Review

The night wind passed through the woods, 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 bloody maw, as though it could swallow everything whole.

In one bite, it forcibly swallowed the enemy's enormous head along with half its neck.

The teeth-grinding sound of chewing continued in the night for several moments.

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

The battle was completely over.

After finishing its meal, the Ever-Coiling Shadow Serpent let out an extraordinarily long, low hiss.

The molten-gold glow in its vertical pupils gradually lost its sharp brilliance.

Its eyelids seemed exceptionally heavy as they slowly drooped, as though an irresistible drowsiness was swiftly sweeping through its body.

Even so, it forced itself to remain conscious, dragging its heavy body through the wreckage as it slowly crawled onward.

Its massive head eventually stopped beside Lu Ping's feet.

It obediently lowered its skull to the ground, released 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 fingers moved slightly as he severed the technique's connection.

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

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

Under the moonlight, he keenly caught a detail.

At the left and right sides of the Great Serpent's head, around its brow bones, a slightly raised fleshy lump had appeared on each side at some point.

Those two lumps had definitely not existed during the battle.

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

The young man withdrew his hand, a thoughtful glint flashing through his eyes.

His mind raced, piecing together every piece of information he knew.

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

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

That also meant two complete Cursed Energy Cores had simultaneously formed 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 judged as seizing the opponent's "origin."

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

Those of common origin could consume one another without any rejection reaction.

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

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

An extremely intense energy restructuring process was taking place there.

Those two raised lumps were by no means an ordinary mutation. They were very likely signs of transforming into a flood dragon or growing horns.

The shikigami was undergoing a profound evolution.

During this long process, like an insect emerging from a cocoon, 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 stepped out from behind a broken tree trunk.

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

"Without needing a sorcerer nearby to provide Cursed Energy support, the shikigami alone was capable of such an utterly one-sided crushing victory."

Qian Chun turned her head, sparing no praise.

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

She crossed her arms, her gaze carrying a hint of reassessment.

"I see it now. Lu Ping, your talent and the depth of your development of your technique far surpass those geniuses the Zenin Clan has produced in the past. Perhaps you really might one day challenge that domain no one has ever conquered."

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

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

Despite such lofty praise, Lu Ping's expression remained utterly calm.

Victory stirred no emotional waves within him. He merely let out a breath of white mist tinged with fatigue.

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

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

"Today's chain of battles has been a full-course fight. The continuous high-intensity Cursed Energy output, coupled with the mental exhaustion from being disturbed by the illusion earlier, has nearly drained my stamina."

He started walking toward the edge of the forest.

"We need to find that missing genius Grade 1 Sorcerer, Suguru Geto, as soon as possible. Then, before any new changes arise in this area, we leave immediately."

At the same time.

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

The night wind was exceptionally fierce here, whipping the surrounding leaves into a loud rustle.

A middle-aged woman dressed plainly, whose appearance was no different from that of an ordinary village woman, sat leisurely at the edge of a tall, thick tree branch.

Her legs dangled in the air, swinging gently in boredom.

The woman slowly raised her right hand and pressed it against the top of her skull.

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

This bizarre action was merely to make the ring of scarlet stitches above her forehead fit the brain inside more perfectly.

Special Grade Curse User, Kenjaku.

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

He looked down at the ruined village shrouded in night, a smile of keen interest curling at his lips as he murmured to himself.

"Though he is also playing with shadows, the Cursed Energy fluctuations emanating from him carry an extremely strange, chilling quality. Compared to those conventional Ten Shadows Sorcerers, he seems somewhat different."

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

"Good. I encountered an unexpected variable, so this trip was not wasted after all."

As the ultimate amusement-seeker who had lived for more than a thousand years, his purpose in arranging tonight's situation had been very clear.

There was only one objective: to thoroughly test that gifted young man who possessed Cursed Spirit Manipulation and observe the potential of his technique.

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