Accompanied by the innate barrier unleashed by Duanmu Huai that eroded the Infinite City of evil spirits, the once fragmented Demon Slayer Team successfully regrouped and engaged in direct combat with the army of evil spirits.

The strongest Nine Pillars of the Demon Slayer Team charged into the army of evil spirits like tigers descending the mountain, causing evil spirits to fall one by one. Clearly, in the face of the Nine Pillars, ordinary evil spirits had no power to fight back.

If the Nine Pillars wished, they could even join forces to exterminate all of these hundreds to thousands of evil spirits.

However, the problem does not lie here.

For the Nine Pillars, their goal was solely one, and that was the huge fleshy cocoon at the rear of the evil spirit army, in which the Lord of Demons—Wu Can—slumbered!

The Lord’s sacrifice was exchanged for the opportunity to heavily injure Wu Can, and they must not stop their steps here!

Soon, the nine of them broke through the evil spirit army and continued forward. They were even prepared to be intercepted by the Upright Ghosts, but unexpectedly, the remaining Upright Ghosts did not mean to stop them. They merely stared ahead, motionless, like statues.

What are they doing?

The Nine Pillars cast questioning glances at the Upright Ghosts. Though they considered taking advantage of the opportunity to kill these formidable evil spirits, after a brief contemplation, they decided to shoot the horse before the rider and capture the thief before the king. Wu Can had not yet fully recovered. If they engaged with the Upright Ghosts, it would only waste time. What needs to be done now is to seize the time and kill the yet-to-recover Lord of Demons as quickly as possible!

In fact, the Nine Pillars did not realize that at this moment, the Upright Ghosts indeed had not set their minds on them.

On one hand, in the eyes of the Upright Ghosts, the mere Nine Pillars were no match for the Lord of Demons.

On the other hand, they couldn’t move at all!

"Thump... thump..."

The sounds of slaughter, screams, and wails enveloped the entire battlefield, but to the Upright Ghosts, the only sound they heard was the heavy footsteps.

They stared ahead, motionless, their entire bodies taut. The terrifyingly heavy killing intent, as if a mountain, had shrouded them since the beginning of the battle. It was a kind of killing intent far surpassing other Ghost Hunters, even something their Lord of Demons, Wu Can, never possessed. They had to concentrate entirely on resisting this terrifying oppression and killing intent, knowing that any slight negligence would result in an unmarked grave!

They now seemed like prisoners at the execution ground, only able to wait for the executioner’s arrival, doing nothing else.

Finally, that figure appeared.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

Duanmu Huai, holding a shield and a sharp blade, slowly emerged from the battlefield, his body covered in blood, his pitch-black armor and shield stained red, and even the white bones fixed on the surface of the shield had become dull and dark. Yet, even so, Duanmu Huai’s momentum did not weaken but rather grew stronger!

What is this aura?

Upper Moon One tightly pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist, staring at Duanmu Huai. He used to be a member of the Demon Slayer Team, and hundreds of years ago, he was even one of the outstanding ones. However, out of fear of death and jealousy towards his brother, the strongest Ghost Hunter, he abandoned his human identity and turned into an evil spirit under Wu Can’s persuasion.

He was also the strongest among all evil spirits.

But... what is this?

Even facing his strongest brother, he had never trembled like this before. The figure in front of him exhibited not invincible strength but terror!

It was as if a gigantic beast, his body’s instincts, every cell was trembling, warning him to leave, to leave here right now! That was not an opponent he could contend with!

However, he also knew, he could not leave.

The moment he moved, that would be the day of his death!

Not wanting to die, not daring to die, unwilling to die.

It was for this reason that they abandoned their human forms and turned into evil spirits.

Yet not everyone thought this way.

"This is the feeling..."

Upper Moon Two gazed at Duanmu Huai, his eyes exuding an intense emotion. At this moment, his body also trembled slightly, that was fear but also excitement!

Unlike others, Upper Moon Two lacked emotions when he was human. He completely couldn’t comprehend human emotions, nor did he have any emotions of his own. Being human or evil spirit was irrelevant to him, so were other people’s emotions. Everything in this world, to him, was black and white.

Until now.

The fearsome oppressive aura, like a blazing flame, ignited the colorless world in Upper Moon Two’s eyes, making him feel pure emotions from the depths of his soul for the first time - fear, astonishment, chaos, the heavy oppressing, making him suffocate, his heart seemingly about to leap out of his chest.

So this is what human emotions are?

This is what humans feel when facing me?

Then...

"Give me more fear, ahhhhh!!"

With the sound of shouting, Upper Moon Two leapt up, the cold air around him quickly condensing into sharp claws, rushing towards Duanmu Huai! At this moment, Upper Moon Two also felt the thrill in his heart reaching its peak!

Come, let me see, let me see what kind of feelings you can still bring me! What kind of emotions!

Staring at Duanmu Huai, Upper Moon Two opened his eyes wide, eagerly thirsting to experience the intense and exhilarating excitement that was about to come... Wait?

The world in front abruptly tilted and skewed, the feverish passion just now, seemingly about to boil, vanished like an illusion, as if it never existed. Upper Moon Two attempted to twist his head to see what had happened, but all he saw was the backward-falling, already been divided body—and Duanmu Huai’s blood-stained sword in hand.

When did he swing his sword? And how did he swing it?

"Flying Swordsmanship—Dragon Nest Flash."

These were Upper Moon Two’s last words, for at that moment, the red sword blade in Duanmu Huai’s hand mercilessly cut through his head.

Duanmu Huai raised his right hand, the red sword blade in his grasp slicing through the air with a flick of blood. On this blade, one could vaguely see a shadowy figure, seemingly formed of blood mist, twisting and struggling before being engulfed and vanishing into the sword’s body.

"........."

Upper Moon One silently eyed the sword in Duanmu Huai’s hand, gripping the hilt tightly.

"Aren’t you a swordsman who has mastered the Breathing Technique?"

At this moment, the shock Upper Moon One felt was far beyond what he had experienced earlier. Even if Duanmu Huai were like other members of the Demon Slayer Team, mastering Breathing Swordsmanship, he wouldn’t be this surprised. Because Upper Moon One had once witnessed the strongest swordsman in the earliest days of Breathing Technique training. If... If this person before him were indeed like that swordsman who haunted his nightmares, then he could comprehend it.

After all, the Demon Slayer Team’s Breathing Technique enhances one’s physical quality through breathing to contend with demons. Otherwise, with mere human strength, it’s utterly impossible to hunt demons.

Not to mention the restoration power of demons, their speed and strength are vastly superior, let alone the Twelve Ghost Moons possessing abilities akin to magic. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Of course, the most proficient swordsmen in Breathing Technique can also easily hunt evil spirits. Just like the Nine Pillars that charged into the evil spirit army earlier, whether the opponents numbered a hundred or a thousand, nothing could halt their advance. This is similar to how evil spirits face ordinary humans, whether it’s a hundred or a thousand it’s the same.

But this person in front is different!

Upper Moon One clearly sensed that when facing Upper Moon Two, there wasn’t even the slightest change in Duanmu Huai’s breathing, unlike swordsmen mastering Breathing Technique who suddenly accelerate; instead, his body was remarkably calm! Whether muscle tension, blood flow, or breathing, all were very tranquil. As if the strike he just unleashed, which even Upper Moon Two couldn’t react to, was simply an ordinary hit!

And — what is Flying Swordsmanship? Isn’t Breathing Swordsmanship always X Breathing?

"Who exactly are you? What is Flying Swordsmanship!?"

At this moment, Upper Moon One couldn’t hold back any longer, he had to know, even if he faced death, he must understand it clearly!

However, Duanmu Huai’s reply was...

"Oh, I was just saying it offhand."

"......Huh?"

"Just saying whatever."

Duanmu Huai said this as he withdrew the sword back into its sheath.

"You see, whether it’s you or the people of the Demon Slayer Team, don’t they always shout something like Blood Ghost Technique or this Breathing that Breathing during fights...I think, right, I should follow the local customs and shout something randomly too."

Saying this, Duanmu Huai stared at Upper Moon One, revealing a cold smile.

"What would you like? You can pre-order, such as Wuming Divine Wind Style, Flying Swordsmanship, Beichen One-Sword Style, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu... Well, actually I just know the names of a few styles..."

"Stop joking!!"

At this moment, anger from being belittled finally overcame the fear of death, Upper Moon One opened his mouth, shouting loudly in rage. Though he is an evil spirit, he is also a swordsman. And now, before his eyes, this guy is treating him with such contempt, not even considering him! This cannot be tolerated!

Upper Moon One took a step forward, charging towards Duanmu Huai while pulling out the longsword at his waist, swinging it with a crescent moon arc!

Moon Breathing — Land Type, Constant Night Solitary Moon, Infinite!

As Upper Moon One swung his sword, countless sword lights resembling crescent moons burst forth suddenly, densely packed arcs completely enshrouding Duanmu Huai’s figure from all directions.

This is Upper Moon One’s trump card, nothing can withstand this full-force strike of his!

Got him!

Watching Duanmu Huai being engulfed by the sword light, Upper Moon One revealed a smile, but just then, a voice whispered in his ear.

"Secret Sword... Swallow Return."

Following that, the world flipped.

Upper Moon One’s head flew high into the sky, from his view, his body was severed at the waist, Duanmu Huai still stood there, watching him with icy eyes.

That is indifference, ruthlessness, not even glancing at him, treating him as merely a maggot, an ant, an insect without any value... But it’s not over yet!

For at this moment, his Moon Breathing Swordsmanship also struck right in front of Duanmu Huai.

Then — Upper Moon One saw Duanmu Huai raise the shield nearly as large as himself and hold it in front.

"Clang clang—————!"

The sword light capable of shattering bones struck the shield binding the skeleton, crashing it like a phantom of moonlight and shattering it.

And Upper Moon One’s consciousness also came to an end at this moment.

"Truthfully, I wanted to play with you a bit longer."

Watching Upper Moon One’s body gradually disintegrate and dissipate, Duanmu Huai sighed.

"But unfortunately, it seems there isn’t any extra time to waste."

Saying this, Duanmu Huai lifted his head and looked towards not far ahead — there, the giant egg originally formed by flesh had already cracked open, and a very effete-looking man stood smugly within it. While beside him, the Nine Pillars lay scattered, either lying down or collapsed miserably.

"Though I never expected them to actually take down the BOSS, but this is too miserable."

Duanmu Huai sighed quietly, then lifted his foot to step forward.

"Oh well, looks like I’ll have to step in for the finale."