c13: Evolution of Flash Thunder! Strange Spiritual Pressure
"Sonído!"
With a sharp cry, Ye Chuan vanished in a blur, reappearing hundreds of feet away behind the massive Gillian-class Menos, Jili'an.
Even with his towering form nearly 100 meters in height and over twenty meters long Ye Chuan's agility was anything but hindered. His centipede-like tail whipped forward in a spiral, coiling with violent force around Jili'an's skeletal legs.
Jili'an's pale-white feet reminiscent of ossified bones were caught in an instant. At that moment, Ye Chuan discharged his evolved Flash Thunder technique.
"Raiton!"
A furious arc of lightning surged along his tail, crackling violently as it delivered a searing current deep into Jili'an's limbs.
"GROOAAR!!"
The giant Hollow howled toward the dark skies of Hueco Mundo, its roar echoing through the Great Menos Forest. Ye Chuan glanced over his shoulder Jili'an's massive head had already twisted around, its jaw splitting open grotesquely, forming the beginning of a red-and-black Cero.
But Ye Chuan didn't falter. With a wrench of his tail, he yanked Jili'an's legs with brutal torque.
"GRRAAAH!!"
The towering Gillian lost balance, crashing to the white sand below with an explosive rumble.
BOOM!!
A shockwave burst outwards, crushing multiple obsidian-barked trees beneath the sheer weight of Jili'an's fall. The unstable Cero, still half-formed, detonated within his own maw, fracturing his mask and inner core.
Ye Chuan didn't miss a beat. With a whip of his tail, now glowing with honed thunderous Reiryoku, he summoned his evolved Raikōben a thunder whip forged from spiritual lightning and lashed downward, bisecting Jili'an's massive body from skull to torso.
Just like that, one of the stronger Gillians in the region Jili'an, who had once defeated a whole band of Adjuchas-class Hollows—was cleanly felled by Ye Chuan.
As the dust settled, Ye Chuan inspected the corpse. On the fallen Hollow's neck were jagged bone protrusions distinctively shaped. Ye Chuan immediately confirmed his earlier suspicion: the two sharp spines he had retrieved from the Chameleon-type Hollow previously did originate from Jili'an. He had unknowingly acquired parts of his current prey ahead of time.
He had once intended to craft the spines into twin blades post-evolution. But now that his spiritual density had far surpassed the early Adjuchas threshold, those weapons were obsolete. Instead, Ye Chuan summoned his unique ability Ghoul Soul and absorbed the bone spurs directly.
Raising his segmented tail, Ye Chuan activated his ghoul soul again. A burst of dark golden Reiryoku erupted from his stinger, spinning into a vortex that enveloped Jili'an's shattered core. Within seconds, it was split, refined, and consumed.
A wave of power surged into his body.
"So refreshing…"
He spread his arms wide, face contorting in pleasure. The infusion of spiritual energy enhanced his base stats dramatically his overall Reiryoku had spiked by at least 60–70%. He could feel the new density ripple through every fiber of his form.
Stretching luxuriously, Ye Chuan smirked to himself. "If I fought that same Jili'an again, I could kill him head-on, without tricks or ambush."
Still in the Gillian form, Ye Chuan hadn't yet breached the Adjuchas-class boundary. But the weaker, un-evolved intelligent Gillians no longer posed a threat. With his power, he could now stand against lower-tier Adjuchas alone, so long as they weren't grouped or led by a Vasto Lorde.
"And unless a Vasto Lorde appears…" Ye Chuan scoffed. "There's less than ten of them rumored in all of Hueco Mundo. My odds are good."
Moreover, with his advanced Reiatsu Suppression, Ye Chuan could now veil his presence so effectively that even Adjuchas or lower wouldn't detect him unless they were extremely close.
Buoyed by this confidence, he advanced deeper into the Great Menos Forest.
Unlike the barren sands above, this forest an endless sprawl of towering obsidian trees was full of dangers and nutrients alike. However, Ye Chuan couldn't burrow into the ground here as easily, since the sand layer was thinner than the forest canopy. Instead, he relied on his spiritual suppression and terrain navigation to evade stronger entities.
Along the way, Ye Chuan encountered numerous Gillians some mindless, others bordering on intelligence. He ambushed, killed, and absorbed them one by one. With his ghoul soul, he could absorb Reishi faster than traditional consumption, without leaving traces or risking counterattacks.
In Hueco Mundo, unrefined consumption was slow, inefficient, and dangerous. Spiritual bodies disintegrated quickly after death, and one could easily be ambushed mid-devouring.
Ye Chuan reveled in his advantage. "No middlemen. No risk. Just pure gains."
His next target appeared a rare, eel-like Hollow, slithering through the air with pulses of light-blue electricity. Its speed was impressive, but it leaked high-voltage energy proof of an advanced lightning-type Hollow.
Sensing a potential evolution in his Flash Thunder, Ye Chuan chased without hesitation.
This Hollow was quick even among Gillians, it surpassed the average. Ye Chuan used multiple Sonído bursts just to close the gap.
When he got in range, Ye Chuan cracked his thunder whip. The electric eel shot forward in a burst of blue light, covering nearly 100 meters but Ye Chuan's whip curved in mid-air, faster still, and brought it crashing down.
Ye Chuan closed in, bisecting the stunned eel with his tail before it could recover. Then, activating his soul again, he absorbed it swiftly.
Moments later, Ye Chuan's eyes opened. In his palm, lightning danced a new golden glow weaving into his Flash Thunder.
"As expected…"
A flicker of joy passed beneath his Hollow mask. His total Reiryoku hadn't increased much, but his control over Flash Thunder had transformed. The thunder whip was no longer an extension it felt like a new limb.
He could now stretch it, contract it, harden it, or make it dance with micro-adjustments all on instinct. The technique had fully merged with his Hollow physiology.
Just as Ye Chuan marveled at this breakthrough, he felt it.
A flicker so faint, it was almost imaginary.
A strange spiritual pressure. It vanished the moment it appeared, like a dying candle flame in wind.
Yet Ye Chuan knew instantly: this was no Hollow. It was cold, precise opposite in texture to the wild, fiery energy of Hollow Reiryoku.
"A… Shinigami?"
Frowning, he focused his senses and began moving toward the source. Whatever it was, it was weak either dying, or heavily suppressed.
After tracking it, Ye Chuan reached a towering tree unlike the others. At first, he found nothing. But then, he noticed a faint flow of Reiryoku near the roots. Stooping low, he discovered a narrow tree hollow.
It was barely visible from his height. With his lower body still coiled underground, Ye Chuan struggled to reach itfinally managing to extract two faintly glowing objects from the tree hollow.
"These are…?"
---