Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

Seireitei, the territory of the Shihōin clan.

It was cold and suffocating, as if I were in the deep sea.

Xuan woke up from his sleep once again.

He curled up on the cold tatami mat, cold sweat soaking the thin quilt, sticking stickily to his back and shoulders.

Almost every moment, Xuan could feel a tearing, oppressive pain. This feeling wasn't in his body, but seemed to come from the depths of his soul.

This torment has haunted him ever since the day he "woke up" in this body.

—Seven days ago.

Consciousness rises from chaos, and the first sensations it experiences are not sight or hearing, but two completely opposite tactile sensations in the soul.

Some of the souls felt perfectly normal, without any discomfort.

The other part of the soul, however, is like a sharp-edged stone, forcibly stuffed into a perfectly fitting mold.

The constant pressure came from all directions, bringing waves of pain and a suffocating feeling of oppression.

It's like a porcelain vase being shattered, with two pieces of vastly different textures forcibly pieced together. The only result is the pain of incompatibility at the joint.

Then, fragmented memories flooded in: pale, bony claws, a shattered ceiling, crimson eyes on a mask, and then everything returned to darkness.

"Great Void..." Xuan recognized the monster from his memories.

Because his previous life was in the Dharma-ending Age when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was depleted, Xuan, although a Taoist practitioner, was unable to draw energy into his body. In his spare time, he would relax by watching anime.

For some unknown reason, I have been transported to the world of death, and my soul seems to have collided with a soul that still retains some of its memories.

Xuan tried to concentrate. He moved his fingers.

As I conveyed my thoughts, a sense of stagnation came through, but I could feel my fingers slightly bend, and the fingertips felt a slightly rough, fibrous texture.

"I can control my body... although it's a bit rusty, and I might not be used to it yet." Xuan's heart leaped with excitement.

Enduring the pain and oppression, Xuan struggled to concentrate and opened his eyes.

What came into view was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Slowly, I sat up from the tatami mat and looked out the window at the morning sunlight of spring, which shone on the cherry tree outside the window, half of it withered and half of it in full bloom.

"Cherry blossoms...?" Because the pain was too intense, Xuan finally felt the weakness and coldness in his body.

Xuan looked at himself; his body was far too young. However, he noticed that the clothes he was wearing had patterns.

The diamond-shaped frame in the center contains a crescent moon, with a five-pointed star decoration placed in each of the four directions above, below, left, and right of the crescent moon.

It looked familiar. After thinking back, Xuan suddenly realized that it was the Shihōin clan crest.

"So, I've been transported to the world of Bleach and ended up in the body of Shihouin?" He quickly checked himself to make sure his 1/2 coin was still there.

Xuan stood up and stood by the window, observing his surroundings.

The courtyard was small, with a stone-paved floor and no weeds. Looking around, there seemed to be no one else.

There were only two rooms in the courtyard. Through the window of the other room, you could see that wooden targets were piled up, which looked like a warehouse.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door, and before Xuan could respond, the door opened.

The visitor put down his plate, placed a bowl of white rice porridge and a wooden spoon on the wooden table, and left after Xuan finished eating.

For seven days, a servant would bring rice porridge around noon each day, and there were no other issues such as a doctor's follow-up examination.

Over the past week, Xuan has gained a preliminary understanding of his situation. Apart from the servants who bring him food, no one else cares about him, and Xuan guesses that this body probably has no close relatives left.

Although he couldn't remember why he had transmigrated, the stinging sensation in his soul was becoming increasingly clear. Xuan worried that if things continued unchecked, his soul would be expelled from his body, or even from this world, a situation he could not accept.

"We must cultivate... Only by establishing a foundation and consolidating our strength can we temporarily maintain the current situation."

Xuan knew perfectly well that he couldn't expect the souls to merge naturally. Continuing to let things fester would only lead to one outcome: the soul would collapse completely and vanish into nothingness.

Only by attempting to build a foundation can one strengthen one's roots and prevent the condition from deteriorating.

As for eradicating this problem further, it would probably require strengthening the primordial spirit through spiritual refinement. But that's still a long way off.

Looking at the present, the first priority is to survive.

In my previous life, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth dried up, and countless profound Taoist methods and alchemical secrets became worthless and ignored.

Xuan was adopted by his master at a young age and immersed in the Daoist canon. He had long been able to recite the classics of internal alchemy such as the "Zhouyi Cantongqi" and the "Huangtingjing" by heart, and he was also very familiar with the theoretical derivations.

Unfortunately, in this degenerate age, spiritual energy is depleted, making cultivation like water without a source or a tree without roots.

Xuan Kong possesses knowledge of cultivation, yet he cannot even meet the threshold of Foundation Establishment—guiding Qi into the body. In the end, he can only numb himself by indulging in martial arts training, sword practice, novels, and anime.

But things are different now! Fortunately, the spiritual energy—or rather, spiritual particles—of this world is far more abundant than Xuan could have imagined.

The spiritual energy that had vanished in the previous life is now everywhere in the Soul Society, and even the food contains a large amount of spiritual particles. It is a blessed land that cultivators of the previous life have always dreamed of.

However, a problem arose.

The spiritual food brought by the servants was barely enough to sustain his survival, and far from sufficient for cultivation.

"I need more spiritual food to establish a solid foundation and stabilize my soul as soon as possible," Xuan thought.

If the soul's state deteriorates, it may collapse before it can even appreciate the wonders of the world.

Gen knows the plot of this world and is familiar with those legendary names—Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, Aizen Sousuke, Unohana Retsu…

Ironically, the body is too young, and rashly inquiring about things is completely out of character for a normal child. Since the soul has been transmigrated, no one can be allowed to discover anything, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable.

"Since things have come to this, let's focus on cultivation first."

Xuan sat down cross-legged, clearing his mind of all distractions—he had gradually grown accustomed to the pain in his soul.

The Grim Reaper's cultivation and Taoist cultivation share many similarities, but the Grim Reaper's cultivation system appears crude in comparison. His true reliance lies in his mature cultivation theories from his previous life and his vision that transcends this world.

Sink your mind into the lower dantian—in this world it's called the Soul Sleep—and try to circulate the most basic Qi-guiding technique from your memory.

Xuan carefully guided the active spiritual particles in the surrounding air, allowing them to seep into his body through his mouth, nose, and pores.

"Well!"

Xuan let out a muffled groan, his body trembling violently.

Unexpectedly, the surging spiritual particles were not a gentle stream, but a swarm of ferocious bees! They rampaged through my meridians, causing a dense, stinging pain all over my body.

The meridians and blood vessels felt as if they were scorched by flames, and the burning pain made every part feel hot and numb.

Xuan's face turned deathly pale. Pain in both his soul and body erupted simultaneously, pushing his body to its limits. He clenched his teeth until he felt nothing.

However, this kind of pain is nothing.

"With such abundant spiritual energy, how can we... give up because of pain!"

The despair of meditating for over ten years at the mouth of a depleted spiritual vein in my previous life, yet not being able to sense even a trace of spiritual energy, clearly surfaced in my mind, transforming into a steel-like will.

The obsession with seeking the truth overwhelmed everything else.

Xuan forcefully combed through the chaotic spiritual particles he had inhaled, separating them into pure, gentle spiritual energy, and guiding it towards his soul.

The process was slow, each day feeling like an eternity.

Sweat poured down like rain, even soaking the futon beneath him.

Time slipped away amidst intense focus and agony. As the setting sun bathed the world in a warm golden hue through the window, Xuan nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Just as consciousness was about to dissipate—

A wisp of extremely weak spiritual energy was finally successfully tamed and, following the path guided by the will, slowly sank into the Soul Sleep.

warmth.

Like the first sip of hot soup for a frozen person, warmth spreads and instantly flows throughout the body.

The first wisp of spiritual energy appeared in the empty dantian, like the first ray of dawn finally breaking through the long night.

"Finally, I've managed to draw Qi into my body..." An indescribable excitement mixed with immense exhaustion overwhelmed Xuan, who almost collapsed to the ground.

"Whoosh—" The sound of the courtyard gate being pushed open echoed like thunder in the silent courtyard.

Xuan froze, looking up. In the setting sun, he met a pair of golden eyes that sparkled with curiosity.