Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 510: Shinguji Temple

The moment Qing Chen leaped from the mountain peak, the Yin-Yang Master remained motionless, but the three Shikigami under his control all chased down the mountain.

Foxfire, its red body flickering, its white paws stepping on blue fire, nimbly leaped back and forth among the mountains, reaching the halfway point in a mere blink of an eye.

In another direction, Mountain Child's copper-like hands clung to the rock wall, and without much swinging, its speed was slightly faster than Foxfire.

Red Leaf Hunt was even more terrifying. She leaped from the peak, her tall figure wrapped in a green and red kimono, falling lightly like a maple leaf, completely defying gravity.

As she descended, the snow on the cliff Face^[-] behind her was stirred up, creating an impressive spectacle.

In the vast, cold expanse of the snowy mountain, Qing Chen, Foxfire, Mountain Child, and Red Leaf Hunt were like four strands of thread, weaving a net.

As Qing Chen descended, the net closing in on him tightened.

Qing Chen glanced, smiled, and leaped eastward, but as he slightly altered his direction, the three Shikigami followed suit.

This coordinated defensive formation aimed to trap him, the prey, in the net, waiting for the hunt.

This Yin-Yang Master, named Shendai Yunyi, was a genius of the Shendai Family who had achieved reverse time travel through Neuron possession.

He was an Inner Worlder, and a rare Yin-Yang Master prodigy in the Shendai Family, appearing only once every ten years.

Now, however, he was forced to become a participant in restarting the account.

Shendai Yunyi's father, Shendai Jing Cheng, was a powerful figure in the family, so he was eligible to summon Shikigami upon his promotion to B-class.

But fate played a cruel hand. He summoned three Shikigami, and they all happened to be the three useless Shikigami: Zashiki Warashi, Nekomata, and Doshoji Bell.

If it were anyone else, they would have been sent to a shrine to serve as a chief priest. But Shendai Yunyi, leveraging his father's influence, secured a chance to restart his account, and even became a Time Traveler, controlling half of the Outer World Shadow Agency.

This time, he did not disappoint. He obtained Red Leaf Hunt, ranked ninth in the Spiritual Bridge.

This was his first hunt; he needed to carefully observe the prey.

Before coming, Shendai Yunyi had thoroughly examined the battle traces on Ao Sui High Peak. While the scene looked terrifying, Shendai could not determine the attack method.

But as a skilled individual, he noticed a problem...

Everyone, including Takeda Hideo, had suffered only minor injuries.

The wounds were only two or three centimeters deep in the skin. After being attacked, Takeda Hideo was even able to escape.

This indicated that although the killer possessed extremely powerful large-scale killing capabilities, his single-target killing ability did not seem to be that of a true Outer World top-tier individual.

This large-scale killing ability is effective against ants, but when facing masters, its shortcomings would be exposed.

In fact, Shendai Yunyi's judgment was not wrong. If Qing Chen were to use indiscriminate cloud attacks, he would temporarily have no way to deal with B-class masters and above. At most, he would make B-class masters' faces pitted, but he would not cause fatal injuries.

Generally speaking, Metahumans with a clear advantage in area-of-effect damage will have slightly weaker individual combat capabilities.

This is why Shendai Yunyi dared to hunt.

At this moment, Shendai Yunyi stood on the peak, watching as Qing Chen did not charge toward him but instead turned toward Mountain Child.

He coldly looked down the mountain and whispered, "Foolish."

It is common knowledge that to deal with a Yin-Yang Master, one must concentrate all their strength on attacking the main body, not entangle with the Shikigami.

Anyone who doesn't know this common sense is unworthy of being an opponent to a Yin-Yang Master.

He had prepared a backup plan on the mountain, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

As long as Mountain Child and Foxfire could hold out until Red Leaf Hunt got close, this person would surely die.

However, at this moment, Shendai Yunyi saw the young man carrying the little girl running faster and faster down the mountain.

The young man showed no fear, instead shouting excitedly, "Come!"

The moment Mountain Child and the young man met, Mountain Child leaped up, swinging its copper-like hand.

In a flash, snow flew.

The young man's hand struck first. Shendai Yunyi didn't even see how he did it; only a crisp "slap" echoed through the valley. Mountain Child had already received a slap, sent flying and crashing into a rock.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Foxfire stepped on the blue fire, ascending effortlessly as if there were an invisible staircase in the air.

It arrived above Qing Chen, preparing to spit out flames.

But after slapping Mountain Child away, the young man leaped up and pinched Foxfire's mouth shut.

The blue flames had not yet erupted when they were abruptly suppressed!

The young man landed lightly in the snow, holding Foxfire's head in one hand, and stepping on Mountain Child with his foot.

The battle began and ended in an instant.

The young man suddenly looked up at the peak, completely ignoring the approaching Red Leaf Hunt, and instead smiled at Shendai Yunyi at the top of the mountain, "Come down!"

Shendai Yunyi's pupils constricted. Since childhood, he had been a core direct descendant of the family and had witnessed countless battles between masters.

The family even had an archive filled with recordings of battles between Federation masters, allowing them to establish references.

Therefore, Shendai Yunyi was knowledgeable. He knew that the process of the young man subduing Foxfire and Mountain Child involved no tricks.

It was entirely a crushing victory achieved through sheer physical prowess!

Overpowering strength!

Although Mountain Child and Foxfire weren't powerful Shikigami, a combined attack would force even other B-class masters to endure a blow or use their ultimate abilities.

The quality of Shikigami, besides some unique attributes, also depends on the degree of connection with the Yin-Yang Master's strength.

For example, Mountain Child and Foxfire, with Shendai Yunyi's promotion to mid-B-class, their strengths only reached peak C-class.

Red Leaf Hunt, however, could reach peak B-class when her Yin-Yang Master was only mid-B-class.

If Shendai Yunyi were to one day become A-class, then Red Leaf Hunt alone could rarely meet an opponent among A-class Shikigami.

Bing Zhu Bu, Green Monk, Wine Swallowing Child, Ox Head Rakshasa, Ma Mian Luosha, Mad Bone, Prajna—they were all the same.

Therefore, once the Shendai Family produced a Demi-God-level Yin-Yang Master, they could be secure for a hundred years.

This is why the Shendai Family worshipped their ancestors and did everything to help them restart their accounts.

Although Shendai Yunyi had not yet reached A-class, Mountain Child and Foxfire alone would be enough to give ordinary B-class enemies a headache.

And now, this young man, a monster from who knows where, had easily defeated Mountain Child and Foxfire using pure speed and power.

His physical fitness was already up to the standard of an A-class master!

Shendai Yunyi was startled. Could this be Nine Provinces' chosen one, deliberately setting a trap for him?!

No, no A-class master would fight so clumsily with simple punches and kicks?

Actually, Shendai Yunyi didn't know if the word "clumsy" was appropriate, because the young man had won using this fighting style!

Wait!

Wait!

Shendai Yunyi's pupils constricted; he finally understood what the young man was doing.

The opponent was not foolish for not attacking the Yin-Yang Master's main body first.

Rather, the opponent was confident enough to crush his most prized possessions into the ground.

Was this confidence... or arrogance?

A gust of mountain wind swept by.

Maple leaves around Red Leaf Hunt continuously shot out, the red leaves appearing ethereal in the air.

Shendai Yunyi regained his composure and watched as the young man in the valley fiercely threw Foxfire to the ground, kicking up snow.

In the blink of an eye, the young man gently flicked snowflakes.

A rumbling sound came. Each snowflake the young man flicked was like an anti-materiel sniper rifle kicking back, causing the snow behind him to vibrate and scatter.

The young man's clothes were blown back by the fierce wind, his semi-long hair fluttering in the snow.

Normally, he could restrain his strength, reducing the commotion, but he was deliberately using his full strength now.

When Qing Chen first used this move, he was still C-class, so the full power was not evident.

The last time he used this move, he had just exhausted his cloud energy and was forced to use it against moles, making it light and lacking full power.

Now it was different. This was his first real battle against someone of the same level after his promotion.

Shendai Yunyi didn't know he had just been promoted, so he didn't know what he was trying to do at first.

Now, Qing Chen just wanted to test his limits.

As Shadow would say...

When a tiger enters new territory, it will eat the beasts here to see where it is in the food chain.

At this moment, the flying snowflakes accurately hit the maple leaves. Qing Chen used his ability to calculate trajectory to the fullest extent.

The maple leaves shattered, but three snowflakes remained.

These three snowflakes forced Red Leaf Hunt to spin and dodge, stopping her charge.

As the maple leaves and snowflakes shattered, they released a brilliant red light. Shinguji Maki quietly peeked at this scene, feeling that the battle was magnificent, and her brother was incredibly powerful.

Is there really no opponent...

But at that moment, a phantom flew out from among all the shattered maple leaves.

This was Red Leaf Hunt's trump card, an invisible maple leaf...

Qing Chen slightly tilted his head and dodged it.

A thin streak of blood appeared on Shinguji Maki's cheek, however.

The little girl's eyes widened. Her first reaction wasn't pain or fear but a concern that Qing Chen might blame her for her carelessness.

But after seeing her cheek injury, Qing Chen only softly asked, "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine..." the little girl said apologetically.

Qing Chen shook his head. A nine-year-old child could not be expected to not be childish. If a child made a mistake, it was the adult's responsibility.

He turned to Red Leaf Hunt, ready to deal with the enemy first.

As a result, Qing Chen froze. Shendai Yunyi froze, too.

At the moment when blood dripped from Shinguji Maki's cheek, Red Leaf Hunt gently gathered her kimono skirt and quietly knelt down.

Moreover, it wasn't a simple kneeling; it was a "seat-kneeling."

This is a Japanese ritual, prostrating oneself in apology or supplication. In ancient times, it was used to express humility to those of high status. In modern times, it is generally used to show the deepest apologies or sincerity in a request.

This kneel was exceptionally sincere and humble.

Qing Chen suddenly recalled a piece of Outer World historical record.

"In the Nara Period, Shinguji Temples were established in shrines and major temples. By the Heian Period, Shinguji Temples were established in shrines all over the country. By the Late Edo Period, the power of Shinguji Temples had reached its peak.

Among them, the Shinguji Family was adept at subduing demons and spirits, and no demons or spirits dared to disobey."

Qing Chen sighed. Could the Shinguji Family have been collectors of demonic corpses in the past? Just a bit of blood made Red Leaf Hunt kneel down?!

And this bloodline could even overawe Inner World demonic Shikigami?