In less than a minute, thirteen corpses in various shapes and sizes appeared on the open ground in front of the villa.
Some were torn into pieces, some were mutilated, and some were reduced to skeletons... Ryūsaki forcibly decomposed flesh and blood into Reishi using the Sklaverei.
Looking at the woman lying prostrate on the ground, still breathing, Ryūsaki said calmly, "In all these years, I have never indiscriminately killed even a single ordinary civilian. I never expected that you would think I was the weakest and easiest to kill? It's truly disheartening!"
After saying that, Ryūsaki raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at her, and a miniature Heilig Pfeil instantly magnified in her pupils...
The riot lasted only one day under the suppression of the Sternritter, at the cost of the deaths of more than three thousand civilians who participated in the riot.
On the first day of the Guards Corps selection, everyone arrived at the newly built large battle platform, which had a full one hundred isolated arenas where five against five would fight each time.
Five thousand applicants were randomly selected to participate in the Guards Corps selection. The winning teams will advance to the next round and wait for the final battle on the third day against the teams that also won from the selection.
There was only one chair in the stands, Yhwach's seat; the other members of the Knights had to stand to watch.
Yhwach sat so close not for any other reason than to absorb the souls of the dead; anyone of his bloodline would be absorbed after death.
Note that not only those who have been given Schrift and those who have touched Yhwach, but also the descendants of those who have received Yhwach's blessings are considered to possess his bloodline, and their souls will be collected after death.
The first round quickly concluded, with over two hundred survivors in the loser's bracket. Yhwach merely gave a cruel smile before raising his hand and unleashing 'Auswählen'.
He did not devour all the power, but instead bestowed a small portion upon some newly promoted 'Holy Soldiers' so that they would be more devoted to serving him.
Ryūsaki silently led her people down to collect the corpses, and then carried them to a place where Yhwach and the other knights could not see them, where she lit a pile of Reishi flames.
"You continue to carry out the bodies of those who have been baptized, and then cremate them."
"Yes."
Ryūsaki designated two people to burn the corpses, and the other twenty-odd Holy Soldiers dared not protest in the slightest, all of them quickly running towards the Trial Ground.
As they left, Ryūsaki used ten Chains to rip out the hearts of ten of the still-living victims, thus ending their suffering in the process...
"You burn them, I'll end their suffering."
Upon hearing Ryūsaki's words, the two Holy Soldiers suddenly understood and didn't ask any further questions.
As his subordinates were carrying the second group of people back, Ryūsaki finished off the ones who weren't quite dead. Taking advantage of the two men burning the corpses not paying attention, he used his Sklaverei to dissect the hearts he had taken out, leaving only a few drops of mercury in his pocket.
The first batch yielded mercury from 27 people, and the second batch yielded mercury from 18 people.
The third batch...
By the fourth batch, a riot broke out on the Trial Grounds, with more than a dozen people joining forces to fire the 'Heilig Pfeil' at Yhwach.
Although they didn't encounter Yhwach, the entire Sternritter was instantly terrified, and afterwards everyone's attention was focused on the Trial Grounds.
Be wary of assassins who may appear at any time; it is essential to nip them in the bud before they can strike.
This led to no one noticing that Ryūsaki, who was actively directing the burning of corpses outside the door, seemed to have developed a particular fondness for ripping out hearts.
The two Holy Soldier weren't fools; even though Ryūsaki was trying to avoid them, they still noticed something amiss.
But neither of them said much. Ryūsaki wasn't the only one in the Sternritter who had problems; in fact, he was considered relatively normal.
For example, Bambi enjoys seducing and killing the Holy Soldier, Driscoll Berci enjoys torturing and killing the Guards Corps, Giselle enjoys turning people into Zombies...
No one paid attention to him, which made Ryūsaki secretly happy. In less than a day, he had collected two kilograms of mercury, enough to create the seven-piece set of rebellion mentioned in the book.
Furthermore, Ryūsaki collected even more mercury, enough to forge three arrows that could break through enemy defenses.
A month later, Ryūsaki was suddenly summoned again. He thought Yhwach. After asking Yushima to open a 'space portal' to save him at any time, he finally went to see Yhwach...
"Go to Hueco Mundo and bring their leader here."
Yhwach got straight to the point, asking Ryūsaki to do something, which gave Ryūsaki a sense of security.
He pondered for a moment and then asked, "But they have five leaders. Should we bring them all? Their strength is a threat."
"Are you worried they'll harm me? Fine, then bring the strongest one." Yhwach smiled slightly, indicating to Ryūsaki that there was no need to worry.
"Clear."
Ryūsaki glanced at the one-eyed black man who had suddenly appeared, then turned and left.
At the former site of Las Noches, only Ulquiorra stood alone in the vast, empty hall.
The other four decision-makers were nowhere to be seen, with only Ulquiorra, who remained calm and never complained about his teammates, staying behind.
Ryūsaki asked, "Where is he?"
Ulquiorra: "They've all gone out."
"Grimmjow is nowhere to be found, Tier Harribel is training with Nel, and Yanis has taken soldiers equipped with Spirit Weapon out hunting."
After explaining the whereabouts of the other four, Ulquiorra calmly asked, "Are we about to begin the attack on Soul Society?"
"No, Yhwach wants to see you. I suspect he still wants you to join the Wandenreich..."
With her hands in her pockets, Ryūsaki explained her purpose to Ulquiorra, also instructing him not to agree or be provoked, and to return to Hueco Mundo after the meeting.
Ulquiorra replied calmly that if it were someone else asking him to go to the Wandenreich to see Yhwach, he probably wouldn't even bother to acknowledge them.
The moment Ulquiorra emerged from the shadow array, the air in the entire Wandenreich seemed to grow heavier, causing a sudden, inexplicable panic among some Sternritter.
"Such strong Reiatsu."
"A hollow Reiatsu? It doesn't look like it."
"They are Arrancars, but what are Arrancar doing in the Wandenreich?"
"They went to the Ice Palace. I heard they reached a cooperation agreement with Hueco Mundo recently, so they're probably here to discuss business."
The knights who were close together were all speculating about what the true form of this Reiatsu was doing in the Wandenreich.
The Ice Palace.
Yhwach looked at Ulquiorra, who was also staring at him with wide green eyes, and his self-satisfied smile remained unchanged.
"You're the strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo right now? What's your name?" Yhwach asked in a deep voice.
"Ulquiorra Cifer," Ulquiorra replied expressionlessly.
"Since you agreed to form an alliance with us, why did you only agree to help once?" Yhwach asked, puzzled.
"Isn't one enough? You are the main force. If one battle isn't enough to defeat the Gotei 13, it means you are not strong enough. There's no need to continue." Ulquiorra replied coldly as always.
Yhwach's smile faded, "What makes you say that?"
"Because the Soul King Palace intervenes, the Soul Society is no longer what it used to be. They will eliminate every potential danger." Ulquiorra remained expressionless, his tone flat.
After a moment's hesitation, Yhwach smiled again and said, "Your analysis is good, and your strength is also impressive. Would you like to join our Wandenreich? I can grant you a status and power second only to mine."
His admiration for Ulquiorra was undisguised.
Ulquiorra shook his head slightly. "Impossible. Cooperating with you is just a temporary measure. The Soul Society didn't touch us at first probably to maintain some kind of balance."
"But as our power grows, the balance is likely to be broken, so they will make their move sooner or later. That's why we agreed to cooperate with you."
"Essentially, Soul Reaper can purify Hollows into souls, but Quincy are irreconcilable with us, so after this, we will still be enemies."
After hearing Yhwach's explanation of his ultimate purpose for meeting him, Ulquiorra declined Yhwach's invitation with the most rational and realistic explanation.
"Goodbye."
As Ulquiorra uttered those two cold words, he actually opened the Garganta leading to Hueco Mundo in full view of everyone and walked inside.
Yhwach watched this scene fall silent.
Jugram Haschwalth exclaimed in surprise, "How is that possible? Didn't Wenlai lock up the entire space? How could he possibly get out?"
Sure enough, Ulquiorra in the Garganta did encounter several pillars formed from Reishi Condensation, resembling the pillars of a cage used to imprison gods.
But he merely frowned slightly, his fingertips pointing forward, and a black Cero instantly condensed into a point before erupting towards the pillar.
The pillar shattered, and the entire space of the Wandenreich trembled slightly. Ulquiorra walked away without looking back.
In a basement, a tall man trembled, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His eyes were bloodshot. "Who broke my power?"
The Holy Soldiers around him could not answer him and could only look at each other in bewilderment.
Inside the main hall.
One-Eyed Black Lille Barro said in a deep voice, "Your His Majesty, that Arrancar was so disrespectful to you, why did you let him leave?"
Yhwach laughed, "That's our partner!"
Yhwach was indeed in a bad mood after Ulquiorra exposed his ulterior motive of using Arrancar, but he was able to control his impulses well.