Starting in The Boys to Become the Ultimate Lifeform.

**Chapter 148: Xia Shang Trips Tanjiro, Water Breathing Eleventh Form**

In a forest covered by thick snow, a red-haired boy was carrying a girl on his back, running wildly on the snow, as if a demon was chasing them from behind.

Suddenly, he was tripped by something under his feet, and Nezuko on his back was also sent flying.

"Nezuko, Nezuko." Tanjiro scrambled to his feet, calling out Nezuko's name and looking around. Only then did he notice that what had tripped him was not dead wood or a stone, but a human corpse.

But at this moment, he couldn't care less who the deceased was; he was more concerned about Nezuko's safety.

"I shouldn't have stayed over at someone else's Home, it's all my fault." Tanjiro believed that his own negligence had led to the current tragedy. He remembered the despair of his younger siblings before their death, and his heart felt a twisting pain as if being cut by a knife.

Just then, the toxicity remaining in Nezuko's body flared up. He saw her stand up unsteadily, and blue veins appeared around her face.

"Nezuko, are you alright?"

But Nezuko was deaf to Tanjiro's calls. Like a wild beast, she lunged towards Tanjiro. Fortunately, Tanjiro reacted in time, using the wooden handle of the shovel in his hand, to block Nezuko's biting.

Looking at her sharp teeth, like those of a vampire, Tanjiro remembered Grandpa Saburo's words. Demon! Could it be...

The thought that his sister might turn into a so-called demon caused large teardrops gushed from Tanjiro's eyes.

Looking at Nezuko, whose body size and strength were growing together, Tanjiro's heart was filled with self-reproach.

This is... Suddenly, Tanjiro felt a drop of wet liquid dripping onto his face. He looked up, and saw that it was Nezuko's tears.

"How rude, you tripped someone and didn't even say sorry."

A strange voice softly sounded. Tanjiro looked behind him in confusion, and saw a corpse slowly crawling up from the snow. The corpse's chest had been pierced by something unknown; his gaze could pass through it, and he could even see the large tree behind it.

"You are... Tanjiro?" Xia Shang moved his limbs. In this cold environment, his limbs were somewhat stiff from the cold.

"You! You! You are also a Demon!"

Tanjiro watched in horror as the wound on Xia Shang's chest healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Humans could not possibly do this.

"Don't compare that kind of low-level creature to me." Xia Shang's figure instantly vanished from his original spot. When he reappeared, he had already grabbed Nezuko by the neck, lifting her feet off the ground. And Xia Shang's gaze was like that of someone examining a new toy.

"Is this demonization?"

Xia Shang allowed Nezuko's claws to tear and scratch at his right arm. Unfortunately, with Nezuko's strength and the sharpness of her nails, she couldn't even scratch Xia Shang's skin.

"Let go of her quickly."

On the other side, Giyu Tomioka, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, witnessed this scene with his own eyes.

Wearing the Demon Slayer Corps uniform, he wore a haori over his uniform with different patterns on the left and right sides. One side was dark red, and the other was yellow and green stripes. The Nichirin Blade in his hand emitted a blue light, amidst the falling snowflakes, giving off a chilling sensation that seemed to penetrate the heart.

"Please, save my sister." Tanjiro quickly pleaded for help from the man dressed like a samurai.

Giyu Tomioka said indifferently, "My duty is to slay demons, and that naturally includes your sister."

Then he looked at Xia Shang and reminded him, "Only by cutting off a demon's head with a Nichirin Blade can you kill it."

"No, my sister isn't a demon, that man is!" Tanjiro's expression was agitated, because he had personally witnessed Xia Shang's self-healing speed that no ordinary human could possess.

"He is not. He doesn't have the aura of a demon." Giyu Tomioka's expression was aloof, and his gaze remained indifferent.

"Impossible! I saw it with my own eyes, the wound on his chest healed at a speed beyond that of ordinary humans. Although his aura is different from the one that appeared at my Home, I can guarantee he is also a demon!" Tanjiro shouted loudly.

"Could he be a special demon?" Seeing that Tanjiro's words were not false, Giyu Tomioka felt some hesitation about his previous judgment.

He saw his legs suddenly exert strength, and he approached Xia Shang with a slight bow of his body.

"Not fast enough, but the burst is decent."

Xia Shang's figure constantly switched positions in their eyes. Even when he crouched down to observe the Nichirin Blade, Giyu Tomioka barely reacted. But just as he was about to swing his blade, Xia Shang vanished again. At the same time, Giyu Tomioka felt a huge pulling force on his right arm holding the blade.

"How is this possible? The opponent clearly didn't have the words Upper Rank or Lower Rank in their eyes. Could the opponent be Muzan?" Giyu Tomioka, whose Nichirin Blade was almost snatched away, although calm on the surface, had huge waves surging in his heart.

If it was Muzan, then today would be his death day.

Finally... has this day finally arrived? To be able to die at Muzan's hands, perhaps it's not a bad end.

He held his breath, and two faint wisps of white mist seeped from the corners of his mouth. "Don't underestimate me, bastard."

"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"

He saw Giyu Tomioka's figure shot out like a cannonball. The Nichirin Blade in his hand stirred up surging waves, at a speed so fast, it left Tanjiro on the side dumbfounded.

Looking at a Water Dragon formed by condensed water waves, tearing towards him, Xia Shang released Nezuko, who had returned to her original form, and avoided the attack with a smile. But Giyu Tomioka clearly wouldn't stop there. The characteristic of Constant Flux is that it continuously grows stronger with each rotation.

Watching the Water Dragon's body grow larger and larger, almost occupying all the space in this clearing in the forest.

"Interesting."

Xia Shang's figure continuously retreated.

The large trees blocking Giyu Tomioka were all cut down.

"Let me bring about the termination of everything!" Giyu Tomioka flipped and leaped into the air. The long saber in his hand carried a massive Water Dragon Head, and he slashed down from the air! His eyes were resolute; this was almost his strongest attack!

Boom! The Water Dragon Head slammed into Xia Shang's chest. The immense force plowed up the ground, and Xia Shang only stopped after crashing through several trees.

"Even steel would be cut in half by this attack."

However, what filled him with despair was, from the mound of snow in front of him, a man slowly rose. Apart from his clothes being slightly damaged, there was only a barely noticeable scar on his chest.

"Run! Take your sister and get out of here!" Seeing this, Giyu Tomioka, turned his head and roared at Tanjiro.

At this moment, there was no fear in his heart, only the resolve to face death.

"Death is my destination. Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!" Around Giyu Tomioka's body, a vast sea formed by condensed blade aura emerged. When the word 'Dead Calm' fell, the originally turbulent ocean instantly became as still as stagnant water, as if any attack entering the domain would cause ripples.

(End of this Chapter)