Time flowed steadily.
The alarm clock rang.
It was the daily cultivation time limit Suō Tsukasa had set for himself.
Day after day of arduous training.
What it brought in return was not only a mastery of Kido techniques but also a solid and continuous increase in his total Reiatsu.
After consuming his elixirs, he soaked himself in the hot spring.
Suō Tsukasa closed his eyes and focused his mind, carefully sensing the surging and active Saketsu and Hakusui within his body, from which Reiatsu poured out incessantly.
"Based on my current combat power, I should be around the level of a low-tier Captain..."
"The leap in Spiritual Power rank is coming soon!"
Tsukasa silently estimated his current level in his heart.
"As for Matsumoto Rangiku... though I feel a bit bad for her, one punch should be enough to settle it."
As his thoughts drifted, he felt a rare urge to evaluate his own combat strength, and he subconsciously ran through the approximate power of a certain Lieutenant he knew.
As for Shiba Kaien, whom he had always respected in his heart, he naturally allowed no trace of offense in his thoughts.
He scooped up a handful of warm spring water and patted it gently on his face to clear his head.
Tsukasa could clearly sense that boundary appearing at the end of his spiritual perception, separated by a thin membrane, within reach.
This also proved how correct his choice had been to graduate quickly from the Shin'o Academy.
From Rank 5 to Rank 4, he had spent even less time on this leap than the previous ones.
Tsukasa stood up and stretched his neck and shoulders, which emitted subtle popping sounds. Steam rose from his body, and in a few moments, the moisture was completely gone.
"Continue tomorrow."
He dressed himself and turned to walk toward the small hut.
Reaching the doorway, Tsukasa called out to the interior.
"Toshiro, stop reading for a bit. It's time for a midnight snack!"
"A midnight snack?"
Tsukasa's voice interrupted Toshiro's reading. He put down the book in his hand and looked toward Tsukasa's silhouette and the bright outdoors, his face instantly showing a look of confusion.
The constant light of the underground space bore no trace of the passage of time.
"The brightness of the underground space never changes. Look at the time on the alarm clock; it's already late."
Tsukasa approached, explaining the peculiar nature of this place with a smile.
Looking at the hands of the clock, Toshiro snapped out of it and realized it was already ten o'clock at night.
"Oh, okay," he said, standing up and closing the book.
Soon, led by Tsukasa, Toshiro rounded a rock pillar and arrived near the kitchen area. The pastoral scene that met his eyes made him doubt his own sight.
A clear pond reflected the high rocky ceiling; a neat patch of vegetable beds spread out along the edge of the pond, where emerald-green vegetables stretched their leaves under the light.
Toshiro turned to Tsukasa and asked in bewilderment, "You did all of this?"
Tsukasa noticed his gaze and explained naturally, "It wasn't convenient to get water here before, so I dug a pond while I was at it."
"And since I eat a lot, it's a hassle to carry too many supplies back and forth, so I tried planting a few things... They grew better than expected. You came at just the right time; it happens to be harvest season."
Sokyoku Hill was located at the heart of the Seireitei's spiritual pulse convergence, so the concentration of Reishi in the air was very high, and the underground resources were abundant.
Before Tsukasa arrived, this underground space was a desolate wasteland with nothing but a hot spring. With the talent for vegetable gardening engraved in his soul, combined with the need for a little diversion from his training, he had started this "gardening game" in his spare time.
The bamboo shoots he had transplanted by the pond earlier had already spread into a small grove, and this little garden was his other masterpiece. Unfortunately, because the Reishi concentration was too high, he couldn't find any fish fry that could survive here, nor could he raise other ordinary living creatures. This was a small regret of his.
Moving from an underground training ground to a vibrant underground garden, Toshiro was momentarily speechless. He suddenly felt that Suō Tsukasa's personality was even more elusive than he had imagined.
"Don't just stand there, take a seat for a moment."
Tsukasa pointed to the stone table and chairs nearby. He himself walked toward the kitchen, injecting clear water into an iron pot as he spoke. He skillfully used Fuko (Hidden Fire) to heat the bottom of the pot. Kido was simply too convenient; it saved him the time of gathering firewood.
He took out ingredients he had preserved some time ago and prepared them in another pot. Before the water boiled, Tsukasa walked over to the vegetable bed and bent down to pick a few fresh greens.
"The snack will be simple. Just some noodles with meat, eggs, and these fresh-picked greens."
"In the future, if there's anything else you want to eat, you can tell me."
"Okay."
The words were ordinary, yet they made Toshiro pause slightly. In this secluded place of cultivation, he hadn't expected that "what to eat" could become a question worthy of serious consideration.
As he watched Tsukasa put the ingredients into the pot one by one, the humble aroma of food rose with the steam. Sitting on the stone chair, Toshiro smelled the wafting scent and looked at the well-managed space.
Suddenly, he had a moment of realization. Perhaps this ability to seamlessly blend cultivation with daily life was the secret to Suō Tsukasa's strength.
Before long, two large bowls of steaming noodles were placed in the middle of the stone table.
In the ceramic bowls, white noodles were submerged in a clear broth with droplets of oil, topped with emerald-green vegetables, brownish dried bamboo shoots, a crispy fried egg, and thick slices of meat. The aroma was mouth-watering.
Tsukasa handed over a pair of chopsticks and sat down opposite him.
"Eat up, don't be shy. There's plenty more in the pot."
As soon as he finished speaking, he picked up a large mouthful of noodles, blew on them, and sent them into his mouth.
Toshiro took the chopsticks, his movements pausing for a second. He had forgotten how long it had been since the two of them sat face-to-face like this to eat. This feeling was all too familiar.
It felt as if time had flowed back to their days at the Academy. After classes ended, they would find a corner in the cafeteria, focusing on the food before them and each other's progress. Hearing the rhythmic sounds of eating from across the table, he immediately picked up his chopsticks as well.
The noodles were warm, and the broth was light with a mellow fragrance. The taste was not flashy, but very mild. A steady warmth spread through his stomach bit by bit.
Tsukasa finished his first bowl and stood up to serve himself another. Seeing that there was still plenty left in Toshiro's bowl, he said casually, "The taste is alright, isn't it? I'm keeping the pot warm; take your time."
He sat back down and focused on the food again. There was no need for excessive politeness between the two.
"Yeah, it's good," Toshiro replied, looking up briefly before lowering his head to pick up a piece of dried bamboo shoot to savor.
In the silence, the two sat steadily across from each other. This was perhaps the most authentic fragment of life during cultivation.
Eventually, the food in the pot hit the bottom. The battle ended with a score of eight to two in Tsukasa's favor.
"Let me help clean up," Toshiro said, standing up to take the bowls and chopsticks from Tsukasa's hands and heading toward the sink.
"Not bad, your appetite has improved."
Tsukasa did not refuse. His lips curled into a slight arc as he stood up to follow. With the two working together, the kitchen was quickly restored to its tidy state, with everything put back in its place.
Returning to the hut, they each grabbed a book before bed. Toshiro continued to flip through the Kido manual, while Tsukasa browsed through a book on the principles of optics.
When the clock hand moved to the next position, Tsukasa spoke.
"It's about time. Let's get some rest."
"Okay."
Tsukasa used his ability to deflect the light, and darkness washed over every corner of the room like a tide.
"Goodnight," Tsukasa's calm voice rang out in the darkness.
"Goodnight," Toshiro responded from the other side of the screen.
The two lay down, their breathing gradually slowing.