"99% of people don't know the shocking truth behind the Shinjuku Incident! The real reason was actually—"
"Terrifying! A young woman took this photo in Shinjuku and actually captured a Demon God!"
"Famous shrine priest reveals: The Shinjuku Incident was predicted long ago, and the truth behind it is chilling!"
"Reporting from Tokyo: Uncovering the truth behind the Shinjuku explosion."
Xia Jie sat in an internet café, used VPN software, and posted the "truth" about the Shinjuku Incident on websites in Japan and other countries. While he was at it, he bought trending spots on several foreign websites.
After spending two days in the hospital, he had finished designing the Imaginary Cursed Spirits he wanted to envision and their backstories, then manifested them.
Although it was a little late to release them now, he had photos of the Imaginary Cursed Spirits and could stir up another wave of hype.
The two Cursed Spirits were massive, both resembling humanoid evil demons. One was entirely azure-blue, while the other was black as ink.
Xia Jie named the two Cursed Spirits Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, corresponding to the attributes of thunder and darkness respectively. Creating them had consumed roughly 4,100 points of his Cursed Energy.
The reason he had arrived at such a precise figure as 4,100 was that, during his stay in the hospital, Xia Jie had sensed the Cursed Energy of ordinary people and himself, then assigned them specific numerical values.
The benefit of doing so was having a clear standard. As for accuracy—
Most people in the Jujutsu World possessed Cursed Energy, but the bodies of non-sorcerers could not store it, so their Cursed Energy was constantly dissipating.
Their Cursed Energy was not a fixed value either. Xia Jie placed their Cursed Energy levels between 20 and 50.
A Jujutsu Sorcerer's Cursed Energy circulated through their body and was often several times greater than that of an ordinary person. It could also be increased through training.
Take Xia Jie, for example. Although he had not awakened his Cursed Technique as a child, he still possessed the talent to use Cursed Energy.
Because of that, Xia Jie had received basic Cursed Energy training from his clan when he was young.
However, after he and his father, Xia Changqing, fled to Japan, his father grew weary of the disputes within Jujutsu Society and forbade Xia Jie from practicing Cursed Energy. Gradually, Xia Jie also put aside his training.
Even so, Xia Jie's current Cursed Energy was around a hundred times that of an ordinary person, totaling roughly 5,000 points.
This Cursed Energy provided the foundation for Xia Jie to create Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru.
While creating Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, Xia Jie discovered through feedback from his Cursed Technique that creating Cursed Wombs for Imaginary Cursed Spirits of different grades required different amounts of Cursed Energy.
Creating a Grade 4 Cursed Spirit's Cursed Womb required 50 to 100 points of Cursed Energy; a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit's Cursed Womb required 100 to 500; a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit's Cursed Womb required 500 to 1,000; a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit's Cursed Womb required 1,000 to 2,000; and a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit's Cursed Womb required at least 2,000 points.
Xia Jie exhausted his own Cursed Energy to create the spirit cores of Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, barely allowing their growth potential to reach the threshold of Special-Grade Cursed Spirits.
Each Cursed Spirit consumed an average of 2,050 points of his Cursed Energy, for a total of 4,100 points.
The excessive depletion of Cursed Energy left Xia Jie with indescribable exhaustion, and it also made him realize something else: there was a special threshold governing Cursed Energy consumption and recovery.
Generally speaking, if a Jujutsu Sorcerer used up less than 50% of their Cursed Energy, it would gradually recover at a rate of 10% per day. If more than 50% was consumed, it would recover slowly at a rate of 5% per day.
Xia Jie created Thunder Maru first, immediately using up more than 50% of his Cursed Energy. Only after another day passed did he create Shadow Maru.
After creating Shadow Maru, Xia Jie's Cursed Energy was nearly depleted. It would take at least half a month to fully recover.
Emptying his Cursed Energy was risky, but the current opportunity was precious.
The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons in Shinjuku and Kyoto had caused enormous social unrest. With everyone gripped by fear, rumors spread everywhere.
If Xia Jie seized this opportunity, he might obtain enough Legend Points to create his own Special-Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit.
Thus, Xia Jie took a desperate gamble and created the spirit cores of Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, two Special-Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirits. He then hurriedly left the hospital and ran between several internet cafés, posting on domestic and foreign websites to build momentum for their existence.
In Xia Jie's posts, he explained in detail the cause of the Shinjuku Incident.
Xia Jie fabricated the Shinjuku riot as having been caused by Kishimojin giving birth to the Nine Noble Children, whose five hundred demon children had rampaged through Shinjuku.
These Nine Noble Children were Gold Maru, Wood Maru, Water Maru, Fire Maru, Earth Maru, Wind Maru, Thunder Maru, Light Maru, and Shadow Maru, corresponding to the nine attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, and darkness.
Xia Jie had once considered directly envisioning Kishimojin.
But Kishimojin was an extremely famous legend in Japan. If he created Kishimojin himself, she would likely instantly grow into an uncontrollable Special-Grade Cursed Spirit.
So Xia Jie settled for the next best thing. Borrowing the name of the Ghost Mother, he created the legend of the Nine Noble Children during the Shinjuku Incident, intending to manifest them through this opportunity.
His original plan had been to directly create nine powerful Cursed Spirits, but because his Cursed Energy was limited, he ultimately only created Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, corresponding to thunder and darkness. As for the other seven Cursed Spirits... they might still be in Kishimojin's womb.
After creating Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, Xia Jie specifically sought out some ruined walls and rubble after leaving the hospital. To make the claim that "the Ghost Mother gave birth and caused chaos in Shinjuku" more convincing, he had Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru appear there and used Cursed Energy to photograph "evidence" of their rampage.
Because clear, complete photos could potentially bring him trouble, Xia Jie deliberately obscured the appearances of Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru while taking the pictures.
The Japanese authorities had noticed Xia Jie's trash posts long ago. There were many people like him making wild guesses, and most believed Vengeful Spirits were behind it.
As for the authorities' claim that terrorists were responsible, it could only fool uninformed onlookers. Many people who had experienced the events in Tokyo and Kyoto firsthand did not buy it.
At first, the authorities kept banning IP addresses and deleting posts. But after noticing that many people were spreading their claims overseas, they realized further deletions might backfire and instead suppressed such content.
Yet discussion of Vengeful Spirits and demons causing havoc remained intense. Xia Jie's theory of "Kishimojin's Childbirth" sparked widespread debate and reposting among netizens because its logic was clear and its evidence plentiful.
Though the exaggerated headline style made some keyboard warriors suspicious, Xia Jie did not need to do anything. Others naturally stepped up to argue with them.
The claim of "Kishimojin's Childbirth" was soon accepted by the public, allowing Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru to rapidly accumulate a massive amount of Legend Points.
Xia Jie manifested two strange cards in the void—he used Cursed Energy cards as vessels for Imaginary Cursed Spirits. They contained the descriptions of Thunder Maru and Shadow Maru, and he checked their Legend Points.
First was Thunder Maru:
[Imaginary Cursed Spirit: Thunder Maru] [Grade: Special-Grade Cursed Spirit—Cursed Womb Form] [Cursed Energy: 2050/20500] [Legend Points: 4.112 million/4.68 million] [Cursed Technique: Thunder Cursed Art] [Cursed Technique Effect: Can manipulate its own Cursed Energy into lightning.] [Binding Vow: 1. No Thunder on Clear Days: The effect of Lightning Strike Cursed Art is affected by the weather. In clear weather, the Cursed Technique's effect is weakened by 20%; in overcast weather, it is enhanced by 20%. 2. Discharge Upon Contact with Water: When it falls into water, its Cursed Energy uncontrollably leaks out until it is completely depleted.] [Jujutsu Skills: 1. Thunder Beast: A ferocious Thunder Beast formed from its own Cursed Energy, capable of swiftly attacking enemies and dealing lightning damage. 2. Thunderflash: Uses Cursed Energy to greatly enhance its reaction speed and physical speed, making it almost impossible to track with the naked eye.]
Then came Shadow Maru:
[Imaginary Cursed Spirit: Shadow Maru] [Grade: Special-Grade Cursed Spirit—Cursed Womb Form] [Cursed Energy: 2050/20500] [Legend Points: 4.132 million/5.4 million] [Cursed Technique: Shadow Manipulation] [Cursed Technique Effect: Supreme control over shadows.] [Binding Vow: Interplay of Light and Darkness: In intense light or complete darkness, both Cursed Energy and Cursed Technique effects are weakened by at least 20%.] [Jujutsu Skills: 1. Hide in Shadow: Shadow Maru can move freely within shadows and seal any target inside a shadow. 2. Myriad Transformations: Shadow Maru can transform its own shadow into various forms. 3. Shadow Binding: By covering an opponent's shadow with its own, it can control the target's body. 4. Shadow Clone: Shadow Maru can use shadows to create Shadow Clones. Shadow Clones possess some of Shadow Maru's abilities. Their strength depends on their number.]
Before you continue