Yearning to Become an Immortal God

Yuki Tsukumo's mouth twitched. "Does the Lord of Shell Spirits really think it can deal with me alone?"

"I don't know," Guan Yuan said. "But you must be careful. You may be in great danger... Before you meet the King of Curses, I suggest you leave behind a will. I'm not joking or trying to pressure you. It's simply that my reason tells me you truly may not be a match for the King of Curses."

It was an incredibly offensive thing to say, yet Yuki Tsukumo was surprisingly not displeased. That was because, deep down, she thought the same thing. The King of Curses might truly have prepared to kill her, even if it did not know the specifics of her technique.

Pressure rose within Yuki Tsukumo from nowhere.

Tengen noticed the subtle change in Yuki Tsukumo's emotions and changed the subject. "Have Satoru Gojo call his student later."

"You want to turn Kinji against them?" Yuki Tsukumo asked.

"I don't know whether it will work," Tengen said calmly. "Kinji Hakari respects Satoru Gojo greatly. If Satoru Gojo personally invites him, Kinji Hakari presumably won't be able to refuse. But I cannot be certain whether he can be made to betray the King of Curses. The King of Curses has given Kinji Hakari too much. It granted him immortality, made him its diplomatic ambassador, and trusted him greatly. That means Kinji Hakari must be very loyal to it as well."

Yuki Tsukumo threw back her head and sighed. "Kinji... you fool."

"Kinji Hakari is too young, and mainstream Jujutsu Society persecuted him. Even Satoru Gojo could not give Kinji Hakari justice. Then the King of Shell Spirits took advantage of the opening and gave him everything he wanted: power, immortality, and respect. Forget Kinji Hakari—wasn't Jujutsu Headquarters tempted as well, providing the secret dealings between you and me?" Guan Yuan was not surprised by this.

Yuki Tsukumo gritted her teeth. "It's all because the current Jujutsu Headquarters is so rotten that things have reached this point! I used to be indifferent toward Gojo's ideal of changing the world, because I thought it would make no difference to me whether Jujutsu Headquarters changed people or not. But my attitude has changed now. From today onward, I fully support Gojo! Damn it, Jujutsu Headquarters is unworthy of its position!"

In truth, Yuki Tsukumo was also one of those who had been persecuted. But she was fortunate, because she was strong enough, and Tengen had secretly supported her as well. Jujutsu Headquarters did not want to offend both a Special Grade Sorcerer and Guan Yuan at once, so it could only back down. But that did not mean it stopped pulling petty tricks. Yuki Tsukumo simply had not cared.

But things were different now. Someone within Jujutsu Headquarters had actually dared to become a spy for Cursed Spirits! This enraged Yuki Tsukumo, and she decided to interfere with this power structure.

And she truly had the qualifications to do so.

"In my memories, you were quite the lady," Guan Yuan said with a soft laugh. "I never imagined I would hear profanity come from your mouth."

"It's been so many years," Yuki Tsukumo exhaled, as if trying to breathe out all her frustration. "I'm not that little girl anymore." Yuki Tsukumo did not want to discuss this subject. She was nearly thirty now, and the marks of time were already approaching her. Yet before Tengen, she was still a child who had never grown up. Her rebelliousness back then had been nothing more than childish mischief in Tengen's eyes. Tengen had tolerated her without limit. Thinking back on it now only made her embarrassed, as though a friend had dug up her shameful past, leaving her wanting to shout to hide her feelings.

She changed the subject. "What are you going to have Gojo say to him?"

"If I remember correctly, the exchange event between Tokyo and Kyoto is about to begin?" Tengen asked.

"Two weeks from now." Yuki Tsukumo's brow twitched. Satoru Gojo had handed all the tracking of the Lord of Curses over to her because of this event. Just thinking about it irritated her.

"Have Satoru Gojo call Kinji Hakari and invite him to participate in the exchange event," Tengen said. "Kinji Hakari should not refuse, because this does not involve the King of Curses. It is merely an exchange between teacher and student. The King of Curses will not stop him either, because the Lord of Curses still fears Satoru Gojo. I can even imagine the King of Curses hoping to trade Kinji Hakari for Satoru Gojo, so it can fight you at full strength without any outside interference."

As one of Satoru Gojo's prized students, Yuki Tsukumo naturally knew about Kinji Hakari. She slowly nodded. "Indeed. If Kinji interferes in my battle with the King of Curses, I would be in some danger. I believe the King of Curses will also consider whether Gojo might be backing me. If it can trade Kinji for Gojo, that would benefit the supremely confident King of Curses. It will agree."

"It would be best to contact Kinji Hakari now," Tengen said.

"Now?" Yuki Tsukumo frowned. Then she said, "You want to use indirect observation of Kinji to judge the King of Curses' true strength as much as possible? Since we already know Kinji is the Lord of Curses' confidant, he must know the Lord of Shell Spirits' true strength! Even if Binding Vows and loyalty prevent him from actively revealing information, Kinji himself is not a meticulous person. His behavior and tone alone will be enough to expose things!"

When it came to intelligence warfare, these old-timers truly knew their stuff, Yuki Tsukumo praised inwardly.

"Not only that," Tengen said slowly. "I also want to know what this so-called immortality can truly accomplish... Especially Kinji Hakari, who possesses Infinite Cursed Energy. How strong is he now, carrying both immortality and Infinite Cursed Energy? I am very curious."

Yuki Tsukumo understood Guan Yuan's meaning.

The ability to make people evolve, which the Lord of Curses had revealed, had not initially drawn much attention from Jujutsu Society. The reason was simple: they had similar methods themselves. In fact, modern medical development had greatly affected Jujutsu Society. Many sorcerers already knew exactly where an Innate Technique grew, as well as where the Cursed Energy Core was located. Medicine could reveal all of it directly.

Thus, making people evolve sounded astonishing, but that was only true for uneducated curse users. For orthodox sorcerers, it was merely a somewhat unusual technique. Nothing more.

But "immortality" was different. It belonged to an entirely different level.

The sorcerers who were currently immortal had all paid enormous prices and suffered immense side effects. Tengen was no exception. But the King of Curses' "immortality" was different. It could be applied to anyone, even ordinary people without Cursed Energy, and it had almost no side effects. Or rather, was protecting the environment its necessary side effect? After all, as long as the circulation of Shell Energy in the atmosphere did not go wrong, "immortality" could continue without interruption, truly allowing one to live as long as heaven and earth.

It was not only Jujutsu Headquarters. Even Guan Yuan herself was extremely curious. She wanted to see a real example, and Kinji Hakari was the best subject for observation.

"Before facing the Lord of Curses, you want me to fight Kinji?" Yuki Tsukumo asked. "Yes," Tengen said. "What do you think?"

"I've been looking forward to this!" Yuki Tsukumo's lips curved into a smile. "Me... I've wanted to meet this 'Infinite Cursed Energy' that Gojo is always talking about for a long time!"

Satoru Gojo Calls

The next day.

Jogo strode forward with Hanami and Dagon following behind him. He was furious, but he kept all that anger bottled inside.

Before this, he had not been by Mahito's side, because Mahito had given him, Hanami, and Dagon other tasks. He had thought that even without him, Mahito still had Kenjaku and Kinji Hakari at his side. No matter what, nothing should have happened. Yet after only one day away, Mahito had actually arranged another fight!

And the opponent was a Special Grade Sorcerer!

Kinji Hakari, with his Infinite Cursed Energy, was not even a Special Grade Sorcerer yet. Jogo could not imagine just how strong a so-called Special Grade Sorcerer was! In any case, by his understanding, Mahito at his current level should not be arranging a fight with such an enemy. It was too dangerous.

No matter what, he had to stop Mahito. That was Jogo's resolve.

"Mahi—" Jogo was about to shout when a hand appeared before his eyes. It belonged to Hanami behind him.

Hanami stepped forward and covered Jogo's mouth with her hand. Jogo immediately fell silent, because anyone could see that Mahito was at a critical moment. Everyone, including the trio of Cursed Spirits, stood where they were with solemn expressions.

Mahito stood with his head lowered and eyes closed, a bamboo sword hanging from his waist. His hand rested lightly on it in an Iai stance. The Cursed Energy around him did not erupt. Instead, it slowly burned around his body like a tranquil lake, stirring into layer after layer of ripples only when the wind blew.

Before him stood an old man.

Ashiya Sadatsuna stood opposite Mahito, also in an Iai stance. Unlike Mahito, however, the old man's Cursed Energy was nearly imperceptible. His difficult-to-control Shell Energy had been compressed into an incomparably fitting formal suit, with almost no visible fluctuations. When the wind blew, only the hem of the old man's clothes fluttered. His Cursed Energy alone remained as immovable as a mountain.

A leaf drifted past, and suddenly split in two.

At the same instant, Mahito and the old man drew their bamboo swords. The rushing wind was sliced in half, and both of their Cursed Energies erupted at once, like wild dragons roaring up from the bottom of a lake! Enormous Shell Energy swept from the tips of their bamboo swords.

The wind howled violently, and everyone instinctively shut their eyes as massive Cursed Energy spread outward through it! Yet everything lasted only an instant.

After that instant passed, the sound of bamboo swords crossing rang out.

Supersonic Iaido Slash! In that moment, both men had drawn their swords faster than the speed of sound. Yet all their power had been released in that single instant, with every ounce of force contained within it. The bamboo swords should have shattered against the air barrier at supersonic speed, but the Shell Energy wrapped around them protected them. That required ultimate control, as Cursed Energy moved with the Iai slash.

But it was not over yet!

Their bamboo swords continued to cross. Mahito and the old man moved at the same time, constantly seeking openings while their swords clashed, their strength igniting flames alongside their Shell Energy.

Mahito was on the offensive. Every swing of his bamboo sword carried wind pressure, and immense force spread outward like a tsunami. Even spectators could see the terrifying power behind his strikes. Yet none of that force scattered wildly; it was all concentrated upon the bamboo sword.

The old man was defending. His bamboo sword showed not the slightest trace of force, because it absorbed every bit of the impact completely. Rather than rigidly colliding with Mahito's sword, he moved nimbly around Mahito. Each movement lasted only an instant, and in the next, he appeared soundlessly like a ghost.

After more than ten fierce exchanges, both sides retreated in tacit agreement. Mahito smiled. "Thank you for going easy on me, Teacher Ashiya."

Ashiya tried to keep a straight face, but after hearing Mahito's words, irritation still surfaced on his face.

"Cursed Energy is truly a natural barrier restraining sorcerers. My Cursed Energy control is clearly far superior to yours, yet my bamboo sword was the first to fail. And this was only a bamboo sword duel. If we had used real swords, I could not have exchanged blows with you at all. The moment we clashed, both my sword and body would have been cut in two by a single strike!"

Kinji Hakari, who had been watching from the side, was completely confused. "That decided the winner? Didn't Old Man Ashiya defend pretty well?" Kenjaku smiled and pointed at the bamboo sword in Ashiya Sadatsuna's hand. "Look closely."

Kinji Hakari carefully examined Ashiya Sadatsuna's bamboo sword and suddenly noticed several straw-like splinters protruding from it.

He immediately understood. "The bamboo swords used by both sides are the same quality, but the old man's bamboo sword has already been damaged. It has only been a few dozen seconds. If this continued, his bamboo sword would be destroyed outright. It isn't a matter of quality, so it can only be an issue with how they allocated their Cursed Energy reinforcement between offense and defense. The old man's Cursed Energy can't keep up."

Ashiya Sadatsuna looked somewhat anxious. "I clearly still have many things I can teach you, but I cannot teach you in the most direct way. My body cannot keep up with my teaching! Mahito, you are too exceptional—so exceptional that I cannot even pass all my techniques on to you."

"No, Teacher Ashiya has already taught me many things." Mahito put away his bamboo sword and spoke sincerely. "Ape Fly, Ape Return, Mountain Shade, Moon Shadow, Floating Boat—I have seen them all."

"It isn't enough to merely see them! You must experience them yourself!" Ashiya Sadatsuna said helplessly. "I... I have once again felt the pain and despair I felt when facing Ryomen Sukuna a thousand years ago. I even doubt whether what I teach you can truly help you."

"If Teacher Ashiya wishes, I can return you to your youth," Mahito said.

Mahito was not lying. He was no longer the person he had been when he first crossed over. His understanding of the human body had become increasingly refined through his experiments on sorcerers. He had encountered enough human bodies by now. He could even use Construction to create for himself a perfectly compatible Incarnation! The current Mahito only needed to lightly touch someone to restore their body to its youthful state according to their bone age.

The more deeply Mahito explored the potential of Idle Transfiguration, the more he felt that the original Mahito had taken the wrong path.

The original Mahito had turned Idle Transfiguration into a seventy-two transformations trick, wantonly trampling and reshaping his own flesh and that of others. Of course, that had brought many successes. The greatest of them, Idle Transfiguration: Self-Embodiment of Perfection, had even allowed the original Mahito to evolve.

But that was merely the scraps around the edges of Idle Transfiguration.

In truth, the original Mahito had already discovered the principle. He had personally said that Idle Transfiguration gave him eyes capable of directly seeing human souls. He could freely alter human souls, and the fragments shed from souls were human joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—all of which were crystal clear to his eyes.

If he could see and alter souls, and also see people's joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, then could he not control people's emotions? Could he not brainwash them? Yet the original Mahito had never worked in that direction from beginning to end. The current Mahito, however, had developed emotional projection, the Thought Seal, and Six Roots Purity.

If he could freely reshape the body by altering souls, could he not correct the body? Could he not directly grant himself any physical talent? Mahito was even certain that if he truly copied Satoru Gojo's body, he could directly install the Six Eyes upon himself without any side effects.

Furthermore, humanity's Innate Techniques were located in the frontal lobe of the human brain. Could they not simply be copied directly? Even without Reverse Cursed Technique, he could imprint other people's Innate Techniques into his own brain! The Cursed Energy Core was the same. It was clearly located in a person's abdominal dantian. Once he copied the Cursed Energy Core, Mahito could practically copy a sorcerer's Cursed Energy talent.

Then there was Multiple Soul Fusion. The original Mahito had created a complete fusion of human beings, something Yuki Tsukumo's research notes had considered impossible. Yet Mahito had done it. That showed that, on the matter of soul alteration, he could surpass the common sense of Jujutsu Society.

If he could act on humans, could he not act on himself? Was it difficult to fuse souls into his own body? Even if it was not a complete fusion, what about a temporary one? Wouldn't that improve his abilities far more than some human fusion body?

The clone Mahito created in the later stages was simply his own soul copied into another person. Aside from being unable to use Idle Transfiguration, its thoughts were completely identical to the original, and they were mutually connected. It already touched upon gestalt consciousness. If it developed further, creating a swarm would not be surprising at all.

Finally, altering Cursed Spirits.

The original work did not state this explicitly. It only mentioned through others that Special Grade Cursed Spirits that could not be found before had begun appearing one after another. This might have been Mahito's doing.

Ko-Guy was a typical example. It already showed signs of becoming an intelligent Cursed Spirit. If this were explored further, it might very well create intelligent Cursed Spirits on the same level as Mahito, Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon.

But the original Mahito simply would not do any of it!

He locked himself into those seventy-two transformations, studying only Cursed Spirits and ordinary people. He had not even researched a single curse user! After losing to Yuji Itadori, he had obsessively fixated on Yuji Itadori, not even sparing another sorcerer a glance.

It could only be said that although the original Mahito had a high IQ—something confirmed by the work itself—his experience prevented that intelligence from being fully utilized. Then there was the ill-intentioned Kenjaku secretly causing trouble at his side, making the original Mahito act like a puppet on strings. He thought he was free, but every movement he made was held in Kenjaku's grasp, leaving him no room to struggle.

As expected, the old man refused. "No, I cannot. If we had plenty of time, I would be willing to return to youth. But not now. Time is too tight. Both my sword and body would need to adapt, and then I would have no time to teach you. At the very least, I cannot return to youth before your decisive battle with Yuki Tsukumo. I must teach you as many techniques as possible."

Swordsmanship was an extremely precise art. Forget restoring an aging body to youth—even changing to another sword required readjustment to its weight and length. Ashiya Sadatsuna was confident that given a few weeks, he could adapt to a young body. The problem was that they did not have that much time.

Only then did Jogo finally get a chance to speak. He immediately shouted, "Mahito!"

"Jogo, Hanami, Dagon, welcome back." Mahito spread his arms. "Did the mission go smoothly?"

"We can talk about the mission later." Jogo waved his hand and said angrily, "Mahito! You're taking risks again! You actually dare to face a Special Grade Sorcerer!"

Mahito chuckled. "That really doesn't sound like something you would say. I thought you would confidently tell me, 'Mahito, go ahead. I've got things covered at home.'"

"Mahito, this is no joke." Jogo frowned deeply, flames bursting from the volcano atop his head. "I thought you understood the strength of Special Grade Sorcerers very well. Forget anything else—don't you have an ordinary Special Grade standing beside you? When you fought him, you gathered complete intelligence and only acted after confirming you could deal with him. But Yuki Tsukumo's information is incomplete. Why would you arrange a fight with her?"

The ordinary Special Grade, Kinji Hakari, darkened his face and shouted, "Hey! Volcano Head, are you looking to get beaten again?" Jogo ignored Kinji Hakari entirely, simply staring at Mahito without moving.

Hanami sighed softly and looked at Ashiya Sadatsuna. [May I ask who this is?]

"How marvelous. I clearly cannot understand what is being said, yet the meaning naturally appears in my mind. There is actually such a character among intelligent Cursed Spirits. Before this, I could never have imagined it." The old man sighed, then solemnly said, "I am Ashiya Sadatsuna, founder of New Shadow Style. Invited by Mahito, the King of Curses, I now serve him."

[The founder of New Shadow Style? That is someone from a thousand years ago, is it not?] Hanami exclaimed. [Your joining is equivalent to granting us the strength of a hundred people.]

"Not at all..." Ashiya Sadatsuna put on airs, seemingly forgetting the version of himself from yesterday who kept blurting out profanity. Even his self-reference changed from "I" to "this old man." "Meeting intelligent Cursed Spirits besides Mahito has broadened this old man's horizons. Lady Hanami, you possess none of a Cursed Spirit's cursed aura. Instead, you overflow with the fragrance of the forest. It is this old man's honor to meet you."

[Not at all...] Hanami wanted to be polite in return.

Jogo abruptly cut her off. "Wait, Hanami, you know this old man? What the hell is New Shadow Style?"

Ashiya Sadatsuna went blank and said to Mahito, "That fiery temper is more in line with my stereotypical image of intelligent Cursed Spirits. You and Hanami are the exceptions, aren't you?"

His self-reference had changed from "this old man" back to "I."

Mahito could not help but sigh. When it came to putting on a show, young people truly could not compare with these old ghosts.

Hanami sighed. [New Shadow Style is a major school in Jujutsu Society. Nearly every sorcerer without an Innate Technique uses New Shadow Style to some degree. It would not be an exaggeration to say that New Shadow Style saved those sorcerers without talent... Anyone with even a slight understanding of Jujutsu Society could not possibly overlook New Shadow Style.]

"Ah?" Jogo froze. "How come I didn't know that?"

Good. Jogo's performance was as steady as ever—the familiar flavor, Mahito thought.

Dagon gave a small leap, flying over Jogo and Hanami as he pounced on Mahito. Mahito caught him in his arms and gently stroked the top of his head.

"Good, good, Dagon. What a good boy." Mahito smiled. Dagon hopped around, blinking his large eyes eagerly.

Mahito nodded gently and smiled. "Is that so? The mission went very smoothly, then. You did well, Dagon."

"I didn't understand that," Ashiya Sadatsuna said blankly.

"There is no need to understand. Just seeing their expressions tells you the mission went smoothly." Kenjaku smiled. "So that means we will soon welcome new companions."

Gathering materials to create new intelligent Cursed Spirits—that was Jogo and the others' mission. It was also meant to complete the experiment the original Mahito had never finished.

He would not be satisfied with altering weak, foolish Cursed Spirits like Ko-Guy. He wanted to truly create intelligent Shell Spirits like themselves! The logic was simple. Rather than producing mass-produced, foolish, half-finished intelligent Cursed Spirits, it was better to directly create one Jogo.

Mahito dared to guarantee that one Jogo could beat ten thousand Ko-Guy Cursed Spirits!

Even if newly born intelligent Cursed Spirits were far weaker than Ko-Guy, their strength would improve very quickly once they possessed intelligence. With a little cultivation, they could steadily become Special Grade Cursed Spirits. And because they possessed intelligence, their actual combat ability would far exceed the Special Grade Cursed Spirit standard set by Jujutsu Society.

With further careful cultivation, even if they could not reach Jogo's level, they would at least reach Dagon's level without Domain Expansion.

As long as they could reach that level, Mahito would be satisfied.

Since he had this ability, naturally he had to work in that direction. Mahito's desire to improve his knowledge and techniques knew no end. Since his own level could not temporarily improve by leaps and bounds, he would increase the number of helpers supporting him.

But not every Cursed Spirit could grow into an intelligent Cursed Spirit. According to Mahito's research, most Cursed Spirits lacked this potential. Besides requiring an enormous amount of Cursed Energy, the key was that the Cursed Spirit needed to possess a "legend."

The reason was unknown. According to Kenjaku's speculation, Cursed Spirits with legendary qualities were more likely to gather leaking Cursed Energy from ordinary humans. But that was only speculation. Even Kenjaku could not determine the exact reason. It would likely require a great deal of time to study.

But they had no time, so they decisively abandoned theoretical study and conducted experiments through empirical methods.

The theory behind airplanes was still incomplete when they first flew, but that did not stop scientists from using empirical methods to send planes into the sky. Jogo said with a dark expression, "Imaginary Vengeful Spirits... are harder to find than I imagined."

After a pause, Jogo could not help asking, "Mahito, do you really have to fight Yuki Tsukumo? You have not fully matured yet. You can wait a little longer. Time should be on our side now."

"This is the best opportunity." Mahito spoke frankly. "To be honest, Yuki Tsukumo's appearance was completely outside my expectations. After the Zenin battle, I had originally planned to settle down and study properly for a while. Then I would have taken you, Hanami, and Dagon to meet Satoru Gojo. But Yuki Tsukumo's appearance disrupted my plans and forced me to find a way to deal with her first."

Kenjaku sighed. "This is not Mahito's fault. It is mine. I did not anticipate that Jujutsu Headquarters would react so fiercely... In fact, it is not only Yuki Tsukumo. Yuta Okkotsu has also been recalled. The three current Special Grade Sorcerers of Jujutsu Society have all gathered at Jujutsu Headquarters' main headquarters."