Why Had the Hōgyoku Stopped Working?

Song Que stopped dwelling on it and focused his mind on the Hōgyoku inside the blade again.

"Second soul skill, Shinsō!"

His second Soul Ring lit up. The short blade stretched into a slender, compact sword.

"Third soul skill, Senbonzakura!"

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

Song Que froze, baffled.

"What happened? Why did it stop?"

He tried reaching the Hōgyoku again, but got no response.

Song Que frowned and sank into thought.

The Hōgyoku isn't responding. That's strange.

Aizen never explained things clearly, and now even the Hōgyoku has gone quiet. This is trouble...

My Senbonzakura... Damn...

Song Que sighed, unable to hide his disappointment.

Senbonzakura might not have been especially 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 figure that out later.

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

By then, the other five stood rooted to the spot, speechless and bewildered.

Song Que gave a regretful sigh, then looked up at their stunned faces and smiled faintly.

"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 asked, "Song Que, what exactly happened to you?"

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

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

"Yuhao found a little bead I'd left behind when I was a kid. I took it and pushed it into the hole in the sword's hilt. Then the sword began evolving on its own."

"Huh? That works?" Xu Sanshi looked incredulous. "Come to think of it, that lousy sword of yours did have a little hole in the hilt."

Huo Yuhao quickly backed him up. "That's right. As soon as Brother Song Que put the bead in, the sword 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 with it. I'm level fifty-one now."

"As for where the bead came from, I don't know. I only remember having it since I was very young. But I've lived at the academy ever since my Martial Soul awakened, so I never went home to look for it."

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

Bei Bei nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder I always found it strange. You had Innate Full Soul Power, yet your Martial Soul was nothing special."

"So your Martial Soul was incomplete all this time. Still, I've never heard of anything like this."

Xu Sanshi cut in. "Nothing special? It was downright lousy. If your Soul Power hadn't always been ahead of mine, and you hadn't grasped Blade Intent, I'd have beaten you ages ago."

Song Que rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest. You couldn't beat me even with my Martial Soul incomplete, and you're still bragging?"

"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 memory of Song Que's strange, powerful Martial Soul took the fight out of him.

He knew he probably could not beat Song Que.

"All right, enough bickering. Show us your new Martial Soul. Let us have a look."

Bei Bei was curious too. "Yeah, Song Que, show us. From what we saw just now, it's a wind-type Martial Soul, isn't it?"

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 known as Shinigami Power."

"But it hasn't finished evolving. Right now, it has two forms. The first is the green short blade you just saw."

"As for the second..."

Song Que raised the blade and pointed its tip toward an empty patch of ground in the distance. Soul Power stirred within him.

I didn't expect both Shikai forms to be short blades. They're going to be a little awkward to use in a fight.

"Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"

At Song Que's low command, blinding white light burst from the short blade. 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 froze. "Huh?!"

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

Song Que nodded in satisfaction at the pierced boulder, then studied the short blade in his hand.

"Not bad. It's faster and stronger 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, I'm not sure even I could react to it."

Xu Sanshi frowned. "We're only Soul Ancestors right now. If we fought at the same level, there's no telling who'd win."

Bei Bei did not argue. Instead, he asked, "Do you still have your old soul skills after the evolution?"

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

He checked carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

"All my old soul skills have been replaced. Some of their abilities have merged with my body, though, so I've kept those."

Xu Sanshi smiled. "That's good. Your old soul skills were pretty ordinary. They only boosted your strength and speed, and not by that much."

"True." Song Que nodded, unconcerned.

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

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

Song Que's gaze swept across the group and met Tang Ya's expectant eyes.

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

Delight 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 sure you can do it?"

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

"And with all of you there, I can leave the small fry to you."

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

Song Que shot him a sidelong glance. "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 no help? I'm a reserve member of the Shrek Seven Devils!"

"A reserve member of the Shrek Seven Devils?" Song Que scoffed, openly disdainful.

"So what?"

"If things keep going like this, the name Shrek Seven Devils will be worthless sooner or later."

Bei Bei's brows drew together at those words. But thinking of the academy's situation, he said nothing more. He only looked at Song Que with mixed feelings and sighed softly.