I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

Fang Xiangshi paused slightly, casually deflecting a blade far faster than lightning with his sword, and focused his gaze on Kaga Kiyomitsu, offering a nonchalant assessment.

"Nice knife."

In the next instant, all defenses and measures were severed by Fang Xiangshi's blade, along with Uesugi Tetsuya's neck.

Click.

The unremarkable katana was sheathed, and the already boiling crimson blood bloomed like flowers in the night.

The demon's head was severed by the samurai, but there was no resentment, hatred, or anger in its dark, hollow eyes.

On the contrary, it was full of joy.

In his final moments, Uesugi Tetsu stared at the tiny yet incredibly conspicuous red mark left by the Mumei sword as it slashed across Fang Xiangshi's shoulder.

That red hue vanished in an instant, even healing with the touch of a raindrop, yet it remained deeply etched in Uesugi Tetsuya's memory.

"So... you can bleed too."

Everything was plunged into darkness.

……

On the bed in the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Department, Uesugi Tetsuya couldn't help but grin as soon as he opened his eyes.

His face was filled with barely suppressed joy.

That Fang Xiangshi, like himself, could bleed.

As long as there is blood, it can be killed.

"Hehe, hehehe..."

"Oh dear, Jia, tell me what's wrong with Lord Che..."

The two-foot-tall woman, who had just been pulled back from the other side of Edo Castle after fighting halfway, was covered in rain and sweat. She was panting heavily when she asked Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was standing next to Uesugi Tetsu.

Unexpectedly, Kaga Kiyomitsu also let out a strange laugh.

"Hehehehehe... Even ghosts and gods are nothing special, they were still wounded by us, hehehe..."

What, what's going on?!

This inexplicable, eerie laughter terrified the young master, who shook this and that before the water on his body could even evaporate.

But the final answer I received was, "I'm fine."

Both of them said so.

Uesugi Tetsu calmed himself down and prepared to rub his hands together to take stock of this great harvest; Kaga Kiyomitsu, on the other hand, was considering the two moves Fang Xiangshi had just made, wondering if he could have done better.

The young master almost ran out to find a great Onmyoji to treat him, but Uesugi Tetsu hugged him tightly before he believed that everything was alright.

Yes, I believe it, and I definitely didn't intend to take advantage of the situation.

[Because of your battle with the demon "Fang Xiangshi", your skill, Natural Mind-Controlling Style, has increased by 210 proficiency!]

[Because of your battle with the demon "Fang Xiangshi", your mastery of the skill "Great Yin-Yang Technique - Myriad Spirits Furnace Core" has increased!]

After the two large notifications, the increase in proficiency for Spirit Control Technique and Five Thunder Technique is negligible, only a few dozen points.

In just a few seconds of fighting, Uesugi Tetsuya gained the level of proficiency in the Natural Rishin-ryu style that he would normally need to train for a week or even longer to achieve.

This illustrates that the best way to quickly improve one's swordsmanship is to engage in life-or-death battles with different strong opponents.

It's just that other people don't have that many lives...

After that, came the biggest takeaway from this trip to Edo Castle—

[Because you and the shikigami Yasakani no Bosatsu killed a large number of demons and monsters, you obtained a total of 14166 Soul Ashes!!!]

The sweep, which lasted about two hours, yielded a full 14,000 Soul Ashes!

Add to that the 3,000 points generated by the skeletons and wax figures...

Uesugi Tetsuya's current Soul Ash reserves have already exceeded 17,000 points!

【Soul Ash: 17208】

This huge sum of money, even without a discount in the new card pool, is almost enough for twenty consecutive draws.

Upgrading Hyakume only requires thirty-nine materials, and the gacha pool also has a pity system.

If you're lucky, you can get all the materials in about 40 or 50 pulls!

Soul Points: 1022

Kaga Kiyomitsu's soul points barely reached one thousand.

At first, Uesugi Tetsuya wanted to use Kaga Kiyomitsu to kill a few more, but later he found that most of the monsters in Edo Castle were still low-level demons of the first or second rank, and they were numerous and scattered.

It's much faster to use the Five Thunder Method to clear the screen with one click.

This time, I got 17000 Soul Ash points with just one life, a huge gain - after my strength improves, the Soul Ash will naturally come to me.

However, there probably won't be so many next time, because he has already swept through many areas, and the distribution of demons will only be more scattered next time.

One life, and you'd probably only get a few thousand soul ash.

In addition, the hundreds of demons dropped a lot of equipment and items, but most of them were useless.

The only way to get it is to sell it to Sheng Hai later and exchange it for some Soul Ash—which should be enough for a few thousand points.

After some searching, Uesugi Tetsuya found a few useful gadgets from the sea of ​​props.

Although it's mostly blue and green, which he doesn't really need, it's more than enough for Xiao Qiansha, who is about to become his disciple.

He swept the bottles and jars in his hand—

【Pure Salt】

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Effect: Used to ward off evil spirits; the effect is enhanced when combined with cinnabar.]

[—A common consumable for Yin-Yang arts, possessing a weak exorcising effect.]

【Blessing Cinnabar】

【Quality: Excellent】

[Effect: Used to ward off evil spirits; the effect is enhanced when combined with purified salt.]

[—A relatively rare consumable for Yin-Yang arts, possessing a weak exorcising effect.]

Red Bean Rice

【Quality: Super good】

[Effect: After consumption, weak demons will be unable to approach for a period of time.]

[——……]

These things are perfect for Chisa, who doesn't have much talent in Yin-Yang magic.

"Erchi, these are for you." After placing a large pile of talismans for warding off evil spirits in Erchi's hands, Uesugi Tetsu instructed, "Find a gift box to put them in later."

Having said that, Erchi immediately understood that Uesugi Tetsu was preparing to give a gift.

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

—This kind of thing is easy if you just find a clerical job in the Special Affairs Department.

The clever Erchi thought to himself.

Uesugi Tetsu nodded, and just as he was about to get up, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that a familiar little straw figure had suddenly appeared on the windowsill.

He blinked, then a slight smile appeared on his face.

It's true, what you wish for comes true.

As if in response to Uesugi Tetsu's idea, a long-unheard, melodious voice, with its ups and downs, emanated from the body of a straw figure wearing a white-gold God of Wealth hat and holding a ukiyo-e folding fan.

“Ouch—”

The little straw figure stood up, waved its straw folding fan, and bowed respectfully to him.

"Long time no see, Your Excellency, favored by the gods~"

Chapter 320 Legendary Definitive Object: The Heart of Yaobikuni! Wait, even the Dragon Slayer Sword doesn't cut like that!

Uesugi Tetsuya was taken aback upon hearing this and looked at himself.

Favored by the gods?

"What is this statement?"

He scanned his surroundings with his interpretive eye, but found no extra aura or other power.

Sheng Hai, who had descended upon the straw doll clone, subconsciously answered, "Yes, one's gaze, and another's..."

Halfway through his sentence, the straw man suddenly covered his mouth with his fan and fell silent.

Don't say anything.

Besides, I'm afraid I'll just attract some trouble.

Through the "lens," Katsumi saw that Uesugi Tetsuya, sitting on an ordinary wooden bed, was completely enveloped in a thick, black "ominous" aura, almost as if he had become one with it.

However, the ominous sign posed absolutely no threat to Uesugi Tetsuya.

This is far too obvious.

Sheng Hai remembered that the last time he saw Che Xingxing, he was also shrouded in an ominous aura, but it was only a few scattered wisps.

At that time, it could almost be considered a "favor".

But right now... who knows what earth-shattering events have happened to Che Xingxing these days.

No amount of favor or even patronage could adequately describe the affection "that person" had for him.

At this level, they are completely acting as agents and spokespeople in the real world, already able to represent the will of that being!

The thought suddenly shifted, and the already wide-open mouth on the straw figure curved upwards even more, making the smile seem even more genuine.

It's not just flattery, it also includes pride.

—My judgment was right after all!

On the other hand, Uesugi Tetsumi stopped pursuing the matter after Katsumi remained silent.

If the other party's true form is in the mortal world, they might really be struck by lightning or retaliated against if they say the wrong thing.

But even without him saying it, they probably already know.

“Gaze” and “favor”.

It was probably referring to Takemikazuchi and Masatsu... but he didn't realize that the latter was favored.

Uesugi Tetsu shook his head and asked a different question.

"Boss Shenghai, there was no news about you for so long, why have you suddenly appeared now?"

"Wasn't there a seed war being held here in the mortal realm recently? There are too many ghosts and gods, and even more powerful beings are watching from the shadows. It's inconvenient for me to show myself..."

Sheng Hai paused, tapped his hat (symbol of the God of Wealth) on his head with his fan, and spoke apologetically.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot that you, sir, have won the championship in this contest. Congratulations!"

"This small achievement is nothing to brag about."

Uesugi Tetsuya simply responded, accepting the congratulations.

Sheng Hai's smile widened, and he slowly exhaled: "More importantly, that woman is gone."

That woman?

In just a moment, Uesugi Tetsuya, having clarified the cause and effect, understood that Katsumi was referring to Nanjo Aimi.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be such a coincidence that no sooner had Nanjo left than Katsumi's clone brazenly appeared on the windowsill of the Special Affairs Department's residence.

However, Sheng Hai's true strength must be at least at the level of a Wild God...

Nanjo is so powerful! She's not just able to spot the other party, but she can directly intimidate Katsumi so that he doesn't dare to do business with her.

“Boss Shenghai, if you run into her again, you can use my name, and you'll be fine.”