The Soul King's current state completely shattered Aizen Sōsuke's understanding of the world.
It was vastly different from what he had read in the Spiritual Arts Academy's textbooks.
The great Soul King who created the Three Realms possessed supreme power. Both the Gotei 13 and the Central 46 were frameworks built upon the foundation of the Soul King's rule over the Three Realms.
A flicker of doubt about the Soul Society's system rose in Aizen Sōsuke's heart.
Could a Soul King who had become the 'Linchpin of the Three Realms' still be qualified to rule them?
Aizen Sōsuke was cautious by nature. After realizing that their communication could be known by the Soul King, he suppressed the thoughts in his mind.
"Sōsuke, put aside what you're doing for now. We're going to the Shiba clan's library," Sora said with a smile.
After returning from Muken, Sora had infiltrated the Great Spirit Book Gallery to look up information on the sealing arts inside Muken.
The Great Spirit Book Gallery recorded the history of the Soul Society, with accounts of some major events.
But this particular sealing art might have existed even before the Soul King created the Three Realms, and the Great Spirit Book Gallery had no detailed records of it.
This led Sora to think of the five great noble clans that existed before the Soul King created the Three Realms.
Back then, the Soul King used his almighty power as a wedge to separate the chaotic world into the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living.
The five ancestors of the great noble clans were participants and witnesses to this process.
The Shiba clan was one of the five great noble clans, with a long history. Their library might hold records related to the sealing art.
"Professor, you're going to the Shiba clan's residence?"
"Yes, I want to look up some older records. But I've never been there, so it would be troublesome to find. You know the way, so take me to the Shiba clan's library."
"No problem, I'm already very familiar with the Shiba clan's library."
Although Isshin Shiba was Sora's disciple, he was still young and not yet the head of the family. He didn't have the authority to bring people to see such restricted materials.
Therefore, Sora thought of having Aizen Sōsuke, who had been to the Shiba library before, take him. This would save him the trouble of finding it.
A short while later, Sora and Aizen Sōsuke arrived in front of the Shiba clan's mansion.
"The Shiba clan doesn't seem to have many members..." Sora sensed the situation inside the mansion and felt a bit emotional.
"Indeed. The Shiba clan not only has few members but also few servants. The number of servants here is less than that of the middle and lower-ranking nobles in the noble district," Aizen Sōsuke nodded.
The Shiba clan had been in decline in recent years and hadn't produced a captain-level powerhouse for many years.
Moreover, they didn't live in the Seireitei's noble district; the Shiba clan's territory was in the Rukongai.
This caused them to gradually fade from the Shinigami's view.
If this continued, the five great families of the Soul Society might become four.
Sora and Aizen Sōsuke passed over the wall and entered the courtyard directly.
In the courtyard, a beautiful woman in white was trimming flowers and plants, completely unaware of Katori Sora and Aizen Sōsuke suddenly appearing behind her.
"I've used Kyōka Suigetsu to control her perception. She can't detect our presence," Aizen Sōsuke said with a faint smile.
Aizen Sōsuke had a good relationship with Isshin Shiba and had been coming here often recently to see him.
He sought all sorts of opportunities to spar with Isshin Shiba in order to display his "water-system Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu" in front of the Shiba clan members.
By now, most of the Shiba clan had witnessed his "water-system Zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu."
"A very impressive ability," Sora nodded lightly.
Aizen Sōsuke's talent was extremely strong, and his current Spiritual Pressure level was already quite high, having grown to a near-captain level.
Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnotic effect was already quite remarkable; ordinary Shinigami couldn't detect any flaws at all.
No one they encountered on the way noticed their arrival. Even when they spoke right in front of Shiba clan members, they were ignored.
Aizen Sōsuke knew the way well and quickly led Katori Sora to the Shiba clan's library.
"Professor, this is the Shiba clan's library. What kind of information are you looking for?" Aizen Sōsuke asked.
The Shiba clan had a long history, and their library was large. Even after arriving, it would take a considerable amount of time to find specific information.
However, Aizen Sōsuke had been here many times and was already familiar with the general classification and sections of the books and materials in the library.
"I want to find records about the Soul King's deeds." Sora believed the sealing art in Muken was set up by the Soul King.
Sora couldn't think of anyone else besides the Soul King who could set up a sealing art that spanned both Hell and the Soul Society.
"I know where that is. I've been studying that section recently. Professor, please follow me," Aizen Sōsuke led the way.
Each floor of the Shiba clan's library held thousands of books.
The books in the Soul Society were also composed of Reishi, and there were special Kidō arts to preserve them for a long time.
Otherwise, managing and maintaining these books would require a large amount of manpower.
A moment later, the two arrived at the collection room on the seventh floor of the library.
"The books and materials on this floor are all related to the great Soul King," Aizen Sōsuke introduced to Katori Sora.
"You're probably more familiar with this library than Isshin is," Sora felt that Aizen Sōsuke was like a guide for the library.
"The total time he's spent here doesn't even add up to the time I've spent here in a few days," Aizen Sōsuke said with a smile.
The young and spirited Isshin Shiba couldn't sit still and read here at all.
He would rather train for a few more hours than stay here and read for a few minutes.
"The books on this floor are arranged chronologically. Which period are you looking for, Professor?" Aizen Sōsuke asked.
"Where are the records about the Soul King creating the Three Realms and the time before that?"
"If we take the creation of the Three Realms as the baseline..." Aizen Sōsuke walked to a bookshelf. "The historical records of the Soul King creating the Three Realms are right here."
Sora went to the bookshelf and began to look through the materials.
Aizen Sōsuke didn't stay idle either; he found books that interested him and started reading.
A long time later, Sora found a record related to the Muken sealing art in a book.
The book recorded:
—This is an art established by the great Soul King to maintain the stability of the world.
—There are three such arts, one in each of the Soul Society, the World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo.
The book also mentioned that the balance of souls among the Three Realms was maintained by the Soul King, who served as the 'Linchpin of the Three Realms'.
And beyond the Three Realms, there was Hell.
Hell existed before the Soul King created the Three Realms.
The Soul King established three arts in three locations of the chaotic world, using them as a foundation to create the Three Realms.
These three arts could balance the Reishi between Hell and the Three Realms, allowing Reishi to flow between them and maintain the stability of the Three Realms.
Sora continued to read, and the book also described the locations of the three arts.
The art in the Soul Society was located in Muken, which Sora had already verified.
The art in the World of the Living was located in a place of high spiritual concentration called Karakura Town.
The art in Hueco Mundo was deep within the Forest of Menos.
Sora flipped through the pages but didn't find any record of the sealed object in Hell within this book.
Sora continued to search through other books.
A few hours later, he found a related record in another book.
This book primarily described the legend of the Lord of Hell.
That Lord of Hell, like the Soul King, existed before the emergence of the Three Realms.
He was powerful and an enemy of the Soul King.
Later, the Lord of Hell used the souls of countless evil people from the chaotic world as a foundation to create a world called "Hell."
In the end, the Lord of Hell was no match for the Soul King and was defeated.
The Soul King divided the remains of the Lord of Hell into three parts and sealed them in three different locations in Hell.
This legend did not mention the three arts in the Soul Society, the World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo.
If Sora hadn't seen it with his own eyes deep in Muken, and had Hoshiko Saitō help verify it in Hell...
He would never have connected this legend with the earlier account that 'the great Soul King established three arts to maintain the stability of the world.'
Perhaps the people who recorded these two events didn't know they were connected.
The three arts established by the Soul King to maintain the balance of Reishi between Hell and the Three Realms were one and the same as the sealing arts for the remains of the Lord of Hell.
Sora flipped through the pages but couldn't find the locations of the three sealing arts in Hell.
The content of this book was written in a style that recorded someone else's descriptions, and the protagonist was an ancestor of the Shiba clan.
The book stated that this information was all learned from the great Soul King by the Shiba ancestor.
Sora committed the contents of these two books to memory and continued to look through other books.
He wanted to see if he could find any information recording the locations of the three sealing arts in Hell.
The consciousness of the Lord of Hell was reawakening, and it was only a matter of time before he fully revived.
The Lord of Hell was the Soul King's enemy and would likely not be friendly to the Three Realms created by the Soul King.
Sora felt that the Three Realms would sooner or later face a crisis brought by the Lord of Hell, so it was necessary to learn more about him.
Unfortunately, Sora finished looking through all the books on this shelf and found no related records.
"Professor, did you not find the information you were looking for?" Aizen Sōsuke asked when he saw Sora's disappointment.
"I learned many secrets this time, but some key information is still missing," Sora said slowly. "You should know about the Hell Gate opening in the Rukongai during the summer break."
"Of course. That incident even reached the Spiritual Arts Academy. Many students were discussing it at the beginning of the school year," Aizen Sōsuke said.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto did not order the matter of the Hell Gate opening in the Rukongai to be concealed.
After the meeting, many vice-captains and seated officers learned about it.
The news gradually spread.
Many students in the Spiritual Arts Academy had relatives or acquaintances among the Shinigami, so after school started, many students whose families included Shinigami or who knew Shinigami brought up the matter as a topic of conversation.
"The impact of this matter is far-reaching..." Sora felt that since Aizen Sōsuke often searched for books everywhere, he might find related records in some forgotten corner, so he decided to tell him.
"In the ancient era before the Three Realms existed, the master of Hell was an enemy of the Soul King."
"After he was defeated by the great Soul King, he did not completely die."
"Instead, he was sealed by the great Soul King."
"I just found out from a classic text that the Lord of Hell was sealed in Hell, but it didn't specify the location. If you find any related information, be sure to let me know."
"You might not know this, but the Hell Gate that opened in the Rukongai is not that simple. This incident was actually orchestrated by the Lord of Hell!"
"Opening the Hell Gate in the Rukongai was likely a preparation for his revival."
"The Lord of Hell is the enemy of the great Soul King. His revival is not a good thing for the Three Realms created by the great Soul King."
"So this matter has such deep implications..." Aizen Sōsuke nodded gravely. "I will pay attention to any related information."
Aizen Sōsuke didn't know much about Hell yet; he planned to thoroughly research the relevant materials.
...
The next day, Sora was looking through books in the Shihōin clan's library.
The Shihōin clan was also one of the five great noble clans. Perhaps he could find information here that was not recorded in the Shiba clan's collection.
However, Sora didn't have to sneak into the Shihōin clan's library.
Yoruichi Shihōin had already been designated as the heir of the Shihōin clan. The current head of the clan was old, and many matters were already managed by Yoruichi, so she had extremely high authority in the clan.
Even when she brought Katori Sora into the clan's vital library, no one stopped them.
Sora was sitting at a desk reading when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.
He looked up slightly and saw a servant open the door, and Yoruichi Shihōin walked in carrying a tray.
Rarely, Yoruichi was not wearing her practical training uniform but a finely-made, gorgeous, light-colored kimono.
From a distance, she had the grace and bearing of a noble lady.
"Professor, come try some snacks. The ones made at home are better than the ones outside," Yoruichi walked quickly to the desk and put down the tray.
After sitting down next to Sora, Yoruichi immediately revealed her true nature.
Yoruichi looked at her teacher beside her, her eyes darting around as a mischievous idea formed.
"These clothes are so tight, so inconvenient!" Yoruichi tugged at her skirt.
Today was the day the Shihōin clan paid respects to their ancestors, so Yoruichi had to wear layers upon layers of clothing.
"Of course you'd be uncomfortable sitting cross-legged like that," Sora chuckled.
The clothes Yoruichi was wearing were already cumbersome; sitting cross-legged would make her feel very uncomfortable.
"Then I'll take them off!" Yoruichi's form quickly changed, shrinking.
Yoruichi quickly turned into a black cat.
The agile black cat instantly leaped into Sora's arms.
Seeing this, Sora could only catch and hold the black cat.
The black cat rubbed against Sora's chest, exposing its belly for him to pet.
In Yoruichi's words, when she turned into a black cat, she inevitably picked up cat-like habits.
Sora was also someone who enjoyed petting cats. He gently rubbed between the cat's chin and neck with two fingers, and the cat's tense body quickly went limp.
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