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The Blade Testing Grounds.
As the last person to arrive, Li Xiang was met by a group of senior brothers and sisters who had already finished testing their blades and were now sitting to the side, drinking tea and watching the show.
This led to him being constantly nitpicked, teased, and mocked while testing his blade.
At this moment, the benefit of focused attention came into play.
When Li Xiang fixed his gaze on the targets, concentrating wholeheartedly, the external noises, though still present, lost their power to distract him.
After slicing through four straw mats and cleanly splitting a bamboowood stake from top to bottom, he nodded in satisfaction. He wasn't used to the length at first, but after a few tries, it felt quite good.
After selecting the blade, they took a short break, enjoyed the scenery, and had some snacks.
Then, Nagayama Taro led the group to the temple at the village center.
This was the place where Aegislash was enshrined.
Naturally, everyone brought their weapons with them, but they weren't carried openly. Nagayama Workshop provided special bags for them.
Senior sister's bag was the longest and largest, making Li Xiang curious about how she would take it back later.
Over five meters long, and it couldn't be disassembled. For safety reasons, she might need to call a truck.
People who practiced with large spears really had it tough.
When he asked Nagayama Taro about it, he learned that they had specialized delivery services. So, there was no need to worry about that.
...
The Temple.
An ancient temple with a distinct Japanese style.
The vermilion torii gate at the entrance, the scent of incense permeating the air, and the donation box at the front of the temple all represented one word—"tradition."
Surprisingly, it wasn't very luxurious.
Li Xiang had expected something like a Main Hall. But instead...
'Simple? No, it should be called humble.'
'Weren't the Shimazaki family one of the original wealthy clans? And with the role of village guardians, how did they become so "down-to-earth"?'
Perhaps it was just coincidence.
When they arrived, they saw Shimazaki Massao in the side hall, directing a Honedge to chop wood.
"Who said you could bargain? A thousand pieces means a thousand pieces. I haven't even settled the account for you running away yet."
He was scolding a Honedge in a low voice. "Novels? No! Poetry? Also no!"
The Honedge gently swayed its body, its tassel flicking very humanly, as if throwing a tantrum.
"Who can you blame for causing trouble? You brought this on yourself! If you dare disobey me openly while covertly opposing me, I'll lock you up for a year!"
Shimazaki Massao chuckled coldly, the corner of his eye catching sight of Li Xiang and the others.
"I'll deal with you later."
He glared at the Honedge and approached the group. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I assume you already know many things. To avoid wasting your time, please follow me."
He got straight to the point.
Li Xiang glanced at the Honedge in the distance, watching it narrow its eyes, use its tassel like a hand to pick up a piece of firewood, and then slice it cleanly from top to bottom with one stroke.
Snap.
Two pieces of firewood fell to the ground.
The movement was extremely clean and efficient, and it hadn't even drawn its sword; it was still sheathed. It was inexplicably cool but also gave off a lazy feeling.
Honestly, if its personality wasn't so mischievous, he thought Honedge was quite cute.
Its mischievous antics were just a bit of a headache.
The fact that reciting poetry could summon it was also interesting.
It was a bit silly, but there was a difference between a person acting silly and a Pokémon acting silly. As for reading martial arts novels...
It was perfectly normal to have a chuunibyou phase.
He even had a chuunibyou frog at home, which had been pestering him lately to find some ninja combat techniques, even though it was the source of ninjas in this world.
Thinking of this, Li Xiang, who was at the back of the group, hesitated for a moment, paused his steps, and decided to whispered, "Ten years I forged one sword, its frosty edge yet tested. Today I hold it out to you, sir: is there anyone unjustly injured?"
Schwing—
A silver light flashed!
Li Xiang's vision blurred as a frost-white blade suddenly appeared before him, its edge resting against his throat.
Well… He looked at the now-unsheathed Honedge in front of him and couldn't help but swallow.
'So fast!'
Could Honedge, a Pokémon, really move that quickly? And it even managed to unsheathe itself in the process.
"Let's talk this over. I mean no harm."
Li Xiang slowly backed away, smiling awkwardly as his hand reached toward his lower back.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Honedge's single eye kept trembling, as if it were very excited.
It seemed to be saying: [Again! Again!]
At that moment, a large hand suddenly grabbed Honedge's hilt, and a chilling voice said, "What. Are you. Doing?"
The trembling in Honedge's eye stopped, replaced by a human-like fear. Then, it directly closed its eye and began playing dead.
The newcomer was none other than Shimazaki Massao. The middle-aged man's face was full of anger, as if it could burn, his gaze locked onto Honedge's body.
Honedge's repeated mischief had clearly pushed his patience to the limit.
"Heh, from today onward, don't even think about leaving your room again."
He said sinisterly, the Honedge in his hand drooping dejectedly.
The senior sisters who had been following Shimazaki rushed to Li Xiang's side, asking with concern if he had been hurt. Even the most unreliable second senior sister anxiously checked him for any possible wounds.
"It's fine, it's fine." Li Xiang awkwardly pushed them away and looked at Shimazaki Massao, who was about to take Honedge away.
"Um, I'm sorry. This time, I was the one who provoked Honedge. It's not its fault; it's mine. Please don't punish it."
He was just asking for trouble. He just didn't expect a poem/phrase to make Honedge react so strongly.
Shimazaki Massao didn't stop walking. He picked up the sheath from the ground before turning back and asking, "You provoked it?"
"Yes. I heard from Mr. Nagayama Taro that Honedge really likes ancient poetry. Since he used poetry to summon it before, I was just curious—"
Li Xiang bowed to Shimazaki Massao. "I'm truly sorry. I didn't know Honedge would react so strongly. Please don't be angry. This was my mistake. I apologize."
Shimazaki Massao sheathed the Honedge, looking at it as it opened its eyes with an inexplicable expression. "...Alright, since you put it that way."
After hearing Li Xiang's explanation, the senior brothers and sisters understood he had brought it on himself and gave him a good thump.
They were also curious about what poem he had recited.
Li Xiang smiled awkwardly. "Uh, it's a poem about a swordsman. It goes like this.. 'Ten years I forged one sword—'"
Before he could finish….
Schwing!
The silver light flashed again.
Clearly, the previously subdued Honedge had unsheathed itself once more. But with Shimazaki Massao there, it couldn't cause any trouble. It was forced back into its sheath halfway.
"Enough already!"
He said in a deep voice.
Honedge quieted down once again, but everyone knew this guy was the type to actively admit mistakes but never learn from them.
Temporary suppression was useless.
"Ahem, ahem, no more reciting. Let's go in."
Li Xiang waved his hand.
The group proceeded toward the back of the temple, now with one additional member.
Along the way, Li Xiang felt a certain gaze fiercely fixed on him, as if it wanted to devour him whole... no, as if it wanted him to recite poetry for a lifetime.
This was a bit awkward. He turned his head away, forcing himself to ignore Honedge's intense attention.
"You've been marked."
Somehow, Nagayama Taro had appeared beside him, whispering.
Li Xiang nodded. "I know."
"No, you don't. I don't mean the verb; I mean the adjective." Nagayama Taro shook his head. "And the unit isn't one; it's three."
Huh?
Li Xiang tilted his head. "Mr. Nagayama, do you know what a riddler is?"
"Uh, no." Nagayama Taro didn't understand why Li Xiang would say that; he'd never watched Batman.
"Now you do."
Li Xiang replied casually and stopped engaging with him, walking over to his third senior sister instead, leaving a bewildered Nagayama Taro behind.
'What do I know? How do I know? What is that?'
It took a full ten seconds before Nagayama Taro understood what Li Xiang meant, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
'So, he was being sarcastic.'
The journey was short.
Soon, the place where Aegislash was enshrined came into view. Everyone also saw the true form of this guardian sword spirit.
Perched high on the shrine, it slept quietly with closed eyes.
In terms of appearance, it was no different from a normal Aegislash, but its size...
A typical Aegislash was at most 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall, but this one, roughly estimated, was at least over four meters!
'Holy crap! At that size, didn't Shimazaki basically use a door panel to fight? No wonder no one could beat him!'
'Who could fight against a door panel?!'
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Xiang's mind. The visual impact of a giant Pokémon was indeed strong.
"Lord Sword Spirit, the guests have arrived."
Shimazaki Massao walked up to the shrine, casually tossed the Honedge aside, and said in a low voice.
The giant Aegislash's single eye slowly opened, like a flash of divine light.
Everyone stared blankly at Aegislash's single eye, not because they were controlled by it, but because they were stunned by the emotions brewing within that pupil.
Before seeing it, presumably, no one would have believed that such an eye existed in the world, revealing various complex and indescribable emotions, as if it had traversed four hundred years of time.
Full of memories and stories.
It was like a giant pie chart, carrying a bit of sorrow, a bit of relief, a bit of nostalgia, and a bit of calmness.
However, this feeling only lasted for a moment.
"Such powerful spiritual power." Jiang Shangrong frowned, then explained in a low voice to a curious Li Xiang:
"Aegislash, this kind of Pokémon, can use its own spiritual power to control people with weak hearts. Its spiritual power also has the ability to stimulate emotions."
"So you mean..."
"It just stimulated its own emotions to confuse our minds. This is a very sophisticated technique that can draw out our empathy. It's perfect for negotiations."
Jiang Shangrong replied.
Li Xiang suddenly understood. He didn't expect Aegislash's spiritual power to have such a use.
Suddenly.. [Hahaha, you're quite knowledgeable, little girl.]
A voice that was neither male nor female sounded in everyone's ears.
The source of the voice was clearly that enormous Aegislash.
[Yes, the one speaking is me.]
It said with a hint of amusement.
Li Xiang and the others naturally showed surprised expressions.
"Telepathy..."
Telepathy wasn't the Ability [Telepathy], but a method of communicating with others through consciousness.
It often appeared in movies, like Lucario, Zorua, Hoopa, and Shaymin had all used it.
He didn't expect to encounter it in person here!