Chapter 455: 421 Breathing Method Limit
"This, this is...!?"
The sudden darkness threw the entire training ground into chaos.
The knights were panicking, restless, and some even reflexively used magic to light up the area, but the moment the light appeared, it vanished as if sucked away, leaving everyone bewildered.
Kazi, Axel, and Diego were all shouting over there.
"Don’t panic!"
"Stay calm!"
"This is the Meipros family’s sword technique! Everyone, calm down!"
Under the lead of Kazi and others, those who understood the Meipros family’s sword techniques yelled like this.
Nipede was also comforting Liz, who was engulfed in panic beside him.
"This is the Uron Sword Technique of the Meipros family, not some abnormal phenomenon."
——— "Uron Sword Technique."
This was a traditional sword technique of the Meipros family, personally developed by Revin himself, a grandmaster sword technique created from his lifelong learning.
As a young man, Revin wasn’t a noble but a wandering swordsman. He initially learned a high-level sword technique by chance, unlike those noble-born swordsmen who had grandmaster sword techniques passed down to them.
Therefore, after becoming a senior swordsman, Revin, feeling that the sword techniques he had learned were insufficient for further progress toward becoming a Sword Saint, began traveling across the Kingdom of Ginas, collecting various sword techniques both large and small. He spent years studying and honing them, eventually succeeding in creating the grandmaster sword technique known as the Uron Sword Technique.
With this sword technique, Revin successfully advanced to the rank of Sword Saint ten years ago, and earned a noble title. Subsequently, he continued to distinguish himself on the battlefield, eventually becoming the contemporary Border Marquis of the Meipros family.
Since then, the Uron Sword Technique became the traditional sword technique of the Meipros family, and Kazi, Axel, and Diego, the biological offspring of Revin, all learned this grandmaster sword technique personally created by him.
The effects of this sword technique were also quite unique; it was a technique capable of absorbing external force and converting it into one’s own strength.
For instance, when Reiger initially infused the invitation with the power of Thunder Breathing and threw it at Revin, Revin employed the Uron Sword Technique to absorb the aura emanating from his body, transforming it into strength that neutralized the power of Thunder Breathing on the thrown invitation.
Furthermore, before the start of this duel, Revin also used the Uron Sword Technique to seem to devour all the surroundings, causing an intense dark light to rise around him.
Indeed, that dark light was the power of the Uron Sword Technique.
Revin could use this sword technique to absorb his own aura and the external magic power, as well as other entities like atmosphere, light, toxins, etc., transforming these externalITIES and forces into a dark light that he could manipulate.
This layer of dark light could be used in attack, enhancing the attack power, or in defense, enhancing the defensive power. If manipulated properly, it could even, like previously done by Revin, wield the dark light to counter Reiger’s attack, rendering Reiger’s strike, filled with the power of Thunder Breathing, ineffective.
In terms of convenience and versatility, this sword technique was among the top three grandmaster sword techniques in the Kingdom of Ginas, even competing for the top position.
The most unique aspect of this grandmaster sword technique was that the more external force it absorbed, the stronger its power became.
Now, Revin was clearly pushing the Uron Sword Technique to its limit, absorbing all the light from the training ground, causing the area to be enveloped by darkness.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Revin’s roar resonated throughout the entire training ground, allowing Reiger, who had lost his vision, to distinctly feel a terrifying power forming.
Immediately, Reiger activated the "Transparent World," causing his eyes to emit a transparent glow, and gazed in the direction where Revin stood.
There, Revin had already stood up, roaring while the intense dark light violently surged around him.
The scale of this dark light was incredibly vast, like a surging, deep darkness, turning into a black storm around Revin’s body, spreading continuously.
Revin gathered all this intensely concentrated dark light into his sword, the Sword of the Rebel, causing the blade’s mysterious halo to merge with the intense dark light, emitting an extremely terrifying wave of power.
Seeing this spectacle, Reiger didn’t rely on thinking but instinctively understood one thing.
That was, Revin’s next strike would be incredibly astonishing.
Realizing this, a flash crossed Reiger’s eyes and he actually smiled.
"Good."
His voice was no longer indifferent, but carried a touch of innate excitement as it spread.
"Since that’s the case, I’ll get a bit more serious and show you a form that no one has ever seen before."
Saying so, Reiger slowly closed his eyes.
At this point, Reiger had already realized something.
"Ordinary breathing techniques probably won’t enhance my capabilities much anymore."
That was the situation.
The breathing techniques of the Demon Slayer World were profound and sufficiently unearthed the potential of the human body, gradually transforming an ordinary person into a remarkable being capable of matching a demon. Undeniably, it was a miracle.
However, ultimately, the Demon Slayer World was not a world with a very high limit; on the contrary, its limit was somewhat low.
In that world, even swordsmen who practiced breathing techniques and reached the pillar level were merely equivalent to Lv.4, and Kokushibou, who also practiced breathing techniques, only barely reached Lv.5 after becoming a demon. Lv.6 was only achieved by Tsukiguni Yoriichi and Kibutsuji Muzan, the two representing the pinnacle of that world.
Aside from Kibutsuji Muzan, the inhuman Demon King, the only one who truly transcended the ordinary with breathing techniques to reach a level comparable to a true swordsman from the Akasha continent and a first-level adventurer from Earth Mistake World was actually just Tsukiguni Yoriichi.
The reason Yoriichi could reach such a realm was mostly likely due to his unique nature.
The reason this swordsman from the Sengoku period was revered as a god-like figure was his astonishing potential. Born with a distinct pattern, he innately understood the principles of breathing techniques, self-taught and penetrated the world, which was beyond the capabilities of ordinary humans.
Frankly speaking, the Breath of Sun was only a part of his power; it certainly had a proportion in his strength, but it was definitely not just the Breath of Sun.
The best evidence was that in the original story, Kamado Tanjirou eventually managed to use the Breath of Sun as well, but Kamado Tanjirou, after using the Breath of Sun, was at most comparable to a pillar-level swordsman. His ultimate victory over Kibutsuji Muzan in the original story depended on the countless supports from the demon slaying corps and the desperate assistance of other pillar-level swordsmen, with even a demon like Tamayo sacrificing her life to help him, thus achieving that final victory.
This Kamado Tanjirou simply couldn’t compare to Yoriichi even if he spent his whole life studying the Breath of Sun, let alone since he also developed the unique marks before dying at the age of 25.
On the other hand, Yoriichi, this inherently marked creator of the breathing technique, lived well into his 80s and nearly killed Kokushibou, who had become a demon at that time.
Therefore, Yoriichi’s ability to achieve the status comparable to Lv.5 or even Lv.6 should mostly be attributed to his special nature.
And even this individual hadn’t been able to touch the realm of Lv.7 while alive. It was only after his death that he gained inspiration from Reiger, evolved his own Breath of Sun technique, and successfully stepped into the realm of Lv.7.
In such circumstances, the limited potential of ordinary breathing techniques meant that they could only lift an ordinary person up to Lv.4, which was almost the limit; If someone had other experiences, they might use it at Lv.5 or Lv.6, but once they reached Lv.7, the effectiveness and power probably wouldn’t be as strong anymore.
After reaching Lv.7, the human body is almost unimaginably strong; how could such a body be further enhanced by merely absorbing large amounts of oxygen?
It can’t be done.
Therefore, when Reiger ascended to Lv.7, elevating his physical capabilities to an extremely high level, ordinary breathing techniques could no longer bring him significant enhancement.
At Lv.6, Reiger had just leveled up, able to surpass the limits of Lv.6 normally, and using techniques like Thunder Breathing, he could even transcend the level of Lv.6 and match beings equivalent to Lv.7.
But now, after ascending to Lv.7, Reiger could still surpass the limit of Lv.7 normally, but when using Thunder Breathing, he could no longer challenge higher tiers; this was not only because crossing higher levels became increasingly difficult but also because ordinary breathing techniques like Thunder Breathing no longer significantly boosted his powers.
Now, the only breathing techniques that could still have significant effects on Reiger were two.
One was the evolved Breath of Sun.
The other was the Wind Breathing, which could complement and synergize with the extraordinary additional magic of "Wind Spirit Swift Walk."
Beyond these, even the Moon Breathing, which matched Reiger the best, no longer had a notable effect on him.
Reiger could already imagine that once he ascended to Lv.8, all breathing techniques other than the Breath of Sun and Wind Breathing would completely lose their enhancing effects on him.
However—
"While the enhancing effects during the use of breathing techniques may disappear, when I use the sword forms within the breathing techniques, my attacks will still carry the characteristics of the breathing techniques," he said.
For example, when Reiger used "Lightning Flash," his speed and burst power were certainly still strong because the very essence of this sword form was about ultimate speed and explosive power.
Similarly, techniques like Moon Breathing might not enhance Reiger’s own capabilities in the future, but their inherent wide-range attack methods remained useful, allowing Reiger to continue displaying that kind of AOE attack power against enemies.
Because of this, Reiger had not given up on Thunder Breathing, and in the midst of studying the mysteries of the evolved Breath of Sun’s "Blossom," he perfected a very powerful form within Thunder Breathing.