Inner World
After the farce was over, Xu Fan returned straight to his room.
Although the process had been somewhat convoluted, he had obtained a scabbard.
The one he'd picked up from the corner was a traditional Japanese-style saya—simple in design, yet capable of properly protecting the blade.
Xu Fan sat cross-legged on the tatami mat, placed the shallow hit (Asauchi) across his lap, and slowly drew the blade from its sheath.
According to his understanding, whether or not an Asauchi could be awakened into a Zanpakutō depended entirely on the user's will.
Establishing contact this way might help him awaken it sooner.
However, the moment Xu Fan fully unsheathed the blade, the tatami beneath him, along with the floor, walls, and ceiling, began to decay rapidly—disintegrating into dust until they vanished completely.
"Where… am I?"
Xu Fan straightened up. To his surprise, the Asauchi in his hand had disappeared as well.
All around him stretched an endless desert.
This clearly wasn't the inn in the Land of Iron—it was a different, unfamiliar dimension.
"The inner world of the Zanpakutō…" he muttered.
He vaguely recalled how, in Bleach, the Shinigami protagonist Kurosaki Ichigo had entered his Zanpakutō's inner world during its awakening. There, under the guidance of Zangetsu, he discovered the true form of his blade and achieved Shikai.
But Xu Fan didn't feel trapped. He could tell—if he concentrated, he could leave at any time.
"Come to think of it, Zangetsu guided Ichigo when he first arrived in his inner world…"
Muttering to himself, Xu Fan looked around. The sky was a blazing blue without a cloud in sight, and the scorching sun beat down mercilessly. Other than the endless dunes of yellow sand, there was nothing.
"Is anyone there?"
He took a deep breath and infused Chakra into his voice, amplifying it across the desert.
The moment his words echoed out, the sand beneath his feet began to tremble.
"As expected…"
Xu Fan glanced down. The desert itself seemed to awaken—as if gaining self-awareness—and began to rise beneath him.
Although this was a spiritual plane, it hadn't stripped Xu Fan of his powers.
That meant he didn't need to hold back.
He unleashed his Chakra without restraint.
The shifting sand below him recoiled, twisting and contorting unnaturally.
"It's moving…"
Xu Fan frowned slightly. Before destroying this thing, he wanted to understand what his inner world was trying to manifest.
He pushed off with his toes and leapt backward, gaining distance.
That's when he saw it clearly.
It wasn't just shifting sand—it was a colossal earth giant rising from beneath the dunes.
Its massive body was made of rock and soil, distinctly different from the surrounding sand.
"…Why does the manifestation of my Zanpakutō look like this?" Xu Fan muttered, slightly disappointed. He'd expected something more refined.
He didn't fully understand the inner workings of the Zanpakutō. But before entering this world, he had already mastered the Five Nature Transformations and kenjutsu. On top of that, he possessed two powerful kekkei genkai: Mokuton and the Byakugan.
"The Five Nature Transformations…"
Xu Fan's expression grew serious.
"Could it be… my Zanpakutō didn't manifest a single world, but five separate ones—one for each chakra nature?"
He closed his eyes and focused his attention inward to test the theory.
But before he could shift dimensions, the earth giant below him suddenly let out a deafening roar.
"Who dares disturb me?!"
Though this was his own inner world, it was also the domain of his Zanpakutō spirit.
After all, an Asauchi only becomes a Zanpakutō when the wielder pours in their soul and conviction.
Almost every Zanpakutō spirit was proud and strong-willed.
Their relationship with their wielder was more like that between a Jinchūriki and their tailed beast.
Before earning their respect, entering the inner world often meant facing hostility.
The difference was—while tailed beasts were sealed and restricted, a Zanpakutō spirit had complete freedom within its world.
Which meant… a fight was inevitable.
But Xu Fan wasn't worried. Like the giant, he too was unrestrained here.
Clap!
He brought his palms together. "I don't want to hurt you."
The earth giant snorted derisively.
"You think you can hurt me?"
With a thunderous roar, it raised its massive fist and brought it crashing down toward Xu Fan.
Truth be told, the spirit had known who Xu Fan was the moment he entered.
But it had no intention of submitting to someone it deemed weak.
In this world, it was the master.
To the spirit, Xu Fan was an intruder.
And intruders had two options: leave—or be destroyed.
"You're really underestimating me," Xu Fan muttered, his voice low.
Then he made his move.
Deep Forest Emergence!
Chakra surged outward as he unleashed the most powerful version of Shin Jukai Kōtan he'd ever used.
BOOM!
The desert quaked violently—more so than when the earth giant had first emerged.
Towering trees erupted from the ground, thick and gnarled, stretching high into the sky. The earth giant's punch was stopped mid-swing by a massive trunk, while countless vines snaked out, wrapping around its arm.
Within moments, it was immobilized—entangled by a sea of wood.
What was once an endless desert had now become a dense, towering forest.
"I'm the master of this world."
Xu Fan locked eyes with the giant, then used the trees to drag at its legs.
CRACK!
The earth giant stumbled as its knees buckled. With a thunderous crash, its colossal body slammed into the ground, causing tremors to ripple across the terrain.
But before Xu Fan could press his advantage and force the spirit into submission—
CRACKLE!
A thunderclap echoed above.
A thunder dragon tore through the sky, lightning arcing off its body. With a roar like a storm, it dove straight at Xu Fan, fangs bared to strike.
"If the earth giant represents Earth Release… then this must be Lightning Release," Xu Fan realized.
His eyes narrowed.
"So… my Zanpakutō is actually multi-attribute?"
In all his research, Zanpakutō spirits typically had a single elemental affinity.
But his inner world seemed to be an exception.
Xu Fan raised his gaze to the sky.
"All right then… if you're all going to challenge me—"
He smirked.
"Come at me together."