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"Hado #90, Black Coffin."

A colossal black cube erupted from the ground, slowly swallowing Lu Mingfei whole.

"Having transcended the boundaries between Hollow and Soul Reaper, the Black Coffin I unleash with a full incantation generates a torrent of gravity akin to a distortion of space-time. I imagine you cannot even begin to comprehend it, Lu Mingfei!"

Aizen wore a grin that bordered on a mental breakdown.

"You are too arrogant, Aizen."

A cold, sharp voice emerged from within the sealed Black Coffin.

The next moment, the Black Coffin shattered. Lu Mingfei lowered his left hand and stepped out from the wreckage.

Flash Step!

In the blink of an eye, Lu Mingfei appeared before Aizen, who was currently in his Hogyoku-fused state.

"How?"

Aizen's dark purple pupils, evolved from his transformation, constricted violently. His body instinctively recoiled in a flash-back.

With a flash of purple light, he instantly reappeared at an unknown distance from Lu Mingfei.

"Have you finally realized the gap between us?" Lu Mingfei took a step forward. "Then it is my turn to ask: why are you putting distance between us?"

"Lu Mingfei, does wounding my body make you that happy? Do not get too carried away!"

Upon realizing that he had instinctively felt fear, Aizen's mindset shifted from the amusement of crushing an ant to a state bordering on pure rage.

In his fury, Aizen's body suddenly stiffened, and his face began to crack.

Immediately after, a fissure appeared on his forehead, and his face turned pitch black. His previous face split down the middle, distributed on either side of the black visage. Three holes appeared on his upper torso, and from the ridges of each of his six massive butterfly wings, a "skull" sprouted. Aizen's spiritual pressure swelled terrifyingly.

"Everything ends here." Sensing the birth of his new form, Aizen looked down from above. "Lu Mingfei, I admit I underestimated you. Now, let me kill you with this perfect form."

"You say everything ends here? Forget it, Aizen. You are nothing but a puppet driven by power now. Since that is the case, let me show you: this is the final Zanshin."

With that, black spiritual pressure enveloped Lu Mingfei's entire body like a physical shroud, and the torrent of spiritual power dissipated into black mist around him.

"This so-called final Zanshin means I become the blade itself. Once I use it, I will lose all my Soul Reaper powers."

Lu Mingfei gripped the air with his right hand, and a Zanpakuto composed of black spirit particles manifested.

He swung it downward, and a black slash tore through the air, cleaving the heavens in an instant.

"I cannot feel his spiritual pressure again. Has Lu Mingfei evolved to a dimension higher than my own?" Aizen thought, his mind hollow.

After unleashing that strike, the Soul Reaper power on Lu Mingfei's body rapidly faded, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Lu Mingfei?" A voice drifted into his ears.

"Lu Mingfei? Lu Mingfei! Stop spacing out, the teacher is glaring at you." His male deskmate nudged him gently.

A piece of chalk flew toward him, and Lu Mingfei caught it instinctively.

The teacher looked at the dazed Lu Mingfei, furious:

"I am covering the key points now, the ones that will definitely be on the exam. If there is a next time, you are standing up! Do not let yourself drag down the class average!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the classroom.

The teacher turned back to continue the lecture.

Lu Mingfei's consciousness cleared, and he found himself sitting at his desk. He suddenly felt confused, as if reality were fracturing.

Was he not just fighting Aizen? How did he suddenly return to the classroom?

He looked around; these were all his classmates from before he transmigrated.

"What is the date today?" Lu Mingfei asked his deskmate in a daze.

His deskmate looked at him as if he were an idiot: "Have you been spacing out too much? It is December 4th, Thursday."

Having received his answer, Lu Mingfei fell into deep thought. He could not distinguish reality from illusion. Had he transmigrated back? But why had only a split second passed in reality?

Was his experience in that world fake? No, that could not be right; the sensations were far too real.

He had always been a boy who loved to fantasize.

He had once imagined that a helicopter might descend from the sky to pick him up, or that a group of men in black suits and sunglasses would walk into the assembly hall with the cold, professional demeanor of CIA agents from the movies.

They would dress Lu Mingfei in a black military uniform and a long trench coat, escorting him out of the hall under the gazes of his classmates. At that moment, everyone in the school would stop and stare blankly at Lu Mingfei's retreating back.

But what he had not expected was that such a fantastical event would actually happen.

He had been in class when, in a moment of distraction, he transmigrated to the Soul Society. Life there had been quite bitter at first, because the Soul Society actually spoke Japanese!

And he only knew words from anti-Japanese war dramas like "yoshi yoshi" and "baka yarou." One could imagine how miserable his life in the Soul Society had been at the start.

He could not understand the language, nor could he speak it well, so he wandered the Rukongai for a long time.

Later, it was Sister Hana who discovered him. Thinking he had talent, she took him to the Shino Academy.

The Shino Academy was the school in the Soul Society that trained Soul Reapers. It was a six-year curriculum, primarily focused on the study of Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido.

"Zan" is swordsmanship, "Ken" is hand-to-hand combat, "So" is flash step, and "Ki" is kido.

It was only at the Shino Academy that Lu Mingfei discovered his talent was terrifying; his spiritual pressure grew at an unusually rapid pace, and his mastery of the four arts was nothing short of absurd.

Especially in kido, where the instructors hailed Lu Mingfei as an exceptional talent even among the most gifted students in the academy's history.

In just one year, Lu Mingfei graduated from the Shino Academy and became a Soul Reaper.

Five years after becoming a Soul Reaper, he achieved Bankai, and following the betrayal of the Soul Society by Aizen and Ichimaru Gin, he was appointed under duress as the captain of the 3rd Division of the Gotei 13.

Reflecting on the past, everything dissipated with his return.

"Hoo~"

Lu Mingfei let out a long breath.

Thinking about it, this was actually fine. Although he had made many friends over there, it wasn't truly his own world, and he had always felt a lingering sense of detachment.

Moreover, he had ultimately defeated Aizen and crushed Aizen's ambitions; it was only a pity he hadn't been able to properly say goodbye to his friends.

Pulling his thoughts back, having experienced so many strange events, Lu Mingfei quickly adjusted his mindset.

"Ring-a-ling~"

The bell for the end of the school day rang, and Lu Mingfei packed his things, preparing to head home.

"Lu Mingfei, the literature club has an activity this weekend. Could you help me tally the list?" A soft voice sounded in Lu Mingfei's ear.

Lu Mingfei turned his head to look; it was Chen Wenwen.

Chen Wenwen stood right beside him, wearing a white cotton dress. Her hair was fine, soft, and straight, with a shell-shaped clip pinned to it. The glow of the setting sun spilled across Chen Wenwen's face, making her look exceptionally radiant and moving.

Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment before remembering: this was the class beauty, and also the girl he had once harbored a crush on.

He could still vaguely recall an afternoon when only he and Chen Wenwen were in the classroom, and he was erasing the blackboard.

Chen Wenwen, wearing that white cotton dress, sat on the podium humming softly. She suddenly turned her head to ask Lu Mingfei if he would join their literature club, and he had fallen for her right then and there.

Yet, the current Lu Mingfei felt no trace of his past heart-fluttering sensations upon seeing Chen Wenwen. Perhaps it was because no one had cared about him back then, and since Chen Wenwen would occasionally show him attention, he had mistaken that for love.

Having lived in another world for ten years, he had grown, and he was no longer lonely; the insecure boy had vanished into the past.

Sighing slightly, Lu Mingfei waved at Chen Wenwen and smiled, "Long time no see. But it's a bit unfortunate; I have some things to take care of today. You should ask someone else to help you with the tally. I'm heading out!"

With that, Lu Mingfei walked out of the classroom.

Chen Wenwen stood there, stunned, feeling a bit puzzled by Lu Mingfei's "long time no see," and feeling that today's Lu Mingfei seemed a bit different from before.

New author, new book. Seeking recommendations, seeking favorites, seeking everything! Thank you, everyone!