Curse Reply: After choosing Nawa, the cursed spirit cursed me for being cruel.

A halo spread out, a rainbow stretched across the sky, and he looked down at Gojo Satoru standing atop the high-rise building, a slight smile playing on his lips: "True strongmen always descend vertically."

After a brief moment of deathly silence, chaos erupted inside the airship.

"That was so cool!" Itachi was practically hanging from the porthole. "Teacher Duanmu's entrance was so cool! Even cooler than Teacher Gojo's fireworks!"

“Indeed,” Fushiguro Megumi rarely agreed.

Wild Rose covered her mouth with both hands, her voice squeezing out from between her fingers: "So this is how good the uncle is at being cool... Isn't he always in the office approving documents? How does he have time to come up with this kind of entrance!"

Maki pushed up her glasses, the lenses reflecting the light, her tone carrying a hint of nonchalance as if she had already expected it: "Who do you think he is? He's the guy who, back in the day, demolished half of a vocational high school with Gojo-sensei."

I've said it before, Duanmu Yanren is no ordinary person, since he can hang out with Gojo Satoru!

How could we possibly let him appear like a normal person?

This is more painful for him than killing him!

The singer stood in front of the screen, fists clenched above her head, and let out her loudest shout of the day: "Duanmu! Well done! With this kind of spirit, beat that bastard Gojo Satoru to a pulp!"

Gojo Satoru stood atop the tall building, looking up at the figure suspended in mid-air, still surrounded by golden arcs of electricity, and then slapped his face in frustration.

"I knew I shouldn't have made that appearance; he completely overshadowed me."

He could tell at a glance that the lightning surrounding Duanmu Yan was something he had deliberately created.

Although the fireworks' explosion range was large enough, it paled in comparison to his golden halo, which directly spread out using its own energy and also created several rainbows.

It's a huge disgrace that Gojo Satoru lost in the bragging contest.

Chapter 318: The two were already evenly matched before the battle.

Duanmu Yan slowly descended from mid-air and landed on another dilapidated high-rise building opposite Gotiao Wu.

He had his reasons for choosing this way of making an appearance.

In fact, he had already arrived at the Nyukigawa Onsen village and had been floating in the clouds above, waiting.

As for why you would do this... would you make the company's leaders wait for you? He is the chairman of the Spellcaster's Association, and Satoru is the head of the Gojo family; by their status, he should have appeared later.

There is another, more important reason: the main character always appears last.

If he just stands there like an idiot, waiting for Gojo Satoru to finish setting off the fireworks before making his appearance, what would that look like?

He's not Wu; he couldn't bring himself to wait around in front of so many people.

The two gazed at each other across the ruins.

The wind swept across the flattened city, stirring up wisps of lingering smoke from the fireworks.

Gojo Satoru pushed his blindfold up, revealing his excessively blue eyes; Duanmu Yan's golden armor shimmered quietly in the morning light. The two spoke almost simultaneously.

"I've waited twelve years, don't let me down."

"Of course, so are you."

Just as the two were about to ignite a battle of wills, an elegant figure unexpectedly entered the tense battlefield.

Mingming, wearing her signature high heels, walked calmly between the two and raised the golden microphone in her hand.

"This is the location of the final battle, the Nyukigawa Onsen-kyo. The long-awaited battle of the strongest in modern times is about to begin. Let's move on to the pre-match interview segment."

She handed the microphone to Gojo Satoru, "Mr. Gojo Satoru, is there anything you would like to say to the other contestant in this final battle... who is also the chairman of our association?"

Gojo Satoru frowned slightly; this was something he needed to think about carefully.

Although his appearance wasn't bad, he knew very well that at this moment, countless people in the world were staring in disbelief at the sight of Duanmu Yan's vertical descent.

Although both of them were aware of the situation, there was no definitive answer as to who the challenger would be.

He has now lost one round.

If he doesn't step forward and say something meaningful, everyone will assume he's the challenger, and then he'll lose even more!

Thinking of this, Gojo Satoru raised his hand without hesitation, pointing his index finger directly at Duanmu Yan standing opposite him, his tone so confident it was almost arrogant.

"By the way, to avoid any misunderstanding, I should clarify first... Duanmu Yan, he is the challenger."

An uproar erupted inside the airship.

On the other hand, Duanmu Yan wasn't particularly angry when he heard Gojo Satoru's challenger declaration.

He stood in the afterglow of the rainbow, looking at the guy across from him who was pointing a finger at him, but he didn't feel annoyed by the provocation.

He felt something he never possessed: a sense of grandeur.

That kind of arrogant confidence—the kind that dares to speak freely in front of anyone, regardless of how many people they are in, and doesn't care what others think of them.

He still cared about his reputation and couldn't completely lower himself in front of everyone.

But Gojo Satoru is different. He is always so proud, never restraining himself, never hiding his pride, and never wavering because of anyone's opinion.

In terms of boldness, Duanmu Yan was far inferior to Wutiao Wu. In this respect, he lost.

In other words, before the battle even truly began, they were already evenly matched, one to one.

But even though he lost, he couldn't remain completely silent.

Duanmu Yan raised his hand, using wind element to amplify his voice, coughed twice, and then slowly spoke.

"Oh? I'm the challenger? It seems your brief victory in the past still makes you ecstatic."

“Gojo Satoru, you can only remove level one and level two special-grade curse spirits, but I removed the King of Curses, which is... you know what I mean.”

Gojo nodded in satisfaction.

That's more like it. Trash talk should be a back-and-forth exchange, otherwise it sounds too much like a stand-up comedy routine if only one person is talking.

The moment the conversation ended, the two smiled at each other, and then their figures disappeared from the spot at the same time.

On the airship, the students from the college were laughing uproariously at the two men's trash talk just a second ago, but the next second, all the laughter stopped abruptly.

Because they discovered that the two figures had vanished from their original positions at the same time.

It can't be said that they disappeared on the spot; it's just that their forces couldn't keep up with the two's movements at that moment.

Huzhang frantically chased after the fleeting golden and blue lights in front of him.

They could only catch fleeting afterimages no matter how hard they tried. Each collision of the two beams of light was accompanied by shockwaves that sent debris flying through the ruins, but they couldn't see the details of the two people's confrontation at all.

From the perspective of an ordinary viewer, all that can be seen on the screen is a blurry blur of light and shadow flashing wildly above the ruins.

Mingming had already returned to the airship and was now standing in front of the broadcasting console, her forehead beaded with cold sweat.

Although she could barely keep up with the two of them, her technique transmitted what she saw with her eyes.

Ordinary viewers who paid to watch the live stream simply couldn't possibly see the level of combat involved.

What should I do? If this continues, I'm sure I'll get a complaint. She hasn't even had a chance to enjoy the billions of dollars she's painstakingly saved up.

Just then, a calm voice came from beside the broadcasting station: "Miss Mingming, do you need my help?"

Kokichi was already standing next to the control panel, a small screen in his hand scrolling rapidly with dense data.

He glanced up at the afterimage on the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I can use the mechanical tracking system to capture the movements of the two seniors in real time, then slow them down and output the footage synchronously to the broadcast. The frame rate can be set high enough that no detail will be lost."

Mingming's eyes lit up instantly. She grabbed Yu Xingji's shoulder with such force that Yu Xingji swayed: "Yu Xingji, you're my savior. I'll make sure you get a raise, Duanmu."

Kokichi nodded, then turned and began operating the control panel at lightning speed. Data streams poured down like a waterfall, and the frame rate of the broadcast began to climb rapidly.

A moment later, the blurry image on the screen gradually disintegrated... Every moment when the two figures intersected was clearly broken down.

The people inside the airship finally saw the true nature of the battle.

The two moved at high speed above the ruins, each punch and kick accompanied by a fierce clash of golden and blue magical power. Before the afterimages had faded, the next attack was already upon them.

Everyone inside the airship held their breath, their eyes glued to the screen as the two strongest fighters exchanged blows.

Chapter 319 A Group of Onlookers

The students in the college held their breath, their eyes glued to the screen.

On the screen, Duanmu Yan and Wutiao Wu collided head-on above the ruins.

Without any probing or preparation, both men threw their full-force punches with their very first punch.

Duanmu Yan's right fist was wrapped in golden lightning, while Gojo Satoru's right fist was entangled in azure curse power. The two fists collided head-on in mid-air.

The shockwave from the impact point blew up pieces of the remaining building debris beneath their feet, and the rubble was crushed into dust by the two magical forces before it even hit the ground.

Using the recoil from the impact of their fists, Gojo Satoru floated back half a body length, lightly touched the air with his toes, and suddenly disappeared from the spot.

The next instant, he appeared behind Duanmu Yan, his right leg slashing towards the back of Duanmu Yan's neck like a battle axe.

Duanmu Yan did not turn around. The wind element patterns on the Yatalis armor lit up a moment before the five legs were about to kick out, and his body slid to the side by a hair's breadth.

As he dodged, his left elbow slammed into Gojo Satoru's chest with pinpoint accuracy.

"Man!!!"

Gojo Satoru raised his hand to block, and the dull thud of his elbow colliding with his palm made the air tremble.

In the instant he parried, he used Duanmu Yan's force to change direction again, and his whole body was launched like a projectile that had been hit, landing directly above Duanmu Yan. He clasped his hands together and slammed them down, and Cang's gravitational waves, wrapped in dazzling blue light, descended from the sky.

Duanmu Yan tilted his head back and punched upwards with his right fist.

The red flames of the Lightning Spiral Fist collided with Azure's gravitational waves in mid-air, and the two forces stalemated for a moment before exploding simultaneously.

Before the aftershocks of the explosion had subsided, Duanmu Yan burst out from the flames, his left palm wrapped in a torrent of blue water element, striking Wutiao Wu's side with a lightning-fast palm strike that carried enough force to pierce through steel plates.

Gojo Satoru formed a hand seal, and a blue barrier appeared out of thin air in front of him. The water flow from his Charge Palm was deflected by gravity the moment it hit the barrier, blasting a hole through a dilapidated building in the distance.

Duanmu Yan's palm strike missed, but his right leg followed up with a lightning tornado kick, the emerald whirlwind of which drew an arc in the air and swept towards Gojou's knee from the side.

Gojo Satoru leaped backward, his toes barely touching the ground, watching the tornado sweep past him. He remarked, "Does your skill have no cooldown? That's terrifying! It's so much stronger than last time."

"You haven't improved at all."

Duanmu Yan was sharp-tongued, but he had already put his feet down again.

The two clashed again, their fists clashing and their legs colliding, golden and blue light flashing wildly above the ruins.

Each collision was accompanied by the collapse of buildings and cracks in the ground, and the entire hot spring town was constantly being reshaped into more fragmented forms in the clash between the two.

A moment later, their attacks were blocked by each other, and they simultaneously withdrew their moves and retreated, landing steadily less than ten steps apart.