Come back with a better sword next time

Ji Juechen was another genius Jing Hongchen thought very highly of.

Unfortunately, he was a little too old and no longer quite met the requirements for entering the tournament.

But his path of channeling his soul into his sword might force Lu Ren to reveal more.

Before long, a slender figure appeared at the edge of the arena.

The crowd immediately stirred.

"Wait, is that Ji Juechen?"

"It really is him! He's here!"

Lu Ren raised his eyes, his gaze settling on the newcomer.

He was a male Soul Engineer who looked about twenty-one or twenty-two, his long black hair simply tied behind his head with a hairband.

His face was somewhat unhealthily pale, yet so handsome that even men would sigh at the sight.

His eyes were dull and lusterless, seemingly without spirit, and even his movements as he walked appeared somewhat sluggish.

He held a sword about four feet long, black from end to end.

The longsword had a plain, antiquated design with no distinguishing features. It even looked a little like a fire poker.

Yet the moment Lu Ren first saw him, he sensed a faint hint of danger.

Finally, an opponent worth looking at.

"Ji Juechen."

His introduction was so simple that it consisted of nothing but his name.

"Lu Ren."

It really is him. Looking at this sword fanatic from the original story, Lu Ren felt satisfied.

When he met Huo Yuhao two or three years later, he was already a high-level, rank sixty-nine Soul Emperor. Right now, he had probably only recently entered the Soul Emperor realm.

Judging by the fluctuations of his Soul Power, his cultivation should only have been around rank sixty-one or sixty-two.

He could be considered the strongest opponent Lu Ren had faced so far today.

Ji Juechen spoke again:

"The Director of Education called me here. He said you were a challenging opponent who could interest me. I hope you can live up to my expectations."

As he spoke, he actually held his longsword in both hands and slowly bowed to Lu Ren.

His previously dull eyes suddenly blazed with brilliance, a fervor filled with unwavering obsession.

And at that moment, his eyes seemed to hold nothing but the sword in his hands.

Two yellow, two purple, and two black Soul Rings-six in total-floated up from beneath his feet.

He was indeed a rank sixty-one Soul Emperor.

Lu Ren did not hesitate. Two purple and two black Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet, gleaming with a deep, dark luster beneath the setting sun.

The entire crowd erupted.

"The rumors really were true! His first Soul Ring really is a thousand-year one!"

"His fourth Soul Ring is black! A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!"

"Someone finally forced Lu Ren to reveal his Martial Soul! Well done, Ji Juechen!"

The atmosphere in the stands instantly ignited, cheers rising one after another.

As the chief disciple of the Practical Soul Tool Department, although everyone often called him a freak and a madman, they still had great confidence in his strength.

Ji Juechen gripped his sword with both hands, all six Soul Rings appearing at once.

An incomparably sharp presence burst from him almost instantly. In that moment, he seemed to have become one with his Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword.

Channeling his soul into his sword-this was Ji Juechen's method of cultivation.

His own Martial Soul had completely become energy rather than a physical entity, merging perfectly into the Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword in his hands.

The man was the sword, and the sword was the man, with no distinction between them.

That sharp presence was his incomparably fierce sword intent.

As his powerful Soul Power poured into it, the Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword began to hum faintly, its tip trembling gently.

Ji Juechen's imposing presence surged at an astonishing speed.

This sword strike would either remain unleashed or, once unleashed, make heaven and earth change color.

Lu Ren's expression finally grew solemn.

This guy really is strong enough.

Worth using a cursed technique on.

Blood Manipulation: Flowing Red Scale.

Blood-red markings began appearing around his right eye, spreading like blood vessels beneath his skin and tracing an eerie pattern.

A faint bloody vapor spread around him, carrying a barely perceptible scent of metallic sweetness.

The effect of the Blood Manipulation cursed technique was simple: it could control his own blood, as well as objects coated in that blood.

It was an extremely comprehensive and versatile cursed technique. Its drawback was that, without knowing Reverse Cursed Technique, using it too much would cause anemia.

Conversely, if one learned Reverse Cursed Technique, Blood Manipulation had a very high ceiling.

The effect of Flowing Red Scale was even simpler: it enhanced his condition and combat strength in every aspect, equivalent to a percentage-based enhancement Soul Skill.

It allowed him to freely control his body temperature and pulse, and even the number and composition of red blood cells in his blood. In essence, it had the effect of a powerful stimulant.

"Look! His eye has changed!"

"How terrifying! There's a faint bloody vapor all around him. He's finally been forced to use his Soul Skill!"

The spectators noticed the changes in Lu Ren, and so did Jing Hongchen.

"It should be an extremely rare percentage-based enhancement Soul Skill," he murmured to himself, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's. "He's become somewhat stronger."

Yet even so, he still could not tell what this fellow's Martial Soul actually was. It was a type he had never seen before.

"Facing an opponent like this, it would be far too disrespectful not to go all out."

Lu Ren's voice was quiet, as though he were speaking to himself.

The next second, he stamped both feet hard against the ground.

The floor beneath his feet shattered with a crash, fragments of stone exploding outward.

With Flowing Red Scale active, he shot straight toward Ji Juechen like a blood-red meteor trailing afterimages. His right fist had turned completely blood-red, its veins bulging, and even the air before his knuckles was distorting.

A straightforward frontal assault without the slightest flourish.

With that momentum, he looked ready to punch Ji Juechen to death.

Every hair on Ji Juechen's body stood on end.

He already felt the threat of death. The pressure bearing down on him stopped his breathing for an instant, blood surging through his veins as every cell screamed danger.

But he showed no fear. Rather than retreating, he gripped his sword with both hands, stepped half a pace forward with his left foot, and delivered an equally unadorned forward thrust.

The instant he thrust his sword, all the silver light gathered around him was drawn into the blade, condensing along its edge before finally converging on a single point at its tip.

As the longsword thrust forward, overlapping folds appeared in the surrounding air, as though it had been torn apart by his sword intent.

Boom!!!

In the blink of an eye, fist met sword.

An explosive crash rang out, and waves of air swept in every direction.

Dazzling black light erupted from his knuckles, like a miniature sun exploding between the two of them.

Black Flash!!

Lu Ren's punch struck Ji Juechen's blade directly.

Violent force traveled along the sword. The Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword let out a mournful cry, cracks spreading across its blade before it shattered inch by inch.

Metal fragments burst through the air, refracting the sunset's lingering glow like a shower of golden rain.

Ji Juechen was driven several steps backward by the impact. The webs between his thumbs and forefingers split open, and blood dripped from his fingertips.

He lowered his head to look at the remains in his hands, now nothing but a sword hilt, and stood frozen.

Broken.

His sword had broken.

He was completely... outmatched.

Everyone present witnessed the scene, and almost all of them had gone numb.

Even a freak like Ji Juechen was no match for him?

Lu Ren withdrew his fist and glanced down at his right hand.

The blade had cut a gash across his knuckles. Blood slipped between his fingers and dripped onto the floor, blooming into several bloody flowers.

He activated his Soul Power, and a faint glow appeared around the wound. His flesh healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, the traces of blood disappearing as his skin returned to its original state, as though nothing had happened.

Reverse Cursed Technique.

That was right. During the year since arriving on the Douluo Continent, he had already mastered this ability.

Reverse Cursed Technique was the admission ticket to becoming one of the strongest at the very pinnacle. Learning it was equivalent to having a portable fountain that could restore health without limit.

In Jujutsu Kaisen, Cursed Energy was negative energy. By making two instances of Cursed Energy multiply their negatives into a positive, it could be converted into positive energy, which could heal any injury on the body.

Simply put, as long as one was not killed outright or cut in half at the waist, any injury, no matter how severe, could be healed through Reverse Cursed Technique.

On the Douluo Continent, Lu Ren felt that Reverse Cursed Technique was very easy to learn, because his Cursed Energy and Soul Power had long since fused together.

The principle of Reverse Cursed Technique was to produce positive energy by multiplying the negatives of Cursed Energy together. Soul Power, however, was itself positive energy. Thus, Lu Ren could skip the process of multiplying the negatives of Cursed Energy and directly use the methods of Jujutsu to learn Reverse Cursed Technique through Soul Power.

This was also why he had been able to learn Reverse Cursed Technique in just one short year without needing to fight to the death. It counted as exploiting a loophole.

With Reverse Cursed Technique, Lu Ren felt no fear even when facing a Titled Douluo, and he even had trump cards that could let him escape unscathed.

Although the raw stats in Jujutsu Kaisen might not match those of the Douluo Continent, the mechanics of cursed techniques far surpassed those of the Douluo Continent.

With Mahoraga from the Ten Shadows Cursed Technique alone, even if his raw stats fell short of those Limit Douluos, his ability to adapt to all things should presumably be enough to sweep through the entire Douluo Continent.

Lu Ren raised his eyes and looked at Ji Juechen:

"Come back with a better sword next time."