I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

The three elements, through a series of coincidences, formed a near-perfect cycle.

Throughout the long and agonizing ordeal, all of Uesugi Tetsu's efforts, based on what he had learned so far, were gradually accumulating into an incredibly rapid increase in proficiency on the panel.

The tengu, who stood high in the sky constantly unleashing sword light, lowered its gaze, a hint of surprise turning into delight: "Turning immense pressure into motivation, this child truly has potential..."

And in the midst of this long and arduous journey, a crisp notification sound, as if something had finally come to fruition, rang in Uesugi Tetsuya's ears.

The four-tailed fox jade pendant at his waist vanished in a flash.

The next instant, Uesugi Tetsuya felt his spiritual energy sea, which had already reached its limit, expand and expand, freeing up an unknown amount of space.

The supply chain of spirit control techniques, which had been squeezed to its limit, began to operate at double the speed, just like it had been coated with engine oil and WD40!

[“Four-Tailed Fox (Adult)” Upgrade in progress: 100%!]

[Your demon avatar, the Four-Tailed Fox (adult form), has been upgraded!]

[You have obtained the Demon Incarnation: Four-Tailed Fox (Complete Form)!]

[As the tide arrives, your demonic avatar, the four-tailed fox, senses the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; your spiritual power increases by 2!]

Having finally caught his breath, Uesugi Tetsuya opened his eyes and glimpsed the brand-new panel he had been waiting for.

【Demon Incarnation: Four-Tailed Fox (Complete Form)】

[Quality: Epic]

[Rank: Two and a half stars]

[Level Cap: Three and a Half Stars]

[Talents: Thousand Faces, Divine Travel, Soul Imprint, Wrath, Mirage]

"Speaking of which... won't the tengu discover that I've automatically transformed into a four-tailed fox here?"

The moment Uesugi Tetsuya's question arose, a new talent update that had been introduced after the Four-Tailed Fox advanced to two and a half stars popped up before his eyes—

[Thousand Faces, Myriad Forms: Consumes spiritual energy to shape one's appearance and height into any form. Simultaneously, this talent greatly conceals one's aura and spiritual energy fluctuations, making the disguise undetectable to beings of four stars or below.]

After quickly scanning the entire talent description, Uesugi Tetsuya focused his burning gaze on the last sentence.

—The disguise cannot be seen through by beings of four stars or below!

In other words, even ghosts and gods cannot see through the fact that Uesugi Tetsu has actually transformed into a four-tailed fox!

This improvement is nothing short of a qualitative leap!

With just one simple sentence, Uesugi Tetsuya's combat power in the real world was greatly increased.

Even if the Four-Tailed Fox only changes this one talent with this star upgrade, the resulting increase in combat power is far better than having two or three more useless talents.

Although it's a pity that the quality of the four-tailed fox incarnation didn't improve like in the first wave, the extra two points of spiritual magic attribute is still quite good.

After all, quality improvement is a rare and precious thing that can only be encountered by chance.

Bathed in lightning, yet with a considerable amount of leeway, Uesugi Tetsuya looked at the subsequent prompts.

[Please note! Your Demon Avatar: Four-Tailed Fox has reached two and a half stars, and your special equipment, the Four-Tailed Fox Jade Token, has changed!]

【Four-tailed Fox Jade Plate】

[Quality: Epic]

[Effect 1: Moderately increases the wearer's spiritual affinity.]

[Effect 2: Increases the wearer's spiritual attribute by 40% equivalent to "Demon Incarnation: Four-Tailed Fox".]

[Effect 3: Increases the power of the wearer's lightning-based Yin-Yang techniques.]

[—A warm, smooth jade pendant, engraved with a lifelike four-tailed fox, feels cool to the touch. It seems to have undergone special tempering, as a faint arc of electricity occasionally flashes across its surface.]

In addition to the first and second enhancements, the Four-Tailed Fox Jade Token also has a third added effect.

Uesugi Tetsuya exclaimed, "What does this have to do with me being struck by lightning?"

"So being struck by lightning has so many benefits..."

With the activation of the Thousand Faces and Myriad Manifestations technique, Uesugi Tetsuya donned a layer of clothing over his body that was absolutely indestructible by lightning.

He stood up despite the thunder, stretched, and the majestic Prajna mask at his waist shone even brighter.

Because of the significant increase in pure numerical values, the lightning that Uesugi Tetsu had barely managed to withstand with almost all his might was no longer a heavy burden.

There is still pressure.

But that's all.

Glancing at his current attribute panel, Uesugi Tetsuya chuckled happily.

【Uesugi Tetsu (Four-tailed Fox Incarnation)】

[Physique: 63→96]

[Willpower: 54 → 66]

[Charm: 13→28]

[Spiritual Arts: 51 → 111]

If the "Lin" technique is used, the physique can also break through 100.

"It's just that the charm attribute is a bit too high."

With a slight shift in Uesugi Tetsu's mind, the Thousand Faces Manifestation suppressed its charm attribute back to 12 points, barely squeezing into the category of a normal person.

"Also, Lord Karasu Tengu, isn't that enough already?"

Uesugi Tetsu looked up speechlessly at the lightning that kept striking him even though he hadn't activated the Five Thunder Technique.

"No matter how many times you chop me, you won't get the hidden item..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the lightning bolts that were still striking him suddenly stopped and disappeared in mid-air.

Now, Uesugi Tetsuya, who was being pelted by the torrential rain, finally had a chance to look at the several large numbers indicating his proficiency.

—Although the flow state was interrupted by the four-tailed fox who had completed its advancement, the effect of the Soul-Soothing Incense Ash had been completely exhausted.

Originally, Uesugi Tetsuya's spirit was already close to exhaustion.

Overall, it's harmless.

[Your skill, Coronal Breathing proficiency +380! ]

[Your skill, Spirit Control Technique - Qi Proficiency +500!]

[Your skill, Five Thunder Method: Qi Combination Proficiency +500!]

"Ok?"

Uesugi Tetsu remembered that he had nearly two hundred points of proficiency before the Jade Bone stage.

Now that each cultivation session increases by 380 points, wouldn't that directly put me into the flesh-refining stage?

Uesugi Tetsu wouldn't make a mistake with addition and subtraction within a few hundred.

He looked through the clues again and realized that's how it is.

[Because you used lightning to temper your body, your skill, Corona Breathing Technique - Jade Bone Stage, has undergone a special change!]

[Corona Breathing Technique: Jade Bone Stage → Corona Breathing Technique: Thunder Bone Stage!]

[Increase the proficiency required to complete the Thunderbone stage! Completing the Thunderbone stage will unlock new traits!]

【Corona Breathing Technique (Thunder Bone 551/600)】

[—With thunder as his bones, and his body transformed into lightning.]

I never expected that a spur-of-the-moment spiritual practice would yield such a delightful and unexpected reward.

Moreover, he is only 50 points away from completing the Thunder Bone stage, which will take at most three or four days.

"This makes me want to try my luck by drawing a couple of cards..."

Uesugi Tetsuya muttered to himself, "Anyway, I'm going to draw some Requiem Ash for the Four-Tailed Fox's advancement right now, so rewarding myself with another draw from the Demon King's Pool wouldn't hurt..."

My thoughts were interrupted by a vortex that suddenly appeared in mid-air.

Sensing the powerful aura from the other end, Uesugi Tetsu narrowed his eyes with delight, thinking to himself that it was time to get the soul ash that would be his reward.

He quickly spoke up to prevent the demon from being struck by the black sword light the moment it emerged.

"Lord Karasu Tengu, please show mercy."

Uesugi Tetsu deliberately took out Kaga Kiyomitsu and wore it at his waist, but did not pull it out.

"Let me do it, let me stretch my muscles a bit."

With one hand pressing down on Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was buzzing excitedly in the downpour, Uesugi Tetsu stared expressionlessly at the black vortex.

In the darkness of night, a towering, silver-white mech, brimming with mechanical and streamlined beauty, slowly emerged from the vortex.

A pale red label popped out from the top of its head.

——【Combat Sequence Vanguard A921 (3.5 stars)】.

Unlike the prototype, the mech named "Vanguard" has no flesh or blood exposed on its body.

A subtle sense of crisis rose in Uesugi Tetsuya's heart, which surprised him quite a bit.

This combat sequence actually has a chance to kill him in this state?

Even if the chance is negligible.

Uesugi Tetsu felt that his current strength was already very close to that of himself in the forty-first level of the projection secret realm.

On the other side was merely a mass-produced mech manufactured by the factory owners.

"Um……"

After a moment's hesitation, Uesugi Tetsu stretched his aching shoulders and gave the vanguard no chance.

He flicked his finger.

And so the thumb-sized ball of lightning, which had been accumulating in his fingertip since the very beginning of his cultivation over the past few hours, and compressed to its limit, flew out silently.

The vanguard soldier, about to emerge from the vortex, suddenly turned his head, his eyes instantly filled with a scarlet blood light!

It struggled more fiercely, trying to escape this vortex that even the ordinary world couldn't escape.

But it's too late.

The moment the lightning ball touched its surface, the compression and restriction of the Spirit Control Technique and the Five Thunder Technique were suddenly released.

A pure white, intense light bloomed silently, and the vanguard vanguard and the vortex disappeared into the rain.

[You have killed Combat Order Vanguard Soldier A921 (3.5 stars), gaining 411 Soul Ashes!]

Looking at the meager kill notification, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but show a look of disgust.

The robots produced by this factory owner are incredibly stingy. Not only do they drop far fewer Soul Ashes than other monsters of the same rank and combat power, they also drop absolutely no equipment or items.

Alas, capital.

I wonder how many ordinary workers those factory owners exploited and drove to madness before they could produce such a vanguard.

Inside the Special Affairs Department building, Yagyu Chi silently watched as Uesugi Tetsuya effortlessly dealt with the mecha that had posed a serious threat to his life with a mere flick of his finger.

"When we first met a few days ago, Uesugi-kun wasn't nearly as strong..."

Hearing Tamamo constantly shouting "Yay!" beside him, Yagyu Akatsuki couldn't help but feel a huge sense of frustration.

In just a few days, Uesugi Tetsuya had become noticeably stronger.

And what about him?

Liu Shengchi asked himself honestly, and he realized that he had indeed turned much of what he had gained from the training in the secret realm into his own.

But this difference is so subtle that even people who don't know him well wouldn't notice it.

"A true genius... huh?"

Liu Shengchi silently clenched his fist, completely unaware that his fingernails had already dug into his palm.

……

Just a few hours later, the peak of the aftershocks of the wave had passed.

Shizuoka City remained unharmed under the protection of the tengu who controlled the barrier. Leaving aside economic losses, the number of casualties did not exceed double digits.