https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-647-Soi-Fon-s-Promotion-with-Yoruichi/12560041/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-649-The-Final-Stop-The-World-of-the-Living/12560043/
Chapter 648: Forty Years Later
Chapter 648: Forty Years Later
After sending Yoruichi away, Feng Ye stood alone in the palace, his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky in deep thought.
Gradually, his body began to levitate, and he sat down in the air, hovering about a meter above the ground, motionless and silent.
Feng Ye slowly closed his eyes.
Having absorbed the power of all the Quincy, including the King of the Quincy, Yhwach, from the Invisible Empire, it would be implausible to say that it had no effect on him at all.
Even for him, the residual power of Yhwach and the combined might of all the Quincy within the Invisible Empire was no trivial force; it could be considered moderately significant.
In fact, the total power held by the Soul Society and the Hueco Mundo today surpasses that of the Soul King in the past. This is simply because, while the Soul King created the Soul Society and the Hueco Mundo, not all the life within them was created by him.
Every soul originates from the human world, is born there, and the human world is but a fragment of the vast universe. Each soul born there possesses its own spirit and power.
These powers do not belong to the Soul King.
When these souls pass away and enter the Soul Society, they absorb spirit particles and become Shinigami. Although most of their power comes from absorbing the Soul King's spirit particles, they still retain a portion that is inherently their own. At the very least, their souls do not belong to the Soul King.
Thus, over millions of years, as the Soul Society and the Hueco Mundo grew, the cumulative power they possess today far surpasses what they had a million years ago.
These powers come from every soul, every life.
Regardless of who they are, their status, or their background, as long as they are born in the human world and return to the Soul Society, they become the foundation of this world.
The Soul Society and the Hueco Mundo as they stand today are built upon the collective efforts of countless ordinary souls, each contributing in their own small way to the grand tapestry of these realms.
The Quincy are no exception.
While their powers may originate from the Soul King, a part of their soul, a part of their bloodline, is their own, belonging to the boundless universe itself, and thus, they provide a significant benefit to Feng Ye.
The most noticeable effect is the shortening of his metamorphosis time. In less than sixty years, he estimates that in about fifty years, he will reach the critical point of transformation.
The critical point of collapse and qualitative change.
At this moment, Feng Ye could be likened to a dark star, and this analogy would not be far from the truth.
His full power is akin to that of a medium-sized star that has undergone partial collapse, transforming into an extremely dense neutron star, now progressing towards a strangelet. Once it reaches the final critical point and surpasses it, it will become a black hole.
Indeed, a black hole is the ultimate manifestation of pure power, and the discussion of which is more potent, rules or pure power, culminates at the black hole—the critical point.
After breaking through this level, various rule-based powers, be it time or space, will become immune or greatly weakened, rendering them ineffective.
For instance, if the Soul King in his prime were to use his spatial abilities on Feng Ye, he could cut out a portion of space, including Feng Ye, and instantly move it beyond the galaxy.
However, once the power surpasses another level, reaching the realm of entities like black holes, it would be nearly impossible to do so. Any spatial abilities used on Feng Ye would be rendered immune, and even if the level of spatial ability was extremely high, it would be greatly diminished.
"Forty years..."
"Since that's the case, I might as well take a little nap."
Feng Ye murmured to himself, and his consciousness began to retract inward, gradually quieting down.
He hovered in the air, and a faint white halo could be seen forming a spherical shape around him, enveloping him like a star hanging in the firmament, unchanging through the ages.
...
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, forty years had passed.
Yoruichi had long ago adapted to her new life as a member of the Zero Squad, but in those forty years, she never once saw Feng Ye again. As a result, she was never able to tell him about Aizen, something she had wanted to do all this time.
She had intended to inform the Zero Squad and then look for an opportunity to speak with Feng Ye about it, but she could not have imagined that this opportunity would elude her for four decades.
She had considered entering the Soul King Palace to find Feng Ye directly, but she was always stopped by Hinamori and Lilynette. Lilynette followed Feng Ye's instructions to the letter, and during his slumber, she would not allow anyone to disturb him unless a significant event occurred. She was unwavering in her duty.
Even if Retsu Unohana wanted to enter, Lilynette would stop her.
As such, Yoruichi could not get past Lilynette's guard, and thus, she had no way of telling Feng Ye about Aizen. Helpless, she could only try to deal with Aizen herself.
However, this brought about another problem.
While the Zero Squad was second only to the Soul King and the Hollow King in terms of existence, and their status surpassed that of the Central 46 Chambers, they did not have free access to the Soul King Palace.
In other words, Feng Ye did not wish for the Zero Squad to take any action regarding Aizen.
Although this left the matter in a state of Schrodinger's cat, neither confirming nor denying it, the Zero Squad, who served before the king, bore the responsibility of interpreting Feng Ye's will and deciding whether to act or not.
After hitting a dead end with Omaeda Soujuiro, Yoruichi could only think of her next steps on her own. She contacted Soifon, the captain of the Second Division, and also reached out to Madarame Ikkaku and the others.
However...
Over the next forty years, Aizen returned to his previous state and made no noticeable moves. He diligently performed his duties as the captain of the Fifth Division.
The only significant event during this period was the disappearance of the captain of the Tenth Division, Shiba Isshin, while exorcizing Hollows in the human world. Something unusual had happened to him.
According to Urahara Kisuke, Shiba Isshin had fallen victim to Aizen's scheme and nearly Hollowfied. Although Kisuke had rescued him, the two conflicting forces within Isshin had reached a balance, preventing him from returning to the Soul Society.
As a result...
Shiba Isshin assumed the alias Kurosaki Isshin and temporarily resided in the human world.
Even though Yoruichi's interference led the Central 46 Chambers to learn of Shiba Isshin's situation and decide not to intervene, Aizen still did not reveal any clues or evidence of his involvement. He appeared innocent.
This incident concluded with Hitsugaya Toshiro succeeding Shiba Isshin as the captain of the Tenth Division, while Isshin resigned from his post and remained in the human world to 'recover.'
Then, forty years later...
Inside the Soul King Palace...
Feng Ye, who had been asleep with his eyes closed for forty years, finally opened his eyes again.
It had been a long time since he had such a prolonged rest, and he felt refreshed after this extended slumber. On one hand, there were no more enemies in this world who could pose a threat to him, and on the other hand, with his two daughters, Lillith and Liana, by his side, he had no worries about any troubles occurring during his sleep.
"It's about time."
Feng Ye opened his eyes, and the light emanating from his body faded as he sensed his internal state, realizing that he was truly approaching the critical point of transformation.
However...
After briefly assessing his condition, Feng Ye frowned slightly as he noticed that he seemed to be lacking just a tiny bit of power to cross this threshold.
It was like a roller coaster reaching the peak of a mountain, where the speed slows down significantly, and it needs just a little extra push to get over the top.
"I'm slightly lacking in power," Feng Ye murmured.
His original power was close to half of a complete sun, and after absorbing the Soul King's power, it exceeded that of a whole sun. Then, after consuming the power of all the Quincies in the Invisible Empire, his energy levels rose even further.
But now, the issue was that this power still seemed insufficient to cross the critical point of transformation.
Although the metamorphosis was under his control and did not require ten times the power of a sun, as it would for an unconscious stellar body, at this moment, he was indeed lacking by a small margin.
Nevertheless...
This minor shortfall did not hinder Feng Ye. There were still many sources of power he could draw from within this world.
"Should I absorb the power of the Hollows?"
"Or perhaps the power of the Shinigami, or even Hell itself?"
Feng Ye contemplated his options.
While he dismissed the idea of absorbing the power of the Shinigami, he considered the Hollows. However, if he were to absorb a large amount of Hollow power all at once, it would disrupt the balance of the world, similar to what happened when the Quincies eradicated the Hollows.
The same principle applied to Hell; absorbing it would also create an imbalance.
"That's right," Feng Ye suddenly recalled something. "I'll reclaim the power of Fullbring and the remaining Quincies in the human world. That should be enough."
Fullbring was the fragmented power of the Soul King that had fallen into the human world, and reclaiming it would not affect the balance of the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. It would also stabilize the human world.
The same was true for the power of the Quincies.
Previously, he had absorbed the power of all the Quincies in the Invisible Empire, but there were still many Quincies like Ishida Ryuuken left in the human world, which he had overlooked. This time, he would reclaim all their power, and it should be sufficient.
(End of Chapter)
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