Ji Juechen was also a genius that Hall Master Jing Hongchen thought very highly of.
Unfortunately, he was a bit old and no longer met the requirements to participate in the competition.
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But his path of imbuing the sword with his soul might be able to force more out of Lu Ren.
Before long, a slender figure appeared at the edge of the arena.
The crowd instantly broke into a commotion.
“Wait, is that Ji Juechen?”
“It’s actually him, he’s here!”
Lu Ren looked up, his gaze falling on the man.
This was a male Soul Engineer who looked to be twenty-one or twenty-two years old, with long black hair tied simply behind his head with a hairband.
His face was somewhat unhealthily pale, yet he was so handsome that even men would sigh in admiration.
His eyes were dull and lacked luster, and even his movements as he walked seemed a bit slow.
He held a sword in his hand, about four feet long and completely pitch-black.
The longsword had a simple, ancient style with no discernible features, looking almost like a fire poker.
But the moment Lu Ren saw him, he felt a faint sense of danger.
Finally, he had encountered an opponent worth looking at.
“Ji Juechen.”
His introduction was so simple that only his name remained.
“Lu Ren.”
It really was him.
Lu Ren looked at this Sword Fanatic from the original work and felt satisfied.
When he meets Huo Yuhao two or three years later, he will already be a level sixty-nine high-rank Spirit Emperor; now, he should have only recently entered the Spirit Emperor realm.
Judging by his spirit power fluctuations, his cultivation should only be around level sixty-one or sixty-two.
He could be considered the strongest opponent he had faced today so far.
Ji Juechen spoke again:
“I was called here by the Dean of Students.
He said you were a challenging opponent who could interest me, and I hope you can live up to my expectations.”
As he spoke, he actually held the longsword in both hands and bowed slowly to Lu Ren.
His originally dull eyes suddenly burst with brilliance; it was a kind of fanaticism filled with persistence.
And at this moment, it seemed as if only the sword in his hand remained in his eyes.
Two yellow, two purple, two black—six spirit rings rose gracefully from beneath his feet.
Indeed, he was a level sixty-one Spirit Emperor.
Lu Ren did not hesitate; two purple and two black spirit rings rose from under his feet, gleaming with a deep luster in the setting sun.
The entire venue erupted.
“The rumors are indeed true; his first spirit ring is actually a thousand-year one!”
“The fourth spirit ring is black!
A ten-thousand-year spirit ring!”
“Finally, someone can force Lu Ren to release his Spirit!
Good job, Ji Juechen!”
As the head disciple of the Practical Control Soul Tool Department, although people often called him a freak or a madman, they still had great confidence in his strength.
Ji Juechen held his sword with both hands, and six spirit rings appeared simultaneously.
An incomparably sharp aura erupted from him almost instantly, and at this moment, his entire being seemed to have merged into one with his extraterrestrial meteoric iron sword.
Imbuing the sword with his soul—this was Ji Juechen’s way of cultivation.
His own Spirit had completely transformed into energy rather than a physical entity, perfectly merging into the extraterrestrial meteoric iron sword in his hand.
The man is the sword, and the sword is the man; there is no distinction between them.
That sharp aura was his incomparably fierce sword intent.
Under the injection of his powerful spirit power, the extraterrestrial meteoric iron sword began to emit a slight hum, its tip trembling gently.
Ji Juechen’s aura surged at an astonishing speed.
Once this sword strike was unleashed, it would surely cause the heavens and earth to change color.
Lu Ren’s expression finally became solemn.
This guy is indeed strong enough.
Worthy of him using a Cursed Technique.
Blood Manipulation: Red Scale Leap.
Blood-red patterns began to emerge in his right eye, spreading like blood vessels under the skin, sketching out an eerie design.
A faint bloody mist diffused from around him, carrying a trace of metallic sweetness.
The effect of the Blood Manipulation Cursed Technique is very simple: it allows for the control of one’s own blood and objects attached to it.
This is a very comprehensive and versatile Cursed Technique; the downside is that if one doesn’t know the Reverse Cursed Technique, excessive use will lead to anemia.
Conversely, if one learns the Reverse Cursed Technique, the upper limit of Blood Manipulation becomes very high.
The effect of Red Scale Leap is even simpler: it comprehensively enhances one’s status and combat power, equivalent to a percentage-based buff-type Spirit Ability.
Freely controlling body temperature, pulse, and even the number and composition of red blood cells in the blood, it essentially has the effect of a powerful stimulant.
“Look!
His eyes have changed!”
“So terrifying, his whole body is covered in a faint bloody mist.
They finally forced out his Spirit Ability!”
The audience noticed Lu Ren’s change, and Hall Master Jing Hongchen noticed it too.
“It should be a very rare percentage-based buff-type Spirit Ability,” he murmured to himself, his gaze sharp as an eagle’s.
“He has become stronger.”
But even so, he still couldn’t tell what this guy’s Spirit actually was; it was a type he had never seen before.
“Facing such an opponent, it would be too disrespectful not to go all out.”
Lu Ren’s voice was very faint, as if he were speaking to himself.
In the next second, he stomped heavily on the ground.
The floor beneath his feet shattered with a bang, and debris exploded in all directions.
In his Red Scale Leap state, he was like a blood-red meteor, trailing afterimages as he charged straight at Ji Juechen.
His right fist had turned completely blood-red, veins bulging, and the air at the edge of his fist was distorting.
A straightforward frontal assault without any fancy tricks.
This momentum looks like he wants to kill Ji Juechen with a single punch.
The hair on Ji Juechen’s body stood on end.
He had already felt the threat of death.
The overwhelming pressure made his breath stall for a moment, his blood surged in his veins, and every cell was screaming danger.
But he was fearless.
Instead of retreating, he gripped his sword with both hands, took a half-step forward with his left foot, and delivered a simple, unadorned thrust with his longsword. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
At the moment this sword thrust was unleashed, all the silver light condensed on his body was instantly absorbed by the longsword, all of it freezing upon the blade and finally converging at a single point on the tip.
As the longsword thrust out, layers upon layers of ripples appeared in the surrounding air, as if torn by the sword intent.
“Boom!!!”
In the blink of an eye, fist and sword met.
An explosion erupted, and airwaves swept out in all directions.
A dazzling black light erupted from the fist’s edge, like a miniature sun exploding between the two.
Black Flash!!
Lu Ren’s punch directly hit the edge of Ji Juechen’s sword.
Violent power conducted along the blade.
That extraterrestrial meteoric iron sword emitted a wail, its body covered in cracks before shattering inch by inch.
Metal fragments exploded in the air, refracting the afterglow of the setting sun like a golden rain.
Ji Juechen was shaken back several steps, the web of his thumb split open, and blood dripped from his fingertips.
He looked down at the wreckage in his hand, of which only the hilt remained, and stood dazed on the spot.
Shattered.
His sword had shattered.
Completely…
no match for him.
This scene was witnessed by everyone present, and almost everyone was numb.
Even Ji Juechen, this freak, is no match for him?
Lu Ren withdrew his fist and glanced down at his right hand.
A cut had been opened at the edge of his fist by the sword blade, and blood slid down between his fingers, dripping onto the floor and blooming into a few blood flowers.
He circulated his spirit power, and a faint glow appeared at the wound.
The flesh healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, the bloodstains disappeared, and the skin returned to its original state as if nothing had ever happened.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
That’s right; in the year since he arrived at the Douluo Continent, he had already mastered this ability.
The Reverse Cursed Technique is the ticket to becoming a top-tier powerhouse.
Learning it is equivalent to having a portable fountain of infinite health regeneration.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, Cursed Energy is negative energy, and by multiplying two negatives to get a positive, Cursed Energy can be converted into positive energy, which can heal any injury on the body.
Simply put, as long as one isn’t instantly killed or cut in half, no matter how severe the injury, it can be recovered through the Reverse Cursed Technique.
In the Douluo Continent, Lu Ren felt that the Reverse Cursed Technique was a very easy skill to learn because his Cursed Energy and spirit power had long since merged into one.
The principle of the Reverse Cursed Technique is the multiplication of Cursed Energy by itself to produce positive energy, whereas spirit power is inherently positive energy.
Therefore, Lu Ren could skip the process of multiplying Cursed Energy and directly use the jujutsu method to learn the Reverse Cursed Technique through spirit power.
This was also why he could learn the Reverse Cursed Technique in just one year without going through life-and-death battles; he had essentially found a loophole.
With the Reverse Cursed Technique, Lu Ren had no fear even when facing a Titled Douluo, and he even had trump cards to retreat unscathed.
Although the stats in Jujutsu Kaisen might not be as high as in Douluo Continent, the mechanics of the Cursed Techniques are far superior to those in Douluo Continent.
With just Mahoraga from the Ten Shadows Technique, even if its stats were inferior to those Limit Douluos, its ability to adapt to all things would surely allow it to sweep across the entire Douluo Continent.
Lu Ren looked up and looked at Ji Juechen:
“Bring a better sword next time.”