For all that Hanachirusato said she was "fine," her voice had gone thin and breathy.
Every sentence seemed to cost her several heartbeats.
Seeing the worry written plainly on Su Han's face, she still smiled. "Truly, there's no problem," she said softly. "Please believe me.
"Let's go to Mt. Yougou. The last place, where the filth is strongest… only once it is purified will my task be complete."
Su Han shook his head. "You should rest for a few days," he said. "If we push through to the very end of the Grand Sacred Sakura Cleansing now, your spirit will shatter.
"I'm not joking."
"I understand," she replied. "But this is my duty. It's the last thought Kitsune Saiguu left behind.
"And even though we only met today, I can feel it clearly.
"You ache for me.
"Not in the way of someone drowning in beauty," she added, amused. "But from the bottom of your heart."
Being liked by someone, she thought, was a strangely wonderful thing.
"Five purifications," she went on. "I've remembered so much more. If I still had a body, I think I really might have fallen for you by now.
"Just a single plate of fried tofu would be enough to keep me on a date with you all night."
She let out a light, breathless laugh.
"Come on, Su Han. Take me there. I give you permission to hold me, if you like.
"Before the sky lightens, while the roads are empty… we'll walk slowly over Mt. Yougou and down to the roots of the Sacred Sakura. Wouldn't that be lovely?"
The plea in her voice almost undid him.
Foxes, he thought, really did know how to charm people.
He caught himself just in time and shook his head.
Then he remembered something, and pulled out the locust‑wood soul box.
"I have this," he said, holding it up. "It can gather your soul and nourish it. It—"
"You mean," she broke in, stunned, "that I can come back to life?"
In an instant, all trace of sorrow vanished.
Her golden eyes shone with pure surprise and joy.
She was only a fragment of Kitsune Saiguu's soul, true. But if there was a chance at revival, that was more than she had ever dared hope for.
"Of course," Su Han said. "Why else do you think I've been working this hard?
"I don't intend to let you die."
"You should have said so earlier," she burst out. "Put me in, quickly. I need to recover.
"You scared me half to death just now. I really thought today was the last time I'd ever see you."
Her muttering made him chuckle.
He let her soul slip into the locust‑wood box.
"How is it in there?" he asked.
"Very comfortable," she answered. "It feels as if there's a strange power in this wood that keeps my soul from tearing apart.
"If you had such a treasure, you should have taken it out sooner. I'm starting to think you only carried me all this way to take advantage."
"You're projecting," he said dryly. "Rest now. Dawn's almost here. I need to sleep a bit too.
"We'll continue the Grand Sacred Sakura Cleansing tomorrow night."
"Mm. All right."
Su Han rode his sword back toward Mt. Yougou.
There, he handed the box to Shenhe for safekeeping and went straight to the hot spring.
He had worked through the day and into the night, and his clothes were covered in dust and dried blood.
He had barely stepped into the pool when he heard soft footsteps approaching.
"Shenhe?" he called over his shoulder. "You don't need to wait on me. You didn't rest much last night. Go sleep."
"It's me."
Cool, slender fingers settled on his shoulder.
He froze.
That voice was Yae Miko's.
He started to turn, but found his body pinned from behind. Warmth pressed against his back; under the water, the distance between them vanished.
The fox rested her chin on his shoulder and breathed lightly against his ear. "Consider this a reward," she murmured. "Once Ei is dealt with, I'll keep the rest of my promise.
"Don't turn around.
"This is the first time I've ever served someone like this…"
Mist slowly rose over the surface of the spring, hiding everything but the faint outline of a divine fox tending to someone in the water.
When Su Han woke again, it was already three in the afternoon.
He had slept a full eight hours.
Most of the exhaustion had been carried off with the steam.
With time still to spare before nightfall, he opened the mission interface and collected the rewards for the Five Elements world.
He hadn't actually accepted those yet.
A string of prompts appeared.
"Ding. Congratulations to group member Yae Miko for completing a special multiverse mission. As the group leader, you receive a bonus reward: 40,000 points."
"Ding. Congratulations to group member Yae Miko for completing a special multiverse mission. As the group leader, you receive: Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture."
[Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture]: A cultivation method created in ancient times by a Daoist of exceptional talent. It allows the practitioner to wield the forces of yin-yang and the five elements.
[Grade]: Cultivator's technique.
[Note]: The scripture can be studied in parts, or fused for joint practice.
[Remark]: Full fusion yields the greatest power, but separate training is also viable depending on individual physique.
[Special]: Mastery of the Yin-Yang Five Elements condenses a special inner core and awakens a unique power.
[Remark]: All beings—human or monster—are born with the five elements. One can train the branch that matches one's own nature. The scripture cannot lead to true immortality, but it greatly strengthens the body, granting power comparable to demons and beasts.
"Another cultivation method," Su Han mused. "And by the look of it, in no way weaker than immortal arts."
The power of yin-yang and the five elements.
And it could form an inner core, too.
It certainly sounded promising.
He uploaded the technique to the group, then began to try it himself.
He already had fire.
He had water as well.
For wood, he could lean on the Asura chakra and his earlier tree‑manipulation abilities.
For the moment, earth and metal were missing.
The scripture was divided into five paths: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Practicing all of them in one go, however, would be far more efficient. In that case, there was no need to worry about attributes. One simply followed the steps until all five were perfected, and only then moved on to the final stage.
Su Han picked fire first.
Of all powers, that was the one he knew best.
The first attribute: fire.
The fire art was named Lihuo Burning Heaven.
It took the heart‑acupoint as its core, sending flame across every channel in the body. The stronger the fire in one's heart, the greater the strength.
Its principle was simple: take flame into the heart and let the heart command the fire.
Following the scripture, he began to guide his power.
His heartbeat immediately sped up. A faint layer of flame crawled across his skin. His arms and shoulders darkened to pitch black, and his defenses surged.
"So this is the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture," he said quietly. "To grasp the power of fire…
"As long as the fire in my heart doesn't go out, I can keep fighting.
"No wonder that Wenren fellow was such a monster in close combat.
"Interesting."
Immortal arts were impressive.
But they lacked something that this scripture had: built‑in techniques.
The former only gave one fuel.
The latter came with a whole set of moves.
In a straight comparison, the appeal was obvious.
In the chat, the others had already noticed the new technique and begun to study it.
…
Mona: "Wow, a new cultivation method! Perfect. I was just complaining that immortal arts were too slow. With a proper water‑element method, I should be able to speed things up."
Hu Tao: "Hehe… this Lihuo mode is so fun. I'm on fire all over."
Kazuha: "Uh… there's no wind path in here. Tears."
Eula: "And no ice. Seriously? I have an ice Vision; this is discrimination."
Zhongli: "In many older methods, ice is treated as a branch of water. It should be possible to cultivate the water path with an ice alignment."
Diluc: "This Lihuo Burning Heaven technique is excellent."
Ningguang: "I didn't expect an earth cultivation method to appear. Seems I can't avoid training a bit myself."
Beidou: "I object! Why is electro always the one left out? Even earth gets a method, but nothing for thunder?"
Jean: "Relax. Try it first and see which one answers you. It might be less strict than we think."
Lisa: "I agree with Jean. We've let Visions define us for too long. If we set them aside and train directly, we may find… surprising things.
"Didn't we prove that already?"
On her suggestion, everyone began to experiment.
The first beneficiary appeared quickly.
Eula.
Just as Zhongli had predicted, anyone who could wield ice could also awaken the water path.
The second beneficiary was Beidou.
She touched the power of metal.
It let her command metal and weapons, and because metal conducted lightning, it made her thunder even more dangerous.
Keqing's result was the most unexpected.
The element that answered her was wood.
Hu Tao, meanwhile, remained pure fire.
That, naturally, sent her straight into complaint mode.
Hu Tao: "Why?! I'm so cute, but I only get one attribute! Why do you all get two… This is bullying."
Keqing: "You were the one telling us not to be jealous a minute ago. And now look at you."
Beidou: "She's just a kid at heart. But seriously—the metal path is amazing.
"Do you know what it does? With this technique, I can make my Dragonspine sword split into ten clones.
"Each one is solid."
Metal was the element of sharpness.
It belonged, more than any other, to close‑quarters combat.
For someone like Beidou, it was an epic buff.
Keqing: "I didn't expect to get wood either. It must be linked to my Flower‑Flower Fruit. With that, it isn't strange that I can touch the wood element."
Xiangling: "I'm pure fire too. But honestly, this channeling feels weaker than just using the fruit.
"With my current control, elementalizing straight into flame feels stronger than this scripture."
Her Devil Fruit had almost completed its basic awakening.
Under Granny Ping's strict training, Xiangling had merged her own understanding of fire with the one in the fruit.
Now, a single thought was enough to set everything within a kilometer ablaze.
She was already standing at the threshold of adeptus‑level power.