Chapter 235: Pingzi Zhenzi's Fear! Individual Training Sessions!

Pingzi Zhenzi, who returned from the Bridge of Helplessness to the living world, looks like a dreamless salted fish, with hollow eyes and even drool at the corners of his mouth.

Passersby who see him would probably think he has some defect.

The flow of time on the Bridge of Helplessness differs completely from reality; Chu Yang can't say how long he stayed there, but when it felt about right, he brought him back.

From his current condition, it seems he was a bit late, and the youngster's spirit suffered considerable trauma.

"Aba aba…"

Pingzi Zhenzi's gaze is vacant.

"What is he saying?"

Yi Hu walked over curiously and asked.

"Who knows?"

Chu Yang shrugged helplessly.

"He can't be stupid, can he?"

Lu Qi Ya muttered softly beside them.

"Probably… not, right?"

Chu Yang is also uncertain; every ability displayed by Feng Du is formidable.

Huangquan Water can erode spiritual and cursed energy, dealing extremely lethal damage to souls.

Gui Men can devour souls; once locked, escape is difficult, though the process takes some time.

As for the Bridge of Helplessness…

Since it's a newly manifested ability, Chu Yang doesn't know it well, but just by seeing the wretched state of Shen Ming, one can infer a bit.

Using endless loneliness and time to grind a person's soul to extinction—this torment is beyond any torture.

Pingzi Zhenzi only walked there briefly, and his whole being fell into a lost state; Chu Yang could not restore him.

Everyone could only wait quietly for him to awaken from the nightmare.

"Lu Qi Ya, inform Pu Yuan Xizhu and have him come take a look."

"Oh, okay."

Lu Qi Ya hurriedly pulled a communicator from her pocket; it is the latest product developed by Nie Jian Li, capable of contacting the Soul Society and Pu Yuan's shop.

"Thanks for your help; I think it's unnecessary now."

Pingzi Zhenzi slowly rose, his gaze toward Chu Yang now tinged with fear, "Thanks to you, I went to a good place."

"Sorry," Chu Yang said apologetically, "the newly mastered ability is still a bit unrefined."

Pingzi Zhenzi grimaced, pressing his temples, his eyes scanning Feng Du, and asked curiously, "Your Zhan Po Dao's design is very unique, like a fine artwork; its ability… is also quite strange."

"This time was also an eye-opener."

Chu Yang smiled, "How did the inspection turn out? Are you satisfied?"

Pingzi Zhenzi, still frightened by what had just happened, gave a wry smile, "Of course I'm satisfied; if I said I wasn't, you'd probably try to send me to that place again."

He flinched sharply, "Better to kill me outright."

That endless solitude, the inability to discern the passage of time, is truly terrifying.

Yi Hu was very curious about what "that world" meant in Pingzi Zhenzi's words; from their perspective, Pingzi Zhenzi had merely taken a sword strike from Chu Yang, then collapsed, looking dazed.

"Really not going to try again?" Chu Yang said, lingering, "I still want to see your Zhan Po Dao; I heard its ability is special, similar to Lan Ran's."

"Forget it!" Pingzi Zhenzi shook his head without hesitation, "My ability suits group battles, and works when it's one versus many; in one-on-one it has no advantage."

Chu Yang showed a surprised expression, "So easily you gave away the intel?"

"The enemy's enemy is a friend; didn't you say you'd help me stab Lan Ran twice?" Pingzi Zhenzi smiled, "I believe what you said."

"Pleasant cooperation," Chu Yang extended his hand.

"Pleasant cooperation," Pingzi Zhenzi grasped Chu Yang's hand.

Yi Hu scratched his head, "So from now on I should learn from you how to control Xuhua?"

"Not me, but us," Pingzi Zhenzi nodded, "Tomorrow I'll take you to our Jia Mian Jun Shi base; you must be ready and have no hope of luck."

Yi Hu exhaled deeply, his gaze firm, "I will do my utmost to control this power and will not let it harm anyone around me."

Pingzi Zhenzi's eyes were dark and profound, "To control Xuhua, you must learn to accept it, not treat it as an invader; Xuhua itself is part of you."

Recalling the arrogant figure deep in his consciousness, Yi Hu pursed his lips and, reluctantly, nodded.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Starting tomorrow, Yi Hu will train with you; after all, Xuhua hasn't manifested lately, so we have plenty of time."

Chu Yang turned to Lu Qi Ya, "I still need you to make a trip and tell Pu Yuan Xizhu what happened today, so he won't keep it hidden."

Lu Qi Ya nodded in agreement.

Cha Du suddenly asked, "Can I also join the special training?"

Pingzi Zhenzi glanced at the tall, broad Cha Du, noticed he lacked Xuhua aura, and shook his head, "Your situation differs from his; training here wouldn't mean much for you."

Cha Du felt a bit down and said nothing more.

During the last trip to the Soul Society, he couldn't help Yi Hu much; feeling guilty and despising his own weakness, after returning to the living world he constantly thought of becoming stronger.

But he is not a Shinigami, has no Zhan Po Dao, and can only rely on his own immature Wan Xian Shu, progressing slowly.

Although it doesn't show on the surface, Cha Du is quite anxious behind the scenes.

The gentle and meek Zhi Ji feels the same, hoping to help companions when danger arises rather than become the one rescued.

Chu Yang patted Cha Du's back, "Come by when you have time; I'll help you improve your combat skills."

Cha Du's eyes lit up, "Then I trouble you."

Zhi Ji whispered, "Can I come too?"

Chu Yang said, "You used to gather at my place often, right? No need to change anything; just as usual will do."

Zhi Ji's Wan Xian Shu is very special, beyond ordinary Wan Xian Shu; Lan Ran calls it "Rejection of All Phenomena," which can alter a thing's state by consciously "rejecting" the influences it receives.

She repairs others' injuries because, within the range of her ability's influence, she "rejects" the adverse effects inflicted on the target.

In a sense, this truly is an ability only a god could possess—merely by one's own thoughts, one can change things.

Training in spiritual arts effectively strengthens Orihime's control over her own ability.

Chu Yang happens to be highly skilled in spiritual arts, because his learning ability is astonishing, and he has avatars from other worlds that can help him practice, allowing him to master a large amount of spiritual arts in a short time.

The next day.

Ichigo followed Pingzi Zhenzi to the other party's base to undergo hollowfication training, while Rukia and the others stayed at Chu Yang's house for special training.

Rukia initially just wanted to watch the excitement, but after seeing Chu Yang's formidable swordsmanship, she also wanted to learn, so she joined in as well.

To create a suitable training ground, Chu Yang expanded the house's storage room dozens of times using the traceless extension spell, then fixed the surrounding space with a spiritual arts barrier technique to prevent damage during training.

Rukia was amazed; the Pure Spirit Court has similar places, but few can do this—usually they are death gods who have deeply studied spiritual arts. Without exception, they are death gods who have lived for many years.

Although Chu Yang has been a death god for less than a year, his spiritual arts have already reached this level! Not only spiritual arts, but in each of the four basic techniques—cutting fist, walking ghost—he excels.

Just one of those would place him among the top captains! "This is true genius—no wonder he wants to become a death god; he's a born death god!"

Rukia couldn't help but marvel; she has lived many years in the Soul Society and has seen plenty of geniuses, yet it's truly hard to find anyone comparable to Chu Yang.

Most people grow slowly, relying on longevity and painstaking effort.

Before she could voice more admiration, Rukia dove into training; Chu Yang had her start from the basics rather than using her Soul-Cutter Sword's ability.

The most basic swordsmanship, the most basic forms—from grip to draw—constantly repeated practice, dreadfully dull.

Had she not known Chu Yang somewhat, Rukia would have thought he was messing with her.

Chu Yang arranged this because most death gods, upon gaining shikai, unconsciously rely on their Soul-Cutter Sword's ability and neglect their swordsmanship.

Beings like Zaraki Kenpachi are extremely rare examples.

Not to mention ordinary death god soldiers; even captain-level beings have very weak foundations in swordsmanship.

If we set aside the Soul-Cutter Sword's ability and the huge power gap, and consider swordsmanship alone, most death gods would likely lose to even second- or third-rate martial artists in the world of wuxia.

A weak foundation is disastrous.

That's why Chu Yang insists on starting from the basics of swordsmanship when training Rukia—as the saying goes, a towering building rises from level ground, and the foundation is forever the most important.

His training method is not the one used by the Pure Spirit Court to train death god apprentices, but rather one closer to martial arts theory.

A Soul-Cutter Sword can be either a blade or a sword; besides teaching swordsmanship, Chu Yang will also teach Rukia blade techniques.

Without using spiritual pressure or abilities, Rukia genuinely felt a special sensation from the dull swordsmanship practice, hard to put into words.

She recalled that Chu Yang had a similar feeling when using his Soul-Cutter Sword—a sense of flowing like clouds and water, as if truly merging with the Soul-Cutter Sword, becoming an extension of his body.

After gaining a bit of insight, Rukia practiced with greater zeal.

Chad's situation is similar; Chu Yang merely turned swordsmanship and blade techniques into martial arts, and Chad's first step was the enjoyable horse stance.

The taciturn big black guy is extraordinarily gifted in boxing, a natural-born boxer, but his movements are too stiff, making him easy to read in combat.

Learning how to use the body to attack is a major subject; truly formidable experts can turn every part of their body into a weapon.

Just the hands can employ fists, palms, fingers, claws, and other variations; knees, elbows, shoulders, and legs are also weapons—it all depends on how you use them.

Even basic martial arts concepts sound like heavenly script to Chad, so Chu Yang has no choice but to teach him hands-on.

The first thing to learn is how to take a hit; only after mastering that can one discuss offense.

Taking hits is Chad's strongest suit; he's endured plenty of beatings since childhood, so he confidently claims he can take a punch.

But when Chu Yang actually got hands-on, Chad realized his understanding of taking hits seemed off.

Leaving that aside, he had never seen moves like the Black Tiger Heart-Pull or Monkey Stealing Peach before.

When these moves landed on him, an inexplicable sense of humiliation welled up in Chad's heart.

"Are these techniques really useful against enemies?"

Chad voiced a question of the soul.

"Only useful against ordinary people."

Chu Yang answered honestly.

"Then why am I learning this?"

Chad didn't understand at all; the opponents he faces in the Soul Society are certainly not ordinary people.

"Angering the opponent, making them lose reason, makes them much easier to deal with than a calm, rational foe."

Chu Yang sighed and said, "Of course I have more profound techniques to teach you, but you don't even grasp the core of combat."

Chad asked blankly, "The core?"

Chu Yang said, "On the battlefield you must, at all costs, create an advantage favoring yourself to tip the scales of victory; a clash of sheer strength only occurs when you are vastly stronger than your opponent."

"It's not that I look down on you, but most of the time you are the weaker side on the battlefield, and then you shouldn't rely on sheer strength to win."

"If you want to win, you must learn to think about combat with a different mindset."

After hearing those words, Chad took a deep breath, as if making a heavy decision in his heart, "I understand."

Chu Yang nodded satisfactorily, then continued teaching Chad the basics.

"And do you also often think about how to win by other means?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because my sheer strength is enough."

"……"

Originally taciturn, Chad became even more silent.

Seeing this, Chu Yang grinned and launched into another line of reasoning.

"If you don't want to waste time thinking how to defeat enemies, then you must strive to increase your strength."

"Because in the face of absolute power, any scheming and trickery are just a joke."

"When you can kill an enemy with a single punch, no matter how many moves he makes, in your eyes he's just like a circus clown."

"Understood?"

Chadu nodded, "Different times require different attitudes to face the enemy."

Chu Yang laughed.

The youngster is teachable.

Compared to Lukia and Chadu's unorthodox swordsmanship, Orihime's training is more conventional.

He taught Orihime ghost dao in the exact same way he had practiced it himself, merely mixing in some magical chanting techniques.

Ghost Dao chanting and magic chanting achieve the same end by different means, both using the power of words to bend the rules.

However, magic also has a wand as an aid, so its difficulty is relatively lower.

In learning Ghost Dao, being taught by a renowned master and figuring it out on one's own are two completely different matters, with experience being especially important.

A single error in a byte or syllable will cause Ghost Dao to fail or deviate into something else.

Once familiar enough, one can omit the chanting of 'Spirit Words', which not only allows swift spellcasting in battle but also greatly enhances the ability of Full Manifestation Technique.

Orihime's Shun's Six-Flower Shield can be freely combined into various abilities; swift casting means a great increase in flexibility, making it hard for enemies to exploit the gaps in her casting to launch attacks.

If the interval time drops to zero, she will become the most terrifying magical machine gun on the battlefield.

(End of Chapter)