Use this skill on a target to gain information on unknown entities?
Nolan looked at the affection skill with pleasant surprise—this seemed pretty good. Fischl's affection skill, "Eye of Judgement," allowed him to see others' levels.
But that was it—just levels.
Yae Miko's affection skill, on the other hand, was specialized in intelligence gathering. While it didn't share the illusion-piercing feature of the golden Eye of Judgement, its information-extraction efficiency was bound to be impressive.
Curious, Nolan used it on the Hakushin Phantom Bell, and soon a flood of information filled his mind.
He quickly sorted through it based on the character panel's hints:
[Hakushin Phantom Bell: A divine artifact crafted by Kitsune Saiguu, former Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine, refined through over a thousand years of history. A sacred treasure of the Hakushin Fox Clan. Contains Kitsune Saiguu's dormant spiritual consciousness. Possesses the ability to directly cast illusions upon the soul and greatly amplifies illusion-based techniques.]
Nolan reviewed the knowledge he received—it was impressively detailed, even confirming that Kitsune Saiguu's spirit was indeed slumbering inside!
Both checking the skill and scanning the bell happened in an instant. He turned to Yae Miko and said:
"Hold on. Before we go back, we still have to take care of these youkai."
With that, he summoned a specially modified version of Baron Bunny. Of course, he had no intention of destroying the entire domain.
The original Baron Bunny was extremely powerful—if the domain wasn't stable enough, a single blast could wipe it out entirely.
But that wasn't an issue. He could just infuse less energy into this Baron Bunny to reduce the explosion's power.
He also created a protective barrier to contain the blast within the prison levels, ensuring that all the youkai would be incinerated without a chance of escape.
"What a cute little doll. Is it some kind of secret weapon?" Yae Miko asked, sensing a dangerous aura from the plush toy in Nolan's hand.
"It's a bomb. Just watch the show."
Nolan grinned and tossed Baron Bunny down below.
As it fell, the adorable plushie wiggled its little bunny butt cheerfully. With a plop, it landed on the eighth level's floor and started dancing.
Its entrance caught the jiao youkai's attention. Despite Baron Bunny's seemingly "innocent" look, its rhythmic dance radiated a palpable sense of danger.
"...Kill, kill, kill!!"
The jiao's crimson, vertical pupils turned wild with madness. It tried desperately to destroy the plush bomb before it exploded.
But since the formation was still active, every time it tried to unleash its power, it was immediately drained. In the end, all it could do was smash its clawed fists against the iron bars in vain.
Its mind flashed back to centuries ago—when that damn fox wasn't around, it had conspired with many of the other imprisoned youkai to escape, planning to raze Mt. Yougou and destroy Inazuma City.
Over the centuries, the prison's formation had slowly weakened. They were so close to breaking free!
Damn that Kitsune Saiguu! And now she had even sent two lackeys to finish them off?! Bastards! You'll pay for this!
The jiao youkai roared with resentment in its heart.
But high above, Nolan couldn't care less about its feelings. After tossing down Baron Bunny, he conjured a golden sword-intent shield.
The shield pierced through the stone walls, enveloping all the prison cells and Baron Bunny inside. Then, with a flick of his mind, Baron Bunny, bouncing gleefully on the bottom floor, suddenly glowed brilliantly—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The blast wave and a massive burst of Pyro energy surged out. The prison bars were first shattered by the shockwave, then completely vaporized by the intense flames.
Not even the formation could withstand it.
Behind those now-vanished gates, the youkai within began to stir—perhaps sensing the formation's disappearance.
But before they could fully awaken, the explosion and searing flames engulfed them.
Nothing was left behind. Not even ash. They were completely erased from the world of Teyvat.
Nolan felt the tremendous impact from within the golden shield, but there was no risk of it breaking.
After all, this Baron Bunny had been heavily nerfed, and his shield was more than strong enough to contain the blast.
[Defeated Powerful Enemies ×62. Gained 3,125,617 Adventure EXP.]
With all the youkai eliminated, a message popped up on his character panel—over three million experience points in one go.
That was the most EXP he'd ever earned at once.
These youkai were indeed formidable. Sixty-two in total, exactly what they'd counted before—no errors. Averaging over 50,000 EXP each... Were they all boss-tier enemies?
Nolan was surprised, then opened his panel:
[EXP: 5,503,027]
He now had over five million accumulated EXP—already more than halfway to ten million. The pace was quite promising.
"Phew, all done. Let's go."
Once the blast and fire within the barrier had calmed down, and he was sure removing the shield wouldn't damage the domain, he dispelled it.
A torrent of Pyro energy surged outward, but Nolan quickly doused it with Hydro energy, extinguishing the flames and filling the air with thick steam. The temperature of the entire domain spiked.
He motioned to Yae Miko to leave quickly.
"Incredible power," Yae Miko murmured, scanning the area with her spiritual sense to confirm no youkai survived. She stared at the now-devastated prison, astonished.
"Of course. At this point, I could even go toe-to-toe with Ei for a few moves!"
Nolan soared upward with her, secretly thinking that in a few days, he'd go challenge Ei again—make her agree to train with him willingly!
"Oh my~ Don't get ahead of yourself."
Yae Miko knew Ei's strength well. What he just did? Ei could do it far more easily.
"Just a little more strength, and I'll go prove it to you," Nolan said confidently.
"I'll be waiting," Yae Miko replied with a gentle laugh.
Before long, the two of them flew out of the Demon Suppression Domain. These days, youkai were rare, and those that caused trouble even rarer—this domain no longer had any use.
For now, it was best to keep the place sealed.
Yae Miko resealed the stone gate at the entrance and then returned with Nolan to check on Hanachirusato, to see if she had finished unsealing Ioroi.
Since the distance wasn't far, they quickly made it back to Ioroi's seal.
Hanachirusato was still standing before the statue just as they had left her, but Ioroi was no longer entirely petrified.
His upper body had been freed, revealing a huge round tanuki head. A few little tanuki danced around him excitedly.
Ioroi turned his round head to look at Nolan and Yae Miko and said:
"Oh, you're back. I should thank you. Who knows how much longer I would've been sealed away by that Koregami Harunosuke guy if not for you!"
"Ah, it was all thanks to Hanachirusato," Nolan replied modestly.
"Ioroi-senpai, now that you're free, do you have any plans? Interested in helping out at the Grand Narukami Shrine?" Yae Miko asked with her arms crossed.
The tanuki clan had fallen into a bit of decline after Ioroi's long absence. She wanted to give this elder a hand.
"Hmph. I appreciate the thought, little fox," Ioroi said bluntly, "but I was appointed directly by the Almighty Shogun herself, you know! 'High Priest of Hidden Divine Vitality, Ioroi,' they called me! It'd be shameful to go work under some descendant of that Kitsune Saiguu!"
"Alright then," Yae Miko replied calmly, not at all offended by his bluntness. "If you still care about your title, I'll ask the Shogun to reinstate you as the guardian of Chinju Forest."
Ioroi had once been tasked with protecting Chinju Forest, guarding its waters, earth, and leylines. If he enjoyed that duty, then she was happy to help him return to it.
As a powerful youkai, he certainly had the strength to back it up.
"Thanks, little fox! And when you tell the Shogun, don't forget to mention that even while I was a stone statue, I never abandoned my duty. Make sure she knows how much I've endured all these years—maybe she'll even give me a promotion!" Ioroi said, a hint of grievance in his tone.
"Hehe, of course we won't forget your contributions," Yae Miko said with a smile.
"Lady Miko, Koregami Harunosuke's seal is a bit tricky. It'll take at least half a day to fully undo. If you have other things to do, you can go on ahead—I've got this covered," Hanachirusato said, still wearing her white fox mask.
"Alright, we'll leave it to you then." Yae Miko nodded. She wanted to hurry back and settle Kitsune Saiguu's spirit so it could begin recovering.
Nolan also nodded and said goodbye to Hanachirusato, Ioroi, and the little tanuki before teleporting with Yae Miko back to the Grand Narukami Shrine.
Back at the shrine, sunlight bathed the Sacred Sakura in a faint golden glow. Yae Miko took out the Hakushin Phantom Bell and looked at Nolan:
"Let's go—to your Wonderland."
Nolan nodded slightly, then opened the portal and led Yae Miko inside.
The moment they stepped into the living room, the Hakushin Phantom Bell was recognized as a successfully collected artifact. A system notification appeared:
[Rare Artifact "Hakushin Phantom Bell" has been collected.
Gained Space Trait: Soul Calm – Within the 'Golden Vault' realm, all souls are maintained in their most comfortable state.]
As expected, an artifact of this caliber came with a space trait.
Though this one seemed simple—more about increasing comfort and stability—it was still valuable.
Also, the Wonderland had expanded by another 50 square meters. With Sucrose's level-up and various artifacts recently collected, the realm had grown to 600 square meters in total.
It was now the size of a full-blown four-story villa with a garden.
"So this is where you and all those girls live? Not bad at all," Yae Miko said, clearly impressed the moment she entered.
She could feel a certain energy constantly nourishing her soul. While subtle, it was steady and persistent—never diminishing.
That was quite outrageous. It meant that as long as one stayed here, their strength would continuously grow. No wonder Nolan had said this place could help revive Kitsune Saiguu.
"Hehe, that's right. If you like it, you can move in too. There are plenty of rooms here, and the conditions are top-notch," Nolan said with a smile.
Given how close they already were, it was natural that he'd want her to stay. Her strength would make her an excellent cultivation partner, too.
"Oh? Want to live with me, do you?" Yae Miko smiled faintly. "Well, I don't see why not. After all, I do need to look after Lady Saiguu until she wakes up."
The Wonderland truly was a miraculous land. With her relationship with Nolan being what it was, there was no need to act coy. Besides... she could sense Ei's presence here.
So this guy even managed to win over Ei behind her back? Yae Miko could already guess—he probably lured Ei into living here using the same bait.
Enhancing the soul... possibly even slowing the passage of time… For someone obsessed with eternity, how could Ei resist?
"Well then, let's put the Hakushin Phantom Bell somewhere safe."
Nolan led Yae Miko up to the fourth-floor storage area, explaining various parts of the Wonderland along the way.
She took a particular liking to the hot springs on the second floor—unsurprising, since she enjoyed soaking in baths. Upon reaching the third floor, the first place she checked was the meditation room—and spotted Ei.
Unexpectedly, Raiden Makoto (Raiden Ei's sister and former Electro Archon) was also present. Yae Miko, originally planning to tease Ei, slightly restrained herself.
After all, Raiden Makoto was Ei's elder sister and former Shogun—she couldn't act too frivolously in front of her.
Raiden Ei, for her part, was surprised to see Yae Miko here. She shot a glare at Nolan, clearly annoyed that he'd gone after her retainer too.
"Ahem, you two chat—I've got something to store real quick," Nolan said awkwardly and hurried off, taking the Hakushin Phantom Bell up to the fourth floor and placing it in a secure spot. He also asked Havria to help keep watch over it.
After that, he returned downstairs and listened as Yae Miko explained to Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei everything that had happened lately—and began asking questions about Makoto's situation.
(End of Chapter)
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