Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 535: Swastika: The established world!

The Spirit King's body disintegrated like dust, turning into ashes and disappearing.

At that moment, Bane sensed the Spirit King's final breath; it was not one of despair, but rather one of joy.

Millions of years of self-imprisonment, now liberated.

Dust to dust, dust to dust.

The Spirit King was no more, and at the same moment, Bane felt a lightness on his body, as if something that had been pressing on his shoulders had been removed.

He knew that this world had lost its master.

On the other side, Yhwach's power began to rise rapidly, and it seemed that the Soul King's authority had fallen into his hands, causing his strength to surge.

That wasn't simply a matter of spiritual pressure; in fact, you could say that his spiritual pressure hadn't changed, but his powers, the things he could do, had increased.

It's like he can do something that others need to use 100% of their spiritual pressure to do, but right now he only needs to use 1% of his spiritual pressure.

This is power!

"Hahahahahaha!" Yhwach laughed wildly.

He then abruptly turned his head, fixing his gaze on Bane, and sneered, "This is the power that rules everything, Cantilevered Bane. Even if you regret it now, it's too late. I will grant you a glorious death to demonstrate your noble status!"

"Bane!" Kiryu, sensing the collapse of the three realms and Yhwach's terrifying power, called out with some concern.

Bane also sensed the change.

A cry from the pirate world, a call from the ninja world, a call from the Empire.

In the past, worlds that required passing through the interdimensional gate within his body to communicate with, and later, worlds that at least required a Pure Land to connect with, have all appeared in his consciousness at this moment.

In an instant, he seemed to see Dragon, who was already balding, handling official business in Mary Geoise.

In an instant, he seemed to see Jiraiya again, who had been peeping into the bathhouse in Konoha and was severely injured by Tsunade's punch.

In an instant, he seemed to see the White Snake Immortal transformed into a pink dragon in the Dragon Cave, explaining the method of dragon transformation to the other juniors.

In an instant, he seemed to see Garp again, in a bustling city of the empire that he had never seen before, eating senbei and laughing with Sengoku and Zephyr.

The departure of the highest-ranking Spirit King in this world also took away the last trace of resentment this world held towards Bane. Now, this ownerless world is about to welcome its new master.

It's either Yhwach or Bane.

At this moment, Bane's mind was clearer than ever before, and the power within him was constantly restless, collapsing and being rebuilt.

At that moment, he gradually understood everything!

Although Bane had vaguely found the answer and the direction more than a hundred years ago, it was only at this moment that the fog that had shrouded his heart truly dissipated.

He finally saw his roots and essence.

More than a hundred years ago, Bane had a mistaken belief that his status was no less than that of the Spirit King, and that he came from the Pure Land, from the gift of the previous generation of the God of Death in the Pure Land.

Before that, he always thought that it was his own spiritual pressure combined with the Pure Land that gave him power no less than that of the Soul Society, which was why he was recognized by the Soul King Palace as "rank comparable to the Soul King" the moment he arrived in the human world.

However, more than a hundred years ago, when Bane gradually felt the last trace of resentment the world held towards him—a resistance as light as a feather yet as heavy as a mountain—he realized that the gap between himself and the Spirit King was still enormous, even though his spiritual pressure had become incredibly terrifying.

From that moment on, he knew that his status, equal to that of the Spirit King, could not possibly have come from the Pure Land or from some previous God of Death.

To put it bluntly, these two powers are simply not worthy of being compared to the Spirit King.

The Pure Land has always been compared to the Soul Society, but upon closer inspection, the Soul Society is merely a part of the Three Realms. With the Soul King's immense power, if he truly wished, he could eliminate the Soul Society at any time and then reopen it.

This applies not only to the Soul Society, but to all three realms.

Such power is far beyond what a mere Pure Land can compare to.

The Death God of the Pure Land was born at an unknown time, but judging from his words, it was only about a thousand years ago, or at most a few thousand years ago.

How can it be compared to the Spirit King who divided the three realms a million years ago?

He cannot even compare to the Eye Monk or the Five Great Noble Ancestors; Yamamoto Genryusai may even be older than him.

How could Bane, who obtained his power from them, possibly possess a status no less than that of the Spirit King?

impossible!

All of this stemmed from the doubts that arose more than a hundred years ago when Bane touched upon the root of this world, when he touched upon that lingering resentment.

Now, with the passing of the Spirit King and the dissipation of the world's last vestiges of resentment, Bane, who had finally cleared away the final veil of mystery, has found the answer.

The reason he was able to possess a status no less noble than that of the Soul King was not due to any Pure Land, Shinigami, or spiritual pressure.

It comes from within himself!

At this moment, the portal within Bane's body, which had remained silent and shone no longer since he arrived in Soul Society, had collapsed and was being rebuilt.

A multicolored halo filled Bane's body, merging with his spiritual pressure, his dark power, and everything about him, transforming into the most essential and fundamental force in the world.

Indeed, Bane's status comes from this door within himself!

The colorful aura emanating from his body.

This is the fundamental reason why he was ranked higher than King Ling!

As the turbulent power within his body gradually subsided, the Heart-Crossing Sword at Bane's waist let out a soft hiss, as if congratulating its master.

At that moment, Bane felt fulfilled.

With a single thought, he could cause the ninja world to collapse; with a single thought, he could turn the pirate world upside down; with a single thought, he could bring about the apocalypse of the Empire world.

The primal power of the three worlds has all returned to itself.

If Bane wanted, he could reconstruct the world right now, merging these three worlds into one!

At the same time, he finally understood what the interdimensional gate on the Empire's side was all about. It wasn't some other strange power, but rather the same power that was originating from the same source as the power within him.

According to Bane's memories at that time, the Empire's portal to another world began twenty years before he "traveled" through time.

At that time, Bane had not yet been born.

During his journey through the past and future, his energy anchored the Empire plane, and the leaked energy caused the Empire to experience the interdimensional portal disaster.

Two years later, when Bane was born in the Empire, the interdimensional portals became even more frequent. When he came of age and was shot in the head in a street fight, that was the day he regained his 'consciousness'. Only now did he realize that he had not actually taken over the soul of the fierce general, but that he had only remembered his past memories on that day.

When he began using the interdimensional portal, the Empire's interdimensional portal disasters began to stabilize and no longer erupted as easily as before.

When he arrived in Soul Society, the power within him began to subside. According to Orochimaru and others, the disaster of the interdimensional gate on the Empire's side also began to subside, and the gate to another world stopped opening frequently until it finally subsided.

At this moment, he finally understood that from the very beginning, the power he possessed was searching for a world that could complement the empire to which he had anchored.

Because that imperial world is incomplete; it has no "place of rest for the dead."

The world containing Soul Society is undoubtedly the most suitable world. That is why, when the energy within him found this world, it emitted such a dazzling and eye-catching light, guiding Bane to finally choose to open this door.

The power within him had also come into contact with the Spirit King's Palace earlier than he had. Perhaps, the moment he first stepped into the mortal world, the power within him had already communicated with the Spirit King.

Judging from the current situation, on that day, the Spirit King changed his will and chose him.

On that same day, the Spirit King's Palace confirmed that Bane possessed a rank no less than that of the Spirit King!

With a myriad of thoughts and the fog dissipating, Bane felt as if he had lived for millions of years in that instant.

But in reality, it only takes a few breaths.

Having grasped the remaining power of the Soul King's body, Yhwach seemed to hear the call of the world, which he took as a cheer for his imminent coronation as king.

He was extremely confident.

Then, at that moment, he met Bane's slowly opening eyes.

Whether it was a misperception or not, this time when they looked at each other, Yhwach seemed to see an upside-down world in the other's eyes. Unlike the world he knew, some people were breathing fire and water in strange ways, some were eating strange fruits, and some were using strange superpowers.

In this scene, he seemed to see himself?

This startled Yhwach awake, and a few beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

What's going on?

Without time to think, or rather, without wanting to think, without daring to think, Yhwach pointed his Quincy crossblade at Bane and said, "Disrespectful one, be eliminated!"

He mobilized the power of the Spirit King and enveloped Bane.

But the power that Yhwach believed to be all-powerful was now completely unable to penetrate Bane's body.

"What?" Yhwach was even more shocked and furious.

I've already inherited the Spirit King's power, and I still can't beat you? Then what the hell did I inherit it for?

A warm smile appeared on Bane's face as he gently placed his hand on the Heart Ferry at his waist and said, "Let's take another look, Yhwach. This time, you will surely be able to see the future."

Despite his deep resentment towards Bane, Yhwach's anger vanished suddenly upon seeing his smile and hearing his calm voice.

Immediately, as if heeding this guidance, Yhwach mobilized his own power and authority, activating "Omniscience and Omnipotence"!

It was only at the moment he activated his omniscience and omnipotence that he seemed to regain his consciousness, and his eyes suddenly turned terrified.

Why? Why did I unconsciously do what he said?

But none of that matters anymore, because this time, the omniscience and omnipotence were not interrupted, and Yhwach saw the future!

An infinite future!

But the more he looked at these futures, the more terrified, uneasy, angry, and resentful he became!

"The most despairing thing for a person is not being unable to see the future, but rather being able to see an infinite future, yet discovering that all of those futures ultimately point to your defeat and destruction, something I can see but cannot change," Bane said softly.

Kiryuu clearly understood these words. Yhwach saw the future, but all futures are destined for defeat.

A soft scraping sound rang out as Bane slowly drew the Heart Crossing sword from its sheath.

Actually, there's no need for that now. Whether it's Shikai, Bankai, or some other power, there's no need to rely on the Heart to cross over.

However, Bane was somewhat capricious; he still felt that using Bankai would look cooler.

"The reason I never use Bankai is because I instinctively felt that there was always a flaw in my Bankai. I couldn't find the answer to where this flaw came from until today," Bane muttered to himself.

"One is all, all is one; my body is everything, all things in the universe. When all things return to nothingness, heaven and earth and all things begin anew. Bankai: The Established World!"

(End of this chapter)