Chapter 180 — Imitation
"Compass Perception."
Ren could now use the Compass to sense the location of his enemies.
However, the Compass Perception Ren had developed was different from Akaza's.
Akaza's Compass could only sense killing intent.
It couldn't perceive the things revealed through the Transparent World.
Ren had upgraded his Compass Perception.
His Compass Perception rotated by sensing the magnetic fields of living beings.
This meant that even if someone activated the Transparent World, as long as they were still a living human being, they couldn't escape Ren's perception!
And there was more!
Ren's enlightenment was still continuing.
His understanding and application of Destructive Death continued to improve.
The changes were visible to the naked eye.
Unconscious fluctuations of air currents began surging around Ren.
From Akaza's perspective, Ren hadn't moved at all.
Yet powerful waves of air were inexplicably surging around him!
How was he doing this?
After quite some time, Ren finally slowly opened his eyes.
This time, he had gained a great deal.
After giving Akaza a blood transfusion, he had also received some of Akaza's blood in return.
Then his body had begun to change.
Destructive Death had evolved into Destructive Asura Swordsmanship.
Ren briefly practiced it in his mind.
The overall technique involved using the Nichirin blade to drive fluctuations in the air, causing them to vibrate at extremely high speeds.
As a result, Ren had gained another area-of-effect sword-qi attack.
"How do you feel?"
Akaza looked at Ren.
He had no idea what was happening to Ren, so he could only ask.
"Not bad."
Ren tried moving his body and discovered that he had indeed grown considerably.
Previously, he had possessed the body of a fourteen-year-old boy whose physical development wasn't yet complete.
Much of the potential and energy within his body had not been fully released.
But now, he had made rapid progress.
Ren could clearly feel that he had grown taller again.
Several other parts of his body had developed considerably as well.
"All right. Since you've understood your mission, let's part ways here."
Ren looked at Akaza, a meaningful look flashing through his eyes.
Akaza understood his intention and was just about to jump off the train.
But Ren stopped him.
Akaza looked confused.
"What happened?"
Ren pointed at the moving train.
"Drive the train back."
Akaza was stunned.
"I don't know how to drive!"
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"You mean you want me to drive it back? Come on. You've lived for hundreds of years. How can my time possibly compare to yours?"
"Drive the train."
Akaza blinked.
Then he obediently climbed down through the train window.
After thinking about it, he realized Ren did have a point.
He had already lived for several hundred years.
What was wrong with spending a little time learning how to drive?
In fact, when he thought about it carefully, he found the situation somewhat embarrassing.
He had existed since the Edo period, yet after several hundred years, aside from martial arts and eating people, he hadn't learned anything else.
It seemed he needed to develop himself in every aspect from now on.
Akaza thought so too.
By the time he finished thinking about it, he had already reached the driver's cabin.
Ren also canceled his Dragon Shadow Doppelgänger at the appropriate moment.
Akaza took hold of the steering wheel while Ren gave him a few simple instructions from beside him.
It had to be admitted—
Akaza learned extremely quickly.
After only two attempts, he had mastered how to use the accelerator.
The train immediately picked up speed!
"Good. Just head back at this speed."
Ren spoke beside him.
"I remember the route. It's almost entirely straight, so you only need to get familiar with the accelerator and brakes."
"When you reach the station, stop and get off."
"Then go find Tamayo and ask for her help. She can also help you find a way to support yourself."
"Goodbye."
Ren turned to leave.
But this time, Akaza called out to him.
Ren turned his head.
"What is it?"
Akaza asked somewhat helplessly,
"Where should I look for Tamayo?"
Ren thought for a moment.
"I forgot the exact location. Start from the Entertainment District at night. When there are plenty of people around, look for her in prosperous areas using this method."
Ren muttered for a while.
Akaza's expression kept changing as he listened.
"Like this?"
Akaza asked,
"But I'm a demon. Won't my appearance cause a panic?"
The method Ren had just mentioned was this:
Akaza would go out at night when there were plenty of people around and then find someone to engage in indecent behavior with him—particularly something similar to the method Tanjiro had used when he first encountered Tamayo in the original story.
However, Ren hadn't actually told Akaza to do anything like that.
He only wanted him to imitate it.
But Akaza was in a difficult position.
He was a demon.
The moment he appeared, wouldn't Tamayo immediately flee as far away as possible?
She might even recognize Akaza.
How could he possibly approach her?
Ren said in disappointment,
"You don't even know Transformation?"
"This..."
Akaza's expression became awkward when he heard that.
"My power is very weak right now, so I can't use Transformation at all. And besides... I don't even know how to transform."
Ren understood the first half of that sentence.
But the second half left him completely stunned.
"What?! You, a dignified Upper Rank Three, don't know Transformation?!"
Akaza also felt somewhat aggrieved.
Back when he was Upper Rank Three and a martial arts fanatic, why would he ever learn such an improper technique?
When he was hungry, he ate meat.
When he was full, he practiced martial arts.
When he was bored, he fought.
When he had nothing else to do, he went to see his master.
When would he ever have needed Transformation?
So it wasn't that Akaza didn't know how to transform.
He had simply never learned it...
Ren was speechless.
However, he also believed that even if Akaza learned Transformation now, he wouldn't be able to fool Tamayo.
Tamayo had remained hidden for several hundred years.
How could a novice like Akaza possibly find her?
This mission was indeed extremely difficult for him.
"There's no hope for you!"
Ren helplessly rubbed his forehead before sitting down on the floor.
Akaza obediently moved aside as well.
"Drive back!"
Ren suddenly said.
Akaza didn't argue.
Instead, he followed Ren's instructions and drove the train back.
This time, Ren would have to enter the Regression State and Transparent World once again.
He vaguely remembered that when he had encountered Douma before, Douma seemed to know Transformation.
That was an intuition Ren had obtained from his Regression State.
So he could only search for the answer within his memories.
He had also asked Akaza to drive the train back because this process might take a long time.
He would first have Akaza take him back to the Butterfly Mansion.
Otherwise, given how enthusiastically Akaza was stepping on the accelerator, he might end up driving all the way back to the Entertainment District again...
Ren took a gentle breath.
Then he suddenly thought of something.
Since Transformation was a technique derived from Blood Demon Art—
could he learn it as well?
With that thought, Ren once again activated his domain abilities.
"Transparent World activated!"
"A transparent world unfolds before you!"
"Regression State initiated!"
"Memory Palace activated!"
"A palace floating in the sky appears before you!"
Rumble—
The night was pitch-black.
The train's whistle sounded as it sped past, thick smoke billowing from the locomotive.
Akaza gripped the steering wheel, his expression solemn as he drove the train back.
Behind him, a handsome young man was deep in enlightenment.
He had no idea that Ren had already entered the Memory Palace within his mind...