Don't force me to use my right fist.

Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head, her face looking somewhat unreal.

"Hey, are you trying to be a god or an idol who kneels down to make money? How come you can't even decide this kind of thing for yourself?"

"If you're talking about faith in God, then it really is about earning faith on your knees. At least until I have enough faith to live on, that's the truth."

Chapter 452 Do I Look Delicious?

Finally, after much pleading and cajoling from Tamamo-no-Mae, Saya alighted from the carriage already in his Dream Summoning state using the Youmu Card. This was the limit he could accept; as long as he didn't speak, in his current state, no one would be able to discern his true gender.

Moreover, maintaining this state has an advantage: it helps Saku better experience the swordsmanship of the Soul Clan.

Sawa even secretly set a limit for himself: before encountering a monster that he really couldn't defeat, he should first try to see what level he could reach using only pure swordsmanship.

He was very clear that without pressure, there is no growth.

"So, where are we headed?"

Saya, carrying two long swords, helped Tamamo-no-Mae, disguised as a beautiful young man, off the carriage. Despite the identity swap, they somehow appeared strangely well-matched to onlookers. Right?

Tamamo-no-Mae was clearly still annoyed that she hadn't been able to properly dress up Saya, and her tone was somewhat impulsive.

"Of course, I'll handle all these things. As for you, if you're bored, would you like me to take you to meet the princesses of this era? You know, they're all beauties."

However, seeing that Saya remained completely unmoved, Tamamo-no-Mae realized that her anger was pointless, so she changed the subject and continued teasing Saya. (The last sentence, "象才更好," is a colloquial expression and doesn't directly relate to the preceding text.)

Sōyū waved his hand, indicating that he had no interest in these things. Compared to the princess, he just wanted to find someone to practice his swordsmanship skills with.

"Alright then, just wait here, I'll be back soon."

Upon hearing what Saya said, Tamamo-no-Mae could only shrug and then walked into the palace ahead.

Saya, left standing there, found a corner and leaned against the wall, carefully examining the two katana that had appeared out of thin air in his hands due to the Dream Summoning. Come to think of it, these things even came with a Noble Phantasm skill, which was no different from the Dream Summoning system Saya was familiar with.

It's a variant of the Holy Grail system after all, and having a powerful special move is already standard for every participant.

I lightly ran my fingers over the Long Sword Tower Sword, and the feeling it gave me was completely different from the experience of the Moonlit Blade.

Sawa finally understood why swordsmen in Japanese history all had their own exclusive swords; the feel of each sword was completely different.

However, just as Saya was about to unsheathe it for a closer look, a strange, chanting-like sound came from a nearby direction, attracting Saya's attention.

A sedan chair, seemingly covered in gold leaf, was carried by several burly men. A light veil surrounded the person inside, and the women standing around it, dressed in black veils, seemed strangely familiar to Zuoyou.

"This entrance has its own background music, why does it look so familiar?" w.

Sōyū put his twin swords back behind him, looking at the group of people in front of him with a puzzled expression. They were clearly heading towards the Yan Palace as well, and he muttered something under his breath.

This group of people, as if completely oblivious to Saya, also stopped in front of the palace.

The sedan chair, adorned with gold leaf, was gently lowered, and a black-clad maidservant beside it produced a basket filled with golden petals from somewhere, continuously scattering the petals into the sky.

This manual addition of special effects truly left Zuo Yu speechless. Leaving aside whether there would be enough to go around, just cleaning up afterward would be a nightmare. With such a grand display, shouldn't the hygiene be taken into account?

Just as Sōyū was silently complaining in his heart, the sedan chair that had been covered by a light veil was lifted by a maid from the side, and a pale-faced monk dressed in a gorgeous kasaya slowly stepped out.

He looked like a young man not even twenty, but the sense of vicissitude and maturity he exuded in his every move made him seem more like an enlightened old monk who had cultivated for many years.

What's even stranger is that although this monk exudes a sense of holiness that only cultivators can possess, for some reason, Sawa also secretly senses a completely opposite, twisted feeling, like that of a monster who has killed countless people.

The two completely opposite auras mixed together, causing Saya himself to become conflicted.

"Who is this?" With only this one question on his mind, Sawa couldn't help but cast a puzzled glance at the person. But as luck would have it, the other person seemed to sense Sawa's gaze—slightly turning their head to meet his eyes.

A hint of doubt also flickered in his seemingly emotionless eyes. The pale-faced monk with the appearance of a man and the features of a woman slightly averted his gaze from Zuoyou's eyes, then paused briefly on the two swords behind him before turning his head away.

The two maids who were scattering flower petals did not stop. Instead, as if they had read the monk's mind, they began to walk towards him into the palace.

The eerie monk, with slow and steady steps, stepped on the petals scattered on the ground, and disappeared at the entrance of the palace.

Saya and he hadn't even exchanged a single word, but for some reason, Saya had a feeling that the other man seemed to have developed a slight interest in him, or more accurately, a sense of craving.

Does this outfit make me look delicious? Like jade mochi?

Sawa, clutching his short, now-white hair at the temples, glanced down at his own appearance. Hostility towards him was one thing, but what was with this feeling of appetite?

Even a certain pink-haired glutton is only interested in Youmu's mochi, so how could there be someone more perverted?

Sōyu scratched his head, looking in the direction the monk had disappeared with a puzzled expression.

Chapter 453 The Strange Imperial Advisor

Just as Sōyū was racking his brains, a folding fan suddenly tapped him on the head from behind, making him turn around instantly.

"What are you thinking about, so engrossed?"

Tamamo-no-Mae, who seemed to have finished discussing the relevant matters, stood behind him and, taking advantage of her height (which made her slightly taller than Saya after her transformation), looked down at Saya and asked him questions.

"Well, I just saw a guy with a really big entourage. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

Saya pinched his chin and pouted at the imposing sedan chair parked in front of him, which far surpassed the carriage used by Tamamo-no-Mae.

"Yes, you mean this guy? He certainly has a grand entourage. I'm not as impressive as him."

Following Sōyū's movements, Tamamo-no-Mae saw the sedan chair and raised an eyebrow. She opened her folding fan, obscuring the lower half of her face, and then echoed him in a sarcastic tone.

"You know him? Judging from his appearance, he must be someone the emperor here cares about very much?"

Saya turned to Tamamo-no-Mae, who clearly harbored some hostility towards the monk he had mentioned, and asked him a question.

While explaining, Tamamo-no-Mae got into her carriage and reached out her hand to Saya, as if to pull him into the carriage with her.

Sōyū, however, was clearly not so delicate or pretentious. He decisively flipped himself onto the carriage and sat down opposite Tamamo-no-Mae without ceremony, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at her, waiting for her explanation.

Seeing that Saya wasn't cooperating with her attempts to be a sweet guy, Tamamo-no-Mae sat down and ordered the coachman to head back home before continuing to explain to Saya. "He's the Grand Tutor of all of Japan now, a position that completely crushes me," she explained to Saya in a slightly sarcastic tone, her small fists clenching silently.

Japan has a long tradition of Buddhism, which was once enough to rival their orthodox Shintoism. Naturally, Inari gods like Tamamo-no-Mae, who emerged out of nowhere and became independent, could hardly compare to them.

However, since the other party is of a higher status than her, a great demon, yet hasn't been forced to step down by this cunning fox, it can only mean that he must possess the ability to rival that position.

"So, he's some kind of powerful, enlightened monk? A member of Buddhism?" Zuo You could only offer this guess, at least from his perspective.

"Maybe so. That guy is surrounded by a Buddhist aura, and he always chants Buddhist mantras whenever he goes out. At least in terms of style, I am completely inferior to him."

With a sigh, Tamamo-no-Mae took out a mirror from her pocket and began to adorn her beautiful face, but her expression remained one of dissatisfaction.

If women weren't of such low status and easily tempted by the ulterior motives of high-ranking officials and nobles, she might not have been inferior to the monk in appearance.

"But I felt there was something wrong with that guy, though I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was."

Sawa paused for a moment, then voiced his doubts.

I always felt that a truly enlightened monk shouldn't look like this. To be more precise, although his temperament and appearance match, my intuition tells me that there's definitely something strange about this.

"Hmm? So you feel that way too? You said before that you weren't very good at sensing auras. As a god, I see far more than you do. That guy is indeed a bit strange."

Tamamo-no-Mae half-closed her eyes.

"Don't let my title as the head of Onmyoji fool you. Most officials in the entire court actually believe in the Mahayana Buddhism that guy promotes, and even the Emperor is no exception."

"Even so, before I became the new favorite of the court, do you guess what the entire court was like?"

Tamamo-no-Mae narrowed her eyes, rhythmically tapping her palm with the fan in her hand. She held up five slender fingers and gestured to Saya before continuing her speech.

"Let alone a great demon like me, even an ordinary Onmyoji could have seen through it. That guy, as the Imperial Advisor, didn't say a word. In the end, I had to step in to resolve the matter. Do you believe that this person is some enlightened monk who saves all sentient beings?"

Tamamo-no-Mae chuckled as she looked at Saya. She hadn't expected Saya's intuition to be so sharp.

Most people would be easily fooled by the pale-faced monk's appearance, and even if they didn't become believers on the spot, they would at least feel a sense of goodwill towards him. But Sawa could see that something was off about him; sure enough, his claim that he was very good at fighting wasn't just empty talk.

It's absolutely true that the better a guy is at fighting, the sharper his intuition will be.

"So, you suspect he's a monster?"

Sōyū snapped his fingers. Judging from what Tamamo-no-Mae had said, this guy was definitely involved in the loss of life force of those officials.

Tamamo-no-Mae waved her hand. Under these circumstances, she clearly did not want to provoke the hatred of this guy. Anything else could wait until she became a god. Right now, it was best to keep a low profile.

But Sawa didn't share her thoughts. Feeling increasingly that he had heard something similar somewhere before, he finally asked a crucial question.

"Since we've come this far, what's the name of this imperial advisor you're talking about? At least let me have a vague idea of ​​his name, right?"

"You don't even know something like this? You must be a person from the future, a thousand years from now."

Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head, her lips slightly parted, and uttered a name that left Saku momentarily speechless, unsure of how to react.

"The Compassionate Master, who saves all beings from suffering."

Chapter 454 The Pressure Arrives on Sayu's Side

Zuo You never expected that a well-known monster from Shenzhou would not stay in its own territory but would come to Japan to cause trouble for the imperial court. He didn't know whether to call it patriotism or freedom of thought.

But at least he knew the other person's name, and Saya suddenly felt much clearer.

It's normal that Tamamo-no-Mae didn't realize his true identity; he had just been saying that something about this guy was off.

That strange sense of conflict and contradiction can also be explained. While possessing Buddhist nature, it also hides demonic power. It's just unknown how much power Pudu Cihang can unleash now compared to the level of almost transforming into a dragon in the original work.

To be honest, Sōyū was somewhat wary of this guy. After all, he had the audacity to impersonate the Great Sun Tathāgata and even absorbed the nation's destiny into his own power.

In the original story, if it weren't for the solar eclipse that happened to disrupt his alchemical energy, Sasuke really didn't think his group of followers would be enough to deal with this guy.

Furthermore, there was something else that Saya also noticed.

The reason why Saga didn't recognize the other person immediately was precisely because in the original work, this guy should have been an old monk without a beard and with a sinister aura.

But the one appearing before Saya now looked like a pale-faced boy not yet twenty, which made Saya cautious. He knew that, compared to an old person, a younger-looking demon might actually be more dangerous.

Monsters that resemble young boys are even more dangerous to be around.

"Why do you look so strange? Have you heard of this name? Or is he going to be famous in the future?"

It was only then that Tamamo-no-Mae remembered that Saya was a guy from a thousand years in the future, which meant he might have seen the script and therefore knew something about him.

"Heh, he might not be very famous in Japan, but back in my hometown, he's alright. At least I know a little about him. Doesn't he often make his enemies so ashamed they commit suicide?"

Saya smiled and asked Tamamo-no-Mae another question.