A request

The broken blades of both wooden swords flew into the distance and fell to the ground, while Ye Chen and Sakonji Urokodaki landed at the same time.

"Hmm... both weapons broke. Looks like a draw?"

Sakonji Urokodaki glanced at his wooden sword, now nothing but a hilt, then looked at Ye Chen.

"You're truly impressive. It's hard to believe you're just a kid who hasn't even joined the Demon Slayer Corps yet."

Ye Chen examined the hilt in his hand as well, then smiled and shook his head. "You haven't used Water Breathing yet, have you, Mr. Urokodaki? In the end, you were still holding back."

"Hahaha! I can't go all out against a child."

Sakonji Urokodaki laughed heartily, then added, "Besides, you still have a few tricks you haven't used, don't you?"

"I wouldn't go all out against an old veteran in his sixties or seventies either." Ye Chen refused to back down, waving a hand with a broad grin.

"You really aren't afraid to say it. That last strike wasn't exactly gentle."

Sakonji Urokodaki glanced at him, then turned to Makomo. "Makomo, go train for now. I have something to discuss with him alone."

"All right." Makomo noticed the seriousness in Sakonji Urokodaki's voice and felt a little puzzled, but she didn't ask any questions and slowly left.

"Uh... something you want to discuss with me alone?"

Ye Chen found it a little strange too, though he already had a vague suspicion. He didn't show it, however, and instead continued, "I'm not interested in having a heart-to-heart with an old man."

"Haha, I don't enjoy having heart-to-hearts with little brats either." Sakonji Urokodaki chuckled, then his voice gradually grew somber. "Ye Chen, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it? Go ahead." Ye Chen wasn't surprised and let him continue.

"Over the past few years, thirteen of my students have taken part in the Final Selection, but twelve of them died there." Sakonji Urokodaki sounded sorrowful as he continued, "This year's Final Selection is in two months, and Makomo... I don't know whether I should let her go. She's the fastest of all the students I've ever trained, so she should have no trouble protecting herself, but what if..."

Ye Chen wasn't surprised to hear this either. Although Makomo couldn't kill the Hand Demon in the Final Selection, her agility should have been enough to keep her safe. In the original story, however, she fell for the demon's taunts and met a terrible death during the Final Selection.

"I know how strong my students were. They were certainly no worse than most of the other newcomers, yet over all these years, Giyu was the only one who made it out. I'm afraid there's a demon amid that Wisteria Flower Sea that has held a grudge against me all this time..."

Sakonji Urokodaki clenched his fists, clearly struggling to accept it. He had taken in so many students over the years, yet almost all of them had died horribly in the Final Selection. It had long been a nightmare that haunted him.

"So you tested my strength yesterday and today because you wanted to see whether I could keep your student safe?"

Ye Chen rubbed the space between his eyebrows, having more or less pieced everything together. He looked at the silent Sakonji Urokodaki and continued:

"Forget it. I'm not blaming you. You didn't mean any harm, after all. All right, I'll do it."

Ye Chen thought it over. It wouldn't hurt him anyway, so he might as well agree. That would also make Urokodaki more willing to guide him when he had questions later.

"Thank you!" Sakonji Urokodaki looked at Ye Chen and saw that his gaze was clear and sincere. He then added, "You don't need to protect her all the time. Just step in when she's in danger."

"I know. Otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a trial." Ye Chen nodded in understanding, then asked Sakonji Urokodaki, "Now that we've talked about all that, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

[Ding! Obtained a place in the Final Selection. Hidden Quest triggered.]

Kill the Hand Demon in the Wisteria Flower Sea. Difficulty: D. Exchange points: 800.

Kill all demons in the Wisteria Flower Sea. Difficulty: C. Exchange points: 2,000.

[Ding! The Hidden Quest is optional. Please choose whether to accept it.]

*Holy shit!*

Ye Chen was startled when he saw the mission. Two Hidden Quests had suddenly appeared. He didn't think the Hand Demon would be much trouble. After all, the demon couldn't even use a Blood Demon Art; it had simply mutated and become much stronger than ordinary demons. Perhaps the system had issued such an easy mission to hand him exchange points because it was related to the original story.

But the other mission was a real pain in the ass. How many demons were in the Wisteria Flower Sea? There could easily be over a thousand, yet this Hidden Quest wanted him to kill every last one. He could only stay in the Wisteria Flower Sea for seven days. He had thought killing nearly a hundred demons in three days before was already pretty damn impressive. This time... it was practically forcing him to grind himself into the ground without eating or resting!

Those demons wouldn't just stand there and let him cut them down! They would run if they couldn't win! Some would even hide, making them incredibly hard to find!

[Ding! One minute remains to accept the Hidden Quest. Accept? If you do not accept, the quest will be forfeited.]

"Shit, there's a time limit on choosing too?"

"Should I do it? This mission is pretty ridiculous, but two thousand exchange points are awfully tempting..." Ye Chen rubbed the space between his eyebrows, his head aching. If he worked it out carefully, killing over a thousand demons would earn him ten or twenty thousand exchange points even without the mission rewards. That was a fortune! Enough for a serious spending spree in the system shop!

But it was far too difficult! The corners of Ye Chen's mouth twitched hard. After thinking it over, he hurriedly selected accept.

[Ding! Hidden Quests accepted. Failure will result in the deduction of the corresponding exchange points.] ```

There it is! The accursed penalty system! At the notification, the corners of Ye Chen's already twitching mouth jerked even harder.

"No, I need to rethink my plan, or this won't work." Ye Chen drew a deep breath. He felt that his current strength wasn't enough to kill so many demons. He looked through the system shop, took another deep breath, and came up with a plan.

"With my current strength, there's clearly still a risk, but the Final Selection is two months away. I should be stronger by then, so it ought to be manageable." Ye Chen pictured how things might go, but he still felt uneasy. After all, it was only his imagination. Who knew whether any of it would actually work out?

"Forget it. Overthinking won't help. For now, I need to improve my strength and technique. I'll deal with the rest when the time comes." He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. Soon, Ye Chen noticed that it was almost noon. There was no helping it-he had to cook again.

Ye Chen checked the food prices in the daily shop, then reluctantly bought a portion of Raw Meat.

"Ye Chen, why isn't today's meal as lavish as yesterday's?" Sakonji Urokodaki looked at the table, which held only one vegetable dish, one serving of roast meat, and a bowl of rice for each of them, then gave Ye Chen a puzzled look.

"Shut up. That much meat is already enough for all three of us." Ye Chen didn't care. How could he possibly spend so many exchange points on a feast every day? Sooner or later, he'd eat himself into poverty. Did exchange points grow on trees?