Chapter 59: Evolutionary Authority
Tengen's technique was named Immortality, with evolution being just one way to ensure immortality.
However, what Minamoto Sōjun seized was precisely the evolution part, discarding immortality as if it were nothing more than a worn-out shoe.
It wasn't that he was chasing after the wrong thing, but rather that he sought to live long, with too many ways to achieve that. Minamoto Sōjun showed no interest in such a method. However, when it came to growing stronger, options were limited, especially after reaching the limit of cursed energy.
He finally saw a method to break the limit and felt he must try. Opportunities appeared in an instant, and there wasn't enough time for him to prepare thoroughly; all he needed was to stretch out his hand and grasp it.
Minamoto Sōjun acted decisively and successfully assimilated and merged with Tengen's physical form.
The difference in the evolution after the fusion was vast; it could no longer be called an immortality technique. It should instead be referred to as a technique for increasing strength.
This was the essential difference in their views — the technique born would only align with the person's true desires.
At this moment, deep in the Tokyo Metropolitan Magic Technical College, below ground, Tengen suddenly felt that he had lost something completely, and his heart felt empty. He paced around the hall, spreading his senses outward. After a full scan, he couldn't detect anything.
He didn't pay much attention, as living too long had made him somewhat dull. Time was the least expensive thing for Tengen; he cared more about stability.
…
Aligned with Minamoto Sōjun's subjective will, evolution, driven by perfect control, had become extremely pure—
It was all for breaking the limit.
Just as now, his cursed energy could no longer increase, and the only solution was assimilation, accumulating external cursed energy in large amounts as a stopgap measure to alleviate his temporary needs.
Now, he could actively attempt to break this limit.
Minamoto Sōjun was eager to try.
He sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, feeling the brand-new technique. There was a sense of anticipation in his heart. The perfect evolution authority was too large; it was better for him to control it himself.
He carefully felt the cursed energy, the sense of fullness after being forcefully stuffed, a feeling that had remained since reaching the limit. Every time he refined the cursed energy, it only replenished the consumption, unable to increase the upper limit, like pouring water into a bottle — once it was full, it naturally overflowed.
Perhaps, breaking the bottle and removing the bottle concept entirely?
A thought began to form in his mind.
Meals must be eaten bite by bite, and roads must be walked step by step. Taking too large a step inevitably brings risks.
So, he would first try to expand the bottle.
Early the next morning, Minamoto Sōjun arrived at the Technical College hospital, preparing to begin the expansion of the bottle.
The medical department was such a great place, not only offering a wealth of data samples but also providing the chance to see all kinds of strange curses. No need to say anything more; this was his home.
Minamoto Sōjun entered the office, and after Kamo Noriko stepped in, her expression was stiff. The early morning was equally painful for everyone.
She visibly relaxed upon seeing Minamoto Sōjun.
"Good morning!"
Kamo Noriko had a smile on her lips, one that seemed somewhat ambiguous, and her voice was notably lighter than before.
Was she this happy?
Minamoto Sōjun didn't quite understand.
When you work with a colleague who is both capable and highly ambitious, and more importantly, when there is no competition between you and this colleague, you will only wish for more colleagues like that.
Kamo Noriko felt exactly this way.
Minamoto Sōjun's healing techniques were very sophisticated, and the process was a joy to watch. However, once you watched it, you would realize his methods were actually quite... brutal.
Yes, describing them as brutal was very fitting.
Every time she saw him open a patient's abdomen, chest, or skull, almost dissecting the person on the operating table, occasionally losing focus and staring into the void, seemingly dissecting their soul... Although brutal, his healing speed was truly fast and effective, his actions graceful, paired with the bloodshed—it was a strange mix.
Most people couldn't do what he did, precisely locating the pathogens in a mass of fresh, moving flesh, eliminating the pathogens, and then piecing that flesh back together like a jigsaw puzzle, missing a few arms and legs along the way.
The real challenge lay in the latter part.
It was a test of both technical skill and mental fortitude.
Most importantly, Minamoto Sōjun seemed to have even more knowledge of medicine than she did.
Kamo Noriko recalled the days when she had to study late into the night to pass her medical certification and then remembered the admiration from others when he easily mastered reversal techniques.
Looking at Minamoto Sōjun now, she felt the difference in the world for the first time.
Kamo Noriko silently lit a cigarette.
This really... really... was amazing!
Her smile was even more difficult to suppress than before.
This type of work was actually quite easy for Minamoto Sōjun. The main reason was that with reversal techniques, no matter what wound, once treated with the reversal technique, it would heal. If it couldn't, it would be sent to the underground cold storage.
He finished repairing a fresh body, and when the blue light passed, the patient on the bed, rigid and still, had the corners of their mouth twitch, their eyelids flickering, and soon they regained consciousness.
Minamoto Sōjun patted the person, smiling as the surgery was a success. As they expressed their gratitude, he sent them out of the operating room and waved at Kamo Noriko.
Kamo Noriko, showing clear resistance, still furrowed her brows and came over to clean up the blood-stained operating table.
"Can't you stop making it so bloody every time?" she said as she worked.
Minamoto Sōjun didn't mind. Watching her proficient movements, he smiled with satisfaction. The child had grown up.
Kamo Noriko felt a chill down her spine, and when she turned to look at his smile, she felt awkward.
…
Minamoto Sōjun returned to the office and wrote down the words "Individual Differences" in his notebook.
He understood his own body structure very well, but when expanded to the human level, the differences were vast. The more people there were, the more differences there were.
For example, some people's tongues were very flexible, some could move their ears, some could control their eyeballs to shift sideways...
The world of curses also had its own small differences.
Some sorcerers had their cursed energy source near the navel, while others had it near the heart. The former had faster cursed energy response, while the latter operated more precisely. Each had its own advantages. There were many such differences, and Minamoto Sōjun recorded each one as he discovered them.
The path to evolution lay within these differences.
After a whole day of healing many sorcerers, Minamoto Sōjun gathered more and more data. During this time, he focused on recording the location of cursed energy sources, and now, the occurrences of differences had become rarer.
It was almost enough. Any future discoveries could be adjusted as needed; there was no need to waste time waiting.
Minamoto Sōjun began to improve the cursed energy source. As for where to place it — the navel, the heart, or the brain... He smiled. It wasn't a multiple-choice question. He would take all of them.
The difficulty of this operation was in separating the cursed energy sources. After they were separated, would they become several small bottles filled, or several large bottles not filled? Minamoto Sōjun wasn't sure yet, but he would just try.
He began looking for ways to separate them.
In reality, perfect control could achieve this, but the balancing mechanism wouldn't allow it.
Tch.
Minamoto Sōjun had a vague feeling that if he dared to separate them directly, it would smash them to pieces.
But that wouldn't stop him.
He had several external cursed energy sources. By forcibly incorporating them into his body, under the powerful adaptability of evolution, they would surely be successfully accommodated. It would just take some time.
Like desensitization therapy, some people are allergic to certain things. By repeatedly exposing them, there is a small hope to overcome it, though the effect varies from person to person. He didn't recommend others try it.
But Minamoto Sōjun didn't care. The evolution authority was perfectly suited for this situation.
No hesitation, he began controlling the external cursed energy sources. Aside from the tiny, handleless spoon, Tengen's body was no longer there. What remained were the heads of locusts, skulls, and paper coverings, corresponding to the navel, heart, and brain.
His own cursed energy source was positioned in the chest seam, needing no modification.
Minamoto Sōjun began to move the positions, and a noticeable foreign sensation arose. Though these were part of him, they weren't perfectly the same origin, so under perfect perception, it felt extremely obvious — like a thorn in his throat.
After aligning the cursed energy sources in their correct positions, Minamoto Sōjun still had to maintain a refined cursed energy state, pouring the newly refined cursed energy into these external sources, continuously evolving and adapting until they became one.
This would take seven more days in his perception.
Minamoto Sōjun felt uncomfortable, but it was still bearable.
It was somewhat like the process of a pearl forming, and he found time to think about other things.
Once the "pearl" was fully formed, the limit on cursed energy would be broken, and he would reach a new height.
Special grade?
Hahaha.
Minamoto Sōjun couldn't stop laughing.
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