From the God of Lies to the Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 303 Tokyo Ghost Town
Upon hearing this, Genji suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.

There, a man dressed in classical attire was staring at him coldly, a sword in his hand.

“Are you challenging me?” Genji said, then nodded and downed his drink in one gulp. “Come on! Come with me to the dojo.”

"No rush!" the man said with a smile. "Before we go, I'd like to ask you two questions!"

“Ask me anything after the fight! Remember to remove those cameras from your body. Kendo is a pure thing; don’t think about making money from it!” Genji said, frowning.

This was his instinctive reaction. After all, some people had gone too far. After he defeated all the kendo dojos in Tokyo and those "masters," the title of "contemporary sword saint" was bestowed upon him.

So the people who came to challenge him later weren't there to defeat him at all, but to become the so-called "number one under the Sword Saint" so they could open a martial arts school and make money.

"Very well!" The newcomer nodded slowly and followed him back into the kendo hall. The two then stood facing each other, bowed, and drew their swords.

"Whoosh!" In just one round, the bamboo swords had already clashed together, then quickly separated and interacted again!
"Snap!" The bamboo sword broke, unable to withstand the force of the two people, and broke apart at the same time, becoming two useless swords.

Genji was overjoyed. He took two new bamboo swords from the wall and tossed them to the other man. "Again!"

“No, take the real sword!” the man said, picking up the sword he had placed against the wall.

These words made Genji's eyes become extremely serious. "Real swords and spears, that means swords have no eyes... Sir, have you thought this through?"

“A good friend of mine once told me that the moment you pick up a sword, you should only have the sword in your mind and not any other thoughts!” The man’s words made Genji seem a little dazed. How long had it been since he had seen this kind of mentality and attitude?
The young swordsman picked up his sword, walked up to the other man, and said, "In that case, I'll have to offend you!"

"Clang!" A crisp metallic clang rang out. Genji was stunned as he looked at the broken knife in front of him and the sword handed to him.

This sword is excellent, and this strike was incredibly fast!

The man sheathed his knife and stood there. "You're too kind!"

"I lost!" Genji said decisively. Losing is losing, there's no need to make excuses, and there shouldn't be any excuses.

“You didn’t lose to me; you lost to the owner of this sword!” the man in the yin-yang robe said with a smile. “Now, can you let me ask you two questions?”

Genji said solemnly, "No, a loss is a loss. A bad sword is not an excuse for losing!"

He valued this matter highly, which made the man before him think more highly of him. "Not bad, you can already be considered a swordsman! So... do you want to complete the unfinished business of your ancestors?"

"Ancestor?" Upon hearing this, Genji was taken aback. He then saw the man in front of him raise his hand, and a light flashed from his sleeve, summoning a picture in front of him.

The picture depicted a group of people fighting a powerful demon, which stunned Genji. "This...this kind of performance...who are you?"

"My name is Abe no Seimei, and I can barely be considered a practitioner!" the newcomer said with a light laugh.

Abe no Seimei certainly knew swordsmanship. He was the foremost Onmyoji of his time, interacted with many samurai and swordsmen, and was a rare all-rounder of his era, so it was only natural that he knew it.

Genji was suddenly struck by a realization. He pondered the image of this person in his mind for a long time before finally connecting it with someone in his memory. He exclaimed in surprise, "The Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei?"

Although he was already somewhat tempted, he still wanted to test him. "But isn't it said that Tokyo is rife with ghosts and monsters? How can you prove that you are Abe no Seimei?"

“I’m not here to prove this to you!” Abe no Seimei shook his head, the Onmyoji’s gaze was very calm. “The current situation in Tokyo is far more complicated than in Kyoto during the Heian period, but that’s the fault of the nobles. What did the commoners do wrong?”

"I need a swordsman, a master of swordsmanship, to force Shuten-dōji to retreat, to give this city a little breathing space!"

“This person will inherit Minamoto no Yorimitsu’s will, and this person will also be in endless danger, possibly dying at any moment. Therefore, I need your answer, whether you are willing or not!” Upon hearing this, Genji Minamoto did not hesitate at all and answered directly, “If it is true, then I agree! I will not fight for those nobles, but for ordinary people like us, I am willing to give it a try!”

Even the spirit of martial arts, or rather the way of the sword, in its initial stages, was never something personal, but rather the original aspiration of the working people.

At the very least, it should be something that protects the weak and prevents bullying, rather than some abstract concept like "everything returns to the heart" or "the sun and moon return to their source."

Although Genji's teacher, Miyamoto Makoto, was a member of the Miyamoto family, he did not teach Genji any kendo techniques related to "Niten Ichi-ryu," but only taught him how to draw and strike with his sword.

Incidentally, this old man, who had experienced all the joys and sorrows of life, also taught him some of the simplest truths, instructing him to do good and walk the right path.

Thus, Genji came to be, and Abe no Seimei discovered that he was a swordsman with a very rare, pure and clear mind in this country!
He said very calmly and with restraint, "The appearance of ghosts and monsters will put the children around me in great danger. I can't bear to watch them be in danger, so if I have the chance, I will definitely try!"

He doesn't care about his own things; he only cares about the things around him.

"Hmm! With a descendant like you, Minamoto no Yorimitsu should be very pleased. Without this will for the people, he wouldn't have been able to defeat the powerful Shuten-dōji!" Abe no Seimei said with satisfaction. "So, are you ready to accept your mission?"

He handed over the sword in his hand. "Dojigiri Yasutsuna, your ancestor's sword, possesses great power. It once beheaded Shuten-dōji, and now, it is yours!"

Genji took the ancient and simple-looking sword with some surprise. It was this very sword that had just easily cut through his own sword and defeated him.

Only when he held the knife in his hand did he barely understand where the opponent's strength lay!
It's this knife! This knife is too powerful; its innate strength is enough to make him feel the power surging within his body.

"No wonder it could slay a great demon, this sword is incredibly powerful!" Genji couldn't help but exclaim. As a swordsman, he knew how powerful this sword was.

He could feel that special "intention." Even though his body hadn't changed at all, his "intention" had suddenly expanded with the help of the knife.

He could even clearly feel that if he wanted to, he could cut his house in two with a single stroke right now!

"This knife... is very dangerous!" With immense willpower, Genji slowly sheathed the knife and said, "I almost turned my only possession into ruins!"

“It’s alright. If you fail, the whole city will be reduced to ruins. Your one building won’t make a difference!” Abe no Seimei said.

"Does the fact that this city has become ruins mean..." Genji paused, "...that it's related to the giant monster from yesterday?"

He had certainly heard about what happened yesterday, but these things didn't really concern them, the ordinary citizens on the outskirts of Tokyo, so they continued with their lives.

That kind of indifference ingrained in their bones has almost become their instinct, so they don't really care much about what's happening in the city.

"Look up at the sky!" As soon as Abe no Seimei finished speaking, Genji looked up and saw what was happening in the sky.

Those were endless dark clouds, slowly approaching from afar. Those black clouds seemed to be completely engulfing the city, leaving no gaps.

"Dark clouds loom over the city; this is a sign of ghosts gathering. The people of this city have committed many sins and worshipped ghosts, thus turning this city into a ghost town! This city will become a ghost town, and there is no turning back!"

"Irreversible?" Genji was stunned. "What does that mean?"

“This, of course, means the death of this city!” Abe no Seimei said. “The sun will no longer be able to shine down, and those resentful spirits will spread throughout the city, either moving away or staying to suffer!”

"If I kill Shuten-dōji, does that mean I can do this?" Genji asked hastily. "Many of my students are here. Without the sun, they won't have the money to move away, and they'll suffer just as much!"

His students' families are not wealthy. If the city really becomes like that, wouldn't they be doomed?
"If you can kill Shuten-dōji, you can indeed make some changes, but not completely. This is a catastrophe ordained by heaven!" Abe no Seimei said. "If you can't kill Shuten-dōji, but you can enter his body and kill those special demons, you can also cause some changes, but... are you prepared?"

(End of this chapter)