Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

Just past the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), before the morning mist had dissipated, a figure began to stretch his limbs in a small courtyard on the edge of the Seireitei Shihouin clan's territory.

Xuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, the white vapor condensing into a straight arrow in the slightly chilly air. After completing the entire set of twelve postures of the Yi Jin Jing, his muscles and bones felt warm and his blood and qi flowed smoothly.

"Simply focusing on cultivation will lead to too slow progress." Xuan opened his eyes and looked towards the gradually whitening eastern horizon.

It hasn't been long since the first blood war—the Quincy army led by Yhwach launched a major attack on Soul Society—less than a century ago.

A hundred years is not a long time for Death, after all, Death's lifespan limit exceeds three thousand years, which is about thirty times that of humans.

The Shinigami's strength increases slowly. Even Toshiro Hitsugaya, whose talent is exceptionally high, appearing only once in a millennium, was over a hundred years old when he became a captain. Moreover, that was the weakest captain-level strength, and he most likely wouldn't have survived the first Blood War.

His current cultivation progress is too slow; after half a year, he can barely feel any increase in spiritual pressure. Even if he resolves the hidden danger of his soul being rejected, Xuan is worried that he will die on that brutal battlefield.

Not knowing the exact time and place of the first blood battle, all that was known was that the Quincy's attack on Soul Society would sweep from Rukongai all the way to Seireitei. Gen didn't know where to hide to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The Shinigami's spiritual power increases rapidly when the soul is in crisis and nearing its limit, accompanied by intense spiritual pressure fluctuations.

He needs an opponent, someone who can put enough pressure on him, but who won't actually endanger his life.

It just so happens that Xuanhe and Qianri have become increasingly familiar with each other over the past year, so asking him to be an opponent is a good idea.

Taking advantage of the holiday, Xuan found Qianri and said directly, "I would like to invite you to spar with me."

Qianri scrutinized Xuan for a moment before slowly speaking, the playful tone fading: "Me? Do you know how vast the gap is between us?"

He held up three fingers. "At least thirty years, mystical. It's not talent, it's the total spiritual pressure, physical strength, and fighting instincts built up over real time. Right now, sparring with me is like a toddler trying to challenge an adult running around the dojo."

"I know." Xuan's tone was calm, yet carried an unwavering resolve. "I'm not seeking victory or defeat, nor am I concerned with life or death. It's limited to hand-to-hand combat and Shunpo, stopping short of a draw. My spiritual pressure is too weak right now; I want to increase it through a battle at the limit."

Qianri looked into Xuan's eyes and saw no arrogance or restlessness common among young people, only seriousness and calmness.

Qianri smiled, with a hint of helplessness and appreciation.

"Alright, I respect your wishes, let's have a fight." Qianri stretched his shoulders. "But it's a promise, you can't cry or tell on me if you get beaten up. I'll try to go easy on you."

"I couldn't have gotten it."

The sparring session was held at the martial arts arena. Because it was a holiday, no one came.

There were no referees, no spectators, only sunlight shining on the two of them.

Neither of them liked being bound by rules and regulations, so they simply skipped even the pre-battle rituals.

The two stood facing each other, three zhang apart. Qianri stood casually, but Xuan's muscles were already tense—an instinctive reaction to the immense pressure exerted on his body by the spiritual pressure released by Qianri.

Xuan relaxed his muscles. In battle, muscles shouldn't be as tense as possible; only when they are relaxed can one exert force.

At the same time, Xuan was fully focused on sensing even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual pressure ahead.

It's too late to detect Flash by the naked eye; you have to rely on your intuition.

"Whoosh!"

As expected, Qianri used the Instant Step to attack. Xuan raised his arm to block, but in the next instant, a fierce gust of wind came from behind!

Xuan's heart clenched suddenly. In that critical moment, he relied entirely on the physical qualities honed through thousands of repetitions of the Yi Jin Jing to twist and block the attack at the last second. And the rapid flow of spiritual energy, dictated by his refined Qi, moved in perfect harmony with his heart.

"Bang!"

A dull thud. Xuan felt as if his forearm had been struck by lightning; the immense force instantly paralyzed his entire arm, and his body staggered backward several steps uncontrollably.

Let alone taking the opportunity to counterattack, if he hadn't used his spiritual power to deplete his strength, this attack would have been enough to end the fight.

Qianri didn't give chase; instead, he stopped where he was, raising an eyebrow: "Not bad. But can you keep up this time?"

Xuan's nerves were on edge; the oppressive feeling from when Qianri used Shunpo to get close still lingered. This time, Qianri made it clear that he wanted to repeat the Shunpo technique, so Xuan was naturally even more vigilant.

With the fluctuation of spiritual pressure from Shunpo, Senri's figure suddenly blurred.

"Here it comes!" Xuan's heart tightened as he sensed Qianri's instantaneous attack once again, and he used his second instantaneous attack midway through the attack.

This time, Xuan clearly sensed Qianri's instantaneous movement trajectory, which was an arc, but he could not capture its specific form.

Xuan turned around to prepare for the attack, but the expected attack did not come.

Qianri stood still, his sharp spiritual pressure receding, showing no sign of attacking again. He asked, "You experienced that attack firsthand just now. How was it? Did you learn it?"

Xuan relaxed and replied helplessly, "Brother Qianri is joking. At most, I can do a second Shunpo in the middle of Shunpo, but I can't understand that kind of arc-shaped Shunpo at all."

Upon hearing this, Qianri smiled and took two steps forward, patting Xuan on the shoulder: "This is an advanced technique of Instant Step, called Flash Flower."

"The reason it's called 'Flash' is because the high-speed rotation creates a phantom image of the body, and the flashing spiritual energy of the movement makes it difficult to judge the true location and direction of movement through vision and spiritual pressure perception; the reason it's called 'Flower' is because..." Qianri paused, her tone carrying a hint of sharpness.

"It's because when you circle around behind the enemy before they can react, you can use the momentum of your body rotation to pierce the tip of your blade into their lock, causing it to bloom with blood—that's where the name 'Flash Flower' comes from."

Through a thousand days of explanation, Xuan thoroughly understood the principle behind the ability of the Flash Flower to move rapidly in an arc.

First, the footwork trajectory is a logarithmic spiral. By using a brief burst of spiritual energy, the body swings in an arc rather than turning. Then, all the momentum is transferred to the arms or Zanpakuto, so that the body stops while the attack is sharp, fast and penetrating.

"I'm here." Xuan tried to use Flash Flower to throw himself behind Qianri, but he only punched Qianri's haori without using force.

The moment the attack struck, Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.

He struck the haori, but Senri vanished completely!

"The Hidden Footwork, the third of the Four Maple Techniques—'Empty Cicada'." Qianri stood not far away, her tone carrying a hint of pride. "The principle is to use your clothes as a pivot point when performing a Flash Step. The clothes are left in place, and combined with spiritual energy, it creates the illusion of being hit. You can't pass this footwork on to outsiders after you learn it, or I'll get a scolding from the old man."

……

The sun had completely sunk behind the mountain ridge, its last rays painting the world in a hazy yellow hue. Although it was initially intended to increase spiritual pressure through the sense of crisis in battle, it somehow turned into a practice session on resilience and a private lesson in Shunpo (a type of instant movement technique).

Xuan felt sore all over, and his spiritual energy was mostly depleted. He picked up the water bottle and took a sip of water.

The Shihōin family uses a pure silver water bottle. The trace amounts of silver ions, far below the safe limit for silver content in drinking water, have a natural antibacterial effect and are not prone to bacterial growth like wooden water bottles or gourds. The downside is that the portable capacity is too small.

"How did it feel? Did you enjoy getting beaten up?" Qianri teased.

"I increase my spiritual pressure through battles, I'm not a masochist. You went way too far, it hurts this much even though you didn't hit any vital points." Gen pouted.

"If I can't aim for the vital points, I can only make you feel threatened because you're afraid of pain." Qianri took a swig of wine, looked at the darkening sky, and his tone became somewhat distant.

"These advanced footwork techniques are honed by generations of the Shihouin family through life-and-death struggles. They are not things that can be taught in academies; they are skills earned with blood and lives."

"You learn very quickly, Xuan." Qianri's tone was serious. "So fast that it's unbelievable to me. But I'm not teaching you these things so you can go and take revenge on the Great Hollow, it's for your survival. You should cherish your talents in all aspects. I'm looking forward to the day when your Kido and Hakuda are put to great use."

Xuan listened quietly to Qianri's daily words of comfort.

In the past, Xuanxin devoted himself to cultivation, but was misunderstood as wanting to kill Xu for revenge. He simply chose to save his breath and did not defend himself. Now, even if he clearly says that he has let go of hatred, he is still regarded as hypocritical and can only be comforted by Xu every day.

"Brother Qianri," Xuan suddenly asked, trying to change the subject, "if you hate the constraints of rules so much, why did you agree to become the next head of the family?"

Qianri paused for a moment, then gave a smile that was both carefree and helpless: "I am the most talented candidate and I am expected to succeed him. Besides, I can't rest easy letting someone else be the head of the family."

"I don't want to be the head of the family, but I still worry about the family." He shook the water bottle full of liquor. "So, it feels pretty good to be able to fight and drink with a kid like this who doesn't see me as the future head of the family and just calls me 'Big Brother'."

Qianri patted Xuan on the shoulder: "Don't push yourself too hard. You have plenty of time. Look at the others, who else is so obsessed with cultivation?"

As night deepened, stars began to appear. Qianri hummed an unknown tune as he left the training ground, while Xuan also returned to his own courtyard.

Gen glanced at the Asuna at his waist. Today's gains weren't just improvements in his Shunpo technique or his resilience; the intense spiritual pressure fluctuations of the battle and the practice of new techniques were all processes of infusing his will into his Zanpakuto.

After completing his daily physical training, Xuan sat cross-legged and began cultivating the microcosmic and macrocosmic orbits. The Zanpakuto on his lap also flickered with light as spiritual energy circulated.

The moonlight, as white as frost, bathed the small courtyard.