Sparring

Xia Jie and Maki both involuntarily stopped in place as they looked at the fused Vengeful Spirit before them, covered in more than a dozen faces.

Setting its strength aside for the moment, its appearance alone was enough to make anyone lose their appetite.

Speaking of food, Xia Jie remembered all that fried chicken he had eaten in the car... Ugh! Don't think about it, don't think about it! Xia Jie covered his mouth, barely managing not to vomit back up the food he had digested.

A massive composite arm swept toward him the instant his gaze shifted. Xia Jie placed a hand on the Vengeful Spirit's arm, then lightly flipped himself onto it.

Maki's brows rose as she watched his movement.

Xia Jie had not entered his so-called "Shadow Form" at all. He had pulled off that move entirely through his own physical skill.

When had this guy become capable of doing that so easily?

"Hey! Shadow Maru! Get back into Xia Jie's shadow! You don't need to stay on me anymore!" Maki called to Shadow Maru on her body.

Shadow Maru opened its eyes and mouth on her arm. "Don't order me around, brat! I only obey Lord Xia Jie's commands!"

Maki looked toward Xia Jie, who was constantly dodging the Vengeful Spirit's arms, and shouted, "You're not going to need Shadow Maru just to deal with something like this, are you, Xia Jie?"

"How about a contest? Let's see who lands the finishing blow on this big guy first."

"Such an obvious provocation... I accept!" Xia Jie leaped several times to widen the distance between himself and the Vengeful Spirit, then ordered Shadow Maru, "Shadow Maru, return to Maki's shadow!"

"Yes, Lord Xia Jie!"

The black "battle suit" on Maki instantly receded, revealing her original black Jujutsu High uniform.

Maki swung her spear and felt the difference in strength with and without the battle suit. She could not help sighing inwardly. The difference really is huge!

She steadied herself. Even without Shadow Maru's help, she would definitely reach that state again!

Maki adjusted her stance, took a deep breath, and fixed her eyes on the Cursed Spirit Collective before her. Seemingly slow yet actually swift, she assumed an attacking posture.

Watching Maki's transformation from the side, Xia Jie felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

That one-of-a-kind focus, along with her battle-hardened stance, left only four words in Xia Jie's mind: flawless and impregnable!

If Maki could use Cursed Energy, Xia Jie was almost certain that her next strike would produce a Black Flash.

Unfortunately... no, there was nothing unfortunate about it. It was precisely because she could not use Cursed Energy that the Maki of today existed.

He could not deny all of Maki's efforts just because he had glimpsed one possible future for her!

Xia Jie cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and drew a Cursed Tool longsword from his own shadow, one both heavy and long.

Its design more closely resembled an ancient Chinese sword.

He had not chosen a katana because Shadow Maru's frequently changing demonic sword form more closely resembled an ancient Chinese sword.

Xia Jie had also accumulated experience using the demonic sword while in Shadow Mode, so the Cursed Tool longsword he used now was more akin to an ancient Chinese sword.

To enhance the sword's cutting and blocking power, Xia Jie's longsword possessed three distinct qualities: width, weight, and length. It carried something of the feel of Yang Guo's Heavy Iron Sword.

If his strength attributes had not improved recently, he would not have applied to Jujutsu High to forge such an unusual weapon.

Xia Jie and Maki moved almost simultaneously, but Maki's current speed was even faster than Xia Jie's when he reinforced his body with Cursed Energy.

Maki swept her spear horizontally, nearly striking the Cursed Spirit Collective's thigh, but it caught her movement and dodged aside.

Maki's movements were undeniably fast, but the dozen or so black-hole-like eyes on the Cursed Spirit Collective gave it unimaginable dynamic vision.

The Cursed Spirit Collective leaped up and launched a flying kick at Maki. Its enormous foot crashed down, kicking up clouds of dust.

Maki sprang out of the dust, and the Cursed Spirit Collective moved to pursue her.

Then a black figure appeared in midair, raising a broadsword and slashing down at it. The Cursed Spirit Collective casually swung its hand at Xia Jie as though swatting a mosquito.

The huge palm tore through the air with a howling gust. Xia Jie cursed the idiot under his breath, adjusted the direction of his sword, and slashed at that deformed hand.

Only when the sword touched the palm did Xia Jie realize that he was the idiot.

The flesh on its palm was as hard as steel. His sword left only a small wound before both he and his blade were sent flying.

Xia Jie gripped his sword tightly, barely keeping it from flying out of his hand.

Maki did not spare any attention for Xia Jie's situation, because she knew that when it truly mattered, Shadow Maru would never allow Xia Jie to be hurt.

Just as she had expected, the instant Xia Jie crashed into the ground, he suddenly felt the earth soften like water.

Looking carefully, it was not that the ground had turned into water. Rather, he had sunk into a shadow as fluid as water.

Xia Jie had no time to say anything to Shadow Maru. Maki had already engaged the Cursed Spirit Collective.

The crimson spear seemed to come alive in Maki's hands. With an unpredictable rhythm, every swing tore away a piece of flesh from the Cursed Spirit Collective.

Even though the Cursed Spirit Collective's dynamic vision was beyond reason, it still could not completely keep up with Maki, whose speed and reactions had reached a special state.

As the spear danced around Maki, its fiery-red blade grew brighter and brighter, drawing dazzling arcs of light. Pain appeared on the Cursed Spirit Collective's faces, and it once again let out that strange, mournful cry, though it was not as loud as before.

Maki's face suddenly turned pale. She fell out of that focused state and even risked being bewitched again.

Just as Xia Jie could not help wanting to summon Shadow Maru, Maki suddenly let out a fierce roar.

"Are you kidding me?! Do you think I'll fall for that trick again?!"

Maki reversed her spear and carved a bloody wound across her own body. The intense pain pulled her free from the illusion. She gathered strength into the spear in her hand and pierced through the Cursed Spirit Collective's palm as it came crashing down from above.

At some point, Xia Jie had slipped beneath the Cursed Spirit Collective's feet. He condensed Cursed Energy, swung his heavy sword, and slashed at the Collective's injured Achilles tendon.

With a crisp crack, a bloody hole instantly appeared in the Cursed Spirit Collective's right foot. When Xia Jie pulled his heavy sword free, purple cursed blood sprayed out at once.

If Xia Jie had not dodged quickly, he would have been splattered from head to toe.

With a chunk of flesh missing from its right foot, the Cursed Spirit Collective could no longer support its body and crashed heavily to the ground.

Maki seized the opportunity to leap into the air, tightening her grip on the spear and aiming at the Cursed Spirit's head.

Her entire body arched like a fully drawn bow, then she hurled the spear in her hand with all her strength.

The spearhead sliced through the air currents with a sharp, brief hum. The red tip seemed to ignite the air itself, bursting with dazzling crimson light!

The next second, the Vengeful Spirit Collective's head was instantly burst like a balloon by the meteor-like spear falling from above.

With a loud bang, fragments of the Cursed Spirit Collective's head, mixed with countless pieces of flesh, vanished from the space in the blink of an eye.

Maki landed from the air with a pale face. The severe exhaustion left her barely able to stand steadily.

Even so, she gave Xia Jie a rather stubborn, smug smile.

"I won this contest!"