[You help ’Shuten-doji’ to its feet and inform it about the Evil God ...]

[...]

[After a brief exchange, you learn that all the members of the ’Shuten’ clan were sacrificed in the divine war, leaving only it who was still an infant at the time.]

[It grew up in the mountains, spending its days with beasts, living on raw flesh and blood... Until more than a decade ago when it awoke its inherited memory of the ’Shuten’ lineage, gaining human intelligence.]

[It learned about the defeat of the Dragon God, and the outside world is now dominated by believers of the new gods, so it had to remain low-key, assuming a human form to occasionally descend the mountain.] 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

[Despite its caution, it accidentally alerted others and got surrounded by the general’s soldiers...]

[Now, your presence has filled it with hope, and ’Shuten-doji’ can’t wait to storm the Capital with you and eliminate the General.]

[You explain to ’Shuten-doji’ that you’ve found the ’Nine-tailed Fox’ still in existence, but because there are limited Suppressing Objects, you can only make one out of the two of them your Shikigami. It isn’t clear to you which of them is stronger or weaker.]

[’Shuten-doji’ immediately pulls itself together and articulates without hesitation that ’dragon descendants,’ speaking of the art of charm, the ’Shuten’ clan, cannot hold a candle to the ’Nine-tailed Fox’...]

[But when it comes to the art of battle, ’Shuten-doji’ isn’t boasting, the ’Shuten’ clan can beat the ’Nine-tailed Fox’ till it cries for mercy...]

"Is Shuten-doji that strong?"

Lin Xun recalls the trial illusion of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons from the librarian, when Shuten-doji made its entry with sky-filling red fire lotuses, it indeed resembled incomparable strength.

As for the ’Nine-tailed Fox,’ except for its act of flirtation and cuteness, it seemed to have no other remarkable abilities...

"Eh? How can the Nine-tailed Fox, being so weak, be one of the top three monsters? Surely, it can’t just because of a big chest and uplifted butt?"

Lin Xun suspects that the ’Nine-tailed Fox’ is also strong, but he has no evidence.

"Practicality is the sole criterion for testing the truth, why not let the two of them confront each other directly?"

"If it doesn’t work out, let them fight it out, and make the stronger one my Shikigami."

He opens the item bar and clicks on ’Nine-tailed Fox’s tail hair’.

[You take out a tuft of soft white fox tail hair and tell ’Shuten-doji’ that the number of servitors for the ’dragon descendants’ is limited. You decide to summon the ’Nine-tailed Fox’ and let the two compete against each other...]

[Unexpectedly, ’Shuten-doji’ quickly stops you in your tracks.]

[It calmly explains without changing its expression that ’dragon descendants’ may have misunderstood its words. What it meant was that the ’Shuten’ clan could easily defeat the ’Nine-tailed Fox’, but it didn’t say that it itself could easily defeat the ’Nine-tailed Fox’...]

[Bearing in mind that it has only awakened and inherited its memories for more than a decade, equivalent to a child learning to read, compared to the thousands of years of cultivation of the fox seductress, its chances of winning are definitely smaller.]

[But the ’dragon descendants’ are certainly not short-sighted. Given another few hundred or thousand years of cultivation, it could definitely defeat the ’Nine-tailed Fox’ to the point where it can’t find its bearings...]

Lin Xun wears a poker face.

"Good job, now even monsters are playing the Text Game to become a Shikigami?"

[You put away ’Nine-tailed Fox’s tail hair’ and extend your hand with a deadpan expression.]

[’Shuten-doji’ offers an awkward smile and fetches a fine and small celadon wine cup from the pack on its back.]

[’Shuten-doji’s Celadon Wine Cup’ (Prop): A delicate and small celadon wine cup, a precious wine container that the great monster ’Shuten-doji’ carries everywhere. With this prop, you can summon the great monster ’Shuten-doji of the Origin’ to fight for you.]

[You accept the celadon wine cup, wave to dismiss ’Shuten-doji’ to continue cultivating in the mountains, and promise that when it’s time to battle the General, you will summon it for assistance.]

[’Shuten-doji’ departs, returning guiltily to the depths of the mountains...]

[Before leaving, it presents you with a jar of wine from its bag as if offering a treasure. It claims that this is the fine sake it brewed when it first gained spiritual wisdom, and has been stored for over a decade.]

[After slaying the General, the two of them will celebrate with wine...]

[You’ve received ’Daiginjo Sake’ (Treasure)!]

[The figure of the Apothecary recedes gradually, disappearing amongst the depths of the forest...]