Lu Ming felt profoundly awkward.
He had previously asked Wu Xiangnan to help him test the power of his Zanpakuto, never expecting that right after he released Senbonzakura, Chen Muye would return.
To make matters worse, a classic case of friendly fire occurred—under the influence of Chen Muye’s power, Senbonzakura took the initiative and attacked him.
Although no actual harm was done, attacking the captain before even officially joining the squad was undeniably out of line.
Well…
hopefully no real harm was done?
Lu Ming looked at Chen Muye’s tattered clothes and cloak, trying to maintain a calm facade.
Regardless, he had already resigned himself to whatever happened.
…
“Captain, that is the general situation regarding Lu Ming.
The power of his Forbidden Realm seems to originate from this katana.
However, as I just mentioned, this Forbidden Realm known as Senbonzakura can only be used when the blade is in Lu Ming’s hands.” “According to Lu Ming, it seems to be because he is the proxy of this blade…” Wu Xiangnan explained everything he knew to Chen Muye.
Off to the side, Si Xiaonan and Wen Qimo fell silent, mentally gauging Lu Ming’s power level.
“Vice Captain Wu, um, could you please not get it wrong?
This is a Zanpakuto—a Soul Slayer Blade, okay?” Lu Ming waved Senbonzakura in his hand.
His Zanpakuto was far superior to the Nightwatch’s Starblades.
Sure, Starblade sounded cool, but his Zanpakuto was pretty awesome too.
Wu Xiangnan adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and cast a silent side-glance at Lu Ming.
Lu Ming instantly shut his mouth.
Having just attacked the captain of the Nightwatch squad, he currently held zero bargaining power in this room.
[An agent for a Forbidden Object?
So a Forbidden Realm activated through a Forbidden Artifact?
If Xiangnan says so, he must have tried using it himself.] Chen Muye rested his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers in front of his mouth as he mulled over the information provided by Wu Xiangnan.
This information was crucial, and it somewhat upended his existing knowledge.
[An unknown Forbidden Realm, Senbonzakura…
a proxy of a Forbidden Object…
a Zanpakuto…] [That name, Zanpakuto, sounds a bit familiar.
Doesn’t the Baili family have a Forbidden Object called the Soul-Severing Blade that can directly attack the soul?
Soul Slayer, Soul Severing…
are these two blades related?] [Still, I’ve never heard of the Soul-Severing Blade’s Forbidden Realm selecting any proxy.
Only gods choose proxies—how could a Forbidden Object choose one?] [Could this Zanpakuto share traits with a god?
How could that be?
It must just be some special ability inherent to this Forbidden Object.] Chen Muye fell into deep thought, and silence held the room captive.
Lu Ming completely gave up trying to look dignified.
He shifted from standing to slumping back into the sofa.
Although he wanted to join the Nightwatch, he wasn’t set on Squad 136 specifically.
If Chen Muye really rejected him over that accidental attack, he would just look for another path.
Still, based on what he knew of Chen Muye—a captain who had silently guarded Cangnan City for ten years—he wouldn’t hold a grudge over a moment of embarrassment.
Seeing Lu Ming’s posture change, Hongying found it secretly amusing.
[He was so calm in front of Xiangnan earlier, but now in front of the captain, he looks a bit nervous.
Though I suppose that’s how a normal high schooler should act.] Hongying assumed Lu Ming was intimidated by Chen Muye’s presence.
In reality, Lu Ming just felt awkward about having inadvertently beaten up someone else’s captain right off the bat.
If he joined the Nightwatch in the future, they would be seeing each other every day, so he needed to build up some psychological fortitude first.
“Lu Ming, can this Forbidden Object of yours—this Zanpakuto—harm souls?” Chen Muye’s question caught both Lu Ming and Wu Xiangnan off guard.
Lu Ming hesitated slightly.
“Uh…
probably?” Lu Ming wasn’t entirely sure either, but Zanpakuto were weapons from the Soul Society; harming souls shouldn’t be a difficult task for one.
He was a bit curious why Chen Muye cared about this point.
“Then it must be a Forbidden Object of the same nature as the Baili family’s Soul-Severing Blade.
It’s also possible that it encountered another Forbidden Realm later on, mutating and fusing into this Forbidden Realm named Senbonzakura.” Chen Muye voiced his theory about the Zanpakuto, and realization suddenly dawned on the others.
As expected of the captain—so knowledgeable and experienced!
Hongying, Si Xiaonan, and Wen Qimo nodded repeatedly.
After all, the idea of becoming a proxy for a Forbidden Object sounded pretty unreliable.
Leng Xuan and Zhao Kongcheng did not possess Forbidden Realms and lacked deep knowledge of them, so they had no doubts about Chen Muye’s words.
Only Wu Xiangnan’s brow furrowed slightly upon hearing Chen Muye’s guess.
He had heard of the Soul-Severing Blade, yet he felt that the Zanpakuto in Lu Ming’s hands bore little resemblance to it.
The Zanpakuto in Lu Ming’s hand gave him the feeling of an independent, self-contained system.
Just as this doubt formed in his mind, he heard Lu Ming’s reply.
“Captain, my Zanpakuto isn’t related to that so-called Soul-Severing Blade…” “Just now, Vice Captain Wu said that the power of Senbonzakura’s Forbidden Realm comes from both me and this Zanpakuto.
That’s true—a Zanpakuto can only unleash the power of a Forbidden Realm when it finds the right person.” Lu Ming slowly unsheathed Senbonzakura, revealing a glint of the blade.
The light reflecting off the steel dazzled the room.
Then, everyone present heard words that shook them to their core.
“As for my actual Forbidden Realm, it’s quite simple: I forge Zanpakuto!” Chen Muye, Wu Xiangnan, Hongying…
Wen Qimo, Zhao Kongcheng, Leng Xuan…
All six stared blankly at Lu Ming.
A Zanpakuto was a Forbidden Object.
Aside from the Baili family—the premier clan in Daxia—no one had ever heard of anyone capable of forging or replicating Forbidden Artifacts.
Squad 136 possessed a replica named Little Zhanbai, copied from the Baili family’s Zhanbai.
Though not as formidable as the original, it was already a rare and prized weapon.
And now, Lu Ming wasn’t talking about copying Forbidden Artifacts—he was talking about *forging* them?
“Lu Ming…
you possess the ability to forge Forbidden Artifacts?!” Chen Muye slammed his hands onto the table and stood up abruptly, his face filled with shock.
Wu Xiangnan frowned deeply, disbelieving.
Hongying’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment.
Zhao Kongcheng nearly leaped out of his skin.
He had no idea Lu Ming possessed such an ability!
He had always thought Senbonzakura *was* Lu Ming’s Forbidden Realm!
[This kid told me Senbonzakura was his Forbidden Realm.
Then in front of Wu Xiangnan, he revealed part of the truth—that Senbonzakura is a Forbidden Realm used jointly by him and the Zanpakuto!
And now, only before the captain does he reveal his true Forbidden Realm ability?] [Is this kid really that cautious?
But is this truly Lu Ming’s actual ability?] As the first person to come into contact with Lu Ming, Zhao Kongcheng felt that Lu Ming might still have other trump cards hidden away.
Perhaps only when facing heavyweights would all his secrets be forced out?
Zhao Kongcheng knew his suspicion lacked concrete proof, but for some reason, he felt deep down that this was exactly the case…