Chapter Summaries

Uesugi Tetsu studied how worshippers generated faith at Fushimi Inari Shrine, then watched the Evening Shrine Festival reveal powerful fox messengers and two Great Aragami. As he left, a vast Will briefly noticed him, and a four-tailed fox pendant appeared at his feet.

• Uesugi Tetsu bought protective charms and fox statues for Ririko and Chisa, while Two-Shaku-Sama chose a fox statue and Karuta received a Peace Charm.
• Uesugi Tetsu observed worshippers and taught Karuta his findings about how devotion, clear objects of faith, fulfilled vows, and possibly vitality affected the power of faith.
• Uesugi Tetsu and Two-Shaku-Sama explored the shrine, and he planned ways to gather faith for Two-Shaku's future shrine.
• At the Evening Shrine Festival, fox messengers appeared in increasing numbers, and Uesugi Tetsu recognized two masked Eight-tailed Foxes as Great Aragami.
• After the festival ended, Uesugi Tetsu hung the Walker Arrow at his waist, sensed a vast Will briefly pause upon him, and found a golden-eyed four-tailed fox pendant at his feet.

Uesugi Tetsu picked up a Legendary Heavenly Fox Pendant and used it to speak with the Six-Star True God Heavenly Fox, who asked him to help someone if he encountered them. After learning what following him could entail, Karuta chose to remain at his side and face the dangers ahead.

• Uesugi Tetsu found that only he could see the Heavenly Fox Pendant and picked it up as he left Fushimi Inari Shrine.
• Uesugi Tetsu used the pendant to meet the Heavenly Fox, who recognized him as a Walker, asked about Magatsu, and offered him a favor if he helped someone he might encounter.
• Uesugi Tetsu returned to his body, explained the meeting to Karuta, and heard Aoi warn that the Heavenly Fox was beyond their ability to restrain.
• Uesugi Tetsu told Karuta that traveling with him could expose her to terrifying gods and other dangers, while leaving him would likely let her live in peace.
• Karuta chose to go with Uesugi Tetsu and become one of the people who could help hold up the sky.

Uesugi Tetsu used the Imperial Spirit Technique to contract with Karuta, a Three-and-a-Half-Star God of Possibility, and learned about her powerful fate and divination talents. The chapter ended when Ririko put Okabe Motonobu on the phone, and Okabe told Tetsu who she was.

• Karuta voluntarily offered to become Uesugi Tetsu's Shikigami, and he used the Imperial Spirit Technique to form a contract despite their vast rank difference.
• Uesugi Tetsu saw that Karuta had Legendary-minus quality, a six-and-a-half-star rank limit, and the talents Darling of Fate and Perceive Possibilities.
• The contract's Spiritual Power strengthened Karuta until all four of her attributes reached at least the average for a Two-Star Demon.
• Karuta awoke, welcomed her bond with Uesugi Tetsu, and joined the heartstring web connecting him with his other Shikigami.
• At Tetsu's Tokyo villa, Ririko agreed to let Okabe Motonobu speak to him after Okabe insisted her message was vital to his life.
• Ririko called Tetsu, and Okabe introduced herself by saying, "Tetsu, this is Okabe Motonobu."

Uesugi Tetsu learned that Okabe Motonobu had come from Everworld and waited at his home, so he hurried back after testing his newly acquired abilities. The chapter ended with Okabe accusing him of abandoning their lord without explanation.

• Uesugi Tetsu told Ririko to keep Okabe Motonobu at the villa until he returned, and Ririko confirmed Okabe was not a god-level threat.
• Ririko learned that Okabe Motonobu was a Warring States general who had used the alias Ogasawara Nobumoto.
• Uesugi Tetsu used Karuta and the Black-Skinned Book to confirm that Okabe was genuine and had come from Everworld.
• Uesugi Tetsu tested his sword skills and abilities in Everworld before returning to Tokyo with Karuta and Two-Shaku-Sama.
• Uesugi Tetsu entered the dojo and met Okabe Motonobu, who demanded to know why he had abandoned their lord without a word.

Okabe Motonobu confronted Uesugi Tetsu over his disappearance and the suffering Lord Yoshimoto endured, but he explained that he was a modern-day Walker who had traveled into the Warring States period. After hearing his account and his promise to change the past, Okabe chose to believe him again and agreed to tell him what had happened.

• Okabe Motonobu accused Uesugi Tetsu of vanishing while Lord Yoshimoto was cursed, fell gravely ill, and nearly turned to ash in Everworld.
• Uesugi Tetsu revealed that he was born in the modern era and used the Walker Arrow to travel back to the Warring States period; Qing confirmed that he was a Walker.
• Uesugi Tetsu explained that he had visited the past twice, met Lord Yoshimoto, helped resolve the Mikawa problem, and left when the Great Revival forced him away.
• Uesugi Tetsu told Okabe Motonobu he could return to the past and try to change what had happened, then asked her to explain everything after his departure.
• Okabe Motonobu believed Uesugi Tetsu for the last time and agreed to tell him what had happened.

Okabe Motonobu recounted how the Hozuki Clan cursed Imagawa Yoshimoto and how Yoshimoto’s health mysteriously declined as the Imagawa Clan fell. Uesugi Tetsu resolved to investigate the hidden causes and find a way to save Yoshimoto, while Ririko teased him about his connection to the famous female ghost daimyo.

• Okabe Motonobu explained that the Imagawa Clan prospered after the world’s revival, partly because Uesugi Tetsu’s reputation frightened the Hozuki Clan.
• Okabe Motonobu recounted that the Hozuki Clan cursed Imagawa Yoshimoto after realizing Uesugi Tetsu was gone, and the Imagawa forces raided their stronghold to obtain a way to lift the curse.
• Okabe Motonobu described how Yoshimoto and Taiyuan Xuezhai died after mysterious illnesses as the Imagawa Clan lost its strength and territory.
• Uesugi Tetsu identified the Hozuki Clan and Yoshimoto’s illness as mysteries to investigate, and considered medicines, experts, and connections that might help save her.
• Uesugi Tetsu promised to return and do everything he could for Yoshimoto, while Okabe Motonobu warned that she might become his enemy if he failed.
• Uesugi Tetsu asked Karuta to question the Black Book about Yoshimoto’s illness, and Ririko teased him about his connection to the female ghost daimyo.

Uesugi Tetsu explained to Ririko why he had allied with Imagawa Yoshimoto in the Sengoku period and why he had to change history carefully. A backlash from the Black Book revealed that the Eight Sufferings’ dying curse had struck Imagawa Yoshimoto, leaving Uesugi Tetsu furious.

• Uesugi Tetsu drew Ririko, Karuta, and Qing into his qi sea and explained how a person's standing could make powerful beings sense information about them.
• Uesugi Tetsu said he had sought out Imagawa Yoshimoto to influence history without causing major changes, while Ririko guessed he was raising a future empress and clinging to her coattails.
• Uesugi Tetsu revealed that he and Imagawa Yoshimoto had exorcised an Eight Sufferings Incarnation in the past, and Qing and Ririko recognized their bond as that of comrades-in-arms.
• The Black Book convulsed as black slime corrupted its pages, but Lord Magatsu's contingency devoured the backlash and the book began to recover.
• Uesugi Tetsu recognized the slime as the Eight Sufferings' aura and realized its dying curse had fallen on Imagawa Yoshimoto instead of him.

Uesugi Tetsu identified Imagawa Yoshimoto’s illness as connected to the Suffering of Illness and sought help developing a cure. After Ririko proposed a difficult Sword Heart solution, Uesugi Tetsu planned his next steps and devised a way for Two-Shaku-Sama to establish a religion in Everworld; Chisa then saw his extraordinary golden-legend label.

• Uesugi Tetsu used the Black Book to absorb the Suffering of Illness’s aura, and Ao confirmed it belonged to the Eight Sufferings.
• Uesugi Tetsu called nineteen gods and spirits to seek a cure for Imagawa Yoshimoto, and fourteen agreed to investigate using Yaobikuni’s blood.
• Ririko explained that a Sword Heart capable of reaching the Other Shore could identify and resolve the illness, though Uesugi Tetsu doubted Imagawa Yoshimoto could achieve one.
• Uesugi Tetsu decided to spend a week or two preparing before returning, while planning to help Imagawa Yoshimoto contend for supremacy in Everworld.
• Uesugi Tetsu conceived a plan for Two-Shaku-Sama to found a religion, and Chisa saw a golden-legend label above him identifying him as her master and the great master of Hundred Eyes.

Uesugi Tetsu learned a basic Sword Domain Prototype from Ririko almost immediately and spent the following weeks training Chisa while investigating his mysterious curse. He eventually opened his seventy-second major aperture and completed both the Python Tendons and Jiao Tendons, bringing the Palace of Flesh close to completion.

• Chisa used the True Sight Eye to inspect Uesugi Tetsu and the others, then explained how its labels and unreadable information worked.
• Uesugi Tetsu sent the exhausted Chisa to sleep before asking Ririko to teach him about Sword Domains.
• Ririko explained Sword Domain Prototypes, and Uesugi Tetsu learned and formed a basic prototype within minutes, astonishing Aoi.
• Uesugi Tetsu visited Lord Magatsu about the unidentified curse, while Magatsu confirmed it could not be brought back to the past for investigation.
• Chisa officially became Uesugi Tetsu's disciple and trained with him, Ririko, and the Sword Saint Kamizumi's phantom.
• Uesugi Tetsu opened his seventy-second major aperture and completed the Python Tendons and Jiao Tendons, nearing completion of the Palace of Flesh.

Uesugi Tetsu completed Flood Dragon Sinew and chose to delay forging his Palace of Flesh so he could pursue a stronger Palace of Flesh · Treasury of Kami. After training Chisa and arranging for Ririko to investigate a Ghost God-level anomaly in Hokkaido, he used the Key of History to return to the Warring States period.

• Uesugi Tetsu opened the seventy-second Great Acupoint and completed Flood Dragon Sinew, expanding his qi sea and improving his cultivation.
• Uesugi Tetsu postponed forging the Palace of Flesh so he could complete all four ultimate forms and the Treasury of Kami before forging the combined Palace of Flesh · Treasury of Kami.
• Uesugi Tetsu used his qi and blood to teach Chisa the three basic stances and strengthen her body, then replaced her Hundred Eyes' True-Sight Eye with the All-Sight Eye.
• Shizuma Manatsu asked Uesugi Tetsu for help with an anomaly in Hokkaido that beings at Ghost God level or above could not enter, and Ririko agreed to investigate with Chisa.
• Uesugi Tetsu prepared supplies and equipment, then used the Key of History: Anchor to return to the point when he had used Key of History: Stasis.
• Uesugi Tetsu plunged into a deep sea as an eerie-black tide surged toward him.

Uesugi Tetsu was caught in a terrifying Deep Sea event and woke in a different point in the Warring States period, where his prompts had malfunctioned and his powers were depleted. As he followed a wary young man toward a village to escape rising gray mist, Imagawa Yoshimoto waited for Che to return, though he believed Che would never come back.

• Uesugi Tetsu saw an incomprehensible terror in the Deep Sea, lost consciousness, and later woke in an unfamiliar place and era.
• Uesugi Tetsu discovered that his return prompt had malfunctioned, his Warring States reputation was 14,022, and his strength had nearly run out.
• A wary young man told Uesugi Tetsu about a nearby town and a ruined temple, then tried to drive him away when Uesugi asked about the things that ate people.
• When gray mist appeared, the young man overcame his fear, grabbed Uesugi Tetsu, and dragged him toward the village.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto struggled through his duties and told Okabe Motonobu that Che would return, though he privately believed Che would never come back.

Uesugi Tetsu hid in a village as the Mist Form approached, then discovered that Aine was among the villagers preparing to flee. After his power recovered, he trapped the gray fog inside a barrier and emerged to help, leaving it crashing into the barrier as it tried to escape.

• A young villager named A Shu rang the alarm bell and hid Uesugi Tetsu in a cabinet before the gray fog reached the village.
• Uesugi Tetsu contacted Qing, Two-Shaku-Sama, Karuta, and Koga, and Qing warned him not to investigate the dangerous thing involved in their journey through time.
• Uesugi Tetsu identified the gray fog as a Mist Form released by the Hozuki Clan to prey on humans, while A Shu, his uncle, and a girl planned to lead the villagers north.
• As the gray fog began devouring villagers, Uesugi Tetsu recognized the girl as Aine and realized she carried the protective charm he had given her.
• Uesugi Tetsu erected a barrier around the village, stepped out of the cabinet, and announced that he had come to slay the beast.
• The Mist Form released the villagers and charged toward the edge of the village, where it struck Uesugi Tetsu's barrier.

Uesugi Tetsu destroyed the gray-mist demon and reunited with Aine, then learned that a Hozuki Clan member had protected her village with talismans. He strengthened Aine’s talisman, left White Bone and Wax Statue to serve her, and uncovered the Hozuki Clan’s location, setting off toward his next target.

• Uesugi Tetsu trapped the gray mist in a lightning net, while Azure finished it off and stored its resentful soul.
• Uesugi Tetsu reunited with Aine, learned it was the second year of Eiroku, and discovered that a Hozuki Clan member had drawn the village’s protective talismans.
• Uesugi Tetsu enhanced Aine’s Imperial Spirit Talisman and assigned White Bone and Wax Statue to serve her.
• Uesugi Tetsu asked the Black Book for the Hozuki Clan’s address, and it revealed their territory lay 120 li southeast.

The Hozuki Clan identified Uesugi Tetsu as the one who killed Mist Form and tried to locate and confront him, only to find he had already entered their territory. Tetsu faced their assembled demons and later announced that he had wiped out the clan, prompting Imagawa Yoshimoto to hear that he had returned.

• Hozuki Ze replayed Mist Form’s death and identified the killer as the Great Onmyoji Tetsu.
• Uesugi Tetsu left Aine and reached the Hozuki Clan’s hidden stronghold, where Hozuki Yuu escorted him toward the council hall.
• The Hozuki Clan’s locating technique revealed that Tetsu was already inside their grounds, and he removed the council hall’s roof as he greeted them.
• The Hozuki clan head summoned their Shikigami and demanded that Tetsu surrender, but Tetsu prepared to fight alongside Qing and Koga.
• Ii Naomasa told Imagawa Yoshimoto that Tetsu had announced he single-handedly wiped out the Hozuki Clan and declared his return.

Uesugi Tetsu destroyed the Hozuki Clan and gained a vast haul of Soul Ash before the clan head sacrificed himself to awaken the sealed Corrupted Tengu. The demon god emerged to find its intended blood offerings gone, while Tetsu stood ready to attack.

• Uesugi Tetsu spared Hozuki Yuu and told him to spread the news that the Great Onmyoji Tetsu had destroyed the Hozuki Clan.
• Uesugi Tetsu collected rewards for killing 342 Demons, raising his Soul Ash reserves to 120,444, then announced his return across five hundred li.
• The former Hozuki Clan head revived, found the clan grounds destroyed, and sacrificed himself to break the seal holding an ancient demon god.
• Uesugi Tetsu revealed that he had only pretended to be weakened and prepared to fight as the Corrupted Tengu emerged from the seal.
• The Corrupted Tengu's blood-offering formation found no Hozuki Clan members to consume, and the demon god panicked when Uesugi Tetsu confronted it.

Uesugi Tetsu killed the Corrupted Tengu, triggering Kaga Kiyomitsu’s advancement toward Super Epic, then gathered resources and prepared to visit Imagawa Yoshimoto. At Sunpu Castle, Yoshimoto refused an audience with representatives who had come to see her, some of them kneeling.

• Uesugi Tetsu ignored the Corrupted Tengu’s pleas and threats, then killed it with Kaga Kiyomitsu’s Unknowing Sword: Void.
• Kaga Kiyomitsu began hibernating as its quality advanced after its first deity kill, while Uesugi Tetsu spent Soul Points upgrading its effects.
• Uesugi Tetsu used a twenty-pull to obtain Hirasaka Pupil Spring and completed the materials needed for Hundred-Eyed Demon’s advancement to deityhood.
• Uesugi Tetsu destroyed the Corrupted Tengu’s remains, then ordered Karuta to identify people in Sunpu Castle who had harmed or would harm Imagawa Yoshimoto.
• Ii Naomasa told Imagawa Yoshimoto that representatives from various houses had come to the Imagawa Residence, with some kneeling, but Yoshimoto refused to meet them.

Uesugi Tetsu returned to Sunpu Castle, captured eighteen fleeing agents, and reunited with the gravely ill Imagawa Yoshimoto. After his All-Purpose Potion failed to cure her, he promised to stay by her side and hinted that death might not be the end.

• Uesugi Tetsu used Karuta and the Black Book to track hostile red dots, then flew toward the agents escaping Sunpu Castle.
• Uesugi Tetsu captured eighteen agents, including a Takeda Secret Ninja, and brought them to the Imagawa Residence.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto ordered the captives taken for interrogation and welcomed Uesugi Tetsu into her room.
• Uesugi Tetsu learned that Taiyuan Xuezhai had died and discovered that Imagawa Yoshimoto's illness remained unexplained.
• Uesugi Tetsu gave Imagawa Yoshimoto an All-Purpose Potion, but it only briefly eased her weakness.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto asked how long Uesugi Tetsu would stay, and he promised to see her through to the end before saying death might not be the end.

Imagawa Yoshimoto told Uesugi Tetsu that she wanted to march to Kyoto and protect her people from demons, while Tetsu prepared shrines that would let Two-Shaku-Sama guard villages. After spending time with Yoshimoto and learning Shiraishi was searching for him, Tetsu returned to the modern world, discovered the time difference had widened to 24:1, and set out to visit Katsumi.

• Imagawa Yoshimoto asked Uesugi Tetsu to help her march to Kyoto and clear demons from the Imagawa Clan’s lands, while privately wishing she had more time to have a child with him.
• Uesugi Tetsu summoned Two-Shaku-Sama and explained that shrines containing her divine reliquaries could help protect villages from demons; Imagawa Yoshimoto agreed to distribute them.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto told Uesugi Tetsu that Shiraishi had left half a year after Tetsu’s departure to search for him, and Karuta’s Black Book confirmed Shiraishi was alive and safe.
• Uesugi Tetsu shared curry chicken cutlet rice with Imagawa Yoshimoto and the others before returning to his room to cultivate for a day.
• Uesugi Tetsu woke in the modern world and found that time now passed at a 24:1 ratio between the two eras.
• Uesugi Tetsu took out a black Wrathful God Mask and headed to Katsumi to spend his hundred thousand soul ash.

Uesugi Tetsu traded with Katsumi for a legendary Soul Spirit Imprint and asked him to seek a compatible earth-element material and news about Zashiki. Back in the Warring States period, Tetsu learned that daimyos and Onmyoji clans were joining forces to pressure Imagawa Yoshimoto, and he offered Yoshimoto a list to send back.

• Katsumi warned Uesugi Tetsu that a Nine-Tailed Fox at the Special Affairs Division's Arakawa Ward branch was detecting nonhuman beings, then met him in Everworld to trade.
• Uesugi Tetsu paid Katsumi a deposit of twenty thousand soul ashes to find a high-grade earth-element material compatible with Hundred-Eyed Demon within a month.
• Uesugi Tetsu bought Katsumi's legendary Soul Spirit Imprint for thirty thousand soul ashes and asked him to watch for news about Zashiki.
• Uesugi Tetsu returned to the Warring States period, where Qing remarked that Katsumi had been an established merchant since at least the Heian period.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto received letters from daimyos questioning his arrests, and Uesugi Tetsu handed him a Black Book list to have copied and sent back.

Uesugi Tetsu warned Imagawa Yoshimoto’s condolence-letter senders through a compiled list, secretly guarded against possible interference, and helped restore Yoshimoto’s strength while planning a Soul Spirit Imprint aid for her. The Ancient Clan Alliance chose to watch Tetsu and the Imagawa Clan for now, while Tetsu’s Lin Character Technique reached 20% mastery and entered its third stage.

• Uesugi Tetsu gave Imagawa Yoshimoto a list of everyone who sent condolence letters and warned the civil official delivering it not to reveal how the information had been obtained.
• Uesugi Tetsu told Imagawa Yoshimoto that his curse threat was partly a precaution, then used his qi and blood to help her recover her strength.
• Uesugi Tetsu planned to shape the Soul Spirit Imprint into a status panel and intelligent assistant for Imagawa Yoshimoto, and assessed his cultivation progress.
• The Ancient Clan Alliance discussed Tetsu’s reply and agreed to observe him and the Imagawa Clan rather than provoke him.
• Imagawa Yoshimoto’s orders spread Two-Shaku-Sama’s shrines across at least half of Suruga’s towns and villages, overwhelming the novice Kami with offerings and prayers.
• Uesugi Tetsu saw that the Five Thunder Technique was close to Expert level and that the Lin Character Technique had reached 20% mastery and its third stage.