I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

Uesugi Tetsuya hung far behind her.

He focused his gaze slightly and glimpsed through the small hole the figure of Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was holding a pen and reviewing documents.

Even when she was alone, she maintained a near-perfect posture while kneeling.

When Uesugi Tetsu looked at Okabe Motonobu, who was grinning mischievously and walking toward the back door, he immediately understood.

Good heavens, they're trying to scare their lord.

Uesugi Che was speechless.

This kind of thing... I guess only Motonobu Okabe would dare to do.

Sure enough, less than ten seconds later, Uesugi Tetsu heard Imagawa Yoshimoto's exclamation from inside the house, followed by Okabe Motonobu's hearty laughter.

"My lord! It's been a long time!"

But the next moment, laughter turned into a cry of pain, followed by the sound of something heavy slamming to the ground, and finally, Imagawa Yoshimoto's cold reprimand and repeated apologies.

Just by standing outside and listening to the sounds, Uesugi Tetsuya had already imagined a whole dramatic and exciting story.

He suppressed a laugh and swaggered to the open back door, tapping the threshold with his finger.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was stomping hard on Okabe Motonobu's head with his small feet covered in white socks, stiffened slightly and quickly withdrew his foot, coughing a couple of times somewhat embarrassed.

“Um… Che-kun… ah, no, Mr. Che.”

Imagawa Yoshimoto turned his head to the side and explained helplessly, "It's just because Motonobu is doing this kind of thing again, so I have to teach her a lesson."

Having said that, Imagawa Yoshimoto kicked the shoulder of the woman, who looked much larger than her even when kneeling on the ground, and coldly rebuked her.

"Get up right now!"

Okabe Motonobu quickly got up from the ground, but instead of regretting being reprimanded, he seemed quite happy.

She turned her head and stuck out her tongue at Uesugi Tetsuya, but before she could turn back, she cried out in pain again.

After delivering an axe kick to someone's knee, Imagawa Yoshimoto withdrew his foot and rubbed his forehead in annoyance: "Tetsu... sir, please excuse my poor performance."

Uesugi Tetsu waved his hand: "No, I think Lord Yoshimoto and Lord Okabe have a very good relationship."

Imagawa Yoshimoto pursed his lips, glanced at Okabe Motonobu a couple more times, and after confirming that her mental state had returned to normal, said...

"I must thank Mr. Che for this matter."

Halfway through her sentence, she walked to the side and retrieved several small bottles and packages from a corner where they weren't directly exposed to sunlight.

"Mr. Che, these are the konpeito and pastries I promised to buy for you. Please take them to Nichi and Shiraishi."

Imagawa Yoshimoto handed them over, sighing, "As for the shaved ice in sugar water... that's really hard to preserve, so I'll take you to the shop to try it next time."

"Lord Yiyuan, thank you very much."

Uesugi Tetsu took it and curiously examined the konpeito, which was supposedly very delicious and sealed in a small bottle.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, Okabe Motonobu spoke up, deliberately using a very puzzled tone, saying, "I remember that the candies and pastries from these two shops taste really good, so they are very hard to buy."

There's always a queue... I heard you have to wait a long time to buy one.

She smiled and looked at her expressionless lord, mercilessly exposing her little scheme.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's lips twitched slightly, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

The head of the Imagawa family glanced at his retainer indifferently, without saying anything more.

She simply looked at Uesugi Tetsu: "Mr. Tetsu, I have already discussed and organized everything regarding the breathing technique prizes from those elders yesterday."

Currently, all nine handwritten copies of breathing techniques practiced by the elders are displayed in the same room, waiting for you to peruse them.

—All the trivial matters have been arranged; you are just waiting to read the breathing techniques.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsu blinked and thanked Imagawa Yoshimoto again.

Motonobu Okabe glanced at him with a hint of surprise, then covered his mouth as if suddenly realizing something, barely managing to suppress a laugh.

Imagawa Yoshimoto ignored her and continued, "You can go anytime you want today. I've arranged for Motoyasu to take you."

The check time is one full hour; someone will call you when the time is up.

"I understand."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded and put the konpeito and pastries into his storage backpack: "Well then, this matter should be handled sooner rather than later. Please allow me to go now, Lord Yoshimoto."

"It's impossible."

Imagawa Yoshimoto clapped his hands rhythmically, prompting Matsudaira Motoyasu, who was already sitting at the main entrance reading, to respectfully open the door.

As if he hadn't heard what had just happened, he solemnly greeted the three people present one by one in turn.

Finally, Matsudaira Motoyasu, whose face still looked somewhat youthful, bowed his head to Uesugi Tetsu.

"Lord Che, please come with me."

Uesugi Tetsu followed behind the boy who was now called Matsudaira Motoyasu, and suddenly felt a sense of unreality.

Because the man who was destined to unify the world in the future, the current patriarch of the Tokugawa family, actually bowed his head before greeting him.

This feeling is really quite strange.

On the way to where the handwritten copy of the breathing technique was kept, the two of them didn't exchange a single word.

But coincidentally, Uesugi Tetsu was secretly observing the seemingly ordinary old tortoise.

Meanwhile, Matsudaira Motoyasu was also constantly scanning the Onmyoji, who was already famous throughout the Tokaido region, with the corner of his eye.

"Lord Che, we've arrived."

Matsudaira Motoyasu stopped, slowly opened the door, and bowed to Uesugi Tetsu: "A total of nine handwritten copies of breathing techniques are inside. The timer will begin after you enter, sir."

The total time is one hour; please allocate the time accordingly, sir.

"Well, thank you."

Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his hands together, ignored Matsudaira Motoyasu, and immediately stepped into the room, opening the first thick handwritten copy of the breathing technique from left to right.

In an instant, a bright notification popped up!

You've discovered the "Miura Breathing Method"!

[It has been detected that the Miura Breathing Technique can complete the "Palace of Flesh" stage of your "Corona Breathing Technique"!]

【Do you want to study? 】

And such a prompt...

There are nine in total!

Chapter 168 Copper-Skinned Body, One of the Four Ultimate Forms! (61k)

In the spacious, quiet room, Uesugi Tetsu did not immediately choose to learn the Miura Breathing Technique.

Instead, he tried opening and flipping through each of the breathing techniques, and then saw the exact same prompt pop up in front of him.

The Nine Breathing Techniques naturally produced nine prompts.

"However, apart from the different names of the breathing techniques, these tips are completely identical."

Uesugi Tetsu carefully reviewed all nine hints and confirmed one thing.

—They can only complete the Flesh Palace stage of the Corona Breathing Technique.

Furthermore, these breathing techniques were not named according to their own characteristics, but rather inexplicably named after the families that possessed them.

It seems that the breathing techniques of the Warring States period were somewhat different from those of today.

But that's normal, considering there's a five or six hundred year gap between the two eras.

Moreover, these breathing techniques are almost effortless to learn, so why ask for so much more?

Instead of worrying about these trivial things, it's more practical to learn them all as soon as possible.

"study!"

Uesugi Tetsu silently said to himself.

The next instant, a barrage of notifications burst forth in front of him like a screen being flooded with messages.

What followed was a vast and complex sea of ​​knowledge about breathing techniques that violently flooded into his mind.

You are learning the "Miura Breathing Method"...

[You are learning the "Pelican Temple Breathing Technique"...]

You are learning the "Sena Breathing Method"...

You are currently studying...

Uesugi Tetsu's face twitched, he gritted his teeth and gasped sharply, feeling as if his brain was about to explode from the influx of new knowledge.

He immediately opened his storage backpack and, upon seeing the faintly glowing [Soul-Soothing Incense Ash (Small)], clicked to use it without hesitation.

In an instant, the thoughts churning like lava in my mind were forcibly calmed down.

The vast amount of new knowledge seemed to "quiet down" at this moment, and was systematically browsed and absorbed by Uesugi Tetsuya.

He turned his gaze away from the few remaining portions of the soothing incense ash, thinking that both the reserves of soothing incense ash and soul ash needed to be replenished.

Even after killing the Red Oni, Uesugi Tetsu only had less than 700 Soul Ashes in his hands.

And how long could this amount of soul ash sustain cultivation during the Warring States period?

Although there were few demons and monsters during the Warring States period, and it was rare to see any evil spirits, the Kingdom of Sanhe had that great demon... which was perfect for replenishing his reserves of soul ash.

But that’s all for later.

Now, focus on absorbing the breath you are using.

Uesugi Tetsu held his breath and focused intently, his thoughts racing as if cooled by liquid nitrogen, comprehending and absorbing the key essence of the Nine Breathing Techniques at an unimaginable speed, without missing a single word.

Then the prompt popped up again.

Your Corona Breathing Technique is being completed...

I don't know how much time passed, until the duration of the soothing incense ash had ended.

Uesugi Tetsuya breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he no longer felt any new knowledge flooding into his mind.

He sat down wearily on the floor, where a bamboo mat had been specially laid out. After resting for a moment, he wiped the sweat from his forehead from thinking and then looked up.

[This update is complete!]

Your Corona Breathing Technique has reached a new "Mastery" stage: "Strengthening"!

[Because you have learned nine breathing techniques, including the "Miura Breathing Method," the proficiency requirement for your Corona Breathing Technique at the Master level has been reduced by 10%!]

Uesugi Tetsu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

After the three stages of skin tempering, bone forging, and flesh refining, the "tendon casting" that Li Lizi had been seeking but could not obtain finally appeared.

Now he can return to reality and teach Ririko, which is a rare opportunity for him.

Furthermore, by browsing and learning these nine breathing techniques, he also reduced his proficiency requirement in the Flesh Palace training by an additional 10%.

He looked at the proficiency panel in front of him—

【Corona Breathing Technique (Bronze Skin 311/450)】

But before Uesugi Tetsuya could even look at it for two seconds, a bright notification suddenly popped up.

[Because you have learned numerous breathing techniques, your understanding of breathing techniques has greatly improved! Your proficiency in Corona Breathing is rapidly increasing...]

Just looking at other breathing techniques, and they can actually increase the progress of physical tempering?

Is there such a good thing?

Uesugi Tetsuya was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately.

Only when a flood of knowledge churning in his mind and a burning pain on his skin surged from deep within him did Uesugi Tetsuya immediately sit down cross-legged, close his eyes, and immerse his mind in his own skin.

As before, he infused his inner energy into the skin, which had already transformed into tough skin, and then mercilessly subjected it to intense tempering.

The excruciating pain, which had become a daily occurrence, surfaced all over his body, and scalding steam slowly rose from above his head, yet Uesugi Tetsu remained motionless, as if in deep meditation.

Because at this moment, even the slightest movement will change the position of the current Qi, which will greatly reduce the efficiency of the tempering process and thus waste this hard-won opportunity.