Original God, But Chat Group

Meme Lord: Speaking of which, Godfather, since you sensed Elemental Power inside the Raspberry, could you look into how ordinary people might use that power?

With the small talk mostly out of the way, Li Yue-kun's Yan Country map was about to fully unfold.

Meme Lord: In my world, there are people who can fight using Elemental Power—they're called Original Gods. Depending on each person's traits, the Elemental Power they wield is completely different. But everyone who masters it is considered strong in this world. I, however, can't use it at all. Since you're so good at research, Godfather, could you help me study it?

Elemental Power—a new power system from another world, representing entirely fresh knowledge. For a researcher like Aizen, this kind of knowledge was incredibly tempting! He couldn't refuse at all!

Besides, Aizen saw through Li Yue-kun's intent. Having Aizen help with the research essentially meant getting him to figure out how Li Yue-kun, an ordinary person, could use Elemental Power. But Aizen didn't mind at all. If Li Yue-kun had just asked him to study the Elemental Power without aiming to improve himself, Aizen would have found it strange.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Of course, no problem. Li Yue-kun allowing me to study a power from another world is the best thing for me. To be precise, this isn't me helping Li Yue-kun—it's Li Yue-kun helping me. I'd be grateful, not reluctant.

Meme Lord: Oh, that's so embarrassing. If you really want to thank me, Godfather, while you're researching Elemental Power, you could throw in some knowledge about Shinigami powers too. I'm really interested in Shinigami and Hollow abilities! Like Captain-level Spiritual Pressure, Kido No. 100, Kyōka Suigetsu, stuff like that.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: ...

You really don't hold back, do you...

7. Morax, I Have Ascended to Godhood!

In the end, Li Yue-kun did get some Shinigami powers—just not Kyōka Suigetsu.

He could have played the prophet, claiming to know the future, and tricked Aizen into handing over Kyōka Suigetsu. That kind of routine was common in the Chat Group's circles. But Li Yue-kun couldn't be bothered. Who was he? A Meme Lord! Pure showing off didn't fit his aesthetic of chaos!

Aizen sent him a Spiritual Blade and a basic Asauchi. The Spiritual Blade would let Li Yue-kun awaken Shinigami Spiritual Pressure, just like Rukia stabbing Ichigo Kurosaki to awaken his. But this was only a preliminary Shinigami Transformation. Further cultivation of Spiritual Pressure would depend on Li Yue-kun's talent and training intensity. As for the Asauchi, it would be up to his soul to nurture whatever Zanpakuto it became.

Even without the flashy Kyōka Suigetsu, Li Yue-kun believed that with his optimistic spirit, the Zanpakuto his soul nurtured wouldn't be bad at all!

As for Kido, Flash Step, Hakuda, and the like—those were knowledge. Aizen uploaded them directly to the group files. Anyone could download and learn them. But at its core, Shinigami combat was a battle of Spiritual Pressure. Without Spiritual Pressure, none of those techniques could unleash any real power.

In exchange, Li Yue-kun had to help Aizen find something rich in Elemental Power for research.

So Li Yue-kun promptly packed up his fishing rod and creel, folded his chair, and headed back to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. There, he found Zhongli, who had just returned.

"Zhongli, do something for me!"

"Huh?"

Zhongli, who had barely sat down and hadn't even warmed his seat, looked at Li Yue-kun with confusion.

"How did you know I was thirsty? I've been sitting at the dock until now, only caught one fish, and my mouth is parched."

Li Yue-kun sat down next to Zhongli, picked up the tea Zhongli had just poured, and took a sip, leaving Zhongli's hand frozen mid-reach.

"Zhongli, you're a Geo Vision holder, right?"

"That's right, I hold a Geo Vision."

Zhongli subtly withdrew his hand, then smiled at Li Yue-kun, who responded with a dismissive shake of his head.

"Tch, the Vago Monarch is such a letdown. A street loafer like you can awaken a Vision, but I can't get one?!"

"..."

The Vago Monarch you're talking about is staring right at you!

"I remember Geo is great at making Geo Constructs. Can you make me a stone infused with Geo Elemental Power?"

"Such a trivial matter is easy."

Even after being insulted to his face, Zhongli didn't refuse. He raised his right hand and conjured a Heavenly Star—the same thing he used in his ultimate attack, just a super-mini version—and placed it in front of Li Yue-kun.

"Young friend Li Yue-kun, what do you need this Geo Construct for? It's just a polymer of Geo Elemental Power, nothing valuable."

"Oh, I'm going to study it, see if I can figure out Elemental Power and awaken a Vision. Since you're Geo, and Geo is my favorite, I'll use your Geo Construct for research."

As he spoke, Li Yue-kun picked up the Heavenly Star. It was heavy—heavier than a stone of the same size.

"You want to awaken a Vision? And specifically a Geo Vision?"

Zhongli was a bit surprised. Wanting to awaken a Vision wasn't unusual in Teyvat—many people desired one. But he hadn't expected Li Yue-kun to aim for a Geo Vision.

"That's right. Geo excels at defense and shields. From what I know about the Vago Monarch, back in the Archon War, he wore down all the hostile gods with his unbreakable elemental shields!"

Uh, I don't think that's how it went.

Zhongli refuted internally but didn't say it out loud.

"So among the seven elements, if I had a choice, I'd pick Geo. After all, the Geo God's weight is reassuring."

The real reason was that, with the Shinigami abilities Aizen provided through the Chat Group, Li Yue-kun had no shortage of offensive power. What he lacked was defense. Most Shinigami were glass cannons—high attack, low defense. And Zhongli's shield was the best defense available!

Getting you to say one nice thing about me really isn't easy.

Zhongli grumbled inwardly but replied seriously on the surface.

"As far as I know, awakening a Vision isn't something you can just decide to do. The conditions depend on many factors: your own desires, the gaze of the gods, and the element you're most suited to."

"So if I get the Vago Monarch's gaze, I'll get a Geo Vision!"

Li Yue-kun's tone was very certain.

"That's not what I meant."

Zhongli was exasperated. How could this kid twist his words so badly?

"The type of Vision you awaken depends on your own affinity."

"I think it depends on whether the Vago Monarch looks at me. If he does, he'll definitely give me a Geo Vision."

Li Yue held firm to his own idea.

"Zhongli, you're so learned—is there any way I can get the Vago Monarch to notice me and grant me a Geo Vision?"

You're being stared at by the Vago Monarch right now!

Zhongli was utterly speechless, but he still shook his head at Li Yue.

"Sorry, even I can't actively draw a god's attention. Such things can only take their natural course."

Li Yue's face fell with disappointment.

"Tsk, and here I was singing the Vago Monarch's praises in front of Keqing. What a troublesome guy."

???

Do you even hear what you're saying?

Zhongli felt helpless, but he couldn't really say anything.

"Forget it, I'm out. I'll take this with me."

Seeing Zhongli's helpless expression, Li Yue didn't keep teasing him. He grabbed the Heavenly Star from the table and left, leaving Zhongli alone to sigh.

"Ah... this kid, I can't handle him either..."

Li Yue called Zhongli and Keqing the Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix of Liyue. In Zhongli's eyes, Li Yue and Hu Tao were the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's own Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix—neither was easy to deal with. Both had minds that worked in mysterious ways, their actions often eccentric, but their hearts were in the right place, so he was happy to go along with it.

With another sigh, Zhongli turned around, pulled out another cup, poured himself some tea, and took a sip. Forget it, tea first.

Back in the coffin room, Li Yue lay down in his coffin, sent the Heavenly Star to Aizen as a red packet, and then claimed the red packet from Aizen in the chat group, which contained the Spirit Blade and Asauchi.

The ethereal blue Spirit Blade radiated mystery. Remembering how Ichigo had awakened his Shinigami powers, Li Yue grinned.

"Come on, as a member of the Sparta Family, if you want power, you've gotta go through the family tradition!"

"This is Sparta!"

Li Yue shouted, gripping the Spirit Blade with both hands in a reverse hold, and plunged it straight into his chest.

Spiritual power surged into Li Yue's body, flooding his soul, and then his entire form burst into light.

"Hm?"

Zhongli, sipping tea in the courtyard, immediately looked toward the coffin room. In his vision, a flash of blue light passed.

"What's this?"

As Zhongli wondered, a wave of pressure radiated from the coffin room. He frowned at once, and an invisible force surged from his body, enveloping the entire coffin room to prevent the sudden pressure from spreading outward.

Inside the coffin room, Li Yue's soul had already separated from his body. Now, his soul wore a black Shinigami uniform, straw sandals on his feet, and an Asauchi at his waist. In the coffin, his physical body lay peacefully, enjoying a baby-like sleep, with no heartbeat or breath.

Having reincarnated as a Shinigami, no longer an ordinary human, Li Yue clenched his fists.

"Haha, Morax, I have ascended to godhood!"

8. Zhongli, I've Awakened Elemental Power!

Meme Lord: Woo-hoo~~ Taking off!!

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I can tell Li Yue-kun is in high spirits. You've become a Shinigami, haven't you?

Meme Lord: That's right, my soul's fully a Shinigami now. Hey, Godfather, do you have any way to measure things? If I'm the only Shinigami in this world, I have no idea what my Spiritual Pressure level is, let alone how to train it or control it.

A Shinigami's battle is a battle of Spiritual Pressure—Li Yue remembered that classic line from Aizen well. So after becoming a Shinigami, his first priority was to check his Spiritual Pressure level and learn how to control it. In the Shinigami world, if your Spiritual Pressure was too strong and you couldn't control it, it could kill the people around you outright. After fusing with the Hōgyoku, even when Aizen tried his best to suppress his Spiritual Pressure leakage, just being near an ordinary person would cause their soul to collapse and die.

Li Yue figured his ceiling would be sky-high, so he didn't want to end up causing soul problems for everyone around him because he couldn't control his Spiritual Pressure.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Hmm, it seems I didn't think this through. This is indeed very important. Please wait a moment.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky uploaded a new file.

After uploading knowledge about Shinigami Kidō, Flash Step, and Hakuda, Aizen also uploaded methods for controlling Spiritual Pressure.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: As for your Spiritual Pressure level, Li Yue-kun, that Spirit Blade I gave you was forged from a Captain-level spiritual power. By the standards of my world, it's roughly on par with Kensei Muguruma's spiritual power. So you now possess Captain-level Spiritual Pressure. You'd better learn to control it quickly, or it'll affect the ordinary people around you.

Meme Lord: Damn! Kensei Muguruma?! I've become a unit of measurement! No, wait—I need to learn to control this Spiritual Pressure fast! Talk later!

Sure, Kensei was a meme for being a measuring stick, but he was still a bona fide Captain-level. His Spiritual Pressure was an absolute nightmare for ordinary people.

While grumbling about being a unit of measurement in the group, Li Yue quickly downloaded the file. The memories of Spiritual Pressure control were absorbed directly—and they were Aizen's experience. Aizen's Spiritual Pressure far exceeded Captain-level, but to hide his power, he always suppressed it to an ordinary Captain-level. So his control methods were top-notch.

Soon, the Spiritual Pressure spilling out of Li Yue was perfectly contained. It went from leaking Captain-level pressure to looking like a completely ordinary person.

Oh, except his soul state—his physical body still had no heartbeat or breath, enjoying that baby-like sleep.

"Let me think... the operation to return to the body goes like this."

After controlling his Spiritual Pressure, Li Yue climbed back into the coffin, lay down, and let his soul re-merge with his body.

The black Shinigami uniform vanished, and Li Yue was back in his floral shirt and baggy shorts.

According to Ichigo Kurosaki's experience, once the soul returned to the body, getting back into soul form required special methods. But Aizen came through—he'd added a method to use Shinigami powers while in human form, just like the Vizard. They moved around the Human World in human bodies but could freely use Shinigami and Hollow powers. The difference was that their bodies were special Giglio made by Kisuke Urahara, while Li Yue used his own body.

With a thought, the vanished Asauchi reappeared in Li Yue's hand. Unfortunately, he couldn't tuck it into his baggy shorts, so he just held it.

He straightened his clothes a bit, jumped out of the coffin, pushed open the door, and got a shock.

"Whoa, Zhongli, you trying to scare me to death? Why are you standing at the door?!"

The door swung open to reveal Zhongli, who was practically blocking the doorway. Seeing Li Yue appear, Zhongli calmly began to explain.

"Apologies, young friend Li Yue. A light suddenly flared up in your room just now, so I came over out of curiosity to check."

"Oh, that? I was just about to come find you!"

Li Yue's expression shifted instantly to one of delight.

"Zhongli, I've awakened my Elemental Power by studying the stone you gave me!"

"Oh?"

Zhongli looked puzzled. He had indeed sensed a pressure outside the room just now—some kind of power—but it didn't feel like Elemental Power at all. And the story of awakening Elemental Power by studying a Geo Construct sounded far too far-fetched.

"Could you tell me what happened?"

Li Yue raised the Asauchi in his hand for Zhongli to see.

"This is what I got after awakening my Elemental Power."

"This... a blade from Inazuma?"

Zhongli gazed at the Asauchi in Li Yue's hand. As the initial form of a Zanpakuto, the Asauchi wasn't visible to everyone—just like a Shinigami, only those with spiritual power could see it. The Asauchi in Li Yue's hand was only visible to those with spiritual power, yet Zhongli could see it.

Zhongli was the Vago Monarch, wielding powerful Geo Elemental Power. So could Elemental Power allow one to see a Zanpakuto? He wondered if other Vision holders could do the same.

As he pondered, Li Yue weighed the blade in his hand toward Zhongli and began sharing the story he'd just made up.

"That's right. I was studying your stone, and then it suddenly turned into a beam of light and shot into my body. Right after that, my soul left my body."

"Your soul left your body?"

"Exactly. My soul was out of my body, looking down at myself. I thought I was about to die. But instead of dying, I suddenly had this sword in my hand. I could feel some kind of mysterious energy inside it, and it seemed like there was a strange energy inside my body too—that must be Elemental Power!"

Li Yue's face was brimming with excitement.

"I don't know why I awakened Elemental Power without a Vision, but it's definitely Elemental Power! Let me show you. Zhongli, as a Vision holder, help me see if my Elemental Power is the same Geo as yours."

With that, Li Yue suddenly burst out with spiritual pressure. The air in that instant grew thick and heavy, and a blue light erupted from Li Yue's body, shooting straight into the sky—a perfect display of spiritual pressure at the level of Kensei Muguruma.