Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

The burning of the last incense stick signifies the end of the academic lessons.

Kyusuke Shihouin closed his textbook, his voice carrying its usual admonishing tone at the end: "...I hope you will all remember your honor. Tomorrow's competition demands that you display noble bearing and not lose your decorum. To ensure you are in top form, all other classes are cancelled today. get out of class dismissed."

As soon as the teacher turned to leave, whispers rose up like a tide.

"Brother Houzaburo, it seems like you've got this championship in the bag, right?" A young man from the Bee Clan approached Shihouin Houzaburo.

Shihouin Shuzaburo was putting his textbooks into his book box when he heard this and looked up, saying, "It's just a friendly spar, the outcome is still uncertain. But Hayao, your foundation is solid and your Shunpo is swift, you are the real dark horse."

Although he spoke modestly, the confidence shining in his eyes was undeniable.

As the oldest student in his class, his physical fitness already surpassed that of others, and his sixteenth-level spiritual power, as measured at the beginning of the semester, was unparalleled among his peers.

Moreover, Shihouin Shuzaburo has shown amazing talent in hand-to-hand combat, and everyone has witnessed his hard work in training.

"Brother Houzaburo, you are too modest." Fengyu shook his head. "I am only good at hit-and-run tactics. In a head-on confrontation, I am no match for you. As for Shunpo, don't make fun of me."

He paused, his gaze sweeping towards Shihōin Gen.

"My brother's Instant Step is truly admirable," said Shihouin Aoji, his tone complex. "Even Kujo Shihan said that such talent is unparalleled in his lifetime."

"No matter how good Shunpo is, it's still just a movement technique." Yusuke Ōmaeda offered a different opinion. "He's only six years old. How much stamina can he have? Shunpo consumes a lot of stamina. In a real battle, he probably won't be able to use it more than a few times before he's exhausted."

"That's exactly right." Someone agreed. "The competition is a real contest, not a race to see who can run the fastest."

"Besides, Lingwei is only at level twenty-three, which is far too weak..."

The whispers were not concealed, and every word reached Xuan's ears. His expression remained calm, because after observing his classmates throughout the year, he had a good understanding of their abilities in various aspects and was confident in his abilities.

After tidying up, Xuan got up from his seat. As he passed by Shihouin Shuzaburo, the other man happened to look up, and their eyes met.

"Brother Xuan," said Shihouin Shuzaburo in a gentle voice, "There's no need to be nervous about tomorrow's competition. You're still young, and your outstanding performance will surely make you a sensation."

Xuan stopped and nodded: "Thank you for your concern, Brother Zhou Sanlang. I wish you great success."

Although I was initially quite displeased with Shihouin Shuzaburo's "bullying" of the younger students when he entered the school, I felt I had no right to criticize others given my own situation.

Moreover, after spending a year together, Gen found that Zhou Sanlang was actually a friendly person. He not only trained diligently but also often shared his training experience.

After a respectful farewell, Xuan left the classroom.

Upon entering the corridor, Xuan did not turn towards the library as usual, but instead headed straight out of the school—he had more important things to do today.

Before even entering the courtyard, I saw Qianri sitting on the wall.

"Oh, you're back? It's rare that you don't go to the library."

"The grand competition is tomorrow, let's make some preparations." Xuan walked into the courtyard and closed the door behind him.

Qianri jumped off the wall, brushed off imaginary dirt, and asked, "How confident are you about the competition that starts tomorrow?"

Xuan sat on one of the wooden chairs in the courtyard, which he had specially commissioned a carpenter to make: "Winning the championship is not difficult."

"Oh? So confident?" Qianri raised an eyebrow and sat down on another wooden chair. "That kid, Zhou Sanlang, is not easy to deal with."

Qianri leaned forward, his tone serious: "Safety first, act within your limits. The championship is just an empty title. If you want to play lightly, I can give it to you directly."

"You'll be in a difficult position too," Xuan refused, teasingly adding, "If the young master can't be fair in rewards and punishments, he might not be the future head of the family, you know?" It would be a loss if it affected the value of the powerful figure.

"That's good too. It's so annoying to have to remember this and that every day." Qianri smiled, then changed the subject, saying:

"I know you want to shine and win the school competition, but you must never expose the 'Ghost Path' in front of everyone."

Qianri stared into Xuan's eyes, "You need to understand, once this brand-new combat system is introduced, it will attract a lot of covetousness. Although the students in the academy all come from families that are on good terms with the Shihouin family, this matter is of great importance, and once it is exposed, it will definitely become widely known."

Xuan nodded: "I know what I'm doing, don't worry."

When Xuan was assessing the possibility of winning the championship, he hadn't taken the Ghost Path into account.

Xuan had noticed the flaws of other students on a regular basis. Although the students had a good relationship, Xuan's status and experience should not have allowed him to point out his classmates' problems.

Xuan didn't believe that these peers would deliberately hide their weaknesses or feign flaws for a year just for a school competition. Their pride as nobles made them more inclined to show their full strength.

"Alright, I won't say anything more. Be careful." Qianri stood up. "Get ready."

After the gate opened and closed, the courtyard returned to quiet.

After completing the twelve postures of the Yi Jin Jing and practicing on the wooden dummy, Xuanzhao rested briefly to calm his heartbeat. Then, he sat cross-legged on the couch, closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and began to practice Qi cultivation.

Over the past year, as the proportion of pure energy in his body has increased, the progress of Qi refining has accelerated. Sensing the limited amount of blue spiritual energy within him, Xuan prepared to complete his Qi refining in one go before the Grand Competition.

One strand, two strands...

Deep within the slumbering soul, the once abundant blue spiritual energy had been completely transformed—replaced by a serene and profound black aura. Like the water of a secluded pool, it flowed through the meridians, each strand solid and pure, without the slightest impurity.

Xuan Neng could clearly feel that the flow of spiritual energy in his meridians was no longer obstructed at all. With a thought, the new spiritual energy moved as easily as his own arms and fingers, and the speed of its mobilization and circulation was more than twice that before the Qi Refining.

This distinction is not mentioned in the Daoist classics, but Xuan quickly figured out the reason.

Using a car as an analogy, spiritual power is like the capacity of the fuel tank, and physical strength is like the sturdiness of the fuel tank. Spiritual pressure, on the other hand, is the pressure generated when spiritual power is released, much like the power output of a car.

Ordinary spiritual energy is like a mixture of 95-octane gasoline and diesel; it can ignite, but the power is generally low.

Once Xuan has completed the Qi refining process, all the spiritual energy within his body has been transformed into pure, clean Qi. This is equivalent to having a tank full of 95-octane gasoline; the combustion efficiency is higher, resulting in greater power—in reality, this translates to stronger spiritual pressure.

And this is just the most basic change brought about by the refining.

Ordinary Grim Reapers do not have the process of refining their spiritual energy; their spiritual power is a mixture of impure and pure energy, thus creating weaknesses in their spiritual power.

Nanana Najakopp (Unprepared), the holder of the sacred letter U, was able to control Aizen for 5 minutes by attacking the weaknesses in Aizen's spiritual power.

After initially testing the changes brought about by the Qi refining, Xuan began to examine his current state. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

After nearly a year of daily practice of the Yi Jin Jing, coupled with the nourishment of high-quality spiritual food provided by the aristocratic school—foods that were considered "heavenly treasures" in his previous life—this body's overall quality has far surpassed that of an ordinary six-year-old child.

His tendons and veins are supple and flexible, his bones are strong, and his muscles are well-proportioned and powerful. In terms of physique alone, he is already capable of making initial use of the martial arts techniques he learned in his previous life.

After rigorous training, I can now perform the Instant Step at will, regardless of the situation, which is sufficient for actual combat.

Although using Flash Step consumes a great deal of stamina, as long as you don't use it, your opponent will be constantly on edge, on guard. Once your opponent relaxes their guard, Xuan can end the match instantly by closing in with Flash Step.

Of course, Xuan also has many disadvantages. The most important one is that his total spiritual power is insufficient. Secondly, he is afraid that if he gets injured, the doctor will see the clues about his soul, although this is unlikely.

In this way, the tactics to be used in the competition are very simple and clear: quick battle, strike at weaknesses, and use the martial arts skills learned in the previous life to achieve a superior attack.

"Winning isn't difficult," Xuan thought to himself. "The difficult part is winning reasonably."

To win in a "genius but reasonable" way—the talent of Shunpo has already been revealed, and the skill in hand-to-hand combat can also be forcibly explained by the word "talent".

However, the special nature of spiritual power, as well as the low-level ghost path previously studied, cannot be manifested.

As night deepens and the dew grows heavy, the moon passes its zenith.

Xuan looked out the window and realized that it was already late at night. He wondered when the food box containing dinner had been placed on the windowsill.

Xuan walked slowly into the courtyard.

The night sky was cloudless, and stars were scattered across the heavens like shattered diamonds. The lights of Seireitei blended into a blurry halo in the distance.

Gen needs to win the championship—he needs to obtain Asauchi a year earlier, he needs to start nurturing his Zanpakuto earlier, and he needs to improve his strength faster to deal with the inevitable chaos that will come in the future: Yamamoto Shigekuni's violent group, the Quincy Empire of Light, the infighting and scheming among the nobles of Soul Society... and the sword of Damocles hanging over his head—the world tearing apart his two souls.

Tomorrow will be the day to see the results of this year's hard work.