I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 158: Improvement of the legendary breathing method. As long as we enter the Warring States Period, everything will be fine!

Uesugi Tetsu was stunned when he heard this.

No breathing method?
He heard Lilizi frown slightly and say, "I have asked the Special Affairs Office and Nanjo-san about this matter before."

"Unless one has achieved a feat equivalent to exorcising a demon-level demon single-handedly, it would be impossible to obtain a breathing technique more complete or advanced than the Corona Breathing Technique."

"—It seems that there are many breathing techniques with a similar level of completeness to the Corona Breathing Technique available, but anything higher than that becomes increasingly difficult to find."

In fact, this is normal.

Originally, he and Ririko learned the Coronal Breathing Technique through backdoor access with the double guarantee of Kondo Tomoya and Nanjo Aimi.

It would be too good to think that you can get a more complete and advanced breathing method just by asking for it.

As long as Uesugi Tetsu asks, Nanjo Aimi will definitely find a way, even if she has to run around and ask many people for help, to get it for him.

But things haven't gotten that dire yet.

Uesugi Tetsu thought.

——Weren’t there many breathing techniques during the Warring States Period five hundred years ago?

——Although cultivation was more difficult during the Warring States Period, and it was an era of undisputed spiritual dominance when Onmyojis remained in seclusion, powerful and complete breathing techniques definitely existed.

With his relationship with Imagawa Yoshimoto, it would not be difficult for him to get such a breathing method.

Moreover, Tokugawa Ieyasu was still a hostage under Imagawa Yoshimoto at that time.

If he could get along well with this old turtle, maybe he could create a youth version of the Four Extremes Breathing Method.

As long as he uses the second ring of the Key of History to enter the Warring States Period again, all his current cultivation problems will be solved.

everything will get better!
Uesugi Tetsu's mind suddenly changed, and he recalled what Lilizi had just said.

He blinked and asked in surprise, "Lilizi, have you finished tempering your skin?"

For ordinary people, the required proficiency level is at least 2,000 points, but Lilizi has already completed it in just a few days?

Moreover, using Gang Qi to temper the body and forge the Palace of Flesh was completely different from the previous method of cultivating internal Qi...

The girl nodded with a neutral expression, "Yeah, not long ago."

Uesugi Tetsu pinched Ririko's arm skin with his fingers. The skin was as soft and white as jade, but much more flexible than any leather he had ever touched.

Is this the result after completing the "Quenching Skin" level?

Uesugi Che suddenly became curious about how powerful the effect of skin tempering was.

A stream of condensed energy shot out from his fingertips, and he used it to easily split the floor of the dojo. Then, he hovered above Lilizi's arm and asked,
"May I?"

"Please."

After hearing this, Uesugi Che did not hesitate and gently lowered his finger.

Suddenly, a strange feeling was transmitted from the tip of the罡气 to his fingers, as if it had fallen into a ball of soft and weightless cotton.

In fact, the罡气 was decomposed as soon as it touched Lilizi's skin, and then part of it was absorbed to replenish itself, and part of it dissipated into the air.

Is a small amount of Qi ineffective for the skin that has been tempered?

Then, Uesugi Tetsu took out a rusty hatchet that had not been used for a long time, and chopped it down heavily under Ririko's calm gaze, making a crisp sound of metal clashing.

Even when Uesugi Tetsu used all his strength to break the hatchet, only a shallow white mark was left on Ririko's skin.

He stared at the hatchet that was broken into two pieces on the ground, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

I didn't expect that the hatchet would be retired in such a place.

——The skin that has been completely tempered can not only dissolve external罡气 and internal 气, but also defend against the slashing and stabbing of ordinary weapons.

Uesugi Che released the soft arm in his palm and sighed,
"Skin hardening, that's amazing."

He couldn't help but think of Nanjo Aimi in the forging room before.

Since Nanjo-san is also very proficient in breathing techniques, what breathing technique is she practicing?
Will there be significant differences in the way the Flesh Palace is cast between different breathing methods?

Uesugi Tetsu asked on Line out of curiosity, and got an unexpected answer.

Nanjo Aimi: Don't ask too much. I can't teach you the breathing method I practice.

[Nanjo Aimi: Of course, if you are confident that you can kill me in the future, I can also teach you this.]

【Tsukisa-chan: Huh?】

Nanjo Aimi: The breathing method I practice has special restrictions, and the intermediate conditions are very complicated, so I won't go into details. In short, in the end, only one person in the world can practice it.

It turns out there are so many ways to practice breathing techniques.

Uesugi Tetsu stared at the screen in silence.

Therefore, there must be a reason why Tokugawa Hoshi did not secretly teach the Tokugawa family's Four Extremes Breathing Method to Ririko, which was "absolutely not allowed to be given".

If she could give it, then based on Uesugi Tetsu's understanding of her third sister Ririkiko over the past few times, she would definitely teach her everything without saying a word.

There was no need to use roundabout methods like giving Riliko notes that recorded her understanding of spiritual practice to help her.

"——Conversely, the difficulty of training will be much higher."

Lilizi responded, looking away from his phone screen.

Even she couldn't help showing a trace of fatigue at this time.

"Before completing the tempering of your entire skin, if you stop tempering for even a moment, your unfinished progress will begin to regress until it reaches zero."

This is one of the reasons why the "Palace of Flesh" is considered the first big mountain that stands in the way of practicing breathing techniques.

After being held by Erchi-sama for a while, Lilizi had already reestablished her Qi circulation. She turned the surprisingly well-behaved girl over and held her in her arms, then continued,
"Since you, Uesugi-kun, have already felt the huge advantages that can be gained by simply completing this small stage of skin hardening, I will continue."

As Lilizi finished speaking, a prompt suddenly popped up in front of Uesugi Tetsu's eyes -

【Tokugawa Ririko is imparting knowledge to you, the complete meat palace.】

Uesugi Che did not dare to delay and straightened his back to listen.

"Generally speaking, our Flesh Palace consists of three stages: skin tempering, bone forging, and flesh refining. This is also stated in the Coronal Breathing Technique."

Lilizi stretched out her palm and used her Qi to condense a detailed human body model, then marked out the skin, bones and flesh.
"But Third Sister's notes say that after these three stages, there's the most important stage, 'temperament forging'."

"That makes sense, and that's what I thought after experimenting a bit."

Lilizi said, "It would be better to say that if this part is missing, the Flesh Palace would be incomplete, just like a missing supporting pillar."

"—But it still comes back to the previous question. Training in the Flesh Palace is a very delicate task. Even the slightest mistake can lead to serious consequences."

Lilizi raised her other hand and casually sent a stream of Qi to the human model, which immediately caused large-scale ulceration to appear on the human model.

"So even if you know about the existence of forging tendons, it would be very difficult to practice tempering without a 'reference book'.

Fortunately, tendon forging is at the final stage of the Flesh Palace, so there's no need to worry about not being able to practice until the difficult flesh refining is completed."

After saying that, Lilizi waved her hand to disperse the mannequins, and a rare smug smile appeared on her face.

"In addition to this, I have also made some improvements to the cruel and brutal training methods of the Flesh Palace."

Uesugi Tetsu's eyes flickered, and then a golden prompt popped up -

[Attention! Tokugawa Ririko is teaching you the improved technique of Ninomiya casting! ]

gold?

Uesugi Che was slightly stunned. Gold seemed to be the color of legendary quality?

She crossed her arms over her chest, and happened to press down on the dissatisfied Erchisama's head. "The original method of skin tempering is to separate the skin from the body piece by piece, and temper them one by one until they are completely intact."

"—But not only is this extremely inefficient, but it also makes it easy for the enemy to find your weak spot before the tempering is complete."

"So!" Lilizi subconsciously revealed her cat-like mouth when she began to explain her own cultivation method.

"I improved it by further refining the skin hardening stage into several stages, so that it can be used to harden the skin of the entire body at once."

"In this way, completing the first small stage of tempering will become much easier. And because of the previous foundation, the tempering speed of the subsequent stages will become faster and faster, and the difficulty will become lower and lower."

"But these are just my deductions in my mind, I haven't put them into practice yet."

She stared intently into Uesugi Tetsu's eyes and said, "So, Uesugi-kun, are you willing to be the first test subject for my improved breathing method?"

The golden hint fell in front of her eyes and above Lilizi's head.

Would you like to improve your "Coronal Breathing Method" according to "Tokugawa Ririkō's" suggestions?

Faced with prompts that are almost blinding, do we still need to think?

Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but sigh: "Lilizi, you are really a genius."

【You chose to accept the suggestion! 】

[Your skill, Coronal Breathing, has been improved! Please check it out!]

【Coronal Breathing (Bast 272/600)】

【Effect: Repaired to perfection, the skin is as tough as a membrane.】

【——Bast leather, copper leather, quenched leather. 】

Lilizi shook her head. "This inspiration came from my third sister's notes, and I was able to achieve it with the help of my swordsmanship... I can only be considered to be standing on the shoulders of giants."

She paused, lowered her eyes, and said thoughtfully, "I feel that completing skin tempering is still not the pinnacle of skin training - because the Coronal Breathing Technique spends far more time on flesh tempering than on skin tempering and bone forging."

"But forget it!" The girl clapped her hands. "The Flesh Palace is different from the previous internal Qi and Gang Qi cultivation. It can be established first and then repeatedly repaired."

Uesugi Che stared at his own panel, which was only 328 points away from a breakthrough, and was already itching to make a move: "If there's nothing else, I'll start repairing it now..."

"——Uesugi-kun, you haven't tempered your skin yet."

Lilizi suddenly stretched out five fingers and grabbed Erchida's wrist under his narrowed eyes.

The罡气 come into contact and then merge.

"I'll teach you step by step."

Uesugi Che opened a gap in the surface of his own Qi circulation, and immediately felt Lilizi's Qi falling lightly on his skin like wisps of mist, bringing a tingling sensation.

The girl closed her eyes and said, "If that's ok, I'll start."

"Hold on."

Uesugi Tetsu opened his storage backpack and used a small amount of Requiem Incense Ash.

——There is only one piece of Soul-Soothing Incense Ash (Small) left. It seems that the plan of killing more monsters to obtain soul ashes for drawing cards should be put on the agenda.

He also closed his eyes: "Let's start."

As soon as he finished speaking, the strong energy seeped into his skin, and the excruciating pain, like hundreds of silver needles piercing his skin at the same time, came like a tide, spreading throughout his body in an instant!
It's like the pain of being cut into pieces by a thousand knives!

Uesugi Tetsu's scalp was numb... No, now even his scalp was left with only indescribable pain.

In just that moment, Uesugi Tetsu understood why practitioners who were quite accomplished in breathing techniques would not be too weak in cultivating their state of mind.

This is because if one's state of mind and willpower are insufficient, one will not be able to endure the torture of practicing in the Flesh Palace, let alone practicing without making any mistakes under such pain.

Lilizi shouted, "Uesugi-kun, calm down!"

As she said this, her hands were merciless. She used her own internal energy to guide Uesugi Tetsu's internal energy to penetrate deeper into his skin, bringing wave after wave of burning and severe pain.

Under the effect of the soothing incense ash, the pain not only did not decrease, but was clearly amplified several times, reaching every detail on the skin.

But Uesugi Che was like an old monk in meditation, motionless, allowing blood and sweat to seep out of his pores.

This kind of Qi torture, which was enough to torture any ordinary person to the point of mental collapse, lasted for more than half an hour.

During this half-hour of extremely intense training, not only was Uesugi Tetsu covered in sticky blood and sweat, but even Ririkko was sweating profusely and her face was pale.

——Because she dare not make any mistakes, not at all!

——Since Uesugi Tetsu chose to trust her, she naturally had to give an answer that could meet his expectations.

Now it seems that the effect...

Seems pretty good!

Lilizi opened her sticky fingers and looked at Uesugi Tetsu who was exhaling hot energy with anticipation.

[After Tokugawa Ririkos first practice with the Qi Guidance, your Corona Breathing proficiency increased by +328!]

[You have completed the Bast stage of the Flesh Palace training! ]

【Your skin strength increases slightly! 】

[Your physique +2! ]

Uesugi Che slowly opened his eyes and looked at the panel in front of him which had been completely renewed.

【Corona Breathing Technique (Bronze Skin 0/400)】

[Effect: After reaching perfection, the skin becomes like fine copper.]

【——Bast leather, copper leather, quenched leather. 】

He clenched his palms, which were covered in sticky blood and sweat, and even so, he could clearly feel the huge changes in his skin.

Become softer and tougher at the same time!
It's like a thick membrane wrapped around the original skin.

Although it is not as beautiful and strong as Lilizi's skin, it can easily withstand those unexpected and weaker sneak attacks.

For example, Xiao Yuelan's final poisonous attack in the previous real sword test - if it happened to him now, that attack would not even be able to penetrate the surface of his skin.

Naturally, those deadly toxins cannot flow into the blood.

Moreover, the original skin hardening required 1500 points of proficiency to complete.

Now, it's like paying in installments. With only 600 points of proficiency, I can enjoy some of the effects of complete skin tempering.

And the overall proficiency requirement has also become lower than 1500 points - bronze skin only requires 400 points of proficiency to complete, what about quenching skin?
300 points? Or even lower?

Not bad, very good!
Uesugi Che moved his shoulders and neck, making a rustling sound, just like the skin breathing.

This scene made Lilizi open her mouth slightly.
"Uesugi-kun."

She asked dazedly, "You... have broken through the tough skin and reached the copper skin stage?"

Uesugi Tetsu smiled, but his smile, covered in blood and sweat, looked particularly terrifying: "This is all thanks to your careful guidance, Lilizi."

"Okay...Okay! Uesugi-kun!"

Lilizi didn't care about the stickiness on his body and threw him to the ground. She stared into his eyes from top to bottom, held Uesugi Tetsu's cheeks with both hands and said seriously,

"——As expected, the compatibility between you and me is perfect."

As early as the two of them started practicing, Erchida, who had been sitting obediently beside them, had puffed up his cheeks, like two little balloons about to burst.

——If this flat-chested devil had not really helped Lord Che a lot just now, and Lord Che looked so tired, she would have kicked the devil out of the house long ago!

Uesugi Tetsu blinked and said, "So, can I go take a shower now? I feel uncomfortable with all this sticky mess."

Lilizi let go of his hand after hearing this, and straightened up to sit on his lap: "Then I will prepare a medicinal bath for you. Uesugi-kun, remember to wash and come over."

Uesugi Che stared at the girl's departing back, recalling her burning gaze just now.

He thought that he probably had some understanding of how to transform the clear mirror in his heart into the foundation for entering the Hundred Refinements - the [Heart Embryo].

(End of this chapter)