Jujutsu Kaisen: Limitless

Half a month later, a message arrived from Tianyuan.

Minamoto Sōjun was practicing in his residence when the barrier suddenly trembled slightly, followed by a piece of information appearing in his mind. These barriers were essentially Tianyuan's eyes and ears, and Minamoto Sōjun naturally had countermeasures in place, embedding a counter-surveillance barrier, which made the message rather vague.

The general meaning was: come… to the Starfall Palace…

Tianyuan had figured it out and invited him to meet at the Starfall Palace.

Minamoto Sōjun packed up briefly, then took his time to walk to the main hall, immediately noticing a new change in the barrier here. He quickly scanned it and understood that this was a modification specifically made for him, and getting through it would not be as simple as the last time.

"You've come." Tianyuan walked out of the hall.

Since the evolution incident, he had not allowed anyone to enter the Starfall Palace. His precautions were palpable, especially toward Minamoto Sōjun.

Minamoto Sōjun was indifferent, even preferring this mode of communication—simple and direct, saying what needed to be said. If you dislike someone, just say it, and working together wouldn't change that.

His expression was casual as his gaze slowly swept around before shrugging, "Didn't you call me here?"

It was always necessary to exchange a greeting before diving into business, which was Tianyuan's experience after millennia. He took a few steps closer and stood beside Minamoto Sōjun, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

"Regarding the cooperation you mentioned last time, how do you plan to proceed?"

"Normally, we won't interfere with each other. You focus on your things, I'll focus on mine. But if the higher-ups maliciously target one of us, we'll form an alliance and support each other."

Minamoto Sōjun said,

"I'm not asking for much, just ensuring basic rights."

Tianyuan frowned, thinking for a while. The idea of mutual non-interference stirred his interest. This meeting had the tendency to become a collaboration, and he no longer wanted to pay too much attention to external matters. He just wanted to stay in his own territory. The higher-ups had been making frequent moves lately, which had been bothering him, so he made up his mind.

"I agree."

"Moreover, I'll leave the maintenance of the barriers outside the Starfall Palace to you. How does that sound?" Tianyuan made another request, or rather, offered a benefit, "Although it seems like you don't care about it, controlling this part of the barrier will significantly increase your influence within the High-Special."

Now it was Minamoto Sōjun's turn to weigh the pros and cons.

Outside the Starfall Palace—what does "outside" mean? It refers to the Guardian Tree, the connection points of the ten major barriers, and other barriers outside the Starfall Palace.

What does "inside" mean? It refers to the High-Special's defenses, warning systems, identity recognition, major cursed item storage protections, and some secondary barriers.

The most crucial and important parts were not given to him, and the sections requiring frequent interactions with the higher-ups were also kept out.

Tianyuan was truly straightforward.

Minamoto Sōjun thought about it but decided not to refuse. This was an open strategy. As Tianyuan said, controlling this part of the barrier would greatly increase his influence within the High-Special.

He had his own plans too, which involved joining forces with the Night Moth Righteous Path to quickly seize the position of headmaster.

Currently, the student faction led by the Night Moth Righteous Path was beginning to show signs of strength, and the upper ranks were becoming somewhat fragmented. In a few years, when more graduates of the High-Special left, it wouldn't be certain whether the High-Special would align with the three major families or with the Night Moth faction.

Although the Night Moth Righteous Path didn't have this idea, Minamoto Sōjun could push them to power. Such matters should be left to the younger generation, right?

He had high hopes for the Night Moth Righteous Path.

"Then, I look forward to our cooperation." Minamoto Sōjun extended his hand.

Tianyuan glanced at the hand but had no intention of shaking it. He simply said, "I look forward to it."

How rude, Minamoto Sōjun retracted his hand.

Both were barrier masters, and their understanding of barrier classifications was extremely clear. With each word and action, they had already set the barrier division.

After leaving the Starfall Palace, Minamoto Sōjun walked straight to the Bone Tree. He reached out and lightly touched the branches, his fingertips glowing red as blood seeped through.

This wasn't assimilation, but awakening; the Bone Tree had always been one with him.

He continued to take out a golden elixir and pressed it into the tree trunk. The golden elixir grew countless blood-red patterns around it, which bulged and contracted before vanishing, leaving behind a golden eye that blinked twice before quickly closing, forming a vertical stripe mark.

The High-Special members only thought of the Bone Tree as part of the curse technique, not knowing it could also be a spike left by Minamoto Sōjun.

A spike driven into the High-Special barrier.

After reaching an agreement with Tianyuan, the latter proactively relinquished control of the High-Special barrier, focusing only on stabilizing the Starfall Palace barrier and maintaining the connection points with the Guardian Tree and the ten major barriers.

Minamoto Sōjun had no objection. He would use the Bone Tree as the center and gradually overturn the existing barriers, reconstructing new ones from the foundation.

With one side willingly giving up and the other ready to take over, progress was naturally swift. It had to be fast, as they needed to settle everything before the higher-ups could react.

The new barrier formed silently, causing not the slightest disturbance.

Minamoto Sōjun looked at the exquisite Bone Tree in front of him, its material resembling jade, smooth to the touch, with a few faint red veins visible through its outer layer. The crown of the tree soared high into the heavens, boldly reaching for the sky as if trying to compete with the Guardian Tree.

Of course, it was still quite young.

The invisible barrier expanded from the crown of the Bone Tree, covering even the underground, enclosing the Starfall Palace in a spherical shape, replacing the original barrier, and covering the entire High-Special.

The dust settled!

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

The higher-ups noticed too late. By that time, Minamoto Sōjun had already returned to the Medical Department, treating patients and resuming his usual routine. The upper ranks sent someone to summon him for a meeting.

Another tower-like building—it turned out the previous one had been replaced by the tree. Once the tree became the core of the barrier, it became harder to shake.

"Do you still care about rules?!" an irritable elder slammed the table and shouted.

"This is wrong, Tianyuan. We trusted you and gave you the responsibility of maintaining the barrier, but what did you do? You truly think of the barrier as your personal property? Handing it over to an outsider…"

Minamoto Sōjun walked in just as the higher-ups were accusing Tianyuan. Tianyuan's barrier clone sat alone off to the side, unaffected, his expression calm.

When they saw Minamoto Sōjun enter, the room fell silent.

Amidst the gaze of these elders, Minamoto Sōjun casually walked over to Tianyuan's side and sat down.

He didn't intend to speak. The arguing was for Tianyuan to handle. He was here to do the heavy lifting and would step in only when action was needed.

Among these people, it seemed the older they were, the higher their rank. Except for Tianyuan, who had little interest in such matters.

The oldest person raised his eyes to look at Minamoto Sōjun, his voice weak, "Any requests can be discussed openly."

He was so old that most of his teeth had fallen out, and his speech leaked wind. Minamoto Sōjun propped his chin with his right hand and casually looked around the room, silently assessing how much force would be needed to break through. After the previous incident, these people had begun to be cautious of him, setting up numerous countermeasures in secret.

This attitude enraged the other elders, but they dared not speak out first.

The elder's voice remained calm: "We're all here for the sake of the jujutsu world. If there's an issue with the barrier, none of us can escape responsibility, and we can't explain it to the higher-ups. But since Tianyuan trusts you, we won't question it anymore. We just hope you can take on this responsibility."

It seemed he was tired, pausing for a moment before continuing,

"Sooner or later, the jujutsu world will belong to your generation."

The other elders were about to argue, but the old man tapped his cane lightly on the ground, silencing them.

He added, "Afterward, report the new barrier, make sure the cursed item vault keys are properly connected, and we'll leave the maintenance work to you."

He set the tone for the matter, quickly arranging all the preparations, while some others wanted to speak but dared not openly defy his wishes.

Minamoto Sōjun sat attentively, giving the elder a look. Whether he was pretending or genuine, he had no rebellious mindset to overthrow the rules, but he wouldn't let people take advantage of him without any reaction.

He simply didn't want to be affected without reason and preferred to focus on his own affairs.

Since the elder's attitude was acceptable, he naturally had no objections.

Minamoto Sōjun stood up, nodded at the elder, and walked out.

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

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