How did I, an Onmyoji, become the Lord of Yokai?

"Its special features are its dense forests and flowing rivers."

Shimizu Asahi pointed to the surrounding environment and explained with a smile, "Although the essence of an array is that once it is set up, it can operate immediately no matter where it is, that does not mean that an array does not need favorable terrain."

"Just like the two formations around Suzuka Mountain, they both utilize the advantages of the sea and rely on the power of the sea to have such a terrifying oppressive force."

"If these two formations were moved to the desert, their power would be greatly reduced."

“Even formations that gather and consolidate spiritual energy have the advantage of a favorable location to fully utilize their effects. Therefore, when considering the location of the formation, I focused on finding places with abundant spiritual energy.”

"That makes sense... the spiritual energy here is more abundant than in ordinary places."

Ah Li, half-enlightened, sensed her surroundings.

Because the spiritual energy in most parts of Suzuka Mountain is very rich, and this place is only slightly richer than other places, they did not notice it at first.

"Alright, you all step back for a moment, I'll summon this formation first."

The black-haired boy stopped speaking for a moment, and the girls obediently took a few steps back. Then, he closed his eyes.

The art of formations is an extremely profound concept within the Yin-Yang arts. There may be people in this world who can fully comprehend the simple Yin-Yang arts, but there is absolutely no one who can fully comprehend the art of formations.

Even Kamo no Tadayuki, the strongest Onmyoji of this era, only had a superficial understanding of formations.

If Kamo no Tadayuki was like this, then Shimizu no Asahi, as Kamo no Tadayuki's disciple, was even less so. His understanding of formations was limited to the most basic knowledge, and even when it came to setting up formations, he only knew a few simple barriers. Apart from that, he knew nothing else.

However, he could still summon a simple, hidden formation.

With his powerful spiritual energy, he quickly found the core of the formation. Then, he flung the blue talisman into the sky, and an invisible wave instantly connected all directions. Immediately afterwards, a voice rang out in the sky.

"Hurry up as a law!"

As the voice faded, a deep purple light suddenly emerged from the depths of the earth. As if it were a signal, one beam of light after another rose from the ground. In no time, the land within a radius of a thousand meters was enveloped by this purple light.

Of course, upon closer inspection, one will find that these rays of light vary in intensity and follow different patterns, appearing quite chaotic on their own. However, when viewed as a whole, the pattern appears remarkably orderly and pleasing.

In fact, the array that gathers and consolidates spiritual energy is an array that absorbs spiritual power. The more spiritual energy there is, the more comfortable a person feels. When this array appears, it will instinctively absorb the surrounding spiritual energy. Therefore, people standing in the array will feel very comfortable.

Yes, that's how it was supposed to be...

At this moment, the girls standing here frowned slightly. The formation did not bring them comfort; on the contrary, it was filled with a sense of oppression, like entering the deep sea. The dull feeling made them very unhappy.

"As expected, there was a problem with the formation."

Without much thought or guessing, the girls came to this answer directly.

“This formation has been eroded, and eroded very thoroughly... I have seen my teacher set up similar formations before. According to my teacher, the color they carry should be blue, not purple.”

Shimizu Asahi reopened his eyes. He first glanced at the array around him, and then looked at the three girls.

Is there a way to restore it to its original state?

Noticing the boy's gaze, Qingnufang asked softly, somewhat concerned.

"No, I don't understand formations. I might be able to modify a part of it, but removing demonic energy involves the formation's structure..."

The boy shook his head, but the next moment, he laughed and said, "I can't restore it to its original state, but I can temporarily suppress the effects of the formation."

"At least, until we find out who the enemy is, the entire formation should no longer pose a threat to Suzuka Mountain."

"Of course, the evil god himself is an exception."

"That's enough. I'll leave the formation to you, Chaoyang. We'll find the traitor as soon as possible." Ali's eyes lit up slightly, and she assured him with some relief.

"The suppression formation doesn't need me to stay here, but I can still help."

"Alright, I'll suppress this formation first, and then I'll go back and investigate immediately. We need to hurry."

Having discovered the evil god's conspiracy, Shimizu Asahi became deeply worried about the safety of Suzuka Mountain and Heian-kyo. After a good night's rest yesterday, he decided to muster his energy and resolve the trouble here as quickly as possible.

In fact, when he summoned the formation, Shimizu Asahi carefully examined it. He wanted to find clues by observing the changes in the formation. However, he underestimated the evil god's vigilance. This formation was formed by Him gradually imbuing it with demonic energy. Apart from His aura, there were no other traces.

Therefore, Shimizu Asahi could only choose to temporarily suppress the spirit array.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qing Shui Chaoyang rose into the air with his spiritual power. With a wave of his hand, he shot out dozens of talismans, which floated around the array like lightning. Then, a five-pointed star array appeared under his feet. The star array expanded continuously with his power, and in the blink of an eye, it expanded to a size that was no different from the spiritual array below.

The star array communication talisman sent down a faint blue light, which then collided with the purple light.

A suppressive force followed.

However, after realizing that the star array wanted to suppress it, the spirit array actually chose to resist. It mobilized the surrounding spiritual energy and used it to launch a counterattack.

That force was like a raging volcano, instantly forcing the blue light back.

Qingshui Chaoyang, standing above the star array, remained unmoved. He simply steadied his aura and maintained his rhythm. The spirit array had long been corrupted by the evil god, greatly weakening its ability to gather spiritual power. It couldn't mobilize much power at all, so as long as he proceeded steadily, he could easily suppress it.

The final result was not beyond Shimizu Asahi's expectations; the spirit array was eventually suppressed again, and the crisis at Suzuka Mountain was temporarily resolved.

Next, it's time to find the traitor... Chapter 248, Section 251: The Formation Altered Three Hundred Years Ago

Just as Shimizu Asahi suppressed the spirit array and returned to the village with the girls, Ōtakemaru had already returned to the village.

After returning, he first inquired about the condition of the village. Although he had defeated the monster cleanly and efficiently, the monster's impact had indeed affected the village. Some of the less sturdy houses in the village even collapsed directly in the impact.

Fortunately, no one was injured; at most, they were just a little frightened.

After confirming that there were no casualties, Ōtakemaru instructed Kyūjīra and the other five people at the Seven People's Cape to properly settle the villagers and help them repair the collapsed houses. Then, he called Uminari and Kumo to his room.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

Gently closing the wooden door between the rooms, Yun looked at Ōtakemaru, who was sitting in the main seat, with great concern.

"Don't worry, I'm not injured, and I've already killed that monster. The anomaly at Suzuka Mountain is temporarily under control."

"temporary?"

Haiming noticed the crucial words in Ōtakemaru's words. He paused for a moment and said, "Young Master, have you also realized that the monster is not the real cause of the Suzuka Mountain anomaly?"

"I simply cannot place such a monster in the same category as the mutations that have plagued us for decades without any clue."

Ōtakemaru nodded slightly.

Perhaps because he hadn't made any progress in a long time, he was so excited when he received a clue that led to the death of the earth that he subconsciously took the clue as the final cause. However, with Shimizu Asahi's reminder, he gradually calmed down and began to rethink the matter.

In fact, even without Shimizu Asahi's reminder, Ōtakemaru would have quickly realized that things were not over yet and immediately launched the next phase of the investigation.

However, Shimizu Asahi's reminder made him do one more thing among the things he had to do—prove that there were no traitors in Suzuka Mountain!

He will find out the real reason for the Suzuka Mountain anomaly first, and use that to prove that Shimizu Asahi's speculation is wrong.

With a serious expression, Ōtakemaru looked earnestly at his two most trusted right-hand men, "Kaminari, Ōku, what do you think? How important do you think that monster is in this incident?"

Faced with the question, Haiming and Yun exchanged a calm glance. It was as if they had expected it and had thought about the question in advance. So, a second or two after Ootengu asked the question, they gave their answer.

“Young Master, I believe that the monster is of high status. After all, if we could easily defeat it, we cannot conclude that it was the cause of the mutation.”

"Therefore, its disappearance will inevitably lead to the weakening of the mutation, and will certainly give us more clues."

“Yes, young master.” After Haiming finished speaking, Yun continued, “The weakening and exposure of the mutation have given us more opportunities and time. This is the best time for us to resolve the mutation.”

"Before you returned, Young Master, Hai Ming and I discussed it, and we finally agreed that the cause of this anomaly was probably a problem with the formation."

"Formation?"

The sudden words made Ōtakemaru frown. He looked at Kaiming and said, "Kaiming, you personally set up every single formation on Suzuka Mountain. Are you now doubting yourself?"

“Young Master, I am not doubting myself, but this is the most reasonable thought. As you have also felt, that monster was born by absorbing the demonic power of you, me, and Yun. And the only thing that could absorb the demonic power of the three of us without us even realizing it is the spirit array.”

Haiming said softly.

After digging to the bottom of Mount Suzuka without finding anything, they speculated that the anomaly on Mount Suzuka was most likely caused by something invisible and intangible. This incident gave them the information that "this thing can absorb their demonic power without them even realizing it."

After combining these two pieces of information, they concluded that it was a spirit array.

This formation was personally set up by Haiming.

"Even you all say that...?"

Having received the same answer from Haiming, Ootakemaru clenched his fist. He couldn't help but exhale a breath of stale air and said, "In that case, let's go check out the spirit array. Let's go now!"

Ootakemaru, who firmly believes that there will never be a traitor in Suzuka Mountain, will not allow anyone to question the yokai here, but at the same time, he will never be afraid to go to any part of Suzuka Mountain.

Because of trust, there is nothing to fear.

After saying that, Ōtakemaru got up and left the room, and Uminari and Yun immediately followed him.

The mountain where the spirit array was located was some distance from the village, and it would normally take about an hour to walk there. However, the three of them arrived in just four or five minutes.

However, before it even fell from the sky, Haiming seemed to sense something and showed a hint of surprise.

"Young Master, it seems that Mr. Shimizu and the others came here not long ago."

"Indeed, their scent lingers, and... there's an unpleasant smell in the air."

Feeling the evil god's demonic power, Yun frowned uncomfortably. "What have they been doing here?"

"I didn't expect them to move so quickly." Ōtakemaru was somewhat surprised that Shimizu Asahi and the others could arrive here so quickly without his guidance.

However, none of that mattered anymore. After paying a slight attention to one sentence, he looked at Haiming.

"Hai Ming, summon the formation."

"Understood, young master!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hai Ming waved his hand, and his surging demonic power shook the surroundings in an instant, causing the spirit array that Qing Shui Chao Yang had hidden again to reappear.

An unpleasant purple aura, along with the pentagram array suppressing the spirit array, instantly engulfed everything in the three people's field of vision.

"This spirit array has indeed malfunctioned!"

The moment Haiming saw the purple light appear, he knew that his prediction was correct!

Someone secretly tampered with his spirit array!

"Young Master, I apologize. I am utterly incompetent. The formation I personally set up was tampered with without my knowledge! If the other party hadn't deliberately exposed it, I probably would never have guessed..."

He looked at Ōtakemaru, his aged face showing deep remorse.

He bears the greatest responsibility for this incident!

"The formation actually..."

His pale yellow vertical pupils narrowed slightly as Ōtakemaru stared in astonishment at the purple array. He hadn't expected that Haiming's array had actually been tampered with!

A deep shock welled up from the depths of his heart. Ōtakemaru clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm down, and asked, "Can you determine when the formation was tampered with?"

"Alright, young master, please wait a moment, I will investigate now!"