The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

When the Hollow Void absorbed the Zanpakuto, the things that entered his body did not disappear because of the death of the original owner, the Spider Arrancar; they remained firmly inside his body.

From the perspective of sending an undercover agent to Soul Society, if the thing being devoured disappears when its original owner dies, then it would be easier for him to know the life or death of the undercover agent and confirm whether the undercover agent has been exposed.

But from the perspective of personal gain and loss, what you gain will not be lost, which is actually a good thing.

In short, now that the effect has been confirmed, the next step is to try it out and see what exactly we get from the Zanpakuto.

With Gu Shi's slightly clumsy manipulation, that power was quickly unleashed. Accompanied by a teeth-grinding tearing sound, the black robe on Gu Shi's back suddenly ripped open, revealing four terrifying limbs, each over fifteen meters long and covered in hard bristles, that stretched out behind him.

As expected, what one gains from absorbing a Zanpakuto is only the Zanpakuto's own abilities.

Gu Shi wasn't surprised. He stretched out his spider legs, and a large amount of spider silk shot out. Some of it landed on the ground, while some stuck in mid-air.

[Hmm, since it's spider silk condensed from spiritual energy, it can not only stick to matter, but also to some high-density clusters of spiritual energy in the atmosphere? That makes sense.]

Unlike the myriad and varied abilities of Shinigami Zanpakuto, the abilities of Arrancar Zanpakuto are generally quite simple, and Gu Shi quickly mastered the ability of the "King of Eight Legs".

Chapter 127 The Deal

"Huff, huff, help! Is there anyone who can save me?!"

The short man frantically fled through the alley, a strange, cold iron chain hanging from his chest, making unsettling metallic clanging sounds as he ran.

Behind the man, a giant millipede was slowly chasing him, its numerous long legs moving with a series of chilling rustling sounds.

"Hehe, that's right, keep running, run as fast as you can, as long as you can run until the sun rises, you'll survive."

Accompanied by a surging tide of intense malice, a voice so sharp it was difficult to discern gender emanated from the centipede's mouthparts. It stared gleefully at the man's retreating figure, its eyes filled with malevolent anticipation.

If the man can actually run all night, he will, as promised, let the poor wretch go. But the next day, as soon as the sun sets, he will come back to continue the chase until one of them falls, until the man collapses in fear of no end, and only then will he begin to enjoy the feast.

As the son of the Left Minister, he would naturally have no grudge against such lowly people. The reason he tirelessly pursued the game time and time again was simply because he was a gourmet's insistence on the quality of food.

Although he had lost most of his memories from his previous life, he still remembered that he should be a very meticulous and serious person.

So even after taking this form, he maintained his habits from his previous life, meticulously comparing the taste of food in various states. After many attempts, he finally determined that emotion is the seasoning of the soul, and only extreme fear and extreme resentment can make food more delicious.

As a nobleman, even though his appetite roared every moment, he would not succumb to his instincts like the commoners and eat indiscriminately. He would spend three, five, or even longer preparing his food.

Only after the food has reached its peak of umami will he slowly savor the fruits of his hard work, feeling a strong sense of spiritual satisfaction.

Although this man was short and not very meaty, as a professional gourmet, he could see that this person had the potential to become a top-notch ingredient.

Recalling the taste of the last top-grade ingredient, the centipede unconsciously swallowed, its eyes widening with excitement. It was about to continue making noises to intimidate the fleeing man ahead, further stimulating his true flavor.

Just then, a piercing sound of something tearing through the air rang out, as if something was falling rapidly from the sky. In the next instant, the two ends of the centipede's body involuntarily rose high, and the excruciating pain that penetrated deep into his bones surged into his brain with a slightly dulled sensation, causing him to uncontrollably burst into a sharp wail.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! How could you throw me with such force? Uncle Erlang must be getting revenge for interrupting his poetry recitation yesterday, right? And Tianpeng, how could she open her 'black voice' in the sky? Have I offended her again recently?"

Amidst the piercing wails, a girl's clear complaint was inexplicably mixed in. Hearing this untimely voice, the man who had been running away but was knocked to the ground by the falling "meteor" stiffly turned his head to look behind him.

Amidst the layers of dust kicked up by the impact, a slender figure strode out, waving her hand to brush away the dust in front of her.

"But now I'm immune to the death from falling from a great height. I'm one step closer to absolute immortality, so it's a good thing, even if it's not too bad."

Bai wiped the dust off his face, and when he looked up, he met the eyes of the short man. His eyes lit up, and a bright smile immediately spread across his face. He raised his right hand high and waved it vigorously.

"Hey, uncle, you..."

"Run away!"

Bai had barely begun speaking when the short man shouted nervously. At the same time, the billowing dust behind her, which had not yet completely settled, was suddenly torn open, and a ferocious centipede emerged from it, its blood-stained maw swallowing her entire upper body whole.

"Die! You damned brat! I'll grind every bone in your body to dust!"

Despite its body being severed in two, the centipede-like creature, still alive thanks to its powerful vitality, continued to chew on the girl in its mouth with a ferocious expression.

As long as he eats in time and consumes enough souls, he still has a chance to live!

"Sorry, I've already been bitten to death in Hueco Mundo, so you won't have a chance."

The centipede was biting desperately, but Bai's body remained firmly in place. A teasing voice floated out from the centipede's large mouth, showing no sign of pain. Bai even gently patted Bai's cheek from the inside with his right hand.

"However, your breath stinks terribly, I hate the smell. So, I'm going to kill you, get ready."

The next moment, a slender, fair arm pierced through the side of the Thousand-Legged Insect Void's face with a thud. It grabbed the flesh on the Thousand-Legged Insect Void's face and tore it off with force, easily ripping off most of his face.

The head emerged from the bloody hole in the centipede's cheek, took a few breaths of fresh air without any bad breath, and then retreated back into the centipede's mouth. It then swung its fists rapidly upwards, smashing the centipede's head completely amidst short, mournful howls. Only then did it walk out, satisfied, rubbing its fists.

"It seems the training over this period has been quite effective. Killing a few Hollows is no longer a challenge."

Recalling his time in Hueco Mundo, where he couldn't even defeat the most timid and weakest rabbit, Haku felt a touch of emotion.

He slapped his face hard to keep from actually laughing out loud, adjusted his expression to make himself look serious enough, and then quickly walked over to the short man who was already terrified, squatted down and pointed to his chest.

"Let's make a deal. You give me this chain, and I'll take you to a safe place where you won't have to worry about encountering these monsters. How about that? Pretty good deal, right?"

Following the direction of the white finger, the man stared blankly at the chain on his chest. After a brief moment of thought, he nodded vigorously. He didn't know why this broken chain had suddenly appeared on his body, and he couldn't get rid of it even if he wanted to. If he could exchange it for safety, he would be a fool to refuse.

"Okay, it's good that you agree."

Bai didn't care whether he had considered it carefully or not. Seeing him nod, he decisively grabbed the end of the chain with both hands and pulled hard, breaking it off. Then he carefully put it into his pocket, looked up and waved to the roof.

"Uncle Asido, he's in your hands now."

The short man followed Bai's gaze and saw a red-haired man dressed in black with a sword at his waist. He had appeared there at some point. Just as he was about to ask what was going on with the "dealing" when, in a flash, the man in black appeared in front of him and struck him hard on the forehead with the hilt of his long sword.

The next moment, the soul burial ritual began, and the short man's consciousness became chaotic. When he awoke again, he found himself in a village he had never heard of before, called Soul Society.

Chapter 128 Choice

"Huff, huff, help! Is there anyone who can save me?!"

The tall man screamed frantically, his cries as shrill as a pig being slaughtered. But his bulging muscles and towering height of at least 1.8 meters made it hard to associate him with "weakness".

This resulted in him shouting very loudly, but giving people the feeling that it was okay, he wouldn't die, he didn't need to be saved, and he would be able to fight back on his own in a moment.

The wolf-like creature chasing after the man was quite pleased with itself, single-mindedly focused on catching up and savoring this rare delicacy.

After all, this muscular man's soul strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, even exceeding his own by a considerable margin. If the other party weren't just an ordinary person with spiritual power but no way to use it, he would definitely be the first to run away upon seeing such a guy.

Fortunately, the other party was just a mortal and posed no threat to him.

[If I eat him, I might be able to evolve into a Hollow directly. I absolutely cannot let this guy get away.]

Encouraging himself, the wolf-shaped little wolf sped up, wanting to finish the battle quickly and enjoy the delicious meal all to himself before any other possible foes could find it.

Strangely, although Xiao Xu increased his speed, the distance between him and his prey did not shorten at all. The burly man in front of him continued to run happily, as if the other party was also accelerating at the same time as Xiao Xu.

Xiao Xu didn't think much of it, assuming that the other party had unleashed its potential out of fear. After all, it couldn't be that this ordinary person's soul was just pretending to be weak and actually playing along with his speed, could it?

Absolutely impossible!

While Xiao Xu and the strong man were chasing each other, running around in a frenzy, on a rooftop not far away, a bald Grim Reaper who looked to be no more than twenty years old was sitting there casually, leisurely watching the show with a straw in his mouth, showing no intention of going down to rescue them.

At a higher altitude, a dark gap suddenly appeared in the sky, hidden in the thick darkness and difficult to detect.

At the other end of the black cavity, a group of Hollows sat together, watching the events unfolding in the real world as if they were watching a live broadcast.

"Could it be that the Grim Reaper has figured it out?"

Seeing that the Grim Reaper below had not made a move, Tianpeng couldn't help but worry.

The burly man being "hunted down" below is actually the Arrancar created by Gu Shi after Bai and Asido retrieved the Chain of Cause and Effect some time ago, and the hole was sealed by the Chain of Cause and Effect.

Logically speaking, if they wanted to evoke Death's sympathy and get him to come to their rescue, they should have chosen a frail and delicate person after the Hollowfication. The reason Gu Shi and the others insisted on throwing out this big and burly guy was because the Hollowhole was in a very cleverly placed location.

When he was a Hollow, his Hollow hole was located on his left hind leg. After he was a Hollow, the location of the Hollow hole moved down a little and onto his left foot. As long as he wore shoes, it could be well covered up.

If he were to infiltrate the Soul Society as an undercover agent, he would obviously have an advantage over most Hollows whose Hollow holes are located in their chests. On this basis, even his rough-looking appearance would become an advantage that further amplifies his strengths.

After all, if someone is fair-skinned and beautiful, even if they are male, they might encounter a few guys with special fetishes who want to see their bare feet.

But if it's a muscular man who evokes images of stuffiness and body odor, no one would think of taking off his shoes to look at his feet, right?

It was based on this idea that Gu Shi insisted on sending the other party to the real world, so that he could stage an accident near the wolf-shaped little void.

But now, the plan seems to have run into trouble at the very beginning. The Grim Reaper who guards the mortal world doesn't seem to have any intention of saving people at all.

Tianpeng's worries are exactly what Gu Shi is worried about now. No one knows whether the Grim Reaper is unwilling to save people because he is also a scumbag like Saito Yoru, who doesn't care about the life and death of ordinary people, or because he saw through the flaw and discovered that the strong man with the mask was not an ordinary person.

Or perhaps, he simply didn't want to save a rough-looking man?

Too many possibilities and an uncertain outcome are more frustrating than outright failure.

However, although he was somewhat anxious, Gu Shi maintained a calm demeanor on the surface and gently waved his hand.

"Don't rush, take your time. At worst, we'll only lose one degraded Hogyoku. We can always try again in a different place tomorrow."

Since Gu Shi had said so, Tianpeng could only nod and stop saying discouraging things that would "shake morale." He looked at the other man beside him and nodded in relief.

"Bai is still dragging Axi along with most of the stars, and he probably won't be back before dawn. We still have plenty of time."

Although Ashido was disappointed with the nobles and unwilling to return to Soul Society, there was no doubt that he still cared about Soul Society. If he knew that Gu Shi planned to send a spy to Soul Society, he would probably turn against him immediately.

Therefore, when creating the Arrancar, Gu Shi made an excuse to send Asido away.

At this important moment, Gu Shi once again asked Bai and Ashido to go to another village in the mortal world to help him collect the Chains of Cause and Effect. Before they set off, he hinted to Bai to help keep Ashido in the mortal world and not to return to Hueco Mundo too soon.

Bai is undoubtedly a smart child. He carried out Gu Shi's request very well, using his coquettishness to ask to count stars, and managed to keep Axido occupied.

Gu Shi glanced at the black box next to him and saw Bai and Asiduo lying side by side on the roof, looking up at the starry night sky and talking quietly. He nodded in satisfaction.

Among this group of people, Bai was closest to him and Asido. Gu Shi was unsure whether he or Asido held more importance in Bai's heart, which made him slightly uneasy.

After all, although Bai's potential is extraordinary and he will definitely be able to set foot in the starry sky in the future, given Asido's personality, he would never abandon his responsibility to protect this world and go to the starry sky. If Bai is more inclined to Asido, he probably won't set off with him even if he gains the ability to enter the starry sky in the future.

This scene is great; Bai's willingness to help stall and conceal the truth from Asido is enough to show that she is more inclined towards Gu Shi.

With one more travel companion confirmed, Gu Shi felt much more at ease, which had been causing him some frustration due to the setback in his plans.

I should try to spend more time with Bai from now on.

Gu Shi could tell that Bai wasn't materialistic. She wasn't obsessed with food or picky about clothing styles. Her biggest desire was for someone to accompany her. Although Asido cared about Bai a lot, he would go out hunting for virtual objects whenever he had time, so he didn't actually have much time to spend with Bai.

On the contrary, Gu Shi and the other Great Hollows are usually engaged in their own research and do not run around. When Bai runs laps around them for exercise every day, he can always look up and chat with Gu Shi and the others. The amount of time they spend together and the number of conversations they have are far greater than those with Asido.

This might be why, between Asido and Gu Shi, Bai abandoned Asido, who was also "human," and chose Gu Shi instead.

As Gu Shi was pondering this, he heard Tian Peng exclaim in a low voice, sounding somewhat surprised.

"It moved. Death has finally moved."