After defeating Wuliang, Ling slashed wildly with his Asauchi. Seven men had now fallen to his blade, and he had suffered four more wounds himself. Fortunately, they weren't serious, just cuts.
Dozens of corpses littered the small mountain battlefield. Blood stained the earth red, and the men who had just fallen were still bleeding.
Fewer and fewer figures remained standing. Altogether, there were fewer than twenty, and nearly everyone was wounded. They were now watching the two commanders duel.
Both men were bleeding profusely, their clothes completely soaked in blood. Under normal circumstances, wounds like theirs would have been fatal, yet they could still swing their blades.
If these two joined the Seireitei, they might become Seated Officers after honing their skills.
Aside from Ling and the two commanders, practically no one there could still move. Ling walked slowly toward the duel. He was going to help Genji kill the opposing commander.
"Bastard, I won't let you get close to Lord Pinglang! I..."
"Too much talk!"
A blood-soaked man staggered to his feet, only for Ling to cut him down with a single stroke. Ling reached the place where the two men were fighting.
"This is a little underhanded, but it would be hard to kill you otherwise!"
"Nangong... perfect. Let's do it together!"
Ling wore a mocking expression. He didn't think he was being underhanded at all. Genji had meant to say something else, but suddenly changed his mind and decided that the two of them should kill the opposing commander, Pinglang, together. He had seen the light.
"Heh, did Wuliang lose to you too? Come on!!!"
Despair showed in Pinglang's eyes, but he neither begged for mercy nor admitted defeat. With a roar, he charged at the two of them.
The three clashed. Genji took a slash, while Ling's blade pierced Pinglang's heart. When they separated again, Pinglang finally fell.
His surviving subordinates all surrendered, except for a few who refused and stumbled away on their own. Genji didn't send anyone after them, leaving them to fend for themselves...
That battle cemented Ling's position as the group's second-in-command, as well as one of its two strongest fighters.
Seeing a new group take control of West Fallen Silver Town, the residents felt fearful and uneasy. They watched these wounded men from the shadows.
If another group came along now, Ling and his band of wounded men would be no match for them. But people with Reiryoku didn't just appear at random.
Genji had managed to gather such a large group because of the turmoil in the 68th District, which had displaced a great many residents and given him the opportunity. Ordinarily, one couldn't even find a wandering group with more than ten people who had Reiryoku.
Naturally, finding food wasn't Ling's responsibility. For now, he only needed to focus on recovering and deal with anyone who challenged them.
But half a month passed without incident. Genji had continued recruiting, and the number of fighters with Reiryoku under him had risen to over twenty again.
They had a new name for their organization: the Fallen Silver Group! Unlike the previous group, the Fallen Silver Group didn't set quotas for each household and then go door to door collecting food.
Instead, they had Yamabi gather dozens of strong young men to help search for food and plant wild fruit trees. As for rice, Pinglang and his men had eaten all the grain they could have used as seed. Where were they supposed to get any, unless they bought it from a district farther in? The problem was that they had no money for the time being...
The large-scale war between the Soul Reapers and Hollows seemed to have ended, with the Soul Reapers winning in the end. Large numbers of Soul Reapers began withdrawing, leaving only a few to patrol the nearby districts and hunt Hollows.
This was a relatively important gathering place for souls, and two Soul Reapers patrolled nearby.
The Soul Reapers who had died in battle and left Ling an Asauchi to pick up had merely been rookies fresh out of the academy, who hadn't even formed Zanpakuto. These two, however, were real Soul Reapers with Zanpakuto, and seasoned veterans at that.
The two came to greet Genji, the new leader of West Fallen Silver Town, and asked him to prepare food for them, offering to pay for it. Though they wanted to pay, the veteran Genji chose to give it to them for free.
As for what had happened to the previous leader, the two Soul Reapers knew without asking.
Now that they were getting free provisions, the two clearly had no intention of meddling. Besides, this was a remote part of Rukongai, where it was good enough just to avoid starving to death.
They soon became well acquainted with Genji, and senior members like Ling and Yamabi came to know them as well. The two Soul Reapers also came from Rukongai and weren't overly arrogant.
Another seven days passed. Ling was practicing with his blade in a large courtyard in the settlement—what the locals called practicing swordsmanship—when Yamabi came over with two new members of the group.
"Hey, Nangong, come have some fun with us! Swinging a sword every day is so boring!" Yamabi called to Ling.
"No. In this world, the strong have the final say. If you're weak, you'll be killed sooner or later. You guys..."
Ling had wanted to tell them to train hard too, but these men had already reached the limits of their talent. They had carried Asauchi for a long time, but unfortunately hadn't managed to turn them into Zanpakuto.
"Tch, if we die, we die. Our talent only goes this far anyway. What a boring world. Well, train hard. Maybe you'll become a Soul Reaper. See you!"
Yamabi waved, and the three walked away together. Even without being told, Ling knew they were going to find some newly arrived widow or pretty woman in the settlement to play cards with again...
That was how Soul Society was: boring enough to make people without Reiryoku want to kill themselves. Remote areas were better, since people still had to fight for water every day. In a place like theirs, where water wasn't scarce, there really wasn't much to do.
During this time, Ling's Reiatsu had increased again, leaving him overjoyed.
Ling had learned from the two Soul Reapers that his Reiatsu had long since met the requirement to become a Soul Reaper. They had suggested that he enroll at Shin'ō Spiritual Arts Academy, but Ling had refused.
In Ling's view, the Seireitei had existed for who knew how many years and had long since become corrupt. He could overthrow their rule once he became stronger.
But that would need careful planning. He had heard that the captains of the Gotei 13 were incredibly powerful and that every one of them could use Bankai. He hadn't even managed to form a Zanpakuto yet, so he still had a long way to go...
"Spare... spare me!"
"Roll!"
Today brought another fool who had started out arrogant, only to be beaten into begging for mercy. At Ling's signal, the man actually rolled several times along the ground.
Recently, whenever outsiders caused trouble, Ling was almost always the one who stepped forward to fight, unless he was away.
Nangong Ling's fearsome reputation had long since spread throughout West Fallen Silver Town. Some ordinary souls even believed he was the town's leader.
Ling's love of fighting made every companion in the group wary of him. Several of his sparring partners had been cut so badly they couldn't get out of bed...
"Ling, what is it?"
Despite Ling's insistence on dragging him out for a fight, Genji still wore a gentle smile. He had long since switched from calling him by his surname to using his given name.
Genji knew that even if Ling wanted the leadership position, he could willingly hand it over. This stage wasn't big enough, and Ling would leave eventually.
"Nothing. Those lazybones are no good, so I had to ask you to spar with me..."
Excitement showed on Ling's face. He had just learned a move and wanted to try it out against Genji.
Hearing Nangong Ling complain that they were weak and lazy, the other members of the Fallen Silver Group who were watching all apologized to him... and their bodies were covered in bandages...
"Then let's begin!"
Genji drew his Zanpakuto. He had turned his Asauchi into a Zanpakuto long ago, but he still hadn't learned its name and couldn't use Shikai.
Naturally, they couldn't use wooden swords to spar. Otherwise, what was the point?
Ling excitedly drew his blade and charged. There hadn't been any suitable opponents lately, and he felt that even his Reiatsu had stopped increasing...
Their blades crossed, and the towering Genji forced Ling's blade down. Ling had to press his other hand against the back of the blade to hold it steady.
Genji's strength had also improved, and he had greater control over his Reiryoku. Ling's Reiatsu was indeed higher than his, but after several clashes, he still couldn't overpower Genji.
Ling slashed Genji's left shoulder, and Genji thrust his blade at Ling's left shoulder in return. Ling could only raise his left hand to knock it aside, but the edge was facing him, so even if he knocked it away, it would cut him.
After drawing blood, the two separated again. Ling was accustomed to holding his blade in his right hand and using his left to respond as needed, but this time he held his sword in both hands.
Seeing Ling change his stance, Genji asked in surprise, "Oh? Kendo?"
Ling smiled. "No, I'm covering the whole blade with Reiatsu to attack..."
Genji's pupils contracted at those words. Red Reiatsu visible to the naked eye appeared around the Asauchi in Ling's hands, while blood continued to seep from the blade wound on Ling's hand, with no Reiatsu to stop the bleeding.
Unwilling to waste time, Ling charged. With the added force of Reiatsu, a simple upward slash of his Asauchi sent Genji flying, smashing through the gate of the neighboring courtyard.
Ling followed up and held his blade in front of Genji, bringing the spar to an end before the watching crowd.
"That really hurt, you lunatic. Reiatsu can seal your wounds, and it can also be used for defense. The way you just fought, you weren't defending at all. If you couldn't beat your opponent..."
Genji got to his feet with a groan. He had thought Ling's love of fighting was just about training, but he hadn't expected him to fight so ruthlessly.
Back when he fought Pinglang, they had each taken a few cuts and then sealed their wounds, waiting to see who would be the first to collapse.
"You flatter me, Brother Genji. You were the one who taught me how to control my Reiatsu precisely enough to stop wounds from bleeding. In a real fight to the finish, I might not even be able to beat you."
Faced with Genji's "praise," Ling responded graciously. Genji had done him a kindness and taught him quite a few things...
That night, Ling continued to channel Reiryoku into his Asauchi. He didn't know whether it would help, but Genji had said it would.
After channeling Reiryoku into it, Ling fell fast asleep that night with his Asauchi in his arms. What he didn't see was his Asauchi slowly changing...
The black cord around its hilt turned black and red, and its guard became a red six-pointed star.
Ling also had a dream. In the world of his dream, the plants, river, mist, and even the moon in the sky were all scarlet.
A man hidden in the mist slowly approached and said, "Nangong Ling, call my name! My name is ＃~✘♬+."
"What's your name? Why couldn't I hear you clearly? Fuck, don't go!"
As Ling shouted for him not to go, he suddenly woke up. A few rays of sunlight shining through the window told him that dawn had broken.