Chapter 202: Immense Wish Power, the Possibility of Er Chi Adult Charging Straight to Three-Star

Is this Buddha statue alive?

Uesugi Toru swept his gaze over the Buddha statue as if nothing were amiss.

But when he looked back again, the feeling of being watched was gone.

Er Chi Adult asked doubtfully through the Heartstring: "Toru-sama, what's wrong?"

Uesugi Toru kept his expression unchanged and told her everything he had just felt.

"It's an illusion... no, this must be why I told you to touch this Buddha statue earlier."

Er Chi Adult's tone was unusually serious: "I need to confirm something with this."

"I understand." Uesugi Toru replied through the Heartstring.

—Originally, Er Chi Adult, being several kilometers away, should have had no way of knowing there was a wooden Buddha statue beside him.

After all, she didn't have Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes that could observe every detail down to the finest point.

So this Buddha statue must have something special about it.

Uesugi Toru raised his head, met the pupils carved bit by bit by a skilled woodworker on the Buddha statue, and put on an expression of pleading and hope.

Just like the refugees who had seen other Buddha statues.

"Namu Amida Buddha, Namu..."

While chanting, Uesugi Toru extended his finger and "accidentally" rubbed against the futon on the Buddha statue's base, nearly stumbling and falling to the ground.

Then he hurriedly apologized to the Buddha statue, looking extremely devout.

Actually—

Uesugi Toru immediately plucked the Heartstring: "Did you sense anything?"

"Toru-sama..."

Er Chi Adult's tone was hesitant, and she said uncertainly: "Inside this Buddha statue by the roadside, there seems to be a lot of Wish Power stored."

"A lot?"

"Mm, a very large amount."

Er Chi Adult paused, stammering a bit,

"Just this one statue alone has more than double the Wish Power of all the Buddha statues in the Hongan-ji Temple we visited in Genjitsu combined."

"So Toru-sama, you're saying the Buddha statue was looking at you earlier... this is just because there's too much Wish Power radiating out, giving you a false feeling."

Uesugi Toru was slightly stunned.

He turned his head and gazed toward the end of the street—there were three or four more Buddha statues like this on this street alone.

Uesugi Toru remembered that what Er Chi Adult needed for her Shinto Path promotion was Wish Power, right?

The promotion was slower now simply because too few people came to worship at the Hongan-ji Temple...

But Wish Power, equivalent to Experience Points, was simply too numerous to count in these Buddha statues in Isshiki Town.

—Because as far as the eye could see, the whole street was full of commoners who believed in the Pure Land True Sect.

They were simple and devout, firmly believing that as long as they prayed to these Buddha statues, they could receive the Buddha's grace to cure the diseases on their bodies that brought suffering.

Er Chi Adult continued: "That is, the Wish Power in this Buddha statue is rather mixed."

"Mixed? What does that mean?"

Uesugi Toru didn't stay where he was, but continued walking north with the crowd.

"Uh... I can't say for sure specifically, but anyway, it's different from the Wish Power in Genjitsu, and doesn't seem like something that can be directly absorbed."

Er Chi Adult, who had only passively received Wish Power from beginning to end, naturally couldn't understand such a profound question.

Uesugi Toru pondered.

—If so much Wish Power could be purified and then absorbed by Er Chi Adult, presumably she could quickly fill the remaining bit of the Progress Bar and break through to Two-Star Half.

Even, after absorbing it all, breaking through directly to Three-Star wasn't out of the question.

As for whether there were means in Genjitsu to "purify" large amounts of "mixed Wish Power," Uesugi Toru thought there definitely were.

Over such a long time, countless Shikigami and Onmyoji who had walked the Shinto Path must have absolutely encountered this kind of problem before him.

And where there was demand, there would naturally be corresponding solutions.

At times like this, just believe in the wisdom of the predecessors.

Uesugi Toru kept a Mental Eye on it, deciding to ask around in Genjitsu after the Sanzhou Incident ended.

There was so much Wish Power accumulated by illegal means in evil temples colluding with Yokai; it would be too much of a pity not to use it on the righteous path.

Uesugi Toru was slowly wriggling through the vast sea of people when suddenly he felt wave after wave of intense commotion coming from beyond his line of sight.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's voice came at the right time: "Tetsu-kun, quite a few monks have come out in the temple; it seems the Gratitude Lecture is about to begin."

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who could eavesdrop on surrounding sounds through a Transmission Talisman, naturally knew what this "Gratitude Lecture" was.

Uesugi Toru silently acknowledged, then once again turned into a Phantom and weaved toward the front of the crowd.

Two minutes later, Uesugi Toru, squeezed so tightly he couldn't move at all, twitched the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but stop.

Being able to feel a population density like Shinjuku and Shibuya in the Sengoku Period was truly outrageous.

But this position was barely enough to see those so-called masters and Buddha Sons of the Pure Land True Sect.

Uesugi Toru raised his head, showing a fanatical expression no different from the surrounding crowd, as if carved from the same mold.

—On the edge of his vision, more than a few half-dead birds were circling, and Uesugi Toru would never treat taking the enemy for fools as something he would do.

Buddha Son...

Under Uesugi Toru's gaze, that bald youth, who had neither thick Spirit Power fluctuations nor cultivated Gang Qi circulating, was smiling and waving at the crowd.

And this so-called Buddha Son, just by standing there, could draw extremely devout and fanatical cheers and praises from the surrounding crowd.

Uesugi Toru couldn't help but coldly laugh in his heart.

—This thing that might not even be able to defeat a half-dead bird, could it cure so many diseases left behind by Sickness Retainers in a matter of minutes?

Trusting him is not as good as trusting that I am the legendary Lord of the Eternal World.

"But so many people keep surging over at regular intervals, which proves he does have a few tricks up his sleeve."

Uesugi Toru decided to wait and see, watching how this Buddhist child actually treats sickness.

Not long after, accompanied by the bell sounds from within the Pure Land True Sect, everyone was as if simultaneously pressed a mute switch.

Standing in place, they fell silent without a word.

Then Uesugi Toru saw a man burning all over, covered in dense sores, whose flesh had become a culture dish for who knows how many ailments, kowtowing step by step before the Buddhist child.

After saying some words, that man knelt and bowed on the ground.

The Buddhist child smiled faintly and raised a hand.

Uesugi Toru's pupils shrank slightly, and in complete silence he activated the Corona Breathing Technique Fifth Form, striving not to miss any detail.

Slap.

The Buddhist child's fair palm landed on the man's head, and then a patch of dazzling fluorescent light drifted out.

The next moment, the man who had been tormented by over a dozen diseases to the brink of death suddenly sat up straight, discovering that all his ailments, both external and internal...

actually vanished completely in an instant, clean sweep!

Indeed, right under Uesugi Toru's eyelids, in the moment the Buddhist child's palm rose and fell, he became incredibly healthy.

But Uesugi Toru was not shocked by this; instead, he murmured coldly in his heart,

"I saw it very clearly..."

—that patch of fluorescent light shed by the Buddhist child was not Buddha Light at all, but a swarm of Vision-Calamity Worms!

The Vision-Calamity Worm swarm only needs to activate their abilities simultaneously to make ordinary people mistake them for clusters of extremely auspicious Buddha Light.

—Also, at the moment the Buddhist child raised his hand, a blood-red prompt suddenly popped up above his head.

—【Sickness Retainer · Chong Ke God (Three-Star Half)】.

Although I don't know why no prompt appeared when I first saw him, now this so-called Buddhist child has finally revealed his true colors.

Believing in Buddha to receive Buddha's grace... these diseases are spread by the Sickness Retainers; isn't it simple for their leader to take them back?

And only after confirming the Buddhist child was a Three-Star Half Sickness Retainer did Uesugi Toru discover that the monk soldiers standing beside him also seemed to have stiff complexions, not like normal people.

From the situation just now, this group of guys are most likely all Sickness Retainers, only they don't know what method they used to temporarily deceive the prompt.

"Could it be that these people are actually still alive?"

Uesugi Toru repeatedly examined the bodies of the monk soldiers,

"merely having their flesh occupied by yokai, so that when not using yokai power they are recognized as humans by the prompt?"

Besides that, the expressions on those masters' faces were more lively, not looking like they were being controlled.

Putting it that way... isn't this Pure Land True Sect a demon nest where yokai wearing human skins manage together with the original Buddhist masters?

Just as Uesugi Toru's gaze swept over the surroundings, the man who had been cured was already looking at Chong Ke God in disbelief, weeping bitterly as he offered thanks to it.

"Cough... cough..."

Illusory coughing sounds echoed beside Uesugi Toru's ears.

Subtle discomfort appeared on his body, but was then completely removed in an instant.

—This Chong Ke God, while pretending to take back diseases from believers, is also spreading diseases!

Uesugi Toru immediately shifted his gaze, discovering that the crowd around him not only failed to notice this coughing sound, but their gazes became even more firm and devout because of it.

It seems the vast majority of Isshiki Town's residents' spirits have also become abnormal, and have been bewitched by the Sickness Retainers through unknown means.

The situation is roughly understood; time to leave.

Uesugi Toru's heart gave rise to the intention to retreat.

It was not that he could not fight the Sickness Retainers in Isshiki Town.

But if he acted now, even if he slaughtered Chong Ke God and all the retainers, it would have no essential impact on the current situation.

It would only startle the snake by beating the grass.

The loss outweighs the gain.

After making such a decision in his heart, Uesugi Toru continued to maintain exactly the same movements, expressions, and words as the ordinary people beside him.

Until Chong Ke God "treated" hundreds of people, and the Gratitude Lecture ended.

Under an atmosphere of piety, the human tide receded like water.

Uesugi Toru thus took the opportunity to silently leave Isshiki Town, returning to the Floating Square Block that had descended onto the ground.

"Tetsu-kun, any gains..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto had just opened her mouth when she saw Uesugi Toru's complexion gloomy like water.

Uesugi Toru calmly replied: "It has been confirmed that Sickness and Suffering has deep collusion with the Pure Land True Sect."

He said: "The Sickness Retainers spread diseases, and the Pure Land True Sect takes the opportunity to collect people's Wish Power... so much Wish Power, they should be preparing for the Heaven and Earth Revival."

Sickness and Suffering, as one of the Eight Sufferings, knowing when the Heaven and Earth Revival will come is very normal.

And fortunately I have cultivated the Spirit Control Technique·Qi, and also felt the approach of the Heaven and Earth Revival.

Compared to before, merely relying on the tiny movements of the Sengoku Period that could not compare at all with the First Wave, Uesugi Toru could not have imagined that just a few days later this heaven and earth would undergo a dramatic change.

If that were the case, what Mikawa Province would become is simply not something one dares to think about...

Imagawa Yoshimoto's complexion was icy cold.

"I understand."

She nodded slowly.

【Current Constant World Walker's Influence on History: 1.15%→1.25%!】

Was it my words that affected Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Uesugi Toru thought.

But if these words genuinely made Imagawa Yoshimoto want to plow this Pure Land True Sect three or four times over, why did its Historical Influence Degree only increase by 0.1%?

The power of the Pure Land True Sect was indeed not small.

Could it be that the vitality of this Pure Land True Sect was too powerful, able to rise from the ashes again in the future even after being exterminated several times by Imagawa Yoshimoto?

Matters of the future could be set aside for now.

The pressing matter at hand was still to have Adult Ni immediately drive the Floating Square Block toward Nishio Castle, so that he could quickly find the specific location of Sickness and Suffering and formulate a detailed plan.

On the way, Uesugi Toru also took a moment to glance at the Five Thunder Technique: Kiai promotion prompt that he didn't know where he had thrown it into some remote corner.

【Five Thunder Technique: Kiai (Proficiency 103/2800)】

【Effect: Can release and manipulate lightning at will according to one's heart.】

【——Lightning is Qi, Qi is Lightning. There is no longer any need to distinguish the two too clearly.】

【Because your Five Thunder Technique: Kiai has risen to the Proficient Level, your Physique +2!】

【Because your Five Thunder Technique: Kiai has risen to the Proficient Level, your Spirit Arts +3!】

【Because your Five Thunder Technique: Kiai has risen to the Proficient Level, your Lightning Affinity has increased significantly!】

The Five Thunder Technique advancing from Proficient Level to Mastery Level was exactly as Uesugi Toru had expected, without producing too essential a change.

It was nothing more than the consumption for releasing thunder of equal strength being smaller, being able to manipulate every strand of thunder more finely, and the upper limit threshold of thunder his own body could withstand becoming higher.

The big wave was estimated to only arrive after a full 2800 points of Proficiency.

It was just that now, even without circulating the Breathing Technique, Uesugi Toru could release lightning at will as easily as moving his own arm, consuming only some insignificant Physical Strength.

Of course, if he wanted to release large-scale thunder, he still needed the Corona Breathing Technique to assist from the side.

Otherwise, just two or three Lightning Dragons would be enough to drain most of Uesugi Toru's Physical Strength.

However, there was another surprise...

Uesugi Toru closed his eyes, drew out strands of lightning from within his body, and under the illumination of the Mirror Heart, carefully stimulated his muscles, nerves, and skin membranes.

After a faint pain, he could feel the stimulated areas becoming more active and powerful.

Uesugi Toru opened his eyes and looked at the Data Panel that had changed.

【Physique: 55→58】

A hint of joy appeared in his eyes.

Correct.

His Physique attribute had climbed by a full 3 points all at once under the stimulation of the Five Thunder Technique!

You must know, he had almost paid nothing at all.

He didn't need to get injured and bleed like activating "Berserk," nor did he need to obtain a large amount of fear to trigger like "White of Fear."

He only needed Uesugi Toru to move his mind, and a few seconds later the thunder surging within his body could make his already powerful Physique rise to a higher level.

And this was just the beginning.

Uesugi Toru's Five Thunder Technique had only just reached Mastery Level two days ago; he was not yet proficient in the use of thunder within his body, and his related experience was very shallow.

In the future, Uesugi Toru believed that the Five Thunder Technique could bring him at least ten... no, even a fifteen-point Physique attribute increase was entirely possible!

But all of this required time.

"Toru-sama, Nishio Castle has arrived."

——Uesugi Toru, right now what he lacked was exactly sufficient time.

Four li outside Nishio Castle, Adult Ni stopped the Floating Square Block.

Because the defense of Nishio Castle was much stricter than Isshiki Town, just the half-dead birds Uesugi Toru saw in the sky above the city numbered over a hundred.

Among them, perhaps there were not a few special individuals transformed by Sickness and Suffering.

So speaking, wouldn't there be many Three-Star Level followers accompanying Sickness and Suffering within Nishio Castle?

"That would be somewhat difficult to handle."

Uesugi Toru murmured, feeling that he still needed to first get a clear understanding of the terrain of Nishio Castle and the number and location of the Great Demons within it.

At least, he could not be besieged by many Great Demons that could distract his energy while slaying Sickness and Suffering.

If in the end he failed to exorcise Sickness and Suffering because of this, that would be too foolish.

Uesugi Toru: "Lord Imagawa, this time can you stay up there with Adult Ni?"

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had worn Gusoku for half a day and made full psychological preparations, slightly furrowed her brow, raising the great bow in her hand,

"In close combat I might not be of use, but from a distance using a bow and arrow to relieve some of Tetsu-kun's pressure, I can still do it."

Uesugi Toru stared straight into Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes, and after two seconds of silence, spoke to her,

"Precisely because Lord Imagawa's eyes can see things ordinary people cannot, I hope even more that you can stay up there."

He said seriously: "Collect information for me, take in the whole situation, and make more correct and rational decisions at critical moments."

"——Such help would be far, far greater than entering the city with me."

Uesugi Toru spoke frankly.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was almost scolded as having "weak combat power," not only did not get angry, but instead nodded at him quite agreeably,

"Then, I will sit here."

Imagawa Yoshimoto put down the Japanese bow in her hand, arms crossed: "Since I promised Tetsu-kun you would listen, I will not go back on my word."

Unexpectedly easy to talk to.

Uesugi Toru sighed in relief, and said to Adult Ni, who had already rubbed out a large pile of strange weapons,

"Ni, your responsibility is to let Lord Imagawa observe without distraction... and also not be discovered."

Just as a pleading expression was about to appear on the girl's small face, she heard Uesugi Toru solemnly say in her heartstring,

"This time I am very likely to die, and when I resurrect again I will resurrect near the key I previously gave you.

So Adult Ni, you must absolutely must keep this key safe."

"—No matter the cost."

Ni Chi-sama felt her whole body tense, and she squeezed her chest tightly.

She said briefly through the heartstring: "Certainly."

Toru-sama entrusted me with such an important task...

I absolutely will not disappoint his expectations!

The disappointment Ni Chi-sama had felt at being abandoned earlier vanished in an instant, and she immediately became spirited.

She bowed to Uesugi Toru, who was about to walk out of the cube: "Toru-sama, smooth journey."

Imagawa Yoshimoto said nothing, only gazing quietly at his back with her eyes.

Before walking out of the cube, Uesugi Toru took one last look at Nishio Castle, which was still not very clear.

Sickness and suffering...

He took a deep breath, and in the instant of walking out of the cube, he used the Thousand Faces ability of the Four-Tailed Fox to transform into a mud-colored doll only a few centimeters tall, falling from the clouds.

The miniaturized Uesugi Toru, merged with the earth, alarmed no sentry, and stealthily entered Nishio Castle.

As soon as he entered the city, Uesugi Toru could discover that the streets of Nishio Castle were everywhere filled with Buddha statues made of various materials.

Those placed by the roadside, those held in the hands of passersby, those in shops... no, in Nishio Castle, there were no shops still operating normally.

Their number far exceeded that of Isshiki Town ten li away.

Moreover, each Buddha statue gave him a feeling not much different from that first wooden Buddha statue.

In other words, they were filled with Wish Power.

Uesugi Toru leaned against a mud-colored wall corner, crouched in a clump of weeds, and through the seams of dry grass scrutinized every thin passerby who walked before him.

Everyone's face was filled with a satisfied smile, as if living in a paradise where everything was available.

But Uesugi Toru could see that countless tiny ailments fell upon everyone's "Qi," continuously breaking out.

It was just that perhaps they could no longer feel it.

In Uesugi Toru's eyes, on those filthy, emaciated passersby, a wisp of illusory "Qi" flowed out at every moment.

And was infused into the nearest Buddha statue.

Continuously.

Presumably, that was probably Wish Power.

—The people of Nishio Castle had all, under the dual catalysis of sickness and suffering and the Pure Land True Sect, been transformed into human-shaped Wish Power extraction machines.

No doubt, this was a torture far more terrifying than death.

This was simply... a living human purgatory!

Uesugi Toru silently watched for a while, then crawled out of the weed pile after feeling his Spirit Power rapidly consumed within his body.

"This state cannot be maintained for long; I must quickly find someone to replace him."

—When using the talent Thousand Faces, the greater the difference between the incarnation and the main body, the faster the Spirit Power will be consumed.

If he continued to maintain this state of a few-centimeter-tall mud doll, after several hours his Spirit Power would be completely exhausted, equivalent to the boundless waters.

"The location of the Honzan of the Pure Land True Sect is..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto's extremely faint voice arrived just in time, causing Uesugi Toru to reveal a smile.

He followed the direction indicated by the former, and soon reached the door of the temple.

"Next, it is to find a suitable unlucky ghost."

In the thicket, Uesugi Toru's pupils moved, and he soon captured a suitable target.

—The gray-robed little novice monk walking out of the temple, with weak breath, abnormally stiff complexion, clearly not human at a glance!

Uesugi Toru followed behind him without a word.

In less than two minutes, he waited for the little novice monk to drill into an alley with few people.

Thus the few-centimeter-tall mud doll swelled in an instant, becoming about the same height as Uesugi Toru, except the face was still one Uesugi Toru had casually pinched out.

Soundlessly, Uesugi Toru extended a finger, causing fine lightning to surge into the little novice monk's body, spreading to his whole body within half a breath.

The latter immediately stiffened in place and fell straight down.

Of course, it was only a temporary coma.

Because Uesugi Toru deliberately controlled the lightning intensity to a level that could not even kill a Half-Star Demon.

Otherwise, the inexplicable death of a follower within the city might draw the attention of Sickness and Suffering.

Even if this possibility was infinitesimally small, he had to avoid it.

Uesugi Toru reached out his hand and pressed it against the center of the little novice monk's face, pale to the point of not a trace of blood color,

"Let me see, what exactly is hidden beneath this human skin of yours."

Speaking, Uesugi Toru, who had already transformed to be indistinguishable from the little novice monk before him in appearance, clothing, and even aura, used both hands with force.

And pried it open in one go!

End of Chapter