Marvel With Zanpakutou

Chapter 783: The Truth About the Soul King

The real... Soul King?!

Lord’s eyes flickered, displaying a surprised expression.

The words of Ichibei Hyosube, the leader of the Zero Squad, held some intriguing implications.

If we were to infer from the meaning of his words, does that mean the person who was previously sealed in a crystal coffin and dismembered wasn’t the Soul King?

"Have... have you seen me before?"

Lord furrowed his brows, scrutinizing Ichibei Hyosube’s face, not missing any detail: "You claim to be a sinner, yet you have no doubts about my existence. Can I assume that you had anticipated this day?"

Despite his reluctance to think in that direction.

But the Soul King’s development system remains a thorn he cannot ignore. It’s always right to consider the worst-case scenario first and then prepare accordingly.

Ichibei Hyosube, as the ’guard’ of the Soul King, had participated in the initial dissection of the Soul King.

So, in many ways, Ichibei himself is equivalent to the history of the three realms, knowing many secrets about the Soul King that outsiders do not, which was one of the reasons for summoning Ichibei.

Lord wanted to delve into more than just the ’War in Heaven’; he was also interested in... the system and its relation to the Soul King!

"Hahaha, your question is indeed strange."

Ichibei Hyosube touched his bald head and laughed: "Of course, I have seen you; after all, it was I, along with the ancestors of the five great noble families, who followed your orders to create and protect the three realms as they are today."

"Wait... following my orders?"

Lord’s brow furrowed even more, making the whole situation even more baffling: "Are you saying that it was under my... the Soul King’s orders that you turned me into a human stick and sealed me?"

"Yes."

Ichibei Hyosube crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes wide open, his face the picture of honesty: "If it wasn’t for your own will, how could I and the five great noble families have the power to turn a creator born from chaos into the linchpin maintaining the three realms?"

Lord’s brows were deeply furrowed, fearing the worst.

The words of Ichibei Hyosube, the leader of the Zero Squad, completely contradicted the original story’s plot.

Initially, it was under the surrender of the Soul King that the five great noble families and Ichibei dissected him and sealed him in crystal to serve as the linchpin sustaining the existence of the three realms, moving the world from a static era of chaos into an era of the cycle of life and death.

But now Ichibei was telling him it was all the Soul King’s idea.

Which version of the story is the real cause?

"What else have you told me?" Lord, puzzled, could only temporarily put aside this question and ask if there was anything else: "Or what exactly is the Soul King, as you understand him?"

After saying this to avoid making Ichibei suspicious, Lord added: "Currently, I have not regained all my powers, so there are some gaps in my memory."

"Yes, I know."

Ichibei Hyosube seemed to have anticipated this, nodding calmly: "Right now, only your heart, nails, locks, both arms, soul fragments, and fragments of power are not yet assembled. It’s normal to have memory gaps."

"Ah... yes, that’s right."

Hearing others talk about the removed parts of the Soul King gave the Lord a peculiar feeling.

The items Ichibei mentioned were the parts extracted when he and the five great noble families dissected the Soul King’s body, later scattered across the three realms after being sealed to prevent the Soul King in the crystal from reviving.

From the details revealed in the original story.

Even a Soul King stripped of all power still wielded tremendous influence, subtly manipulating and guiding events over the ages. Ichigo Kurosaki’s arrival at the Soul King’s palace was due to the Soul King’s will.

The Soul King’s nails were the raw materials for creating the Hogyoku.

The Soul King’s heart was the recently acquired Quincy letter Miracle.

The remaining items, locks, and soul fragments referred to the phenomena in the living world. Hollows and humans produce Fullbrings, using beloved objects as a power source to manipulate matter or change its external form.

The Soul King’s hands controlled ’progress’ and ’stasis,’ feared most by the five great noble families, respectively residing within the Quincy Pernida Parnkgjas and the Shinigami Ukitake Jushiro.

The ’fragment of power’ mentioned last by Ichibei was Yhwach’s all-seeing eye.

"But, the Soul King, I know..."

Ichibei Hyosube abruptly sat down cross-legged, tugging at his thick beard with a troubled expression: "Honestly, I don’t know either because when I saw you again, you had already become an ’empty shell.’"

Lord’s eyes flickered: "An empty shell?"

"Hahaha, look at my memory. I forgot to mention it." Ichibei Hyosube touched his head, laughing to cover his embarrassment: "Actually, what we sealed in the crystal was just an empty shell you left behind."

"Then why go to the trouble of dismembering it?" Lord didn’t understand this point. If it was just an empty shell, why bother to go through so much trouble to dismember it and then scatter the parts across the three realms?

Ichibei Hyosube looked at him strangely, his gaze as if saying, ’are you kidding me?’

Lord’s face remained expressionless, slowly raising his hand: "I hate people who speak in riddles, so do you understand what I mean?"

Feeling the suddenly turbulent spiritual energy, Ichibei Hyosube broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly waved his hands: "No, no, there’s no need for that. I’m old, and my bones can’t endure the Soul King’s torment."

"Then babble!" Lord’s tone was harsh.

"Ah, the reason is quite simple: the Soul King didn’t react in time." Ichibei Hyosube sighed, stroking his thick beard, his bushy eyebrows twitching: "You must know how Hollows are born, right? The hole in their chest is what they lose—their ’heart,’ a product of a soul’s degradation."

"What does that have to do with me?" Lord was still confused.

"A Shinigami, through special means, can degenerate into a Hollow; you must remember this?" Ichibei Hyosube beat around the bush, never directly answering the question: "This can also be called the process of a soul gradually losing its [heart]."

"So what?"

Lord’s brow twitched with veins, barely holding back his desire to slap the monk.

"What if... the Soul King lost his heart?"

Ichibei Hyosube, sitting cross-legged on the ground, slowly raised his head, a rare sharpness in his eyes, speaking in a low voice: "An empty shell left by the Soul King is almost equivalent to losing [the heart], a perfect... amalgamation of grudges."

"You mean..."

Lord’s pupils slightly narrowed; he had never considered this possibility.

"Ah, that’s what I mean."

Ichibei Hyosube pointed at his heart: "Besides, in the beginning, in the era of static chaos, the first thing the Soul King created was not humans or Shinigami, but... Hollows."

"Menos Grande?" Lord raised an eyebrow.

This was a Hollow mentioned in a side story. However, due to the long time gap, he almost forgot the details, only remembering that this setting involved a Hollow that was eventually made into a Zanpakuto.

"That thing was just a by-product; what I meant was... the initially born Hollows." Ichibei Hyosube continued: "That Hollow nearly devoured the whole world; although the Soul King ultimately stopped it, it forever merged with the Soul King."

"The Soul King we sealed..."

"It’s the monster that shed its monstrous form and resided in the Soul King’s shell."