Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

The Yue man closed the document.

"Okay, you can continue sleeping for a while. I asked the train conductor, and this train won't leave for another hour."

Upon hearing this, Tsukumo Yuki jumped up instantly.

"No, no, let's go, I feel great right now."

As she spoke, she stood up and stretched, revealing her beautiful curves.

But she knew very well that she was just using this to cover up her inner shame.

Yue Ren guessed it, but said nothing. He packed up his documents, got up, and left with the other person.

As I walked through the city and through the crowds, a light snow suddenly began to fall, and I was suddenly struck by a realization.

Yes, it's already November.

To prevent the snow from falling too heavily, the two quickened their pace.

The location is also in the mountains. Upon arrival, in addition to lush plants, a gradually covering white veil, stone steps, stone tablets, and various stone sculptures, the surrounding area is also paved with pebbles, giving people a mysterious atmosphere.

After taking a few deep breaths of the cool, fresh air, Tsukumo Yuki closed her eyes and sensed the surroundings.

"There is indeed some magical energy around... but that's probably normal, after all, it's a place with religious beliefs..."

The land of the dead is naturally feared and revered, so it is not surprising that such a place retains cursed power. The same principle applies to places like shrines and temples.

"If the so-called entrance to the underworld really leads directly to the underworld, the college should have some record of it, right?"

"Too......"

During their conversation, the two arrived at an area where the curse energy was most concentrated.

After surveying the surroundings and finding nothing amiss, Jiujiu leaned against a tree and waited for the Yue people's performance.

Without hesitation, the latter reached out and a blade blank appeared in his hand.

Ninety-nine's eyes were wide open, not wanting to miss a single detail.

In the previous final battle, this boy displayed that incredible power. Whether it was the expansion of that domain or the power of that final blow, it was all amazing.

Previously, I was too busy preparing my own moves to pay attention to the situation, but now I finally have the chance to take a good look at it. This power is enough to change the world.

The Yue man closed his eyes.

The power of the curse surged from his body, not towards the knife, but towards himself.

Techniques in order—tracing back to the source, perceiving and analyzing everything.

He felt his consciousness sinking downwards, through muscles, through bones, through blood, through those nameless crevices hidden deep within his body. In that moment, he found that feeling, the feeling of understanding everything.

Open your eyes.

Technique Reversal - Floating Light.

The positive energy infusion technique is dominated by a transcendent will.

His figure began to appear ethereal, gradually rising into the air, like a dream, as if he were a banished immortal.

The two forces merged, and at that moment, he was his own 'god'.

"Conceptual Fiction - Connecting to the Underworld"

The concept of breaking the boundary between life and death was attached to the blade. Unlike the power of incantation, a more magical purplish-black alien energy gradually emerged on the blade of the weapon in his hand. At this moment, the weapon in Yue Ren's hand was the Netherworld Blade that could break through the underworld.

Ninety-Nine watched this scene with wide-eyed excitement; this young man had once again redefined her understanding of the limits of magical power.

The Yue man raised his short sword above his head and then slashed down.

There was no sound. The blade cut through the air as if slicing through a piece of cloth.

The next moment, space cracked open at the mark, the crack spreading outward from the tip of the knife, eventually becoming three zhang long.

There was no light in the crack; it was black, not the black of night, but a dark, deathly black where there was nothing at all.

The Yue man, holding his katana, turned and glanced at Tsukumo Yuki.

The latter picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the crack. The stone passed through the torn space and landed on the grass behind it, as if the torn space in front of him was an illusion.

"Let's go, that would be pointless. The key is the knife in my hand that has been given a concept. Come on, take my hand, otherwise you won't be able to get in either."

The Yue man reached out his hand, and Jiujiu Yuki nodded slightly, showing some understanding.

Without further hesitation, he grabbed Yue Ren's hand.

After confirming that everything was alright, the boy stepped into the crack.

There is no path, no up or down, no left or right, no front or back inside the crack.

The Yue people felt that they were not moving forward, but falling downward, yet it didn't feel like falling.

There is no direction here; his feet cannot touch the ground, his hands cannot touch the walls, and his eyes cannot see anything.

Only black. Thick, heavy, like black soaked in ink.

I don't know how much time passed. Maybe a few seconds, maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour.

The Yue people felt that their feet had stepped on something, not something hard, but something soft, like stepping on damp mud.

The katana in his hand began to glow, and he sensed a response from somewhere.

There should be no error.

"arrive."

Ninety-nine Yuki's feet also stepped into the mud.

The two continued forward, moving in the direction they were being drawn.

Until some point in the process, some outlines began to emerge around.

The outlines of those things were blurry, like looking at someone through frosted glass.

The Yue people knew what those were: souls... wandering here, preparing to accept their final fate.

Yuki Tsukumo, who was being held by the hand, said nothing, only staring in amazement at the scene before her that no ordinary person could possibly witness.

As they continued forward, some souls began to materialize.

But the Yue people recognized them.

Cursed spirit.

Those cursed spirits he killed.

The water clock stood at the very front, its body still the same, except that it emitted some self-illumination, somewhat like a lamp that was about to go out.

When it saw the Yue people, it paused for a moment, confused, then delighted.

"Hahaha, Kawasaki Koshito, I didn't expect you to come down so quickly. I thought you were so capable."

The water clock's laughter was unrestrained, its manner resembling that of someone gloating over the misfortune of their mortal enemy.

Seeing this, the Yue people also became interested, after all, it was very rare to meet a "dead person".

He's probably the first person in the world to be mocked by a dead person.

The Yue man raised his hand in greeting.

"Isn't this a water clock? It hasn't passed away yet, what are you waiting for? Do we have to queue here too?"

"..."

Seeing Yue Ren acting like a long-lost buddy, Louhu was completely baffled: What's going on? Weren't they enemies before? He was clearly mocking him, so why was Yue Ren acting like they were best friends?

Looking at the composed Yue man in front of him, Louhu suddenly realized something was wrong.

It reached out, wanting to touch the Yue man's shoulder. But the next moment, its fingers passed right through the Yue man's body, as if it were some kind of phantom and the person before it was some kind of solid entity. There's always a story waiting for you to uncover.

This guy isn't a soul?

"You bastard, you got here alive? How is that possible?"

Its expression changed; it wasn't anger, nor fear, but something very complex, something it couldn't even explain itself.

It was an incomprehensible feeling, like someone who should have been considered a mortal enemy in the workplace suddenly achieving world-class success and being widely reported by the government—it felt like the world had completely gone mad.

How long has it been? Although I don't know how much time has passed, it hasn't been here for very long, and the other party hasn't shown any signs of growth. How could it have crossed the line between life and death?

Is there no limit to how monstrous this guy is...?

Yue Ren did not answer. His gaze passed over the water clock and landed on the cursed spirits that had appeared behind it.

Hua Yu, Tuo Gen, Zhen Ren, and Tan He—it's truly a family reunion.

It's missing a rope; I don't know if it's passed away or if it's not with them... It doesn't matter anymore.

Ninety-nine Yuki walked out from behind Yue Ren and stood beside him, his ten fingers spread out towards the cursed spirits.

"take it easy."

Yue Ren's voice was casual, completely ignoring the murderous glares of the cursed spirits.

"They can't touch us, and they don't have any magical power."

There are only the most primitive souls here. Only these few cursed spirits have stronger soul power, which is why they have a clear will. Or perhaps they have the help of real people, but that's all they can do. They can't interfere with the living people.

"What exactly are you up to, coming here?"

The one speaking is a real person, and also the one who hates the Yue people the most among all the cursed spirits. It was the first cursed spirit to be killed, and also the first one whose everything was destroyed by the Yue people.

Because of him, the real person had no sequel, no longer able to enjoy the days of becoming stronger and experiencing the suffering of humans. It can be said that because of Yue Ren, its "path to rise" was abruptly cut off.

How could it not hate this? But now, in its soul state and without any magical power, it has no way to act.

If it were 68 years later in the original story, aliens would come here to use magic to help it restore its magical power, but that's not the case now.

Therefore, it could only glare fiercely at the Yue people.

As for the others, their attitude towards the Yue people wasn't as intense. Some weren't killed by him, like Hua Yu, while others had the awareness of being "losers," like Tuo Gen and Tan He. They were killed by the Yue people in what they considered a fair and square duel, so they didn't make any noise. They were just a little curious as to why this guy would come here in physical form.

"This has nothing to do with you, you dead. I advise you to hurry up and be reborn, or you may not even have the chance to be reincarnated."

As the Yue Ren Project is implemented, the energy of curse power will gradually become scarce, and the curse spirits composed of curses will gradually fade from the world's view. If they still want to wait to be resurrected in the form of curse spirits, it will be quite difficult.

Ignoring these inscrutable creatures, Yue Ren, holding the hand of Jiujiu Yuki, continued forward through their bodies.

Finally, the two arrived at a place where all the cursed spirits could only watch from afar and dared not approach.

A luminous point at the end of a plane emits a soft, ethereal blue light, like the sun on the horizon before it rises, yet its brightness is already palpable.

Or perhaps it's before the cool-toned sunrise.

All the ethereal, illusory souls around them moved little by little, heading towards the end of that light.

The two exchanged a glance and smiled; they had arrived at the place they were looking for.

The Yue man squatted down and placed his hands on the ground.

The procedure is reversed – “Tracing the origin”.

His consciousness spread outwards along the ground, like tree roots sinking into the soil.

Sedimentation, accumulation, solidification, transformation...

A massive amount of information flooded his mind, and Yue Ren abruptly interrupted the spell in just one second.

He almost collapsed and sat down on the ground, but Jiu Jiu caught him in time.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Yue Ren took a few deep breaths and rubbed his aching temples.

"It's alright, it was just a bit reckless. The nature of this place is beyond my current comprehension. But the good news is that we now know what we need. Fortunately, our idea was correct. Setting up a barrier here, combined with my abilities, is indeed possible."

Hearing this, Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief.

It feels so good to have worked hard and not have put in the effort.

"However, just as you predicted, there are still some things that need to be adjusted. The path of the curse power and the path of the soul are not aligned. We need to 'connect the dots' in this regard, and we also need a stable and continuous supply of curse power..."

After answering all the questions in one go, Yue Ren finally snapped out of his "excited" state.

Looking around and seeing no problems, Yue Ren straightened up.

"Let's go back now. Come back next time, and we will change the world."

"Yes, sir!"

The woman gave a playful salute, which immediately deflated most of the Yue man's pent-up anger.

Yue Ren turned around and looked at the cursed spirits.

They were still squatting there, their eyes fixed on him, watching all his movements, their faces showing confusion and thoughtfulness.

"You...do you intend to do something to this place?"

As we passed by these guys, the one who opened the spout was a water clock.

Yue Ren was somewhat surprised. He had spoken very softly just now, so these people shouldn't have been able to hear him. Did he figure it out?

"Not bad. Actually, I don't dislike your personality. If you're willing to become human and join the same camp, I think we can become good friends."

Upon hearing this, the water clock let out a snort.

"Who wants to be on your side? As for being human, forget it. Humans these days are too hypocritical. You complex people might be more suited to reality, but I hate those things."

The water clock stood up, its movement slow, like an old tree straightening its back in the wind.

It stared intently at the Yue people.

"We have failed, but we have never felt that we did anything wrong. Negative emotions are a poison produced by humankind. These things can help you survive better, but they will eventually 'poison' you. We will be here quietly watching, watching the day you bring about your own destruction."

"At that time, the world may still be ours."

"..."

Yue Ren was somewhat surprised. Looking at the one-eyed alien enemy in front of him, he felt a sense of respect.

"Perhaps you are right, but I still believe that humanity can overcome these challenges, after all, that's how we got here."

The water clock remained silent.

"Let's go." Yuki Tsukumo's voice came from behind.

The Yue man nodded.

After walking a few steps, Yue Ren stopped without looking back.

"Spiritual beings, leave. In this era, my mission is to make you exit the stage."

"If you stay here, you will gain nothing."

The water clock remained silent, as did the other spirits; they simply stood there, watching the Yue man's retreating figure.