*Are there countless Asauchi inside waiting for me?* Lu Ming pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to fall into empty air, just as he had anticipated.
When he regained his footing, he found that the area wasn’t a pitch-black room as he had imagined, nor were there countless human-shaped Asauchi waiting for him.
He was inside the cliff itself.
Water cascaded like waterfalls from all around, flowing into surrounding channels and back out, creating a continuous loop.
“Is this the God of the Sword’s forge?” Looking at the familiar sight, Lu Ming realized this was where Oetsu Nimaiya, the God of the Sword, forged Ichigo Kurosaki’s Zanpakuto.
Except now, the space contained only a cold forging stone platform, along with a fire starter, a whetstone, a chisel, a hammer, and a pair of tongs…
[Phoenix Palace privileges unlocked!] The instant the voice sounded, Lu Ming felt a connection form between himself and this floating island.
He had become the master of Phoenix Palace.
Simultaneously, a link formed between him and the tools before him: the fire starter, whetstone, chisel, hammer, and tongs.
“I see!” Lu Ming walked over to the tools, picking them up one by one as he muttered: “Zanpakuto: Mera Suimashima.” “Zanpakuto: Tokie Toikawa.” “Zanpakuto: Nomi Hashinonomiya.” “Zanpakuto: Tsumichiko Kiridani.” “Zanpakuto: Hasuka Hasuhara.” Every tool before him was a Zanpakuto.
Together, they comprised the Sword God’s Royal Guard—his finest assistants for forging Zanpakuto.
Lu Ming could sense the sleeping souls within the five Zanpakuto, though with his current strength, he couldn’t materialize them into human form.
With these five forging tools, he possessed the ability to forge Zanpakuto.
However, Lu Ming was in no rush to use them.
He discovered that his consciousness was linked to two other Zanpakuto.
Setting down the tools, he walked into another room.
“Sayafushi!” Inside a tank filled with gelatinous liquid, a single Zanpakuto lay peacefully at rest.
This Zanpakuto was considered a failed creation by the God of the Sword, who jokingly called it “the blade that would put sword sharpeners out of business.” But Lu Ming knew that Sayafushi possessed supreme sharpness and smoothness—a blade that would never dull or break, and couldn’t even be stained by blood.
When held tight and kept vertical, it could even slice through high-density spiritual attacks.
It was deemed a failure only because its characteristics made it impossible to forge a proper sheath…
Yet this purely sharp Zanpakuto was, in reality, the purest weapon Nimaiya had ever forged.
Lu Ming fished Sayafushi out of the liquid.
As Sayafushi’s sharpness was revealed for the first time, bursts of cold air made his hair stand on end.
This Sayafushi was the most suitable weapon for him right now.
A sharpness capable of cutting through everything—simple, brutal, and direct!
The corners of Lu Ming’s mouth turned up slightly as he turned to leave.
As for the other Zanpakuto connected to his mind, Lu Ming knew he lacked the power to control it for now.
“Ikomikidomoe…
I’ll pick you up one day.” Lu Ming calmly left the room and returned to the stone platform.
He now possessed a Zanpakuto, giving him basic self-preservation capability in this world of *Zhanshen*.
Next, he needed to learn how to forge new Zanpakuto.
Forging Zanpakuto and unleashing their power in this world was a major reason he chose Phoenix Palace.
Now that he was here, shouldn’t he at least make up for the regrets he had felt when reading the story?
If he could survive and help those who weren’t supposed to die keep living, wouldn’t that be great?
At this moment, he had become the God of the Sword in the Soul King Palace.
He possessed immense confidence that he could bring the Zanpakuto of the *Bleach* world into this world of *Zhanshen*.
Still, something seemed to be missing in Phoenix Palace.
“I have the tools to forge, but where do I get the raw materials for a Zanpakuto?” Lu Ming wasn’t one to overcomplicate things.
Standing in the middle of the empty chamber, he asked aloud.
A moment later, the voice echoed in his mind again.
[Forging an Asauchi requires the soul of a Soul Reaper.
One soul remains in Phoenix Palace.
You must seek out any remaining raw materials yourself in the future.] As the voice faded, an orb of white energy coalesced atop the cold stone platform.
Lu Ming narrowed his eyes.
He knew this was a Soul Reaper’s soul—the essential raw material for forging a Zanpakuto.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the fire starter.
The forging memories belonging to Phoenix Palace surged into his mind.
“Mera Suimashima, breathe fire!” “Hasuka Hasuhara, hold it steady!” “Tsumichiko Kiridani, strike!” Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Inside the cold forge, long-dormant forging flames burst into life once again.
This was Lu Ming’s first time forging a Zanpakuto, yet he held absolute confidence that he would not fail.
Time ticked by.
Within the flames of the forge, an Asauchi gradually took shape.
Lu Ming panted heavily.
The very first Zanpakuto born in this world of *Zhanshen* had finally come into existence…
“Heh…
Let this world witness a different kind of cherry blossom.” Overwhelming exhaustion washed over him.
As the Zanpakuto was completed, Lu Ming’s strength was entirely drained.
Inside the dream Soul King Palace, he fell into a deep sleep.
…
“Lu Ming!
Lu Ming!
You dare sleep in my class?
Where were you running around wild last night?” A flurry of noise erupted around him.
Lu Ming opened his heavy eyelids to find the teacher standing beside his desk, glaring angrily down at him.
“Teacher, I…
I…” Lu Ming immediately sat up straight, trying to explain.
“I, I, I what…” “Go stand in the back!” Lu Ming felt utterly embarrassed.
Under the curious gazes of his classmates, he resignedly picked up his textbook and walked to the back of the classroom, standing beside the blackboard.
Even though he was now the Agent of the Soul King, he still had to stand in punishment like a good student.
Perhaps because Lu Ming’s sleeping had been so blatant, even Lin Qiye, sitting in the front row with a black ribbon over his eyes, subconsciously turned his head back toward Lu Ming.
Sensing Lin Qiye’s curious gaze, Lu Ming looked up and flashed him a friendly grin.
*Gotta build up favorability with the protagonist!* Lin Qiye was startled by the unexpected response and hastily turned back around.
*This guy is kind of weird.* Quiet restored itself to the classroom, leaving only the teacher’s voice echoing across the room.
“All around Daxia…
the fog remains…” “The day the mist appeared…
September third of every year…
Survival Day.”