Kill Rewards

Within the light gathered with terrifying energy, wisps of deathly shadow continuously seeped out.

Beneath the terrifying white bone mask was a pair of black pupils devoid of all emotion.

Asano Kiyoshi seemed to have given up resisting, allowing the chains to drag him directly before the Cero, allowing it to utterly destroy him!

The Cero gradually solidified. Its terrifying spiritual pressure even distorted the surrounding air. Yet at that moment, Asano Kiyoshi silently raised an arm and softly chanted:

"Bakudo #39—Enkōsen."

As his words fell, a dark gray circular shield appeared before Asano Kiyoshi. Though the shield possessed decent defensive power, it was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket against a close-range Cero attack. At most, it would leave behind a slightly more intact corpse.

Yet although Asano Kiyoshi's expression was solemn, he showed no panic. With nearly ten meters still between them, he continued casting Kido, his lips moving as he spoke:

"Bakudo #37—Tsuriboshi."

Blue spiritual pressure surged from behind him, transforming into thick vines that clung to several towering trees nearby. At the center of the vines, a thick net of Reishi was woven.

By the time Tsuriboshi had been set up, less than five meters remained between Asano Kiyoshi and the Cero!

Staring at the Cero condensed with terrifying power, Asano Kiyoshi took a deep breath. His spiritual pressure erupted as he completely released the two domains of his Zanpakuto!

A bewitching sea of bloody flowers bloomed behind him, while a vast, ancient pavilion rose from the ground beneath his feet. Skeletons crowded around it, encircling it as though kneeling before their supreme deity. A gentle breeze swept past, stirring a breathtaking yet withering tide of blossoms through the blood-red flower sea.

Blood slowly flowed from the red pavilion bearing the three words "Gate of the Underworld," as though it were weeping, sobbing, and crying out in grief!

Asano Kiyoshi watched the blue spiritual pressure continuously gather, his pupils narrowing slightly. Then, an indescribable force suddenly spread from the blood-red pavilion behind him!

It was a power that did not belong to this world. Its source was, by nature, a great force that surpassed this world!

Impossible to comprehend! Impossible to look upon! Impossible to imagine! Impossible to observe!

This power had already transcended the world of Shinigami. It was as though It had glanced back from the end of time itself. With merely that single glance, It instantly cut off the Reishi structure of the blue Cero, erasing every component and construction of Reishi that formed it!

It was an erasure from soul to essence—an annihilation from existence itself!

For the first time, the pupils beneath the white bone mask revealed confusion. Watching the Cero on the verge of exploding, his body began to tremble uncontrollably!

Asano Kiyoshi's expression remained cold, though a trace of tension flickered in his eyes. He drew a black longsword from the Scroll, gripped its hilt in reverse, and slashed upward at an angle!

Accompanied by the sensation of slicing through tofu, Asano Kiyoshi felt blue light engulf his vision!

Pain! Darkness! Burning!

Three different sensations instantly flooded his entire body. This was the residual attack caused by the Cero being forcibly shattered.

Yet even the residual blast covered Asano Kiyoshi in wounds. Enkōsen's defenses were as fragile as paper before that terrifying power, completely dissolving in less than a second. However, Asano Kiyoshi had never intended to rely on it to block the attack. Using the brief moment Enkōsen bought him, he immediately drove Shunpo to its limit and fled into the distance!

Blue spiritual pressure crashed into him. Like a damaged kite, his body tumbled through the air several times before landing directly atop the Tsuriboshi he had prepared earlier.

The massive impact tore apart every vine surrounding Tsuriboshi, even ripping open the blue spiritual-pressure net. Fortunately, after the net had dispersed much of the force, Asano Kiyoshi merely smashed a huge crater into the ground!

This was only the Reishi explosion caused by the interrupted Cero. Had Asano Kiyoshi taken that attack head-on, there probably would not even have been ashes left of him.

This was completely different from those scenes in the original work where someone simply crushed a Cero with one hand. What kind of consumer fraud was this?!

Asano Kiyoshi had been blasted into the muddy ground. Thick, murky mud kept pouring toward his mouth and ears. Even though his bones felt as though they had all shattered, even though his burned skin hurt unbearably, Asano Kiyoshi still struggled to get back on his feet.

The reason was simple. He did not know whether Yingkou Hui, after Hollowfication, had survived that attack. If he had, then lying here was no different from waiting to die. Asano Kiyoshi had no intention of sacrificing himself.

However, just as Asano Kiyoshi struggled to rise, an exceptionally strange sensation suddenly entered his body. It felt as though cold water had been injected into his veins, jolting his entire body awake—and it was strangely comfortable.

The Scroll opened on its own, displaying a line of elegant writing:

"Successfully killed 'Yingkou Hui.' Obtained the Hollowfication Power fragment within his body. This fragment has successfully provided the Host with approximately a 14% increase in spiritual pressure, and the Host's physical body has also received a certain enhancement from Hierro!"

The first line stated that Yingkou Hui was dead. Seeing the message marked in blood-red text, Asano Kiyoshi let out a long breath. He collapsed onto the ground like a puddle of mud, allowing the mud to cover his entire face, yet the corners of his mouth still lifted upward. Finally... it was finally over!

And after killing Yingkou Hui, the writing did not disappear. Instead, more lines continued to appear:

"Successfully killed 'Musashi Kasa.' Obtained his spiritual-pressure fragment. Spiritual pressure increased by approximately 0.73%!"

"Successfully killed 'Tonori Hui.' Obtained his physique fragment. Hakuda ability increased by 0.47!"

"Successfully killed 'Ooiwa Kazuki.' Obtained his swordsmanship fragment. Zanjutsu ability increased by 0.12!"

There were roughly seven or eight notifications, all for the beasts Asano Kiyoshi had killed along the way. They had provided him with quite a few attribute increases, but what pleased him most was still the reward for killing Yingkou Hui.

As expected of someone who had undergone Hollowfication—he had increased Asano Kiyoshi's spiritual pressure by a full 14% in one go!

Moreover, after the Road to the Underworld absorbed his Reishi, Asano Kiyoshi could clearly feel that his physical strength had increased tremendously compared to before. If an ordinary person wielding a kitchen knife could once make him bleed, then now, no matter how they slashed with that knife, they could only leave a white mark on his skin—not even a red welt.

Letting out another long breath, Asano Kiyoshi opened the Scroll to view his own numerical attributes. Written there was...