While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

Unlike the sprawling territories of Zen temples near Tokyo, the mountains here are not high, but they are dense, one after another, like a group of silent giants crouching on the earth.

The trees blocked out the sun, and sunlight could only squeeze in through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Tianyan stood at the foot of the mountain, looked up at the winding gravel path in front of him, and took out the note from his pocket. The note had been crumpled in several places. The handwriting on it was Gojo Satoru's handwriting. The handwriting was so messy that it looked like it was written casually during a flight, but the address was written in detail. Every step from the foot of the mountain to the top was clearly marked.

Tianyan folded the note and stuffed it into his pocket.

He stood at the foot of the mountain, looking at the winding path leading upwards, remained silent for a moment, and then took his first step.

The pebbles underfoot made a soft "crunching" sound on the soles of my shoes. The trees on both sides blocked out the sun, and sunlight could only squeeze in through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

His pace was neither fast nor slow, his breathing was steady, his gaze was fixed ahead, and his mind was racing.

Before Gojo Satoru went to see Tengen, the sentence he whispered in Gojo Satoru's ear was not about any secrets about magic or missions, but a request: "Go and ask Tengen-sama where the current leader of the Shinkage-ryu lives."

New Yin flow.

That school of thought holds a special place in the world of sorcery, yet it has always remained outside the mainstream.

Its founder was the person he was looking for.

An old woman who has lived for countless years maintains her longevity by using a sophisticated set of constraints and contracts to make "sacrificing lifespan" the price that learners of the New Yin Stream must pay.

Before entering the Shinkage-ryu school, everyone must make a strict vow to sacrifice a portion of their lifespan to the founder. She then uses these accumulated lifespans to live year after year, century after century.

Tianyan knew her purpose from the memories in the original work.

Make the Shinkage-ryu powerful enough to replace one of the three great families of the sorcery world, or even surpass all sorcerer families.

Tianyan's lips curved slightly, a smile carrying an indescribable meaning.

They have big ambitions.

But his purpose in coming here was not to concern himself with the old woman's ambitions, but to resolve a problem that was making him increasingly uneasy.

field.

The two enemies he fought against, Lu Suo and Hua Yu, both possessed domains.

Lu Suo did not deploy his domain in front of him, probably because it was unnecessary. That woman... no, that brain-flower, had not made a serious move from beginning to end during the battle in the back mountain of the Panxing Sect.

She was just testing the waters and observing.

As for Hua Yu, that top-tier cursed spirit, it did not unleash its domain before being forced back by him and Shen Er working together.

Whether it's impossible or unnecessary.

Or perhaps they don't want to reveal their hand unnecessarily.

But Tianyan knew very well that it wasn't that they didn't know the field, it was just that it was useless to them.

A guaranteed hit, a sure-kill zone.

This perception made him very uncomfortable.

He currently has no territory, that's a fact.

Although the evolution of the Burning Technique and the fusion with the Pink Flame greatly enhanced his strength, the concept of a domain cannot be solved simply by increasing the power of the spell.

Domain is an extension of technique, a manifestation of mental landscape, and a force belonging to the "rules" level that forcibly superimposes one's inner world onto reality.

But he hasn't even touched that threshold yet.

But Tianyan had no intention of sitting idly by and waiting for his doom.

Since we cannot expand our own domain for the time being, let's first find a way to counter it.

In the original work, the simplified realm of the Shinkage-ryu is exactly such a thing.

Shinkage-ryu, or "Simplified Field," is one of the few techniques in the world of sorcery that can counter the guaranteed hit effect of a field without having to deploy a full field. Its principle is simple: by creating a tiny field around oneself, one can resist the opponent's guaranteed hit effect the instant their field is deployed.

Many characters in the original work used this technique to survive in their field for a period of time.

The head of the Shin-Kage-ryu school, that old woman who has lived for countless years, is the origin of this technique.

So Tianyan arrived.

But he doesn't intend to learn, or rather, he doesn't intend to learn "honestly".

The learning conditions of the Shinkage-ryu school are too harsh; he would absolutely not accept things like making vows or sacrificing his lifespan.

He's so young, with a bright future ahead of him. It's not worth shortening his lifespan for a mere technique. He has so much to do, and there's no reason for him to hand over his lifespan to a complete stranger.

He needs to find another way.

In the original work, the rule of sacrificing lifespan in the Shinkage-ryu style was a constraint personally set by the founder.

Tianyan's idea was simple: find the founder and ask her to remove this rule; if she disagreed, then find a way to get her to agree.

Moreover, this constraint will automatically become invalid once the founder dies.

Furthermore, the position of leader of the Shinkage-ryu sect will automatically be passed on to the next successor, and there will always be a successor who is willing to remove the condition of "sacrificing lifespan".

He continued walking uphill.

The rustling of leaves came from all directions, and occasionally a few birdsongs swept overhead, crisp and short.

Just then, he paused.

He sensed something. It wasn't murderous intent, nor hostility, but something more subtle, a feeling of being watched, as if someone's gaze was fixed on him, but without malice, merely observing.

He continued walking upwards, his pace and expression unchanged, but his fingers twitched slightly, and the vortex of cursed energy within his body began to spin faster.

Ahead, at the end of the stone steps, was a slightly more open flat area. In the center of the flat area stood a person.

He was a middle-aged man, wearing a dark trench coat, with a katana at his waist, black leather shoes, and his hair was neatly combed. He didn't look like a swordsman who had come to the mountains to cultivate, but more like an office worker who had just come out of the office.

His expression was calm, even somewhat lazy, but his eyes were bright, as bright as two drawn swords.

Tianyan didn't recognize this person, but he could sense that this person was quite strong, at least at the level of a first-level mage.

The man spoke, his voice deep and casual, as if he were chatting idly.

The middle-aged man was also sizing him up. His gaze swept from Tian Yan's face to his clothes, then from his clothes to his waist, and finally back to his face.

Then he spoke, his voice not loud but clear: "Are you from Tokyo High School?"

Tianyan stopped and glanced at him.

The man's gaze fell on the college uniform he was wearing, lingered for less than half a second, and then shifted to look at the mountain road behind him.

"At this time, in this spot, dressed like that, are they here for a picnic?"

Tianyan didn't speak, he just looked at him.

The man withdrew his gaze, glanced at Tian Yan, and slightly curved the corners of his mouth, a smile carrying an indescribable meaning.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not here to cause trouble."

He paused, pulled a hand out of his trench coat pocket, and waved it in the air: "My name is Kusakabe, Kusakabe Atsuya, a swordsmanship instructor at Kyoto High School."