Chapter 23 The Devil in the Cage
Chapter 23 The Devil in the Cage
The memories of his childhood flashed through his mind again, and those scenes lingered in countless late nights. He hated those people and also hated his own powerlessness in childhood.
Self-loathing?
Lu Li pondered, he was indeed tormented by guilt for a long time, but he has come out of it.
Because he knew that his master and senior sister did not want to see him stagnate, he would avenge them, and he would reach the pinnacle of martial arts.
But if it wasn't self-loathing, and he was sure that he was a human being, why did he see that kind of scene in the depths of his soul?
Until the end of get out of class, Lu Li had not made any progress in resonance, so he decided to give it a more in-depth try tonight.
There were many people in the classroom, and Aizen had a lot of private things that he was not comfortable talking about. Although he confessed to himself that he had learned the Shikai, he had never shown it in front of the teacher and other classmates.
.........
In the evening, after dragging his slightly tired body back to the dormitory, Lu Li climbed directly onto the bed.
But he was not ready to sleep, because he had only had a brief encounter with Unohana-sensei today, so he still had considerable energy left.
He decided to study the problem of his Zanpakuto, or rather the problem of his own soul, carefully tonight.
Before he began, he glanced at his current panel.
[Explorer No. 404040404, your naked equipment attributes are as follows:]
[Constitution: 17 points (+2)]
[Strength: 16 points (+1)]
[Agility: 17 points (+2)]
[Spirit: 22 points (+2)]
[Charm: 6 points]
【Lucky: 1 o'clock】
His attributes have changed significantly. The change in his physique is because he has been hit by Unohana many times in the past two months, and his body has gained a certain resistance through constant damage and reconstruction.
The change in agility was due to his development and research of Flash Step. After adapting to high-speed movement, his nerve reflex speed also improved significantly.
The amount of strength added was the least, mainly because he didn't do anything specifically to train his strength.
As for the spirit, even though he didn't practice much, the meditation method handed down by the Spiritual Arts Academy was indeed a good way to improve his 'spiritual power' and spirit. Different from his training in other areas, training spiritual power was a simple process of improving numerical values, which would of course be more obvious in attributes.
One thing that needs to be explained here is that all of his attribute improvements are actually related to the improvement of spiritual power, but the spiritual attributes are mainly linked to spiritual power.
Currently, the Spiritual Arts Academy recognizes him as a level 16 spiritual power, but Lu Li feels that he has just touched the threshold of level 16.
Aizen said that he knew his Zanpakuto's true name could be used for Shikai when he was at the seventeenth level of spiritual power. This was probably false, but looking at the subtle attitude in Aizen's voice when he said it, Lu Li felt that if he had had Asado when he was at the seventeenth level of spiritual power, using Shikai would not be a problem.
Then there is no reason why you can't do it.
Thinking of this, Lu Li calmed down and used the resonance method of the Spiritual Arts Academy to let his consciousness go deep into his soul.
Seeing that Lu Li was already getting into the mood, Aizen turned off the lights early and started his daily routine.
At this moment, Lu Li felt like he was walking under a dark sky, not knowing the way forward and having no way to retreat.
He wasn't sure if he had grasped some trick, but this time the resonance was different from the previous ones.
After taking a step forward, he felt a distinct sense of weightlessness, and then he felt the whole world was shaking.
The whispers sounded in my ears again, accompanied by a chilling wailing sound.
Falling, falling continuously, he had never fallen in this 'abyss' for so long.
His instinctive warning of danger made him want to stop the resonance, but his curiosity about the secrets deep in his soul made him endure and continue downward. It was as if he had penetrated some barrier, and his vision was blurry for a moment. When it became clear again, he saw... Purgatory.
It was a purple-black purgatory. Endless purple-black flames rolled in the lava river. The flames twisted their bodies like living things, constantly devouring the surrounding air and making a deafening roar.
The sky was covered with thick smoke, and occasionally dark red lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the wailing faces of the tortured souls.
In this boundless heat and pain, a huge cage made of solidified lava stood quietly, its surface covered with purple-black magic patterns like vines.
At the bottom of the cage, a dark red door slowly opened. Behind the door was bottomless darkness, from which came the sound of chains colliding.
After the door opened, Lu Li suddenly could no longer hear the noisy wailing. The world became much quieter for a moment, with only the sounds of magma slapping and flames rolling.
The door seemed to have a magical power that attracted Lu Li, causing him to step forward.
Miraculously, he stepped over the lava and flames in one step and arrived at the door of the cage.
Cage?
Lu Li was puzzled. Why did I subconsciously feel that this was a cage?
Although the building in front of him was just an irregularly shaped "earth mound" made of magma, he felt that it was a cage before the door opened.
He took a step forward and looked inside the dark red door, all he saw was deep darkness.
Just then, huge waves surged behind him, flames gushed out like pillars, and dark red light shone into the dark cage.
At this moment, Lu Li saw the scene inside the cage.
A dark figure was entangled in countless chains, which seemed to be made of the strongest divine iron and emitted a faint light.
The locked body was like an abyss, dark and deep. As if sensing Lu Li's gaze, He slowly raised his head.
With the faint light from the flames, Lu Li saw its deep-set eyes, emitting a cold and cruel light, as if even endless years could not erase its resentment.
At that moment, the wind started to blow, the wind of purgatory brought with it the smell of heat and sulfur, sweeping up countless ashes and scorched earth. They danced in the air, passed through Lu Li's seemingly ethereal body, poured into the cage, and finally covered His body, but they could not conceal the majesty of being imprisoned.
Is this... my Zanpakutō?
Lu Li seemed to be somewhat enlightened and confused. He couldn't help but ask, "What's your name?"
The figure deep in the cage looked at Lu Li, but Lu Li did not get an answer. Instead, he was answered with a roar.
Roar--
The roar seemed to be able to shatter the heavens and the worlds, containing hatred and unwillingness that had lasted for countless epochs.
The roar was violent, insane, and... lonely.
As the demon-like figure roared, the entire purgatory world was shaking.
The sky collapsed and the earth cracked, magma rose like a tsunami, and flames soared like meteors.
Lu Li stood in front of the cage, with a huge magma tsunami of unknown height behind him. Purple-black flames wrapped around him, like a dancing elf.
In this world-destroying scene, Lu Li remained motionless, staring calmly at the figure in the cage.
Just as he was about to ask again, a strong wind blew from under his feet and blew him into the sky.
The world was spinning around him, and he suddenly opened his eyes on the bed. He was actually kicked out by that devil-like figure.
He looked up outside and saw that the sky was already turning white.
(End of this chapter)