Shikibu knew there was no point in evading. She had seen his speed and reflexes during the times he blocked most of her attacks after just breaking an illusion. But what made her decide not to switch with an illusory clone was because of the power she sensed contained within that golden sphere.

Lowering her head, she was fully convinced in her defeat.

“Like I said before, you are valuable to me. I have heard from Sakura what kind of a boy you are.”

Uehara was now tempted to smash the golden sphere on her cranium after hearing how she called him “boy”again. But he gritted his teeth and let her carry on.

“I’ve heard nothing terrible about you and your character is aloof and straight to the point, which won’t get you any girls but I’ll take what I can get.”

Uehara’s mouth twitched but Shikibu ignored the killing intent he was radiating.

“After hearing you were a surin, I immediately had to evaluate your strength. Seeing as you are much stronger than me, I have a request.”

“For?”

A bright light emanated from Shikibu’s body as she slowly shrunk in size. Uehara jumped off and dissipated his sphere as well as his clones since he sensed she was growing much weaker. When the bright light vanished, in front of him was a beautiful woman with long red hair and a red dress which accentuated her hour-glass figure. She looked like a woman in her late twenties followed by the mature aura she was giving off which was further enhanced by a pair of red eyes.

Walking towards Uehara, she got down on both knees and held his hand as she gazed longingly into his eyes.

“Please become my host.”

Although she looked extremely pleasing to the eye, especially with her slightly revealing dress, Uehara was still unfazed as his golden eyes met her red eyes.

“No. I currently have no need for any entity to reside in me.”

With the soul-connection between him and Chizuki having brought him extra time, Uehara was in absolutely no rush to become a host, especially when he was still this weak. He planned to reach adulthood first after seventy-nine years before thinking about becoming a host, and that is if he doesn’t awaken his mandala eyes.

At the moment, unlocking his mandala was his current objective. Should he manage to do that, he will have no need to become a host since awakening his mandala will allow him to be reborn and become a full-blooded surin, stabilising his unstable existence and throwing away his need for blood.

Unfortunately, Shikibu wasn’t willing to let this chance go. She had already been trying to get past the fourth tail for the past five-hundred years but the quality of this world’s energy was too subpar.

“Please Aoki. This world’s energy quality is too low and my lifespan is already reaching its end since I am unable to advance any further.”

“That does not concern me.”

Shikibu’s mind was in turmoil. She was already nearing a millennium in age with only a few years left before she dies. She had already accepted that there was no hope left for her and was prepared to live out the rest of her days in the palace and die. Those were her plans until this hybrid of a dragon and a surin became her beacon of hope. As long as she is able to merge with him, she will gain access to the high-quality energy all surins produce. If she could even advance by one tail and condense her fifth tail, her lifespan would increase by three hundred years and she could recover all the life-essence she used in supplementing the lack of quality energy.

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Of all three great demon races, the lifespan of yokai depended on the planet they resided in. If the planet is of low quality, then their lifespan will be shortened too. This especially affects high-tier yokai like tailed-beasts that require much more energy. If Shikibu chose to remain stagnant at the first tail and not form a second tail, her lifespan as a yokai would’ve been five millenniums as the quality of energy she required would not be large. But as she condensed more tails, she needed higher quality energy that grew thinner with each tail she condensed.

Facing certain death if Uehara abandons her, she held his hand tightly.

“It has nothing to do with you, but I’m willing to do anything for you accept my proposal.”

Although she was kneeling to a five-year-old looking boy, she swallowed her pride and asked politely. Uehara didn’t release his sage-transformation just yet. Although he could slap her to death in her current state, he didn’t want to take any chances.

Looking down on her, his expression didn’t even change in the slightest.

“I have no intentions of becoming a host.”

When Uehara pulled his hand back, Shikibu didn’t let go. On the contrary, her grip grew stronger. The golden aura around Uehara that would occasionally flicker like dying flames suddenly grew in intensity due to his budding rage.

“Let.GO.”

Shikibu’s hands began to get burnt terribly as the temperature rose to insane heights. But, gritting her teeth, she never let go. She knew that if she let go now, then all hope would be completely lost.

Stories had been passed down her clan about how surins would change face when someone of considerable strength and will entered their eye. Sakura had told her about Chizuki’s story before so she was almost certain that if she could withstand these flames without using her chakra to resist, then she may earn a certain amount of respect from him.

When Uehara saw that she still wasn’t letting go, he increased the intensity. But when he noticed how she wasn’t using any chakra to resist the flames, his anger changed to confusion. His first thought was that he was in an illusion she made in order for him to pity her. As soon as that thought surfaced, he increased the intensity of the flames.

The meat under her skin now was getting burnt and blisters were forming all over her skin due to the high amount of heat he was radiating. He saw through his golden eyes how her chakra was bubbling up in an instinctual attempt to resist the flames.

Shikibu was assaulted with pain she has never felt before in her life. Her tears were evaporated before they even slid down her face. Still, she grit her teeth and held back the urge to use her chakra. Although her body was screaming at her to let go, she knew her fate would be sealed if she let go.

As she slowly lost feeling all over her body, she was growing more certain that she was going to suffer a horrible death. All she had right now was hope that her gamble would pay off or she would die trying. When she was to pass out, the flames suddenly went off. Before she could open her eyes, she felt herself wrapped in a one armed hug, her head being held against his chest as huge amounts of high quality chakra entered her chakra network and healing her injuries.

“Your desire for life and for the right to pursue strength has moved me. Unfortunately, I will still decline your offer to be your host.”

Shikibu felt all her hopes crushed when she heard his last sentence. Disregarding her dignity as an elder, she cried on his chest.

Shikibu had placed all her bets on this once chance. She never expected that it would fail regardless. Her mind was so lost that she never even noticed that her Uehara was repeatedly calling her name.

“...ki.”

“...saki.”

“...rasaki.”

She felt a flick to her forehead that left a burning sensation, instantly bringing her back. But she didn’t dare look up, feeling ashamed of her actions.

“Murasaki.”

Shikibu didn’t reply. Instead, she got out of his embrace and stood up. Turning her face away so that she couldn’t see it, she spoke.

“I’m sorry for troubling you with such a request. As you’ve said, my plight has nothing to do with you.”

She forced a giggle.

“Thank you for entertaining me one last time before I die.”

Uehara kept his neutral expression and spoke.

“Murasaki.”

She replied tiredly.

“What is it?”

Uehara extended his finger to point at the direction of his island.

“Although I cannot be your host, I can allow you on my island. The quality of chakra there is significantly higher than anywhere else. If you reside there, you should be able to absorb enough energy to condense your fifth tail soon and extend your lifespan. In addition-”

He didn’t get to finish before Shikibu bolted towards him so fast he was left stunned. It was mostly because he didn’t sense any hostile intentions from her so his reactions were much slower. Swiftly picking him up, she brought him in for a hug and affectionately kissed his cheeks as tears of joy flowed down her face.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

Uehara.exe stopped responding.