Chapter 1483 - 6: Flower

Chapter 1483: Chapter 6: Flower

"Your gaze... It’s quite unsettling."

Matsumoto Rangiku furrowed her brows. Just now, she felt an even stronger impression that Su Xiao might consume her at any moment.

"Is that so."

Su Xiao smiled slightly, appearing harmless and relaxed.

"We’re here."

Hiyori paused in front of a two-story wooden building, which was relatively close to the central area of Jingling Court.

Pushing open the sliding door, this seemed like a house that hadn’t been inhabited for a long time. Shortly, Su Xiao, Hiyori, and Matsumoto Rangiku sat around the wooden table in the room, cross-legged on the floor.

"I’m busy, so I’ll keep it short," Hiyori rested his arm on his knee, pondering for a moment before continuing, "I’m not interested in your background; I want to know what you really plan to do."

Hiyori was straightforward, or rather, he was testing Su Xiao.

"Purpose? Haven’t thought of one yet."

In Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao’s place, there’s no shortage of cunning old foxes. To avoid being tricked among a bunch of them, the best way is to become one of them.

Su Xiao is not good at scheming, but he excels at disguising himself, even surpassing Qing Ye in this aspect. After all, he’s from an assassin background; if he weren’t adept at disguise, grass would be growing tall over his grave.

"That answer is not satisfactory to me."

Hiyori lowered his gaze. This little brat is tough to deal with, but that’s only true for ordinary people.

"To be honest, I could make up any purpose: revenge? Become stronger? Or aim for power?"

Su Xiao lightly tapped his finger on the table, his demeanor natural, and he casually observed the structure of the room while speaking.

"Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out what purpose to fabricate. My reason for coming here is simple; wandering in Hollows Street is just too dull. Since I’m skilled at creating various potions, I came to Jingling Court to try my luck; perhaps I could even become a Soul Reaper?"

"Become a Soul Reaper..."

Hiyori shook his head; given Su Xiao’s aura, Jingling Court is unlikely to recognize him as a Soul Reaper.

"The killing intent or blood energy you perceive? Most of it stems from my killing days when I was human. The evil within humans is unimaginable to you—interrogation, infiltration of enemy camps, assassination behind enemy lines, destruction behind enemy lines—these are all things I’m adept at; it’s just been a long time since I’ve done them."

"..."

Hiyori furrowed his brows tightly; he felt Su Xiao was being way too candid. Such things should be kept hidden.

"I didn’t come here to seek a high position, so I don’t need you to trust me much. Compared to wandering in Hollows Street, this place is obviously more interesting."

"It’s that simple?"

"You can use your eyes to observe. If you find anything abnormal, kill me. Of course, I won’t go down easily."

"Let’s end this topic here."

Discussing up to this point, Hiyori didn’t perceive any abnormalities because Su Xiao was too suspicious. This very suspiciousness aroused his doubts; would a thief really infiltrate Jingling Court in this manner?

"The potion you made before, can it be mass-produced?"

"No, it can’t."

"Just as I thought."

Hiyori was somewhat disappointed. Though Soul Reapers have medical personnel, recovery potions used in battle are scarce, a result of Soul Reapers’ special constitution; potions lacking a substantial amount of spirit particles have limited healing effects on Soul Reapers.

"What I gave you before was merely a trial piece, concocted with some common materials. Such trash certainly doesn’t warrant mass production."

"What do you mean by that...?"

Hiyori placed his hand on the wooden table. The reason why he was discussing with Su Xiao was because of the strategic value alchemy potions hold for Soul Reapers. With such potions, the casualty rate of Soul Reapers fighting Hollows could be drastically reduced; Soul Reapers can’t always have medical personnel accompanying them when they go out to hunt Hollows.

Su Xiao glanced at Matsumoto Rangiku, requesting paper from her. Quickly, he wrote down dozens of materials on the paper, preparing to manufacture a weakened version of the Ancient Secret Medicine, reducing its recovery ability and adding a large amount of solid soul.

With the Core of Devour at his disposal, obtaining solid soul is easy for Su Xiao. The real challenge lies in incorporating solid soul into liquid potions; the two aren’t simply mixed but must be fused together.

Su Xiao tossed the potion recipe to Hiyori. The more Hiyori looked, the deeper his frown became. While he recognized the words, when connected together, he surprisingly found himself unable to understand the meaning of the recipe.

Hiyori glanced at Matsumoto Rangiku; her expression was composed. Even though she couldn’t understand it, she couldn’t show that; doing so would be unbecoming of Jingling Court’s demeanor.

Matsumoto Rangiku picked up the recipe, carefully examining it for a few minutes before speaking, "Is it just like this?"

In her tone, Matsumoto Rangiku seems to understand a bit.

"Exactly. T24 Solvent and Essence of Life Condensation are interchangeable materials. In essence, they..."

Matsumoto Rangiku only comprehended the first two sentences from Su Xiao before it became akin to deciphering a Heavenly Book.

"I see."

Matsumoto Rangiku folded the recipe and tucked it into her collar.

"Finding these materials isn’t a problem? If not, then this potion can be mass-produced, and its effect is tens, even dozens of times more potent than the trial version. Technically, it could even replace..."

"Let’s stop here for now; we need to consider this matter."

Matsumoto Rangiku interrupted Su Xiao, aware she couldn’t allow herself to be bewildered.

Hiyori coughed lightly, thankful for bringing an assistant like Matsumoto Rangiku earlier. A few minutes ago, the three had already started cross-frequency conversations.

Su Xiao deliberately made alchemical potion studies sound obscure and challenging, while Matsumoto Rangiku pretended to ’slightly understand’; even when rendered clueless, she maintained the pretense of comprehension.

Hiyori, on the other hand, was completely on an incomprehensible channel, feeling a slight headache start to build up.

Hiyori left with Matsumoto Rangiku, leaving Su Xiao in this two-story wooden house. They felt at ease doing so because the squad’s base was just nearby.

Su Xiao waited for about an hour before Matsumoto Rangiku opened the door. This time, Hiyori didn’t come, probably because he didn’t want to hear Su Xiao’s convoluted alchemy knowledge again.

Accompanying Matsumoto Rangiku this time was a gentle lady who radiated kindness, giving off a very warm aura.

The newcomer, Uzohara Retsu, Captain of the Fourth Division (Medical Team), appeared gentle, but before joining Jingling Court, she was an evil woman whose personality has significantly transformed now.

"Hello, I’m Uzohara Retsu."

Uzohara Retsu was surprisingly polite. She sat slightly to the side in front of the wooden table, smiling as she gazed at Su Xiao.

Su Xiao’s heart sank; if Hiyori’s scheming was a 10, then Uzohara Retsu’s was at least above 80, making her a formidable opponent.

"Bai Ye."

Clearly, the codename Bai Ye is quite ordinary in the Bleach World.

"The materials or recipe you wrote seem to be things not found in the Soul Society."

"Is that so, then replace them with materials present in the Soul Society."

"..."

Uzohara Retsu’s lips curled upward. She was testing Su Xiao; her statement ’not Soul Society’s items’ was a trap. If Su Xiao elaborated on the recipe’s origins with cryptic explanations, Uzohara Retsu would order the Soul Reapers outside to capture him and bring him to the Administrative Institution in the Central Underground Meeting Hall.

"What’s the origin of this potion?"

Uzohara Retsu pressed further.

"It’s a family tradition, passed down through my generation... I’ve forgotten how many."

Su Xiao took back the potion recipe he wrote and began to annotate various material properties. Twenty minutes later, he pushed the recipe towards Uzohara Retsu.

"As long as there are materials with these properties, I can make the final potion."

Su Xiao intended to create large quantities of the Spirit version of Alchemy Secret Medicine for Jingling Court, first providing them en masse, then restricting the production due to ’health reasons’, and finally producing small amounts. Without letting Jingling Court experience the benefits, he wouldn’t be able to gain influence quickly. After that, the process would be much simpler—finding ways to obtain a Zanpakutō.