The Warrior of Love

——Yu Duyun!

The crossed slashes, one vertical and one horizontal, formed a symbol of negation, like a flashing cross. With just two slashes, the surrounding space was completely blocked, and the hand ghost's arms were broken one after another.

"Aaaaahhh!" the evil spirit wailed, but Tanjiro did not miss this opportunity.

"Die! Water Breathing Type 1—"

Without being hindered by any arms, the young demon slayer advanced to the last step under the cover of his allies.

Then a silver light fell, and in a trance, ripples seemed to appear on the blade, and the fatal knife slashed across the evil ghost's neck without hesitation.

"Water surface slash!"

Chapter 22: Dawn of Fuji Mountain

After being transformed into a breathing sword technique, Ashina Mushinryu was left with only the basic six moves. One of them, O Yuduyun, was Jiang Liu's favorite move, for a simple reason: it was simple and powerful.

This is a move that starts with drawing the sword, but it is not limited to the "Iai" posture. It can be used in almost any posture. Even with the hands in the arms, all movements can be completed in an instant.

This is just "one strike". The mature Yu Duyun uses the "loose and tight" force technique. After completing the initial sword slash, he skips charging and directly performs explosive second, third or even more combos in the strongest state.

Jiang Liu's highest record was four consecutive kills, and Feng could do it up to six times with the skills he had acquired over the years, but he was physically exhausted and could not carry out subsequent attacks.

Even though the Hand Demon is a large alien that has eaten more than fifty people, it still poses no threat to Jiang Liu, not to mention the fact that there is also Tanjiro who is quite powerful himself.

The two of them worked together in unexpected harmony and chopped off the hand ghost's head on the spot!

The Sun Blade, infused with the breathing technique, slashed across the demon's neck, successfully turning his body into ashes that dissipated into the air...

"The remains of a ghost?" Jiang Liu looked at the remaining ashes on the ground and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He couldn't remember how it was presented in the original book, but in this world, after an evil ghost was killed, its body would have a burning-like reaction, releasing a large amount of heat. Although there was no open flame, it would quickly be "burned" into black ash.

The Sun Blade is only a substitute for sunlight. In this case, aren't the bodies of these evil spirits like "gasoline" and will burn when encountering sparks (sunlight)?

Because this scene reminded Jiang Liu of the scene where Ren Li was burned to death, he felt a little unhappy and frowned slightly.

After killing the hand demon, Tanjiro looked sad for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Thank you, thank you for your help!"

Tanjiro held Jiang Liu's hand enthusiastically. The thick calluses gave Jiang Liu the feeling of touching rock, which surprised him a little.

The young man in front of him had dark red hair as deep as embers and a very handsome appearance. Although there was a bleeding scar on his forehead, he did not look ferocious at all.

However, such a gentle boy has a pair of hands that only experienced blacksmiths and old farmers have, as rough as rock and as hard as steel.

Just by shaking hands once, Jiang Liu could feel how much hard training this young man had gone through.

By the way, although Jiang Liu has calluses on his hands, they are not as thick as Tanjiro's. It seems to be due to his physique.

"My name is Tanjiro, Tanjiro Kamado! Thank you!"

"Don't be so polite. We might be companions of the Demon Slayer Corps in the future."

Jiang Liu smiled slightly, "Toyama Jiang Liu, it's nice to meet you, Tanjirou-kun."

Although he didn't have any idea of ​​"following the protagonist to curry favor with him", he just let it go since he had met him.

Tanjiro is destined to be involved with the Demon King Muzan. As long as he follows him, he will never have trouble finding powerful demons to test his sword.

From the perspective of Demon Slayer's worldview, Jiang Liu is indeed very strong now. Apart from the "Full Concentration Breathing Method - Changzhong" which he has not yet fully mastered, he has nothing else to learn, but this does not mean that he has reached the peak combat power in this world.

The "pillars" of the Demon Slayer Corps all possess unique skills, and among them are special talents with "natural supernatural powers". They are extremely talented and have been tempered by years of practice and combat, making them almost the pinnacle among mortals, and even stronger than Jiang Liu is now!

In a year, Jiang Liu could be transformed from a layman into a first-class swordsman, but he still lacked some polishing.

Only fighting is the best whetstone!

Jiang Liu is no longer satisfied with small-time ghosts, and powerful ghosts are relatively rare. Working with Tanjiro will undoubtedly increase the chance of encountering "elite monsters".

Of course, that is a matter for the future. Now we have to get through the final selection first.

At this time, the sky was already slightly white, and it was believed that the dawn would come soon. Tanjiro breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

Evil spirits will not come out during the day and can only hide in caves or other places where there is no sunlight. In other words, in this final selection, the daytime time is reserved for participants to restore their strength and find food.

Otherwise, even a man of iron would not be able to go without food or sleep for seven days and seven nights.

Although Tanjiro is not afraid of evil spirits, he is just a human being with flesh and blood, and he still needs to rest when he needs to.

"In short, let's find a place to rest first, and bandage your wound." Jiang Liu took out a roll of bandage from the convenient tool kit on his waist.

“I’ve learned some emergency procedures.”

-

Seven days passed quickly. Jiang Liu and Tanjiro worked together, and there was no evil spirit in the entire Fujishiko Mountain that could fight against them.

They also met other trial participants along the way, and Tanjiro helped them more than once, but if they were invited to join them, they would most likely refuse.

It's simple: if too many people gather together, ghosts will be attracted to them.

Rather than actively killing ghosts, these novices would rather avoid too much fighting. After all, unlike physical monsters like Jiang Liu, their bodies would no longer be able to hold on after the first two or three days of fighting.

Even if I can rest during the day, I still can't recover.

Therefore, after seven days, there were only two or three people gathered around Jiang Liu and Tanjiro. They were all frightened by the evil spirits and dared not act alone no matter what.

Some of them even said that even if they passed the final selection, they would still apply to be transferred to the logistics or medical departments.

"It's dawn." Tanjiro looked up with a tired look on his face.

"It's over." Jiang Liu sighed.

After the seven-day trial, Jiang Liu and his group of five arrived at the entrance of Tengxi Mountain, which was the agreed meeting place.

After passing through a large area of ​​wisteria trees, the view suddenly opened up and a rather wide platform appeared in front of everyone.

“Wow, I survived, I survived!”

"Damn it! I will never eat meat again. It makes me sick..."

"Do I have to fight that kind of monster for the rest of my life?"

The three protected people behaved differently, but they all seemed to have a resistance to fighting, while Tanjiro was comforting them, saying that even if they were separated from the front line, they could still support other Demon Slayers from the rear.

Jiang Liu said he didn't care and turned to look at the other people who passed the test.

In addition to their group, there are five or six other people. The total number is much more than in the original book, and this is also a chain reaction caused by Jiang Liu - he killed too many ghosts.

During these seven days, Jiang Liu killed all the evil spirits he encountered, which not only protected other trial-takers in disguise, but also honed and improved his swordsmanship in actual combat.

Compared to himself seven days ago, Jiang Liu's murderous intent when swinging his sword now is more stern and cold.

Among those five people, Jiang Liu saw a familiar figure as expected: Kanao.

The stepson of Insect Pillar Kocho Shinobu, a girl who has met Jiang Liu several times. They also met in Fujiki Mountain, but at that time Kanao did not join Jiang Liu and others' team, but just left alone.

Jiang Liu did not try to persuade her to stay, because he knew Kanao's strength very well and believed that she would not be in danger.

In fact, this is exactly the case: among everyone present, Kanao's body was the cleanest, as if she had never experienced a battle.

This certainly doesn't mean that she was lucky enough not to encounter the enemy, but the small monsters in this place could not cause her any trouble at all - just like Jiang Liu.

Among the group of qualified candidates who looked tired like refugees, only Jiang Liu and Kanao looked normal, with nothing unusual.

"Welcome back, it would be best if you are safe and sound."

"Congratulations to everyone who has passed the final selection. Now you are all members of the Demon Slayer Corps."

It was still the same two children, one black and one white, who maintained smiling faces like dolls and spoke to those who passed the test.

"First, we will give everyone the uniforms, measure their body measurements, and then engrave their rank."

"There are ten classes in total: A, B, C..."

"Now everyone is the lowest level of "Gui". "

After the two of them finished speaking in turn, the sound of crows cawing was heard, and about ten large black birds flew out and each landed on the shoulder of a swordsman.

"Ugh?"

"what?"

The crowd was slightly agitated, and the black and white twins continued.

"From now on, the crow will follow you."

"It is mainly used as a communication tool."

Jiang Liu looked at the crow perched on his arm and smiled: This method of communication is quite interesting.

In an age when mobile phones are simply a fantasy, the Demon Slayer Corps is indeed full of talented people as they can train crows to deliver messages.

"Crow?" Someone was stunned by this, "Isn't this a sparrow?"

It was a young man wearing a yellow kimono and with almost golden hair. At this moment, he was looking at the little sparrow in his hand in astonishment.

"Hey, what's going on? Why is mine different?"

He said to Tanjiro next to him with a pitiful look on his face: "My sparrow looks so weak..."

"Well, it's okay. This is just for communication. Even if it's a sparrow... there shouldn't be any problem." Even Tanjiro, who is always gentle to others, didn't know what to say.

"Congratulations, Zenitsu." Jiang Liu smiled subtly, "You drew a rare character."

"Although I don't understand, you must be laughing at me, Jiang Liujun!"

Agatsuma Zenitsu, this is the name of the yellow-haired boy.

Jiang Liu met him when he was hunting evil spirits. Since then, this guy has followed Jiang Liu and Tanjiro's team closely, and would never leave no matter what, and he was determined to avoid acting alone.

Although he is not a bad person by nature, he is a bit timid and is not suitable for the Demon Slayer Corps.

Of course, this is the general view.

Jiang Liu, who has read the original novel of Demon Slayer, knows that Zenitsu is indeed timid and weak, but he actually has a strong and kind heart, and his own strength is also quite amazing.

That’s the sleeping pillar that’s as famous as the head pillar Tanjiro (laughs)!

Chapter 23: The female teacher’s secret

"Where's the knife? Where's the color-changing knife for slaying demons?" a qualified candidate said impatiently, "I didn't come here for things like crows. Give me the knife quickly."

Jiang Liu glanced at the man. In his memory, this person seemed to have some role in the plot. His name seemed to be... I can’t remember, forget it.

Jiang Liu put aside his distracting thoughts with a pout, and became serious. He turned his gaze towards the two men, black and white, waiting for their answers.

Although they also have the Sun Blade that can kill evil spirits, this is not his sword but a borrowed one, a substitute obtained from Feng.

A true Nichirin Sword is "exclusive" and will undergo some incredible changes depending on its compatibility with its first owner.

Although there is no exact basis, it seems that a swordsman cannot reach his best condition without "his own sword".

"Today, everyone can choose the 'tama steel' for making swords, but it will take ten to fifteen days to successfully forge the sword." The white-haired girl explained in a flat tone.

"Fifteen days?" Jiang Liu nodded. This time was not too long.

But it seems that not everyone is as patient as he is——

"Tsk! It takes so long!" It was the same person who asked the question. He seemed to be impatient to have his own Sun Blade, so he was very dissatisfied, but that was all he did and he didn't do anything extreme.

"Okay, now please choose your own piece of 'Tama Steel'. The piece you choose will become your own Nichirin Sword."

The black and white guys pulled down the thin cloth covering the long table, revealing irregular metal ores of various sizes placed on it.

Everyone went forward as instructed, while those who were frightened and did not want to go to the front line again consciously retreated to the back.

Including Jiang Liu, there were only six people standing in front of the table.

"Tama steel? This is the first time I've seen it. I have no idea how to tell the good from the bad."

Tanjiro scratched his head in annoyance: "Jiang Liu, do you understand?"

"don't know."

Jiang Liu shook his head decisively, then reached out and picked a piece from the table under Tanjiro's surprised gaze.

“I’ll choose this one.”

"Huh? You've decided so quickly?!" Zenitsu said excitedly, "Do you have any tricks to pick out the best one?"

"I don't have that kind of skills. I'm not a professional blacksmith."