Fox Demon: Heaven rewards diligence; I will eventually achieve divine mastery of martial arts.

He was in so much pain he felt like he was going to die.

Consciousness is drifting away, while memories play forward like a slideshow.

Suddenly, Tanjiro Kamado saw a shocking scene.

Those were his closest relatives, now all lying in pools of blood...

Do not!

I can't die!

I want revenge!

Tanjiro Kamado opened his eyes in the endless darkness.

The scalding heat within his body shattered with a roar, transforming into tiny sparks that merged into every inch of Tanjiro Kamado's body.

An emotion called hatred burned fiercely, transforming into a torrent of emotional energy that poured into a corner of Tanjiro Kamado's soul that he was completely unaware of.

There, a small sprout is growing rapidly and has already developed a trunk.

Beneath his torso, an even purer emotional force surged back into Tanjiro Kamado's soul.

At that moment, Tanjiro Kamado suddenly felt a breath rise in his chest.

He clung to that last breath like a drowning man grasping at a straw.

What's even more surprising is that even after being absorbed, that breath didn't disappear at all; instead, it transformed into a stream of heat flowing through his body.

The moment the heat flow took shape, Tanjiro Kamado's consciousness returned completely.

He looked at the scene at the bottom of the cold pool in amazement, and he found that he had actually achieved the ability to breathe underwater!

A sense of realization slowly rose in his mind; this was what Lin Yu meant by internal breathing.

"Congratulations, you've made a breakthrough."

Lin Yu's voice made Tanjiro Kamado unable to remain calm.

"Thank you, Master. I also sensed a warm current within my body. Could that be the internal energy mentioned in the cultivation technique?"

How do I use it?

"What kind of improvement will it give me?"

Tanjiro Kamado was incredibly excited, but Lin Yu stopped him.

"We'll talk about it later, let's go up first." (End of Chapter)

Chapter 255 One Slash to Slay Him

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, Tanjiro Kamado nodded immediately and floated upwards.

When he was about halfway there, he suddenly realized that the energy in his chest had become extremely weak, and the heat that had just been generated, known as internal force, had almost stopped moving.

He then understood what Lin Yu meant, and he quickened his pace, finally bursting out of the icy pool before he could hold it in any longer.

The moment he burst out of the water, Tanjiro Kamado felt as if he had seen a new world.

The world was so clear: the chirping of insects beyond his sight, the veins of leaves in the distance, the smell of soil dozens of meters away—all these things became so clear to Tanjiro Kamado.

He was somewhat shocked. Was this the change that internal energy had brought about?

"This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Lin Yu's voice echoed in Tanjiro Kamado's mind.

This immediately made Tanjiro Kamado, who had already suppressed his curiosity, even more curious.

Is the wonder of internal energy not limited to this?

"Internal energy is your own power. Its main characteristic is that it can be moved at will and can be integrated into any of your attacks to enhance their intensity, including your fist techniques, knife techniques, or even your purest axe strikes."

Lin Yu explained.

Tanjiro Kamado was immediately eager to try. With a thought, he took a step forward and threw a punch, which landed on a tree next to him.

Click!

The tree that two people could barely encircle was instantly shattered by Tanjiro Kamado's casual strike. The spot where his fist landed was clearly broken into pieces, as if it had been blown apart by something.

He was surprised; this was just a casual punch. If he had used his full strength, it would have been even more terrifying.

However, Tanjiro Kamado also sensed that his internal energy was almost completely depleted, with only a trace remaining.

"It's just that you've only just developed internal energy. I'll adjust your training plan for the next period of time, as this is the golden stage for internal energy growth."

Lin Yu said.

Tanjiro Kamado felt a sudden jolt in his heart. He knew that things would definitely get harder in the future, but he didn't refuse at all. On the contrary, he was excited because he was slowly getting stronger.

Because every step he took forward brought him one step closer to revenge.

After that, Tanjiro Kamado once again entered into a period of intense training.

In order to train his opponent, Lin Yu proposed a new method: to have the opponent practice punching while circulating internal energy underwater.

At first, Tanjiro Kamado could only stay in the water for a minute at most before he had to come out because he had run out of internal energy.

However, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his internal energy would increase slightly each time he used it up.

This change also allowed him to stay in the water for just one more second each time.

Another six months passed, and Tanjiro Kamado was able to stay in the water for half an hour and use his internal energy to complete a full set of punches.

At this moment, Lin Yu proposed a new method—to wield his sword in the icy pool.

Applying internal energy to external objects already consumes it very quickly. Adding the act of wielding a knife in icy water causes the rate of internal energy consumption to return to the level it was when you first started practicing underwater punches.

This time, although the rate of increase in internal energy remained the same, the time that Tanjiro Kamado spent in the icy pool increased slowly.

It wasn't until a year later that Tanjiro Kamado was able to replicate the speed at which he swung his sword in the water that he had on land a year earlier.

Lin Yu was somewhat dissatisfied with this, but Kamado Tanjiro knew that he had grown a lot.

If he can swing his knife at such a speed underwater, he can certainly do it at an even faster speed on land.

On this day, Tanjiro Kamado was once again practicing his swordplay in the cold pond.

His training was nearing its end, and with the final strike, his internal energy surged forth.

Boom!

The once calm, icy pool suddenly emitted a muffled sound, and then the entire pool seemed to boil, with countless undercurrents surging, causing the surrounding fish and shrimp to be temporarily stunned and float to the surface.

Tanjiro Kamado then rushed out of the water and scooped up all the fish and shrimp, intending to hand them over to Sakonji Urokodaki later.

As his internal energy increased, his appetite also grew larger.

The amount of food consumed had already begun to secretly surprise Urokodaki Sakonji.

Tanjiro Kamado couldn't help but chuckle whenever he thought about Sakonji Urokodaki's surprised expression, which was usually so serious.

With that thought in mind, he quickened his pace and skillfully returned to the wooden house at the foot of the mountain.

However, when he opened the door, he saw Urokodaki Sakonji kneeling in front of the fireplace in the room, his tengu mask on his face looking extremely majestic.

In the two years that Tanjiro Kamado had spent with Sakonji Urokodaki, the latter had been wearing a mask less and less. Today, the fact that he was wearing a tengu mask and looking so serious immediately made Tanjiro Kamado sense something.

"You're back. Have a seat."

Urokodaki Sakonji's calm voice came, and Kamado Tanjiro quickly put away the fish and shrimp he had caught and sat down opposite Urokodaki Sakonji.

Sakonji Urokodaki looked at Tanjiro Kamado with a complicated expression.

He originally thought that after two years of growth, Tanjiro Kamado's figure would become even more exaggerated, but a year and a half ago, the other's figure began to shrink, eventually growing into the size of a boy that could be seen everywhere on the street.

Although it doesn't have the same explosive power as before, seeing Tanjiro Kamado's body still makes you feel that it is perfect.

It was at that moment that he sensed the boy's unfathomable strength.

The boy must be much stronger now; perhaps his former peak self would no longer be a match for Tanjiro Kamado.

However, after spending so much time together, besides the fact that the other person often surprised him with their strength, he also grew to like the boy in front of him more and more.

Tanjiro Kamado possesses a youthful spirit, always sticking to what he believes in, and is also incredibly talented and sincere in his dealings with others.

Should someone like that really be involved in the Demon Slayer Corps?

This question arose in Urokodaki Sakonji's mind.

Although Sakonji Urokodaki felt that Tanjiro Kamado was incredibly powerful, the demons were definitely not to be underestimated either.

If Tanjiro Kamado insists on fighting the demons, he will inevitably face the risk of death in the future.

But he was even more aware of how determined Tanjiro Kamado was to seek revenge.

After all, the reason why Tanjiro Kamado persisted in training was to seek revenge and find a way to cure his sister.

Therefore, he specifically asked Tanjiro Kamado to participate in the selection of Demon Slayer Corps members the following year.

But when the moment actually came, Urokodaki Sakonji still hesitated.

"What's wrong, Mr. Urokodaki? Is there something you need?"

Seeing that Urokodaki Sakonji hadn't spoken yet, Kamado Tanjiro couldn't help but ask in confusion.