Chapter 190: Spirit Control Technique · Expert Level

Tokyo Shibuya Ward, in a quiet room by the mountain.

Before the incense burner, three long incense sticks burned slowly.

Mist spread, calming the mind and spirit.

With black hair falling behind her, Minamoto Shizumi, dressed in plain white, closed her eyes and knelt before this small incense burner.

On her knees lay flat a sword sheath black as ink, about three shaku three sun long, far exceeding the length of an ordinary tachi—a nodachi.

Just one look at this tachi made one feel goosebumps all over, utterly at odds with Minamoto Shizumi's peaceful and tranquil bearing.

This blade is a demonic sword, named Yamato.

Its hamon is the rare "Minato"; the blade emits a pale cold light in the dark, and it is said that for every person killed, the glow on its edge increases by one point.

The Edo essay "Mimibukuro" records: "When the blade is swung, the trail of light lingers like a shooting star."—referring to it.

This Yamato, since ancient times unknown how many yokai and samurai it has slain, now lay quietly on Minamoto Shizumi's knees, bathing in incense with her.

The decoration of the whole quiet room was ordinary, and the girl's movements were also ordinary.

It seemed this was just an ordinary morning.

The only thing worth noting was the mobile phone deliberately placed before the incense burner.

Yes.

Correct, a mobile phone.

A mobile phone without a lock screen, its screen still lit.

"The Fourth Young Miss has been staying alone in the quiet room again, motionless."

"There are always a few times like this every month... forget it, this is not our business to meddle in."

Outside the quiet room, the servant at the doorway lowered their voice to the extreme while conversing, unaware that every word, every rise and fall of each sentence, was heard by Minamoto Shizumi clean sweep.

Minamoto Shizumi did not care.

Because she had long been accustomed to others wagging their tongues behind her back, how many times had it been, and it did not matter this once.

She was just waiting.

—Since returning to the quiet room after six o'clock today, after finishing bathing and burning incense, she had been waiting.

Waiting for the phone prompt to sound.

Time passed bit by bit, but Minamoto Shizumi had long been accustomed.

If not one day, then ten days.

Just waiting; such time passed with the blink of an eye.

But before Minamoto Shizumi could shift her attention from outside the door back into her body, the mobile phone placed before the incense burner buzzed and vibrated.

Slap.

Accompanied by a flash of white light falling on the green answer key, the phone was connected.

Was this an instant, or a moment?

It is hard to say how short this time was.

The result was as if the phone automatically connected, and then Minamoto Shizumi, kneeling on the ground, spoke softly:

"May I ask, is this the current Seed of the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Division..."

She simplified the information she had obtained these past days, then reported it item by item, as if reciting from memory.

Now, on the other end of the phone, for some reason, it abruptly fell into a strange silence.

But Minamoto Shizumi could still hear the rumble of a car engine from the other side, and even the sound of electric current surging in electronic equipment.

So she clearly and distinctly reported her name softly,

"Hello, I am Minamoto Shizumi."

After another long silence, a somewhat stiff voice came from the speaker: "Hello, Miss Minamoto, I am Uesugi Toru."

Pausing, the speaker continued to vibrate: "May I ask, what business do you have with me?"

Minamoto Shizumi kept her back straight and spoke word by word,

"I wish to personally apologize to you, Uesugi-kun, regarding the matter of spying last time when Saito Ryuichi and I dined with you and your shikigami."

"—Uesugi Toru, I am sorry."

Minamoto Shizumi's voice was extremely sincere.

So on the other end of the phone, after a long while, a surprised "Ah?" was transmitted.

Minamoto Shizumi waited quietly, and so after another while, Uesugi Toru spoke somewhat stiffly over the phone,

"Uh... okay, thank you for your apology, Miss Minamoto."

He said: "Mm, I accept it."

Slap.

Another flash of white light.

The phone was hung up.

Minamoto Shizumi, who had knelt for nearly a whole morning, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Because if she did not hear Uesugi Toru personally accept her apology, her heart could not calm down at all.

Now it was fine.

"From now on, don't do those sneaky things with Saito anymore."

—Peeking once, she couldn't sleep well for several days.

Minamoto Shizumi murmured softly, then in an instant entered meditation and deep contemplation, casting everything of the external world outside her heart.

Minamoto Shizumi, determined to defeat all rivals and gain her sister's recognition, continued to step forward alone on the path called "Hundred Tempers of the Mental State."

Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Division doorway.

Staring at Uesugi Toru's mobile phone, which had been hung up with a swipe and then started beeping, the two of them fell into an indescribable silence between one person and one ball.

Both having been ready to take off some things, Akatsuki Ran, who had eaten a baffling melon, scratched her head: "What does this sister mean? Do people of the Minamoto Clan all like saying such inexplicable things?"

Uesugi Toru, equally confused for a while, summarized with a strange complexion,

"You mean to say, my opponent in the Tokyo Seed War, Minamoto Clan direct daughter Minamoto Shizumi, was monitoring me together with Yin-Yang Technique user Saito Ryuichi before.

And because she felt guilty in her heart, she came today to sincerely and extremely earnestly apologize, and all just to apologize."

Akatsuki Ran:?

"What the heck? Why does this require an apology." She couldn't understand, "Before the match, each using their own means and methods to spy on the opponent's intelligence isn't that long-established tacitly accepted unspoken rule?"

Akatsuki Ran said confusedly: "Monitoring for a while counts as what, even if it's twenty-four hours of visual rape I completely don't feel there's any problem at all."

Uesugi Toru's forehead twitched as he listened, stuffing the mobile phone back into his pocket: "Maybe that's why she's stronger than you."

Akatsuki Ran refused to accept: "Senior Brother is just like me, he's far more formidable than this little young lady!"

Uesugi Toru: "Those who don't know would think you're called 'Senior Brother'."

Akatsuki Ran, retorted into exiting power-saving mode again—what she wanted wasn't this kind of verbal attack, give her physical attack of equivalent intensity, physical attack!

Uesugi Toru didn't pay her any more attention, just pondered slightly.

—This Minamoto Shizumi, she really is a somewhat interesting person.

But she actually managed to get my information so clearly... the data Nanjo Sister sent before said she was "arrogant, indifferent, and overbearing."

It seems public data really can't be trusted too much.

"Finished chatting now? Then I'll continue speaking, the sooner I finish speaking the sooner I'll slip away."

Rituna Minami's electronic voice interrupted Uesugi Toru's train of thought.

Uesugi Toru decided to nod after getting to know Minamoto Shizumi well once the Second Ring ends,

"Nanjo Sister, you say."

"Wasn't it said before that the black telephone booth is making trouble again."

It seems someone is debugging, so the electronic voice inside the silver ball fluctuates more and less, but this doesn't affect Rituna Minami continuing to speak,

"Although last time I told you on the phone not to worry about this wave.

But just a few hours ago, this black telephone booth began spreading rapidly using the wave as a carrier... Mononoke are just that annoying, always able to spread in inexplicable ways.

In just these few hours, it has already branched out in Tokyo's urban area—or rather, compared to Tokyo, it appears more in small cities outside Tokyo."

Crackle!

After a huge electric current passed, the entire silver ball was completely renewed.

After two sounds of wrench knocking, a tender boy's voice drilled out of the small ball: "It should be debugged now, Nanjo Auntie, you try again?"

Nanjo... Auntie?

I look at this Satoru-kun, he's also a ruthless person.

Uesugi Toru observed his nose and his nose observed his heart, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

The small ball fell silent for several seconds, and then Rituna Minami, without taking a single breath, spoke as if nothing had happened,

"And this black telephone booth specifically targets ordinary people to kill, so it won't attract the attention of various local powers."

Satoru-kun's technical skills really seem good, there's not a bit of electric current sound in the small ball this time.

Rituna Minami: "Although I've already intercepted fragments of the black telephone booth's spread not long ago, and already cleared the telephone booths in Arakawa Ward overnight.

On the main body's side, someone has already gone to find it, at most one week to solve it.

But Uesugi-kun, you still need to be more careful."

This abrupt turn left Uesugi Toru stunned for a moment, he asked puzzledly: "Where's the reason?"

"Because this Mononoke seems to have shown signs of evolution... also, you've contacted the Demon Guide Society before, right."

Demon Guide Society.

To speak of his contact with this Genjitsu organization, it was probably only that Nue time.

Just one or two thousand Soul Ash, actually able to make such a big organization eye this little Kokara?

Uesugi Toru responded with an affirmative sound.

Then he heard Rituna Minami say: "This black telephone booth, from the radio wave fragments I intercepted, is actually the handiwork of the Demon Guide Society."

She coldly smiled,

"Following behind the Lingering Aftermath of the Tide, those rats hiding in the shadows have once again reached out their hands to the Genjitsu.

But it's just right, can chop off two claws to establish prestige, if there really are fearless fellows who pull them up by the roots, that's also not unacceptable."

Even the Demon Guide Society, which doesn't count for much in Katsumi's words, has taken action, so will those Factory Masters, Warring States Daimyo, and the Eight Sufferings remain idle?

Uesugi Toru only felt the Genjitsu was a huge cake, and those greedy diners holding bloody knives and forks were floating on the surface of the tide, approaching little by little...

Rituna Minami said as usual,

"If your trouble-attracting constitution encounters any Yokai Kaidan you can't solve, remember to tell me first or report to the Special Affairs Division, either is fine."

Uesugi Toru said helplessly to the silver ball: "Me causing trouble? Nanjo Sister, how about first managing Kitano Classmate so she doesn't suffer inexplicably again..."

"You brat can even encounter Sickness Retainers, and still have the nerve to say you don't cause trouble?" Rituna Minami was merciless, "In my opinion, ordinary people don't see the Eight Sufferings once in their whole life!"

"So before you say this, first look in the mirror at what you do all day, okay!"

—I time-traveled back five hundred years ago, and now I'm helping Great Daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto of the Tokaido against sickness and suffering.

This kind of talk certainly couldn't be spoken out loud.

So Uesugi Toru simply kept his mouth shut.

"Alright, go play on your own."

Rituna Minami also knew he probably wouldn't say anything, she yawned, "If you lack any resources by then, just directly ask me for them, I'll give them if I have them, okay?"

"Fine." Uesugi Toru replied.

Rituna Minami ended the communication cleanly—letting the Silver Ball drift back directly, turning back into its original surveillance camera.

Its function was fully restored within just a few seconds.

Uesugi Toru was about to leave, only to find his sleeve grabbed by Akatsuki Ran, who had pulled her mask down to her chin.

She gave a tired hehe smile and blew him a flying kiss,

"If Uesugi-kun, you feel unhappy or uncomfortable anywhere later, you can come find me anytime to vent your anger fiercely, it's okay no matter how you treat me~"

After saying that, she let go of her hand, trying to play hard to get.

—Fortunately, she let go after saying that heaven-defying line, otherwise Uesugi Toru, in a hurry, would definitely have thrown out a deliberate punch.

Uesugi Toru instantly threw those heaven-defying words behind him and ran toward the distant mountain's outline.

He wanted to find an uninhabited place with slightly higher Spirit Concentration to take the Julin Wan.

Six minutes later.

Lightly landing in a Dense Forest with decent Spirit Concentration, Uesugi Toru took out the Julin Wan from his Storage Backpack.

Without a word, he threw it into his mouth in one go.

A Prompt immediately popped up.

【You took the Compressed Gathering Spirit Pill·Extreme!】

Following that, a massive amount of Spirit Power suddenly surged within his body!

For a moment, Uesugi Toru even felt he would be made to bleed from all seven orifices by this surging Spirit Power.

But in just an instant, his Spirit Control Technique seemed to be triggered by an automatic switch.

In two or three seconds, it completely absorbed this massive mass of Spirit Qi that normally would take days of absorption to accumulate, not a bit left.

As if telling Uesugi Toru, you don't need to move, let us move ourselves.

Next, the upgrade Prompt for the Spirit Control Technique naturally popped up.

【Your Skill, Spirit Control Technique Proficiency +300!】

【Your Skill, Spirit Control Technique has been raised to Expert Level!】

Two similar Prompts of Proficiency increase and Skill level increase that Uesugi Toru had seen countless times leaped out.

He should have skimmed past them and continued looking down.

But this time, it seemed...

Something was different.

But, where was the difference?

Uesugi Toru blinked with a hint of confusion, and suddenly felt the world among his five senses became boundlessly vast.

From an original "Circle" extending toward the farther Horizon, extending... continuing to expand and expand as if without end.

He clenched his fist, gazing at the Spirit Power spilling out like water from between his fingers, gradually surging.

Was it because—the Spirit Control Technique had reached Expert Level?

Was it like that?

Uesugi Toru quietly contemplated the five senses and world completely different from before, while slowly moving his gaze.

【Spirit Control Technique (Expert 195/4000)】

【Effect: Control the Qi of Heaven and Earth, connect with the spirits of all things.】

Going from Mastery to Expert Level only required four times the Proficiency, it could be said to be very cost-effective.

The Breathing Technique next door, just going from Proficiency to Mastery Level required about this multiple, hard to imagine how much Proficiency would be needed to raise a small level after truly reaching Mastery Level.

The Effect column remained unchanged, highlighting the simple and crude efficacy of the Spirit Control Technique.

Then came the direct improvement brought by Expert Level Spirit Control Technique.

【Because your Spirit Control Technique has been raised to Expert Level, your Spirit Arts +10!】

【Because your Spirit Control Technique has been raised to Expert Level, your affinity for Spirit Power has greatly increased!】

【Because your Spirit Control Technique has been raised to Expert Level, your perception of "Qi" will become more sensitive!】

The first two items were easy to understand.

Nowadays, Uesugi Toru could cause a small-scale Spirit Tide around his body just by casually breathing in a mouthful.

—Because Spirit Power always surges from places of high concentration to places of low concentration, and the greater the concentration difference, the faster the speed.

But what was this more sensitive perception of "Qi"?

Qi?

Internal Qi? Gang Qi? Or Spirit Qi?

Uesugi Toru couldn't figure out where the improvement lay for a while, and instead first opened the concise and intuitive Data Panel.

【Uesugi Toru】

【Physique: 51】

【Will: 31】

【Charm: 12】

【Spirit Arts: 33→43】

Just in the base state, he possessed over 50 points of Physique and nearly 50 points of Spirit Technique Attribute.

If Uesugi Toru wore the mask and Jade Tablet, and slightly activated the Breathing Technique, he could easily break through the hundred-point mark in Physique.

And if he transformed into a Four-Tailed Fox, his Spirit Technique Attribute would soar to 89 points, not inferior to most Onmyoji who had just reached Three-Star.

Uesugi Toru casually closed the Attribute Panel, then tried to circulate the Spirit Control Technique to suppress the Spiritual Power Fluctuation on his body surface.

After all, if he went out covered in Spirit Power Fluctuations almost turning liquid, it wouldn't be much different from a giant human-shaped LED Lamp.

"Hmm?"

Uesugi Toru lowered his head somewhat bewildered, gazing at his body surface that now had nothing left.

The surging Spirit Power... had actually been pressed back by Spirit Control Technique within this instant?

This effect was really unexpectedly good.

The significantly increased Spirit Power Quantity, the higher degree of control over Spirit Power, and the five senses that were still constantly extending and changing even until now...

These seemed to be changes brought about by the upgrade of Spirit Control Technique?

The improvement brought by Mastery Level Spirit Control Technique might be far more than the effect of the "Heartstring Amplifier" he had previously imagined.

Just as Uesugi Toru was thinking this, several more prompts suddenly popped up occupying the center of his vision.

【Your skill Spirit Control Technique has been upgraded to "Mastery Level"!】

【Please make a choice for your skill Spirit Control Technique between "Qi" and "Spirit" to determine your focus path from now on.】

【Please note, this choice is extremely important! Please choose carefully!】

Choice?

Qi and Spirit?

Uesugi Toru stared at these three lines of prompts, slightly frowning in thought.

He couldn't help but recall what Shizuku had told him in the past, that after swordsmanship entered "Mastery Level," one would inevitably encounter—

The choice between "Technique" and "Principle."

"One side is Sword Technique, one side is Sword Principle, so as someone who has just stepped into the threshold of the Supernatural, how should you choose your focus direction for the rest of your life?"

Now, the problem placed before Uesugi Toru was exactly this.

【Qi】

【——It is the breath of life, the pulse of nature, the bond circulating between Heaven and Earth and the Human Realm.】

【Spirit】

【——All things have spirit; I should be the chief of all spirits.】

After Qi and Spirit, there were only two short lines of introduction.

How exactly should he choose?

Uesugi Toru recalled the prompt just now, then tentatively caused a wisp of Gang Qi to pop out from his fingertip.

Two seconds later, he confirmed that "Qi" was at least related to Gang Qi.

Associating with the easily suppressed dispersed Spirit Power, that should also be deeply related to Spirit Qi.

Even judging by this introduction, perhaps anything that could be connected to "Qi" could be involved.

——As for "Spirit," it was probably more inclined toward Yin-Yang Technique and Shikigami?

Uesugi Toru fell into thought, flipped through the prompts several more times, and confirmed there was no third option to simultaneously choose "Qi and Spirit."

Perhaps it was because his attainment in Yin-Yang Technique was really too low—only the three-legged cat kung fu of Five Elements Onmyodo Entry Level.

As for whether Five Thunder Method: Kiai could count as Yin-Yang Technique, it was hard to say.

If he had been able to focus on studying Yin-Yang Technique before Spirit Control Technique advanced to Mastery Level, raising all Four Paths Five Elements to Mastery Level...

Then perhaps a third option would have popped up now.

"Pity."

Uesugi Toru shook his head.

But he had not the slightest hesitation, placing his will above the "Qi" prompt.

He pressed down heavily!

——Now that things had come to this, regretting the past had no meaning at all.

Obsessing over things that could no longer be changed was something only weaklings would do.

And the strong would cheerfully choose to accept and remember this regret, then continue walking toward the future and ensure they would not repeat the mistake.

【You have chosen the focus path Qi!】

【Your skill, Spirit Control Technique, has undergone an important change!】

【Spirit Control Technique·Qi (Mastery 195/4000)】

【Effect: Breath of Heaven, Breath of Earth, Breath of Man.】

【——Heart-piercing resonance, this is truth.】

Accompanied by several prompts popping up, Uesugi Toru blankly gazed at the wisp of pure white Gang Qi at his fingertip.

It had changed.

Something had changed.

The circulation of Gang Qi, Five Thunder Method: Kiai, the flow of Spirit Power within his body, and even his unconscious breathing... all of these had undergone indescribable changes.

Changing at the same time was the five senses that had stopped extending and expanding.

They had turned into a ring again, only the range was now expanded several times over compared to before.

Uesugi Toru took a deep breath.

Turbulent power surged out from every part of his flesh, and the vitality filled to the extreme made him feel slightly intoxicated.

Although the Panel attributes had no improvement at all, and Spirit Power Quantity and flesh strength had not changed, Uesugi Toru could feel that he had become more "strong."

Strong was a relative, usually more subjective concept.

But the current Uesugi Toru could turn this subjectivity into reality.

He rubbed his fingertips, playing with the Gang Qi that obeyed his commands like an arm and finger and the lightning that had already circled one hundred and eight times, and after glancing at the time he clenched his fist,

"There are still a few minutes until half an hour, so let's first try it a little."

First was Corona Breathing Technique, or rather its most obvious external manifestation—Gang Qi circulation.

Uesugi Toru's mind stirred slightly, and the Gang Qi circulation originally clinging to his body surface, nearly impossible to observe with the naked eye, abruptly expanded outward.

Crack!

The small tree beside him was instantly ground into a pile of fine powder by the expanding Gang Qi circulation, scattering into the midair with the gentle breeze.

Uesugi Toru retracted the Gang Qi circulation back to its original form somewhat embarrassedly, having already understood that his current degree of control over Gang Qi had increased by more than ten times over before.

But the strength of the Gang Qi circulation is not easy to test.

This, we'll wait until returning to the Sengoku Period and let the Sickness Retainers test it with their bodies.

He raised his hand again, using his fingertip to pull out a thin, winding thread of electric light, staring at it as it transformed into the shapes of over a thousand Chinese characters in the span of a few seconds.

Uesugi Toru flicked his finger again and withdrew it, making a streak of lightning that had raced into midair obediently return to coil around his fingertip.

"But this kind of flowery showiness doesn't have much use..."

For lightning whose purpose is lethality, fast, accurate, and ruthless are still the most important.

Uesugi Toru blinked his eye.

Consequently, surrounding him for several circles, all seventy-eight trees, whether tall or short, at the center of their trunks seventeen centimeters from the ground, each gained an additional faint black dot.

"This is more like it."

He clapped his hands in satisfaction.

Uesugi Toru placed his gaze on the Spirit Control Technique, which was now ranked at the very top of all skills.

This mere little Spirit Control Technique brought him changes that were truly unexpectedly large.

Before this, the Spirit Control Technique was merely an upgraded version of the Basic Spirit Absorption Method, at most adding a line able to communicate with Shinrei Kobutsu.

But merely crossing a single rank, the Spirit Control Technique transformed completely, raising his overall Combat Power by a large margin, and with great promise for the future.

Then if the Tennen Rishin-ryu, which is already powerful and serves as a main combat skill, were to upgrade...

Oh, right.

Speaking of communicating with Shinrei Kobutsu, Uesugi Toru almost forgot that he had run out this time to upgrade the Spirit Control Technique precisely to achieve better communication with Kaga Kiyomitsu.

He patted Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword sheath to signal apology, then closed his eyes and sank his awareness into his heart.

Heartstring, heartstring...

In just a few seconds, Uesugi Toru clearly "saw" two heartstrings, speed more than ten times faster than last time.

He familiarly locked onto Kaga Kiyomitsu's heartstring, operating the Spirit Control Technique.

Soon, one could see that heartstring, originally only fixed in place, thinner than a kite string, rapidly become surrounded by glow!

Then, under Uesugi Toru's gaze, this heartstring grew thick, grew large, grew thick, grew large...

Finally, it transformed into a sound, healthy heartstring, thickness barely different from when the Adult was by his side, fully capable of clear communication!

Uesugi Toru snapped his eyes open, looking toward Kaga Kiyomitsu who was emitting a doubtful, slight tremble.

He curved his mouth corners, sending a fluctuation through the heartstring—

"Done! Xiao Jia, can you hear now!"

"Buzz buzz? Buzz buzz buzz?"

Uesugi Toru:?

How is it still buzzing sounds?

He suspected he had misheard, so he plugged his ears with Gang Qi and asked a few more sentences through the heartstring.

Immediately, unexpectedly, he received buzz buzz buzz answers again.

Uesugi Toru asked in confusion: "No, Xiao Jia, are you a mosquito?"

"Buzz..."

Kaga Kiyomitsu replied somewhat disappointedly.

Seeing it shrink back into its sword sheath, even showing signs of shutting down, Uesugi Toru hurriedly comforted it properly for a while before it started buzzing again.

—Strange, why is Xiao Jia still buzzing.

—But the heartstring definitely has no problem; originally he could only sense a bit of emotion, but now he can already very clearly hear what Kaga Kiyomitsu is saying, including the rises and falls of the buzzing and pitch changes.

Uesugi Toru thought for a moment, fell silent.

—Could it be that Kaga Kiyomitsu is currently equivalent to an infant who has only just been born with spiritual wisdom, and still completely cannot speak?

If that's the case, then hasn't he become a dad ahead of schedule, starting a from-zero early education life?

Or would learning "Jia language" be easier?

Anyway, Kaga Kiyomitsu can roughly know what he wants to do.

After letting Kaga Kiyomitsu not get bored, buzz a few more sentences in his heart to create a language environment first, Uesugi Toru then took out the History Key.

But that sentence just now was probably superfluous, because Kaga Kiyomitsu showed not the slightest boredom, but rather high spirits, wishing it could say ten sentences a second.

It really is that noisy with human voices...

Uesugi Toru remarked with feeling, first taking out the document bag from the Storage Backpack, spending over a minute reading it in detail, letting it be transformed by the incantation on it into a mass of dissipating Spirit Power.

After this, he directly infused Spirit Power into the History Key right here in the mountain.

Outside Yoshida Castle, dawn had just barely broken.

Uesugi Toru, having meticulously maintained both Gang Qi circulation and Spiritual Power Fluctuation at the levels before his departure, landed before the dozing Mountain Whale King,

"Whale Three, were there any special situations last night?"

"Nothing happened, all is well."

The Mountain Whale King smacked its lips, replying without even opening its eyes.

Behind it, three Komainu Hatamoto who had originally stood imposingly like statues, the moment they saw Uesugi Toru, barked "woof woof" and surrounded him, exceptionally affectionate.

Uesugi Toru patted the doggies' heads, just about to walk into the house to ask if Imagawa Yoshimoto had rested well, when he saw her walk out with a solemn face.

"——The carrier pigeon still hasn't flown back."

Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed, turning her gaze toward the direction where the morning sun rose.

She said softly,

"Yoshida Castle has probably fallen."

Uesugi Toru also calculated it slightly in his mind.

The carrier pigeon had been released by Imagawa Yoshimoto roughly twenty hours ago; if nothing had happened inside Yoshida Castle—even if it was just nothing within the Matsudaira Clan—the pigeon should have returned safely.

Because the Sickness Retainers, not being too smart, wouldn't attack a pigeon flying in midair.

Unless they were caught after falling into the hands of the Matsudaira Clan.

Uesugi Toru responded expressionlessly.

This was also within expectations.

It was just a relatively bad situation.

It was just unknown which independent Retainer with Spiritual Wisdom under Sickness and Suffering had come...

Delusional Spirit? Smallpox Imperial Presence? Coughing God? Or Binding Suffering?

He only hoped it wasn't the most troublesome one.

He was about to share some small knowledge about Sickness Retainers with Imagawa Yoshimoto when a prompt suddenly popped up before his eyes.

【Current Constant World Walker's Historical Influence on History: 1%→1.1%!】

Did Historical Influence increase at this moment?

Clearly, before, when his Historical Influence Value had greatly increased with one slash, and when exorcising Sickness Retainers in the surrounding villages, Historical Influence hadn't changed at all.

Why did it suddenly increase now?

Uesugi Toru was stunned for a moment.

He took a while to react that perhaps it was the merit of Adult Ni.

Yes, it had been a full five days, yet Adult Ni and Motonobu-nee still had no news.

Calculating the time, they should have arrived nearby by now.

And after Uesugi Toru sensed his Heartstring, he found that the distance between Adult Ni and himself had barely closed at all.

Strange.

Uesugi Toru, following the same method, enlarged and thickened the Heartstring connecting him to Adult Ni, and after a while reached the point where he could vaguely perceive the other's emotions.

He tugged the Heartstring hard, sending a question.

After a moment, the other end of the Heartstring vibrated violently.

"Troublesome," "Safe."

Such information was transmitted over.

That is to say, although they had encountered trouble, it seemed it could be resolved.

Uesugi Toru exhaled, feeling slightly relieved.

After all, if Adult Ni's Shikigami body had a problem with safety, that would be a loss outweighing the gain.

"Lord Imagawa, Adult Ni and Motonobu-nee have encountered troublesome trouble on their end, but whether it's Yoshida Castle or the situation of the entire Mikawa Province, it's no longer something that can be delayed..."

He paused slightly, looking at Imagawa Yoshimoto, whose expression was solemn but whose whole person was as calm as still water, and said seriously,

"We may have to rely on ourselves first."

The Lord of Mikawa Province faced the morning sun and took a deep breath, then asked calmly,

"Are you confident?"

Uesugi Toru knew this was asking him.

Thus Uesugi Toru, who had just broken through his Spirit Control Technique to Expert Level, was about to let Tennen Rishin-ryu welcome another breakthrough, and had mastered relevant data on Sickness and Suffering from the Special Affairs Division, curled the corners of his mouth,

"To say it's fully within grasp might be a bit boastful."

He smiled as he carefully held up the girl's fist, whose nails had already embedded into her flesh, pried it open, and then dropped a drop of Awakening Spirit Mist onto it: "Lord Imagawa, Toru can only say he will do his best."

Imagawa Yoshimoto stared at Uesugi Toru, staring at this mysterious and unfathomable Great Onmyoji who was still willing to kneel and serve as her Retainer.

She felt the thread of warmth transmitted from her palm, and the anxiety, urgency, and gloom in her heart, stretched almost to the extreme, were somewhat alleviated.

Imagawa Yoshimoto spoke expressionlessly; since Mountain Whale King joined the team, she had rarely produced extra expressions.

"Since that's the case, let's set out."

The three of them mounted their horses, and the three Komainu Hatamoto lightly followed behind the horses, running.

Not long after, Uesugi Toru's group had already left the village and arrived at a small forest on a hill closest to Yoshida Castle.

At the mountainside here, they could already see the outline of Yoshida Castle from afar, which hadn't changed much compared to before.

Just as they were about to leave this hill, at the edge of the woods, came the shout of a spirited old man,

"Good men! Can you lend an old man a hand!"

End of Chapter