Third Class Reiatsu

As Asano Kiyoshi's words fell, the Scroll that had been tightly shut in his mind slowly unfurled.

The contents of the Scroll kept turning: a road of bizarre flowers as dazzling as flames, a river reaching the heavens filled with corpses and dead souls, enormous boulders towering between heaven and earth like pillars holding up the sky...

One overwhelmingly vivid scene after another flashed before Asano Kiyoshi's eyes, their vast and desolate aura nearly tearing his soul apart.

Fortunately, at the very last moment, all the images vanished, leaving only one scene flickering with a thick, bloodlike hue.

Asano Kiyoshi looked closely, and sure enough, the scene now showed an ancient, magnificent Archway so eerie it was almost beyond description!

Three vigorous, imposing characters were written across the Archway—"Gate of the Underworld"!

Three more characters were carved into each of the crimson pillars on either side. Looking closely, they read:

"Of ten who enter, nine never return."

Each pillar bore three characters, every stroke covered in flowing blood. If one listened carefully, faint, mournful wails could seemingly be heard.

Countless skulls were piled into small mountains, filling and surrounding the Gate of the Underworld. Stepping on them produced crisp crackling sounds like crushing dead leaves. Long white funeral streamers hung from the top of the gate like death's soft sighs, while scarlet lanterns hung at either side like gazes from the underworld.

The instant the Gate of the Underworld fully appeared, Asano Kiyoshi felt an incomparably frigid power flood his body. The chill then coursed through his veins and seeped into every inch of his muscles, bones, and blood, continuously transforming his body.

Although Asano Kiyoshi had undergone such a transformation once before when advancing from First Class Reiatsu to Second Class Reiatsu, he was still grimacing in pain now.

There was no other reason—this feeling was truly unbearable. The cold originating from the depths of his soul nearly froze his entire body. His thoughts slowed, his body went numb, yet his sense of pain was amplified without limit.

He gritted his teeth as his whole body trembled violently. Veins bulged across his fair face, forming one savage line after another.

He had no idea how much time passed. Perhaps it was an instant, or perhaps an eternity. At last, Asano Kiyoshi woke up.

Early spring afternoons still carried a faint chill, but at this moment, a cool breeze was the finest painkiller imaginable.

The breeze brushed through Asano Kiyoshi's hair. Supporting himself with both hands against the ground, he slowly sat up. His head felt somewhat dizzy, yet his body was unexpectedly full of energy. Looking around, he found that the scene around him had changed greatly from what he had seen before.

Blue translucent particles gradually began to emerge in the surroundings. Like lively little sprites, they drifted and danced freely in the wind. Asano Kiyoshi reached out to grab them, but of the large handful of blue particles, only one or two remained in his hand. The rest passed straight through his body and flew away.

The blue particles in his hand felt tingling and numb, like solidified electricity or tiny blocks of ice. In any case, they felt extremely pleasant to the touch.

Looking at those blue particles, Asano Kiyoshi knew that this was Reishi—the most fundamental substance making up the world of Shinigami.

Back when he had been at Second Class Reiatsu, he had been completely unable to sense the existence of Reishi. No wonder Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy required Third Class Reiatsu for admission. If one could not even sense Reishi, how could one possibly become a Shinigami capable of controlling it?

Asano Kiyoshi sensed his body and let out a long breath. Then, he silently called for the Scroll in his heart once again. This time, however, the Scroll did not appear within his mind. Instead, it turned into a phantom image and manifested directly in the real world!

Asano Kiyoshi stared blankly at the Scroll that had appeared in reality. He immediately tried to draw it back into his mind, but nothing happened. As the Scroll rose and fell, black text emerged upon it—the manifestation of Asano Kiyoshi's current Soul Body attributes:

Host: Asano Kiyoshi

Slash: 14 (The growth of the Soul Body increases the force behind sword swings.)

White: 13 (The sturdier the body constructed from Reishi, the greater the strength it can unleash.)

Kido: 7 (Can you sense the lively Reishi? They are the points that hold up the world.)

Step: 15 (After becoming more sensitive to Reishi, you can replenish stamina and spiritual power more conveniently.)

Spirit: Third Class Reiatsu: 1% (You have initially lifted the veil of this world. Only now can you be considered qualified to enter this realm.)

Overall Rating: 49 (You are very weak, but you possess the potential to grow stronger, even if the end of that potential can be seen at a glance.)

Shikai Phrase: ???

Bankai Phrase: ???

Currently Unlocked Ability: Gate of the Underworld!

Asano Kiyoshi's gaze instinctively settled on the unlocked ability. Then, a line of writing that seemed to be formed from coagulated blood slowly appeared over the Gate of the Underworld.

Ability Details: Gate of the Underworld

Ability One: After opening the Gate of the Underworld, a space-time region belonging solely to the underworld will be sustained according to the strength of the Host's Reiatsu output. Within the domain, as long as the Host's Reiatsu is strong enough, all rule-based abilities can be ignored! (Note: Ignoring abilities requires a massive expenditure of Reiatsu to counteract and erase them. Host is advised to use this according to the situation!)

Ability Two: The Gate of the Underworld suppresses the souls of the dead and countless evil ghosts across myriad worlds, and thus possesses extremely powerful suppressive force. Altered according to the laws of this world, it has automatically been corrected to a 20% increase in the power of all Bakudo-sequence Kido! (The increase is fixed according to the original strength of the Kido. If the Kido is cast with Complete Incantation, the bonus will be based on the Kido's Complete Incantation base power!)

Note: Each time the Host unlocks a new scene, more functions will be unlocked. Next scene to unlock: Road to the Underworld.

Note: The Scroll is visible only to the Host. There is no need to worry about others discovering it.

Looking at the words appearing on the Scroll, Asano Kiyoshi felt his heart pounding violently, as though it might leap out of his throat the very next moment!

The Gate of the Underworld's two abilities alone were already absurdly powerful. Though they could not compare to those monstrously broken Quincy abilities, they were still terrifyingly potent. No! As long as his Reiatsu was strong enough, he could even erase Yhwach's The Almighty within the domain!

However, all of that depended on his Reiatsu being sufficiently powerful. At his current level of Reiatsu, he probably could not even sustain the domain for long...

Thinking of this, Asano Kiyoshi gave a faint, bitter smile. He then calmed his excited heart, checked the time, and felt his stomach grumble. Smiling, he said:

"I should fill my stomach first~"

The wind swept across the sky of Soul Society, stirring ripples neither large nor small.