Chapter 123: Comprehending the Senji Ryakketsu
"A Fifth-Rank Professional Onmyoji..."
Dairenji Suzuka lowered her gaze and looked at her own fair, delicate hands.
For a moment, she felt an indescribable emptiness.
Her strength had fallen from the level of a National Level Onmyoji to that of a Fifth-Rank Professional Onmyoji. Even if she had prepared herself mentally, the sudden drop still left her uncomfortable.
She could clearly feel it.
Several Onmyō Arts that had once flowed through her hands as naturally as breathing now felt sluggish and difficult to control. The familiar precision was gone, replaced by a faint resistance in her spiritual power and technique circulation.
It was like having multiple weakening curses layered over her body at once.
The sensation was awful.
"This is already a very good result," Gin Tsumugi said. "You abolished your Onmyōdō Framework, yet still retained the strength of a Fifth-Rank Professional Onmyoji. More importantly, your spiritual power itself wasn't damaged too badly. That saves you the trouble of refining it from the beginning."
He looked at her and continued calmly, "With your talent, recovering to Ninth-Rank Professional Onmyoji shouldn't be difficult."
"That's true."
Suzuka nodded.
She was indeed satisfied with this result.
From ancient times to the present, those who could retain Fifth-Rank Professional strength after abolishing their Onmyōdō Framework were extremely rare. Most fell to Second or Third-Rank Professional strength at best.
In Suzuka's own expectations, keeping Fourth-Rank strength would already have been excellent.
Now, she had retained Fifth-Rank.
She had no reason to complain.
And just as Gin said, with her talent, returning to Ninth-Rank Professional Onmyoji would not be hard.
The real difficulty lay in redefining her own Onmyōdō and redrawing her Onmyōdō Framework.
If she failed to construct a new framework, then everything she had done today would be meaningless.
The chance of success was not high.
But this was a move she had to make.
If she did not do it now, problems would inevitably arise later. It was very possible that her existing framework would one day be forcibly abolished, and by then, the suffocating frequency of supernatural incidents would give her no time to recover her strength.
Gin could see the worry in her heart.
He turned toward the corner of the secret chamber.
"Kagura, put down that secret art for now and come here."
Tsuchimiya Kagura, who had been seriously reading an obscure secret text in front of a bookshelf, looked up.
She closed the book in her hands, returned it to its place, and walked over.
"Director, is something wrong?"
"Suzuka has just abolished her Onmyōdō Framework," Gin said. "While she still retains part of the comprehension ability she possessed as a National Level Onmyoji, I want her to properly comprehend the profound meanings and mysteries of Onmyōdō."
His gaze shifted to Kagura.
"You can observe as well. See whether you gain anything from it. Of course, if you don't understand something, don't force it. There will be other chances in the future."
"Suzuka abolished her Onmyōdō Framework?"
Kagura was startled.
A moment ago, she had been so absorbed in the secret art that although she felt the chaotic fluctuations of spiritual energy from this side, she had not paid too much attention. After all, Gin was here.
But now that she learned what had happened, she could not help being shocked.
An Onmyōdō Framework was the foundation of a National Level Onmyoji.
It was something countless Professional Level Onmyoji struggled their entire lives to comprehend.
Yet Dairenji Suzuka had actually abolished hers.
How could Kagura not be stunned?
Only now did she notice that Suzuka's aura was no longer as deep and unfathomable as before. With a light use of Ghost-Seeing Power, Suzuka's current strength became clear.
Fifth-Rank Professional Onmyoji.
"It's a long story."
Gin briefly explained the cause and effect behind Suzuka's decision.
"I see."
After hearing the explanation, Kagura looked at Suzuka with a trace of admiration.
Sometimes, even when people knew where their flaws were, very few could truly act with such decisiveness.
Abolishing one's Onmyōdō Framework required more than courage.
It required the will to burn the bridge beneath one's feet and step onto a path with no guarantee of success.
Kagura was young, but she had already seen many people who would rather muddle along with their flaws than choose the correct path if it meant losing what they already had.
Suzuka's decision was rare.
Extremely rare.
"That matter is already over," Suzuka said calmly. "There's no need to keep talking about it."
Then she looked at Gin.
"Hurry up and take out the Senji Ryakketsu. If you drag this out any longer, the bit of National Level comprehension I have left will completely fade."
"The Senji Ryakketsu?"
Kagura's eyes widened.
"The treasure of Onmyōdō?"
Then, after a brief moment of surprise, she calmed down.
The Director was the true master of the Senji Ryakketsu.
If the treasure had come from the Tsuchimikado Clan and returned to his hands, it did seem reasonable.
"How did you guess the Senji Ryakketsu was with me?" Gin asked as he prepared to call forth the text from within his mind.
He did intend for both Suzuka and Kagura to comprehend it.
"Is it hard to guess?"
Suzuka glanced at him.
"It's not just me. Almost every Onmyoji who previously comprehended the Senji Ryakketsu at the Tsuchimikado Clan has guessed it by now."
She raised an eyebrow.
"That Strategic Barrier you casually deployed was exactly the same as the one released by the Senji Ryakketsu."
Gin paused slightly.
"I revealed it in a rather careless way."
He had indeed overlooked that detail.
A moment later, he waved his hand.
The characters of the Senji Ryakketsu emerged from his mind.
They broke free like birds escaping a cage, flying through the air in streams of light. In the blink of an eye, the entire secret chamber was filled with a vast, mysterious aura, deep and profound, as though the truths of Onmyōdō were about to open themselves before them.
From a distance, the sight was dreamlike.
One by one, the glowing characters gathered along the surrounding walls, arranging themselves into pages of scripture.
Faint light radiated from them.
Profound meanings.
Hidden mysteries.
Ancient interpretations of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, astronomy, and astrology.
The explorations of old Onmyoji who sought to understand the principles of the world.
The advanced comprehension of modern Onmyoji who refined, strengthened, and mastered Onmyō Arts.
Everything unfolded before them.
Kagura, who was seeing the Senji Ryakketsu for the first time, was immediately drawn in.
Even Suzuka, who had already experienced it before, could not help sinking into the abyss of Onmyōdō knowledge once again.
As they continued observing, their comprehension of Onmyōdō began to climb at a visible pace.
For Tsuchimiya Kagura, who had only just stepped into the First-Rank Professional Onmyoji level because of Hakuei's seal within her body, the gaps in her understanding were slowly being filled.
One after another, flaws in her foundation were repaired.
As for Dairenji Suzuka, she was using the Senji Ryakketsu to gradually locate the direction of her own Onmyōdō.
Gin watched the two of them enter a state close to enlightenment.
After a moment, a thought surfaced in his mind.
"In the future, I can use the Senji Ryakketsu as a strategic public resource for the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department, just like the Yata no Kagami."
The credit system Kotoko had proposed before was rather suitable.
As long as members of the department accumulated enough credits, they could exchange them for a chance to observe the Senji Ryakketsu.
First, it would motivate the personnel within the Myriad Dharma Supernatural Department.
Second, it would attract more fresh blood.
As for improving overall strength, that went without saying.
For an organization still expanding its foundation, few things were more valuable than a treasure capable of raising the comprehension of Onmyoji.
The Senji Ryakketsu was exactly such a treasure.
.....
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