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

Tanjiro Kamado's eyes narrowed slightly, and he drew his katana once more. A gentle breeze swept through the air again, but the figure that had been charging forward suddenly froze.

Tanjiro Kamado had already placed his katana against the fox-masked boy.

Just as the breeze subsided, with a soft thud, the fox mask split in two and fell to the ground. A few stray hairs drifted down, revealing a face with a scar that ran from the corner of its mouth to its cheek.

Although it looks ferocious, its eyes are bright and gentle.

"My name is Qin Tu, nice to meet you."

The boy spoke, and at the same time, he put down the katana in his hand.

“You have won. You are now fully capable of going to Wisteria Mountain for the trial.”

"?"

Tanjiro Kamado was somewhat bewildered by the other party's strange behavior. If he hadn't sensed no hostility from the other party, his sword strike would have been aimed at the other party's neck instead of his mask.

At that moment, another girl walked over, gently removing her mask to reveal a lovely and delicate face:

"Excuse me, my name is Makomo. I apologize for bothering you. We are both students of Urokodaki-sensei. We just wanted to test your strength since you were also going to the trial."

What an adorable girl.

Tanjiro Kamado gazed into the other's blue eyes, listening to his light, airy words. His heart calmed down, but he couldn't help feeling a little curious at the same time:

"You are all Mr. Urokodaki's students too? Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Although you have never met us, we still care about you and know that you have been working hard to cultivate, so we don't want to disturb you."

Makomo explained, while tugging at Sabito's sleeve.

A hint of unease appeared on Sakoto's face, and he then said:

"You are the strongest person I have ever met, but seeing is not always believing, so I took the initiative to test you. However, it seems that I was overthinking it. I believe you will definitely pass the selection."

Faced with the sudden praise, Tanjiro Kamado was somewhat flattered and quickly waved his hand, saying:

"Not at all, I'm still far from good enough. Actually, I was too slow with that sword strike just now, and I used too much internal...power. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to cut your hair."

Sabito, who had initially thought Tanjiro Kamado was being modest, suddenly felt a twitch at the corner of his mouth. He realized that what the other man said seemed quite honest, and that it was true that he believed he was not strong enough.

He couldn't help but fall silent. If someone like Tanjiro Kamado was still far from being strong enough, then what was his own strength worth?

As Sabito thought about it, a scene from long ago suddenly flashed through his mind, and a shadow crossed his face.

But now that I think about it, it makes sense. If I were strong enough, none of this would have happened.

Tanjiro Kamado keenly sensed something was off about the other person's emotions, and just as he was feeling a bit strange, he heard Makomo say:

"Alright, now that the strength test is over, we'll be leaving. We'll be waiting here for your good news on passing the trial."

Makomo pulled the sullen Sabito away, leaving Tanjiro Kamado bewildered.

Why wait? If these people are all students of Urokodaki Sakonji, shouldn't they all participate this time?

He watched their figures disappear into the distant woods, then suddenly his eyes narrowed as he realized why he felt so strange.

Because the moment the two disappeared, he instantly lost all trace of them in his perception.

Recalling when the tree fell, he hadn't even realized how the other party had appeared.

This must have shocked Tanjiro Kamado, since since he had cultivated his inner strength, his five senses had improved to an extremely refined level, and with the growth of his inner strength, his five senses were still improving.

But even with these improvements, they still couldn't detect the traces of those two people. Could it be that those two were beings even more powerful than themselves?

"Don't overthink it, they're just two ghosts."

Lin Yu's calm voice resonated from the depths of Tanjiro Kamado's heart.

"ghost?"

Tanjiro Kamado was startled, but then he thought that even man-eating demons exist, so the existence of ghosts and the like is not so strange.

Moreover, it seems that there has always been someone similar around him.

Tanjiro Kamado was secretly thinking about these things when he heard Lin Yu's annoyed voice the next second:

"What nonsense are you thinking? I'm different from these ghosts. They only remain in the world because of some obsessions and don't want to be reincarnated. They are truly lonely and wandering ghosts."

"Obsession? Why does such a thing exist?"

Tanjiro Kamado was shocked. The inability to be reincarnated was a serious matter.

"That depends on Mr. Urokodaki Sakonji. They died in the trial, desperately wanting to return to Urokodaki Sakonji's side. Although they had this obsession, they would not have returned here without Urokodaki Sakonji's longing as their guide."

Lin Yu's words were ethereal. The human soul is a mysterious existence. It is so fragile, yet it can survive in the world under strong obsession.

Thinking about this, Lin Yu seemed to understand something. Obsession is also a kind of emotion. If it is compared to emotional power, perhaps the origin of it can be explained.

"They all died in the trials?"

Tanjiro Kamado felt a sense of loss; he suddenly realized why the two people's behavior had seemed so strange.

The thought that the other party had clearly witnessed his strength but still wanted to verify it made his heart flutter:

"Could there be an extremely powerful evil spirit within the trials? Otherwise, why would they be so persistent in testing newcomers?"

"This is a very obvious logic, but weren't you already prepared for it? As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, the thing you do most every day is fight demons to the death. If you can't kill them, they will eat you."

Lin Yu said calmly.

Tanjiro Kamado paused slightly, then clenched his fist.

Master is right. He was prepared to give his life for this. If he were to back down now because the enemy is too strong, what would he be?

Besides, isn't the reason he's been cultivating so diligently is to fight against powerful enemies? So why should he be afraid?

Even if they encounter an enemy stronger than themselves, they have no choice but to fight.

Tanjiro Kamado felt that he had gained yet another reason to pass the trial.

A month later.

Tanjiro Kamado opened his eyes precisely on time in the morning, folded the bedding spread on the floor, and opened the door.

Outside the door, Sakonji Urokodaki was already sitting upright by the fireplace, and Nezuko appeared in Tanjiro Kamado's sight after a long absence.

Two years ago, Nezuko fell into a drowsy state, and during these two years, she has mostly been asleep.

According to Sakonji Urokodaki's speculation, Nezuko is likely replenishing her energy by sleeping. After all, demons feed on humans to increase their energy, and since Nezuko is not eating, she naturally needs other ways to replenish her energy.

Nezuko was delighted to see Tanjiro Kamado, her eyebrows lifting and her eyes crinkling with a smile.

"Nezuko! Good morning, I didn't expect to see you awake today."

Tanjiro Kamado walked excitedly to Nezuko's side and patted her head.

Nezuko has woken up on occasions during these two years, but it has mostly happened when he is away training.

Before he returned, Nezuko fell asleep again.

Unexpectedly, Nezuko woke up when we were about to leave today.

"It seems that the child knew today was the day you were leaving for Wisteria Mountain, so he woke up early to wait for you."

Urokodaki Sakonji spoke, his familiar tengu mask obscuring his face from Kamado Tanjiro's view. However, through his scent, Kamado Tanjiro could sense that Urokodaki Sakonji was actually quite pleased.

“I have a feeling that the day when Nezuko is completely stable is not far away. I suppose when you come back from Mount Wisteria, you will be able to see that Nezuko no longer needs to sleep all the time.”

Urokodaki Sakon Subway.

Upon hearing the other person's words, Tanjiro Kamado was taken aback, but then his heart leaped with joy:

"Really? Nezuko! That's amazing, truly amazing. To actually do this, I believe you will definitely be able to turn back into a human."

He held Nezuko's hand and shook it gently, his heart filled with unprecedented joy.

"Alright, let's talk about these things when you return from the trial."

Urokodaki Sakonji, who was standing to the side, coughed lightly and brought up the important matter.

He slowly told Tanjiro Kamado the location of Mount Wisteria and instructed him that he must arrive at Mount Wisteria within half a month, otherwise he would have to wait several more years.

Tanjiro Kamado nodded solemnly.

At the same time, Urokodaki Sakonji also took out a familiar fox mask from behind him.

"Mr. Urokodaki, what is this?"

Tanjiro Kamado saw it for a moment and immediately thought of the fox mask worn on Sabito and Makomo's heads. Although there were some differences in the details, he still recognized that it was made by the same person as the fox mask on their heads.

"This is the fox mask I make for everyone who goes to the trial. It doesn't have any special function, it's just for good luck."

Urokodaki Sakonji handed the fox mask to Kamado Tanjiro:

"Although I know you'll definitely pass, take it with you anyway; maybe it'll bring you good luck?"

"Thank you, Mr. Urokodaki."

Tanjiro Kamado solemnly accepted it, but in his mind he was thinking about how he had cut Sabito's mask off earlier.

He was somewhat annoyed. The fox mask was probably quite important to the rabbit, and perhaps he should give the other party a fox mask later.

With this thought in mind, Tanjiro Kamado looked up at Sakonji Urokodaki, hesitating whether or not to tell Sakonji about Sabito.

Just then, Urokodaki Sakon spoke up:

"If there's anything you want to say, wait until you get back. This time you'll be traveling alone. I'll take good care of Nezuko, so don't worry."