Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

Summer sunlight streamed through the high windows, slicing the school floor into a grid of light and shadow. The voice of Kyusuke Shihouin, a teacher specializing in cultural studies, flowed smoothly through the room, recounting the glorious deeds of the five noble families in "turning the tide" during the various upheavals in Soul Society.

Gen sat in the back row by the window, his back straight, his gaze seemingly focused on the open book in front of him, "A Brief History of Soul Society: The Suppression Chapter".

His posture was impeccable, his expression serious, and he would occasionally nod slightly as the teacher spoke, looking every bit like an outstanding student immersed in the glory of his family.

But beneath the textbook lay a pale blue silk book—Qianri's notes on the transformation into beasts.

"...That year, in the 76th district of the North of Rukongai, a group of villains gathered and caused trouble, harassing the Soul Burial Corps and defying the laws of the Seireitei. The then head of the Shihouin family personally led the clan's elite troops to suppress the disturbance, and the situation was quelled in three days..."

As the teacher read aloud exactly from the textbook, Xuan carefully studied the slightly unrestrained handwriting on the silk scroll.

"It has been confirmed that the Beast Transformation is a talent hidden in the Shihōin bloodline. The Secret Records are actually methods of guiding and strengthening this talent, allowing it to be safely manifested and controlled."

Xuan knew this from his previous life. After the birth of the Spirit King, some extraordinary individuals emerged, led by the five great families, who were the five noble families of Soul Society. As far as Xuan knew, the Shiba family and the Shihōin family possessed special abilities in their bloodlines; the Shihōin family's ability was Beast Transformation.

He continued reading and discovered the conjecture Qianri had mentioned: Could it be transformed into something else?

I hadn't considered the possibility of it transforming into something else, but it makes sense. After all, if a spirit can change its structure to become an animal, there's no reason it can't transform into something else.

Xuan continued to review the somewhat hastily written content:

Upon investigation, it was confirmed that someone had indeed attempted this, but never managed to revert back to human form.

So it's not that you can only become an animal. He pondered this, but wasn't prepared to try it. He had no interest in personally verifying whether the mistakes of those who came before him were true.

"Shihōin Gen".

The teacher's voice suddenly called roll, interrupting Xuan's thoughts. He calmly concealed the silk scroll completely under his textbook, looked up, and met the gaze of Shihouin Kyusuke.

"Tell me, when faced with the Rukongai rebellion, what is the deeper meaning behind the nobles leading their troops to quell the uprising, beyond simply demonstrating their authority and upholding the law?"

The question wasn't tricky; in fact, it could be considered a typical question from a cultural studies class. Xuan paused for a moment, then answered in a clear and calm tone:

"Returning to the Normal School, I believe the deeper meaning lies in maintaining the order of the spiritual particle cycle. The Soul Town is a place where souls temporarily reside and await reincarnation. Turmoil not only harms the peace of the souls but may also interfere with the natural flow of spiritual particles, shaking the foundation of the balance of the three realms. The nobles' suppression of the rebellion is also a way of protecting this fundamental path."

The answer was standard, staying on the main theme of the lesson while also touching on the core of the Shinigami's duties. Shihouin Kyusuke nodded in satisfaction, gesturing for him to sit down so he could continue the lecture.

The cultural classes are actually unique to Soul Society and cover history and moral education; you can just answer questions in a broad, general way.

Xuan continued to examine Qianri's notes.

……

After a full day of classes, the students left one after another. Xuan went straight to the library.

The second floor remained tranquil, with only the fragrance of silk scrolls and sandalwood, and the austere scent of pine ink.

Xuan easily found the scroll of "The Secret Record of Beast Transformation," sat down at the long table by the window, placed Qianri's notes aside, and began to read and compare them.

The opening of "The Secret Record of Beast Transformation" consists of five full pages of warnings, such as "Those who attempt to master the third form will inevitably have their spiritual structure distorted and collapsed, falling into a deformed and miserable state that is neither human nor beast. Once chosen, there is no turning back."

After carefully noting down all the warnings and making sure nothing was missed, Xuan focused on the chapters related to "the essential structure of the spirit body".

The spirits are described as a dynamic network composed of countless interconnected spirit nodes. Under normal circumstances, this network maintains a stable humanoid topology.

Transforming into a beast involves using intention to guide spiritual particles, massively altering the relative positions of nodes and the connection methods of the spiritual network, and reconstructing a new, stable beast-shaped topological structure.

The difficulties are twofold: first, it requires extremely precise manipulation of spiritual power to guide every minute change; second, it requires a thorough understanding of the stability of the new structure, otherwise it is very easy to collapse during or after the reconstruction.

"The stability and variability threshold of spirit particles..." Xuan murmured. The "Secret Record of Beast Transformation" points out that spirit particles themselves have the "inertia" to maintain their current form, and changing them requires sufficient willpower to overcome.

However, this "willpower" is not always better the stronger it is. If it exceeds a certain threshold, the spiritual structure may be violently destroyed, directly disintegrating into disordered spiritual particles that can never be reconstituted. This may be the root cause of the spiritual distortion or disintegration of those who fail.

Xuan closed his eyes and, drawing upon the "Introduction to Spiritual Particle Structure" he had previously read on the first floor of the library, introspected himself, and a 3D model of himself composed of spiritual particles appeared in his mind.

The thousand-day notes provided a more intuitive understanding and many practical skills, especially how to scan the structural details of one's own spirit body in the early stages, so Xuan completed this step quickly.

However, at this point, Xuan does not intend to attempt the subsequent steps immediately; it would be more prudent to proceed under Qianri's care.

As night fell, Seireitei was enveloped in silence.

Xuan finished his daily practice of Yi Jin Jing and wooden dummy exercises and went inside.

An oil lamp was lit, its dim yellow light filling the small hut. This was because controlling spiritual energy was the foundation of beast transformation, and also the common basis for the release of Kido, Shunpo, and Zanpakuto.

Since we need to attempt to transform into a beast in the short term, we must further enhance our ability to precisely control our spiritual power, which requires corresponding training.

As his mind sank into a deep sleep, a wisp of pure black spiritual energy reached his fingertips, appearing with a "whoosh" sound and gathering into a small, flickering ball.

Xuan attempted to change its shape and successfully transformed the spiritual energy into a thin thread. The spiritual energy thread maintained a uniform thickness and remained stable at his fingertips.

Xuan held his breath, maintaining a high level of concentration. He knew that maintaining this state for a long time was more difficult than shaping it. Just like a plank, it's easy to do the plank position, but it's hard for an untrained person to hold it for more than 5 minutes.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Xuan felt he was losing control, and the wisp of spiritual thread began to tremble slightly, showing signs of dissipating.

Xuan simply dispersed his spiritual energy. After a moment of meditation, two strands of spiritual energy simultaneously appeared at his fingertips.

The spiritual energy is maintained in the form of threads, which eventually intertwine and weave into a net-like structure, which is then maintained for a long time. This is a training method for the precise manipulation of spiritual energy recorded in the Thousand Days' Notes.

After ensuring the two strands of spiritual energy remained stable, Xuan attempted to manipulate them to slowly bend in the air.

Unexpectedly smoothly, the spiritual energy threads, under Xuan's control, swayed like seaweed at his fingertips.

The superiority of pure energy was now fully revealed. It was far more stable than ordinary spiritual energy, responded to thoughts much faster, and required less thought to maintain its form. Compared to the description in the notes, the progress was nothing short of miraculous.

Suddenly, a strange idea struck Xuan. Under the precise guidance of his thoughts, the spiritual threads weaved, coiled, and pressed...

This process demands extremely high precision; each strand of spiritual energy must be independent and stable, without interfering with or merging with others. Xuan was completely focused, his mind guiding the spiritual energy.

Time passed slowly. Finally, an exquisitely crafted Chinese knot, entirely composed of threads of spiritual energy, floated on the fingertip. The threads intertwined, separated by narrow gaps, emitting a steady, shimmering light.

It worked!

Xuan gazed at the Chinese knot woven from spiritual energy, a strange sense of satisfaction welling up inside him.

He could sense that this process was indeed very helpful for manipulating spiritual energy, and that his perception and control of spiritual energy had reached a new level.

The continuous, precise control was extremely taxing on the mind. After withdrawing his spiritual energy, a strong sense of exhaustion washed over him, but Xuan felt a sense of fulfillment and quickly fell asleep.