I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

The two-foot-tall man glared angrily and subconsciously interrupted the remnant soul of the lotus light.

An aura of domineering majesty, like that of Fudo Myoo, burst forth.

She raised the long, narrow cross-shaped pistol high and hurled it with all her might in an absolutely precise arc!

Boom boom boom!

Before Lian Guang's remnant soul could utter its first word, it was already unwillingly melted into ashes by the cross-shaped spear shrouded in awe.

After crushing the remnants of the lotus light's soul, the cross spear continued its relentless advance, cleaving dozens of trees in half.

Finally, it sank deep into the ground.

In that instant, Uesugi Tetsu could sense that the aura around Nichi had increased slightly—this must be the effect of the life-protecting halo.

After taking several breaths indifferently, Erchida finally let out a cold snort, which happened to catch Uesugi Tetsuya looking up at her out of the corner of her eye.

—Even though Erchi would get angry in the past, he would never be as decisive as he is now, nor would he act before I gave the order.

Seeing the momentary stunned silence followed by an embarrassed look on the face of the two-foot-tall man, Uesugi Tetsu smiled with satisfaction and let out a soft sigh of relief.

"You've grown up, now you're two feet tall."

Dreams may be illusory, but memories fade quickly.

But the changes and growth of Erchi Daren are real.

Realizing he had seemingly done something extremely inelegant, the grown man waved his hands haphazardly and stammered an explanation.

"Po...Lord Che...this...this...it's because of him..."

"Well, I know."

Uesugi Tetsu responded and grasped her fingers: "I understand, so there's no need to explain."

In the silence, Er Chi was slightly taken aback.

She opened her mouth,

"is that so?"

Uesugi Tetsu nodded: "That's right."

He says,

"So, please continue to guide me in the future, Erchi."

The two-foot-tall man bit his lip, squeezed out the glistening tears from the corners of his eyes, and nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Please continue to guide me from now on, my Lord Che!"

……

In the present world, the moonlight is serene.

Ririko, who was holding Kaga Kiyomitsu and had already completed the twelfth round of the sword domain's inspection of the surroundings without any blind spots, turned around as if sensing something.

The Ksitigarbha statue lit up, and a familiar figure opened his eyes.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief and was about to smile.

"It's good that you're back safe and sound, Uesugi..."

She gazed calmly at the shikigami and their master, who were holding hands, and uttered the last word.

"Jun?"

Chapter 282 Rooftop, Head-to-Head! The Master of Balance, Uesugi Tetsu! On the Eve of Hakubannya's Advancement in the Elimination Tournament!

On the rooftop.

Suddenly, a tall, white-dressed figure, over eight feet tall, appeared beside Uesugi Tetsuya and grasped his hand with her large, soft one.

The two-foot-tall adult, maintaining his eight-foot form, stared blankly at the winding, brilliant Milky Way in the sky for a long while before being drawn to the voice emanating from the girl who could not be seen without looking down.

The two-foot-tall man looked down and saw that the girl he once called "the Great Demon King" was holding Kaga Kiyomitsu, the sword of Uesugi Tetsu, in her hand.

Looking down again, you can see the Jizo statue placed in front of Uesugi Tetsuya.

After a moment's thought, she understood what was going on.

So the two-foot-tall lady gripped her palm even tighter, and amidst the visible encasement and restless rubbing of her fingers, she smiled and said...

"Thank you for protecting Lord Che for so long, Miss Ririko."

No longer calling Ririko "Great Demon King" with that astonished and fearful tone, Erchi-sama believed that his current strength was now equal to hers.

After withdrawing her gaze, Ririko looked up and calmly met the eyes of the enormous two-foot-tall man.

Just as Uesugi Tetsu was about to speak, he felt a chilling, invisible force emanating from the rooftop, emanating from the point where their gazes met.

At times like this, he felt it was best not to say anything more.

After a long silence, the girl said softly,

"Long time no see, Er Chi."

The two-foot-tall man, who had already prepared a whole host of responses, was taken aback by this greeting.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally responded in the same way.

"It's been a long time, Ms. Ririko."

"Anyway, it's good that you two are alright."

With an air of composure and great magnanimity, Ririko casually tossed Kaga Kiyomitsu back to Uesugi Tetsu.

She sat down cross-legged again and exhaled.

"After all, Uesugi-kun went through a lot of trouble to find you out of the Jizo statue, and he wouldn't let me, who was theoretically safer, enter to look for you."

From this short sentence alone, even an adult can glean an incredibly difficult and tortuous journey.

—The things Lord Che prepared to rescue me were no less than the hardships I endured in the recurring dream of the Jizo statue.

Erchi pursed his lips and nodded heavily at Lilizi: "I know, so I will make it up to Che-sama for this."

She deliberately paused and emphasized the word "compensation".

Uesugi Tetsu's fingers, which were being held, twitched slightly, and his eyebrows involuntarily rose.

This compensation... though he doesn't know what it is, he will never let Lord Erchi have his way.

Well, absolutely not.

Unless it is a truly green and healthy form of compensation.

Ririko didn't say anything after hearing this, she just narrowed her eyes.

Previously, Uesugi-kun's shikigami, who was named "Two Feet" but was actually the "Eight Feet Master" from the ghost stories, would never speak to him like that.

Ririko looked the two-foot-tall man up and down, whose appearance had not changed much, and carefully sensed the aura emanating from him.

Soon, it dawned on her.

No wonder it had such a powerful presence.

It turns out that their strength has indeed increased significantly.

This is a good thing.

Lili nodded almost imperceptibly, but clearly.

However, there's no need for me to compete with his mere shikigami.

There's no need for that.

It's more important to clarify your goals and avoid wasting your energy on trivial matters.

Having realized this, Ririko stopped staring at the two-foot-tall man who looked like he was facing a formidable enemy, and instead looked at Uesugi Tetsuya, who had been silent since the beginning.

"Uesugi-kun, are you tired now?"

Once his name was called, Uesugi Tetsu could no longer remain unnoticed.

He coughed slightly, subtly using his spiritual power to wrap his hand and pull it out of the two-foot-tall man's palm.

Facing Ririko's two-foot-tall father, he didn't say much, but rubbed his fingertips together with some disappointment and jealousy.

"Because of the soothing incense and candles, and the help of moonlight, it's actually not bad."

Using his inner energy, he retrieved the burnt-out incense and candle remnants, now reduced to a few specks of ash, into his storage backpack. Uesugi Tetsu shook his head, feeling no obvious dizziness or pain.

Having experienced more than a dozen illusory lives within the Ksitigarbha statue, one's five senses remain as clear as ever.

As it turns out, the calming incense and candles are quite effective.

Lili nodded: "Alright, then I'll continue to personally guide you in your cultivation of the Golden Core."

She recounted the events as if nothing had happened.

"After so many days, Uesugi-kun, you must have gained a deep understanding by now."

Ririko's expression didn't change much; she seemed to be just stating the training arrangements for the evening as usual.

But it's different from before.

This time, she spoke these words in front of the Second-Rank Official, who had already experienced countless trials and tribulations and had been promoted.

The latter, with exceptional keenness, caught the key words, his pupils shrinking rapidly.

However, upon hearing the word "cultivation" in the following text, Erchi Daren had no choice but to shut his mouth in resentment and said nothing more.

She knew that for Uesugi Tetsuya, "training" or "becoming stronger" was definitely the top priority.

Having followed Uesugi Tetsu for so long, Erchi-sama understands this principle better than anyone else.

So she had a lot of pent-up anger with nowhere to vent it, and had no choice but to puff out her chest.

"It would be good to have Lord Erchi patrol the area and prevent passersby from disturbing us."

Lilizi casually said, "Since we all have Moonlight Aperture, it's better to replenish our energy on the rooftop, and it won't delay our progress."

Ririko's logic was almost unsolvable; she managed to dismiss Erchi Daren with just a few words.

Unfortunately, the latter was completely unable to refute it.

Just as Erchi-sama's CPU was working at high speed and he was about to open his mouth, Ririko said seriously again.

"There are only a few days left until the knockout stage of the seeding battle, so we need to make the most of every minute and second."

This statement, packed with information, silenced the Second Master, whose gentle face suddenly contorted into a frown.

—Ririko, are you usually the kind of person who says things like that?

Uesugi Che was speechless for a while.

Only then did the two-foot-tall man realize what was happening.

The "seed war," which had only been brewing for a short time but sounded very important, is about to officially begin in just a few days.

How much time has passed in real time?

The young master quickly grabbed Uesugi Tetsu's shoulder and asked, "By the way, Lord Tetsu, how long has it been since I sealed myself inside the Jizo statue?"

Uesugi Tetsuya pondered for a moment,

"It's been about a month."

A month?

Wow, it's been that long?

A slight unease rose in the heart of the two-foot-tall man.

She hadn't known Uesugi Tetsu for very long... and now a whole month has passed. Who knows how far Ririko has run off to?

The two-foot-tall man secretly bit his lip.

Could it be that Lord Che was already... possessed by her while he was asleep?

Do not!

The two-foot-tall man shook his head vigorously in his heart, loudly denying it.

impossible!