Watching the Soul Hall Elders scatter in different directions to escape, Xiao Feng sneered,
"Trying to run? Naïve!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
With a mere thought, four invisible shadow clones shot out from Xiao Feng's body. These clones, controlling his Indestructible Dharma Body, swiftly pursued Elder Mu Gu and the others.
The true power of Rinnegan: Limbo—Border Jail lay in its ability to create shadow clones that perfectly replicated the user's current state.
For example, in the original anime, when Uchiha Madara became the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, the clones he summoned through Limbo—Border Jail also possessed the same transformation.
Thus, when Xiao Feng activated his Indestructible Dharma Body, his shadow clones retained the same formidable form.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Before Elder Mu Gu and his allies could escape the Soul Mountains, Xiao Feng's shadow clones caught up and swatted them down like flies.
While the clones took care of Elder Mu Gu's group, Xiao Feng massacred the remaining Soul Hall enforcers and servants within the sub-hall. At the same time, he absorbed all the imprisoned soul bodies into the Hueco Mundo.
After looting the sub-hall of all soul bodies and treasures, Xiao Feng wasted no time lingering in the Soul Mountains. Transforming into a streak of golden light, he fled at top speed.
Not long after he departed, a terrifying aura descended upon the area, at least at the level of a Half-Saint.
Luckily, Xiao Feng understood the importance of knowing when to retreat. Otherwise, he would have been caught by the Soul Hall's powerful enforcers.
After escaping hundreds of thousands of miles from the Soul Mountains, Xiao Feng found a secluded cave to settle in and assess his spoils.
There's an old saying: "Those who kill and loot wear gold belts; those who build bridges and pave roads die without graves."
Destroying just one Soul Hall sub-hall had made Xiao Feng immensely rich—far beyond what ruling the Black-Corner Region could offer.
Setting aside everything else, just Elder Mu Gu's personal collection alone rivaled the treasury of the Supreme Alliance.
After all, Elder Mu Gu was an eighth-tier alchemist with a prestigious status in the Soul Hall. His storage ring contained numerous priceless spiritual medicines.
Beyond the valuable treasures, what truly delighted Xiao Feng was the massive number of soul bodies he had acquired.
Among them, five were at the Dou Venerate level, over ten at the Dou Ancestor level, and more than a hundred at the Dou King level, alongside countless lower-ranked soul bodies.
With Elder Mu Gu and the others forcibly converted into Arrancars, the Espada army underwent a massive reshuffling.
Weaker members, like Han Feng, were directly expelled from the Espada ranks.
Soon, a new Espada lineup was formed. The top five Espada, led by Elder Mu Gu, were all Dou Venerable-level Arrancars.
Meanwhile, ranks six to ten consisted of warriors ranging from eight-star Dou Ancestors to peak Dou Ancestors.
After fully subjugating Elder Mu Gu and his group, Xiao Feng extracted detailed intelligence regarding the Soul Hall's inner workings.
The Soul Hall was divided into two main divisions: the Heavenly Fiend Hall and the Earthly Fiend Hall.
The sub-hall that Elder Mu Gu had been guarding belonged to the Earthly Fiend Hall.
Across the entire Central Plains, there were a total of twenty-four Earthly Fiend Halls, each guarded by five Dou Venerable elders and ten Dou Ancestor enforcers.
Although Xiao Feng had long known the Soul Hall was powerful, he was still shocked by their overwhelming strength.
Take the legendary Four Pavilion Alliance, for example. Even after the recent resurrection of Yao Lao, they only had five Dou Venerable powerhouses.
Compared to the Soul Hall, the Four Pavilion Alliance was nothing more than a joke—completely insignificant.
And above the Earthly Fiend Hall, there was the even stronger Heavenly Fiend Hall.
The Heavenly Fiend Hall was divided into three branches: Heaven Hall, Earth Hall, and Human Hall.
The Heaven Hall served as the Soul Hall's headquarters, personally overseen by the Hall Master, Hun Miesheng, whose strength had reached the early stage of Five-Star Dou Saint.
The Earth Hall was managed by the Soul Hall's Vice Hall Master. Though not as strong as Hun Miesheng, he was still a terrifying Three-Star Dou Saint.
The weakest of them all, the Human Hall, was jointly led by the Grand Heavenly Elder and Second Heavenly Elder.
The Grand Heavenly Elder was a peak One-Star Dou Saint, while the Second Heavenly Elder, known as Bone Ghost Saint, was a high-level Half-Saint.
In all honesty, with Xiao Feng's current strength, unless he used a cataclysmic weapon like the Dimensional Foil, storming the Heavenly Fiend Hall was nothing short of suicidal.
Thus, for now, he set his sights on the Earthly Fiend Hall instead.
According to Elder Mugu's intel, the strength of the Earthly Fiend Halls varied significantly.
The sub-hall that Elder Mugu had overseen was one of the weakest among them, without even a single Heavenly Elder-level powerhouse.
In the Soul Hall's hierarchy, Heavenly Elders referred to those who had reached Five-Star Dou Venerable or higher.
The top nine Heavenly Elders were each more formidable than the last.
Even the weakest among them, the Ninth Heavenly Elder, possessed the strength of a peak Seven-Star Dou Venerate.
Xiao Feng was confident in defeating the Ninth Heavenly Elder, but he wasn't sure if he could kill him instantly.
If he got entangled in battle and Soul Hall's Dou Saints rushed to reinforce, things would get tricky.
Thus, any Earthly Fiend Hall with a Heavenly Elder in command was temporarily off Xiao Feng's hit list. Instead, he focused on targeting the weaker ones.
Before long, he selected his next target—an Earthly Fiend Hall located in the Western Region of the Central Plains.
However, Xiao Feng had no intention of striking immediately.
Having just annihilated one Earthly Fiend Hall, Soul Hall was bound to be on high alert.
For all he knew, their Dou Saints might have already set a trap, waiting for him to walk right in.
Xiao Feng decided to bide his time. He would wait a few months until Soul Hall's vigilance waned before making his next move.
—
Time flew by like a white steed passing through a crack—half a month had already slipped away.
After days of relentless research by hundreds of his shadow clones, Xiao Feng finally mastered the method of forging Asauchi.
However, Asauchi was merely the prototype of a Zanpakutō. To transform it into a true Zanpakutō, the wielder had to nurture it with their soul energy.
According to the original lore, Shinigami took years, or even decades, to cultivate an Asauchi into a proper Zanpakutō.
The stronger a Shinigami's spiritual pressure, the shorter the nurturing time—some could even accomplish it in mere days.
(End of Chapter)
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