Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

"No, I must protect Tsumiki!"

"I can definitely do it! Please help me."

Yue Ren smiled as he watched the bowing black-haired boy. He wasn't entirely hopeless. He appreciated any will to escape his predicament, so he went to his side and patted him on the shoulder.

"Then put that sharpness into the fight. Let's go, you've recovered your strength, it's time to get to the main event."

He led him to the courtyard, and Yue Ren, with his hands in his pockets, looked at the other man, signaling Fu Hei to attack with all his might.

This was the best way he could think of to train the boy in front of him, besides basic training, and it would increase his combat experience.

He realized that Fukuro simply lacked sufficient experience to support his combat decisions, and he was now going to use the process of beating him up to help him find a combat method that suited him.

Just like driving skills, experienced drivers hone their skills over a long period of time. If you want to learn how to fight, you have to fight a lot, right?

Thus began the inhuman training (severe beatings).

What Yue Ren did was simple: attack at the maximum speed that Fu Hei could perceive, while teaching him some adaptable techniques and insights, as well as suggestions on how to use that technique.

This teaching method is completely different from that of Gojo Satoru, who prefers to only explain the general idea and then let students figure it out on their own in practice. If they lose, he will smile and say, "Try it next time."

The Yue people break down the complex process bit by bit, from breathing to footwork, from exerting force to sheathing the sword, from the flow of incantation to the coordination of moves, and every detail must be repeatedly polished.

Don't want to hone your skills? If you can't dodge, just keep attacking in the same way. Your body will remember after taking a few hits.

Through his "Karma Eye," he could clearly see the other party's mistakes and correct them little by little, which was extremely "thoughtful."

The effect of this was obvious, as evidenced by the gradually brightening eyes of the boy opposite him. Fu Hei felt as if he had opened the door to a new world. For the first time, he had given it his all and realized that his technique could have so many uses.

An hour later, the boy named Fushiguro Megumi lay sprawled on the ground, his body covered in bruises and his magical power completely depleted. He seemed to have entered a state of utter despair, as if he had burned out completely.

He could feel the fatigue, soreness, and stinging in his body, but for some reason, he felt a sense of satisfaction. This was the first time he had given his all, and he had never felt so fulfilled.

"My willpower is okay, but like I said, my physical condition is too poor. I'll continue tomorrow."

"Yes, Senior Yue Ren."

Yue Ren approached him and, to the boy's puzzled look, produced a card from who-knows-where. He aimed it at the boy, and three seconds later, the card vanished into thin air, but nothing happened to Yue Ren.

"Successfully copied the 'Ten Shadow Spells'!"

Looking at the words displayed on his retina, Yue Ren's lips curled into a slight smile. He then reached out and placed his hand on the limp boy, activating the "Reversal Technique" to help him eliminate his hidden ailment and restore some of his strength.

Consider it a benefit and a thank you to him; I just didn't expect that my spur-of-the-moment decision would actually work out.

"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow. Remember to summarize your experience when you get back. If you don't see any progress tomorrow, be prepared to suffer."

"......OK."

For some inexplicable reason, Fushiguro Megumi felt his body tremble violently. He really couldn't quite describe the feeling he had towards this senior in front of him.

As a teacher, he was definitely more qualified than Gojo Satoru, but as for his methods... he'll probably never forget this experience for the rest of his life.

He endured the soreness and numbness in his body, got up, and left with a complicated expression under the friendly gaze of the Yue people.

Only when the boy's figure could no longer be seen did Yue Ren make another move. After closing the door and confirming that there were no problems around, he made the same move as Fu Hei just now, forming the hand shadows of the "Ten Shadow Spells" Jade Dog with his hands.

The next moment, he activated his magical power, and the shadow beneath his feet became viscous. Then, two canine shikigami that looked almost identical to Fukuro appeared and showed affectionate gestures towards Yue Ren.

Without a doubt, the Yue people were using the Zen family's "Ten Shadow Techniques". Unlike Fu Hei, the Yue people's jade dog was significantly stronger and taller, almost the size of a horse, and its aura was much more fierce.

Upon seeing this, Yue Ren smiled slightly and gently reached out to pat the heads of the two "jade dogs".

Hmm, his fur is softer than Fu Hei's; he'll have his own fluffy fur from now on.

This is the result of his recent efforts. The card that Fukuro just saw is the "copy card" (silver) that he had kept but never had a chance to use.

The effect is that when used on targets with similar strength, there is a chance to copy their abilities.

He used the card against Fukuro on a whim, and perhaps because his opponent was much weaker, he succeeded immediately, which was an unexpected surprise.

This undoubtedly gives him even more trump cards.

"Ten Shadow Spells"

After learning more about it, he must admit that he developed a strong interest.

Aside from the shikigami, he felt that the ability to manipulate shadows was already quite useful. Rather than shadows, Yue Ren felt it was more like a spatial ability, but he wondered if it could be further developed.

After all, the original work already showed how to hide people and objects, and it could also allow the person hiding inside to conceal all their presence. If used well, it could be an incredibly insidious ability.

Shadow leap, devouring, shadow binding... there are countless ideas about shadows. If it can be successful, then this technique will be absolutely amazing.

Of course, there's also the most interesting one, the strongest shikigami, "Demon Void." I wonder if he can subdue it now. I'll have to try sometime...

After retrieving the jade dog, Yue Ren continued to devote himself to his work. This technique can be used as a powerful trump card, but the key is not to show it to others easily. Heh... I really look forward to seeing what kind of expression Sukuna or Gojo would have if I said "Furube, Yura Yura" to them.

Upon thinking of this, Yue Ren burst out laughing.

He then continued to immerse himself in his "work".

Training was just a side event; work was the norm. Since the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" incident, his magical artifacts had gained fame. In addition, his prices were not high and the quality was very reliable, resulting in a constant stream of orders since he started selling them.

In addition, he also has to take care of the after-sales issues of those he cares about, such as Nanami, Panda, and especially Maki. Relying solely on her cursed tools, she not only needs to strengthen them but also needs to be proficient in many weapon types. So, she must have one of each type.

So his time was immediately filled up, after all, he had to do research, train, complete orders, and occasionally take on a task... It can't be said that his schedule was comparable to that of Gojo Satoru, but it wasn't much different either.

The days of training Fukuro passed by one by one.

Every day at five o'clock in the morning, Fushiguro Megumi would appear at the workshop entrance on time. First, there would be physical training, followed by battles, interspersed with the precise control of the use of magical power.

On the tenth day, after a significant increase in strength, Fushiguro Megumi finally subdued two more shikigami: "Orochi" for control and "Tatari" to disrupt the enemy.

Through continuous contact with Fukuro Megumi, Yue Ren secretly increased his understanding and mastery of this technique.

"The direction of your magical power, the location where the shikigami appear, and the distance between them and you—all these things are written in your shadow. The shadow is your domain; learn to utilize it."

"The spell is inanimate, but people are alive." Ignoring Fu Hei, who had turned to listen, Yue Ren continued planning in his mind, his voice softly reaching Fu Hei's ears. "The path that a living person must walk cannot be drawn with a static spell."

"The key is to use 'techniques' as tools, and tools you are very familiar with. Regardless of the method, you must make them a derivative of your consciousness, helping you achieve your goals more conveniently and effectively."

"Starting tomorrow, we will add an extra hour of shikigami coordination training every day."

Fushiguro Megumi stood there, watching his figure disappear into the workshop.

As dusk settled, a gentle evening breeze swept by.

He looked down at his shadow, his hands clenching and unclenching. He had never imagined that his technique could be developed in this way. This senior Yue Ren was so powerful in every sense that it was astonishing. No wonder he was so highly regarded by senior Yi Gu.

Ten more days passed, and Fukuro successfully subdued "Manxiang," exceeding the mission's expectations. His own strength also grew significantly, and his coordination with various shikigami and the integration of basic shikigami improved considerably. However, he still couldn't use complex abilities like the main shikigami's abilities.

However, that's enough for now. Fukuro now possesses strength that is roughly equivalent to a first-level character. If he wants to improve further, he will need to work hard on his own. After all, Yue Ren has already taught him the basics. What he needs now is to integrate what he has learned into his body at some point, so that he can master it with ease. In that case, he might be able to compete with a special-level cursed spirit without even developing "Domain Expansion".

Of course, Yue Ren also discovered a problem with him, namely that Fu Hei's curse power was not great, which was also a major factor limiting the upper limit of his "ten shadow spells".

There's nothing that can be done about something innate like this. The only thing you can do is let him use his own techniques more often, which might unknowingly increase the utilization rate of his spell power or increase the depth of his "spell power pool".

But this is just a suggestion; whether it will work out depends on his own fate.

Meanwhile, Yue Ren secretly subdued all the shikigami except for the demon Xu Luo. As he delved deeper, he discovered that this technique was actually quite user-friendly. Its strength increased step by step according to the user's level, making it a guaranteed path to advancement, provided that the user was willing to put in the effort.

The "Jade Dog" excels at coordinated attacks, biting and cursing, and is also a master at searching.

The "Nue" is an aerial unit that can use lightning and is adept at diving.

The "mantis frog" can drag enemies with its tongue, and can also hold people in its mouth for protection or transportation; it is one of the logistics members.

The "giant snake" suddenly emerges from the ground, using its sharp teeth to attack or restrain enemies, and to exert control.

The "Full Elephant" can spray massive amounts of water from its trunk to attack or wash away enemies, and can also crush enemies with its terrifying weight, combining group attacks with control.

"Taotu" is a large number of rabbit-shaped shikigami. Individual combat power is extremely weak, but they can use their numerical advantage to interfere with the enemy's vision or actions and retreat from attack smoke bombs.

"Enshiki" is a shikigami in the form of a deer. Its special ability is to use reversal techniques. It is another late-game member and a valuable external healer.

"Piercing Bull" excels at straight-line charging attacks. It is said that the farther it charges, the greater its power. As a distraction-generating monster, it can be used in many ways by highly intelligent people.

"Tiger Burial" is a one-eyed tiger shikigami whose abilities are pure and extreme "strength" and "speed". It emphasizes "ambush" and "one-hit kill" and can also use the attribute attack of "storm". Its attack power is undoubtedly the number one.

Aside from Demon Void, the strongest attack of "Tiger Burial" is powerful enough to instantly kill a top-tier cursed spirit, making it the most powerful shikigami among the ten shadow spells.

With the addition of the final Demon Lord, an all-around summoner is born.

According to Yue Ren's personal experience, if the user has a certain level of proficiency in the ten shadow spells, a certain level of enhancement and coordination of the other nine shikigami, and a deep understanding of the mechanics of Mo Xu Luo, it is possible to try to subdue the strongest Mo Xu Luo.

Because of the Chimera Beast concept, other weaker shikigami are no longer so useless. For example, the fusion of two basic Jade Dogs is enough to create "Jade Dog Hun," which can damage even high-level cursed spirits.

The chimera beast "Jaw-Turtle" Nue + (Gyokun-Hun) created by Sukuna was able to suppress Gojo Satoru together with Makura. This shows that the increase in the fusion strength between shikigami is never a simple addition, but a leap in the mechanism and attributes.

Yue Ren estimates that by fusing the strongest offensive shikigami "Tiger Burial" into an offensive chimera beast, it can be subdued by defeating Mo Xu Luo in one shot before Mo Xu Luo gets used to it.

The user is just brainless. Yue Ren felt that if he were Fushiguro Megumi, with such good talent and techniques, he could train more to master the other nine shikigami, then ask Gojo Satoru to help him act as a terminator. After trying a few more times to understand the mechanism of the Demon King, he could create a Chimera Beast to take it down in one go, or develop the techniques to the extreme and use them in conjunction with the main body's shikigami abilities to deliver a fatal blow. Wouldn't the strongest shikigami be in his hands then?

If you keep shouting "Furube, Yura Yura" everywhere, it won't be a suicide bomber anymore, it'll just be caution, right?

Such a powerful ability, which both guarantees a minimum level of performance and has an extremely high potential, has been misused like this. Well, I'm speechless.

The reason Yue Ren hasn't chosen to subdue Mo Xu Luo yet is simply because he hasn't figured out how to use the nine shikigami he just devoured. He'll find an opportunity to try it out once he's more proficient.

As if by prior arrangement, just as the basic training was about to end, a certain annoying white-haired man once again visited the Yue people's workshop.

Looking at Fushiguro Megumi, who was being "tortured," a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

It wasn't that he "appreciated" the student's suffering, but rather that he discovered the boy had indeed become stronger as he had imagined.

As expected, entrusting the idea to the Yue people was correct; in just a few days, I feel my level has increased significantly.

With his "six eyes," Gojo immediately noticed the changes in Fushiguro Megumi. Her body had become more resilient, and her magical energy flowed more smoothly and clearly—it was nothing short of a qualitative leap. He regretted not sending Fushiguro over sooner...