A few days later, Mirai once again took out the original manuscripts of The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth and The Killer of Meteor City from the secret compartment in his room.
The moment he touched the pages, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The "resonance spiritual power" gathered on the manuscript was incredibly vast.
It far exceeded the amount from the past half month and was even comparable to the total amount he had collected over the last two years!
"It seems... the effect of publishing not just a single volume is truly extraordinary," he whispered to himself.
Without any hesitation, he covered the pages with his palm.
Warm spiritual power flowed steadily along his arm and into the depths of his soul.
He could clearly feel the barriers of his spiritual pressure. They trembled under the constant waves of energy, being widened and strengthened over and over.
However, when the last bit of spiritual power was fully absorbed, Mirai slowly opened his eyes and frowned slightly.
It still wasn't enough...
His spiritual rank remained at Level 6—right at the upper limit. He was still only one step away from crossing that final threshold.
Level 5 spiritual power was the minimum standard for someone to serve as a 3rd Seat or even a Lieutenant. It was the start of a fundamental change.
The story of The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth had been serialized for too long. Plus, with the two-week break, all the resonance it could create had already happened.
Even for the most loyal readers, the emotional response from reading the same thing over and over would gradually fade away.
To break through this barrier, he needed a stronger and more essential "spiritual power seed" as a catalyst.
At the very least, he needed resonance from a Captain-level figure.
He hid the exhausted manuscript of The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth and took out the other manuscript—The Killer of Meteor City.
Unlike the warm light of The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth, the spiritual power on this cover was ink-black and constantly swirled and churned.
He flipped to the first page. The words of the preface poem had turned as red as fresh blood, as if they had just been written. It gave off a heart-stopping feeling.
Seeing this, Mirai gave the little chubby guy a thumbs up in his heart.
Marechiyo Ōmaeda... his ability to get things done was terrifying!
The man had immediately assigned twenty printing lines. In just five days, ten thousand hardcover copies of The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth filled the market.
Then he immediately switched the production lines and worked at full capacity to print one hundred thousand copies of The Killer of Meteor City. More than half had already been sold.
Everything was exactly as Mirai had predicted. The Loneliness and Arrogance of a Genius Youth had done its job perfectly as a price anchor and a brand standard.
Because the first printing had stopped, the second-hand price had been pumped up to 4,000 Kan per book. The price doubled in just a few days, which was a financial miracle.
When The Killer of Meteor City hit the market with its bloody and sharp vibe, it immediately caused a massive buying craze.
Some minor nobles even tried to hoard the books to drive up the price, buying a huge number of copies at once.
"Heh, how naive," Mirai sneered inwardly.
The Killer of Meteor City was made for the general public. As soon as those one hundred thousand copies were gone, more would be printed immediately.
Did they really think they could get rich off this? The market would soon teach them a lesson.
Mirai focused his mind. He held the manuscript of The Killer of Meteor City with both hands and slowly closed his eyes.
In the next moment, the ink-black spiritual power on the cover poured wildly into his body through his palms!
The blood-red words of the poem on the page turned into a bloody mist. It had a strong smell of rust as it entered his nose!
"Ugh...!"
A violent shock immediately swept through his entire body!
It was not a gentle, warm current. Instead, it felt like countless grains of sand mixed with ice shards, roughly scraping across his spiritual veins!
It came with fragments of strong negative emotions—violence, despair, and a crazy desire to kill—which constantly attacked his soul.
Absorbing this spiritual power, which was mostly made of negative emotions, was not a pleasant process at all.
Mirai clenched his teeth hard. The veins on his forehead bulged as he forced himself not to cry out in pain.
But at the same time, the unbreakable barrier of Level 6 spiritual power finally made a clear "crack" sound under the impact of this wild power!
"Boom—!"
A spiritual pressure several times stronger than before exploded out of his body uncontrollably.
It instantly formed a small spiritual power storm. Papers in the room flew everywhere, and the furniture creaked and groaned!
However, this explosion only lasted for a second. Mirai immediately used his strong willpower to force the leaking spiritual pressure back into his body!
Everything became quiet again.
Mirai slowly opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed in them for a moment before disappearing.
He gently clenched his fist. He felt the new power surging inside him, along with a feeling of being "broken out of the shell" on a soul level. He felt light and powerful.
Level 5 spiritual power!
Finally... he had crossed this dividing line!
A smile appeared on his face.
He hid the manuscript of The Killer of Meteor City and took a heavy bag of money from the cupboard.
Inside was his first share of the profits—a full 80,000 Kan!
This was only the beginning! Once the later payments were settled, the profits would grow even faster!
"From today on, Spiritual Sake? I'll buy two bottles at once! I'll drink one... and save the other for tomorrow!"
He felt the weight of the money bag and happily pushed open his door. He started walking toward the shopping street.
Looking up, he felt the moon tonight was extra bright and round, as if it were also celebrating for him.
Meanwhile, in the Squad 11 barracks, at the training ground.
"Hahaha! Didn't you eat? Your punches are soft!" A bold and loud voice echoed across the field.
The Captain of Squad 11, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, was standing in the center. He carried the name "Kenpachi," the symbol of being the "strongest" in the Gotei 13.
He was tall and muscular, but his face and vibe were surprisingly cheerful and friendly, like a big brother next door.
You couldn't feel any malice from him as he laughed and guided his members through a brutal practice session.
"Cap... Captain... I really can't go on..."
"My bones... my bones are going to fall apart..."
Exhausted members were lying all over the ground. Every one of them had a bruised face and was groaning in pain.
"Hey, hey, you're falling down already? When you're out on a mission, the Hollows won't show you any mercy!"
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi stood with his hands on his hips. His tone was teasing, but he didn't sound like he was blaming them.
Even though the members on the ground were saying they were finished, they still clenched their teeth and struggled to stand back up.
This was the spirit of Squad 11. Under a strong and gentle leader like Kuruyashiki Kenpachi, the members actually showed more fighting spirit.
"Captain Kuruyashiki."
A calm voice came from the edge of the training ground.
Lieutenant Ashido stood there. He was holding a novel with a dark and sharp cover—The Killer of Meteor City.
"Hmm? Ashido, what's the matter?" Kuruyashiki Kenpachi turned his head.
"Have you seen this book?" Ashido showed him the cover.