Bleach: Getting Stronger Starting from Teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy

Chapter 23 Back Mountain Forest

Today is a rest day at the Spirit Arts Academy. Since July doesn't have classes, she followed Lisa into the back mountain forest.

Last time at Grandma Jiang's Izakaya, I heard Lisa say that there were wild bears in the mountains behind the house, and I got the idea to go into the forest to hunt bears.

He also brought three disciples with him, because in addition to hunting bears, he needed to find some suitable timber for the dojo to practice swordsmanship.

There is a type of black ironwood in the mountains and forests, which has a toughness and hardness far exceeding that of ordinary wood, making it very suitable for making targets.

Cilantro spotted a stream in the woods and scooped up some water with her hands: "The water here is so clear, it's perfect for a picnic."

"A picnic here?" Shinko Hirako said lazily. "Be careful not to get carried off by a bear!"

“We can find a place for a picnic at noon.” July touched the bite marks on the tree trunk, which seemed to be left by a wild bear grinding its teeth. “These marks must have been left by a large animal. Little Lisa, did you encounter a wild bear here before?”

“This is it. The wild bear came out of the bushes over there. I carefully went around it, but it still found me.” Lisa pointed to a lush area.

“I sensed a trace of residual spiritual pressure in these traces. Luckily, you were quick-witted and didn’t choose to confront the wild bear head-on,” July said.

Ordinary animals in Soul Society also have bodies composed of spiritual particles, and there may be individuals with outstanding spiritual pressure.

Lisa is not yet fully grown, so encountering these ferocious beasts with outstanding spiritual pressure is somewhat dangerous for her.

“Let’s see if Afu can find it.” Lisa brought her little Akita dog to track the bear’s scent.

"Afu, help me find the wild bear." Lisa picked up the little Akita and walked to the tree stump, letting it smell the lingering scent of the wild bear on the stump.

This little Akita was very clever; it quickly understood Lisa's intention and barked after smelling the scent: "Woof woof—"

Lisa put the Akita puppy back on the ground, and it wandered around, stopping and starting, sniffing the lingering scent on the ground.

The five followed the little Akita dog into the woods.

After walking for a while, the little Akita stopped and began barking wildly in a certain direction: "Woof woof woof woof—"

Soon, commotion came from the woods, indicating that what was inside had also heard the Akita puppy's barking.

A large, brown bear emerged from the forest.

Wild Bear

[Spiritual Pressure: lv8]

This bear's spiritual pressure was at the level of an ordinary squad member, a level that most of the students in July's class had not yet reached.

If it weren't a bear, but a human spirit, it could become a formal Grim Reaper after graduating from the Spiritual Arts Academy.

"I'll deal with it!" Kensei Rokusha drew his wooden sword from his waist; such a beast was not worthy of his shallow punches.

July did not stop him. With Kensei Muguruma's current strength, he was more than capable of dealing with a wild bear with spiritual pressure.

[Six Cars Kensei]

[Talent: S]

[Spiritual Pressure: lv24]

Reputation Level: Friendly

[State: Excited (Let the teacher see my training results!)]

In July, Kensei Muguruma glanced at his stats. When he first met him, his spiritual pressure was only level 15. After a period of meditation on Blade Zen, his spiritual pressure had increased to level 24.

Kana Mochishiro and Shinji Hirako also saw significant increases in their spiritual pressure, reaching levels 21 and 26 respectively.

With a loud shout, Kensei Rokusha stepped forward and unleashed a swift slash at the bear's head.

At the same time, the bear swung its paws and slapped at Kensei Rokusha's forehead.

If Kensei Muguruma ignores the bear's attacks and continues to slash, he will also be hit after striking the bear's head.

However, Kensei Muguruma had learned from his previous sparring session with Shinji Hirako. He held back a bit of his strength when he attacked, and the wooden sword that was originally slashing downwards suddenly changed direction, slashing diagonally towards the bear's arm.

The wooden sword was longer than the bear's paw, and before the bear's paw could strike Kensei Rokkaku, the wooden sword had already cut into the bear's arm.

thump—

The wooden sword collided with the bear's arm, producing a dull thud.

The bear's arm bones snapped instantly with tremendous force, and its paws drooped limply.

"Awooo—" The wild bear let out a painful howl.

Kensei Rokusha pressed his advantage, retracting his wrist and instantly thrusting his wooden sword, striking the bear in the shoulder.

The wooden knife pierced through, leaving a bloody hole in the bear's shoulder.

The wild bear, its ferocity aroused, opened its blood-red maw and lunged at Kensei Muguruma's neck without regard for anything else.

Kensei Rokusha kicked the bear in the chest, drew his sword to create distance, and then swiftly swung a horizontal slash at the bear's neck.

click-

The bear's neck vertebrae shattered instantly.

The bear was hit in a vital spot, fell to the ground and twitched a few times before falling silent.

"Hehe, easy peasy!" Kensei Rokusha wiped the blood off his wooden sword onto the bear's fur.

However, Lisa's little Akita continued to bark incessantly.

"Watch out!" Lisa shouted, pointing behind Kensei.

Quanxi was slightly taken aback, suddenly feeling as if he were covered by a huge shadow.

July's eyes narrowed as a giant bear, over three meters tall, appeared in the jungle behind Quanxi.

Wild Bear

[Spiritual Pressure: lv25]

This enormous bear appears to be a companion of the wild bear on the ground; it was instantly enraged upon seeing the wild bear fall to the ground.

"Roar!!!" The giant bear opened its blood-red maw and pounced on Liu Chequanxi.

Quanxi's expression changed drastically. When he heard the commotion behind him, it was too late to escape. He could only swing his sword at the giant bear behind him.

However, his strike was hastily executed and lacked power, and was directly knocked away by the giant bear.

The giant bear's attack continued unabated, still aiming to bite at Kensei's neck.

Just when he thought he was doomed, Kana Mochi and Mako Hirako suddenly appeared beside him.

The two men, one on the left and one on the right, thrust out their wooden swords almost simultaneously.

The giant bear's two eyes were pierced and punctured by the wooden sword.

Kana Mochi and Mako Hirako had spotted the giant bear long ago, so they made preparations in advance and arrived just in time before the bear could pounce on Kensei Muguruma.

The giant bear became truly blind, and the anger that had been ignited earlier was instantly extinguished. Fear gripped it, and it violently shook its head to throw away the wooden knife poking its eyes, then fled back the way it had come without a care.

Bears are known as "blind bears" because they have relatively weak eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing are very sensitive. Even if they are blind, it does not prevent them from finding their way back to their den by following their scent.

Just then, a streak of light suddenly rose from the forest.

Shikatori Ryu: Flowing Light!

puff-

The fleeing bear suddenly split in two as it ran, its massive body crashing into a tree and causing the tree to collapse with a deafening roar.

The group paused for a moment, then looked in the direction of Shikagiri Nanatsuki.

They found him still standing a few meters away, his Zanpakuto in his hand spotless and unstained by blood.

Chapter 24 Something Unexpected

"Master, how did you do that? You cut that giant bear in half from so far away!" Kensei Rokusha was full of doubt. His master was clearly standing several meters away, and his Zanpakuto wasn't that long, yet he was able to cut the fleeing giant bear in half.

“The teacher’s knife is unstained with blood.” Hirako Shinji felt that he had noticed the key point.

"Could it be..." Kana Azashiro's eyes lit up as she thought of the technique she was practicing. "Did the teacher use 'Spiritual Pressure Blade' to cut the giant bear in half?"

"Kana guessed right, but this is a more complex technique than spiritual pressure blade. At the moment of the slash, I extended the spiritual pressure attached to the blade, which is equivalent to creating a longer blade. This move is called 'Flowing Light'." July nodded slightly. Kana Azajo was usually a bit unreliable, but her comprehension of swordsmanship was indeed quite high.

"Can 'Spirit Pressure Blade' really do this? It can even extend outwards?" Kana Mochishiro's eyes widened in disbelief.

She had practiced the Spirit Pressure Blade technique and knew how difficult it was. Just creating a layer of Spirit Pressure Blade on the blade was already a difficult thing to do, and her teacher could even extend the Spirit Pressure Blade.

“Once the ‘spiritual pressure blade’ is detached from the blade, it is difficult to maintain. Therefore, it needs to be slashed at an extremely fast speed to hit the enemy before the ‘spiritual pressure blade’ disappears. It also requires precise control of distance, otherwise it is easy to hit obstacles or miss.”

July cautioned, "Alright, these are things I'll teach you later. Don't aim too high; focus on learning 'Instant Strike' first."

“Yes! I will learn ‘Instant Strike’ as soon as possible!” Cilantro Mochi nodded vigorously.

July stepped forward and said to Kensei Rokusha, "Kensei, your vigilance is too weak. Don't think that you can relax just because you have defeated the enemy. Deadly dangers often occur when you let your guard down."

"After you get back, Qiyu Suzhen will have to practice for an extra hour!"

"Yes!"

Quanxi dared not refute. He understood that he had indeed been careless just now. If his teacher and companions had not been there, he would probably have been bitten by the giant bear. Given the size of the bear, a bite would have at least resulted in serious injury.

July glanced at the notification that had just popped up:

[Kensei Rokusha's reputation level has increased; his current reputation level is "Friendly".]

Kensei Muguruma's reputation level has also been raised to "Friendly," and the rewards for providing feedback on his daily guidance will be doubled.

In July, she took out a spiritual space pocket and put away the two bear corpses.

"Teacher, are we having bear paws for lunch?" Cilantro remembered that the teacher had said bear paws were a rare delicacy, and she immediately perked up.

"We won't eat bear paws. They're too troublesome to prepare, especially in the wild. Let's have roasted rabbit for lunch instead." July had just seen a rabbit burrow on the road, so there must be rabbits nearby.

"Roasted rabbit? Rabbits are so cute!"

Cilantro was shocked. How could someone eat such a cute rabbit?!

...

The group ventured deep into the forest, cut down some black ironwood, and then found a relatively flat spot for a picnic.

The enticing aroma of meat, mingled with the scents of spices, wafts through the forest.

"It's so fragrant!"

Cilantro sat in front of the campfire, her chin resting on her hands, gazing at the roasting rabbit on the fire. Tears of mourning for the rabbit streamed from the corners of her mouth.

In July, sprinkle some more chili powder on the rabbit, remove it from the rack, and cut it into five pieces.

"It's ready, eat up."

I couldn't wait to take a bite. The rabbit meat was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, roasted to perfection. With one bite, the delicious juice mixed with the flavor of spices burst in my mouth.

"This is so delicious!" Kana thought the teacher was a culinary god in Soul Society, able to make such delicious food even in the wild.

"It's really delicious!" Little Lisa exclaimed in shock. She had burned a sweet potato when she tried to roast it last July, but now she could roast a rabbit so well.

"I wasn't lying to you, was I? People always improve, don't look at me with the same old eyes," July said with a smile.

"The food the teacher made is the best I've ever eaten," Kensei exclaimed.

"Indeed, after eating the teacher's cooking, the food in the Spirit Arts Academy's cafeteria is like pig swill," Mako sighed.

"Delicious! Teacher's cooking skills are amazing!" Cilantro took a sip of the mushroom and meat soup and grinned happily.

In July, his hand holding the soup bowl paused slightly as he saw another notification:

[Coriander's reputation level in Mole City has increased; her current reputation level is "Aspirational"]

Cilantro's reputation level has actually increased!

This gluttonous disciple's reputation is increasing incredibly fast.

"There's plenty more, eat as much as you like." July's smile widened even more.

The group quickly devoured the food, leaving nothing behind; even the bones ended up in the stomach of Akita Inu, Fuku.

After finishing their meal, they extinguished the campfire and set off back.

Black ironwood grows deep in the mountains and forests, and it would take them some time to walk out of the forest.

"What's wrong with the teacher?" Kana Mochi looked at the teacher walking ahead and suddenly stopped.