Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

The old man's knees, which had remained straight his entire life, bent. He knelt in humiliation before his daughter, whom he considered a burden. As he knelt, his knees struck the stone with a dull thud.

He knelt down not voluntarily, but because he had been punched so hard that his meridians and bones were broken, and he could no longer stand.

This was a signal. With Zen-in-Sen, one of the family's top combatants, becoming a cripple, everyone who went on stage lost the will to resist and either willingly or involuntarily prostrated themselves on the training ground.

Maki stood among them, the sunlight shining down from above, casting her shadow on the kneeling people. At this moment, she became the true queen, and also the demon in their eyes, a heartless demon who had even cruelly harmed her own father.

But now, besides fear and helplessness, they had no other choice but to watch helplessly as this terrifying female demon ravaged and dominated them, kicking them around like trash.

"It seems that no one has any objections to me taking over as the leader of 'Bing' and 'Kujuliu'. Very good. I will go back to inspect later. Remember to be prepared. Let's go, Hui. This place is too dirty. Let's go to Jiku to take a look."

Megumi Fushiguro, who had been staring in a daze from the beginning, was awakened by the call and, after hesitating for a moment, followed afterward.

Just then, a bunch of keys flew over and was caught instinctively by Fushiguro Megumi.

Looking back, I saw that it was thrown by a Jibi person.

"I can send the list over later if you want to see it."

Fushiguro Megumi nodded subconsciously, then rushed towards Maki.

Oh, right—

Maki, who was in front of her, suddenly turned around and spoke, as if she were talking about something trivial.

"Who wet their pants just now? Remember to clean the floor. The Zen family's yard can't be this dirty from now on. This is the new head of the family's order."

The second half of the sentence was spoken amidst unrestrained laughter.

The footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor, and the remaining people in the training field were kneeling, lying down, or slumped over, as if they had just survived a storm.

Everyone knew that from this day forward, the fate of the Zen family had changed.

Watching the two figures disappear, Naohito finally stood up, dusted himself off, and knew it was time for his work—to clean up the mess left by the new head of the family.

Faced with the reality that was as terrible as hell on earth, he felt no displeasure whatsoever; on the contrary, he was in a very good mood.

To be honest, I'd wanted to just throw caution to the wind and start a fight, but I was ultimately held back by my position as the head of the family. Now, I'm able to witness such a spectacular battle and save up my health.

As for deaths, well, as long as they're not all dead, life goes on, it's not a big problem.

But that brat is quite good at ordering people around. Did Gojo Satoru teach him? That guy has really gained experience as the head of the family.

Jinichi, who hadn't made a move yet, arrived in front of the Naobi people.

"The head of the family..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was immediately attacked, accompanied by a deathly stare.

"Stop! I'm no longer the head of the family; I'm just a steward. You'd better watch yourselves. If I hear anyone disobeying me again, I'll deal with you on behalf of the head of the family. Understand?"

"..."

Those with ulterior motives fell silent upon hearing this. They finally understood that their patriarch was pleased with the scene unfolding before him.

Suddenly, those with ulterior motives were all on edge.

On the other side, Fushiguro caught up with Maki, but his expression was somewhat troubled.

"..."

"Do you think I went too far?"

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Maki broke the silence.

"No, Maki-senpai, you must have had your reasons for doing that..."

"Hahaha, good lad, you have a nice way of talking. But I'm not afraid to tell you, every single one of those guys I killed, if you knew what they did, you would have made the same choice as me, wouldn't you? Didn't you see that even our family head remained unmoved?"

A slap landed on Fu Hei's back, almost knocking the child out of breath.

"He has ideas, but he's not ruthless enough, so he hasn't touched those guys yet. Actually, there are still some trash on stage, but they've become cowards who don't dare to utter a sound. They're just old codgers who are good at the instinct to survive."

"You'll have to deal with this slowly from now on. This family is rotten to the core."

Fushiguro nodded in surprise, realizing that's how it is, and then stopped worrying about it.

Afterwards, the two arrived at the Zen family's storage place for incantations, the Forbidden Storehouse. This place was built by the Zen family in imitation of the Forbidden Storehouse of the Hungseong Palace. It was similar in size to the one at the High School, but it was not as secure as the one at the Hungseong Palace. Therefore, it did not store many dangerous incantations. Instead, it mainly stored incantations and tools that the Zen family had collected over the past thousand years.

The other two families among the three royal families also have their own "small warehouses," which are similar. However, the most precious warehouse, which usually stores a lot of dangerous items, is the Forbidden Warehouse located in the Hidden Star Palace below the High School. It is even more hidden because of the Heavenly Origin Barrier.

The two roughly counted several dozen items. Don't underestimate this number; before the Yue people widely used spell tools, this was already a considerable fortune.

They took away some of what they thought the Yue people might need, and then the two ended their family trip.

The next day, news of the change of head of the Zen-in family spread among the higher-ups and the three main families, causing a stir in the world of sorcery.

While it's not unusual for a family to change heads, the age of the new head is quite intriguing. A first-year college student becoming the new head of the Zen-in family, and with a different surname at that, has everyone watching with amusement at the Zen-in family. However, some truly intelligent individuals have gleaned a glimpse of the truth from the scattered rumors circulating around them.

Because this situation is somewhat similar to a previous scenario, Gojo Satoru, the strongest in the modern era, also took over as the head of the Gojo family at a young age. And the three great families have always respected strength. Could the Zenin family produce someone like Gojo Satoru?

But no matter what the outside world says, the name Fushiguro Megumi has already spread and become well-known among sorcerers.

When Gojo Satoru heard the news, he was both surprised and incredulous.

They even went directly to Fu Hei the next day to find out what was going on.

After learning that the Yue people had helped subdue the demon Xu Luo and then caused a ruckus at the Zen Temple, he inexplicably felt like he was still developing while his teammates had already become godlike and pushed to the enemy's high ground.

With Fushiguro Megumi taking over as head of the Zenin family, their power will undergo a qualitative change. High-level meetings will no longer be a one-man show against everyone. From now on, his and Fushiguro Megumi's will will significantly influence high-level decisions, and the prospects for reform suddenly become bright.

Where did this Yue fellow get such great skills?

While he was filled with joyful exclamations, Yue Ren was already preparing to officially begin his plan.

On this day, through his connection with the Fushiguro Ezen-in family, he arrived at the Ryusei-gu Shrine.

This is the location of "Lord Tengen" as spoken of by other sorcerers. It is situated on the lowest level of the Tokyo Higher School of Jujutsu and is one of the foundational locations of major barriers in Japan.

However, to truly reach the Palace of the Stars, one must pass through one of the more than a thousand doors that change daily.

Therefore, if Tianyuan does not wish to see him, ordinary people and sorcerers cannot see him.

Walking through layers upon layers of overlapping buildings, yet the view stretches endlessly.

The Yue people chose to stop and cease their advance.

He closed his eyes and soon sensed the maze barrier maintaining his surroundings.

Like water, like mist, like a person closing their eyes, it doesn't reject you, it just makes you unable to find it.

Yue Ren immediately understood that Tianyuan did not want to see him. After all, she controlled all the barrier techniques in Japan, and as long as she did not want to, no one could find the gate to the Ryousei Palace.

The Yue man stood there for a while, then suddenly laughed, as if talking to himself.

"But you've miscalculated. That trick won't work on me."

He squatted down and placed his palms on the ground.

The "Tracing the Origin" technique is activated.

Consciousness is like a drop of ink falling into water, spreading outwards along the patterns of those barriers.

He saw the 'principle' and 'map' of the barrier.

Without hesitation, I continued forward, facing the next building and door as if guided by a compass, without being confused at all, one door after another, all with perfect accuracy.

After walking for about ten minutes and opening several doors, the area suddenly became bright.

Logically, there should still be some distance, but the other party clearly knew that they could no longer stop Yue Ren's progress, so they opened the door for him directly.

It wasn't sunlight, but some kind of colder, quieter light. He walked in and stood in a vast, white space.

There was no sky, no earth, no walls, and no windows.

There was only white. Standing in that white expanse, the Yue people felt like a speck of dust falling onto a piece of white paper.

"Awakening a unique technique, a powerful variable, Kawasaki Koshito, you've arrived!"

The voices came from all directions simultaneously, indistinguishable as male or female, without any emotional fluctuation, as if stating facts.

The man looked up and saw that there was someone in front of him—or rather, there was a human figure in front of him.

It was the outline of a woman, but the edges were blurred, like looking at someone through frosted glass.

Her face had no features, only a smooth white surface, like an unfinished painting.

Yue Ren was somewhat surprised, after all, the Tianyuan in front of him was different from the image in his memory, and he was not the four-eyed, flat-headed, cursed spirit-like figure.

"What do you want to do by coming here to see me?"

Upon hearing this, the Yue man raised an eyebrow, his expression a mixture of amusement and confusion.

"Lord Tengen, whose barrier technique covers the entirety of Japan and who knows everything, surely you are aware of what I have done and what you intend to do here today?"

Tianyuan remained silent for a while, and the white expanse flowed slowly behind her, like an invisible river.

"You have gained knowledge of my barrier techniques."

"You know that, right? Then it's my turn to ask questions. You don't want to see me, why?"

This is what puzzled Yue Ren. Logically speaking, what he wanted to do should not conflict with Tian Yuan. If she wanted to remain her immortal mage, she could just stay. Judging from her personality, she was just a shut-in. Yue Ren didn't need to kill her to acquire knowledge of barrier magic. There was no real benefit to him, so he couldn't understand why she was unwilling to see him.

This is what puzzled Yue Ren. Logically speaking, what he wanted to do should not conflict with Tian Yuan. If she wanted to remain her immortal mage, she could just stay. Judging from her personality, she was just a shut-in. Yue Ren didn't need to kill her to acquire knowledge of barrier magic. There was no real benefit to him, so he couldn't understand why she was unwilling to see him.

"You don't understand."

The sound remained the same, surging in from all directions, devoid of emotion or variation, like the wind blowing through an empty valley.

"Then tell me, what don't I understand?"

"I will not see you, not because of what you have done."

"Why is that?"

After a long silence, she spoke: "Your heart still holds the magic formula."

The Yue man frowned slightly.

"I can see everything that happens, but I can't see into people's hearts. Your actions are clear, but your heart makes me feel very dangerous."

"And your technique allows you to easily learn some truths that shouldn't be known."

Oh, I see. He has a little secret. He probably thinks he might change his attitude if he's found out. Pfft, what a sly old fox.

The Yue people were filled with disappointment. They thought there was some earth-shattering secret, but it turned out to be nothing.

Who cares about your petty affairs? Whatever shady things you did in the past, what does it have to do with him? He's not so busy as to care about history.

"I have no interest in probing your past. If you still don't believe me, I will leave directly, but you must remember your choice."

Yue Ren chose to confront her directly. It's not like he absolutely needed her barrier technique. If he wanted to continue his plan, he could go to Lu Suo. Did he really think she was someone important?

Tianyuan fell silent.

After a long silence, just before Yue Ren was about to turn around, she spoke again.

"Alright, I believe you and am willing to give you my knowledge of barrier techniques, but I hope you will make a promise that no matter what you see, you will not have the thought of killing me."

"make a deal."

Seeing the Yue people so readily agree, Tianyuan unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems the other party really doesn't care about her, which is very good news for her.

"Thank you, then please go ahead."

She reached out her hand, which emerged from the blurry outline; it was pale, slender, like a withered twig.

The Yue people had no time to hesitate and activated the spell after making contact.

Memories are gradually being perceived. Adhering to the agreement, one should not touch any experiences other than those related to barrier magic.

It can only be said that he is indeed an old monster who has lived for thousands of years. As the skill he is most proficient in, the barrier technique is so skilled that his proficiency and understanding are ridiculously high. His skill panel has been upgraded to level 4. The sheer amount of knowledge he has is so overwhelming that it gives him a headache.

He needs some time to gradually adapt to such a vast amount of knowledge.

A few seconds later, his headache subsided, and he returned to normal.

Xiang Tianyuan nodded.

"Thank you for sharing. I'll be leaving right away. You can pretend I was never here. But there's one more thing. I plan to take the top-grade cursed artifact, the Nine Phases Diagram, with me. Would you do me the honor?"

"Can!"

"Okay, then you can rest now, I'm leaving."

Having achieved his goal, the Yue people naturally had no intention of continuing their conversation with this "millennial monster" and turned to leave.

When Tengen saw that the Yue people really had no intention of causing trouble, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Both sides were fairly satisfied with the meeting, and of course, no one else knew about it.

"Tengen," an ancient monster who has lived for thousands of years, is not as selfless as ordinary sorcerers think, nor is she a loyal ally of sorcerers. She has her own plans, which can be seen from the fact that she refused to reveal that she was the manager of "Death Return" in the original work, and indirectly caused the death of Tsukumo Yuki.

However, none of this concerned Yue Ren. He had no intention of having much contact with her. If she wanted to be his support, so be it. As long as she didn't get in his way, Yue Ren wasn't so petty as to want to get rid of her as soon as possible.