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The masked girl lifted her veil, revealing eyes filled with sorrow, “Teacher…if you can hold on for a while more, I will definitely go to Izumo Mountain to find an elixir to cure your injuries.”

“Cough— cough—” Under the bleak moonlight, the golden armor shone with a pale and lonely luster, and a golden liquid flowed uncontrollably from the mouth of Rokuhara Tandai. Although the wounds on his body were bandaged, they continued to leak terrifying spiritual energy and there were no signs of improvement.

“It’s useless… Even if the gods of Takamagahara descend to the world, they wouldn’t be able to heal my injuries. My soul has been severely wounded and is constantly withering. The only reason I am still alive is because of the support of my enlightenment, which far exceeds that of ordinary people. But this can only let me linger for a while; there is absolutely no chance of survival…”

Rokuhara Tandai’s empty eyes stared at the night sky that peeked through the roof of the dilapidated temple.

“Why…why is this happening!” Uehara no Shenzu trembled all over and her beautiful eyes turned white as if frozen, “Is there really no way? Teacher, can’t Izumo Mountain find a way to cure you?”

“Shenzu… Trying to heal me is no different from trying to resurrect the dead; even god can’t do it. I will die, and you, Shenzu, will inherit my will and strength so you can live on and avenge me. You must…avenge me. Make sure to slash that woman with a thousand swords!” Rokuhara’s trembling golden hand gently stroked Shenzu’s cheek.

“Teacher… don’t say anymore. Your anger will only aggravate your injuries. Teacher must be trying to save me, causing your injuries to worsen. “Sniff— sniff, Teacher…” Shenzu shed icy blue tears.

Rokuhara’s eyes were hollow, “No, my soul power is constantly draining. Even if I don’t use it to save you, I will still die, making it meaningless… If that’s the case, then both of us will be finished and there will be no chance of turning things around.”

“Shenzu, I will pass on as much of my power as I can to you in exchange for my soul¹. You will be able to condense the Throne Palace anew! You will have even more power than before!”

“No! Teacher, in that case, wouldn’t you…” Shenzu couldn’t stop shaking her head.

“Didn’t I say it before? My soul is already perishing, so I can only help you now. Even if I don’t do anything, I won’t be able to live for long, and my thousands of years of practice will really turn to dust! At that time, you will never be able to turn things around, and who will avenge me? Who will inherit my great cause?! Shenzu, I’m passing everything on to you, not for your sake, but for myself and revenge! For the sake of the great cause! Don’t you understand?!” Rokuhara’s round eyes flickered.

“But…Teacher, you are the only one in the world who is really kind to me. I can’t watch you die! Teacher, there may still be hope in Izumo Mountain. Isn’t that the reason why Teacher let me participate in the competition?” Shenzu clutched the big golden hand, full of sadness and reluctance.

“Cowardly!” Rokuhara’s big hand directly pushed Shenzu to a corner of the temple, “How did I accept such a weak and incompetent student like you! Are you going to let me die because of a woman’s cowardice and kindness?! If using your life could make me recover, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you!”

Rokuhara’s sharp fingers stretched over to Shenzu’s throat, causing blood to flow from her white neck.

“It’s just a pity… it’s useless, it’s no use at all! Shenzu, cough— Teacher’s time is running out. Do you want to let your teacher’s remaining life be spent convincing you of your stupidity? If you don’t recondense your Throne Palace, it will be impossible for you to avenge me again! The Throne Palace, which is the gate of heaven, can only be repaired by a strong person of my level at the cost of their soul! With my power and resentment, let that woman and this world pay the price, hahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha— cough cough cough!”

“Teacher, don’t be like this! Is there really no other way? Even if there is only a thin ray of hope, Shenzu will do anything…”

“Shut up! I don’t have much time.” Rokuhara’s fingers released golden threads as if plucking the mystery of life. At the same time that the golden threads shot out, the golden aura around his body began to weaken.

Shenzu was entangled by those golden threads and rose into the air.

“Teacher, no, no— don’t. Ah, teacher, let me save you. I will do everything I can to save you— don’t— ah!”
“Remember, Shenzu, avenge me. You can find someone who can continue to guide you after I am gone.”
“Teacher…who do you want me to find?”

The light in Rokuhara’s eyes gradually faded, “That person… is your real father.”

“What did you say, Teacher? What did you say?”

Countless golden threads penetrated into Shenzu’s body, and a golden hue faintly appeared in one of her blue eyes…. Her consciousness gradually began to drift into a daze…

It was uncertain how much time passed before Shenzu slowly woke up.

“Teacher!” She scrambled to her feet, but all she saw was the dilapidated and gloomy temple. She would never again see that golden god that made her feel warm, obedient, and in awe since childhood.

Under the bleak moonlight, a grayish-white, six-armed stone statue was half-tilted in the temple, where the gods and Buddhas should have been located. The face of the stone statue had both the heroism of a man and the beauty of a woman. Although its pair of eyes were already dull, they seemed to be a bit unwilling to curse the last moment of life.

Teacher!!!” Shenzu rushed over and kneeled at the foot of the stone statue, weeping in despair…

It was uncertain how long she cried for, but perhaps Shenzu’s tears were drained away with the last of her kindness and cowardice.

The young woman stood up. Although she was only at the peak of the Permanence Stage and had yet to recondense the Throne Palace, she exuded a more ferocious and gloomy aura than before.

As she walked out of the temple, one of her eyes glowed with icy blue light while the other shone with a bewitching gold color in the dark night!

“Kagami Lily— I want you to die²!!!”

…
…

On this day, the semi-finals of the Yoshitsune Memorial Competition officially started. Although there were no matches, it was the important day of drawing lots.

Lily, dressed in red and wearing a bamboo hat and veil, naturally followed the notice and came to the Genji main dojo.

“Stop, this is the Genji main dojo. You cannot enter without permission!” Two Genji swordsmen blocked the way in front of Lily.

“Cherry Blossom Valley, Lynne, has come to draw lots for the competition.”

“What?” The two men looked at the woman wearing a hat with some surprise. The other lot drawers all came with a large group of people and put on quite a show, but how come this woman came alone?

“Please show us your identity bronze plate.”

That naturally referred to the one Lily got when she challenged the ring for the first time, and arcane arts was used to inscribe it with unique information.

Lily took out the bronze plate, and when the swordsman examined it, a spiritual transmission entered his consciousness directly through his hand. He nodded, “Confirmed. Miss Lynne, please come inside.”

Just as Lily took back the bronze plate and was about to enter, a bone-chilling female voice came from behind.

“I’ll have to trouble you to verify me as well.”

A tall, veiled woman wearing a blue, high-slit ninja-like dress came from behind Lily. This woman was slightly taller than Lily and her body exuded a mesmerizing yet dangerous aura.

“Ah, so it’s Miss Nanashi who came first in the preliminary round!” The swordsman who guarded the door was even more respectful, “Please also come in! The lot drawing ceremony will be held in the main hall in front of the dojo.”

One of the two women was first and the other was second. Since they met at the door, Lily acted politely, but she always felt that this Miss Nanashi gave her a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling.

Miss Nanashi’s veil not only covered her nose and mouth, but also one eye. Her other exposed blue eye was glaring at Lily with a fierce light that made her feel cold.

“Lynne, I hope you can live until the finals because I want to take your life in front of the public with my own hands!”

“…” This Miss Nanashi came up and said such ruthless words all of a sudden, which made Lily unable to react for a moment.

After saying that, Miss Nanashi twisted her slender waist and hips before entering the dojo, leaving Lily to look at her in abrupt shock. From the front, her hairstyle looked like she had short hair with two long bangs, but there was a long braid that was not too thick at the back.

“Why does this Miss Nanashi hate me so much? Is it because I’m second? Or is it because I could have exchanged the bronze plates to win first place but didn’t, causing her to feel like I humiliated her?”

“Forget it, I shouldn’t think too much about it. Saying that you want me to survive until the finals, are you sure you can make it to the finals yourself?” Lily turned her head away in displeasure and kept a certain distance from the woman while walking into the dojo.

At this time, in the open square in front of the dojo, there were a lot of people gathered in groups. These people all had decent strength, and they should be the attendants and followers of the experts who came to participate in the semi-finals.

Lily arrived at the entrance of the main hall, where a lot of young and middle-aged samurai of the Genji Clan stood. Most of them had the strength of the Spirit Jade stage.

To have Spirit Jade experts maintaining order, the Genji Clan’s foundation is truly terrifying. Lily sighed in her heart.

Only the contestants could enter the hall where the lots would be drawn, and Lily entered the hall after verifying her identity again.

As soon as she entered the dark hall, Lily felt many sharp gazes constantly sweeping over her from the shadows. Here, there were dozens of strong people from the younger generation of Kansai of the Heian Dynasty!

Such a sense of oppression made Lily shudder, especially Miss Nanashi’s cold and piercing eyes that stared at her from beside the column, which made her feel uncomfortable.

“Ah— Kagami…Miss Kagami!”

Just when Lily was at a loss because of the sharp gazes of the dozens of geniuses and experts, a handsome and upright samurai hurried over. The samurai looked at Lily in surprise and his voice was slightly naive as he said, “Ah, it’s really you!”

“Eh? Lord Hiromasa?” When Lily saw Minamoto no Hiromasa, she felt a little relieved.

Hiromasa complained with an embarrassed look, “I say, Miss Kagami! Why did you use a pseudonym to enter the competition? You have hurt some of our brothers from the Genji Clan!”

“Eh? This…” Lily thought that he was still pretending to be naive. To be honest, her pseudonym was used to avoid unnecessary trouble, but who could have known that those guys would ambush her?

“Sigh! However, this cannot be blamed on Miss Kagami. Our skills were not as good as others’, and we were eager for quick success! Never mind this matter. I will just say it casually. Miss Kagami comes from Kamakura and was personally appointed as a female samurai of the Genji Clan by Lord Kamakura. You can be considered as a member of my Genji Clan, hahahaha!” Before Lily could say anything, Minamoto no Hiromasa looked at Lily’s beautiful face and tempting figure, seeming to convince himself.

At this moment, a black-armored samurai with a height of more than three meters strode over to Lily and Hiromasa.

Honda Yahatarou said to Lily in a low voice, “Lynne, who is this man?! Why is he questioning you?”

1. Robinxen: Not sure if he’s rational, actually kind or just very good at holding grudges.
2. Robinxen: Did you consider you started this fight?