Lu Yun's earlier attack had been more than a simple electric shock. He had also driven an electric charge infused with his own cursed energy into Ryu Ishigori's body. As he carefully sensed the changes in that charge, his eyes widened.
"So this is the effect of 'Cursed Energy Erosion'?"
The charge that had entered Ryu Ishigori's body was steadily growing by eroding his cursed energy. This meant Lu Yun no longer needed to land multiple hits to build up a charge. One hit was enough for the charge to grow on its own, while also acting like a cursed-energy leech, continually devouring the cursed energy inside his opponent to weaken him.
Of course, that didn't mean repeated attacks were useless. Quite the opposite: the more hits he landed, the faster the charge accumulated, and the less cursed energy his enemy had left.
"That's fucking awesome!"
After some experimentation, Lu Yun fully understood how the ability worked and exclaimed in amazement.
He hadn't known what he was missing until he tried it. Then it blew him away.
With only the information in his head to go on, Lu Yun would never have imagined that this little ability he had gotten from Kurourushi could be so powerful. Paired with Hajime Kashimo's Executioner's Lightning, it truly made one plus one greater than two.
In the original story, Hajime Kashimo's electricity-infused cursed energy looked powerful, but it never really delivered any particularly outstanding results. One reason was that he had only one way to accumulate a charge, which had made him the butt of countless jokes online.
Never mind how powerful the resulting explosion was-Lord Kashimo still had to hit his opponent three times before he could trigger it. Against opponents who could use Reverse Cursed Technique, they would heal as soon as the charge detonated. All that painstakingly accumulated charge went to waste in an instant, and he had to start punching all over again to build it back up. The guy was hopeless.
Now, Lu Yun only needed to hit his opponent once to accumulate a charge indefinitely and trigger an electrical explosion. The improvement brought by "Cursed Energy Erosion" was unquestionably a qualitative leap, making up for a major weakness in Hajime Kashimo's abilities.
Poor Kashimo had just received an epic buff. Lu Yun wiped his damp eyes, unable to keep himself from feeling happy for him.
"At last, poor Kashimo can get back on his feet."
Deep asleep, Hajime Kashimo inexplicably felt a chill and murmured:
"That brat must be talking about me behind my back again."
Lu Yun then tested the other abilities one by one. Perhaps "Cursed Energy Erosion" had raised his expectations too high, because the remaining abilities left him somewhat disappointed.
"Barrier Technique Mastery" and "Beginner Space Control" were knowledge-based abilities. They had no concrete effects and merely expanded Lu Yun's knowledge of those subjects.
As far as barrier techniques went, Lu Yun could now independently construct barriers with special effects, such as a "Curtain," just like Ijichi in the original story.
Beyond that, to his delight, he had a vague feeling that he could construct a complete domain.
Still, constructing a domain wasn't really necessary.
Setting aside the effects of certain special cursed techniques, ordinary domains generally fell into two categories: "sure-hit" and "sure-hit, sure-kill." Ryu Ishigori and Uro, for example, had domains with only a sure-hit effect. Lu Yun already had a sure-hit attack, so those were of no use to him. If he simply needed to counter a domain, Hollow Wicker Basket was barely enough to get by.
Only children settled for one or the other. Since he could construct a domain, naturally he wanted both sure-hit and sure-kill. But to obtain a sure-kill effect, he would have to engrave his own cursed technique into the domain's barrier. Lu Yun wasn't trying to slander him, but Hajime Kashimo's cursed technique really wasn't suited to being engraved into a barrier.
Surely he couldn't open a domain and transform his opponent into Mythical Beast Amber? Whether his opponent would die was anyone's guess, but Lu Yun himself certainly wouldn't have a good time. Opening a domain that failed to weaken his opponent was bad enough; giving them a buff on top of that would be asking for trouble.
Lu Yun suddenly felt that he understood Hajime Kashimo a little better.
Perhaps Kashimo wasn't incapable of using a domain. Maybe his cursed technique was simply completely unsuited to being engraved into one, which was why he had never shown a domain.
Mythical Beast Amber is absolute trash. I'd better wait until I get an ability suited to being engraved into a domain before constructing one.
After silently taking Hajime Kashimo's side, Lu Yun promptly put the matter of domains out of his mind.
As for "Beginner Space Control," the ability he had obtained from Takako Uro, it sounded rather advanced, but in practice, Lu Yun didn't feel anything particularly remarkable about it.
He hadn't suddenly gained the ability to travel through space or leap through spacetime. He merely felt that his perception of space had become a little sharper.
To put it bluntly, if Lu Yun were sent back to middle school or high school, he could solve all the spatial mathematics problems that had once troubled him-solid geometry, spatial geometry, and the like-in minutes.
Of course, that wasn't its only use.
If he had to name another, Lu Yun could now faintly detect the "surfaces" scattered through the air.
In the original manga, Maki and Sukuna had used those "surfaces" in the air to briefly keep their bodies aloft.
With a little more practice, Lu Yun probably wouldn't find that difficult either.
Last was "Cursed Energy Discharge," which he had obtained by defeating Ryu Ishigori. There was even less to say about that one. It did exactly what its name suggested: Lu Yun could now unleash large-scale cursed energy cannons, just like Ryu Ishigori.
He simply didn't need to give himself a thunder-cannon hairstyle like Ryu Ishigori's. Lu Yun could release cursed energy from any part of his body at will. In exchange, his cursed energy cannons were bound to be less powerful than Ryu Ishigori's. Still, they were better than nothing.
More skills never hurt, though. Nobody complained about knowing how to do too much. One more ability meant one more option. Nothing wrong with that.
The abilities were merely a bonus. What excited Lu Yun most was the increase in his base stats. The rewards for defeating the Sendai Four Heavenly Kings had improved his total cursed energy, control, efficiency, and output across the board, raising his overall level as a jujutsu sorcerer by an entire tier.
Previously, Lu Yun could barely use Hajime Kashimo's abilities, and at best, he could be considered a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Now, after several Special Grade battles fought by Lord Kashimo on his behalf, his combat experience had increased enormously, and his stats had improved even further. Lu Yun had truly joined the ranks of Special Grade powerhouses.
He wasn't even an ordinary Special Grade. Lu Yun felt that his cursed-energy-reinforced body alone, without any other tricks, could give certain Special Grades a serious run for their money.
His left fist dealt heavy damage, and his right fist dealt damage heavily. At that moment, Lu Yun possessed the distinctive beauty of a walking stat monster.
Ah, such immense power! Such beautiful stats!
Lu Yun even felt that he might now be able to punch Sukuna to death with a single blow.
Of course, that was merely an illusion brought on by a massive increase in strength over a short period. If he dared approach Uncle Sukuna right now, Uncle Sukuna wouldn't mind slicing up another serving of diced mango.
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