After conversing with Yamamoto and obtaining the answers he sought, Toshiro left the 1st Division.
Walking back to the 10th Division, a question arose in his mind.
According to Yamamoto, breaking the Shinigami's limit granted divine-like power, with the Soul King being the only known God-level entity.
Yet, based on the manga, the Soul King appeared only briefly before dying easily. His strength hardly seemed divine, and he might not even be much stronger than ordinary Shinigami. His importance stemmed solely from his death causing the destruction of the Soul Society and Living World. Toshiro couldn't see where his 'divine' power lay.
"Well, never mind that for now. Better return to training." Eager to try Yamamoto's guidance, Toshiro headed back.
…
10th Division, Training Room.
Toshiro sat cross-legged, eyes closed, focusing his mind.
According to Yamamoto, the key to breaking the Shinigami limit and reaching God-level lay in [Divine Power]… power possessed by Gods. To advance, a Shinigami needed to transform their Reiatsu into Divine Power.
Divine Power possessed incredible, miraculous abilities. After Yamamoto's explanation, Toshiro recalled the Sternritter's Quincy in the [Thousand-Year Blood War] arc, who received power from Yhwach. They exhibited bizarre, unpredictable abilities… some even survived fatal injuries.
For instance, Kyoraku's battle with Sternritter [X] Lille Barro. In true strength, Kyoraku surpassed Lille. During the fight, Kyoraku even severed Lille's neck but couldn't kill him.
Only by using the sacred sword passed down through Ise Nanao's family did he defeat Lille, who possessed Divine Power granted by Yhwach. This demonstrated Divine Power's potency.
Beings like Yamamoto, at the Demi-god level, hadn't fully broken the Shinigami's limit or converted their Reiatsu into Divine Power. However, their Reiatsu had begun transforming, acquiring some Divine Power attributes, making them far stronger than peak beyond Captain-level Shinigami like Toshiro.
While Toshiro didn't expect to instantly break the Shinigami's limit and become a God, he aimed to at least reach the Demi-god level like Yamamoto.
Typically, even with exceptional talent, acquiring Divine Power attributes to become a Demi-god required an immensely long time. Toshiro estimated that, relying solely on his monstrous talent, it might take nearly a century to become a Demi-god. As for fully breaking the limit to become a true God, that wasn't something talent alone could determine.
Fortunately, Toshiro now possessed a shortcut.
…
Toshiro's Inner World.
Toshiro sat within the majestic ice crystal palace, facing Hyorinmaru, who also sat cross-legged.
An ice-blue pearl emerged from Hyorinmaru's body, hovering above Toshiro's head, emitting a stream of power that flowed into him.
This ice-blue pearl was the Ice Dragon Pearl that brought Toshiro to this world. Its original owner, the ice dragon, was a mighty being from Toshiro's previous world on Earth.
That the pearl could transport Toshiro across space to this world indicated the ice dragon's strength was undoubtedly at God-level or beyond.
Thus, the Ice Dragon Pearl contained the ice dragon's Divine Power. By continuously refining and absorbing this Divine Power, Toshiro could drastically shorten the time needed to reach the Demi-god level, and perhaps even become a true God.
Upon hearing Yamamoto mention Divine Power as the key, Toshiro immediately thought of the power within the Ice Dragon Pearl.
Returning to the 10th Division, he eagerly began experimenting.
Guiding a strand of Divine Power from the pearl into his body, Toshiro cautiously enveloped it with a portion of his spiritual pressure, attempting to refine and absorb it.
However, the Divine Power's overbearing strength surprised him. Facing Toshiro's encirclement, the Divine Power fearlessly counterattacked. Within moments, it shattered Toshiro's Reiatsu.
"What?!" Toshiro inwardly exclaimed.
Although he had anticipated Divine Power's potency, Toshiro had been extremely cautious for his first attempt, drawing only a tiny strand from the pearl. Yet, even this small strand possessed such formidable power.
"Hmph!"
After breaking free, the Divine Power rampaged through Toshiro's body. Reacting swiftly, Toshiro mobilized all his Reiatsu to block and with full force refine and absorb it.
Fortunately, though the Divine Power was stronger than expected, it was just a single strand. Against Toshiro's entire Reiatsu, it eventually exhausted itself and was absorbed.
Upon absorption, Toshiro noticed a subtle change in his Reiatsu … its quality had slightly improved. Though almost imperceptible, this was remarkably rare.
After years of compression and refinement, Toshiro's Reiatsu quality had far surpassed other Shinigami, seemingly unable to improve further.
Yet now, it had advanced again, confirming his approach was correct. Continuing down this path, reaching Demi-god level wouldn't be difficult, and becoming a true God might even be possible.
Having found a way to enhance his strength, Toshiro persevered.
Autumn passed, winter came.
Several months had elapsed since Toshiro became Captain.
During this period, aside from visiting Yamamoto to inquire about levels above beyond Captain-level, Toshiro remained in the 10th Division. Every day, after handling division work, he devoted himself entirely to training.