266 X

"Are all these for me?"

"Yes." Kimura Kazuki nodded in confirmation. He could see the doubts on Chiba Shiori's face. "They are for you to defend yourself."

Chiba Shiori opened her mouth to speak, but stopped on a second thought. She wanted to say that she was just an ordinary person living in an ordinary world, so she would not need the Enchanted Talismans. She felt that it would be better for Kazuki to keep them instead.

Of course, Kimura Kazuki had read Chiba Shiori's thoughts already. He was silent for a while and said, "Offensive Enchanted Talismans are only an accessory to me at this point."

Humbly speaking, his current capability level should be within the top 100 in the world, but as for his combative power, he should be within the top three. Practicing and layering the Art of Sword Summoning should not be belittled, so trinkets such as the Spiritual Fire Talisman would basically have no effect on him. Of course, the Lightning Attracting Talisman would be useful against him. After all, it was something that could only be drawn by someone who had reached the Metamorphosis State. Hence, he had already saved some for his own usage, and he only gave two to Chiba Shiori for emergency uses. 

However, certain Functional Enchanted Talismans were still useful against him, such as the Tracking Talisman from before. 

Noticing that Chiba Shiori still had something to say, Kimura Kazuki interrupted her directly. "I am planning to organize a small group, and it will mainly consist of cultivators. Are you interested in joining?"

Chiba Shiori was surprised at that moment. She asked with a tint of glee in her voice, "Does that mean that I'll get to handle the wraiths with you? And these talismans are for me to use then?"

"No." Kimura Kazuki gave her an odd look. He shook his head, and repeated himself. "These talismans are for your own self defense." Letting Chiba Shiori join the group did not mean that he was allowing her to venture on dangerous missions. He had not stooped to the point where he needed a girl with no power to put spirits to rest with him. 

In the future when they rest spirits in small teams, Chiba Shiori would be at the back of the team. When they find anything suspicious, she could help in finding information about it, and when a task is settled, Chiba Shiori could use her intelligence to review and conclude their experiences. He recruited Chiba Shiori into the group to make use of her high intelligence, not to lead a powerless girl into danger. 

When Kimura Kazuki explained himself, Chiba Shiori was rather speechless, and excitement flowed through her at the same time. She had done so much in the past. Wasn't all that just to get Kazuki's recognition? Now that Kazuki thought of her as he was building a team, she felt as if her hard work from before did not go to waste.

If I hadn't offered to plan schemes and assert myself, would Kazuki have noticed me, and thought of me when he built this team? I'm afraid he won't, she certainly thought.

"Are you planning to recruit Ikioi Ito and the rest?"

Hearing that, Kimura Kazuki stared at her in shock. He nodded. "Yes! How did you manage to figure that out?"

Chiba Shiori took a small sip of tea, squinted her eyes and said, "It was not much of a guess… You are only building this team after you took part in the Jade Dragon Flag Competition. Hence, there must be someone who has caught your eyes. Otherwise, you would not have executed your idea even if you wanted to, due to the lack of members."

Kimura Kazuki was impressed. It seemed like he had found the right person. Chiba Shiori's thoughts were indeed agile and clear. He did not reveal much information, but she managed to figure out the situation on her own, which was very impressive. He nodded. "That's right, those from the Jade Dragon Flag Competition are elites in the Ancient Kendo Community. However, I haven't approached them to ask if they are willing to join."

"They will definitely join," Chiba Shiori said with utmost confidence. She had completely understood the power of reiki. She had also witnessed Yuriko losing her memories gradually, and turning into a puff of white reiki tinged with red. With her very own eyes, she saw that Kimura Kazuki absorbed that cloud of reiki. She was quite disturbed by that scene, and she had always felt that it was cruel. 

However, she quickly recovered from her thoughts as no one could live forever. Reincarnating into specters after death, and getting their wishes fulfilled before they fade away from the mortal realm, was much more fortunate than those who could not even reincarnate into a specter. 

At least the specters could fulfill their obsessions. If an ordinary person who did not possess a strong obsession were to die, they would be gone for good.

Hence, Chiba Shiori kept her mind open about this. Fulfilling the specters' obsessions, and allowing them to leave the world contended was actually a good deed in disguise. Absorbing the reiki of the fulfilled specters was also just a reward to the person who had carried out the good deed. Perhaps everything had already been decided by God. 

"You've told me before that reiki is the root of cultivation. If you long for reiki, then Ito-kun and the rest, who are weaker than you, must be even more desperate." Chiba Shiori said with a smile, "So, if you recruit them, they will definitely join. In fact, you can try asking them already, and we'll see how it goes."

"Alright." Kimura Kazuki had never been a procrastinator. Since Chiba Shiori had said it this way, he picked up his phone to contact Ikioi Ito and the rest. 

"Ikioi Ito, I am planning to build a small team of about 10 members. The objective of the team is to help and dispel specters. Are you interested in joining?"

"Yes, yes, I'm joining you, boss!" At this moment, Ikioi Ito replied almost instantly, and he had even changed the way he addressed Kimura Kazuki. He typed excitedly at home, "What's the name of the team?" 

Kimura Kazuki was stunned for a moment. He could see the burst of excitement through Ikioi Ito's replies, and he did not understand why. 

But then again, Kimura Kazuki had no idea that in Ikioi Ito's eyes, he was an unpredictably powerful person. Now that the powerful person planned to form a team with him, he would miss an incredibly good opportunity if he refused to join. He did not even bother to ask about the treatments and benefits of joining the team. He would just deal with that after he got in.

"I haven't thought of a name yet. Let's just call it X for now."

X? Ikioi Ito was speechless, but the name was not a priority at that moment. He asked curiously, "Boss, who else have you recruited aside from me?" 

"I'm planning to invite Yuma Sugawara and the rest."

"Have you spoken to them yet?"

"Not yet."

"Then you can leave that to me."

Kimura Kazuki became alert at this point. He asked, "How do you plan to tell them?"

"Of course, we should ask them for membership fees, and extort a million from them first." Ikioi Ito said gleefully, "Money is certainly not important. The main point is to enjoy crushing them with intelligence!" Obviously, the incident during the Jade Dragon Flag had led him to experience another kind of joy. His martial arts was definitely not as good as Tomoya Saito's and Yuma Sugawara's, but Ikioi Ito was delighted that he was more intelligent than them. 

Kimura Kazuki was speechless. He believed that Ikioi Ito was not doing that for the money, but to satisfy his sick sense of humour.

After all, the Ito family must be filthy rich since they could give out units of Weier Apartment just like that.

"I can invite them on my own. Don't complicate it."

"Alright then." Ikioi Ito was extremely disappointed.