It had been a few days since their arrival, but there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the village of Urayama. Despite its size, the village didn’t even have anything like an inn. Instead, Jia and Eui were offered lodging in the Ito home, which Suzu shared with her husband, two sons, and a daughter. It was a cozy home, and Jia found herself enjoying the atmosphere of the Ito family, despite Suzu’s near-constant state of panic when they were around. Out of consideration for their hosts, Jia and Eui elected not to actually stay there except for a brief introductory visit. Instead, they spent most of their time meditating at the shrine, or visiting with Lady Tennin, who turned out to be a veritable font of information. For example, it turned out that Lady Tennin rarely did any kind of fighting.

“If a youkai starts to encroach on the village or damages crops and livestock, then I will step in, but we have relatively few cultivators here, and its ki above all else that attracts them. My presence alone is enough to turn away the weaker ones, while most stronger ones simply aren’t interested.”

Lady Tennin was chatting amiably with Jia and Eui as they sat inside the temple, drinking tea over their conversation. She had made an entire ceremony of preparing tea for them, which was a new experience. Between that, and Lady Tennin’s relentless positivity, Jia was fondly reminded of her once-frequent visits with Eunae and Rika. Hopefully, she’d have an opportunity to reunite with some of her friends soon.

Eui was not feeling quite so nostalgic. She scowled at Lady Tennin as she grumpily chewed on a rice pastry—she had tried to talk Lady Tennin into a spar, but both the attendants and the lady herself refused, and she was still mad about it.

“So you don’t practice, you don’t spar, you barely meditate, you don’t consume that many cores—I don’t get it, how are you so fucking strong? You’ve got way too much power for someone so lazy.”

Jia nearly choked on her own pastry, and the attendants that constantly fussed over their precious Tennin looked ready to have a fit. Of course, Lady Tennin herself wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

“I have been here a very long time, Miss An. I was old long before Master Ienaga made her legendary breakthrough. I’m at least a few centuries old by now, though I confess that I haven’t really been counting. My cultivation and my core preserve my youth, but the bulk of my power comes from offerings.”

Offerings. Unlike a demon, preying on others to increase its power, a tennin would only take what was given freely—and even then, she would refuse unless the devotee insisted strongly. It was in a tennin’s nature to give, not to receive. It was no wonder they were so rare—without a group like this village to actively preserve her, Lady Tennin would have long since starved herself with generosity.

It turned out that Ito Suzu had only been half-truthful about the lack of martial artists in the village. While it was true that some would find a life for themselves elsewhere after their compulsory service, the vast majority returned home as martial artists—then gave up their cultivation as an offering to Lady Tennin. It was a long-standing tradition, and though many would keep enough to preserve their ability to manipulate ki, the most devout—like the monks and shrine maidens—gave everything. Only one person in the village chose not to—a man in the second stage that they had sensed having an argument with the village elders. Apparently he was a representative of the local lord, and he had left before Jia had a chance to meet him. Lady Tennin chuckled quietly when Jia asked why he had left in such a hurry.

“Ah, Minister Kano doesn’t often stay in town for long. I expect that he left to inform Lord Noguchi of your arrival. Though I am happy to host you here, you are foreign immortals and not everyone is likely to be as understanding of your situation. I took advantage of his haste to send along your message, and with any luck we should be hearing back from them soon.”

Eui raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“You think they’re just going to go along with it? What happens if they bring the army down on us to try to subdue the ‘foreign immortals?’”

Lady Tennin pondered it for a moment before shrugging.

“They’ll be wary, of course, but it’s not like you brought an army with you, and our nations are currently trying to negotiate peace. They won’t want to risk offending you without knowing more—especially if you have connections to Lady Hayakawa.”

That was good enough for Jia, and Eui seemed to have her worries slightly assuaged as well. The days passed peacefully as they awaited news. Lady Tennin was delighted to meet their ‘kami’ Heian, and even the shrine attendants were won over by her ineffable cuteness. Jia was hoping that the priests she’d heard so much about could tell her more about spirits, but the monks of Urayama had long since replaced their veneration of kami with Lady Tennin. The Lady herself did have some interesting insights, however.

“I was once a shrine maiden myself, and I gained many insights during my struggle to control the power of the former kami of this shrine.”

Heian was laying down in cat form with her head resting on Lady Tennin’s lap. She purred gently as the lady stroked her fur. Lady Tennin hadn’t needed to learn how to sheathe her body in mana to touch Heian—apparently she already knew a similar technique that allowed her to interact physically with spirits.

“Kami are complex, chaotic beings. They are strongly influenced by the emotions of those around them. Heian here loves you because you have given her so much of your own love—as it was with the kami of this shrine. A tsukumogami created from a tool of bloodshed would harbor all of the hatred from both its wielder and victims—creating dangerous kami indeed. Most of the so-called ‘greater spirits’ in your history were created as a result of worship by ancient mortals of concepts that they did not yet understand.”

As she listened, Jia wondered whether Jianmo had started out as a spirit then became a demon somehow. She decided to ask about it.

“Is it possible for a spirit to become a person? Not just taking human form like Heian does sometimes, but actually having their own physical body.”

Lady Tennin seemed a bit troubled by the question—the closest to losing her smile that Jia had ever seen.

“Hmm, I’m uncertain. My memories from being joined with the kami are quite faint and hard to interpret. I think that it should be possible—in fact, it seems to be something they desire quite strongly, but I’ve never heard of it actually happening.”

Jia frowned in thought—it hadn’t been a question she had considered asking before, but it seemed like something that Jianmo should know. She resolved to ask about it when she got the opportunity. Lady Tennin smiled down at Heian, purring away in her lap.

“If it is possible, I would think that you’re well on your way to realizing it with Heian. Your bond with her is quite unlike any I’ve ever seen or heard of. In Yamato tradition, there are three types of bonds with kami—shikigami, tsukumogami, and channellers. In all cases, there is something that serves as a vessel for the kami to inhabit. Your own bond most closely resembles that of channellers.”

Jia nodded along.

“I’ve been told about them before by friends in the academy, but they didn’t really know much. Grandmaster Murayoshi has a tsukumogami, right? He calls her Forge.”

“Indeed. The blacksmith Murayoshi is one of the foremost experts on kami in the entire nation—if you received lessons from him, then I doubt there’s anything I could add.”

Eui scoffed and shook her head.

“Yeah, don’t worry about that. His methods of ‘teaching’ mostly involved hurling threats, insults, and hammers at us until we either went away or figured it out on our own. His only advice about Heian was telling me not to eat her. Speaking of, is that what happened to your patron spirit?”

Once again, Eui’s words angered the monks and shrine maidens, but Lady Tennin simply nodded slowly.

“In a sense, yes. I was no channeller, and the kami gave itself to me as part of my transformation. Its ki became the source of the core that gives me the power to protect my people.”

Jia tried to shift the topic away from Lady Tennin’s origins before they accidentally offended someone—more than they already had.

“What about the other types? What’s a shikigami?”

“Shikigami are kami that dwell within specially prepared vessels. Our onmyouji prefer paper mannequins, but any object with the right enchantments will work. It creates a contract that binds the kami into the service of the one who holds their vessel. It differs from the indelible bond between a tsukumogami and their wielder—a shikigami is bound only by the vessel in which it dwells, and is usually too weak to continue existing without it.”

Jia grimaced as Lady Tennin’s words brought back some unpleasant memories.

“I think I’ve met someone who uses a technique like that. Bai Lin—a woman from Qin who controlled shadow spirits in the form of spiders.”

Neither Jia nor Eui had forgotten their oath to kill Bai Lin for gleefully torturing half-spirits during the tournament—including Eui herself. Lady Tennin put a hand to her cheek and sighed.

“The priests that wield shikigami—onmyouji—try to respect the kami that they bind. Usually a contract is established willingly. The other nations have adopted similar methods, but are much more cruel in their execution of them. I’m glad that your bond with Heian isn’t like that.”

Jia frowned thoughtfully.

“What is it like, then? You mentioned channellers—they are more like us?”

Lady Tennin tilted her head and scrunched up her face as she tried to put her thoughts into words.

“Channellers are...strange. They give up their own bodies as vessels for the kami, which gives them power comparable to our greatest martial artists, or sometimes even the more powerful xiantian mages and cultivators of other nations. Yet, for all their power burns hot and bright, their light is brief. Channellers can rarely withstand the power they wield for long before they lose themselves entirely to the kami, or simply expire.”

That sounded similar to what Elder Qin had once told them when their spiritual mentor had worried that they might suffer from possession. Jia wanted to be sure though, so she pressed on with her questioning.

“What happens if they lose themselves? Wouldn’t that mean the kami—er, spirit got the body it wanted?”

Lady Tennin shook her head.

“In such cases the kami is consumed as well. Channeller and spirit both cease to be, leaving only a monster behind—an oni.”

As Jia had suspected, it was one of the many paths that one could take to become a demon. That said, Lady Tennin’s explanation pretty strongly resembled another story they had heard from her. Eui tactlessly pointed it out before Jia could think to stop her.

“Isn’t that what happened to you? You tried to channel the spirit of this shrine and immediately lost yourself to it.”

Lady Tennin was unfazed by the inquiry, offering only her usual gentle smile.

“Yes. Though in my case, it was a mutual self-sacrifice and instead of becoming an oni, I became tennin. Tell me, have either of you attempted to house Heian within your own bodies?”

Jia scratched the back of her head before nodding.

“Y-yeah, I did once. I haven’t tried it again since, though.”

“What was it like?”

“It was...confusing. I was still me, but I was also Heian. The parts of me that were me didn’t understand the parts that were Heian and vice-versa. It was really hard on both of us, and it’s not something I’ve been keen to try again, even though it was a powerful technique.”

Lady Tennin nodded in understanding—she had surely experienced something similar during her transformation.

“I suspect that for channellers, that is simply how they exist at all times. It is said that the most successful of their number seek to increase the level of understanding between them and the kami they bond with. Though your bond isn’t exactly the same, I think that therein lies the key to Heian’s training.”

Jia nodded. The conversation had given her a lot to think about, particularly about the nature of spirits and the idea that Jianmo might have a lot more insight on the subject than they let on. Heian suddenly perked up as Jia sensed several powerful cultivators entering her domain. One was Minister Kano, returning from delivering his message. The other two made Jia’s face light up with a broad smile as she stood up excitedly.

“They’re here!”

Lady Tennin cocked her head curiously, she couldn’t sense them yet.

“Has Kano returned already? That was quite swift even for him.”

Eui had sensed the presences as well, and though she wasn’t as enthusiastic as Jia, she did share the sentiment. She didn’t care for the familiar feeling of a powerful third stage martial artist with an unmistakable aura of gravity essence, but the other put a smile on her face. Force and Mist, illusions made real, and a sense of competitiveness that felt far less playful than it had when they’d last experienced it.

“Hayakawa Kaede came here herself.”

Lady Tennin’s eyebrows rose in shock, while her attendants began urgently scrambling to receive the first heir to the shogun. Jia scratched her head as she felt Rika begin to hurry ahead, sensing their domain against hers.

“What’s Takeda Rika doing with her, though?”