Hunter [62]: Transformation

"Can someone tell me why there is still a contractor in the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Drunkard's expression at this moment was as if he had just swallowed a huge clump of dirt. They had set their sights on the Red-light District to complete their mission, so naturally, they had been keeping a close watch there.

With such a commotion, they quickly learned of the situation. Everyone was dumbfounded. Of all the people, the strongest one was left behind. Other contractors would maintain the integrity of the storyline to avoid unexpected life-threatening incidents. But this kind of contractor never cared about the storyline; they would do anything for their benefit.

"Do you even need to ask? It's probably because he received a hidden mission."

Old Wood, who was holding a clue to a hidden mission, understood this quite well.

"Big brother, could it be that White and Summer were killed by this guy?" The speaker, a man named Soldier, who was standing behind Drunkard, was a shield warrior.

There were originally less than half the number of contractors left, and now with Summer and White's death, there were only about 7 or 8 contractors in total. Three or four of them were responsible for monitoring the Red-light District, while the remaining members kept an eye on the moves of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Initially, they thought there were no contractors left in the Demon Slayer Corps, so they focused most of their energy on investigating the main character group's movements.

"Old Wood, you always have clever ideas. What should we do now? Tell us."

Drunkard decisively threw the problem to Old Wood.

Old Wood pondered for a moment and then said, "It's too difficult for us to kill a Hashira on our own.! We can only actively provoke Muzan Kibutsuji to attack the Hashira. At this point, there's no need to hide any information; just spit it out."

"Heh heh."

Drunkardi chuckled awkwardly and said, "I have information on the location of the Swordsmith Village. I originally wanted to take a few brothers there to see if we could get some good equipment."

Hearing this, Old Wood wasn't surprised, as he had the same idea. He sighed and said, "It seems this is fate. We might have to advance the Swordsmith Village attack event."

"How are you going to make..."

Drunkard stopped mid-sentence because he saw what Old Wood took out—a photograph of a swaying, chrysanthemum-like plant. Since it was a black-and-white photo, the color wasn't clear.

"This is the item for triggering the Blue Spider Lily related mission. If we can complete the main mission, that's already great; there's no need to hide it anymore. We'll write the address of the Swordsmith Village on the back and find a way to deliver it to Muzan Kibutsuji."

Old Wood could distinguish priorities. With their lives on the line, who cared about the benefits of a hidden mission?

This was an item for triggering a mission, so even though it didn't have color, it gave off the feeling that it was the Blue Spider Lily.

"Won't this make Muzan Kibutsuji personally take action?"

Drunkard asked.

Old Wood laughed, "Isn't that even better? The probability of severely injuring a Hashira will be higher. But knowing Muzan's personality, he'll send his subordinates to confirm the information first."

...

The next day.

Kokushibo, who was outside, was called back by Muzan Kibutsuji. Not knowing what was going on, Kokushibo noticed that Muzan Kibutsuji seemed a bit off today.

"The timing of their attack on Daki caught me off guard, and I couldn't witness it myself."

Kokushibo, whose relationship with Muzan Kibutsuji was more like that of a collaborator, calmly stated this, unlike other demons who would be terrified of a mission failure.

Muzan Kibutsuji said nothing in response. It was no longer important to him. As long as he could obtain the Blue Spider Lily, he would become the perfect being. At that time, even if Yoriichi Tsugikuni were still alive, he wouldn't fear him.

"Go to this place and find it. At all costs."

As expected, just like Old Wood had anticipated, Muzan Kibutsuji cautiously refrained from acting personally.

Seeing the photo, Kokushibo understood why Muzan Kibutsuji was so abnormal today. This plant was something they had been desperately searching for over the past few hundred or thousand years.

Kokushibo nodded, took the photo, and left to carry out the mission. He did not doubt that if he didn't accept it, Muzan Kibutsuji would turn hostile. On the surface, they seemed like collaborators, but fundamentally, Kokushibo, who had accepted Muzan Kibutsuji's blood, was still his subordinate.

Seeing Kokushibo take the photo and leave, Muzan Kibutsuji calmed down a bit. As for the little demon who had brought the photo, he had read its memory and knew it had accidentally found the photo.

All demons had been instructed by Muzan Kibutsuji to search for the Blue Spider Lily through a bloodline curse. This demon naturally reported the photo excitedly to Muzan Kibutsuji upon seeing it.

This demon had already exploded due to being unable to withstand the high concentration of demon blood. Whether it was an "accidental find," Muzan Kibutsuji knew in his heart.

He was confident that once he obtained the Blue Spider Lily and perfected the formula to become the perfect being, everything would no longer be an issue.

...

"Is Red okay? It's been like this for a whole day and night."

Kyojuro Rengoku asked Shinobu Kocho, who was beside him. When it came to medical matters, it was best to ask a professional.

Shinobu Kocho looked at Lin Jiu, who was sitting cross-legged on a mountain rock and shook her head, saying, "I don't quite understand the situation either. Ever since he returned from killing an Upper-Rank demon with Tengen-san, he's been like this. But from his strong breathing, it seems his physical condition is good."

Lin Jiu, sitting cross-legged in the mountains, was breathing smoothly without deliberately maintaining a focused state, yet his breathing remained the same. If he had been aware, he would have known that he had reached the stage of instinctual transformation, as mentioned by Nemoce Mirror Image. In other words, his focused breathing had become a passive skill.

But at this moment, Lin Jiu's consciousness was not focused on this. Ever since he killed Daki and Gyutaro and absorbed their soul power, he had felt a bit dazed. He felt some unknown transformation was happening within him.

Sitting in the mountains, he wanted to carefully examine what changes had occurred, but he fell into a strange state. His mind began to review his life, from his childhood memories up to the present.

"Is this a revolving lantern? Am I dying? When did I get hit?"

Lin Jiu's consciousness was hazy, and suddenly he felt immense pain in his mind, similar to the pain he experienced when activating his talent.

Fortunately, it didn't last as long as when he activated his talent. It only hurt for a moment before disappearing. This brought Lin Jiu back to his senses, looking around at the unchanged environment as if the revolving lantern was just an illusion.

Lin Jiu felt something significant had changed in his body and checked his information. Sure enough, it was true.

[Contractor Number 13014 (This is a fake number to protect the hunter; no method can lock onto the hunter)]

[Name: Lin Jiu (Hunter)]

Level: LV.2 (First Tier)

Health Points: 100%

Mana Points: 120

Soul Points: 120

Strength: 13

Agility: 11

Stamina: 13

Intelligence: 12

Charisma: 7

Luck: 1

[Skill 1: Focus Energy Lv.5]

Effect:

Normal (Passive): Enhances dynamic vision by 14%, making it easier to spot enemy weaknesses and increasing critical hit accuracy by 24%.

Extreme (Active): On top of the normal base, reaction speed increases by 5%, and critical hit accuracy increases by 5%.

[Skill 2: Swordsmanship Mastery Lv.1

Skill Effect: Increases sword attack power by 6% and proficiency with sword-type weapons.]

[Skill 3: Unrestricted Combat Basics Lv.7

Skill Effect: Increases attack power when the user is used as a weapon by 1.1%.]

[Class: ??? (Awakening)]

[Skill One: Soul Sense (Passive)

Effect 1: By sensing souls, captures thoughts.

Effect 2: Enhances awareness, reaction speed +10%, and significantly increases perception.]

[Skill Two: ??? (Awakening)]

[Skill Three: ??? (Not Awakened)]

[Reforged Talent: Soul Condensation: Each defeated target permanently increases soul points by 1 (can be repeated); each killed target permanently increases soul points by 10. The limit per world is 150!]

========

"This is a Class template!!"

Lin Jiu felt like three question marks were about to pop up over his head as he saw the three question marks in the process of awakening.

However, obtaining a long-awaited Class template wasn't bad. Below the mana points, there was an additional [Soul Points], which should be the energy used by this Class. From the initial change in talent to the current feeling, this is undoubtedly a soul-related Class. Soul-related abilities are quite impressive and can be considered top-tier abilities.

Although the Class has not yet awakened, an exclusive skill has already appeared, which is [Soul Sense], the state Lin Jiu previously referred to as soul sense.

Originally, it required slaying a target, gathering soul power, and then activating the extreme [Focus Energy] state to manifest this ability. Now, after transformation, it has stabilized as a passive skill.

Lin Jiu felt that although his perception had increased significantly, it wasn't as strong as the previous soul sense state. This means that on this basis, he can still use the previous method to boost himself.

Subsequently, Lin Jiu also noticed that the normal state of the [Focus Energy] skill had successfully transformed into a passive skill. He wondered if, with an enhanced physique, the [Focus Energy] could also be transformed into a passive skill.