Chapter 127

When the door opened, a massive plaque bearing the single character "Wu" written with vigorous brushstrokes crashed into Uesugi Toru's field of vision.

In just a moment, Uesugi Toru's mind and spirit rapidly settled into tranquility.

He thought this character perhaps was not written by an ordinary person.

Uesugi Toru looked around the empty surroundings again, discovering the first floor of the villa was decorated with simplicity pushed to the absolute extreme.

Because within the first floor occupying roughly three hundred square meters, apart from wooden boards, walls, and windows, nothing else could be seen at all.

It was completely and utterly a family dojo inside the house.

And Tokugawa Ririko, dressed in cool clothing, sat right in the center of this family dojo, eyes lightly closed, sitting cross-legged beneath that "Wu" character.

She wore only black shorts about a finger's length and a thin tube top simply covering the key areas; the rest was wantonly exposed.

The girl's breathing was even and drawn out.

Muscles honed through long training outlined distinct lines; the defined rectus abdominis and external obliques intertwined, letting the concave lines on both sides extend toward the taut lower abdomen further down.

If one looked closely, one could discover fine beads of sweat densely covering the girl's entire body, making the distinct muscle texture refract a marble-like luster under the sunlight.

If one wasn't careful, one's gaze would automatically follow those beads of sweat sweeping across Ririko's healthy, full body — from face, neck, armpits, lower abdomen, thighs all the way down — finally quietly seeping into the dojo's wooden floor.

The reason for wearing black instead of white was probably also considering the amount of sweating.

In deep meditation, huh.

Seeing Ririko seemed to be sitting in Zen meditation, unaware of his arrival, Uesugi Toru gently closed the door, and after taking off his shoes silently stepped on the wooden floor and slowly walked over.

He was still quite curious what Kitano Runa's words just now meant, so he didn't deliberately make a sound to disturb Ririko, wanting to get close and observe.

"However, Ririko without Unshinjutsu and Gyokushinketsu concealing her Jing Shen is indeed a bit hard to look away from."

Uesugi Toru walked halfway, then couldn't help but size up the girl twice more — the current Ririko was just like the sun within this dojo; once one entered, one would subconsciously be drawn to her radiance.

If estimated by Charm Value, Uesugi Toru felt she nearly caught up to his own Succubus Four-Tailed Fox Incarnation.

Only Ririko didn't win with skin and bone appearance, but with the unique temperament on her person that subdued others' minds.

Sneaking up before the girl, Uesugi Toru began seriously scanning the other party, wanting to analyze the meaning of Kitano Runa's words through this.

Very quickly, Uesugi Toru made a discovery.

"She actually still wears the Clear Heart Charm I gave her before at her waist..."

Uesugi Toru fixed his gaze on the girl's elastic waist, seeing the Clear Heart Charm and a mini version of a kendo charm dangling together.

— Looks like the targeted gift I gave is still very helpful for cultivation.

Uesugi Toru nodded secretly, just wanting to continue the scanning plan, but collided with the startled gaze of Ririko who had just opened her eyes.

"Ue, Uesugi-kun?"

Ririko blinked, taking a good while before these few words popped out of her mouth.

She seemed to recall something, so a faint red color rapidly burned up from her cheeks, temperature soaring.

But merely another instant, this nervousness and fluster were suppressed down by her deep breath.

The red disappeared.

"Uesugi-kun, how did you make no sound at all when coming in, scared me a jump."

Ririko forcefully clamped her legs, asking as if nothing happened.

She again extremely quickly and without a trace glanced at her chest, confirming the tube top there was very thick, so even pressed against the skin nothing would be exposed, then silently withdrew her gaze.

Seeing the plan to discover nothing had failed, Uesugi Toru honestly sat back, selling out Kitano Runa without hesitation: "Kitano Classmate said you're on the first floor, let me sneak in saying maybe I could discover a surprise."

Although not the exact words, Kitano Runa's meaning was undoubtedly this.

Ririko's complexion stiffened, she was angered into a laugh, hands clenching fists making a series of cracking sounds: "Good... I see she's also itching for a beating..."

Seeing Ririko's reaction, Uesugi Toru instead became even more curious.

He just like chatting with a good buddy threw out a straight question: "So what is the 'surprise' Kitano Classmate spoke of?"

Ririko's face unchanged said: "No, actually there's nothing at all."

Really nothing, fake nothing?

Uesugi Toru pondered for an instant; after Will Attribute Enhancement his thinking speed increased quite a bit, so in a flash he hatched a plan, pointing at Ririko's fair tender face asking: "Then why is Ririko's face so red."

Ririko subconsciously replied: "Angered red."

See, sure enough there is.

My guess was indeed correct.

But Ririko would rather deceive a brother than speak, what to do about this.

Uesugi Toru on the surface hmmed, but inside curiosity was like a little cat scratching an itch.

"Speaking of which, Uesugi-kun, you went out a trip and in terms of Mental Cultivation you broke through too?"

Ririko stared at him, ultimately stiffly and abruptly changing the subject.

Unfortunately Uesugi Toru quite ate this set — because he originally wanted to consult Ririko about Mental Cultivation.

So he put curiosity aside first, said seriously: "Went to Yokohama and killed a Three-Star Demon, so a slight breakthrough is quite normal right."

Is this normal?

Ririko was somewhat confused — when did fighting a battle allow Mental State breakthrough?

If it were really this easy to break through, then those Special Affairs Bureau Staff who constantly deal with demons and hover on the edge of life and death many times should have all achieved Jinken Gōitsu long ago.

Forget it, Uesugi-kun this person cannot be measured by common sense.

Ririko accepted this fact as a matter of course, then bared teeth in a smile: "Then Uesugi-kun, you now suddenly discover you can't Mind-Read my behavior?"

She didn't use a question sentence, but a declarative sentence.

Uesugi Toru slightly stunned: "I was just about to say this. According to Nanjo Sister's words, since my strength is stronger than yours, I should be able to very easily Mind-Read your next actions."

But actually, in Uesugi Toru's eyes Ririko was just like Minami Rituna, completely unable to be Mind-Read, as if this ability had failed.

"Uesugi-kun, these are all tricks I played with ten years ago." Ririko spread hands, but then withdrew them crossing arms: "Mind-Reading, essentially is the 'Mirror of the Mind' in your heart reflecting everything around."

"So when a person's objective strength is too great, or their mental state far exceeds yours, Mind-Reading cannot exert its proper effect."

No wonder.

Uesugi Toru looked at the girl of Sword Heart Penetration before him; after his originally still-as-water mental state transformed into the Mirror of the Mind, he could faintly glimpse a corner of Shizuku's Sword Heart.

He gazed at that corner of her Sword Heart that leaked out unintentionally, and couldn't help but sigh, "Truly beautiful."

Brilliant, pure, and powerful.

"Hey! What are you looking at!"

Shizuku suddenly stood up in her strange posture of arms crossed and legs pressed together, leaving a dark sweat stain on the wooden floor.

She turned her head and said, "I'm going upstairs to shower first!"

"By the way, Uesugi-kun."

Shizuku sat down only after quickly walking to the nearby stairs, then looked back and said,

"I tidied up the house these past two days, but most things weren't moved; I only practiced in the dojo on the first floor."

This successfully drew Uesugi Toru's attention back: "Then where did you sleep these past two days?"

"Of course, meditating in the dojo."

She raised a finger as if it were only natural: "This is Uesugi-kun's home, so where I stay, where I can go, and where I cannot go are all up to you to decide."

"——Before the Master of the House returns and gives his permission, trying not to wander about randomly is basic etiquette, right?"

He had never thought of such trivial details; one could only say she was indeed a young lady of a great family, with etiquette and a sense of rules handled very well.

Uesugi Toru sighed with a smile: "We're all brothers and pals, this kind of small matter doesn't matter, right?"

Seeing Shizuku still standing there with unchanged complexion, Uesugi Toru helplessly spoke: "All areas are open; as for where to live, it's up to your preference."

To be honest, Uesugi Toru himself didn't even know what other places this villa had besides the super-large dojo on the first floor.

But Shizuku was alone at most, so even if she picked the largest room to live in, it didn't matter.

The girl nodded in satisfaction, patting her chest: "Also, as the rent for living in your house—daily upkeep and cleaning, and three meals a day, leave them all to me to be responsible for!"

Uesugi Toru was about to raise his thumb and tell her she was that person, but instead saw the girl's hand patting her chest suddenly freeze, quickly returning to the posture of arms crossed.

?

"Shizuku——"

"Fine! I'll go upstairs to shower and change clothes, then come back down!"

She stood up abruptly.

Uesugi Toru asked without thinking: "Are you still going to cultivate later?"

Shizuku: "Of course I have to cultivate."

Uesugi Toru, confused: "Then why go upstairs to shower and change clothes now? Wouldn't it be better to change together after you finish practicing later?"

Shizuku was momentarily speechless.

Uesugi Toru, seeing this, made a move to stand up: "Come, come, come, how about we spar a round first, just right to verify my progress."

"Don't come over!"

Shizuku turned and fled upstairs.

Thud thud thud footsteps came, Shizuku's figure vanished in a flash on the stairs, only her voice drifted down from afar,

"Anyway, don't ask about this! I'll be right back!"

Looking up at the layered, overlapping stairs, Uesugi Toru touched his chin, recalling Shizuku's various behaviors just now, and vaguely understood what Kitano Runa's words meant.

This guy……has she read too many two-dimensional manga and novels, actually screwing over her best friend like this.

There's quite a bit of bad taste in it, isn't there.

Uesugi Toru thought for a moment, and with the intention of compensation, shouted loudly: "I also brought back a good thing, you're sure to like it!"

"Then I'll wash quickly——"

Hearing the reply, Uesugi Toru sat back in his original place.

He lowered his head and stared for a while at the dark sweat stain on the wooden floor beside him that was about to disappear, and in his heart felt grateful that this floor was large enough and well-ventilated.

Otherwise, with Shizuku's amount of sweat, this dojo would sooner or later smell strong enough to need no salt.

As for why he said the ventilation was good.

Uesugi Toru calmly withdrew his gaze.

Look, in just a little while, the details were gone.

……

Uesugi Toru collected his thoughts and exhaled.

——Shizuku said she washes quickly, but according to his past experience, she takes at least five minutes to bathe.

Five minutes might not be enough for other things, but it's definitely plenty of time to pull a gacha.

Opening the gacha pool page, the four large characters "Edo Castle Suburbs" popped up again.

Under the drizzling rain, the Edo Castle area and the Yokai gacha pool backgrounds first flashed a sudden face, then gradually faded.

The Edo Castle gacha pool page was once again dominated by the black-haired Hundred-Eyed Demon Loli hugging her knees, seemingly fallen into sleep.

Beside the black-haired loli piled a mountain of treasures that seemed even higher, various treasures shining brightly, making it hard to look away.

Uesugi Toru's gaze did not stay on the black-haired loli for even a second—he knew it was unnecessary to hope for something impossible to draw.

Drawing a Yokai Avatar in twenty pulls?

Uesugi Toru didn't dare to do that even in his dreams.

He shook his head, and used his mind to click on "Ten-Pull Salvage" wrapped in a deep, crystal-clear blood-red shell.

1500 points of Soul Ash were consumed like flowing water.

In the gacha pool with the Edo Castle background, the black-haired loli originally floating cross-legged in midair seemed stimulated by some movement, suddenly opened her eyes, and a violent gaze shot out from her scarlet pupils.

She landed beneath the tall Treasure Mountain, her brow tightly furrowed, her porcelain-doll-like small face surging with great dissatisfaction and anger.

Huh?

Uesugi Toru remembered that last time he did a ten-pull, it didn't seem to be like this?

A brand new version of the gacha animation?

Only to see the black-haired loli look around in a circle, and after finding nothing, she let out a heavy cold snort, raising her small feet that were pure white and spotless even if stepped into the mud.

Then, without even looking, she turned around and delivered a spinning kick to the Treasure Mountain, kicking a large pile of miscellaneous goods toward Uesugi Toru's direction.

After doing all this, the black-haired loli kicked the mud beneath her feet several more times, then her anger gradually subsided, and she returned to midair, curling up into a small ball, hugging her knees and closing her eyes.

Ten items fell down simultaneously, which was rare.

The prompt popped up all at once with a clatter—

【Soul-Calming Incense Ash (Minor) ×2】, 【Soul Incense Ash (Small) ×3】, 【Rikishi Talisman】, 【Soul-Calming Incense Ash (Major) ×1】, 【Ashigaru's Spirit Soul】, 【Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball】, 【Ashigaru Armor】.

Uesugi Toru first simply glanced over to confirm there was no Yokai Avatar.

Then he looked over the ten extracted items again; besides the 【Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball】 drawn again, he did not see any item that left a deep impression as before.

"Why did I draw a pile of junk, my luck is too bad... Could it be related to the change in the gacha animation just now?"

Uesugi Toru clicked his tongue, thinking to himself, did he need to ask the Divination Sticks for gacha pulls, pick an auspicious day and find a good hour?

He sighed, first arranging the old and common incense ash in categories—this thing may pollute the gacha pool, but it is also very necessary.

Not only can it upgrade Yokai Avatars, it also helps with his daily cultivation.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Toru looked at 【Soul Incense Ash (Small)】.

His will had just increased by 15 points; using this thing to replace Soul-Calming Incense Ash (Minor) should be no big problem, right?

Uesugi Toru decided to use one when cultivating with Shizuku later, then placed his gaze on the remaining items.

First was still 【Hundred-Eyed Demon's Single Eyeball】.

Uesugi Toru read the introduction over and over several times, then took out another one, discovering that the introductions of the two seemed to be carved from the same mold, with not a bit of difference.

He played with the two eyeballs in his hand, hmm, cool and smooth like jelly.

Generally speaking, items that can be drawn repeatedly in one gacha pool should be like Soul-Calming Incense Ash or performance scrolls, common consumables with wide uses.

So this Hundred-Eyed Demon's eyeball should be the same, except it probably can only be used after drawing a Hundred-Eyed Demon Avatar.

For now, using it as a walnut to play with actually feels quite good in the hand.

Thus, Uesugi Toru played with the eyeballs while looking at the other items.

——【Ashigaru Armor】.

"Hahaha, can Ashigaru wear armor? Then they'd truly be invincible."

Uesugi Toru took out this so-called "armor".

As expected, this Ashigaru Armor only had the "Chest Armor" protecting the front chest and back, and the "Grass Skirt Armor" hanging at the waist like a skirt, plus a "Battle Hat" no different from thin iron sheets, that is, a helmet.

As for other places?

Sorry, there are none.

Ancient Japan's Ashigaru wore this kind of armor, or even worse, to go to the battlefield; whether they lived or died depended entirely on whether the opponent struck accurately.

Let's look at its attributes—

【Ashigaru Armor】

【Quality: Common】

【Effect: Can defend against iron weapon slashes and strikes to a certain extent, but that's all.】

【——Ordinary armor seen everywhere; if you go to a battlefield not yet cleaned up late at night to scavenge armor, perhaps you can harvest over a hundred pieces in one night.】

Uesugi Toru couldn't help but laugh.

This thing and the previous Ronin and Bushi Osode sitting at the same table are all destined to be recycled by Katsumi.

Besides Ashigaru Armor, there is also one 【Ashigaru's Spirit Soul】.

Uesugi Toru is still familiar with and quite fond of this Spirit Soul thing.

After all, previously Sōgen Fire's Spirit Soul plus the Spirit Soul dropped by Qigui forcibly added a rare "Shiretsu" effect to his Kaga Kiyomitsu.

But now looking at this dusty glass ball in his hand, Uesugi Toru was somewhat speechless.

【Ashigaru's Spirit Soul】

【Quality: Common】

【Effect: After injecting a small amount of Spirit Power and using it on a specified weapon or prop, it adds an "extremely weak random bonus attribute" to it.】

【——The Spirit Soul of one of ten thousand Ashigaru; if on a battlefield, perhaps you could dig it up from the mud beneath your feet.】

It seems there are also differences among Spirit Souls.

Ashigaru are equivalent to the most insignificant foot soldiers on the battlefield; Uesugi Toru estimated their strength wouldn't exceed one star, so what they drop is so common and ordinary.

This Ashigaru Spirit Soul can only bring extremely weak bonus attributes; Uesugi Toru still wants to wait until he meets a blacksmith or a Zashiki Warashi to see if he can turn waste into treasure.

So using it later is not too late.

Uesugi Toru was preparing to helplessly close the Gacha Panel and Storage Backpack, when he suddenly remembered he seemed to have one item he hadn't looked at yet.

He moved his gaze to that unremarkable Talisman Paper, then his pupils shrank slightly, and his whole body shook.

Damn, a rare drop!

Such a good thing is actually so unremarkable!

【Rikishi Talisman】

【Quality: Epic】

【Effect: After inputting a small amount of Spirit Power and using it, immediately summon 12 Red Lacquer Helmet Black Armor, strong enough to lift tripods and immune to blades and spears, Yellow Turban Power Warrior projections, lasting one hour. Destroyed immediately after one use.】

【——Crush enemy formations, as if viewing the heavenly light breaking through clouds!】

Epic-level item?!

Uesugi Toru still remembered that when he had previously clicked the Gacha Pool, he hadn't discovered this talisman, and the quality of all items appearing in the Gacha Pool was at most Rare, or Rare+.

That is to say, this Rikishi Talisman is a hidden item in the Gacha Pool?

Uesugi Toru recalled that last time during the gacha pull, the black-haired loli had carefully selected items one by one and taken them out to put away, whereas this time he hadn't even looked and had kicked ten items over with one big flying kick.

Could it be that the gacha animation really affects the drops?

Because Uesugi Toru had previously seen only normal gacha animations, he had never pulled any item or prop beyond the Yokai Avatars in the Gacha Pool.

"I didn't expect that……"

Carefully taking the Rikishi Talisman out of the Storage Backpack, Uesugi Toru pinched the corner of the cold Talisman Paper, and in an instant felt the thick Evil Qi emanating from the talisman.

That Evil Qi rushed into Uesugi Toru's body through his fingertips, making his blood all over his body turn scorching hot.

Truly an epic-level item.

Powerful!

Uesugi Toru examined the complex incantations on the talisman, and after trying hard to decipher them gave up, simply memorizing how the Cinnabar was drawn, just in case.

Wait, Cinnabar?

Uesugi Toru leaned in and sniffed, smelling a faint Bloody Smell from the talisman.

This seems to be a talisman drawn with someone's own fresh blood.

However, Uesugi Toru, who was not skilled in the art of drawing talismans, couldn't understand what great difference there was; he only needed to know how to inject Spirit Power into it.

Just at this moment, the sound of the bathroom door opening, "shala," came from upstairs.

Uesugi Toru put away the Rikishi Talisman, stood up, and found a good spot on the right side of the Dojo not directly hit by sunlight.

Then he took out the Samurai Zanmetsumaru from the Storage Backpack—which could no longer be put back once taken out—and threw it out.

Thud!

Pitch black all over, with eyes tightly closed, the Samurai Zanmetsumaru landed on the Dojo floorboard, slightly shaking.

A strange feeling immediately emanated from it, and then it linked with the "Wu Zi" character in the Dojo.

"The talent that enhances Samurai Zanmetsumaru's Cultivation Speed bonus has been strengthened?"

Uesugi Toru opened its Panel and discovered that behind the original talent "One-Pointed Cultivation" there appeared a small "+" sign.

This character is absolutely extraordinary.

I don't know who Nanjo Sister hired to specially write it out.

Uesugi Toru pondered for a moment, placing his hand on the surface of the Samurai Zanmetsumaru—because of the latter's unique talent design, only the contractor needed to input some Spirit Power into its body to complete the contract.

And no price needed to be paid at all.

This design is truly far ahead of the times in Edo… and even further eras, where contracting a Shikigami usually requires paying a great price.

In less than twenty seconds, Uesugi Toru felt a faint connection established between himself and the Samurai Zanmetsumaru before him.

Although this connection was not as close as with Adult, it was completely fine for communication or ensuring Loyalty.

—Although Uesugi Toru didn't know what meaning there was in making a Zanmetsumaru maintain Loyalty.

"My Lord."

In the silence, the Samurai Zanmetsumaru slowly opened its eyes.

It leaned forward toward Uesugi Toru, counting as a bow.

"Mm."

Uesugi Toru nodded at it, then casually patted its head: "From now on, stay in this Dojo as a Guard House Shikigami; with that Cultivation Maniac around, your days will definitely not be boring."

"Cultivation Maniac?"

Curiosity appeared in the Samurai Zanmetsumaru's pair of majestic Pupils.

Uesugi Toru said nothing, staring at it for a good while, and after confirming that this Zanmetsumaru before him was not the same one he had slain during the Bakumatsu Period, he felt slightly regretful.

If that Samurai Zanmetsumaru from the Sword Trial could be taken out, presumably many secrets of that era could be learned.

He retreated two steps, glanced at the hanging plaque and the majestic Zanmetsumaru, thinking to himself that from now on this floor indeed gradually began to look like a Dojo.

Not two minutes later, Shizuku, wearing her hair in a Ponytail and changed into a proper Kendo uniform, walked down the Stairs.

This time she could finally walk normally, and could raise her hand to greet Uesugi Toru: "Uesugi-kun, I'm here."

The Samurai Zanmetsumaru, who had been concerned about who the "Cultivation Maniac" was, immediately shifted its gaze, and upon seeing that Shizuku was actually female, showed a disappointed expression.

Its eyes slowly closed, and it said sleepily,

"My Lord, how can a mere female be called a Cultivation Maniac…"

Shizuku heard the noise and slightly raised her eyebrows, locking eyes with the Samurai Zanmetsumaru.

The former was stunned for a moment, unable to suppress a look of pleasant surprise.

The latter stared wide-eyed in shock and stammered: "Sword… Sword Sword Sword Saint, Female Sword Saint Adult?! Young Female Sword Saint Adult???"

Hearing the Samurai Zanmetsumaru's title change three times within one sentence, Uesugi Toru laughed somewhat awkwardly.

But Shizuku seemed to have completely not heard that laugh, carefully approaching the Samurai Zanmetsumaru with stars in her eyes, tugging at Uesugi Toru's sleeve and asking,

"Uesugi-kun! This is a Zanmetsumaru, it's a genuine Zanmetsumaru, right!"

Uesugi Toru hadn't expected Shizuku to have seen a Zanmetsumaru too: "Er… you know it?"

"Of course I know!"

The girl couldn't contain her joy, tiptoeing in place.

She carefully reached out and poked the surface of the Samurai Zanmetsumaru, showing a reminiscent expression,

"When I was young, I often secretly ran to the side of the courtyard to watch Big Brother and Third Sister use real swords to slash Zanmetsumaru in the courtyard.

And every time they slashed down, the blue Zanmetsumaru would cheerfully announce a power number from its Mouth."

Actually finding it cheerful rather than deserving a beating—surely Shizuku back then was still a child… not understanding the meaning of mockery.

Uesugi Toru mimicked from the side: "Slash Power—Three Thousand Kan—right?"

"Right right right!"

Shizuku nodded like a chick pecking at rice, sensing the aura emanating from Samurai Zanmetsumaru: "Back then I thought it was some high-tech thing like a mobile phone."

"Never thought it was a shikigami."

The girl said this and exhaled: "But unfortunately, back then I wasn't allowed to strike Zanmetsumaru, so I kept looking for a long time but never got a chance to really touch it."

"—But now I finally have a chance to try the feel!"

Shizuku patted her face, sweeping away the previous disappointment completely.

A fierce yet joyful aura spread through the dojo.

She picked up the bamboo sword placed in the corner of the dojo, walked over, and gazed intently into Uesugi Toru's eyes: "Uesugi-kun, thank you, really thank you for bringing me such a surprise."

The girl stepped forward and kissed Uesugi Toru's cheek at lightning speed.

Immediately, Shizuku turned around without hesitation.

She grinned, raising her somewhat old bamboo sword toward Samurai Zanmetsumaru, yet it felt as if she held a divine weapon that could cut anything.

Samurai Zanmetsumaru finally came back from shock.

It slowly said,

"Sword Saint Adult, please strike."

End of Chapter