Though Kamimoto Katsura had never heard of anyone wanting to enshrine their own statue for use as a deity, as that would be blasphemy against the gods.
However, upon thinking of her grandmother, she no longer rejected the idea. If the great gods enshrined in the shrine were useful, her grandmother wouldn't have had her soul taken away.
Since the great gods were useless, why should the Kirei Shrine enshrine them?
The thought only lingered in her mind for a moment before Kamimoto Katsura agreed to Jiang Wen's request.
"I understand, I agree." She knelt on the ground, bowing to the one who held the fox spirit. At this moment, Jiang Wen, though not a god, possessed a demeanor akin to the deities of Takamagahara, making him seem unapproachable.
"Very good." Jiang Wen nodded with a smile.
The reason he made this request was a temporary idea. Since returning, apart from the Dao lineage within the stone tablet slightly changing to a weaker state, there had been no other movement.
Jiang Wen speculated whether this was related to faith, since Dao lineage, in a literal sense, was similar to religious deities.
Last night, seeing the abandoned shrine, he had some temporary ideas. Today, meeting Kamimoto Katsura, this idea swirled in his mind. Taking advantage of helping Kamimoto Katsura retrieve her grandmother's soul, Jiang Wen made this request.
If the Dao lineage was related to worship, then he would definitely find the answer in the shrines of this overseas country.
"I have something else I want to ask you, do you have a divine title?" Kamimoto Katsura inquired.
"Divine title?" Jiang Wen pondered slightly, then told her the name of a deity. "You can call me, Supreme Void Mysterious Tranquility Primordial Heavenly Lord. I am the ancestor who created the world and the source of all deities in Takamagahara."
"…" Bai Qing was choked by Jiang Wen's tone.
She thought that this person asking others to enshrine him as a god was already enough, but he shamelessly added more, claiming to be the creator of Takamagahara. Truly shameless, truly… never mind, they are all deities from an overseas country, I don't need to take it seriously. Bai Qing comforted herself and didn't pay attention to Jiang Wen's fabrication.
However, Kamimoto Katsura listened attentively and even wrote down Jiang Wen's fabricated mythology with paper and pen.
"Supreme Void Mysterious Tranquility Primordial Heavenly Lord, also known as Shennong. Before the heavens and earth were opened, before all things were born. The Heavenly Lord descended into the world, looked around, and felt that there should be Takamagahara. Thus, Takamagahara was formed…"
Kamimoto Katsura diligently wrote down his mythology, and Jiang Wen enjoyed it. After all, compared to the deities of Takamagahara, no matter how fabricated, he was a real person, while the deities of Takamagahara were all fictitious.
Falsehood compared to reality, the difference is clear.
Then, he looked at the deity statue in the shrine, walked up to it, and carefully observed it. The statue was carved delicately and should be the masterpiece of some great craftsman. Now, using it as his own statue could be considered appropriate.
"Since that's the case, this shrine will henceforth be renamed the Tranquil Void Shrine. You will be the first-rank priestess of the Tranquil Void Shrine," Jiang Wen said, reaching out and pretending to pinch the statue.
The face of the nearly ten-meter-tall Takamagahara deity statue twisted and then turned into the statue in Jiang Wen's mind.
Even Kamimoto Katsura, who had seen such mysterious methods before, was shocked by this. At this moment, she didn't even doubt that Jiang Wen was truly a god.
"I will now go and retrieve your grandmother's soul, wait here for me for a while." Jiang Wen said, striding out of the shrine. He left Bai Jing to guard the shrine, while he disappeared from the spot.
Kamimoto Katsura was no longer surprised, but silently recorded everything. She wrote down what she saw and heard on paper, which was even more exciting than the mythology.
"The Heavenly Lord's divine pet protects the shrine, and the old priestess whose soul was taken away by the demon will also usher in her new life…"
Stepping on the earth, Jiang Wen flew through the sea of clouds. He had already determined the old woman's aura, even in this city of millions of people, he could still accurately find her.
That aura was still moving, as if hiding from something.
Jiang Wen opened his Heavenly Eye and saw Natsume, fleeing in a panic under the many buildings. Behind him, several tall men in black, wearing masks, were closely following him.
"So it's here." Jiang Wen flew towards Natsume, using his wall-penetrating technique to pass through layers of walls.
He stood on Natsume's escape route, quietly waiting for the arrival of the prey.
Natsume was anxious, panting as he fled into the tunnel. He held a round bead in his hand, which was the soul of Kamimoto Katsura's grandmother.
Having inherited one of Red Bite's internal organs, Natsume's ability was to capture souls.
After having his plans ruined that day, Natsume was once abandoned. Fortunately, he sucked dry his childhood sweetheart, who wanted him to be a backup, along with the fetus, and barely recovered some strength.
He happened to meet Kamimoto Katsura and, seeing that she got along well with her grandmother, he thought of using her grandmother's soul to blackmail her. Unexpectedly, before the plan could be implemented, he was chased by several strange people.
The opponent was fearless of his abilities, and even suppressed his various abilities, which made Natsume feel extremely aggrieved.
"I can't die here, I haven't enjoyed enough yet!" Natsume cursed inwardly. Although his legs were sore, he dared not stop. He could feel that those people were still behind him, and not far away.
"Damn it! Like dogs!" He darted towards an underground tunnel. Natsume planned to take the Kyoto underground waterway, the most intricate and foul-smelling place in Kyoto, and he didn't believe the other party could find him there.
Just as he was thinking about the plan, he saw a young man in a hat sitting at the intersection ahead. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he was blocking his way. Thinking of this, Natsume was filled with anger. He had been bullied these days, and he had never been so useless!
"Get out of the way!"
He pushed hard at the young man, but unexpectedly, he was knocked away by the other party.
Natsume fell heavily to the ground, looking at the face that made him feel fear from the depths of his soul, and a sense of despair arose in his heart. He seemed to have seen this face before, in a dream, in that endless nightmare.
He was the lord of all demons, but he was torn apart by a huge golden-armored god. And the face of that golden-armored god was the face of the person in front of him.
Natsume's heart turned cold, and a desperate and disheartened feeling surged up.
Why is this happening! Why!?
Natsume asked unwillingly in his heart.
Whether it was getting into Kyoto University or having magical powers, why did his life always hover in the worst choices? He clearly had many honors and things that many people didn't have, and he always felt that he could be happy, but those happinesses were always false.
Whether it was his childhood sweetheart or this unknown power, they always led him on a bad path, even though that wasn't what he wanted, even though he wasn't willing to do those things. But why was he always forced forward?
Natsume's heart was full of resentment, and countless thoughts surged into his mind at this moment.
If his childhood sweetheart hadn't treated him as a backup and had loved him, perhaps he wouldn't have harmed her in the end. If he didn't have this unknown power, he wouldn't have tried to absorb other people's essence, and he wouldn't have fallen to this point. If he hadn't cared about so much unfairness, perhaps his life as a Kyoto University student would have been better? But ultimately, none of them were what Natsume could have now.
He held the round bead and shouted at Jiang Wen with all his might.
"Why, why does it always have to be like this! Why is my life always full of misfortune!"
