As everyone knows, in the Star Rail Universe, the main way for Pathstriders to increase their strength was through enlightenment.
With a single epiphany, anything could ascend directly into an Aeon.
If that Path already had an Aeon, one might even become what was supposedly a throne-level existence above the Emanator level.
However, Dan Lei was skeptical about the so-called throne level. After all, in his previous life, the game had mentioned far too little about it.
Of course, the various "levels" here were generally compared by the amount of Power of the Path one could invoke, not by combat strength.
After all, Aha had once created an Emanator whose combat strength was inferior even to that of an ordinary Pathstrider. Moreover, the universes on the Imaginary Number Tree were countless, and each individual universe on a single branch still contained who knew how many parallel worlds. It was perfectly normal for all kinds of strange things to appear.
However, if Pathstriders simply sat there and foolishly sought enlightenment on their own, 99.9999 percent of them would comprehend nothing.
According to Luofu's research, aside from enlightenment, practicing the Path was the proper way to cultivate.
Of course, depending on the circumstances, the degree to which practicing a Path enhanced each person could not be generalized.
But the Xianzhou had always been fighting Abundance Monstrosities, so through their massive amount of data, they had determined that killing Abundance Monstrosities and continuously practicing the Path of the Hunt would improve one's understanding of the Path of the Hunt.
According to the Xianzhou natives' beliefs, only personally taking up a weapon and entering battle counted as a human's own fight.
The Xianzhou natives had to use their own flesh and blood and their own skills to prove to those inhuman monstrosities that they would definitely defeat them, rather than letting machines fight in their place.
This directly led to the Xianzhou, despite being a top-tier interstellar civilization, using ultra-high-tech swords, spears, blades, and halberds for every weapon wielded by hand. Even when they wanted ranged weapons, they preferred talismans, bows and arrows, or flying swords.
At the same time, all Xianzhou natives liked practicing martial arts. Although this could not strengthen their Power of the Path, it ensured that they could use that power more efficiently and increase their own combat strength, allowing them to kill enemies more effectively.
Moreover, the effect of martial arts on a Pathstrider's improvement could be seen from Jingliu.
Based on the gossip Dan Lei had heard from Hanya and Xueyi, when Jingliu became the Luofu's Sword Champion, her Path of the Hunt power had not been the strongest among the participants in the Martial Arts Ceremony. Yet she had ultimately won in an overwhelming fashion.
Yes, Dan Lei had heard something else that differed from the game. At least before becoming a wanted criminal, Jingliu had been a Pathstrider of the Path of the Hunt.
That was why, after Dan Lei came to the world of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, he decided to practice swordsmanship. Even Kojiro Sasaki had become his sparring partner.
You might ask why he did not learn swordsmanship on the Luofu. Wasn't it supposed to be stronger there?
Then Dan Lei could only tell you that if you wanted to learn martial arts on the Luofu—or any technique at all—you had to join some faction or inherit it from your family. Otherwise, you could only learn some very common skills.
The faction Dan Lei had initially belonged to was the Alchemy Commission. However, since the Cauldron Master of his branch had already left, Dan Lei had become unaffiliated.
After that, Dan Lei's highest position on the Luofu had been a ghost soldier of the Ten Lords' Commission. He had also been in charge of logistics, making him closer to an outsourced employee. The Ten Lords' Commission's close-combat techniques were not open to him at all; they only taught him a few basic self-defense techniques.
On the Luofu, the simplest way to learn genuine martial arts was to join the Cloud Knights. Then the complete set of Cloud Knight martial techniques would become available to you.
However, joining the Cloud Knights was not easy, and leaving was even harder. Besides, there was hardly any free time. In any case, Dan Lei did not want to join.
Likewise, Dan Lei had not abandoned magic cultivation, despite it being inferior to the Power of the Path in every respect, for the same reason. In the Star Rail Universe, having one additional method meant one more point of combat strength. The logic was that simple. Besides, the Power of the Path and magic did not conflict.
Dan Lei did not know whether the Luofu's theory that practicing a Path could increase one's strength was correct. In any case, Herta had said so before.
"The way of the Pathstrider is to walk along the tracks already trodden by those who came before, striving to approach the Aeons! Just practice the Path according to your own nature."
In any case, nearly all Pathstriders practiced their own Paths. Practicing a Path was cultivation, so there had to be a reason behind it.
This was also why Dan Zhu had chased him down and beaten him back then when he had refused to treat the sick and save people.
In the eyes of everyone else, Dan Lei's actions amounted to cutting off his own future path on the Abundance Destiny. Unless he wanted to take another route along the Abundance Destiny and become a monstrosity.
Therefore, now that Gyutaro had gained the Abundance Destiny, he was, in Dan Lei's eyes, the best target for him to practice the Path of the Hunt for the first time.
Thus, Dan Lei said loudly,
"The demon that emerged from Warabihime is mine. You deal with Warabihime."
Then Dan Lei spoke to Kojiro Sasaki through telepathy.
"Kojiro, the situation has changed. You'll have to keep hiding your strength for a while longer. You can't reveal yourself before we fight Kibutsuji Muzan."
Kojiro Sasaki had no objections to Dan Lei's order. After all, Dan Lei was his Master.
However, Gyutaro, who had fallen to the first floor, saw that Dan Lei's strength was also at the level of a Hashira. The opposing side had sent three Hashira at once, and he immediately lost the desire to fight.
Thus, Gyutaro said to Daki,
"Daki, run first. I'll hold them off here."
Daki knew that as long as she did not die, her brother would not die either. She immediately crashed through the wall and ran into the street, then summoned all her clones back into herself before turning and fleeing outside.
When Dan Lei saw Daki trying to escape, he did not stop her. Instead, he said to Shinobu Kocho and Giyu Tomioka, who were about to pursue her,
"Shinobu, Giyu, if that female demon really breaks through the encirclement and gets away, just shout that the Blue Spider Lily is in my hands."
Shinobu Kocho and Giyu Tomioka did not know what the Blue Spider Lily was, but out of trust in Dan Lei, they nodded and immediately chased after her.
Gyutaro, who had just said he would hold everyone off for his sister, did not move at all. He glared at Dan Lei and asked, stressing each word,
"You just said the Blue Spider Lily, didn't you? You said the Blue Spider Lily was in your hands, didn't you!"
Seeing Gyutaro ask this, Dan Lei knew he had drawn all the aggro. He raised his sword and smiled.
"Guess."
After saying that, Dan Lei lunged forward, activated Stone Breathing, and imbued it with the Fire Element. Once molten-lava enchantment appeared on the blade, he switched to the Power of the Path of the Hunt, raised the sword with both hands, and brought it down.
Gyutaro knew Dan Lei possessed tremendous strength, so he did not block head-on. Instead, he used the Blood Scythe in his right hand to retreat while attempting to deflect and block the blow, while the Blood Scythe in his left hand flung out a thin blade of blood at Dan Lei.
This was Gyutaro's Blood Demon Art. He could slash out poisonous blood blades with his own blood, and could even change their flight paths according to his will.
However, Dan Lei knew Gyutaro's abilities inside out. Moreover, Gyutaro had underestimated the Power of the Path of the Hunt far too much.
The Abundance Destiny energy covering Gyutaro's scythe was instantly shattered under the impact of Dan Lei's Power of the Path of the Hunt. The remaining force was then borne entirely by Gyutaro's right arm.
Gyutaro's attempt to deflect the force was simply wishful thinking. His right wrist was instantly dislocated, with the bone even exposed. If Dan Lei had not changed his move and used the greatsword to block the blood blade from Gyutaro's left hand, half of his body would have taken the sword.
However, Gyutaro had the Abundance Destiny bolstering him, and he was a demon besides, so the injury to his wrist healed instantly.
The exchange happened in the blink of an eye, and both sides still had enough strength for another attack.
Thus, from a third party's perspective, Dan Lei and Gyutaro collided dozens of times in an instant. The Blood Scythe and Nichirin Greatsword clashed violently, sending sparks flying, while the entire Kyogoku House was set ablaze.
However, Gyutaro's physical strength was far inferior to Dan Lei's. Their repeated exchanges kept forcing him backward, and his body gradually lost its balance.
A reader was right: the previous battles had only included the names of techniques, with few details, which made them difficult to immerse oneself in.
So, from now on, I'll reduce the number of names and add more details. As for the earlier parts, I'll gradually revise them.
Jingliu's interaction voice lines mentioned that she had also been gazed upon. Considering that she was probably saying this to a Stellar Core Spirit, she was most likely referring to having received the gaze of Destruction.
However, in context, it clearly referred to after she defected, when she voluntarily chose to set foot on the path of Destruction—to destroy Abundance, and herself as well.
Before you continue