Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

Almost at the same instant the "Hyōrinmaru" phantom shattered, a terrifying chill, like a silent ghost, appeared at very close range behind him!

He didn't even have time to turn around completely; out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the icy dragon claw silently pressing down on his back!

It was Hyōrinmaru's true form! He had somehow managed to slip away and find himself in Shiba Isshin's blind spot, launching a true killing blow!

At the same time, Hyōrinmaru's deep voice, like the pronouncement of death, rang in Shiba Isshin's ears:

"Frozen in the Four Realms!"

As these four words were uttered, a "freezing" rule that transcended the concept of physical low temperature spread out from the location of Hyōrinmaru's true form!

It's not that the cold is spreading, but rather that the concept of "freezing" itself is being manifested and expanded!

The tiny space centered on Hyōrinmaru and Shiba Isshin seemed to have been cut off from the rest of the world, becoming an independent domain called "Absolute Freeze"!

Light, sound, the flow of spiritual particles, and even the very foundations of all things began to solidify at a visible speed, transforming into an eternally still, ice-blue color!

Freeze the four realms! Freeze all elements within its range! This is one of Hyōrinmaru's supreme abilities as the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō, touching upon the very essence of the rules!

Shiba Isshin's thoughts seemed to be frozen. He felt his spiritual pressure, blood, and even consciousness being rapidly solidified by this unreasonable and absolute freezing power!

The flames of the moon quickly dimmed and shrank within this area, like a candle flickering in the wind.

He wanted to move, to resist, to explode, but his body felt as if it were trapped in the thickest, most viscous, ancient ice. Every movement required unimaginable strength and was getting slower and slower!

At this critical moment when life and death hang in the balance!

It's Yanagawa! He appeared behind and to the side of Hyōrinmaru's true form without anyone noticing!

The moment the "Four Realms Frozen" domain was fully formed, it forcibly invaded this absolute domain that froze everything!

The Heavenly Tremor in his hand was covered with a thick layer of chaotic silver light!

An even more terrifying force than when it shattered the thousand-year-old ice prison condensed and compressed on the blade!

"Airquake!"

Liuchuan slashed down at the spot on Hyōrinmaru's forehead where the golden light was!

Starting from the blade of Tianzhen, a shockwave that made everyone feel a chill spread outwards!

Click, click-clack—!

That absolute domain, which freezes light and solidifies spiritual particles, intertwined with this vibrational power!

Starting from the point of contact with the shockwave, countless dense, crisscrossing white cracks appeared throughout the entire area!

These cracks are not spatial tears, but rather a collapse caused by the "vibration" that disrupts and destroys the rule of "freezing" itself!

The frozen light began to flow again, the solidified spiritual particles began to dissipate, and the ice seal rapidly crumbled!

Immediately afterwards, the shockwave pierced through the collapsing domain and slammed into Hyōrinmaru's true form!

More accurately, it struck the golden light on his forehead!

Under Liuchuan's violent onslaught, the golden light finally shone to its limit.

The light slowly faded.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, it exhausted its last bit of fuel and returned to darkness and nothingness.

The moment the golden light faded, Hyōrinmaru's eyes lost all their luster and became completely empty.

The terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from him deflated like a punctured balloon, instantly plummeting and weakening.

His hands, covered by icy dragon claws, fell limply to his sides, and his massive body swayed as if it had lost all support.

It crashed forward with a roar, slamming heavily onto the frozen ground riddled with ice crystal cracks, sending up a cloud of icy dust.

The sword Hyōrinmaru, the main body of the sword, flew out of his hand and landed diagonally in the distance, its light dimmed.

The "Four Realms Frozen" domain completely dissipated, and everything that had been frozen returned to normal, but the bone-chilling cold still lingered in the air.

"Huff... Huff..." Shiba Isshin knelt on one knee, supporting his body with the sword, panting heavily. His face was pale, his body was covered with a thick layer of frost, and his eyebrows and hair were frozen.

In that instant, he truly experienced what it felt like to have brushed shoulders with death.

He glanced with lingering fear at Hyōrinmaru lying not far beside him, then looked up ahead.

Liu Chuan slowly sheathed his sword, and the chaotic silver light on Tianzhen receded like a tide, restoring its original silvery-white appearance.

Chapter 24 Royal Seal

The land was desolate after the war.

The cold wind was still howling, but it carried a sense of desolation, as if the survivors had escaped a catastrophe.

Within a radius of several miles, the earth resembled a chessboard trampled by a giant god, covered with crisscrossing, enormous cracks and bottomless, frozen pits.

And large areas of ground formed by being melted by high temperatures and then instantly frozen.

The air still held the turbulent flow of spiritual particles, a mixture of the embers of ice and fire, telling the story of the breathtaking battle that had just taken place.

Zhibo used the Yanyue sword to support his body and struggled to stand up, the frost covering his body falling off in a flurry.

He looked around at the apocalyptic scene with lingering fear, then glanced at the silent, fallen figure of ice in the distance, and couldn't help but exhale a long breath of white air, sighing:

"Ha...that was close! This Hyōrinmaru, as expected of someone who's on par with Ryūjin Jakka, almost really got himself killed."

Liu Chuan slowly sheathed Tianzhen at his waist, shook his head slightly upon hearing this, his gaze still fixed on the fallen Hyōrinmaru.

"Hyōrinmaru's power is indeed terrifyingly strong." Yanagawa's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible fatigue, but more so, the calm of an analyst.

"But the battle just now, especially the final Four Realms Freeze, its power and degree of loss of control, were probably not just a manifestation of Hyōrinmaru's own will."

"That golden energy played a key role in it, making Hyōrinmaru's power more volatile, more aggressive, and more unstable."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, judging from its ability to affect Hyōrinmaru's true form, it's definitely not simple."

After a brief moment of rest and once the chaotic spiritual pressure within them had subsided somewhat, the two of them stepped together, treading on the cracked frozen earth and ice crystals, toward the spot where Hyōrinmaru had fallen.

Hyōrinmaru lay there quietly, his tall body curled up, the two intersecting sword scars on his face still conspicuous, but he had lost some of his cold and majestic air and gained more weakness.

His pale purple kimono was torn in several places and stained with ice dust and dirt.

As Yanagawa and Shiba Isshin approached, Hyōrinmaru's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, then slowly opened, no longer displaying the previous chaos and rage.

At this moment, although his eyes still carried the inhuman quality unique to the manifestation of a Zanpakuto, they had indeed regained their clarity.

He watched the two approaching silently, without speaking immediately or showing any intention to attack.

"Hyōrinmaru?" Yanagawa spoke first, his voice calm but with a hint of confirmation.

“…Hmm.” Hyōrinmaru’s response was very soft, with a metallic, friction-like quality, but it was clearly audible.

He struggled for a moment, seemingly trying to sit up, but his body swayed and he eventually lay back down helplessly, only casting his gaze towards Liuchuan.

"It was you... who dispelled that... power?"

"I guess so." Liu Chuan crouched down, looking Hyōrinmaru in the eye. "How are you feeling now? Has that golden power completely disappeared?"

"Disappeared...or rather, completely exhausted." Hyōrinmaru closed his eyes, seemingly carefully sensing his own condition, before opening them again after a moment.

"Thanks to you all, otherwise, I'm afraid my consciousness wouldn't have been able to recover so quickly."

His tone carried a hint of lingering fear, as well as a touch of gratitude.

"What exactly happened?" Shiba Isshin couldn't help but interject, asking the most crucial question.

"Why did you lose control? And why are there two people, Toshiro Hitsugaya and Soujiro Kusakabe, who awakened you at the same time? This completely violates the rules of Zanpakuto!"

When these two names were mentioned, a complex light flashed in Hyōrinmaru's eyes, a mixture of recognition and apology.

He was silent for a few seconds, seemingly organizing his thoughts, recalling that memory shrouded in chaos and golden light.

"The root of this matter lies in the moment when I first awakened and responded to the call of that white-haired boy."

“A strange golden energy, as if falling from the extremely high sky, ignored all obstacles and poured directly into my body.”

A look of pain crossed his face:

"That power... was incredibly domineering, carrying a higher level of rule interference, and it forcibly distorted my will."

"I see!" A look of realization flashed across Liu Chuan's eyes, which basically matched his previous guess.

The origins of Kusakabe Sojiro's "Hyōrinmaru" are not the true form of his Zanpakutō, and the "twin" phenomenon also point to that mysterious golden energy that descended from the sky!

"It really was caused by that mysterious golden power," Liu Chuan said in a deep voice, his brows slightly furrowed.

"But where does this power come from? The sky? The highest and farthest reaches..."

He suddenly turned to Shiba Isshin and asked:

"Captain Isshin, with the Shiba family's information channels, has anything unusual or significant happened in Soul Society recently?"

Shiba Isshin was listening intently when Yanagawa asked him a question. He paused for a moment, then stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.

As the head of a branch family of the Shiba clan, one of the five great noble families, and the captain of the 10th Division, he does indeed have access to a lot of confidential information that ordinary Shinigami and even ordinary seated officers cannot know.

“Something unusual…” he repeated to himself, his mind rapidly filtering through the various pieces of information he had recently received.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, his eyes widened, and he slapped his thigh.

"I remember now! A few days ago! It was the day Wang Yin was transferred!"

"The royal seal?" Liu Chuan's gaze sharpened.

"Yes! The royal seal!" Shiba Isshin's expression turned serious, and he began to quickly explain the facts.

"The King's Seal is one of the oldest and most powerful artifacts in Soul Society, containing unimaginable power capable of rewriting local rules!"

"Its existence and location are top secret. For security reasons, the location of the royal seal is moved under strict confidentiality every few decades."

"The entire transfer process was conducted under the highest level of spiritual energy shielding and spatial blockade."

He paused, looked at Yanagawa, then at the weakened Hyōrinmaru on the ground, his voice tinged with disbelief and speculation:

“A few days ago... it just so happened to be the day of the new round of royal seal transfer! Although the specific time and route are top secret, the news of the transfer itself is not completely unknown among the nobles and captains.”

"If... I mean if, during the transfer, the power of the Royal Seal was leaked for some unknown reason."

“And this leaked power just happens to be…” Yanagawa interjected, looking at Hyōrinmaru.

"Having passed through layers of blockades, at an extremely coincidental point in time and space, it fell into Hyōrinmaru, the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō, which was in the critical period of awakening."

Shiba nodded vigorously, his expression extremely solemn: