In that instant, all three faces in the room changed dramatically.
Ganju Shiba, the weakest of them, was slammed to the floor by the crushing reiatsu, struggling even to breathe.
"Damn it—what is this reiatsu?" Kūkaku Shiba said grimly.
Beside her, Yoruichi Shihōin's expression had gone pale.
She could tell—this reiatsu likely surpassed most of the Gotei 13 captains.
Yet it felt completely unfamiliar.
A figure surged from the nearby wreckage.
The house, shaking violently, finally shattered entirely—dissolving into a sky full of glowing reishi that rushed madly toward that figure.
The area became a vacuum zone stripped of reishi.
What shocked them even more was that reishi from every direction surged back in, pouring into the figure's body until the surroundings formed—
"Holy crap!" Kūkaku couldn't help exclaiming.
All of them stared, dumbfounded. They'd never seen anything like it—someone absorbing every reishi particle in an entire area in an instant.
Yoruichi glanced at Kūkaku with a teasing smile. "Kūkaku, who is this guy? Hiding a secret boyfriend in your house?"
Kūkaku rolled her eyes. "I don't know him at all, okay? Though with strength like that... not entirely off the table, I guess."
Ganju wanted to scream internally. How could these two still be joking at a time like this?
In truth, both Yoruichi and Kūkaku felt a chill of relief mixed with fear.
That reiatsu was terrifying—their opponent was clearly no pushover. If not for the commotion caused by the sudden reishi absorption, they wouldn't even have noticed an intruder in the house.
If he'd meant them harm, they might have been wiped out before they knew what hit them.
By then, sensing the reishi around him growing thin, Lin Xuan finally stopped absorbing.
After a moment's focus, he noticed an entirely new power flowing inside him—the spiritual energy of this world.
Lin Xuan nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad. At least it boosted my strength a little."
Then he noticed something was off. He looked around—
And realized he was standing in the middle of ruins.
Not far away, three people were staring at him, mouths agape.
"Guess I overdid it a bit," Lin Xuan said awkwardly, rubbing his nose.
He'd forgotten that most buildings in this world were made of reishi. In his enthusiasm, he'd accidentally absorbed someone's house.
Seeing Yoruichi and the others still staring, Lin Xuan raised a hand with an embarrassed laugh. "Ha ha—if I said I'm just a handsome guy passing through, would you believe me?"
Yoruichi and the others snapped back to their senses and immediately took defensive stances.
"Who are you?" Kūkaku shouted.
Kin and Gin, the two guards who'd been posted above, had been equally stunned when the house vanished.
Hearing their mistress's voice, they recovered and leaped down from the rim of the crater, blocking Lin Xuan's escape route.
"Don't get so heated. I told you—I was just passing through. Did a little cultivation and accidentally demolished your house," Lin Xuan explained.
Yoruichi, Kūkaku, and the others twitched at the corners of their mouths.
That was "a little cultivation"? If he'd been serious, would he have torn down the entire Rukongai?
Whoosh!
Yoruichi appeared behind Lin Xuan in a flash. A short blade pressed against his neck. "Enough talk.
Who are you really?"
"Impressive—the Flash Goddess Yoruichi of the Soul Society. I wonder who's faster—you, or Shisui with his Body Flicker?" Lin Xuan said with interest.
Yoruichi's pupils contracted sharply.
The Lin Xuan in front of her had vanished without a trace.
Then a voice came from behind her. "Don't be so hasty. I mean you no harm.
I came here to propose a partnership."
A chill ran down Yoruichi's spine. She hadn't seen how Lin Xuan got behind her at all.
In a real fight, she'd have taken serious damage at minimum.
But she didn't sense any killing intent. It seemed he genuinely had no intention of hurting her.
She used flash step again and reappeared beside Kūkaku, eyes locked on Lin Xuan. "A partnership?"
Kūkaku and Ganju didn't rush in either. They watched Lin Xuan warily, ready to fight at any moment.
"That's right. First, an introduction. My name is Lin Xuan—Guild Master of the Cross-Dimensional Guild."
Cross-Dimensional Guild?
Yoruichi and Kūkaku exchanged glances, confusion written across their faces.
They searched their memories for a long time but couldn't recall any organization by that name in the living world or the Soul Society.
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T/N:
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