Mysterious Friendship (Seeking Collection and Recommendation, Passed Internal Review)

"Three grams less sugar, replace with four maple leaves, add three milliliters of Spirit Water, add..."

Muttering to himself, Ichiro placed the materials onto the tray while occasionally modifying the transmutation circle on the floor.

Alchemy is a supernatural ability that follows scientific laws, strictly adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange. You can extract fire using oxygen in the air as fuel, but you cannot transmute water into fire because the two substances are not perfectly equivalent.

However, this constraint was not so important to Ichiro now, because everything in the Soul Society is composed of Reishi. Although this brand-new substance required him to re-study the alchemy of his past life, the benefits were far greater!

This meant he only needed to study one substance: Reishi. Furthermore, based on this characteristic, he was one step closer to the taboo of alchemy—Human Transmutation.

Human Transmutation is divided into three parts: body, soul, and spirit. In his past life, the failure records Ichiro saw in the National Library regarding Human Transmutation showed that most people stopped at the physical level, ignoring the soul and spirit, thereby violating the principle of equivalent exchange and paying a heavy price.

But it is different in the Soul Society. The fundamental composition of the Soul Society is Reishi, and the souls here are also composed of Reishi. In other words, two of the three elements were already fulfilled, leaving only the last one: consciousness.

And for this, Ichiro had also found a substitute.

However, Human Transmutation was still too far off for the current Ichiro; the core of his research right now was...

Sand~

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly, Urahara pushed the door open and walked in, looking curiously at Ichiro, who was squatting on the ground holding a small bottle.

"Hm? Are you my roommate? What a coincidence."

"Yeah, quite a coincidence. What is this? It feels like it has more spiritual power than ordinary Spirit Water." Urahara walked over, sat down opposite Ichiro, and asked curiously while looking at the small bottle.

"Oh, this? It's a food I concocted with higher spiritual power content. The effect is about twice as strong as ordinary Spirit Food. You know, I was born in a place like Rukongai; I have to do everything I can to squeeze out resources."

Urahara nodded. Ichiro was not the first person to have this idea, nor the first to succeed. In fact, most of the high-quality Spirit Food used by nobles today came from similar methods.

Seeing Urahara's curious gaze, Ichiro handed over the small bottle in his hand.

"Want to try it?"

"Is that okay?" Urahara was a bit surprised.

"It's fine, these few materials aren't expensive." Ichiro shrugged, not caring much. He wasted more than this every day on failed experiments.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." After saying that, he took it from Ichiro, opened the bottle, sniffed it, then drank it in one gulp, closing his eyes to feel it carefully.

A moment later, he opened his eyes with a hint of shock. The spiritual power content was very high; such a small amount, about the size of a thumb, had an effect comparable to the spiritual power he usually absorbed from a full meal.

Over time, the growth rate would definitely be significant!

"Truly impressive. The effect is very strong, better than the vast majority of Spirit Food currently available. However, it's best to keep it to yourself; if it spreads, there will be certain risks."

"Mm, don't worry, I know that much. But it's not as amazing as you say. The effect is so good this time mainly because the environment in Seireitei is better than in Rukongai, and the materials contain more potent spiritual power."

Urahara smiled and said nothing. If it were really that simple, why hadn't anyone else figured it out until now?

He turned his curious gaze to the transmutation circle on the ground, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Is this... a Kido spell to enhance spiritual power perception? It feels a bit different..."

"Yeah, I found it in the library today. You just need to draw it. Although the effect is weak, it's better than nothing."

Just like the Spirit Water given to Urahara, this was one of the smokescreens Ichiro had deliberately prepared to keep in plain sight. He couldn't avoid using alchemy, but he couldn't explain its origin, so he had to cover it up.

The Spirit Water was the same; what Urahara drank was a weakened version containing only spiritual power. The complete version could directly increase Reiatsu upon consumption, acting like an experience potion. The two were not on the same level at all.

But it was also much more dangerous.

To put it bluntly, Ichiro wanted to build a persona as a genius, but not too much of a genius. Especially with something that could affect the noble system, he absolutely could not let a second person know!

"Tsk~ I can't believe someone actually reads these. I thought I was the only one."

"Hm? Are you studying this too?" Ichiro asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course. This is the earliest form of Kido. Although it's been phased out, it actually has many merits. For example, why certain Kido changed, what their original flaws were, why they were abandoned, and what was added... there's just so much knowledge contained within."

"Exactly, exactly! And although this is ancient, it's closer to the principles of Kido. Interpreted from different angles and combined with modern explanations, you get a much deeper experience."

Hearing this, Urahara's eyes lit up. Now this was a topic he was passionate about!

The two immediately began a heated discussion, and as they delved deeper, they fell into an intense brainstorming session.

Urahara possessed the most systematic training and a very solid foundation, while Ichiro had the mindset of two worlds. Although his foundation was lacking, his wild, unconstrained ideas often brought Urahara endless surprises.

Especially some of the silly, creative ideas Ichiro had seen online in his first life. Some didn't work—like trying to use the Bakudo #81 Danku as an offensive spatial Kido, which was basically impossible—but another idea was feasible: a six-sided Danku forming a cage. With some optimization, a powerful new Bakudo was born.

For Ichiro, Urahara's profound foundation also helped him gain a lot. Just like that, the two talked more and more enthusiastically, and before they knew it, the whole night had passed...

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~"

Suddenly, the sound of a bell interrupted their heated exchange. Both frowned at the same time, and Ichiro asked with slight confusion, "Why do I feel like I've heard this sound somewhere before?"

"Huh, me too." Urahara raised his head and responded in surprise, then he and Ichiro lowered their heads again, pondering where they had heard it.

"Emmmm... wait?! The class bell!" x 2

Their expressions changed. Not even bothering to straighten their clothes, they bolted out the door!

"We're dead, we're dead! Why didn't you remind me!"

"You didn't remind me either! Ahhh! Late on the first day of formal class, I'm going to be mocked by that Yoruichi!"

"Yoruichi?! You still have time to worry about Yoruichi's thoughts? If we're any later, we're going to be discriminated against by the teacher!"

"Wait! We've already been late for a while. Walking over slowly and pretending to be in a rush should be the same, right?"

Ichiro suddenly stopped his frantic running, looked at Urahara who was still sprinting ahead, and said, "That's true, actually."

And so, the two walked toward the classroom in a leisurely manner, leaving the previous panic behind entirely.