Chapter 258: Conflicts Within The Tokugawa Family, Dramatic Changes In The Sea Of Qi, Thunder Energy Fusion! Sword Master’s Symbol, Astonishing All!
After a special beeping sound, the call was quickly connected by someone else within the Tokugawa Clan.
After a subtle pause, the familiar voice of the attendant came through.
Tokugawa Haruhiko said flatly, “The ninja teams in the middle-to-back positions in the clan sequence should still be idle now, right?”
After receiving the attendant’s affirmative reply, Tokugawa Haruhiko smiled,
“Mm, send them to Tokyo within three days.”
—Logically speaking, Tokugawa Haruhiko should have called the head of the Tokugawa family, that is, “Great-Grandfather.”
But Tokugawa Haruhiko wanted to bring Tokugawa Ririko back to the clan without alerting Great-Grandfather.
That way, it would be a merit for him.
Therefore, Tokugawa Haruhiko, who could mobilize some forces within the clan, called his attendant guard, not wanting extra people to know about this.
Hm?
Tokugawa Haruhiko put down his mobile phone and stared at the call duration still jumping on it—normally, once he finished giving instructions, the attendant would hang up on his own.
Why didn’t he this time…
His doubt was answered in the next instant.
“Haruhiko?”
A calm and mild but immensely weighty male voice flowed out from the speaker, making Tokugawa Haruhiko’s previously relaxed expression stiffen again immediately.
That male voice slowly asked,
“Eldest Brother is very curious, during the intermission of the Eastern Region Seed Battle right now, what do you need so many ninjas for?”
After a pause, the male voice asked again,
“I remember Little Sister is also in Tokyo, right?”
This voice was undoubtedly his Eldest Brother Tokugawa Ryuji.
—The youngest Ghost God in the Tokugawa family in nearly a hundred years, undefeated since picking up the sword, the next head of the Tokugawa family, the only one in the Three Great Families who could be compared to the eldest daughter of the Minamoto Family.
Eldest Brother’s words clearly sided with Tokugawa Ririko and were also a warning to him not to get clever and make extra moves.
Tokugawa Haruhiko fell silent, not daring to respond.
His hand gripping the mobile phone trembled slightly.
At the same time, he was also very puzzled.
Why was Tokugawa Ryuji right next to his attendant?
Could it be a coincidence… Damn it, how is Ririko’s luck always this good.
The last time he tried to do something, it was Third Sister who came knocking at his door at night.
This time, it was Eldest Brother instead.
Tokugawa Haruhiko clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and casually made up a reason to muddle through.
But he knew that with Tokugawa Ryuji aware, it was absolutely impossible to use the family’s forces to punish Tokugawa Ririko.
“Tch.”
With no other choice, Tokugawa Haruhiko dialed Great-Grandfather’s number, no longer thinking about the merit.
Soon the call was connected.
After saying a few words to the attendant who answered, Tokugawa Haruhiko had the call transferred to Great-Grandfather’s hands.
An aged and leisurely tone came through: “Haruhiko, is something the matter?”
Tokugawa Haruhiko spoke clearly and logically: “Fifth Sister has already signed up for the Eastern Region Seed Battle, and under the name of the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Office.”
“Haruhiko thinks that if this continues, Fifth Sister might really integrate into that Special Affairs Office, forget her Tokugawa family bloodline and identity, and no longer listen to you, Great-Grandfather, in the future.”
In just two sentences, it both showed Tokugawa Haruhiko’s emphasis on the family clan and expressed concern for his siblings.
The old man on the other end of the call laughed,
“Haruhiko, I remember you also participated in that Seed Battle, right?”
“Yes, Great-Grandfather.”
“In that case.” The old man said unhurriedly, “Why not let it be for now, and you can compete with Ririko to see who can go further in this match.”
At these words, Tokugawa Haruhiko’s expression changed again.
Before this, Great-Grandfather’s attitude had always been to bring Tokugawa Ririko back to the family… If not for Eldest Brother and Third Sister blocking it openly and covertly, she would probably have been forcibly brought back long ago.
But now, Great-Grandfather’s intention had actually become “wait and see”?
Waiting for what?
Tokugawa Haruhiko didn’t need to think—he was using him as a benchmark to see how much potential Ririko had shown.
But the next moment, the old man’s words eased Tokugawa Haruhiko’s expression.
“After the match ends, I will personally come to Tokyo to see her.”
He exhaled and said, “That is Fifth Sister’s honor.”
—Since Great-Grandfather was coming personally, Tokugawa Ririko couldn’t escape even with wings; she would inevitably be brought home to follow the greater trend.
For now, let her hop around a bit more.
As for the earlier words, Tokugawa Haruhiko couldn’t figure out their meaning for the moment.
But that was normal.
Great-Grandfather had lived too long; many of his thoughts were completely beyond what he could guess.
After respectfully hanging up the call, Tokugawa Haruhiko’s rollercoaster-like expression finally calmed down.
Compete with Ririko…
Tokugawa Haruhiko rubbed the sword hilt with his fingertip and secretly sneered.
—Can’t beat Shangshan Che, but surely can’t beat you who only has a state of mind!
……
Ignoring the youth who fled in embarrassment, and indifferent to the gazes cast upon him from all around.
Ririko naturally accepted the crowd’s gazes.
She lazily yawned, her momentum not weakening under the numerous stares but instead growing stronger and stronger.
This piercing momentum and gaze made many competitors ahead of her unable to endure, successively leaving the line to queue behind her.
Some even directly left the venue and switched to another preliminary selection venue.
Even without really making a move, Ririko had already caused quite a stir among the surrounding competitors and audience.
So flamboyant… No wonder she said on the street earlier that she didn’t want to affect others.
But perhaps this was Ririko’s unmasked true self.
Shangshan Che, hiding in the corner, said nothing more and silently began soundless cultivation.
Ririko’s teaching last night and the morning practice he saw this morning had given Shangshan Che some perception.
Just right, taking advantage of the free time to practice it.
Rumble… rumble…
Fine and clear thunder sounds arose from between Shangshan Che’s bones, then fully gathered by Qi Circulation, not reaching others’ ears.
He was using the “Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound” technique to vibrate his bones, producing sounds identical to real thunder.
This was originally impossible; only a freak like Shangshan Che, who had turned his entire body’s bones into the “Thunder Bone” lightning carrier, could achieve it.
And as the Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound emitted, Shangshan Che immediately felt his tendons, bones, and muscles rapidly heating up, tempered and wrapped by these sounds that ordinary people ignored.
He immediately circulated his breathing technique, entering the “Muscle Refining” state.
The Palace of Flesh stage of the breathing technique, especially the muscle refining part, usually required the most time; this was evident from a small stage needing 2500 proficiency points.
But now, Shangshan Che saw 【proficiency +1】 prompts popping up every two or three minutes.
Fast, incredibly fast!
This cultivation speed was more than twice as fast as before!
Not to mention, this was just standing and practicing directly, without medicinal bath or Soul Incense Ash assistance.
“Perhaps… 2500 proficiency isn’t that much.”
Shangshan Che grinned slightly, stopping the breathing technique’s operation before his whole body’s muscles reached scorching peak and turned “liquid” in perception.
If he pushed the limit of a single practice outside, he might not be able to walk later.
【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +16!】
In less than half an hour, proficiency increased by 16 points.
Shangshan Che breathed steadily, rapidly circulated Qi once through a cycle, felt the muscle soreness throughout his body gradually fade, then looked inward to his Sea of Qi.
During the previous cultivation, he suddenly sensed some fundamental change in the Sea of Qi.
Upon internal vision, he discovered that the thunderclouds floating in the sky were threading down bit by bit, beginning to fuse with the still spacious Sea of Qi.
Lightning energy fusion.
It seemed also due to the two moves Ririko taught him last night.
Though he couldn’t yet see the endpoint of this change, Shangshan Che’s intuition told him it was probably a good thing.
Because afterward, Five Thunder Technique and Qi would truly be inseparable.
This was a good thing, equivalent to higher energy output efficiency, and more output in the same time.
In layman’s terms, stronger bursts.
Not interfering with the natural changes in the Sea of Qi, Shangshan Che raised his gaze and found it was Ririko’s turn to go on stage.
Only then did Shangshan Che notice that Ririko had no sword on her, not even a practice bamboo sword.
Was she going to chop the puppet with hand blades?
Looking at the girl’s slender frame on the arena, Shangshan Che felt worried.
Patta, patta.
With two light steps, the somewhat lively venue instantly fell silent.
The sharp and chilling momentum emanating from the girl standing ramrod straight permeated everyone’s hearts.
Shangshan Che stared at the Sword Principle flickering in his vision and understood Ririko’s thought.
But to use such a trump card move in the preliminaries, completely unafraid of others studying it.
As expected of her.
“Roar…”
As red light lit in the puppet’s eyes, its head neatly slid off its neck and fell to the ground.
Without any warning.
Ririko withdrew her gaze.
Under gazes of dead silence and shock, the girl walked off the arena with an unchanged expression.
Then, in the footage from cameras at different angles, Ririko’s gazing eyes appeared.
This scene was faithfully recorded, immediately clipped by many with exaggerated covers and titles, and posted online.
Most ordinary people, even low-strength supernaturalists, and onmyoji focused only on sorcery, didn’t understand what Ririko did.
But sword technique experts who stumbled upon this video were all shocked, mouths agape.
—Sword Domain.
The most obvious symbol of a swordsman stepping into the “Sword Master” realm.
Usually, Sword Masters were at least Ghost God level existences; the latter title was even grander, so it wasn’t too shocking.
But this time was different.
This video was clipped from the preliminary selection recording of the Eastern Region Seed Battle, limited to young talents.
Likewise, it was the first Sword Domain and first Sword Master in the entire Seed Battle.
The short dozens-of-seconds video exploded in popularity, making numerous arrogant young sword technique geniuses sigh—
Heroes under heaven are truly as numerous as carp crossing the river.
……
Tokyo Shinjuku District.
In a quiet room secluded amid the bustle, incense sufficient to calm even a Ghost God’s mind burned slowly.
A girl in plain white clothes with a sword on her lap, a youth lightly tapping the tabletop with his finger, and a boy dressed in very rustic style sat around the round table.
Words occasionally came from the three’s mouths, followed by a period of silence from all three.
It was Minamoto Shizuka, Saito Ryuichi, and Takizawa Kai discussing onmyōdō and sword technique!
But mostly Minamoto Shizuka and Saito Ryuichi speaking, with Takizawa Kai listening.
The main and secondary statuses were clear at a glance.
“That Kitada Kei is a Katori Shinto-ryu expert; I wonder what Miss Minamoto thinks of him…”
Before Saito Ryuichi finished asking, the quiet room’s door was opened.
He frowned and glanced at the doorway.
It was Minamoto Shizuka’s servant.
This servant had been standing outside the door, both to guard it and as instructed by Minamoto Shizuka to constantly monitor news related to the Seed Battle preliminaries.
If there was major news or an expert appeared, he could push the door open directly.
The servant holding a tablet said summarily: “In the Arakawa Ward preliminaries, one who can…”
His contemplation interrupted, Takizawa Kai, in a bad mood, interjected puzzledly,
“What’s there to say about these public preliminaries? And you have to interrupt us; can’t you talk later?”
“Little Kai.” Saito Ryuichi coughed lightly, “Miss Minamoto’s instructions have her reasons.”
With that, he gave Minamoto Shizuka an apologetic smile.
The latter didn’t mind, just saying flatly: “It’s fine, continue.”
The servant continued: “A competitor who can use Sword Domain.”
Before he finished, Minamoto Shizuka and Saito Ryuichi both looked up simultaneously, sharp light bursting in their eyes.
Saito Ryuichi immediately narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening.
Only Takizawa Kai looked confused, having never heard the term.
After a moment of silence, Minamoto Shizuka asked: “This person… is it Tokugawa Ririko?”
The servant paused, then nodded,
“Yes.”
After the question and answer, Saito Ryuichi’s expression eased a bit, but he frowned puzzledly again.
—Luckily, this level of ultimate freak didn’t pop up like a leek.
—How could Tokugawa Ririko, who can use Sword Domain, be in the Arakawa Ward Seed Battle; her strength wouldn’t be worse than Akechi Yuya, who ranks near the bottom of forty-nine people?
What exactly happened in between?
“Then it’s not strange.” Battle intent rose in Minamoto Shizuka’s eyes, “For someone from the Tokugawa family to become a Sword Master is normal.”
“And I heard she’s swung her sword over ten million times in her life, more than ten ordinary experts combined.”
“Ten million times?!”
Takizawa Kai exclaimed.
He didn’t understand Sword Domain or Sword Master, but as a current high schooler, he understood numbers all too well.
Saito Ryuichi rubbed his forehead: “I didn’t expect the rumors were true; Tokugawa Ririko is a genuine Sword Master.”
He sighed,
“Trouble.”
“This is a good thing.”
Minamoto Shizuka showed a faint smile, intense anticipation surging on her face: “I recently completed Hundred Refinements, stepped into Return to One, but had no path ahead.
Just right, in this Seed Battle, I personally defeat this new Sword Master, using her Clear Sword Heart as the strongest and sharpest whetstone to propel me into Clear Sword Heart realm!”
This way, he would finally have a chance to catch up to Sister’s pace!
“Saito, this is a heaven-sent opportunity.”
Minamoto Shizuka locked eyes with the current head of the Saito Family, her gaze full of serene and profound confidence.
