Chapter 239: The Twelfth Transformation, Resurrected as a Demon
Time stopped.
At least, the people present felt as though time had ground to an absolute halt.
Yoshimoto's lips pressed against that pale, cold face. Golden light dust poured out of her body, spreading in all directions along the Asura Transformation's bones and thunder.
The Power of Will from the Six-Tusked White Elephant and the action and momentum condensed from Taigen Sessai's lifelong cultivation—all of it poured into the Asura Transformation's chest during that kiss.
The human soul condensed.
Heaven, Earth, and Human; the three souls were complete.
But Yoshimoto herself had not actually expected it to turn out like this.
When the white elephant carried her to the mountain peak and charged into the corridor, her only thought was how to transfer the spirit over. The white elephant had only given her a single image—the face of her master, Taigen Sessai, along with a vague intent.
Translated into human speech, that intent was to use her heart.
At the time, Yoshimoto had intended to reach out and press her hand against his chest. But the moment the white elephant's spiritual body merged into her, it generated a massive thrust. Her fall from the elephant's back was completely uncontrolled.
Yoshimoto's amber eyes went wide in the golden light, her mind a complete blank.
Outside the gap in the collapsed southern wall of the corridor, Kikyo stood atop a pile of rubble. She naturally saw it, clearly and without missing a single detail.
Consequently, the arrow nocked on her bowstring slipped. This was the first time in her life she had ever fumbled.
Inside the chest of the Asura Transformation, Hikaru's own consciousness remained exceptionally clear.
He felt the condensation of the human soul, the fulfillment of the three souls returning to their rightful places, and the vastness of the triple powers of Heaven, Earth, and Human converging within his body.
He also felt that warm touch upon his lips.
'Taigen Sessai.''You fucking screwed me over, didn't you?'
In a mere flash, Hikaru understood.
The words Taigen Sessai had spoken to him in the Tenshukaku shrine before he died—that really was an entrustment.
The intent left in the white elephant, the image transmitted to Yoshimoto, even Yoshimoto's fall from the elephant's back—all of it was Taigen Sessai's arrangement.
That monk who used a human brain to calculate and predict the timing of returning a borrowed blade, the existence known as the Black-Robed Prime Minister—he surely calculated this step before his death. He calculated that Hikaru needed a human soul. He calculated that the human soul needed a vessel. He calculated that the vessel should ideally be his student.
'Is he seriously bundle-selling his daughter here?' Hikaru grumbled inwardly.
But then again, the touch of the Lord was indeed quite nice. Soft, warm, and carrying the unique scent and fluster of a young girl; it was a different sensation from Kikyo.
They separated after only a moment, and Yoshimoto landed gracefully on her feet.
This thought only flashed through Hikaru's mind for an instant before being submerged by even more violent changes.
The three souls returned to their places.
The Heaven Soul resided at the crown. The spiritual energy of the Shikon Jewel transformed into a silver-white halo that spun rapidly above the Asura Transformation's head, casting a brilliant glow.
The Earthly Soul resided in the abdomen. The Oni Samurai's demonized source sank deep into his abdominal cavity, its dark red roots digging viciously into the deepest layer of his internal organ cycle.
The Human Soul resided in the center.
Golden light particles condensed into a solid form at the very center of the Asura Transformation's chest, overlapping with the core of the internal organ cycle. It formed a golden shell encasing a beating heart.
The three souls and the five internal organs pulsed in harmony at the exact same moment.
After the Tenth Transformation came the Eleventh.
Accomplished in a single step.
The Bone-Thunder Giant Body of the Asura Transformation began to contract violently.
Seven meters. Five meters. Three meters.
The skeletal structure did not collapse, and the thunderous body did not dissipate. Instead, they became exponentially denser as they shrank. The compression was so absolute that the gaps became invisible to the naked eye, squeezing out even the surrounding air.
Finally, it withdrew entirely into his body.
The Asura Transformation vanished.
The six-meter-tall Bone-Thunder Giant Body compressed back into Hikaru's frame within three breaths, becoming one with his original self.
This was precisely the Twelfth Transformation Hikaru had envisioned.
Unification.
From demon to devil, from death to life.
Since the Eleventh Transformation was complete, the Twelfth Transformation naturally followed. A single step to success, achieved in an instant.
Hikaru's body underwent a radical metamorphosis.
Deep red patterns emerged on his pale skin, resembling molten lava flowing beneath a sheet of ice. They spread from the side of his neck to his cheeks, and from the backs of his hands to his fingertips. Then, they hardened into a dense suit of scale armor. It looked like bone but possessed a cold metallic luster, tightly wrapping his limbs and torso, outlining the powerful contours of his muscles.
The roots of his long pale hair began to shift in color—dark red, silver-white, emerald green, pale yellow, and ink black. The five colors flashed alternately before finally settling back to the original pale white, though the tips of his hair now carried a faint, permanent blood-red hue.
Two horns grew from the hairline on either side of his forehead. They were not overly large, each about the length of a palm, curving sharply backward. Their surfaces were covered in complex bony patterns, with violent thunder light faintly flickering between the lines.
The color of his Crimson Demon Eyes deepened. Over the scarlet base, layered patterns of purple, orange, silver, emerald, and pale white swirled together, like five rivers converging into the same sea.
The whites of his eyes remained pitch black.
But something new had been added—an extremely thin golden halo, the absolute mark of the human soul.
Both living and dead. Both human and oni.
Entirely human, yet entirely demon.
He had come back to life.
Truly alive in every sense of the word.
His heart beat rhythmically against his ribs. His blood flowed hot through his veins.
His lungs expanded; the Breath of the Demon operated automatically. Every breath he took carried a purple glimmer of the world's Turbid Qi, filtering it effortlessly.
Beyond that, his liver and other organs were fully active, returning from the abyss of death to the warmth of life. His skin was no longer the pale, waxy white of a corpse, but a healthy white that held genuine temperature.
He looked down at his own hands.
His five fingers spread. Blood-fire seeped from between them before being cleanly withdrawn, and wild thunder jumped within his bones before falling entirely silent.
The power of the Asura Transformation had not disappeared. It resided within his body, perfectly merged with him, yet still able to be released and magnified at any time to achieve the Asura giant form of bone and thunder.
The five internal organs operated in his abdominal cavity, and the three souls settled in their respective positions.
He could feel that every bone, every blood vessel, and every inch of his skin perfectly overlapped with the bone-thunder structure of the Asura Transformation.
Internal and external had become one.
At the same time, the afterimages of the four guardian spirits he had swallowed had not vanished either.
The Six-Tusked White Elephant presided over the center of the human soul, unifying everything, as if the spirit and intent were a single entity.
The fragments of the Vajra Lion, Heavenly Eye Peacock, and Hyobi-shin transformed into three latent forces within his body, ready to be switched at will.
Vajra—Unbreakable.
The surface of that layer of scarlet scale armor instantly covered itself in a golden luster. Its hardness skyrocketed to the point where even his own Onikiri might not be able to cut through it.
Hyobi—Haste.
The moment the power activated, his body vanished from the spot. His speed was far too fast for the naked eye to follow, so fast that even sound disappeared, left far behind in his wake.
He had surpassed the limits of the Thunder Muscle, surpassed thunder itself.
By the time he appeared ten steps away, the air had only just begun to fill the void left by his sudden departure.
Heavenly Eye—Break.
The talent of the three-eyed peacock merged into his vision, and the perception of his Crimson Demon Eyes surged.
In his eyes, Master Hakushin's Bodhisattva Form was no longer a towering Buddha, but had turned into countless clear, flowing meridians. The path, strength, and weakness of every single meridian were laid bare before him.
The transformation of the five internal organs, the body of the three souls, the Demon of Unification.
This was Hikaru's Twelfth Transformation.
Yoshimoto had not yet recovered from her shock.
She had long since slumped onto the rubble-strewn ground, looking up at the transformed demon Oni Samurai before her. No, the current Hikaru could already be called a true devil.
He had two more horns on his head, and his eyes were even more terrifying.
But his face seemed even more handsome. His skin also seemed to be steaming with heat... as if he possessed actual warmth.
She subconsciously touched her own lips.
There really was warmth.
Her face immediately turned beet red.
At the gap where the corridor had collapsed, Kikyo picked up the fallen arrow and nocked it once more on the bowstring. Her cool face showed no extra emotion.
She did not look at Yoshimoto.
She only looked at Hikaru, looking at that devil who had already returned from the dead.
Her lover.
Then, he revealed a faint smile. Regardless of the chaotic method, he had already succeeded.
Hikaru immediately collected his focus and looked at Master Hakushin once more.
Master Hakushin's Bodhisattva form stood tall at the end of the ruined corridor.
Two of his four massive arms had already developed deep cracks; this was the severe aftereffect of his guardian spirit being violently stripped away.
Yet, he remained formidable. A Sokushinbutsu formed from the Power of Will accumulated over hundreds of years of saving hundreds of thousands of living beings. He was at the level of a Bodhisattva in the flesh, a terrifying existence with power rivaling a Great Yokai or greater.
However, his withered eyes—now the glowing golden eyes of the Bodhisattva form—displayed a ripple of emotion they had never shown before.
He had watched the entire time as the demon before him completed two impossible transformations in the span of a few breaths.
From the tenth transformation to the eleventh, and then to the twelfth. Unification.
Only then did he realize with a start that the demon before him had come to life.
Alive. That which he had once longed for, that which he had once desperately craved.
The next second, Hikaru drew his blade.
The next instant, Onikiri left its sheath.
There was no projection amplification from the Asura Transformation, no assistance from ambient fear. There was only himself—his true form after the twelfth transformation and unification—and a demon blade named Onikiri.
Ultimate Intent condensed on the razor edge. The speed of Hyobi-shin activated. He vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already directly in front of the Bodhisattva form.
The tip of Onikiri pierced into a half-inch gap in the armor of light. Blood-fire poured in. Dark red flames spread aggressively along the gap toward the interior of the Bodhisattva form, eroding the Buddha body made of the Power of Will.
Master Hakushin's golden eyes widened abruptly. His four arms swung down simultaneously. The Vajra pestle, lotus, sword, and prayer beads—the four heavy ritual applies smashed toward Hikaru's position from four different directions, aiming to crush him into dust.
Hikaru did not move an inch. He merely activated his Indestructible Diamond Body, covering his entire figure in a brilliant golden luster.
The Vajra pestle struck his shoulder, but the bone did not shatter. The sword slashed his back, but his posture remained unmoved; his Immovable talent was still in full effect. The kinetic impact of the lotus's Power of Will slammed into his chest, yet he did not even retreat a single half-step. The one hundred and eight prayer beads exploded simultaneously, shrouding him in a blinding golden blast.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Hikaru was still standing in the exact same spot. Onikiri was already thrust forward in his hand, buried deep into a gap in the Bodhisattva form.
Blood-fire spread inward, burning fiercely. He looked up, his Crimson Demon Eyes meeting Master Hakushin's golden eyes.
The light in those withered, wood-like eyes wavered.
The immovable Sokushinbutsu had, from this moment on, finally been shaken.
But it was only for an instant, a mere second.
The next moment, Master Hakushin's four arms swung down again. This time, Hikaru did not take the hit head-on. The swiftness of his guardian spirit, Hyobi-shin, activated instantly. His figure vanished from the spot, and Onikiri was drawn out in the momentum, kicking up a violent trail of dark red sparks.
He appeared to the left of the Bodhisattva form, less than three feet away.
The Vajra pestle smashed into empty air, turning the solid stone steps into fine powder. Onikiri followed through with a brutal horizontal slash.
The blade light of the blood-fire grazed the waist and ribs of the Bodhisattva form, burning a charred mark into the outer shell of the Power of Will. It was shallow, not damaging the core foundation.
But immediately following, he flipped his right wrist, his blade momentum refusing to stop. At the end of this strike, the Blood-Fire Transformation suddenly changed in quality.
A layer of something new was added to the dark red flames—an earthy yellow, heavy glow. The power of the Shura Spleen surged along the steel of Onikiri, blending perfectly with the blood-fire.
The blade grew heavy. So heavy that even the surrounding air seemed to sink under its weight. The same strike: the first half was fire, the second half was earth. Fire burned the surface, earth cracked the bones. The charred mark turned from shallow to deep, and the Bodhisattva form was shaken with jagged, spiderweb-like cracks.
Master Hakushin's golden eyes flickered. The lotus arm swept across, and the Power of Will turned into razor-sharp golden lotus petals, flying everywhere like a storm of blades.
Hikaru maintained his stance of not dodging or parrying. His Indestructible Diamond Body covered him, the golden luster flowing over his entire frame. The lotus petals slammed into his shoulders, chest, and cheeks. The sound was like heavy iron hammers striking a steel anvil, sparks flying everywhere. He did not shatter.
He walked forward two steps against the sky full of deadly lotus petals. Blade light rose again, but it was not Onikiri; it was Yomikiri.
This strike was no longer wrapped in blood-fire. A ghostly, purple, mist-like light seeped from the cursed blade. Shura Lungs.
Breath of the Demon operated automatically after the twelfth transformation and unification. Every bit of refined Turbid Qi exhaled with each breath could now be directly attached to the blade without the need for extra, tedious manipulation.
The killing intent of the metal element condensed along the blade, the temperature of the edge seeming to plummet far below freezing. He slashed upward.
The sword arm on the right side of the Bodhisattva form caught the strike. The golden ritual apply collided with the blade light, instantly frosting over at the exact moment of contact.
The ghostly light, however, spread rapidly along the surface of the sword arm, covering the entire limb in frost. The flow of the Power of Will was frozen solid.
Master Hakushin's golden eyes flickered again, and the prayer beads on another arm swung over. The one hundred and eight prayer beads completely dispersed, forming a massive containment net.
Hikaru opened his left hand. His pale long hair exploded outward—the Hair Transformation of Reaching the Four Extremities activated.
Emerald green wind and thunder patterns danced between the strands of hair. The growth power of the wood element drove every single hair to grow and extend wildly, weaving into a dense, writhing net of hair that caught the prayer beads head-on.
The prayer beads exploded accordingly. Golden light burst within the hair net, burning off dozens of strands, but more strands grew back from the broken ends, growing far faster than they were burned.
Wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood. The five-element cycle operated silently within his body. Every type of power no longer required deliberate manipulation—they circulated, replenished, and switched entirely on their own.
If he used blood-fire, he had blood-fire; if he used Yomikiri, he had Yomikiri; if he used the heaviness of earth, he had the heaviness of earth; if he used the growth of wood, he had the growth of wood; if he used the poison of water, he had the poison of water.
It was not a rotating use of five separate tools. It was one person possessing five lethal instincts simultaneously.
Besides this, he had three more tools. Holding his dual blades with both hands, Banryu naturally erupted and flew out from behind him. Its maximum favorability had long since exceeded the threshold for autonomous assistance, and now it rose into the air like a descending high mountain, pressing down heavily.
Fire burning, ice freezing, earth cracking. A triple overlay of destruction.
The Bodhisattva form only had time to extend two arms to block simultaneously. But the Vajra pestle caught the fire, and the lotus caught the ice.
The remaining arms were already cracked and could not catch the crushing earth. The massive heavy sword Banryu pierced through the gap and slammed directly into the chest of the Bodhisattva form. Boom.
The Bodhisattva form retreated a heavy step again, and the entirety of Mount Hakurei shook along with it. This was the second time Master Hakushin had been physically shaken, and also his first actual retreat since becoming a Bodhisattva in the flesh.
Hikaru sheathed his blades and stood in place, his breathing completely steady. Breath of the Demon operated automatically, purple light spilling from his breath and then being cleanly retracted.
He could feel it—it was a draw. He, after the twelfth transformation and unification, added with the assistance of the Heaven and Earth Twin Souls and the remnants of his guardian spirits, could now face this Bodhisattva form head-on without falling behind.
However, just reaching a draw was already his absolute limit. Master Hakushin's defense was far too thick.
A Sokushinbutsu formed from the Power of Will accumulated over hundreds of years; that petrified body itself was a literal mountain. Every inch of skin bore the vast and terrifying Power of Will, truly not inferior to any Great Yokai.
Against such an enemy, Hikaru's attacks could damage the surface, could crack the outer bones, could burn the outer shell of the Power of Will—but they simply could not penetrate to the core.
Conversely, Master Hakushin's offensive methods were also severely limited. Prayer beads, lotus petals, light beams, purification palms—he repeated these few things over and over.
The power was indeed great, but there was little variation, no continuity, no combination of feints and real attacks. After all, he was not truly a warrior.
Master Hakushin was a monk who bestowed grace and saved people during his life, not a magic monk who subdued demons, and certainly not a guardian warrior monk. Even after death, he was merely a resentful Buddha trapped in the mountain.
It could be said that from his life to his current state after death, he had never fought anyone from beginning to end. His power came from the vastness of the Power of Will rather than actual combat experience. His defense was peerless, but his offense was vastly insufficient. If this battle were to just drag on like this, neither side could do anything to the other.
Then again, being able to clash with an opponent of this level... to a certain extent, Hikaru could also be called a Great Yokai.
Even the human form of an ordinary Great Yokai, such as Sesshomaru, might not necessarily be a match for the current Hikaru. Unless they revealed their true beast form with exploding Yao Qi, or even other forms that appeared in mixed worldviews... but that was another matter entirely.
"You are strong." Master Hakushin's voice echoed from the mouth of the Bodhisattva form.
His golden eyes stared at Hikaru, turbid resentment and Buddha nature alternating and surging at the bottom of his pupils. "But you... still have a deficiency."
Hikaru's movements paused for a single beat. Master Hakushin's golden eyes scanned his body inch by inch with insight like a heavenly eye.
"The five internal organs are complete, the three souls have returned to their places, the five elements operate without hindrance, but you still have one step left to complete."
"You are still one step away," he spoke slowly.
Yet it was also correct.
The Twelfth Transformation merging into one allowed Hikaru's instantaneous burst to approach the threshold of a Great Yokai, but indeed, there were still flaws.
That was also the nature of the heart.
As a demon of perfect quality, reborn from death—both dead and alive—Hikaru's heart still harbored many distracting thoughts and impurities.
He possessed the desires of a demon and the thoughts of a man.
This was indeed Hikaru's flaw, but in response, he merely lowered his twin blades, raised his gaze, and fixed his Crimson Demon Eyes directly upon the Master Hakushin opposite him.
"I know," he said.
He stated, "I did it on purpose."
Master Hakushin's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
Hikaru sheathed Onikiri. The sharp click of the guard settling into the scabbard was exceptionally clear in the quiet, ruined corridor.
"Because I believe in one truth... In this world, nothing is truly perfect and flawless. That which has flaws is, conversely, what is truly complete," he said.
"After all, if one becomes perfect and flawless from this point on... then what about the future?"
"I'm afraid there would be no future, would there?"
He looked up, the golden rings within his Crimson Demon Eyes slowly rotating.
These words were spoken lightly, yet they caused Master Hakushin to widen his eyes in shock.
Within those golden eyes of a Bodhisattva, the churning of resentment and Buddha-nature simultaneously ceased.
He stared at this demon before him, who had just undergone a miraculous rebirth, and heard words completely beyond his expectations.
Intentionally leaving flaws, not seeking perfection.
Because he still wanted to progress.
Because the road ahead was still long.
Because there were still farther places to go.
Master Hakushin's lips moved, but no sound emerged.
As if recalling something long forgotten, the solemn lines of the Bodhisattva visage on his withered face visibly softened.
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