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Boom—!
Amidst a deafening crash, Lu Li was sent flying backward. He contorted his body in mid-air, landing on his feet and skipping backward several times to disperse the kinetic energy, eventually sliding to a halt across the wooden floorboards.
Glancing at the bamboo sword in his hand—now cleanly snapped into two pieces—he tossed the splintered remains to the ground. Rolling his aching shoulders to shake off the numbness, he flashed a feral grin. "Sensei, that definitely wasn't a Class 17 Spiritual Pressure, was it?"
Instructor Fujimoto's expression stiffened in embarrassment. It was true. In that split second, his survival instincts had completely overridden his conscious restraint. He had reflexively flared his true Spiritual Pressure to defend his vitals, which was why Lu Li was blasted away.
It was only then that Fujimoto realized his back was entirely drenched in cold sweat. That brief, fleeting clash felt like he had just danced on the razor's edge of death.
Despite the young man's raw physical power and spiritual class being far beneath his own, he had generated a suffocating, lethal pressure. It was a sheer, overwhelming bloodlust that shattered Fujimoto's nerves and triggered an involuntary, full-power defensive response.
"Lu Li, that was outstanding. Have you received formal Kendo training before?"
Having recalibrated his composure, Fujimoto asked with genuine curiosity. He was a veteran instructor of the Shin'o Academy; he wasn't going to throw a tantrum just because a student scared him. Instead, he felt a profound appreciation for Lu Li's extraordinary swordsmanship.
"Kendo? Never learned it," Lu Li replied, shaking his head. It was the absolute truth. He had never studied this world's specific "Kendo" curriculum, though he did know a thing or two about bladed combat.
Well, judging by the Terminus Space's evaluation in his proficiency tab, he possessed "Grandmaster-Level Blade Mastery." So "a thing or two" might have been a slight understatement.
In his original world, true martial artists were a dying breed.
Though he hated to admit it, the tragic reality was that the ten grandmasters he had slaughtered represented the absolute pinnacle of that era's martial arts. Yet even equipped with an exoskeleton that pushed his physical specs to superhuman levels, the man hailed as the "King of Blades," Wang Luo, had only lasted ten exchanges against him.
Wang Luo had wielded a custom-forged, high-frequency corporate alloy katana. Lu Li had butchered him using a rusty butcher's cleaver he found in a meat market.
That was why, after wiping out the so-called grandmasters, a deep, suffocating despair toward his old world had set in.
Murmurs of disbelief echoed throughout the dojo. The students were clearly shell-shocked by the outcome of the spar.
Standing amidst the crowd, Sosuke Aizen adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, a strange, calculating light flickering in his brown eyes. It seemed his new roommate was incredibly fascinating. These next few years at the Shin'o Academy wouldn't be quite so boring after all.
"You mean to say... you've never studied Kendo?"
Fujimoto was floored by the answer, but upon further reflection, it made sense. A vagrant from the outer rings of Rukongai would have absolutely no access to formal martial arts training.
But didn't that just make Lu Li's raw talent even more terrifying?
To have never received a single day of formal instruction, yet completely overwhelm a Kendo instructor in a matched-Reiatsu clash... Captain Unohana hadn't just brought back a prodigy. She had unearthed a once-in-a-century monster!
Seeing Lu Li nod calmly, Fujimoto's excitement surged, closely followed by a wave of crushing disappointment.
He was ecstatic to have discovered a super-genius, but utterly defeated by the realization that... he had absolutely nothing to teach him.
Yes, he had to admit it to himself. Even if he hadn't underestimated the boy, if they had fought a pure, suppressed-Reiatsu duel to the end, Fujimoto would have still lost.
What truly terrified him wasn't Lu Li's opening strike, but the immediate follow-up. That second thrust had weaponized the recoil of their clashing blades, seamlessly absorbing the kinetic shock and redirecting the momentum like flowing water to strike from an impossible angle.
That level of microscopic kinetic control and flawless execution was far beyond Fujimoto's own capabilities. No formal Kendo school in the Seireitei taught techniques like that. The theoretical concept might exist in dusty scrolls, but executing it flawlessly required a monstrous, one-in-a-million combat intuition.
Is this why Captain Unohana took such a keen interest in him?
"Lu Li, you may take a seat. We will begin with theory today, followed by sparring exercises," Fujimoto instructed, forcing down his complicated emotions. He still had a class to teach.
Walking through a sea of awestruck, curious, and worshipful gazes, Lu Li seamlessly blended into the crowd and sat down right next to Aizen.
"You're truly incredible, Lu Li. I've never seen anyone overpower Instructor Fujimoto in a Kendo bout before," Aizen said, his tone laced with genuine-sounding awe.
Lu Li smiled. "Are you saying you couldn't do the same, Sosuke?"
Aizen's expression remained perfectly natural, a portrait of humble modesty. "Whatever do you mean? My Kendo grades are decent, but I'm nowhere near the level required to trade blows with Instructor Fujimoto. I'll be relying on your guidance from now on."
Lu Li felt a wave of mild disgust. He genuinely couldn't comprehend the sick thrill Aizen got from playing the weak, helpless sheep to manipulate the wolves. He had no idea what ultimate endgame Aizen was currently hiding his strength for. Was he already scheming to shatter the heavens and seize the empty throne even now?
Likely for the benefit of the student who claimed he had never studied Kendo, Instructor Fujimoto spent the rest of the session thoroughly reviewing the fundamental principles of swordsmanship.
Lu Li didn't tune him out. He listened carefully, quickly realizing that this world's "Kendo" wasn't completely without merit. It wasn't the art of Zanjutsu that was weak—it was just Instructor Fujimoto.
He couldn't help but wonder just how monstrous the swordplay of Yachiru Unohana—the woman said to have mastered every single school of combat in the Soul Society—truly was. Just thinking about crossing blades with her sent a thrill of anticipation down his spine.
Of course, he wasn't suicidal enough to challenge Captain Unohana right now. The gap between their Spiritual Pressure was practically an ocean. In the Terminus Space's terms, the difference in their core attributes was likely off the charts, spanning dozens if not hundreds of points.
His immediate priority was to grow stronger. Only then could he challenge the true apex predators of this world and revel in the sheer ecstasy of combat.
Now that the first phase of his Main Mission was complete, the system had already dispatched the second phase.
[Main Mission (Phase Two): Speedrunning the Shin'o Academy]
Objective: The Explorer must complete the entire Shin'o Academy curriculum and achieve an accelerated graduation within three calendar months. You must accomplish the fastest graduation record in the history of the Shin'o Academy—a feat previously deemed impossible.
Difficulty: Hard ~ Nightmare
Success Reward: 3,000 Terminus Coins, 1x Asauchi, Qualification to Return.
Failure Penalty: Eradication
The difficulty ceiling for this mission was astronomically high. Lu Li had played enough games to know that the word "Nightmare" carried serious weight.
Analytically speaking, staying within the walls of the Shin'o Academy meant he wasn't in any immediate physical danger. But if he wanted to force an early graduation within three months, he couldn't play by the rules.
The Soul Society was vast, and the Shin'o Academy had been churning out elites for centuries. Were there really no geniuses who had tried to graduate this fast before? Since the system explicitly stated this was an unprecedented historical achievement, pulling off this "speedrun" was going to be an administrative nightmare.
A standard Gotei 13 grunt only needed a Class 20 Spiritual Pressure. But that didn't mean hitting Class 20 granted you an instant diploma.
If a student displayed monstrous talent, the Academy instructors would want to carefully nurture that potential, not carelessly fast-track them to the front lines. Highly gifted students were often deliberately held back within the Academy to solidify their foundations before being tossed into the meat grinder of the Gotei 13.
Watching his classmates begin their sparring drills, Lu Li fell into deep thought. If I want to complete this mission, what exactly is going to be my biggest obstacle?