CHAPTER 35 – THRONE REALM

The throne realm stood as the pinnacle of mortal and ordinary life forms’ achievements, without any divisions into early, middle, or late stages. It brought about a fundamental change in the life source of those who attained it.

Big Dipper experts were often revered as demi-gods due to their immense power and abilities. It was believed that even if their hearts were pierced, they could still survive due to their incredibly strong life force.

Throne realm was the utmost level of improvement that normal life forms could aspire to. Breaking through to the throne realm determined their future path: either the path of the High Heavens or the path of Yomi. However, both paths were far more difficult to walk than the journey to reach the throne realm.

Lily would contemplate those things in the future. Once the throne palace was formed, it reached its perfected form, regardless of its appearance. The throne palace was the ultimate form of a mortal’s existence, and no improvements could be made unless one broke through to a higher realm. The strength difference between throne realms was not related to the palace or the practice, but rather to the understanding of the path of heaven, secret techniques, martial arts, and other factors.

Throned generals, sovereigns, monarchs, and saints were not distinct stages of advancement, but rather pure differences in strength.

While a peerless genius could become a throned monarch immediately upon breakthrough, a normal genius may train for a hundred years and only achieve throned general status.

The terms early stage, mid stage, late stage, and peak stage of the throne realm were merely a convention among adepts, despite their acknowledged inaccuracy. Despite this, adepts had used these terms for thousands of years and continued to do so.

The throne palace could no longer be improved through further training, although subsequent advancement still required step-by-step progression. Improvement now came from the adept’s understanding of the ways of heaven, secret methods, martial arts, treasure acquisition, spirit reservoir, purity of spirit energy, and so on.

Lily’s spirit reservoir had already reached an incomparable amount at the permanence realm, spanning easily ten thousand miles. This was why she trained in the Lunar Blossom and was so compatible with the spirit power secret method created by the great god Tsukuyomi.

The realm that the great god Tsukuyomi had reached was unknown, but her secret method was extremely difficult to learn. However, once mastered, it surpassed all secular methods.

Permanence experts typically had spirit seas ranging from ten to a hundred miles, but some enormous creatures had much larger ones. In this vast world, there were also demon beasts who defied the heavens and possessed tremendous spirit reservoirs, such as Tamamo-no-Mae. She could transform into a thousand-mile-long demon fox, requiring a colossal spirit reservoir to sustain that massive form.

However, Tamamo-no-Mae had cultivated for over a thousand years to attain such power. The larger the spirit reservoir, the more challenging it was to advance to the throne realm. With Lily’s spirit reservoir, it would be nearly impossible to reach that level without the aid of a secret method.

Fortunately, Lily possessed the Lunar Blossom secret method, which was the most suitable and powerful method for breaking through to the throne realm. However, it required a fortuitous opportunity. The nature of opportunities varied for each adept, and some might wait a hundred years without any sign, while others could have a sudden realization in a single night. For some, the trigger could be as simple as watching a leaf fall or witnessing the rupture of the sky and earth. The opportunity could only be encountered, not actively sought. Lily never expected that her opportunity would come from her senior sister Rinne. In the final moment, Rinne’s teardrop triggered the last qualitative change in Lily’s spirit sea, allowing her to achieve the throne realm using the most suitable and powerful breakthrough method.

Lily was unaware of what had transpired during the critical moment of her breakthrough. All she could remember was the image of her senior sister Rinne crying, filled with sadness and reluctance. Little did she know that Rinne’s tears had triggered a qualitative change in her spirit palace, allowing her to break through the insurmountable barrier and reach the throne realm.

However, the throne realm was not classified by stages of training, which posed a problem for Lily. What should she call her new realm? Saint would not suffice, as she had already surpassed that level when she reached the peak of permanence. In Heian-kyo’s hierarchy of thrones, there was no category that Lily fit into.

Lily observed as all the demons within her view prostrated themselves, but the newly ascended queen paid them no attention, as she pondered on the dilemma of what to call her new realm. After a moment of contemplation, she came to a decision.

“I’ll call this… Throned Celestial,” Lily proclaimed, pleased with her choice. After all, a celestial was a higher rank than a saint.

And thus, in that moment, Heian-kyo’s only Throned Celestial was born.

When confronted with the demons, Lily contemplated her options. Should she eliminate them all? She quickly dismissed the idea. In Yomi Hirazaka, demons perpetually consumed each other. However, after her breakthrough, all the demons had willingly submitted to her authority. It seemed as though she might have been the first person to receive such submission from them. Lily wondered if there was some deeper significance to this.

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Lily couldn’t help but wonder why the big dipper arch-demons she encountered were not on the same level as Shuten Doji. It was peculiar that all the big dipper arch-demons present were of the lowest level of big dipper experts. Why didn’t she encounter any stronger ones? And why were they all kneeling before her?

Did this mean that she had emerged as the victor of this endless abyss of slaughtering? If that was the case, then killing them all now would be a shameful act.

Besides, demons needed to devour to grow stronger, and those who didn’t would eventually be devoured. There was no enmity between her and these demons, and she had even absorbed their animas to achieve her breakthrough. She didn’t harbor any hatred towards them, as she knew that they were all just trying to survive.

Lily had a feeling that she wouldn’t be staying in that place for much longer and had an idea in mind. She unrolled the long scroll, which was the Record of One Hundred Demons, and held out a hand. The sudden movement made countless demons think that she was going to slaughter them, and the weaker demons clutched their heads and howled in fear. However, Lily surprised them when she brought out a brush and ink instead.

With a wild yet charming brushstroke, Lily drew several powerful demons on the Record of One Hundred Demons, making them look less disgusting. Her brushstrokes were wild, heroic, free and leisurely, and she even added a heroic mood to the pictures of these ferocious demons. The demons waited there for Lily to finish, not daring to move.

Rising to her feet, Lily announced, “The Record of One Hundred Demons is complete.”

She gazed at the scroll with a sense of pride, knowing that it now showcased a finished painting of a hundred demons, truly living up to its name. She gazed at the demons kneeling before her like a queen, her cold detachment and aloofness filling them with dread.

After some time, Lily felt a force pulling her body upward. She didn’t resist and was lifted into the air. A golden beam of light descended into Yomi Hirazaka, surrounding her. Despite the blinding brightness, Lily opened her Sakura Parasol and soared into the sky. Below her, thousands of demons lay prostrate, their fierce and grotesque faces showing a longing gaze towards the light. They knew that this light was their only way out of the abyss of slaughter.

As Lily soared higher, her hair fluttered in the air, and her heart filled with emotions. Gradually, the golden light became infused with a power that originated from ancient times, an irresistible force that stripped her of her consciousness. Despite commanding the worship of thousands of demons, she felt powerless before this ancient power.

……

Lily gradually regained consciousness and found herself lying on a vast mountain cliff overlooking an endless abyss. Below her, the darkness was illuminated by a golden mist, casting a reflective glow.

Lily felt a strange sense of emotion as she whispered to herself, “Life is like a dream…”. As she looked around, she realized that there was no bright light around her, so she closed her Sakura Parasol and started walking towards a giant torii gate that she spotted in the distance. The gate was exactly like the Rashomon in Nara-kyo, standing alone and imposing. As she approached the gate, she couldn’t resist stopping to gaze at the abyss on the other side of the mountain cliff. The abyss seemed to be calling out to her, tempting her to explore its depths.

Lily’s soul defenses proved to be powerful enough to resist the attraction, but she couldn’t ignore the sheer strength of the lure. It was more potent than the combined attacks of the Izumo soul monsters, and it took a great deal of her concentration to resist it. Lily knew she couldn’t afford to be manipulated by this force; after all, her sister Ayaka was still waiting for her rescue.

Determined not to be distracted, Lily averted her gaze and continued walking toward the torii gate. As she progressed, she realized why there were no higher tier big dipper archdemons in Yomi Hirazaka. The golden light, which held an ancient power, would take anyone above a certain level of strength away from the abyss.

Approaching the gate, Lily gazed up at the inscription on it that read “Heijo-Kyo Gate.” Memories of the books she had read in Ayaka’s study flooded her mind. She distinctly remembered one book that described the ancient capital of Nara as Heijo-kyo, and it was clear that this gate was a match for the Rashomon gate in Ancient Nara.

The existence of these two torii gates might have facilitated the travel between the two realms. As Lily walked into the gate, the world spun and stars moved. When she took a step forward, the scenery before her eyes transformed, and she found herself once again in the abandoned ancient capital of Nara.

“I returned?” Lily was slightly taken aback, unable to believe that she had truly returned. It was as if life had become a dream to her. She had managed to return from the Path of Yomi, and on top of that, her strength had exceeded her previous limits.

“Kagami Lily!!!” A powerful eldritch aura suddenly caught Lily’s attention in the dark and shadowed city courtyard. A golden horn emerged from a billowing eldritch cloud, followed by a ten-meter-tall gray-blue body of a brutal evil spirit.

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Lily stared blankly at the evil spirit before her and asked, “And you are…”

“Ahahahaha! Kagami Lily, I have searched for you all over the world! I finally found out that you were hiding in Nara-kyo through the news of my old friend Sakanoue no Tamuramaro! I am Amanosaku, the father of Amanojaku! You dared to kill my son! Your death anniversary is one year from today! Ahahahahaha!”