right foot, and stomped hard toward his head.
The earth cracked under Xu Fu's stomp. Taisai Seikun had already rolled nimbly away before Xu Fu's foot came down.
Xu Fu had only just taken a step in pursuit when, as if sensing something, she withdrew her left foot and retreated quickly. In the next second, three light particles emerged from beneath the soil. Had Xu Fu blindly charged after Taisai Seikun just now, those three particles would certainly have struck her.
"[EXTINCTION MALEFIC STAR]!"
After flipping back to his feet, Taisai Seikun once again condensed Extinction Malefic Stars before his chest. One particle of light after another shone with a star-like radiance. Beneath their beautiful appearance lay destruction in its most absolute form—much like how many stars were only observed by us on Earth after they destroyed themselves and burst into light.
Seeing that the particles were about to fire, Xu Fu's beautiful eyes sharpened. She pointed at Taisai Seikun from afar one step ahead of him, and red light flared at her fingertip.
"[RED]!"
Everything around them was dyed the same red. In the next instant, a terrifying impact became a torrent, sweeping everything into it with crushing force.
Because he had been one step too slow, Taisai Seikun failed to fire the Extinction Malefic Stars he had condensed and instead took Xu Fu's Red directly. His form rapidly disintegrated within the red light.
A straight trench appeared before Xu Fu. This was the result of the technique Red. Whether trees or mountain rock, anything that faced that terrifying repulsive force had only one possible outcome: being crushed completely.
"Very good! That strike cost me three pieces of Seer Flesh all at once."
By consuming three pieces of Seer Flesh, Taisai Seikun healed the injuries caused by Xu Fu's Red. He acknowledged the power of Xu Fu's strike. As the battle continued, the anticipation in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
What technique would his opponent use next? How much pain could she bring him next?
An absolute powerhouse. The loneliness of standing at the peak.
But at this moment, he had found an opponent who could make his blood boil.
His blood was boiling. Truly boiling.
"What other moves do you have? Hurry up and bring them out!" Taisai Seikun spread his arms, making no attempt to hide the excitement in his heart. "That purple beam at the beginning was quite good. Can you do it again? Although that looked like a move that needs to be charged in advance. Don't expect me to deliberately leave you time to prepare. I'm not about to hold back that much—especially not against you."
Not wanting to hold back was also a show of respect and recognition toward Xu Fu.
Holding back was contempt. It was disdain. Only when stepping over ants did one need to restrain their strength, lest they accidentally crush them all to death.
"Hrm~! It seems yours truly, Xu Fu, has really been underestimated..."
Xu Fu pursed her lips and formed the Enmaten hand sign with both hands.
"Fine, then I'll let you see... what a real curse is."
"[DOMAIN EXPANSION]—"
Darkness descended, forming a shell that trapped Xu Fu and Taisai Seikun inside.
A shrine built from the skulls of various creatures rose from the ground and stood behind Xu Fu. An ominous, icy aura filled the space, as if merely inhaling a breath of the air would curse one and bring about death in the most wretched way possible.
"[MALEVOLENT SHRINE]."
In an indifferent voice, she softly recited the true name of this domain.
There was no unnecessary speech. The instant the domain took shape, a raging storm of slashes descended.
Tens of millions of cuts turned Taisai Seikun's figure into a burst of blood mist in an instant.
"The output increased? And... I see. This feeling, as if something has its eye on me—is that a sure-hit effect? So long as one is inside the domain, the technique will inevitably hit, impossible to dodge or deflect?"
As expected of a god who had lived for over a thousand years. With his vast experience, Taisai Seikun instantly understood the effect of Domain Expansion. Amid the ceaseless tide of slashes, he first repaired his hand so he could form a hand seal.
Then the countless slashes passed straight through Taisai Seikun without harming him. It was just like Uchiha Obito using intangibility: his figure was clearly visible to the naked eye, yet as far as the slashes' targeting was concerned, there was nothing in that position at all.
This was Protective Invisibility Method, an art recorded in Senji Ryakketsu: Apocrypha just like the Armored Body Protection Taisai Seikun had used earlier.
Protective Invisibility Method was not merely hiding one's form. It made the caster impossible to lock onto and impossible to regard as a target of attack. After all, many curses were techniques that could kill someone remotely with only a little information or a piece of bodily tissue. Protective Invisibility Method was a technique created specifically to deal with that kind of curse.
Taisai Seikun used this method to oppose the domain's sure-hit effect.
"Well then. Your technique no longer works on me. What will you do next?"
Taisai Seikun kept one hand in the hand seal for Protective Invisibility Method while using the other to form three more Extinction Malefic Stars. Shining light particles circled above his palm, storing terrifying energy.
His immortality gave him ample confidence and room for trial and error, so he was in no hurry at all to throw out the Extinction Malefic Stars in his hand. Instead, he was even more curious what kind of technique his opponent would use next to deal with him.
It was rare to find an opponent who satisfied him this much. How could he not savor the battle properly?
"What will I do next?"
A meaningful smile curved Xu Fu's lips.
"The vegetable-chopping phase is over. Naturally, what comes next is stir-frying over high heat!"
The storm of slashes did not cease. At the same time, flames gradually ignited within the storm.
Melting, dissolving, scorching, incinerating.
The blazing fire climbed into the sky with the force of the wind, then descended from above to blanket the earth.
Seen from overhead, the vortex of flames resembled an open eye.
It was like a divine furnace. Everything thrown into this place and swallowed by the flames would be melted down by that terrifying light and heat.
The air was filled with the scent of sulfur and fire, as if reenacting the moment when God once rained heavenly fire down to burn Sodom and Gomorrah to ash.
Like Armored Body Protection, Protective Invisibility Method likewise could not deal with two entirely different curses at the same time.
Using the slashing Dismantle and the Divine Flame simultaneously while expanding the effective range of the techniques would naturally leave Taisai Seikun hard-pressed and scrambling.
Until Malevolent Shrine vanished, neither the slashes nor the flames would ever end.
Fortunately, Xu Fu was using a closed domain rather than an open one. Otherwise, if these flames like God's heavenly fire fell into Kyoto's forests, who knew what terrifying destruction they might cause.
Aside from avoiding damage to Kyoto, Xu Fu had actually had two other considerations in using a closed domain.
First, Xu Fu had deliberately trapped only Taisai Seikun inside the domain without bringing in Ai Kamiyo or the mass of Seer Flesh watching over her. She wanted to see if this method could prevent the Seer Flesh from healing Taisai Seikun... but it seemed this idea had failed. Even with the domain separating Taisai Seikun from the Seer Flesh, Taisai Seikun could still recover by consuming it.
Second, she wanted to use the domain to stop Taisai Seikun from drawing spiritual energy from the leyline. As long as she could do that, Taisai Seikun's health bar would go from infinite to limited. But this idea had also failed. The domain could indeed stop Taisai Seikun from directly drawing spiritual energy from the leyline, but the Seer Flesh outside the domain was unaffected.
So, should she actually have trapped both the Seer Flesh and Taisai Seikun inside the domain?
While Xu Fu was thinking, specks of starlight suddenly flashed within the pillar of fire that twisted space and shot into the sky.
A sea of vast starlight flowed and gathered.
It was the Milky Way, a spiral of stars—the most mysterious and magnificent sight in the universe.
"ULTRA-HIGH SPLIT CONDENSED STATE—BARRED SPIRAL GALAXY!"
"[EXTINCTION MALEFIC STAR]!"
In an instant, the domain filled with malice and packed with flames became an ocean of light.
Nothing in the human world existed that could withstand that light. The moment one was drowned by its radiance, annihilation was already certain.
Click.
Click.
The malicious shrine was reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. Even the domain's shell was pierced from within by the aurora-like pillar of light, shattering with a series of cracks.
Freed from the domain, Taisai Seikun returned to the human world, holding in his hand Xu Fu, who had been reduced to a single head.
"Splendid! Absolutely splendid. Magnificent beyond compare. Its speed of destruction even surpassed the speed of the Seer Flesh's recovery! If it had continued any longer, there truly might have been a chance of killing me by force!"
Large burns and slash wounds still remained across his body, gradually healing with the help of the Seer Flesh. Half his face charred black, Taisai Seikun smiled in delight.
"Wonderful, Xu Fu. To think you could force me this far... I doubt I'll ever forget you for the rest of my life."
---
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