I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

To gain something without giving anything in return is like a dream.

But he had already checked it dozens of times with his interpretive eye and the clear mirror in his heart, and even if it was a dream, it should become real.

Slowly, Uesugi Tetsuya used his spiritual power to carefully sign his name in the signature area.

[Signature: Uesugi Tetsu]

The signed name flashed briefly, then turned into black ink and was printed on the A4 paper.

In the silent gaze, two pure black notifications popped up.

You have made a pact with the Demon King.

The Demon King will abide by the contract, as always.

Following closely behind are the instructions for using the items—

[You have used the Demon King's blessing!]

[You have received the Blessing: Soul Protection!]

They truly received protection.

Having already prepared himself to be deceived, Uesugi Tetsu held his breath and looked at this blessing, whose very name was unusual.

【Blessing & Protection of the Soul】

[—For this one time only, wherever you are or what you face, the Demon King will protect your soul, ensuring its eternal existence and preventing it from falling into depravity.]

Bang, bang, bang.

The sound of the mechanical gears inside the shuttle bus was clearly audible to Uesugi Tetsuya, along with all the other sounds around him.

Flawless.

He stared blankly at the description of the blessing, briefly losing his ability to think.

what?

What... are you kidding me?

Five hundred Soul Ashes can be exchanged for an item that pops up this kind of prompt?

How can such an item appear in a 2.5-star card pool?

That doesn’t make sense, right?

When did his luck become so good? It's almost too good!

After a series of questions, Uesugi Tetsuya first closed the prompt in front of him, and then opened it again after a while.

Then, it was confirmed that "protection and soul blessing" was indeed true.

"This……"

Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his temples, still finding it hard to believe that this thing was real.

Furthermore, who exactly is this "Demon King" that he has the audacity to say such things?

If I could see the person in the gacha pool, even if it's just any creature I can interact with, I could just ask them a question.

Just as Tamamo put down her phone, wanting to rest for a moment, she saw his expression and asked with bright eyes,

"Hey, Uesugi-san! Did you fail to pull any more cards?"

But now, Uesugi Tetsuya doesn't even bother to refute such words.

I just wanted to laugh.

"Tamamo."

Uesugi Tetsu looked at her with an almost pitying gaze: "I want to ask, what should I do if I fished a space carrier out of a fishpond?"

Having surfed the internet for many years, Tamamo immediately understood the meaning of those words.

No hehe.

The girl's face stiffened. She wanted to say "Damn it" and "Ouch!" but found that she couldn't utter a single word.

—It's one thing to catch a big fish, but what the heck is this space carrier!

She felt like a circus member with a brand new red ball stuck in his nose.

Uesugi Tetsu smiled at her with satisfaction.

……

After a journey of several hours, the shuttle bus doors opened again, allowing Uesugi Tetsu to see the same black barrier above the Yagyu Dojo as when he left.

Unscathed.

Since entering Numazu City, Uesugi Tetsu has found that the level of chaos and order here is still greater than that of Shizuoka City, since there is no demon-level figure overseeing things on the surface.

However, the Yagyu Dojo survived the aftermath of this wave intact, without even the slightest disturbance.

In the misty rain shrouded in moonlight, Uesugi Tetsu looked up as if sensing something and saw the old man standing at the top of the dojo, leaning on a bamboo sword.

Those who are mediocre at swordsmanship may not feel anything.

However, in Uesugi Tetsu's vague perception, the fierce and unknown sword domain, centered on Shihan Dai, had already crossed the barrier and spread outwards to an unknown extent.

This feeling... is somewhat like that nameless swordsman in Edo Castle.

No wonder the surrounding buildings were all undamaged; Uesugi Tetsu had been wondering about that before.

It's a feeling that even the most discerning demon wouldn't dare approach.

Uesugi Tetsu looked into the dojo again and saw many elderly people, women and children—these were probably the families of the dojo disciples.

So many people crowded into the dojo, making the courtyard bustling with people.

Following the silently smiling Yagyu Akira and the relaxed Tamamo into the dojo, Uesugi Tetsu glanced once more at the solemn-faced Shihan Dai standing on the high place.

This old man... only looks intimidating on the outside.

As soon as Yagyu Akira entered the dojo, he was surrounded by many disciples. Tamamo, who was always happy to help others and was very familiar with her neighbors, was no exception.

Only Uesugi Tetsu stayed behind, greeting a dozen or so dojo disciples before falling behind.

He didn't care. He found a spot near the teachers' college, took out his phone, and opened the Special Affairs Department APP during a break to check on the situation in other cities and regions affected by the aftermath of the wave.

"Hmm... It seems that both the Special Affairs Bureau and the Yin-Yang Bureau are well prepared for the aftermath of this wave."

After scanning through more than a dozen trending topics and hundreds of comments from all over the world, Uesugi Tetsu thought to himself.

Under the leadership of the two major official supernatural organizations, numerous aristocratic families and small dojos did not oppose the organizations, but contributed their share to varying degrees, whether they were willing or not.

Therefore, there are almost no cities that can be described as having "numerous casualties".

When the first wave arrived, there were almost no cities that hadn't been marked with this label.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the present world is therefore expected to rise to 16.4 times that before the first wave, and has increased nearly 4 times in just a few days.

It can be said that this has further lowered the threshold for cultivation in the entire world, and further reduced the difficulty of cultivation.

Uesugi Tetsu even saw many veteran operators who had been stuck at three and a half stars for many years take this opportunity to break through to the realm of the gods and demons, and they posted their feelings on the forum.

The supernatural powers in various regions have been strengthened once again, and correspondingly, the manpower available to solve large-scale supernatural events and powerful demons will not be as strained.

It can be said that the aftereffects of this wave have brought nothing but benefits to the world.

While browsing the forum, Uesugi Tetsu was slightly infected by the enthusiastic cheers and revealed a hint of joy.

pat.

The sound of cloth shoes hitting the ground came first, followed by Shi Fandai's hoarse question.

"Uesugi-kun, you seem to be in a good mood."

Uesugi Tetsu paused his finger as he swiped across the screen, then looked at the old man whose expression remained unchanged: "The wave has come, but there has been little loss; on the contrary, many people have benefited from it, so we should be happy."

Shi Fandai did not respond to his question.

The old man simply turned his head to gaze at the sky and asked, "Young friend, what do you see?"

Putting down his phone for the moment, Uesugi Tetsu followed Shihan Dai's gaze, thought for a moment, and then answered.

"The flow of Qi between heaven and earth is becoming more and more active, and the concentration of spiritual energy is increasing again. This wave is about to disappear, and countless opportunities are about to emerge or have already emerged."

This is an unprecedentedly good era for all practitioners.

After a long silence, Shi Fandai finally spoke: "What I see is a bleak future."

As Uesugi Tetsu listened, the elderly man, who had lived through several eras, slowly spoke.

"The current prosperity and stability are only temporary; chaos, disorder, and the ensuing destruction are destined to arrive as scheduled in the near future."

The vast and ancient mortal realm is rising, and the water level in the present world will get closer and closer to it…

Teacher Fan turned around, his gaze sharp as iron: "When the two are on equal footing, it is a complete pipe dream to think that one era's accumulated strength and resources can withstand so many eras from ancient times to the present."

The old man closed his eyes: "This is an unstoppable trend."

Silence spreads.

Uesugi Tetsu gazed at the fine, silky rain.

After a long silence, he couldn't help but ask, "Then why did you, Lord Saionji, make a bet with the Hojo clan of the Sengoku period?"

He stared intently at the old man who was leaning on his bamboo sword with both hands, remaining silent.

Even the most discerning eye could not see beyond the shadows in front of his eyes to discern Shi Fandai's thoughts.

Shi Fandai gave a sneer, then raised his chin, revealing his cold and stern eyes.

"Come on, let me see how well you've mastered Yaegaki."

Just as the sword tip, wrapped in cloth, was about to rise, Uesugi Tetsuya's figure retreated ten meters away, disappearing into the patter of the rain.

Swift as the wind, fast as lightning.

Just as he was about to give some long-awaited lessons to the young people and stretch his muscles, the teacher raised an eyebrow and unhappily lowered his bamboo sword again.

"It seems that Uesugi-kun has been practicing diligently these past two days."

The old man's tone softened.

"That's right. Mastering the first move before going into the arena is enough... If you encounter any bottlenecks or things you don't understand later, just ask me."

Shi Fandai waved again, accurately handing a dry, rough piece of solid wood to Uesugi Tetsuya, who appeared in front of him the next moment.

Uesugi Tetsuya paused for a moment before lifting the piece of wood, or rather, the cross-section of a tree, and saw the dense growth rings on it.

"Here's your admission ticket. Remember to keep it safe."

The teacher didn't say anything more, turned around and waved to him: "There are still more than three days, take some time to calm down."

This coincided with Uesugi Tetsu's idea.

……

For three days, Uesugi Tetsuya maintained an exceptionally regular schedule.

The first thing I did upon waking was to be quickly brought to my senses by the swordsman's two unpredictable, ghostly sword strikes that severed my head.

Immediately afterwards, he practiced the Spirit Control Technique for two hours during the time when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was most active in the early morning.

If it rains, go to a high place and perform the Five Thunder Method to be struck by lightning.

When his body felt a little tired, he would have breakfast and then enter the dark space to use the Soul-Soothing Incense Ash to comprehend the Lin character technique until the effect of the Soul-Soothing Incense Ash wore off.

At this point, you'll definitely be mentally exhausted, so draw Kaga Kiyomitsu and, after a simple warm-up with Natural Rishin-ryu and Yaegaki, continue with bone training.

I will strive to fill up the last bit of skill points I have left in Lei Gu within these three days.

Boom!

On the rooftop of a high-rise building, another small bolt of lightning struck, hitting Uesugi Tetsuya on the head, penetrating deep into his bones through his internal energy circulation and the guidance of the Five Thunder Technique.

Literally, it means deep in one's bones.

The high-pressure lightning was trying its best to destroy Uesugi Tetsuya's bones from the depths, but it could only serve as nourishment to help him advance his breathing technique.

This is the last one.

Stab, sting, sting.

The sharp, piercing sound emanated from Uesugi Tetsuya's body, but was gradually worn away over time, eventually transforming into a clearly visible level of proficiency.