Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 531 Aizen: I need your help in my cultivation!!!

"He was able to cut that guy in half with just a slash formed from spiritual pressure? As expected of the Spirit Lord's prized disciple. I feel like Aizen-kun is on a completely different level from us." Kenpachi Kuruyashiki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said with some emotion.

His strength among the captains has always been among the top tier.

However, in his previous encounter with that giant Quincy, he was utterly crushed. Although it was partly due to his reluctance to activate his Bankai, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki knew very well that even if he did activate his Bankai, he might not be able to win.

Aizen, on the other hand, effortlessly sliced ​​the person in half vertically with a single stroke, which was truly impressive. This was something that even Oetsu Nimaiya, the guy known as the God of Swords, couldn't do.

However, it is still not over.

Even as Valkyrie's two severed bodies fell to the sides, she still managed to shout with her last breath, "Warriors of God, even in death, will rise again by wielding their swords, fighting for glory!!!"

Then, with his last breath, he swung the greatsword in his hand, even if it was only a slight sway.

But in the instant the greatsword swayed, a dazzling light burst forth from Valkyrie's body, which had been cleaved in two. Then, the two halves of her body quickly merged back into one, and she was instantly revived!

"What's going on!?" Kenpachi Kuruyashiki stared at the scene in utter bewilderment.

Since Bane wasn't there, no one explained anything to them.

Valkyrie's abilities are known as miracles.

He can turn everything negative into positive, even reverse life and death. As long as his own beliefs do not collapse, there is almost no possibility of defeat.

"Hahahaha!" The resurrected Valkyrie laughed as she looked at Aizen Sousuke, who was hovering not far away, and said, "You're much stronger than that guy from the Zero Division. This spiritual pressure is probably second only to His Majesty, right? But it's useless! I will give you a glorious execution right here!!!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Valkyrie swung her greatsword in a backhand motion, delivering a sweeping blow.

However, just as his heavy and sharp slash was about to hit Aizen, Aizen gently raised his finger and pressed it onto the blade with a "ding".

With just one finger, he forcibly stopped the giant's greatsword, which it was swinging with all its might, in front of him.

The howling wind split off from both sides of Aizen, and even his then-popular hairstyle remained unmoved.

"No wonder the teacher has no interest in you at all. You seem powerful on the surface, but in reality, you're nothing special. You can't even break through one of my fingers?" Aizen sighed with some disappointment. "In that case, at least in terms of vision, I'm still a long way behind the teacher. I thought you could put some pressure on me and help me to take another step forward."

As he said this, the Hogyoku embedded in Aizen's chest faintly emitted a few rays of light.

Aizen is currently in the early stages of merging with the Hogyoku. Although he has broken through the limits of a Shinigami, it is not the limit of Hollowfication, but the limit of evolution.

His spiritual pressure exploded, so much so that even before he displayed any power, his spiritual pressure alone made Hana and Yamamoto Genryusai feel a sense of pressure, much like when they first met Bane.

Therefore, Aizen wanted to find some powerful opponents, and Valkyrie, who had just easily defeated the members of the Zero Division and crushed even a strongman like Kenpachi Kuruyashiki, became Aizen's target.

But now it seems that it doesn't put any pressure on him, nor does it promote his further fusion and evolution with the Hogyoku?

"Are you underestimating the warriors of God? Then let me show you the light of miracles, Death!!!" Valkyrie roared.

Quincy's Perfect Holy Body activated!

A mask made of spiritual particles suddenly appeared on his face, covering his features and revealing only his eyes and mouth.

Black lines appeared on his arms, with dense spiritual energy flowing within them, like a surging tide of spiritual energy.

The surge of spiritual particles rapidly converged on his back, and a pair of angelic wings composed of pure spiritual particles unfolded behind him. The greatsword also changed shape, appearing even more sacred.

Moreover, in his other hand, an equally sacred round shield appeared.

He looked as if a god of war had returned.

They were just waiting for the order to send 100,000 soldiers to dismantle the dog kennel.

"The second form? It seems quite strong." Aizen raised an eyebrow, showing a slight interest.

"Sword of Hope!!!" Valkyrie roared, raising his greatsword high.

Spiritual particles from all directions rapidly converged on his greatsword, and almost in the blink of an eye, the greatsword seemed to be coated with a layer of light.

"The Quincy's operations are extremely dependent on spirit particles and have very high requirements for the environment. The higher the concentration of spirit particles, the stronger our combat power. And this Spirit King Palace is the perfect place for us to fight, Death God!!!" Valkyrie shouted.

Aizen also sensed that the concentration of spiritual particles around him seemed to have decreased significantly. Clearly, those spiritual particles had been absorbed into the so-called "Sword of Hope".

"Drink!!!" Valkyrie swung her longsword at Aizen's figure.

With Aizen's speed, he could certainly dodge, but what he needed was not dodge, but extreme pressure to allow him to further fuse and evolve with the Hogyoku.

So he didn't dodge, but raised his hand and pointed lightly, whispering: "Binding Path Eighty-One - Severing the Void".

Abandon chanting; no chanting is needed. Directly release the binding spells of the eighty-one high-level symbols.

A transparent defensive barrier instantly appeared in front of Aizen, and then the Sword of Hope struck the broken space fiercely. It paused for only a moment before the broken space was brutally shattered, turning into glass shards that flew in all directions. Then, the greatsword slammed into Aizen's shoulder.

Blood splattered, shoulders caved in, deep cuts—it all seemed as if Aizen's entire arm had been ripped off.

But Aizen's expression was excited; the Hogyoku on his chest emitted a faint light, as if it had come alive.

With his right hand gripping the massive lightsaber blade, Aizen violently yanked the blade, which was embedded in his shoulder, and flung it away, exclaiming excitedly, "That's it! Come on, show me even more of your power!!!"

In the time it took to say just one sentence, the wound had already healed.

Aizen's terrifying spiritual pressure also seemed to have increased somewhat.

However, Aizen did not refrain from retaliating. He knew that the evolution of the Hogyoku required pressure, and this pressure was not simply being cut down, but also requiring fierce combat!

Therefore, before Valkyrie could unleash her power again, Aizen abandoned his incantation once more and shouted, "Hado #99: Five Dragons Annihilation!!!"

The Five Dragons' Annihilation can be considered the highest level among traditional methods of destruction, and its power is quite terrifying.

The power of this technique is purely dependent on spiritual pressure, unlike many other Kido techniques whose power is related to incantations, skills, proficiency, and the like.

The Five Dragons Transformation, to put it simply, is a ritual of the Kido (demon path) where one transforms their spiritual pressure into a giant dragon. The stronger the spiritual pressure invested in this technique, the greater the power of the dragon.

At this moment, Aizen's spiritual pressure goes without saying.

A giant dragon soared into the sky and then crashed violently into Valkyrie's towering body.

The brutal spiritual pressure disintegrated his body layer by layer, turning it into dust. Starting from his head, it crushed him down to the soles of his shoes, like a match-3 puzzle game, completely 'erasing' him.

After the fight was over, looking at the scene, Aizen's eyes showed a hint of regret as he said, "Did I use a little too much force?"

If the physical body is completely eliminated, can that guy still shout things like "bonds, friendship, warriors of God" and be resurrected?

Aizen was also somewhat unsure.

But after a moment, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Looks like you do have some ability."

Numerous beams of spiritual particles began to converge on the spot where Valkyrie, whose physical body had been eliminated, had just been standing. In no time, a giant of light composed of pure spiritual particles roared as he resurrected and stood up.

This is Valkyrie's perfect form, divine power, final form.

"Even if my physical body perishes, my spirit will live on forever. God's warrior, never to be defeated! This is the power of miracles!!!" Valkyrie shouted.

Then he brandished his greatsword of light and began fighting Aizen once again.

This time, however, he was a little smarter. When Aizen unleashed his attack, he even knew to use the Solar Shield in his hand to block it.

They won't be as foolish as before, getting wiped out in one hit.

This is why their battle seemed somewhat evenly matched. Of course, this was exactly what Aizen wanted at that moment; he needed such intense battles with pressure to promote his own evolution.

Indeed, just as Aizen had hoped, the Hogyoku was becoming increasingly integrated with him, and a surge of power began to envelop his body. The spiritual pressure and spiritual particles emanating from the Hogyoku transformed into a solid, milky-white shell, spreading from Aizen's feet to his body, as if he were about to enter the 'pupa' stage.

Meanwhile, on the first level of the dilapidated inner palace.

Bane seemed to sense the spiritual pressure that had transcended the concept of death, and turned his head to look through the gaping hole at the giant of light and Aizen Sousuke in the far distance.

"Has it reached its second form?" Bane saw that Aizen had begun to turn white and naturally understood the situation.

However, he didn't pay much attention to Aizen and soon began to slowly walk up the stairs at the corner.

The second floor inside the main hall appears even more dilapidated.

It seemed as if a fierce battle had broken out here. Several Quincy corpses lay in the corridor, the walls were completely shattered, and in the empty hall inside, there were some broken wooden branches emanating a familiar spiritual pressure. And where the wooden branches broke, there was a figure that Bane recognized.

Her long pink hair fell from her ears to her front, and her black shihaka outfit was shattered, with only a few strands still hanging on her shoulders. However, there was no exposure of her chest, because her chest, which should have contained a beautiful valley, was pierced through from behind by a protruding wooden stick. All that was in front of her was a cruel scene of blood and flesh.

At this moment, the boat-shaped tree is hung here, like a painting.

"Kiryu, it looks like you're still clinging to life?" Bane looked at his old acquaintance's miserable appearance, scratched behind his ear, and 'comforted' him.

Bane recognized the wooden branch; it was Kiryu Hikifune's killer move, "Pulmonary Strike," also known as the "Life Barrier." After trapping the enemy, it could even absorb the opponent's attacks to continuously strengthen itself, making it extremely powerful.

But clearly, this thing was destroyed this time, so much so that Kiryu himself ended up hanging there.

"That voice... Bane?" Kiryuu's lifeless state was suddenly broken, and he let out a weak voice.

However, she couldn't lift her head or observe anything, so she could only judge by sound.

"It's me. You look so pathetic. How did you end up like this?" Bane walked up to him and teased him with a smile.

"Instead of laughing at me, why don't you just give me a quick death and let me be resurrected sooner?" Kiryuki said weakly.

Clearly, Yhwach seemed to realize that the Zero Division members were invincible, but he didn't know why. So he "showed mercy" after attacking, stopping when the guys were half-dead and unable to move.

"Why go through all that trouble?" Bane laughed, reached out and took Hikifune Kiryuu off the branch, laid her flat on the ground, pressed one hand against the empty wound on her chest, and injected his spiritual essence into her body to help her recover.

(End of this chapter)