You say this is a love game?

This time, she helped Mizutani Makoto solve the logistical problems.

Secret medicine, and seeds.

【Secret medicine for boiling blood】*2.

【Blood Rose Seed】*5.

【Scarlet Ganoderma Lucidum Seeds】*15.

There were three small wooden boxes in total, one of which contained two small red pills, which were the [Boiling Blood Secret Medicine] that Mizutani Makoto had been dreaming of.

Honestly speaking, Mizutani Makoto's reserves of spiritual flowers and herbs were severely insufficient. Actual medicinal materials were easy to come by, but one portion of the [Secret Medicine for Boiling Blood] required three stalks of scarlet Ganoderma lucidum and one portion of blood rose, and he only had one portion of each growing in his home.

He originally thought that he would have to spend a long time in his home to grow this secret medicine again, but he never expected that Furuya Ruriko would help him solve the problem.

As for quantity?

"Growing spiritual flowers and herbs is not an easy task."

Furuya Ruriko did not hide anything about the secret medicine industry of Inari Taisha.

She had been taught by her mother-in-law before. If she hadn't died midway, she would be the one in charge of refining the secret medicine of Inari Taisha now. Therefore, she has a deep understanding of the field of secret medicine of Inari Taisha.

"The growth of spiritual flowers and herbs is a long process, often requiring more than ten years of cultivation. The last significant harvest was from a crevice in Kyoto over 120 years ago. That time, the shrine harvested a large number of spiritual flowers and herbs from the crevice... But the creation of a crevice is even longer than the cultivation of spiritual flowers and herbs, and is fraught with uncertainty."

"When refining secret medicine, one also has to consider the technique and success rate... Even I wouldn't dare to say how high my success rate was when refining secret medicine during my lifetime. It was only after I took on the responsibility of being a guide and received the help of the gods, using their souls to refine the secret medicine, that the risk of failure was eliminated."

According to Ruriko Furuya, her current refining techniques are different from those she used during her lifetime.

During her lifetime, she learned the ways of a traditional pharmacist and even needed the assistance of an alchemy furnace. However, after her death, she was blessed by a certain god and switched to using her soul to refine medicine. Her refining skills improved by leaps and bounds.

But her improvement does not mean that Inari Taisha has improved.

On the contrary, Furuya Ruriko was the most outstanding young talent of that period. With her gone, the younger generation of Inari Taisha lost its leader, and many areas that she should have taken over have declined significantly compared to before.

"The difficulty of cultivating medicinal herbs, the success rate of refining them, and the fact that medicine itself is part of the industry... Every few years, Inari Taisha sells secret medicines to the outside world. This is also an important channel for resource exchange, so the secret medicines reserved by Inari Taisha are limited."

However, there are not many secret medicines like this one that have huge side effects.

At the private Hiiragigaoka Academy, Kurosawa Ryojin did not sell the [Secret Medicine for Boiling Blood]. It was not because he did not want to sell it, but because Furuya Ruriko had taken one and taken it herself, and there was no follow-up.

Being able to find two copies for Mizutani Makoto and bring the cultivated seeds over is already an investment in him by Inari Taisha.

Just as Miojin said, the fact that Inari Taisha invested in him was due to his own ability.

"But normally, would you give me seeds?"

Mizutani Makoto rubbed his chin.

Furuya Ruriko shook her head. "Normally, no. There's no point in giving these seeds away. The cultivation cycle is long, and they need a place with abundant spiritual energy to grow... Aside from forces like Inari Taisha, which have inherited the legacy of a pharmacist, few people would be willing to take the time to cultivate these spiritual flowers and herbs. Even if they wanted to cultivate them privately, the prerequisites would discourage many."

The miko explained, "I remember Mr. Mizutani's hidden abode. The spiritual flowers and herbs there grow at an astonishing rate. Perhaps I can use them."

This is real.

Today, Yinli is essentially using one tenth of the spiritual veins that are more than enough to support the entire Night Light City to support the small piece of land for his home... and the spiritual energy of the entire village is just escaping from the small piece of land for his home.

The [Farmland] building itself has the ability to absorb spiritual energy to promote the growth of crops, which makes the seeds grow extremely fast after being planted. Mizutani Makoto feels that it will take less than ten days before the harvest begins.

Mizutani Makoto took the secret medicine and his thoughts immediately became clear.

It’s a timely help.

He happened to be planning to attack Misawa Medical Center, and now with this secret medicine...

"This person's invitation has to be remembered."

Makoto Mizutani is quite decisive. Now he has to plan to explore the "underworld" of Fukui Prefecture. The sooner he breaks through, the better.

He then inquired. While the Inari Shrine did have other types of elixirs, they were mostly for recovery and life-saving, and their effectiveness was probably not as substantial as Mizutani Makoto's [Camellia Blood Cup]. As for the elixir for explosive growth... the [Boiling Blood Elixir], which was effective against even the strongest tiers, was already the top-tier elixir. The rest were merely lower-tier substitutes, meaningless to obtain.

However, Inari Taisha was considerate enough to offer an emergency after-sale service for the [Boiling Blood Secret Medicine], a secret medicine called [Life-Suspension Pill] that could allow people who took the [Boiling Blood Secret Medicine] to stay alive for a while, so that they wouldn't die on the spot soon after the effect of the secret medicine wore off.

But just as Furuya Ruriko said before, the drug is very strong and the subsequent remedial process is very cumbersome. If you want to replenish your vitality to the greatest extent, you still have to come to Inari Taisha to undergo a treatment process that will take at least several months.

"..."

It’s okay, I didn’t plan to live after using it.

But the effect of [Life-Suspension Pill] is quite good. The essence of its medicinal property is to generate a large amount of vitality, similar to a super high continuous blood recovery. Its efficacy is so strong that it can even offset the [Boiling Blood Secret Medicine], allowing a dying person to survive for a while. Even if you don't plan to use it to fill the hole of [Boiling Blood Secret Medicine], you can continue to use it as an alternative secret medicine.

"This medicine has an excessive amount of vitality. Without the Boiling Blood Secret Medicine to counteract it, we must find a way to consume this vitality in a short period of time. Otherwise, a large amount of vitality will accumulate, and after the effect of the medicine wears off, we will enter a state worse than death..."

Again, buddy, I don't plan to live.

With the help of Inari Taisha, Makoto Mizutani achieved the freedom of [Sin-Scarred Smelling Salts].

This thing was what Inari Taisha lacked the most before, and it was the purified water. But now it was sold by the pound. If he wasn't afraid of giving people a bad impression, Mizutani Makoto would have wanted to take a few buckets of water and run away... But after thinking it over, he decided to use the [Gorgeous Golden Box] to hold the water.

If you take a few buckets of water and leave, people will think you are a low-brow.

But if you use a box made of mysterious gold to absorb water from a distance, people will think your methods are really outrageous.

Enter the hidden.

Secretly pour out the clean water in the box and store it in a sealed jar.

"It's done."

……

……

Two days later.

Inside a dojo in Kyoto City.

Naoki Kamiizumi's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, his expression was focused, his face was solemn, and he seemed to be one with the air.

He wore a dark blue kendo hakama, and though he was over fifty, he still stood tall and straight. His upper body was as steady as a pine tree, and the hem of his kendo hakama remained motionless. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his thumb gently pushing it forward—this was the starting position for the "iai knee." Even before the blade was unsheathed, the killing intent struck him like frost.

The "Iai Knee" movement is the starting position for most of the movements in Katori Shinto-ryu.

——Tenshin Shinto-ryu, also known as Katori Shinto-ryu for short, is a sacred book of military tactics bestowed by Katori Omikami, and is the sword art bestowed by God.

Katori Shinto-ryu is a comprehensive ancient Japanese martial art, and is considered one of the three major sources of ancient Japanese military techniques, along with Shinkage-ryu and Itto-ryu.

Nao Kamiizumi is one of the few samurai in Katori Shinto who is proficient in kendo and has spiritual power that has reached the rank of Samurai. Now he comes at the invitation of Inari Taisha Shrine to compete in kendo with a young boy in front.

Opposite him, Mizutani Makoto lowered his two swords slightly, with the tip of his left sword pointing to the ground and the blade of his right sword tilted three inches. His ultimate "structure without structure" was like a bow ready to be fired, but without revealing the slightest flaw.

Double swords?

And there's no kodachi, all are tachi?

Those who dare to break the tradition and try new things are either idiots or real ruthless people.

Naoki Kamiizumi initially thought that Inari Taisha wanted to cultivate a rising star, so they invited him to teach kendo. But it was not until this moment, when he looked directly at the high-spirited young man in front of him, that he realized the purpose of Inari Taisha's invitation.

——This is for a competition.

The other party was definitely not an ordinary person. His sharp aura always gave off an astonishing sense of crisis. Shangquan Zhi was even a little confused as to where this sharp aura came from... An idea flashed through his mind, but he rejected it in the blink of an eye.

--impossible.

The man's thumb gave a gentle push. One of the characteristics of Katori Shinto-ryu is the sword-drawing gesture.

The wind rises, draw your sword!

At this moment, Naoki Kamiizumi's sword slash was like thunder, and the sword light slashed from bottom to top. The speed of Katori Shinto-ryu was extremely fast. The extreme violence and speed brought by holding the sword with both hands were simply not comparable to the two-sword style in most cases. The sword light was cut in front of the young man in the blink of an eye.

"Qiang!!"

He maintained the momentum of the sword-drawing technique, but was blocked by the two crossed swords. At the moment of the metal clashing, feeling the faintly restrained sharpness of the two swords, Ueizumi Nao widened his eyes in disbelief, and was in a trance for a moment.

But the next moment, the man took advantage of the sword's power, flipped his wrist, and the blade spun like a dragon. The three swords swung together, and the two swordsmen began the most intense close combat!

Slash, defend, and break the moves!

Most of the clashes between Onmyojis were Pokémon-style competitions of Shikigami strength, but the clashes between samurai were very different. The two fierce swordsmen collided with each other, using the purest swordsmanship and experience to engage in a brutal battle. The wind from their swords was accompanied by occasional splashes of blood. The primitive and brutal fight almost made the onlookers' blood boil.

"I feel like I can do it too."

"I really want to go up and compete with them."

A shrine staff member who was responsible for watching felt inexplicably itchy to try his hand, and the man's passion for cold weapons was aroused.

Then he was punched in the head.

"You're going to go? Are you crazy? You, an Onmyoji, are fighting them in close combat?"

"I see they're fighting back and forth..."

"That's them too! If you go up there, your head will be chopped off in less than three rounds!"

The confrontation is intensifying.

Kendo is supposed to be a killing skill that "kills with one strike". Even in various competitions, the fighters are constantly looking for flaws to defeat the enemy with one strike. It is rare to see the kind of exciting sword fights and blood-boiling brawls.

But the battle in the dojo is different.

Their battles were like those shown in comics and movies, two swordsmen clashing blades, the sound of metal colliding was deafening, and the aftermath echoed in the dojo.

When this situation occurred, Naoki Kamiizumi always had a feeling that he was being led astray.

He should not have accepted such a fierce sword fight, this was not his strong area, not to mention that the young man was born with supernatural powers, he swung two swords almost like a single sword, and when they slashed at him together, he was shaking so much that his palms were trembling. Repeated fights were simply making him more and more vulnerable!

The guy who dares to practice the second-level first-class level really has amazing arm strength!

But he couldn't escape, and this feeling was very mysterious - as long as he maintained the intensity of close combat, he could maintain offense and defense with ever-increasing speed of slashing, but if he had the intention of retreating, the two swords would aim at his flaws and win with one blow.

This situation occurs when he is led away by someone.

How could this be?

This is a "lingering battle".

Compared to Naoki Kamiizumi's downfall, Makoto Mizutani is much more at ease.

Engulfing in combat is an indispensable part of the Ertian Yiliu class.

Its basic meaning is to stick close to the enemy and not let them get away.

Use your head, body, and limbs to the best of your ability to get close to the enemy. The reason is that people can easily move their heads and legs, but the movement of the body always lags behind. As long as you can follow the enemy like a shadow and leave no gap between your body and the enemy's body, you can pursue the enemy's flaws more fiercely.

The essence of a tug-of-war lies in the "high ground".

Even in a knife fight, one is fighting for the commanding heights, stretching the legs, knees, and even the neck to the utmost, fighting face to face with the enemy. This commanding height for swinging the knife is the inevitable opportunity for victory!

That's what Mizutani Makoto was doing. Flint Slash, Flint Slash, the best weapon for close combat was Flint Slash! His continuous slashing forced both sides to clash with swords. He entangled Ueizumi Nao and prevented him from retreating. In the end, even the opponent's sword was stuck to him, and it was not so easy to separate!

And there is no doubt that for Naoki Kamiizumi, there is no chance of winning in this situation!

Kamiizumi was so furious that he had to resort to risky moves to win. He shouted as he got closer, and the sword in his hands shook violently, making a feint like a shot. The blade then turned sharply along the blood groove of the sword in the boy's left hand that he used for defense, and turned into a horizontal slash that cut towards Mizutani Makoto's ribs.

Clang!

A man's intentions are clear in his heart.

Mizutani Makoto retreated half a step, holding his left hand sword upright, and the back of the sword accurately hit the opponent's blade. The next moment, he quickly changed his moves, and slashed diagonally with his right sword, forcing Kamiizumi to block with his sword. But the next moment, the sword turned around, and the two swords were twisted into a classic cross slash. The left hand sword pressed down the enemy's blade, while the right hand sword went straight for the throat!

Naoki Kamiizumi suddenly leaned back, and the tip of Mizutani Makoto's right sword brushed against the man's jaw, leaving a line of blood.

--it's over.

"despair."

A drop of blood fell on the wooden board of the dojo.

Shangquan looked up, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

He slowly sheathed the knife. The sound of the sheath and blade rubbing against each other was particularly dry. He sighed softly:

"I lost."

Mizutani Makoto sheathed his two swords and bowed, saying, "Thank you for letting me do that."

Inside the dojo, the atmosphere group watching immediately clapped their hands. For a moment, the applause was thunderous, causing the sword spirit girl who was hiding in Chidori Maru to snort in satisfaction.

That’s pretty good!

Mizutani Makoto glanced back with a sense of realization, and saw Chidorimaru leaning on the audience seats, flashing with a tiny electric current.

"not bad."

It is not difficult to see that Mizutani Makoto is competing.

Of course, to put it more accurately, he is "embracing all rivers and seas."