"Perhaps my Zanpakuto is just highly unusual. Even though we failed this time, I still want to thank you, Sosuke," Lu Li said, swinging his legs out of bed and heading toward the washroom.
He felt that during his brief "communication" with his Zanpakuto, he had vaguely grasped a crucial piece of information. The night hadn't been entirely fruitless.
After washing up, Lu Li stepped out and looked at Aizen, who had already put on his uniform and was preparing to head to class.
"Sosuke, could you try it one more time? I truly believe the hypnosis method is viable."
Aizen paused mid-step. "Are you skipping class?"
"I'm skipping. The Captain-Commander won't be coming today anyway, and there's a hard limit to what I can learn sitting at a desk. My absolute priority right now is mastering my Shikai," Lu Li stated.
The Shin'o Academy didn't mandate perfect attendance. They didn't care if you showed up every day; the only thing that ultimately mattered was your final exam score.
"The method you are requesting is highly dangerous, Lu Li. You felt it yourself," Aizen said, looking at him with deep severity. "Knowing the risks, do you still wish to proceed?"
Lu Li met Aizen's gaze and nodded firmly.
"Sosuke. Passing this graduation exam is incredibly important to me. More important than you can possibly imagine."
"Very well. I will stay in the dorm and assist you with your special training," Aizen relented, setting down his calligraphy bag with a heavy sigh. "But let me make this absolutely clear: the moment your Reiatsu begins to destabilize, I am immediately calling an instructor."
Lu Li flashed a wide grin. "Thanks, Sosuke. I owe you one."
Aizen smiled faintly. "You owe me quite a lot by now."
...
"Still nothing?" Aizen asked, glancing out the window. Dawn was already breaking.
Today was the day of the final exams.
For the past two days, he had repeatedly placed Lu Li under the hypnosis of Kyoka Suigetsu, continually guiding his consciousness back into the absolute depths of his soul. Yet, every single time, Lu Li claimed he had been "kicked out."
Based on Aizen's profound understanding of Zanpakuto awakening, he strongly suspected Lu Li wasn't being violently expelled by his blade; Lu Li was actively fleeing the mental space himself.
He stood by his initial hypothesis: Lu Li was subconsciously resisting the power.
Aizen considered himself quite an expert in psychology. Based on Lu Li's description of his mindscape, Aizen deduced that the "cage" represented Lu Li's sealed, heavily guarded heart, while the "imprisoned Demon God" symbolized Lu Li placing a deliberate, psychological shackle on his own true strength.
"Lu Li, if you cannot unravel this mental knot yourself, it will not matter how much Reiatsu you cultivate in the future. I fear you will never achieve Shikai," Aizen sighed.
He honestly hadn't expected this outcome. He had genuinely believed that with the aid of Kyoka Suigetsu, a peerless prodigy like Lu Li would achieve Shikai effortlessly.
He looked at Lu Li with deeply hidden pity. He had finally found someone whose raw talent rivaled his own—a genius without a single physical weakness. Yet, Lu Li was biologically incapable of awakening his Zanpakuto. In a highly pragmatic sense, Lu Li's absolute ceiling as a Soul Reaper had already been permanently locked.
Lu Li remained silent for a long moment before waving a hand dismissively.
"It's fine. You've helped me enough, Sosuke. I think I'm starting to understand exactly what's wrong with my Zanpakuto."
Aizen looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh? Did you finally manage to communicate with it? We still have a little time left. Would you like to try one last time?"
But Lu Li shook his head.
"No. I want to use the remaining time to rest and get myself into peak physical condition. I still have no idea who my special examiner is going to be today."
"A wise decision. Then get some sleep. You have roughly three hours. I'll head to the cafeteria and bring you back a meal," Aizen offered. He could tell Lu Li hadn't actually given up; he was deeply curious to see if his roommate could somehow survive today's impossible trial.
"Thanks, Sosuke," Lu Li said simply, immediately falling backward onto his bed and closing his eyes. Today was going to be a grueling bloodbath. He needed to ensure his mind and body were absolutely flawless.
Three hours later, Lu Li woke up precisely on time.
His desk was completely covered with metal trays overflowing with food from the cafeteria. Aizen was already gone, having likely headed to the testing grounds early.
Lu Li quickly washed up before aggressively inhaling the massive feast, ensuring his body had an absolute surplus of caloric energy to burn. Once he finished eating, he checked the time and began jogging toward the testing grounds.
The dorm supervisor had informed him yesterday. Even though he had requested a special "early graduation" trial, he was still required to participate in the standard final exams. Only after securing passing grades in all the core curriculum courses would he be permitted to take the "Final Trial."
Furthermore, as he had suspected, there was an unwritten prerequisite for early graduation: Shikai.
Even if he miraculously survived the Captain's trial, if he couldn't manifest his Zanpakuto's true name and activate his Shikai, the Academy would still deny his graduation request.
Lu Li glanced down at the standard-issue Asauchi strapped to his waist.
Getting my hands on you permanently is turning into a massive headache.
According to the rules of the Terminus Space, any item acquired within a mission world could not be extracted unless it was an explicit mission reward. To permanently keep this Asauchi, he had to learn its true name and achieve Shikai. Essentially, he had to definitively "soul-bind" the weapon to his character sheet before he could take it home.
Stepping into the testing grounds, Lu Li pulled up his system interface one last time.
[Explorer 404040404, your base unequipped attributes are as follows:]
Constitution: 18 Points (+1)
Strength: 17 Points (+1)
Agility: 18 Points (+1)
Spirit: 24 Points (+2)
Charm: 6 Points
Luck: 1 Point
He had spent almost all of the past month obsessively meditating on his Zanpakuto, so his physical attributes hadn't seen massive spikes. However, his Spirit attribute had jumped another two points. Based on his internal feeling, he was now solidly within the Class 16 Reiatsu bracket.
"Should I praise the 'genius' challenging the early graduation exam for arriving so fashionably late? You certainly look relaxed," a highly familiar, mocking voice called out the moment he stepped onto the field. It was Yoruichi.
Lu Li casually rolled his shoulders, popping his joints. "None of the physical exams are strictly timed. Arriving a bit late doesn't matter."
The first exam on the docket was Hakuda. It consisted of a direct sparring evaluation with the instructor.
When it was Lu Li's turn, the Hakuda instructor looked at him with an incredibly complicated expression. Without even asking Lu Li to take a stance, the instructor simply picked up his pen, scribbled a perfect score on the evaluation sheet, and waved him along.
Lu Li wasn't surprised. During their previous class sessions, this instructor had attempted to "guide" him in Hakuda... and had subsequently been beaten so badly he nearly quit his job.
Next was the Zanjutsu exam. Unsurprisingly, another perfect score.
Hado: Perfect Score.
Bakudo: Perfect Score.
Kaido: Perfect Score.
Shunpo: Perfect Score.
Reiatsu Assessment: Class 16.
Because half the student body was morbidly curious to watch him take his exams, they had graciously allowed him to skip the lines and test first. Even so, by the time he cleared the standard curriculum, it was already late afternoon.
Following the final instructor's directions, Lu Li began ascending the main Academy building, heading toward the Final Exam room on the top floor.
Students rarely ventured to the top floor of the Shin'o Academy. It mostly housed the instructors' private offices, along with a few heavily locked, restricted rooms.
Lu Li stopped in front of one of these restricted rooms. Hanging above the sliding doors was a massive, ancient wooden plaque. The calligraphy etched into the wood was thick and imposing. It read: [Genryu].
Lu Li knocked firmly.
The heavy sliding doors slowly pulled apart, revealing the interior of the room... and the solitary woman sitting elegantly at the tea table in the center.
Captain of the Fourth Division, Yachiru Unohana.
Sosuke, you were absolutely right. I drew the 'best-case scenario'.
The corners of Lu Li's mouth curled upward involuntarily. He could feel the battle-blood in his veins instantly ignite into a roaring inferno.
From a purely objective, mission-completion standpoint, he had undeniably drawn the absolute worst possible card in the deck. But from his own, highly personal perspective, this was unequivocally the grand prize.
I guess my 1 point in Luck actually means my luck is phenomenally good.
Lu Li slipped off his wooden sandals and stepped onto the tatami mats. The heavy sliding doors slammed shut behind him.
Click. The lock engaged automatically.
Instantly, Lu Li sensed a highly unnatural, oppressive force field envelop the room. It was undoubtedly the handiwork of Kirio Hikifune from the Twelfth Division.
The moment he stepped inside, his Reiatsu was strictly regulated. Unless a Soul Reaper utilized an apocalyptic surge of Spiritual Pressure to physically detonate the invisible machinery, their Reiatsu output inside this room was permanently locked to exactly Class 16.
It seemed the Captain-Commander's orders had been carried out flawlessly. The administration had set up a perfectly "fair" testing ground. At the very least, Lu Li didn't have to worry about Unohana getting too excited, forgetting to suppress her Reiatsu, and accidentally vaporizing him with a stray shockwave.
Following Unohana's silent gaze, Lu Li walked over to the tea table and sat down opposite her, his expression perfectly calm.
"I selected this room for your exam. It happens to be one of the Captain-Commander's private tearooms," Unohana said softly, her voice as gentle and melodic as a flowing stream. Her pale, elegant hands moved with practiced grace over the wooden table, meticulously preparing the tea set.
Lu Li briefly surveyed the room. It was common knowledge across the Seireitei that the Captain-Commander loved tea; he purportedly hosted a formal tea ceremony for the First Division every single month.
However, Lu Li seriously doubted this was his primary hosting room. While it was incredibly spacious for a traditional Japanese tearoom—roughly two hundred square meters—the only piece of furniture in the entire expansive space was the single tea table they were sitting at.
Hanging on the wall directly beside them was a massive, breathtaking ink painting. It depicted a ferocious tiger locked in a brutal death-struggle with a demonic Oni. The brushstrokes were aggressive, heavy, and absolutely brimming with a razor-sharp, suffocating bloodlust.
In the old days, they spoke of the Dragon and the Tiger. Today, I bear witness to the Tiger and the Demon.
Sitting on the side of the table closest to the painted tiger, Lu Li watched Unohana prepare the tea in absolute silence. The room was deathly quiet.
Unohana's mastery of the tea ceremony was profound; every single microscopic movement she made radiated an artistic, almost hypnotic beauty.
Using a silk cloth, she meticulously wiped down the tea caddy and the bamboo scoop. She warmed the tea bowl, whisked the matcha with flawless precision, and gently wiped the rim...
She looked less like an examiner preparing to slaughter a student, and more like a refined noblewoman welcoming an old friend for an afternoon chat.
Within the expansive tearoom, the delicate fragrance of boiling tea leaves slowly permeated the air. Soft, curling wisps of steam rose from the iron kettle, lazily drifting between the two figures sitting opposite each other.
In this tiny, isolated pocket of the world, there was no suffocating stench of blood, no paralyzing aura of murder. There was only the calming, earthy scent of tea.
Unohana gently rotated the freshly prepared bowl of tea and slowly slid it across the table until it rested perfectly in front of Lu Li.
Neither of them spoke a word. The absolute silence felt like a scene pulled directly from an ancient, silent film, carrying a profound, almost suffocating Zen-like stillness.
Lu Li picked up the bowl. He blew gently on the steaming liquid twice, then tipped his head back and drained the entire bowl in a single, smooth gulp. He placed the empty bowl firmly back onto the table.
The sharp clack of ceramic striking the polished mahogany seemed to instantly shatter the profound silence of the room—yet, paradoxically, made the atmosphere feel infinitely heavier.
Unohana did not touch the bowl of tea resting in front of her. Instead, she methodically placed a fresh kettle of water onto the charcoal brazier.
Her gently curved, smiling eyes slowly opened. Across the small wooden table, she locked her dark, abyssal gaze directly onto Lu Li.
Like two legendary grandmasters crossing paths on a narrow bridge, an invisible, apocalyptic pressure violently collided in the space between them.
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