Chapter 494: A Sacred Invocation

As for the original body, the impression he intended to leave upon the world was that of an ordinary man with humble origins who advanced one steady step at a time, accomplishing one unbelievable miracle after another until he became the strongest and ultimately stood at the very peak as a legendary hero.

The three personas each emphasized different qualities, without overshadowing one another.

Genjo spoke. "I do indeed know a certain True Lord. I simply do not know whether the True Lord that this humble monk knows is the same one that Your Highness speaks of."

As expected.

Hearing those words, Miroku finally relaxed slightly.

After pondering for a while, she ultimately decided to reveal some information about the True Lord from her dream.

...

Afterward, no one knew what Miroku, Shinichi, and Genjo discussed inside the carriage.

All that was known was that about ten minutes later, after Miroku solemnly expressed her gratitude, she personally escorted the two of them out of the carriage. When the curtain was lifted, the snowstorm outside had yet to subside, while the expressions of the three people inside the carriage were each different.

After that, both parties traveled together and arrived at Foji Town.

The Land of Iron had long since arranged separate reception personnel to wait for them in the town. At the entrance, the two sides exchanged farewells before departing in different directions.

After parting ways, Miroku remained inside her carriage, repeatedly reflecting upon the conversation they had just had.

What brought her immense comfort was that the True Lord known to Monk Genjo was indeed the very same True Lord from her dream.

However, Monk Genjo still refused to reveal who that True Lord actually was or when he would appear, merely brushing the matter aside with the words, "The destined time has not yet arrived."

He also said that once the destined opportunity matured, Her Highness the priestess would naturally encounter the True Lord, and when that time came, every difficulty troubling her would be resolved with ease.

During their conversation, Genjo had also made another meaningful remark.

He said that the True Lord possessed boundless divine abilities, and that the moment Her Highness foresaw the True Lord, the True Lord had likewise already sensed her.

Those words secretly startled Miroku.

She had indeed revealed some information regarding the True Lord, but she had never mentioned that the True Lord from her dream had directly sensed her across the past timeline.

Yet this mysterious monk, whom even she could not see through, had exposed that fact with a single sentence. More astonishingly, he stated with certainty that it was not merely the future True Lord who had sensed her; even the present True Lord had already become aware of her.

That completely convinced her that the True Lord Genjo spoke of was the very same True Lord who had slain Moryo in her dream.

It was also worth mentioning that, toward the very end, Genjo made one final remark with deep significance.

He said that Her Highness Miroku's name shared a karmic affinity with Buddhism.

The statement left Miroku utterly bewildered. She could not understand how the name of a shrine maiden could possibly have any connection with Buddhism. However, Genjo had no intention of explaining further, as though he had merely mentioned it casually.

Thinking of this, Miroku took a deep breath and slowly unfolded the slip of paper that Genjo had left her before their farewell.

Only eight simple words were written upon it: "Pure origin, wondrous dao; manifesting sacred divine might!"

"... Is this... A sacred invocation?"

Miroku stared intently at those eight ancient and solemn words, silently making her own guess.

A sacred invocation is a fixed liturgical formula specifically used to praise and invoke a certain God, proclaiming their rank, divine virtues, authority, and origin.

Such invocations were also often recited as part of mantras and sacred spells to seek the protection and response of those Gods.

This was likewise one of the secret arts unique to the lineage of shrine maidens. Depending on the situation and the enemies they faced, they would chant different sacred invocations to call upon deities with different divine authorities to bless them with their power, allowing them to exorcise demons and protect the world.

However, throughout the entire history of this world, there had never truly been any genuine Gods. At least, as far as Miroku knew, none existed.

The only being that could barely be considered a suspected God was the legendary ancestor of ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths.

Strictly speaking, all the Gods invoked by the shrine maiden lineage were Gods that they themselves had created.

That required explaining the shrine maiden lineage's unique and ancient cultivation system.

The origins of the shrine maiden lineage were so ancient that they could no longer be verified, with legends claiming they predated even the appearance of ninjas.

Back then, the land was plagued by countless demons roaming freely, while monsters ran rampant, leaving humanity constantly trapped in fear and peril.

Naturally, people began worshipping all manner of gods.

To resist those monsters, some humans devoted themselves to tempering their bodies and mastering every conceivable weapon, fighting demons with nothing but flesh and blood. Others traveled across the world, cultivating themselves through arduous training while comprehending heaven and earth in hopes of receiving the response of natural power.

As for the founder of the shrine maiden lineage, perhaps because she was a woman and was naturally less physically robust than men, and because she had never been able to grasp the mysteries of Nature energy, she instead forged a completely different path and created a cultivation method devoted exclusively to Spiritual energy.

Later, one generation of their ancestors discovered something remarkable.

Those Gods that had never truly existed, yet had gradually accumulated countless hopes, prayers, aspirations, despair, and faith from humanity over the ages, had actually begun to take shape within the unseen world.

Ordinary people could not perceive them.

Only those whose Spiritual energy had reached sufficient depth, such as the shrine maidens of their lineage, were capable of observing them.

It sounded unbelievable, yet Miroku knew it was true.

Spiritual energy itself possessed the ability to transform falsehood into reality and even alter reality itself. Wasn't the legendary Rabbit Goddess who had pacified the chaotic age said to have been born without conception, blessed by all living beings?

(Note: For her deed of stopping the conflict, Kaguya Otsutsuki received the blessing of the people and was worshipped as the Rabbit Goddess.)

At the same time, that generation of ancestors discovered that by visualizing these Gods and allowing themselves to be washed by the countless beliefs and thoughts of humanity, they could temper their own Spiritual energy within that process, greatly accelerating their cultivation.

Meanwhile, through the visualization, prayers, and offerings accumulated over countless generations of shrine maidens, those deities that had already begun to take shape were finally able to truly manifest in the world through the secret arts of the shrine maiden lineage and display all kinds of miraculous powers.

Thus, a unique secret art of invoking divine blessings upon oneself gradually developed.

Depending on the divine office and authority of the Deity being invoked, a shrine maiden could receive blessings granting power in entirely different domains.