Obtained by chance

"Caw, caw, caw."

Just as Ye Chen received his tamahagane and was considering his next move, a dark shape flew over and landed on his shoulder. It was clearly a crow.

Ye Chen took a closer look. Everyone present had a bird accompanying them. Most had crows, while some had white doves. Makomo's was clearly a little sparrow.

"These birds have been specially trained by the Demon Slayer Corps. After you return, they will deliver your assignments and other messages to you," the two little girls continued explaining to everyone.

"...Oh? So these are the intelligent crows from the original story. Interesting."

Ye Chen glanced at the crow on his shoulder, narrowing his eyes slightly, then turned to leave with Makomo. He knew the Final Selection was now officially over.

[Ding! D-rank mission completed: Join the Demon Slayer Corps. Exchange points ×800.]

Ye Chen glanced at the mission notification without paying it much attention. He was flush with points now; 800 exchange points were no longer enough to surprise him.

Now that the Final Selection was over, though, he would head back to Sakonji Urokodaki's home first, then start taking Demon Slayer Corps assignments after a while.

Ye Chen felt rather relaxed as he walked. Not only had he earned a massive number of exchange points, but he had also obtained several hundred jin of wisteria. That would yield at least thirty or forty kilograms of wisteria poison, enough to keep him supplied for a long time.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Ye Chen. Did something nice happen?"

Seeing the smile on Ye Chen's face and how relaxed he looked, Makomo couldn't help asking curiously.

"Oh, we passed the Final Selection, after all. Of course I'm in a good mood." Ye Chen blinked. You can even tell I'm in a good mood? Still, this should be easy enough to explain away.

"You're lying. You barely even tried during the Final Selection."

Seeing that Ye Chen didn't intend to tell her, Makomo raised an eyebrow. She wasn't angry, though. Instead, an odd smile appeared on her lips. "You were the person they were talking about earlier, weren't you?"

"You're overthinking it."

Ye Chen's eyes involuntarily slid to the side. Makomo's suspicions weren't entirely unexpected. After all, he had gunned down the Hand Demon with a heavy crossbow right in front of her.

Of course, he wasn't particularly concerned about any of that. She could suspect him all she liked; it wouldn't really affect much. Besides, Makomo clearly wasn't the sort to spread his business around.

"Hmm... It's fine if you won't admit it. I just think you have quite a few secrets."

Seeing that Ye Chen wouldn't admit it, Makomo didn't press him for answers.

"All right, we're here." Ye Chen and Makomo returned to Sakonji Urokodaki's home and found him already standing outside, clearly waiting for them to return.

"You really... came back alive..." Sakonji Urokodaki hurried over to Ye Chen and Makomo. Ye Chen could see what seemed to be a few tears slipping from beneath his mask, running down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground.

"Yes, I'm back, Master Urokodaki." Seeing Sakonji Urokodaki like this, Makomo couldn't help shedding tears of joy as well, while Ye Chen simply stood quietly to one side.

"Ye Chen..."

Sakonji Urokodaki calmed down and turned toward Ye Chen, then said in a solemn voice, "My disciple's return must owe a great deal to your care. You have my thanks."

"It was nothing, really. You've looked after me plenty, too. Besides, I'd already promised."

Ye Chen smiled and waved a hand, then continued, "Oh, and we've dealt with the reason your disciples kept dying in the Final Selection. But let's go inside first. Your disciple can tell you all about it."

"I see... So you dealt with the Abnormal Demon." Sakonji Urokodaki sighed. He finally understood: an Abnormal Demon in the Final Selection had held a grudge against him all along, dragging his disciples into it.

Xiao Hua, who had been waiting here for Ye Chen, slowly came over as well. Since Ye Chen couldn't bring it to the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection, it had been terribly bored for the past seven days.

After reflecting on it for a while, Sakonji Urokodaki told Ye Chen and Makomo, "Your tamahagane has already been sent to the master swordsmiths to forge your Nichirin Blades. They should arrive in about two or three weeks. Prepare yourselves properly before then. Once your Nichirin Blades are ready, you'll also receive assignments from the Demon Slayer Corps."

"All right. I really do need to prepare. There are still a few things I haven't finished."

Ye Chen chuckled at those words, then continued speaking to Sakonji Urokodaki. "So I'll need to borrow your storehouse for a little longer."

"..." Sakonji Urokodaki gave Ye Chen another strange look. I might have sounded like I was addressing both of them, but those words were really meant for my precious disciple. As for Ye Chen... With his strength, what the hell does he need to prepare for? And he's still making himself right at home. Forget it. Letting him use the storehouse won't cost me anything anyway.

"Oh, right. This is for you." Suddenly remembering something, Ye Chen took out a pale blue necklace. A very ordinary cord held a teardrop-shaped crystal. He handed it to Makomo.

"What's this?" Makomo's face suddenly flushed. She didn't know why Ye Chen was giving her a necklace out of nowhere, especially in front of Sakonji Urokodaki.

Sakonji Urokodaki's gaze suddenly sharpened, however. He stared at the necklace in Ye Chen's hand for quite some time, as though there were something unusual about it.

"Where did you get that necklace?"

What Sakonji Urokodaki found unbelievable was that his own Breathing Style was actually responding to the necklace. He could sense its unusual nature because he kept his Breathing Style active at all times. Makomo clearly hadn't noticed.

"Hmm... I happened to get it by chance? Whatever, just think of it that way." Ye Chen sounded a little uncertain, then, too lazy to come up with an excuse, brushed the question aside.

"..." From Ye Chen's tone, Sakonji Urokodaki knew he was being given the runaround, but he didn't ask any further. Everyone had their own secrets.

"Take it. It'll do you good." Seeing Makomo still fidgeting, neither refusing nor accepting it, Sakonji Urokodaki spoke up. It's rare for this fellow to bring out something good. I have to make sure my precious disciple benefits from it!

Only after Sakonji Urokodaki said that did Makomo accept the necklace from Ye Chen. The moment she touched it, she felt her Breathing Style activate involuntarily, accompanied by a sensation unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Ye Chen smiled. It seemed this thing worked on people, too. Naturally, it was the Mystic Water he had won in the draw. Carrying it boosted the power of water-type moves by twenty percent. It wasn't much use to him, so he had given it away.

Soon, fifteen days had passed. Ye Chen spent seven days in the storehouse refining all the wisteria into wisteria poison. He also spent 1,000 exchange points to obtain 10,000 hollow-point rounds from the system, then filled all of them with wisteria poison to make poisoned rounds.

He had also entered two draws over those two weeks. The first had only given him a Hard Stone. Well... it came from the Pokémon plane, an indestructible, extraordinarily hard stone that increased the power of rock-type moves when carried. Clearly, it was another thing that wasn't much use to him.

The second draw, however, came as a pleasant surprise, because he finally obtained 50 kg of Seastone.

Seastone: From the One Piece plane. Capable of countering Devil Fruit users.

Ye Chen had been absolutely delighted when he drew it. Once he found a way to forge the Seastone into a weapon, he could face that scumbag boss again with a great Seastone sword in one hand and Netherworld Fire in the other. He'd make sure the bastard couldn't handle it.