Ye Chen looked at the two little girls in front of him, then glanced around at the other participants. There were roughly thirty or forty people present.
Most of them carried a heavy, wary air. Even Makomo beside him looked a little sad, probably remembering how nearly all her senior fellow disciples had died in there.
Only a handful seemed as relaxed as Ye Chen or treated the Final Selection as nothing worth worrying about. Either they genuinely had the ability to back it up, or they were simply ignorant.
"Deeper in the mountain are demons captured alive by the Demon Slayer Corps. They cannot leave, because wisteria, which demons despise, grows everywhere from the foot of the mountain to halfway up. Beyond that, however, there is no wisteria. Whatever methods you use, you will pass the Final Selection as long as you remain inside for more than seven days."
The white-haired little girl regarded the participants with a somewhat strange look in her eyes. At the same time, the black-haired little girl spoke. "The Final Selection now begins. Please enter and undertake your trial. Finally, we wish you all good luck."
After Ye Chen and the others entered, everyone gradually scattered to find shelter. Ye Chen looked around, then took out a Flash Bomb and told Makomo beside him, "Oh, Miss Makomo, if you run into danger, throw this at the demons. Remember to close your eyes after you throw it. Once I see it, I'll hurry over to help."
"Aren't you going to come with me, Mr. Ye Chen?"
Makomo tilted her head in a rather adorably blank manner, puzzled that Ye Chen intended to act alone.
Normally, people who knew each other would stick together during the Final Selection so they could watch each other's backs.
"Well, I have a few things to take care of. I'll meet up with you afterward."
Ye Chen laughed it off. Naturally, he had nothing against traveling with a cute girl, but having her along would make his mission difficult! He had no choice but to leave first.
Getting stronger was all that mattered. Women would only slow down my sword draw.
"All right, then. Good luck, Mr. Ye Chen."
Although Makomo wondered what Ye Chen could possibly have to do during the Final Selection, she said nothing more. After bidding him farewell, she quickly left to begin her own activities.
"All right, time to start farming demons again."
Ye Chen rubbed his brow, then drank a bottle of Farseeing Potion. Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he form a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
Puffs of smoke appeared, and three people who looked exactly like Ye Chen materialized before him. The three Ye Chens then simultaneously formed the hand seal for the Transformation Technique, changing again into three tall, slender young men.
Anyone who had played Dungeon Fighter Online would recognize them immediately. All three looked like Gunners from Dungeon Fighter Online!
"Since this is only the basic Shadow Clone Technique, not the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, I can't make that many. Oh well, three is enough."
This was, of course, the Clone Technique from the Three Body Technique, which he had later upgraded into the Shadow Clone Technique. These clones possessed a portion of the original's combat strength and would disappear upon taking damage. Although these clones were not particularly strong, the sea of wisteria ultimately held nothing but a bunch of low-level demons. Not a single one could use a Blood Demon Art, and the strongest was merely a mutated Hand Demon.
"All right, get over here. One Heavy Bowgun and five hundred bullets each."
Ye Chen clapped his hands and called the three Gunners over, then took three Heavy Bowguns out of his system storage and handed them over, followed by bag after bag of bullets.
"Now, I officially declare that your three-man demon-hunting squad is open for business!"
Ye Chen raised his hand. The three Gunners immediately saluted in perfect unison, then pushed off and sprinted away in different directions.
Once the demon-hunting squad had dispersed, Ye Chen grinned and ran to a spot not far from the exit. Looking at the swathes of wisteria before him, he took out a knife without another word and began harvesting it.
"System, put all the wisteria I cut into system storage!"
As Ye Chen harvested the wisteria, he instructed the system to collect it.
Before long, he had stripped one wisteria tree almost bare.
Ye Chen did not mind, though. He glanced sideways and began harvesting the next tree.
"Hmm... this wisteria still needs to keep the demons trapped. I shouldn't go overboard just yet. I'll only strip a few trees for now."
"Aaaah... y-you stay away!" Some distance from Ye Chen, a Final Selection participant was being relentlessly pursued by seven or eight demons, taking blows as he fled in every direction.
With his strength, he would normally have had no trouble fighting two or three demons. Unfortunately, there were simply too many here for him to handle, and he was now all but cornered.
"Hahaha... a human. It's been so long since I ate one."
"Ahh, ever since I was captured and brought here, I've been trapped in this prison every day. Now I've finally found a human. Let me have a proper feast!"
"Ahh... someone, please save me..." As the group of demons closed in, despair filled the Demon Slayer Corps member's eyes, and he muttered to himself.
Just then, something whistled through the air. One demon's head suddenly jerked sideways, its expression going blank before it collapsed without understanding what had happened.
The other demons froze. Somehow, a bloody hole had appeared in the right side of its head. After being hit, the demon spat out a few mouthfuls of white foam and lost consciousness.
"What's going on... that smell-it's wisteria poison. Who's there?"
The other demons immediately panicked. Just then, another report rang out, a flash of flame appeared, and a bloody hole opened in another demon's chest before it fell.
The Demon Slayer Corps member was puzzled too. He had only just escaped death when his eyes narrowed at the sight of a figure in the distance: a tall, slender young man dressed in purple, holding a strange weapon.
The young man raised his weapon. A flash of flame burst from its muzzle, and another demon fell.
Then the young man abruptly crouched and cocked the weapon with a click. Streams of flame erupted, sending several demons fleeing in every direction.
"W-what the hell is that thing?!"
"Don't let it hit you! That thing has wisteria poison in it!"
The demons kept fleeing, but they could not evade those swift flashes of flame. One demon after another fell. The gunner worked his Heavy Bowgun again, quickly stood up, and kept firing at the last fleeing demon. He encountered other demons along the way as well, and without exception, the moment he spotted them, he swiftly attacked.
"Who is he... is he here for the Final Selection too?"
The young man who had been chased by the demons stared in bewilderment. He had no idea who this person was, or what weapon he was holding. How could it kill demons before they even knew what was happening?
Besides, he did not remember seeing anyone dressed so strangely at the gathering for the Final Selection.
Still, he did not dare dwell on it. He dusted off his backside and took off running. He needed to keep a low profile now. Earlier, he had thought he was impressive, only to be chased all over the place by demons. And now someone this formidable had shown up. It seemed he really had been far too arrogant.
Meanwhile, the same scene kept playing out deep within the sea of wisteria...
Before you continue