Death: This Death is a bit unorthodox.

The jade gradually calmed down.

There was no broken, nor dissipated soul.

The fact that the previous failure did not repeat itself surprised and excited Aozaki Mayuki.

"The experiment has achieved initial success. Similar to the case of Aizen's Hogyoku, the Hogyoku has an irregular shape and its volume is increasing."

Aozaki Mayuki carefully examined the jade in the vessel.

He finally understood why Aizen called this thing a precious gem.

Who would be willing to call their hard work a lump of coal?

Aozaki Mayuki is using coal balls... no, precious stones!

He held the precious jade in his palm, carefully examining this priceless treasure.

This precious jade does not yet possess any magical power.

This is something that no one can change through technological means.

Qualitative change can only be achieved through quantitative change.

It needs more Spirit King fragments, it needs more souls!

Time flies, and the seven days passed quickly.

For seven whole days, aside from occasionally visiting Matsumoto Rangiku and the others to avoid becoming a missing person, Aozaki Mayuki spent the vast majority of her time in the laboratory.

Fortunately, during this period, Aozaki Mayuki became more and more proficient at operating the instruments.

Moreover, with a foundation in place, all that was needed was to integrate the remaining soul into the original precious jade, thus speeding up the fusion process considerably.

Even though his IQ couldn't compare to geniuses like Kisuke Urahara, Sosuke Aizen, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, repetitive, mechanical work was a piece of cake for him.

After seven days of effort, Aozaki Mayuki's precious jade increased in size several times, with the jade bead reaching a diameter of half a meter.

It still falls short of the "coal lumps" produced by indigo dyeing, which is due to the limited quantity of experimental materials, not the technology.

Looking at the enormous jade through the glass of a large, transparent container, his originally calm state of mind gradually began to stir.

After calming herself down, Aozaki Mayuki took the precious jade out of the container and placed it on the lab table.

He first used an instrument to check the internal condition of the jade, and after confirming that the souls were combined as Aizen had said, he gently placed his hand on it.

Aozaki Mayuki's eyes narrowed, and she thought to herself, "Just as I thought..."

Adding the soul of Oni-no-Kage isn't enough; it's still far from being a true Hogyoku!

This is understandable.

If the accumulation of these past few years and a single captain were enough to meet the requirements of the Hogyoku, Aizen wouldn't have needed to search Rukongai for over a decade.

It would require at least a hundred more souls, and an unknown number of spirit king fragments to satisfy it.

He estimated that the required number of Spirit King fragments would be at least greater than the Spirit King's fingertip!

Aozaki Mayuki calmly kept up with the experimental records, showing little sign of disappointment.

For Aizen, this jewel might not be of much use, but for Aozaki Mayuki, this seemingly useless jewel held immense significance.

He still has Mayuri Kurotsuchi's spiritual isolation technology to use, and if his guess is correct, this is an important step in completing the Hogyoku's shaping.

In a previous experiment involving the fusion of souls, Aozaki Mayuki accidentally discovered that the isolation of spiritual particles does indeed affect the formation of the Hogyoku.

This discovery made him realize that his casual move had actually worked!

As far as I remember, Kisuke Urahara's Hogyoku did indeed have a protective layer resembling a transparent film.

After Aizen Sousuke combined the two Hogyoku, it looked almost identical to Urahara Kisuke's Hogyoku.

This indicates that the small-sized gemstone form is the true form of the Hōgyoku.

After recording Baoyu's condition, Aozaki Mayuki walked over to another instrument.

This machine can construct a spirit-particle membrane that completely isolates spirit particles.

After thinking for a moment, Aozaki Mayuki placed the precious jade inside.

Immediately afterwards, he sat down at the machine's control panel, took out Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research notes, and operated the control panel for a while.

In an instant, the machine began to absorb spiritual particles from the air. Laser-like rays of spiritual particles were emitted from the conical instruments scattered throughout the machine, and the framework was quickly completed.

Baoyu floated in mid-air, swaying gently, as if trying to break free.

Aozaki Mayuki seemed to hear the lament of a soul, as if it wanted to escape the cage he had created.

He ignored the warning and silently pushed the lever, increasing the machine's output power.

The spiritual particles kept gathering around Baoyu. Baoyu struggled and swayed for a moment before finally stopping his resistance.

Through the glass window, Aozaki Mayuki could see the precious gem encased in a polygonal barrier.

The surface of the jade is still uneven, with strange patterns that resemble grotesque and distorted faces, making it look awkward and even frightening.

After watching for a while, Aozaki Mayuki took off her white robe and muttered to herself:

"Not many people like pain and wailing, including me."

"Oh...sorry, I wasn't mocking you. If it were me, I probably would have done even worse."

"I just don't like pain, but no matter how much you wail, I won't stop, and I won't regret it."

"You don't need to worry, maybe one day I'll die on this blood-soaked road too..."

After putting on his death knight's robes, he slowly walked to the glass vessel, opened his eyes wide, and carefully examined Baoyu.

Perhaps it was because he overheard Aozaki Mayuki's self-talk,

Baoyu began to change; his ferocious face gradually disappeared, as if he truly believed his lies and awaited the day he would die.

"Isolating spiritual particles is indeed effective, but judging from the speed, it will take quite some time for them to condense and solidify."

With a murmur, Aozaki Mayuki's eyes narrowed slightly, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his eyes.

"It's not enough to just have the final form; the fragments and soul of the Spirit King are still indispensable, and there isn't a single soul of the Void."

"But no matter what, it's good enough if it can be shaped. A smaller size also makes it easier to handle."

To protect this hard-won gem, Aozaki Mayuki walked to the laboratory wall and gently touched the floor, opening a hidden compartment about half a person's height.

Seemingly still not entirely at ease, he pressed another button in the hidden compartment, only to discover that there was another hidden compartment behind it!

He carefully picked up the precious jade, placed it in the hidden compartment behind the hidden compartment, closed it, and activated the ghost mechanism in the hidden compartment.

If the activation procedure is incorrect, the self-destruct mechanism of the hidden compartment will be triggered.

The jewel is extremely fragile at this stage; even an ordinary Grim Reaper could easily destroy it.

Aozaki Mayuki has mastered the technology to create the prototype of the Hogyoku.

Even if this precious jade is destroyed, he can reshape it; it just takes more time to collect materials.

He used his spiritual senses to confirm that there were no problems before leaving the laboratory and heading towards Seireitei.

Chapter 115 The Next Era

Early the next morning.

Aozaki Mayuki and Shihouin Yoruichi arrived at the First Division barracks hand in hand and greeted Matsumoto Rangiku, Yadomaru Lisa, and Hikifune Kiryu.

The group chatted and laughed when they met, and no bloodshed broke out. Everything seemed harmonious, except...

When Yoruichi passed by Retsu Unohana, she stopped to chat with her, and the two held hands without letting go.

Unohana Retsu returned the smile, and Aozaki Mayuki, for the first time in a long time, sensed a murderous intent in her smile.

So... why did these two people end up like this?!

Aozaki Mayuki looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh in her heart.

Even if it's a chaotic situation, shouldn't the other person be Rangiku or Kukaku? Why is it Unohana Retsu?

I haven't done anything outrageous with Retsu Unohana yet, so why am I being tortured like this?!

Aozaki Mayuki shook her head, unable to understand the two's behavior.

Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jushiro, and Shiba Isshin passed by him, each displaying an expression of amusement, surprise, and helplessness, respectively.

Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro winked gloatingly and secretly gave him a thumbs up.

The "Yuanliu" school is full of bad people; even the senior disciples don't help their junior disciples when they're in trouble...

Aozaki Mayuki muttered to herself, "When I get ruthless, I even curse myself."

Fortunately, old man Yamamoto arrived in time and ended the farce without saying a word.

He glanced at his popular junior disciple, gave a cold snort, and made everyone present tremble.

Even Yoruichi Shihouin consciously let go of Maki Aozaki's hand.

Aozaki Mayuki stood calmly behind the mountain, showing no fear.

This time, he stood a little further forward, not far from old man Yamamoto and the other captains.

After defeating Oni-Iron Castle Kenpachi, he became much bolder and could remain calm and composed even in the face of such a grand scene.

Aozaki Mayuki looked around the conference room.

The number of attendees at this meeting was smaller than at the last captains' meeting.

Because one of them was killed by Aozaki Mayuki.

Just two days ago, the Central 46th Bureau issued an order for Oni Ichijo Kenpachi to participate in the next Soul Funeral Ritual.

The Soul Funeral Ritual is a ceremony held once every twelve years in the Soul Society, with the purpose of sending fallen captains to Hell.

The spiritual pressure of captains is too great. After death, their spiritual particles cannot return to the Soul Society in a natural way. They can only be sent to Hell through a Soul Burial Ritual.

However, although Onigenjo Kenpachi's spirit body is still there, his soul has become part of Aozaki Mayuki's great creation, and it is unknown what will happen at the next festival.

Thinking of this, Aozaki Mayuki stroked her chin and nodded.

There are still a few years until the next soul burial ceremony, so if something goes wrong, it shouldn't be his fault.

Many captains subconsciously looked at where Onigenjo Kenpachi should have been standing, and then at Aozaki Mazuki standing behind Yamamoto Genryusai.