"A few minutes?!" Toshiro said in shock.
"Well... to be precise, it's about ten minutes or so." Hyorinmaru continued.
"Only that short amount of time has passed..." Toshiro murmured somewhat incredulously.
Toshiro had originally known that the feeling of having experienced thousands or tens of thousands of years, after his concept of time became blurred, was false, but he hadn't expected that only a short ten minutes or so had passed outside.
"Correct. Because the flow of time here is very slow compared to the outside world. The ratio is approximately 1:10000. In other words, even if ten thousand years pass here, at most only one year will have passed outside."
"The decisive battle between the Gotei 13 and Aizen will at least last several hours. Therefore, you have at least 'several years' of time to train. Originally, according to normal progress, you would need about fifty years to break through to the [True God level]. But as I said before, if you use the power of the Ice Dragon Pearl, continuously absorbing and refining the divine power within it and comprehending the Ice Law contained inside, this time can be greatly shortened. If your talent and luck are good enough, a sudden enlightenment could lead to a breakthrough. If your luck is poor or your ability insufficient, several months or even several years might also be possible."
"Unfortunately, although your talent is top-notch, your luck seems to be a bit lacking. Over a month has passed since Aizen's betrayal, and the curtain of the decisive battle has already been raised, but you still haven't been able to break through. So although you found a method to break through to the True God level in a short time, you still haven't succeeded. But..."
"Now things are different. Trapped here, you can instead be considered to have turned a disaster into a blessing. You have enough time to train. If a few months are not enough, then a few years. As long as you persist, your strength will definitely increase significantly, and you may even break through to the True God level. So if Aizen knew about this, his expression would surely be very interesting, hehehe..." At this point, Hyorinmaru couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, if Aizen knew about this, he would definitely regret it." Toshiro also chuckled lightly.
Previously, as day after day passed and the date of the decisive battle with Aizen approached, Toshiro had been unable to break through to the True God level, so he couldn't help feeling a bit anxious.
He had even considered destroying the Kototsu and then using the different time flow between the Dangai and the outside world to train, just like Ichigo in the original work.
However, in the end, Toshiro gave up on this idea. First, it's because the Kototsu was something like a conceptual existence. Under normal circumstances, no matter how strong one's Reiatsu was, one could not do anything to the Kototsu.
The reason Ichigo in the original work could use the different time flow between the Dangai and the outside world to train was mainly because Aizen had destroyed the Kototsu. Without the influence of the Kototsu, Ichigo Kurosaki could safely train the Final Getsuga Tensho.
However, the reason Aizen could easily destroy the Kototsu back then was mainly because he was in the [Hogyoku Fusion State 3], with immense power, just a tiny bit away from completely breaking the limits of a Shinigami.
Aizen's fusion with the Hogyoku could be divided into four states: Fusion 1, Fusion 2, Fusion 3, and Fusion 4.
In Fusion 1, Aizen's Reiatsu was already no less than Toshiro's. In Fusion 3, his Reiatsu was much greater than Toshiro's. So Aizen in Fusion 3 could easily destroy the Kototsu. For Toshiro to do the same would probably be very difficult.
Second, the existence of the Kototsu itself has its meaning.
The Kototsu is essentially the 'cleaner' of the Dangai. It plays an important role in the Dangai. So if the Kototsu were destroyed, it would not only affect the Dangai but also impact all of Soul Society.
For this reason, Soul Society allowed the Kototsu to exist. If the Kototsu truly had only harmful effects, regardless of whether they could do anything about it, Soul Society would find a way to destroy it.
Only after asking Yamamoto did Toshiro learn that this thing could not be easily destroyed. Otherwise, Soul Society would have to expend great effort to maintain the stability of the Dangai.
The reason Aizen destroyed the Kototsu without caring was that he was an enemy of Soul Society and simply didn't care whether it caused trouble for Soul Society.
But Toshiro was on Soul Society's side, and moreover the second-in-command among the Shinigami. He couldn't take the lead in causing trouble for Soul Society, right?
Therefore, not to mention that destroying the Kototsu was very difficult, even if he could do it easily, Toshiro could not.
So in the end, Toshiro gave up on the method of destroying the Kototsu and using the Dangai for training.
Cough, cough...
Toshiro coughed weakly for a while, then suddenly forced himself to sit up from Hyorinmaru's lap pillow.
Hyorinmaru couldn't help asking: "What's wrong? Don't you want to rest a little longer? There's plenty of time, and you don't have to worry about missing the decisive battle."
Toshiro shook his head: "No, it's better to start training as soon as possible. Being able to break free and reach the battlefield earlier would put my mind at ease and prevent any accidents. Moreover... my body is constantly being eroded by the ice-cold power. If I continue to rest, I will actually become weaker and weaker, eventually unable to even maintain consciousness, until I fall into eternal slumber..."
"If that's the case, then let's start training!" Although she wanted to spend more time with Toshiro, seeing him say this, Hyorinmaru also agreed.
Then, Hyorinmaru opened her small mouth, and a bead emitting an ice-blue light flew out. It was the Ice Dragon Pearl.
"Well then... let's begin, Toshiro!" Hyorinmaru said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"
Toshiro nodded, and then the two of them simultaneously released a force, working together tacitly to control the Ice Dragon Pearl.
Then, a tiny vortex appeared on the Ice Dragon Pearl.
Whoosh!
Toshiro's figure flickered, transforming into a blue light that entered the Ice Dragon Pearl through the vortex.
Inside the Ice Dragon Pearl, like a vast universe of stars, countless star-like light clusters floated everywhere. The space was filled with the residual divine power left behind by the Ice Dragon after its death.
Toshiro's consciousness sank deeper and deeper...
Until it fell to the deepest part of the Ice Dragon Pearl's internal space, stopping before the Ice Dragon's skeleton, which lay like a giant mountain range.
Then Toshiro sat cross-legged before the head of the Ice Dragon's skeleton, closed his eyes, and quietly comprehended the runes of Ice Law inscribed on the Ice Dragon's bones, while continuously absorbing and refining the divine power permeating the space.