"A plan?"
Tamayo was curious about what exactly Ye Chen's plan was, but when he offered no explanation, she did not press him. Instead, she continued, "Of course I can lend you some, but I don't have much in stock."
"That's fine. As long as it's enough. I'd also like to ask how to extract the poison from wisteria, so I can get more easily in the future."
Ye Chen smiled. He was preparing to take part in the final selection, and he also had two hidden quests to complete during it. The first was to kill the Hand Demon, and the second was to kill every demon in the Wisteria Flower Sea. The first was easy—at least, Ye Chen did not think it would pose any difficulty. The second... that was going to be hard!
He wanted to borrow the wisteria poison to speed up his demon farming, and his method was... the heavy bowguns in the Monster Hunter Shop!
Ye Chen stayed at Tamayo's place for another three days, learning how to extract wisteria poison, then left for Sakonji Urokodaki's home.
"The final selection starts in a week. Why hasn't Ye Chen come back yet?"
Inside a small wooden cabin, Sakonji Urokodaki knelt before a low table and sighed in frustration. That brat had been gone for over a month and still had not returned. Did he run off to some city to become a cook and give up on the final selection? Then who's going to keep my apprentice safe?
Beside him, Makomo blinked, unsure why her master was so concerned about someone who had stayed here for less than a week. Is my cooking not as good as Ye Chen's?
"Oh! Long time no see. You're still eating!" Just then, the cabin's little door creaked open, and someone walked in.
"Ye Chen, the final selection starts in seven days. Where have you been?" Sakonji Urokodaki froze briefly when he recognized the newcomer, then spoke.
"Well... I just went traveling for a while." Ye Chen glanced aside, feeling a little embarrassed. He had promised to return soon, only to stay away for over a month.
"Never mind. The final selection is starting soon, so spend the next few days getting ready." Sakonji Urokodaki shook his head helplessly. But what could he do? He was the one asking for a favor.
"Right. By the way, could you let me use your storehouse? I really do need to make some preparations for the final selection." Ye Chen grinned, showing no hesitation about asking to borrow something.
"Hmm? If you want to use it, go ahead." Sakonji Urokodaki gave him a puzzled look. I only told you to prepare as a courtesy. With his strength, does he even need to prepare for the final selection? Oh well, he can use it.
"System, redeem Hollow Ammo!"
"System, combine the Hollow Ammo with the wisteria poison."
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
Any veteran Monster Hunter player who heard those sounds would recognize them as the chimes of repeated successful item combinations.
Inside the storehouse, Ye Chen kept combining the system's Hollow Ammo with wisteria poison. One exchange point bought ten rounds of Hollow Ammo, and he purchased a full two thousand rounds, spending two hundred exchange points. He also took out the wisteria poison Tamayo had given him-roughly two kilograms, her entire supply. After all, wisteria poison had very limited effects on powerful demons, so she had not extracted much.
Ye Chen opened the equipment section of the system shop and kept scrolling down until he found an item that suited him perfectly.
Yian Kut-Ku Heavy Bowgun, price: 600 exchange points.
"System, buy four Yian Kut-Ku Heavy Bowguns!"
[Ding. Four Yian Kut-Ku Heavy Bowguns cost 2,400 exchange points. Confirm purchase?]
"Confirm!"
A flash passed before Ye Chen's eyes, and four enormous heavy bowguns appeared in front of him. He reached out and touched one, feeling the aura of exchange points... no, its solid heft. Meanwhile, his exchange points had dropped to just 176, leaving him broke once again.
"Ah, exchange points just flow through my hands. They come fast and go even faster."
Ye Chen felt like crying, but looking at the four heavy bowguns, he did not think the points had been wasted. After all, doom had arrived for certain demons. The exchange points he had spent on these would be earned back in a flash, faster than ever.
"Come to think of it, the final selection is today, isn't it? I'd better get going." Ye Chen shook his head, put the heavy bowguns into his system storage, and walked out.
"Oh, Ye Chen, you're finally out." Seeing Ye Chen emerge from the storehouse, Sakonji Urokodaki greeted him and handed him a mask.
"This mask can ward off misfortune once. You may not need it, but consider it a gift from me."
Ye Chen gave the mask a strange look. Of course, he knew it was something only Sakonji Urokodaki's apprentices received, and it really could ward off misfortune once. But that was not the important part. What mattered was that Sakonji Urokodaki had no idea the Hand Demon in the Wisteria Flower Sea used these masks to recognize his apprentices. That was why nearly all of them had died during the final selection.
"All right, thank you." Ye Chen smiled. The mask did have its uses, and he was not afraid of the Hand Demon anyway, so he might as well take it.
"Mr. Ye Chen, we're teammates now. I look forward to working with you."
Seeing Ye Chen accept the mask, Makomo smiled, her pretty face lighting up. Then she added, "Let's go. The final selection is about to start."
"Wait." Sakonji Urokodaki called out again. As Ye Chen looked at him in confusion, he tossed a Nichirin Blade toward him.
"I had someone forge this Nichirin Blade for you over the past few days. See what you think."
Ye Chen was pleasantly surprised. What he badly needed right now was a Nichirin Blade. He had thought he might have to wait until after the final selection to get one, so receiving one from Sakonji Urokodaki was an unexpected delight.
He caught it, and the blade rapidly changed color, turning bluish-white, with faint gleams of light flowing across it.
"Hmm, a bluish-white blade. Looks like we have another unusual one."
Sakonji Urokodaki chuckled at the sight. A bluish-white blade had never appeared before. Generally, members of the Demon Slayer Corps with such rare blade colors progressed slowly because they had no one else's experience to draw on. Still, he was not too concerned. With Ye Chen's strength, he would surely gain more insight after joining the Demon Slayer Corps, so there was no need to explain further.
At the summit above the Wisteria Flower Sea, Ye Chen and Makomo walked side by side and found quite a few people already gathered there. Most carried a Nichirin Blade. The only ones without one were two little girls standing farther back on the summit. Both wore kimonos and looked like twins, one with white hair and the other with black hair. Looking over everyone present, they announced the opening of the final selection.
"Welcome, everyone, to the final selection."
Before you continue