Chapter 51: Devouring Void (Second Update)

Spirit King Palace……

"True Name Calling Monk" Soldier Main Division Ichibē's Detached Palace inside.

Huangmu and the Monk, after reaching an agreement, finally arrived here via Front Shrine Path.

At this moment, both had a tacit understanding; the Monk needed Huangmu to increase his strength, to help him accomplish some unspeakable deeds, while Huangmu needed the Monk's help to increase his own strength……

For a moment, one "Old Fox" brought one "Little Fox" to this cultivation ground.

"Huangmu, the power within your body is too complicated, the 'Death God's' power (Soul-Cutting Sword), the 'power from the Spirit King's shattered skin' (Full Manifestation Technique), that unknown power originating from spirit (Overbearing Aura), and also the power that can stitch all things together (Surgical Fruit)……"

"Honestly, in my millions of years in Soul Society, I've never seen anyone like you who has fused so many kinds of power within their body and yet can let these powers coexist abnormally harmoniously! However, success is mottled, failure is mottled; to reach a new realm, you must unify the power within your body and 'specialize in one path'……"

The Monk seemed to have long seen through Huangmu's abilities; after circling Huangmu three times, he first nodded, then kept shaking his head, as if in the Monk's view Huangmu's power was too much, and to become stronger he needed to streamline some.

"What are you planning to do?!"

Huangmu remained noncommittal; at the same time he knew that since the Monk had raised this point, there must be a solution, so he looked at the Monk and asked.

"I will use the Spirit King's power to reshape the body, and use the Spirit King's power to unify all your power, but this process carries some risk; I don't know what you think?!"

"Of course, even if the worst case occurs, I can also forcibly use the Spirit King's power to help you reshape your body and forge it into the 'King's Key' and 'Detached Palace', and then use my power to recall you back into this world……"

The Monk didn't immediately help Huangmu make a choice; instead, he let Huangmu decide whether to undergo the reforging of the Spirit King's power.

"……" Huangmu ignored the Monk, instead gripping the Soul-Cutting Sword and communicating with some existence; after about ten seconds, Huangmu looked at the Monk and said: "Good! Just do as you said."

Huangmu's Soul-Cutting Sword judged that the Monk had never spoken a lie from beginning to end; before a Buddha, no one can lie! Since Huangmu met the Monk, this ability of his has never been turned off, and he also secretly tested the Monk several times; only after confirming the Monk was not acting did he feel at ease!

Moreover, even Huangmu's advanced Observation Haki's future prediction never ceased; it can be said that Huangmu has already pushed everything he can do to the extreme……

There's no way; facing the Monk, an old monster contemporary with the Spirit King and the Five Great Noble Ancestors, even the slightest oversight could lead to a capsizing.

"Since you've already made your choice, let's begin!"

The Monk spoke, and his pair of scarlet pupils suddenly turned pale; in an instant, the entire Detached Palace of the Monk began to tremble.

Half a moment……

"Is it starting now?!"

Huangmu looked at his body, which showed no change at all, and asked the Monk.

"That Huangmu brother, could you first take off your waist-worn Soul-Cutting Sword? With that sword present, I cannot properly initiate the trial……"

Upon hearing this, the Monk's expression showed a hint of embarrassment; without a doubt, this is the most embarrassing and humiliating day for him in the past century or so of serving as the Spirit King's guardian in Soul Society.

"Here."

Huangmu without hesitation removed his waist-worn Soul-Cutting Sword and handed it to the Monk.

"Don't hand that sword to me; just place the sword on the table!"

The Monk gazed at the approaching "Medicine Master Glass Light" and beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Good……"

Seeing that the Monk dared not receive it, Huangmu backhandedly placed the sword on the wooden table.

"This Huangmu fellow is still testing me even now……"

The Monk looked at the Soul-Cutting Sword on the table, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; just now Huangmu suddenly placed the sword before him, which really startled him greatly. At the same time, the Monk understood that Huangmu was still testing him, causing the Monk to silently curse Huangmu as "too cunning" and "too cautious", clearly about to gain an advantage yet still threatening him here.

"'Chill' he, the Monk, is actually a great guy!"

"Then the trial begins!"

As the Monk's words fell, Huangmu's surroundings suddenly became different……

In the blink of an eye, he went from the original room to a secluded path; at the end of the path stood a red torii gate.

"Huh?!"

Huangmu stared at the scene before him, frozen in place; this was completely unlike what his future foresight had shown, in other words, the stature of this power far surpassed his Observation Haki.

"This is……"

Huangmu gazed at the familiar path before him, his pupils twitching slightly; in an instant he suddenly understood everything about the Monk.

"Damn! Fake Monk, are you trying to make me a substitute for the Spirit King?!"

Huangmu's pupils contracted slightly; he originally thought the Monk intended to forcibly forge for him the 'King's Key' and create the 'Detached Palace', forcing him to join the Zero Division……

But when Huangmu arrived at this path, he only then realized that the Monk's scheme was greater than he had imagined.

The other party indeed intended to help him cultivate, to make him stronger—no doubt! Moreover, every word the other party spoke to Huangmu was not false; he genuinely wanted to help Huangmu become stronger, and also genuinely wanted Huangmu to gather the scattered Spirit King fragments back together……

But the Monk left some things unsaid……

Inside the Detached Palace of the "Eye Monk".

"Having a beginning but no end, name withered and soundless! The surge of the clouds' abyss arises in reverse, pouring fullness into the vessel of emptiness; the pitiful wielder of the non‑action vessel, subdued by weight, turns to stone; stone shatters into gravel and sand, struck by rain becomes flying dust; non‑vessels have no way to escape, yet without entering there is no path of worship; ultimately, the dying things chant its name—'Do not enter the path'!"

The "Fake Monk" sat in his own Detached Palace, holding a scroll and reciting the poem above; his eyes bore a hint of solemnity, his demeanor exceedingly "solemn" and "reverent".

"Hey! Ichibē, the thing you asked me to bring I've already brought~"

Just as the Monk held the scroll, as if paying homage to something, sitting cross‑leged chanting the 'scripture', a voice came from behind him: the "Sword God" Ermaiwu Wangyue.

"Oh dear, really troubling you, Wangyue!"

The Monk turned to look at the arriver, revealing a faint smile.

"Ichibē, are we really supposed to do this?!"

Wangyue held a Soul-Cutting Sword in his hand; if you look closely, you can still faintly see a few drops of seawater staining the scabbard of the sword he grips.

"This is our mission!"

The Monk said, taking the Soul-Cutting Sword from Wangyue's hand.

"Wangyue, remember that we members of the Zero Division are eternally loyal to the Spirit King; in other words, whoever is the Spirit King, we loyalty to them!"

The Monk said, taking the Soul-Cutting Sword he had received from Wangyue, he walked up to Huangmu's Soul-Cutting Sword "Medicine Master Glass Light King Buddha·Eastern Pure Glass World".

The Monk indeed knows some secrets unknown to the people of Soul Society; he has also received fragmentary words about the future from the Spirit King's mouth; the problem is he doesn't know who will win! Therefore the Monk had no choice but to take a dark and treacherous path……

The monk indeed knew some secrets that the people of the Soul Society did not know, and he had also obtained a few fragmentary words about the future from the mouth of the "Spirit King"; the problem was he did not know who would win! Therefore the monk had no choice but to take a dark and vicious path…

Huā Mù said, "Let me take a good look at your potential! You absolutely must not disappoint me……"

The monk said, throwing the Soul-Cutting Sword in his hand onto the "Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light".

"Self Self Snake Self Ba" today I will lift the restriction on you and return your true name!

All right! Soul-Cutting Sword not under my control! Let me see your true power……

The monk laughed, thoroughly lifting the seal on the Soul-Cutting Sword in his hand that had its power drained and was named "Self Self Snake Self Ba".

Heh……

On the secluded little path where the monk and Wang Yue failed to notice, Huā Mù's mouth curled slightly.

Third Vow: "May I, upon attaining Buddhahood in my future life, with boundless wisdom and expedient means……"

Huā Mù's Observation Haki indeed did not see the future obscured by the Spirit King, but the ability granted to him by his soul's half, the Soul-Cutting Sword, and the wisdom bestowed by the Medicine Master's Third Vow allowed him to have long ago deduced all possible ways the false monk could help him.

Furthermore, Huā Mù's motive was not only to plot the Spirit King's power; he also intended to seize the power known as the Hollow-eater, Self Self Snake Self Ba, which, like You Ha Ba He over a thousand years ago, disturbed the Soul Society as a Great Hollow……

The sugar coating that the monk who thought he controlled everything threw was eaten clean bite by bite by Araki, and the artillery shell Araki just threw it back at him!

It is worth mentioning that, according to the original text of the official novel, after the battle with Yiji Siji Ba and the heroic Yamamoto Zhongguo, whose face still retained a hint of youth, and the other soul reapers, it directly states that he attempted to devour the Spirit King and fought up into the sky, and then was finished off by the Blade God and the monk. Here Yamamoto uses Yamamoto Zhongguo without Yuan Liuzhai, so Yiji Siji Ba's invasion must have been at least two thousand years ago. Moreover, it never says Yamamoto was defeated; it is possible that at that time Yamamoto and his companions, like Bailer Gang, could not move the peak-period Yiji Siji Ba and could only watch him act recklessly, but the young Yamamoto certainly suffered a loss at the hands of Yiji Siji Ba. Of course, these are merely my speculation; readers can just take a look.

(End of Chapter)