A person in Japan, a sword that soars to immortality.

The three-colored energy overflowing from the seven orifices of Taiyi was like rising dry ice, flowing continuously and leaving trails of flame as it moved.

Veins, like tendrils, spread throughout his body, and with each contraction and expansion, they channeled all his inner energy into the sword in his hand.

Ten, a hundred, a thousand sword energies—massive arc-shaped sword energies, like hurricanes, like torrential rain—instantly filled the space where Muzan and Taiichi were located.

The eleven thorny tentacles that emerged from Muzan's body instantly turned into fragments the moment they came into contact with the sword energy, like dandelion seeds scattered by a strong wind.

Even so, he never showed any sign of panic; on the contrary, he admired Taiyi even more.

"Over the past thousands of years, I have met countless people, but apart from that guy, you are the strongest human I have ever met!"

"It seems that to make you submit, I need to demonstrate my true strength."

"In that case..."

"Narume."

"My subordinate understands."

Zheng~

As the sound of the shamisen rang out, Taichi and Muzan instantly appeared in the wilderness.

Then Muzan tilted his head back, and his bare upper body suddenly revealed a slanted horizontal line on his chest. The line then split open, revealing a large mouth filled with countless sharp teeth.

Roar! ! !

A violent shockwave erupted from Muzan's chest, which had transformed into a gigantic maw, dispersing all of Taiichi's sword energy while also engulfing him.

At this moment, Taiyi's eyes reflected the annihilation of his sword energy, followed by a transparent energy wave that instantly arrived before him.

"I won't die!"

【Three Qi Circulate Through Heaven - Harmony - Prosperity】

The sword in his hand, Futsu no Mitama, shone brightly, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a giant sword tens of meters long.

Taiyi's face was contorted with rage, his teeth grinding together. He gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands and, without hesitation, channeled all his strength into a slash forward at the oncoming shockwave.

boom! ! !

Plants and gravel were all blown away, the ground began to sink, and uncontrolled energy poured out in all directions, leaving layers of circular patterns in the sky.

Lean less.

The thuds of objects hitting the ground disappeared, a gust of wind swept across the battlefield, and Muzan, standing at the edge of the giant crater, looked down at Taiichi.

The face, hidden in the shadows, was obscured, with only two red eyes flashing.

"Cough... Pfft!"

He couldn't hold it in any longer and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Taiyi knew that the opponent's continuous attacks had exceeded his own rapid recovery speed or recovery range.

In my previous battle against the Crying Bull Demon, I mostly sustained localized injuries.

Now that the additional effects have evolved, even with rapid recovery, he still suffered serious injuries under Muzan's all-encompassing energy waves.

As expected of Muzan who hasn't been weakened!

Although his fighting spirit had not diminished, his face remained fearless.

But it must be admitted that Muzan's fighting power is incredibly strong!

In the original story, even after Muzan ingested four kinds of poison and was given four layers of negative buffs, he still managed to disrupt Tanjiro and the others' nerves and temporarily render them unable to move by using the energy wave he had just used.

"So, I guess I've finally achieved something by fighting head-on..." Taiyi knelt on one knee, using his sword to support himself, and sneered with his head down.

"Hehe, I thought I would be reduced to ashes, but it seems I still have the strength to fight back."

The various wounds on his body began to heal rapidly at this moment, which caused Muzan above his head to show a shocked expression for the first time.

"Samurai, you really surprise me. Is this inhuman recovery speed also one of your secrets?"

Muzan crossed his arms in front of his chest, his long hair fluttering in the wind, and his sculpted muscles cast uneven shadows under the moonlight.

His eyes gleamed with excitement as he scrutinized Taiyi, as if trying to see right through him.

"I have many secrets; if you want them, it just depends on whether you have the book..."

dong dong...

Just as Taiyi was about to draw his sword and fight again, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, followed by difficulty breathing and intense pain all over his body.

Exhaustion overwhelmed him like a tide, and he had to bite his tongue to pull himself out of his near-dizzy state.

[Conversion time ended]

"It seems... I've put myself in a desperate situation again."

Huh? Why use "again"?

Tai felt a burning sensation in his nose and instinctively reached out to touch it. Looking at the bright red blood on his fingertip, he couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.

[Sword Control System]

Name: Yamada Asaemon Taichi

Age: 20

【Lifespan: 101】

[Essence: 175.2 (557.2) (+)]

Qi and Blood: 194.1 (503.8) (+)

[God Soul: 102.3 (205.7) (+)]

"Sure enough, I forced myself to activate my inner core just now, which caused me to temporarily overdraw my body's functions. Now my essence, energy, and spirit are all in a state of depletion."

However, Taiyi saw the numbers in parentheses. As long as those numbers hadn't decreased, it meant his upper limit hadn't been affected.

With proper care and rest, you should be able to recover.

"Actually, it's still possible to force the conversion, but even when I was in my best condition, I couldn't win. In this situation, it's useless to activate it now."

"Is this the end of the day?"

Despite the excruciating pain, Taiyi straightened up.

Even though he felt a tearing sensation in his lungs, he still closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then squinted and began to think as he looked at Muzan.

Muzan noticed his condition and then spoke with interest:

"Samurai, it seems you're in much worse shape than before."

"What's wrong? Did you overexert yourself?"

"That's the weakness of humanity. If you become a demon, you can be like me, completely unaffected."

"So what are you waiting for?" Muzan raised his forearm to cover half of his face, then opened his palm, and nine more spiky tentacles extended from his back.

But after he finished speaking, Taiyi, who was staring at himself in the giant pit, became more and more determined and resolute in his eyes.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable, as if he were recalling the man's gaze in the bamboo forest that night a hundred years ago.

The same determination, the same resolve.

Unconsciously, his fingers touched his neck, where beneath the normal skin lay a scar that had burned him for a century.

"Compared to me, he's the monster!"

After recalling all this, Muzan looked at Tai again, and a strange unease suddenly rose in his heart.

We'd better turn him into a ghost as soon as possible!

"Yamada Asaemon Taichi, you are nothing to fear now, but you, as the future of humanity, disgust me, so..."

"Become a ghost, let me see how much you can handle!"

Whoosh!

Nine spiky tentacles sliced ​​through the air and instantly pierced into Taiyi's defenseless body. With each contraction and expansion, a large amount of Muzan's blood began to flow into his body.

He was initially full of anticipation, but Tai's next move puzzled Muzan.

"You want me to turn into a ghost?" Feeling his consciousness beginning to become chaotic and his body's various tissues starting to develop in a distorted direction, Taiyi took a deep breath, his eyes bloodshot.

He then put a small bottle clipped to his inner belt to his lips and gulped it down in one go.

Snapped!

"My body is not something you can decide for yourself!"

The bottle shattered, and Taichi's eyes began to emit a faint red light, but it was different from Muzan's crimson, giving off a more sinister feeling.

"I know you can hear me. Give me the power of the Dragon's Blood, or your chance to achieve enlightenment will be given to someone else!"

Taiichi looked at Muzan and said with a sinister grin.

However, they weren't speaking in the language of cherry blossoms, but in pure classical Chinese.

"Who are you talking to..." Muzan frowned. Being erudite, he could of course understand Chinese as well.

Seeing Taiyi's strange behavior, he was only halfway through his sentence when another voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Insects, how dare you touch what belongs to me?"

It's as if you can feel the changes of time, and at the same time, it exudes a majestic aura like heaven and earth.

For the first time, Muzan heard the voices of other beings in his own mind!

This is! ! !