The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

Bat Xu also ran back, raised his wings and wiped his mask. When Erlang was running around, his long tongue flicked back and forth, spitting out a lot of saliva. He was following beside him and inevitably had to endure some of it. In addition, the dust kicked up by his running made his mask look quite muddy.

After slowly wiping his face clean, the bat tilted his head and seemed to think seriously for a while before solemnly expressing his opinion.

"I don't feel comfortable being like Jiro."

"..."

Speechless, Gu Shi stared at Batman in disbelief, then rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I used Erlang as an example just to express that even if we don't know the meaning of some things, it doesn't stop us from doing them. I'm not really telling you to imitate a dog. Also, there's still a speck of mud behind your left ear that I haven't wiped off."

Bat Xu didn't find imitating a dog's behavior embarrassing at all. He remained serious and focused, pulling down his long ears to wipe them while continuing to ponder whether Gu Shi's words made sense.

Just then, Gu Shi suddenly grabbed Erlang and leaped backward, while Bat Xu flapped its wings and flew high into the air.

The next moment, the sand beneath their feet suddenly burst open, and a beetle-like creature rushed out, its sharp mouth biting down hard on the spot where the bat-like creature had just been standing.

Having missed its target, the beetle didn't linger and immediately turned to return to the ground. But at that very moment, a green Cero descended from the sky and precisely pierced half of its head.

Perhaps the vitality of the insect-like phallus is just as tenacious as that of real insects. The beetle phallus with a hole in its head still did not die and struggled to try to burrow back into the desert.

At this moment, Gu Shi, who had put down Erlang, rushed back and slammed his heavy bear paw into the head of Beetle Xu, sending him flying sideways and skimming the ground.

The beetle's head was repeatedly injured, and it was somewhat disoriented after landing. Its six legs were kicking wildly, and it couldn't stand up. Gu Shi successfully circled around from behind and bit off the connection between its head and thorax.

The headless creature struggled erratically on the ground for a few moments, but ultimately, it wasn't a real insect and soon fell silent.

After tossing the insect's head in his hand, Gu Shi quickly came up with a distribution plan.

"Okay, the abdomen is yours, the head and chest are mine. Let's get started and finish this quickly."

As he spoke, Gu Shi grabbed the insect's head from his hand, put it in his mouth, and bit down hard.

It's true that the Bat Hollow's Cero can pierce through the Beetle Hollow's head, but with its teeth, it would probably take a lot of effort to bite through the Beetle Hollow's shell and eat the flesh inside. So Gu Shi gave the Bat Hollow its abdomen, which, although also covered by a shell, could be lifted and was relatively soft underneath.

As for Gu Shi himself, he was originally a bear-type Void, with a relatively strong bite force. Biting open the cephalothorax covered by the beetle Void's armor was only a little more difficult than cracking a sunflower seed. He naturally left the difficult-to-gnaw cephalothorax to himself.

The bat-like creature had no objection to Gu Shi's allocation. It slowly descended, lifted the beetle-like creature's carapace, and devoured the soft flesh brimming with spiritual energy at top speed.

While gnawing on the beetle's head, which was a bit prickly, Gu Shi repeatedly swung his claws, cracking and tearing open the beetle's carapace, ripping off a large piece of tender flesh, and throwing it to Erlang, who was watching the show with his tongue sticking out.

Seeing Gu Shi's actions, the bat thought for a moment, then tore off a piece of flesh from the beetle's abdomen and threw it in front of Erlang before continuing its own meal.

Erlang wagged his tail excitedly, swallowing the food full of spiritual energy. He quickly finished all the meat that Gu Shi had thrown at him and started eating the meat that Bat Xu had given him. Halfway through, he suddenly stopped, standing stiffly in place, as if he had been petrified.

Gu Shi and Bat Xu, who were eating, noticed Erlang's unusual behavior and immediately looked over.

"Is it poisoning? Or is it because they ate too much?"

Gu Shi had just voiced his somewhat nervous guess when a small, dark dot suddenly appeared on Erlang's forehead, near the center of his brow. The dot then rapidly expanded, turning into a dark, round hole.

Then, a large amount of pale liquid gushed out from the central hole, completely covering Jiro's body, and then quickly hardened, turning into a large cocoon of white bones.

"So that's how it is. After feeding so much ethereal flesh, it's finally going to become ethereal."

Gu Shi felt relieved and stopped eating the shelled creature he hadn't finished. He carefully watched for any movement around him and waited patiently for Erlang to emerge from his cocoon.

The process of becoming ethereal is always quick, and Erlang didn't keep Gu Shi waiting long. Soon, the white bone cocoon broke open, and Erlang, whose entire body was covered with pale white bone armor and whose head was covered with a canine bone mask with his fangs extended, leaped out.

Looking at Erlang, who had become much more handsome, Gu Shi was a little disappointed that he wouldn't have a fluffy dog ​​to pet anymore, but he was still quite happy overall. He grabbed the beetle he was eating halfway and tossed it over to Erlang.

Souls with good innate talent are naturally rich in spiritual energy and can quickly adapt to their new state after becoming ethereal.

However, souls lacking talent and with meager spiritual power will quickly feel intense hunger after becoming ethereal. They must devour other souls as soon as possible to replenish their spiritual power in order to stabilize their own state.

Erlang ate a lot of ethereal flesh and absorbed a large amount of ethereal spiritual power before finally completing his ethereal transformation. His talent was certainly not good. Therefore, after discovering that he had begun to etherealize, Gu Shi decisively kept the beetle ethereal flesh to replenish Erlang's spiritual power.

Smelling the rich aroma of spiritual energy emanating from the beetle's flesh, Erlang roared like a raging beast, plunging headfirst into the hole in the beetle's hollow chest, frantically devouring the flesh and blood and absorbing the spiritual energy within.

Gradually, as his body received a sufficient replenishment of spiritual energy, the feeling of hunger in his heart was relieved, and Erlang's eating movements gradually slowed down, without that frantic feeling.

After eating a few more bites, Erlang finally pulled his head out of the hole in his shell, tilted his head and sniffed Gu Shi's scent. His tail, covered by bone armor and as sharp as a blade, shook rapidly, making a series of whistling sounds as if blades were cutting through the air.

"Wang!"

With a cheerful cry, Erlang nudged the beetle, which still had some flesh left, toward Gu Shi with his head. Then, he sniffed the desert beneath his feet, plunged into the sand dune, and pulled out a small lizard from it, running toward Gu Shi like a treasure.

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Chapter Thirty-Nine: Killing Intent

Gu Shi certainly wouldn't take back the beetle remains that Erlang had almost completely devoured to eat again, but he readily accepted the little lizard that Erlang cheerfully handed him and stuffed it into his mouth.

While chewing on the small piece of meat that didn't have much spiritual power, Gu Shi subtly observed Erlang's reaction. Seeing that Erlang was still wagging his tail happily, Gu Shi felt much more at ease.

After the soul becomes ethereal, almost all past memories are lost. Only strong obsessions will remain on the ethereal body instinctively. However, this does not mean that good relationships from before the etherealization will be preserved afterward.

The Grim Reaper Girl mentioned an example during a casual conversation: there was once a samurai who loved his family very much and maintained a strong obsession with protecting them until his death. Even after he became a Hollowfied, this obsession remained as an instinct.

Driven by this instinct, he returned to his family and instinctively wanted to protect them. However, as a ghost, he also had an even stronger urge to cannibalize people than this instinct.

Without the support of his fond memories, his rootless protective instincts were quickly distorted by cannibalistic impulses, turning "I must protect them" into "I must eat them," and finally, on the third day after returning home, he devoured his entire family.

With such examples before, it was impossible for Gu Shi not to feel nervous when Erlang became ethereal.

Fortunately, Erlang seems to be doing well. Perhaps animals don't have that many complicated thoughts?

Relaxing down, Gu Shi couldn't help but laugh when he looked at Erlang's appearance. He had named the big black dog Erlang out of mischievousness, just to make fun of Erlang Shen. He never expected that when Erlang became ethereal, he would actually open a "third eye" between his eyebrows.

but……

The open, hollow space between the eyebrows—doesn't that mean…?

Is Erlang now truly "brainless"?

It's good to have one less fatal weakness, that's true. He won't be afraid of getting his head pierced in the future. But Jiro's combat experience will probably not be so good. I guess a lot of foul-mouthed guys will mock him as a brainless idiot.

"Has this...lost its brain?"

As Gu Shi was thinking this, the bat Xu next to him seriously raised the question. Glancing at Erlang who was still happily wagging his tail, Gu Shi sincerely offered his suggestion.

"While that's true, you might consider putting it more tactfully. After Erlang becomes ethereal, his intelligence will increase rapidly. Once he learns that this phrase can also be used to insult people, he might bite you if you continue to say it like that."

"...But Erlang can't beat me, and besides, I can fly."

Bat Void remained as serious and earnest as ever, to the point of being boring. After a moment's thought, he solemnly refuted the flaws in Gu Shi's words.

"You... never mind, not having a sense of humor is one of your personal characteristics, it's fine to keep it, there's no need to force you to change. If you become as 'humorous' as that madman, I'll have a headache instead. Let's go, let's continue looking for food."

Gu Shi continued his journey, while on the other side, the Grim Reaper girl he used as a negative example had already returned to Soul Society at some point.

"Night Fate, you may seem gentle, but you're actually quite stubborn. I'm really happy that you're willing to give up the mission and go home this time. Just rest at home for a while. I'll put in a good word for you with Captain Kuchiki."

The sprightly old man, with a doting smile on his face, pushed the small plate of snacks in front of him toward the girl of death as he spoke.

"Don't worry about the guards. Grandpa will definitely make up for it when you return to the team. Now that you're at home, you don't have to follow those annoying little guys around. By the way, Grandpa has also had someone take care of the things you left behind in District 53 of the West. Everything that could be brought back has been brought back and is now under your room."

"It's good for kids to be curious. If they want to study something new, there's no need to go to such dirty and messy places. If they get discovered by the Secret Service, Grandpa will have to go to the Shihōin family again to plead for you, which will only cause more trouble."

The white-haired old man was gentle and doting, and the Death Girl had lost her dangerous aura from the real world, her face full of affectionate smiles. She grabbed a piece of candied fruit and put it in her mouth, the sweet taste making her eyes squint with joy.

"I knew you were the best to me, Grandpa. Unlike Mom, who's always nagging me. Tomorrow I'll go fishing with you, Grandpa. I'm going home to rest today. You should rest early too, Grandpa!"

Smiling, she bid farewell to the old man, grabbing a handful of candied fruit before leaving. The Death Girl hummed a song she'd heard somewhere and jogged back to her room.

Upon entering the room, the smile on the Grim Reaper girl's face vanished instantly. Her expression turned cold as she surveyed the familiar surroundings. She quickly spotted a hidden door in the corner, where a landscape painting should have hung before she left home.

Instinctively gripping her Zanpakuto, the Shinigami girl stuffed the candied fruit into her bosom, strode to the door, and opened it without hesitation.

Behind the door was a spiral stone staircase leading downwards. With a cold snort, the Death Girl secretly became more vigilant. Too lazy to walk up the steps, which were not very useful, she directly used her Instant Step to descend.

After landing, a vast underground space came into view, in which iron cages were arranged in a certain pattern. Most of the cages were empty, but the cages near the entrance were already occupied by "residents".

The three Hollows and three Shinigami each had their own private rooms, while the twelve ordinary rogues lived together in the same large cage.

Looking at these things, the Death Girl finally lost control of her expression. She clenched her teeth, her eyes filled with anger and fear, and slowly squeezed out a murderous sentence from between her teeth.

"Damn it... old man!"

In order to study the secrets of Hollowfication, she once specially opened up an underground cavern in the 53rd ward of Rukongai as a research site. Before deciding to go to the human world, she completely destroyed it, leaving no evidence that could be used against her.

Therefore, when she heard "something that fell in West District 53", she had a bad feeling. Now her premonition came true. The old man had found the place at some point and dug up the ruins after she left.

The only thing that could give the Death Girl a little peace of mind was that although these iron cages were trying to recreate her original layout as much as possible, they were still quite different from the real appearance of the underground laboratory. They were mostly recreated based on the spiritual energy left in the ruins.

This means that the old man's people did not sneak into the laboratory while it was still intact and the experiments were still ongoing, and most likely did not know what kind of research she was actually conducting.

With that thought in mind, her cold gaze swept over the experimental subjects one by one. The Death Girl walked to an iron cage containing the Grim Reaper and looked at the information label on the cage.

"Drunk during duty, harming innocent wandering souls, damaging noble residences, and clashing with superior nobles, he has committed heinous crimes and is imprisoned in the third level of the underground prison for 214 years. Ha, he can even easily obtain such experimental subjects. The old man is indeed worthy of being the head of the Saito family."

With a mocking snort, the Death Girl opened the cage and dragged the unconscious, unfortunate fellow out.

The old man was curious about what I was researching, right? Well, I'll just show you directly! I hope you can understand it!

Chapter Forty: True Meaning

She took a Hollow and a Shinigami out of the cage, tied them securely on the control panel, and carefully sensed the spiritual power of the two. She found that the unfortunate Shinigami's spiritual power level was significantly higher than that of the Hollow, so she decisively drew her sword and cut off his left leg.

Suffering a severe blow while unconscious, the unfortunate Grim Reaper twitched violently, his face turning deathly pale instantly, yet he kept his eyes tightly closed, showing no sign of waking up.

Ignoring the bloodstains splattered on her, the Death Girl carefully sensed the area and meticulously cut a piece of flesh from the unfortunate Death Girl's wound, finally bringing the spiritual power of the two test subjects to almost the same level.

[Same spiritual energy level is the most basic requirement. It's a pity that the big guy refuses to eat people, so his growth is too slow. If only he could grow to a level similar to mine faster. With his current spiritual energy level, even if I cut myself in half, he would still be far behind me.]

Thinking of the escaped hulking figure, the Death Girl's mood worsened. She snorted coldly, took out a tube of concentrated Hollow spiritual energy from the inner layer of her clothes, and poured it directly into the mouth of the unlucky Death God.

If the unlucky Grim Reaper were to regain consciousness, with his strength, he could completely control his own spiritual power to resist and eliminate this illusory spiritual power. The Grim Reaper girl would have to use some other means to eliminate his resistance.

Unfortunately, the unfortunate Grim Reaper had been tampered with in some way, his consciousness and body were completely separated, and he was unable to put up any effective resistance. He could only let the violent spiritual power quickly assimilate his own spiritual power.

Soon, signs of etherealization appeared on the unlucky Grim Reaper. Wisps of ominous red and black appeared in the pure blue spiritual energy. The Grim Reaper girl watched the changes quietly and waited patiently.

Gradually, as the red and black spiritual energy increased, a pitch-black round hole suddenly appeared in the abdomen of the unlucky Grim Reaper, and it slowly expanded over time. The Grim Reaper girl focused her mind, and the glow of the Kido was about to be unleashed in her hand.

The next moment, the pitch-black circular hole was fully formed, and a huge amount of pale white liquid suddenly burst out from it. As if it had its own consciousness, the liquid rolled back and tried to completely engulf the unfortunate Grim Reaper.

At that moment, the Death Girl activated her Kido instantly, and a golden barrier of light firmly enveloped the unfortunate Death God's head, preventing the pale liquid from covering his skull. Then, the Death Girl quickly turned around and moved to the other side of the Hollow. Her Zanpakuto swiftly and deftly slid across the Hollow's side, and in a few quick movements, she shaved off the bone mask.

Picking up the grotesque white bone mask, the Death Girl turned around and examined it. Only after confirming that the unfortunate Death God's entire body, except for his head, was covered in a ghastly white liquid, did she nod in satisfaction.

Timing is crucial. The precise moment to proceed to the next step is when the blurring is just short of covering the face to form a mask.

With a light laugh, the Death Girl decisively placed the mask in her hand on the unlucky Death's face, pressed it down firmly, and then released the bindings protecting the unlucky Death's head.