Experiment Complete!

With his train of thought cleared, Ichiro immediately set to work. First, the spiritual body (the soul vessel) required no consideration; due to the unique properties of the Soul Society, Ichiro had long since mastered that aspect.

His current body could be considered a spiritual body; no matter how much it resembled flesh and blood, it was a spiritual entity, not a physical body from the living world, so this technical aspect did not need to be addressed.

Memory was equally simple; it just needed to be filled in gradually. The current difficulty lay in the most important element: spirituality!

That is to say, the spirit, one of the three essential components of Human Transmutation!

In Ichiro's view, this was one of the hallmarks of an independent life!

Although the technology for this existed within the techniques of the Zanpakuto, Ichiro had to analyze it himself rather than relying on alchemy to refine it, because if his hypothesis was correct, he might very well encounter the Gate of Truth ahead of schedule!

He currently lacked a Philosopher's Stone to pay the toll.

Therefore, he had to rely on his own analysis to cultivate a new spirituality. Fortunately, he had previous experience analyzing Asauchi, so he wasn't starting from scratch, which saved him a great deal of effort.

Thus, Ichiro plunged back into a cycle of endless research and experimentation.

In this way, the Zanpakuto Demon Dragon also gradually shed its dim-witted nature through Ichiro's repeated experiments.

As the days passed, Ichiro grew accustomed to conducting research without the aid of alchemy, his techniques becoming increasingly proficient. Finally, after one week, he successfully completed the refinement of the Demon Dragon's spirituality!

And in the second week, he achieved its preliminary cultivation!

The reason for such rapid progress was largely thanks to his predecessors; the Asauchi itself possessed the ability to cultivate an independent soul. After a Soul Reaper injected their spiritual pressure into it over a long period, a brand-new soul would be nurtured within the blade.

Although each Soul Reaper only had one chance, this was not a problem for Ichiro. He only needed the technical concepts; he wasn't using the same method to cultivate this spirituality.

At this stage, it could be said that Ichiro was truly only one step away from the final experiment!

During his previous experiments, Ichiro discovered that a Zanpakuto was actually no different from a human. Humans are composed of three systems—the physical body, the spiritual body, and the spirit—and a Zanpakuto is similarly composed of the blade, the spiritual body, and consciousness.

Starting from this perspective, Ichiro began his journey to find that special structure.

Finally, after tireless effort, he successfully completed all the prerequisite research one week later!

Upon completing this step, the sudden relaxation caused Ichiro to collapse onto the floor. He swore that once this was over, he would definitely get his hands on a computer!

Even if there wasn't one now, he would incite others to pool their efforts to invent one. He remembered that in the original work, the Soul Society had computers long ago. Given the current era, even if they didn't exist yet, the conditions for their development should be present.

Calculating by hand was just too damn painful.

And this was only because his current computational requirements weren't actually that high. If he had to do this by hand when the workload increased in the future, he would truly go insane.

Lost in these rambling thoughts, Ichiro fell into a deep sleep. The captain who came to deliver Ichiro's meal saw this, paused for a moment, and then turned to leave. A short while later, he returned with a blanket, gently covered Ichiro with it, and quietly retreated.

Ichiro slept for three full days!

This showed just how tautly Ichiro's nerves had been stretched over the past two months of madness.

Upon waking, Ichiro smiled and touched the blanket on his body. Just as he was about to get up to conduct the final experiment, he was stopped by a loud rumble.

"Gurgle~~~~~"

He was hungry.

"Swish~"

Just as Ichiro was about to get up to find something to eat, the door slid open, and the captain walked in carrying a food box.

"Awake? How is the research going?" As he spoke, he opened the box and took out the food, which had been kept warm by Kido.

"The research is complete. There's only one last step left; I'll be finished shortly."

"Then congratulations. Eat first, I'll be going. Remember to tell me when you're done."

"Understood, take care, Captain."

Watching the captain walk out of the warehouse, Ichiro buried his head back into his meal.

"Phew~"

After eating his fill, Ichiro let out a long sigh. Once he had tidied up the utensils, his expression shifted. The leisurely look faded, and he stood up with a solemn air. After clearing the center of the warehouse and taking a few deep breaths, he focused his mind and began to draw the transmutation circle on the floor.

The Human Transmutation circle!

His efforts over the past two months were all for this day!

Actually, logically speaking, a Reishi Alchemy transmutation circle would have sufficed, because according to what Ichiro learned in his first life, the so-called Human Transmutation circle was merely a side effect; its true purpose was to allow the practitioner to see the Gate.

So, if he wanted to perform Human Transmutation, he might not need this specific circle, but at the same time, Ichiro didn't know if the act of Human Transmutation itself would cause one to see the Gate of Truth. He hadn't tried it, and he didn't dare to.

But it didn't matter now; he wanted to see the Gate of Truth!

Only in this way could he maximize the effects of this Human Transmutation!

To make it perfect!

After finishing the circle, Ichiro stood up and checked it twice with a serious expression. Finding no flaws, he slowly placed the various elements required for a human body into the circle one by one.

This was still to ensure a perfect transmutation!

Theoretically, due to the unique nature of the Soul Society, Reishi alone should have been enough, but Ichiro didn't want to add any variables, so he had prepared these processed materials to strive for perfection!

Once all the preparations were complete, Ichiro took a few more deep breaths. He unbuckled the Zanpakuto "World" from his waist, held it before him to examine it, smiled, and said softly, "Wait for me, World. We'll be meeting for real, very soon!"

Then, he gently placed the Zanpakuto in the center of the transmutation circle!

He then stepped out of the transmutation circle, pressed both hands to the ground, and sank his consciousness into the array.

Analysis of the Zanpakuto's physical and spiritual essence complete!

Decomposition complete!

Reconstruction complete!

As the final step concluded, a massive burst of white light erupted from the circle, accompanied by a powerful surge of spiritual pressure that illuminated the dark room and Ichiro's ecstatic face.

"Success!"

Hm? A new spiritual pressure? Did the experiment succeed?

Not far away, the Captain and Kiyonosuke, who were busy treating patients, looked toward the warehouse simultaneously. Exchanging a glance, the Captain set the patient's hand down and said, "I leave things here to you. I'm going to take a look."

"Understood, Captain."

On the other side, as the white light faded, it revealed a graceful figure clad in palace robes, who said with tears streaming down her face:

"Lord Ichiro, the world is not worth such a sacrifice from you."