I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 204 Breathing Technique Completed: Dragon's Tendon! Little Jia's Spiritual Evolution, the Sound of the Tide and the Arrival of an Era
Uesugi Tetsuya was stunned by the pile of booklets for a while before picking up the top one and starting to flip through it.

"Miura Breathing Technique?"

Ok?
Isn't this the same breathing technique he saw at the Imagawa-kan, the one given to him by the elders after they surrendered?

Wait, something's not right.

After turning two more pages, Uesugi Tetsuya's pupils contracted sharply.

These booklets contain the "essential parts" that were not in the versions his elders had shown him before!
—But these essential parts are the foundation upon which those Imagawa family's affiliated clans stand!

Uesugi Tetsuya twirled the edge of a rough page and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was kneeling down beside him with an unusually calm expression.

He asked, "Lord Yiyuan, what are you going to do with..."

"Ah."

A single, simple word confirmed Uesugi Tetsuya's thoughts.

Imagawa Yoshimoto smoothed out the wrinkles in the clothes with his fingertips and casually remarked, "It's always better to finish these things as quickly as possible, isn't it?"

In such a short time, Imagawa Yoshimoto had secretly cleaned out all the old things in his house.
This method and efficiency...

His brow twitched.

Just hearing those words, Uesugi Tetsu could imagine how terrible the scene at the Imagawa Mansion must have been not long ago.

But to be fair, what Imagawa Yoshimoto did was indeed not wrong.

Because if we drag this out any longer, those cunning old foxes will definitely cause more trouble.

Uesugi Tetsu moved the stack of books, which was about 20 to 30 centimeters high, in front of him and placed the Miura Breathing Technique in his hand on top.

Then, he placed his hands on his lap and bowed slightly to Imagawa Yoshimoto to express his gratitude.
"Lord Yiyuan, thank you very much."

—Imagawa Yoshimoto was different from others.

She was definitely in a good mood after seeing him politely accept the "gift".

Sure enough, when Uesugi Tetsu looked up again, he saw the corners of the girl's lips curl upwards slightly.

Kaga Kiyomitsu floated silently behind the two, obediently acting as a non-emitting, inconspicuous third wheel.

Imagawa Yoshimoto hummed in agreement and said softly, "I'll just sit here for a while, don't worry about me."

Without saying anything more, Uesugi Tetsu put two energy bars in his mouth and then picked up the book on Miura Breathing Technique and started reading.

Because his attributes haven't been restored yet, Uesugi Tetsuya hasn't used the Soul-Soothing Incense Ash to increase his viewing speed.

Although the speed is a bit slow, there is no time limit for watching it anyway.

He can see it whenever he wants.

The moonlight was cool and gentle, and the courtyard was quiet.

The young head of the Imagawa family had somehow moved in a small table and brewed two steaming cups of tea, one of which was so hot it was undrinkable.

One person drinks tea and admires the moon, while another immerses themselves in a sea of ​​books.

Every now and then, someone would appear at the courtyard gate and ask Imagawa Yoshimoto for advice on what to do next.

So Imagawa Yoshimoto issued the order in a calm but utterly indifferent voice.

When the moon was directly overhead, Uesugi Tetsuya, whose neck was getting tired from looking at it, closed the sixth booklet and asked, rather curiously,

"Lord Yiyuan, aren't you going out?"

Upon hearing this, Imagawa Yoshimoto snorted.

She countered with a question,

"Now that the situation has stabilized, if I, as the head of the household, still have to go out and run around at night, what are my retainers doing?"

It seems so.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the moon's position and realized it was already quite late.

If Imagawa Yoshimoto hadn't been with him, he would probably be asleep by now.

Then I need to hurry up and read it myself.

Uesugi Tetsu thought for a moment, then casually grabbed the teacup next to his right and drank the tea in one gulp.

He smacked his lips twice.

Yes, it's still warm.

……

Because Uesugi Tetsu sped up the process, he finished reading the last three booklets in less than an hour.

Then, a series of soft crackling sounds came from inside Uesugi Tetsuya's body.

"Under these circumstances, reading books can actually improve the proficiency of [Jade Bone]... It seems that learning more really doesn't hurt."

Uesugi Tetsu put down the last booklet with great fatigue, yawned, and accepted the pain emanating from deep within his bones.

His gaze fell—

You are learning the "Miura Breathing Method"...

[You are learning the "Pelican Temple Breathing Technique"...]

You are learning the "Sena Breathing Method"...

You are currently studying...

[Because you have learned numerous breathing techniques, your understanding of breathing techniques has greatly improved! Your proficiency in Corona Breathing is rapidly increasing...]

[Due to your significantly improved understanding of breathing techniques, your skill, Corona Breathing, has been upgraded by 141 proficiency!]

【Corona Breathing Technique (Jade Bone 141/400)】

The previously sparse progress has now increased by more than a quarter in just half a night.

It saved Uesugi Tetsuya at least a week of arduous training.

—The saying "There are houses of gold in books" is absolutely true.

Of course, Uesugi Tetsu didn't forget his true purpose.

Your Corona Breathing Technique is being completed...

[This update is complete!]

[Because you have learned numerous breathing techniques! Your Corona Breathing technique, after "Forging Muscles," has manifested one of the four ultimate forms, "Dragon's Muscles"!]

【Dragon's Sinew (0/4500)】

[Dragon's Tendon: The ultimate form of forging tendons. Transmission, strength, unity. Upon completion, all power will be connected into a single line.]

[Note: Cultivation is temporarily impossible before completing the "Skin Tempering," "Bone Forging," "Flesh Refining," and "Tendon Casting" stages.]

"Dragon's sinew, huh? That sounds incredibly powerful."

Uesugi Tetsuya let out a slight gasp of surprise.

The remaining essence of the Nine Breathing Techniques helped him complete another piece of the puzzle in the Flesh Palace stage.

Now, only the ultimate forms of "skin" and "bone" have not yet been revealed.

"But just repairing one requires 4500 skill points..."

Uesugi Tetsu wondered to himself, wouldn't it take a full 18000 proficiency points to master all four ultimate forms?

He was speechless for a moment.

Even if I work myself to the bone, how long will this take?

Forget it.

I am currently only in the "bone forging" stage, and there is still a long way to go before I can fully cultivate my tendons.

Let's think about that later.

Things will work themselves out; there will always be a solution eventually.

—What Uesugi Tetsu didn't know was that even most practitioners of the Four Extremes Breathing Technique wouldn't choose to fully master all four ultimate forms during the Flesh Palace stage.

Usually, choosing one of the four is sufficient.

the reason is simple.

Too difficult! And too slow!

The effort and the reward are completely disproportionate!
Instead of wasting time in the Palace of Flesh, it would be better to advance to the level of a demon god as soon as possible before considering anything else.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was sitting next to him, naturally heard the commotion as well.

I have personally witnessed Uesugi Tetsuya forging his bones, and he also used it as a breathing technique for training, and he has already completed the Qi circulation—a samurai who completed it just yesterday.

She certainly understood what the commotion meant.

Imagawa Yoshimoto blinked in slight surprise: "Tetsu-kun, you can break through just by sitting and reading a book?"

"Just a minor improvement."

Uesugi Tetsuya wasn't overly modest either.

He stroked his chin and said, "Perhaps, I'm just a genius?"

But to everyone's surprise, Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded in agreement, "Yes, after all, it's Che-kun."

After saying that, Imagawa Yoshimoto found a handkerchief from somewhere and reached out to wipe away all the fine sweat that Uesugi Tetsu had produced on his forehead from mental exertion.

"Now that all the important business is done, let's go to sleep."

Uesugi Tetsu did not refuse.

He got up and walked back to his original spot inside the room, while Imagawa Yoshimoto lay down not far from him.

"Xiao Jia, aren't you going to sleep?"

hum~
Kiyomitsu Kaga said he was full of energy.

Uesugi Tetsuya didn't insist. Young people always have plenty of energy, especially a kid like Kaga Kiyomitsu.

The night passed in silence; peaceful sleep held no dreams.

The next morning.

By the time Uesugi Tetsu opened his eyes and saw the sunlight, Imagawa Yoshimoto's sleeping face was already gone.

He liked to sleep on his side, while Imagawa Yoshimoto preferred to lie upright with his hands on his chest, perfectly straight.

The room was empty, with only a neatly folded thin quilt beside it.

"It feels like the person vanished without a trace the moment I opened my eyes afterward..."

Uesugi Tetsu looked to the side, and Kaga Kiyomitsu gave him a buzzing sound.

Yes, my little Jia is still the best, she's always there for me.

He rubbed the hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword, then looked at the mission progress bar, which was still steadily increasing.

At this rate, it will probably take less than three days to completely clear out the entire territory of the Three Rivers Kingdom.

Uesugi Tetsu, who had just gotten up, twisted his waist weakly again—once his attributes returned to normal in a few hours, he would no longer have this "morning syndrome".

At that time, no matter what happens, I will be able to handle it easily.

Let's deal with Jia first.

As soon as Uesugi Tetsuya opened his palm, Kaga Kiyomitsu understood perfectly and landed steadily in his palm.

After a night of internal struggle between his left and right brains, he had almost made a decision.

Nowadays, it's not easy to get a lot of Soul Points, and there aren't any strong opponents right now.

and so……

As soon as Uesugi Tetsu opened Kaga Kiyomitsu's panel, the upgrade notification for the new effect [Plague] popped up in front of him.

The next enhancement for the pandemic will require 2000 Soul Points.

It's much less painful than the sorrow of parting, but it still doesn't change Uesugi Tetsu's mind—just like the reason he didn't strengthen "slashing mastery" above.

"Xiao Jia, get ready."

Uesugi Tetsu slowly said to Kaga Kiyomitsu, "It's time to enhance your IQ."

hum!
Kaga Kiyomitsu was jolted, the sound of his sword ringing out as resolute as that of the most steadfast warrior.

[Do you wish to consume 1500 Soul Points to enhance "Spirit"?]

"Yes."

Uesugi Tetsu's thoughts settled.

The more than two thousand Soul Points that were originally there were consumed like water, causing Kaga Kiyomitsu's body to radiate a shimmering silver light.

Buzz!

Kaga Kiyomitsu, as if sensing that something big was about to happen, was very excited and immediately performed a whole set of radio calisthenics in the air inside the room for Uesugi Tetsu.

But soon after, it suddenly went silent.

Then it fell to the ground with a thud and remained motionless.

They are similar to those patients who are already lying on the operating table under anesthesia, but still try their best to stay awake and prove their strong will.

Uesugi Tetsu walked over and weighed Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand. After finding that there was no movement in the Heartstrings, he put it back into its sheath.

"She's sleeping very soundly. This spiritual strengthening might take even longer than I expected."

But Uesugi Tetsu wasn't in a hurry.

Currently, there is a 15:1 time flow difference between those in the Warring States period.

He has plenty of time!

With Kaga Kiyomitsu leaning against him, Uesugi Tetsu took out some snacks from his storage bag and ate them, thoroughly enjoying his leisurely time off.

Less than two hours later, Uesugi Tetsuya, who was eating Lay's barbecue flavored potato chips, felt his internal energy and spiritual power return like a tidal wave.

Power once again filled every corner of his body.

"call--"

He ate the remaining potato chips in one gulp, then casually tossed the packaging bag back into his storage backpack.

Before, I was always afraid of choking on potato chips, but now I can finally enjoy them.

He stood up and opened his arms to this world, which was objectively no different, but subjectively felt completely transformed. "Come, let me see what changes have occurred in the past few days!"

Spirit Control Technique - Qi, roared into action!
In just two seconds, Uesugi Tetsuya easily arrived at a perfectly clear answer.

The revival of heaven and earth will come in five days.

There are still five days left.

This is significantly more than his initial estimate of the number of days.

But Uesugi Tetsu didn't feel any regret.

Because he is not a gambler.

It's good that we can peacefully welcome the revival of the world during the Warring States period.

Uesugi Tetsu smiled, and without cultivating, he simply closed his eyes and sat there, sensing every slight change in the surrounding world.

After all, it was five hundred years ago, a time of great upheaval and change in the world, completely different from today.

This is a rare opportunity.

In the now tranquil Nishio Castle, countless wisps of air flowed through Uesugi Tetsuya's heart.

When I opened my eyes again, the sun was setting.

The sky was pitch black.

[Because you have comprehended the changes in heaven and earth, your proficiency in the Spirit Control Technique - Qi has increased by 500!]

"That was so easy."

Uesugi Tetsu let out a pleasant sigh, once again experiencing the concrete traces of the times within himself.

Just sitting here carefree for half a day can yield a massive amount of expert-level proficiency.

In just a few days, the expert-level Spirit Control Technique - Qi has already completed a quarter of the progress.

Where else would you find such a good thing?
Before Uesugi Tetsuya could finish his reflection, a notification suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Your Kaga Kiyomitsu: The Blade of Parting's effect seven has been enhanced!]

Then came a slight vibration coming from the scabbard beside him.

[Your Kaga Kiyomitsu has gained a new effect—Spirit!]

[Effect Seven: Spirit. The fully awakened spirit, having undergone yet another meticulous refinement, shines even brighter.]

"Huh? The effect name hasn't changed? Then this can be considered a new effect..."

Before Uesugi Tetsuya could finish half a sentence in his mind, he saw the character "灵" slowly turn into a shimmering, three-dimensional silver character under his gaze.

It contrasts sharply with the hundreds of other semi-transparent white characters on the panel.

So that's where the change came from.

That is indeed quite conspicuous.

Uesugi Tetsuya checked the requirements for the next enhancement and found that only 2000 Soul Points were needed.

The increase from 1500 to 2000 points is really not that significant.

That's good news.

Turning his attention away from the Riddler's effects description, Uesugi Tetsuya asked directly, "Jia, has anything changed? What's changed?"

If you can't tell from appearance and introduction, then you'll have to ask "the person in question".

After a brief silence, a small section of the silver-white blade quietly emerged from its sheath.

What followed was a murmur from the heartstrings, as if it were a hallucination.

Yes, yes!

Uesugi Tetsuya stood there, stunned.

It took him a while to realize that what he was hearing in his heartstrings was not "buzzing and talking," but the same normal voice as a normal person!
Wow, the child can talk now!

Although his speech was still very unclear and his words were dry, mechanical, and devoid of emotion, Xiao Jia could actually speak!
This is an absolutely incredible leap forward!

Being able to speak indicates that a person's comprehension and learning abilities are normal.

If we apply that to Gasol, it would mean a massive, huge increase in IQ!
From now on, it's not unrealistic to imagine that Xiao Jia could also learn the Natural Mind Flow and work together with me to achieve a synergy greater than the sum of its parts!
Absolutely, the potential is limitless!

In that case, wouldn't Xiao Jia be ten or a hundred times smarter than those so-called demon swords?
—Legend has it that there is no talking demon sword.

Uesugi Tetsu clapped his hands: "These next few days, Kakashi, you can just follow behind me and observe what everyone is saying. You don't need to go back into your sheath."

Kaga Kiyomitsu immediately began to happily twist and turn wildly in the air.

But it stammered in its heart, "Okay, okay... oh?"

Uesugi Tetsu thought it probably wanted to say "Yay!", but because it didn't say enough, it didn't express its meaning properly.

It's okay, you can learn it slowly.

No one is born with extensive knowledge of poetry and literature.

Suppressing his excitement, Uesugi Tetsu coughed and said, "Apart from that, are there any other changes?"

Immediately, a wisp of sorrowful parting, shrouded in black mist, swept across Uesugi Tetsuya's cheek and landed on the door frame behind him.

This was thrown out by Kaga Kiyomitsu from a distance of several meters.

Not only that.

Uesugi Tetsu could clearly see that after Kaga Kiyomitsu swung his sword many times in the air, a buff called [Fukuzawa] appeared in front of him.

From a third-person perspective, it looks like a faint red aura of good fortune has appeared above his head.

Little Jia... can now control his own effects at will?
"Great, great, great!" Uesugi Tetsu immediately clapped enthusiastically, giving the child full emotional value. "Very good, Jia, you are really amazing!"

Kaga Kiyomitsu then joined in the cheers, spinning around in the air.

pat pat pat.

Familiar footsteps and voices came together.
“Che-jun…”

Upon hearing this, Kaga Kiyomitsu immediately floated behind Uesugi Tetsuya and remained motionless, pretending to be obedient.

Today, Imagawa Yoshimoto, fully clothed, glanced at it thoughtfully, then pretended not to notice and asked Uesugi Tetsuya, "Are you feeling better?"

Uesugi Tetsu nodded: "It's even better than before."

Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and said, "Congratulations."

After Imagawa Yoshimoto came in and began to remove his armor, Uesugi Tetsu realized that it had been a long time since he had seen the Mountain Whale King.

"By the way, where's Whale Three... Mountain Whale King?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto continued his actions: "After discovering that we could easily wipe out the demons in Mikawa Province, it went straight back to that mountain, Mount Kujira."

Uesugi Tetsu immediately understood.

The Mountain Whale King has gone back to keep Zashiki company again.

Unfortunately, Zashiki will likely complete this round of the Heavenly Craftsmanship Trial and leave in a few days.

Given the nature of the Mountain Whale King, no matter how much Zashiki tries to persuade it, it will probably wait there for a very long time, perhaps even until the end of its life.

This is not good.

I was, after all, a teammate of its for a while, so I'll lend a hand if I can.

Uesugi Tetsu thought for a moment and said to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "If there is an opportunity in the future, please pass on a message to it, Yoshimoto-kun."

He said, "You can only see the Zashiki by going to the Tokoyo. Otherwise, you'll never see it again."

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was removing his shoulder armor, paused, and a curious voice came from behind him.
"What kind of place is Changshi?"

"—A world where countless demons exist. Before the Heian period, it was connected to the present world, that is, the whole world."

Uesugi Tetsu gave a brief and direct answer.

Since the revival of heaven and earth is imminent, there is no need to hide this "common sense" from Imagawa Yoshimoto any longer.

"Because demons and monsters are all in the mortal world, there are very few evil spirits and monsters in the world... The cause of this Sanhe riot was that two great demons that originally existed there ran over."

As he spoke, Uesugi Tetsu recalled Daruma, who had escaped while being protected by the Great Master.

This guy, the Grand Master said he's a genius the Demon Guide Society sees only once in a century...

Tsk.

In the future, it might become a great scourge.

If only you were here back then.

In this day and age, who knows where he's gone?

He sighed inwardly, and then said,
"Lord Yiyuan, the revival of heaven and earth is also related to the mortal world, so many more demons will appear in various places afterward, making governance even more troublesome..."

"will not."

Imagawa Yoshimoto's unexpected answer startled Uesugi Tetsuya.

He heard her matter-of-fact voice: "Because, wasn't it you, Che-jun, who let me know these things in advance?"
In comparison, the foolish Owari, the dragon of Echigo, and even the Takeda, Hojo, and Shogun themselves might not yet realize that the political landscape is about to change.

Seeing that Imagawa Yoshimoto had set out the complete set of equipment, he continued, "Five days from now, the revival of heaven and earth will come."

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who happened to be looking at him, was stunned.

Uesugi Tetsu gazed into her eyes and said, "I'm thinking about whether I should teach Yoshimoto-kun the Yin-Yang technique for absorbing spiritual energy."

He paused, then emphasized, "I will only teach this to you, and you are not allowed to pass it on to anyone else."

Imagawa Yoshimoto remained silent.

Uesugi Tetsu stared intently at her: "Would you teach someone else?"

"will not."

Without hesitation, Imagawa Yoshimoto answered in this way.

“Actually, yes.”

Immediately afterwards, Uesugi Tetsu shook his head.

He spread his hands: "Lord Yiyuan, it's not good for you to apply double standards like this. It's a bad example."

Although he didn't understand what Uesugi Tetsu meant by "double standards," Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't try to hide it.

She nodded generously, admitting, "As expected, you saw right through me, Che-jun."

Faced with Imagawa Yoshimoto, Uesugi Tetsuya found it hard to feel "deceived".

He sighed softly, "Why commit such a foul..."

However, on matters of principle, Uesugi Tetsuya could not back down: "Therefore, I cannot teach Yoshimoto-kun the Yin-Yang technique for absorbing spiritual energy."

"—Because the two methods I know are related to many people, they cannot be casually passed on to outsiders."

Let's not talk about spirit control techniques.

If this fragment of the Great Yin-Yang Technique were handed over and spread, who knows, a reclusive Yin-Yang Master family might come knocking on our door the very next day.

Basic spirit gathering techniques are even less likely.

Uesugi Tetsuya really doesn't know what history would become if this thing were taught.

So, no.

"That's a bit of a pity."

Despite saying this, Imagawa Yoshimoto showed no regret whatsoever.

She straightened her back and smiled smugly: "Even without your Yin-Yang techniques, Che-jun, I can still ride the wave of the times."

"—Just yesterday, I visited a reclusive family of Onmyoji in Mikawa Province and obtained a basic Onmyoji manual from them."

Under Uesugi Tetsu's slightly astonished gaze, Imagawa Yoshimoto clenched his fist firmly and said, word by word,
"—From this day forward, the era of Onmyoji will begin."

It must be said that Imagawa Yoshimoto's judgment was indeed accurate.

As the world begins to recover, demons and spiritual energy become common again... In the next one or two hundred years, the Onmyoji will undoubtedly surpass the Samurai in popularity.

Then the two methods were used in parallel until modern times when they were overtaken again by breathing techniques.

Finally, with the arrival of the first wave, the shackles of the four stars were shattered, and they rose again in triumph.

Uesugi Tetsu thought with some emotion, then suddenly realized a key point.

He asked with some surprise, "Lord Yiyuan, those aristocratic families must be incredibly rigid, right? How did you manage to get the meat out of their hands?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto then raised his finger,
"Here."

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the direction and realized where the finger was pointing...

It was clearly referring to him.

He opened his mouth, then shook his head and chuckled, "Lord Yiyuan, you're still a top-notch shrewd businessman."

Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled brightly and took a step forward: "Why not take advantage of it? It doesn't require much effort anyway."

"Would you like tea?"

She walked to the side, took out tea sets one by one, and brewed tea with skillful and graceful movements.

“Okay.” Uesugi Tetsu nodded.

Before long, two cups of warm tea were presented to Uesugi Tetsuya.

"Let's offer a toast."

Imagawa Yoshimoto gazed at his own cheerful face reflected in the calm water and suddenly said.

"What are you paying respects to?"

In the silence, after a moment's thought, the two simultaneously raised their teacups and said to each other, "To you..."

Their gazes met unexpectedly in mid-air, and both of them were momentarily stunned.

Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head.
"Let's leave that aside... Is there anything else besides that?"

Uesugi Tetsu thought for a moment, then clinked teacups with the girl named Imagawa Yoshimoto: "Then, let's toast to the times."

He looked up at the bright moon in the sky, closed his eyes and listened to the seemingly illusory sound of the tide echoing between heaven and earth, and whispered,

"I heard it, the era is coming."

(End of this chapter)