Chapter 224: Top 100 Ranking First Place, Prize Pool Still Accumulating! 41st Floor Of The Secret Realm, Slaying The Oda Forces!
Do I have to enter the Sengoku Secret Realm right here, under the gaze of so many people?
Recalling that buff specifically marked with the word “powerful,” Shangshan Che knew that the 40th Floor certainly couldn’t stop him.
—Even if the projection lost its mind in the extremely low probability case during the next entry, his training over such a long time wouldn’t be in vain.
Similarly under the “rage” state, Shangshan Che now felt confident he could resolve the projection within two minutes.
Of course, sustaining some injuries was inevitable.
And with this powerful buff, even the 41st Floor that made Minamoto Shizuka and Kyuuketsuin Kin suffer defeat, Shangshan Che felt he could give it a try.
Shangshan Che, whose skin tingled from the hundreds and thousands of gazes of various colors, curled his lips.
But obtaining third place on the Top 100 Ranking under the watchful eyes of the crowd, or even suppressing everyone to seize first place, would be too ostentatious.
It must be known that Shangshan Che’s name on the Top 100 Ranking was 【Anonymous Person 666】, not 【Shangshan Che】.
There were already many things lately; if he accidentally openly seized the top spot on the Top 100 Ranking…
What would happen then?
Shangshan Che didn’t even dare to imagine how many people would chase after him, even going to his house in Arakawa Ward to disturb Lili Zi.
—The “reputation value” in the Mortal Realm wasn’t that important anyway, especially since the Seed Battle was coming up soon.
Since becoming famous was inevitable sooner or later, it was better to let it come later, to have a few more days of peace.
No need, no need.
Shangshan Che rejected the idea of making a grand show in his heart.
—Sneak into the village quietly, and the one who fires the gun doesn’t get noticed!
Make a fortune in silence, and thunder arises from the silent place—that’s the real truth.
“No challenge, no challenge. A newbie like me has nothing worth challenging; any projection from the twentieth or thirtieth floor could beat me senseless.”
Shangshan Che waved his hand, publicly rejecting Kyuuketsuin Kin’s challenge invitation.
He then cupped his hands from a great distance toward the pitiful-looking man: “Your Excellency Kyuuketsuin, have fun playing.”
With that, Shangshan Che grabbed Tamamo with one hand and Yagyu Oshi with the other, instantly vanishing into the crowd still in shock and unreacted.
“Disengage, withdraw, sell, slip away!”
It wasn’t until ten or so seconds after Shangshan Che disappeared that the onlookers finally reacted—this boy with ordinary qi had rejected this Kyuuketsuin adult’s invitation without even thinking!
A challenger from some other rural place, only having heard of the Three Great Families, let out the classic villain’s taunt,
“Lucky enough to be noticed by Kyuuketsuin adult in this lifetime, yet at the critical moment, he chickened out like a coward?”
But the next moment, a Special Affairs Office agent looked at him like an idiot: “Ignorant country bumpkin, truly terrifying.”
“—He doesn’t even know Shangshan Che, the winner of the Yokohama True Sword Match, Tokyo’s new star, and Arakawa Ward’s number one seed… He was just being modest, and you took it as him being weak?
Not to mention anything else, even if that Shangshan Che let you use one hand, he could still beat dozens of country bumpkins like you.”
Immediately, the challenger who had just taunted flushed red and silently burrowed back into the crowd.
With so many powerhouses gathered around the Top 100 Ranking stele, naturally few would pay attention to such a clown.
—Even though most had deep dark circles, messy hair, and identical uniforms, looking completely like an offline gathering of corporate slaves.
But that’s how the Special Affairs Office is.
Every month there are mandatory task quotas; to take personal missions for contribution points to exchange for cultivation resources, while using the remaining time for extensive self-cultivation.
Under this timely powerful positive feedback mechanism, Special Affairs Office agents squeeze themselves harder than anyone.
They could be called average overachievers.
—Because in this ever-changing world, even a little slacking would leave one far behind by colleagues.
—If one could stay mentally sharp while in the Special Affairs Office, they were either a talent prodigy or a high leader.
An agent from Shizuoka City, related to intelligence work, spoke up: “But though Agent Shangshan is strong, he doesn’t amount to much on this Top 100 Ranking, right?
Ranking around fiftieth place would already be pretty good.”
He spoke quite rationally: “From Agent Shangshan’s battle record, he should have around three-and-a-half-star strength—but on the Top 100 Ranking, who isn’t a three-and-a-half star?”
“Well said.”
“I see it’s spot on.”
“This one’s not bad.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; no one looked down on Shangshan Che.
It was just that purely from data and past records, “Shangshan Che,” this Arakawa Ward seed’s strength could only reach this level—no one present had seen him act in the past few days.
The discussion about Shangshan Che only lasted a short while before the hot topic shifted to others.
But not even ten minutes later, that same agent from Shizuoka City let out a shocked and bewildered “ah,” drawing gazes from nearby acquaintances.
Then, in the next moment, “ah” sounds began to spread rapidly from this center point.
A chorus of “ah” sounds echoed beside the Top 100 Ranking stele.
Because such a piece of information had leaked out.
—【At noon today, Agent “Shangshan Che” from Arakawa Ward single-handedly halted the promotion of the Supernatural Phenomenon “Black Phone Booth” to Ghost God level in Shizuoka City and exorcised it.】
The Black Phone Booth had recently been a hot demon in the Special Affairs Office; many agents present had encountered its clones.
Though it was already gravely injured and weakened under the pursuit of a certain Ghost God level executor, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse.
A Supernatural Phenomenon capable of promoting to Ghost God level wouldn’t be weak no matter what.
And that’s why this shock was so great.
Moreover, combining this news with Shangshan Che’s appearance just now made it even more outrageous.
—Exorcised the Black Phone Booth in Shizuoka City at noon, then came to Hamamatsu City at night without obvious injuries to check the Top 100 Ranking, and might even attempt a challenge!
Numerous agents who had seen Tokyo at 4 a.m. exclaimed: What kind of time management master is this!
“Looks like this one’s strength is more than enough; he just didn’t want to expose it all at once under so many gazes.”
Once this spread, no one dared to underestimate Shangshan Che anymore.
The agents and onlookers adjusted their predictions for Shangshan Che’s ranking from around fiftieth to the top ten, even top five, someone who could compete with Saito Ryuichi and that Anonymous Person 666.
That intelligence agent sighed: “What a pity; I really wanted to see Agent Shangshan challenge the Sengoku Projection Secret Realm once.”
Kyuuketsuin Kin noticed the change in atmosphere nearby and had the black-clothed guard always following him go inquire about the situation.
The guard respectfully bowed to the agents to ask, then reported back to Kyuuketsuin Kin one by one.
“So that’s how it is…”
Kyuuketsuin Kin blinked, sighing slightly with regret: “Then it’s truly a pity he didn’t accept my invitation.”
He recalled that Shangshan Che, who at first glance had a calm and upright temperament, no different from an ordinary passerby.
But if he now reviewed it in his mind for a while, he could spot Shangshan Che’s extraordinary difference from those around him.
—No, it should be called “out of place.”
—Just like himself.
Kyuuketsuin Kin smiled and requested toward the guard beside him,
“Your Excellency Kuroki, I’m a bit interested in him.”
“Yes.”
…
By the time Shangshan Che and the other two returned to the Yagyu Dojo in Numazu City, the silver moon was still high in the sky.
It was now early morning.
“But Yagyu, why does the dojo seem so lively?”
After getting off the Special Affairs Office shuttle, Tamamo scratched her head in confusion.
Even as an ordinary person, she could hear many people walking around inside the dojo, along with lots of machinery operating sounds.
But Shangshan Che, standing behind her, saw even more.
At this moment, a black semi-transparent barrier flowing with silver light had enveloped the sky above the Yagyu Dojo.
Hundreds of spiritual power points surged with spiritual power, intricate spiritual energy flows weaving together to form this defensive barrier that even made Shangshan Che feel a Ghost God level couldn’t breach.
Yagyu beside him couldn’t perceive it as clearly as Shangshan Che, but could barely make out the grand scale.
He murmured slightly puzzled,
“What is the Apprentice Master doing…”
“—Idiot, because the 1.5th tide is coming.”
A hoarse elderly voice sounded from straight ahead at some point, echoing unhurriedly.
Shangshan Che looked up in shock and saw the plainly dressed old man under the dojo plaque; he saw him raise his aged and vigorous palm, pointing at his ear,
“It’s not far, within these few days… I can hear it.”
Huh?
Though the tide was indeed not far, it wasn’t that soon, right, within days?
Shangshan Che’s own Spirit Control Technique hadn’t sensed it at all, nor had the Special Affairs Office’s Astronomy Path sent any definite message.
This old man had not a speck of spiritual power on him—playing it so mysteriously?
Shangshan Che was skeptical.
He glanced at Tamamo beside him and saw her stick out her tongue, her face full of distrust toward the elderly man.
Yagyu Oshi didn’t ask further on this issue—the Apprentice Master’s decisions were almost never wrong, especially on major matters.
He asked,
“Apprentice Master, have you eaten?”
“Oh… It’s been busy today, not yet…”
The old man knocked his forehead with a finger, suddenly realizing: “Old age is no good; I even forgot to eat…”
“Then I’ll go make food now, treat it as a late dinner.”
Yagyu Oshi said immediately.
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow in surprise: “Ryūgen Jun can cook? I thought Tamamo was the chef.”
After all, Tamamo and Lili Zi’s figures were more like… having their own cutting boards makes cooking handy, right.
Yagyu Oshi answered expressionlessly,
“If she cooked, everyone in the dojo would be poisoned one by one.”
Tamamo clenched her fists at this, her little face flushing red, but unexpectedly didn’t retort or complain.
Speechless.
Shangshan Che immediately stepped away from Tamamo—this some kind of Breaking Bad chef, able to poison with everyday cooking ingredients!
“Then I’ll head in first.”
With that, Yagyu Oshi trotted into the dojo, leaving the three outside.
“Young Friend and Little Tamamo, come in too; it’s chilly outside in the wind.”
The Apprentice Master beckoned them and walked into the bustling dojo.
Half an hour later, Shangshan Che ate the meal Yagyu Oshi made in a small room beside the dojo.
Casually picking up a bite of tomato scrambled eggs, Shangshan Che, stunned by the taste, couldn’t help praising: “Didn’t expect your cooking to be this good, Yagyu.”
Yagyu Oshi, sitting upright eating, swallowed his food completely before answering formally,
“The Apprentice Master said that cooking with a calm heart is also a form of cultivation.”
Shangshan Che glanced at the old man whose movements seemed slow but were actually fast, having taken large portions of every dish in minutes, and sneered coldly with his eyes.
—I see, you old man just want a personal chef!
The Apprentice Master unceremoniously took the largest egg from the plate, lightly brushing Shangshan Che’s gaze.
—Yo, young one sour because you can’t have the grapes?
Next, their gazes no longer clashed, shifting the battlefield to the table.
You chopstick, me chopstick.
In less than six or seven minutes, Tamamo, who had a small appetite and ate slowly, looked up from her bowl.
Immediately after, she bewilderedly discovered that the four dishes and soup before her had vanished clean at some point.
“I’m done eating.”
The other three simultaneously set down their empty bowls, making the girl’s eyebrow twitch.
She slammed her bowl: “I’m still hungry!”
Seeing this, Shangshan Che looked at the Apprentice Master sitting to Tamamo’s right and found him completely unperturbed.
Originally, he thought someone of this older generation, especially a kendo master who could teach talents like Yagyu Oshi, would value etiquette highly.
Unexpectedly, Tamamo doing this didn’t matter at all.
This was… surprisingly casual.
Yagyu Oshi began clearing the dishes, whispering something secretly in Tamamo’s ear that made her eyes light up.
The Apprentice Master casually waved at them, hands behind his back, saying he was going to check on the long-idle barrier.
Shangshan Che, who had come to scroll his mobile phone after the meal, responded with an “oh.”
Because a message came from the Special Affairs Office APP.
—Minamoto Shizuka and Kyuuketsuin Kin had failed their second challenge of the Sengoku Projection Secret Realm’s 41st Floor and were preparing for their final life.
Perfect timing with nothing going on, the long-impatient Shangshan Che also wanted to enter the secret realm to see just how strong this so-called “unknown powerful buff” was.
He yawned,
“I’ll go find a place to lie down first.”
Tamamo, preparing to enjoy a midnight snack, had no energy to mind him and waved casually: “Got it, got it, go play on the side.”
Shangshan Che didn’t mind, found a room like a guest bedroom, and lay down directly in the corner on the floor.
—Projection Secret Realm, enter!
Water pressure like a phantom, or perhaps none at all.
When Shangshan Che opened his eyes again, he was in the familiar pure white space.
But this time, like last time, there was still mist in the center of the space.
This was a bit troublesome; would he have to chat with himself again later…?
As Shangshan Che thought this, he lowered his head as if sensing something.
Then, he discovered that in his right palm, he was suddenly gripping a super greatsword over forty meters long, with a brilliant dazzling silver blade, the whole thing blooming with golden flowing flames.
This appearance was simply outrageously wild and cool, looking like red gear reinforced to +15, insanely strong.
The Kaga Kiyomitsu at his waist was also stunned, dumbly “looking” at this Forty-Meter Greatsword surging with qi capable of destroying everything, falling into prolonged daze.
The naive young Little Jia didn’t understand how such a perfect powerful weapon suddenly appeared in his master’s hand—compared to it, didn’t that make it seem useless?
【You have entered the Projection Secret Realm again!】
【You have triggered “Unknown Powerful Buff”!】
【You now know that the “Unknown Powerful Buff” is actually “Hero’s Forty-Meter Greatsword”!】
【Hero’s Forty-Meter Greatsword: A super giant cleaver forty meters long that only a hero can easily pick up and swing, destroying everything in its blade’s path】
Shangshan Che: ?
His fingers moved slightly, but he had already unintentionally touched the edge of the mist wall.
Rumble… rumble?
The roaring angry thunder just about to brew down suddenly halted.
Not far away, the four-tailed fox projection, which had just raised its hand, froze in place, swallowing hard before retracting its hand.
Shangshan Che had just wanted to study this ridiculously extreme greatsword in his hand when he found the mist wall had already dissipated.
Normally, shouldn’t lightning strike then?
He had just looked up when he saw the four-tailed fox projection walk up, size him up, and click its tongue,
“Bro… since when did I get this strong?”
Shangshan Che was shocked: “Last time you didn’t say that; turns out I’m a chameleon too!”
“Holy shit, don’t move!”
Seeing the Forty-Meter Greatsword twitch, the projection shouted in alarm: “This isn’t normal! What’s so strange about it! Anyway, isn’t this thing stronger than Ghost God level!”
Shangshan Che saw that the greatsword’s blade was less than three or four meters from the projection; if his hand shook again, the projection would probably vanish instantly.
Though no data supported it, both Shangshan Che and the projection felt this way.
Setting the greatsword down first, Shangshan Che briefly explained the situation to his projection.
The projection patted his chest, sighing with lingering fear,
“Just this little thing… say it earlier, don’t pull out the greatsword at every turn. Opening your eyes to instant death is scary.”
Shangshan Che thought about it and realized it was true.
Opening your eyes to a forty-meter greatsword that chops whoever it hits right in front of you—anyone would flinch.
Honestly, this sword was ridiculous; in this secret realm, chopping whoever meant auto-clear…
How did this bug-like buff come about?
Shangshan Che shook his head and said to the projection,
“No more wasting time; let’s talk Spirit Control Technique or Lightning Magic first…”
An hour and a half later.
“So the spiritual power path in this aspect should go like this…”
The projection’s words suddenly cut off midway.
He looked toward Shangshan Che, mouth opening, but the spark in his eyes suddenly vanished.
“What’s happening?”
Shangshan Che, listening intently, was just about to try following the projection’s words when he noticed the voice beside his ear stopped.
He looked up to see pale white lightning crashing down.
In full condition, dodging a blast of the projection’s Lightning Magic was effortless for Shangshan Che.
He casually picked up the greatsword and slung it over his shoulder, thoughtfully watching the projection hovering mid-air with empty, cold pupils.
Shangshan Che narrowed his eyes,
“The bug where the projection gains self-awareness upon seeing me has been fixed?”
After swinging the greatsword to casually annihilate a bunch of Lightning Dragons, Shangshan Che couldn’t help but click his tongue.
—Even though he had anticipated the sword’s strength, actually seeing it one-shot his own projection was still hard to keep composed.
In the next few minutes, Shangshan Che tried many dialogues with the projection, even tossing Kaga Kiyomitsu right in front of it.
But it was still no use.
As if some switch had been flipped, losing intelligence and thinking ability.
“What a pity…”
Shangshan Che shook his head helplessly, gently swinging the greatsword to turn the last finger-thin lightning and the four-tailed fox projection into nothingness together.
The space immediately became empty, as clean as if erased by rubber.
The prompt for clearing the Projection Secret Realm 40th Floor popped up—
【You have cleared the Projection Secret Realm 40th Floor. Accumulate rewards until clearing the secret realm, or claim rewards now?】
The 40th Floor prompt was somewhat different.
But Shangshan Che didn’t need to hesitate.
【You have chosen to accumulate rewards until clearing the secret realm.】
The reason was simply too straightforward.
Shangshan Che looked down at the Forty-Meter Greatsword in his hand, swung it before him, and saw a new mist wall again.
“Who will the 41st Floor be…”
He swung the greatsword to pierce the mist wall.
The next moment, a general in an iron mask and exquisitely crafted Modern Armor appeared before Shangshan Che.
Behind him stood a black banner emblazoned with the five-melon crest.
Shangshan Che, well-versed in Sengoku history, blinked,
“Oda Clan?”
So who was this in front of him?
Shibata Katsuie? Danjo Nagashige? Or the monkey who hadn’t gone solo before the Honnoji Incident?
It couldn’t be that Sixth Heavenly Demon King…
“—I am the man who will conquer under heaven, Oda Nobunaga!”
The iron-masked general declared thus.
As his cold voice fell, Shangshan Che felt the pure white space’s dimensions suddenly change.
It seemed to go from 100×100×100 to three 1000 meters.
Right after, thousands upon thousands of troops appeared behind Oda Nobunaga.
Well-equipped, powerful-qi arquebus teams, Hatamoto teams, bow and arrow teams, cavalry teams, and endless ashigaru… even behind Oda Nobunaga, several Oda Clan generals materialized from the void as projections.
In the cold silence of armor and iron clashing, Oda Nobunaga, mounting his horse at the forefront, raised his tachi high,
“Kill!”
The ten-thousand-strong army behind him responded in unison, momentum like a rainbow,
“Kill!”
Shangshan Che’s scalp tingled.
These troops were different from those before World Revival—most had some exposure to Breathing Technique or Onmyōdō spiritual power absorption.
Oda was open-minded about this, just like with arquebuses.
Besides, Oda Nobunaga and those generals were all three-star or above, not weaker than 37th or 38th Floor projections.
In other words, this 41st Floor meant facing a dozen or so 37th-38th Floor projections alone, plus nearly ten thousand around 20th-30th Floor strength projections.
And they were well-trained, able to form army arrays as a whole.
“No wonder Minamoto Shizuka couldn’t win…”
Shangshan Che looked out and found the army array endless at a glance: “One against ten thousand Supernaturals—how to win?”
“But for me, there’s not much difference.”
He weighed the paper-light Forty-Meter Greatsword in his hand: “Just a matter of swinging it a few more times.”
After seconds of silence, the ten-thousand army with Ghost God-level momentum surged forward like a black sky curtain.
Shangshan Che yawned, half-eyed, raising his sword to meet them.
…
At this time outside, Tamamo, slurping noodles while scrolling her phone, saw a prompt pop up at the top of the screen.
“What’s this? Didn’t I turn off notifications?”
Muttering this, Tamamo clicked into the prompt unhappily, straight to the cyber version of the Top 100 Ranking page in the Special Affairs Office APP,
“What’s going on…”
As she spoke, her pupils suddenly contracted.
Because Kyuuketsuin Kin, originally first on the Top 100 Ranking, had been pushed to second!
Tch, so the Minamoto family took first again, huh…
Tamamo looked up.
However, occupying the top spot was a name completely beyond her expectations!
—【Anonymous Person 666】
And the full info for the Top 100 Ranking first place was.
—【1st Anonymous Person 666 41st Floor】
6.5k, end of month begging for monthly votes, brothers!
