Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

The Black Flame Skeleton King slowly spoke: "This is a ritual presented to the True King."

Kotegawa looked at it in surprise.

If you're so polite, I'll be the one who feels awkward taking your sword later.

The elderly couple both looked at him.

Kotegawa helped them sit down on chairs, then watched as a group of yokai carried them out of the stone gate. The patterns on his face disappeared again, and he said, "Then let's have a spar."

The Black Flame Skeleton King looked at him, then turned and stepped out the door, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Kotegawa also stepped out and stood together in the center.

He looked at the Black Flame Skeleton King opposite him and suddenly said, "You seem to know me?"

The Black Flame Skeleton King gripped the sword, flames flickering in his eyes. He didn't answer, but instead stared at the sword in his hand, uttering a low, bubbly sound: "Human True King, what will you wager on it?"

This question startled Kotegawa, who pondered for a moment.

Since his debut, he has always been the one to steal... He always kills monsters and then takes the spoils. He never thought he would have a day like this where he can have a friendly sparring session with a monster.

He pondered for a moment. The question raised by the other party was reasonable. If he couldn't come up with something suitable, it would seem impolite of him.

He doesn't have many Yin Qi Pills on him right now, so he can't offer any.

But besides that, what else does he have to offer? None of his swords can compare to the ones on the other side... wait? It seems like he has nothing of note? Is he actually... very poor?

He composed himself and said, "State your request."

The Black Flame Skeleton King looked at him and slowly extended two bone fingers: "First, from today onwards, we will keep to ourselves. I guarantee that my subordinates will not leave the mountain, and you do not need to come to my door again."

"Second... leave your weapons behind."

“You have a lot of demands…” Kotegawa raised his eyes: “But, I can grant your request.”

He raised his hand, and a long sword appeared in his palm. His left index finger slowly brushed across the blade, and golden true energy shone forth. He said slowly, "Let me make this clear first: if anyone dares to take advantage of the chaos to attack them, I can guarantee that all the true spirits here will not be able to return to the Yellow Springs."

The Black Flame Skeleton King did not answer. He took a step back, and black flames also blazed on his blood-red longsword. He put his other hand behind his back, stomped his foot, and instantly turned into a blur.

Kotegawa Kami watched calmly, making no move, but simply raising the sword in his hand.

The pale green flames illuminating the plaza obscured the skull's silhouette; only the afterimage of Kotegawa's sword flashing as he parried could be seen.

Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiha, who were being carried to sit in the spectator stands in the distance, stared blankly at the scene. They seemed to have suddenly thought of something and exchanged glances, but Aunt Akiha reacted a little faster and turned her head away.

Uncle Jian was taken aback for a moment, but still slowly voiced his thoughts: "Little Jian, he's really that amazing."

Aunt Qiuye didn't answer, but looked somewhat dazed.

It's like a dream, no, this is something I could never have imagined...

The blue-faced, fanged monsters and ghosts standing nearby exchanged glances and then remained standing still.

Although they are human, the True King is of equal rank to their Black Flame Great Evil God, and is an existence of boundless power.

In the center of the Valley Arena, the two afterimages suddenly separated and returned to their original positions.

The elderly couple and the group of monsters standing beside them all stared wide-eyed.

Kotegawa still held the longsword with a faint golden luster in his right hand, and the Black Flame Skeleton King opposite him looked no different from before he made his move.

The exchange just now seemed like their illusion.

Kotegawa suddenly clapped his hands and praised, "What wonderful swordsmanship! It seems you received true instruction in your lifetime."

The Black Flame Skeleton King remained silent until the tremor in his arm subsided, then slowly spoke: "I once traveled with my master to an ancient kingdom to cultivate... But you, sir, possess a very peculiar swordsmanship."

Kotegawa hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't bring himself to tell it the truth. Actually, he hadn't really made a move yet; he had just given it a taste of what he was capable of.

He nodded and said, "Since you're being so frank, I'll tell you too. The move I just used is called 'Disintegration'."

"Disintegration? The Red Demon's technique?" The ghostly flames in the Black Flame Skeleton King's eye sockets flickered a few more times.

"Yes, I learned it from them."

The Black Flame Skeleton King raised his longsword again, and suddenly raised his other hand, sending several balls of black flames falling around him and burning fiercely. A grand chanting sound echoed in the void, as if some kind of ceremony was being held.

It now has a crown woven from black flames on its head.

"Then... I'll get serious!"

Kotegawa sensed the oppressive force around him, which was somewhat similar to the Impermanence Domain, and nodded slightly: "It's somewhat interesting."

The Black Flame Skeleton King's speed suddenly increased, and his longsword seemed to rip through space, becoming invisible.

A crisp impact, accompanied by shattering sparks, resounded throughout the square.

Kotegawa remained calm, his longsword precisely blocking every attack that came his way, and he didn't move an inch, only defending and not attacking.

The Black Flame Skeleton King possesses immense strength, coupled with its astonishing attack speed, making its destructive power truly formidable, even surpassing that of the Demon King in some respects.

This is the swordsman, a profession of assassin whose every move is deadly and focused solely on causing damage.

If Kotegawa had encountered the demon king before meeting it, the outcome would have been uncertain, but he would certainly have been injured.

As for now... after killing three great demons—the Demon King, two Illusion Kings, and the Viper God—and consuming a large-scale experience fruit that boosted his power by five hundred years, the Black Flame Skeleton King is no longer a match for him in terms of raw strength alone.

What's even more coincidental is that Kotegawa was also a swordsman.

He is still the swordsman with the purest bloodline.

Unable to break through the Black Flame Skeleton King's defenses, it seemed to have lost its temper and opened its mouth to spew a stream of black flames towards Kotegawa's face.

Kotegawa raised an eyebrow, not bothering to take the hit head-on. He turned his feet, adopting a Tai Chi-like stance, and dodged the flames while simultaneously piercing its ribs with lightning speed.

The Black Flame Skeleton King retreated with lightning speed, pointing his longsword to the sky. Countless sword lights appeared out of thin air and crashed to the ground like a rainstorm a second later.

This move looked quite familiar. Kotegawa was surprised and retreated several times to avoid the attack.

The fight was quite spectacular; the battle between the True King and the Great Evil God captivated the group of monsters.

Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiba were so engrossed in their fight that they failed to notice the black figure that had quietly appeared behind them.

The black figure's gaze swept over the two combatants. After a brief silence, it raised its right hand, conjuring a black curtain that enveloped Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiha. Then, they vanished from the spot.

Kotegawa, who was fighting the Black Flame Skeleton King, suddenly frowned and forced it back with a sword. Patterns appeared on his face, and the surrounding space instantly changed its appearance.

This time, he included the entire square in the realm of impermanence.

Blood-red sand flew everywhere, covering the enormous corpses of monsters.

The Black Flame Skeleton King raised its head, and eerie green flames flickered rapidly in its empty eye sockets.

Snowflakes danced down, transforming into a shimmering veil that shielded the area from its oppressive force.

Kotegawa, sitting on the corpse of the Demon King and using the Viper God's head as a chair, quietly watched the black shadow that had been forced to reveal itself, and the bewildered Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiba beside him. He said, "Oh, you finally came out. But why did you run away? I don't bite people."

Chapter 116 Furutekawa... Yosuke

Blood-red sand howled, and on the ancient battlefield shrouded in twilight, the corpses of monsters littered the ground. The screams of carnage from all sides made the monsters huddle together and tremble uncontrollably.

The Black Flame Skeleton King silently surveyed his surroundings, raising his dark red longsword slightly. But upon glancing at the pile of monster corpses, especially the snake broken into three pieces, he immediately lowered it again, the black flames on the sword also receding.

It seems there was a miscalculation.

At this moment, Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiba, having regained their senses, turned around to look at the dark figure hiding under the hood.

The dark figure instantly created distance, moving at an incredibly fast speed.

Kotegawa watched him quietly.

During the Chinese New Year, this guy did indeed break into the village, and he was incredibly fast.

Aunt Qiuye's body trembled. Looking in the direction where the dark figure stood, she subconsciously took a step in that direction, her hands unconsciously rising: "Yosuke, you are Yosuke, right?"

Uncle Jian also stared at him, his heart pounding.

The dark figure under the hood remained silent, like a wooden sculpture, simply staring at Kotegawa.

Kotegawa exhaled lightly, removed his buttocks from the viper's head, and transformed into a cloud of mist, instantly landing on the ground.

He turned to look at the Black Flame Skeleton King: "Sorry, let's put the sparring aside for now. I have something important to do."

The eerie green flames in the Black Flame Skeleton King's eye sockets had subsided. It turned its head to look at the black hood, its jaw clenching and unclenching: "Your Excellency, are you looking for that child?"

Kotegawa scoffed, "Didn't I show you the photos?"

The Black Flame Skeleton King withdrew his gaze from the distance and uttered in a low voice, "But..."

Its pause made Kotegawa stop in his tracks, turning his head to stare coldly at it.

The Black Flame Skeleton King softened his tone: "But is that child truly the one you are looking for? I mean, could it be a mistake? That child... is merely a tsukumogami..."

"A tsukumogami?" A terrifying aura flashed across Kotegawa's body.

The Black Flame Skeleton King fell even more silent.

Tsukumogami are objects that have been worshipped for a long time and gradually develop a trace of sentience; such beings are called tsukumogami.

If this shadowy figure is indeed a tsukumogami, then it's very likely that it's not the Yosuke they're looking for...

He suddenly asked, "What is its true form?"

The Black Flame Skeleton King said quietly, "That child is very withdrawn. Although I took him in, he has never revealed his true form... As you know, monsters are not as troublesome as humans. Even if they just take a nap, more than ten years may have passed."

[The following text appears to be a jumbled collection of characters and phrases, possibly from different sources, and doesn't form coherent sentences. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context or clarification.]

[?/p>]

"Yosuke, Yosuke..." Aunt Akiba quickened her pace, her steps uneven on the soft sand, and reached out her hand towards the dark figure, anxious yet expectant: "Yosuke, it's Mom!"

The shadowy figure dodged again, reappearing more than ten meters away.

Aunt Qiuye pursed her lips tightly and chased after him again, but this time she stopped two meters away. She tried to smile, but tears streamed down her face, and she said in a trembling voice, "Yo-suke, it's Mom's fault. Mom didn't protect you well. It's understandable that you don't forgive Mom... Yo-suke, Mom misses you so much. Let Mom see you one last time..."

The shadowy figure kept its head down, maintaining a similar posture to before, remaining unmoved.

Uncle Jian caught up with Aunt Qiuye and reached out to pull her back: "Qiuye, calm down!"

A little further away, Kotegawa, who had originally wanted to say something, pursed his lips and walked over as well.

The moment he moved, the dark figure that had been watching him also moved instantly, rushing straight behind him like a cannonball, probably thinking that the exit was over there.

Kotegawa tossed aside his longsword, embedding it deep in the sand. He crouched slightly, adopting a Tai Chi stance. As the shadowy figure charged, he reached out and pulled it, his simple, unadorned movements pinning the figure to the sand, rendering it immobile.