Capítulo 38: Evolution
During this period, Minamoto Sōjun was exceptionally busy.
After consuming a large number of its kind, the fly-headed curse spirit exhibited a slight increase in size. Minamoto Sōjun immediately noticed this unusual phenomenon and found it intriguing.
The growth potential of a cursed spirit is generally predetermined at birth, depending only on how far it can progress. Creatures like the fly-headed curse spirit, however, are born at their peak and gradually weaken until death.
Yet, the one before him had clearly changed.
Placing it in his palm, Minamoto Sōjun observed it closely. The curse spirit, having been assimilated, had long since become a part of himself. In the past, he had attempted to enhance its strength, but because its essence remained unchanged, it was still limited by the inherent weakness of its kind.
Now, its cursed energy had shown a slight increase.
Minamoto Sōjun also discovered that its brain had grown, granting it a sudden boost in intelligence. It could now express simple thoughts through body language and understand basic human speech.
This brought Minamoto Sōjun a surprising delight:
"Change is always a good thing."
Meanwhile, Mishima Shiko approached him, hesitantly hinting that it was time for her to be promoted to a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer.
"You promised to recommend me," she said, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger.
Watching her movements, Minamoto Sōjun was silently speechless. You're not the type to be subtle, are you?
He helped her gather two recommendation letters. It was a simple process—there were plenty of Grade 1 sorcerers around him, including Yaga, Geto, Mei Mei, and Gojo. He simply had to find one more person to complete it.
Since Yaga Masamichi had already used his final recommendation slot for the year on him, Minamoto Sōjun eventually turned to Suguru Geto.
Once Mishima Shiko received the letters, she immediately rushed off to take on the promotion task for Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer.
For years, advancing in sorcerer rankings had almost become her obsession. If she succeeded this time, she would likely leave her current role as an auxiliary supervisor and transition into becoming a bounty hunter.
"From now on, I'll only be able to work with you in a different capacity," she said happily.
The promotion task itself was of little concern. With her near-Grade 1 strength, a Grade 2 mission was no challenge.
Notably, Amanai Riko had once again been entrusted to his protection.
This brat was truly troublesome. She chased chickens and dogs—literally—and no animal escaped her grasp, including Minamoto Sōjun's bat, snake, and eagle.
The cacophony of crowing and barking each day was maddening.
Naturally, Amanai Riko could also see curses, and she was deeply curious about the cursed spirits Minamoto Sōjun had assimilated, pestering him with endless questions.
She often hid around corners, waiting to jump out and scare him.
Minamoto Sōjun had no interest in playing such games.
Before she could jump out, he would silently put on a pale white mask, giving her a surprise when she revealed herself.
"Kukuku~"
"Look! He's scaring me again!" she pretended to complain to Yaga Masamichi, feigning tears.
To her credit, she had a good sense of who could rein in Minamoto Sōjun. Yaga Masamichi was one of the few who qualified.
"You're 15 years old! Can't you stop being so childish?!" Yaga Masamichi exclaimed, setting down his work and looking at the two of them with exasperation, rubbing his forehead.
This statement left Amanai Riko utterly shocked.
"What? He's only 15? Just one year older than me?!" she cried out, completely missing the underlying message in Yaga's words.
At Tengen's side
Minamoto Sōjun had recently been frequenting the Star Plasma Vessel's palace, working with Tengen to research the feasibility of maintaining one's sense of self.
While Minamoto Sōjun had a clear understanding of his own soul, his comprehension of others' souls was far less profound.
Barrier techniques were merely a concept proposed by Tengen, and their actual implementation required discussion and experimentation. Tengen had made little progress over the millennia, leaving Minamoto Sōjun to essentially start from scratch.
"How does evolution actually occur?"
"What changes come with evolution? Are they good or bad?"
Minamoto Sōjun was curious about Tengen's immortality technique.
Immortal but subject to aging—aging that eventually led to death. At a certain point in the aging process, the technique would trigger evolution.
Did it suppress aging?
Or did it remove the limitations of aging?
Humans live for about a century, yet Tengen had survived for over a thousand years, undergoing assimilation with a Star Plasma Vessel every 500 years. In other words, he experienced 500 years of aging at a time.
What was the cause? Had Tengen truly evolved?
Minamoto Sōjun speculated that he likely had...
To understand it better, Minamoto Sōjun considered a biological perspective: humans are made up of cells, and within each cell is a "life clock"—the telomere, which maintains chromosomal integrity and controls the cell's division cycle.
Telomeres shorten with each cell division, and as they grow shorter, aging accelerates until the cell nears death.
Theoretically, humans cannot prevent telomere shortening.
Minamoto Sōjun pondered:
Could Tengen's technique slow down telomere shortening?
Or perhaps it replenished depleted telomeres?
Human cells typically shorten telomeres by 50–200 base pairs with each division, allowing for about 50 divisions in a lifespan of 100 years. If telomeres shortened by only 5 base pairs per division, cells could divide 500 times, and humans could theoretically live for a thousand years...
Minamoto Sōjun paused and laughed.
"Applying science to the Jujutsu world? I'm being too meticulous."
He adjusted his mindset.
In his view, Tengen's immortality technique was weak. Evolution merely prevented death but did not enhance strength. Tengen's only real advantage was his millennia-long mastery of barrier techniques.
Minamoto Sōjun's thoughts turned to a creature named "Ming," a 507-year-old Arctic clam. When researchers opened its shell for study, its life signs gradually faded...
...
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