Snow Breathing Appears

Creating Star Breathing might have just been a joke, but after mastering the Five Great Breathing Styles, Yuko had been searching for the one that suited her best.

The creators of the Five Great Breathing Styles had all based their techniques on their own Sword Skills, developing their personal breathing styles under Yoriichi's guidance.

In other words, it wasn't about adapting a breathing style to create a sword form, but rather adapting a sword form to create a personal breathing style.

This was different from later swordsmen who developed new sword forms based on existing breathing styles; the pioneers did the exact opposite.

Therefore, Yuko had already begun contemplating the design of her sword forms.

The inspiration for her breathing style came from Water Breathing and Wind Breathing, the styles she excelled at most.

The sword forms created based on Water and Wind Breathing styles were a near-perfect match for Snow Breathing, which inherited the advantages of both.

"Snow Breathing: First Form: Tornado!"

As Yuko's clear, cool voice rang out, the surrounding blizzard intensified.

A colossal white dragon made of wind and snow swept upwards, flinging the demon high into the air.

The biting cold wind, like blades, continuously sliced across the demon's body, and in the blink of an eye, countless tiny wounds tore open across its form.

Without giving it time to react, a death-dealing, cool voice sounded again.

"Snow Breathing: Second Form: Snow - Flying Flurry."

A flurry of snowflakes obscured her vision. Wielding a snow-white blade, a swordsman with strange Markings appearing on her cheeks launched a surprise attack from within the snow, growing larger in the demon's eyes.

Markings? What was this?

Before it could even process, the world spun. When its vision stabilized, Yuko's toes touched the ground, her lithe form inverted in its sight.

The demon's pupils dilated violently. Had it been decapitated?!

Sssshhh~

Yuko never held back against demons like this. She thrust her sword through the demon's head, and the creature quickly began to disintegrate, head and body.

The weather that had originally hindered her breathing ultimately became her aid. The icy air flowed through her lungs, her mind felt as if it were becoming transparent, an unprecedented clarity.

"Hoo~"

Yuko gasped for air, the heaviness in her body constantly eroding her will.

If not for the biting cold of the air passing through her lungs, she might have already fainted.

With the last of her willpower, Yuko, dragging her heavily injured body, returned to the temple and pushed open the broken door of the main hall.

The blizzard surged in. The young girls who had been captured by the demon huddled in a corner of the main hall, looking towards the entrance in fear.

Yuko let out a long sigh, her vision darkening, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Upon seeing who had arrived, the girls quickly rushed over.

A slight touch was all it took. "So hot! Her body is burning up."

A decisive-looking girl, about fourteen or fifteen, quickly helped Yuko up.

"Quick, close the main door and help her to the corner."

Everyone hurried to support Yuko to the wall.

"She seems to have killed that monster."

"What do we do? We can't possibly get down the mountain in this weather, and she's burning up so badly. If this continues, she'll die."

One girl sat down against the wall, pulling Yuko into her embrace, and called out to the others.

"Everyone, come closer."

The others immediately understood her intention and crowded around, forming a circle around Yuko.

"Xiao Qi, you come here too."

The girl called Xiao Qi and Yuko were now in the center of the group.

So warm.

As Yuko slept, she felt as if her body were on a soft, warm bed, as cozy as lying under the covers on a winter morning.

After an unknown amount of time, Yuko's eyelashes fluttered, and she groggily opened her eyes.

Her gaze fell upon the young child in her arms. The bloodstains on the child's clothes had already dried, and they were sleeping soundly.

"You're awake?"

A gentle voice came from behind her. Yuko instinctively turned her head, only then realizing she was surrounded by the others.

They were using their bodies to keep her warm.

Being protected by a group of people, Yuko felt both touched and a little awkward. She moved slightly, and her body sent signals of soreness.

Was this a side effect of Sun Breathing?

Yuko had a very good compatibility with other breathing styles, and she could even switch breathing styles mid-sword form without issue.

Yuko's movement startled the other girls awake.

"Are you alright?"

"Thank you for saving us."

Everyone showered Yuko with words of praise.

The woman sitting behind Yuko, holding her, reached out and gently stroked her forehead.

"You had a terrible fever earlier, thank goodness it's gone now."

Fever?

She had indeed felt her body burning up. That was probably the brain sending incorrect signals due to extreme cold, diverting all blood supply and heat to the brain.

It was the same reason people undress when freezing to death.

"Cough, cough~" Yuko couldn't help but cough twice.

Her body still felt slightly unwell.

Yuko handed the girl she was holding to them and looked at the weather outside the window.

The night had passed, and the sky had cleared.

"Let's go, I'll take you home." Yuko pushed herself up, her body still a little inconvenient, but she could still move.

Hearing the word "home," the girls finally relaxed completely, covering their faces and weeping.

It was only natural for ordinary people to be afraid when encountering such ugly monsters.

Yuko introduced herself to everyone and, after calming their emotions, led them down the mountain.

Upon reaching the houses at the foot of the mountain, the woodcutter was sitting by the entrance, holding his woodcutting axe, as if he had been there all night.

Seeing the figures descending the mountain from afar, the woodcutter trembled, his face filled with uncontrollable joy, and he hurried to meet them.

He walked faster... and then slower...

The joy on his face instantly turned to confusion.

The man rushed forward, grabbing a young girl by the shoulders, his face filled with a pleading expression: "Eko? Where is Eko!"

Yuko froze for a moment, her eyelids drooping slightly.

The girl whose shoulders the man was holding twitched her lips: "Eko... Eko, she was eaten by a demon."

The man seemed to have all his strength drained, collapsing to the ground, his face blank and numb, as if his soul had left him.

Yuko closed her eyes and turned to leave.

Even if the virus was eliminated, the past pain would not disappear.

The Demon Slayer Corps could eliminate demons, but they could not soothe suffering.

The girl holding the child was named Namiko, as Yuko had learned during their earlier conversation.

Noticing Yuko's departure, Namiko chased after her.

"Um."

Yuko paused her steps.

"Miss Yuko, thank you for saving everyone."

Yuko waved her hand without looking back, disappearing into the small town.

It was only when she was drinking lightly by the stream that Yuko could clearly see her current appearance in the water.

A peculiar red marking extended from her cheek to her neck, its winding pattern adding a touch of allure to her already striking features.

It probably would have been quite popular in her previous life, but from the perspective of this era, it was purely disfigurement.

If she had awakened the Markings sooner, perhaps those suitors would have been fewer.

"Markings?" Yuko murmured, gently touching her cheek.

These were something she had learned about from Demon Slayer short videos, known as one of the "three items."

Only by mastering the three items could one gain the qualifications to contend with Upper Moons and Muzan.

They were the Markings, the Clear World, and the Scarlet Blade.

Yoriichi possessed innate Markings and the Clear World, while the Scarlet Blade could currently only be wielded by Yoriichi.

Even though he had explained the technique for the Scarlet Blade to everyone, no one in the Demon Slayer Corps besides him could achieve it.

The principle of the Scarlet Blade was to stimulate the sun's energy within the Nichirin Blade through immense grip strength, achieving the technique of turning the blade red.

This could effectively inhibit a demon's regeneration and increase lethality against them.

Currently, only Yoriichi possessed that immense grip strength.

Besides Yoriichi, no one in the Demon Slayer Corps had mastered any of the three items.

So, theoretically, she could now be considered the second person to possess the Markings after Yoriichi.

She was even ahead of Kokushibo.

Recalling her memories after the near-death experience, Yuko indeed felt an improvement in her physical condition.

After all, Snow Breathing could not have healed her so quickly.

Then, with her Markings awakened, could she also master the Scarlet Blade?