Katori Nanatsuki had finally awakened his Quincy power.
The Status Interface had changed dramatically.
[Basic Ability (Quincy)]: Reishi Manipulation Lv1, Blut Vene Lv1, Blut Arterie Lv1, Hiryūkyaku Lv1
A new section had appeared under Basic Abilities—Quincy Attributes!
The Quincy and Shinigami Status Interfaces were quite different.
A Shinigami's Reiatsu came solely from within. But a Quincy, in addition to their own Reiatsu, could also manipulate external Reishi.
Reishi Manipulation was a fundamental ability innate to all Quincies.
This was how they controlled Reishi from their environment.
Its importance was on par with Reiatsu to a Shinigami.
Blut Vene and Blut Arterie were techniques that enhanced power by directly infusing Reishi into the Quincy's blood vessels.
Blut Arterie increased offensive power. Blut Vene improved defense.
Hiryūkyaku was the Quincy's high-speed movement technique. However, in most situations, it wasn't superior to Shunpo.
Since Nanatsuki already had a solid command of Shunpo, leveling up Hiryūkyaku wasn't a high priority.
Instead, he intended to focus on upgrading the first three skills.
He couldn't wait to test his new Quincy abilities—and the eyeball was still waiting for him outside.
He immediately exited the Inner World and returned to the bottom of Lake Yamaguchi.
"My Lord... it seems You have eliminated Yhwach's will..."
The voice of the eyeball echoed in his mind.
Once it had finished transmitting the Quincy power, it could no longer sense the trace of Yhwach's will inside Nanatsuki.
"It's already taken care of. I've awakened my Quincy power—thanks to your help!"
Nanatsuki smiled.
This harvest had been immense.
Without the eyeball's assistance, the Quincy power inside him might have taken decades—or even centuries—to fully form.
The bloodline extracted from Kurosaki Tsukiren using the Bloodline Extractor had suffered heavy loss. Only a minuscule amount of Quincy lineage had been gathered, and nurturing it would've taken considerable time.
While decades or centuries meant little to a Shinigami—stronger Reiatsu meant longer life—even if Nanatsuki stopped growing now, he'd still live another two to three thousand years.
But gaining the Quincy power earlier meant improving sooner.
Plus, he had now removed the risk of losing his power due Auswählen. There was no longer any threat of his Quincy power being reclaimed.
"To aid You... is My greatest honor... I am drained... I must rest for a time..."
"Remember... do not enter Hell... until You have surpassed the limits of a Shinigami..."
"That place... is the Lord of Hell's domain... He may sense the King's Shadow within You..."
The eyeball's voice grew softer.
"I won't go until I'm ready," Nanatsuki nodded lightly.
Even without the warning, he had no plans to enter Hell without preparation.
The eyelid of the eyeball began to close.
Nanatsuki noticed its golden iris had dimmed compared to before.
Transferring Quincy power had drained it significantly—not in terms of spiritual power, but like a human giving too much blood, it needed time to recover.
As its eye shut completely, the trench at the lakebed vanished. The molten flows resumed, bubbling gently.
Nanatsuki couldn't help but think the Soul King had a… unique aesthetic.
Curious about the magma, he unsheathed his Zanpakutō and scooped some up.
The lava on the blade's tip hardened into a dark grey stone the moment it left the current and met the cold lake water.
"So it's real magma... what a fascinating construction."
He had half-expected the lava to be part of the eyeball's body.
Nanatsuki now began testing his newly awakened Quincy abilities.
He focused, sensing the Reishi around him.
The difference from before was striking.
Previously, he could only perceive Reishi using spiritual sense. Now, he could actively manipulate it.
"Using my own Reiatsu to stir the surrounding Reishi..."
He stretched out his hand, attempting to gather a ball of Reishi in his palm.
A glowing blue sphere quickly formed, hovering above his hand.
However, most of the Reishi in the orb came from his own body. Only a small portion had been drawn from the environment.
'A Quincy's Reishi Manipulation is like a power amplifier when in a Reishi-rich zone… but my skill level is still too low—very inefficient.'
He wasn't surprised.
This was his first day as a Quincy. Of course the effects were still minor.
But this was a qualitative breakthrough—from nothing to something.
He dispersed the orb and glanced at his EXP bar.
There were still 30,000 General Ability EXP points left unused.
With a thought, he dumped them all into Reishi Manipulation.
[Reishi Manipulation Lv50 (0/1000)]
Just like his Shinigami skills, the early levels required little EXP.
Reishi Manipulation shot from Lv1 to Lv50 instantly.
And once it did, the difference was immediate.
He summoned another Reishi orb in his palm.
This time, Reishi from the environment gathered rapidly, forming a glowing blue sphere.
External Reishi was now far easier to control.
The orb in his palm now consisted mostly of environmental Reishi, not his own.
He had used only a sliver of his Reiatsu to stir the surrounding energy.
Before upgrading Reishi Manipulation, controlling ambient Reishi had felt like trying to carve ice with bare hands.
Now it was like scooping water from a river—effortless.
It was a huge leap in his ability to control Reishi.
Nanatsuki tried reshaping the orb.
His past training in Kidō and swordsmanship had already taught him how to mold spiritual energy.
Soon, the orb reshaped into the form of a spiritual bow.
Placing his left hand on the string, he conjured a Reishi arrow in an instant.
He released.
Whoosh—!
A massive turtle Hollow crossed the arrow's path and was instantly pierced through its shell.
"Decent speed. I'll have to ask Yoruichi when I'm back if the Shihōin family has any Quincy bows in their collection... Specialized equipment might boost arrow power."
Quincy bows were useless to Shinigami.
Most had been destroyed after the wars.
Still, some Shinigami nobles collected bows from powerful Quincy as trophies to show off their victories.
Nanatsuki noticed a new skill had appeared in his list:
[Heilig Pfeil (Mastery)]
The Reishi arrows fired by Quincies were known as Heilig Pfeil.
Nanatsuki had not only grasped the skill immediately—but had started with Mastery-level proficiency, skipping the beginner and adept ranks.
After all, shaping Reishi arrows was not unlike shaping a Reiatsu Blade.
The difference was that Quincies used external Reishi to form their arrows, while Nanatsuki had always formed his Reiatsu Blades from the Reishi inside his own soul.