A faint musty smell lingered in the dimly lit passageway.
Skilled Jujutsu Sorcerer would recognize this as the scent of Cursed Spirit.
Ignoring the noise outside, Lu Ping walked straight into the deeper part of the area.
The feudalistic mindset of large families like those in the Zenin Clan has a long history; it didn't develop overnight.
He currently has no interest in participating in the infighting and power struggles among those high-ranking officials.
In the Jujutsu World, where strength is considered absolute truth, one's own exceptional strength is the only passport to success.
How long this decaying ship of the Zenin Clan can sail depends on the skill of its helmsman.
At present, his primary task is to improve his own capabilities.
Lu Ping carefully placed the notebook back into the sandalwood box, tossed it into the shadows behind him, and rose to walk towards the "ritual room" deep within the "Cursed Tool Vault storehouse."
The spell runes I just successfully inscribed need a few ready-made targets to practice on.
After walking through the long corridor, a heavy wooden door covered with runes appeared at the end.
The barrier at the entrance rippled like water.
This is a one-way filtering barrier that only restricts the entry and exit of Cursed Spirit, posing no obstacle to human sorcerers.
Lu Ping stepped across the threshold.
The room was spacious, and the walls were covered with dark brown, dried scratches.
Several distorted, Grade 2 Cursed Spirit were wandering aimlessly.
Some had several arms, while others had torsos like swollen tumors, emitting meaningless roars.
This is a special training ground for our family to train younger members to draw blood and accelerate the awakening of their Cursed Technique.
Lu Ping didn't stand on ceremony.
He raised his right hand, but instead of forming a complete dog-shaped hand seal, he casually extended his thumb and forefinger to make a simple "eight" shape.
This is only half of the complete handprint.
The Cursed Energy within his body surged along his meridians to the back of his hand, instantly activating the jet-black, gilded wolf head curse mark.
The shadow beneath my feet churned like boiling water.
There is no lengthy chanting, nor is there a need for even a second of hand seal pause.
A three-meter-high black whirlwind swept out from behind him, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, and rushed directly towards the wandering Cursed Spirit.
"Click."
The sickening sound of bones cracking echoed in the empty room.
The black whirlwind never stopped, turning into afterimages as it weaved back and forth between the cursed Cursed Spirit.
In the blink of an eye, those Grade 2 monsters, which would be quite troublesome for ordinary sorcerers, were swallowed whole, one by one.
The whirlwind subsided.
The enormous Shadow Wolf stood still, slowly chewing on the last remaining limb of the Cursed Spirit.
Dark purple blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, only to be absorbed by the shadow beneath his feet before it even touched the ground.
Lu Ping quietly observed the Shikigami before him.
He found himself able to sense a faint trace of joy emanating from the Shadow Wolf as they ate.
As his total Cursed Energy increased dramatically during this period, the Shadow Wolf's size also grew accordingly.
However, its shape and edges appear somewhat flimsy and distorted, adding to its unreal and bizarre feel.
This is a characteristic that is not fully manifested.
While this reduces the attack power of the Shikigami, it also provides a very high margin for error.
In this state, the Shadow Wolf is not so easily destroyed.
As long as the summoner continuously injects Cursed Energy, it can even be fully revived and rejoin the battle at any time.
Suddenly, a subtle anomaly caught Lu Ping's attention.
After chewing and swallowing, the Shadow Wolf's body visibly swelled up a little.
This subtle change did not escape Lu Ping's perception, which had been enhanced by the Three Corpses.
He looked down at the curse mark on the back of his hand.
This mark was carved by myself using the power of the Ten Shadows Cursed Energy transformed from the Three Corpses within my body.
The Shikigami summoned through this medium seem to inevitably be tainted by the strange characteristics of the Three Corpses within them.
Did it inherit the Azure Corpse's ability to devour?
Lu Ping's mind raced, and he issued the order.
The Shadow Wolf in front let out a low growl, and its swollen body obediently shrank back to its original size.
Immediately afterwards, it lay down on the spot, lowered its head, and waited for further instructions from its owner.
At the same time, a surge of pure Cursed Energy, along the invisible connection in the void and through the incantation seal on the back of his right hand, suddenly poured into Lu Ping's body.
The Cursed Energy returns!
A hint of surprise flashed in the boy's eyes.
He knew that the [Round Deer] could release Positive Cursed Energy to nourish the sorcerer's life force; this was an advanced recovery mechanism inherent in the Ten Shadows.
But this was the first time he had ever heard of a Shikigami that could directly replenish a sorcerer's Cursed Energy!
I used the same source of Cursed Energy to summon Shikigami before, so why didn't I feel this much difference then?
After a brief moment of thought, he identified the crux of the problem.
The problem wasn't with the Cursed Energy; the root cause lay in the [Ten Shadows Technique] themselves.
The Shadow Wolf, built upon the [Divine Dogs], possesses two core abilities: first, the ability to Scent Tracking; and second, the ability to "devour."
The Divine Dogs was initially only at Grade 2, so it was split into two, one black and one white, to fight together.
They possess the ability to grow; once one dies, its power is inherited by the other, transforming it into [Divine Dogs ·Hun].
The Shadow Wolf naturally inherited this devouring characteristic as well.
When the Divine Dogs's innate ability to devour meets the bizarre power of the Three Corpses Manipulation —which can even devour emotions—a strange chemical reaction occurs under the catalysis of the cursed seal.
It can actually reverse the power gained from digesting the Cursed Spirit and transfer it back to the user!
Of course, this growth mechanism is by no means without limits.
Otherwise, Ten Shadows Sorcerer of each generation could do was mindlessly train the Divine Dogs at the start and become invincible by simply stacking up its stats, without ever needing to subdue the higher-level Shikigami later on.
In theory, every summoned creature has a capacity threshold.
Lu Ping took two steps forward.
Since the last mission where the Shadow Wolf self-destructed in its Crimson Shadow Form, the newly formed Shikigami seems to have developed an even stronger affinity with the Three Corpses within its body.
The pupils, which were originally a vibrant green, now shone with a deep, dark emerald green, as if they could see through to the very essence of the soul.
[Shadow Wolf - Azure Corpse Form]
This is not a temporary enhancement like the last Blood Corpse form, which is used up and then discarded. Instead, it is a normal mutation integrated into the underlying structure.
As the two top-tier Cursed Technique converged, their underlying logic Resonance, giving birth to a new monster.
It can devour the corpses of Cursed Spirit to strengthen itself and can also feed back Cursed Energy to the summoner.
This is like a wild animal that originally only knew how to eat and leave, but has learned to transfer excess nutrients to its mother.
Although the Cursed Energy being fed back is not great at the moment, it is undoubtedly an excellent start.
If it continues to develop along this path, as the Shikigami's level increases and the targets it devours become stronger, perhaps one day this Shadow Wolf will truly be able to become self-sufficient.
Even during the fierce tug-of-war, it provided him with a continuous supply, enabling the electricity meter to truly reverse.
Having clarified his thoughts, Lu Ping was completely relieved.
His own Cursed Technique went smoothly; on the contrary, the Shikigami underwent a positive evolution.
Just as Lu Ping was about to dispel the curse seal, the commotion outside intensified.
The fluctuations of Cursed Energy in the distance became increasingly obvious, and the tremors transmitted through the air even penetrated the thick walls of the "Cursed Tool Vault".
Several familiar auras were rapidly approaching the infiltrated, unfamiliar source of Cursed Energy.
The Zenin Clan members who were the first to make contact have clearly already engaged in combat with their opponents.
Lu Ping closed his eyes and emptied his mind.
The Three Corpses' network of Cursed Energy perception spread outwards.
The Cursed Energy fluctuations that collided with that Level One outsider carried a sense of impatience, abruptness, and constantly overlapping afterimages.
This is the unique Cursed Energy frequency of [Projection Sorcery].
The one currently engaged in fierce combat with the outsiders is Naoya Zenin.
This proud and arrogant young master seems to have vented all the anger he suffered in the main hall on that unfortunate intruder.
Her eyes reopened.
Lu Ping casually flicked his wrist, and the Shadow Wolf turned into a pool of ink, merging into the shadow beneath his feet.
The harvest in the Cursed Tool Vault was plentiful; we took what we were supposed to take and tried what we were supposed to try.
It's time to go out and see what's going on.