The Almost Forgotten Aeon of Memory

After Dan Lei extracted all the value from the Sickle Leaf and killed it, he saw that the chaos in the small town was gradually being quelled by the five Demon Slayer Corps members. He glanced at the kasugai crow that had been watching him kill the Sickle Leaf the entire time, waved goodbye, and left the town.

The kasugai crow didn't follow. Dan Lei smoothly entered the woods outside the town.

At this moment, seeing that the incident was over, Kojiro Sasaki appeared and said, "Dan Lei, your current fighting style relies too much on Magic. This is not good for the future of your swordsmanship.

You are already very familiar with fighting with Magic. From now on, it's best to use your sword more, especially against opponents that your swordsmanship cannot quickly defeat."

Hearing this, Dan Lei awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

Kojiro Sasaki was right. Whenever he fought, Dan Lei was more accustomed to using the techniques of a mage from his previous life, so Magic accounted for a very high percentage of his combat.

This was not wrong, of course. Fighting was not a game of make-believe; eliminating the enemy was naturally the top priority.

However, Dan Lei was currently on the path of swordsmanship training.

And this was a path Dan Lei himself had proposed. Since there was still some time before the Holy Grail finished charging its Magic after crossing over, he couldn't just do nothing in this world. Killing demons and researching them was only for his better survival in this world.

So, Dan Lei set a goal for himself to learn swordsmanship.

Thus, Dan Lei could only say awkwardly, "Understood, Sasaki. I'll be careful next time."

Kojiro Sasaki knew Dan Lei was a disciplined person, so he didn't dwell on the issue. Instead, he asked, "The demons in this town have been eliminated. Where do we go next?"

Dan Lei answered this question directly, "Didn't you say I used too little swordplay when I fought Lower Rank Three just now? Then I'll go find another Lower Rank to practice my sword against. The original goal remains: go to Natagumo Mountain."

Since Dan Lei's goal was clear, Kojiro Sasaki said no more. He spirit manifested again and silently followed Dan Lei.

The rest of the journey went smoothly. After arriving at the train station in a large city, Dan Lei bought a ticket to the nearest train station to Natagumo Mountain.

With the subtle help of Magic, the train station staff and ordinary passengers didn't question Dan Lei carrying such a large suitcase with a jar hanging from his side, showing a stable emotional state. No one came up to ask or seemed curious.

However, after the train started moving, both Dan Lei and Kojiro Sasaki felt something was wrong. This train also had a demon.

Dan Lei immediately took out his ticket and saw that it was not the Infinity Train.

Dan Lei became a little uninterested. If it wasn't the Infinity Train, then the opponent might not be Enmu, but possibly just the swift demon that appeared at the beginning of the Infinity Train arc.

However, it was basically unnecessary to search for demons on the train. The entire train was this large. As soon as someone was attacked, Dan Lei would know immediately.

So, all he had to do was wait patiently.

Soon, the train staff began checking tickets.

When it was Dan Lei's turn, he remained silent and obediently handed over his ticket. Then, he spoke to Kojiro Sasaki via telepathy, "Sasaki, if I fall asleep later and you can't wake me up, when the demon appears, break the window and take me away. If this battle is lost to the demon, I'll be prepared for another fight next time."

Kojiro Sasaki had no objections to this. After all, Type-Moon officially set his stats as Neutral-Evil.

Although his "evil" stemmed from the concept that killing was evil, he had long since become accustomed to death. One shouldn't expect him to care much about ordinary civilians. Dan Lei's safety was definitely more important.

Since Dan Lei acted like any other passenger, the train staff returned his ticket after checking it.

As Dan Lei took his ticket back, his eyelids suddenly grew heavy, and he found himself in a sea of flowers.

Dan Lei was very familiar with this sea of flowers; it was the inner space of the Holy Grail, and the Holy Grail was quietly suspended in the center.

Dan Lei walked forward, touched the Holy Grail, and sensed its state.

He could only say that everything was normal. The internal Magic charging was about the same as when he boarded the train, and he could feel external Ley Line Magic slowly infusing into the Holy Grail.

This Ley Line Magic was absorbed and provided by the accessories Dan Lei made from Nezuko's hair, with the flow rate and amount exactly as he had set.

Honestly, Dan Lei couldn't determine if he had fallen asleep and dreamed of entering the Holy Grail's inner space, or if the Holy Grail had protected his spirit and pulled him in when he was affected.

But one thing was certain: Dan Lei seemed to have struck it rich. He had just encountered Lower Rank Three, and within this day, he had encountered Lower Rank One.

Well, for others, encountering two Lower Rank demons consecutively over two days would be considered a double misfortune.

At this moment, Dan Lei hesitated, as he didn't know if he should commit suicide.

If this was not a dream, then it was hard to say whether a soul committing suicide within the Holy Grail would cause damage to his soul. The power of Abundance definitely did not apply to souls; otherwise, the people of Xianzhou wouldn't have Mara-struck.

Therefore, Dan Lei dared not take the risk.

As for trying to contact Kojiro Sasaki via telepathy within the Holy Grail space, Dan Lei had already tried this on the first night he summoned Kojiro Sasaki.

As the saying goes, one must guard against others. Even with his own Servant, Dan Lei had to test him.

The purpose of the test was to see if Kojiro Sasaki knew about his most core treasure, the Holy Grail modified by a Stellar God.

The result was that no matter how Dan Lei used telepathy, Kojiro Sasaki showed no reaction. Afterward, looking at Kojiro Sasaki's appearance, it was highly likely that he truly hadn't received his telepathic message.

Dan Lei later asked about the Holy Grail, and Kojiro Sasaki responded with a confused expression, saying he didn't know what a Holy Grail was. He just felt the call and responded.

To this answer, Dan Lei thought, "As expected of Kojiro Sasaki, a Servant who can be summoned with a mountain gate."

Furthermore, in over a year, Dan Lei had never had a dream related to Kojiro Sasaki. It was clear that there was definitely a firewall between Kojiro Sasaki's spirit and Dan Lei's.

As for what the firewall was, Dan Lei stated it was either the Holy Grail or the Memory Destiny.

Thinking of this, Dan Lei suddenly realized a blind spot.

Yes, he was someone who had been glanced at by the Aeon of Memory and had long since awakened the Destiny of Memory, and his initial level wasn't low.

Pathstriders who walked the Destiny without being glanced at and those who walked the Destiny after being glanced at by a Stellar God had a huge difference in initial treatment on the Path of Destiny.

The former could only understand Destiny step by step to draw more Imaginary Energy of Destiny, while the latter, as if receiving a divine bestowal from a Stellar God, could draw a considerable amount of energy from Destiny right from the start, even if not an Emanator. It was like ascending to heaven in a single step.

If a Pathstrider had already embarked on that Destiny when they were glanced at, the Stellar God's gaze would instantly boost their understanding of Destiny and greatly increase the power they gained from it.

The Destiny of Memory primarily cultivated concepts like spirit and soul.

Therefore, Dan Lei felt he could try using the Power of the Path of Memory. Even if it couldn't break the Nightmare's hypnosis, it should at least confirm whether he was awake or asleep.