On the rooftop, Li Yue, who had climbed out of his coffin early, sat cross-legged facing east with his eyes tightly shut. Facing the rising sun, his Asauchi lay flat across his legs as he carried out an extremely important step in awakening a Shinigami's Zanpakuto: Blade Meditation!
He had to calm himself, then sink his thoughts deep into his heart and enter his Inner World. His Zanpakuto would be waiting for him there.
After returning from dinner last night and lying down in his coffin, Li Yue immediately opened the Chat Group. As a fine young man of the twenty-first century, how could he not scroll through his phone before bed?
Even though there were only three people in the Chat Group, he still had to scroll through it!
Kasumigaoka Utaha had not come online again that night because of Akise Tomoya, but Aizen was there. As a researcher, staying up late was second nature to Aizen, so Li Yue and Aizen discussed Zanpakuto awakening, as well as the later issue of Hollowfication.
After a Hollow's Shinigami Transformation turned it into an Arrancar, releasing its Zanpakuto again might make it ugly. After all, most Hollow forms were not much to look at.
But a Shinigami's Hollowfication was different. It was just putting on a mask, so comparatively speaking, it looked much cooler!
In the world of Bleach, looking cool and stylish was the eternal theme!
Aizen seriously explained the abilities related to Hollowfication and Shinigami to Li Yue. In particular, Li Yue already possessed Reiatsu on Kensei Muguruma's level, so awakening his Zanpakuto would be extremely easy. He might even awaken it in a single session of Blade Meditation. Aizen himself had awakened his Zanpakuto in one session back then.
Li Yue had every reason to suspect that Aizen was showing off, since Aizen was exceptionally good at showing off.
So Li Yue began attempting Blade Meditation early the next morning.
He calmed himself and let his thoughts sink into his heart.
"Hey! Li Yue!"
He would sink into his heart, then enter his Inner World, where his Zanpakuto awaited him.
"Li Yue! Li Yue!"
Then he would call out his Zanpakuto's name.
"Li Yue, come down already!"
Fine, he could not calm down at all!
Li Yue helplessly opened his eyes and turned around. Beside Zhongli, Hu Tao was jumping up and down as she waved at Li Yue.
"Hu Tao, what is it?"
"We agreed a few days ago that we'd go find Xingqiu together today! Remember?"
"A few days ago?"
Li Yue was confused at first, then froze.
"Ah, I remember now! I'll be right down!"
Li Yue had gained food and lodging by helping Hu Tao sell expensive custom funeral packages, becoming a guest of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. He had earned his first pot of gold by having Xingqiu help publish The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. But those things alone could not keep him fed for the rest of his life, so Li Yue planned to submit a few more books later. He did not even need to think them up himself; he just had to copy them. He had read far too many wuxia novels.
They had agreed earlier to find Xingqiu today and publish the second wuxia novel, The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Hu Tao had even helped write out the original manuscript long ago.
Although Li Yue had come to Liyue, he could not read a single word of Teyvat continent's script. So whenever he copied novels, he had someone else write them down for him. Last time, Xingqiu had acted as his scribe, leaving the people at the publishing house unable to understand what had been written. Xingqiu had practically narrated the entire book again. This time, Li Yue had Hu Tao write it down instead, so he would bring her along to see Xingqiu.
It was a shame that Inazuma was currently closed off. Otherwise, Li Yue could have copied some light novels and had them published through Yae Publishing House. Not to mention anything else, the two books in the group alone would have worked!
Li Yue jumped down from the rooftop and headed out with Hu Tao, leaving Zhongli, an old man, at home to continue drinking tea.
Li Yue and Hu Tao arrived at the Feiyun Commerce Guild. The guild members did not stop them and let them straight in. One was Liyue Harbor's newest celebrity, while the other had long been a famous figure in Liyue Harbor. Most importantly, both were friends of their second young master.
"Xingqiu! We came to see you."
Hu Tao struck first, shouting in her booming voice before she even saw Xingqiu.
Hearing Hu Tao's voice from inside the room, Xingqiu immediately walked out with one hand behind his back.
"No wonder I woke in such an especially good mood this morning. It turns out honored guests have come calling!"
"Huh? Xingqiu, that sounded pretty interesting. Where did you learn that?"
Li Yue looked at Xingqiu curiously.
"Of course, from your The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Li Yue. Those sect leaders all speak like that."
Xingqiu continued answering with one hand behind his back, but a few seconds later, his expression froze.
"Let me think. Among the sect leaders in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, the most representative one who likes talking like that is Sect Leader Yue. So you're imitating Sect Leader Yue?"
Li Yue stroked his chin and looked at Xingqiu with a smile.
"Xingqiu, do you want to become a Gentleman Sword too?"
"Forget it."
Xingqiu hurriedly lowered his hand, his face full of helplessness.
"I just thought speaking like that had style. But becoming a Gentleman Sword is out of the question. Before Li Yue's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer came out, Gentleman Sword might have been a compliment. But now that everyone has read it, Gentleman Sword has become an insult."
"So, what brings you two here this time?"
"I've prepared a new wuxia novel. Hu Tao helped write it down, and I was going to ask you to go to the publishing house with us."
"Oh? There's actually a new wuxia novel? Let me see it!"
The moment he heard it was a wuxia novel, Xingqiu became interested. As a wuxia author himself, wuxia novels were also his favorite.
"I have it here!"
Hu Tao handed over the prepared manuscript of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and Xingqiu began reading it on the spot, completely ignoring Li Yue and Hu Tao beside him.
But both Li Yue and Hu Tao understood that this was Xingqiu's old habit. Once he started reading, he completely ignored everyone around him. So the two of them each found somewhere to sit and called for the steward to bring them food.
They had gotten up early and had not even eaten breakfast yet. This was the perfect chance to mooch breakfast off the second young master!
The steward was considerate and brought breakfast for them. The two ate and chatted, and Xingqiu was still reading by the time they finished. So Hu Tao simply began promoting Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's packages around the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
Although Li Yue had given Hu Tao the idea for a limited deluxe package, they still needed ordinary people's business. So Hu Tao's promotional offer for ordinary people—half price on the second tombstone—was still ongoing. Since they had finally come to the Feiyun Commerce Guild, should she not promote it to the employees here?
Hu Tao went off to promote the offer, Xingqiu read nearby, and Li Yue simply found a chair, sat cross-legged on it, and began Blade Meditation again.
He closed his eyes, calmed himself, and let his thoughts sink down into his Inner World.
His originally pitch-black vision gradually brightened. Li Yue opened his eyes and saw an azure sky. Looking down at himself, he found that his clothes had changed into a Shinigami uniform.
Success! This was his Inner World. In his Inner World, he was in soul form, and since his soul was a Shinigami, he wore a Shinigami uniform.
Li Yue clenched his fist, felt that he could move freely, and began looking around.
What surprised Li Yue was that his Inner World looked rather peculiar. The entire world seemed to be on a floating island. Above him was an azure sky, while below him lay grayish-white rocks and earth, along with grayish-white vine-like objects everywhere.
"Is my Inner World really this desolate?"
Li Yue could not help feeling curious. This did not fit the spirit of a man who lived for fun! He immediately began searching for his Zanpakuto. Since the Inner World had already formed, his Zanpakuto must have been born as well. The only question was where it was.
Li Yue began wandering around what appeared to be a massive floating island in search of his Zanpakuto. But no matter where he went, all he saw was grayish-white land and rocks. Only when he reached the edge of the floating island did he see something entirely different from the rest of his Inner World.
A chair filled with power, its back facing him!
12. Give Me the Zanpakuto!
A floating island in the sky, grayish-white earth and vines, and at the edge of the floating island, a white roadside plastic chair with its back turned toward him!
Element detected!
Li Yue's gaze instantly sharpened. He lowered his head to straighten clothes that were already perfectly neat, cleared his throat, and began walking toward the white plastic chair.
From afar, he could only see the white plastic chair. But as he approached, he saw someone sitting on it. The figure did not seem very tall, and all he could see was a tuft of white hair on top of her head.
Of course. This was what truly fit the spirit of a man who lived for fun!
Li Yue's lips curled upward slightly as he walked straight over.
"Hey, my friend, your lonely days are over."
He extended his right hand.
"Give me the Zanpakuto!"
"If you want it, then you'll have to take it."
A light voice rang out. The figure seated in the plastic chair with her back to Li Yue slowly stood up, raised a hand to grab a long sword with a white hilt beside her, then stepped away from the chair.
"But you already knew that."
White hair reaching her lower back, crimson eyes, a delicate fair face, a modern furisode-style short kimono dress, short white socks paired with black wooden sandals, and probably under one meter sixty tall! A perfect appearance! She was practically dancing wildly on his exact preferences!
Li Yue nodded in great satisfaction. It was simply wonderful that his Zanpakuto was a white-haired, red-eyed beautiful girl rather than some uncle in sunglasses! Sure enough, his soul understood him!
With a lift of his right hand, his Asauchi appeared over his shoulder. Li Yue smiled.
"I had a feeling you'd say that."
"How many times have we fought?"
The White-Haired Girl tilted her head slightly upward.
"Not once! This is our first meeting."
Li Yue drew his Asauchi and pointed it at the White-Haired Girl. The White-Haired Girl's lips curled upward.
"Time to finish this, girl."
The girl also raised her hand and flicked out her blade one-handed at Li Yue.
"Once and for all!"
The two faced each other in a standoff, then grinned at the same time.
"Hahahaha~~~"
"Ehehehehehe~~~"
The two burst into laughter together.
"Yes, yes, yes, this is exactly the vibe! Just as expected of my Battle Soul Blade!"
Li Yue laughed as he pointed at the girl, while the girl wore an expression as though it were only natural.
"Of course. A Zanpakuto is born from the soul, practically half of the soul itself. Since I'm half your soul, how could I not know what you're thinking? Just like that meme we love playing with most."
"No one understands me better than I do!" x2
The two spoke at the same time with perfect understanding, then looked at each other and burst into laughter again.
"Hahahaha~~"
"Ehehehehehe~~"
After laughing for a while, Li Yue stopped and carefully examined the girl with his chin in hand. Seeing Li Yue inspect her, the girl put one hand on her hip and brushed back her hair with the other, letting him have a good look.
"So, am I pretty?"
"Pretty! Just as expected of my Zanpakuto. This appearance fits my preferences way too perfectly!"
Li Yue unreservedly gave her a thumbs-up and spoke his honest thoughts.
"Of course. I'm half of you, after all. No one understands your preferences better than I do. Just as you like beautiful girls, I like beautiful girls too. But there were no beautiful girls in your soul space for me to look at, so I simply became a beautiful girl myself. That way, I can look at myself directly."
Amazing. Since there were no beautiful girls to look at, she simply became a beautiful girl herself so she could look at herself. Just like dressing in a maid outfit during the holidays, taking photos, posting them in the group, and competing with those goofy group friends over whose crossdressing looked better. As expected of me! What unique thinking!
"Following the pattern of those games you used to play, since there are ship girls and gun girls, I'm basically a sword girl now. Doesn't that satisfy both you and me?"
The girl's words made Li Yue raise both hands in approval.
"That's right. Characters like this should obviously be beautiful girls. Even dogs wouldn't pull for men!"
"Tch. Then why did you pull for Zhongli, Kazuha, and Neuvillette?"
"My friend, you know me. I only pull for beautiful girls. Male characters can't move me at all, unless..."
"Unless they're too strong!"
The girl supplied Li Yue's answer.
"Exactly. The weight of the Geo God is reassuring. As for Kazuha, he's the Anemo Archon—when playing Original God, if you don't pull for the Seven Archons, what are you pulling for? And as for Neuvillette, it can't be helped. There's a team called Neuvillette!"
"Barbatos thinks this is bullshit."
The girl gave Li Yue a thumbs-up.
"Still, there's one thing I'm confused about."
Li Yue pointed at the girl's clothes.
"You really do fit my preferences: white hair, red eyes, and white stockings. But why a kimono? You should know that JKs are what I look at most, especially since the hottest thing right now is Arona not showing her face. Everything this teacher thinks about is his wonderful students. You should think the same way I do, so why did you turn into a kimono?"
"What, are kimonos no longer your preference? And don't the students of Shale Academy have some who wear kimonos too? Do you have a problem with Hyakkiyako Academy?"
Before you continue