I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 264 The Victory of the Predictor, Flame Armor Acquired! Local rankings ended, and within days, proficiency skyrocketed.

"The duel begins!"

As the fox-masked woman's voice faded, Uesugi Tetsuya and the Onmyoji, who were sitting in front of fifty karuta cards that had been arranged and placed face down on the ground, both became completely focused.

"The people of this world are truly pitiful..."

Before the fox-masked woman could finish reading the first half of her sentence, Uesugi Tetsu and the Onmyoji simultaneously stared at the same karuta card.

The world is truly pitiful, yet also hateful.

The second half of this waka poem is—

Human life is full of sorrow and suffering; my heart is filled with grief and indignation.

Without reaching out to snatch it, Uesugi Tetsu flicked his fingertips, and lightning, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, burst forth in an instant, tightly enveloping the karuta card in front of the other person.

He pulled it right in front of him!

In this first round, Uesugi Tetsu won without any doubt!

The Onmyoji, who had just raised his hand, paused slightly, then slapped his thigh and laughed happily.

"What superb lightning manipulation! Truly superb lightning manipulation! Such precise control over lightning is something I have never seen before in my life!"

Uesugi Tetsu acted as if he hadn't heard, not taking it lightly at all.

The Five Thunder Technique is indeed very fast, making it the best alternative to the palm in Karuta.

But the fact that he was able to get the karuta card without any obstacles the first time was simply because he happened to hit the opponent's blind spot.

Next, this powerful Onmyoji will definitely have a corresponding countermeasure...

The fifteen-minute song competition passed in the blink of an eye.

Uesugi Tetsuya was defeated without any suspense.

The score was 7-43.

After gaining five points with his lightning-fast first move using the Five Thunder Technique, Uesugi Tetsu only managed to steal two points from the subsequent forty-five karuta cards.

He silently raised his eyes, staring at the Onmyoji whose aura was blurred and whose face and exposed skin were shrouded in faint flames.

—This person's methods and the Yin-Yang arts he knows are truly vast and boundless.

In just one Karuta match, Uesugi Tetsu witnessed nearly two hundred kinds of Yin-Yang techniques that could be manipulated as if they were his own arms.

He was convinced to lose.

The Onmyoji laughed and cupped his hands in greeting: "Lord Six-Tailed Fox, you flatter me!"

"Concession."

Uesugi Tetsu breathed a sigh of relief, pondering the variations of each Yin-Yang technique in his mind, and answered with a smile as well.

Then, he said something that the Onmyoji didn't quite understand: "But our real battle has only just begun."

……

Over the course of several days, Uesugi Tetsuya restarted the game more than ten times, and was also defeated by this mysterious, nameless Onmyoji more than ten times.

The opponent's initial statement about wanting to become the best in Karuta did not seem to be unfounded.

Fortunately, even though he kept losing, Uesugi Tetsu's record was getting better and better.

From the initial 7-43, to the current 23-27.

In the game of Songstress, each player starts with 25 Songstress cards in front of them, and the side with more Songstress cards at the end wins.

Therefore, Uesugi Tetsuya is only 3 karuta cards away from victory.

Tonight, he is confident he can defeat this nameless Onmyoji whose skills are as powerful as a ghost!

Aside from their nightly card game, Uesugi Tetsu spent the rest of the past few days training with Ririko and Yagyu Akira.

With others practicing and exchanging ideas together, and with the help of Xiao Jia's "dual cultivation" and the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound and medicinal baths, Uesugi Tetsuya's proficiency in various skills has indeed increased significantly.

The techniques that saw the greatest increase in proficiency were naturally the Corona Breathing Technique and its accompanying Five Thunder Technique.

Over the past few days, the combined proficiency of the two skills has increased by almost 2000 points!
This would have been unimaginable last month!

[Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony (Expert 104/5600)] → [Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony (Expert 888/5600)]!
[Corona Breathing Technique (Black Flesh 214/2500)] → [Corona Breathing Technique (Black Flesh 1514/2500)]!
Because he focused all his energy on the other side, even though Uesugi Tetsu absorbed a lot of spiritual energy quickly, his proficiency in Spirit Control Technique increased relatively little, only about 300 points.

【Spirit Control Technique - Qi (Expert 3001/4000)】→【Spirit Control Technique - Qi (Expert 3306/4000)】.

As for the Core Formation stage, thanks to the close guidance from Li Lizi, a master of Core Formation, every evening, he is making steady progress.

【Bao Dan (2.5/100)】→【Bao Dan (10/100)】.

The practice of the Natural Mind Style was temporarily put aside, treated merely as a warm-up exercise to maintain the feel for it, and after several days, the proficiency level only increased by a dozen points.

The same principle applies to sword skills that are harder to improve.

However, due to his high spirits, Uesugi Tetsuya has already comprehended 9% of the "Lin" technique through diligent practice, and he should be able to break through the 10% barrier before the seeding battle.

During this time, Uesugi Tetsu, who had mastered the first two chapters of the Myokawa Breathing Technique, secretly probed Ririko to see if she wanted the method of "Acupoints and Sea of ​​Qi".

The answer is no.

Ririko has been lost in thought and contemplation lately. She says that perhaps before long she will be able to understand this area by using her own body and Uesugi-kun's body.

Therefore, Uesugi Tetsu hesitated and did not teach her this part of the Myokawa Breathing Technique.

Let's wait a bit longer. It's not too late to verify this part with Ririko after she has developed her own method.

That evening, Uesugi Tetsu, who had just finished a day of training, asked Yagyu Akira, who had just opened the door,
"Yagyu-kun, is the regional rankings over?"

"Today marks the complete conclusion."

Yagyu Akira took out a medal with a bronze-like texture, the number [62] engraved on the back.

Ranked sixty-second, that's a position that's neither too high nor too low.

However, for Yagyu Akira, who won the championship in Shizuoka Prefecture, this is definitely a much lower ranking. If he goes all out, he should be able to get a ranking of 55th or lower.

Uesugi Tetsu laughed and said, "It seems that Yagyu-kun has been hiding his true abilities."

Slightly tired, Yagyu Chi shook his head: "A few rankings aren't that important. It would be a mistake to use every trick in the book and end up being thoroughly analyzed and countered."

"And what about you, Ririko?" Uesugi Tetsu turned around and poked the soft cheek of the girl lying on the ground. "Is it about to start too?"

"Around the day after tomorrow?"

Ririko slapped his fingers away, stared at the ceiling, and said, "This competition format is very complicated; I haven't figured it out yet."

Then, she shrugged.
"But these minor details don't matter. As long as you're called on, you go on stage and keep winning, right?"

Uesugi Tetsu nodded: "To be honest, that's true."

She smacked her lips and yawned: "Okay, I'm a little sleepy. Uesugi-kun, you should go and get some rest too."

After saying that, Ririko closed her eyes and lay down on the ground, looking as if she were in a trance.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't say much; he had gotten used to Ririko sleeping on the floor these past few days.

I just hope she figurees out the acupoint problem soon; sleeping on the floor all the time isn't a good thing.

After waving goodbye to Yagyu Chi, Uesugi Tetsu led Kaga Kiyomitsu back to his room.

Two days ago, Huijue, who was on his way back to Tokyo, encountered some problems on his journey, saying that he had run into a "minor trouble" that Uesugi Tetsu thought was definitely not a big deal.

However, Huijue assured that there would be no problems with the Ksitigarbha statue and that he would return before the seeding rounds began.

Uesugi Tetsu felt that Huijue's character was quite reliable.

Shaking his head, Uesugi Tetsuya stopped thinking about anything else.

Next, defeating the nameless Onmyoji in the Hanafuda shop is the most important task.

I lay in bed, covered with a small blanket.

Uesugi Tetsu's consciousness sank to the bottom of the sea, and then he opened his eyes in front of the deserted Karuta factory.

Everything remains the same as before.

After going through the same task-skipping process more than ten times, which was incredibly smooth, Uesugi Tetsu sat down opposite the nameless Onmyoji again.

"There's no other way; I came here specifically to claim the title of the best in the world!"

Just like the first time, the Onmyoji was full of confidence.

"Then, let's get started."

As numerous battle memories and possibilities arose in his mind, Uesugi Tetsuya, whose fingers were crackling with invisible lightning, spoke.

"The duel begins!"

The dazzling Yin-Yang techniques bloomed endlessly, but were all precisely shattered by the ever-changing lightning. The fifteen-minute Karuta competition passed in the blink of an eye.

Uesugi Tetsuya, after a tremendous struggle, achieved victory!

The score was 26-24.

"The duel is over." The fox-faced woman's tone was somewhat shocked. "Lord Six-Tailed Fox has won."

In the noisy silence, the nameless Onmyoji sat silently in place, still unable to react to the fierce and deadly confrontation that had just taken place.

He was stunned.

He clearly wanted to take down Karuta's number one spot, but he lost in the first round?

The Onmyoji looked up and saw Uesugi Tetsu, whose hands were hanging down and who was clearly very tired.

The six-tailed fox demon's Karuta technique is so advanced, it's almost as if it can predict the future...

After a long silence, the Onmyoji sighed: "Lord Six-Tailed Fox's skills are superb, and his lightning magic is truly masterful."

I admit my skills are inferior to yours!

After another brief silence, the Onmyoji shook his head and burst into laughter.

"However, this performance of Karudo has also shown me that there are always people more capable than you!"

After saying that, the nameless Onmyoji threw the memory orb containing the [Flame Armor] over.

Uesugi Tetsu caught the ball of light: "You're quite straightforward."

"Failure and loss are the norm in life." The Onmyoji let out a long breath, his emotions having returned to normal. "Their value lies in being able to draw nourishment from them and continue moving forward."

"Alright, Lord Six-Tailed Fox, now use this memory orb."

The Onmyoji said, "If you have any questions, you can ask me on the spot."

"it is good!"

Uesugi Tetsu replied loudly and immediately accessed the memory orb.

My vision went dark and then bright again.

Uesugi Tetsuya understood that he had entered the training memories related to the Flame Armor.

The so-called "Flame Armor" is, as the name suggests, formed by gathering spiritual energy to create flowing fire, just like real armor to resist external attacks.

Within the Memory Orb, the first Yin-Yang technique a cultivator encounters is this Flame Armor.

Naturally, the first "inflammation seed" landed in the heart.

The Flame Seed is not only the foundation and core for forming the Flame Armor, but it also constantly nourishes the Onmyoji's five internal organs and body, providing spiritual power and energy.

In the Flame Armor Method, as long as the Yin-Yang Master plants five fire seeds in the five internal organs, it is considered a minor success in cultivation.

The next step is to continuously strengthen the fire seeds, allowing them to connect within the body, and then use the runes and techniques of the astronomical path to construct a complete fire armor talisman structure, which will be considered a great achievement.

The benefits of a complete Flame Armor are numerous—not only can it completely envelop the body like a circulation of Qi, but it can also rapidly absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth to unleash burst attacks with extremely high limits, along with an active iron wall defense.

Even starting at zero frames, instantly casting various different fire-based spells.

The downside is that it consumes a great deal of spiritual energy.

That's right. Even though the Flame Armor can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on its own, it can only maintain a minimum level of operation.

If you want to do other things, you need spiritual power.

A huge amount of spiritual energy!
Coincidentally, what Uesugi Tetsuya had the least to do was possess spiritual power.

The memory orb wasn't long, but it recorded in great detail the process of an Onmyoji cultivating from scratch to becoming a demon using this Flame Armor technique.

It can be said that Uesugi Tetsu could quickly master this powerful Yin-Yang technique simply by imitating it.

The moment the Onmyoji within the memory sphere broke through to the level of a demon god, Uesugi Tetsu felt the world turn upside down, and the sounds from the Hanafuda shop flooded into his ears once more.

He opened his eyes, and a notification popped up—

[Because you have learned some of the memories of an unnamed Onmyoji, you are currently learning the Onmyoji Art: Flame Armor...]

[You have mastered the Yin-Yang Technique: Flame Armor!]

【Flame Armor (Beginner)】

[Effect: It nourishes the five internal organs, allowing fire to flow through the body, and can be used to make armor or spears.]

[—An ancient Onmyōdō technique created in the late Heian period, but still incomplete. If it were used as a foundation, it might be possible to reach the legendary realm of spirits and deities.]

No need for "maybe," it's simply possible.

Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his temples. Having experienced the absorption of Tokugawa Yugoro's memories last time, the mental pressure was much less this time.

Huh?
Uesugi Tetsu's eyes flickered slightly as he noticed that the Flame Armor only displayed the "(Beginner)" message, without any indication of proficiency.

This is different from the skills and techniques he had learned before.

Perhaps, this Yin-Yang technique happens to fall somewhere between minor skills like Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound and major principles like Spirit Control Technique and Natural Mind Flow.

After reading through the effects and description word by word, Uesugi Tetsu looked up thoughtfully.

He said, "This fire armor seems to be an ancient technique from the Heian period, but it appears to be incomplete and has some flaws."

"Your Excellency Six-Tailed Fox has excellent taste!"

The Onmyoji's voice held a hint of surprise: "This Flame Armor Technique is indeed incomplete. It's an ancient book that I obtained by chance decades ago from a declining family of Onmyoji."

"At that time, the concentration of spiritual energy in that place was not very high, and no one in that aristocratic family could cultivate this method. They didn't even dare to plant the fire seed in their heart."

The nameless Yin-Yang Master chuckled: "I am highly talented, and I mastered it in just a few days."

Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. He could clearly sense the difficulty and danger of practicing this method within the memory orb.

One wrong step and you'll be engulfed in flames.

—Those old folks from the Heian period simply don't value the lives of ascetics.

Uesugi Tetsuya then asked, "Since you possess such talent, why have you not yet become a demon or god after decades?"

"Haha, Lord Six-Tailed Fox, didn't you say that before?"

The nameless Onmyoji's voice was light and cheerful: "This ancient technique, originating from the Heian period, is incomplete."

"It can indeed be used to cultivate into a ghost or god, but it's wrong from the root; its upper limit is too low." The nameless Yin-Yang Master waved his hand. "It can be used as a method of cultivation, but it cannot be used as a foundation."

"Unfortunately, I only realized this when I had cultivated it to its fullest extent."

Uesugi Tetsuya paused slightly, then sat up straight: "Could it be that Your Excellency..."

"Yes."

The nameless Onmyoji didn't keep them in suspense and directly confirmed Uesugi Tetsu's idea: "I abolished the demonic cultivation that I had spent decades of my life to obtain, and started from scratch."

"Great!"

Even Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but sincerely bow and clasp his hands in greeting to the other party.

In the blink of an eye, a being capable of moving mountains and filling seas is transformed into a mortal old man nearing sixty. Such a drastic change would be enough to drive most people insane.

Not to mention... this nameless Onmyoji even withstood the pressure and, despite his advanced age, began his cultivation anew to this level.

This is a person with great determination and courage!
Uesugi Tetsu believed that the Onmyoji in front of him must have left a significant mark on the Edo period—his name might even be seen on the stone tablets in the City of Chaos!

"It's nothing. I'm just an ordinary person walking the path of Yin-Yang arts."

The nameless Onmyoji laughed and said, "See, Karuto was eliminated in the first round by you, Lord Six-Tailed Fox."

He sighed softly.

"We are still a very, very long way from being the best in the world."

After a moment of silence, Uesugi Tetsuya asked again.
"Then, Your Excellency, has this Flame Armor technique been completed?"

"Actually, I'm still researching it..."

The nameless Onmyoji stroked his chin and said cheerfully, "How about this, if we are fortunate enough to meet again in the future, let's have another duel in Karuta."

"If Lord Six-Tailed Fox wins, I will bestow upon you the Art of Perfection."

“If we can’t find it,” the nameless Onmyoji said without pausing, his tone straightforward, “then consider it as pointing out another secluded path for the people of this world.”

This means... that the Flame Armor technique should be spread?
Uesugi Tetsu thought to himself.

Once he returns to the mortal world, wouldn't he have a chance to find the completed Flame Armor technique in the Special Affairs Department's files room?!

(End of this chapter)