Under normal circumstances, Luke Abraham should have been a wealthy young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
He should have been able to rely on his family’s resources, advance step by step into the middle and high Sequences, and carve out a place for himself in the Lord of Mysteries world.
There was only one problem.
His family had an insane ancestor who kept dragging his descendants down with him, making it impossible for the Abraham family to properly cultivate powerful members.
For the family, Sequence 7 was effectively the upper limit.
Anyone who advanced beyond that would risk being screamed to death by Mr.
Door during the full moon.
Without powerful members to protect them, combined with the many enemies the Abraham family had made during the Fourth Epoch and the immense wealth and inheritance others coveted, most of its members had been forced to hide their identities and evade the Churches of the Seven Gods as well as various secret organizations.
That was Luke Abraham’s current situation.
He didn’t dare advance too quickly, yet he also had to constantly conceal his identity.
Standing before the Jujutsu Luke, he looked thoroughly exhausted.
“I’m currently in the year 702 of the Fifth Epoch. There are still over six hundred years before the protagonist of the Lord of Mysteries world is even born. Man, what can I say?”
Luke Abraham spread his hands.
The low and mid Sequences of the Door Pathway had no way to extend one’s lifespan.
In other words, barring some extraordinary accident, he wouldn’t even live long enough to see the beginning of the main storyline.
He was stuck with this situation until death.
Luke Abraham was actually rather envious of the Jujutsu Luke.
“I can’t deal with my insane ancestor, but you at least have a chance of taming Mahoraga. Once Gojo and Sukuna take each other out, you can wait another thirty or forty years and pick up a Special Grade title for yourself. At least you’ve got a chance to become a top-tier powerhouse within your lifetime.”
Through their shared memories, he already knew about the Jujutsu Luke’s plan to tame Mahoraga.
The Jujutsu Luke, however, didn’t look particularly enthusiastic.
“After the era of Gojo and Sukuna comes Yuji’s era and Yuta’s era. Am I supposed to take Mahoraga and fight the mysterious powerhouse Yuji becomes, or stand there and eat Yuta’s Pure Love Cannon after another thirty years of accumulation?”
He sighed.
Even obtaining Mahoraga would only give him a ticket into the Special Grade level.
Truly powerful sorcerers wouldn’t give Mahoraga enough time to display its abilities.
They wouldn’t even let the wheel turn before killing it in one attack.
The Jujutsu Luke sighed.
“Looks like both of us got screwed.”
“Yeah… pretty much.”
Luke Abraham strongly agreed.
For a moment, the two sympathized deeply with each other.
Then the Jujutsu Luke turned toward the other two versions of himself.
One had pure white eyes.
The other looked like a student.
“Konoha’s Hyuga Branch Family. Naruto-world Luke. A proud victim of the Byakugan lifestyle. If you can look at these eyes without laughing, you’re stronger than me.”
The Hyuga Luke extended a hand.
The two slapped palms and shared memories.
The Jujutsu Luke immediately learned that the other man was a genin from the Hyuga Branch Family, living on the eve of the Second Shinobi World War.
The Hyuga clan really was a rough situation.
Although the Byakugan was a Kekkei Genkai with extraordinary observational abilities, granting nearly three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision, X-ray vision, and long-distance sight, the clan somehow didn’t possess a single decent long-range ninjutsu.
Its core fighting style revolved around getting close enough to strike an enemy’s tenketsu with Gentle Fist.
Worse still, the Hyuga Luke belonged to the Branch Family.
He couldn’t learn any of the Main Family’s advanced Gentle Fist techniques.
And he was currently living through the Second Shinobi World War, where a genin like him faced an extremely high mortality rate.
After seeing those memories, the Jujutsu Luke immediately complained,
“Hyuga Luke, how did you end up this screwed too?”
The Hyuga Luke was fairly optimistic.
“I’m actually doing alright. At the very least, now that you’ve entered this shared space, I can benefit from your mental strength and use it to improve my visual power and chakra reserves. That helps me quite a bit.”
Hearing this, the Jujutsu Luke paused, looking confused.
The student-looking Luke explained,
“Inside this space, we Lukes can share and stack our talents and abilities. It also strengthens our basic comprehension, mental strength, and soul strength.”
“Those fundamental enhancements work in almost every world. Once you leave this space and return to the Jujutsu world, you should notice the changes yourself.”
Seeing the Jujutsu Luke looking at him, the student smiled.
“I’m Luke from the Dragon Raja world. I’m currently a second-year student at Cassell College with Chu Zihang. My hybrid ranking isn’t very high, and my Word Spirit is pretty ordinary too—Sequence 59, Kamaitachi.”
The moment he heard the name of the Word Spirit, the Jujutsu Luke immediately understood that this version of himself had gotten a bad draw too.
Kamaitachi enhanced the user’s hearing, allowing them to capture sounds across a large area and form something similar to auditory radar.
It sounded fairly useful.
But compared to the monstrous Word Spirits in the same world—abilities like Junyan that could melt steel, Judgment with its causality-like slashing effect, or techniques capable of distorting time—Kamaitachi was definitely on the weaker end.
The Jujutsu Luke pursed his lips, then tried to comfort him.
“You’re being too modest. You’ve got the same Word Spirit as the genius heir of the Gattuso family. Work hard in the Student Union and maybe they’ll give you a Bugatti Veyron someday.”
The Dragon Raja Luke smiled awkwardly.
“To be fair, Caesar Gattuso does treat me pretty well.”
The two slapped palms and shared their memories.
The Jujutsu Luke instantly learned about the Dragon Raja Luke’s past.
He was merely an ordinary Cassell student with a C-rank bloodline and a relatively weak Word Spirit.
In a dragon-slaying incident, that was basically standard cannon-fodder equipment.
He had nowhere near enough strength to interfere with the main storyline.
The Dragon Raja Luke then reminded him,
“When we Lukes come into contact with one another, aside from sharing memories and stacking talents and mental strength, there’s also a chance we can obtain some of each other’s abilities.”
He pointed at his own ear.
“For example, my Kamaitachi. Everyone says that after sharing my ability, their hearing improved to some extent. Some of you even reached levels beyond normal human limits.”
The Jujutsu Luke looked surprised.
“So does that mean you can use my Ten Shadows Technique in your own worlds too?”
“That’s hard to say…”
Luke Abraham shook his head and explained,
“It mainly depends on whether the rules of our worlds allow an ability like the Ten Shadows Technique to function there. We’ll have to return and test the exact effects ourselves. For now, all we can say is that it’s worth looking forward to.”
The group began discussing whether the Ten Shadows Technique could function in other worlds.
Then an aged voice came from nearby.
“Oh? Did a newcomer join us this time?”
The Jujutsu Luke turned toward the voice and was surprised to see a ghost floating in midair.
“Wait, there’s even a ghost Luke here? What world did you die in?”
The Jujutsu Luke couldn’t help asking.
Luke Abraham laughed.
“Don’t make such a fuss. This ghost Luke is probably the most senior among all of us right now.”
He walked over to the ghost.
“Journey Luke, did your reincarnation go smoothly this time? What family did the judge of the underworld assign you to for your next life?”
The ghost Luke looked gloomy.
“The judge said I hadn’t accumulated enough merit to qualify for reincarnation into an immortal family. He asked whether I was willing to return to the mortal world and build up more merit.”
Luke Abraham immediately looked regretful.
“This is already your third reincarnation, right? You still haven’t obtained an immortal opportunity… So you’re planning to spend your third life doing good deeds again?”
The ghost Luke nodded unhappily.
“Yeah. I’ll keep accumulating merit in my third life too. The Journey to the West world has reincarnation through the underworld. As long as my soul isn’t completely destroyed, I can always start over.”
“And you guys can preserve the memories Meng Po’s soup erases. If I try enough times, sooner or later I’ll accumulate enough merit to find an immortal opportunity and enter the ranks of immortals.”
As the two spoke, the Jujutsu Luke gradually understood the ghost Luke’s situation.
He had transmigrated into the Journey to the West world.
Unfortunately, Sun Wukong hadn’t even been born yet, and Luke had no connections that could get him into Mount Fangcun.
So the method Journey Luke had come up with for seeking immortality was to imitate Squire Kou, who appeared in Chapter Ninety-Six of the original story.
Because Squire Kou had accumulated the merit of feeding ten thousand monks, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva personally appointed him after death to oversee the register of good affinities.
It was a minor post in the underworld, low in rank but rich in benefits.
Journey Luke’s plan was to accumulate merit across multiple lifetimes and eventually attract the attention of some powerful immortal, gaining an opportunity to ascend.
The method sounded painfully slow, but accumulating merit through reincarnation still offered some hope.
At the very least, sufficient merit could prevent him from being reincarnated into the lower three realms as an animal, hungry ghost, or hell being.
It would also keep him from being born into some catastrophic starting point like Lion Camel Kingdom.
Journey Luke let out a gloomy breath.
“Golden Cicada was a good man who cultivated for ten lifetimes before becoming the Buddha’s second disciple. I can at least aim for a reputation based on ten lifetimes of merit too.”
The Jujutsu Luke listened with newfound respect.
Journey Luke came over to the newcomer, and the two slapped palms.
He encouraged him,
“Keep at it. Taming Mahoraga only means spending thirty or forty years building up your strength. I’ve already gone through two full reincarnations. You can definitely manage it.”
“Thanks. Seeing how patient you are makes thirty or forty years suddenly feel like nothing.”
The Jujutsu Luke sighed.
Why was every other version of himself stuck with one terrible situation after another?
But after Journey Luke appeared, more and more Lukes began entering the strange space.
There was the Luke representing Balance, from the Jackie Chan Adventures world.
The will of his world constantly manipulated the scales between Good and Evil, essentially forcing him into matchmaking where stronger power only meant stronger enemies.
There was the Luke representing Dreams, from the One Piece world.
He had started as a slave of the Celestial Dragons alongside the young Boa Hancock, gritting his teeth and waiting for the Sun Pirates to raid the Holy Land.
There was the Luke representing Stands, from the JoJo world.
He had encountered Father Pucci, who seemed protected by fate itself, and no matter how hard Luke struggled, he couldn’t defeat him.
There was the Luke representing Genes, from the Super Seminary world.
He was merely an ordinary resident of Juxia City without super-soldier genes—standard wartime cannon fodder.
Together with the Dragon Raja Luke representing Word Spirits, the Journey Luke representing Reincarnation, the Naruto Luke representing Dojutsu, Luke Abraham representing Potions, and the newly arrived Jujutsu Luke representing Accumulation—
The Nine Unlucky Lukes had officially assembled.
The nine Lukes looked at one another and let out helpless sighs.
“So every one of us got screwed.”
After finishing their introductions, the Jujutsu Luke shared memories with every other Luke.
Then Journey Luke suddenly said,
“Out of all of us, isn’t the Jujutsu Luke the one with the best chance of escaping his bad situation early?”
Everyone abruptly turned toward him.
Journey Luke rubbed his chin and analyzed,
“If I remember correctly, power growth in the Jujutsu world depends almost entirely on talent. There aren’t really any resource bottlenecks preventing advancement. Theoretically speaking, the Jujutsu Luke could become a top-tier sorcerer almost overnight.”
Once he said that, the others realized it as well.
“That’s right. Especially sixty-eight years after the main Jujutsu storyline ends, some alien bull-headed guy showed up, fought Mahoraga once, and immediately learned things like sub-light-speed flying kicks, Reverse Cursed Technique, Cursed Technique Reversal, and Domain Expansion.”
“With the combined soul strength and talents of nine Lukes stacked together, there’s no reason you shouldn’t become stronger after you go back. Forget beating Sukuna or sending Gojo flying—even reaching Special Grade level in a short time is completely possible.”
“Exactly. Once you get stronger, especially after taming Mahoraga, we can share abilities again. The rest of us might benefit too and escape our bad situations sooner.”
The Lukes from the different worlds kept discussing it.
The more the Jujutsu Luke listened, the more reasonable it sounded.
Could he really have a chance to reach the level of Gojo and Sukuna?
His tone became uncertain.
“Then… should I try it when I get back?”
The other eight Lukes immediately encouraged him.
“Definitely. We’ll all be waiting for good news.”
“The Nine Unlucky Lukes refuse to bow to fate.”
“We’re all making it to the end.”
The Jujutsu Luke clenched his fist, his fighting spirit rising.
…
One day later.
At the Zenin clan’s training ground outside the city, the Jujutsu Luke took a deep breath and focused completely.
He mobilized the cursed energy inside his body and formed hand signs to activate the Ten Shadows Technique.
“Divine Dog: Black!”
“Divine Dog: White!”
The hand signs cast canine-shaped shadows beneath the light.
A moment later, two dog-shaped shikigami, one black and one white, emerged from the darkness.
They gathered around Luke, each standing more than two meters tall at the shoulder, with bodies comparable to polar bears.
They looked imposing.
Luke’s eyes lit up.
“Both my total cursed energy and cursed-energy output have increased several times over compared to before. Even the shikigami I summon have grown larger.”
Delight appeared on his face.
The three basic foundations of a sorcerer were total cursed energy, cursed-energy output, and cursed-energy efficiency.
They were roughly equivalent to the maximum size of one’s mana pool, attack multiplier, and reduced mana consumption.
A sorcerer’s total cursed energy was innate and couldn’t be increased through conventional training.
Cursed-energy output and efficiency could be improved through practice, but they depended heavily on talent.
After coming into contact with his counterparts from the other worlds, however, the Jujutsu Luke’s soul strength and training talent had increased by at least eight times.
Excitement gradually spread across his face.
“In that case, I should find an opponent and test my current strength.”
His hand sign changed, casting the clear outline of a deer’s head.
Branching antlers spread through the shadow.
In the next instant, a deep, heavy deer cry echoed from the darkness.
A majestic four-eyed giant deer, standing three meters at the shoulder, slowly stepped out from the shadows.
It was Round Deer, a shikigami Luke had yet to tame.
Among the Ten Shadows shikigami, it was a high-quality summon surpassed only by the combat-focused Tiger Funeral and the all-purpose Mahoraga.
Round Deer could output the extremely rare Reverse Cursed Technique, producing positive energy for healing or neutralizing cursed energy.
The nature of Round Deer’s ability alone was enough to easily kill the vast majority of Special Grade cursed spirits in one shot, while its durability greatly exceeded the level of a Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Seeing the one attempting to tame it, Round Deer let out a low growl through its mouth and nose.
Luke assumed a fighting stance.
“This shikigami possesses the extremely important Reverse Cursed Technique. Only after I master it can I say I’ve taken the first real step toward becoming a powerful sorcerer.”
He clenched both fists.
Blue-black cursed energy ignited around them.
It really helps the fic grow!