Chapter 38: Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu Liu Qi

Bai Cangshu maintained a peculiar rhythm in his breathing through his nose and mouth; the ripples generated by the vibrations within his body possessed a frequency identical to that of the sun.

This was the reason Bai Cangshu revealed that kind of smile when he saw that the world he had entered was Demon Slayer.

Perhaps, at this moment, he possessed a "Ghost-specific attack" even more terrifying than 【Sun Breathing】.

Whoosh— Professor and the others were startled to see the main body of the man-eating Ghost hidden within that massive physique actually ignite in the hands of that Reincarnator whose appearance was so terrifying it was impossible to look at directly.

Is it a flame-type ability?

No, Professor quickly dismissed her own guess, because she saw that man-eating Ghost rapidly turn into fly ash within the flames.

It was actually killed directly.

Killing a man-eating Ghost directly without relying on a Nichirin Sword—although high-level abilities could all achieve this, someone who could enter the same world as a newcomer like herself could not possibly be a very powerful Reincarnator.

"Ripple Sprint?"

Bai Cangshu looked toward Professor; Professor realized she had spoken out of turn and took two steps back.

Before Bai Cangshu could even open his mouth, the dense forest suddenly shook continuously, and the sound of branches and leaves rubbing together grew louder and louder.

Professor suddenly realized something and said, "Run, it's a Ghost Tide!"

Whoosh! A figure broke through the air and lunged directly from the dense forest toward the speaking Professor.

Bai Cangshu's pupils trembled slightly; his superior dynamic vision saw that the one lunging over was a man-eating Ghost with a green body, wearing tattered hemp clothes. Judging by its build, this man-eating Ghost must have turned into a Ghost while still a child.

"Dinner time!"

After Professor gave the warning, her heart skipped a beat; when she heard that sound of breaking air, she knew things were bad. She only had time to raise her hand and fire a shot blindly in front of her before being instantly pounced upon.

Bang! The movement of Professor's Hand Cannon was immense, exploding once again in the night.

Professor felt sharp pain in her shoulder; she saw a man-eating Ghost with half its body missing biting into her shoulder with red eyes. With just one bite, it exposed the ghastly white bone.

"Ah!"

As Professor cried out in pain, a large number of black shadows kept lunging over from the dense forest, and terrifying howls also rang out at this moment.

"Little ones, it's fresh humans!"

Dozens of man-eating Ghosts appeared from the woods, scrambling over one another; every single man-eating Ghost exuded a foul, fishy stench.

This scene caused the pupils of the two Reincarnators wearing night-traveling clothes to shrink; the two exchanged a glance and instantly turned to flee toward the perimeter.

What team cooperation? In this situation, one's own life is the most important thing of all! The two's flight triggered a burst of howling among the man-eating Ghosts.

"Those two swordsmen ran away!"

"Let's eat this side first!"

"Sure enough, beneath Fujikasane Mountain, it's all a pasture!"

Amidst the wild shrieking, dozens of man-eating Ghosts howled and lunged toward the remaining Reincarnators.

Professor felt suffocated in her heart seeing this scene, but suddenly, the man in the bamboo hat raised his head, and the long sword at his waist was unsheathed in an instant.

Ring! Under the moonlight, a silvery-white blade light flashed instantly.

Splat! Professor's pupils constricted; scarlet blood sprayed onto her face. She wiped the blood off her glasses only to see that the little Ghost biting her shoulder had already had its body shattered into four segments, falling to the ground and trembling incessantly.

The man in the bamboo hat held the scabbard in one hand and the blade in the other; the blade of that Tachi was clear and bright, and the man's stance was also extremely relaxed.

"Hmm? There's another swordsman?"

A man-eating Ghost with green hair draped over its face saw this scene, took two steps back, stepped into the darkness, and its figure slowly merged into the darkness and disappeared.

The man in the bamboo hat also felt his heart sink; this was clearly a man-eating Ghost that had mastered a Blood Demon Art.

In Demon Slayer, man-eating Ghosts had clear stage distinctions. Newly born man-eating Ghosts were often just beasts whose speed, strength, and recovery power were higher than ordinary people; if humans were numerous or had valiant warriors, they could also overcome them through physical strength.

But if such man-eating Ghosts consumed a large number of humans, they would evolve. While their own speed, strength, and recovery power were enhanced, they would awaken a special ability called 【Blood Demon Art】. Such man-eating Ghosts were often quite difficult to deal with and required the Demon Slayer Corps to dispatch Elites or multiple people to handle them.

Further on, there were the special individuals known as the 【Twelve Kizuki】.

How could this mission encounter so many Ghosts, and among them, individuals who had mastered Blood Demon Art...

This mission has a problem!

The man in the bamboo hat, 【Liu Qi】, thought to himself, but his hand movements did not stop for a moment. He sheathed his blade, lowered his center of gravity, bent his knees slightly, and held the sword hilt lightly with his right hand.

His entire person instantly exuded a terrifying killing intent.

Professor clutched her shoulder and took two steps back; hesitation flashed in her eyes, but in the end, she gritted her teeth, gripped her Hand Cannon with both hands, and raised her hand to fire at the man-eating Ghosts charging over while howling.

Bang! Amidst the huge sound, the air itself was blasted away.

A large number of fine pellets instantly blasted several man-eating Ghosts jumping in the air into sieves.

Just at this moment, in the shadow behind Professor, the green-haired man-eating Ghost appeared again from the darkness. It cracked its mouth open, its teeth interlocked, and the flesh and blood that hadn't been picked clean exuded a foul stench.

Professor smelled this odor, turned her head, and only saw that mouth already torn to the neck, biting down toward her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man in the bamboo hat still maintaining his draw-sword stance without attacking; Professor's heart turned cold.

I... am going to die.

Ring! The next moment, the man in the bamboo hat drew his sword instantly. The speed was so fast that his arm and the blade were completely invisible; one only saw a crescent moon rise, and that huge mouth, along with the body, was severed in one stroke.

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu · Godspeed Iai...

Professor was pinned down by the inertia of the lunging corpse; she understood the man in the bamboo hat's ability in her heart, and she guessed that the level of this Iai technique was likely at least above Lv4, and it was also paired with a considerably high level of sword mastery.

This person is an expert!

The man in the bamboo hat cleared the crisis with one strike; his movements did not stop, and he turned to continue drawing his sword.

If the sword hasn't returned to the scabbard, then use the scabbard to slash! Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu · Twin Dragon Flash!

Splat! That wooden scabbard instantly blasted another man-eating Ghost lunging toward Liu Qi away; the force was so great that one could see the man-eating Ghost's cervical spine had already completely snapped.

Liu Qi's sword light flashed continuously; on the other side, that burly blond man was also cooperating with his female companion, continuously blasting away man-eating Ghosts.

Several Reincarnators barely managed to keep from losing any members.

Even Professor, who had been injured at the start, had calmed down by this time.

Suddenly, she realized the problem: where was that man who possessed Ripple Qigong? 【You killed a man-eating Ghost, gained 10 Dimension Points】

【You killed a man-eating Ghost, gained 15 Dimension Points】

【You killed the man-eating Ghost Hengtaro, gained 100 Dimension Points】

【Milestone: Demon Hunter progress updated, currently 6/20】

……

Bai Cangshu ran frantically through the dense forest; he felt as if he had found a monster spawner in a game.

Ripple Sprint is a power capable of instantly turning creatures that fear sunlight, such as Pillar Men and Vampires, into ashes; the Ghosts of the Demon Slayer World are no exception.

The Ripple on his fist was as pure as sunlight; once struck, a Ghost would begin to burn.

"Quick, go find Lord Hand Demon, this guy... ah!"

Bai Cangshu stomped his left foot violently against the ground, his figure as wild as a raging fire, and he slammed his fist, along with the Ghost, into the tree trunk.

Bang! As the tree, thick as a bowl, fell, pale flames burned upon the Ghost, and in the blink of an eye, the Ghost turned into black ash and drifted away.

Bai Cangshu's figure was violent as he chased the Ghosts through the dense forest.

(End of chapter)