Soul Society is a neutral area.
And the so-called neutral area is actually a gathering place for the natives of the World Battlefield. A large number of natives live here, and they usually do not leave the neutral area. Selected individuals can obtain certain things in the neutral area to improve their strength, or they may find some quests, complete them, and receive rewards. Ultimately, to survive in the World Battlefield, supplies are indispensable, and the neutral area is the only place for transactions.
As for the method of transaction, it is difficult to say. Usually, each neutral area has its own rules.
The most important point is that most neutral areas do not allow killing, or more accurately, killing may come at a terrible price.
Take Soul Society as an example. This is a place where souls remain after death, according to legend. Numerous souls can choose to scatter and survive, or they can gather together to form new families and live together. In fact, many of these souls come from different worlds and different eras.
Basically, the lives of souls are not significantly different from when they were alive, which means that...
Crime also exists in Soul Society.
Soul Society has eighty districts. Some districts severely lack food and water, making them extremely chaotic and targets for theft and robbery. This can also lead to large-scale brawls, and some people sell food and water as goods for immense profit or to exploit others. Therefore, to maintain order in Soul Society, Shinigami form guard patrols here.
And the Shinigami patrol guards are not only effective against the people of Soul Society but also against the selected individuals from various worlds.
It should be known that each of those Shinigami is a top-notch expert, so it is naturally conceivable what the fate of those selected individuals who dare to cause trouble in Soul Society will be.
At the same time, because of such an environment, neutral areas have very important significance in the early stages of the World Battlefield's opening.
Not all people from all worlds have a certain self-preservation ability after entering the World Battlefield. While there are many worlds full of conflict, there are also many peaceful worlds. In the early stages of the World Battlefield's opening, to improve one's strength, one either scavenges in ordinary areas or ventures into dangerous areas.
However, there is also a special situation, which is the neutral area.
Neutral areas can be called a pure land in the World Battlefield, a place of peace amidst chaos. And in neutral areas, there are many ways to improve one's strength.
However, this depends on luck. Neutral areas are not very common. Some areas do not have neutral areas. For example, in the Doomsday Ruin area, there are only thugs and zombies, and no so-called neutral area.
Of course, although neutral areas are very important in the early stages of the World Battlefield, their importance will gradually decrease over time. Furthermore, neutral areas will gradually become less safe because the order in neutral areas is not absolute. When the strength of selected individuals surpasses those responsible for maintaining order in the neutral area, that so-called "safety" will naturally collapse.
...
About five days later, Bai Ye appeared in Soul Society.
Then...
Bai Ye found the situation a bit awkward.
For Bai Ye, the significance of neutral areas was not great. In the early stages of the World Battlefield's opening, some people chose to mingle in neutral areas, not only for safety but more importantly, because their strength was insufficient.
Anyone with a bit of strength would naturally go to dangerous areas or brave forbidden zones, as their strength would improve faster.
Therefore, Bai Ye's main purpose in coming to Soul Society was replenishment, or more directly, he needed food and water.
However, Soul Society has eighty districts. Some are relatively prosperous, while others are very poor. The seventy-seventh district of Soul Society that appeared before Bai Ye was a poor district!
After Bai Ye entered Soul Society, almost all the natives who appeared before him were starving and in tattered clothes. The surrounding buildings were all wooden houses with thatched roofs.
In summary, it was filled with a sense of poverty!
In such a situation, it would definitely not be easy to obtain food and water, unless Bai Ye resorted to violent plunder, which would cost him the risk of being expelled or even directly killed by the Shinigami patrol guards.
"Do I have to be this unlucky?"
Bai Ye was also helpless. If he couldn't get supplies, his trip to the neutral area would be meaningless.
But just as Bai Ye was thinking this, he suddenly exclaimed "Huh?" and stopped in his tracks.
"No way?" Bai Ye looked at a sign on the side and said in surprise, "World Market?"
The World Market is a place specifically provided by neutral areas for selected individuals to trade. Natives usually do not enter it and cannot enter it. As for when it is not "usually" the case? For example, if one kills someone in Soul Society and is chased by the Shinigami patrol guards, attempting to seek refuge in the market would be futile, as this is a special circumstance.
Bai Ye's surprise was because although the World Battlefield had been open for some time, he still found it difficult to establish a market in a neutral area. After all, it needed to reach a certain scale to be called a market; otherwise, it would at best be a street stall.
This made Bai Ye somewhat curious, and he couldn't help but walk towards the market.
Upon entering the market gate, Bai Ye found that there were not many people inside, but it did have a certain scale. Looking up, there were still twenty to thirty stalls, with a sparse scattering of people browsing in front of the stalls or inquiring about prices from the stall owners.
As Bai Ye walked past a stall, a man called out to him with a smile, "Young man, all good things, want to take a look?"
Bai Ye came to the stall and squatted down, saying, "What good things are there?"
The stall owner immediately smiled and said, "How about this? It's called a portable Gigai. It can be used to enhance your abilities during combat. And this is a Soul-gathering Glove, which can forcibly separate the body and soul for a period of time. And this one can also allow the soul to leave the body, but it's more advanced, called a Gigai Pill."
Looking at the items the stall owner pointed out, Bai Ye couldn't help but say, "These are all things obtained from Soul Society, right?"
"Yes." The stall owner nodded and lowered his voice, "Do you want Shinigami's things?"
Bai Ye was about to shake his head. His intention was whether there were items produced from dangerous areas or forbidden zones. To be precise, he wasn't interested in things obtained within neutral areas.
However, before Bai Ye could shake his head, the stall owner mysteriously pulled aside his clothes.
...