mtl008 Chapter 140 A Reasonable Battle of Wits and Courage
Chapter 140 A Reasonable Battle of Wits and Courage
"You will never fall ill from the curse again in your life. However, there is one problem: if you die, the curse will fall on your descendants. There is no way to stop it, because this curse does not come from Muzan, but from the world. It is His punishment for your family having a monster like Muzan."
“I can forcibly remove this curse, but then the curse will transfer to your descendants. If you then treat your descendants, the curse may return to you. After all, your descendants currently have no descendants.”
Li Muyang's joking remark made Ubuya Shiki Amane, who was standing nearby, burst out laughing. Her own child was still in swaddling clothes, how could there be any descendants?
Even if you wanted it, you wouldn't have the means.
In fact, Li Muyang could heal them all at the same time, but that would offend the world's consciousness. This curse was a punishment He had sent down, and Li Muyang insisted on going against the heavens in this matter. It was uncertain whether he would be implicated in the future, even if he sensed that this world was already terminally ill!
However, it wouldn't be a problem for a world consciousness to kill Li Muyang; it would just be a little difficult. Li Muyang didn't want to make things harder for himself for no reason.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki had never felt his body so healthy, as if he had inexhaustible energy! Somewhat surprised, he stretched out his arms and legs, and then, without his wife's help, stood up on his own, even jumping a few times on the spot!
The surrounding pillars were all stunned! Since they met Ubuyashiki Kagaya, they had never seen their lord so energetic!
After showing off his skills, the other Pillars looked at Li Muyang with much more kindness! They had genuine respect for their Master, Ubuyashiki Kagaya, and Li Muyang's help in healing their Master's body was a great favor to the entire Demon Slayer Corps!
This is a much greater favor than saving Kanae Butterfly from death!
Some of the Pillars are aware of the relationship between Muzan and the Ubuyashiki family. Given Kagaya Ubuyashiki's personality, he probably wouldn't keep it from the Pillars. That's why part of the reason they hate Muzan is because of this curse!
Our lord is such a good person! Just because of Muzan's selfish desires, he has ruined an entire clan for a thousand years!
Since Li Muyang can suppress the curse, whether he truly has the strength to suppress Muzan is no longer important! Even if he doesn't have that level of strength, they will assume he does!
The atmosphere of the conversation afterwards was much more harmonious! Even the most hot-tempered Feng Zhu didn't treat Li Muyang coldly; at most, he would just give a haughty snort.
This also led to... well, Li Muyang really did reveal his true nature—unreliable!
However, after Li Muyang's conversation, the Demon Slayer Corps agreed to let Li Muyang and his group learn about Breathing Techniques. In other words, the difficulty of this matter was not as difficult as Li Muyang had originally imagined.
Because breathing exercises are relatively difficult, it is hard to achieve results without going through many hardships and obstacles.
Over the years, the Demon Slayer Corps has sacrificed many members and retired quite a few. They also mastered breathing techniques, and some of their knowledge has been passed down through generations.
For example, many nominal samurai in Japan today are also practicing simplified and modified breathing techniques.
Yes, a detailed breathing technique is really difficult to master without exceptional talent!
There's a reason why the Sun Breathing technique was lost! It's simply too difficult! And other breathing techniques aren't something you can just casually learn either!
The Demon Slayer Corps agreed so quickly because they believed that since Li Muyang was already very strong, the breathing technique was not that important to him. Even if they were to teach it to others, not everyone could master it!
Now that the two sides have reached a cooperative relationship, the stronger Li Muyang's side is, the stronger their overall strength will be, right?
After chatting with the Pillars about breathing techniques for a while, Kagaya Ubuyashiki dismissed the others, saying he wanted to have a private talk with Li Muyang, leaving only his wife, Amane.
The three entered the house. Kagaya Ubuyashiki didn't rush to say anything, but his wife, Amane, went to the side and respectfully handed over the sword that Li Muyang had given to Shinobu Kocho.
Li Muyang smiled calmly, as expected, took the sword, and sheathed it with a wave of his hand. He then asked the two men, "It seems you two recognize this sword!"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded: "Yes! But I don't quite understand why this sword is in your possession."
Since the curse appeared in the Ubuyashiki family, all the children born (especially the males) are weak and sickly and die soon after birth. In order to prevent the bloodline from dying out, they have formed a kinship with the priest family behind Amane for generations.
Although the lives of their offspring were prolonged in this way, no one was able to successfully live to the age of 30.
This so-called Shinto priests are the clergy of the Shinto religion of Japan, responsible for ritual activities. In other words, they are dedicated Takamagahara believers.
The family behind Ubuyashiki Amane is a member of a shrine that enshrines one of the Three Sacred Treasures.
Therefore, Amane knew very well that the three sacred treasures enshrined in the three shrines in Japan were nothing more than decorations, without any magical power whatsoever. The three shrines did secretly create replicas through the power of faith, but they were definitely not as good as the real thing!
As for where the real one is? Nobody knows.
Until he met the Kusanagi Sword that Li Muyang had brought over by Kocho Shinobu.
Authentic!
Even at first glance, Tianyin was certain that this was the genuine Kusanagi Sword!
This is also the main reason why the couple treated Li Muyang and his group with such gentleness and politeness!
How could Ubuyashiki Kagaya dare to slight someone who wields the Kusanagi sword, doesn't even worry about anyone embezzling it, and casually lets others pass it on as a token?
In his view, Li Muyang dared to let Shinobu Kocho give them the Kusanagi Sword, so he was sure they could recognize it, and he wasn't worried that they would keep the sword for themselves!
No one can guarantee that Li Muyang was already at full strength when he drove away Doma, right?
Such a mysterious and powerful figure should be treated with utmost respect by anyone with even a modicum of strategic awareness! At the very least, no one should be careless until the details are ascertained!
When Ubuyashiki Kagaya asked about the origin of the Ame-no-Murakumo sword, Li Muyang chuckled, summoned the Ame-no-Murakumo sword, and then, to the astonishment of the two, pulled out another one!
Are you doing a massive wholesale sale of powerful artifacts? How come you have two Kusanagi swords?!
Then Li Muyang picked up the first sword he had summoned, the Kusanagi Sword, and explained, "This is a trophy I obtained from the tail of the Yamata no Orochi in one of my worlds."
He then shook another sword in his hand and explained, "This one, if I'm not mistaken, should be a reward given to me by Susanoo, one of the three supreme gods of that world."
"They look very similar, but if you look closely, you can still find the differences between the two swords."
After careful observation, the Ubuyashiki couple realized that the first sword, the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, exuded a crazy and cold aura, while the second sword had a holy and fiery aura!
The previous sword, affected by the aura of Yamata no Orochi, had long since transformed from a divine sword into a demonic sword, which Li Muyang managed to suppress. The latter, however, was crafted by Susanoo himself, and thus remains a righteous divine sword.
Li Muyang smiled slightly and continued to explain, "What I gave you before was the previous demonic sword. Fortunately, you didn't think of taking it for yourselves. Usually, with me suppressing it, there are no problems. But if you leave me for too long, this demonic sword will have to unleash its power as a demonic sword."
"I can't say what might happen then."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki couldn't help but touch his cheek to wipe away non-existent cold sweat. Even though he and his wife had never actually thought of such a thing, they were still quite nervous. They hadn't even cleaned up the curse of Muzan on their bodies yet. If they were to provoke the curse from Yamata no Orochi as well, it would truly be a double whammy!
At least Muzan's existence has some traceable origins, but the Yamata no Orochi, an enemy that even gods in mythology find troublesome, is something the Demon Slayer Corps alone cannot afford to provoke!
"Don't be nervous. As long as you return my sword, I'll help you solve any problems you encounter. Just as you're wary of me, I'm also wary of your ill intentions," Li Muyang said calmly, spreading his hands.
He has never been one to be passive. With the Demon Slayer Corps so wary of them, Li Muyang can't just accept it passively, can he? It's right to show goodwill, but the necessary warnings are also essential. Otherwise, the Demon Slayer Corps might think that Li Muyang is easy to bully.
When Li Muyang first let Shinobu take the Ama-no-Murakumo sword away, he was prepared to be tested. If the Demon Slayer Corps couldn't reach an agreement and couldn't be trusted, he couldn't say what might happen if the sword remained there.
At worst, if the Demon Slayer Corps comes knocking again, he'll deal with it then.
Of course, it's possible that the Demon Slayer Corps might return the sword even if they can't reach an agreement. Given Kagaya Ubuyashiki's personality, it wouldn't be surprising if he did such a thing.
The Ubuyashiki couple breathed a sigh of relief, understanding Li Muyang's meaning. This was merely a warning, a counterattack against their probing group, telling them not to think they were easy to bully, and that there was no malice intended.
They weren't worried about the negative impact of the Demon Sword, but rather that Li Muyang might misunderstand something. Their cooperative relationship had only just been established, and their trust was still fragile; they couldn't afford to start fighting over something like this.
Testing someone will naturally earn their dislike, especially for a strong person. They have already prepared for this, otherwise they wouldn't have summoned all the pillars back to gather together. If Li Muyang doesn't react to this, Ubuyashiki Kagaya might think that Li Muyang is too soft-hearted!
Now, Li Muyang has taken appropriate countermeasures against their probing in private, but he has stopped short of making a move. Doesn't this put their minds at ease?
By neither openly breaking ties nor failing to demonstrate the methods employed by Li Muyang and his group, it became easier to build trust between the two sides and strengthen their cooperative relationship.