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“Then let him disappear ‘accidentally’,” Yuuto said. “There are many ways to do this, not necessarily through direct confrontation. The Kamo family has just undergone a purge, and if one or two elders die, no one will investigate further.”

A gasp came from the other end of the phone. Yuuto could imagine Kenji's expression—this seventeen-year-old boy, though forced to mature early, was still a child at heart. Asking him to plot the murder of a family elder was indeed asking too much.

“Or,” Yuuto rephrased, “you could gather evidence that he colluded with [unclear characters], and that he has connections to [unclear characters].”

This time, Xianji remained silent for even longer. Finally, he said in a low voice, "...I will consider it."

"We'll discuss this further when we meet on Monday," Yu Ren said, hanging up the phone.

The study fell silent again. Yuuto leaned back in his chair, watching the sun rise higher outside the window. The affairs of the Kamo family, the Tengen Pact, Daisuke's training, the Hida FART drills… these mundane matters intertwined, forming his daily life as the fourth seat of the Sword-Wielding Academy. But beneath this calm surface, a complex mix of emotions swirled within him.

That ancient monster, who has lived for over a thousand years, must be plotting something somewhere right now. As can be seen from the references, [the text abruptly shifts to a seemingly unrelated topic:] ...the ancient monster, who has lived for over a thousand years, is surely plotting something somewhere.

Yuuto has become a piece on his chessboard that he must remove.

At 2 PM, Yuto set off for the Ryousei-gu Shrine. He changed into a dark blue Kenshin uniform—this was a special request from Gojo Satoru, who said, "You should dress formally when you meet Tengen."

She wore a kimono pendant at her waist. Her long silver hair was tied into a low ponytail at the back of her head, with a few stray strands falling across her forehead.

Before leaving, Qiong poked her head out from the second floor: "Are you coming back for dinner tonight?"

"Not necessarily," Yuuto said. "If you come back late, you can eat first and don't wait for me."

Qiong nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The Ryousei Shrine is located deep underground at the Tokyo Metropolitan Higher School of Jujutsu, accessible only through a special barrier passage. When Yuuto arrived at the Tokyo campus, Gojo Satoru was already waiting for him at the entrance.

Today, this most powerful sorcerer was unusually not wearing his signature small round sunglasses. Instead, he wore ordinary black thin-rimmed glasses and a college teacher's uniform, which made him look rather refined.

"Hey, you're right on time." Gojo Satoru greeted him with a smile. "You're dressed nicely, you look the part."

"Come on." Yuuto walked up to him. "Why does Tengen suddenly want to see me?"

“Well…” Gojo Satoru pushed up his glasses, “We’ll talk about it inside. But let me warn you, don’t be too surprised by anything you see later. Lord Tengen’s current state… is a bit unusual.”

The two passed through a hidden barrier door and entered a spiral staircase leading downwards. The walls on both sides of the staircase were covered with ancient runes, emitting a faint glow. The concentration of magical energy in the air was astonishingly high, and they could feel resistance with every step.

“The barrier here was personally set up by Tengen,” Gojo Satoru said as he walked. “Even I can’t force my way in without permission. Of course, the same goes for getting out.”

"A cage?" Yuuto asked.

“To be more precise, it’s the ‘Sanctuary’.” Gojo Satoru’s tone was unusually serious. “Lady Tengen is connected to the barrier of the entire nation of Japan. Her very existence is the cornerstone of the world of sorcery. But that also means that she can never leave this place.”

At the end of the stairs was a massive stone door, carved with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars. Gojo Satoru placed his hand on the center of the door, channeling his incantation, and the stone door slowly slid open to both sides.

The sight behind the door made Yuuto's pupils shrink slightly.

It was a vast, circular space, its dome so high it seemed to reach directly into the sky. Suspended in the center was a massive, semi-transparent cocoon-like object, its surface shimmering with iridescent colors. Inside the cocoon, the outline of a human figure could be vaguely seen; that must be Tianyuan.

But what shocked Yuuto was not Tengen itself, but the scene surrounding the cocoon.

Countless thick, fluorescent "roots" extend from the bottom of the cocoon, penetrate the ground, and then extend through the ground to an unknown distance.

A vast amount of magical power flowed through those roots, pulsating like blood vessels.

Even more bizarrely, various images would occasionally appear on the surface of the roots.

City street scenes, mountain landscapes, even the faces of people. The images flash by, as if transmitted in real time from all over Japan.

“This is Tengen’s current state.” Gojo Satoru’s voice echoed in the empty space. “She has assimilated with the National Barrier and become a ‘living system.’ She can sense all the spell energy fluctuations within the barrier’s coverage area, but she has also lost her human form and freedom as a result.”

Yuuto stepped forward to examine the cocoon up close. He could sense the ancient and immense will emanating from it, a will mixed with wisdom, weariness, and a profound loneliness.

"了髡诓富桓雠哟蟮募苹！碧煸纳粞纤啥鹄矗八蛩憷谩烂鸹赜巍墓嬖颍啃懈男慈毡救车慕峤缁獭H绠晒Γ�钟械慕峦低辰岜览＃碌摹⑹芩刂频墓嬖蚪崛《！?"

Gojo Satoru interjected, "The return of death is a process of transformation, a process of annihilation and rebirth. It involves the destruction of the body and the destruction of the spirit world. It's a process of transformation, ...

“Marking swimmers…” Yuuto recalled the reference material, which contained the phrase “魈赈焦摹霸は缺昙怯肭昶踉肌保八丫昙掬硕嗌偃耍俊”.

"The exact numbers are unknown," Tianyuan said, "but according to feedback from the barrier, there have been abnormal fluctuations in magical power awakening across the country over the past few months. Among those awakened, some possess magical power characteristics that match those of the legendary [unclear - possibly a specific individual or entity]!"

“He’s mass-producing sorcerers,” Yuuto concluded.

“More accurately, it’s about mass-producing 'chess pieces',” Gojo Satoru continued. “The Death and Annihilation Cycle requires a sufficient number of participants to activate. It’s a complex process, and the key is to create enough participants to trigger it.”

Yu Ren was silent for a moment. He looked at the curtain hanging on the ground, his expression shifting to a hushed tone. He then looked at the old man, his expression changing, his gaze fixed on the curtain. He then looked at the curtain, his expression changing, his gaze fixed on the old man, his expression changing, his gaze fixed on the curtain. He then looked at ...

"What can I do?" Yuuto asked.

Tianyuan's voice rang out again: "Your 'system' has the ability to disrupt established rules. When the Death Return is activated, you may be the key to breaking the balance. But before that, you need to understand the 'rules' of this world more deeply."

The light on the surface of the cocoon suddenly intensified, and a tiny fluorescent root emerged from the cocoon, slowly reaching towards Youren.

“Touch it,” Tianyuan said. “I will give you some ‘knowledge’ about barriers and rules. This will help you make the right choices in the future.”

Yuuto glanced at Gojo Satoru. Gojo Satoru nodded: "Don't worry, Tengen won't harm you."

The moment his fingertips touched the roots, Yuu's consciousness was drawn into a sea of ​​information.

It wasn't words, images, or sounds—it was a more fundamental "understanding," flowing directly into his mind like a gentle stream, becoming part of his cognition.

He "saw" the network of barriers across Japan, with countless fine energy threads extending in all directions from Ryusei Shrine as its core, connecting every shrine, every sacred peak, and every barrier stone passed down from ancient times.

He "senses" the magical power flowing within these threads, which operates according to ancient rules, maintaining the balance between the world of magic and the mortal realm.

At a deeper level, it concerns knowledge about the "rules" themselves. The essence of barrier magic is to inscribe "new rules" upon reality using incantation. The nationwide barrier maintained by Tianyuan...

The core rule is differentiation, separating magical activities from the world of ordinary people, and limiting the birth of magical spirits to a controllable range. Furthermore, it involves the creation of magical spirits within a controlled environment.

Information continued to pour in. Yuuto "understood" the vulnerabilities of the barrier nodes and knew how to interfere with local barriers at the lowest cost; he "knew" the cracks that might arise when the rules of curse power conflicted, the flaws that might be left by forcibly rewriting reality; he "comprehended" the burden that Tianyuan had borne to maintain this system for a thousand years, as well as the loneliness and exhaustion deeply rooted in his will.

The whole process lasted less than ten seconds.

Yuuto withdrew his finger and staggered back half a step. Gojo Satoru reached out to support him: "Hey, are you alright?"

"...It's alright." Yu Ren steadied himself, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. The newly acquired knowledge in his mind was rapidly integrating, resonating with his existing understanding of techniques such as Feng Hou Qi Men and Tong Tian Lu. He felt that his understanding of "rules" and "barriers" had been forcibly elevated to a higher level.

"You felt it?" Tianyuan's voice rang out again, slightly weaker than before. "This knowledge will help you, but it can also become a burden. Sometimes, seeing the rules too clearly is worse than being ignorant."

“I understand.” Yuuto opened his eyes and looked at the enormous cocoon. “Thank you.”

Chapter 173 The Encirclement

The sky was leaden gray, with thick, low-hanging clouds that seemed poised to crush the mountains below at any moment. The wind was strong; air currents from the Pacific Ocean swept over the mountains, whistling sharply through the valleys.

Four figures hovered high in the sky.

Yujin stood at the forefront, his long, silvery-white hair dancing wildly in the wind. He formed hand seals, and golden magical energy surged from his body, forming a spherical domain with a diameter of twenty meters.

The interior of the domain was as stable as the ground, with airflow completely blocked, and only a faint golden halo swirling within.

Gojo Satoru stood to his left, still wearing those small round sunglasses, his hands in the pockets of his black high school uniform. He lowered his head slightly, looking down at the continuous mountain range through his lenses, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Yi Guyou stood on the right, his white college uniform spotless.

He carried a long sword wrapped in white cloth on his back, his short black hair was ruffled by the wind, his face was expressionless, but his dark eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

At the end, Yuki Tsukumo had her long golden hair tied in a high ponytail, and her slender figure was outlined in a smart black combat uniform.

“We’ve arrived.” Yi Gu suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly audible in the silent area.

He raised his right hand, and a faint thread of magical energy condensed at his fingertips.

The thread stretched slowly through the air, pointing towards an inconspicuous valley deep within the mountains below. The thread was translucent, visible only to sorcerers.

This is the data tracked by Yi Gu over the past three months.

Three months ago, Yi Gu disappeared from the world of sorcery.

He didn't inform anyone of his whereabouts, not even Gojo Satoru. He simply sent Yuuto a encrypted message: "Found a clue, need to act alone. Remain silent."

After that, we lost all contact.

Until three days ago, a new encrypted message was transmitted to Youren's system: "Coordinates locked. Four days from now, at 5:00 AM, bring trusted top-tier combatants. The target is surrounded by a large number of level one cursed spirits, and seven to eight top-tier ones. The barrier strength is estimated to be at the Heavenly Origin level."

The message was brief, but alarming enough.

A Heavenly Origin-level barrier—this means that even Gojo Satoru's "Zi" would require a full-force attack to break through it.

"You've had a tough time." Yuuto didn't turn around; his voice resonated through the magical energy within his domain, reaching everyone's ears. "These past three months haven't been easy, have they?"

Yi Gu was silent for a few seconds before saying, "It's alright. It's just... a little lonely."

He spoke casually, but everyone could imagine what it must have felt like—stalking an old fox for a thousand years all alone, every step a potential trap, every night on high alert. No companions, no support, and even sleep was limited to light rest.

Gojo Satoru patted him on the shoulder without saying a word. But the weight in that gesture was clear to Otsukoshi.

“The barrier is below.” Yi Gu took a deep breath, suppressing his surging emotions. “The interior of the valley has been completely transformed. I infiltrated it once, but I had to retreat after only reaching the outer perimeter. The density of cursed spirits inside… is very high.”

"How tall?" asked Yuki Tsukumo.

“There is at least one level-one curse spirit per square meter,” Yi Gu said. “I was unable to enter the core area, but I sensed eight special-grade curse power reactions, possibly more.”

Yuuto squinted his eyes.

One level-one cursed spirit per square meter—this means the entire valley has become a lair for cursed spirits. And eight special-grade cursed spirits… this is almost half of all the known special-grade cursed spirits currently existing in the world of sorcery.

Liao Miji Ji Gan Cai Chu

“He can’t escape.” Gojo Satoru suddenly laughed, but there was no warmth in his smile. “Today we’ll turn this old man’s game upside down.”

Yu-ren nodded, his hands changing into hand seals.

The golden area began to slowly descend.

The valley is unremarkable from the air. Steep rock walls line both sides, and the valley floor is covered by dense primeval forest, with a stream flowing through the middle.

But in the sorcerer's view, the entire valley was shrouded in a dark purple barrier. Complex incantations flowed across the surface of the barrier; the characters were ancient and twisted, exuding a nauseating and ominous aura.

The domain stopped fifty meters outside the barrier.

Gojo Satoru took a step forward and took off his sunglasses.

His six azure eyes were fully open, and magical power emanated from them as if it were tangible. He raised his right hand, his five fingers spread, pointing at the barrier below.

“Azure.”

There was no chanting, no building up of energy, just two simple words.

But the next moment, the space ten centimeters in front of his palm began to twist and collapse. Air was frantically sucked into that invisible point, light bent, and objects in his vision began to distort. Black ripples appeared around the point of collapse—cracks caused by the space being unable to withstand the pressure.

Gojo Satoru slowly clenched his right fist.

The collapse point suddenly exploded.

It wasn't an explosion, but a sight far more terrifying—space itself was torn apart. A black crack, three meters in diameter, extended from Gojo Satoru's palm, like an invisible giant sword, slashing fiercely at the barrier below.