Chapter 69: We Have No Match Ahead! (First Publication Requested)

When Huangmu returned to the Void Circle Expeditionary Force's camp, he saw the ground strewn with Great Void limbs and a group of rag‑clad Eleventh Squad team members.

"Captain, you're back!"

Some team members, upon seeing Huangmu's return, instinctively nodded at him in respect.

But more stood outside the hot‑spring pool, staring at the floating data above the springs as if deep in thought, and even the squad captains Zhixing Naiwuzhang, Shan Dingsi Youpin, Zaitou Bulaobusi and the others unexpectedly said nothing to Huangmu; everyone looked withdrawn…

"This leaderboard is pretty much as I expected."

Huangmu glanced at the numbers: the top spot still belonged to him with 320 points, followed by Mao Zhihua with 280 points, then the squad captains such as Zhixing Naiwuzhang, each with over a hundred points, while the ordinary Eleventh Squad members had zero…

That matched Huangmu's expectations fairly closely; it was normal that the Eleventh Squad's regulars couldn't defeat Jilians, but he thought Mao Zhihua and the squad captains' scores were a bit low.

"What happened to them?!"

In response, Huangmu approached the nearby Mao Zhihua Lie and asked.

"Ah~ Huangmu, you're back~ Looks like you've finished your business!" Mao Zhihua Lie greeted Huangmu, then looked at the withdrawn Eleventh Squad members and shook his head lightly: "As for those people, they were naturally shaken by you! After seeing you easily slay over thirty Jilians, they thought those 'lower‑grade Great Voids' were nothing, but in fact those Great Voids turned out to be unexpectedly tough~"

"Shan Dingsi Youpin, after using the Soul‑Cutter to slay eleven Jilians in succession, stubbornly set the Soul‑Cutter aside and tried to crush a Jilian's skull with his bare hands, only to be blasted into serious injury by the Void Flash of dozens of Great Voids!"

"Ah… this…"

Huangmu was speechless at this; did Shan Dingsi Youpin really think he was the old mountain man?

He even planned to put on a show, iron fist pounding Great Voids?!

But before his fist could swing, a Great Void taught him a lesson with a Void Flash…

Huangmu remarked, "Terra messed up!"

"Zhixing Naiwuzhang, trying to retrieve Shan Dingsi Youpin's 'corpse', was also hit by a Void Flash; after slaying twenty Jilians, he withdrew from the battlefield early…"

"That idiot Bulaobusi, as soon as he entered the 'Forest', unleashed the Soul‑Cutter's Bankai, draining his spiritual pressure in one breath! After slaying fourteen Jilians, he collapsed from exhaustion, and I retrieved him…"

"As for Captain Zhidao and Captain Nigu, one kept wading in murky waters, the other, after entering the forest, kept studying Jilian corpses! And the remaining Eleventh Squad members, though powerful, are still a bit overmatched against Great Voids."

Mao Zhihua reported the First Expedition's results against the Great Void Forest to Huangmu.

When Mao Zhihua finished his report, Bulaobusi, Zhixing Naiwuzhang and the others all bowed their heads… they were truly ashamed; it was mortifying. Being beaten by Wa Xu or a dozen Yaqiukas would have been understandable, but because of a momentary lapse they were caught off‑guard by a swarm of minnows—how pathetic…

If the old mountain man guarding the Jingling Court heard this, he'd think the first‑generation captains had all become useless in the Void Circle! If it were recorded in the annals and later read by descendants, they'd be mocked: 'Ha, the first‑generation Thirteen Squad was nothing, beaten by a bunch of Jilians—just the level of Liu Che Quan Xi!'

By the way, the reason Mao Zhihua Lie only slayed a little over twenty Jilians wasn't lack of strength; she never initiated attacks on Jilians. She watched the battlefield and intervened wherever her comrades were in danger.

"Now that's a big failure~"

Huangmu's eyes twitched after hearing Mao Zhihua; the first‑generation Guard Court Thirteen Squad captains hadn't shown any of their strength! It seemed that both captains and team members still only had experience fighting 'Reapers' or 'Eradicators'—humanoid foes…

When facing Great Voids, nobody had enough experience; many techniques effective against humans were useless, so the first encirclement of the Great Void Forest ended in such a 'lonely' defeat…

But Huangmu was unruffled; he had plenty of time to help these team members get familiar with Great Void power.

"The team members now need a 'great victory' to boost morale~"

Mao Zhihua Lie heard this and gave Huangmu a faint smile.

"I understand~"

Huangmu nodded.

"Damn, how can these Great Voids be so powerful?!"

"Against such monsters, do we really have any chance?"

"Damned! This Void Circle is simply not a place for people like us…"

The Eleventh Squad members soaked in the hot‑spring pool, watching their wounds heal; their eyes were shrouded in endless gloom. The liquid that helped heal them was made from the corpses of Great Voids hunted by the captains, meaning they had become a burden to the captains.

"Everyone! Look here…"

【7】 Just as the Eleventh Squad members were exhausted, Huangmu's voice came down from the sky into their ears.

Just as the members of the Eleventh Division were exhausted, Araki's voice came from the sky and entered everyone's ears.

"Hm?!"

The Eleventh Squad members heard the voice and all looked up.

What fell from the sky was a massive Great Void 'head.'

Hmm, it's a fragment of 'Yiji Siji Ba'…

Yet even a single fragment of 'Jiba' possessed spiritual pressure far beyond ordinary Great Voids; ordinary Reaper team members felt a chill just by looking at it, trembling with fear.

"Everyone, do you think it's strong?"

Huangmu asked the Eleventh Squad members.

"……"

The Eleventh Squad members, hearing that, glanced at each other but could not utter a word; their throats felt like a fishbone stuck, unable to answer Huangmu directly. Yet they all knew in their hearts that the Void was indeed powerful—far beyond any of those Reaper team members.

"This Void's power is immense! Far stronger than any of you ordinary team members, even stronger than some captain‑rank Reapers!"

Before the Eleventh Squad could answer, Huangmu had already given his reply.

"Yes! Against such a mighty Void, we're completely useless…"

The Eleventh Squad members, hearing Huangmu, seemed to have their veil of shame stripped away; they clenched their teeth and admitted their own incompetence.

"But so what! This powerful Great Void is already dead! I killed it! Now the ones alive here are you…"

Huangmu cut them off before they could finish, speaking powerfully to the crowd before him.

"Hmm? That does sound right!"

The Eleventh Squad members were startled by Huangmu's words.

They stared thoughtfully at the 'dead' 'Jiba'… Indeed! Even such a mighty Void is dead? Strength is useless; surviving to the end is the true path!

"Do not fear Great Voids, for no Void, however strong, can surpass me! Do not underestimate yourselves; since I brought you here, there is naturally a place where I can use you!"

"So charge forward bravely! You never need to worry about the enemy's strength, because any foe stronger than you will be slain by me, and you… just grip your swords, and, for your conviction, keep swinging them."

Huangmu addressed the Guard Court Eleventh Squad with a soaring voice.

"Oh!!!"

The Eleventh Squad members, after a moment's shock, all rose, drawing their Soul‑Cutters from their waists and letting out a 'long, sky‑ward howl'!

As Aramaki said, they fundamentally need not use Aramaki's standard to boast themselves; Aramaki is this generation's 'Sword Eight', a Shinigami of the Pure Spirit Court whose strength is second only to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and comparing themselves to Aramaki is in itself an act of arrogance! All they, ordinary Shinigami soldiers, need to do is one thing: to be the sword in Aramaki's hand and charge at the enemy with all their might……

Now let us cleanse the gloom in our hearts with the blood of the Great Hollow! With a great victory, let us lay the first step our Hollow Realm Expeditionary Force takes in this cruel world!

Please remember, everyone! Ahead of us there is no opponent!

Aramaki gripped his Soul-Cutting Sword and pointed it toward the dark and mysterious Great Hollow Forest.

Kill!!

As long as Captain Aramaki is with us, our Eleventh Division is invincible.

After the soldiers of the Eleventh Division felt Aramaki's will, they 'raised their voices in unison' and 'gripped their sharp blades', once again charging toward the deadly Great Hollow Forest.

As Aramaki said, ahead of their Eleventh Division there is no opponent!

Later generations have recorded that this battle was heralded as the awakening of the First Generation Shinigami Eleventh Division!

Thereafter, the strength of the Eleventh Division soldiers leapt forward, becoming unstoppable.

According to legend, after the Hollow Realm Expeditionary Force's first century-long campaign returned to the Soul Society, the soldiers of the First Generation Shinigami Eleventh Division each possessed the formidable combat power of 'one base' (one Kilian).

And they were hailed as the strongest division in the history of the Pure Spirit Court……

On the other side, Aramaki gazed at the Eleventh Division soldiers whose spirits were lifted by his words, the corners of his mouth turning up: 'Let me see the limits of you soldiers! By all means, do not disappoint me~'

In short, it's been uploaded; I first apologize to everyone, because the upload was rushed, so I didn't have time to write any closing remarks, and at the same time I didn't have time to save the manuscript……

Of course, this is not an excuse for not releasing more after uploading; please bear with me as I write slowly today—I'll finish the Hollow Realm Layout chapter in one go and kick off the Teaching chapter!

I don't plan to sleep tonight; let's see how much I can write~ In short, writing poorly is a matter of ability, but writing a lot is a matter of attitude—I'll make everyone feel my sincerity, and then it's the usual vote‑begging!

(End of chapter)