Chapter 76 - CHAPTER 76:In the Endless Darkness, the Only Singularity

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A single soft beep rang out, and Su Li's entire body shuddered. He had never heard anything so sweet. His hands trembled as he gently picked up his Zanpakutō, cradling it with reverence and care, even going so far as to hold his breath—as if handling a newborn life.

"Captain Su Li!" Matsumoto Rangiku's voice cut through the air as she arrived with several medical team Shinigami, rushing toward the scene.

"Shh!" Shimizu Jō hissed, waving his hands frantically with a panicked expression. "Don't speak! Captain Su Li is performing a solemn ritual—do not disturb him!"

Matsumoto stopped in her tracks, eyes widening in confusion. "A ritual?" she asked, lowering her voice.

The medics slowed as well, casting curious glances at Su Li.

Shimizu leaned in and whispered solemnly, "I've seen this posture before... it's a spirit-transcendence rite used by humans to guide the souls of the dead. I never imagined Captain Su Li would honor an enemy in this way." His voice trembled with emotion as he added, "To defeat a Hollow, and still choose to send its soul off properly… such compassion... it's humbling."

Rangiku and the others looked toward Su Li, their expressions changing to quiet awe. "To follow even the customs of this world... Captain Su Li is truly something else," she murmured.

The medics, now thoroughly respectful, began tending to Shimizu Jō's wounds with careful, hushed movements, avoiding even the faintest noise that could interrupt what they now viewed as a sacred act. The children, too, fell silent, eyes wide as they watched Su Li with innocent reverence.

Unaware that his quiet awe was being mistaken for a solemn ritual, Su Li stared intently at his Zanpakutō. Though the cracks were still there, the sword felt fundamentally different. It pulsed faintly in his grasp—not with reishi, but with life. It was no longer a lifeless tool. His Zanpakutō had awakened.

Excitement surged through him like lightning.

Suddenly, a massive burst of spiritual pressure exploded outward from his body. The gale-force reiryoku swirled with raw intensity, shaking the ground and howling like a typhoon.

The expressions of Matsumoto and the medics shifted instantly.

"Ahh! Brother, help!" a child screamed as the wind lifted him into the air.

"Jirō, grab my hand!" another shouted, voices lost in the storm.

Matsumoto acted without hesitation. Using the butt of her blade, she stamped quick spell marks on each child's forehead. Their bodies flickered, turning transparent as they were transported safely to Soul Society. She then performed Shunpo, flashing to Shimizu Jō's side and helping the medical team relocate him fifty meters away from the epicenter.

Only after all lives were safe did she dare exhale.

She turned to look back at Su Li. Her breath caught in her throat.

She had known his strength, but this was another level. The spiritual pressure alone was enough to force everyone back. No incantations, no attacks—just his presence. It was terrifying.

Thankfully, the torrent didn't last long. Su Li reined in the surge and returned to himself, slowly opening his eyes as the air calmed.

"Rangiku," he called out across the space, voice firm and commanding. "Secure the perimeter. I don't want anyone disturbing me."

Matsumoto nodded, serious and steady. "Understood, Captain Su Li."

From a distance, Shimizu Jō's face lit up with admiration. "He's incredible… to take even a simple crossing ritual that seriously… it's awe-inspiring. I swear I'll join the Second Division, no matter what. I won't rest until I do."

Su Li, focused solely on what came next, ignored the outside world. He sat cross-legged on the earth, laying his Zanpakutō gently across his lap. Slowly, he closed his eyes and sank deep into meditation.

The world around him faded. Sound disappeared. The colors bled into shadow. The warmth of the breeze and the weight of the body dissolved into nothing.

And then, darkness.

When Su Li opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the Human World. All around him stretched an endless black void. There was no floor beneath his feet, no stars overhead, no light on the horizon. There was no sound, not even an echo. Nothing. Just pure, all-consuming darkness.

Yet within this oppressive void, Su Li felt a thrill of anticipation. This was it. His first time inside the inner world of his Zanpakutō.

If the heart holds on, will it be heard?

If one never forgets—will there be an echo?

He took a deep breath and whispered, voice trembling from excitement and nerves, "Is… is anyone home?"

The void offered nothing in return. No response. Not even the sound of his own voice bouncing back.

Still, he wasn't discouraged. He knew it wouldn't come that easily.

Gathering resolve, he tried again—louder this time. "Hello?! Hello?! Is anyone here?!"

Silence.

He looked in every direction—left, right, up, down, behind and ahead. It was the same in all directions. A vast universe without form, without stars, without any sign of light or life.

He was a lone dot floating in a dead cosmos. An invisible speck of dust inside a world that had never known warmth or sound.

But Su Li refused to give up.

Picking a random direction, he flew forward—gliding endlessly into the dark. There was no path, but forward was still a choice. In such vast nothingness, forward always mattered.

He didn't know how long he flew—minutes, hours, maybe days. Time dissolved in this space. The longer he soared, the heavier the emptiness became. The cold was bone-deep now, biting into him, slowing his limbs. His skin grew pale, and his vision began to blur.

He longed for even a flicker of light—just a single spark to confirm that he wasn't entirely alone. Just one point of proof that this place had meaning.

His breath became shallow. His thoughts wandered. Was there really nothing here? Was the sound he heard earlier just an illusion? Was his blade truly dead?

Was this vast black all there was—this endless void without soul or spirit?

Just when despair began to take root in his heart, he stopped.

His eyes widened.

There, in the sea of endless black, something appeared—a faint, flickering point of light.

It was tiny. Minuscule. A single grain of glowing dust in a galaxy of shadows. Weak. Feeble. Easy to miss.

But unmistakably real.

The glimmer was the only light in the entire plane, and compared to the boundless void around it, its existence was fragile and small.

Yet it drew Su Li in like gravity.

Like the only drop of water in a desert.

Like the first star at the beginning of time.

Like the only singularity in a universe of chaos.

That single spark, so dim yet alive, cast warmth and breath back into this dead space. It offered hope. It made the void feel less infinite.

And Su Li, heart trembling and breath caught in his throat, felt himself pulled forward—completely, utterly captivated.

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