Final Evaluation: SS! Great Onmyō Art: Nine Syllable Mantra! Super Epic Defining Item, Farewell to Katsumi

[Current stage mission completion: 101%.]

Four days later.

Atop the now-stabilized Nishio Castle.

Uesugi Tetsu, who was halfway through forcibly forging his bones with gang qi, saw a flicker of delight in his eyes.

His movements stalled, and astringent pain surged from every joint and the depths of his bone marrow.

Uesugi Tetsu immediately regained his focus, inhaled deeply, and only let out a heavy breath after completing this round of Bone Forging.

"At last, it's done..."

[Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique, proficiency +6.]

[Corona Breathing Technique (Jade Bone 171/400)]

Uesugi Tetsu rose and lightly loosened his muscles and bones. His gaze swept indifferently over the pitiful increase in proficiency, and he thought that without a medicinal bath to assist him, his progress was indeed painfully slow.

"At last, it's done..."

Behind him, Kaga Kiyomitsu echoed the sentence in a voice with exactly the same tone and rhythm as his.

Uesugi Tetsu pursed his lips, speechless.

Over the past few days, whenever there was no one nearby, Kaga Kiyomitsu, who had originally sat quietly behind him and observed, would start mimicking him like a parrot, repeating everything he had just said.

To Uesugi Tetsu, it was practically like having a TXT game text running in "auto-read" mode.

It could not be turned off, nor could it be skipped. More importantly, Koga's speech had an unmistakable AI flavor.

That was right. No matter how many times Uesugi Tetsu said it, Kaga Kiyomitsu could not break this bad habit... but he could not really do anything to Koga either.

By now, Uesugi Tetsu was genuinely being tormented into a foul mood.

He secretly shook his fist in his heart. I need to find some time to properly discipline this rebellious Koga.

Just then, armored footsteps came up the stone stairs.