Why Had the Hōgyoku Stopped Working?

Song Que stopped dwelling on it and sank his consciousness back into the Hōgyoku within the blade.

"Second Soul Skill, Shinsō!"

His Second Soul Ring lit up. The short blade lengthened into a slender, compact katana.

"Third Soul Skill, Senbonzakura!"

A flash of pink light swept past. A moment later, the blade returned to its original form.

Song Que froze, utterly confused.

"What happened? Why did it suddenly stop?"

He tried to contact the Hōgyoku again, but got no response at all.

Song Que frowned and fell into thought.

"The Hōgyoku isn't responding. How strange."

"Aizen was vague enough, and now even the Hōgyoku has gone silent. This is trouble..."

"My Senbonzakura... Sigh..."

Song Que sighed, unable to hide his disappointment.

Senbonzakura might not be all that powerful, but its dazzling effects were undeniably eye-catching.

Unfortunately, he could not use it for now.

After a moment, Song Que withdrew his Soul Rings and shook his head helplessly.

"Did Aizen use up too much of the Hōgyoku's power? I'll have to look into that later."

The blade Martial Soul in his hand returned to its original form.

By then, the five people around him were speechless, standing rooted to the spot with dazed eyes.

Song Que sighed regretfully. When he looked up and saw their stunned faces, he gave a faint smile.

"It's just a normal Martial Soul Evolution. No need to make such a fuss."

Seeing that Song Que's Martial Soul Evolution was complete, Bei Bei immediately pressed him. "Song Que, what exactly happened?"

"You were only level forty-seven before. How did you suddenly break through? And we haven't seen you hunt a Soul Beast these past two days."

Song Que looked at their puzzled faces and offered a simple explanation. "It's all because of the Martial Soul Evolution."

"Yuhao just found a little bead I'd left behind when I was a child. I took it and fitted it into the hole in the sword's hilt. After that, the blade began evolving on its own."

"Huh? That works?" Xu Sanshi looked incredulous. "Come to think of it, I remember that battered sword of yours had a hole in its hilt."

Huo Yuhao hurriedly backed him up. "That's right. As soon as Brother Song Que put the bead in, the blade changed."

"Then Brother Song Que's Soul Power shot straight to level fifty, and a Soul Ring appeared out of nowhere."

Song Que rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "My Soul Ring must have come from that bead. My Martial Soul evolved, and my Soul Power surged along with it. I'm level fifty-one now."

"As for the bead, I don't know where it came from. I only remember having it since I was little. But after my Martial Soul Awakening, I lived at the academy and never went home to look for it."

"I suppose it was always a missing part of my Martial Soul."

Bei Bei nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder I always found it strange. You have Innate Full Soul Power, yet your Martial Soul was never anything special."

"So your Martial Soul was incomplete all along. Still, I can't make sense of a case like yours."

Xu Sanshi cut in. "Forget 'nothing special.' It was downright lousy. If you hadn't always been ahead in Soul Power and grasped Blade Intent, I would've beaten you ages ago."

Song Que rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest. You couldn't beat me even when my Martial Soul was incomplete, and you still have the nerve to say that?"

"You spend every day trailing after Jiang Nannan instead of training. Of course you're weak."

Xu Sanshi bristled and was about to retort, but the thought of Song Que's strange, powerful Martial Soul drained the fight out of him.

He knew he probably was no match for Song Que.

"All right, enough bickering. Show us your new Martial Soul. Let us see it for ourselves."

Bei Bei was just as curious. "Yeah, Song Que, let's see. From how it looked just now, is it a wind-type Martial Soul?"

Song Que saw no reason to hide it. "Sure. Take a look."

"After evolving, my Martial Soul is called a Zanpakutō. It contains a special power called Shinigami Power."

"But its evolution isn't complete yet. For now, it has two forms. The first is the green short blade you saw earlier."

"As for the second form..."

Song Que raised his blade and aimed its tip at an empty stretch of ground in the distance. Soul Power stirred faintly within him.

I didn't expect the Shikai of both forms to be short blades. That's going to be a little awkward in a real fight.

"Shoot him dead! Shinsō!"

At Song Que's low command, the short blade erupted with blinding white light. It shot forward, extending at tremendous speed, and pierced a boulder a thousand meters away in an instant.

Tang Ya covered her mouth. "It's so long!"

Wang Dong blurted out, "So fast!"

Bei Bei blinked. "Huh?!"

Tang Ya stuck out her tongue. "I mean, it reached so far!"

Looking at the pierced boulder in the distance, Song Que nodded with satisfaction and examined the short blade in his hand.

"Not bad. It's faster and more powerful than I expected."

Bei Bei stared at the Zanpakutō, his expression grave. "Shinigami Power? Could it be a God Level Martial Soul?"

"That strike was so fast even I might not have reacted in time."

Xu Sanshi frowned. "We're only Soul Ancestors right now. In a fight between people of the same rank, there's no telling who'd win."

Bei Bei did not argue. Instead, he asked, "After your Martial Soul evolved, do you still have your old Soul Skills?"

Song Que paused. He had been so focused on testing his power that he had completely forgotten about them.

He took a moment to sense them, then shook his head.

"All my old Soul Skills have been replaced, but some of their abilities merged into my body. In a way, I kept them."

Xu Sanshi smiled. "That's good. Your old Soul Skills were too ordinary. They only boosted your strength and speed, and not by much."

"True." Song Que nodded, unbothered.

With the Zanpakutō in hand, plus Flash Step and Kidō, he was already powerful enough.

Flash Step and Kidō will take time to train. The Zanpakutō should be fine once I get used to it.

Song Que glanced around the group and met Tang Ya's expectant gaze.

He spoke at once. "Tang Ya, it looks like we can change our plans. We'll go to Heaven Dou City first."

Joy surged through Tang Ya, and she could not help trembling slightly.

"Xiao Ya..."

Bei Bei looked at Tang Ya beside him with a conflicted expression, then turned to Song Que.

"Song Que, are you really confident?"

Song Que nodded firmly. "Don't worry. I should be able to handle an ordinary Soul Emperor now."

"And with all of you there, you can take care of the small fry."

Xu Sanshi spoke up at once. "I never agreed to help. You're members of the Tang Sect. I'm not."

Song Que gave him a sidelong look. "With your strength, you wouldn't be much help anyway."

"Just stay out of the way and don't cause trouble."

Xu Sanshi immediately protested. "How am I useless? I'm one of the reserve Shrek Seven Devils!"

"The reserve Shrek Seven Devils?" Song Que scoffed, disdain plain on his face.

"That's not much to brag about."

"If things keep going like this, the name of the Shrek Seven Devils will end up worthless."

Bei Bei's brow furrowed at those words. But thinking of the academy's situation, he said nothing. He merely looked at Song Que with conflicted eyes and sighed softly.