After passing the selection, Lu Li's Main Mission updated, and the jump in scale was significant.
[Main Mission (Final Phase): Demon Slayer]
Objective: Execute Muzan Kibutsuji, the leader of the Demon Faction, within three natural months.
Mission Difficulty: Hard ~ Certain Death
Mission Reward: Return Qualification, Core of the World
Failure Penalty: All Attributes -1
The mission description was simple and crude. It wasn't the kind of "fail and die" task, and a 1-point attribute deduction wasn't an unbearable penalty for Lu Li, given how quickly his stats grew.
However, Lu Li felt that the lighter the penalty, the more it implied the mission would be difficult to accomplish.
Besides, he didn't actually have much of a choice. Even if he didn't go hunting for Muzan, the Explorers in the Muzan Faction wouldn't let him go. If he couldn't complete the mission, he might not even live long enough for the Space to penalize him.
Judging by the world's difficulty ceiling, it was highly likely that Tier 2 Explorers had entered. Having already received reinforcements from the Muzan Faction, their strength was boosted. Even if Lu Li had a numerical advantage within the Tier 1 bracket, it was uncertain whether he could maintain that edge against Tier 2 combatants.
If a Tier 2 Explorer existed on the other side—possessing base attributes of 30+ points further enhanced by the Demon Bloodline and high-speed regeneration—they would likely be more formidable than some of the Upper Moons in the original story.
He couldn't complain about the situation, though. He had chosen this difficulty himself, and he relished the challenge of facing the strong. In this world, killing Explorers carried a probability of dropping Dead Man's Chests, and he believed he would earn a significant income here.
Ignoring the strength of his opponents for a moment, Lu Li felt the most troublesome part of the mission was the time limit. If a coward like Muzan decided to hide in the Infinity Castle for the duration, and Lu Li couldn't find a way in, he might truly be left with no options.
Therefore, he needed to do some "World Planning." He couldn't kill so aggressively that Muzan became too terrified to ever leave his hole.
"Senior Brother Lu, what did you just say!?"
Upon hearing that Lu Li intended to seek out the Twelve Kizuki, Zenitsu's voice spiked several decibels.
"What are the Twelve Kizuki?" Tanjiro asked with an innocent face.
Lu Li only then remembered that at this point, Tanjiro didn't know what they were. The former Water Hashira really hadn't bothered to explain much of the world's lore to him.
"They are the twelve strongest demons!" Zenitsu explained before turning worriedly to Lu Li. "Senior Brother, you just passed the selection! How can you go looking for such dangerous demons right away? Even if you're strong, it's too much! Those are demons that only the Hashira can deal with!"
Zenitsu had heard of them from Gramps. They were said to be terrifyingly dangerous, having devoured countless humans. The Lower Moons were one thing—the Hashira could still handle them—but the Upper Moons hadn't been replaced in hundreds of years. If a Hashira encountered one alone, it usually meant a death sentence.
He believed his senior brother was powerful, but he had no idea how Lu Li compared to the legendary Hashira. He viewed both Gramps and Lu Li as family and didn't want to see his brother march into a meat grinder.
"The twelve strongest demons..." Tanjiro murmured. He wondered if those demons knew a way to turn a demon back into a human. His sister, Nezuko, had been turned, and he fought now with the sole goal of saving her.
"Lu-san, can I go with you?" Tanjiro requested.
"No," Lu Li rejected him bluntly. "You are all too weak."
With that, he began walking down the mountain alone. "Zenitsu, remember my words. Consolidate your strength first."
He didn't want his kind-hearted junior brother to get hurt, but he couldn't stay by his side as a bodyguard forever. The best way to protect his teammates was to kill every single enemy.
"Senior Brother Lu..."
Zenitsu watched Lu Li's retreating back. Recalling how bluntly his brother had rejected Tanjiro, he knew that rejection applied to him as well.
Zenitsu had become a Demon Slayer trainee because he had been swindled by a woman, fallen into debt, and was eventually saved by Gramps. But he knew that most people here had joined because demons had destroyed their families and stolen their happiness.
He had known Lu Li for a long time, but he realized he never knew what Lu Li had gone through to make him so desperate to join the Corps. Seeing Lu Li's determination to find the Twelve Kizuki, he assumed Lu Li must also have a tragic past, having been deeply scarred by demons.
"I will train hard. Until I can be of help," Zenitsu whispered to himself, making a silent vow.
After descending the mountain, Lu Li had no intention of reporting to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
He had taken the ore he selected under the confused gazes of the twin guides. He didn't need a Nichirin Sword; Qiu Mo was more than enough to handle the demons of this world. Joining the Corps was merely a faction-alignment task; he wasn't actually bound by their regulations, and his future actions were entirely his own.
Time was of the essence. The Explorers converted by Muzan would have stabilized their power after a few days of adaptation and were likely already making their moves.
As a fellow Space dweller, the enemy Explorers' thoughts were easy to guess. To win this faction war, the weaker Explorers would likely hunt the protagonist group while they were still in their growth phase, while the stronger ones would target the Hashira.
On the surface, this was a 3 vs 33 faction confrontation. The enemy's priority wouldn't be hunting other Explorers—Explorers were hard to find, small targets, and of unknown strength.
The Hashira were different. They were a known quantity of high-tier strength. Compared to "seedlings" like Tanjiro, they were trees already in bloom. Killing them would effectively gut the combat power of the Demon Slayer faction.
Furthermore, judging by his own side missions, the Muzan Faction Explorers likely had side missions to kill the Nine Hashira for rewards. They would definitely take action.
Besides eliminating the Demon Slayers' active forces, the enemies would also try to preserve the high-tier combatants of the Muzan Faction. Thus, the Upper Moons might be warned or provided with intelligence regarding the Hashira. Some Upper Moons might even have their fixed locations moved.
In the original story, the locations of most Upper Moons were unknown. Only one was clearly defined: Upper Rank Six, the twin demons Gyutaro and Daki, located in the Yoshiwara Entertainment District.
Lu Li currently lacked effective tracking methods to find the enemy Explorers, so his only option was to rush to Yoshiwara. If he could catch them there, great.
He didn't think it would be a wasted trip. Even if Gyutaro and Daki had moved, he would likely encounter enemy Explorers there. They would know Yoshiwara was the only exposed territory of an Upper Moon and would expect the Demon Slayer Explorers to investigate. They might even set an ambush to wipe out any strong Demon Slayer newcomers.
As Lu Li traveled, the news of his performance—passing the selection by annihilating every demon on Mt. Fujikasane—spread across the Demon Slayer Corps via Kasugai Crows.
The news of a rookie with transcendent strength joining the Corps made ordinary members marvel at the unfairness of genius, while the Nine Hashira looked forward to the debut of a new powerhouse.
On Mt. Momo, Jigoro looked at the letter with profound relief. "That boy... he went a bit too far. The current Hashira will have a headache catching new demons for the trial now. Finding them is such a chore."
He never doubted Lu Li would pass, but "killing his way through" Mt. Fujikasane was a bit of a surprise. He was overjoyed at the strength Lu Li displayed, feeling that before long, the Nine Hashira might become the Ten Hashira.
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