Yes, Lady Funina!

It is a true 'pure' land, where even a shadow can only sit suspended in mid-air.

Of course, all of that is in the past. The Pure Land of One Mind today is not much different from that before; it is completely unrelated.

Ever since Kage came out of the Pure Land of One Heart, he has been systematically adding items to it. Later, Yae no Miko discovered this, and the situation became uncontrollable.

Now, the Shadow's Pure Land bears no resemblance to its former self, having become a small, open-plan bedroom. Apart from the lack of walls, its other amenities are almost identical to those of a bedroom.

Moreover, judging from its overall style, it is obvious that it incorporates a lot of Yae no Kamiko's aesthetic sense in its design.

It can be said that a small number of traces of Kage were found in Kage's bedroom, and most of the decorations and furniture were arranged to suit Yae no Miko's preferences.

Ying didn't care about these things. On the contrary, she felt that having Yae no Miko to help renovate her Pure Land of One Heart was a great help.

Honestly, if you ask Ying to fight and kill, she'll definitely be able to arrange everything perfectly for you. But if you ask her to design a room and decorate her own bedroom, that's a bit much for her.

In fact, before Yae no Kamiko got involved in this matter, Kage's original plan was to just put a bed in his own Pure Land of One Heart, and at most bring a set of bedding.

Now, in addition to these, her Pure Land has a large bookshelf, a soft and comfortable sofa, several boxes of snacks, and an ice element alchemy device powered by lightning elemental force, officially named a 'refrigerator'.

The refrigerator is stocked with drinks, desserts, and popsicles, offering a wide variety of food in generous portions.

Besides that, Yae no Miko also put a lot of personal stuff in there, but since those were Yae no Miko's things, Kage wouldn't touch them. You said the Pure Land of One Heart belongs to Kage.

Yes, but what does that have to do with Yae no Miko stuffing her own things into it?

Yae no Miko: What's in the shadows is mine, and what's mine is still mine.

"Shall we start with the protective measures?" Richard said to Shadow.

"Okay," Ying replied earnestly.

"what should I do?"

“You don’t need to do anything.” Richard casually extended his hand to Ying.

Ying remained seated upright, unmoved, letting Richard's hand rest on her shoulder.

This level of physical contact is clearly too childish for Shadow. You have to remember that when he was sparring with Richard, there was no part of his body that wasn't touched.

Especially as Richard grew stronger, the intensity of the confrontation increased, making it increasingly difficult to stop.

At first, Shadow was able to take down Richard without taking any damage, but later on, Shadow found it difficult to defeat Richard using only physical skills, and in the end, they could only fight to a draw.

Of course, this refers to the situation where they are unarmed. If weapons were allowed, Richard at that time would have been far from being a match for the Shadow.

It wasn't until Richard left Inazuma that Richard's strength was only about 70-80% of his peak, which is a bit of an overestimation of Richard's abilities at that time.

Now, Shadow is definitely no match for Richard. Having successfully completed his own upgrades, Richard is undoubtedly at the level of the Descendants.

Leaving aside physical strength, just considering the power they wield, it is incomparable to the power of thunder.

Perhaps if the seven gods and their seven elemental powers were combined, their status might be able to rival Richard's 'immortality'.

The process of protection is very short and very simple. In short, it is to put a thin layer of protection on the shadow. If the World Tree changes later and releases power to correct the 'mistakes' on the shadow, then Richard's power will tell the World Tree that this person is under his protection.

Of course, if the World Tree ignores this and insists on correcting its errors, this thin layer of protection will certainly be of little use.

Its true purpose is to serve as a reminder; once Richard senses that the power he left behind has been activated, he can come directly to help fight against it.

However, such a thing is unlikely to happen. After all, once Richard himself arrives, it will be a world-class clash, and given the current state of the World Tree, it should have no chance of winning.

The World Tree of today is not the same as it used to be. After the Calamity of Kanria, the invasion of the Dark, and the contamination of forbidden knowledge, the World Tree has long been severely damaged and its strength is far less than before.

Moreover, even though the World Tree is still at its peak, it's still uncertain who will emerge victorious if it were to truly clash with Richard.

If you win, that's fine, but if you lose... you can refer to the fate of the Star-Devouring Whale, which directly became Richard's private property.

It would transform into Richard's shape from the inside out, which would be unbearable for the World Tree, and the heavens would not allow such a thing to happen.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, the World Tree will most likely give Richard face. As long as it's not too excessive, it won't have much of an impact if the few people don't make any changes.

"Alright." Richard used his own power to 'envelop' the shadow and let it soak in for a while. Once it was fully absorbed, he withdrew his power.

His blessing is so simple and unadorned.

"Is that all?" Ying thought the blessing would be very troublesome. For example, the last time in Fontainebleau, Richard helped with the blessing before parting, which took a lot of effort.

It uses up a lot of lipstick! 'It's not a difficult thing to begin with.'

Before Richard arrived, he had already completed the blessing of Funina, Clarinde, and Yae no Miko.

The blessings from Clarinde and Yae no Miko are the most effective.

After all, marinating meat that has been cut will definitely result in a more flavorful meat than one that hasn't been cut.

“Now that the wound has been healed, and it’s getting late, and there’s no mattress here, shouldn’t we…” Before Ying could finish speaking, Richard looked at her in shock.

"Discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose—isn't this happening a bit too quickly?" Richard complained.

"What?" Ying felt that Richard must have misunderstood something. She activated a small-scale Pure Land of Mind and said to Richard:

"What I mean is, it's so late, do you want T to come over to my place for the night?"

"Is that so?" Richard thought Ying was just giving him the order to leave.

It turned out that the castle tower was not suitable for sleeping, so he was made to sleep in the Pure Land of One Heart.

The Shadow's Pure Land is vast and open, and more importantly, it offers excellent privacy. Even if you shout yourself hoarse inside, no one outside will hear you.

Hmm, does that sound a bit inappropriate?

"Speaking of which, isn't your 'Pure Land of the Heart' a bit too foxy?" Richard asked, stroking his chin as he examined the pink-themed bedroom.

It's not just that the fox smell is a bit strong; there were clearly traces of shadows found at Yae no Miko's house.

If this weren't the Pure Land of the Shadows, Richard would have thought he'd come to the home of the Yae no Miko.

"This was arranged by the Divine Child, since I don't really understand these things," Shadow replied honestly.

"Why did you suddenly decide to renovate Yixin Pure Land?" Richard walked over to the edge of Ying's bed and sat down, patting the spot next to him, indicating that Ying should sit down as well.

Aren't you tired of standing and talking?

Ying wasn't one to mince words, so she immediately sat down next to Richard. If it was just this much, she could sit there all day without any problems.

"For you." Ying is always honest and known for her straightforwardness.

The straightforwardness of a martial artist is fully embodied in Shadow; he'll hit a straight shot and never give you any curve.

As a seasoned veteran, Richard could not possibly be described as being utterly defeated in a single frontal charge.

“I have a feeling this place is more like Yae no Miko’s pleasure house,” Richard said deliberately.

Ying knew Richard was doing it on purpose, but she wasn't flustered at all, because she had already prepared her explanation for it.

"When the divine child comes here, won't that just benefit you?"

There was no way to respond to that. Richard hadn't expected Shadow to say that; she was completely unpredictable.

And also... is she hinting at something?

The divine child will come here, to benefit himself.

These keywords are fine on their own, but when put together, they become quite complex. In other words, Shadow doesn't mind having another companion in his bed. 'Are you serious?' Richard couldn't help but ask.

"Who knows?" Ying unusually did not give a direct answer, but instead gave an ambiguous one.

After all, in this matter, Ying is also a woman. Given her possessiveness, it's already a good thing she didn't give Richard a fatal blow.

It would indeed be difficult for her to say that she would "share weal and woe" with Yae no Miko now.

In fact, Ying's views on this matter are different from those of ordinary people. As a martial artist, she believes in the supremacy of strength.

Even in bed, it was the same; as long as Richard could demonstrate his ability to conquer her, she naturally wouldn't mind sharing him with her best friend.

But if Richard doesn't even have enough to eat himself, and he still has to share with others, even if that person is his best friend, then Shadow's knife might still be sharp.

"Besides, you haven't even eaten what's in your bowl yet, and you're already thinking about what's in the pot later. Isn't that a bit too greedy?" Ying said.

"Then, Teacher Ying, how do we get what's in the bowl?" Richard asked humbly.

Ying stood up from the edge of the bed, simultaneously dodging Richard's outstretched hand.

“It’s simple, let’s have a duel before the Emperor.” Shadow walked to an open space dozens of meters away from the rest area and slowly took out her ‘Radiant Light of Allium’.

"The winner takes all."

Chapter 253 Thunder General: What Will You Do to My Shadow Followers If I Lose?

"The winner takes all!" As Shadow finished speaking, Richard looked somewhat bewildered.

Wait, why are we suddenly fighting? Richard doesn't remember the Shadows being this belligerent before.

Did I say something wrong?

Logically, shouldn't it be a back-and-forth, with each side playing hard to get, before they start getting physical, touching each other's breasts and buttocks, and finally going all out and having sex?

Why the sudden request for a sparring match?

Richard did want to spar, but he didn't want to spar like this.

"Shadow?" Richard wanted to ask a couple more questions, but as if he had discovered something, he tentatively asked again:

"General Thunder?"

"Hmm... there is part of the General's intention involved, but it's a bit complicated to explain." Ying shook her head, indicating that she, not the General, was still in control of the body.

However, it also explains that the duel in front of the emperor was indeed proposed by the shogun; otherwise, according to the normal plan, they should already be kissing by now.

Ying actually quite likes the feeling of kissing...

The moment the thought crossed his mind, General Thunder suddenly spoke up:

"Should I fight him instead?"

"Why?" Ying asked in surprise, silently replying to herself.

“The feeling of being on the field yourself is completely different from watching from the sidelines,” General Thunder replied.

"Oh, I see. I thought you were worried that I'd end up kissing Richard while we were fighting," Ying breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although as long as Ying doesn't want to, even General Thunder can't see into her thoughts, she can know what General Thunder is thinking at any time.

"You seem a bit relaxed. Does fighting Richard put a lot of pressure on you?" General Thunder asked, somewhat puzzled. In her understanding, Richard was strong, but not to this extent.

Besides, it's just a friendly spar, not a serious match, so why are you so nervous?

'That's not what's putting pressure on me, forget it...' Shadow relinquished control of his body, preparing to hand over the duel to General Thunder.

Of course, when making internal personnel changes, Shadow didn't forget to inform Richard beforehand:

"The general will fight you later... according to the standards of a duel before the emperor."

Before Richard could reply, Shadow, or rather, General Thunder, took over the conversation and said:

"Yes, but if you lose, you won't be executed, and if you win, the reward will remain the same. You can make Shadow do anything you want her to do."

"General! What are you saying!" Ying, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, regained control.

Although Richard could understand this way of communicating, from an outsider's perspective, it seemed like the actor was playing two roles and arguing with himself.

Especially now, in the dead of night, there are strange people with rashes.

Of course, what General Thunder meant was simple: there's no punishment for failure, but there are rewards for winning, and big prizes at that.

In short, it's incredibly tempting, and there's absolutely no reason not to participate.

"Okay, I understand the situation." Richard hadn't expected to get into a fight so late at night.

Although he often gets into fights at night, these fights are not the same as those fights. The fights he often gets into are those in which both sides have good intentions and are a process of getting to know each other better.

They became friends after a fight.

"Richard, no, don't misunderstand." Ying was both embarrassed and annoyed. She knew Richard well; he was clearly taking it seriously.

If Richard really wins, who knows what strange demands he'll make!

Even Yae no Kamiko was tormented by Richard's strange requests. How could he possibly withstand such treatment?

Of course, Ying wasn't saying she wanted to reject Richard or anything; she just felt that this first time shouldn't be so strange, and should be as normal as possible...

General Thunder didn't understand why Shadow was reacting so strongly. In her opinion, Shadow would give it sooner or later, so why bother with these trivial details?

Shadow thinks General Thunder is just talking without understanding the consequences; you're not the one paying the price, so of course you don't feel anything.

"If you can't hold on any longer, I can take your place. After all, wasn't that your original intention in creating me?" General Thunder said to Shadow in his mind.