I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

Uesugi Tetsu pondered for a moment, then squatted down and helped the young monk with his umbrella to his feet, smiling at him, "If it's alright, could you please show me around here?"

The young monk stood up, flattered, and bowed deeply to him: "Sir, please come with me."

Since the other party has said so, Uesugi Tetsu has no reason to refuse.

"Then lead the way."

The young monk under the Tang umbrella respectfully responded and hopped unsteadily out of the dense forest on one foot.

Uesugi Tetsu followed behind, casually plucking off a bit of any unfamiliar plant and putting it into his storage backpack.

Before long, a spirit and a person left the not-too-large forest and arrived at a small village surrounded by low-lying houses built with shojita-style roofs.

Uesugi Tetsu walked along the slightly muddy dirt road, casually glancing at the thatched wooden houses, and found that their style was far older than the Gassho-zukuri houses in Edo Castle.

He murmured, "It really is a secret place from the Heian period."

Perhaps because the surrounding area has always been peaceful, there are not only no basic guards at the entrance of the village, but there are also very few fences and railings.

You can come in whenever you want, without any obstacles.

The village wasn't very large, so Uesugi Tetsu didn't see many people or spirits on the streets.

At most, there was only a little girl kicking a grass ball right in the middle of the road.

The little monk with the Tang umbrella jumped over first, bent down, and the girl grinned and greeted it with a smile.

Seemingly sensing footsteps behind the young monk, the girl curiously peeked out amidst the clinking of bells, only to be startled.

"Whoa, Brother Miaofeng, who is this?!"

She immediately hid behind the young monk.

The young monk's expression immediately turned serious: "This is a high-ranking official; you must not speak such disrespectful words!"

Only then did Uesugi Tetsu see the girl's appearance and clothing clearly.

The girl with pouting lips wore a large, eye-catching red kimono, with two small gold ball bells tied to the edges of her hair. Her round face made her look very cute.

It was a Zashiki-warashi!

——[Zashiki Warashi (one star)].

Buzz?

Kaga Kiyomitsu, who had been silent since entering the gathering, was startled, wondering why his "old friend" would suddenly appear here.

"This is what a normal zashiki should be like..."

Uesugi Tetsu looked at the cute girl and then recalled the confident, dark-skinned girl with bulging muscles who stood in front of the anvil.

It's completely impossible to tell that they're the same species.

After standing in the middle of the road for a while, Uesugi Tetsuya soon felt one gaze after another coming from the Gassho-zukuri (a type of traditional Japanese house) and falling on him.

Some were very open and honest, while others were reserved and uneasy.

But there was not a trace of hostility.

He glanced around and saw that all he could see were pop-up tags.

A village of spirits and monsters, perhaps?

"Alright, Zashiki, go play over there for now."

The young monk with the sansara comforted the girl for a while, then turned to Uesugi Tetsu and said, "Master, as you can see, everyone has not seen an outsider for a very long time, so we are quite curious about your arrival."

"understand."

Uesugi Tetsu replied, noticing several tags that piqued his interest.

An old woman skilled in divination, and a great military commander from the Heian period...

"Actually, I wanted to take you to see the village chief, because a long time ago the village chief said that if you encounter [Walking], you must take Walking to see him."

He greeted the Heian period warlord, who was carrying a large spear and had a fiery gaze, and Uesugi Tetsuya immediately responded.

"Naturally."

Judging from what the young monk said, this "village chief" probably knew that a traveler would come here in the future.

Therefore, if you meet the village chief, many questions about this secret realm should be answered.

—This place is indeed a secluded place for cultivation and purification, and it also has many spirit friends who are skilled in strange and unusual abilities.

But since it can be stored in this proof of walking praised by the God of Calamity, the usefulness of this secret realm should be more than just that.

That's what Uesugi Tetsu thought.

At his instruction, the young monk with the Tang umbrella jumped directly towards the village chief's house.

After walking for a while, Uesugi Tetsu noticed, somewhat strangely, that the position of the sun in the sky seemed to have remained unchanged.

But he didn't have much time to think about such trivial matters.

Because we've arrived.

Before an old-fashioned, unremarkable Gassho-zukuri (a type of Buddhist prayer wall), Uesugi Tetsu could see the young monk with the Tang-style umbrella nervously rubbing his hands before knocking on the wooden door that exuded an aura of decay.

dong dong dong.

Ten seconds later, no one opened the door.

The young monk with the katana jumped to Uesugi Tetsuya's side and explained in a low voice.

"The village chief is a knowledgeable Onmyoji who is always doing research, so please wait a moment, Lord Traveler."

Oh?

In a village of spirits and monsters, the village chief turns out to be an Onmyoji (yin-yang master) who enjoys studying yin-yang arts.

Uesugi Tetsu thought with some curiosity.

After a good ten minutes, the wooden door slowly opened inward, making a dry, creaking sound.

A pale-faced young man in plain clothes stood at the door and saw the young monk with the Tang umbrella at first glance.

Uesugi Tetsu did not see the pop-up label above the other person's head.

After thinking for a moment, the young man asked,

"Miaofu?"

"My Buddhist name is Miaofeng, which is my late grandmaster... the village chief."

The young monk with the tang umbrella sounded somewhat embarrassed.

The young man in plain clothes looked slightly confused, but quickly looked at Uesugi Tetsuya, raised an eyebrow,

"Who is this?"

The young monk immediately stepped aside: "Let me introduce you, Village Chief, this is the Traveling Master!"

The young man in plain clothes was stunned.

He stood there for a while before turning his gaze to Uesugi Tetsuya's waist, where he saw the silver walking arrow.

“A wanderer in the world.” He uttered four words.

He then showed a look of emotion: "That really is a very old word."

As he spoke, the young man in plain clothes straightened his slightly hunched back, and his whole demeanor was refreshed, becoming incomparably sharp.

He gave Uesugi Tetsuya a hearty laugh and patted his chest.

"Let me introduce myself--

I am an unknown nobody born in the same era as those two monsters, Abe no Seimei and Ashiya Dōman.

Because I didn't want to be burdened by them for the rest of my life, I asked an acquaintance, Changshi Xingxing, to send me into this secret realm to slow down the rate at which my lifespan was depleted, in preparation for the future.

After the brief introduction, the young man curiously asked Uesugi Tetsuya,

"So, how are those two doing now? Who won and who lost? Has Chang Shi been sealed away by them?"

Hearing this series of outrageous questions, Uesugi Tetsu felt as if a hundred thousand question marks had popped up on his forehead.

Good heavens, did you dig up a thousand-year-old antique from a thatched hut?

Abe Haruaki?

Ashiya Michimi?

Uesugi Tetsu's only knowledge of these two people came from Wikipedia and the fact that they were "the originators of XX Yin-Yang techniques".

As for more details...

Let alone myself, it's hard to say whether even the Special Affairs Bureau has any files from a thousand years ago.

So he shook his head: "I don't know, because the Heian period is a thousand years ago now."

Uesugi Tetsu said uncertainly, "Perhaps they are still alive."

"millennium!?"

The young man was equally astonished, his mouth agape: "My perceived time has only been a few decades..."

He subconsciously let out a sigh of admiration.

"This secret realm is truly magical."

But immediately, the young man showed a regretful expression.

He sighed, "A thousand years..."

After a brief silence, the young man looked at Uesugi Tetsuya again, his eyes filled with expectation: "What about Tokoyo? Has Tokoyo been sealed away permanently?"

How has the world changed? Is everyone well-fed and free from fear, since demons can no longer appear in the streets?

Suddenly, Uesugi Tetsu didn't know how to answer the other person.

"The eternal world is rising again and will soon connect with the present world. Although the current situation is still acceptable and everyone has started practicing, it cannot be said to be particularly optimistic."

He finally told the truth.

The young man's expectant expression froze.

For a moment, an unspeakable, deathly silence fell over the area in front of the clasped hands.

After a long silence, the young man sighed.

“A thousand years…that’s far too long.”

"I suppose I'll inevitably die of old age in a few years after leaving the secret realm," the young man said with a helpless smile. "Without becoming a true god, one's lifespan will not reach five hundred years."

After a moment, the young man in plain clothes shook his head: "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore."

"I can sense that you have a lot of spiritual power, so you can be considered a promising young Onmyoji. Where is your shikigami? Can you summon it so I can see it?"

The young man grinned: "My hands are itching, let me give you some pointers."

"That will probably disappoint you..."

As an Onmyoji, Uesugi Tetsu, who currently only has a contract with one shikigami and is even in a slumbering state, coughed and explained the general situation to the young man.

"Dual cultivation of spirit and martial arts?"

The young man's eyes lit up with interest.

He opened his arms: "Then the Ksitigarbha statue you mentioned also has crystals. I'll take a look and maybe I can figure it out."

Upon reflection, Uesugi Tetsuichi realized that it was true; this old-fashioned person might just be able to solve this problem that was so difficult for him.

He took out the Jizo statue and two crystals from his storage backpack.

Of course, the Ksitigarbha statue was placed in his hand, and the young man was not allowed to touch it.

"Wow... the erosion of willpower, this is a completely new situation that I have never seen before. It will take quite a while to find a solution."

This is normal, because Buddhism had not spread widely in Japan during the Heian period, so it was even rarer to see such a large-scale gathering of aspirations.

"However, I can study these two materials."

As he spoke, the young man clapped his hands together.

His hands opened again amidst a burst of subtle spiritual energy fluctuations, and then he placed a piece of white, translucent crystal in Uesugi Tetsuya's hands.

A brand new panel pops up—