"How is this possible?"
Staring at Su Yan, who stood bathed in sunlight without undergoing any changes, Shinobu Kocho could not help but blurt out in shock.
"Senior Saeko, come back."
Su Yan did not answer her question. Instead, he called out to the purple-haired girl fighting Giyu Tomioka a short distance away.
Hearing this, Busujima Saeko decisively abandoned her opponent and returned to Su Yan's side, standing next to him to bask in the warm sunlight together.
Su Yan asked Busujima Saeko about her experience with the breathing style. "How does it feel?"
"It is alright, but the attack methods seem a bit rigid," Busujima Saeko replied after a moment of thought.
"Rigid?"
Hearing her answer, Su Yan could not help but agree. "Indeed."
Judging from the battle just now, Su Yan could clearly feel this point himself.
Breathing styles were too limiting.
One could only unleash maximum power by using a specific breathing rhythm paired with the corresponding sword form. As a result, it completely lost the flexibility and adaptability that combat should inherently possess. It entirely restricted one's technique to the learned breathing style forms.
Combat should be free.
Especially for someone like Busujima Saeko, who enjoyed the thrill of battle and the act of killing. Being rigidly confined to specific moves and strikes during a fight was undoubtedly an unbearable restriction for someone like her.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's ability to create the breathing style system—granting ordinary people the power to fight demons and transforming them from prey into hunters—was remarkable. He could absolutely be called a peerless genius.
However, while the existence of breathing styles established a system, it also placed a hard limit on all the swordsmen who learned it afterward.
After mastering a breathing style, swordsmen walked down a narrow path, only able to passively utilize their internal life energy. At most, they could modify certain sword forms to better suit themselves. Beyond that, there was no room for further advancement.
Let alone freely controlling their life energy like Nen users.
The absolute peak a breathing style swordsman could reach in their entire lifetime might not even match the baseline Yoriichi Tsugikuni possessed when he first created Sun Breathing.
"Why?"
Shinobu Kocho watched the two chatting casually in front of her, acting as if she did not even exist. Unable to hold back, she asked, "Why are you completely unharmed after being exposed to the sun?"
"Because we are not demons," Su Yan replied softly, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Why had he stopped Tanjiro from explaining earlier?
First, he could use the battle to test the power and effects of the breathing style.
Second, dawn was already approaching. Was there any explanation more direct than simply standing in the sunlight right in front of them?
Third, no matter what world one was in, strength was ultimately the only language that mattered. Only by displaying a portion of his power could he earn the corresponding respect. This was especially true when dealing with the Hashira, who stood at the absolute pinnacle of humanity in this world.
Achieving three goals at once—why wouldn't he do it?
"..."
Shinobu blinked in slight bewilderment, momentarily unsure of how to respond. She had no choice but to shift her gaze to Giyu Tomioka, who was slowly walking over. "Mr. Giyu Tomioka, could you please explain this properly?"
Come to think of it, the only reason she had mistaken Su Yan for a demon was entirely because of Giyu, right? Coupled with the fact that Su Yan had deliberately used her sister's name to provoke her. Otherwise, she would never have acted so impulsively.
"What is going on over there?"
Giyu ignored Shinobu's question. He looked at Su Yan and pointed to Kie Kamado and the others, who were bound by silver chains in the shade a short distance away.
"Oh, them." Su Yan spoke in a calm tone, as if mentioning something entirely trivial. "Because they are demons."
Giyu asked, "Then why haven't you killed them?"
Hearing this, Tanjiro and Nezuko, who had been watching the battle, quickly hurried over.
Tanjiro immediately protested, "You cannot! Even though they have been turned into demons, they are my family."
"Is that so? How truly pitiful. The family you cherish so deeply has actually turned into man-eating demons."
Seeing that the situation had been clarified, Shinobu's face returned to its usual smiling facade. However, the deep-seated disgust she harbored toward demons in her heart had not changed in the slightest.
She immediately spoke in a light, cheerful tone, "In that case, why don't I inject them with a gentle poison so they can pass away painlessly?"
As she spoke, she began to step toward Kie Kamado and the others.
Tanjiro stepped forward, blocking Shinobu's path. "I absolutely will not let you hurt my family."
"Brother Su Yan!"
Nezuko immediately stepped forward and hugged Su Yan's arm, fully utilizing her charm as she looked up at him with wide, pitiful eyes.
Shinobu asked, "Sir, since you also know how to use a breathing style, you should be well aware of what kind of existence demons are, right?"
This was the manifestation of strength. After Su Yan had displayed his power, even if Shinobu wanted to make a move, she had to gauge his reaction first.
"So what if I do?" Su Yan said dismissively. "Perhaps others have the right to kill them, but you people from the Demon Slayer Corps are the sole exception. You do not."
Giyu pressed further, "Why do you say that?"
Hearing this, Su Yan reached out and gave Tanjiro a gentle push from behind. Pushing him right in front of Giyu, he then stated, "Because for over four hundred years, the Kamado family has continuously preserved the Sun Breathing style created by Yoriichi Tsugikuni for the Demon Slayer Corps."
"If you want to kill his family, why don't you first listen to what this inheritor of Sun Breathing has to say?"
"That is right!" Clinging to Su Yan's arm, Nezuko said with a proud expression, "Brother Su Yan and Senior Saeko were just using the Sun Breathing they learned from my brother!"
"Is that so?"
Giyu's gaze went blank for a moment. He quickly realized that if it was the legendary and most powerful Sun Breathing, then everything made sense.
Although he also hated demons, he did not share Shinobu's traumatic experience of having a close family member die in his arms. Therefore, when faced with this kind of situation, he appeared much calmer than her.
After thinking for a moment, Giyu said, "I cannot make a decision on this matter. If possible, I would like you all to return with me to meet the Master."
"The Master of the Demon Slayer Corps? Fine."
Su Yan did not refuse. Although he had no interest in the Demon Slayer Corps and cared even less about their so-called Master, he was quite interested in Lady Tamayo, the woman capable of developing a drug to turn Nezuko from a demon back into a human.
If he could bring her under his command and use her talents...
Combined with the Blue Spider Lily, she might even be able to research a drug that eliminated a demon's craving for human flesh. If that happened, the priority of using Muzan's demon blood to extend one's lifespan would increase significantly.
It was just that, aside from meeting the Master of the Demon Slayer Corps, Su Yan could not think of a better way to locate her at the moment.
"Has it already been decided?" Shinobu said with a hint of regret. "It seems whatever I say now is useless?"
It would have been fine if Giyu was on her side, but since she was alone, she had absolutely no chance of winning.
Moreover, the legendary, strongest Sun Breathing. If the Demon Slayer Corps could obtain such a thing, perhaps the day she could avenge her sister was not far off.
Thinking of this, Shinobu could not help but look at Su Yan and ask, "Sir, there is a question I have been very curious about since earlier. Could you please answer it?"
"Why do you know my sister's name?"
"Miss Shinobu Kocho." Hearing her question, a sudden surge of wicked amusement took over Su Yan. The corners of his mouth curled up into a playful smile as he said, "If I told you that I am actually your sister's ex-boyfriend, would you believe me?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]