High above the sky, the bright orange fireball of the sun hung high.
Mount Fujikasane returned to its usual deathly silence.
Within the hidden paths, swordsmen emerged one after another. Feeling the warmth of the sunlight, they squinted and looked up at the sun.
They wore expressions of either having survived a disaster or wanting more.
Greeting them were the smiling members of the Kakushi.
Soon, at the living quarters, the people from the Mount Sagiri line gathered together.
"Has anyone seen Senior Disciple?"
"Where is Senior Disciple?"
"I don't know. Makomo and I only saw Senior Disciple once."
To their surprise, the people from Mount Sagiri found that their Senior Disciple had not come out of Mount Fujikasane.
Sabito's face was filled with worry: "Could Senior Disciple have run into some trouble in the mountains?"
He didn't say it directly, but the meaning was clear.
The selection period had ended, and normal swordsmen didn't want to stay in Mount Fujikasane any longer. Almost all of them had already left.
Only those who failed the selection were buried in the bellies of the Demons of Mount Fujikasane, never to come out again.
"No way, we all came out, how could Senior Disciple have had an accident?" Hanada Shizuka shook her head, showing great confidence in Kurozawa's strength.
After all, she had seen with her own eyes how Kurozawa dealt with Demons.
"Don't worry, your Senior Disciple won't have any problems."
A pleasant voice rang out.
Hanada Shizuka looked and saw the girl she had met a few days ago, Kocho Shinobu.
"I saw him chasing a Demon in a hurry at the end."
"He might just have stayed in Mount Fujikasane to kill Demons and hasn't come out yet."
Whenever Kocho Shinobu recalled the powerful pressure Kurozawa exuded when he walked out of the shadows that night, she still felt a bit suffocated.
How could such a person die in the small Mount Fujikasane?
However, Kocho Shinobu found one thing strange. When they first met, Kurozawa hadn't given her such intense pressure. Was it because he had become bald? After listening to Kocho Shinobu, Hanada Shizuka nodded like a pecking chick: "Yes, when Senior Disciple was walking with me, he was actively searching for Demons. He must really like hunting Demons."
"But even if he's late, Senior Disciple will show up by the deadline for choosing swords tomorrow, right?"
The sky gradually darkened, and Kurozawa still hadn't appeared.
The swordsmen from Mount Sagiri had to temporarily believe Hanada Shizuka's words and wait for tomorrow to arrive.
Meanwhile, Kurozawa was confronting a Demon.
This Demon was very peculiar. Wrapped in branches and vines, only a pair of blood-colored eyes were exposed.
An Ability Demon that mastered Blood Demon Art, it looked a bit like a tree.
Kurozawa, just as Hanada Shizuka said, didn't come out immediately after the selection ended.
Mount Fujikasane, where Demons were extremely dense, was a treasure mountain for him.
Where else could he find weak and numerous Demons after leaving Mount Fujikasane?
He might even be unlucky enough to encounter an Upper Moon.
Currently, mass slaughtering low-level Demons was the most efficient way to gain Potential Points, and Kurozawa wouldn't give up this opportunity.
During the day, Kurozawa had hunted over ten more Demons, and his Potential Points had recovered to over a hundred.
The Demon in front of him was an Ability Demon whose strength was no less than that of the Hand Demon.
Kurozawa didn't know that he had already dealt with two of the three powerful Demons that had been hidden in Mount Fujikasane for a long time, and the one in front of him was the last remaining one.
It disguised itself as a tree to try and ambush Kurozawa, but it was discovered by his sight perception. Instead, it was tricked by Kurozawa and had its stomach punched through.
However, the situation was sudden, and Kurozawa didn't have time to use his Pitch-Black Aura, so it didn't actually cause real damage.
Blood Demon Art: Green Vine Serpent Shadow!
The ancient trees that had been silent next to them suddenly made rustling sounds.
Branches extended rapidly, growing sharp thorns, and wrapped and coiled towards Kurozawa.
The ground also trembled slightly, the soil was turned over, and the vines hidden beneath the ground rolled around, trying to entangle Kurozawa's legs.
These branches and vines were very fast. Kurozawa had enough Strength, but because his Agility was lacking, he couldn't break through the tree Demon's Blood Demon Art's encirclement.
The tree Demon was gloomy and didn't say a word, just continuously used its Blood Demon Art to attack Kurozawa.
*Crack!* The ground split open. Kurozawa dodged the vines underground, grabbed the extending branches on the tree, and swung his waist, flying towards the tree Demon like a swing.
The wooden thorns on those branches couldn't pierce the skin of his palms and were not a concern.
However, the vines on the ground had considerable strength. If they all wrapped around him, Kurozawa wouldn't be able to handle it either.
*Snap!*
The branch Kurozawa was holding snapped instantly, and he fell to the ground.
Clearly, this was the work of the Tree Demon's manipulation.
"There are many wonderful Potential Points waiting for me to acquire. I can't waste time on this guy."
Looking around at the layered, snake-like vines, Kurozawa lowered his head and glanced at his legs.
The prolonged battle had torn most of his pants, exposing a large portion of his calves.
His calves were bulging with muscles, layered one upon another, not a refined sight.
Agility +0.2, Strength and Constitution both increased slightly.
Over 150 Potential Points vanished instantly, leaving only single digits.
Waves of pleasant numbness surged into Kurozawa's mind.
His body changed again.
His formerly bulging, veiny physique, with muscle blocks everywhere, began to compress heavily. The veins also receded significantly. His two-meter frame started to slowly shrink, returning to Kurozawa's usual height, perhaps even a little shorter.
Looking down again, the muscles on his legs had transformed into streamlined, refined shapes. With every movement, dense muscle fibers pulled taut. His bare upper body also changed from the bulky mass of a muscle monster back to a toned, lean physique, with muscles subtly visible beneath the skin, embedded within it.
At this moment, the proportions of Kurozawa's body were quite aesthetically pleasing, though his hair hadn't grown back yet.
His Charm Stat wisely increased accordingly.
It seems when Strength and Agility are balanced, my physique appears relatively perfect. If Strength increases too much, I turn into a muscle monster. As for excessive Agility, I'm not sure yet.
The Pitch-Black Aura ignited with a *boom*. Kurozawa stomped the ground, shattering it, and his figure became like a black lightning bolt, even leaving trails of afterimages behind him.
His movements were agile, without any wasted strength, perfectly precise.
The instant acceleration caught the Tree Demon off guard. Kurozawa broke through the vine blockade it had set.
By the time the Tree Demon realized something was wrong, Kurozawa was already in front of it, his right palm like a blade, slashing horizontally.
"Hell Burial Hand Blade!"
Since there was no one nearby, and probably no one on Mount Fujikasane either, Kurozawa shouted directly. His powerful voice echoed through Mount Fujikasane.
Immediately after, Kurozawa's body shot past the Tree Demon and stopped. Then, he lightly blew on his palm, and the Pitch-Black Aura vanished.
A bit chuunibyou, but also quite satisfying. Recalling the moment he shouted the technique name, Kurozawa's old face flushed slightly.
*Crack!* Behind him, the Tree Demon's head split directly down the middle. Its body fell to the ground, turning into ash.
Potential Points +50, Power of Despair +6. Kurozawa didn't look back, striding rapidly away from the spot.
All the demons on Mount Fujikasane, stay put and don't move!
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