Twelve Heavenly Stems: White Face (3K Second Update)

The black serpent suddenly opened its jaws at Bai Cangshu. With a tap of his toes, Bai Cangshu flipped his center of gravity and leaped backward through the air, snatching Suguru Geto up from the ground.

Pfft!

A foul, bloody breath spread through the air, but Bai Cangshu kept retreating with Suguru Geto in his grasp.

One hand clutched Suguru Geto by the throat, while the other pressed against his waist.

"Reverse Cursed Technique isn’t omnipotent. If you don’t make these cursed spirits stop, I’ll kill you immediately and flee."

Compared to those cursed spirits, dealing with Suguru Geto was actually much simpler for Bai Cangshu.

Seeing that the cursed spirits were still focused on attacking him, and that the space had not given him a kill notification, Bai Cangshu knew that Suguru Geto in this world had likely mastered the Reverse Cursed Technique.

That made him quite difficult to kill.

Yet Bai Cangshu still held him hostage. He knew perfectly well that if he truly allowed Suguru Geto to act freely and release thousands of cursed spirits at once, even with a trump card like Secret Rite: Inari God’s Strike, he would be overwhelmed.

The Reverse Cursed Technique was practically the strongest universal ability in this world. It gave these jujutsu sorcerers, whose physical bodies were not particularly formidable to begin with, a powerful recovery ability nearly equivalent to weak immortality.

Of course, the Reverse Cursed Technique also had its weaknesses. Its essence was to reverse cursed energy, which was negative energy. Large amounts of negative cursed energy reacted in a manner akin to multiplication, transforming into positive energy and thereby producing healing abilities similar to holy light, along with additional lethality against cursed spirits.

Using the Reverse Cursed Technique continuously would lower the efficiency of one’s own technique.

But in short-term combat, so long as one’s cursed energy nodes were not destroyed, it truly counted as a certain degree of an Immortal Body.

During Satoru Gojo’s domain battle against Two-faced Shōnen, his body had suffered almost nonstop slashes, yet he had remained alive through the precise manipulation of the Limitless Cursed Technique combined with his heaven-defying Reverse Cursed Technique.

However, a jujutsu sorcerer’s cursed energy nodes were actually located at the lower dantian, where cursed energy converged as it circulated.

Suguru Geto tried to struggle, but the man behind him was indeed like the Heavenly Restriction Tyrant: Toji Fushiguro whom he and Satoru Gojo had encountered long ago.

His physical capabilities completely surpassed those of ordinary people. Even a jujutsu sorcerer like Suguru Geto, skilled in close combat, could not move.

Bai Cangshu had long since activated the Transparent World. Though he could not see through cursed energy, every movement Suguru Geto made was laid bare before him.

He could achieve an effect akin to moving before his enemy did, neutralizing Suguru Geto’s struggles one by one.

Bai Cangshu truly had the ability to kill Suguru Geto now. As long as he used the Rakshasa Palm to utterly shatter Suguru Geto’s lower dantian and prevent the Reverse Cursed Technique from continuing, he could completely finish this special-grade jujutsu sorcerer.

But Bai Cangshu saw the cursed spirits outside the courtyard, all restless and ready to pounce.

"Tch. Looking at your expression, I thought you were a madman like Gojo. What’s wrong? You’ve still got your reason after all."

Suguru Geto’s cervical vertebrae were restrained by Bai Cangshu’s hand. The slightest movement sent searing pain through his neck, but he still mocked him.

Bai Cangshu could tell that Suguru Geto truly was not afraid of death.

If anything… he had the potential for self-destruction.

Crack, crack…

With a cruel smile on his face, Suguru Geto twisted his cervical vertebrae bit by bit and turned his head toward Bai Cangshu.

His gaze was unrestrained, utterly unconcerned with such a fatal injury.

"You’re right. Kill me, and those thousands of cursed spirits will go berserk and raze all of Kyoto to the ground."

His smile carried ridicule, as though he were mocking Bai Cangshu for fearing death.

But Bai Cangshu merely sneered and pressed his left hand against Suguru Geto’s head.

Crack, crack.

Amid bone-chilling sounds of joints twisting, he turned Suguru Geto’s head back again.

During the process, Suguru Geto’s body had already lost control. With his cervical vertebrae completely displaced, before the Reverse Cursed Technique repaired them, all kinds of uncontrollable reactions erupted from his body.

Bai Cangshu tossed Suguru Geto aside.

"Only fools without strength who can’t let go of their obsessions would be so desperate to die."

Thud.

Suguru Geto was thrown to the ground, and the Reverse Cursed Technique quickly healed his injuries.

Bai Cangshu had already noticed that although Suguru Geto was restrained, he had not stopped controlling the cursed spirits. Whether it was Tamamo-no-Mae beyond the courtyard wall or those massive serpents, none of them attacked Tsuchimikado Ochiai, who had no ability to resist.

Suguru Geto was far more rational than his mad appearance suggested.

Suguru Geto rose and dusted off his kasaya, completely unconcerned by his embarrassing state or Bai Cangshu’s mockery.

"You two, the Spirit Disaster in Tokyo was indeed the sin of our Tsuchimikado Clan. But now that our clan’s bloodline has withered away, even if we wished to exorcise the Spirit Disaster, it would be impossible."

Only then did Tsuchimikado Ochiai, who had watched the two fight, finally speak.

No longer dodging the issue or playing dumb, he admitted that Tokyo’s enormous calamity had originated from the terrifying Onmyōdō inherited by the Tsuchimikado Clan—the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual.

"Back then, our ancestors attempted to use the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual in Tokyo to reverse the outcome of that lost war and alter the nation’s fate. But they ultimately failed, causing the great Spirit Disaster in Tokyo and countless deaths and injuries."

"The Onmyoji lineage suffered a devastating blow, and our ancestor Yakō perished as well."

As Bai Cangshu listened to the old man recount history, he wondered whether this change was due to an alteration in the timeline or whether some hidden truth lay behind it.

But if it was true that the Tsuchimikado Clan was now nearly extinct, then Tsuchimikado Yakou in this timeline could not have used the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual to reincarnate himself.

As the Onmyoji most trusted by Japan’s military at the time, he had combined Japan’s various religious techniques and founded the so-called Imperial Style Onmyōdō, becoming a Great Onmyōji.

Using the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual to alter the nation’s fate was indeed a plausible development.

Suguru Geto leaned against the side and listened to the account as well.

He also wanted to know what kind of power had killed his nearly invincible best friend.

"Half a year ago, a special person appeared. He also carried a crest that had made tremendous contributions to our clan, and thus earned our trust."

"I don’t know who gave him that technique. Perhaps no one did."

"After all, a grand ritual like the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual was never something a single Onmyoji could perform."

"But in the end, he learned of the Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual. It was the technique modified by our ancestor Yakō."

"And then… you have already seen the result."

The old man slumped to the ground.

"Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual…"

Suguru Geto repeated the name, his thoughts churning.

Bai Cangshu noticed Suguru Geto’s distraction.

In his view, Suguru Geto truly did not qualify as a competent leader, much less a qualified villain.

When he was kind, he was too idealistic. Even after falling into darkness, he retained far too many reservations and lingering attachments. He was probably the type who could not even commit evil thoroughly.

"So that person used the Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual to make a wish, trading thirty-three thousand lives for Satoru Gojo to be killed by a curse?"

Bai Cangshu felt that it could not be that simple.

The Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual was not an ability that one person could casually perform. Records showed that only top-tier Onmyoji such as Abe no Seimei and Tsuchimikado Yakou had ever used it, and only with Shikigami and sufficient preparations.

Tsuchimikado Yakou had been the strongest Onmyoji of his era. He had likewise died after performing the Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual, triggering a Spirit Disaster.

Bai Cangshu suddenly froze. He looked at the old man just as the latter averted his gaze.

The man’s heartbeat had sped up noticeably.

He was lying—or rather, concealing something.

Tap, tap, tap.

Bai Cangshu’s footsteps made Tsuchimikado Ochiai’s heartbeat race even faster.

Suguru Geto watched from the side with leisure, making no move to stop Bai Cangshu.

"Head of the Tsuchimikado Clan, if I remember correctly, after Tsuchimikado Yakou used the Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual back then, it also caused a massive Spirit Disaster in Tokyo."

"I’ve been wondering, did that person really deliberately choose Tokyo as the location?"

"Both Spirit Disasters erupted from Tokyo. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?"

As Bai Cangshu spoke, he placed his right hand on the other man’s shoulder. The rhythm of his breathing changed, and golden ripple began flowing through his body. Tsuchimikado Ochiai suddenly felt his aged body grow slightly lighter.

"Whether it’s me or the Cult Leader behind me, neither of us should be considered good people."

"Can you tell us the true secret of the Imperial Style Taizan Fukun Ritual?"

Silent City: Tokyo.

A bearded man in a jacket stepped out of the car. Old Ghost flicked his blade, flinging away the foul blood of the cursed spirits.

The group had finally arrived in Tokyo.

Not far away, the pitch-black giant egg expanded and contracted continuously, as though nurturing new life.

Wei Yixiao did not dare fly into the air now. The concentration of curses in this place was too high; they had to replace the talismans protecting them from negative energy every five minutes or so.

"Boss, are Satoru Gojo’s corpse and spirit body here?"

"Theoretically, if we just destroy the corpse or spirit body, the King of Curses won’t be born, right?"

Kai took two final drags and tossed his cigarette away, exhaling a breath of stale smoke.

"It’s not that simple."

"This place probably held a ritual several decades ago. That ritual failed at the time, but for some reason, its information remained preserved in this land."

"That guy, White Face, probably stole Tsuchimikado Yakou’s Destiny. Borrowing Tsuchimikado Yakou’s identity and fate, he performed the Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual here once more, completed the ritual, and triggered the enormous Spirit Disaster that swept across Tokyo."

"But Satoru Gojo’s death is strange. Until we determine whether Satoru Gojo’s Destiny was stolen, we can’t conclude that the King of Curses about to be born is Satoru Gojo."

Old Ghost, wearing a Hannya mask, stopped joking with his teammates and spoke as well.

"With Satoru Gojo’s Limitless Cursed Technique, Six Eyes, and the technique reversal he mastered himself, theoretically speaking, his actual combat strength should have been among the very strongest at the Strong rank. Other than using the so-called Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual to directly pray to the Mount Tai God to Curse Kill him, could White Face have had any other method?"

Kai shook his head as well.

"Who knows? White Face is one of that person’s followers. I only fought him once during a team battle before, so I can’t be sure what abilities he has acquired since then."

"A special-sequence reincarnator of the Twelve Heavenly Stems, and a follower of a Supreme Expert too. Tch, that kind of guy is truly troublesome."