Daily Sparring (1)

When Liu Ziyun awoke in the shadows of a corner of the Visored's base, the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the broken window onto his face—though he couldn't see them, the long-lost warmth still made him blink instinctively. His eyes, hollow for nearly a century, were now filled with eternal darkness, like a bottomless abyss.

[My eyes... are still blind.] Liu Ziyun out and touched his eye sockets, feeling the smooth, empty hollows. [But at least, I can 'feel' the light. How ironic.]

He slowly stood up and stretched his aching body. Although yesterday's Bankai training ended in failure, it wasn't entirely without gain—at least he clearly recognized the gap between himself and complete Bankai, and clarified the direction of his future training.

More importantly, through his all-out battles with Life-Taker and Tulu, he gained a deeper understanding of the power of Zanpakuto. That resonance at the soul level, that almost instinctive tacit understanding, all told him one thing: Bankai is not the end, but a new beginning.

Liu Ziyun straightened his tattered clothes—after yesterday's battle, his Shihakusho were practically just strips of cloth, barely enough to cover his body. Fortunately, there were spare clothes in the base, and he found a relatively well-fitting set by relying on his memory and sense of touch. Then, using his Reiatsu perception and sound feedback, he groped his way out of the rest area.

The entire base was eerily quiet, without a sound. Liu Ziyun forward along the corridor, his Reiatsu perception spreading out like a spider web—for him, who had been blind for nearly a hundred years, the loss of sight had actually made his other senses more acute. He could "feel" the flow of Reishi in the air, "hear" the subtle vibrations behind the walls, and "smell" the faint smell of sweat and metal coming from afar.

He quickly detected the faint fluctuations emanating from the Underground Space.

"Are they all there?" He raised an eyebrow, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Perfect, let's go see what these guys are up to."

When he arrived at the entrance to the Underground Training Ground, the sound he heard almost made him burst out laughing.

In the center of the training ground came the crisp sound of blades clashing, along with the breathing of Hiyori Sarugaki and Lisa Yadōmaru —both were breathing relatively steadily, indicating that the intensity of the battle was not high. What amused Liu Ziyun even more was that he could also hear the hushed conversations of the others around him, their tone as relaxed as if they were watching a performance.

Liu Ziyun leaned against the doorframe at the entrance, arms crossed, a signature, slightly mocking smile on his face, "Hey, everyone's watching girls fight? How's it going, when are they going to tear their clothes? It sounds pretty exciting, but I can't sense any killing intent at all?"

The atmosphere in the training field froze instantly upon hearing this.

The sound of blades clashing stopped abruptly. Hiyori Sarugaki and Lisa Yadōmaru's breathing became rapid—a sign of anger. Everyone around them also turned their "gaze" to him— Liu Ziyun could feel those gazes falling on him as if they were real.

Shinji Hirako sighed, his voice tinged with helplessness. "What do you mean, tearing clothes... They're practicing seriously, okay? Liu Ziyun, can't you be serious for once?"

"Serious?" Liu Ziyun looked in the direction from which Shinji Hirako's voice came, his smile widening. "You call this a serious sparring match? Are you sure this isn't just a bunch of noobs pecking at each other?"

He "walked" into the training field—although he was blind, his steps were steady and composed, as if he knew the terrain like the back of his hand. This was thanks to his memories of visiting this place many times before he lost his sight, and his heightened sense of perception after losing his sight.

"Listen," Liu Ziyun looked around, "How stiff their movements are? How hesitant their attacks are? How conservative their defenses are? If this were a real battle, they would have been hacked to death eight hundred times over."

Hiyori Sarugaki finally couldn't hold back any longer. The sound of her knuckles cracking as she gripped her Zanpakuto as she yelled, "You annoying bald guy! What do you mean by 'chickens fighting'? I'm strong too, you know!"

Although she spoke with a strong voice, Liu Ziyun could sense a tremor in it—yesterday's crushing defeat had clearly left her with a deep psychological scar.

Liu Ziyun glanced at her—though he couldn't see, the direction his empty eye sockets were fixed on was precise. "You're strong? Then tell me, in those thirty-seven moves just now, how many times did you truly intend to kill your opponent? How many times did you truly aim for vital points? How many times did you truly use all your strength?"

Hiyori Sarugaki froze. She subconsciously recalled the battle just now, and then realized with horror that Liu Ziyun was absolutely right. Her sparring with Lisa Yadōmaru, although it looked intense, had been carefully planned, with each move leaving room for maneuver and each attack avoiding vital points.

"You..." She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Your current training methods are completely wrong." Liu Ziyun to the others, his voice echoing in the training ground. "It should be that the weaker ones fight the stronger ones, pushing their limits under the pressure of life and death. The stronger ones should then engage in deeper dialogue and refinement with their Zanpakuto through Blade Zen. But what are you doing now? Putting two equally skilled novices to fight each other, without a trace of killing intent, not even getting hurt—you call this combat?"

His tone suddenly turned stern. "This is worse than playing house!"

Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi cleared his throat, trying to explain, "It's just practice, there's no need to get injured, is there? Our goal is to improve our skills and teamwork, not to fight to the death."

"Only by starting with real combat can we truly enhance our strength," Liu Ziyun retorted bluntly. "Your childish fighting style offers extremely limited improvement. Didn't you see how I fought my Zanpakuto yesterday? Every move was aimed at killing me. Every single time was a life-or-death struggle."

He sighed, his tone filled with undisguised disappointment. "Sigh... no wonder you're still so weak after all this time. Remember, sparring should be done with the mindset of 'never stopping until you've beaten your opponent to a pulp.' Don't you have a professional support here? Let him heal you if you get hurt—with a professional support present, are you still afraid of getting injured? Such weak sparring is worse than going back to sleep."

All eyes were on Hachigen Ushōda.

The former deputy head of the Kidō Corps Assistant Kidō Chief coughed somewhat awkwardly, "Um... I'm actually not particularly good at healing. I'm more skilled in defensive and binding Kidō..."

"You're not good at healing, are you?" Liu Ziyun interrupted him. "They fight to the death, so you heal them. Over time, won't you become good at it? Who isn't born with a natural talent?"

He paused, then continued, "Furthermore, I don't believe you lack the ability for rapid regeneration—especially after learning Hollowfication. If you don't, it proves you haven't unlocked your full potential. I remember seeing your ability before; you seemed to have the ability to restore things even after they've been broken, right? Even if only a fragment remains, you could completely restore it. You could try to develop that aspect further."

Hachigen Ushōda was stunned. He did indeed possess an ability called "Return to Origin," which could restore broken objects to their original state. But he had never imagined that this ability could also be used for healing—to "restore" broken bones, torn muscles, and damaged internal organs to their original state.

"Um... okay." Hachigen Ushōda finally nodded. "I'll study it carefully myself."

"That's right." Liu Ziyun nodded in satisfaction, then "looked" at Hiyori Sarugaki and Lisa Yadōmaru in the center of the arena, "You two stop fighting and go watch from the sidelines. This level of 'sparring' is a waste of time."

Although unwilling, the two silently retreated to the edge of the training field.