I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

Uesugi Tetsuya murmured, causing Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand to vibrate smugly, exuding a kind of unfathomable confidence.

With such a significant change, could it be that Xiao Jia, now possessing this effect, has already achieved a level of swordsmanship comparable to that of an ordinary expert in the realm of simple thrusting?

He himself is still a little short of reaching the expert level of Natural Rinpoche.

Kaga Kiyomitsu's transformation perfectly illustrates what it means to "choice is more important than effort".

A light gradually appeared in Uesugi Tetsu's eyes.

Could the next level be "Thrust Master"?

Grandmaster.

That's the domain of swordsmen.

Although he knew it was almost impossible to cross this insurmountable barrier after just one enhancement, Uesugi Tetsuya still had some expectations.

Can Kaga Kiyomitsu truly reach the level of a swordsman simply by adding skill points?

This is a level that many people wouldn't even dare to dream of...

Uesugi Tetsu's gaze swept downwards.

[Slashing Specialization: When using slashing sword techniques, you will deal massive additional damage. Furthermore, Kaga Kiyomitsu will have a better understanding of "how to perform slashes."]

Indeed, "slash" followed the same path as "thrust".

Does that mean that if he were to collect all the sword-strengthening techniques for Kaga Kiyomitsu later, he could make him a true swordsman simply by strengthening his soul?

Swordsman!

No one knows better than it how to wield a knife!

Uesugi Tetsu gripped the hilt of the sword with unconscious force and said with utmost sincerity, "Kaga, I love you to death."

Buzz?

Kaga Kiyomitsu remained motionless, pondering the meaning of those words.

Uesugi Tetsu laughed and exhaled, looking at Fukuzawa Chireki who was subsequently enhanced.

Well... there haven't been any fundamental changes.

【Fukuzawa Blaze+. When using Kaga Kiyomitsu's Parting Blade slash, the enemy will continuously suffer high amounts of both physical and mental damage.】

At the same time, it will likely enhance your luck in the coming period.

Intense physical and mental damage has increased, and the probability of damage has been changed from "probability" to "high probability".

It has become more practical.

Judging from the "+" sign that follows, there should be a major change in the next soul enhancement.

"The future is promising."

With the pleasant surprise of becoming a "thrust expert," Uesugi Tetsu felt that this enhancement was more than enough.

Just as he was about to sheath Kaga Kiyomitsu, he noticed a notification pop up at the edge of his vision.

Are there any experts?

[Note: Further enhancements to the Slash Mastery skill will produce beneficial, yet unknown, effects.]

"A slashing expert... can actually synergize with a thrusting expert?"

Uesugi Tetsu held Kaga Kiyomitsu up to his nose and sighed softly, "Soul enhancement... Zashiki truly lives up to the name of a master craftsman."

The Soul Enhancement effect fundamentally changed the awkward situation where Kaga Kiyomitsu had to kill countless demons over a long period of time to achieve a significant improvement.

This achieves the highly efficient effect of immediately converting slain demons into combat power.

Uesugi Tetsuya then looked at the next price list.

The Slash Mastery Enhancement requires 1000 points, and Blessed Blaze+ requires 2500 points...

The Thrust Specialist doesn't require many Soul Points; only 1500 points are needed to upgrade it once more.

It seems that, just as he thought, the second enhancement was the qualitative change.

So you can put it aside.

Next, strengthening the slashing specialization to create synergy, and further enhancing the "agility" effect, will allow Xiao Jia to better utilize these two expert effects, which is the best approach.

Satisfied, Uesugi Tetsuya sheathed Kaga Kiyomitsu and reached out to activate his Spirit Control Technique.

Liquid spiritual energy danced and flickered nimbly between his five fingers, as fluid as if it were part of his body.

"Lord Che, please."

The two-foot-tall man, who had drawn the array patterns in advance and had been watching for a while, spoke up.

Uesugi Tetsu patted her little head.

"Thanks for your hard work."

The latter immediately broke down, revealing a sweet smile as if she had eaten honey.

Uesugi Tetsu had already withdrawn his attention and turned his gaze to the array patterns, which were relatively more complex than basic Yin-Yang techniques like Fireball and Golden Blade.

"The location of suffering..."

He reversed his five fingers, allowing the liquid spiritual energy to fall in an orderly fashion.

Generally speaking, you only need to follow the steps to fill the array with spiritual energy to activate it.

However, considering that the illness was of a higher rank, Uesugi Tetsuya decided to use "liquid spiritual power," which consumes more energy, to activate the spell.

Anyway, I'll be back in the real world for an hour or two, and this little bit of exertion can be fully recovered in just a few minutes of breathing.

Tick.

The spiritual energy fell slowly like raindrops, gradually filling the array patterns that were also constructed with spiritual energy.

Swish swish.

As each spell node was filled and lit up, Shiraishi, who was pretending to sleep against the wall in the corner of the room, tossed and turned even more.

About ten minutes later, a bright blue coordinate suddenly lit up on the map that Uesugi Tetsu had initially placed in the center of the array pattern.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and after waiting for a while without sensing anything unusual, he reached out and picked up the map, examining it carefully for a moment.

"Xiwei City."

"So the suffering from illness is indeed colluding with the Pure Land True Sect in Xisanhe?"

But the lessons learned from the Youai Club's past actions—colluding with the Eight Sufferings—are still fresh in our minds.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Jodo Shinshu sect will likely face complete annihilation.

After noting down the coordinates, Uesugi Tetsu handed the map to Lady Nichi and instructed her to keep it safe.

"and this."

Uesugi Tetsuya took the Key to History Shrine from his backpack and silently placed it in her palm.

He said, his heartstrings tugged, "If I were to return to the Warring States period, I would appear around it. So I absolutely, absolutely cannot lose it."

The two-foot-tall man stood sternly, and she, too, remained silent, her heartstrings twitching: "Popo... I understand, Lord Che."

Then, under Uesugi Tetsu's gaze, she placed the key of history, which was about the length of her palm, into her chest and swallowed it with a "pop".

"This place will never be lost!"

Uesugi Tetsu: ...

Although it's hard to assess, since the two-foot-tall man has no means of storage, placing it in this place is indeed exceptionally safe.

With a helpless sigh, Uesugi Tetsu continued,

"Before I return, you and Imagawa Yoshimoto can first go to the surrounding cities with fewer demons to investigate the situation, but remember not to expose yourselves."

If she sees many half-dead birds, landing without guaranteeing she won't be exposed, it doesn't matter if she stays in the sky and doesn't care about anything.

Uesugi Tetsu instructed, "In short, safety is the most important thing."

He took out some food and water from his backpack and handed them to Erchi Daren, repeating the above words several times.

But instead of showing any impatience, the two-foot-tall man listened with a satisfied smile.

She enjoyed the caring tone in Uesugi Tetsu's voice.

Before leaving, Uesugi Tetsuya used a spirit control technique to strengthen his heartstrings once more: "If there is danger, shake your heartstrings violently. If I sense it, I will rush back immediately."

"Lord Che, have a safe journey."

The two-foot-tall man placed his hands in front of him and bowed slightly.

After a series of sounds of doors opening and closing, Shiraishi ultimately couldn't keep up the act all night.

He stammered, as if he had just woken up, "Little Boss... how come the boss is nowhere to be found now?"

"I have something important to do."

After saying that, Lady Erchi realized her words had been a bit harsh, so she smiled at the other real child and comforted him.

"Alright, Lord Che must have already seen your efforts, it's just that there's been too much going on these past few days, and he's been feeling a bit overwhelmed..."

……

Beyond the calm water pressure, the magnificent roar of the waves could be heard everywhere.

It was deafening, like the end of the world.

"Is the aftermath of the wave, or rather, is the 1.5th wave approaching...?"

It was also late at night.

Uesugi Tetsu opened his eyes in the silent forest, as if the terrifying sound of the waves just now was an illusion.

As usual, he took out his phone, and as soon as he turned it on, he saw a bright red warning light sticking out from it.

[WARNING! ...

[Signs of an impending surge are on the horizon. All personnel in the Special Affairs Department are requested to obey orders from superiors and prepare accordingly!]

[Signs of an impending surge are on the horizon. The general public is urged to keep their doors locked and call the emergency hotline immediately if they encounter any unusual situations!]

[—Special Affairs Department, Astronomical Affairs Section.]

Below is the green "help hotline" that you can click to make a 24-hour call. The Special Affairs Department does a very humane job in this regard.

Wait a moment.

Such a huge commotion was actually just a "prelude" to the aftermath of the first wave.

Uesugi Tetsuya was somewhat taken aback.

He clicked the "X" deliberately placed in the upper left corner three times before exiting the warning page. After thinking for a moment, he decided to call Nanjo Aimi's number first.

—If you can't get through, then call Kujo Tsubaki.

Because among the people I know, those two are the most likely to understand Qi Hai... If only I had asked Tokugawa Hoshi for his phone number back then.

I completely forgot about it at the time.

The reason I didn't call Shizuma Manatsu is that she might be on a field mission, and her phone might have been set to Do Not Disturb mode.

What if my phone call leads to the complete annihilation of Shizuma Manatsu and her friends at this crucial moment?

Uesugi Tetsuya wouldn't allow himself to become the annihilation engine of a classic plot twist in a horror movie.

Calling Nanjo Ai wouldn't actually cause this problem.

Even if the demons are disturbed, it doesn't matter. Nanjo Manami can just kick all those ignorant demons to death.

With that thought in mind, Uesugi Tetsuya immediately tapped the first of his most recent calls.

The call didn't connect instantly.

Hmm, Nanjo-nee is definitely very busy at this time.

Uesugi Tetsuya plans to wait two more, and if he still can't wait, he'll call Kujo Tsubaki... but he needs to figure out what kind of compensation he can give her later.

After all, the two weren't very close.

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