Chapter 1488 - 11: Old Friend

Chapter 1488: Chapter 11: Old Friend

Crack, crack...

Su Xiao’s ears were filled with the sound of shattering glass as he tried to suppress the derivative effect of the Sword Grandmaster skill. It was difficult, and he had to ensure Aizen had already left, but he was under hypnosis and couldn’t be sure if Aizen had gone far.

After a full 10 minutes, Su Xiao couldn’t hold back the derivative effect of the Sword Grandmaster skill any longer. With a crash, the world around him shattered like a mirror.

It turned out that Kyoka Suigetsu’s spiritual ability had no effect on Su Xiao.

Don’t think that breaking Kyoka Suigetsu means being able to fight Aizen. Even without the Hōgyoku, Aizen is one of the top powers within the Guard Court Thirteen Teams. Without this skill, how could he dare to challenge the Soul Society?

The world around returned to normal, but Su Xiao’s eyes remained tightly closed as he sensed whether the world around was normal.

After confirming multiple times, Su Xiao could ensure he had freed himself from Kyoka Suigetsu’s hypnotic control. However, there’s a drawback: the next time Aizen tries to use hypnosis on Su Xiao, it would be incredibly awkward—not for Su Xiao, but for Aizen.

Now Su Xiao belonged to the Jingling Court faction. Whether to join forces with Aizen or not was still under consideration.

The greatest advantage of collaborating with Aizen was that Aizen was not a gentleman. Even if Su Xiao’s methods were extreme, Aizen could easily accept them.

The benefit of joining Jingling Court was backing the big shots; the Soul Society was not something Aizen could shake easily. Even with increased strength from the Hōgyoku, Aizen could hardly shake the Soul Society.

Fundamentally, Soul Reapers were not good rulers, nor was Aizen. The difference between the two was only a matter of coal and charcoal.

Su Xiao didn’t care about the future of the Soul Society, but the undeniable fact was that joining Aizen would undoubtedly be the most rewarding decision.

If Su Xiao killed a captain of one squad, then he would be in a relentless feud with Jingling Court; however, with Aizen to take the blame, it would be different. When Aizen defected from Jingling Court, he became a force on his own, and Guard Court Thirteen Teams couldn’t easily deal with him—this is exactly the outcome Su Xiao wanted.

Of course, it’s too early to consider these options now. If Su Xiao were to join Aizen, he would be straightforward about it, and given Aizen’s intelligence, he would quickly realize Kyoka Suigetsu was ineffective against Su Xiao. At that point, there would be two outcomes: recruitment or elimination.

When Aizen defected from Jingling Court, two captain-level Soul Reapers followed. One was named Gin Ichimaru, and the other was Kaname Tosen.

Kyoka Suigetsu by Aizen is strong but it has a flaw—it’s ineffective against blind people, and incidentally, Kaname Tosen is blind, so Aizen chose to recruit him.

Su Xiao needs to determine Aizen’s reaction after realizing Kyoka Suigetsu was broken before deciding whether to join or unite Jingling Court to besiege Aizen.

Nonetheless, Su Xiao was sure about one thing: Aizen had already detected his disguise.

Before entering the 6th Squad Station, Su Xiao contacted Bu Wang, because Bu Wang had already infiltrated the protagonist team, constantly monitoring Ichigo Kurosaki’s activities. When Ichigo intends to enter the Soul Society, Su Xiao would be the first to know.

The 6th Squad Station differed from other squads in that the buildings here were distinctly taller and the streets wider, exuding an aura of wealth.

During his three-day stay in the Soul Society, Su Xiao figured out the location of the reputation shop—it was the logistics department of the 6th Squad.

After maneuvering through several streets, Su Xiao arrived at a courtyard where Soul Reapers occasionally came and went.

[Hunter has reached the reputation shop area. Reputation shop activated.]

[Note: Reputation shop is an absolutely neutral point.]

Su Xiao entered the building in the courtyard, which looked remarkably like a pawnshop.

Behind the counter in the room, an emaciated old man was dozing off inside the counter.

Knock, knock.

Su Xiao lightly tapped the wooden table, and the old man behind the counter sat up, casually wiping the drool at his mouth corner.

"Greetings, sir, welcome."

The emaciated old man looked at Su Xiao with a cheerful smile. Su Xiao, too, observed the old man, feeling a strange sense from him.

He could affirm that this old man was definitely not from Bleach World; his intuition alone told him so, without needing detection by the Eye of the Apostle.

The old man handed over a list, his smile carrying profound meaning, and the more Su Xiao saw that cunning smile, the more familiar he felt.

Su Xiao was sure he had seen the old man before, in another world, but which one he couldn’t quite remember.

Judging by appearance, this was the first time Su Xiao saw the emaciated old man, yet the sly, crafty aura he exuded felt so familiar.

"Have we met?"

Su Xiao took the list, not immediately checking the reputation shop items but keeping his eyes fixed on the old man.

"Hey, hey hey, sir, you’re overthinking. This is our first meeting."

"Is that so."

Su Xiao’s eyelid drooped; when the old man chuckled, the sense of familiarity was particularly strong, yet he couldn’t recall where he’d met him.

Though he couldn’t remember the old man’s identity, the good news was he was an absolutely neutral party and wouldn’t favor anyone. Thinking this, Su Xiao focused his attention on the list in hand.

A virtual screen appeared before Su Xiao’s eyes, displaying an item list.

[Spiritual Corpse]

Origin: Soul Reaper

Quality: Legendary Level

Type: Special Consumable

Effect: After use, you can summon a captain-level combat effectiveness Soul Reaper to assist in battle, lasting until the Hunter leaves This World.

Note: This item can be used only in This World.

Rating: 510 points (Legendary Item Rating between 400~530 points)

Price: 10,000 points Jingling Court reputation.

...

[Matchless Beauty]

Origin: Soul Reaper

Quality: Legendary Level

Category: Zanpakutō

Durability: 105/105

Attack Power: 173~198

Equipment Requirements: Soul Reaper ability, True Intelligence Attribute above 85 points, Basic Knife Type Weapon Ability Level 40 or above.

Initial Release Ability: View upon exchange.

Description: Beauty belongs to appearance, unrivaled existence.

Price: 10,000 points Jingling Court reputation

...

[Death Lord Equipment (Soul Left Knight)]

Origin: Soul Reaper

Quality: Golden Suit

...

The list featured numerous equipment, items, etc., available for exchange, but to Su Xiao, only two items held exchange value: ’Spiritual Corpse’ and ’Matchless Beauty’.

Considering gains and losses, spending 10,000 points of Jingling Court reputation on a Zanpakutō, ultimately to have Dragon Slash devour it, was unwise. The Bleach World has no shortage of Zanpakutō, and after the Supreme Blade surpassed its limit, it can fully devour. He’s done this before in the World of Crimson.

The so-called raw devour means defeating or killing a Soul Reaper, then having Dragon Slash directly devour their Zanpakutō rather than acquiring it from a treasure chest and then devouring it. Doing so provides fewer Blade Value, but it’s more convenient and doesn’t rely on luck.

The Death Lord Equipment (Soul Left Knight) was also excellent as a Golden Suit, but its attributes didn’t fit Su Xiao. Moreover, the exchange price for five pieces totaled 39,000 points of Jingling Court reputation, so Su Xiao outright ignored this.

A single piece of Golden Suit indeed doesn’t match up to Legendary Gear, but if five pieces are gathered, it’s equivalent to two to three pieces of Legendary Gear, which in equal quantity outperform Golden Suits.

After making a mental decision, Su Xiao turned to leave the reputation shop, watched by the retreating figure of Su Xiao, the old man behind the counter stood up and rubbed his hands.

"Old friend, long time no see, take care, someone’s monitoring you from two kilometers away. Too bad I am now neutral and can’t warn you, how nostalgic those times were when we ’hurt each other’, wonder where Bubute Ni went after you left, Caesar was indeed lonely, hey hey hey..."