Boom!
As the Nichirin heavy sword landed on the massive boulder, a deafening explosion abruptly erupted within the dense forest. The stone, hard as iron, was sliced apart by Ren as easily as cutting melons or vegetables.
Even the ground beneath the boulder cracked inch by inch under the immense impact, with dense fissures spreading outward like a spiderweb.
Spreading along with the cracks was the scorching sword energy radiating from the heavy sword. It not only melted all the snow within a twenty-meter radius but also formed a searing ring of fire on the earth.
At this moment, if one were to look from afar, they would see Ren holding a giant flaming sword, standing tall amidst a sea of fire. The bright flames illuminated his entire body, and combined with his towering stature, the word 'handsome' hardly sufficed to describe him.
However, immediately after, Ren involuntarily let go of the Nichirin heavy sword, clutching his aching shoulder and gasping for air.
"Haa! Haa! Haa..."
"No good! This Annihilation battle technique really isn't for humans. Just using it once makes every muscle in my body incredibly sore!"
'If it were a normal person, even if they learned the Breathing Style, they probably wouldn't be able to fully unleash the power of this move.'
Ren spoke breathlessly, then raised his eyes to look at the cut on the boulder. Under the high temperature of the Crimson Blade, the stone at the incision showed signs of melting.
Clearly, after activating Annihilation, the temperature of the Nichirin heavy sword had reached a terrifying level—at least over five hundred degrees, perhaps even approaching a thousand.
Overall, Ren was very satisfied with the power of the Annihilation battle technique. The next step was to overcome the drawback of stamina consumption.
And the way to overcome this defect was simple: train to death!
'As long as I raise my Constitution attribute, I will have more abundant physical stamina. At that time, using the Annihilation battle technique will naturally be a piece of cake.'
No sooner thought than done. Ren immediately lifted the Nichirin heavy sword and charged toward the smooth, hard cliff face on the back mountain.
He leaped up, ignoring his still-aching muscles, and executed the battle technique again, thrusting the sword forward.
"Earth Battle Technique: Annihilation!"
As Ren exerted his full strength, the Nichirin heavy sword turned into a Crimson Blade once more. Flames roared and sword energy hissed; describing it as a sword strike that froze fourteen prefectures with its brilliance wouldn't be an exaggeration.
With a swift swing, the heavy sword pierced into the cliff face with the force of moving mountains and seas. A single slash left a narrow, five-meter-long fissure on the rock wall.
But this time, Ren didn't even have the energy to pull the Nichirin heavy sword out of the crack before he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, completely exhausted.
"I can't go on, I'm dying of exhaustion! Using Annihilation twice is already my limit..."
Ren clutched his chest, abdomen, and thighs in pain. There wasn't a single spot on his body that didn't hurt right now. The muscles that were already sore were now in even greater agony, feeling as if his body was being torn apart.
'And because I forcibly used the battle technique while my muscles were sore, even the power of the technique decreased significantly.'
Ren looked at the Nichirin heavy sword stuck in the cliff and noticed the blade had only penetrated about thirty centimeters. If he had been in top condition, he could have buried the entire blade into the rock.
"It looks like I still have a long way to go before I can use battle techniques at will, huh?" Ren gave a bitter laugh. Just then, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Detected host focusing on practicing battle techniques, physical stamina broke through limits, Strength +2, Constitution +2]
As soon as the system's voice faded, Ren felt his strength increase slightly, and his body wasn't as fatigued as before. At the very least, he could sit up now.
"Hehe, heaven really does pay off the determined. I didn't expect that using the battle technique twice would give me 4 attribute points!"
Looking at the system prompt, Ren's mood instantly improved. He believed that as long as he continued to train hard, there would come a day when he could use battle techniques like normal attacks.
After resting for a while, Ren gradually recovered his stamina. He stood up, pulled the Nichirin heavy sword out of the crevice with a single tug, and continued swinging the sword to practice his techniques.
With every swing of the heavy sword, his swordsmanship and skills became increasingly mature.
In fact, in order to use the battle technique multiple times, Ren stopped pursuing raw power and instead deliberately controlled the force and speed of his swings to conserve stamina.
By doing so, although the power of the Annihilation technique decreased somewhat, the speed of his sword strikes became significantly faster. At the same time, conserving stamina allowed him to use the technique multiple times within a short period.
Combined with the Crimson Blade, which had a special effect against demons, the lethality was still not to be underestimated.
Two hours later, the cliff face before him had become pitted and uneven, covered in dense, deep sword marks that looked like a spiderweb—enough to trigger anyone's trypophobia.
No one knew exactly how many times he had swung his sword during this time; perhaps even Ren himself didn't know.
Regardless, he didn't stop until he was completely exhausted. He sat on the cold snow to recover his strength, looking at the Nichirin heavy sword in his hand. The heavy sword still maintained its Crimson Blade state, glowing with a dazzling, scorching light.
Snap...
Suddenly, the sound of light footsteps rang out behind him. Ren became instantly alert and quickly turned around, swinging his sword in defense.
"Who is it?"
After turning around, Ren was surprised to see Kocho Shinobu standing behind him, still over a hundred meters away.
At this moment, Kocho Shinobu's attention was focused on the Crimson Blade in his hand. A glint of brilliance flashed through her beautiful eyes as she exclaimed in admiration.
"Oh my, oh my? Is this the 'burning blade' Little Aoi mentioned? It really is beautiful. Even in this freezing weather, it actually brings me a sense of warmth. Also, your reaction is quite good, Ren. You reacted the moment you heard my footsteps."
"So it's Miss Shinobu. Don't scare me from behind like that." Ren breathed a sigh of relief and involuntarily lowered his weapon.
"Giggle, I didn't intend to scare you. After all, I'm still over a hundred meters away from you. It's your ears that are too sensitive," Kocho Shinobu laughed delicately, then slowly walked up to Ren, looking at the Nichirin heavy sword in his hand with a smile.
"So, Ren, how did you do it? You actually made the Nichirin heavy sword burn!"
She could feel that after activating the Crimson Blade, the lethality of the Nichirin heavy sword had increased significantly. If this method could be popularized within the Demon Slayer Corps, it would not only increase the efficiency of killing demons but also reduce casualties.
"I can certainly tell you, but Miss Shinobu, you must not get angry after you hear it, okay?"
"Oh my? Why would I get angry?" Kocho Shinobu smiled gently. "If you tell me the method to make the Nichirin Sword burn, I couldn't thank you enough!"
"Alright, actually the method is very simple. It involves using immense grip strength to thoroughly stimulate the solar energy within the Nichirin Sword, thereby causing the blade to burn and turn into a more powerful Crimson Blade. It's just that, as far as I know, Miss Shinobu's strength seems a bit..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ren saw Kocho Shinobu's expression darken visibly. Although she still wore a smile on her face, that smile looked exceptionally terrifying.
Kocho Shinobu was furious inside. So you're basically saying I can't learn it at all?
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]