Bankai Training, Inner Demon

Standing before the sixth step, Liu Hao's gaze met that of the Imperial Princess beside the throne. A hint of disappointment, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, stirred ripples deep within his heart.

But he did not hesitate or back down. He had already traversed more than half of the nine stages and steps of the Imperial Path. There was no turning back, and no choice but to stop.

As my foot landed, the world before me changed once more.

This time, there were no stars, no memories, no shadows. What appeared before Liu Hao was a space so vast it was unsettling—the ground was a smooth, mirror-like black material, stretching to the horizon; the sky was pure gray, without clouds, without light, only endless gloom.

And in the center of this space stood a person.

A person with the exact same face, build, and even wearing the same Fourth Division haori as him.

But they are fundamentally different.

The man's hair was a fiery red, wildly cascading over his shoulders. His eyes were a blood-red crimson, with magma seemingly flowing deep within his pupils. A near-mad, ferocious grin hung on his lips, a stark contrast to Liu Hao's usual gentle and restrained demeanor.

"What is it this time?" Liu Hao asked in a deep voice, his right hand already resting on the Zanpakuto at his waist.

"This time it'll be easier." Red-haired Liu Hao grinned, his smile filled with provocation and fighting spirit. "Beat me."

Before he finished speaking, he casually waved his right hand, and an Imperial Sword appeared out of thin air in his hand. But that Imperial Sword was different from Liu Hao's —the blade was dark red, blood-red light flowed on the edge, and a constantly beating crimson gem was inlaid in the hilt, like a burning heart.

"Come on, draw your sword." The red-haired Liu Hao raised his sword, the tip pointing directly at Liu Hao. "Let me see if you are qualified to wield the Imperial Sword."

Liu Hao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Memories flashed through his mind—the struggles in Rukongai, the arduous training at the Shin'ō Academy, the duties of the Fourth Division, the sparring with Unohana, and countless battles on the brink of life and death...

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He opened his right palm, and a ball of seven-colored light began to gather. The light started as a single point, then rapidly expanded and spun, as if encompassing all the colors in the world. At the center of the light, the outline of a sword hilt gradually took shape.

Liu Hao clenched his fist and gripped the sword hilt precisely.

The ball of light began to extend and take shape—first the guard, then the blade, and finally the tip. The entire process took no more than three seconds, but every detail was precise to the extreme, and every ray of light contained a profound will.

When the light finally stabilized, a crystal-clear Imperial Sword, shimmering with seven-colored light, was firmly held in Liu Hao's hand.

Seeing this, Liu Hao, with his red hair, grinned even more broadly. "What's the use of playing fancy tricks? Strength is everything!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already moved.

Without warning, without gathering power, he simply swung the Imperial Sword forward.

A blood-red slash tore through the air, flying towards Liu Hao with a piercing shriek. Wherever the slash passed, space itself distorted slightly, and the ground was plowed into a deep trench.

Liu Hao did not dodge, nor did he even change his posture. He simply raised the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword in his hand and casually swung it in front of him.

There was no earth-shattering collision, no explosive burst of energy. The blood-red slash, upon contact with the seven-colored sword light, was as if cleaved in two by an invisible hand, passing by Liu Hao's sides before exploding with a bang dozens of meters behind him.

"Is it okay to be so relaxed?" A voice suddenly rang out beside Liu Hao. "Do you think I'd go easy on you?"

The red-haired Liu Hao had appeared to Liu Hao's left at some unknown time, moving so fast that he didn't even leave an afterimage.

Liu Hao's pupils contracted, and he instinctively retreated hastily. But the red-haired Liu Hao was even faster— the Imperial Sword had already been swung out, its blade aimed directly at Liu Hao's throat.

At the critical moment, Liu Hao held the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword horizontally in front of his chest.

Clang--!

A deafening clang of metal clashing rang out. The moment the two Imperial Swords collided, they erupted with blinding light. Liu Hao felt an unimaginable force emanating from the swords, and he was sent flying backward as if struck head-on by a battering ram.

"It's not over yet," Liu Hao, the red-haired man, said casually.

He sheathed the Imperial Sword, its tip pointing at Liu Hao, who was still flying backward. Suddenly, the crimson gem at the hilt burst forth with a blinding light, and a blood-red beam of light shot out from the tip of the sword, its speed exceeding the limits of vision.

Liu Hao was in mid-air, unable to gain any leverage, and could only manage a backflip to forcefully stop his retreat at the highest point. But just as he regained his footing, the crimson beam of light was already in front of him.

Without a second thought, Liu Hao held the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword upright in front of his chest, the blade facing the beam of light.

Boom--!

The moment the beam of light struck the sword, it unleashed an even more violent impact than before. Liu Hao was once again thrown backward, his feet carving two deep furrows in the ground. The crimson beam of light was cleaved in two by the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword, splitting into two streams that swept past his sides and exploded into two huge craters in the distance.

Before Liu Hao could even steady himself, a sense of crisis suddenly came from behind him.

He didn't even turn around; he simply held the Imperial Sword behind his back.

Clang--!

Another loud crash. The red-haired Liu Hao had somehow circled behind Liu Hao, and this sword strike hit the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword. The immense force caused Liu Hao to stagger forward.

Just as he staggered, another blood-red slash appeared in front of him.

Unable to dodge or block, Liu Hao could only barely turn to the side, letting the slash graz his body. His haori was torn, leaving a shallow bloodstain on his chest.

But he didn't have time to check his wound, because Liu Hao's next sword was already upon him.

The Seven-Colored Imperial Sword was once again held upright in front of his chest, blocking the fatal blow. But the price was that Liu Hao was knocked away again, this time even further, and he even staggered a few steps before barely managing to stand up when he landed.

His breathing became erratic, and his hand holding the sword trembled slightly. In just a few exchanges, Liu Hao had already felt immense pressure.

Red-haired Liu Hao did not continue the pursuit. He stood there, the blood-red Imperial Sword hanging casually at his side, his face showing undisguised disdain.

"How boring," he commented. "Your defense is alright; it seems fighting Unohana has made you used to all sorts of defensive maneuvers. But even so... can you beat me?"

Liu Hao adjusted his breathing and remained silent. He was assessing the situation, thinking, and searching for a weakness in the red-haired Liu Hao.

"Do you think," Liu Hao, the red-haired man, suddenly spoke, his voice laced with obvious mockery, "That I am your Zanpakuto? Or a Hollow existing within you? Or even the materialization of your power?"

Liu Hao frowned. He had indeed thought about this problem.

"It seems you are not," he said.

"That's right, I'm definitely not." Red-haired Liu Hao smiled, a smile tinged with cruel honesty. "You and I are, in a way, two sides of the same coin."

These words made Liu Hao's eyes narrow.

The red-haired Liu Hao continued, "I was born the moment our first comrade died before our eyes. At that moment, I unleashed our combined power to wound that Hollow. Later, I was also the one who mobilized our power to repair our bodies. Only you... never noticed."

Liu Hao's breathing quickened slightly. He recalled that day in Rukongai, the suddenly appearing Gillian, his companions lying in pools of blood, and the strange, violent power surging from deep within his body...

"What about the previous tests?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Those trials are meant to make you confront your own heart," Liu Hao's red-haired tone turned serious. "But some things, once they're formed, don't disappear so easily. Besides, you haven't fully accepted all of this yet. That's why you want to escape—for example, you want to gain greater power, to transcend this world."

"Can't I think that way?" Liu Hao retorted, his voice tinged with stubbornness.

"My existence is to tell you that your ideas are naive," the red-haired Liu Hao retorted mercilessly. "You used to want to avoid powerful enemies, and now you fantasize about changing everything yourself. Why can't you just accept everything as it is and give up those unrealistic ideas?"

Liu Hao gripped his sword tightly. "How is that unrealistic? If my power reaches that level, why can't I break through this world and find my homeland?"

"What about your plan?!" Red-haired Liu Hao suddenly burst into laughter. "You just want a reason to put your mind at ease, to tell yourself: 'As long as I'm strong enough to break through this world, I can go find my homeland.' But you've never thought about how to obtain the power to break through this world."

These words struck Liu Hao's heart like a heavy hammer.

He fell silent. Red-haired Liu Hao was right—he had always had this idea, this obsession, but had never truly considered the path to achieving it. It was more like a form of self-comfort, an excuse to escape reality.

"Do you think you passed all the tests because you saw your true self?" Red-haired Liu Hao continued to taunt, his tone filled with undisguised contempt. "Actually, no. If I hadn't let you pass, you probably wouldn't have even made it past the first hurdle."

Liu Hao suddenly raised his head, staring intently at the red-haired Liu Hao. His eyes were filled with resentment, but deep down, he had to admit that the other party had a point.

During those trials, he did experience confusion, wavering, and even thoughts of giving up. If it weren't for some kind of "external force" pushing him forward, he might not have been able to pass them.

"Don't look at me like that." Red-haired Liu Hao resumed his disdainful expression. "The previous tests had two purposes in mind."

"What's your purpose?" Liu Hao asked.

Red-haired Liu Hao's expression became complex: anger, disdain, mockery, and a hint of almost imperceptible... sadness.

"One way is to help you see yourself clearly and rediscover your true self," he said, his voice tinged with suppressed emotion, "And then, to make me disappear completely."

He paused, then a signature sneer returned to his lips, "The second purpose is what we're in now. If you can't recognize me, I'll step in and let you defeat me, rediscover your true self. But when I appear... it will also be my chance to take your place. After all, we're just two sides of the same coin with different personalities."

Liu Hao's expression became extremely solemn.

He understood. The red-haired Liu Hao wasn't an enemy, nor an obstacle to the trial, but rather a part of himself—the part he had suppressed, denied, and feared. That more direct, wilder, and more authentic version of himself.

"Then it seems," Liu Hao slowly raised the Seven-Colored Imperial Sword, its tip pointing at the red-haired Liu Hao, "That I will have no choice but to defeat you."

"Ha," Liu Hao, the red-haired man, laughed, a laugh full of sarcasm, "Can you do it? With the performance you just showed?"

"I will." Liu Hao's voice was calm and firm.

"Heh," Liu Hao's sneer grew even more pronounced, "You think I'm telling you all this to resolve your inner conflicts, like those protagonists in anime who suddenly gain power and defeat me?"

The moment the words left his mouth, a sudden change occurred.

Suddenly, countless weapons appeared in the surrounding gray sky. Swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows... all sorts of weapons, each radiating different power fluctuations—fire, ice, lightning, hurricanes, darkness, light...

Thousands of weapons hovered in the air, all pointing at Liu Hao, forming a perfect encirclement.

"I was just stalling for time so I could concentrate my forces and finish you off in one go," Liu Hao's red-haired voice was cold and cruel. "After all, I am you too. Without a coward like you, there's no one to hold me back."

Liu Hao looked around at the weapons poised to strike, but his face showed no sign of panic.

"Then do you think," he began slowly, his voice eerily calm, "That you're the only one gathering strength?"

"How could that be?" Red-haired Liu Hao laughed dismissively. "How could I not know what you're thinking? You're cooperating with me so well, aren't you making the same preparations as me? After all... we're the same kind of people."

"Since you know," Liu Hao's lips curled up slightly, "Didn't you... reveal your trump card too early?"

Before the words were even finished, another unexpected event occurred.

The Reiatsu emanating from Liu Hao suddenly surged.

That wasn't a simple enhancement, but a qualitative leap. The originally gentle and restrained Reiatsu erupted like a volcanic eruption, and seven-colored light burst forth from his body, dyeing the surrounding gray space with brilliant colors.

Even more astonishingly, his Reiatsu was not only surging but also constantly solidifying and compressing. The seven-colored light gradually converged on the Imperial Sword in his hand, and the light on the sword became brighter and more condensed, eventually transforming into a pure white light.

"Imperial Sword - Aurora."

Liu Hao uttered those four words softly, and then swung his sword.

There were no fancy moves, no complicated trajectories, just the simplest and most direct horizontal slash.

But this strike unleashed power surpassing all previous attacks.