Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

Xuan's gaze swept across his surroundings. The Quincy, each holding a heavy spiritual shield, stood side by side. The shields gleamed with a cold, hard metallic luster, layer upon layer, forming an impenetrable shield wall that blocked all paths of escape.

In the distance, as far as the eye could see, were Quincy wielding spirit bows, their pale blue arrows poised to strike, forming a undulating sea of ​​light.

"Where are the other Shinigami behind us? How could so many Quincy surround us!" a captain of the Sixth Division asked in surprise.

Xuan frowned slightly and looked back at the way they had come. They had charged forward, and there should have been many Shinigami members following behind them, but now, apart from Xuan and Saito, only a few officers of the Sixth Division remained, like black pieces surrounded by white pieces on a Go board.

Gen approached Saito, quickly scanning the Quincy's surroundings as he considered an escape route.

The surrounding Quincy formations remained motionless, only the blue light on the spirit bows grew stronger, seemingly poised for attack. The alleyway to the east was narrow, with countless rows of shield walls standing densely packed together. Once the breakout momentum was halted, they would face an onslaught from all sides, like being trapped in quagmire. Even a captain as strong as him would eventually exhaust himself facing an attack from heavily armored units on all sides.

One of the officials, unable to contain himself, gritted his teeth and conjured a point of spiritual energy in the air. Before the rain of arrows arrived, he suddenly rose into the air, attempting to escape from the undefended airspace.

Xuan was somewhat helpless. This official was clearly flustered and actually tried to leave from above. He still lacked enough experience in dealing with Quincy.

The Quincy in the distance released their grip, and the spirit arrows traced pale blue trajectories in the air.

Hundreds of pale blue spirit arrows shot out from different directions, precisely sealing off all his evasive maneuvers. The first wave of arrows had barely been cleaved by the blade's edge when the second and third waves followed closely, as dense as a sudden downpour, leaving no gaps whatsoever. The official groaned as his body was pierced repeatedly by the spirit arrows in mid-air. After convulsing for a moment, he plummeted straight down like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the stone slab in front of Xuan.

His body was riddled with spirit arrows, and pale blue spiritual light still flickered at the wounds. Blood flowed down the arrows and quickly soaked into the ground beneath him.

"It seems that flying in the air is not easy, and it is much easier to exert force and change direction than on the ground."

Saito pursed his lips, lightly licking his lower lip with the tip of his tongue. His tone revealed little fear, but rather a hint of excitement.

Xuan's gaze fell on the corpse of the seated official. He had mastered the Quincy's Blood Armor, and regardless of the fact that using the Blood Armor would inevitably expose this information to the Quincy who were familiar with it, Xuan was not sure how long he could withstand such a dense barrage of spirit arrows after activating the Blood Armor.

Xuan didn't want to gamble on whether the Bloodstained Armor could hold out until he broke through the Quincy's heavy shield. Besides, Saito had no defensive means and might not be able to escape the Quincy's siege.

Just then, the purple lightning suddenly surged, covering Saito's entire body.

With a stomp of her foot, she transformed into a streak of purple lightning, crashing straight into the shield wall in front of her. In her Bankai state, her speed was at its peak, and the lightning surrounding her was accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound as she slammed into the heavy shields at the very front.

The deafening roar made people's eardrums ache, and the blinding purple light spread backward through the gaps in the shields. Several rows of Quincy who were facing the attack head-on were instantly cut in half by the lightning, and the cut surfaces were charred.

But that was all. Saito's initial charge was halted, and he lacked the strength to break through the subsequent shield soldiers.

The Quincy shield bearers seized the opportunity to fill the gaps in the shield formation, and the shield bearers on both sides simultaneously moved towards the center, making the shield wall completely sealed again, as if Saito's previous efforts had been in vain.

If it were only these shield soldiers, Xuan didn't think his side would be exhausted of spiritual energy and dragged to their deaths here. However, as the breakout caused physical exhaustion, they would inevitably face a situation of being attacked from both sides, and from both near and far. At that time, they would be held back by layers of heavy shields, making it difficult to escape the encirclement.

Saito lightly touched the ground with his toes and pulled back to his original position to avoid being restrained by the surrounding shield soldiers.

"Tsk, we can't get out, but luckily they can't stop us right now either."

Just then, Quincy soldiers from all directions fired spirit arrows diagonally upwards. The overlapping spirit arrows enveloped the sky above Xuan and the others, weaving a net of spirit arrows. Then, as they continuously lowered their firing angles, the rain of arrows gradually pressed towards Xuan and the others.

Xuan's mind raced through various demonic arts, sifting through which ones could be used in the current situation: [Binding Arts #21: Crimson Smoke Escape] was useless against saturation attacks; [Binding Arts #81: Void Severing] could only deploy a single-sided barrier, and if he used [Void Severing] to defend both around him and above him, he would only trap himself more tightly, essentially waiting to die; [Binding Arts #73: Mountain Reversal Crystal] could condense into an inverted quadrangular defensive array in the air, sealing off the area beneath his feet. Once opened, it could protect everyone inside, but for the same reason, while people were safe inside the array, their escape route was completely blocked.

【Hado #57: Earth Turns】Dig an underground tunnel to leave? This strategy won't work either.

Underground, it's impossible to accurately determine direction or grasp the enemy's deployment on the surface. If they get lost in the enemy's encirclement, their situation will only be worse than it is now. By then, Xuan will have already consumed a lot of spiritual power from continuously casting [Earth Rotation].

Moreover, Death, like humans, has eight systems and needs to breathe oxygen. If the enemy blocks and buries the tunnels, Xuan and the others will soon be forced to break out of the ground due to oxygen depletion, crashing straight into the enemy's encirclement.

As for using ghostly methods to gather underground water and then electrolyze it to obtain oxygen... Xuan is a Taoist who has completed nine years of compulsory education and doesn't want to die in a hydrogen explosion in a confined space.

But this doesn't mean that [Earth Turns] is useless at this time.

"Stay calm, don't panic." Several officials were clearly flustered by the rain of arrows, so Xuan quickly spoke up. At this moment, everyone present was surrounded and they had to avoid unnecessary losses and preserve their strength as much as possible.

【Hado #57: The Earth Turns】

The stone slabs beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble. Countless pebbles surged up from the ground, churning up dust and instantly forming a thick barrier of earth and stone in front of them.

Almost simultaneously, a dense barrage of spirit arrows pierced the air, embedding themselves in the earthen and stone barrier with a series of thuds. Large chunks of rock were shattered by the arrows, crumbling down in a shower of dust, which grew increasingly thick, completely obscuring the figures of the group.

Using the smoke and dust as cover, Gen pulled Saito back two steps, pressing him against the broken wall behind them. Gen stopped Saito from trying to break through again: "You already tried, didn't you? Your Bankai is better suited for single-target attacks, not for breaking through the Quincy's shield army. Let me try."

Upon hearing this, Saito stopped what he was doing and waited for Gen to try.

The shield bearers not far away were approaching the simple earthen and stone wall that Xuan had created with [Earth Rotation].

"It's a pity I'm still too weak," Xuan thought to himself. "If I could use [Hado No. 96: One-Sword Cremation] a few more times, I would never be surrounded by enemies weaker than myself."

The spiritual energy in Xuan's palm quickly gathered, and blue lightning danced at his fingertips, emitting a deep hum.

The Quincy in the vicinity sensed the spiritual energy fluctuations behind the smoke and dust. Scattered spiritual arrows and spiritual bullets shot in through the gaps in the smoke and dust, their targets pointing directly at Xuan's location.

Saito moved swiftly, blocking Gen's path. In her Bankai state, her dynamic vision and reaction speed were at their peak. Her hands transformed into two purple afterimages, lightning crackling at her fingertips as she swept away all the incoming spirit arrows and bullets. Sparks and lightning flew in front of her, but she remained motionless, not even flinching.

"Are you done yet? If we drag this out any longer, they'll be charging in." Saito shouted without turning his head, his tone filled with barely suppressed fighting spirit.

As soon as he finished speaking, the lightning in Xuan's palm suddenly surged. This was a strike that had been fully chanted and amplified by Zhen Yuan, making it Xuan's most powerful attack to date.

【Hado Chapter 88: Flying Dragon Strikes the Thief with Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon】

Thick bolts of lightning roared from his palm, carrying a world-destroying force, crashing straight into the shield wall erected by the Quincy. The dazzling blue-white lightning illuminated half the sky, and the violent roar caused the surrounding broken walls to crumble, while the shockwave sent rubble and dust flying everywhere.

When the lightning dissipated, the Quincy's army formation was blasted open, creating a gap several meters wide and a passage dozens of meters long. Charred corpses and flames were scattered on the ground, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh and hair.

This attack nearly broke through the Quincy's formation, and the open outer perimeter could already be seen.

But before Genwa, Saito, and the others could reach the gap created by the shield bearers, the Quincy on both sides immediately stepped forward, their heavy shields overlapping like a zipper, closing the passage. In the blink of an eye, the gap that had just been blasted open was gone.

Xuan paused, his heart sinking.

The opponent's formation, the rhythm of their positioning, and the coordination of their archers were all meticulously arranged, clearly indicating that they had set a trap here specifically to lure them in.

"Why don't you come a few more times and kill them all? Then they'll have to retreat," Saito said arrogantly, her words bringing a sense of relief to the faces of the officials.

"Impossible." Xuan interrupted their thoughts. "After all, I am only a fourth-level Spirit Might. The power of that attack just now was already at my full strength. It is impossible for me to release it a second time in a short period of time."

Before he could explain further, the Quincy's second volley of spirit arrows was ready, and half of the earthen and stone barrier had already collapsed.

Simultaneously, spirit bows from all directions released their strings, countless streaks of blue light slicing through the air with sharp, piercing sounds as they descended. Xuan raised his hand and unleashed [Hado #58: Tian Lan], barely managing to deflect the arrows. Saito, enveloped in purple lightning, dodged the spirit arrows aimed at her.

Several officials managed to hide in the corner of the earthen and stone wall, but the spirit arrows were quite powerful, and many still penetrated the earthen and stone wall. Several officials were unable to dodge in time and were grazed, and blood immediately gushed out.

Saito swept away the three spirit bullets that came at him, then suddenly turned his head to look at Gen.

"Did he take back the weapon from Qianri?"

She remembered that Shihōin had used a piece of armor a thousand days ago, which had extremely strong defense and could withstand a lot of attacks. Taking it out now would be just right to block the rain of arrows.

Xuan conjured a bolt of white lightning from his fingertip, which pierced the throat of a Quincy who charged forward through the gaps in the shield wall, before shaking his head.

"He did give it to me, but I didn't carry it with me. Although that thing is incredibly powerful and can withstand several captain-level attacks, the energy consumption to activate it is also astonishing. It requires a huge amount of spiritual energy, and each time it is used, it needs to be charged with spiritual energy in advance. Before we set off, I entrusted it to the injured team members in the rear who were unable to go to the front line to charge it."

The Shihouin family's divinely bestowed weaponry was incredibly powerful, but the energy consumption required to activate it was equally staggering. No one expected that shield-wielding Quincy, whom they had never seen before, would suddenly appear on the battlefield, let alone that they would be surrounded and unable to escape.

Since we can't rely on weapons and equipment, we have no choice but to fight our way out.

After briefly assigning tasks, the group broke through to the south.

Saito took the lead, her entire body enveloped in purple lightning, as if she had transformed into a thunder god, clad in a lightning battle robe. She charged forward relentlessly, slaying the Quincy in her path, and leading the other Shinigami southward.

Gen followed closely behind, deflecting the spirit arrows that kept falling from the sky, allowing the others to focus on the long-range threats from above. Only during the brief intervals after Saito launched his attack would Gen add one or two low-level demonic arts to prevent the Quincy from closing in on the opening Saito had just created.

The remaining officers focused on defending against the Quincy's shield attacks from the left, right, and rear, ensuring that Gen and Saito had no worries about their rear.

They advanced several dozen feet, their sides piled high with the corpses of Quincy, yet the number of Quincy wielding shields around them seemed unchanged. As those in the front fell, those in the back immediately filled in, the heavy shields being reassembled to form a formidable defensive wall.

But the shield wall was still easily torn apart by Saito's fierce fighting style. She wielded her hands like swords, relentlessly carving a path forward, leaving no one in her way. But even with an absolute advantage in individual spiritual pressure, a Shinigami's spiritual power is still finite. Bankai already places a huge burden on the user and is difficult to maintain for long periods. Moreover, Saito's Shikai and Bankai, while amplifying her combat power, also place additional burdens on her body, so theoretically, they should be maintained for a shorter time than ordinary Bankai.

"Kill them all!" Saito's eye patch had disappeared at some point, and his eyes burned with madness.

But this couldn't hide the fact that her movements were already showing signs of fatigue, and she was already a bit slower in attacking the shields of several Quincy in front of her.

Even those officers at the rear, who faced the least pressure, suffered further losses. The encirclement tightened once more, leaving them with less and less room to maneuver.

After an unknown period of fighting, the Quincy still surrounded the Shinigami, and the number of Quincy in front showed no signs of decreasing. However, according to the feedback from the three remaining officers, the number of Quincy behind them was beginning to decrease.

Xuan instantly understood—these shield-wielding Quincy moved around the Shinigami as the center, like a typhoon wall rotating around the eye of a storm.

The Quincy's tactics were extremely clear. Shieldbearers were responsible for frontal containment, while archers provided continuous suppressive fire from a distance. They didn't aim for quick kills, but rather to steadily compress the Reapers' space, exhausting their spiritual energy and stamina with their own lives.

Gen also tried to use his spiritual particle manipulation ability to interfere with the opponent's shield, but these Quincy had a strong control over spiritual particles. The spiritual particle structure on the shield was extremely stable, and slight disturbances had no effect at all.

Moreover, the pressure of constantly defending against the endless barrage of spirit arrows from above was immense, and Xuan was somewhat exhausted.

But the Quincy don't care about the mystery; they only fire in batches to ensure that Death is always under pressure from the sky and all sides.

After trying it out, Gen confirmed that with the Quincy consciously taking precautions, he could not use low-level Kido to cause effective damage over a large area. It was better to focus on defending against the rain of arrows and leave the clearing and damage-dealing entirely to Saito, just as Saito completely trusted Gen to resist the threat from above.

Since the start of the battle, Xuan has released several mid-to-high-level ghost techniques in succession, and is now constantly maintaining a ghost technique defense. The spiritual energy in his body is being rapidly depleted, and the circulation speed of the clear energy in his Soul Sleep area is gradually falling behind the pace of output. A slight stagnation is rising in his meridians, and his dantian is constantly drawing out the remaining spiritual energy in his body.

Even though the arrow rain was released by Quincy with lower spiritual pressure, the cumulative effect was still astonishing. As long as the difference in spiritual power between the two sides remained on the same level, the principle of "many ants can kill an elephant" still held true.

The vital energy within his meridians stagnated slightly, even slowing the circulation of his Blood-Activating Armor. Xuan's hand gripping the sword was as steady as a rock, but his knuckles were slightly white. Continuously unleashing the Ghostly Dao at high intensity, Xuan felt his spiritual energy severely depleted.

Under the Quincy's relentless, selfless attacks, it seemed they truly couldn't hold on any longer...