I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

The quality of Prajna Incarnation did not jump from "Epic" to "Epic+" or even "Super Epic".

This makes sense.

If a mere pair of rare-quality Crimson Oni Horns could elevate a Hannya Incarnation to an epic-quality level, that would be truly abnormal.

But differences still emerged.

Uesugi Tetsu squinted and observed that the color of the two horns at the top of the Hannya mask had become slightly darker.

The specific effects are still unclear; perhaps we will only know when he transforms into Prajna again.

But there's definitely not enough time now.

Because the two-foot-tall man was standing outside waving at him.

After closing the panel, Uesugi Tetsu walked towards the two-foot-tall man who had retied his hair and looked like a sword-wielding boy.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was wearing a straw hat to cover his face, was waiting for them at the door, while the guards who were originally at the door were temporarily dismissed.

A slightly surprised voice came from under the straw hat: "Huh? I feel like your face has changed a bit, Che-kun. It's not as eye-catching as before."

Uesugi Tetsu replied, "Using the four-tailed fox's character customization effect reduced my charm by several points."

"It's just a minor effect of Yin-Yang magic. Lord Yiyuan, you wore the straw hat because you wanted to walk over but didn't want to be watched, right?"

"Hmm... Che-kun, you really understand me."

Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and walked side by side with Uesugi Tetsu, quietly merging into the bustling traffic of Sunpu Castle.

After entering Shichikencho, Yoshimoto Imagawa took him to explore many places inside and out.

This greatly improved Uesugi Tetsuya's impression of Sunpu Castle, which he had only glimpsed briefly from the carriage before.

And this impression was somewhat unexpectedly good.

The roads are well-planned and the shops on both sides are clean. Most of the people coming and going have smiles on their faces and look forward to the future, even the farmers and fishermen who come from other places.

This is quite different from the dark Warring States period in traditional thinking—just look at the cities in the short stories Baishi mentioned earlier.

Uesugi Tetsu thought this was probably due to the efforts of Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Furthermore, after leaving the Imagawa residence, Uesugi Tetsu could clearly sense that Imagawa Yoshimoto made no mention of the elders, as if none of this had ever happened.

Not long ago, Imagawa Yoshimoto was like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.

He certainly noticed that something was wrong.

But Uesugi Tetsu didn't say it explicitly.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's silence was naturally for her own reasons.

Moreover, we don't know how things will develop yet, so there's no rush to get to the bottom of things right now.

Uesugi Tetsu's gaze passed through the crowd and landed on the food stalls wafting a rich aroma from the street.

He twitched his nose, then looked back at the two-foot-tall man below, who was expressionless, holding his sword, but whose mouth was practically drooling. He couldn't help but smile to himself.

Since we've finally made it to the tourist spot, let's take the adults out to try some local delicacies from that era.

By the way, you can also bring some good food back for Shiraishi to eat.

If you put delicious food in front of him, he'll probably be more motivated to learn the secret techniques later.

Uesugi Tetsu used his internal energy to focus his voice into a line and asked, "Lord Yoshimoto, what delicious food does Sunpu Castle have?"

"Food... of course there is." Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly punched him in the waist and abdomen with his fist. "Also, don't call me that in public, or we'll be found out."

"I have Yin-Yang magic, I can't do that."

Imagawa Yoshimoto tilted his straw hat, probably wondering how Onmyōdō could have so many useful little functions.

She stayed close to Uesugi Tetsuya to prevent them from being separated by the crowd.

—Compared to Chejun himself, he probably wanted to buy food for the little shikigami named Nichi and Shiraishi who was still staying in the Imagawa Mansion.

In that case, we should choose something that kids like to eat.

Imagawa Yoshimoto said, "Things like konpeito (Japanese candy), shaved ice in syrup, and those small sweets that came from the southern barbarians are all quite delicious."

Uesugi Tetsuya, who wasn't very knowledgeable about food, didn't say anything and just listened to her continue talking.

"Those shops are a bit far from here, I'll go buy them and bring them to you later, Che-jun."

"This is..."

Just as Uesugi Tetsu was about to raise his hand to say no, the straw hat suddenly appeared beside him—without a doubt, Imagawa Yoshimoto inside was watching him.

"Thank you very much, Lord Yiyuan."

"Then I'll accept this gratitude as a 'get-out-of-jail-free card' for you to use when you make mistakes in the future, Che-kun."

A girl's soft laughter came from under her straw hat.

Uesugi Che was speechless for a while.

I always feel that his lord has a slightly cunning side.

"Ah, I remember that sheepskin pastry shop was pretty good."

Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly spoke, then grabbed Uesugi Tetsu's wrist and pushed them out of the crowd.

The two-foot-tall adult, carrying a curious toddler in his arms, followed behind them, naturally attracting the attention of a large number of passersby.

"Boss, four sheepskin cakes."

After Imagawa Yoshimoto paid for it, she stuffed a soft, glutinous dumpling, similar to a daifuku, wrapped in oil paper, into Uesugi Tetsu's hand.

"Taste it."

No, you call this thing a pancake?

Uesugi Tetsu took a bite out of curiosity and chewed for a while.

Hmm...it seems surprisingly delicious.

He turned his head again and saw that the two-foot-tall man had almost finished eating it.

Uesugi Tetsuya took another bite, nodded slowly to Imagawa Yoshimoto, and received a faint but triumphant hum from the girl.

The three walked for a while longer.

According to Yoshimoto Imagawa, they were already very close to the blacksmith shop.

"How is it? Junfu City is quite prosperous, isn't it?"

After finishing his daifuku and carefully licking his fingertips clean, Imagawa Yoshimoto said, "Everyone is doing pretty well. There are far fewer beggars than in the neighboring Takeda and Hojo areas."

This is indeed something to be proud of.

Uesugi Tetsu first offered a compliment, then casually mentioned...

"However, there seem to be quite a few beggars living in very poor conditions in some alleys."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Imagawa Yoshimoto's tone suddenly turned cold; she spoke with obvious displeasure and disdain.

“Even though I opened up farming or labor jobs to almost everyone in the city, there were still people who would rather lie on the ground and rot than work.”

"Such a person, if born into a commoner family, would be a beggar on the verge of starvation; even if he were lucky enough to be born into a noble family, he would only be a spoiled brat who would squander the family fortune."

She made no attempt to hide the disdain in her tone.

"Alright, we're here."

Imagawa Yoshimoto stopped and adjusted his straw hat.

Following her gaze, Uesugi Tetsu saw a blacksmith shop among a bunch of colorful banners that was surprisingly clean, even somewhat dry.

If you don't get closer, you won't even realize that this is a blacksmith shop.

It's fair to say that it's completely driving potential customers away.

Compared to the bustling surroundings, the blacksmith shop was practically deserted.

Even the young apprentice in charge of greeting customers in the shop had his eyes half-open, looking somewhat drowsy and about to fall asleep.

Imagawa Yoshimoto seemed to know what Uesugi Tetsu was thinking, so he shrugged and explained, "Because it's too expensive, not many people come."

"Most people don't need such good swords and weapons, so there's no need to waste money coming here."

Uesugi Tetsuya agreed wholeheartedly.

Because when he was in the Ghost Village of Arakawa, he didn't frequent the blacksmith shop much due to being short of money.

The average quality of these weapons was indeed much better than the grayish-white junk he had seen in other blacksmith shops before.

His gaze swept over the green swords and knives, which were at least of good quality.

Finally, it landed right in the middle of the entire wall of weapons displayed outside the blacksmith's shop.

Uesugi Tetsu's breathing became slightly sluggish.

Because the katana that was specially displayed on the large wooden shelf was emitting a deep purple light in his eyes!

Chapter 165 The Mighty Craftsman of Mikawa Province... This... This is Okabe Motonobu?! (65k)

Uesugi Tetsu's gaze was drawn to the clear, cold blade that silently reflected everything around it, his eyes following the graceful, wave-like patterns that rose and fell across its surface.

This katana is undoubtedly epic!

Blacksmiths in the Warring States period were actually able to forge epic weapons and equipment by hand?!

Although this katana is far inferior to that of Kaga Kiyomitsu, it also lacks any sense of its own spirit.

However, Kaga Kiyomitsu was forged by hand by the old blacksmith of Arakawa Kiyomizu, a master craftsman, who put a lot of effort into it.

The two are naturally not comparable.

But that's enough!

Previously, when he was in the Special Affairs Department, Uesugi Tetsu had specifically asked Aoyama Yoshiki if he could forge an epic-level weapon—that is, a weapon of similar quality to Kaga Kiyomitsu.

The answer he received at the time was that it was impossible.

The highest quality equipment that Aoyama Yoshi forges is roughly of the Rare grade. Perhaps some lucky ones might get Rare+, but that's about it.

Uesugi Tetsu had no idea that Imagawa Yoshimoto's casual whim of bringing him here to buy a katana would lead to such a skilled blacksmith.

—And if it's a blacksmith who can forge epic-level equipment, he might be able to use qualified spirit metal to forge and upgrade Kaga Kiyomitsu again!

With this thought in mind, Uesugi Tetsuya, still standing at the shop entrance, maintained his calm demeanor and asked Imagawa Yoshimoto beside him,

"If they're expensive, how much money would it cost to buy one of these ordinary finished wakizashi or tachi?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto crossed his arms.

"I remember... any wakizashi here would cost sixty or seventy kan."

Seeing that the young apprentice minding the shop had his eyes half-closed and seemed not to have noticed them yet, Imagawa Yoshimoto whispered, "This is ridiculously expensive. This amount of money could buy a dozen fully armed foot soldiers."

During the Warring States period, the market price of a typical tachi was around five kan, while tachi and wakizashi were even lower, with two or three kan being the highest price.

Even if you buy spears and armor for the foot soldiers, each one will still only cost less than ten kan.

"Not to mention katana and tachi, which are at least three figures in price. If you want to buy the best ones, five hundred kan is quite normal."

In other words, a weapon of excellent quality would cost at least 60 or 70 strings of cash.

If you want to buy rare knives in this shop, you'd need to prepare at least three or four hundred strings of cash before you feel confident enough to enter.

Upon hearing this price, even Uesugi Tetsuya, who was not particularly sensitive to prices during the Warring States period, couldn't help but gasp.

It should be noted that in that era, a matchlock gun, or arquebus, cost only about a hundred strings of cash.

This knife is so much more expensive than a cannon; it's practically defying the natural order.

With prices like these... no wonder there are so few customers in front of the blacksmith shop.

Most normal people would probably turn around and leave without saying a word after hearing the price, and then decide never to come back.

"However, this knife is expensive, but there is a reason for its high price."

Imagawa Yoshimoto continued speaking, his voice finally catching the attention of the young apprentice in the shop.

"It can cut through iron like mud and easily sever ordinary heavy armor and shoulder armor, so it's definitely worth the price. Yuan Xin has come here to spend money several times."