Recaps

Kitada Kei challenged Minamoto Shizuka and lost after a duel fought purely with swordsmanship, while Chisa resolved to seek strength so she could stand up for her family. After the other contestants finished their challenges, Uesugi Tetsu prepared to challenge Kitada Kei for the first position, but Kitada refused to move aside.

• Tamamo explained to Chisa that the strong often acted on their convictions rather than weighing benefits, then reassured her that she was sensible and would always have her support.
• Chisa decided she wanted to become strong so she could say no when her sister or family did not want to do something.
• Kitada Kei challenged Minamoto Shizuka, and they fought a traditional swordsmanship duel; Minamoto Shizuka won after more than a thousand exchanges.
• Uesugi Tetsu watched the rankings shift as Yagyū Shion climbed to twenty-fifth place and Kuzuha Chihaya struggled near the sixties.
• After the remaining contestants finished their challenges, Uesugi Tetsu announced that he would take the first position and politely asked Kitada Kei to move aside; Kitada refused.

Uesugi Tetsu defeated Kitada Kei with Two-Shaku-Sama’s help, then faced Minamoto Shizuka in the Seed Battle final. Minamoto Shizuka’s unexplained movements left Uesugi wounded and struggling to find an opening, so he considered entering Overlimit State: Battle.

• Uesugi Tetsu sent Two-Shaku-Sama to fight Kitada Kei, and their two-on-one assault knocked Kitada unconscious.
• Uesugi Tetsu received cheers as public screens across Tokyo displayed Ye Chun’s message declaring his victory certain.
• Minamoto Shizuka told Uesugi Tetsu she had expected to face him, and the Oni-God Referee began their match.
• Uesugi Tetsu’s lightning attacks vanished near Minamoto Shizuka, and she suddenly appeared behind him and pierced his chest with Hotarumaru.
• Two-Shaku-Sama charged Minamoto Shizuka, but her cross-shaped spear broke when their weapons collided.
• Uesugi Tetsu considered activating Overlimit State: Battle to gain Future Sight and improve his chances against Minamoto Shizuka.

Minamoto Shizuka fought Uesugi Tetsu by using spatial movement and Hotarumaru, while his Future Sight let him anticipate her attacks. After she struck down Two-Shaku-Sama, the Shikigami transformed into Hasshaku Nioh and descended, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Minamoto Shizuka connected to the spatial mass sea and used repeated teleports to evade Uesugi Tetsu, whose transcendent state granted him brief glimpses of the future.
• Minamoto Shizuka wavered, allowing Uesugi Tetsu to wound her, and she used Hotarumaru's curse to intensify her attacks.
• Minamoto Shizuka and Uesugi Tetsu traded powerful strikes, and Uesugi Tetsu pierced Two-Shaku-Sama while she protected him from Hotarumaru.
• Minamoto Shizuka declared Two-Shaku-Sama out of the battle, but the Shikigami rose again in a golden form and transformed into Hasshaku Nioh.
• Hasshaku Nioh brought down its cross-shaped spear as Minamoto Shizuka tried to stop it.

Minamoto Shizuka fought Uesugi Tetsu and Two-Shaku while Hotarumaru pushed her toward surrender, then attempted to break through into a demon god during the battle. Just as her breakthrough faltered and Hotarumaru began to take control, a familiar sword arrived and encouraged her to keep going.

• Two-Shaku used her Vajra Body to withstand Minamoto Shizuka's attacks and battered her alongside Uesugi Tetsu.
• Badly injured, Minamoto Shizuka entered the Spatial Material Sea and agreed to let Hotarumaru take her body, but warned that it could only take what she gave.
• Minamoto Shizuka returned with Hotarumaru's Willpower controlling her body and fought Uesugi Tetsu as she attempted to break through into a demon god.
• Minamoto Shizuka's breakthrough faltered, and Hotarumaru tried to make her surrender and absorb her.
• A sword flew from the west and pinned itself beside the arena, sending Minamoto Shizuka the message, “You can do it.”

Minamoto Shizuka recovered from her failed attempt at godhood after hearing Minamoto Shinsui’s encouragement, while Uesugi Tetsu drew the Hundred-Eyed Demon and gained her powers. As Shizuka returned with an aura near a demon god’s, Tetsu opened all one hundred eyes and prepared to strike her.

• Minamoto Shinsui’s sword intent briefly appeared and encouraged Minamoto Shizuka, stopping Hotarumaru from consuming her soul and restoring her Willpower.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened Edo Castle’s final ten-draw, and the Hundred-Eyed Demon arrived with nine other rays of light before the castle collapsed.
• Uesugi Tetsu received the Hundred-Eyed Demon incarnation and learned its Willpower-focused attributes and five talents, including enhanced sight, telekinesis, and curses.
• Uesugi Tetsu stacked the Hundred-Eyed Demon incarnation and opened all one hundred eyes, briefly seeing across Sky City before focusing his vision on the arena.
• Minamoto Shizuka regained consciousness and faced Uesugi Tetsu, who directed the Hundred-Eyed Demon’s curse at her and unleashed precise Willpower as black sword-light wrapped around him.

Uesugi Tetsu defeated Minamoto Shizuka in the Seed Battle championship match and was crowned champion. After recovering from the strain of his victory, he heard why Minamoto Shizuka had rejected her chance to become a ghost god, then took his place amid the arena’s cheers.

• Uesugi Tetsu used the Hundred-Eyed Demon's power to crush Minamoto Shizuka's escape attempt and decapitate her, but Nanjō Emi stopped his follow-up strike and declared the match over.
• Nanjō Emi restored Minamoto Shizuka and supported Uesugi Tetsu as he suffered backlash from using all one hundred of the Hundred-Eyed Demon's eyes.
• Minamoto Shizuka told Uesugi Tetsu that she rejected a mistaken path to ghost-godhood because she wanted to preserve the possibility of surpassing Minamoto Shinsui.
• Minamoto Shizuka thanked Uesugi Tetsu for their battle, and he agreed that he had been happy to fight her.
• Uesugi Tetsu walked to the champion's seat as hundreds of thousands of spectators rose and cheered.

Uesugi Tetsu won the eastern region's first Seed Battle, received an Epic+ Champion's Trophy, and learned that the Sword Saint had high hopes for him. After his victory swept across the internet, he withdrew from the ceremonies to inspect the many prompts waiting for him.

• Uesugi Tetsu delivered a championship speech about continuing to grow stronger in the new era, earning thunderous applause as clips of him spread online.
• The Onmyo Assistant presented Uesugi Tetsu with the Champion's Trophy and told him that the Sword Saint had high hopes for him.
• The final rankings placed Minamoto Shizuka second, while Higashiyama Kei ranked eleventh, Flame Style twelfth, and Kuzuha Chihaya sixty-first.
• Uesugi Tetsu slipped away from the ceremonies, and Tamamo dragged Chisa-chan toward the arena to take a group photo with him.
• Nanjō Emi told Uesugi Tetsu that he would have to visit the Minamoto Clan and pass Spider-Cutter's test to claim it.
• Uesugi Tetsu sat down to examine the prompts and saw his Tennen Rishin-ryū proficiency increase by 102.

After the Seed Tournament, Uesugi Tōru reviewed his substantial gains in skill, attributes, and spiritual power, then considered how to use his rewards and what to pursue in Kyoto. Before he could open his grand prize, a crowd of gods and spirits surrounded him, leaving Tamamo and Chisa stunned by the sight.

• Uesugi Tōru saw his Natural Rishin-ryu, Spirit Manipulation, Five Thunders Technique, sword traits, and other abilities improve significantly after the tournament.
• Uesugi Tōru discovered that transforming into the Hyakume had created a powerful new sea of qi and further strengthened his astral qi.
• Uesugi Tōru planned to spend a tournament inheritance opportunity on Cosmic Flame Armor and considered consulting Nanjo Aimi and the Sword Saint about his remaining rewards.
• Uesugi Tōru heard footsteps approaching before he could open his grand prize, then found himself surrounded by gods and spirits offering him business cards.
• Tamamo and Chisa entered the passageway hoping to take a picture with Uesugi Tōru, but Tamamo recognized the crowd of gods and spirits surrounding him.

After collecting contact information from the Ghost Gods, Uesugi Tetsu accepted Chisa as his disciple and gave her a Hundred Eyes crystal containing ten True Sight Eyes. He then joined Ririko and the other contestants at the Seed Battle exchange counter to claim his Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor.

• Uesugi Tetsu exchanged name cards with the Ghost Gods, and Anhe Liang hinted that Nanjō Emi had signed him up for the Imperial Grand Competition before the First Wave.
• Tamamo and Chisa recovered from meeting the Ghost Gods, and Chisa asked Uesugi Tetsu to accept her as his disciple.
• Uesugi Tetsu agreed to take Chisa as his disciple and gave her Hundred Eyes, which contained ten shared True Sight Eyes.
• Uesugi Tetsu met Ririko and the other contestants, while Flame Style admitted his defeat and promised to challenge him again.
• Uesugi Tetsu went with Ririko and the contestants to the Seed Battle exchange counter and requested one Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor.

Uesugi Tetsu learned the Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor, then sought a way to accelerate his training and arranged to exchange his remaining completion chances for materials to forge the dangerous Myriad Spirit Cauldron. After learning that Magatsuhi-no-Kami’s blood would be an even better ingredient, he considered asking the white-haired girl from the Walker Assembly for it.

• Uesugi Tetsu used the inheritance bead and quickly learned the Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor from the nameless Onmyoji.
• Uesugi Tetsu searched the exchange tablet for a way to shorten his training and found the Myriad Spirit Cauldron, but Nanjō Emi warned him it could explode inside its user.
• Nanjō Emi explained that Uesugi Tetsu’s Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor, Imperial Spirit Technique, physical strength, and Willpower could help him control the Myriad Spirit Cauldron.
• Uesugi Tetsu spent his remaining completion chances on materials for the Myriad Spirit Cauldron, and Nanjō Emi presented the deal to the ghost gods as angel investment.
• Uesugi Tetsu read the materials list and asked Nanjō Emi about the Blood of the Cursed Ghost God and stronger curse-related materials.
• Nanjō Emi named Magatsuhi-no-Kami’s divine blood as the best option, and Uesugi Tetsu considered obtaining it from the white-haired girl in the Walker Assembly.

After Chisa used the Hundred-Eyed gift from Uesugi Tetsu, she discovered it let her see people’s names and descriptions, while Uesugi gathered supplies for the Walker Assembly. The chapter ended with Nanjō Emi revealing her promotion and transfer to Hokkaido, and Uesugi meeting Magatsu-Kami again.

• Uesugi Tetsu asked Nanjō Emi to bring history books, snacks, drinks, and solar-powered gaming equipment for his meeting with Magatsu-Kami.
• Chisa absorbed the Hundred-Eyed and gained enhanced vision and the ability to see labels describing people and objects.
• Chisa’s gaze provoked Okabe Motonobu, who warned her not to stare at powerful people, and Tamamo explained the danger afterward.
• Uesugi Tetsu studied Myriad Spirit Cauldron, collected the supplies from Nanjō Emi, and learned she was being promoted and transferred to Hokkaido.
• Uesugi Tetsu entered the Walker Assembly and found Magatsu-Kami waiting with her still-full bottle of soda.

Uesugi Tetsu gave Magatsu-Kami cola, chips, and a game console, then received Magatsu’s blood and a Super Epic Hungry Ghost Pot. After returning to the exchange center, he discovered that upgrading Hundred-Eyed Demon required rare materials and a newly unlocked Heavenly Path Trial.

• Uesugi Tetsu helped Magatsu-Kami open and enjoy cola and potato chips, and they shared snacks together.
• Uesugi Tetsu set up a game console for Magatsu-Kami, taught her Snake, and asked her for a drop of blood to forge the Myriad Spirit Cauldron.
• Magatsu-Kami gave Uesugi Tetsu her blood in a Super Epic Hungry Ghost Pot, and he delivered historical documents to the young man in the secret realm.
• Uesugi Tetsu promised to visit Magatsu-Kami weekly with food and games, then left the Walker Assembly as Everworld rose toward the surface.
• Uesugi Tetsu checked Hundred-Eyed Demon’s upgrade requirements and found a list of thirty-nine rare materials and a Heavenly Path Trial called “Witness to the Vicissitudes of Time.”
• The Demon Heavenly Path unlocked, and the original three-star and three-and-a-half-star Salvage merged into Ghost Deity Ascension · Limited Special Salvage.

Uesugi Tetsu unlocked a Limited Special Salvage for Hundred-Eyed Demon, obtained a core ascension material, and opened her Heavenly Path Trial. After discovering that important experiences advanced the trial, he headed out late at night and encountered Okabe Motonobu waiting for him.

• Uesugi Tetsu selected Hundred-Eyed Demon as the subject of the Limited Special Salvage and saw that the pool could provide materials for her Divine Godhood ascension.
• Uesugi Tetsu spent his remaining Soul Soothing Incense Ash and obtained a Super Epic Star Rainbow Tear Drop, then used the rest to advance Red Brahma's upgrade without extending its remaining time.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened Hundred-Eyed Demon's Heavenly Path Trial, Witness to the Changing World, and learned that its length was at maximum and that it could not be closed once begun.
• Uesugi Tetsu noticed the trial progress increase slightly when he saw Ririko still working late, and concluded that time and importance both affected progress.
• Uesugi Tetsu left to visit Sister Nanjō, while Okabe Motonobu waited near the Sky City passage and recognized him by the vermilion Kaga Kiyomitsu at his waist.

Uesugi Tetsu visited Nanjō Emi after winning the Seed Battle and asked how Two-Shaku-Sama could ascend to godhood. After Nanjō Emi explained a path for her, she told Uesugi Tetsu she would wait for him to become a ghost god, then revealed she had drugged his beer and began preparing to forge the Myriad Spirit Cauldron.

• Okabe Motonobu mistook a cosplayer for Uesugi Tetsu, then waited at a convenience store while the disguised Uesugi Tetsu traveled to Tokyo and reached Nanjō Emi’s home at midnight.
• Nanjō Emi and Uesugi Tetsu drank beer and discussed the Seed Battle, Minamoto Shizuka, and the training of Hiyori Bō and Nure-onna.
• Uesugi Tetsu asked how Two-Shaku-Sama could ascend, and Nanjō Emi advised him to use his championship trophy as a memorial tablet so Two-Shaku-Sama could absorb wishes and follow the path of divine bestowal.
• Nanjō Emi asked Uesugi Tetsu to accompany her to Hokkaido, but he refused; she accepted and said she would wait for him to become a ghost god.
• Uesugi Tetsu fell asleep after Nanjō Emi revealed that she had spiked his beer, then woke to find her ready to forge the Myriad Spirit Cauldron.
• Nanjō Emi began unbuttoning Uesugi Tetsu’s clothes, and he took out the Hungry Ghost Pot and told her to look at it first.

Uesugi Tetsu underwent the dangerous forging of the Myriad Spirit Cauldron, with Nanjō Emi using rare materials and Willpower’s blood to complete it. The cauldron became a Legendary-grade Myriad Spirit Furnace Core, and Uesugi Tetsu decided to retrieve the talking beings in Edo Castle.

• Uesugi Tetsu showed Nanjō Emi the Hungry Ghost Pot containing a drop of Willpower’s blood, and she confirmed it was genuine.
• Nanjō Emi began forging the Myriad Spirit Cauldron inside Uesugi Tetsu’s body as he carefully observed her work.
• Nanjō Emi added Willpower’s blood to the nearly completed cauldron, then stabilized it with the embryonic Heavenly Cycle Flame Armor.
• Uesugi Tetsu passed out when the Myriad Spirit Cauldron merged with him, and later woke to find that Nanjō Emi had left for Hokkaido.
• Uesugi Tetsu learned that the cauldron had become a Legendary-grade Myriad Spirit Furnace Core and decided to retrieve the beings in Edo Castle.

After waking in the Special Affairs Division, Uesugi Tetsu learned that Nanjō Emi had appointed Kujo Tsubaki Grand Official of Onmyō and prepared to meet the Sword Saint in Kyoto. He tested the Myriad Spirit Furnace Core in Everworld, inscribed the Five Thunder Technique into it, then returned to Edo Castle and encountered White Bones and Wax Statue.

• Uesugi Tetsu woke after about sixteen hours and learned that Nanjō Emi had appointed Kujo Tsubaki Grand Official of Onmyō.
• Two-Shaku-Sama told Uesugi Tetsu that Nanjō Emi planned to retrieve Spider-Cutter and that he had to meet the Sword Saint in Kyoto in five days.
• Uesugi Tetsu examined the Myriad Spirit Furnace Core and discovered that its power could unleash devastating force, so he traveled to Kisaragi Station to test it.
• Uesugi Tetsu repeatedly injected Spiritual Power into the Furnace Core and, after a dangerous trial, inscribed the Five Thunder Technique into it.
• Uesugi Tetsu returned to Edo Castle, cleared the rain clouds with a blast of Spiritual Power, and greeted White Bones and Wax Statue.

Uesugi Tetsu defeated White Bone and Wax Figure, then collected their summon items and sent Inch-Two into Edo Castle to train. After sweeping through the city’s weaker monsters, he came face to face with Fangxiangshi again.

• White Bone attacked Uesugi Tetsu, but Kaga Kiyomitsu blocked his strikes before Uesugi Tetsu severed his arm and killed him.
• Wax Figure recognized Uesugi Tetsu as the Brahma he had fought before and challenged him to a fierce duel.
• Uesugi Tetsu killed Wax Figure with the Unknowing Sword and obtained Epic summon items from both men.
• Uesugi Tetsu decided to summon Wax Figure directly and purify White Bone before summoning him, then ordered Inch-Two to hunt demons and gain experience.
• Uesugi Tetsu swept through Edo Castle, killing weaker monsters, until he encountered Fangxiangshi at the end of a curved street.

Uesugi Tetsu fought the Fangxiangshi in Edo Castle, was killed, but managed to wound the ghost god and returned to the Special Affairs Division with a huge haul of Soul Ash. He prepared a gift for Chisa and was greeted by the straw doll Katsumi.

• Uesugi Tetsu defeated a horde of mud-covered Restless Ones, and the Fangxiangshi invited him to become his subordinate.
• Uesugi Tetsu challenged the Fangxiangshi, who effortlessly cut through his defenses and killed him, but Uesugi Tetsu's sword left a small wound.
• Uesugi Tetsu awoke at the Special Affairs Division and rejoiced that the Fangxiangshi could bleed, while Kaga Kiyomitsu also celebrated their success in wounding him.
• Uesugi Tetsu gained 17,208 Soul Ash, sorted useful spirit-warding items for Chisa, and asked Two-Shaku-Sama to package them as a gift.
• Katsumi appeared as a straw doll and greeted Uesugi Tetsu as the lord favored by the Kami.

Uesugi Tetsu met Katsumi to trade goods and received information useful to Two-Shaku-Sama’s advancement. He bought the half-heart of Yaso Bikki and swallowed it to discover its power.

• Katsumi appeared after Nanjō Emi left, congratulated Uesugi Tetsu on winning the Seed Battle, and gave him a scroll about replacing a Kami to free Two-Shaku-Sama from the Ksitigarbha statue’s restraints.
• Katsumi exchanged a spatial storage box and 3,312 Soul Ash for Uesugi Tetsu’s goods, then paid 10,000 Soul Ash for the swordsmanship memory orb of Musō Gonnosuke.
• Katsumi offered Uesugi Tetsu Yaobikuni’s Heart, which his prompt identified as a Legendary-quality incomplete item, and lowered its price from 50,000 to 15,000 Soul Ash.
• Uesugi Tetsu bought the heart, opened its box, and swallowed it after it revived and tried to escape.

Uesugi Tetsu made a [trade] with Yaobikuni's Heart, binding it to his Void Qi Sea in exchange for freeing an unidentified being. The heart greatly enhanced his abilities and expanded his qi sea, and he ended the chapter by starting a ten-card draw.

• Uesugi Tetsu discovered Yaobikuni's Heart would not bind to his qi sea until he offered a [trade], and it asked him to free an unidentified being.
• Uesugi Tetsu completed the trade, and Yaobikuni's Heart became a boundary object that raised his attributes, vitality, healing, and control over his body.
• Two-Shaku-Sama was drawn to Uesugi Tetsu's blood, tasted it, and discovered it was exceptionally delicious before he suppressed the heart's allure.
• Yaobikuni's Heart synergized with Sea Alien Light's Scale Armor and Ubugh-onna's Feather, causing the five-colored qi sea to more than double in size and increasing Uesugi Tetsu's physique.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened the Yang Wheel Acupoint with a single breath, then checked his soul ash and tapped [Salvage ten times].

Uesugi Tetsu drew a strange Black Book that claimed to predict the future, but its prompts changed and it revealed itself as an area-unlock item. He left for the Minamoto Clan and entered the Walker Assembly, where the book reacted in terror to its new surroundings.

• Uesugi Tetsu drew the [Precognitive Black Book] alongside rare advancement materials and watched it display a warning that he would die during his ghost-god advancement.
• Uesugi Tetsu rejected the Black Book’s threats, put it in his storage bag, and discovered its true prompt identified it as an area-unlock item called the [Black-Skinned Book].
• Uesugi Tetsu asked Tamamo to investigate the name Kujo Machi and prepared to travel to the Minamoto Clan.
• Uesugi Tetsu gave Ririko [Gengoro's Sword], then boarded a Special Affairs Division armored vehicle with Two-Shaku-Sama and entered the Walker Assembly.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened the Black Book in the Walker Assembly, where its threatening message froze and it asked where he had brought it.

Uesugi Tetsu showed Lord Magatsu the Black-Skinned Book, tested its prophetic limits, and asked whether Katsumi’s method could let Two-Shaku-Sama replace Kami. After leaving the assembly, he cultivated on the way to the Minamoto Clan and formed his core just as Minamoto Shizuka greeted him.

• Uesugi Tetsu stopped the Black-Skinned Book from warning him about Lord Magatsu, then waited while Lord Magatsu finished her Snake game.
• Uesugi Tetsu told Lord Magatsu how he had obtained the Black-Skinned Book and asked her to spare it after she learned it had threatened him.
• The Black-Skinned Book failed to answer Uesugi Tetsu’s questions about the Factory Masters, Everworld, and the previous Lord of Tokoyo, and Lord Magatsu helped it recover.
• Uesugi Tetsu asked Lord Magatsu whether Katsumi’s method for letting Two-Shaku-Sama replace Kami would work, but she said she did not know.
• Uesugi Tetsu left the assembly, cultivated during the journey, and formed his core upon arriving at the Minamoto Clan, where Minamoto Shizuka greeted him.

Uesugi Tetsu visited the Minamoto Clan with Minamoto Shizuka, who shared her progress toward becoming a demon god and received his instruction in body cultivation. As they reached the bamboo grove where Spider-Cutter was stored, Shizuka introduced him to her great-great-grandfather, who jokingly called himself her eighteen-year-old big brother.

• Minamoto Shizuka told Uesugi Tetsu that she had begun carefully advancing through the Sea of Tribulations after gaining her own understanding of it during the Seed Battle.
• Uesugi Tetsu explained Ririko's methods for controlling and tempering qi and blood, and Minamoto Shizuka thanked him with a deep bow.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Minamoto Shizuka walked through the Minamoto Clan, where Uesugi Tetsu spotted Kyūkōin Jin being escorted away and startled the young clan members spying on him by flicking their foreheads.
• A little girl asked Uesugi Tetsu for an autograph to give Naoki, who had secretly kept Uesugi Tetsu's photo beside his bed.
• Near the bamboo grove containing Spider-Cutter, Uesugi Tetsu sensed a powerful presence and met Minamoto Shizuka's great-great-grandfather, who introduced himself as her eighteen-year-old big brother of two thousand months.

Uesugi Tetsu entered Spider-Cutter’s trial and used his Hundred-Eyed Demon incarnation to slaughter the monsters and defeat the Projection of Tsuchigumo’s Vengeful Soul. After witnessing Spider-Cutter’s endless history of demon-slaying, he met its spirit, which prepared to test their compatibility.

• Minamoto Shizuka led Uesugi Tetsu past her great-great-grandfather, who cleared a path through the dangerous bamboo forest and warned them to return before midnight.
• Uesugi Tetsu reached Spider-Cutter, learned that only Minamoto Shizuka’s elder sister had passed its trial, and began the trial by touching the spider statue.
• Uesugi Tetsu transformed into his Hundred-Eyed Demon incarnation and discovered that killing the trial’s vengeful spirits earned Soul Ash.
• Uesugi Tetsu slaughtered the horde of monsters with psychokinesis and lightning, then defeated the Projection of Tsuchigumo with one strike.
• Spider-Cutter’s spirit appeared before Uesugi Tetsu and announced that it would test their compatibility before deciding whether to serve him.

Uesugi Tetsu passed Spider-Cutter’s trial by accepting its call to slay demons while declaring that he intended to destroy Everworld and separate it from the mortal world. He claimed Spider-Cutter and planned to stay with the Minamoto Clan, while anticipating the Four-tailed Fox’s three-star advancement.

• Azure recalled how a girl rejected Spider-Cutter eleven years earlier, and Uesugi Tetsu asked what it meant to pursue something at all costs.
• Uesugi Tetsu accepted Azure’s demand to slay demons until death, then declared that he wanted to destroy Everworld and offered to let Azure witness it as his blade.
• Azure accepted Uesugi Tetsu as his master, took the name Azure, and the trial ended after about half an hour.
• Uesugi Tetsu shattered Spider-Cutter’s stone statue, drew the sealed Super Epic sword, and learned that it could absorb slain creatures’ essence and summon them as vengeful spirits.
• Minamoto Shizuka invited Uesugi Tetsu to stay at the Minamoto Clan’s residence and visit the Sword Saint with her, and he agreed.
• Uesugi Tetsu considered his plans for the coming days and anticipated that the Four-tailed Fox’s three-star advancement would bring major changes.