A biting north wind howled, snowflakes danced, and the world was a vast expanse of white.
A barefoot, long-haired woman trudged through the snow, running for her life, glancing back every now and then, her beautiful face contorted with terror.
"Hehehe, you can't escape!"
A dark shadow cut through the snow, rapidly closing in on the woman.
Suddenly, she tripped over something, her body lurching forward uncontrollably, despair filling her eyes.
Just then, a hand appeared, supporting her shoulder, followed by a calm male voice.
"Hello, could you tell me how to get to Tianzhushan?"
The long-haired woman, still shaken, instinctively turned her head.
A black-haired youth appeared in her field of vision, seemingly not yet twenty, tall and imposing, handsome beyond compare, with striking golden vertical pupils.
Suddenly, she snapped back to reality.
"A ghost! A ghost is catching up! Run!"
The long-haired woman grabbed the golden-eyed youth, trying to escape, but he didn't budge, and she was pulled back herself.
"A ghost? You mean him?"
Aoki asked.
A monkey-like demon with a pointed snout, long arms, and a grim expression emerged from the snowstorm, roaring at Aoki, "This is my territory!"
"It's over!"
The long-haired woman stumbled back two steps and collapsed onto the snow.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to take your territory."
Aoki's figure vanished abruptly.
"Huh? Where did he go?"
The monkey demon was startled, then felt his vision begin to rise uncontrollably, only to be abruptly pulled back. When he saw the familiar headless body, he realized he had been beheaded!
"Bastard! You dare to lay a hand on me, I will absolutely..."
The monkey demon was furious, cursing wildly.
Suddenly, he noticed Aoki's appearance, his cursing stopped abruptly, and his anger quickly turned to fear: "You, you're a defector?"
"Looks like all the demons recognize me. Muzan Kibutsuji really values me," Aoki said.
Along his journey, every demon he killed could call him by name.
"No, no, no! Let me go! I don't want to die, you can't kill me!"
The monkey demon struggled desperately, its headless body spreading its arms, lunging at Aoki.
"If things in this world could be prevented simply by not wanting them to happen, there wouldn't be so much suffering."
Aoki turned and swung his arm, like throwing a sandbag, smashing the monkey demon's head against his body.
The monkey demon caught his head with both hands, took two steps back, but his face was full of surprise.
"He actually threw his head back, hahaha, how stupid..."
*Thud!
* A hand pierced through the monkey demon's head, his thoughts abruptly halted.
Aoki's eyes were calm, and he softly uttered five words.
"Aoki Style, Storm!"
Fists, elbows, legs, knees... In an instant, his entire body transformed into deadly weapons, like a storm of death engulfing the monkey demon.
Fierce, violent, cruel, and bloody.
A few seconds later, the monkey demon collapsed with a thud, its body mangled beyond recognition.
The flesh around the horrific wounds writhed, but showed no sign of regeneration.
Aoki stretched out his palm.
"Swallow!"
Completely powerless, the monkey demon's body twisted and softened, swallowed by the invisible vortex in his palm.
[Killed a demon, gained 28 experience points.]
[Congratulations on leveling up.]
"28 points, not bad!"
Aoki nodded in satisfaction.
Although it was utterly powerless against him, this demon was actually stronger than the final boss of Mount Fujikasane, the Hand Demon.
Returning to the long-haired woman, Aoki asked, "Do you know how to get to Mount Natagumo?"
The long-haired woman tremblingly raised her hand and pointed in a direction.
"Over there, about ten kilometers from here."
"Thank you!"
Aoki nodded slightly to her, then turned and walked into the snowstorm.
A few seconds later, the long-haired woman came to her senses, quickly got up, and took two steps forward, but saw no one.
She bit her lip, clasped her hands together in a megaphone shape, placed them in front of her mouth, and took a deep breath.
"Thank you!"
Aoki paused, then continued forward.
He thought he wouldn't be able to level up before reaching Mount Natagumo.
Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better; asking someone for directions even resulted in a free ghost, which was just enough to accumulate experience.
Glancing at the system panel, Aoki added 2 free attribute points to Constitution and Agility.
A warm current surged and quickly disappeared without leaving a trace, but the faint sense of oppression that had accompanied him for so long vanished without a trace.
[Name: Aoki]
[Strength: 13]
[Constitution: 12 ]
[Intelligence: 13] [Agility: 13]
[Occupation: Hunter, Otherworldly]
[Otherworldly]
. Quality: ★★
Level: lv6 (5/600)
Skills: Demon Blood III, Space Travel, Transparent World (not yet learned), Devouring Ghosts Free Skill Points: 1
"My attributes are finally almost balanced." Aoki sighed.
He could clearly feel his physical condition gradually approaching perfection. His combat power had also increased slightly.
With only one free skill point remaining, he had to save it for now.
Level 4 Demon Blood required 3 skill points.
If he couldn't obtain a quest that rewarded skill points, he'd have to reach level 8 to upgrade.
"If I can take down the Rui family of Mount Natagumo, it shouldn't be too far off," Aoki quickened his pace.
Half an hour later.
Aoki raised his hand to shield his eyes from the wind and snow, looking at the mountain peak ahead.
Following the woman's instructions, this was Mount Natagumo.
"Lower Moon Five!"
Aoki's eyes narrowed as he climbed the steps.
After leaving Azabu, he hadn't rushed, searching for Demon Devourers while moving forward, but his goal remained clear: Mount Natagumo!
Because Lower Moon Five, Rui, was here. "Last time, surrounded by two Lower Moons, I barely escaped. What will happen this time?"
[Ding! Quest obtained: "The End of the Lower Moons."]
[The End of the Lower Moons]
The Twelve Demon Moons are Muzan Kibutsuji's direct subordinates; those selected are the best of the best demons. Mission Requirements: Kill three Lower Rank demons (0/3).
Mission Rewards: 1200 experience points, 3 Qi-Growth Pills.
Qi-Growth Pills?
Another interesting item.
The sun hat and the demon wine gourd, while not directly increasing his strength, are priceless treasures to him.
1200 experience points—simple and straightforward, yet quite substantial.
Aoki pondered.
The mission rewards are generous.
However, completing this mission won't be easy.
The biggest challenge isn't the strength of the Lower Rank demons, but finding three of them. There are only six Lower Rank demons in total.
Aside from Lower Rank Five, Rui, he knows nothing about the other Lower Rank demons.
There's also the Demon Slayer Corps as a competitor.
Compared to him, the Demon Slayer Corps' intelligence capabilities are far superior.
Fortnately, there's no time limit for the mission, so he can proceed slowly.
Regardless of the mission, he'll still hunt demons and search for these elite Lower Rank demons.
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(End of Chapter)