Demon Slayer: After raising Shinobu, I died in front of her.

Having shed the naivety of childhood, the young girl's graceful figure was faintly visible beneath her oversized pajamas. A trace of childishness still lingered on her delicate face, yet she inadvertently revealed a unique and captivating charm that belonged only to a young girl.

Wait, what am I looking at?!

Ling Chuanche's heart skipped a beat, and a surge of heat rushed to his ears.

He hurriedly looked away, fixing his gaze on the teacup in his hand, and coughed lightly as if trying to cover up his unease: "Awake?"

"Um……"

Ren walked over and sat down next to Ling Chuanche, resting her chin on her hands and staring intently at his profile. Feeling that burning gaze sweep over him, Ling Chuanche felt a heat rise to his neck.

"Master, yesterday I..."

“I saw you were asleep this morning and was worried you’d catch a cold, so I carried you to bed.” Ling Chuanche interrupted her quickly, his tone so stiff that even he felt guilty. “Don’t take it to heart.”

"Oh..." Ren lowered his eyes in disappointment.

It turns out that the warm touch last night was an illusion.

Just then, light footsteps came from inside the house.

"Everyone's awake!" Kanae, wearing an apron, peeked halfway out of the kitchen with a smile. "Dinner's ready, everyone come and eat!"

At the familiar wooden dining table, everyone took their seats.

"Master, please try it and see if my cooking skills have deteriorated." Kanae handed a warm rice ball to Ayakawa Tetsu.

"Mmm, it tastes even better than before." Ling Chuanche took a bite and praised it sincerely.

Hearing this, Kanae visibly breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes and brows beaming with joy.

After finishing his meal, Ling Chuanche wiped his mouth and looked at the two sisters opposite him, saying, "You are both now in charge of the Butterfly House, so you must have your own things to do, right? If so, go and deal with them quickly. You don't need to be around me every day."

Kanae is now a Flower Pillar, and Shinobu is also very close to becoming a Pillar. The official duties and medical matters they have to deal with every day are probably piling up like mountains.

Kanae chuckled softly upon hearing this: "Shinobu and I do have something very important to do. However... this matter is also related to you, Master."

Ren paused for a moment, looking at her sister with a puzzled expression: What happened? How come I didn't know anything about it?

Chapter 68 Makomo

"train?"

Ling Chuanche put down his bowl and chopsticks, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

"Yes." Kanae elegantly wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and explained softly, "The Lord just issued the order this morning. It is said that Mr. Iwahashi and Mr. Otohashi specially requested it."

Because Master, you awakened the Transparent World and the Crimson Blade, they hope to also comprehend that power through sparring and training.

Upon hearing this, Ling Chuanche frowned slightly: "Isn't this reckless? I already said last night that I don't know the specific trigger for awakening that power. Don't they believe me?"

“It’s not that I don’t believe in you, Master.” Kanae smiled and shook her head. “It’s just that your strength is now unmatched in the Demon Slayer Corps, and everyone is eager to improve themselves in this way. Besides, you don’t need to put in much effort. We can spar with each other, and you just need to watch from the sidelines and provide guidance when necessary.”

Upon hearing this, Shinobu's eyes lit up instantly. Didn't this mean that she could legitimately stay by the teacher's side forever?

Kanao, who was sitting next to her, also looked over happily.

But then she thought that she wasn't even a formal team member, let alone a pillar, so it seemed to have nothing to do with her. So she lowered her head in disappointment.

Lingchuan Che sighed, "Me, give instructions? But I really don't know how to teach. Forget it, I'll go find Yaozai and ask him to cancel this order."

"No, Master!"

Kanae suddenly reached out and grabbed Lingchuan Tetsu's wrist tightly.

She bit her lower lip, her voice tinged with pleading: "Actually... this is something I asked the Lord for."

"What? You asked for it?" Ling Chuanche was even more puzzled. "Why did you do that?"

Kanae lowered her head, her tone revealing both resentment and determination: "I want to become stronger, I want to become stronger than I am now."

However, my mastery of breathing techniques has reached a bottleneck. To break through, I must continue to fight against stronger opponents. Looking at the Demon Slayer Corps today, only the Pillars and you, Master, can be considered truly strong.

With your knowledge and guidance, if we can become even stronger, perhaps we can reduce the number of our companions who die when we encounter evil spirits in the future.

Ling Chuanche remained silent.

Kanae's words made sense. Even if he used his last moments to kill more demons, they would still be no match for the Upper Moons if they encountered them in the future.

Unless he can encounter the Upper Moon again during this period and kill it, but that's easier said than done.

Moreover, these two things do not seem to conflict... He can teach everyone during the day and continue to have Kagaya help search for information about the Twelve Demon Moons at night.

“Alright.” Lingchuan Tetsu finally nodded, then looked at Shinobu and Kanao beside him, “When the time comes, Kanao and Shinobu should come along too.”

Since Shinobu wasn't a Pillar yet, sending her was naturally due to Lingchuan Tetsu's own selfish motives; he had the same intention towards Kanao.

Kanae smiled and said, "The lord had already considered this point. He even specially selected some swordsmen with the potential to become pillars to go and observe together."

She was happy, and sure enough, after she told her master it was her request, he no longer refused.

Ling Chuanche nodded: "Okay."

……

When Ling Chuanche arrived at the training ground, he found that almost everyone had already arrived.

The pillars gathered together, and among them were several familiar faces.

For example, Masachika Kubino, who has become a Class A member since being saved by Toru Ayakawa, is currently standing next to Sanemi Shinazugawa.

Lingchuan Tetsu also noticed that there was an unfamiliar girl standing next to Giyu and Sabito.

Upon seeing Lingchuan Tetsu approach, Yiyong and Sabito immediately went to greet him.

"Senior brother!" Sabito walked forward with a smile, pulling the girl beside him over. "Makomo, come and greet your senior brother!"

The girl blushed with excitement and stood respectfully in front of Ling Chuanche: "Senior Brother!"

Yiyong gently explained from the side, "Senior brother, this is Makomo, a disciple who entered the sect with Senior Brother Sabito."

Sabito explained, "Makomo had to leave for a while because of family matters, so you didn't see her, senior. She just joined the Demon Slayer Corps last year."

A disciple of Master Urokodaki...

As Ling Chuanche looked at the girl in front of him, the image of the kind old man involuntarily came to mind.

He clenched his fists slightly; he hadn't had a chance to tell his master that he had returned.

However, Sabito and the others should have already sent the message back. After today, they should go to Mount Sagiri to visit their teacher.

Perhaps I will never have the chance to see him again.

"Senior brother?" Seeing that Ling Chuanche did not respond for a long time, Zhen Gu tilted her head and looked at him in confusion.

Lingchuan Che pulled himself out of his thoughts, revealing a gentle smile, and reached out to ruffle Makomo's hair: "Since you are Master Urokodaki's disciple, we belong to the same lineage. From now on, you must strive to improve yourselves and try to slay more evil spirits."

"Yes!" Makomo nodded vigorously, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Looking at her like this, Ling Chuanche thought helplessly, "Well, Sabito and Giyu were like this back then, and now there's another little fangirl."

Not far away, the other pillars also noticed the commotion and came over one after another.

Seeing that Sanemi was standing there hesitantly, as if he wanted to approach but dared not, Kuang Jin couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you go over there, Sanemi? That's Lord Cangzhu!"

Sanemi's eyes darted around, and he stammered, "I..."

"Come with me!" Kuang Jin grabbed him with a look of exasperation and strode up to Ling Chuanche.

"Lord Cangzhu!"

A loud shout was followed by a muffled thud, drawing everyone's attention.

Suddenly, Kugeno Masaki knelt upright in front of Ayakawa Tetsu and kowtowed heavily.

"Thank you for saving my life that day!" Kuang Jin looked up, his eyes reddening. "If you hadn't saved us, none of that would have happened..."

Over the past year, Kuang Jin has been filled with guilt.

He always believed that Lord Cangzhu's death was inextricably linked to him.

If they hadn't been defeated by Lower Moon One, Lord Cangzhu wouldn't have come to their rescue. If he hadn't come, he wouldn't have encountered the Kasugai crow that delivered the information, and Lord Cangzhu wouldn't have met with Upper Moon One!

A pair of strong hands reached out and steadily helped Kuang Jin up from the ground.

"I heard you're about to become a Pillar?" A gentle voice sounded in my ear.

Kuang Jin was taken aback, looked up at Ling Chuanche who was so close to him, and his throat tightened: "...Hmm."

Ling Chuanche smiled slightly: "Then everything I did was worthwhile."

Kuang Jin's tears instantly welled up: "Lord Cangzhu..."

……

On the other side, Makomo stared blankly at Lingchuan Tetsu's retreating figure, "Senior brother is so charming!"

"Ahem." Sako immediately spoke up to remind you, lowering his voice to warn you, "I advise you to put away that expression. Don't let your senior brother's two disciples see it, or something terrible will happen."

Makomo asked curiously, "For example?"

Sabito's mind instantly conjured up the terrifying image of Shinobu Kocho when she was angry, and he involuntarily shuddered: "You'd better not know."

Chapter 69 The Battle Begins

"Mr. Che, thank you for your trouble." Himejima Gyomei clasped his hands together, his expression solemn.

The Sound Pillar, Tengen Uzui, chuckled and scratched his head, his eyes gleaming with eager anticipation: "It's so exciting to see Pillar-level swordsmen sparring with each other! Let's all have a spectacular showdown!"

...Yu Sui Tian Yuan remained unchanged, still as passionate as ever, and Xing Ming remained as taciturn as ever.

Ling Chuanche looked around at everyone and said calmly, "Since our lord has given the order, we will naturally obey."

From now on, I will guide your combat training and strive to help you awaken that penetrating power as soon as possible.

Hopefully, this training will effectively improve everyone's abilities, allowing you to handle future encounters with evil spirits with greater composure..."

Standing at the back of the crowd, Makomo's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Senior is so charming! Even the way he talks is so handsome!"

Suddenly, Makomo felt a chilly sensation coming from beside her.

She turned her head blankly, noticing nothing unusual, but then she saw the girl named Ren following behind her senior brother, giving her a cold smile.

For some reason, Makomo suddenly remembered Sabito's warning from earlier, and a chill ran straight to the top of her head.