Death God: Starting from Refining Essence into Qi

The vermilion pillars of the Sixth Division's camp gate gleamed warmly in the spring sunshine. Two guards dressed in shihaka uniforms stood upright with their backs straight, their eyes scanning every figure entering and leaving.

As a squad dedicated to protecting nobles, the rules here are stricter than anywhere else. Even if a team member returns a little late, they must be checked and registered.

Gen's eyes were lowered, the hem of his black Shinigami robe swaying gently with his steps. He wore neither the haori of a Great Demonic Cult nor carried any tokens of his status, only a Zanpakuto slung diagonally at his waist. His pace was neither fast nor slow, his breathing steady and long, blending naturally among the group of Sixth Division members, and no one gave him a second glance.

Yesterday, he went to the Sixth Division to check the rotation list for next month's mixed squad with Saito Immortal, and also to have a friendly spar.

If a great demon priest wearing a haori embroidered with the insignia of the Demonic Path arrives, the gatekeeper's announcement alone will take half an hour, and then there will be a lot of tedious small talk with the adjutants of the Sixth Division who are so strict with etiquette that they are almost rigid.

It would be better to change into a regular Shinigami outfit, blend in with the unnoticed team members, finish the business, and exit directly through the main entrance, saving a lot of trouble.

After leaving the Sixth Division's camp, Gen turned northwest, where the Kido Clan's encampment was located.

Twelve years ago, when the Central 46th Chamber officially approved the establishment of the Kido Clan, this place was still a wasteland. Now, the Kido Clan is the largest armed force in Seireitei besides the Gotei 13.

There are already more than a thousand members of the Ghost Path.

This number is less than a quarter of the Gotei 13, but it is enough to make any noble dare not underestimate it. Although not every Shinigami can master Kido, most can master up to thirty Kido within a year.

As they passed the gate of the Seventh Division's camp, a series of chaotic footsteps approached. Xuan paused slightly and stepped aside to make way for them.

A mixed squad was returning from a border patrol. The members' shihachi (death suits) were covered in dust and dried blood, and their zanpakuto (soul-slaying swords) sheaths were scratched, clearly indicating they had been through a fierce battle. The man at the head of the group, with a fresh scar on his face, was straining to speak to the person next to him.

"That medium-sized Hollow we caught this time was really fierce. If it weren't for you, the rest of us would have just chopped it to pieces, and then we'd get yelled at by the higher-ups." Matsuda patted the shoulder of a Kido member next to him. "Honestly, why do we have to capture Hollows alive for no reason, and why is it our Seventh Division's turn?"

The Kido member was named Sato, a mid-level Kido member. He smiled modestly and said, "Matsuda-kun, you flatter me. I only managed to bind it with Binding Spell. Both the initial exhaustion and the subsequent sustained suppression are thanks to you. It's a pity that Ryudoji Takuma isn't here. I'm only good at Hado, while he's much better at Binding Spell. If he were here today, we wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble."

"It's a real shame. It seems he took leave and went home." Matsuda scratched his head, a look of regret on his face. "If we encounter such a tough opponent again, we won't be able to handle it."

Sato nodded, a hint of regret on his face: "It's not just him. Many members of the Ryudoji family have taken leave this time, saying they have important family matters to attend to. The upcoming patrol missions are probably going to be quite demanding."

"Then you'll have to practice harder." Matsuda sighed, took a big gulp from his water bottle, wiped his mouth, and said, "Speaking of which, I really envy you Kido followers. You don't have to practice those boring sword techniques every day, and you can unleash such powerful Kido with just a flick of your finger. It looks so cool. I should have taken the Kido exam back then."

"Don't rush," Sato said with a smile. "Once you know the name of your Zanpakuto, if it's a Kido-type, you'll look pretty cool too."

"Thank you for your kind words!" Matsuda grinned, patting Sato on the back. "I heard that your Great Demon Master of the Kido Clan is a very beautiful, mature, and intelligent woman. Is that true?"

"Of course, I see her working at her desk every day when I pass by the Great Ghost Taoist's office."

"You little brat, you're really something. Come on, let's go grab a drink, Sato's treating today!"

A group of people walked into the Seventh Division's camp gate, chatting and laughing. No one noticed the silent boy in black standing by the roadside.

Xuan watched their retreating figures and couldn't help but chuckle.

The "very beautiful, mature, and intellectual female Taoist priest" they were talking about should be sitting in the Taoist priest's office right now, frowning at the mountain of official documents.

Kiyoko Ise.

Xuan continued walking towards the Ghost Path's encampment.

Her talent is beyond question. Her perception of spirit particles and her understanding of the structure of the demonic path even exceeded Xuan's initial expectations.

Over the years since joining the Ghost Path Clan, she has not only learned all the Ghost Paths taught by Xuan, but has also independently developed seventeen new low-to-mid-level Ghost Paths, as well as three hybrid Ghost Paths.

Six months ago, she even developed the technique of dual chanting, which allows her to chant two different ghost paths at the same time, launching them almost simultaneously with far greater power than releasing them individually.

Xuan hadn't learned this technique. For him, apart from the Ghost Path of Binding Path Seventy-Seven - Heavenly Void, which was used for reconnaissance, he could abandon incantations for all other Ghost Paths. Double incantation was meaningless to him.

Genji wouldn't spend much time dealing with the affairs of the Kido Clan, so the responsibility of handling their daily affairs naturally fell on Ise Kiyomi's shoulders.

All official document approvals, personnel allocations, and task assignments were handled by Ise Kiyomiko using the seal of the Great Kido Master. Over time, not only the new Kido members, but also many new members of the Gotei 13, came to believe that Ise Kiyomiko was the Great Kido Master of the Kido Clan.

Xuanle enjoyed a period of leisure, devoting all his time to cultivation. With the establishment of the Thirteen Gotei 13 and the Kido Clan on the right track, under the seemingly calm surface, undercurrents were already surging.

Yhwach's Quincy Empire lurks in the shadows, poised to strike Seireitei at any moment. He must quickly increase his strength to survive the impending bloodbath and protect those he cares about, even if they surpass Gen's power.

The headquarters of the Oni-do sect gradually came into view.

On the open training ground, dozens of Kido practitioners were practicing their Breakthroughs. The flashes of red fire cannons, the lightning of white thunder, and the golden light of yellow fire flashes rose and fell, accompanied by the soft popping sounds of spiritual particles colliding. Someone successfully unleashed a Kido, drawing cheers from the surrounding crowd; another lost control of their spiritual power, causing their Kido to explode in mid-air, the shockwave ruffling their hair and eliciting laughter from the onlookers.

There are no strict hierarchies or rigid rules. Many people here come from Rukongai, and some, although born into lower-ranking noble families, are unwilling to join the Gotei 13, which represents traditional Shinigami. Therefore, the atmosphere among the Kidoshu is generally quite relaxed.

Without alerting anyone, Xuan bypassed the training ground and headed towards the Ghost Path Clan's underground training ground.

The surrounding walls were constructed from a mixture of killing energy stones and spiritual crystals, providing both sound insulation and preventing the leakage of spiritual pressure. Apart from Xuan, all other members of the Ghost Path needed permission to enter.

In the center of the training ground stood a dozen targets made of high-density spiritual particles, various spiritual power testing devices were placed in the corners, and there was also a huge pool of water used by high-level demon practitioners to replenish the moisture in the air when practicing water-based demon arts.

Xuan closed the stone door behind him, shutting out the noise from the outside world. He unfastened his Zanpakuto from his waist, placed it on the stone table beside him, and then walked to the center of the training ground.

Xuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The black, pure energy within his body flowed slowly, surging forth from his dormant soul, passing through the lock, and flowing to his limbs and bones. The next moment, a faint spiritual light shone beneath his feet, and spiritual particles gathered and swirled at the soles of his feet like flowing water.

Flying Blade Kick.

This is the Quincy's footwork. Unlike the Shinigami's Shunpo, it does not require a fulcrum. Instead, it propels the body by manipulating external spiritual particles.

After two and a half years of hard training, he could use the Flying Kick without releasing the initial release of the Zhenyuan technique, but it was still not as smooth as the Flying Kick after the initial release.

Suddenly, Xuan stopped.

"It seems I still can't maintain a static health build when using Flying Kick."

Gen had already taken off his Shinigami uniform, and underneath he was wearing a black, form-fitting combat suit specially made for Shunga.

Faint black lines appeared on Xuan's skin, spreading across his entire body like circuit boards. This was the Bloodstained Armor, which, for some reason, affected Xuan's ability to use the Flying Blade Kick.

Xuan flexed his fingers, feeling the surging spiritual energy within his body. The next moment, a dense white demonic power suddenly erupted from his back and shoulders, forming a spiritual energy storm in the underground training ground.

Instant coax.

Xuan's instantaneous strike is only the most basic version. Probably because his main focus was on other things, his progress in instantaneous strike was very small, only the duration was slightly extended, but this was purely due to his improved physical abilities.

Xuan tried to move slowly, but quickly lost control of his blood-stasis suit.

A fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing was slightly rapid. Using Blood Armor and Instantaneous Strike simultaneously consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, and was also very difficult to control.

Using both Instantaneous Burst and Blood Armor simultaneously is still too much for him, as both would place a huge burden on his body and mind, making them unsuitable for actual combat at the moment.

This is far from Xuan's expectations.

Xuan looked at his palm, where the burning sensation from the burst of power still lingered.

Yhwach's strength is unfathomable. His personal guards survived a casual blow from the monk, and each of them possesses captain-level strength.

The current level is far from enough. Xuan must improve his strength as soon as possible. Since his spiritual pressure is improving slowly, he needs to make up for it in other ways.

Just then, the doorbell rang, its clear sound echoing through the quiet underground training ground.

Xuan frowned.

He quickly checked the training ground to make sure there were no abnormal spiritual pressure traces left behind, then walked to the stone door and opened it.

Kiyoko Ise was standing outside the door.

She was still wearing that plain white robe, with a string of smooth prayer beads hanging from her waist. Her long hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, revealing her smooth forehead. In her hand she held a thick stack of rosaries, her expression calm, but there was a hint of solemnity in her eyes.

"Great Demon Master." Kiyoko Ise bowed slightly, her voice cold.

Xuan stepped aside to let her in, then closed the stone door: "What is it?"

Kiyoko Ise handed the list to Gen and turned to a page: "This is the list of leave requests for this month. There's something I feel is a bit unusual, and I need to report it to you."

Xuan took the roster and glanced at the names on it.

"Ryuudouji family?"

"Yes." Kiyoko Ise nodded, her tone serious. "In the past two days, 22 low-ranking members, 7 mid-ranking members, and 3 high-ranking members of the Kido sect from the Ryudoji family have all applied for a week-long leave, citing 'family affairs' as the reason."

Xuan flipped through the roster without saying a word.

The Ryudoji family is an upper-class noble family. Although they cannot compare to the five great noble families, they still wield considerable power in Seireitei and have businesses in both Seireitei and Rukongai.

Over the past twelve years, the Ryudoji family has sent many talented individuals to the Kido sect, many of whom have become mid- to high-ranking Kido members, playing important roles in various mixed squads. Their numbers are second only to the Ise family.

"Their leave applications were all submitted on the same day," Kiyoko Ise continued. "And after submitting the applications, they immediately left Seireitei and returned to Ryudoji's fiefdom in South Rukongai. I checked, and many of them originally had patrol and training missions, and some had even arranged to train with the Gotei 13 members, but suddenly canceled all their arrangements."

Xuan looked up at Kiyoko Ise: "Has anything like this happened before?"

"It has happened before," Kiyoko Ise shook her head, "but at most two or three people would take leave together. There has never been a case of so many people taking leave at the same time. Such a large-scale leave is very rare, especially since they are all members of the same family. I felt something was amiss, so I came to report to you."

Genhe returned the register to Ise Kiyomi.

"Understood." Xuan's tone was flat, revealing no emotion. "Don't worry about it for now. Have the other members of the Ghost Path take over their joint training with the Gotei 13 these next few days."

Kiyoko Ise was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Gen to react this way. She had originally thought that Gen would immediately send someone to investigate the Ryudoji family.

Xuan looked at her expression calmly: "Go back and continue with your daily work. If there's anything unusual or important, come find me at the underground training ground."

Kiyoko Ise looked into Gen's eyes, and in those unfathomable depths, she saw a serene understanding that knew everything. She nodded and tucked the register into her bosom: "Yes, Great Demon Master. I'll head back now."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the stone door, opened it, and went out.

The stone door slowly closed, and the underground training ground fell silent once more.

What exactly is the Ryudoji family up to? Perhaps Kiyoko Ise is just being overly sensitive.

Xuan also left the underground training ground.

The spring sunshine was just right, shining on the buildings of Seireitei, creating a peaceful and serene atmosphere.

But Gen knew that beneath this peaceful facade, undercurrents were already surging. Whatever the Ryudoji family's schemes might be, nothing was more important than increasing their strength to deal with the Quincy army.

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South Rukongai, the fiefdom of the Ryudoji family.

On the surface, this place is no different from other noble fiefdoms, with neat rows of fields, scattered houses, and patrolling servants, presenting a scene of peaceful and prosperous life. But beneath an artificial hill at the deepest part of the fiefdom lies a huge underground secret chamber.

The walls of the secret chamber were made of thick, murderous stone. This material was rare, expensive, and rarely owned by nobles.

In the center of the secret room stood a young girl.

She had long, bright blonde hair tied into a neat high ponytail at the back of her head, with irregular, choppy bangs in front of her forehead, and striking blue-green highlights on her bangs and sideburns.

She wore a small, white, standard military cap with a badge on the left side. Her upper body was a short, white, stand-up collar military uniform with a red V-neck bow tie, and light blue trim on the shoulders and cuffs. A thin black leather belt was tied around her waist, and she wore black tight-fitting trousers and white high boots with light blue vertical stripes on the sides of the boot shafts.

It was Nikita Deslock, one of Yhwach's personal guards.