Special Grade

The grades of jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits generally did not correspond directly.

For example, a Grade 3 Sorcerer only qualified for that rank if they could consistently exorcise grade 3 cursed spirits. The same applied to Grade 2 and even Grade 1 Sorcerers.

In other words, within the same grade, cursed spirits were usually weaker than jujutsu sorcerers.

That was also why, a thousand years later, Megumi Fushiguro nearly getting exorcised by a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit despite being a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer himself would be singled out and discussed for so long.

But that classification only applied to sorcerers and cursed spirits of Grade 1 and below.

Even Special Grade Sorcerers, who stood at the pinnacle, were not required to be capable of consistently exorcising special grade cursed spirits.

Although the gap between one special grade and another could be greater than the gap between Grade 1 and Grade 4, at least in terms of classification, Special Grade Sorcerers and special grade cursed spirits stood on equal footing.

With a powerful burst of cursed energy, the mountainous heap of ruined houses shot outward like cannonballs.

At a thought from Jianxia, Banquet of Fated Remnants turned sideways to shield him. Wooden debris battered its body with a clatter, but caused no real damage.

Once the dust cleared, a tall figure slowly emerged.

Its silhouette resembled a tall, thin human man. Its skin was deathly white, and its facial features had vanished, replaced by three hollow faces on its left chest, abdomen, and right thigh.

Its hands were unnaturally large compared to its body, like an adult holding two palm-leaf fans, while its fingers were thin and long.

From the sheer volume of its immense cursed energy alone, Jianxia could tell that this was no ordinary Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.

"Human... you dared destroy the trap I so painstakingly arranged. I'll devour you!!"

The mouths on all three of the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit's faces roared, their voices blending men and women, young and old, into an irritating cacophony.

But once Jianxia got a clear look at its twisted, grotesque appearance, he dropped his fighting stance. Instead, he covered his face with both hands, seemingly suppressing some emotion.

"Human, are you afraid?"

After their initial exchange, the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit already knew that its opponent's technique countered its own, so it chose not to attack first.

Although it had only been born a few days earlier, its instincts as a cursed spirit were frantically telling it one thing.

This twisted human called Ryomen Sukuna was anything but ordinary.

"Afraid? No, no, no, my dear cursed spirit lady, gentleman, child, elder. You've misunderstood something."

Jianxia slowly slid his hands down his face, revealing his eyes as he looked at the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit, his voice trembling.

"It's just that, after seeing how beautiful you are, I want it more and more-to make you mine."

The Long, Thin Cursed Spirit felt a chill shoot from the crown of its head to the tips of its toes, as though it had been dunked in positive energy, washed, fished out, wrung dry, and hung beneath the sun to roast.

At that moment, Jianxia, standing a short distance away, no longer seemed human. He had become something... more terrifying than a cursed spirit.

Cursed energy surged into the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit's hands, its entire body trembling uncontrollably.

This human was laughably weak, yet he kept making it feel disgusted and afraid.

"Can't you just... die normally, like a human..."

It slapped both hands against the ground. The two squat straw houses behind Jianxia suddenly seemed to come alive, stretching wildly before whipping toward him and Banquet of Fated Remnants.

"Why won't you stop until you've made cursed spirits miserable?!"

"Clumsy House!"

Having seen the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit use its technique firsthand, Jianxia began to get a rough idea of its ability.

Does it control houses, or something else...?

Jianxia had intended to punch through the straw house, but the instant he touched it, his pupils contracted sharply.

He abandoned the attempt to take it head-on and activated Light Returns at Dusk, returning to his previous position and evading the attack.

Banquet of Fated Remnants was not so lucky. It imitated Jianxia, trying to tear the straw house apart with brute force, but its attack could not even break through the building's surface. Instead, it was swatted into the air like a bug.

Watching Banquet of Fated Remnants turn into a shooting star on the horizon, Jianxia mentally urged it to use its technique on itself. Two seconds passed before it returned to his side.

The fat, freeloading fish apparently could not understand why a straw house had sent it flying. Its eyes became utterly blank.

"Does it harden the instant you touch it...?"

Jianxia's mind raced as he considered exactly what the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit's technique did.

Judging by the abilities it had demonstrated so far, its innate technique seemed closely tied to houses.

Whether it was turning a wooden mansion into a giant beast or making straw houses bounce around like stretchy gluten, both were applications of controlling houses.

But with the enormous reserves of cursed energy inside the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit, if it had used its full strength to reinforce the houses' structures and attack him, Jianxia could never have shattered the wooden beast during their first probing exchange.

Unless its cursed energy control was cruder than a Grade 3 Jujutsu Sorcerer's, it should certainly have been able to defeat Jianxia with that last straw-house attack.

Combined with the fact that Jianxia had not detected any cursed residue from the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit earlier, he inferred that its technique had another effect besides "controlling buildings or some kind of material."

And that effect was the technique's true core.

As it happened, the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit was also racking its brains over what Jianxia's technique actually did.

He can use it on other things, and on himself too.

He nullified two of my attacks in just a few seconds.

Then both opponents voiced the same sentiment.

"What a troublesome technique."

Since their opponent showed no intention of pursuing them, Jianxia and Banquet of Fated Remnants would not waste the opportunity. They launched themselves forward, one from the left and one from the right, heading straight for its face.

But the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit made no move to defend itself, instead allowing them both to approach.

Only when Jianxia and Banquet of Fated Remnants were almost upon it did the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit dodge at a speed Jianxia could not react to, raising its right hand.

And on its right was Banquet of Fated Remnants, in the middle of its attack.

"Clumsy House: Foundation."

As the unfamiliar cursed speech rang out, countless wooden spikes suddenly appeared and pierced Banquet of Fated Remnants's body.

Smaller spikes branched from those wooden spikes, burrowing deep into its flesh. Even a passing breeze would cause immense pain.

Banquet of Fated Remnants's attack was forcibly halted. Its entire fish body was pinned firmly to the ground, unable to move.

They came from the planks blasted apart at the very beginning. Tiny pieces of wood had remained on Banquet of Fated Remnants's body.

The Long, Thin Cursed Spirit had manipulated those lingering fragments, growing them into wooden spikes and successfully inflicting heavy damage on Banquet of Fated Remnants.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jianxia watched the wood chips scattered around him. They were no different from land mines now. One careless step, and he would become a lamb kebab on a tamarisk skewer.

Then there were the straw houses waving and twisting behind him. Like extensions of the Long, Thin Cursed Spirit's limbs, they could launch a surprise attack at any moment.

Jianxia ordered Banquet of Fated Remnants to activate its technique and rewind its own condition, also returning all the wooden fragments left on its body to a harmless state.

Is this what it feels like to face someone truly powerful...?

Even with a technique like Light Returns at Dusk, Jianxia felt immense pressure.

His attacks were easily evaded, and even his joint assaults with Banquet of Fated Remnants were thwarted.

There was no doubt that this Long, Thin Cursed Spirit, which still had cards left to play-

Was a genuine special grade.