In Tokyo, I draw cards and become a big demon

The four-tailed fox, whose body was as if cast from fine steel, spoke.

"Uesugi Tetsu, I'll remember that."

The warrior Zancemaru, who looked like a Daruma egg, stared at him closely and shouted, "Come on then! Let me see how strong the youngsters are today!"

As the warrior Zhan Cemaru's roar passed by, everyone present felt a subtle surge of blood.

Uesugi Tetsu felt it most clearly.

He looked at the newly appeared "War Will" buff and smiled helplessly.

"It will be embarrassing when I chop you into pieces later."

"No need, Uesugi-kun." The samurai Zancemaru stood as steady as a rock, his voice flat, "You are not qualified to kill me."

Ha, is that so?

I can rest assured that.

"Then I'm going to get on."

Because his physical strength increased, the amount of corona energy was consumed at a rapid rate. Uesugi Che adjusted his breathing and assumed a three-step starting stance.

The vast corona energy was quickly consumed like a reservoir with the floodgates opened, just to increase that last bit of strength.

A long yet short minute passed, and Uesugi Che finally opened his tightly closed mouth and shouted suddenly.

Coronal Breathing Method: Form 5!

The scorching air currents, centered on Uesugi Che, raged in all directions like a sudden hurricane.

At the same time, he instantly opened a folding fan with an ancient shape, causing a terrifying purple-blue lightning that was enough to cover the entire Samurai Zhan Ce Maru to fall on the path that Kaga Kiyomitsu had to pass.

Uesugi Che half opened his eyes and felt that the whole world had stopped. Only he and Kaga Kiyomitsu were still moving at a snail's pace in this stagnant world.

In the instant when the falling thunder had not yet dissipated, Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword pierced through the terrifying thunder.

With the rough application of the Five Thunder Method: Qi Combination, Uesugi Tetsu absorbed a trace of the power of heavenly thunder and perfectly attached it to the tip of the knife.

——The three-stage thrust has been a well-known move since ancient times for its difficult technique of three consecutive thrusts, one feint, two harassment, and three one-hit kill.

But three thrusts means three attacks, not just one in the slash test.

What Uesugi Tetsu has to do now is to use his extraordinary physical strength to simultaneously thrust out these three thrusts and make them land at the same point.

Three into one.

In the silent and stagnant world, Uesugi Tetsu felt as if he had merged with Kaga Kiyomitsu, and the sword blade had become an extension of his own limbs.

He could clearly feel the tearing and destruction of the texture in his flesh.

Then, at the moment when he himself had not yet reacted, he swung the sword on impulse.

Natural rational flow three-stage breakthrough!

pat.

Uesugi Tetsu gently withdrew Kaga Kiyomizu from the chest of the samurai Zancemaru, and then half-knelt on the ground with his sword, his whole body limp.

Everyone around, including the clerks, had their eyes wide open. They had just been attracted by the lightning that suddenly fell beside Uesugi Tetsu, so they had not yet reacted to what had happened.

Only the warrior Zhan Cemaru trembled slightly, and after a second, he leaned back with a "bang", and bounced back after hitting the ground. Then he shouted angrily with full energy,

"Slashing power, thirty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight kan—that's right!!!"

silence.

The square, where hundreds of people were standing, was completely silent, all staring at Uesugi Che who was half-kneeling on the ground.

Their expressions were either blank or shocked, but without exception, they were unable to utter a single word.

Only the voice of the samurai Zancemaru echoed.

In the crowd, a young man with a wooden sword on his waist, who looked so handsome that he even looked like a girl, was also staring at the figure in the square, with a strange light flashing in his eyes.

"In the future, I want to be like him..."

——Uesugi Tetsu finally couldn’t hold on any longer, and pushed Kaga Kiyomitsu aside, kneeling weakly on the cracked gravel ground.

With trembling hands, he sheathed the motionless Kaga Kiyomitsu, exhaled, and looked up.

Uesugi Tetsu smiled at the majestic samurai Zhan Cemaru and said, "Hey, it seems I'm still a long way to go."

"Please do not underestimate yourself, Uesugi-kun." The samurai Zancemaru gazed at him calmly, speaking seriously, "With this sword alone, you are definitely ranked in the top fifty among the young generation in the country."

First fifty.

Surprisingly, only the top 50?

Uesugi Che slightly widened his eyes, and after sensing the low concentration of spiritual energy around him, he couldn't help but reveal a brilliant smile.

"—That's really, really great."

As the feeling of powerlessness in the body continued to spread, the people and scenery around him quickly began to blur, including the samurai Zhanzemaru who was close at hand. Everything in the late shogunate period was quickly fading away.

After a while.

Woohoo——

The shrill, sharp sound of the horn pulled Uesugi Tetsu back into the cheap van that was shaking and bumping.

"Sister Nanjo..."

He covered his temple, which was slightly painful, and sighed, "It's fine if you don't want to replace the car, but why are you so reluctant to even repair or replace a part?"

"I think this kind of whistle sound can make others know what you are doing better."

Nanjo Aimi replied, tearing open the plastic wrapper of another lollipop and handing the strawberry-flavored lollipop to Uesugi Tetsu: "Here, there's one last one, do you want one?"

"How can I not eat it if you've already torn it apart..."

Uesugi Tetsu put the lollipop into his mouth and was about to breathe a sigh of relief to check the current time and the reward for the slashing trial when he met the strange look from Nanjo Aimi.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Nanjo Aimi narrowed her eyes, got up from her seat and came closer: "Uesugi-kun, can you achieve a breakthrough while sleeping?"

After hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu suddenly realized that the world in his eyes seemed to have changed a little.

It became clearer, more organized, and at the same time... quieter.

He turned his head to look at the two Shikigami, Nyuu in the trunk and Hiyabo curled up in her arms, and found that he seemed to be able to predict their "next" actions based on what he saw.

It seems that there has indeed been a breakthrough.

Uesugi Che took two deep breaths, gradually freeing himself from the feeling of weakness and endless fatigue.

He withdrew his gaze from the two shikigami huddled in the corner, and after a brief analysis, he found the hint he was looking for.

[Your willpower attribute has exceeded 20 points! ]

[Your state of mind has reached the middle level: like a mirror!]

No wonder Nanjo-san said she had made a breakthrough. It turned out that her state of mind suddenly rose from the initial stage, calm as water, to the middle stage.

As for why the will attribute was improved, it was of course because of the reward from the slashing trial just now.

And based on my current feeling, this attribute reward should be quite a lot.

Uesugi Che continued to look down.

[Because your state of mind has reached the middle stage, like a mirror, your will attribute +5!]

【You have acquired a new state: Clear Mirror Still Water. 】

[Clear Mirror Still Water: You will be able to quickly discard distracting thoughts and focus on yourself. Your resistance to all mental illusions will increase, and you will be able to "pre-read" the actions of others.]

[——A clear mirror reflects one's true heart, and still water reflects the sky.]

[Middle Section: The Unity of Man and Sword (Like a mirror, refined a hundred times, returning to oneness).]

Current state of mind: Intermediate, like a mirror

[Note: Raise the Willpower attribute to 50 points to reach the middle stage of Hundred Refinements.]

Pre-reading.

Uesugi Tetsu blinked twice and found that he could still "predict" the "subsequent actions" of Nyu and Hiyabo.

So this is what is called pre-reading... It basically means judging other people's future behavior patterns and what they will do based on their current actions.

He turned around again and looked at Shizuma Manatsu and Nanjo Aimi who were sitting in front of him.

Among them, the prediction time for Shizuma Manatsu is the longest. Uesugi Tetsu can even see what she will do in the next five or six seconds.

However, when the ability to predict the future is applied to Nanjo Aimi, it seems to be completely ineffective.

What is the reason?

Nanjo Aimi curled her lips slightly: "You can't see it, right?"

Uesugi Tetsu nodded honestly.

Nanjo Aimi pulled out the grape-flavored lollipop from her mouth, bringing out a hint of crystal. She shook the lollipop, and then made it disappear without a warning in front of Uesugi Tetsu.

"It's simple, because the 'clear mirror' in your heart can't reflect me."

Nanjo Aimi didn't know when she put the lollipop into her mouth again: "People cannot understand things beyond their own cognition, Uesugi-kun, this is how I am in your eyes now."

Uesugi Che understood.

——To put it simply, Nanjo-san is now so much stronger than me, which means that there are infinite futures that can be predicted, which naturally means that it is impossible to predict them.

"But Uesugi-kun, you're really perverted." Nanjo Aimi glanced at him after crushing a small piece of the lollipop with her canine teeth. "You can achieve a breakthrough in your state of mind while sleeping or driving. If this gets out, no one will believe it."

"A fluke, a fluke."

Uesugi Tetsu said very modestly.

He is actually just an ordinary person, who just happens to have a little cheat.

Seeing that Nanjo Aimi turned around without further investigation, Uesugi Tetsu summoned Nishaku-sama and asked her to communicate with the big and small people behind.

Nu Nu blinked: "Huh? Er Chi, why is your head so pointed and glowing?"

Hiyoribo walked around and said, "There's no LED light installed on the back either."

The two-foot-old man put his hands on his hips and explained to them how he had obtained a position and became a "Buddhist Bodhisattva".

At present, "Nishaku-sama" has become extremely powerful and omnipotent, saving Uesugi Toru from danger several times.

Seeing this, Uesugi Tetsu did not stop it - if he could help Nishaku-sama develop a relationship with those two, then sacrificing his own image would not be a big deal.

He came back to his senses and looked at the pile of prompts still hanging in the air—

[Because your slashing force has reached 500 guan, meeting the minimum standard for the "Samurai Assessment", you will receive the basic reward for the special trial.]

[You killed "Zhan Ce Wan" with a strike force of 3000 kan! Your reward has been moderately increased!]

You slew Ashigaru Zansemaru with a strike force of 5000 kan! Your reward has been moderately increased!

You've struck the Samurai Slashing Maru, with a final strike of 38000 kan! This surpasses the threshold for a "famous sword," and your reward has been significantly increased!

[Calculating your final reward...]

【Calculation completed! 】

[Your willpower attribute +10! ]

[Your reputation in the Edo period +1000! ]

[Current popularity: widely known.]

【You have gained the recognition of the "Unknown Swordsman."】

[You obtained Shikigami: Samurai Zansamaru (1-star) x ]

There are four rewards in total.

Except for not understanding the function of "Era Reputation in the Edo Region during the Tokugawa shogunate period", Uesugi Tetsu was satisfied with the other three rewards.

It can even be said that I am very satisfied!

First of all, the substantial increase of 10 points in willpower attribute allowed his state of mind to directly break through to the middle stage - like a mirror, and he also gained an ability that was very useful in actual combat - "pre-reading".

After the breakthrough, the will attribute increased by 5 points, and now it has surpassed the spiritual attribute and become the second of his four attributes.

Without wearing any equipment, Uesugi Tetsu's attribute values have become——