The Demon King, reborn in Japan as a monk

"This is related to the founding principles of the Supreme Dao."

"What is the founding principle of the Supreme Dao?" Hong Yi asked, puzzled.

"To oversee the entire realm." Shi Yuanzhang smiled slightly. "Therefore, in order to better understand whether the current court and the emperor's qualities meet their standards for a ruler, each generation of the Supreme Dao Saintess will enter the mortal world to cultivate in the Jade Capital City. They will reside in the most prosperous place in the Jade Capital City, the place most frequented by high-ranking officials and nobles. On one hand, they will use the mortal world to cultivate their hearts and practice the Supreme Dao of Forgetfulness, and on the other hand, they will take the opportunity to contact court officials, understand the court's national policies and the emperor's reputation, so as to achieve the purpose of examining the emperor."

"What a blasphemous Taishangdao! Just like its name, it is utterly rebellious!" Hong Yi, who had his own principles of law, showed no respect for the fact that Taishangdao was the sect his mother came from, and made a blunt and unceremonious assessment.

"Therefore, the imperial court has always been trying to find a way to deal with the Supreme Dao in the same way it dealt with the Great Zen Temple. Unfortunately, the imperial court made a miscalculation. It intended to use the opportunity of annihilating the Great Zen Temple to make the Supreme Dao, Meng Shenji, and the monk Yinyue of the Great Zen Temple fight each other to the death, and then have your father, Hong Xuanji, find an opportunity to wipe them both out in one fell swoop. However, it failed, and Meng Shenji escaped, thus becoming a major threat to the imperial court..."

"So my father knew that Madam Zhao was poisoning my mother but didn't stop her, just to get revenge on Meng Shenji?" Hong Yi's eyes reddened when he heard this, and hatred resurfaced in his expression.

"I don't know, but I can't rule out that possibility," Ishihara Akira said, shrugging.

"What a great Grand Preceptor of the Qianlong Emperor! What a loyal and patriotic master of Neo-Confucianism! He has even abandoned his family! Father, how could you be so heartless!" At the same time, he understood more and more why his mother often said that she had not met a good man and had entrusted herself to the wrong person when she died.

It's better not to have a husband like that at all.

"Then what about the Supreme Dao? Since they knew the court was wary of them, why did they still let Mother marry into that sect?"

“Then I don’t know. Perhaps your mother truly loved your father, otherwise Meng Shenji wouldn’t have remained unmoved after learning of your mother’s death.” After a pause, Ishihara Akira continued, “Although Meng Shenji might have been recuperating at that time, recovering from the injuries he sustained in the battle with Monk Yinyue and your father, or perhaps he had truly cultivated the Supreme Dao’s state of detachment, allowing him to cast aside emotions like kinship…”

Hong Yi remained silent. Although he didn't say anything, he must have felt disappointed and dissatisfied with his uncle, Meng Shenji.

……

Ten days later, having finally recovered from the weakness caused by the tribulation, Ishihara Akane no longer hesitated and made a decisive move, heading towards the strongholds of the Wusheng Dao and Zhenkong Dao in Yujing City that he had previously discovered.

He felt it was time to take them into his hands and fleece the Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King.

So in no time, Ishihara Akane arrived at the place and, with his superior spiritual cultivation, silently infiltrated the core area. Unfortunately, he did not see the Eternal Mother or the Vacuum Dharma King, but only the person in charge of the place. But it doesn't matter, after all, even a mosquito's leg is still meat.

Therefore, without further ado, he directly suppressed everyone present, altered their memories, forced them to open their hearts and believe in him, and seized the power of life and death over them before releasing them. He left one person here to guard the place and instructed the person in charge to send a message to the Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King, saying that if there was anything that needed their decision, they must come to the stronghold to meet him as soon as possible.

Then Shi Yuanzhang left the stronghold and returned home, continuing to use the six-syllable mantra's sound-secret method to help Qin Mengyao with her marrow-refining cultivation, while waiting for feedback from the Wushengdao and Zhenkongdao strongholds.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long; in just three days, the Eternal Mother appeared at the stronghold...

Although the Vacuum Dharma King had not yet arrived, it was expected that he would arrive shortly after. Therefore, Ishihara Sho did not rush over to suppress the Eternal Mother immediately. Instead, he waited for a while until the Vacuum Dharma King arrived before activating his Divine Speed ​​Technique. He then appeared in a flash at the stronghold jointly owned by the Eternal Path and the Vacuum Path, appearing in the sight of the Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King.

"Who goes there?" the Eternal Mother shouted at Ishihara Sho.

"Eternal Mother, Vacuum Dharma King, your deeds have been exposed." Ishihara Sho laughed loudly, directly activating the Future Eternal Scripture and the Vacuum Great Handprint technique, creating a huge golden hand out of thin air, which reached out to grab the Vacuum Dharma King beside him.

"Vacuum Great Handprint!? How is this possible!?" As a practitioner of the Vacuum Great Handprint, Vacuum Dharma King, who immediately recognized the nature of Ishihara Sho's attack, exclaimed in disbelief.

"What did you say?" Wusheng Laomu, who had just activated her aura and was about to unleash her faith avatar to fight, asked in astonishment.

Before she could get a definite answer from Vacuum Dharma King, his soul was directly captured by Ishihara Sho's attack. His struggling soul was thrown into the halo of faith that appeared behind Ishihara Sho's head...

The Vacuum Great Handprint, combined with the Spirit Binding Technique (below the level of a human), is truly an invincible counter to cultivators at the Ghost Immortal level who haven't survived the tribulation of lightning. They have no way to resist at all.

Chapter 452 Confiscation

Seeing that the Vacuum Dharma King, who was of the same realm, strength, and even cultivation method as herself, had been captured by Ishihara Akane, the Eternal Mother dared not stay and continue to show off. Her expression immediately changed, and she used her divine soul power to wrap her body and rushed out of the house.

"Did I say you could leave?" Ishihara Sho instantly transformed into lightning and appeared in front of the Eternal Mother, speaking calmly.

The Eternal Mother's expression changed again. Immediately, a halo flashed behind her head, and she released five great Dharma bodies—red, black, green, yellow, and cyan—which, based on the idea that many hands make light work, rushed towards Ishihara Sho.

Then a punch came, and the sky burst into a burst of crimson light.

Ishihara Sho's reaction was equally simple. He used the Vacuum Great Handprint combined with the modified Spirit Binding Technique, capturing the five Dharma Bodies thrown out by the Eternal Mother as easily as catching chicks. He then placed them in the halo behind his head to seal and imprison them. Afterward, he activated his Divine Speed ​​Technique and reappeared beside the Eternal Mother, who had only escaped a little over a kilometer away, at a speed far beyond her imagination. Without saying a word, he struck with lightning, and a dazzling white lightning bolt suddenly struck the fleeing Eternal Mother's body with a thunderous roar.

"what!"

The Eternal Mother screamed in agony as her body uncontrollably plummeted to the ground.

But Ishihara Akira didn't stop. He continued to create lightning in different ways and bombard the Eternal Mother with it, determined to kill her. This terrified the Eternal Mother, who cried out to Ishihara Akira, "Stop! Stop! I surrender!"

Upon hearing this, Ishihara Sho finally stopped wielding the lightning in her hand. She held it in her hand like a ball of lightning and strode over to the Eternal Mother, who had become incredibly miserable. If it weren't for the aura of faith that helped her mitigate much of the lightning damage, she would have already been cleaved into pieces. She looked at her expressionlessly.

"Hand over your divine soul imprint, and then open your heart to believe in me," Ishihara Akira said coldly.

"Ah...yes." Upon hearing this, the Eternal Mother's expression changed slightly. However, seeing that Ishihara Sho had no intention of changing his mind and the thunder ball he was holding, she still reluctantly handed over her soul imprint. Then, she lowered her head, adopted the posture of a believer worshipping a deity, and wholeheartedly visualized the image of Ishihara Sho, worshipping him as the deity she believed in.

Instantly, Ishihara Sho felt a thought connect to him, and then the life of the Eternal Mother rushed into his mind, along with various other thoughts mixed in with the Eternal Mother's mind. This torrent of information assaulted Ishihara Sho's primordial spirit, trying to split his soul, drive him mad, and force him to escape...

Unfortunately, the Eternal Mother clearly misjudged Ishihara Sho's situation. Not only did he cultivate the Future Eternal Scripture, which could effectively transform and suppress the chaotic external thoughts roaming his mind, but the existence of the Past Amitabha Scripture alone was enough to ensure that his soul remained stable and would not be affected by external distractions. Moreover, he was a Heavenly Demon, possessing the unique methods of the Buddha. Whether it was manipulating faith or anything else, he was far more experienced than the Eternal Mother. Therefore, with just a change of mind, the Eternal Mother's plan fell into place, and while she gained a master for no reason, she also completely lost her ability to resist.

This saved Ishihara Sho from having to do a second modification on her.

"Let's go back to the base," Ishihara Sho said after digesting the faith of the Eternal Mother.

"Yes." Seeing that her plan had failed and that she had handed over her soul core, Wusheng Laomu, whose life and death were in the other party's hands, did not resist. She obediently stood up and followed Shiyuan Zhang back to the previous stronghold.

Then Ishihara Sho released the soul of the Vacuum Dharma King—

By this time, he had already been overwhelmed by the numerous distracting thoughts contained in the aura of faith that Shi Yuan had taken from Crown Prince Yang Yuan, and his soul was completely lost. He had no ability to resist and was soon transformed into a living puppet similar to the Eternal Mother under Shi Yuan's transformation.

Only then did Ishihara Sho allow the Vacuum Dharma King's soul to return to his body and stand before him once more.

Then, Ishihara Akira ordered the two to hand over their faith avatars, which were faith halos condensed from the power of the Future Unborn Sutra. After reducing their combat power back to the level corresponding to their original cultivation, he casually revealed his arrangements for them.

"From today onwards, the Wusheng Dao and the Zhenkong Dao will break away from the Crown Prince's command and fully submit to my banner. I don't care about the methods of proselytizing, but as for the gods you worship, I want you all to be sculpted in my likeness, so that all the people will believe in me. In return, I can allow you to take 10% of the faith you collect as your personal gain." After a pause, Ishihara Akira warned, "But only 10%. If I discover that you have secretly taken more faith behind my back, don't blame me for being ruthless and replacing you with someone else."

"Yes." The Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King dared not refute and quickly and honestly replied.

"Furthermore, when you're spreading the word, you can tell your followers that as long as their faith is sincere enough, they can receive corresponding rewards from me—martial arts secrets, methods for cultivating their souls, even resources, pills, money, and silver. I can give them anything they can think of. But the prerequisite is that their faith is sincere enough for me to sense," Ishihara Akira added at the end.

"Yes." The Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King exchanged a glance and nodded in response.

"From now on, you will need to submit your findings every three months. I will notify you of the specific time and place later. Alright, you can leave now," Ishihara Akira waved his hand to shoo them away.

"Yes." Without lingering, the two left the Kyoto outpost at breakneck speed, just as they had arrived, disappearing from Ishihara Akira's sight...

After that, Ishihara Akira didn't stay at the stronghold any longer. He returned home, let Qin Mengyao go to sleep, and went to another unused room to open the defensive barrier and begin refining the fresh wool he had plucked from the Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King...

Although the quality of the wool on the bodies of the Eternal Mother and the Vacuum Dharma King was relatively poor due to the fact that they were cultivating an incomplete version of the Future Eternal Scripture, and it was far less refined and useful than the faith on Yang Yuan's body, the sheer quantity of it made up for it. Therefore, after Shi Yuanzhang re-refined it, he was still able to open up a sixth layer of faith halo on the existing basis and condense the corresponding deity.

Not to mention his combat power has increased significantly, his spiritual cultivation has also improved considerably, not to mention the resulting improvement in his calculation ability. This allows him to more easily transform techniques, secret arts, and even his own whimsical ideas from other worlds into reality, turning them into martial arts techniques that conform to the characteristics of the Yangshen world.

For example, the Spirit Binding Technique used in battle before, if it hadn't been modified according to the operating rules of this world, how could it have achieved such an exaggerated effect, directly disregarding the defenses of soul cultivators below the level of Thunder Tribulation Ghost Immortal, and forcibly extracting a person's soul as soon as it was activated?

Anyway, the original version of the Spirit Binding skill didn't have this ability.

Chapter 453 Invitation

"Brother Hong."

"Brother Shi."

Inside Fangxiandao's guest room, Hong Yi and Shi Yuanzhang, who was actually Shi Yi, greeted each other and sat down at the table.

"I wonder what brings Brother Hong to summon me here?" Shi Yi didn't stand on ceremony with Hong Yi and went straight to the point, asking about the purpose of Hong Yi's invitation.

"I wonder what Brother Shi's opinion is on the current court?" Hong Yi poured Shi Yuanzhang a cup of tea and asked.

"The imperial court? It's alright. Although there's corruption everywhere, overall it's still a peaceful and prosperous era. At least the people can live and work in peace and contentment, and they're not starving, naked, or living in misery." Shi Yuanzhang paused for a moment before expressing his impressions of the Great Qian Dynasty over the past six months.

"Since Brother Shi is quite satisfied with the Great Qian Dynasty, have you ever considered becoming a general or prime minister to help the Great Qian Dynasty clarify its affairs?" Hong Yi continued to ask.

"Become an official? I've never thought about it. Why would Brother Hong ask such a question?" Shi Yuanzhang shook his head, then asked somewhat knowingly.

If he still didn't understand after hearing this that Hong Yi had pledged allegiance to Prince Yu, thus beginning his path to help Prince Yu seize the throne and gain Prince Yu's recommendation to take up a post in the south, then all those chapters of the Yang Shen novel he had read would have been for nothing.

I never expected that Hong Yi would send someone to invite me at this critical moment, and from the tone of his voice, it seemed that he wanted me to come along.

Does this mean she really considers him a friend?

However, upon further reflection, it's not entirely unexpected. After all, times have changed, and the situation is different from the original story. Hong Yi doesn't have any helpers around him anymore—he intercepted Shen Tianyang and his son. If it weren't for his help, he might still be under the surveillance and control of the evil servant Zhao Han. How could he be so free now, or even get involved in Prince Yu's affairs?

Therefore, the level of intimacy is incomparable to that of ordinary people!

Given Ishihara Akira's skills, it's entirely understandable that Hong Yi would want to travel with her.

After all, because he didn't meet Shen Tianyang and his son, plus Xiao Mu, he missed the opportunity to learn martial arts from the three of them. He also missed the chance to attract Murong Yan's attention and cause a conflict by practicing archery and horsemanship with Xiao Mu, which would have set the stage for his later rescue. Furthermore, he couldn't borrow a Xiantian martial arts master from Murong Yan to protect him, as was the case in the original story.

Traveling alone like this, he'd probably be killed by the Zhao family behind Madam Zhao before he even reached the south.

Therefore, even for purely safety reasons, he would need to bring along a trustworthy person.

Speaking of Murong Yan, she should be in Yujing City by now, right? I wonder if she's discovered Xiao Mu's existence—she's currently working at the bookstore arranged by Ishihara Akira, helping to organize books and greet customers. Shen Tianyang and his son are managing the bookstore, one as the manager and the other as the security guard; under their management, the bookstore is very well-organized and hasn't had any problems.

However, considering that Shen Tianyang and his son never mentioned Xiao Mu, and that their home had not been attacked, it seems that they had not been discovered.

That's understandable. After all, although Shi Yuanzhang's bookstore is located in Yujing City, it's not in a bustling downtown area—he doesn't have that much money to buy a shop in that kind of place. Besides, Murong Yan came here secretly this time, so it's not good to show her face too much and attract unnecessary attention. Moreover, her situation isn't exactly safe—Hong Xi is watching her from behind.

But there wasn't much time or opportunity for him to wander around and search for Xiao Mu's whereabouts.

Especially given that it was unclear whether one of the reincarnations of the Imperial Preceptor Yuwen Mu was in the Jade Capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"To be honest, Brother Shi, I recently met His Highness Prince Yu through an acquaintance's introduction. He took a liking to me and recommended me to train in the Southern Navy. But as you know, Brother Shi, my situation may not be a problem while I'm in Yujing City, but once I leave Yujing City..." Hong Yi was quite frank, revealing his purpose and thoughts.

"So you hope I can travel with you and help you along the way, and in return, you plan to recommend me to Prince Yu and ask him to help you get an official position?" Ishihara Akira asked, picking up the thread of the conversation.

“Yes,” Hong Yi nodded affirmatively.

"Although there's a saying that 'the Six Doors are a good place for cultivation,' it depends on the situation. Someone like me, who considers himself to have decent aptitude and ample resources, has absolutely no need to dedicate myself to the imperial court for cultivation resources and techniques, exchanging my life for what I need for cultivation. Besides, the mortal world is a big dye vat, which can not only corrupt people's hearts but also delay their cultivation progress. Among these, the influence of the imperial court, with its chaotic and complex karma, is the most serious. So, unless absolutely necessary, I will not contact the imperial court or become an official." After a pause, Shi Yuanzhang continued, "However, I understand Brother Hong's situation, so I can agree to accompany you on this journey, take you to your destination, and recommend two skilled individuals to you as assistance. As for becoming an official, Brother Hong, it's best not to mention it again."

"Then thank you very much, Brother Shi." Hong Yi stood up upon hearing this and expressed his gratitude.

“We’re brothers, no need for such formalities,” Ishihara Akira said with a smile.

Afterwards, the two talked about the departure time and meeting, and then Ishihara Akira returned home.

……

"Benefactor." After dinner, Shen Tianyang and his son, along with Xiao Mu, appeared before Ishihara Akira and Qin Mengyao, bowing respectfully and addressing them.

"I called you all here today mainly because I have something to say." Shi Yuanzhang nodded and looked at Shen Tianyang and the other two, saying, "In two days, my wife and I will be escorting a friend to take up his post in the south. However, he lacks some trustworthy and capable men by his side. I was thinking that you two are quite skilled, and it would be a waste of your talents to run my bookstore. I would recommend you to him, which would also be an opportunity for you two to make a name for yourselves. I wonder what you two think?"

“My lord, you are exaggerating. If it weren’t for your help, the three of us wouldn’t even know where we would have settled down, let alone have the opportunity to live a stable and happy life where we can eat our fill. So it is only right and proper for us to help you run the bookstore. How can you say that we are wasting our talents?” Shen Tianyang was somewhat tempted by Ishihara Akira’s suggestion, but he still spoke humbly and politely.

“Old Shen, it’s not a given that you’ll help me look after the bookstore. Don’t forget, the reason I took you in was because I valued your martial skills and wanted you to protect my property. So that’s your job. Running the bookstore is something outside your duties. Don’t forget, you’re not my servants,” Ishihara Akira corrected.

"Moreover, I can also see that you and Xiao Mu may be very satisfied with your current life, but Tie Zhu may not think the same way. There is fire in his eyes, and he is obviously unwilling to be ordinary. So even if it is for Tie Zhu's sake, I think you should seriously consider my suggestion and whether you should go to my friend's side and follow him to make achievements and seek fame."

Chapter 454 On the Road to Taking Office