The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

After all, the concept of "illusion" is all about quick results, somewhat similar to the "demonic path" in traditional fantasy novels.

If a Shinigami wants to discover his talent, he needs a long period of training and practice. Hollows don't need that. As long as you have talent, it will automatically emerge after you become a Hollow, and violent spiritual power will instantly fill your body.

As for your soul strength being insufficient, unable to withstand the explosion of your talent, and dying from the violent spiritual power?

You can only blame your bad luck.

Hopefully, this little guy won't have too much bad luck.

Gu Shi glanced at the boy's chest and confirmed that his causal lock was almost completely gone. He secretly prepared to escape in the chaos.

The boy's soul fragrance could make Gu Shi's appetite almost run out of control multiple times, which is enough to prove how outstanding his talent is. The Grim Reaper girl also said that with his talent, as long as he becomes a Grim Reaper, he can at least become a Seat Officer, and it is not impossible for him to become a Vice Captain if he works hard.

In other words, he possesses at least the talent of a Shinigami vice-captain. As a result, once he completes Hollowfication, he will immediately possess the combat power of a Shinigami vice-captain.

Although they have no combat experience and it's hard to say how much strength they can unleash, the impact is actually not significant. After all, most Hollows don't have much combat awareness; their minds are confused by their appetites, and they fight entirely based on their beast-like killing instincts.

Gu Shi remembered clearly that the Grim Reaper girl had mentioned more than once that she was a Grim Reaper stationed in this area of ​​the mortal world. If she had the strength of a vice-captain, how could the Captain-Commander have agreed to let her do such an unimportant job that was just a waste of time?

[If I suddenly start fighting a Hollow at the vice-captain level, given that guy's strength, it's not impossible for me to be eaten alive. That way, I can even get rid of the worry about her chasing me.]

Thinking about this, Gu Shi suddenly realized that his thoughts had become optimistic again, and the fear and caution he felt about returning home for the first time had somehow disappeared.

Oh no, if I was too optimistic when I ran away, and then suddenly decided to run back to watch the show, I'll be doomed. I need to quickly get a Chain of Cause and Effect to calm me down.

With a sudden burst of strength, he bit through the nearly broken chain of cause and effect, then quickly stuffed it into the hollow in his chest, forcibly pulling back the fear and caution of running away from home and sitting properly. Only then did Gu Shi feel relieved and check on the boy's condition again.

At this moment, a small hole had been opened in the boy's chest, and the hole was rapidly expanding. His face was also completely covered by pure white mucus. Once the mucus hardened and formed a mask, he could completely blur into nothingness.

It should be about time.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Shi raised his voice and shouted.

"Hey! I've absorbed another chain, and something seems to have changed. Aren't you coming to take a look?"

In a wooden house in the distance, the Grim Reaper girl pushed open the door and leaned out, smiling as she raised her arm holding the Zanpakuto high and waved it vigorously at him a few times.

"Good job! I'll be right there after I kill this one. Be a good boy and wait for me~~"

As she swung the blade, blood splattered onto the ground and walls around her. In the evening breeze, words that signified the ongoing carnage drifted in, gently reaching the ears of the boy whose vision was beginning to blur.

The next moment, a beast-like roar filled with hatred suddenly rang out, and a violent spiritual pressure surged forth, actually throwing Gu Shi away.

With a roar, the ferocious monster stretched out its strong body covered with spikes. The clarity that once filled its blood-red eyes was gone, replaced by endless rage, hatred, and a chilling appetite.

In the monster's claws, a stiff, immobile soul was held tightly. It was one of the two souls that the Death Girl had initially thrown to Gu Shi. Gu Shi had only managed to break the causal chain of the other soul, who had been left on the ground with the chain still intact around his chest.

Under Gu Shi's watchful gaze, the newly born monster saved his neighbor. He seemed to still retain some of his former humanity, gently trying to put down the familiar person in his arms. But he only managed to do so halfway before an enticing fragrance wafted into his nose.

Suddenly, an incredibly strong impulse surged forth, suppressing his humanity and altering his actions.

Under the pure white moonlight, the pale monster suddenly raised its sharp claws and eagerly stuffed the food in its hand into its huge mouth. Bright red juice overflowed from between its pale teeth. Compared to it, the human body was so thin and small. It was devoured in just two bites.

The monster, having just eaten, did not lose its hunger; instead, the food that failed to fill its stomach only fueled its appetite. It stared intently at the other soul that had fallen beside Gu Shi, its blood-red eyes filled with primal desire.

Just then, an even more enticing and richer aroma entered the monster's nostrils. He turned his head sharply and saw a girl dressed in black holding a long sword not far away.

tasty!

Large portion!

In an instant, instinct made the decision for the hungry monster. He got on all fours and ran wildly toward the delicious feast that could fill his stomach with the force to crush everything in his path.

On the other side, a hint of anger ignited in the unsettling gray eyes of the Death Girl as she stared intently at the original monster, her pale face filled with murderous intent.

The soul that was eaten was one she had personally picked for that interesting Void creature; it was the fruit of her labor!

This ghost that suddenly appeared dared to steal her things!

Never!

no one!

They dare to steal it!

mine!

thing!

Unforgivable!

Chapter Nine: The Disgusting Zanpakuto

The monster, consumed by hunger, clashed violently with the nobleman who treated human life as a plaything. The situation unfolded as expected, but Gu Shi did not immediately begin to flee. Instead, he pretended to be injured when he was thrown away by spiritual pressure and remained lying on the ground, staring intently at the two sides in the battle.

It's true that you should run away, but you can't run away blindly.

After all, one of the Grim Reaper's compulsory courses, "Kido," includes not only "Binding Path" for defense and confinement, "Return Path" for healing, but also "Breaking Path" specifically for attack. If he were to rashly run away now, the Grim Reaper might just raise his hand and use a Breaking Path to kill him from afar.

The fact that the Grim Reaper girl could release the 61st Binding Spell, "Six Staffs of Light Prison," without chanting incantations and simply by reciting a name shows that her mastery of Binding Spells surpasses that of most ordinary Grim Reapers. It's likely that her level of Breaking Spells wouldn't be too bad either.

Therefore, we must wait until they fight fiercely and neither side has time to attend to anything else before we get up and run away, so as to avoid being shot in the back and killed after only a few steps.

Sure enough, before the battle had even begun, the Death Girl had already unleashed a series of Kido techniques, including "Crimson Fire Cannon," "Yellow Fire Flash," and "Mouth Thrust Triple Flash," causing fireballs and light cones to fly everywhere, creating a spectacular sight.

Unfortunately, whether it's a Shinigami or a Hollow, their battles are essentially clashes of spiritual pressure. When the spiritual power levels are similar, combat skills and tactics become the key factors in determining victory. However, once there is a sufficiently large gap in spiritual pressure between the two sides, all skills and tactics become insignificant tricks.

Taking the lowest-level Devil Fruit, the No. 1 "Shō," as an example, its effect is to shoot out a small shockwave from the fingertips. When used by an ordinary Shinigami, even when fighting a normal person, it can only cause the opponent to stumble. However, if used by a Captain-level Shinigami, it can easily pierce through the heads of ordinary Shinigami and Hollows.

As Gu Shi had predicted, the Shinigami girl's spiritual power level was far below that of the vice-captain. Facing a Hollow with spiritual pressure at the vice-captain level, the Kido she used, although full of sound and light effects and looking very intimidating, could only cause some sparks when it hit the Hollow. Even if the Binding Spell hit, it would be easily broken, only slightly hindering the opponent's movements.

Seeing this, Gu Shi felt a little more at ease. It seemed that this cruel Grim Reaper was unlikely to win.

However, Gu Shi remained unmoved and continued to wait patiently.

Although the Shinigami girl's Kido techniques were all ineffective and she seemed to have no other options, Gu Shi knew that a Shinigami's greatest reliance was always his Zanpakuto.

Whether it's the standard "Shikai" or the more advanced "Bankai", once a Zanpakuto is released, it will definitely greatly enhance the Shinigami's combat capabilities. It can not only increase the Shinigami's spiritual pressure, but also endow the Shinigami with various strange and special abilities.

The Shinigami girl has fought all this time and has yet to unleash her Zanpakuto. However, the fact that her superiors can confidently send her to the human world without worrying about her being eaten by some random Hollow suggests that Kido alone is definitely not enough. She must have already mastered Shikai to allow the captain to assign her tasks with peace of mind.

Gu Shi waited patiently until he saw the other party's Shikai and learned the Shinigami's Zanpakuto ability before he got up and ran away.

After all, even if the Death Girl is likely to lose tonight, it doesn't mean she will definitely die. As a noble, she will probably have some means to save her life or escape. So we must take advantage of this rare opportunity to gather as much information about her as possible and prepare for the possibility that she will come back to haunt us in the future.

The Death Girl didn't keep Gu Shi waiting for long. Unable to break through her opponent's defenses, she quickly became impatient. She suddenly exerted her strength and forced her opponent back slightly. Taking advantage of the situation, she quickly retreated, held her Zanpakuto horizontally in front of her chest, and chanted the release phrase for her Zanpakuto: "Take it away, Blue Sparrow."

Instantly, her spiritual pressure surged dramatically, and her Zanpakuto changed as well. Not only did the blade turn a pure cyan-green, but the edge also became thinner and longer.

After releasing her Zanpakuto, the Shinigami girl pursed her lips and charged at her enemy again without hesitation. She slashed at the enemy's right claw three times with her blade, but it seemed that she still could not cause any damage, and could not even cut through the tough skin of the enemy.

However, Gu Shi, who was watching from the side, noticed that after being hit, the hole created by Hollow's right claw when it slammed into the ground was significantly smaller, as if his strength had been weakened out of nowhere. At the same time, the power of the Death Girl's sword swing was also significantly increased, and the shrieking sound of the blade cutting through the air became even more ear-piercing.

[So that's how it is. As long as the blade touches the opponent, it can strip them of their power for its own use? Hmm, the effect should only be temporary. Otherwise, as a noblewoman, she would probably have already pushed her power to its physical limit by killing countless people, without needing to slowly plunder it during battle.]

[Besides physical strength, perhaps that knife could also strip away spiritual energy? It's just that that Void possessed so much spiritual energy that I wouldn't even notice if a small amount was stripped away?]

[Tsk, an ability that takes effect as soon as it touches the body. For Hollows who don't have Zanpakuto or similar weapons and can only fight hand-to-hand, this is practically the worst kind of enemy. I'll have to be extra careful if I encounter it again.]

Quickly summarizing the intelligence he had gathered, Gu Shi silently moved into the shadows behind a wooden house before standing up and sprinting away from the battlefield. As he ran, he didn't forget to keep an eye on the situation behind him, wary of the possibility of the Death Girl suddenly pursuing him, while inwardly complaining.

[It's said that Zanpakuto are a reflection of a Shinigami's soul, revealing their truest thoughts. This ability to forcibly seize others' "possessions" really fits the style of nobles. Could it be that most nobles' Zanpakuto possess similar abilities? Tsk, how disgusting.]

[However, isn't a sparrow just a bird? And isn't a bluebird the same as a bluebird? But isn't the imagery of the bluebird a symbol of happiness and faithful love? That kind of ruthless thief specializing in plundering is even named after a bluebird? Could it be that it implies finding happiness through plundering others? That feels more in line with the characteristics of nobility, and even more disgusting.]

Gu Shi sprinted on, cursing under his breath, quickly leaving the small village far behind. When he looked back, the village had already disappeared into the night and was no longer visible. But he was still worried, so he changed direction and continued running at full speed, intending to run until at least dawn before considering resting.

Therefore, Gu Shi, who could no longer see the small village, naturally could not see that shortly after he escaped, the Hollow who had been suppressing the Grim Reaper girl had now had its limbs severed and lay in a pool of blood like a worm, emitting terrifying growls.

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Chapter Ten Betrayal

"Queyu, I really owe you a lot this time. Otherwise, I would have definitely suffered some minor injuries if I had faced this Void alone."

Saito Yoru's face, as pale as a corpse, wore an unsettling smile. Though she uttered words of thanks, no genuine gratitude could be seen in her.

Dressed in black, Sparrow Feather stood in a pool of blood, with Hollow lying at his feet, its limbs severed without any resistance. Despite his considerable strength, there was no arrogance on his face. He bowed respectfully to Saito Yoru-no-Mikoto.

"Thank you for your praise, Lord Yoru. The Sparrow family has served the Saito family for generations. Sparrow Feather only did what he was supposed to do. He is not worthy of such praise from Lord Yoru."

In Soul Society, although there are many nobles, they are also divided into different ranks. The high-ranking nobles are naturally "gods" who are high above and control everything. They only need to take and do not need to give. But the lower-ranking nobles are different. If they want to maintain their noble status and life, they inevitably have to make more contributions.

For example, offering one's loyalty to a higher-ranking noble.

There were actually quite a few such lower-ranking nobles, and their survival wisdom varied. The only difference was that they served different high-ranking nobles.

For example, the Bee family, a lower-ranking noble family, sold themselves to a good master family, following the Shihōin family, one of the four great noble families, for generations. The outstanding members of the Bee family are trained to be the guards of the heir of the Shihōin family, responsible for protecting the safety of the heir of the master family at all costs.

Although the Shihōin family has been in charge of the military for generations, the successors often have to carry out dangerous missions during their training. The mortality rate of the guards is extremely high. Every generation of the Shihōin family's successors will have a dozen or even more members of the Shihōin family die protecting their master.

However, the Shihouin family did indeed take care of the Hachi family, which made the Hachi family's status as solid as a rock, even though they were only a lower-ranking noble family. Even if the upper-ranking noble families were to decline, they never declined.

The Sparrow and Bee families, though both lower-ranking nobles, were not so fortunate as to sell themselves to the four great noble families. They could only pledge allegiance to the Saito family, a higher-ranking noble family. Although the protection they received was slightly less than that of the Bee family, it was not without its benefits.

After all, the Saito family heirs do not have to bear any dangerous responsibilities. Although the Suzaku family members also need to protect the main family's heirs, the number of family members who sacrifice each generation is far less than that of the Bee family members.

Suzakuha is a bodyguard specially trained by the Suzaku family in this generation to protect Saito Yoru, the heir of the Saito family. Even when Saito Yoru came to the human world to perform a guard duty, Suzakuha followed him as always, secretly protecting Saito Yoru's safety.

The nobles have their own interdimensional gates, and they do not need to go through the interdimensional gates guarded by the 13th Division to travel between the human world and Soul Society. Therefore, in the 13th Division's resume, Saito Yoru-no-Mikoto still goes out on missions alone, without worrying about leaving a stain of "bringing servants on missions".

And the void lying in a pool of blood was Sparrow Feather's masterpiece.

Although he didn't know why his master had specifically instructed him, "Unless I encounter mortal danger, even if I am injured, you are absolutely not allowed to show yourself in front of that interesting phantom," when he entered the house and killed those two lowly people, he still faithfully carried out the order.

Even though watching that uninteresting Hollow yelling and spitting everywhere at his revered master made Queyu feel anxious from the bottom of his heart, he still patiently waited until the interesting Hollow ran far away before immediately showing up to help his master cut the enemy to the ground.

Even while faithfully carrying out Lord Yoru's orders, seeing the sweat on Lord Yoru's forehead, the dust on his face, and the several torn rips on his clothes, Queyu still felt that she had seriously failed in her duty as a guard, and felt extremely guilty. How could she dare to accept Lord Yoru's praise?

Suzakuba and Saito Yoruichi grew up together, being both master and servant and childhood sweethearts. Saito Yoruichi knew Suzakuba's personality perfectly well and knew that he was probably making excuses to blame himself again. So he didn't bother to say anything more to comfort him and directly gave the order.

"Queyu, go and bring me those souls from earlier. I need to test some things."

Upon hearing the order, Queyu disregarded her self-reproach and respectfully bowed before using Shunpo to quickly slip into the wooden houses. From there, she dragged out more than a dozen fresh souls, each still wearing a causal lock around their neck, and respectfully placed them before Saito Yoru.

After counting the items and confirming that none of his "labor results" were missing, Saito Yoru nodded in satisfaction. He casually cut off the chain from the chest of an old woman's soul, then roughly pulled over the limbless but still alive Hollow and tried to stuff the Chain of Cause and Effect into its Hollow cavity.

The attempt was successful; the chains entered the void without any hindrance.

The attempt failed; the chains were not swallowed or absorbed by the void, but fell out directly from the other end of the void.

Saito Yoru was not disappointed, nodding slowly with an expression of "I knew it." She knew that if it were that easy to succeed, the Soul Society's documents would have already recorded it, and she wouldn't have had the chance to discover it. Therefore, before even trying, she had already mentally prepared herself for failure.

[As expected, that interesting big guy is special. But what makes him different from these ordinary Hollows? Is it because he hasn't eaten a human since becoming Hollow? Or is it because he has a strong will and has restrained his appetite? Or is it because he has retained his sense of self as a human even after becoming Hollow?]