Arata told a small lie. Instead of going home, he used the Anywhere Door to travel to Hueco Mundo.
Returning to this desolate land covered in white desert sand, after confirming there were no living beings nearby, he took a deep breath and opened the system interface.
[Do you want to exchange for the A-level item – Soul King's Heart (Defective)]
[8848 Destiny Points will be deducted after redemption.]
"Confirm exchange."
At that moment, a blinding white light flashed from the void.
Arata felt a tearing pain in his chest, and before him slowly appeared a crystal-clear, translucent heart.
The heart was about the size of a fist, but it radiated a pressure that took one's breath away, and each of its beats caused a resonance and trembling among the surrounding spirit particles.
[Please select the fusion method]
1. Autonomous fusion (72 hours)
2. System-assisted fusion (3 minutes)
"System assistance."
With that command, the crystal heart instantly turned into a stream of light and plunged directly into his chest.
Arata groaned and fell to his knees, his muscles twitching uncontrollably.
He could feel the heart fusing with his own flesh and blood, each beat carrying an unstoppable, surging wave of spiritual pressure.
The blood vessels in his body reorganized, his bones strengthened, and even his soul itself was reforged.
When the last trace of pain disappeared, the sandy ground of Hueco Mundo had sunk into a massive crater ten meters in diameter, with him at its center.
Arata slowly opened his eyes, golden light danced deep within his black pupils, and for a moment, a double-pupil image could be seen.
[The Soul King's heart has been fully integrated. Abnormal changes in the host's power have been detected. Bloodline information has been updated.]
[Please check the details yourself]
Arata opened the bloodline information panel, and the longer he observed the changes, the more satisfied he became.
[A+ Rank Item: Spirit King Bloodline (Incomplete)]
[Effect: After bloodline fusion, potential and talent are greatly enhanced. The body can endure and merge different types of power, and has integrated the power of both Shinigami and Hollow. The return of the heart increases vitality to the maximum limit of this level.]
[Note: Cannot be bestowed, can be strengthened]
[Number of times enhanced: 2]
"So this is… the power after the heart's return?" Arata clenched his fists, feeling the new power surging within him.
Compared to the first time he fused with Hollow power, the advancement brought by this heart fusion was even more terrifying and significant.
White sand slid off his clothing as he lowered his gaze to his palms. The spiritual pressure flowing beneath his skin was like liquid gold, gently shimmering under Hueco Mundo's pale moonlight.
Arata casually swung his fist into the distance, using no Kidō, relying solely on the release of spiritual pressure.
On a sand dune a hundred meters away, an enormous crater thirty meters wide suddenly exploded. The shockwave lifted white sand tens of meters into the air, as if a small earthquake had occurred.
"This is a bit excessive…"
Arata was mildly taken aback. He roughly estimated that his level of spiritual power had likely broken through the threshold into first-class, on the same level as Unohana Retsu and Kyoraku Shunsui.
And this was just the state immediately after the heart fusion. As time passed, this power would only continue to grow.
Arata closed his eyes and looked within himself, discovering that the Hollow and Shinigami powers in his body had fused into an even more perfect, balanced cycle under the coordination of the Soul King's Heart.
Instinctively, he covered his chest with his hand, and at the mere thought, a translucent Hollow mask instantly formed on his face, while the spiritual pressure in his body visibly changed.
For some reason, Arata felt that the process of his Hollowfication had become even smoother, and the violent instincts much tamer and easier to control.
"Is it because the Soul King's Heart dispersed that negative aspect…?"
Suddenly, he sensed the spiritual pressure of several large Hollows approaching from a distance. Clearly, they had been disturbed by the noise of his recent outburst.
Arata had no desire to linger on them, so he pulled out a portal from the system space and entered the coordinates for Seireitei.
He hadn't forgotten what he said about needing to change clothes.
Just as the leading Adjuchas-class Hollow charged within a hundred meters, Arata's figure had already disappeared in a swirl of warped space.
…
After returning to Soul Society, Arata quickly changed at home and rushed to the 4th Division.
Unohana Retsu rarely cooked personally, but this time she had prepared a rich and healthy dinner for newly pregnant Rangiku, who cheerfully praised how delicious everything was.
After dinner, Isane volunteered to wash the dishes, while Arata followed Unohana Retsu into the captain's office.
"Teacher, what did you want to talk about?" Arata stood calmly in front of the desk.
Unohana Retsu observed him silently for a few seconds, then finally pulled a gilded invitation from the drawer.
"I just received word from Captain Yamamoto – the Kasumiōji family has invited all the captains to dinner tomorrow night, supposedly to warm up the atmosphere before the kendo tournament winner is announced."
Arata took the invitation, the emblem of the wisteria flower, symbol of the Kasumiōji family, shining under the light.
He turned to the inside; the signature clearly read Kasumiōji Rurichiyo, but the handwriting showed it hadn't been written by her personally.
"Looks like we'll have to speed up our plan." Arata closed the invitation. "That old fox, Kasumiōji Kumoi, probably already found out that information about the Bakkōtō has leaked, and now he wants to use this opportunity to win over the other Division captains."
Unohana Retsu gave a slight nod. "That's right. Captain Yamamoto has already secretly summoned all the captains. Tomorrow night, at eight o'clock, surveillance will be set outside Noble Street, and your task is…"
She suddenly paused mid-sentence, stood up, and approached Arata; her white fingers touched his chest, right where his heart was.
"Teacher?"
"Your heart rate is 40% slower than usual." Unohana Retsu narrowed her eyes slightly. "Your body temperature is 0.5 degrees Celsius higher, and your capillaries are abnormally dilated… Arata-kun, where exactly were you just now?"
Arata cursed inwardly.
He had underestimated Unohana's sensitivity as a medical expert. Reiatsu could be fairly well concealed, but the body's basic physiological indicators were nearly impossible to hide completely.
Just as he was thinking about how to answer, the office door suddenly burst open.
"Captain! Miss Rangiku's Reiatsu is acting up again!" Isane rushed in, panicked, but froze in place upon seeing the somewhat ambiguous position between teacher and student.
"Ah! Sorry, I'll step out—"
"Wait." Unohana Retsu withdrew her hand, turned, and grabbed her medical kit. "We'll go check together."
Before leaving, she cast Arata a meaningful glance. "We'll talk about what just happened later."
…
In the room, Rangiku was curled up on the bed in pain.
A soft golden light radiated from her lower abdomen, and the surrounding spirit particles were gathering around her, forming a small vortex.
Hinamori Momo was frantically performing basic Kaidō, but couldn't get close enough.
"What's going on?" Arata rushed to the bed.
"She was completely fine just a moment ago…" Hinamori Momo said, almost in tears. "Rangiku-sensei suddenly said her stomach hurt, and then this happened…"
Unohana Retsu quickly checked her condition, her brows growing more furrowed. "The fetus is actively absorbing external spiritual pressure, which is not suitable for normal development at all."
She pondered for a few moments, then shifted her gaze to Arata. "Arata-kun, is there any hereditary disease in your Saito family?"
Matsumoto Rangiku was an ordinary woman born in Rukongai, without any special bloodline. The only one who could be causing such an abnormality in the fetus was him – Norimasa of the upper noble Saito clan.
Arata didn't know what to say.
This was clearly a chain reaction brought about by the Spirit King Bloodline – as a direct blood descendant, the child in the womb may have already inherited part of his traits.
"Let me try."