I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 260 Spiritual Evolution, Dual Cultivation with Master! Betting with Memories, Restart, Speedrun through the Korudo Factory!

As the sound of the sword rang out and the faint light gradually faded, the seemingly unchanged surface of Kaga Kiyomitsu's blade was revealed.

But Uesugi Tetsu knew that spiritual changes were deeper, not just superficial.

"Xiao Jia, how are you feeling?"

He asked softly, glancing at Kaga Kiyomitsu's control panel.

Although the effect name remained unchanged, the characters changed from the original understated silver to a radiant gold 【灵】!
This change made all the other effect names above and below seem dull and lackluster.

Effect 7: Spirit → Spirit!

After a hundred days of ups and downs in this world, I finally saw my true self.

Mundane affairs, witnessing history, slaying demons… for Kaga Kiyomitsu today, these are all indispensable parts of his life.

"I feel... Little Jia feels great, Master! Greater than ever before!"

The blade trembled slightly, and a childlike voice with a slight Kansai accent exploded in the air, drawing surprised glances from Ririko and Yagyu Akira, who were still in the dojo on the first floor.

Unlike before when he "communicated with swordsmanship," Kaga Kiyomitsu is now actually "speaking".

A knife that can talk!

Also, how exactly does this knife manage to speak like a human?

Noticing the questioning gaze directed at him, Kaga Kiyomitsu explained smugly, "If you want to speak, just vibrate the air!"

Uesugi Tetsuya's eyebrows twitched at these words, and he couldn't help but wonder what was so simple about it.

Kaga Kiyomitsu did not have vocal organs similar to vocal cords—the difficulty of producing clear and fluent sounds out of thin air is extremely high.

It's important to know that many people experience slurred speech after having their throat stabbed, which is due to damage to their vocal cords.

The difficulty for Kaga Kiyomitsu to speak fluently is more than ten times that mentioned above.
"Exquisite technique." Ririko nodded earnestly and clapped her hands.

Praised by Ririko, the great swordsmanship demon, Kaga Kiyomitsu was overjoyed and flew around the dojo.

He even swiftly cut off several strands of Uesugi Tetsuya's hair to demonstrate his exquisite and meticulous control over himself.

"Alright, Jia, stop fooling around." Uesugi Tetsu grabbed the hilt of the sword and asked it again, "Besides being able to talk, tell me about the other changes. Don't hide anything."

After all, the description of this effect is a summary riddle, emphasizing a high level of sophistication.

When caught and questioned by his master, Kaga Kiyomitsu naturally answered without much temper.
"I feel like I can think things very quickly now. Before, I had to think things through before I spoke, but now I don't need to."

We should also try some simple cultivation methods!

After saying this, Kaga Kiyosuke slipped smoothly out of Uesugi Tetsu's palm, then spun around and chuckled, "And Master, I've learned quite a bit of your swordsmanship too."

Although I don't yet know that inexplicable "Nameless Sword" move, I've mastered the three-stage thrust, various stances, and some other moves whose names I can't recall!

Hearing children's voices coming from upstairs, Tamamo, who had just come down to investigate, happened to overhear this.

She stared blankly at Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was steadily practicing some simple sword moves in the air, a thoughtful and puzzled expression on her face.

Even she couldn't master these basic sword moves so steadily in one go.

—You mean to say that my swordsmanship, which I've practiced for over half a year, was defeated by a single knife?
No wonder the teacher's college representative said he had no talent.

Tamamo sighed silently, turned around and went upstairs.

Forget it, I'll just go watch my late-night anime.

Uesugi Tetsu turned his gaze away in surprise, and looked at Kaga Kiyomitsu with satisfaction—Kaga's moves were very much like his own, and the blade was perfectly aligned, without the slightest error.

If I use it to unleash the Unknown Sword more often in the future, then when I win the Spider Cutter in the seeding battle, won't I be able to make my opponent suffer two identical Unknown Sword attacks in an instant?
This doubles the damage.

However... Little Jia seems to be more energetic now, and I guess in the future I won't even want to keep it in my storage bag.

To put it simply, this spiritual evolution of Xiao Jia means that it has become smarter in all aspects, thus increasing its potential and making it much easier to get things done in the future.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced again at the next evolution of [Effect Seven: Spirit] and found that it only required 2500 Soul Spirit Points.

The requirement for Soul Points only increased by 500 points, which was somewhat unexpected.

"Xiao Jia, you can play by yourself for a while. I need to train with Lili Zi."

Uesugi Tetsu casually said something to Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was being wielded like an expert, and then erased all the proficiency prompts generated from the "discussion".

[Your skill, Natural Rational Flow proficiency +63! ]

[Your skill, Coronal Breathing proficiency +34! ]

[Your skill, Spirit Control Technique - Qi Proficiency +28!]

[Your skill, Five Thunder Method: Qi Combination Proficiency +99!]

—Next, I will be practicing “embracing the elixir” every night for the next period of time.

Before Uesugi Tetsuya could even speak, his eyes merely flickered, and Ririko, who was standing not far away, understood and walked over to sit behind him.

"Do you want to take off your clothes?" he asked.

Ririko shook her head: "I already figured it out last night, so there's no need."

In a corner of the dojo, Yagyu Chi, who was holding his sword and maintaining a still stance, showed a fleeting look of astonishment when he heard the first sentence.

Then he immediately turned around silently and consciously used his inner energy to block out his hearing.

Just like yesterday, Ririko stretched out her hands, interlaced her fingers, and hugged Uesugi Tetsuya's chest tightly. After closing her eyes, she slowly poured the energy in her body into him.

Just like yesterday, Uesugi Tetsuya remained focused, shutting out the outside world from his perception.

The fiery energy flows, guides, intertwines, and then circulates throughout the body...

Kaga Kiyomitsu, floating in mid-air, naturally noticed the Great Demon King hugging his master; after all, he wasn't blind.

But the Demon King and his master seem to be cultivating...

It drifted closer, trying to get a closer look, wanting to sense the essence within the subtle changes in its aura, and then join its master in cultivation.

Kaga Kiyomitsu understood the meaning of training together.

—This is called dual cultivation!
The Great Demon King is currently engaged in dual cultivation with his master, so Xiao Jia also wants to engage in dual cultivation with his master!

There's no reason why the Great Demon King can't do what his master can!
With this mindset, Kaga Kiyomitsu gently landed on Uesugi Tetsu's crossed legs, slowly "sinking" his entire being into Uesugi Tetsu's body.

It was as if he had become one with Uesugi Tetsu, inseparable from him.

Uesugi Tetsuya, who was sensing the changes in energy, was startled and suddenly discovered that there was an "accelerator" around his body.

That's right, the accelerator—in Uesugi Tetsu's perception, all the energy that passes through his body can be poured into it, and then returned to his body at an even faster speed.

The benefit of doing this is that it further improves the efficiency of Uesugi Tetsu's training in all techniques related to ki.

Although he found this strange phenomenon odd, Uesugi Tetsuya did not become distracted while halfway through his training. Instead, he naturally treated the accelerator as part of his body.

More than half an hour later, Uesugi Tetsu caught Ririko, who was lying down behind him, on his back, and then let out a long breath before looking at the pop-up notification in front of him.

【Baodan: 2.5/100】

[Your skill, Coronal Breathing proficiency +72! ]

[Your skill, Spirit Control Technique - Qi Proficiency +19!]

Ok?
It's one thing that the progress of the Embracing Elixir skill increased by 1.5% in one go, but how did the proficiency of this breathing technique suddenly jump by more than 70 points?

Uesugi Tetsu's intuition told him that this bizarre efficiency was definitely related to the "accelerator" that had appeared out of nowhere earlier.

So what is this accelerator...?

hum.

He looked down and felt the vibration of Kaga Kiyomitsu on his leg.

At the same time, I also felt the vibration of the accelerator outside my body.

"Xiao Jia?" Uesugi Tetsu tapped the gleaming blade, somewhat incredulous. "How did you manage to do something like this..."

"hey-hey."

Kaga Kiyomitsu rubbed his palm with the hilt of his sword and said smugly, "How is it, Master? How does it feel to cultivate with me?"

Uesugi Tetsu: ???

Because these words were spoken directly, Ririko, who was behind her, curiously peeked out and asked, "What dual cultivation?"

Uesugi Tetsu coughed twice, explaining the relationship between the accelerator and Kaga Kiyomitsu, and added that it was just a child's innocent remark.

"I don't really care about that kind of thing," the girl shrugged indifferently. "But Kaga Kiyomitsu is amazing; he can even do something like this." Indeed, if the so-called "dual cultivation" efficiency continues, Uesugi Tetsu felt that the progress of the flesh-refining stage was probably about the same as the previous skin-tempering and bone-forging stages.

In that case, they might be able to finish the major stage of meat refining before the seeding tournament begins, and then officially start to pursue one of the four ultimate forms, the "Palace of Flesh".

Uesugi Tetsu lowered his head and gazed at Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was jumping for joy on his lap.

Little Jia, you really gave me a pleasant surprise.

……

After a full day of intense training, it's only natural to take a nice cold shower.

This wouldn't normally be a problem, but Kaga Kiyomitsu's spirituality was elevated tonight.

"Master, I want to bathe too!"

The moment the clear, childlike voice rang out, Uesugi Tetsu could feel the strange gaze directed at him by Tamamo, who was sitting on the sofa.

Bringing a knife, especially to wash the young Kaga Kiyomitsu, would probably be inappropriate.

Uesugi Tetsu tapped the hilt of the sword and said, "I'll wash it for you after I'm done washing it; it'll only take a few minutes."

"Oh."

Kaga Kiyomitsu was surprisingly well-behaved, but just as Uesugi Tetsu turned to approach the bathroom on the third floor, it asked somewhat strangely,

"Speaking of which, Master and the Demon King are so close they can cultivate together, why don't you bathe with her? Didn't you bathe with that big-breasted girl before, Master..."

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsuya's expression changed drastically. Without saying a word, he grabbed Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was still speaking, and stuffed him into his storage backpack.

—If it were to utter the four characters "Imagawa Yoshimoto," that would be terrible!
Fortunately, Ririko went downstairs to take a bath.

Uesugi Tetsu stopped Kaga Kiyomitsu from spouting outrageous remarks after he had gotten used to talking in his heartstrings, and then turned his head away.

He looked at Tamamo, who was staring intently at the television.

Despite her "concentration," Uesugi Tetsu knew that this guy could hear everything perfectly clearly.

"Don't worry, Brother Uesugi!"

After being stared at for three seconds, Tamamo had no choice but to give him a serious salute.

"We would never tell Miss Tokugawa, and we have no idea that you and Miss Tokugawa practiced dual cultivation, or that you took a bath with a certain beautiful, big-breasted girl, and that you were two-timing her!"

There are more people who don't know the classics than those who do.

Uesugi Tetsuya was at a loss for words.

He could only say "Okay," and then thanked him.

—Because of this little incident, Uesugi Tetsuya quickly washed up and changed his clothes before returning to his room and taking Kaga Kiyomitsu out of his backpack.

It opened its mouth, somewhat confused.
"Master, why did you shove me in like that? Also, my memories aren't very good, and I didn't really like that big-breasted black-haired girl... she was so bossy, so I can't remember her name."

Kaga Kiyomitsu snorted, "If we're talking about preferences, I still prefer the Great Demon King and..."

In that subtle moment of hesitation from Kaga Kiyomitsu, Uesugi Tetsu happened to slap it down.

"What do you know with just a knife?"

Uesugi Tetsu shook his head, knowing that this was purely Jia's unintentional remark, so he could only admonish her: "When you say similar things in the future, remember to speak to me with your heartstrings."

"Yes, Master~"

Kaga Kiyomitsu didn't understand, but he knew what was right.

He put it back in his backpack along with its sheath, then lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

—The location of resurrection: the shrine at the Karuta III factory!

The still water pressure flowed by.

Uesugi Tetsu opened his eyes and found a huge black cube standing in front of him, no different from the last time he came.

Looking around, it was still desolate, completely unchanged.

Taking out Kaga Kiyomitsu and placing it at his waist, Uesugi Tetsu advised with his heartstrings: "In front of outsiders, remember to communicate only with your heartstrings."

"Yes, sir!"

After entering the factory through the small door, a prompt appeared in front of Uesugi Tetsuya's eyes after only a couple of steps.

[The Remains of the Master Blacksmith Sequence - Type II]

Not only that, the white memory orb that he had absorbed last time is still floating above the remains of the great blacksmith.

You have discovered the "Broken Memory Orb of the Great Blacksmith Sequence Type II".

"Has the factory been restarted internally?"

Uesugi Tetsu guessed—but this guess would be confirmed after he touched the orb of light again.

Instead of continuing into the thick darkness filled with a sense of danger, he reached out and touched the white orb of light.

Wow.

The exact same scene as last time flowed through Uesugi Tetsuya's consciousness, like an unskippable cutscene in a game.

"Would you like to come in and have a game, sir?"

Before him, the familiar fox-masked woman was smiling and greeting Uesugi Tetsuya.

He turned his head and found that everything around him was no different from when he last came in.

Even some of the pedestrians who walked by had the exact same walking patterns.

Sure enough, reading the memory orb triggered the "key" to this Edo-era scene.

Then...

"What exactly do you mean by 'play a round'?"

Uesugi Tetsu arrived at the entrance of the [Hanafuda Shop] and showed interest in the fox-masked woman.

Only then did he notice that the fox-faced woman's mask only covered the upper half of her face. If he wanted to know what she looked like, he could simply use his inner energy to lift the mask.

However, let's wait and see. Doing something so outrageous could still bring this exploration to an abrupt end.

“Karirudo.” The fox-faced woman didn’t repeat herself, but replied with a charming laugh, “Sir, our flower card shop has produced more than one number one in the world.”

"The 'World's Number One Songstress Tournament' is currently underway, and the top three winners will receive a grand prize, with double the chips available for exchange!"

The fox-masked woman was making her sales pitch when she grabbed Uesugi Tetsu's wrist, trying to lead him into the bustling flower card shop.
"As for how to play, you'll understand once you come in and watch for a while."

Uesugi Tetsuya did not resist, knowing that this had triggered an event cutscene.

He quickly organized the information he had just received:
First of all, the top three in this "coincidentally" happening competition will receive a big prize, so winning first place will most likely get you one of the super epic items mentioned on the map.

Secondly, the competition here is not about fighting and killing, but simply about playing songs and keeping more people – after hearing the short song written on the reading card, the participants need to quickly find the card with the next line of the corresponding short song printed on it.

The player who grabs the most cards the fastest wins.

However, this originated from "Competitive Karuta" in the Meiji era, which mainly tested memory and reaction speed. It's unclear how the game was played in the Edo period...

Uesugi Tetsu's thoughts suddenly paused at this point.

He realized that the rules of the game weren't actually important.

For him, every time he enters the factory, it can be restarted, and the action logic of all the characters will not change—wouldn't it be easy for him to win first place in this competition?

Uesugi Tetsu immediately inquired about the tournament format from the fox-masked woman and discovered that it was a single-elimination tournament, where winning about seven or eight rounds would be enough to take first place.

Even if my skills are terrible, wouldn't I be able to speedrun through the "World's Number One Song Tournament" in a week at most?
So Uesugi Tetsu turned his gaze away from the various waiters wearing different animal masks around him, and asked without even looking at the rules of the game.
"What should I do if I want to participate in the World's Greatest Uta Gassen Tournament?"

The fox-faced woman seemed to have seen many people like this, and she answered familiarly, "Generally speaking, you just need to bet chips that your opponent thinks are worth the same as the chips he has put up."

"Bet?" Uesugi Tetsuya pressed, "With what?"

If it's soul ash, then I might feel a little heartbroken...

"Please take a look, sir."

The fox-faced woman led him to the bustling arena, pointed to the overwhelmingly one-sided scales, and laughed, "This is it."

Uesugi Tetsuya looked closely and discovered that there were two orbs of memory light on either side of the scale!
One is deep blue, and the other is a bright purple!
【The Memory Orb of the Nameless Yin-Yang Master of the Astronomical Path】.

[The Memory Orb of the Swordsman Tokugawa Yugoro!]
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(End of this chapter)