I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

——Natural rational flow·Three-stage breakthrough!

Even the thick, deadly poisonous fog was cleanly cleaved in two by the pale white blade, leaving a path for one person to pass through, before dissipating under the cover of subsequent bursts of tiny electric arcs.

Uesugi Tetsu lowered his gaze, staring at the ill old man whose skull had been pierced by the unpleasant Kaga Kiyomitsu, and sighed softly.

"A guy who focuses all his energy on playing mind games can't be that strong."

"You...you can't kill me...I can still, I can still..."

The old man with the illness revealed a resentful look in his eyes and sobbed with difficulty.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsuya suddenly smiled.

He patiently explained to the complete novice in front of him.

The reason why "three-stage" is preceded by "three-stage" is because there are three stages.

As soon as he finished speaking, the remaining two spikes exploded at the location that Uesugi Tetsu had already determined, turning the rotting flesh that the old man had hidden into lifeless charcoal.

At this point, the old man's movements and expression finally froze.

Those cloudy eyes reflected Uesugi Tetsu's calm and collected face.

He hadn't managed to inflict even the slightest harm on this great Onmyoji, and he still had a thousand tricks up his sleeve...

But the ailing old man used the last of his strength to forcefully curl the corners of his mouth.

He laughed too.

"A Great Onmyoji even more powerful than expected, why doesn't he look up and take a look..."

Uesugi Tetsu narrowed his eyes, and before he could make a move, he heard the cawing of countless crows far above the sky.

He pulled Kaga Kiyomitsu from the head of the old man who was ill and looked up.

At this moment, hundreds of meters above their heads, a flock of half-dead birds, like clouds, gathered together, faithfully recording everything that was happening on the ground in their eyes.

Without hesitation, Uesugi Tetsuya took out the Blessed Folding Fan and poured his surging spiritual power into it.

Boom!

A massive, purplish-blue pillar of lightning suddenly burst forth from among the crows, illuminating the entire sky as if a second sun were overhead.

Like divine punishment.

The lightning spread, and countless half-dead birds fell to the ground like rain, turning into a pool of dark, foul-smelling blood and mud.

Many more half-dead birds didn't even have a chance to fall before turning into a wisp of smoke.

When the lightning struck, Uesugi Tetsuya killed at least several hundred half-dead birds.

Even so, this attack, which consumed almost half of Uesugi Tetsuya's spiritual power, still failed to kill all the half-dead birds.

A few half-dead birds still fluttered their wings, making terrified cawing noises, and flew towards Yoshida Castle.

Uesugi Tetsu gazed at the few black dots that had already flown to the edge of his vision, and couldn't help but click his tongue.

"This thing is really troublesome..."

Aside from the half-dead bird, Uesugi Tetsu also remembered that the data recorded a kind of familiar called "Thousand Brain Princess", which could share memories almost regardless of distance.

The configuration of this sick and suffering family is far superior to that of an army in the modern world.

After sheathing Kaga Kiyomitsu, Uesugi Tetsuya looked at the kill notification that popped up with a hint of annoyance.

And so, all that annoyance vanished instantly.

[You have killed the Sickly Elder (3-star), gaining 531 Soul Ashes!]

[You have slain a large number of sick and suffering companions - half-dead birds (scattered), gaining 46 Soul Ashes!]

[Your skill, Five Thunder Method: Qi Combination Proficiency +68!]

[Your skill, Natural Rational Flow proficiency +34! ]

You have obtained the Plague Bell.

This battle, which couldn't be simpler, actually brought him nearly 600 Soul Ash points.

That's why they say that sick and suffering relatives are his mobile soul-extraction machines.

The only problem is that these half-dead birds drop very little soul ash... The same thing happened with the Rotten Yan and the Miasma Ghost before.

However, the Soul Ash dropped by the Karmic Sick Old Man is of normal three-star level.

Let's leave those minor details aside for now.

Uesugi Tetsu looked at the increased proficiency level, and his tense face relaxed—with less than 100 more points of proficiency, his Five Thunder Technique would reach the mastery level.

At that time, perhaps there will be a way to electrocute all those annoying half-dead birds in the sky.

He then took out the props that the old man with the disease had dropped.

【Plague God Bell】

[Quality: Rare]

[Effect: Shake the Plague Bell to apply a random plague-related debuff to surrounding enemy targets.]

—The rusty bronze bell once belonged to a wandering monk who practiced medicine during the chaotic Warring States period, until he encountered illness himself.

Well, it's a fairly useful little tool.

Because the effect can be applied to "enemy targets" by using consciousness, it is quite good to use it at the start of a battle.

After briefly ignoring the prompt, Uesugi Tetsu turned around and found that the group of sick rats and coughing ghosts had also been dealt with by the Mountain Whale King.

It was because the three-headed Komainu Hatakemoto fought too fiercely and fearlessly that he suffered too many wounds, and in a short time, he became terminally ill and could barely stand.

"Thank you for your hard work, all three of you."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded to the three-headed komainu (guardian dog) Hatakemoto, then waved his hand, causing them all to turn into wisps of straw and disappear on the spot.

After doing all this, Uesugi Tetsu suddenly heard the slightly trembling voice of the Mountain Whale King coming from above.

"Hey, kid." The Mountain Whale King still looked up at the lightning that had left a dragon-like trail in the sky and which had not yet dissipated. "Was that lightning your doing?"

This is the unspoken answer.

The Mountain Whale King naturally knew.

It just wanted to ask again.

Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a soft breath and spoke to him.

"Che-jun, you've become stronger."

Uesugi Tetsu blinked and replied matter-of-factly, "People are always improving. You're bound to be stronger today than you were yesterday, right?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly taken aback, then surprisingly revealed a gentle smile.

"Yes, people are always making progress."

……

……

Inside Yoshida Castle, two figures who were silently walking through the streets and alleys suddenly trembled and looked up at the sky flashing with lightning.

"Old Man Ye Bing... is dead."

"We must go and inform Master Bodhidharma."

Within seconds, two figures appeared behind Bodhidharma, who was offering rice to a pale and emaciated woman.

Listening to the woman's gratitude, Bodhidharma, lost in thought, turned back.

"What business do you two have with this humble monk?"

The two recounted the story of the sick old man in detail.

But Kasma was puzzled and asked in return,

"It is very good that the old man with karmic illness died a worthy death... What do you two benefactors want this humble monk to do?"

The owner of the scabies shop said in a deep voice, "Of course, we will go out of the city and kill that ignorant Onmyoji to prevent him from entering the city and ruining Your Majesty's plans."

"That great Onmyoji, Che?"

Having been in Yoshida Castle for five days, Daruma naturally heard some stories about this great Onmyoji who could control thunder.

The wooden fish in his arms suddenly spoke seriously: "In the past hundred years, all the Onmyoji have disappeared, let alone the great Onmyoji... Daruma, you have to be careful."

"That's fine."

Bodhidharma rose, bowed deeply with his hands clasped together in prayer towards the pregnant woman who was wolfing down the vegetarian meal he had given him, and then turned away.

“Then let’s go out of the city to meet him. I’m quite curious about… what kind of person he is.”

"Master, you are wise."

The scabies vendor paused, then leaned closer to Daruma and whispered in his ear.

"Master, why don't we do this...? This will surely make that Onmyoji helpless, and even force him to submit to execution!"

Chapter 189 The upgrade materials for the Hundred-Eyed Demon, the power of the demon god, crushes a three-and-a-half-star! The Master of Bodhidharma!

The midday sun was intense, yet Yoshida Castle was as quiet as night.

Like a ghost realm.

A faint stench of decay permeated the city's streets and alleys, seeping into every resident's home through every crack and crevice.

The market, which should have been bustling with activity at this time, was almost deserted – and even those that were open were only two or three shops selling daily necessities, with the receptionists looking listless.

Because of the epidemic.

Several days ago, after those strange and terrifying demons appeared in Yoshida Castle.

Diseases of all sizes and with varying symptoms, whose causes, prevention, and treatments are unknown, begin to spread rapidly, like ink dropped into clear water.

Even just some of the common, recognizable diseases include herpes, which causes pustules all over the body and high fever, and measles, which makes children cough violently day and night...

There was also dysentery, and even edema, a disease that shouldn't have appeared in the city.

It is foreseeable that after a large number of residents die from the disease, the resulting epidemic and other events will trigger a series of even more terrible chain reactions.

The faint stench of decay that permeates the city today is a harbinger of something.

Although most people in Yoshida Castle have contracted at least one disease, the number of people who have died from it is not high.

This is not because people contracted diseases that are not high-risk, but because suffering deliberately reduces the mortality rate of these diseases.

Of course, this is not an act of kindness born out of illness and suffering.

Because what the suffering of the sick seeks is "illness" and "everything that arises from illness," not swathes of "death."

On the contrary, if people die too quickly, it would contradict the purpose of suffering.

It didn't matter much for sparsely populated villages; they let the families have their fun as they pleased...

However, if the mortality rate in a densely populated city rises to a certain level, the number of deaths will explode exponentially.

The Bitter Bound and the Scabies Master have been strictly controlling the mortality rate these past few days, which is also an important reason why they did not intervene when they occasionally saw Dharma saving people.

But the residents of Yoshida Castle were unaware of these things.

All they knew was that they, their families, and everyone they knew were slowly moving toward death.

Oppressive, deathly silent, despairing.

The same atmosphere permeated the Matsudaira household, which was guarded by a large group of family members.

Apart from the samurai who had mastered the Qi circulation and thus retained some health, even the direct descendants of the Matsudaira family were not immune to the disease.

Under the pandemic, all beings are equal.

"Lord Honda... are we just going to sit here and wait to die, watching Yoshida Castle and the entire Matsudaira family perish?"

If Lord Motoyasu were here, he certainly wouldn't want to see this scene!

In a side room of the Matsudaira family's residence, after the two men, who had been bound and tied up, left, a young man wearing a robe with the Matsudaira family crest spoke in a hoarse voice.

Across from the young man, Honda Tadakatsu, holding a coughing, flushed-faced boy, glanced at him indifferently.

"Now that you've drawn your sword and rushed out of this door, what should you do after you've killed these few remaining monsters?"