You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Cang Chun nodded silently, then couldn't help but laugh: He knew his own situation; his body was indeed quite weak. Even if it deteriorated further, it would only bring forward the "time," nothing serious.

Moreover, he secretly hoped that Iori could create a miracle, after all, Captain Aizen had already done quite a few miraculous things... what if!

"It seems difficult to cure you once and for all. However, Eastern medical principles suggest that people with congenital weakness should first be nourished and their vital energy replenished before treatment can be administered."

As Iori spoke, she took out a wooden box from the sleeve of her Shinigami uniform. Inside, three grayish-white magatama lay quietly. The quality was not very good, and impurities were clearly visible. They were not as good as proper jade. But strangely, a wisp of hazy mist seemed to linger on them, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Upon seeing the three magatama, Kuchiki Sojun's heart skipped a beat, and for some reason, his attention was drawn to them, making it difficult for him to look away.

"This is?"

"I obtained them by chance, and their specific uses are still unclear, but I discovered that they have the effect of nourishing the soul. Carrying them on one's body can make one feel refreshed, and over time they can also slightly increase spiritual pressure."

Iori placed the box on the bedside table and smiled, "I don't know if it will work, but it shouldn't do any harm. Wear it for a while and see how you feel. I just hope it will have some effect, even if it's just a slight improvement, it will prove that this is not a dead end, and that your weakness can be cured!"

"Well!"

Cang Chun's gaze towards Yi Zhi changed slightly. He hadn't expected that Yi Zhi would actually be able to find such a rare item... Even Cang Chun, who was as detached and indifferent as a gentleman, couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart.

This definitely works!

Although he hadn't actually tried it yet, Cang Chun's intuition told him that he couldn't let the opportunity slip by!

Magatama, items used in various religious ceremonies, are extremely common in both modern Japan and the Soul Society, and are even considered a kind of divine artifact in many legends. Cang Chun was familiar with them, but this was the first time he had ever seen one with soul-nourishing effects!

Before even touching it, Cang Chun felt a strange sense of comfort, like placing an ice cube in a room on a hot summer day.

If you really stay in contact with this for a long time, it might actually heal the wounds to your soul...

"But this is too expensive."

Cang Chun shook her head.

Shinigami are all spirits and souls, and they rely on their own spiritual power to fight most of the time. Even Zanpakuto are, strictly speaking, part of the spirit... So, treasures that are beneficial to the spirit and can nourish the soul are naturally extremely precious.

If even his condition can be reversed... then this level of treasure is absolutely priceless!

Kuchiki Sojun didn't consider his relationship with Iori to be close enough for him to readily accept such a gift.

He didn't delve into the origins of the magatama, mainly because he felt that such a thing could only be obtained by luck.

"No, it may be very valuable, but it's useless to me. If you want to make the most of it, you should keep it."

Iori said solemnly, "Don't think this is a free gift from me. There's no such thing as a free lunch. You must get better quickly so that I can use you on the battlefield until the very end—do you understand?"

"...Understood, Lord Aizen."

Kuchiki Sojun took a deep breath, his eyes welling up with tears, but his composure allowed him to control his emotions.

"Then thank you very much!"

"No, no... Don't overthink it, we might find even more good things in the future."

Iori glanced at the [Dry Jade], which he had previously obtained from Chaldea—as a game world, Chaldea truly had all sorts of materials to offer.

There are treasures that are useful to the "soul":

Several types of items are available, including the Soul Lantern, the Withered Jade, the Ninety-Nine Mirrors, and the Demon-Sealing Lamp.

Of course, they each have different uses, and after changing the worldview, the actual effect will be subtly different from the original. Iori needs to conduct serious experiments and data analysis before it can be put into practical use.

For example, these few [Dry Jade] are relatively mild in nature and have a certain mystique. Their effects are still unclear, but they are beneficial and harmless to the soul. Therefore, they were given to Cang Chun to alleviate his symptoms.

Let's not talk about that. He plans to give Cang Chun even more things in the future!

As for the purpose of curing this young nobleman...

"You should rest now... Don't drink too much in the future."

"I will never make the same mistake twice, don't worry, Captain!"

Cang Chun watched Iori leave, holding a magatama in her hand. She felt a faint warmth flowing through her palm, and even her breathing seemed to become easier.

Sigh... We can't let Captain Aizen's efforts go to waste!

Thinking this way, he had completely forgotten who had induced him to get drunk in the first place...

……

"uh-huh……"

Why is Your Majesty laughing?

After returning to her residence, Iori opened [Shangri-La] and instantly traveled to the distant [Lost Palace]. Sitting on her cold throne, she rested and pondered... and then inexplicably laughed.

At this moment, the Antelope Knight noticed the king's return and walked in from the servant's room. Hearing the laughter, he couldn't help but ask a question.

Iori laughed for a long time before finally stopping, looking at Nelliel with a half-smile.

The antelope knight felt a chill run down his spine under his gaze: "Your Majesty?"

"It's nothing, I just thought of some interesting things."

Since Nel couldn't understand anyway, Iori casually laughed and said, "Tell me, isn't it a serious crime for a Shinigami to collude with a Hollow?"

"probably."

Antelope Knight frowned. She had never been to Soul Society, but she knew of something called "colluding with foreign countries."

Of course, she automatically ignored the man in front of her when she said this.

Although it is a grave crime for a Shinigami to wield the power of a Hollow, Iori did not collude with the Hollows—he is the King of Hueco Mundo himself!

As the king's confidant, the Antelope Knight knew that Iori's "dream" was to break down the boundaries between Hollows and Shinigami, allowing both of their life forms to advance further... For such a great cause, any question of sin was utterly insignificant.

"Let alone colluding with Hollows, even being passively tainted by Hollow power is an unstable factor that must be controlled or eliminated."

However, what if one day everyone suddenly discovers that people like the eldest son of a model noble family, the eldest daughter of a divinely appointed soldier, the direct disciple of the strongest Shinigami, the first captain, the new Kenpachi… these people have inexplicably colluded with Hollows and gained the power of Hollowfication?

What kind of expressions will those people make when they hear that? I'm really curious!

~~~~~

Chapter 311 Isn't Soul Society owned by Aizen?

Hollowfication is not an evil force.

Although in the original work, Shinigami who were designed to be tainted by Hollow power would often go into a berserk mode, losing their minds and becoming highly aggressive, when they activated Hollowfication, that was actually the result of an imperfect experiment.

Needless to say, Ichigo Kurosaki's birth was an extremely low-probability accidental (inevitable) event. The three forces of Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy were constantly clashing with each other, and before he awakened the true "Zangetsu," his soul state had nothing to do with stability.

For Ichigo, Hollowfication was actually a survival instinct when he was on the verge of death. It was because the Quincy power within him couldn't stand it anymore and slightly relaxed its suppression of other powers to ensure that Ichigo wouldn't die.

The Visoreds, who later became Shinji Hirako, Kensei Muguruma, and others, were essentially the product of one of Aizen Sousuke's experiments.

Given that cunning, bespectacled person's personality, how could he possibly endorse any force that might affect his own rationality?

From the process of his union with the Hogyoku, we can see that Aizen Sousuke's ideal Hollowfication is a process of breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly, which should be stable, rational... and even beautiful.

(Of course, after Wuyue shattered his Dao heart, he couldn't care less about that anymore~)

Including Tosen Kaname, it can be said that all Hollowfied Shinigami are "failures"!

The true "breaking the boundaries and fusing the power of the void" could never be a transformation mode, but rather the ability to freely use and fuse the two powers in a normal state.

This is why the Visoreds did not differ significantly in strength from the pure-blooded Shinigami of the Gotei 13—they merely suppressed the Hollow power within their bodies, rather than undergoing a transformation in their life form.

To put it bluntly, this half-baked transformation is probably not as effective as mastering Bankai.

After all, "breaking the limits" only has meaning when you grow to the limit of death!

Iori doesn't possess the Hogyoku, which can grant wishes, but he has the Greater Grail, a supercomputer, and various strange abilities collected from other worlds. Therefore, from the very beginning, his research has been focused on the "Grand Path," which is the sublimation of life forms!

He hasn't quite succeeded yet, but he has already gained a basic grasp of Hollow power. If he puts on the mask and stands there, even a captain-level Shinigami wouldn't be able to tell his original race and would only think he is a rare humanoid Hollow.

He doesn't need to "transform"; he can use whichever power he wants. The mask is just an external manifestation.

At the same time, Hollowfication is indeed a cheat-like technique explicitly recorded in "Bleach". Iori is only at the minor level of mastery, but his spiritual pressure has already increased dramatically, forcing him to do his best to conceal his aura so as not to be detected by the expeditionary force's subordinates.

Currently, his art style value is just over 250, but with the support of various methods such as soul materialization, magic reactor, Holy Grail protection, master-servant contract, and etherealization, he has managed to reach a spiritual pressure limit of 4,200!

what is this concept?

According to Iori's own estimation, the spiritual pressure of strong individuals like Shunsui and Unohana, who are normally strong enough to serve as Captain-Commanders, is at most around 3,100 or 3,200. Even Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, the strongest person in a thousand years and Iori's teacher, only has a spiritual pressure of around 5,000!

Considering the importance of intelligence in battle, Iori, with her many hidden methods, theoretically has the advantage over Yamamoto, who is playing his cards out!

If he were a great demon king who wanted to destroy the world, he could challenge Yamamoto now, absorb the experience of his predecessors, and stage a classic "killing his master to prove his path" moment.

—There's not much to worry about with the Zero Division. The Great Monk is strong, but he's basically a bound spirit, subtly restricted by the Spirit King Palace. He needs to follow certain rules in his actions, and his deterrent power in the lower realm may not be stronger than Yamamoto's.

But Iori has no reason to do this!

I'm clearly a model citizen, the white moonlight of the Thirteenth Division, a supernova of the Seireitei, and the future successor of Soul Society—how could I be a villain?

Those who oppose me are the real villains!

It can be said that he didn't have the help of Kyoka Suigetsu to cover things up, yet he still made such a big fuss in Hueco Mundo. His confidence came from his own hard power, and he was confident that he could control the situation with his skills!

Of course, we still need to be careful. It would be best to develop quietly to the level of a transcendent without any unexpected events, so that we can truly soar freely in the sky.

Because he could only theoretically hold his own against the old man in a fight, but in reality, there were too many uncertainties...

Iori has neither seen nor been able to estimate the ultimate destructive power of the [Broken Blade], and if it were to hit her, she really has no way of guaranteeing whether she could block it.

No matter how many tricks you try, they will only use brute force to overcome skill!

Even though Iori is a standard stat monster, it's obvious that her millennia of accumulated experience points are no joke.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni was indeed "open-minded" in terms of intelligence; everyone knew what abilities his Zanpakuto possessed. However, since he held an absolute trump card, the only way to win was to learn from the strategist Emperor Jing of Han and resort to underhanded tactics.

In short, if you are not confident that you can dodge the "Broken Blade", do not rashly regard Yamamoto as an opponent!

Let's develop a little longer! We'll talk about it after we get the Golden Body!

For the next period of time, Iori's life was quite stable. He led the expeditionary force to hunt wild Hollows while expanding the territory of Las Noches. The two opposing forces cooperated with each other without anyone knowing and completed the mission of Soul Society in just a few months, adjusting the imbalance of souls caused by several major events.

After that, the expeditionary force entered a period of rest and recuperation. In addition to handling miscellaneous matters, Iori would also take time to guide them. With the accumulation of experience from the successive battles and the environmental advantages of Hueco Mundo, almost all the members made considerable progress.

Of the three, Kuchiki Sojun showed the greatest improvement. Under Iori's care, his condition gradually improved. Although it was impossible to cure him completely, his condition was at least much more stable. However, his stamina was somewhat worse, and he was prone to relapse when he was exhausted.

But this improvement fully revealed his outstanding talent, and he quickly began to work on cultivating Bankai—he had actually reached this point long ago, but was limited by his physical condition and could not break through.

It is likely that when the mission ends and they return to Hueco Mundo, Seireitei will once again welcome a Bankai-level expert.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will lead the newly formed 10th Division, which aligns with Iori's plans.

This expeditionary force is destined to be reorganized into the Tenth Division. His public identity makes it impossible for him to control two divisions at the same time, so he will entrust it to someone he can trust.

Secretly, Esdeath has also achieved Shikai, awakening her own Zanpakuto. Coupled with her terrifying ice control ability, her overall strength is comparable to that of the captain who has been around for a hundred years.

Incidentally, when Iori inquired about this matter, Esdeath surprisingly chose to keep it a secret, not revealing her Zanpakuto's abilities, only telling Iori that it was a physical type, not the Kido type as he had imagined.

To be honest, this surprised Iori quite a bit. Compared to the various special abilities of the Kido type, the physical type Zanpakuto always seemed a bit mediocre. He originally thought that Esdeath's Zanpakuto would be as imposing as its master... but judging from her reaction, she seemed quite satisfied with the sword.

When Iori was alone, she pondered deeply for a while, seemingly having figured out the cause and effect:

Zanpakuto is the embodiment of a Shinigami's "own talent," but Esdeath's talent is not ice and snow; it is merely the power of an Imperial Arm that she acquired later in life. For her, it is just a "tool," only that it fits her image particularly well.

Even if she had obtained a fire or lightning-type Imperial Arms back then, it wouldn't have made much difference to her; it would have just meant a different path for her future development.

Her true potential was already evident in her childhood, something that even her father found vaguely unsettling.

A talent for killing!

This guy is actually the type like Unohana or Kenpachi. He just happened to run into Iori.

If we look at it this way, then her awakening of a physical attack that can directly amplify destructive power makes perfect sense.

Once Esdeath returns to Soul Society, she can probably become a captain by accumulating experience. Theoretically, the most suitable position for her would be the 11th Division, but that position has already been reserved for the wild man Zaraki. Therefore, it would be best for her to take over Saito's position.

There might be some twists and turns, but Iori is in good shape now, so she's confident.

If things go smoothly, once Yoruichi and Sojun inherit the positions of clan leader and captain, and Kenpachi Zaraki returns to his post, about half of the Gotei 13 will be Iori's fellow disciples, close friends, and subordinates. Although most of them are not die-hard supporters, they will definitely listen to Iori's ideas as long as the requests are reasonable.

In another fifty or a hundred years, we'll develop Dongxian and Tianbei as well, and while we're at it, we'll also take advantage of the Kuki-no-Kage River...

Room 46? What's that?

Isn't Soul Society owned by Aizen?!

……

"My king, we've finally found them!"

A message prompted Iori to temporarily put down her work and come out of the laboratory. Szayelaporro was slightly displeased but dared not say anything.