Within the Spiritual World.
The Vasto Lorde True Body looked at the stunningly beautiful sword spirit before him with a face full of curiosity.
She was the manifestation of soul power, a product of spirit particles from both the Vasto Lorde True Body and the human spirit body saturating the Zanpakuto.
He had imagined countless forms for his sword spirit, but he never expected it to be such a tall and beautiful woman.
Lin Huang was sizing up the sword spirit, and she was likewise scrutinizing him.
After a long while, the stunning woman, whose body was draped in a tassel-fringed long dress woven from broken mirrors and specks of Starlight, spoke in a melodious and lingering voice, as if it had traveled across a sea of stars:
"I greet my master."
The Zanpakuto sword spirit was essentially a reproduction of Lin Huang's human spirit body's soul power; strictly speaking, she was a part of himself.
Therefore, the sword spirit naturally knew everything about Lin Huang's situation. The moment she saw the Vasto Lorde True Body, she knew that both the human spirit body with its concentrated mind in the outside world and the Vasto Lorde before her were her masters.
Seeing this, the corners of Lin Huang's mouth curled up slightly:
"Since you recognize me, why not announce your true name?"
Hearing this, the stunning woman in the tassel-fringed dress of broken mirrors suddenly became ethereal, turning into countless shimmering shards that swirled around Lin Huang's Vasto Lorde True Body before reconsolidating behind him, gently embracing him from the back and whispering into his ear:
"My true name is..."
The stunning woman's dainty mouth parted slightly as her true name turned into a thought, flowing into Lin Huang's heart.
Simultaneously, in the Shino Academy dormitory, Lin Huang's human spirit body abruptly opened its eyes.
He went to the small courtyard outside the house as fast as possible, swung the Zanpakuto in his hand into the air, and chanted loudly:
"The Milky Way is vast, the profound mirror is bright—star abyss!"
As the release command fell, the originally ordinary-looking standard Zanpakuto in his hand instantly underwent a massive change.
The hilt turned into dark purple crystal, and at the guard, a spiritual snake carved from black iron coiled around it;
The blade became longer and more slender, and its material was no longer spirit steel, but had transformed into a crystal emitting an iridescent, seven-colored luster!
At this moment, the Zanpakuto was less a lethal weapon and more an exquisite work of art.
This was Lin Huang's Zanpakuto, star abyss.
This was a Kido-type Zanpakuto, but unlike the usual Kido-types with attributes like wind, thunder, water, or fire, it commanded the even more mysterious power of Starlight.
Lin Huang held the sword in one hand and swung it casually without applying any Reiatsu.
As the Starlight shining from the blade swept past, the bluestone-paved ground of the small courtyard was struck as if by an invisible blade, shattering with a bang!
This was one of star abyss's abilities, Starlight.
After Shikai, Lin Huang's Reiatsu, strength, speed, and reactions would all be buffed by the blade's Starlight.
With his initial level of Shikai mastery, the enhancement was still limited, around a twenty percent increase.
Meanwhile, under the coverage of the Starlight, both the sharpness of the Zanpakuto and the durability of the blade increased exponentially.
Furthermore, all the above gains would increase as his understanding and cultivation of the Zanpakuto deepened day by day.
Besides buffing himself, Starlight also possessed lethal power.
Everywhere the blade's Starlight shone would suffer invisible slashes.
Then, Lin Huang turned his wrist and shouted lightly:
"Starfall!"
In an instant, the crystal blade, as exquisite as a work of art, suddenly decomposed, turning into countless specks of dust shimmering with Starlight.
The dust and sand drifted like a galaxy, sweeping toward a half-person-high boulder by the pond.
With a faint sound of slicing, the boulder was instantly reduced to countless rice-sized fragments under the siege of the stardust!
Every speck of dust was an incomparably sharp, miniature sword.
However, in the next instant, the countless specks of Starlight dust immediately linked together, forming nets of Starlight with even greater cutting ability.
The pile of fragments that had already been reduced to rice-sized pieces was instantly sliced into a floor full of fine powder.
This was a variation of Starfall—All-Star Fall Kill!
Of course, the reason it only showed this much power was that Lin Huang had only invested the minimum amount of Reiatsu to test his Zanpakuto's abilities.
Otherwise, not to mention Lin Huang driving it with the terrifying Second-Rank middle-stage Reiatsu of his Vasto Lorde True Body, even if he used the Sixth-Rank Spirit Power of his Shinigami Body, it would be impossible for it to have only this much power.
However, what surprised Lin Huang the most was star abyss's third ability—Star Return.
With a thought, the stardust in the sky gathered once more, restoring the complete sword form.
Next, Lin Huang extended his left index and middle fingers and pointed:
"Hadō No. 4 - Byakurai!"
A bolt of pure white lightning, about the thickness of a baby's fist, erupted from his fingertip and shot toward the crooked tree in the courtyard.
Just as the Byakurai was about to hit the trunk, a shield made of Starlight and emitting a misty spiritual glow appeared out of thin air, completely absorbing the Byakurai.
A moment later, that same Byakurai was actually reflected back from the brilliant shield exactly as it was, striking directly at Lin Huang himself!
Lin Huang tilted his head slightly to dodge the Byakurai.
There was a "bang."
The Byakurai left a charred crater in the wall behind Lin Huang.
This was the effect of Star Return.
While Star Return was active, it could block and analyze all of an enemy's attacks, including slashes, Kido, and even various special abilities.
As long as the attacker's Reiatsu did not exceed Lin Huang's by more than double, Lin Huang could even return the opponent's attack exactly as it was.
If the attacker's Reiatsu far exceeded Lin Huang's own, although it could not be reflected, the defensive effect of Star Return would still exist.
Because the essence of Star Return was not to forcibly withstand damage, but to use the power of the stars to banish the damage caused by the opponent to another dimension.
However, this move placed an enormous burden on Reiatsu and physical stamina.
With Lin Huang's foundation of Sixth-Rank Spirit Power, a single Star Return could only be maintained for about 0.5 seconds, and he would be exhausted after performing it three times in a row.
But as long as Star Return was active, any damage could be resisted!
In other words, even as a human spirit body with Sixth-Rank Spirit Power, as long as he could release Star Return, even the ultimate move of Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni's Bankai Zanka no Tachi, Tenchi Kaijin, would be unable to cause any damage to Lin Huang within those 0.5 seconds of Star Return being active.
And this ability would also increase in duration and usage frequency as Lin Huang's synchronization with his Zanpakuto and his Reiatsu improved.
Furthermore, the best part about the Star Return ability was that he could apply a Star Return to himself in advance.
As long as this protection was not broken by external forces beforehand, even if the Zanpakuto had reverted to its asauchi form, this Star Return would act like an absolute insurance policy, continuously protecting him.
Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Huang's mouth turned up slightly.
Kyōka Suigetsu... seemed to no longer be so unsolvable.
He knew in his heart that with his current Reiatsu, it was basically impossible to reflect an attack launched by Aizen.
But the defensive essence of Star Return remained.
As long as he applied a Star Return to the surface of his body in advance, even if he encountered Aizen Sōsuke in the future...
If he were to use the ability of Kyōka Suigetsu on him without a sound, this preset Starlight barrier could also help him be exempt from Complete Hypnosis!