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The night wind passed through the forest, letting out a low moan.

The Great Serpent's barbed lower jaw suddenly exerted force, instantly piercing through the Snake God Cursed Spirit's neck defenses.

Without pausing in the slightest, it opened its gaping maw as if it could devour everything.

With a single bite, it forcibly swallowed the enemy's enormous head along with half its neck.

The teeth-grinding sound of chewing continued through the night for a moment.

The Snake God Cursed Spirit's remaining body, which had still been convulsing wildly, seemed to have all its strength drained away at once. It suddenly stiffened, then turned into black ash that scattered through the air and vanished without a trace.

The battle was completely over.

After completing the devouring, the Ever-Coiling Shadow Serpent let out an exceptionally long, low hiss.

Its vertical pupils, which had been burning with molten-gold radiance, gradually lost their sharp gleam.

Its eyelids became unusually heavy and slowly drooped, as though an irresistible drowsiness were swiftly sweeping through its entire body.

Even so, it forced itself to retain its last shred of clarity, dragging its heavy body as it slowly crawled through the wreckage.

Its massive head finally came to a stop beside Lu Ping's feet.

It obediently lowered its skull to the ground, let out a faint snort, and fell into a deep sleep.

Lu Ping lowered his head.

He extended his right hand and pressed his palm against the intricate dark curse markings atop the Great Serpent's head.

His fingertips moved slightly, severing the connection to the technique.

The shadows on the ground surged upward like a living swamp, gently wrapping around and swallowing the colossal creature before finally returning it entirely to the Shadow Space to recuperate.

A second before the shikigami completely vanished, Lu Ping's gaze narrowed slightly.

By the moonlight, he sharply caught a detail.

At some point, a pair of slightly raised fleshy lumps had appeared on either side of the Great Serpent's forehead.

Those two lumps had definitely not existed during the battle.

They had abruptly grown only after the shikigami devoured the Snake God Cursed Spirit's head.

The boy withdrew his hand, a trace of contemplation flashing through his eyes.

His mind raced as he pieced together all the information he knew.

According to the basic common knowledge of the Jujutsu World, a cursed spirit's power core was usually concentrated in its brain.

And the Snake God Cursed Spirit that had attempted to descend earlier possessed two separate heads.

That meant it had two complete Cursed Energy Cores within its body.

Before it had fully descended into reality, the Great Serpent had forcibly devoured one of its heads through brutal means.

Under the underlying logic of jujutsu, that act was deemed to have seized its "origin."

Since it had acquired half of that origin, the rules judged it and the remaining Snake God Cursed Spirit to share the special relationship of "common origin."

Those of common origin could devour one another without any rejection.

Therefore, when it swallowed the enemy's second head as well, it was equivalent to completely absorbing the entirety of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit's essence.

Lu Ping silently sensed the strange fluctuations coming from the depths of the Shadow Space.

An extremely intense energy reorganization was taking place there.

Those two fleshy protrusions were no ordinary mutation. They were very likely signs that it was transforming into a flood dragon or growing horns.

The shikigami was undergoing a profound evolution.

During this long process, like a cocoon hatching, the Ever-Coiling Shadow Serpent would temporarily be sealed within the shadows and unable to answer summons for quite some time.

Still, this spoils of war was absolutely worth it.

Kamo Chitsubaki emerged from behind a broken tree trunk.

She stopped at the edge of the enormous crater, looked at the ashes scattered across the ground, and nodded in satisfaction.

"It doesn't need a sorcerer nearby to provide cursed energy support. The shikigami alone can produce such a complete one-sided crushing victory."

Qian Chun turned her head and offered her praise without reservation.

"The combat power of your Great Serpent is ridiculously strong."

She folded her arms across her chest, her gaze carrying a hint of renewed scrutiny.

"I think I understand now. Lu Ping, your talent and the depth of your development of your technique far surpass those of the Zenin Clan's previous prodigies. Perhaps you really might one day challenge that realm no one has ever successfully reached."

Qian Chun paused, and a rare note of anticipation entered her voice.

"Subdue the legendary strongest shikigami—the Divine General of Another World, Mahoraga—and become the strongest Ten Shadows Sorcerer in history."

Faced with such high praise, Lu Ping's expression remained utterly calm.

He felt no emotional fluctuation from the victory. He merely exhaled a faint puff of white breath tinged with fatigue.

"We'll talk about the future when it comes."

Lu Ping turned toward the direction they had come from, calmly stating their current situation.

"Today's string of battles has taken everything out of us. After continuously expending cursed energy at high intensity, along with the mental strain from being disrupted by the illusion earlier, my stamina is nearly exhausted."

He started walking toward the edge of the forest.

"We need to find the missing Grade 1 Sorcerer prodigy, Suguru Geto, as soon as possible. Then, before this area undergoes any further changes, we need to leave immediately."

At the same time.

On a hidden main peak several mountains away from this battlefield.

The night wind was unusually fierce here, whipping the surrounding leaves into loud rustling.

A middle-aged woman dressed plainly, looking no different from an ordinary village woman, sat leisurely on the edge of a tall, sturdy tree branch.

Her legs dangled in the air as she idly swung them back and forth.

The woman slowly raised her right hand and placed it on the crown of her head.

Her five fingers tightened. Accompanied by a scalp-crawling sound of bones grinding, she actually twisted the upper half of her skull left and right by half a turn, as though unscrewing a bottle cap.

This bizarre movement was merely to make the ring of crimson stitches above her forehead fit more perfectly around the brain inside.

Special Grade curse user, Kenjaku.

"This generation's Ten Shadows Sorcerer seems rather interesting."

He looked down at the ruined village shrouded in night, the corner of his mouth lifting into an intrigued smile as he murmured to himself.

"Though he is also playing with shadows, the cursed energy fluctuations coming from him carry an exceedingly strange, chilling aura. Compared with those conventional Ten Shadows Sorcerers, he seems rather different."

Kenjaku released his hand and let the night wind stir the loose strands of hair before his forehead.

"Fine. I've witnessed an unexpected variable, so this trip has not been in vain."

As the ultimate thrill-seeker who had lived for over a thousand years, his purpose in arranging tonight's setup had been very clear.

There was only one objective: thoroughly test the gifted young man possessing [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] and observe the potential of his technique.

And the compatibility between that "body" and his own "brain."