Chapter 100: One-Star-Half Special Salvage: Fishing Master! (6k, please subscribe!)

Some kind of change he had not noticed must have occurred inside Kisaragi Station.

Uesugi Toru stared at the rails that did not tremble at all, drawing in spiritual Qi in great gulps, while feeling the "String" connecting him in his heart to Haku-sama grow increasingly solid.

He had a premonition that if his Spirit Technique Attribute continued to grow, perhaps even with the barrier between Genjitsu and Chang Shi, he might be able to communicate heart-to-heart with his Shikigami.

After pondering for a moment, Uesugi Toru thought the change might have begun the last time he passed through Isanuki Tunnel without seeing the Chi Swarm.

Of course, it might have been even earlier.

"But Ye Chun and the Train did not come, which shows Kisaragi Station has not been restarted..."

Although there was no direct evidence to prove it, Uesugi Toru believed Ye Chun was most likely staying somewhere in Kisaragi Station, and was probably still alive.

All signs indicated Ye Chun was the core of the Kisaragi Station Instance, and this change was naturally related to her.

Then, what place could allow an unarmed high school girl to survive for several days in the harsh environment surrounded by Yokai?

Uesugi Toru walked into the Convenience Store and found many high-calorie foods had been haphazardly taken.

But there was no one, and no signs of life.

So there was only one place left.

—Mountain Inn.

But this Mountain Inn, apart from its name, was absolutely not easy to find.

All Uesugi Toru could think of was, besides stumbling upon luck and discovering the Inn directly, only stumbling upon minor luck and encountering the driver from the Main Story Mononoke, letting him bring him to the Inn.

Although he could find Katsumi, spend a lot of Soul Ash to ask for his help, but Uesugi Toru felt it was truly not necessary.

After all, finding the location of the Mountain Inn was not something very urgent; waiting until the map Exploration Degree became higher and higher, Uesugi Toru would naturally discover it.

Better to let Ye Chun continue staying inside first, to probe for him the risk of dying in a few days.

Dismissing the idea of going to find the Inn and Ye Chun now, Uesugi Toru played with his own fluffy soft tail for a while, and still decided to return to Genjitsu first.

—Now, might as well first take a look at the new Gacha Pool.

However, what jumped out first was not the Gacha Pool prompt, but the panel of the unviewed Technique Scroll.

【Technique Scroll】

【Quality: Rare】

【Effect: After use, provides 500 points of Proficiency for a designated Skill.】

【—White Horse Gap, Time Flies.】

"Can actually provide 500 points of Proficiency, not bad."

Uesugi Toru raised an eyebrow, then suddenly discovered Haku-sama hugging him moved a bit, emitting a muddled murmur.

"Not bad... Toru-sama, the taste is not bad..."

Uesugi Toru's face darkened, and immediately raised his finger to flick her forehead to teach his own Shikigami a lesson, but upon seeing her muddled sweet sleeping face, he could not bear to flick her.

After all, the sleep talking Haku-sama just emitted was because he said that sentence "not bad" in his heart.

Indeed, after returning to Genjitsu, the "String" connecting him in his heart to Haku-sama did not fade with the decline of his Spirit Technique Attribute.

Instead, due to the proximity of distance, it became extremely sensitive.

Uesugi Toru even suspected that if he shouted in his heart now, he could wake Haku-sama up.

So for now, it's better to have fewer mental activities...

Uesugi Toru put the Technique Scroll into the Storage Backpack; this Prop he temporarily could not use, waiting until either Tennen Rishin-ryu or Corona Breathing Technique reached the Critical Point first before using it would not be too late.

【Special Salvage: Fishing Master!】

【First Salvage costs 500 Soul Ash! Thereafter each time doubles!】

【Remaining Salvage Times: Three】

【Note: Within this Special Salvage, the appearance rate of High Quality Items is significantly increased!】

Special Salvage?

Uesugi Toru's interest was hooked, but no matter how he used his mind to click the four lines of prompt that popped up, there were no new prompts or annotations jumping out to explain this so-called "Special Salvage."

"The meaning is, I have to try it myself?"

500 points of Soul Ash was quite a lot, and this Special Pool neither marked the appearance rate, nor wrote what Items, Incarnations, or Skills were in the pool.

But this Salvage limited in times, and that last sentence "the appearance rate of High Quality Items is significantly increased" still made Uesugi Toru unable to resist wanting to test the waters.

Usually speaking, a true limited pool might not necessarily yield Good Stuff, but definitely had Special Items that other pools did not have.

"How about, try it first?"

Anyway, the Abandoned Shrine's pool had just disappeared, now only the Half-Star Gacha Profound Bamboo Grove remained, which could not draw anything good.

—If there is Soul Ash, it must be used, quickly converting it into strength; if just hoarding like playing a game like a Hoarder, sooner or later one will be taught a lesson by Reality.

Uesugi Toru used his mind to click the "Special Salvage Pool" on the unexpectedly simple card-drawing page.

【Do you choose to consume 500 Soul Ash, activate Special Salvage: Fishing Master?】

There is a Secondary Prompt?

Uesugi Toru raised an eyebrow, chose "Yes."

【Special Salvage is about to start.】

【Before this, please choose your Accompanying Shikigami.】

After choosing yes, there was no card-drawing animation like the previous two Gacha Pools, but instead a prompt jumped out again, asking Uesugi Toru whether he wanted to bring a Shikigami along for the Salvage.

Uesugi Toru made a sound of surprise: "This pool... won't it make me personally go 'Salvage'?"

Be that as it may, the Soul Ash had been consumed, and now there was no reason to shrink back.

Uesugi Toru chose the Accompanying Shikigami as "Eight Shaku Figure"; immediately after, just as he felt Water Pressure mixed with an extremely strong Dizziness assault him, his vision went black.

When Uesugi Toru opened his eyes again, what came into view was a world of Blue-Green.

He opened his mouth and spat out a string of bubbles: "What the heck? Did I really dive into the pool?"

It turned out the gacha pool's name "Fishing Master" was meant literally.

The groggy Haku-sama turned her head somewhat blankly, drifting over upon seeing Uesugi Toru beside her, also spitting out a string of bubbles: "popopo... Toru-sama, wasn't I sleeping? Where is this?"

The prompt popped up again—

【Welcome to Special Salvage · Fishing Master!】

【Here, you need to catch as many fish swimming in the pond as possible within the time limit.】

Uesugi Toru touched her white hat, finding that although he was in the pond, apart from restricted movement there were no other major effects.

"Sorry for waking you, but this is a treasure site," Uesugi Toru said, "Trouble Haku-sama, please help me catch the small fish swimming around later."

Although Haku-sama was confused by this nearly incomprehensible explanation, she could still understand "catch fish."

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and nodded seriously: "po! I'll do my best to catch fish, Toru-sama!"

The prompts continued to pop up.

【72】【At the same time, ensure you are not hooked by the angler.】

【73】【The salvage ends once time runs out or you are hooked.】

At the same time, you must ensure you are not hooked away by an Angler.

Once time runs out or you are hooked away, a single salvage is considered ended.

Uesugi Toru stared blankly—he was catching fish in the pond, yet someone outside could actually hook him?

The person who designed this pond truly had a terrible sense of humor...

【76】【Current random era: Late Edo · Bakumatsu Period.】

【77】【Remaining salvage time: five minutes.】

【78】【Salvage, start!】

The current Random Era is: Late Edo, Bakumatsu Period.

Remaining Salvage Time: Five minutes.

Start Salvage!

After the final prompt finished, Uesugi Toru clicked his tongue, successfully took out the "Kappa Bowl" from his Storage Backpack and placed it on his head, immediately feeling that the surrounding water pressure's hindrance to his movement had decreased significantly.

Splash splash—

As far as the eye could see, countless gray and white small shrimp and finger-sized small fish swam everywhere; even standing still, one could bump into those gray shrimp.

Undercurrents surged, rolling the gray-white fish and shrimp like water currents.

A white small fish bumped into Uesugi Toru's chest and slowly dissipated.

【84】【Soul Ash +1】

Soul Ash +1

Uesugi Toru's eyes brightened, then he casually scooped up a handful of shrimp, watching them slowly dissipate in his hand: "Gray... no reward prompt?"

In other words, gray shrimp were used to obstruct their fishing and to let higher-quality fish hide among them as obstacles.

After spending several seconds surveying his surroundings, Uesugi Toru found that gray-white was most numerous, green fish were relatively rarer, swam faster, and were harder to catch.

As for fish emitting blue light, they were even rarer; Uesugi Toru only saw two or three from afar.

——The higher the fish's quality, the farther it was from the "spawn point"; that could be inferred from current information.

"But green fish didn't fully incarnate as Prajna; with the Kappa Bowl on my head I swim fast, yet still a bit slower than Haku-sama."

Less than ten seconds into the salvage, Uesugi Toru had already formulated a fishing strategy in his mind,

"Haku-sama! Try your best to catch those green and white fish! As for other fish swimming faster than you, don't bother with them!"

"po!"

Haku-sama responded loudly, already fully immersed in the process of wits and courage with the little fish.

As for Uesugi Toru himself, naturally he needed to swim farther, to try catching blue fish, and even the Purple Ferocious Fish above them.

Haku-sama held the bottom line, while Uesugi Toru went for the upper limit.

This was Uesugi Toru's fishing strategy!

With no more time to hesitate, Uesugi Toru immediately activated the fastest-moving Corona Breathing Technique Second Form, swiftly swimming toward the distance.

Along the way, many palm-sized green fish swam past him, but Uesugi Toru didn't deliberately turn back to change route, merely casually grabbing two or three unlucky ones.

【100】【Corona Breathing Technique Proficiency +10】

【101】【Soul Ash +10】

【102】【Spirit Arts +1!】

Corona Breathing Technique Proficiency +10

Soul Ash +10

Spirit Art +1!

One of the small fish seemed to be dark green, unexpectedly granting Uesugi Toru a slight Spirit Technique Attribute bonus.

"Green fish can add attributes—I dare not imagine what blue and purple fish will drop."

Uesugi Toru's gaze fixed on the distant blue fish school gradually increasing in number, and on the Purple Ferocious Fish, nearly over a meter long, growing sharp teeth and fangs, wantonly crushing the blue fish.

Every time that purple fish took a bite, Uesugi Toru's heart seemed to faintly ache.

"Since the Kappa Bowl can be taken out, there's no reason the Folding Fan can't be taken out either," Uesugi Toru quickly thought, "Then after I incarnate as a three-tailed fox, I'll have one chance to unleash Heavenly Thunder."

The key was how to use this opportunity.

Strike the blue fish school with one blow, or precisely strike that Purple Ferocious Fish?

Seeing Uesugi Toru, this huge monster, approach, even that arrogant Purple Ferocious Fish couldn't help but startle, abandoning the other small fish delivered to its mouth, swimming toward the distance.

Its speed was already a bit faster than the current Uesugi Toru.

"Two minutes remaining."

Uesugi Toru fully activated the Internal Qi within his body.

Corona Breathing Technique, Fifth Form!

Full-speed swim!

Uesugi Toru, bursting with full strength, was like an underwater sharp arrow sprinting toward the now scattered blue fish school; in just a moment, he arrived beside that blue fish which seemed frightened stupid, staying motionless in place.

Grabbed it with one hand!

Slap!

But that blue fish didn't dissipate like other small fish; instead, at the moment Uesugi Toru touched it, it burst open, turning into dye smeared on Uesugi Toru's face.

【120】【You've been tricked!】

You've been tricked!

"Damn it……"

Uesugi Toru's complexion twitched; he wiped away the dye before his eyes and continued swimming toward the nearest blue fish — which was also the direction the purple ferocious fish had fled.

In less than twenty seconds, Uesugi Toru, feeling his internal Qi about to disperse completely, finally caught the blue fish that had fallen at the rear of the team, letting it emit a faint death cry as it dispersed in his hand.

【You obtained a Short-time Card!】

Without further hesitation, Uesugi Toru directly transformed into a three-tailed fox.

He knew his internal Qi was nearly exhausted; continuing the chase like this would not only most likely fail to catch the next blue fish, but might even let the purple ferocious fish slip from his sight.

So, there was no need to hesitate any longer!

The Blessed Folding Fan unfolded in the water, and the three-tailed fox's pupils locked tightly onto that purple ferocious fish, which seemed to have sensed a survival crisis and was desperately shaking its way out in a Z-shaped zigzag.

"Dreadful Heavenly Thunder!"

This Heavenly Thunder of 30 Spirit Technique Attribute points — purple fish, can you take it!

As the words fell, a deep-purple lightning pillar as thick as a fist dropped straight onto the purple ferocious fish, making its whole body instantly stiffen straight; after convulsing wildly it became utterly motionless.

Liquid-like lightning plasma surged, and in the process of dispersing it electrocuted a large patch of passing small fish, causing them to flip up their white bellies and float upward one after another.

"So that's why electric fish aren't allowed……"

Uesugi Toru grinned, switched back to the Hannya avatar, and swam leisurely toward the electrocuted school of fish, then swept his big hand through them, touching every single fish.

In an instant, dense prompts popped up; although they were all small numbers like 1 or 10, the sheer quantity was overwhelming.

Just these fragmented mosquito legs added together, Uesugi Toru reckoned, could earn back the 500 Soul Ash for the admission ticket — not to mention the other gains were even more heavyweight.

As Uesugi Toru thought this, he grabbed the tail of the lightning-resistant king purple fish that until now had only been trembling, not yet dead.

The purple fish slowly dispersed in the water.

【You obtained a Guarantee Card!】

One minute of salvage time remained, but Uesugi Toru's internal Qi was already exhausted.

He still wanted to find a few green fish to try whether he could touch a bit more attribute, but was startled to discover that at some unknown time the surrounding fish school had already dispersed completely, leaving only a sight full of useless gray shrimp.

The nearest white fish were at least over a hundred meters away from him.

"What's going on? Did a fishing pro show up?"

Uesugi Toru looked around, yet found no trace of a fish hook.

He drew Kaga Kiyomitsu and slashed the surrounding shrimp swarms apart, then carefully searched the surroundings bit by bit once more.

Then, at the river bottom, he discovered a faint red glow so weak it was extremely hard to perceive.

Red glow?

Uesugi Toru was slightly stunned.

Red — what quality is that?

Purple Epic, Gold Legend…… then red, could it be even above those?

Although he felt such a stroke of blind luck was absolutely impossible to happen to him, Uesugi Toru still couldn't help swimming toward that faint red glow at the river bottom.

After all, the salvage time was about to end; trying wouldn't hurt.

Uesugi Toru observed for a moment; even with his eyesight he couldn't make out whether what lay within that red glow was a fish or some other thing.

In any case, touch it first and see.

Uesugi Toru slowly reached out his hand……

"——Hooked!"

The instant he touched the red glow, a youth's incomparably cheerful voice rang out.

Immediately after, Uesugi Toru saw this red glow abruptly disperse, turning into an ordinary earthworm, and then he felt himself being pulled up uncontrollably; the next moment he was yanked out of the pool.

Once free of the water, the swaying Uesugi Toru felt everything around him turn blurry and indistinct — people and objects alike.

But the voices were still clearly audible.

A hearty laughter rang out: "Soji-kun, you've hooked a big fish! So your fishing skill is this impressive too — teach me next time, alright!"

The youth laughed twice, slightly guilty: "Serizawa-san, I didn't expect that just grabbing some random bait from the ground could catch a fish……"

Another gentle male voice said: "Okita-kun's luck has always been good; why not let him draw lots next time? The recent Phantom Guide Association matters have been giving Kondo quite a headache."

Uesugi Toru felt himself seized in someone's hand, yet he did not panic; rather, he was greatly shocked by the information in this dialogue.

Soji? Okita?

Although the other few names were unfamiliar to him, the name "Okita Soji" was renowned like thunder piercing the ears.

Because the Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand was forged imitating the personal sword carried by Okita Soji, that grandmaster of Tennen Rishin-ryu.

Upon realizing the person holding him was Okita Soji, the blurry phenomenon around him seemed to lighten somewhat.

Uesugi Toru strained to turn his head, catching a glimpse through the fingers of a pale blue-white kimono and the furnishings of a spacious courtyard.

An inexplicable sense of familiarity rose in his heart, but before Uesugi Toru could think further, he was tossed with a plop into a wooden bucket.

Everything before his eyes rapidly receded as the light vanished.

However, just before his consciousness completely fell into darkness, Uesugi Toru faintly felt that Okita Soji seemed to have noticed something, then looked at him with a strange gaze and leaned down.

"Yamanami-san, come look at this fish……"

……

Hazeily returning onto Shizuku's bed, Uesugi Toru lowered his head and looked face to face with the two-foot Adult embracing him.

The latter revealed a mouthful of white teeth and smiled at him; presumably the harvest was not small.

Dense prompts jumped out before his eyes, but Uesugi Toru did not look at them, instead recalling the bizarre experience of being fished out just now.

Just now, what happened?

Uesugi Toru had originally thought being fished out would trigger an uninfluenceable death CG, but in the end he seemed to discover the facts were not so.

That CG…… that is to say, the Bakumatsu period hundreds of years ago, the historical figure Okita Soji of the Bakumatsu, actually seemed to notice his difference and even took actual action.

Turning it around, could it be that he could also influence the other party?

Myriad thoughts churned in Uesugi Toru's mind; he took a deep breath to calm himself, then silently patted Haku's head, signaling her to continue sleeping.

——Regardless, let's check the salvage rewards first.

After all, his current strength was weak; even if he could briefly influence the other side, he couldn't do anything.

Discarding distracting thoughts, Uesugi Toru examined the salvage harvest——

【Soul Ash +187】

【Tennen Rishin-ryu Proficiency +210】

【Corona Breathing Technique Proficiency +170】

【Spirit Control Technique Proficiency +80】

【Willpower +1!】

【Spirit Arts +3!】

Just these Soul Ash, proficiency, and basic attribute gains had already fully earned back the ticket money with plenty to spare.

Because attributes, this thing, were genuinely hard to raise.

Now, among Uesugi Toru's Four Dimensions, "Charm" had conversely become the weakest; the other three dimensions had all reached double digits.

And most of that was thanks to Haku's efforts catching them for him.

Uesugi Toru thought: "Later, I'll find a way to give her a reward."

Aside from these ordinary gains from the small white and green fish, he also touched one blue and one purple big fish, obtaining a 【Short-time Card】 and a 【Guarantee Card】 with names that sounded vaguely impressive.

【Short-time Card】

【Quality: Rare】

【Effect: Use on a designated Yokai Avatar to reduce its upgrade time by 48 hours. Can only be used on Yokai Avatars below Two-Star.】

【——The lowest quality Short-time Card.】

Uesugi Toru blinked, catching sight of the Laughing Hannya Transformation's remaining time to upgrade to One-Star Half.

Coincidentally, it was less than 48 hours.

If he used the Short-time Card now, he could immediately make Laughing Hannya star-upgrade and simultaneously evolve into White Hannya.

"This card's name is too plain……"

Uesugi Toru suppressed his constantly rising mouth corners; no one who had grown in strength repeatedly in just a few hours could possibly maintain an expressionless face.

Next was the Guarantee Card dropped by the purple ferocious fish he had pinned high hopes on.

【Guarantee Card】

【Quality: Epic】

【Effect: Use on a designated Gacha Pool to make the next Ten-Pull guaranteed to obtain an Avatar or Item Prop of the same quality as the Guarantee Card. Can only be used on Gacha Pools below Five-Star.】

【Note: If the Gacha Pool contains no Avatar or Item Prop of the same quality as the Guarantee Card, then automatically acquire two pieces of the highest quality Avatar or Item Prop in that Gacha Pool.】

【——Pity System, activate!】

Pity obtain one Epic item; with luck, directly get an Epic Avatar from a future Gacha Pool.

Wonderful, too wonderful.

Although it cannot be used directly now, when a Two-Star or higher star Gacha Pool opens in the future will be its time to shine.

Placing the Guarantee Card beside the Substitute Doll, Uesugi Toru slowly climbed off the bed, preparing to go outside the Special Affairs Division building and let Laughing Hannya complete the One-Star Half promotion.

Otherwise who knows what commotion it would cause.

Letting Haku wait obediently on the bed, Uesugi Toru tiptoed past Shizuku's feet and let out a mental "Huh?".

He had originally prepared a full script in his mind to deal with Shizuku's questioning, but unexpectedly she was still asleep, completely unaware of his movement.

Uesugi Toru gazed at the girl's tired sleeping face, and her breathing technique cultivation that had finally unconsciously stopped, and silently sighed,

"Shizuku can finally properly rest for one night."

Soundlessly slipping out the doorway, before long Uesugi Toru alone reached a park not far from the Special Affairs Division, sitting on a bench.

"No Shikigami presence."

Although Uesugi Toru could hear some special movements between small couples, that shouldn't matter for his promotion.

He took out an ordinary-looking Short-time Card from his Storage Backpack and gently pinched it to break.

——Laughing Hannya, promote!

Seeing some Reader Adults say updates are too few, only one chapter

Actually that's not true, I combined three chapters of 2k words into one 6k chapter, equivalent to three chapters a day!

Hope everyone votes more Monthly Tickets; if we break a thousand, next month I'll continue explosive updates!

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(End of Chapter)