The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

Ah~ the mathematical evil god calculates the fate of all things in the universe with forbidden formulas. He is indifferent to everything. All believers who witness the true face of the evil god will become hopelessly addicted to that forbidden and evil knowledge, willingly abandoning their concept of being "individuals" and merging into that vast and eternal collective, becoming the most basic unit of calculation within it, and working with the evil god to solve the one and only answer that is destined to have no end.

After a moment of self-indulgent chuunibyou, having concocted a scenario about a mathematical demon god, Gu Shi coughed, cleared his throat, and then raised his voice to speak loudly.

"The sum of three consecutive numbers is 15. What are these three numbers?"

"Fourteen bats are standing in a line listening to the lesson. If the bat is the sixth one from the front, what number is it from the back?"

"After Gu Shi caught 10 'phallus' and gave 2 to the bat, Gu Shi and the bat had the same number of prey. How many did the bat catch for itself?"

"Erlang ate today..."

As Gu Shi's voice amplified with the vibrations of spiritual energy, the increasingly difficult and complex math problems he presented gradually became more unified. Every individual within this "vast life" participated in the calculation of the math problems.

Finally, when Gu Shi threw out the most challenging question on the sixth-grade final exam, those chaotic and scattered thoughts finally came together and shouted out the answer in unison.

"10! Plant 10 trees in the shape of a five-pointed star!"

The moment the answer was shouted out, in the instant when all the chaotic thoughts were unified, the earth of flesh and blood trembled violently, all the mountains of flesh and blood began to collapse and melt, and the carpet of flesh and blood covering tens of kilometers began to shrink.

Finally, a fleshy sphere only five meters tall cracked open, and a slender figure completely encased in pure white bone armor slowly emerged, accompanied by a terrifying spiritual pressure that distorted the air. Its emerald green eyes first locked onto Jiro, who was in the shape of a large dog, and then turned to Gu Shi, who had transformed into a mantis, tilting its head in confusion.

"Are you Gu Shi?"

"Haha, Bat, welcome back! It's time to graduate from elementary school, and next up is middle school math time!"

Chapter 179 Wastord

……

"The accuracy of the approximation 25.0 is the same as that of the approximation 25."

"Incorrect. The former is accurate to one decimal place, while the latter is accurate to the ones place."

"If two lines are parallel, then alternate interior angles are equal."

"Correct."

"Alright, the first quiz is over! Bat, no, Ur, your accuracy is pretty good, you only got three out of a hundred questions wrong."

Gu Shi clapped his hands in satisfaction, fully affirming the results of the bat's diligent study immediately after its evolution. However, the bat itself was not very satisfied and shook its head slightly.

"Gu Shi, if you're not used to it, just keep calling me Bat. It's just a name anyway. Could you please give me some more practice questions? I want to practice some more."

"No! Please don't say that! A name isn't meaningless. If someone knows my name but doesn't call me by it, and instead calls me Mantis or Hollow, I'll definitely be unhappy. It's a matter of basic respect."

Gu Shi waved his paw, rolled his eyes, and rejected the bat's suggestion without hesitation.

"Now that you've evolved and have the name Ulquiorra Cifer, I should call you by your name. Also, let's skip the math problems. We've finally reunited, are you really planning to spend the whole day studying math? Jiro's about to go crazy."

Jiro, who was lying to the side with his paw covering his mouth, nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, his big eyes fixed on Ur, filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Ulquiorra looked at Jiro with a hint of reluctance, then glanced at the formulas on the ground. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded gently.

"Okay, then..."

"Ur! You're finally back! Welcome back! Want to go for a race? Want some elixirs? Want to hear a story? Want to learn martial arts? Want to hear me recite poetry?"

Before Ulquiorra could finish speaking, Jiro immediately erupted. Ulquiorra had just completed his evolution and briefly introduced his new name before eagerly pulling Gu Shi aside to give him a math lesson.

Jiro knew he couldn't cause trouble during class, so he had to suppress his overflowing excitement and watch eagerly from the side. At one point, he even put his paw in his mouth and bit it to forcefully swallow back his excited shouts.

Now that class time is finally over, he no longer has to endure it.

Jiro's outburst of enthusiasm left Ulquiorra somewhat at a loss. However, he didn't dislike the feeling; he just didn't know how to respond to Jiro. Should he join in the excited cheers? Or should he just smile?

Fortunately, Ulquiorra didn't have to agonize for too long. Jiro's enthusiasm for his partner wouldn't cool down just because the other party didn't respond. The big dog, which was over five meters long and over three meters tall at the shoulder, pounced and knocked Ulquiorra, who was only a little over three meters tall, to the ground, and then slapped him across the face with its long tongue.

"Ptooey, ptooey, why does Vastod taste so spicy? Ur, are you really Vastod?"

After just one lick, Jiro couldn't help but turn his head away, spitting out several mouthfuls of saliva. He glanced at Ulquiorra with some disgust, and then, without waiting for his response, excitedly pulled him up again.

"Quick, quick, let's have a race! Let me see how fast Vastod is!"

Without waiting for the bat's reply, Erlang exerted force with all four limbs and shot off in a flash, kicking up a cloud of dust as he raced into the distance.

Ulquiorra wiped the drool from his face, saw Gu Shi nod and smile at him, thought for a moment, then lightly tapped his foot and instantly appeared next to Erlang who had jumped the gun.

Ulquiorra dislikes noise. If it were anyone else making a ruckus around him, he would definitely turn around and leave without hesitation. But if it were Jiro...

This feeling of familiarity isn't so bad, actually.

Seeing Jiro startled and then unleashing his full spiritual power to accelerate wildly, Ulquiorra effortlessly caught up once again, his heart at peace.

While I won't feel joy or happiness, I also won't feel bored or noisy.

that's enough.

Gu Shi sat casually in place, watching with a smile as Erlang ran wildly until his tongue was sticking out, and Ulquiorra followed lightly beside him, secretly marveling at the wonder of fate.

He certainly remembered Ulquiorra, a popular character in Bleach. He had even wondered if the bat was Ulquiorra, but he hadn't thought about it too deeply. After all, in the Bleach storyline, Ulquiorra should have been born deep in Hueco Mundo and should have been a Vasto Lorde-level Hollow from birth, which was completely different from the bat.

However, this Ulquiorra is still quite different from the Ulquiorra in the Bleach setting.

In the lore, before Ulquiorra became an Arrancar, his mask completely sealed off except for his eyes. Of his five senses, he could only see, and he could neither hear nor speak.

But the current Ulquiorra can both listen to his lectures and answer his questions, which is completely different from the original setting.

Considering the fact that the form of the void is influenced by the mind, it is reasonable that Ulquiorra in the story feels that nothing in the world has any meaning and that everything is empty, rejecting communication with the world, yet harboring a deep longing for the "heart" in his heart, thus giving birth to a form that closes off the five senses and only leaves the eyes.

Ulquiorra, whom Gu Shi knew, had also questioned the meaning of the world, believing that everything was a false dream. However, after being exposed to mathematics, which is "absolutely infallible," he had clearly changed. He might still have doubts about other things in the world, but at least he was willing to accept mathematics.

So, in order to continue learning mathematics, his hearing and speaking abilities were preserved because his mindset changed.

The only strange thing is that Ulquiorra, who should have been born in Hueco Mundo, appeared in the human world first.

Perhaps, in the original destiny of the bat, feeling that everything was meaningless, after becoming Hollow and arriving in Hueco Mundo, he would soon give up the struggle for survival and hunting, and eventually "sink" to some corner of the Great Hollow Forest, becoming one of the materials and cornerstones of some kind of evolution?

In the first evolution of the Void, the negative emotions and obsessions of hundreds of Voids mixed together should have been the biggest obstacle. However, because of Bat's belief that "everything is meaningless", he completely ignored and wore down those emotions.

Then, just like before, the group that should have given birth to the Kylian was rendered null and void because all their emotions and obsessions were erased by the bats. As a result, the final step of evolution could not be completed for a long time. They could only continue to devour other Hollows and Hollows in an attempt to complete the last piece of the puzzle. Finally, at a certain moment, after enough spiritual power was accumulated, the quantitative change caused a qualitative change, and Ulquiorra was born directly as a Vasto Lorde.

Perhaps, without external interference, those mountains of flesh on the carpet of blood and gore will eventually become the "kindred spirits" in Ulquiorra's memory, completely black except for their eyes and mouths that glow.

...Never mind, none of that matters anymore. In any case, Bat has returned to the team as Ulquiorra!

Chapter 180 Thoughtful Arrogance

"Senior, this is a reply to you."

Kisuke Urahara pressed hard on his temples, trying to relieve his headache caused by a hangover, and handed a thin envelope to Aizen.

Yoruichi has a bit of a violent streak. Yesterday, when she was really into drinking, she threw up three times, but she still dragged her weak body and fought him. Luckily, when he saw things were going badly, he quickly forced Yoruichi to drink the hangover cure he had developed. Otherwise, with Yoruichi's fighting style, the Shihouin family mansion would probably have been torn down at least halfway.

The old man of the Shihōin family was also unscrupulous. He had clearly noticed their commotion long ago, but he just stood by and watched, without any intention of stopping Yoruichi from destroying the house. As a result, when Yoruichi finally calmed down, he jumped out and said that Yoruichi was mostly responsible for the destruction of the house, but Urahara Kisuke should also bear a small part of the responsibility for getting Yoruichi drunk. He insisted on putting one-tenth of the loss on his head.

Urahara Kisuke knew that the old man didn't really intend for him to pay back the money. After all, given the value of the Shihōin family's collection, even one percent of it would be more than Urahara Kisuke, a mere individual, could afford to pay back. The old man had also said that as long as he became Yushirō's teacher, this part of the debt could be waived.

To be honest, Kisuke Urahara didn't dislike Yushiro. After all, he was Yoruichi's younger brother, which naturally gave him an advantage. But he really couldn't handle the kid's personality.

Kisuke Urahara really couldn't understand how Yushiro, born into the Shihouin family, a family full of "brutes and roughnecks," could be a boy with a temperament softer than most female Shinigami.

With his soft and timid personality, coupled with his young age and still-developing body, Yushiro's small body and big, watery eyes make him look exactly like an adorable little girl. When Kisuke Urahara is alone with this kid, the thought of "so cute" involuntarily pops into his head, and he always feels disgusted with himself when he comes to his senses.

That's why, although Kisuke Urahara doesn't dislike Yushiro, he basically avoids that brat every time he comes to the Shihōin residence.

The old man of the Shihōin family may have misunderstood something because of this, thinking that he had a problem with Yūshirō, so he planned to make him Yūshirō's teacher, hoping that through close contact he would realize that Yūshirō was really a good child and change his attitude towards Yūshirō.

If we think about it more deeply, the old man might even be planning to use this opportunity to give him more chances to meet with Yoruichi, since he has indeed had less contact with Yoruichi in recent years due to his immersion in his research.

but!

Old man!

No matter what you do!

Aren't you afraid I'll become your second granddaughter's husband instead of your eldest granddaughter's husband?!

That kid Yushiro is way more feminine than his sister!!!

Kisuke Urahara roared inwardly. The act of pressing his temples slightly relieved the headache caused by the hangover, but the mental headache was even more intense.

Aizen looked at Kisuke Urahara's contorted face, and considerately didn't ask any questions. He took the envelope, opened it, and after just one glance, he unconsciously raised his eyebrows.

"Kisuke, if I'm not mistaken, this should be your handwriting, right?"

Awakened by Aizen's words, Kisuke Urahara sighed inwardly, deciding to go back and have a proper talk with Yoruichi, before nodding calmly.

"Well, my friend, well, let's just say his name, his name is Gu Shi. Gu Shi did an experiment a while ago and it caused him some health problems. He probably won't be able to write for a while. This letter was dictated by him and I wrote it down for him."

Aizen nodded in realization. He didn't doubt that Urahara Kisuke had just written a letter to fool him. After all, although the Urahara family was small, they were still a noble family with several servants. If he really wanted to fool someone, he could have simply asked a servant to write it for him and cover up the problem with the handwriting.

With his small doubts resolved, Aizen began to seriously read the thin few pages of the letter in his hand, his expression gradually changing as he read.

Aizen had thought that Urahara Kisuke's friend would offer him some advice as a senior or a pioneer, but instead, Koji was telling him stories.

Yes, it's just a story, a story called "evolution," which roughly tells how, hundreds of millions of years ago, simple, primitive life suddenly appeared in the world they lived in. Then, in competition with each other, these life forms evolved step by step into more powerful and perfect life forms over tens of millions of years, moving from the ocean to the land, from the earth to the sky, and from reptiles to dragons.

Tens of millions of years ago, the dynasty that ruled the entire world with dragons was destroyed in a natural disaster. The small animals that could only survive under the rule of dragons seized the opportunity to rise up and become a series of animals such as lions, tigers, jackals, wolves, cattle, sheep, pigs, and deer. Among them, a group of apes evolved into primitive humans.

Aizen did not believe that this story had even the slightest bit of truth. If Gu Shi's prediction that "the world is a ball" might have come from meticulous observation or actual travel around the world, and thus had a basis for "possibly being true", then where was the basis for this story to be "true"?

You can't exactly say that guy named Gu Shi lived for hundreds of millions of years and witnessed all of this, can you?

The history of Soul Society is only a thousand years old.

It seems that Urahara Kisuke's friend was just a clown trying to attract attention. Unbeknownst to him, that clown may have told Urahara Kisuke hundreds or thousands of "prophecies," but some of them were just wild guesses about the world, and they just happened to fit the facts.

Aizen chuckled inwardly, about to discard these meaningless fairy tales, when he saw the words on the last page, and his smile suddenly froze on his face.

On the last page, several approximate locations and estimated depths were given, and it concluded by saying, "If you're interested, go and dig around in these places. You should be able to find some remains of prehistoric creatures. Although their bones have turned to stone over a long period of time, their shapes are still quite distinct. Don't worry about confusing them with ordinary stones."

……

After silently reading the last paragraph several times, Aizen suddenly felt like laughing, and he actually did laugh, not in an exaggerated way, but just a simple, shallow laugh.

Aizen suddenly realized that Urahara Kisuke's friend was probably not just bad, but extremely wicked. He understood the insignificance of himself and even the Shinigami group on a spatial scale, so he sought help from that guy. But instead of comforting him, that guy tried to go a step further and deepen his sense of insignificance on a temporal scale.

Indeed, if the history of life in this world is really so long, spanning hundreds of millions of years, then what is the Grim Reaper, who has only existed for a mere thousand years, compared to that?

Even the legendary Soul King, who is said to have saved the world and whose name has been sung by the Grim Reapers for thousands of years, is probably just a tiny, insignificant figure on this long timescale.

If you truly recognize your own insignificance, then choose your own future: will you succumb to despair, or will you strive harder to break free from this insignificance?

[What an arrogant fellow, with such an arrogant reply.]