A Senior at the Spiritual Arts Academy

"Soul power, third stage."

"Failed."

Wang Xun stood beside the Spiritual Might testing machine, delivering the verdict without a trace of expression.

"W-what..."

The frail young man before him went deathly pale the moment he heard the result.

"Kid, what you should be saying now is, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't bully-'"

Wang Xun felt a poke at his waist. He turned to see the petite Nanao Ise glaring up at him.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. We don't have anything called soul power. He made that term up himself."

Nanao explained to the applicant.

"But... his conclusion was right. Your Reiatsu is too low. The Spiritual Might testing machine couldn't even register a value."

"Sorry, you don't have the aptitude to become a Soul Reaper."

The young man's eyes filled with tears. He turned and walked away, utterly dejected.

Wang Xun watched his lonely figure retreat and let out a long sigh.

"The truth is the sharpest blade, Nanao-chan."

Nanao rolled her eyes at him.

"That's still better than fobbing him off with made-up terms."

Wang Xun laughed.

It had been five years since he transmigrated to Soul Society, and he had seen far too many scenes like this.

Souls from Rukongai came with dreams of becoming Soul Reapers, only to fall short of even the most basic Spiritual Might requirement.

Souls with so little Reiryoku normally wouldn't live more than a few decades, much less become Soul Reapers who could live for thousands of years.

Wang Xun tapped a few keys, resetting the number on the testing machine.

"All right, next."

Shin'ō Academy was holding its admissions over the next few days.

As a fifth-year student at the Spiritual Arts Academy, he occasionally had to help the school with staff duties.

Free labor, basically.

Today, he and some of his classmates were helping test the applicants' Spiritual Might levels.

"Wang Xun, look over there."

Wang Xun followed Nanao's gaze.

A group of three was making its way through the crowd toward them.

At the front was a black-haired young man with a straight back, steady steps, and a smile as bright and cheerful as the sun.

Right behind him was an athletic girl with a white headband in her long black hair and a touch of wild, roguish swagger.

Last was a somewhat rugged-looking boy, who was curiously looking around.

Wang Xun looked at them and felt, for some reason, that they seemed familiar.

Beside him, Nanao Ise pushed up her glasses, her expression growing a little more serious.

"Did you feel that? His Reiatsu... it's strong."

Wang Xun nodded.

Even from a distance, he could sense that powerful Reiryoku, far beyond what the average applicant possessed.

The black-haired young man obediently joined the back of the line, while the two kids stood to the side, pulling faces at him and pumping their fists in encouragement.

His turn soon came.

"Next, number one hundred and seventy-six!"

The black-haired young man stepped forward and handed over his number tag.

"I'm Kaien Shiba, from West Rukongai."

Kaien Shiba spoke with a smile, his voice clear and bright.

Wang Xun looked at him and involuntarily froze for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing his reaction, Nanao turned her head and asked.

"Nothing."

Wang Xun shook his head, suppressing the tumult in his heart.

He pointed at the testing machine. "Put your hand on it and release your Reiatsu."

Kaien did as he was told. The next second, powerful Reiatsu burst from him, and the number on the testing machine began to jump.

It finally settled on six.

"Spiritual Might... sixth grade!"

An uproar swept through the testing grounds.

The teacher overseeing today's tests had appeared beside Wang Xun at some point and was staring at the result in shock.

Sixth-grade Spiritual Might was already the level of Reiatsu possessed by a high-ranking Seated Officer or vice-captain's assistant.

Even in Shin'ō Academy's history, such aptitude was seen only once in a century.

Even Nanao, who had been watching from the side all along, couldn't hide her surprise.

The moment Kaien Shiba lifted his hand and withdrew his Reiatsu, a glowing fragment fell from him.

No one around them reacted. Only Wang Xun narrowed his eyes slightly.

This was the ability he had awakened after transmigrating: he could see the various attribute fragments dropped by others and absorb them through contact to make them his own.

Over the past three years, he had relied on this ability to quietly climb from a low-ranking student whose Reiatsu had barely met the admission standard to his current level.

He had also picked up a large number of Kidō knowledge fragments by spending time in the library with Nanao.

Wang Xun casually took half a step forward and touched the fragment as he returned the number tag.

[Reiryoku fragment obtained, Spiritual Might experience +200]

Wang Xun's pupils contracted slightly.

Most of the fragments he usually picked up were worth only single-digit points.

Just one burst of Reiatsu had dropped an experience fragment worth two hundred points...

"Not bad."

Wang Xun took a deep breath and looked at Kaien Shiba.

"Kaien Shiba, you passed the Reiryoku test. Come back on time tomorrow for the second round."

"All right, thanks for your hard work."

Kaien smiled and withdrew his hand, then turned and flashed a victory sign at the excited Kūkaku and Ganju.

Wang Xun watched the scene, his thoughts drifting as memories of his previous life came flooding back.

Kaien Shiba, who completed all of Shin'ō Academy's courses within two years, joined the Gotei 13 upon graduation, and became a vice-captain in five years...

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?" Nanao tapped him lightly on the shoulder with her book. "It's time for the next one."

Wang Xun came back to his senses, nodded, and resumed the testing process.

"What incredible talent. Back when I enrolled, my Spiritual Might was only eighteenth grade."

"True." Nanao turned a page in the Kidō theory book she was holding. "Looks like there'll be an impressive one among this year's new students."

As she spoke, a white fragment drifted down beside her.

Seeing it, Wang Xun raised a hand and patted Nanao on the head, letting the fragment fall onto him in the process.

[Kidō insight obtained, Kidō experience +5]

"What are you doing?"

Nanao swatted the hand off her head and gave Wang Xun an exasperated look.

"Nothing. I just saw heroes as numerous as fish crossing a river, and my heart couldn't help but surge."

"What heroes? Isn't it just this one guy who stands head and shoulders above the rest?"

"Ha, you're strict, little miss."

"Get lost... Oh, right, you said you opened another shop in Rukongai. How many does that make now?"

"Let me think. Three, I guess."

"Tch, capitalist..."

Wang Xun: ?

The Spiritual Might tests continued as he chatted with Nanao.

Over the course of the day, Wang Xun helped test several hundred people.

Few passed.

Most had mediocre aptitude, with eighteenth- or nineteenth-grade Spiritual Might. The occasional fifteenth- or sixteenth-grade applicant was considered a promising prospect.

No one else appeared with exceptionally rare high-grade Spiritual Might like Kaien's.

But Wang Xun didn't mind.

He diligently and quietly picked up the fragments no one else could see in every corner of the testing grounds.

[Reiryoku fragments ×2 obtained, Spiritual Might experience +10]

[Kidō insights ×2 obtained, Kidō experience +10]

Unfortunately, the new students had only a minuscule chance of dropping fragments.

They hadn't even dropped as much Kidō experience as Little Nanao had while reading beside him.

Aside from the surprise Kaien Shiba had provided, today's harvest was little better than nothing.

As the sun sank in the west, today's admissions work drew to a close.

The grounds gradually emptied, and the people in charge of testing packed up and left one after another.

Wang Xun and Nanao also walked out of the testing grounds side by side, heading to the cafeteria for a meal.