While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

Xia Youjie's voice drifted over from afar, carrying an utterly helpless exhaustion: "Wu, don't kill the Rainbow Dragon, otherwise I won't be able to absorb it."

He paused, then added, "Also, it's not the new Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Rainbow Dragon, it's the Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon."

Gojo Satoru tilted his head: "Is there a difference?"

"There's a big difference."

"Okay, okay."

Gojo Satoru jumped off the rainbow dragon's back, dusted off his trousers, and waved to Natsumi Yukichi.

"Alright, it's up to you now."

Tianyan stood aside, watching the interaction between the two, still processing what had just happened.

Gojo Satoru only glanced at his Eight Extremes Collapse before mimicking a similar burst of internal energy.

Although he accidentally hurt himself, it was only because he glanced at it!

"It really is Kakashi?"

Tianyan gasped, realizing how terrifying this boy was.

Xia Youjie walked up to Honglong.

It lay paralyzed in the center of the pit, its body rising and falling slightly, with purplish-black blood spilling from the corner of its mouth and pooling on the ground.

Its eyes were half-open and half-closed, and the fierce aura it had just displayed was gone.

Xia Youjie squatted down, reached out, and placed his hand on Honglong's head.

But he didn't act immediately. Instead, he turned to Tianyan and said, "Lord Tianyan."

Tianyan raised his head and met Xia Youjie's gaze.

"My technique is the Spell Manipulation Technique, which allows me to bring subdued spell spirits under my control and transform them into my own power."

He paused, then asked, "Since you helped defeat it this time, can I absorb this rainbow dragon?"

Tianyan was stunned for a moment.

He hadn't expected Xia Youjie to formally ask for his opinion.

Xia Youjie explained, "Rainbow Dragon is a level one cursed spirit, and it is very rare. Its defensive capabilities will be a great help to me."

He looked at Tianyan with a sincere gaze: "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to bring it under my control."

Tianyan remained silent for a moment.

Then he laughed: "Of course."

He waved his hand, his tone relaxed: "It was your mission to begin with. There was an unexpected situation, so it's already good that we were able to help."

"Besides..."

He glanced at Gojo Satoru.

"If you hadn't intervened, this rainbow dragon would have escaped. Strictly speaking, it was the two of you who took care of it together."

Gojo Satoru gave a thumbs up: "Tenen, you're really knowledgeable!"

Xia Youjie smiled and nodded at Tian Yan, feeling that he and Tian Yan were both rare normal people among sorcerers.

"Thanks."

He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Honglong.

Reaching out his hand, Rainbow Dragon's body trembled slightly, as if making a final struggle, but quickly quieted down.

Its seventeen or eighteen-meter-long body was compressed little by little like clay, getting smaller and smaller, until it finally turned into a sphere with a purplish-black luster, which Xia Youjie held in his palm.

Xia Youjie stared at the sphere, paused for a moment, then put it in his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Tianyan hesitated for a moment as he watched this miraculous scene, but still asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

"Natsume-kun... is that stuff tasty?"

Xia Youjie paused for a moment.

He turned his head and looked at Tianyan, a hint of surprise flashing in his gentle eyes.

Then he laughed and said, "It's alright."

His voice was calm and his tone sincere: "I can accept it."

Gojo Satoru made an exaggerated vomiting gesture next to him.

"Not bad?! Jay, is there something wrong with your sense of taste?"

He was clutching his throat with one hand and waving the other in the air, his expression one of agony as if he had eaten something indescribable.

"Cursed spirits are all born from people's negative emotions, so they must taste absolutely awful!"

Xia Youjie's smile froze for a moment.

Gojo Satoru spoke confidently, then his expression suddenly turned serious, as if he were pondering some important issue.

"By the way, Jay."

"What?"

"Why don't you try absorbing it through the rectum?"

Gojo Satoru said in a serious tone, "The conversion efficiency of food from the mouth to the stomach is too low. It has to go through the digestive system, which is an extra step. If it were absorbed directly from the rectum, it might be more efficient, and it would also avoid the taste buds!"

"Gojo Satoru! Go to hell!"

Xia Youjie's forehead veins bulged, and he delivered a fierce flying kick directly towards Gojo Satoru.

However, Gojo Satoru just chuckled and didn't move an inch, letting the kick stop at an absolute distance beyond the 'no limit'.

Gojo Satoru stood there, hands in his pockets, watching him with a smile.

"It's no use, Jay, I already predicted it!"

Xia Youjie pulled his leg back, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, as if trying to calm down some violent impulse.

Tianyan stood to the side, his lips twitching.

He looked at Gojo Satoru's smug face, then at Natsumi Yuuki's trying-to-maintain a gentle expression, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Absorbed from the rectum...

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment.

"It does seem like... a good idea?"

"By avoiding taste, it can be absorbed directly, making it more efficient... Theoretically, that makes perfect sense."

No, that's not right!

A bolt of lightning pierced through Tianyan's mind.

"Research suggests that the rectum may have a sense of taste!"

He looked up at Xia Youjie, opened his mouth as if to say something.

Then he saw Xia Youjie's eyes, which were trying hard to remain calm.

He shut his mouth.

Some things are better left unsaid.

Tianyan silently reached into his pocket.

He took out a beautifully packaged milk candy, which he would always keep on him when he was at the Zen-in house to appease the two little girls, Maki and Mai.

He casually stuffed it into his pocket before leaving the house, intending to eat it on the way. The candy had a white wrapper with a cartoon bunny printed on it, and it looked cheap yet cute.

He walked up to Xia Youjie and handed him the milk candy.

"Summer Oil Guy".

Xia Youjie looked down at the milk candy and paused for a moment.

"Have some candy."

Tian Yan smiled and said casually, "Just to ease the tension."

Xia Youjie stared at the candy for two seconds in silence.

"Thanks."

He took it, peeled off the outer shell, and put it in his mouth. The rich milky aroma instantly washed away the nauseating fishy taste in his mouth.

"Sweet."

He said it with a hint of a smile in his voice.

Gojo Satoru came closer, craning his neck and staring intently at Tenen's pocket.

"Everyone who sees this gets a share! I want some candy too!"

Tianyan glanced at him, then rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a second milk candy, and handed it over.

Gojo Satoru took it, unwrapped the candy, popped it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then gave it a thumbs up.

"Great! This tastes good!"

He reached out his hand again.

"One more, please."

Tianyan looked at his matter-of-fact face, remained silent for a moment, then reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, and popped it into his mouth.

Then he showed his empty pocket: "That's it."

Gojo Satoru's expression instantly fell: "So stingy!"