How Strong Was the Tiger Heavenly Emperor at His Peak?

The eastern part of Fuyuki City had once been a thriving heavy industrial district. Later, because of environmental pollution, the industries had been ordered to relocate, leaving behind only a vast complex of buildings.

Deserted, extremely open, and secluded, it had naturally become a gathering place for all kinds of sewer rats.

Criminal dealings, black markets, sales of stolen goods, money laundering-the underground network was tangled and complex.

Some even said that if Fuyuki City's government could clean out the entire eastern chemical industrial district, the city's crime rate would drop by at least 80%.

"There are quite a few people in this place."

On the surface, it did seem deserted, but running into gangs conducting the occasional deal here was perfectly normal.

"Sigh, I don't get a choice. The boss said he wanted to meet me here, so I could only agree."

Lu You rubbed his chin.

Indeed, the other party had little say in the matter. Still, the eastern chemical industrial district was an acceptable choice. None of the people who came here were good people anyway.

With that thought, Lu You left the school, boarded a random bus, and headed out of the city.

Since buses no longer went to the industrial district, Lu You still had quite a long walk after getting off at the nearest stop.

Trails crisscrossed toward the industrial district. Low hills and ridges rose and fell, their gloomy woods offering excellent concealment.

As he drew closer to the industrial district, Lu You's spiritual sense could detect others traveling along nearby trails.

Almost all of them gave off psychic energy fluctuations that had reached the tiers.

Early first tier was the baseline here.

Peak first tier was probably the ceiling.

As for second tier...

What second-tier individual would willingly remain a rat? Even if they had been rats before, once they broke through, they could easily go legitimate and become lofty figures.

Before long, an endless complex of buildings came into view. Towering distillation columns and dilapidated factory buildings stood in dense rows, linked by thick pipes.

Under the night sky, this shadow nestled among the low wooded hills looked as eerie and terrifying as a monster.

A river ran through a valley beside it, flowing straight east.

Lu You narrowed his eyes, vaulted over a section of the factory wall, and flickered swiftly through the grounds, following the location on the map Zuo Lai had given him.

Weeds grew everywhere inside, but the going was not particularly difficult. The factory's concrete flooring had a solid foundation, after all. Though cracked in places, it remained sturdy overall.

His keen spiritual sense occasionally detected other people nearby, all going about their own business.

In the underworld, it was best not to get curious about anyone, even if you thought yourself strong.

Soon, Lu You reached Warehouse 4. Its rolling shutter stood open, over ten meters high, with walls made from joined aluminum panels on either side.

It was no different from the prefabricated buildings of his previous life.

As he slowly approached, his vision abruptly darkened. There were no lights-or rather, only faint moonlight shone through the windows on the side, spilling over Lu You.

Fortunately, they were all psychic energy users. Night vision was the most basic ability.

"Heh, has the Fuyuki King arrived?"

A cold chuckle rang through the empty factory building as the man seated on a steel-frame crossbeam offered a casual jibe.

In the dim light, he could vaguely be made out as a middle-aged man with purple eyes, a black leather jacket covering powerful muscles, and curls swept high.

Lu You did not answer. In his perception, there were more people here than expected.

"One, two, three... seven."

Apart from Zuo Lai, who was first tier, six second-tier individuals had actually gathered here. This was rather different from what the plan had envisioned.

He raised his head and calmly looked at Zuo Lai, who stood beside the purple-eyed man. "You'd better have a good explanation later."

"An explanation? The explanation is that you've been fooled, idiot."

The purple-eyed man leaped down and landed steadily. He focused on Lu You's face, wanting to see just whom the old principal had hired who dared to protect that target.

"Holy shit!"

In the dimness, moonlight illuminated Lu You's face, letting them see him clearly.

"???"

"How could it be you!"

The people hiding in the shadows emerged one after another, their faces full of shock. Their brows knitted tightly, and then came wild delight.

"You walked right into our trap!"

"Hahahaha! That took no effort at all! We thought we'd be facing a formidable opponent, but it turns out to be a total scrub."

"Senmu, you did well! What a plan, what a lure! Excellent!"

The purple-eyed man called Senmu instead showed a slight change in expression, his face flickering uncertainly.

The target seemed to be second tier.

They had only asked for ten million Sakura Currency. Hadn't they taken a massive loss?! Wait...

Thinking it over, if this guy wasn't absolutely confident, why would he casually walk out of the school?

Had the situation changed?

Lu You looked at the wildly delighted crowd, then at the frowning purple-eyed man. Raising a hand, he gently stroked his forehead and said flatly, "You're holding your heads too high."

"What is this guy talk-"

An invisible, soundless ripple swept sharply past.

In that instant, the entire warehouse was sliced across the middle!

An extraordinarily conspicuous, smooth straight line appeared along both walls of the enormous prefabricated building, which covered a hundred thousand square meters.

It extended all the way to the far end, five hundred meters away.

Two second-tier individuals who had yet to react were cut in half along with the building, their organs and blood spilling across the floor.

Senmu's purple pupils shrank to pinpoints. He had instantly dropped into a half crouch, evading that bizarre silver slash, which had looked dazzlingly brilliant to his eyes.

"It's fast. Early second-tier individuals with less acute senses would be caught off guard and killed instantly.

And its range is enormous. This warehouse is five hundred meters long and two hundred meters wide. The slash's planar coverage must be at least a hundred thousand square meters..."

He rapidly calculated Lu You's combat data in his mind.

Two things had earned him his place as a Silver Medal Hunter in the Fearless Alliance: his mid-second-tier psychic energy cultivation, and the extraordinary experience he had gained from countless brushes with death.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Zuo Lai beside him, who had decisively thrown himself flat on the ground to dodge the slash. A strange feeling immediately arose.

Could it be...

This subordinate of mine was actually a high-ranking double agent, codename Pangolin...

"Y-you, what did you do!"

The head of the Yoshino family watched with trembling hands as her uncle was cut in half and died in agony, scarcely able to believe her eyes.

Seven people had come this time. Apart from the Fearless Alliance's two hunters, Hoshiya, Ogihara, Yoshino, and Itō had all sent people, including the four family heads and two second-tier elders.

Only Ogihara and Yoshino had brought an additional second-tier individual.

And now they had just died like that?

What kind of joke was this!

What kind of joke was this!

Even if they killed Lu You, their two families would probably fall out of the ranks of the four great families!

The Ogihara family head also stared dumbfounded at his father's corpse, tears filling his fierce eyes as grief pierced his heart.

"Well... Ogihara, even though your dad's dead, you still have us! Pull yourself together! He's coming again!"

The Hoshiya family head hurriedly warned him.

Everyone else froze. Was that even something a human being should say?

"I'll kill you! I'll cut you into a thousand pieces!"

Ogihara had completely lost his reason. Snot and tears covered his furious face as immense, blood-red wildfire erupted from his body.

Like a roaring cannonball, he shot forward with a thunderous boom, the heat scorching all the ground along his path.

The entire warehouse burst into raging flames.

Its power was considerable.

If Muzan saw this, it would scare him to tears.

Fire, flame, inferno...

Ash was all that filled the eye.

Was this the strength of the main world's second tier? All I could say was that it certainly lived up to second tier!

Unfortunately, I was stronger.

Bringing two fingers together, Lu You unleashed the strongest slash he could manage for the first time. This was no mere little test of his might in Demon Slayer, but full firepower after obtaining all of Itadori's purple core traits!

"Lataib!"

In that instant.

Reflected in Senmu's purple eyes was an enormous net that threatened to envelop the world, its keen slashes crisscrossing and connecting, stretching for several kilometers into the distance. Horrified, he shouted.

"Run!!!"