Tengen Uzui couldn't help but recall various legends. Mythological stories were never short on tales of gods descending to the mortal realm.
Looking at Li Ke, he subconsciously blurted out his question.
"Li Ke, are you perhaps Lord Kagutsuchi?"
Kagutsuchi was the god of fire in Japanese mythology, a deity whose very birth burned Izanami. Of course, in the story of the eye-craft ninjas, it was merely an eye technique that controlled fire. Li Ke didn't know much else about it.
"How could I possibly be a god?"
Li Ke retorted without mercy. Calling him a god was a massive stretch. He was just a lucky bastard. If not for the dragon fire, he would have been instant-killed just like Tengen Uzui.
At that thought, Li Ke couldn't help but remember the absolute hell the Alexstrasza had put him through...
No matter how hard he tried to endure, he could never last more than a few dozen seconds under her relentless onslaught. What made it worse was her motherly smile. It felt as though the Alexstrasza was comforting him, but her words of comfort were:
"Small is perfectly fine too.""At least it's delicate.""You've already done very well.""Lasting only a few dozen seconds isn't your fault. It's just that Mother made you too comfortable..."
All in all, while the process was undeniably euphoric, the mental torture was second to none. It brought Li Ke to the brink of despair and dealt a massive blow to his self-confidence.
Because of this, Li Ke had secretly made up his mind. He would definitely get his revenge on the Alexstrasza in the future!
If he didn't avenge this humiliation, he wasn't a man!
Remembering this, his excitement from defeating a formidable enemy instantly vanished. It was replaced by a deep, sorrowful aura.
"I just have a unique background and obtained special abilities. I lost a lot because of it. If possible, I'd rather not remember how I got this power."
Li Ke truly meant it. Although this power had saved his life multiple times and made him strong enough to completely crush the Demon Slayer world, he still felt this way.
If given the choice, he would gladly choose to never again remember how he obtained this power for the rest of his life.
"It seems you have quite a tragic past."
Tengen Uzui couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Li Ke truly was a man with a story. Looking at him now, he really did look strikingly handsome and brooding.
"Alright, let's get Kyojuro Rengoku back first. As for this place, it should be safe now."
Li Ke pointed at Kyojuro Rengoku, who was still lying on the ground. Perhaps because Tengen Uzui had at least let out a battle cry—which technically counted as buffing Li Ke—Tengen's recovery was noticeably better than Rengoku's.
At the very least, though Tengen's face was pale, he could still move. Rengoku, on the other hand, was barely clinging to life. Even after they got back, he would need extensive rest and recuperation to survive.
However, as the two of them walked closer, they bore witness to a scene that left them both utterly speechless.
Even though Kyojuro Rengoku had lost consciousness, his lips were still trembling. As a shinobi, Tengen Uzui could read lips, and he quickly deciphered what Rengoku was trying to say...
"He's saying... 'Everyone, run.'"
Tengen couldn't help but look toward the area where the other Demon Slayer Corps members had been. When he first woke up, he hadn't seen any sign of them. There was only a sea of fire. Their ultimate fate went without saying.
Looking at the tears streaming continuously from the corners of Rengoku's eyes and his tightly clenched fists, Li Ke let out a soft sigh.
Yesterday, they were perfectly fine, living breathing people. Now, only Rengoku was left.
Li Ke didn't know exactly what Rengoku had just gone through, but it was undoubtedly a tragic, despairing ordeal—the kind that would make anyone weep.
"They no longer have to worry about harming the people they wanted to protect."
Li Ke spoke up, subtly clarifying the final fate of those fallen Demon Slayers. Tengen nodded solemnly in response.
"They will be at peace knowing that."
Silently, the two men used whatever materials they had on hand to fashion a makeshift stretcher. They mostly relied on Li Ke's tachi and Tengen's haori.
Lifting the stretcher together, they began to make their way out. By now, the fire Li Ke had set was gradually dying down, even leaving a specific path clear for them to pass.
Every single one of the bizarre animals, plants, and insects they had encountered along the way had been reduced to ashes. It was as if whatever had been preventing them from leaving this land was completely gone. Even after clearing the scorched zones, they didn't spot a single mutated creature or insect, allowing both men to breathe a genuine sigh of relief.
On their way back, they ran into the Demon Slayer Corps reinforcement vanguard. Given the sheer brutality of the situation, everyone could only feel immensely grateful that two of the Pillars were actually coming back alive.
With the reinforcements taking over, Li Ke no longer had to carry Rengoku. Instead, he was provided a horse to ride.
The rest of the journey was a return to the city.
The trip back was smooth—almost suspiciously so. Not only had the eerie, unsettling atmosphere completely vanished from the region, but Li Ke also felt a sudden wave of crisp clarity. It felt as though his natural talent had been heightened on this soil.
However, that hyper-focused state where he could learn anything at a single glance didn't last forever, just as he had predicted. In fact, its departure was quite jarring. It didn't fade away gradually; rather, right as Li Ke was trying to recall some complex concepts he hadn't mastered in the past, the buff abruptly vanished.
Even so, it had lasted long enough for Li Ke to grasp the fundamentals of almost everything he already possessed.
He couldn't claim absolute mastery over them just yet, but at the very least...
"So this is how lightning generation actually works. Why does it feel so different from how Azula described it?"
Indeed, by capitalizing on that fleeting stroke of genius, he hadn't just recalled how to solve various math problems and recite primary school poetry. He had also successfully mastered the volatile lightning generation, alongside countless secret techniques of the Water Tribe.
There wasn't much to say about the Water Tribe arts—they mostly consisted of healing spells and shifting states between ice, water, and vapor. Among them, only the water healing technique held any real value. The others simply couldn't compete with his newly acquired lightning generation when it came to catching Li Ke's eye.
As for ice, it was purely a matter of manipulating it more efficiently. Strictly speaking, it couldn't even be called cryokinesis; it was still fundamentally a part of Waterbending.
Sparks of electricity crackled continuously at the tips of Li Ke's fingers. Staring at the dancing current, he couldn't help but feel a bit complicated.
The principles in the secret manual Azula had left him were correct—at least, the underlying theory held up. However, the parts about using "a greedy heart, a wild will, and burning rage to fuel the lightning" felt entirely wrong to Li Ke during his brief window of genius. In fact, it struck him as an utterly moronic approach.
Pouring those intense emotions into the lightning and fire would certainly cause an explosive spike in power, but it would also mean completely abandoning control.
If the goal was mindless destruction, it might suffice. But in an actual fight against a skilled opponent, it was an approach riddled with openings.
While the destructive output was massive, the flaws were glaring. It might work well enough for crushing weaklings, but if he ever ran into someone who mastered lightning as thoroughly as he did—
He would die a miserable death.
When lightning was unleashed through hatred and fury, it became impossible to guide!
While malice and anger amplified the raw force, the moment you let emotion take over, your precision and control inevitably plummeted. There was no avoiding it. Under those conditions, if an opponent used lightning generation techniques to redirect the energy flowing through their own body, they could easily hijack Azula's lightning and send it right back at her. And at the speed of a lightning strike, a roaring Azula wouldn't even have time to react, let alone defend herself!
Li Ke's breakthrough here was also thanks to mastering Waterbending. The most crucial concept of Waterbending was redirection and flow, and his modern mindset made it easy to connect the dots.
Yet, Azula remained oblivious to such a blatant design flaw and had proudly handed the manual over to him. It was genuinely hard for Li Ke not to overthink her motives.
"Did she just learn it wrong herself, or am I just that much of a prodigy? Or is she still plotting against me? No, that doesn't add up either..."
Li Ke recalled his interactions with Azula. The woman was undeniably unhinged, but her obsession with strength and power was genuine. She had no real reason to sabotage him. But considering her erratic mental state, Li Ke couldn't say for certain.
"Next time I go looking for Toph, I'll bring her along to settle the score with Azula."
Pushing these complicated thoughts aside, Li Ke focused back on the road ahead.
That was when he spotted Shinobu Kocho standing by the city gates.
Shinobu had a soft smile on her face, looking at him with an expression of pure bliss. Standing right next to her was a thoroughly disgruntled Mai Shiranui.
Li Ke, naturally, couldn't care less about what was going through Mai Shiranui's head. He could guess with his eyes closed that she was just annoyed at missing out on the fight. Smiling warmly, he immediately waved a greeting to Shinobu.
However...
"Is this the Li Ke you kept talking about, Shinobu? Wow, he really is incredibly handsome!"
A voluptuous woman with vibrant pink hair suddenly burst forward, throwing her arms around the relatively petite Shinobu. Li Ke's gaze was instantly drawn to her absurdly generous cleavage, while Shinobu's expression shifted immediately.
It was true that Shinobu wanted to help expand Li Ke's harem, but for various reasons, she had absolutely no intention of letting this particular girl join the mix.
The reasons were simple.
First, she was a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Just like Shinobu, there was no telling when her life might cut short on the battlefield.
Second, Obanai Iguro from the Corps had been harboring a massive crush on her for the longest time. Neither of them had realized it yet; Obanai himself didn't even understand why he was always so hyper-fixated on her.
After all, Obanai was a reserved, deeply guarded kid.
But Li Ke was anything but reserved!
"Oh? Shinobu? Is this your friend? What a gorgeous and lovely girl!"
While Shinobu was still lost in thought, Li Ke's figure abruptly materialized right beside her. He smoothly took her hand while offering the newcomer a look of genuine admiration and warmth.
The heavily endowed girl instantly beamed with pleasant surprise.
"Really?! Do you really think I'm gorgeous and lovely?!"
Her face flushed with pure delight, causing Mai Shiranui to instantly shoot Li Ke a look of profound disgust. But as Shinobu watched Mitsuri Kanroji practically melting from Li Ke's casual compliment, she couldn't help but scream internally.
Run!
Mitsuri!
You're going to end up pregnant!