Under the moonlight, Shinichi stood bare-chested, bent over with great difficulty, supporting a massive boulder on his back that was easily ten times his size.
Huff... huff...
His labored breathing sounded like the wheezing of a broken bellows. Beads of sweat the size of peas rolled continuously down his body.
Shinichi demonized physique had reached its peak in both proportion and appearance—perfectly defined six-pack abs, solid and sculpted arms and veins faintly bulging beneath his skin.
It was a flawless figure that would drive most women wild.
Yet, Shinichi face was twisted into a ferocious grimace.
His eyes burned crimson, veins throbbed on his forehead and his teeth were clenched tightly.
His black hair was completely drenched in sweat.
The boulder on his back was unbearably heavy—he was nearing his limit!
"Grr...!"
From sheer exertion, a low growl escaped Shinichi throat. The crimson in his eyes deepened, his fangs and claws threatening to extend uncontrollably.
Just as Shinichi was on the verge of losing himself, Elder Moriki voice suddenly rang out from atop the boulder.
"Shinichi! Hold on! Don't be seduced by the power of your demonization! Only by enduring with your own strength can you truly master Forest Breathing! Just half an hour more—don't give up!"
It turned out Elder Moriki was standing on the boulder, shouting encouragement to Shinichi. His voice brought a sliver of clarity to Shinichi increasingly frenzied gaze.
"Aaaahhhhh—!"
The growl in his throat transformed back into the furious cry of a human youth.
Finally, after another half hour—
Boom!!
With a deafening crash, the boulder slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater.
Thud!
Shinichi collapsed onto his backside, chest heaving violently.
Elder Moriki leaped down from the boulder and retrieved a prepared pot from a wooden box nearby.
He handed it to Shinichi, who accepted it without hesitation and gulped down the tea inside.
Indeed, the pot contained Wisteria Tea. But Shinichi wasn't drinking it to rehydrate after intense training—it was to suppress his demonic power.
The wisteria toxin, deadly to ordinary demons, had become Shinichi tool to temporarily restrain his own demonic transformation.
In fact, when Elder Moriki first suggested Shinichi drink more Wisteria Tea, Shinichi had suspected the old man regretted teaching him breathing techniques and was trying to poison him.
However, after testing it, Shinichi discovered the tea caused him no harm—it merely suppressed the immense demonic power within him.
By forcibly restraining his strength with Wisteria Tea, Shinichi could finally train in Forest Breathing under Elder Moriki guidance.
But this was destined to be an arduous path.
Though his power was suppressed, Shinichi demonized physique and endurance were still far beyond any ordinary human.
To challenge him, Elder Moriki increased the training regimen a hundredfold over what a normal human could endure.
Of course, Shinichi knew none of this.
He believed the Moriki family had always trained at this intensity and a deep respect for Elder Moriki and his ancestors welled up in his heart.
Breathing techniques—the most important aspect is, of course, breathing.
Practicing Forest Breathing not only requires one to sense the breath of nature but also to integrate the vast vitality behind that natural breath into every blood vessel, every muscle, and every cell of one body, filling oneself with immense life force!
Thus began a training regimen that even Shinichi, a demon, would consider hellish.
Carrying a boulder weighing nearly 20 tons for two hours was just one part of it.
Running 100,000 meters back and forth in the Moriki family former underground mine—where oxygen was extremely scarce—dragging the Moriki family 20-meter-long wooden grain barge back and forth along the river near the Village and enduring countless slashes from Elder Moriki Forest Breathing (albeit weakened versions).
And of course, there were countless other torturous exercises that sounded like punishments from the deepest pits of hell.
An ordinary human would likely collapse and die within days under such intensity. But Shinichi wouldn't—because he was a demon.
He couldn't die from exhaustion.
If Shinichi, with his current physique, were to return to his original world, he would never starve to death.
After all, the undying body of a demon was practically the perfect vessel for endless labor!
Joking aside, under Elder Moriki brutal training regimen—so harsh that even the old man himself found it terrifying—Shinichi underwent a staggering transformation in just over half a year.
*****
A gentle breeze brushed against the stray hairs by his ears.
A slender, pale hand rested on the hilt of the wooden sword at his waist. His eyes were lightly closed, his handsome face serene and unreadable.
Suddenly—a piercing shriek tore through the sky, as if something were hurtling toward him like a cannonball.
The sound grew louder, yet those lightly shut eyes showed no sign of opening.
Soon, a dark shadow became clearly visible, rushing toward him.
Finally, those pale, slender hands moved.
"Forest Breathing · Fifth Form · Soaring Bamboo Slash!"
The ordinary wooden sword flicked upward in an instant, and a verdant slash sliced through the air.
—CRACK!!
Stone fragments scattered as a boulder the size of a human head was reduced to dust.
His lightly closed eyes slowly opened.
Those once-crimson irises, which had always carried a trace of savagery, had now softened into a tranquil peach hue.
Without even glancing behind him, Shinichi calmly sheathed his wooden sword.
Sure enough, crisp applause rang out from behind him the next second. Elder Moriki stood there with a proud smile, clapping as he spoke.
"As I expected, Shinichi. You've surpassed every Moriki descendant before you. The current you is far stronger than I ever was in my prime. There's nothing more I can teach you about the first seven forms of Forest Breathing."
Only then did Shinichi slowly turn around.
Now, no one who saw him would ever believe this coldly handsome youth was a demon.
What kind of joke was this?
How could someone so beautiful possibly be a demon?
Where's the signs?
Did he have fangs? That Just slightly pointed canines.
No terrifying claws on his fingertips, either and his body even carried the rich fragrance of wisteria flowers—what kind of demon would willingly drench themselves in such a scent?
"Old man, if you keep praising me like this, I might get a big head" Shinichi said with a smile.
His tone was no longer as brash and impulsive as it had been at the beginning.
With Forest Breathing constantly active in full concentration, Shinichi body and mind seemed bathed in a gentle yet vast natural vitality, giving off an unconsciously soothing aura that naturally drew people to him.