Within an Inner World of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a white-clad figure sat languidly upon the Cursed Throne, built from countless bones, his chin resting on one hand.
Scarlet light flickered in his eyes, and a smile spread across the King of Curses' face.
"To think I'd run into another interesting fellow."
The sea of blood churned, the mountains of corpses collapsed, and that calamity-like figure vanished amid a burst of wild laughter.
"Ha! Ha!"
"Mr. Lu Yun, what are you doing?"
Yuta Okkotsu raised a hand to block the spray of lightning hurtling toward him, puzzled by Lu Yun's extreme reaction.
He hadn't done anything rude, had he?
"Sorry, reflex reaction."
Once Yuta Okkotsu dropped that expression, Lu Yun instantly returned to normal and casually told him not to worry about what had just happened.
"Oh, I see. As long as you're all right."
Sweat beaded on Yuta Okkotsu's forehead.
This man who could rival Gojo-sensei really was strange. Was this the price of becoming strong?
Recalling Satoru Gojo's awful personality, Okkotsu suddenly felt it wasn't all that hard to accept.
People at the top really did have to be different.
"By the way, Mr. Lu Yun, aren't you going to undo this state?"
Okkotsu could sense that Lu Yun had remained in his Elementalization state all this time. Having copied "Lu Yun's" Cursed Technique, he knew that once [Mythical Beast Amber] was activated, its effects could not be stopped. Okkotsu had been able to undo it because his was merely a copied technique. When his Copy expired, the copied technique's effects naturally vanished.
Okkotsu was very curious about how Lu Yun, as the sorcerer himself, would completely undo the technique's effects.
"Good point. Let me give it a try."
Uh, did Mr. Lu Yun not know how to undo it either?
Okkotsu's heart jolted at those words.
Lu Yun wasn't the technique's owner. This was his first time using the technique that came from Hajime Kashimo, and presumably even Hajime Kashimo himself didn't know how to undo it. Still, now that Lu Yun had learned Reverse Cursed Technique, he had a few ideas.
Quietly sensing the Cursed Energy flowing through his body, Lu Yun focused and took active control of this negative energy extracted from negative emotions.
Under his control, the Cursed Energy split into two streams. Following the method described in the reward information, Lu Yun brought them together. Manipulated in a particular way, the two streams of negative energy suddenly multiplied. Two negatives made a positive, giving rise to positive energy that was entirely different from Cursed Energy and could heal the body.
Was that... Reverse Cursed Technique!
As someone proficient in Reverse Cursed Technique, Okkotsu could naturally sense the fluctuations of this positive energy.
But Reverse Cursed Technique wouldn't help.
He had also used Reverse Cursed Technique while Mythical Beast Amber was active. Unfortunately, it could only slow the collapse of his flesh, not fully undo the technique.
What happened next only confirmed Okkotsu's thoughts.
The moment he successfully performed Reverse Cursed Technique, Lu Yun unhesitatingly used the positive energy to repair his body.
Under his expectant gaze, his lightning-formed body did indeed turn back into flesh and blood. Yet before Lu Yun could celebrate, the still-active technique immediately went to work. The section of his arm that had just returned to flesh and blood became lightning again in an instant.
So it really wouldn't work.
Lu Yun and Okkotsu sighed at the same time.
Was there really nothing they could do?
"It's all my fault."
Yuta Okkotsu felt guilty.
If he hadn't insisted on attacking, Mr. Lu Yun wouldn't have chosen to activate his technique.
"It's fine, kiddo. Watch your Uncle Lu Yun."
Unlike the pessimistic Okkotsu, Lu Yun, the one actually affected, didn't take it seriously at all.
If Reverse Cursed Technique didn't work, so be it. With his Golden Finger, Lu Yun had endless possibilities. Perhaps one day he would obtain an ability that could restore his body.
Besides, the positive energy produced by Reverse Cursed Technique had more uses than simply healing the body.
More and more positive energy accumulated inside him, but Lu Yun still didn't use it to restore his body. Instead, he directed it toward a particular place within him.
The place where Hajime Kashimo's technique was engraved.
That was right. The method Lu Yun had thought of this time was another application of positive energy: Cursed Technique Reversal.
When Jujutsu Sorcerers used their techniques, they generally controlled their Cursed Energy and fed this negative energy into the Innate Cursed Technique engraved within their bodies, thereby activating it. Could positive energy, born from multiplying Cursed Energy and possessing the exact opposite properties, do the same? The answer, of course, was yes.
Satoru Gojo's [Red] was created by injecting positive energy into his Innate Cursed Technique, producing an effect entirely different from [Blue], which was powered by Cursed Energy. Jujutsu Society called this skill Cursed Technique Reversal.
Unfortunately, very few people in Jujutsu Society could use Reverse Cursed Technique. Even if they could, the effects of their Innate Cursed Techniques weren't necessarily suited to reversal through positive energy. As a result, sorcerers capable of performing Cursed Technique Reversal were rarer still.
No wonder Okkotsu had thought they were out of options.
Who could have guessed that Lu Yun was a cheater?
As positive energy flowed into his Innate Cursed Technique, Mythical Beast Amber's effects were successfully reversed. The surging lightning and Thunder Beast Cloak slowly vanished, and Lu Yun's body gradually returned to pure flesh and blood.
It looked like it had worked.
Under Yuta Okkotsu's astonished gaze, Lu Yun's body returned completely to that of an ordinary flesh-and-blood human. No more fluctuations of Cursed Energy arose within him to try to transform his body, but a burst of intense pain followed.
"Fuck, I almost forgot about that."
Once the Thunder Beast state ended, his right arm, which had been formed from lightning, naturally vanished along with it. The pain temporarily suppressed by Elementalization returned at that very moment.
He clutched his empty right shoulder, blood seeping little by little between his fingers. Lu Yun had never experienced anything like this, and his face immediately twisted in pain.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Mr. Lu Yun. I'll heal you right away."
Seeing how much pain the injury he had inflicted was causing Lu Yun, Okkotsu hurriedly apologized and stepped forward to heal him.
"No, no need. I'll do it myself."
Raising his hand to stop Okkotsu, Lu Yun endured the agonizing pain and activated Reverse Cursed Technique.
Only now did he finally see through the illusion created by the immense power Hajime Kashimo had given him and gain a small sense of how real his transmigration was.
None of this was a dream. Lu Yun truly had come to a place entirely different from the world he knew.
At this moment, the physical pain felt far more real than Hajime Kashimo's threat to erase his mind. This wasn't a game. One careless mistake, and Lu Yun really could die far from home.
As that realization sank in, Lu Yun's expression dimmed.
He'd better keep Elementalization active all the time from now on.
"What happened? Why was there such a commotion just now?"
The voice that had been sleeping within his body rang out.
"Deer God, you're awake?"
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