Refining Oneself

Zenitsu sat up. Instead of looking directly at Tanjiro, he suddenly asked, "Tanjiro, why do you carry a demon with you?

And what is the deal with that strange sword?"

Tanjiro froze in surprise at the words, then likewise sat up with a smile, wanting to explain.

Yet before the words reached his lips and could be spoken aloud,

the wooden box placed in the corner had already opened by itself.

Startled at the sight, Zenitsu stared with wide-open eyes and scrambled away to hide. "Huh? You didn't lock the box, Tanjiro?!"

Yet Tanjiro merely smiled and prepared to continue his explanation.

From within that wooden box, a shrunken Nezuko crawled out, then stood up and gradually grew larger under their mutual gaze.

"Zenitsu, this is my sis—"

Before he could finish,

Zenitsu, who had consistently acted cowardly and hopelessly dramatic, unexpectedly grew spine-chillingly tough—or rather, had already been blinded by rage.

"You're actually carrying such a cute girl around with you! How could you do this to me?! We're all in the Demon Slayer Corps, so why do you get to travel everywhere with a girl?!

I'm going to hack you to death on behalf of the Demon Slayer Corps!"

As he spoke, he even retrieved his sword from the cabinet behind him.

At this, Tanjiro genuinely broke down.

"You've got it wrong, she's my sister Nezuko..."

At those words, Zenitsu did a complete one-eighty, hurriedly tossing his sword aside.

He lunged forward, his face flattering.

"Tanjiro..."

That single sentence nearly sent Tanjiro straight to the afterlife.

As for Inosuke, he had long since lain down on the tatami mats and given up on thinking.

The three of them temporarily recuperated here.

Night fell, and the three of them went to sleep.

Inside the sword, Lin Fan opened his personal panel.

Host: Lin Fan

Template: Ashura Maru!

Demon Power: 1300

Extracted Abilities: Eternal-grade buff Indestructible, Gold-grade ability Perception, Silver-grade ability Sharpness, Destined Pair...

Template Abilities: Blood Cry, Devour, healing, Nourishment, Demonification...

Unlocked Abilities: Size Manipulation (allows the user to freely alter their own size after unlocking; requires 10,000 Emotion Points to unlock)

Demon Curse (striking a target can inflict a Demon Curse, poisoning them! Requires 10,000 Emotion Points to unlock!)

Aerial Control (allows control of the blade body for flight; requires 10,000 Emotion Points to unlock!)

External Incarnation (can consume demon power to create a temporary physical clone; requires 10,000 Emotion Points to unlock!)

Emotion Points: 12000

Looking at these yet-unlocked abilities, Lin Fan wanted every single one of them.

Alas, lacking Emotion Points in hand, he could only pick one first, and among these abilities, his eyes locked instantly onto External Incarnation.

A doubt arose in his mind.

"System, I can already manufacture a body relying on demon power by myself, so what's the deal with this External Incarnation? You're trying to take the opportunity to scam me out of 10,000 Emotion Points, aren't you?"

Just as his voice fell,

the system immediately retorted.

[Ding! Please do not slander the system. The system does not swindle or deceive; the External Incarnation ability is fundamentally different from you using demon power to construct a body.

Although the method is the same, the difference lies in the fact that

the clone you manufacture is merely a clone—to be precise, it's just a mass of condensed demon power, whereas External Incarnation is different, as it gathers form according to a genuine physical body.

It can utilize special abilities such as Breathing Styles and is a physique specially used for combat, capable of growing infinitely stronger based on demon power output!]

Hearing this,

Lin Fan could essentially confirm, "I'm buying this ability!"

[Ding! Consumed 10,000 Emotion Points. Congratulations on unlocking the ability: External Incarnation!]

In an instant, his Emotion Points bottomed out once more.

Still, with two thousand Emotion Points left unused, Lin Fan pondered for a moment before finally gritting his teeth. "Give me two more Gold-grade draws!"

[Ding! Consumed two thousand Emotion Points to begin a Gold-grade draw!

Congratulations on obtaining: Thanks for playing...]

Right off the bat, this left Lin Fan completely dumbfounded.

"These two thousand Emotion Points are probably going down the drain. If I'd known, I would have—"

Before his words finished,

the system prompt rang out beside his ear once more.

[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the Gold-grade ability: Lightning Release: Chidori!]

Hearing this, Lin Fan abruptly changed his tune. "If I'd known, I would have drawn earlier..."

System: "What a hypocritical host."

"What do you know?"

Lin Fan snapped back in annoyance, and all the information regarding Chidori immediately surged into his mind.

Looking it over, it was indeed the Chidori from Naruto that he had watched before, and this draw even included its various usages.

It was just that this move consumed a terrifying amount of demon power; a single activation required a minimum of one hundred demon power. Using Chidori as a foundation,

the techniques developed from it, such as the Chidori Blade, Chidori Senbon, Sharp Senbon Spear, and so on, consumed an extraordinary amount of demon power as well.

With his current demon power of just over a thousand, a few casual moves might just squeeze him dry...

Yet despite the high consumption, the destructive power was absolute.

In the world of Demon Slayer, Naruto abilities could practically be described as overwhelming.

Chapter 28 Refining Oneself Even Muzan might not be able to withstand Chidori.

This right here was an epic-tier buff!

However, it wasn't enough for just himself to be strong—everyone being strong was the true strength. Right now, he needed to map out a path for Tanjiro on how to grow stronger.

For now, it was best to develop the Dance of the Fire God first.

As time flowed on,

the following dawn.

When the first ray of morning sunlight shone upon the earth, Tanjiro had already begun today's training.

Within the courtyard of the estate, Tanjiro took deep breaths to maintain the circulation of his breathing style, running through the yard while carrying a giant boulder.

This left Zenitsu and Inosuke's scalps tingling in sheer alarm.

"This is bad. Tanjiro is pushing himself way too hard." Zenitsu's eyes widened as he sat on the veranda in front of the room, his expression carrying a hint of shock.

Yet, associating it with Tanjiro's strength, he also felt it was entirely reasonable.

Though he too wanted to grow stronger, if he were expected to be self-disciplined,

Zenitsu could only offer one phrase: your humble concubine is simply unable to do it...

As for Inosuke on the side, he was far simpler and more direct—summarized in two words:

Quitting!

Conversely, looking at Tanjiro here, while he maintained Total Concentration Breathing and exercised simultaneously, after only a short while he halted his movements and began to pant heavily.

His entire body trembled uncontrollably and incessantly.

"Just trying to maintain Total Concentration Breathing a little longer makes my lungs feel like they're about to explode, and even my ears hurt terribly."

Lin Fan inside the sword could only offer consolation. "The pain is normal. Take deep breaths, let the air circulate all the way to your fingertips, and maximize your concentration!"

"Got it!"

Enduring the pain, Tanjiro resumed his cultivation.

Time slipped by swiftly just like that.

When evening arrived,

Lin Fan once again began trying to guide Tanjiro into learning Sun Breathing, yet no matter how he phrased it, the results were negligible.

Tanjiro, who still hadn't grasped the essentials, could only offer endless apologies. "I'm sorry, Ashura Maru. I'm too slow-witted and always fail to learn it."

What could Lin Fan do? He was quite helpless as well.

"Since you can't learn it for now, focus exclusively on the breathing style. You must maintain Total Concentration Breathing even when sleeping at night. I'll be supervising you."

Hearing this, Tanjiro was deeply moved.

"Then I'm counting on you, Ashura Maru!"

Night fell.

As Tanjiro drifted into a deep sleep, his original Total Concentration Breathing unconsciously slipped out of its state.

Without hesitation, Lin Fan released black mist to condense a hand, marched right up, and slapped Tanjiro across the face.

With a crisp smack,

simple, brutal, and direct.

Tanjiro bolted upright, swiftly turning his head to survey his surroundings.

"What happened?"

Beside him, Zenitsu and Inosuke were sleeping as soundly as corpses, showing not the slightest sign of waking up.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan reminded him:

"Your breathing faltered just now. Get up and go back to sleep."

"Huh? Thank you for the reminder..." Tanjiro was left dazed and bewildered. Having been slapped across the face by his own sword, he still had to say thank you.

Was there any justice in this?

Helpless, he had no choice but to go back to sleep, yet inevitably his breathing failed to hold, and before long it faltered once more.

Lin Fan had no other recourse.

He simply released demon power to condense a hand and dealt him another fierce slap.

Smack!

Grieved and helpless, Tanjiro sat up. To be honest, he really didn't feel like sleeping anymore. "Sorry, my breathing messed up again. I'm really causing you trouble, Ashura Maru."

"Who told you to be my sword master? It's only right." Lin Fan answered quite naturally.

At the edge of the room, Zenitsu kept his eyes tightly shut as he had actually woken up long ago, but he didn't dare utter a single word.

Other people probably wouldn't even believe it if he told them.

I woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly saw a sword slapping Tanjiro across the face,

while Tanjiro just kept saying thank you...