BLEACH: Blade of Purification

No matter how much one hyped up Ling Qing's talent and potential. No matter how much one embellished the future he might have. These were all things that could only be realized in the future. In other words, they were not yet real.

To be more blunt, it was all just empty talk.

But. What was now presented before the eyes of the spectators was the moment that the so-called empty talk was made real!

Even though Yamamoto was surely holding back and had been careless, it was an undeniable fact that Ling Qing had wounded him in a head-on-head spar.

In other words, unlike when he had merely cut a strand of Yamamoto's beard, Ling Qing had now leaped from being someone who could only make Yamamoto a little serious to someone who could pose a genuine threat to him.

One could see Chōjirō Sasakibe's eyes wide with astonishment, a clear sign of his disbelief. Nearly a thousand years ago, he too had left a scar on Yamamoto's body, one that was in a prominent place and had not faded to this day. But he had only accomplished that after achieving his Bankai.

In other words, Shihōin Sōichirō was right. Ling Qing's Shikai truly possessed the power of a Bankai.

Even if he was only a slight threat to Yamamoto now, and might not be able to win a life-or-death battle against any of the Captains present, one must not forget that Ling Qing had only been wielding a sword for about half a year and had just learned his Shikai. And all the Captains present were veterans of countless battles.

If, before this, the Captains had viewed Ling Qing as Yamamoto did—as a junior whose growth they looked forward to, curious to see how far he could go—then their mindset had now quietly changed.

Even though Ling Qing had only just achieved Shikai, they had unconsciously begun to see him as an equal.

That is to say…

No one had said it, and Ling Qing held no official position. But they had all, without discussion, come to view Ling Qing as a Captain-class figure!

No one spoke, because the battle in the center was still ongoing.

When Ling Qing had proven he could inflict wounds on him, Yamamoto's condescending attitude towards a junior had faded significantly. Facing the Ling Qing who had completed his release, he no longer saw himself as a training partner helping him achieve it.

He was going to have to get a little serious. Otherwise, losing to a junior, especially with his students and subordinates watching, would be embarrassing even for Yamamoto!

Ling Qing's overwhelming, suffocating, eight-slash combo had indeed left numerous wounds on Yamamoto's body, but for Yamamoto, these injuries were nothing.

Ling Qing's special sword technique allowed him to create almost tangible slashes, but that didn't mean it was his exclusive patent.

Yamamoto, having been knocked back by Ling Qing's slash, did not use flames to attack this time. Instead, just like Ling Qing, he raised his ancient tachi, and from a distance, swung it down at Ling Qing!

The moment Yamamoto swung his sword, the very air itself seemed to be cut by an invisible slash!

Ling Qing suddenly felt a sense of suffocation. In his eyes, the invisible slash was rushing towards him, almost stinging his eyes!

Ling Qing, who had intended to press his advantage, had to halt his attack. Facing the invisible slash, he did not hesitate to raise his own longsword.

Yamamoto's slash collided with the longsword Ling Qing raised to block it. The two powerful Reiatsu clashed, and in that instant, the very air seemed to collide and then explode outwards in all directions—

In front of the longsword Ling Qing held up, his Reiatsu had semi-materialized into numerous hexagonal, shield-like constructs. It was not just the longsword; this defense was what truly blocked Yamamoto's attack.

Once an unstoppable slash is blocked, it loses its power. After blocking Yamamoto's sword stroke, Ling Qing moved immediately without pause. He swung his sword back, dispersing the remaining Reiatsu, then executed a clean turn and a rapid forward thrust. Everyone could see Ling Qing's trajectory, yet he moved with a speed as if he had used Shunpo, once again appearing before Yamamoto.

Shihōin Sōichirō recognized it at a glance. This was a technique from Ling Qing's swordsmanship used to close the distance with an opponent.

Yamamoto snorted. His pride as Captain-Commander would not allow him to dodge Ling Qing's attack. As if to teach him a lesson, the blade of his Ryūjin Jakka accurately blocked Ling Qing's direct thrust.

However, Yamamoto had not correctly understood Ling Qing's attack pattern. This thrust was never meant to pierce his body and cause a penetrating injury!

The moment Yamamoto blocked the attack, Ling Qing, as if he had anticipated it all along, switched fluidly to a horizontal slash from right to left.

As the longsword and Ryūjin Jakka collided, sending sparks flying, countless slashes, accompanied by an explosion of countless black feathers, once again engulfed Yamamoto! These myriad slashes combined to form a single, massive flash of light!

"A new school of swordsmanship?" Unohana exclaimed in surprise.

Kenpachi Kuruyashiki glanced at her before immediately returning his gaze to the battlefield, where the situation had already changed.

This was definitely not the boring "chickens pecking at each other" fights of the Shin'ō Academy students, who had yet to even become Shinigami, where one would be hard-pressed to find any亮点 (highlights) even by the lowest standards. This was a battle that even Captain-class powerhouses could not ignore. It was like a newborn challenger taking on an ancient king.

After his attack hit, Ling Qing did not press his advantage. Instead, he actively retreated to create some distance. He ran his right hand along the length of his oversized blade. Surging Reiatsu was poured into it, and the snow-white blade was quietly veiled in a layer of black and purple fluctuating energy. Black feathers emerged from this energy and fluttered about—

A terrifying, soul-shaking fluctuation erupted from Ling Qing! An indescribably fearsome aura flowed from the longsword in his hand—quietly, silently, yet dangerously and terrifyingly!

Perhaps Ling Qing himself understood that his defensive counter-attack, the flash of light, couldn't cause too much damage to Yamamoto. Therefore, the main purpose of that attack was not to further injure Yamamoto, but to buy time for the move he was preparing now.

To buy the necessary time for the long wind-up of this skill!

Ling Qing had not been swept away by his own surge in power. It's easy to launch a continuous, frenzied attack after suddenly gaining great power, but to be able to take a step back in such a situation is what is truly commendable.

Sure enough, golden flames erupted like a volcano, and the flash of light formed by countless slashes was dispersed by the golden fire. Yamamoto forcefully broke through the flash and re-emerged.

Then, he saw the overlong tachi in Ling Qing's hand, surging with terrifying power. A frightening glint flashed in his eyes!

"This technique?"

From Ling Qing's sword, Yamamoto seemed to sense something. He had broken through the flash much faster than Ling Qing had anticipated, so fast that he could now interrupt Ling Qing's charged-up attack at any moment.

It is in these details that one can truly glimpse the true power of this thousand-year Shinigami.

But he did not do so. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Yamamoto seemed to be hesitating about something. However, after a moment, he nodded slightly and said softly, as if in thought, "I see. Then I shall grant your wish."

One could clearly sense that the vast Reiatsu that had covered the entire Seireitei was being withdrawn at an astonishing speed, returning entirely to Ling Qing's body in an instant. Not only that, but the heavy, restless Reiatsu was also rapidly weakening, until it could barely be felt at all.

But this was not because Ling Qing had lost his power. On the contrary, as his fluctuating Reiatsu subsided, the dangerous feeling emanating from him grew heavier. That excessively terrifying and heavy feeling was something that even the Captains present could not ignore. It was hard to imagine that such a fearsome aura could come from someone who, just moments before, had been completely suppressed with almost no ability to fight back; from a Shinigami who had just learned his Shikai.

But in comparison to Ling Qing, what Yamamoto did was overly simple. He simply, very simply, placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword, gripping Ryūjin Jakka with both hands.

The next moment—

The accumulated power was compressed to its limit. Ling Qing unleashed a horizontal slash with all his compressed Reiatsu—arguably his strongest attack at this moment!

At the same time, Yamamoto executed a slash that was slightly different from standard kendo!

The two blades scraped against each other—

The expanding Reiatsu swallowed everything in an instant! The entire Seireitei shook violently, making it almost impossible to stand firm!

The Shinigami of the Seireitei discovered in astonishment that at the location of Squad 1, along with the explosion of terrifying Reiatsu, the Squad 1 barracks shattered with a deafening boom. The debris from the building, blasted apart by the overwhelming power, was sent flying into the sky in defiance of all logic—!

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