The Alchemist in Bleach

After saying that, he fell silent again. Didn't Ichiro hear him?

How could that be? He's not deaf. But like I said, he doesn't really believe it's true. It's probably just some kind of illusion. He won't make the same mistake he did in his first life!

Besides, he usually interacts with his on-screen girlfriend...

Hmm~ It seems like there are quite a few?

As they walked, Ichiro suddenly stroked his chin and fell into deep thought. His best friend, who was an extra, belonged to his chanting squad in the Fourth Division. Although the world usually taught her, he would occasionally go there, unless it was a "seclusion" that lasted for months.

Therefore, he was actually quite familiar with the members of the singing team, which naturally included his best friend, who was also a supporting actress. After all, they graduated in the same year, so their relationship was naturally deeper.

As Ichiro watched his friend, a minor character, walking ahead, a thought suddenly occurred to him: Could it be... not just his imagination?

'Hmm hmm hmm~' Ichiro shook his head inwardly, 'Don't underestimate the three great illusions. How could everyone like you? Do you think it's just a passing fancy?'

With a deep sigh of relief, Ichiro shifted his feet slightly and caught up with his supporting actress best friend.

And so, with the help of his best friend, Ichiro successfully survived this ordeal, avoiding a chaotic scene while also witnessing Urahara's wedding in its entirety.

At night, after Ichiro returned to the Fourth Division's dormitory, he saw the lights on and couldn't help but wonder who would be in his room at this hour.

"Sekai? What are you doing here..." Pushing open the door, Ichiro saw Sekai sitting at the coffee table. He silently withdrew the foot he had stepped inside. It was the middle of the night, a man and a woman alone together... This wasn't appropriate...

Okay, fine, he just chickened out...

"Why is Lord Ichiro so late? It shouldn't take this long to get back to the crew from the Shihōin residence, right?"

"Gulp~" Looking at the sweet smile on Sekai's face, Ichiro silently swallowed. It's happened again! The Death Smile!!!

"Well... I'll take Feiyun back. After all, I can't let her go back alone, can I? She's my subordinate, after all."

"They're attending as a family, so would you like to escort them, Lord Ichiro?"

"I find that strange too. Fei Yun's parents didn't wait for her and just left her alone to go back. Even though this is in the Seireitei, they are too careless, aren't they?"

"..." The world paused for a moment, then said, "Lord Ichiro, haven't you considered this possibility? Could it be that they did it on purpose, just to create an opportunity for you and Feiyun to be alone?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Ichiro said with unwavering determination, "Do you know what a low-probability event is? A low-probability event is when a beautiful girl next to you likes you! As for several, that only happens in the middle of the night, so it's impossible. World, be realistic."

"Sigh~" Looking at Ichiro's confident expression, Sekai sighed, she was at a loss.

Is Ichiro a blockhead?

Obviously not. After watching so many romance anime and dramas, it's impossible that you wouldn't notice at all.

But what influenced his judgment?

An ordinary life.

Although he has lived three lifetimes, Ichiro has only truly lived a remarkable life in this one. In his first life, he was ordinary and unremarkable. In his second life, he changed his ordinary personality but was too cowardly. In his third life, he lived a different life.

But her personality was already set in stone. Simply put, she lacked sufficient confidence in matters of the heart and didn't have many worldly desires.

"Okay, you've let it slide. By the way, I lost my room key, so I'll be sleeping here tonight."

Ichiro: "..."

Could you at least come up with a more believable excuse?

If you have the ability to reconstruct spiritual particles, do you still need a key to unlock them?

And wake up, you only have one Zanpakuto, where did you get a separate dormitory room? Don't you always sleep here?

Huh?

Suddenly, Ichiro paused for a moment. Yes, she had been in this room the whole time, so why was I panicking just now?

Thinking it over, Ichiro stepped inside.

"By the way, World, I plan to restart the Hogyoku project after the Kido Research Bureau matter is settled. You should hand over your duties in the team to someone else, since you are more familiar with this aspect."

"The Hogyoku? Is it for further research on the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Hmm, I suspect the Hogyoku is a lower-level product of the Philosopher's Stone, so we should be able to gain something from it. As for the consciousness within the Hogyoku... let's see if we can find a way to remove it. Let's try for now."

"Okay, I understand." After replying, Shijie hesitated, as if there was something he wanted to say but was too embarrassed to say it.

"What's wrong? Just tell me if there's a problem."

"Lord Ichiro, is it really necessary for us to focus our energy on the Philosopher's Stone? It's very likely that this is just an ancient delusion, and perhaps the Philosopher's Stone doesn't even exist."

"Well, how should I put it? The Philosopher's Stone isn't my goal. My goal is the knowledge I gain during this research process. That's the most important thing. Besides, nothing is impossible. The ancients could never have imagined that cars and computers would exist. Anything is possible. We don't need to worry about whether it exists or not. If it exists, we'll find it. If it doesn't exist, we'll create it. Isn't that what research is all about? The important thing isn't the result, but the process."

"Like a mathematical conjecture?"

"Yes, just like mathematical conjectures, once proven, the conjecture becomes a theorem. But if it's falsified, does that mean all its previous applications were wrong? Not necessarily. In science, the most important thing isn't the destination, but the scenery along the way."

------------

Chapter 224 The Hogyoku is shattered!

A week after Yoruichi Urahara's wedding, a piece of news shocked the entire Soul Society, causing a huge uproar in the world that had just calmed down due to the appearance of the Zero Division!

The Kido Research Bureau, led by Tenshin Ichiro, the God of Medicine, Soul Society's No. 1 Support, Father of Spiritual Mechs, Kido Monster, Head of the Alchemy Department of the Technology Development Bureau, and Third Seat of the Fourth Division, was officially established!

At the same time, the journal "Kido," compiled by the Kido Research Bureau, was officially published and could be purchased throughout the Soul Society!

In fact, the former did not surprise the public too much. It was just the establishment of a research institution. In most people's eyes, with Ichiro's talent and achievements, an independent research institution was more worthy of him. Therefore, the establishment of the Kido Research Bureau was something that was expected. It was just another name added to Ichiro's long list of titles.

What truly shocked the entire Soul Society was the subsequent publication—"Kido"!

This was truly unexpected for everyone. They really didn't expect that Ichiro would actually share his research theory directly!

How much does a journal cost?

Less than a meal!

But the knowledge mentioned above is priceless!

Besides this, what shocked everyone was the content of "Kido". The first issue of "Kido" published the results of all the members of the Kido Research Bureau... well, that is, Ichiro and Suzuran's.

Among them, Suzuran's "Origin of Chanting" impressed many Shinigami skilled in the Kido, from which they vaguely saw the direction for optimizing chanting techniques. At the same time, it also provided some guidance for the study of the Kido.

If Suzuran's "Origin of Chanting" conquered other Shinigami through its practicality, then Ichiro's success relied on its pure, mind-blowing impact!

My first paper, "Redefining Life - Spirituality"!

This introduces a new concept: the essence of life—spirituality. This is something deeper than the soul, and it far surpasses the current understanding of Soul Society, because no one in Soul Society has yet considered the essence of life...

The reason is quite simple: the creation myth of the Spirit King is deeply ingrained and is genuine, not just a legend, so naturally no one has bothered to think about this area.

Ichiro's paper, however, blew their minds and raised their perspectives considerably. Moreover, the content of this paper was related to the final chants and responses, which meant that once they understood these, learning those responses was only a matter of time.

Although it's difficult to even grasp these things, at least we see hope compared to before, right?

The second paper was also the kind that caused a major upheaval.

The most fundamental substance in the Three Realms—Spiritual Particles!

This paper first discusses in detail the basic substance of Soul Society, spirit particles, and proves from multiple perspectives that spirit particles are indeed the basic substance of Soul Society, that is, everything is composed of spirit particles.

This part is generally understandable to anyone with a modicum of knowledge, but starting from the next part, it's like reading gibberish to everyone; they can't understand it at all...

I can only roughly understand what Ichiro meant by what he described. To put it simply, it is actually the definition given in Ichiro's paper, that is, there is only one basic substance in the three realms - spirit particles!

Including the present world!

This is different from the current view. Since the creation of the world by the Soul King, the concept that the basic substance of the present world is the vessel has been known and recognized by all Shinigami. Unlike the essence of life, the basic substance vessel has not been questioned by anyone. After all, it involves the balance of spirit particles, which is a major event in the Soul Society.

But over thousands of years, only Ichiro has come to this conclusion!

In his paper, Ichiro argues that spirit particles and vessel particles are the same substance but different forms, which is why the spirit particle conversion technology works and why artificial bodies created in Soul Society can be observed and accessed by ordinary humans in the human world.

All of this is because the form of the spirit particle has changed briefly.

This is why the void in the form of spirit particles can destroy matter in the present world. Spirit particles and material particles are essentially the same substance, but they cannot fully appear in the present world because of their different forms.

In addition to citing some well-documented examples, Ichiro also provided a large amount of experimental data and methods in his paper to prove the correctness of this conclusion.

Although they can't understand it yet, it's only temporary. Ichiro's paper is very detailed, and it's only a matter of time before they can verify it using the methods he provides.

The person who valued Ichiro's theory the most was none other than Jushiro Ukitake. Less than half an hour after the journal was published, he rushed from the 13th Division to the 4th Division to confirm Ichiro's conclusion directly.

There was no other way; it involved the lives of many members of their 13th Division.

Each of the thirteen squads has a different role, and the level of danger is naturally different. The safest one is undoubtedly the Fourth Squad, not to mention Captain Ichiro and the other guys with superhuman strength.

The importance of logistics is self-evident. You know it, and the enemy knows it too. If the enemy attacks your backline, do you think you wouldn't know how to defend?

Therefore, even in wartime, the Fourth Division is the safest division.

Conversely, the 13th Division suffered the most deaths!

Yes, it's the 13th Division, not the 11th Division which is responsible for combat.

The Eleventh Division has a high mortality rate, but they don't have many members, so the proportion is relatively large. The Thirteenth Division has the highest number of deaths because they are responsible for guarding the human world and handling soul burials. Normal soul burials are not difficult, but it is very dangerous when encountering Hollows.

And within the area they guard, the most dangerous place is the Chonglingdi!

Because the concentration of spiritual particles here is very high!

Hollows often appear in these areas; for example, Karakura Town, where Ichigo lives in the original work, is a place of great spiritual energy.

Of course, Karakura Town is somewhat special in the original work. At that point in the story, a bunch of big shots lived there, such as Urahara, Isshin, Ryugen, and the Visored. The Visored might not be well-known in Soul Society, but the Seireitei knew about Urahara and Ryugen.

Therefore, there is only one person with an afro guarding this place.

However, other spiritual lands were not so lucky; these were also the areas with the highest mortality rate for the Thirteenth Division!

If Ichiro's concept of spiritual duality is correct, then it means that the spiritual land can be artificially altered!

This has a huge impact on the 13th Division.

Of course, it can also be done the other way around, which can be helpful for some plans...

In addition, Ichiro published a third paper, which was the most shocking, or rather, the most appalling!

—A Speculation on Completely Resolving the Balance of Spiritual Particles!

The balance of spiritual particles is a problem that has plagued the three realms since their birth. Killing Hollows to maintain the present world is not actually the death god's way of helping humanity.

They are just trying to protect themselves, because if the balance of spiritual particles gets out of control, the three realms will be doomed.

This is one of the reasons why Soul Society is hostile to the Quincy, because this race, born of Yhwach, exists to destroy the three realms and return to chaos!

Therefore, the Quincy suffered a fatal blow from the Soul Society, and recently the issue of the Quincy has been brought up again in the Central 46, with discussions about the extermination of Quincy...