The seven-day trial came to an end, and Fang Hao and the others arrived at the entrance of Mount Fujikasane, their designated meeting point.
"It's finally over! I survived, sniffle, sniffle, sniffle..."
"I never want to eat meat again, blech, blech, blech..."
"Hmm, everyone seems to be in high spirits," Fang Hao said with a smile.
"Are you a devil?" Those besides Fang Hao probably thought this. If Fang Hao knew they misunderstood him, he would surely feel wronged.
Slowly, one person after another arrived at the meeting point. After some time, no one else emerged.
"There are only twelve people? There were almost twenty when we came!" Tanjiro and the others looked at the number of people gathered and felt somewhat incredulous.
A wave of sadness gradually spread. They were all trial participants, and they would all be members of the Demon Slayer Corps in the future. The deaths of the others indeed made them empathize.
However, this emotion clearly didn't affect Fang Hao. Fang Hao even felt very happy. Of course, it wasn't because he was gloating, but simply because many more people survived than in the original work. His transmigration had brought some changes, and currently, it seemed quite good.
Over these seven days, Fang Hao and his companions slayed all the demons they encountered, indirectly protecting the other trial participants, and also honed their swordsmanship and gained experience in the process of demon slaying.
"Congratulations to all of you for passing the Demon Slayer Corps selection. You are now members of the Demon Slayer Corps," the two children from before, still maintaining their doll-like smiles, said to them.
"Each member of the Demon Slayer Corps will have a Kasugai Crow for communication. The Kasugai Crow will inform you of the demons' locations. When you encounter a demon, you can also use your Kasugai Crow to call for help."
As soon as they finished speaking, several Kasugai Crows flew out from behind the children, each landing on the shoulder of a swordsman.
Fang Hao looked at these Kasugai Crows. In this era, these Kasugai Crows could be said to be the fastest means of communication. To be able to train Kasugai Crows, the Demon Slayer Corps truly had a lot of talented individuals.
However, how these Kasugai Crows were used for communication wasn't apparent from their appearance. Uh, well, probably, except for Zenitsu's.
"A Kasugai Crow? Huh, isn't it a sparrow? Ah?" The blonde youth was looking around in surprise, and he suddenly realized that his Kasugai Crow (sparrow?) seemed a bit special.
"What's going on? Why does mine seem to be the only one that's different?" Zenitsu looked pitifully at Fang Hao, then at Tanjiro. "My sparrow looks really weak."
"Well, if it's just for communication, being a little small isn't a big deal. Even if it's a sparrow... it probably, possibly, shouldn't be a problem," Tanjiro wanted to comfort Zenitsu, but even he didn't have much confidence in the little sparrow and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Although they're for communication, they have other functions as well," Fang Hao took over the task of comforting Zenitsu, pushing up his non-existent glasses. "Many Demon Slayer Corps members, when starving and cold in the wilderness, can be saved by their Kasugai Crow at that time."
Tanjiro nodded, "That's right, Kasugai Crows can also help us find food. So that's it, Fang Jun even thought of this, you're amazing."
"No, I mean they're emergency food supplies."
"Huh!" Looking at the bewildered crowd, Fang Hao smiled slightly, "I don't tell just anyone."
The Kasugai Crows looked at Fang Hao in horror, and even the Kasugai Crow on Fang Hao's shoulder flew up, seemingly afraid to stay near him.
The little sparrow stared at the thoughtful Zenitsu, "Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!" Its little beak kept pecking at Zenitsu's face (Zenitsu: ? That's pecking, thank you.). "Stop pecking, stop pecking, no! I won't dislike you anymore. Ow!" Zenitsu quickly waved his hand to stop the little bird, but he was pecked again by the little sparrow.
"They have such a good relationship," Fang Hao began to speak nonsense with narrowed eyes. For some reason, everyone felt a phrase suddenly appear in their minds: "Squinty eyes are all monsters."
The two children, however, seemed not to have seen the comedy unfolding, and continued to address the crowd: "Afterwards, we will measure your body sizes to custom-make your uniforms. Your rank will be engraved on the uniform."
"The ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps are A, B, C, D..."
"Hey, stop rambling! Where's the sword? Where's the nichirin blade? Bring out the nichirin blade immediately!" At this moment, a rooster-haired youth impatiently interrupted them.
But the interruption failed, and the two children continued: "E, F, G, H, I, J. Your rank is the lowest, J."
"Next, please select the most important raw material for forging the nichirin blade, Tamahagane. The nichirin blade will also be completed in ten to fifteen days. At that time, you will be contacted via Kasugai Crow, and it will be delivered to you."
According to the original setting, although the nichirin blades in their hands could also slay demons, they were not the most suitable for them.
A true nichirin blade is exclusive to its first owner and will undergo incredible changes due to its compatibility with that owner.
Although not explicitly stated in the original work, a swordsman cannot enter their optimal state without their own blade.
"Forging a blade is quite fast." Fang Hao had no objection to this timeframe, even finding it a bit short. He had heard of ancient sword smiths taking years to forge divine weapons. "Is it to control production, a hunger marketing strategy?" Fang Hao's thoughts began to wander.
However, not everyone was satisfied—mainly the spiky-haired youth from before, more accurately Genya Shinazugawa. "Tsk! It's going to take that long." Genya was very displeased about this; he couldn't wait to get a nichirin blade, but he didn't say much else besides that.
"Please begin your selection, everyone." The two children unveiled the black cloth covering the table in front of them, revealing a long table covered with irregularly shaped metal ores of various sizes.
Hearing this, everyone stepped forward one by one, but a few people were unwilling to approach—they had been scared out of their wits by the previous trial and had already decided to switch to logistics.
Fang Hao and the others stood silently in front of the long table, wanting to choose but feeling at a loss.
"Tamahagane, I've never seen it before. I don't know how to distinguish them," Tanjiro scratched his head in confusion.
Soon, Fang Hao closed his eyes, touched each piece, and then picked up one of them.
"Fang Jun, do you know how to choose?" Tanjiro asked in surprise.
"As expected of Big Brother, he decided so quickly!" Zenitsu said excitedly, "There must be some trick, right, Big Brother?" After speaking, he looked at Fang Hao expectantly, waiting for Fang Hao's guidance.
"No, not really. I just felt it was pleasing to the eye, uh, pleasing to the hand. I just felt it was the one when I touched it. It must be based on intuition."
"Intuition!" Zenitsu was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to do this? He didn't know how.
Tanjiro, however, didn't say much. Instead, he fell into thought, then sniffed a few times, and then unhesitatingly picked up a piece of Tamahagane.
"Oh, oh, oh." Zenitsu was dumbfounded again. "Tanjiro, you chose so quickly, was it also based on intuition?"
"That's right, it's the smell." Tanjiro nodded, "The smell of Tamahagane is my intuition."
"It doesn't matter what you choose; you'll break your blade anyway and then get a new one. When it comes to changing blades, I'd call you the strongest," Fang Hao muttered to himself.
"This, the meaning is unclear," a few drops of cold sweat dripped from Zenitsu's forehead.
Tanjiro possesses a superhuman sense of smell; in the original work, he could smell emotions. Fang Hao felt this wasn't just a sense of smell, but a superpower.
"You can tap the Tamahagane and then listen," Fang Hao didn't want to watch Zenitsu procrastinate, so he directly told Zenitsu what to do.
Like Tanjiro, Zenitsu possesses an extraordinary sense of hearing. By the way, Kanao possesses sight, Inosuke Hashibira possesses touch, and Genya Shinazugawa possesses taste. The original author did a wholesale distribution of the five senses, giving the Demon Slayer Corps' five main characters a cheat.
"Huh, why didn't I think of that! Thank you, Big Brother!" Zenitsu happily tapped each piece of Tamahagane.
After selecting the Tamahagane, the white-haired child took a soft measuring tape and measured and recorded the body sizes of Fang Hao and the others one by one.
Fang Hao and the others waited for a while, and then someone delivered their uniforms. Everyone changed into them one by one and then set off on their return journey, waiting for the Demon Slayer Corps to deliver their nichirin blades.