Bleach: From Rugum to Thousand-Year Captain

No, it's more likely that Miyasaka Kyoichiro, as a wandering spirit far from Seireitei, only heard about things through hearsay and word of mouth, and since he himself had no contact with Shinigami, it's normal that he hadn't heard of him.

The water festival that Miyasaka Kyoichiro mentioned was not actually a ritual to worship water gods or river gods as Amatsuki Susuke imagined, but rather a ritual to steal water to drink!

That's right, it's about dividing up territory and fighting over water among various villages.

Because wandering spirits only need water to survive, but humans are selfish and won't divide territories fairly, in this disordered land, might makes right. Groups of wandering spirits gather to form villages, and then engage in village wars to divide up water-producing areas for each village.

Of course, this only applies to the rules between villages.

This reminded Tianyue Quezhai of the village feuds between remote mountain villages in the 1970s and 80s. Due to generational conflicts between the two villages, even a small spark could lead to a fight, or even a small war, with machine guns and mortars being used to start a battle.

Tenzuki Sukusai shook his head. "Alright, Grandpa Miyasaka, I'll stay here for today. I may not be much, but I'm quite strong. I'll help out during the Water Festival, so don't worry."

"That's great, I'll ask someone to help."

Kyoichiro Miyasaka's face beamed with joy. Every extra person in the village meant more strength; many hands make light work. Even if they weren't fighting, just adding to the village's morale was a source of power.

"Well, I have money but I can't spend it. Oh well, let's find something to eat first." Tianyue Quezhai rubbed his empty stomach and couldn't sit still any longer.

Ring coins are the circulating currency in Soul Society, and they are exactly the same as the ring coins he received from the system. They can be taken out of the system inventory and spent. However, the people in the village do not have a need for a general equivalent; they basically barter for goods and have no need for ring coins, or the ring coins do not circulate here.

While the villagers were helping him build his thatched hut, Tianyue Quezhai went to catch fish in the nearby stream.

However, he spent half a day catching only a few fish, which were no bigger than five fingers in total. He could swallow them in one gulp, and this amount of food was not enough to satisfy his hunger.

Fortunately, while browsing the game mall, Tianyue Quezhai discovered that he could use ring coins to buy food.

The game store today only had items that provided minor boosts to spirit power recovery, but there was a wide variety. He bought things like Momotaro rice balls, golden sashimi, and fried eel, and ate his fill.

Of course, the 15 Ring Coins were also cleared out. However, Ring Coins aren't rare; you can just collect them again tomorrow and spend them as you please.

Tianyue Quezhai squatted by the large rock, staring blankly at the fish leaping in the river. Without his phone to play with, time seemed to pass too slowly for Tianyue Quezhai.

After catching fish and eating, it was still not dark, and no one knew how much time had passed. Feeling bored, Tianyue Quezhai decided to try his luck at the challenge.

If he dies while playing a level, his physical body won't die. After all, dying while playing a level isn't real death; it just costs him some stamina and mental energy. So he opened the level interface and started the game.

[First Stage; Survival Trial 1, Begin the Hunt]

Tengetsu Sukusai felt a little nervous, after all, this was his first time engaging in combat. He deployed the newly drawn Ape Void, along with himself, to ensure a higher chance of winning.

The battle begins!!!

A white light flashed before Tianyue Quezhai's eyes, and a hideous white and green monster was born from the light, instantly appearing in the open space. Tianyue Quezhai only felt a blur before his eyes, and he and the ape-like creature beside him found themselves in a vast open space.

"This...this is the Hill of Twin Phantoms, this scene is so familiar to me." This place is indeed the Hill of Twin Phantoms, the execution ground of Twin Phantoms, the execution site where Rukia was executed in the story, a huge and vast sand dune.

Before Tianyue Quezhai could react, the ugly white and green monster opposite him flew into the sky and charged towards him. Tianyue Quezhai reacted instinctively, raising his hands in front of his chest to barely block the attack.

Tianyue Quezhai immediately recognized it as a phantom, as well as its shape and appearance.

It's Flying Fish Void!!!

Hollows come in a variety of initial forms, with most mimicking animal shapes, making them easy to recognize. Lower-level, low-ranking Hollows are generally larger and possess greater power and spiritual pressure, while higher-ranking Hollows are the opposite, being smaller and stronger, embodying the principle that concentrated essence is the best.

Tianyue Quezhai felt his arm immediately turn cold and numb, followed by a sharp pain. He reached back to wipe it, feeling as if his arm was about to break. Turning his arm over, he discovered that the muscles, fat, and blood vessels in his arm had been cut open, exposing the white bone inside his forearm.

"Ouch, that hurts so much! The battle I imagined was completely different from the real fight! A real fight is a battle where you risk your life! But don't underestimate me, Ara, you mere weaklings!!!" Tengetsu Sukusai felt a bit dazed. Was it because he was injured?

Ouch! Forget it! Forget it? No! But I can't lift my arm. Is my arm broken? Am I crippled? Am I disabled?

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Tianyue Quezhai's mind, but a battle is a battle, and he couldn't afford to be distracted any longer! He gritted his teeth and stared intently, refusing to back down!

Amatsuki Sukezhai probably had some prior experience with the Ape Void, which is why he was able to instinctively raise his hand to block the Flying Fish Void's slash. Otherwise, without any defensive cushioning, his own neck would have been torn apart.

Nobody likes to have their head ripped off and look at their back, so Tianyue Quezhai had to force himself to pull himself together.

Fortunately, he wasn't fighting alone. The gorilla next to him patted his chest and immediately pounced on the flying fish, its imposing momentum kicking up sand and gravel everywhere.

However, the Flying Fish Hollow immediately spread its bone wings and flew into the sky, while the Gorilla Hollow followed suit, leaping 3 meters into the air. However, the Flying Fish Hollow quickly created distance, and the Gorilla Hollow crashed back to the ground.

Even if the Ape Void is incredibly strong, it can't reach aerial units or hit the Flying Fish Void; it's completely kited. All of this was observed by Tengetsu Sukusai, who felt a growing anxiety.

"Can't even get past the first beginner level? It seems fighting against these lowly Void creatures is no easy feat. In a one-on-one situation, I'm afraid I'll get utterly annihilated by the Flying Fish Void. But I can't let my fellow transmigrators down! I'll fight you to the death, you mere lowly Void!"

Tianyue Quezhai is a born stubborn person, the kind who won't turn back until he hits a wall. Even if he does something wrong or goes down the wrong path, he'll grit his teeth and see it through to the end. In his words, how can you know it won't work until you reach the end?

Although he was once mediocre, he now possesses extraordinary abilities. Power, glory, authority, and conviction—everything that was once out of reach is now within his grasp. With a little effort, anything is possible.

If quitting the game out of fear of death is indeed a simple decision, then if you still back down at this point, then you're a useless person who doesn't deserve to have a cheat code. You might as well just die early.

Tianyue Quezhai crossed his arms, enduring the pain of soreness, numbness, bitterness, and helplessness, and kept groaning softly. His pupils contracted as he stared intently at the bastard!

The main battle on the opposite side was at a stalemate. The flying fish Hollow, who was toying with the gorilla Hollow, kept flying in the sky as if teasing the gorilla Hollow, ignoring the current broken body of Tengetsu Suzaku.

"What a brainless bastard! You're not going to finish off someone when they're low on health, are you? Just you wait!"

After a few seconds of thought, Tengetsu Sukusai decided to use himself as bait to see if the Flying Fish Void dared to come down and attack him. If the lure was successful, the Gorilla Void would be within range to launch an attack.

The Flying Fish Hollow is a typical Hollow with maxed-out attack speed and agility, but lacks the protection of its steel armor, making it a thin-skinned Hollow with very low defense. It's also weak, at least weaker than the Gorilla Hollow. If the Gorilla Hollow catches it and starts hitting it repeatedly, it can be easily defeated.

"Please, Hollow!" It's ridiculous that he would entrust his life to a Hollow without any sense of reason. Even though this is a real game and he wouldn't actually die, he couldn't help but laugh at his own weak sense of dignity.

"Weakness is the original sin!"

The Flying Fish Void hovered five or six meters in the air, while the Gorilla Void kept thumping its chest and jumping around wildly. Even with its massive body that was several meters tall, the Gorilla Void could only reach a little over three meters in height, completely outmaneuvered. However, the Flying Fish Void did not attack Tengetsu Sukesai, and the situation reached a stalemate.

Taking advantage of the fact that Fei Yu Xu's attention was not on him, he prepared to carry out his seduction plan. Tian Yue Que Zhai began to run forward quickly, and with a leap, he forcefully stepped on the back of Xing Xing Xu, and grabbed Fei Yu Xu with both hands.

He combined the spiritual pressure and power of a Hollow Ape, allowing him to jump very high. Given his low body weight, jumping at least 3 meters wouldn't be a problem. In the real world, he could dunk anytime.

"ah!!!"

Is that enough?

That's enough! No, it's not enough!!!

Tianyue Quezhai tried his best to reach Feiyu Xu, but Feiyu Xu immediately flapped its wings and grew a meter taller. He watched as Feiyu Xu left him, only to see a flash of white light.

*Pfft!* A sudden shock hit him, and Tianyue Quezhai felt something wriggling inside his stomach.

No! It wasn't a worm wriggling; his stomach had been pierced by a single blow.

"Aaaaaah!!! This is outrageous!!!" Tengetsu Sukusai could no longer bear the pain and roared in fury. All his spiritual pressure was involuntarily mobilized and passively poured into his hands.

With his last ounce of strength, Tengetsu Sukusai used the ethereal tentacle that had pierced his abdomen to viciously grab at Flying Fish Void. Although his arm was severely injured, it was still able to move.

"Gotcha!!! Get down here, magazine!!!" Tianyue Quezhai grabbed Feiyu Xu's right foot and dragged him forcefully to one side, curling himself into a ball and hanging under Feiyu Xu's feet, causing Feiyu Xu's balance to tilt to the lower right.

However, since he could only grab one foot, Flying Fish kept jumping with his other foot, kicking him in the head, neck, and back.

The force of the kick made Tianyue Quezhai dizzy and lightheaded. The sweet taste in his mouth made him want to vomit, and he saw stars and couldn't see anything. He even wanted to vomit up the feast he had just eaten.

However, he couldn't vomit up the feast; it was just hallucination, the spasms of the various organs in his pierced abdomen. Tianyue Quezhai spat out a mouthful of blood.

Furthermore, because he had exhausted his spiritual pressure and his arm was injured and weakened, blood was flowing in his palms, making them too slippery to grip the flying fish's feet.

*Thud!* He was kicked back to the ground by Flying Fish, crashing down from a height of five meters.

Tianyue Quezhai crashed heavily to the ground, his vision blurring and all he knew was that he was playing a game and wouldn't die!

Since we won't die, what's there to be afraid of? Don't be afraid, don't hesitate!

This is just a game, Tianyue Quezhai comforted himself with this thought.

In a daze, Tianyue Quezhai vaguely saw a dark shadow attack, and then collide with another dark shadow.

Everything was plunged into eternal darkness.

......

Chapter 3 Near-Death Combat Experience

It was like waking up from a nightmare, but I was still deeply moved.

"Am I dead?" "So cold!" "So lonely!"

Tianyue Quezhai was filled with countless thoughts. Suddenly, he opened his eyes abruptly. Due to the excessive force, his body involuntarily sprang forward, as if his body was still reflexively on the battlefield.

After a while, I realized that I had returned from the game and no longer needed to worry about being killed by the Void.

Tianyue Quezhai sat back down on the rock, his eyes vacant and his eyelids drooping, clearly still not recovered from the near-death experience.

Only after the tense and trembling state of his body gradually subsided did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"This game is incredibly realistic. Being about to die in the game feels just like actually dying. No, to be precise, I actually died!"

Tianyue Quezhai forced himself to build mental strength and barely managed to concentrate.

He immediately opened the Death God mobile game and saw that he had cleared the first level on the challenge screen.

Tengetsu Quezai was secretly delighted and did a recap and speculation: "It seems that Flying Fish Void's pounce killed me, and then Ape Void intercepted me, and the two continued their fierce battle. Judging from the result, Ape Void won. I really want to see Ape Void smashing Flying Fish Void!"

[First stage cleared; rewards include 10 Awakening Stones, 10 Experience Points, and one Normal Ticket]

Tianyue Quezhai knows the function of Awakening Stones and experience points. They are used to cultivate cards and increase their levels and attributes. It can be said that even if you spend money in the game, cultivating a card is a bottomless pit.

Furthermore, he wouldn't use Awakening Stones and experience points on the Hollow Ape; giving experience points to a lowly Hollow would be a waste of resources.

The gorilla is naive; therefore, love can disappear, right?

While it's true that battles between Shinigami are essentially battles of spiritual pressure, this principle doesn't seem to apply much in high-level or low-level matches.

In high-level matches, aren't the Soul King, Yhwach, the Monk's first-ranked soldier, and his personal guard all masters of the rules? Wait, it seems none of them are actually Death.

In lower-level matches, even with twice the spiritual pressure of a Gorilla Void Spirit, Tengetsu Sussai was still defeated by the low-pressure Flying Fish Void Spirit. It seems he still needs to practice his combat skills more; relying solely on stats will only lead to his downfall.

It's truly pathetic and shameful to be beaten so badly by a nobody like Xu!

While thinking this, Tianyue Quezhai immediately continued to draw the first ordinary ticket after clearing the level.

[Gacha pull with regular tickets; N-rank Octopus Hollow, no skills]

"Another blank character. This Octopus Hollow is even weaker than the Ape Hollow!" Tengetsu Quezhai felt that he was destined to be an unlucky player. He was afraid that he could only pin his hopes on the pity system in the next ten-pull. Single pulls were simply hopeless for unlucky players.

After an unknown amount of time, the setting sun finally began to slowly sink below the horizon. A short while later, the old man, Miyasaka Kyoichiro, walked towards the village's riverside shop, rubbing his head, looking rather embarrassed.

“Equezhai, this thatched hut was built in a hurry. Everyone else in the village had things to do, so there weren’t many people to help build it. The hut may be rather simple. You should still take a look.”

"It's alright, sir. It's already good enough to have a place to stay and shelter from the wind and rain at night. I'm not the kind of person who's fussy."

"That's good...that's good." Miyasaka Kyoichiro led Tenzuki Sukusai to the far end of the village, where a relatively new and messy thatched hut appeared against a small hillside.

It's called a thatched hut, but it's really just four wooden stakes driven around the perimeter, covered with lots of large leaves, and full of holes that let in drafts everywhere. Calling it a thatched hut is a stretch.

Tianyue Quezhai's lips twitched slightly. This dilapidated wooden hut could probably be blown down by a gust of wind. But he couldn't complain. Even a mosquito is still meat, after all, it was someone else's hard work, and he had no right to criticize it.