Chapter 87: Wang Yue: Monk, just give up! Otherwise, the Ancient Tree will come

The next day.

This time, Araki didn't even go to the Shino Spiritual Arts Institute; he spent the whole morning in the Fourth Division watching Yoruichi Shihouin train.

Furthermore, after successfully connecting with the Shihouin family, the Shihouin family's martial arts 'corridor' was fully opened to Araki. It's called a martial arts 'corridor' because the steps and techniques created and invented by the Shihouin family over millions of years fill an entire corridor that stretches a kilometer long....

This left Araki dazzled, and once again he gained a concrete sense of the phrase 'millennia of inheritance.' To put it simply, the Shihouin family's collection of martial arts secret scrolls exceeds the total number of books in the Shino Spiritual Arts Institute's library by more than tenfold; the two libraries are not even on the same level.

"Ah..."

At the same time, Araki let out another long sigh; in this world, for ordinary people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the 'Five Great Noble Families' is exceedingly difficult—the Shihouin family's martial arts, the Zabima family's exclusive 'spells' (now called 'spiritual arts'), the Tsunayashiro clan's sword passed down for over a million years, and the accumulated resources of the Five Great Noble Families far surpass what other families or commoners could imagine.

However, the Shihouin family's million-year accumulation now works to Araki's advantage. Armed with this ample knowledge, he attempts to manifest the 'Six Styles' martial art from One Piece within the rules of the Bleach world, and he shamelessly renames his modified version the 'Araki Six Styles,' since there's no Navy or World Government here to come after him for royalties—cough, cough....

At noon, Araki rested as usual in the captain's quarters for an hour.

The time came to 1:00 p. m....

Araki promptly went to the Eleventh Division's swordsmanship dojo.

「……」

When Araki saw the dojo's main door open just a fist-sized gap, he fell into thoughtful contemplation.

Inside the dojo, Shunsui Kyōraku waited expectantly for something.

"Whoosh~"

However, before the door could open, a basin of clear water was splashed at him from behind.

"Looks like you really enjoy playing with water, huh~"

Then came a soft, wistful sigh.

"Ugh..."

Upon hearing that, Kyōraku's body instinctively stiffened.

"You three showed up right on time today~"

"I thought after yesterday's incident you wouldn't come~"

After placing the water basin on Kyōraku's head, Araki walked over to Kyōraku, Ukitake, and Shiina, teasing the three of them.

"I really didn't intend to come..."

Shiina, the 'innate bad seed,' heard Araki's words and answered honestly.

"But after returning home yesterday, my father beat me severely, saying that if I followed you, I might be able to seize the pinnacle of power in the Tsunayashiro family."

Shiina seemed unwilling to play mind games with Araki anymore; after yesterday's beating, he realized that in the face of absolute strength, all tricks are useless—tactics only matter when opponents are evenly matched, and even a paramecium employing any tactic could not destroy a star.

"Oh?!"

Araki raised an eyebrow at Shiina's words; this 'bad kid' was unexpectedly honest.

"So I will drain you, learn all your techniques! Then those who look down on my main branch will pay a heavy price, and you, who claim the Tsunayashiro family is 'innately evil,' will certainly not fare well either—heh heh heh, you'll regret teaching me...."

Tsunayashiro Shiina said this while letting out an extremely grim laugh.

"Smack!"

Then he received a strike of 'love' from Araki on his head.

"Ouch..."

Shiina crouched on the ground, tears welling in his eyes, unable to understand how Araki could produce such a bone‑chilling pain.

"Hahaha, want to surpass me? You'd better pray to be reborn with a good lot in your next life; if you managed to reincarnate as the Soul King's grandson, that might pose a slight threat to me~"

Araki paid no heed to Shiina's threat.

"And what about you two?!"

Araki then turned his gaze to Kyōraku and Ukitake.

"My father and older brother told me not to come! They said I can't learn anything from you and should just inherit the family's martial arts!"

Kyōraku took the water basin off his head and addressed Araki.

"So what's your decision?"

Araki looked at Kyōraku and continued asking.

"Damn it! Why should I listen to those two? Who do they think they are? They obviously sent me to the Spiritual Arts Institute, and now they're pretending to care about me!"

"They forbid me from coming, but I'm coming anyway! I'll use the martial arts you teach me to beat them up, then tell them the Kyōraku family's martial arts, passed down for a thousand years, are total crap!"

Kyōraku is naturally rebellious, especially disliking his father and elder brother; although he isn't sure whether training under Araki is correct, doing the opposite of what they advise is always right.

"No respect at all!"

Upon hearing that, Araki gave Kyōraku a strike of 'love' with his sword sheath in hand.

"It hurts! I'm dying of pain!"

Feeling the explosive pain on his head, Kyōraku sniffled pathetically.

"And you?"

Huang Mu immediately looked toward the floating bamboo that had not replied.

"My heart tells me that following you to study is the right choice."

After a moment's thought, Ukitake addressed Araki.

"Your heart has found the right choice for you!"

Upon hearing that, Araki gently patted Ukitake's shoulder.

"Huh? Why doesn't Ukitake need to be hit?"

At that moment, Kyōraku rose from the floor, protesting indignantly.

"Because he listens better than you and Shiina do—obedient children don't get hit."

Araki looked at Kyōraku and replied.

"Damn it, I won't accept this."

Jing Le's eyes were full of tears, yet he could not refute Huang Mu, as Huang Mu had said, Fu Zhu was indeed obedient enough.

"Then the training will begin..."

Huang Mu said while taking down the wooden swords from the rack and throwing them to Jing Le, Fu Zhu, and Shi Tan.

"Do we still have to spar today?!"

Jing Le looked at the wooden sword in his hand and suddenly shivered.

"You don't need to fight me today; you practice on your own, remember not to be lazy, I'll be watching you from behind..."

Huang Mu said while bringing over a chair, sitting behind Jing Le and the others, opening the martial arts book he had brought from the Si Feng Yuan family... Unfortunately, Huang Mu's understanding of martial arts, compared to the Si Feng Yuan family's accumulation, was too shallow; to develop the Huang Mu Six Styles, he needed to catch up on this world's knowledge.

"What training?!"

On the other side, Jing Le blankly looked at the two swords in his hand.

"Swing the sword."

Huang Mu replied indifferently.

"What I mean is, how should we swing our swords?"

Jing Le asked Huang Mu.

"How could swinging a sword be such an inconvenient thing? Where is there any fixed form? Your enemies won't follow the moves on the sword manual; they will attack from all directions, omnipresent, so according to your habits, according to your natures, freely swing the swords in your hands~"

Huang Mu sat on the chair, still flipping through the book in his hand, not lifting his eyelids, glancing at the three.

"Huh?!"

Jing Le, hearing that, showed a hint of confusion in his expression.

In contrast, Shi Tan and Fu Zhu had already begun swinging their swords as Huang Mu said.

Fu Zhu, due to his frail and sickly constitution, had a very small sword arc, conserving his strength as much as possible, while Shi Tan directly employed the sword technique from the 'Sword Manual' of the Dual-blade Style collected by the Gang Mi Dai family...

Huang Mu didn't say much more about these.

"Huh?!"

Jing Le looked at his two 'companions', Fu Zhu and Shi Tan, who had begun their training, and he, not wanting to be outdone, also started swinging his sword.

Jing Le's sword technique had no form; he just swung wildly at the sky, 'one to the left, one to the right', each strike using full strength, each blow could cut a howling gale...

However, Jing Le soon grew tired, and on top of that, swinging the sword was truly boring, so he harbored ulterior motives in his heart; only saw Jing Le, after wiping his brow, sneak a glance at Huang Mu, noticing that after Huang Mu looked at his book, the corner of his mouth slightly rose, and he secretly put down one of the wooden swords in his hand.

"Jing Le, ten thousand push-ups."

Then Jing Le heard Huang Mu's bone-piercing voice.

"Ah? Ten thousand push-ups? That'll kill someone!"

Jing Le turned around, looking at Huang Mu with eyes full of sorrow.

"If you don't want to do it, fine; since you neither want to do push-ups nor find sword swinging interesting, then let's spar."

Huang Mu said while putting down the book in his hand, looking at Jing Le and speaking.

"Really no need to do it?" Jing Le, upon hearing the first half of Huang Mu's words, was first delighted, but when he heard the second half, his face instantly fell: "Then I'll still do push-ups!"

Jing Le said while throwing down the wooden sword in his hand, lying on the ground, began doing push-ups...

Jing Le, while doing push-ups, muttered in his mouth: "Obviously I was reading! How did you notice me?!"

"I said before, I've been watching you all along."

At the moment Jing Le's words fell, Huang Mu's voice continued to echo in the ears of the three.

Thus time flew by...

It wasn't until eight o'clock in the evening that Huang Mu allowed Jing Le, Fu Zhu, and Shi Tan to leave.

When the three left, their hands could no longer feel any sensation,

"Hey! Fu Zhu and Gang Mi Dai, are we just going to let that demon king bully us like this?"

Upon leaving the Eleventh Division's barracks, Jing Le pulled Fu Zhu and Shi Tan, discussing a plan to deal with Huang Mu.

"Hehe..." When Shi Tan heard Jing Le's words, he immediately sneered, lightly patted Jing Le's shoulder, and spoke in a gloomy voice: "Jing Le, I advise you to give up resisting! Huang Mu Teacher can easily bully even my dad; bullying you and me is nothing to him!"

"Ah?!"

Jing Le, upon hearing that, twitched his eyebrows slightly.

Although Shi Tan's words were few, the information contained was surprisingly large...

"Jing Le, don't always think about resisting the teacher!"

"Huang Mu Teacher making us train like this must have his meaning! I believe in Huang Mu Teacher!"

Fu Zhu expressed unconditional belief in his Huang Mu Teacher; it must be said that Fu Zhu now truly has the nature of a 'little angel'.

However, the more one is like a 'little angel', the easier it is to become a 'dark deep remnant'...

"These three little brats."

Inside the Eleventh Division captain's room, Huang Mu's 'sensory projection' made the outside situation clear as day; regarding Fu Zhu, Jing Le, and Shi Tan's issues, he helplessly shook his head.

Shi Tan is openly dark, always appearing as if the whole world owes him a million—simply put, he's mentally abnormal, 'chuunibyou' deep in his bones, in other words, he needs discipline...

Jing Le is rough yet meticulous; among the trio of Fu Zhu, Shi Tan, and himself, Jing Le's observation and thought are actually the most meticulous; as a person he is basically upright, but the parts that should be dark are not few, amounting to half black half white, and he is also the one Huang Mu trusts most.

Among the three, Fu Zhu's problem is the greatest in Huang Mu's view; beneath Fu Zhu's body, battered by illness, lies a heart prone to extremes.

"Alas, the burden is heavy and the road long~"

Huang Mu suddenly could somewhat feel what it's like to be a teacher at Yuan Liu Zhai; educating children is truly not easy.

"By the way, why hasn't Tian Zhu Lian come down from above yet?!"

Huang Mu shook his head to clear his thoughts, raised his head, looked through the window, and his gaze fell upon the lofty 'Spirit King Palace'.

'Spirit King Palace', 'Biao Can Dao'.

"Blade God."

The big-eyed monk looked sternly at Wang Yue, his rough large hand firmly gripping Wang Yue's shoulder.

What's the matter!!

Wang Yue's forehead broke out in fine beads of sweat as he questioned the monk.

Don't force me!

The monk drew his Soul-Cutting Sword, a weapon that had existed long before Wang Yue of the Sword God Two-Plank House created the concept of the Soul-Cutting Sword, ancient beyond measure.

You...

Wang Yue's face changed drastically upon seeing this; he knew the monk was serious.

I beg you! Absolutely do not let Huang Mu come up!

As the monk and Wang Yue faced off weakly, the monk waved his hand behind him, inscribing a symbol meaning 'hidden' on the Heavenly Pillar Palanquin to completely conceal it, then pleaded with Wang Yue and the members of the First Generation Guard Court Thirteen Squad.

Hey, Soldier Chief Division, I advise you not to deceive yourself; even without this, if Huang Mu wants to come up, he still can.

Wang Yue looked at the monk and the Soldier Chief Division, speaking helplessly.

Then let him crawl up from the ground bit by bit!

Upon hearing this, the Soldier Chief Division spoke to Wang Yue.

Once he climbs up, the first thing he'll do is go to the Spirit King's Great Inner Palace and chop you down.

Wang Yue reminded the Soldier Chief Division.

Let future me handle future matters!

If he comes up now, he'll immediately liberate and convert me...

The Soldier Chief Division, unmoved like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, spoke to Wang Yue.

This guy...

Not only Wang Yue, but the other captains also showed helpless expressions.

Although, but they truly are no match for the monk who is acting like a scoundrel right before them.

Yes, the captains of the First Generation Thirteen Squad tried to besiege the monk, but they were defeated in an instant! To them, that power should be called the Death God's Natural Enemy.

(End of Chapter)