Godslayer: Aizen Template, I will stand in the heavens!

Lin Qiye had only sensed a humanoid object rapidly approaching from behind when he saw a blade flash past his ear and plunge directly into the masked man's head.

I instinctively turned around and saw a handsome face with a smile.

"Li Lian?!"

Li Lian grinned, grabbed Lin Qiye by the back of his collar with his left hand and pulled him back. Then, with his right hand, he gathered spiritual energy on his Zanpakuto, which ignited into flames, and slashed at the demon-faced monster lying on the ground, setting its corpse ablaze and turning it into a ball of fire.

Since he grasped this Zanpakuto, Li Lian has learned many ways to use spiritual power. With just a little spiritual power, he can ignite the corpses of the dead for cremation, which can be considered the job of a Shinigami.

This Zanpakuto is amazing! It's practically a one-stop shop for murder, arson, and disposing of evidence.

The sword I have now is already this useful even without its Shikai release; wouldn't it be unstoppable after its Shikai release? I wonder what skills it will unlock after its Bankai, Ryujin Jakka? Will it just give me the four ultimate moves from the four cardinal directions?

I just don't know what level is needed to unlock Bankai, and when will we be able to do that!

Thinking about this, Li Lian became even more determined to join the Night Watch. Those mysterious figures were practically walking experience packs! They might not be good-looking, but the experience points they gave were really tempting!

Just as Li Lian was thinking about his wonderful future, the masked man that had appeared first discovered that his companion was dead. He immediately dropped Jiang Qian's corpse, used his hind legs to propel himself forward, and pounced directly at Li Lian.

"Perfect timing! Time to try out my newly acquired [White-Handed Strike: One Bone]!"

Li Lian was about to punch the masked man hard in the face when he suddenly remembered the smell on the thing...

Well, it's not that I'm afraid of getting dirty, it's just that I'm not stupid, why wouldn't I use a knife if I have one?

"Shunpo!"

Just as the masked man was about to pounce on Li Lian, Li Lian used another Instant Step, but this time he didn't rush forward. Instead, he retreated 1 meter and, taking advantage of the masked man's unstable landing, used both hands to slash at the masked man's white face, splitting it evenly in two.

The masked man was severely injured but did not lose his ability to move. He staggered back a few steps and fell to the ground, then crawled toward a manhole cover.

As long as we can get to that place!

Li Lian calmly walked to the masked monster's side, confirming that the monster was barely alive. He raised his knife and stabbed it into the back of the masked man's head, the tip of the blade piercing through the back of the skull and protruding from its mouth.

"Ahh-!"

With a scream, the grotesque monster went completely still.

"Ding! Experience points +200."

"Ding! Level +1."

Hearing the system notification, Li Lian confirmed that the monster was indeed dead. Great, he leveled up again. Although the masked man looked disgusting, he was really generous with the experience points! Flames erupted from his Zanpakuto, setting the masked man's corpse ablaze as well.

For that masked man who helped me so much, I absolutely have to arrange for him to be cremated! After you're cremated, I'll scatter your ashes!

He clenched his left fist tightly, clearly feeling his physical strength increase; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to cut so easily just now. It seems that leveling up not only increases the upper limit of spiritual power, but also strengthens the body—making him at least twice as strong as before!

Looking back at Lin Qiye, the two young men smiled at each other in the thick darkness of the night, accompanied by the flickering firelight.

"Seven Nights, how are you? Are you alright?"

Li Lian jogged over to Lin Qiye's side, holding his Zanpakuto in front of Lin Qiye and waving it back and forth. The bright blade reflected the firelight, making Lin Qiye dizzy.

Returning home in glory is like wearing fine clothes at night! He needs to show Lin Qiye just how powerful his savior is!

With an enhanced physical body and spiritual power, two skills, and this Zanpakuto, this is the confidence I'll have when facing the Oni-Masked King in the future!

Hehe, Ghost Face King is just a big experience pack, I'll take you down within three days!

"Look how cool my knife is!"

Lin Qiye looked at the embarrassing situation in front of him and was both amused and exasperated. He knew that Li Lian had also awakened supernatural powers, just like him.

Suddenly, another rapidly moving figure appeared within my perception range!

"Stop fooling around, it looks like something's coming from over there!"

"Huh?! There's a third experience pack?" Li Lian said, shielding Lin Qiye behind him. He held his Zanpakuto horizontally in front of his chest, gathering spiritual energy under his feet, ready to activate [Instant Step] at any moment.

Looks like I'm going to strike it rich today! Lin Qiye is practically a living god of wealth!

Let's see if you, this experience pack, dare to show your face. I'll kill you the moment I see you! I'll take you down with one strike!

A figure appeared from the corner of the wall and suddenly stopped about a meter in front of the already dead, ghostly-faced monster. The gust of wind generated by his body blew up the dark red cloak, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with no special features. He was neither handsome nor ugly, just the kind of middle-aged man you could see anywhere and would not be able to find in a crowd.

His eyes, sharp as gleaming swords, were fixed on the grotesque monster, while his right hand gripped the hilt of the knife behind him firmly.

"rub--!"

A crisp clang rang out, and a simple, unadorned straight sword was drawn from its sheath. Its pale blue blade, reflecting the firelight, slashed forward with tremendous force! Then it stopped in mid-air…

"Eh?!"

Zhao Kongcheng's hand holding the knife trembled slightly. Looking at the charred ghost-faced monster in front of him, he fell into self-doubt. If he had arrived a few minutes later, he probably wouldn't have even seen the monster's corpse.

"You two brats killed those two masked men?"

Li Lian looked at the unremarkable middle-aged man and confirmed his identity; he must be Zhao Kongcheng, an important figure in Lin Qiye's joining the Night Watch.

He slowly lowered his Zanpakuto, no longer maintaining his guard, and suddenly remembered a famous scene—he had to be a little cheeky. He said:

"Yeah, those are the two monsters I took down. How about it, aren't I cool?"

"handsome……"

"Uncle, do you want to become as handsome as me?"

……

Recalling the intelligence transmitted over the walkie-talkie, Zhao Kongcheng deduced that the golden pillar of light likely indicated the emergence of a powerful forbidden realm, possibly the divine realm of God codename 003: Angel King Michael. The red pillar of light was also caused by the awakening of some kind of forbidden realm. Although its identity couldn't be confirmed, judging from the two pillars being roughly equal in strength, its power wouldn't be much weaker than Michael's; it might also be the divine realm of a god.

Judging from the location, it should be the Forbidden Ruins that awakened after encountering the two masked men who escaped. If I can rescue them while also displaying my strength, there is a high probability that I can recruit them into the Night Watchers' ranks. I even thought of some cool lines to use for this purpose.

They found themselves too late; the two masked men had been killed by the two kids who had just awakened the Forbidden Ruins. The script had been suddenly changed, and they didn't know how to continue. Even the lines they had just thought of were stolen by the kid with the knife. They were speechless with a grim expression, and the resentment above their heads was clearly visible.

He was using all my words!

After sizing up the two men before him, Zhao Kongcheng roughly determined their identities. The young man slumped on the ground still had golden light lingering in his eyes; he must be the one who had awakened the Michael God Ruins. The young man holding the knife must be the one who created the red pillar of light; it was unclear what forbidden ruin he had awakened, yet he was already on par with the Angel King.

However, as an adult, Zhao Kongcheng took the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere. He sheathed his sword with his right hand, then casually took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Zhao Kongcheng: §≡=(′0｀)y━?~~

He pulled out a walkie-talkie and said, "The two masked men who escaped have been eliminated. Let the logistics team clean up the battlefield."

"You took him down? Are you alright?" Although his teammates' concern came through the walkie-talkie, Zhao Kongcheng only felt embarrassed.

"It wasn't me. When I arrived, both masked men were already dead. If I had arrived a few minutes later, their bodies might have been burned to ashes."

After Zhao Kongcheng finished speaking, he turned off the walkie-talkie and walked straight to Li Lian and Lin Qiye. The three of them stared at each other in silence.

The atmosphere was somewhat eerie. In the middle of the night, three men stared at each other silently beside two charred corpses... just staring blankly at each other.

After a long while, Zhao Kongcheng couldn't hold on any longer. Firstly, it was tiring to keep an eye on two people at once, and secondly, the cigarette he was holding was burning his hand...

He casually tossed away the burning cigarette butt and said nonchalantly, "Was I handsome just now?"

Lin Qiye, Li Lian: (?_?)

He just burned his hand with a cigarette, right?

Li Lian turned and looked at Lin Qiye, giving him a look. Lin Qiye understood Li Lian's look and said in unison, "Not handsome."

"That's right, I'm not handsome!" Zhao Kongcheng chuckled. "Of course I'm not handsome since I haven't awakened the Forbidden Ruins! You two are different; you possess supernatural powers that ordinary people dream of. Do you want to be superheroes like in the movies?"

It's okay if your lines are stolen. Adults won't be defeated by such things. Just change a couple of words from the original lines and they'll still work!

"I don't want to." It was Lin Qiye who spoke.

"..." Zhao Kongcheng's lips twitched. "Why?"

"Easy to die."

Lin Qiye spoke very seriously, and Li Lian enjoyed watching the famous scene.

Li Lian knew that Lin Qiye was right; fighting the mysterious was indeed dangerous. However, with his system, the more experience he gained, the safer he would be. So, he was deliberately heading towards dangerous places—that was truly something else.

"Alright, this isn't the place to talk. Let's find somewhere else and have a proper chat. By the way, my name is Zhao Kongcheng, and I'm not a bad person."

"Li Lian."

"Lin Qiye." Lin Qiye nodded obediently, then secretly gave Li Lian a wink, before turning to Zhao Kongcheng and saying:

"I trust you. Wait for me here. I'll go get my bag; my study materials are still inside."

“…Go ahead, go ahead.” Zhao Kongcheng waved his hand helplessly and sat down on the curb next to him.

Li Lian pretended not to see Lin Qiye's look, waved his hand and put away his Zanpakuto. His head was a little sore, and he felt like he was going through a break-in period when using spiritual power for the first time. He rubbed his temples and sat down on the curb with Zhao Kongcheng.

Li Lian wanted to join the Night Watch immediately so he could get involved in more battles. Most importantly, he needed a legitimate identity to follow Zhao Kongcheng. He absolutely couldn't let the Ghost-Faced King's experience pack escape!

As for Lin Qiye, he can run away, but he can't hide. It shouldn't be difficult for the Night Watch to find a middle school student.

Seeing that Li Lian hadn't noticed his signal, Lin Qiye had no choice but to slip away quietly.

Zhao Kongcheng sat on the curb in a very unladylike manner, lit another cigarette, and stared blankly into his mouth.

What kind of people are these? After encountering so much trouble all night, they're still thinking about their study materials? Speaking of which, I wonder how the captain is doing; Ghost Face King is no pushover...

"Old Zhao! Give me a cigarette too! How can you be such a grown man, still eating alone? Even kindergarten kids know to share."

A large hand patted Zhao Kongcheng on the shoulder. It was Li Lian who spoke: "Don't be so stingy. How much does a cigarette cost?"

Minors are not allowed to smoke!

"I'm already 18 years old!"

"That won't do either. What kind of behavior is it for a student to smoke! By the way, why hasn't Lin Qiye come back yet after taking so long with his schoolbag?"

"I reckon he's already home by now."

Ok?

Arrived home?