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

July guessed that the white-robed priest would not give up on the shrine easily, so she stayed here to wait for him to come to her.

The white-robed priest said with a fawning smile, "Please feel free to ask whatever you esteemed gentlemen wish to know!"

July asked, "What is the name of the god you worship?"

The white-robed priest answered truthfully, "My lord is the Great God of the Underworld..."

"A god of the underworld?" Ukitake Jushiro said he'd never heard of him. "What kind of wild god is this..."

The white-robed priest retorted, "The Great God of the Underworld governs the Underworld and controls the rebirth of souls... As long as one sincerely believes in the Great God of the Underworld... one can be reborn into a good family in the mortal world after death and enjoy wealth and honor!"

"Pfft—your gods are really interesting..." Kyoraku Shunsui couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing, "The reincarnation of souls after death into the human world is a natural law of the Soul Society. There are no gods who govern this... If you have to say, the balance of the three realms is a rule set by Lord Spirit King. You should worship Lord Spirit King instead!"

July wasn't particularly surprised: "There are many similar beliefs in the world that place their hopes on reincarnation."

The white-robed priest was a shrewd man who knew how to seek advantage and avoid harm. He dared not provoke the Grim Reapers, and even when these Grim Reapers questioned his faith in front of him, he dared not say a word.

July continued, "What is your position in the shrine? This shrine shouldn't be your headquarters, right? Tell me about your shrine."

The white-robed priest said, "The headquarters is also in the Flower Withering District, but it's quite far from here. I am a priest of the shrine, and my daily duties include explaining the doctrines to the believers and finding the most wicked people."

"Looking for the most heinous people? Why would you want to find that?"

"To believe in the gods of the underworld, one must do good deeds and accumulate merit. The more merit one accumulates, the better one's future reincarnation will be."

"So what do you do after you find the most wicked person?"

"Of course, it is to be offered as a sacrifice to my Lord."

What are the criteria for a truly wicked person?

"This must be decided by the High Priest at headquarters; we priests are responsible for bringing the people over."

There are no sound laws in Rukongai, and no one cares if evildoers are beaten to death while committing crimes.

Therefore, the shrine's actions did not attract the attention of the Grim Reaper.

July said, "We would like to meet your chief priest. Please take us to your headquarters."

July believes that if the rampant spread of faith is truly related to spirit remains, then the spirit remains would not be from grassroots believers; a direct investigation of the shrine's higher-ups would suffice.

"This...isn't that a bit inappropriate...? Our shrine headquarters isn't anything special..."

The white-robed priest was in a dilemma. If he took these death gods with him, he would no longer be able to work at the shrine.

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni said in an unquestionable tone, "You have no choice."

The white-robed priest's expression shifted, but he finally nodded: "My lords, please follow me. The next Divine Festival is in three days, and Lord Palace Master will certainly not be absent."

...

Three days later, many believers gathered at the shrine of the god of the underworld.

Today is the day of the Great God of the Underworld's sacrifice, and the priests of each branch have brought over the 'evil people' they have found in their respective jurisdictions.

The shrine priest will select the truly wicked from among these wicked people and offer them as a sacrifice to the 'Great God of the Underworld'.

July and the others followed the white-robed priest to the Underworld Shrine.

However, the festival activities had not yet begun, and the white-robed priests did not know where the priest was. In order to avoid alerting the priest, they mingled among the believers and waited for him to appear.

"It's really lively here, there are even more people than I've seen at the market." July looked at the worshippers gathered outside the shrine.

Due to the large number of believers, the Shinto festival activities are held in an open area outside the shrine.

"There are over a thousand people gathered here. The faith in the 'Great God of the Underworld' is quite prevalent in the Flower Withering District," Jushiro Ukitake remarked.

“Some of them must have come from outside the Flower Withering Zone. That priest said that the ‘Great God of the Underworld’ also has a shrine outside the Flower Withering Zone,” July said.

"So many people really believe in this kind of wild god? It's better to believe in Lord Spirit King than this!" Kyoraku Shunsui exclaimed in amazement.

They had blocked out sound with an invisible spiritual barrier, and those around them were completely unaware of what they were saying.

However, this spiritual barrier is one-way, and they can hear the conversations of believers outside.

"I wonder how many villains were caught this year on the day of the sacred festival? I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Yes, we only caught seven villains last time. I really hope we can catch more so we can sacrifice them to the 'God of the Underworld'!"

"I heard they arrested a big shot this time..."

"Could it be those bandits from the Qinghai-Tibet Mountains?"

"That's no big shot at all. It must be someone else, but I don't know the specifics."

Just as the believers were discussing the matter, several priests dressed in white robes came out of the shrine.

The leader wore a tall hat, and his robe was more intricately and exquisitely decorated than those of the other priests.

"Lord Palace Secretary!"

The believers raised their arms and shouted.

The appearance of the palace priest also caught the attention of July and others.

The priest was wearing a mask, so his face was not visible, but July and the others could sense that he possessed spiritual pressure.

Moreover, the four white-robed priests following behind him also possessed spiritual pressure.

"Are these people death gods?" Kyoraku Shunsui asked in a low voice to the white-robed priest who had brought them there.

He could sense that the spiritual pressure of these five people had reached the level of Shinigami (death gods).

“I don’t know… The priest and these four high priests are the most core members of the shrine, and I usually have very little contact with them,” the white-robed priest said.

"It's also possible that this is the spirit remains that the Seireitei is looking for," July thought to herself.

The spiritual pressure of the spirit skeleton that had previously lurked in Kiryu's laboratory had already reached the level of an ordinary Shinigami, so it is possible that these masked priests and priests are also spirit skeletons.

“Once their religious festival is over, we’ll check to see if it’s a spirit’s remains,” Kyoraku Shunsui said.

Once someone has appeared, there is no possibility of escape.

Kyoraku Shunsui wanted to see what was going on with this Shinsai festival.

Chapter 180 Amazing Operation

The appearance of the priests and high priests greatly excited the believers.

"Lord Palace Secretary!"

The believers raised their arms and shouted.

The priest and all the other priests wore masks with skull patterns, which was quite fitting for the 'Great God of the Underworld' setting.

However, this makes it look a bit like a fake mask.

After the priest arrived at the altar, he raised his hand to signal the worshippers to be quiet, and they quickly quieted down.

The priest proclaimed, "Fellow believers, we have gathered here today to express our deepest respect and gratitude to the great 'God of the Underworld' for his blessings."

"With the protection of the 'God of the Underworld,' we can achieve happiness."

"Now, please join me in offering our sacrifices to the gods."

The priest waved his hand, and soon a line of people came out of the shrine.

They were all young women dressed as shrine maidens, carrying fresh fruits, roasted pork, roasted lamb, roasted beef, rice, sake, and flowers.

"The preparations are quite thorough! This really doesn't seem like a barren, withered flower area," Kyoraku Shunsui couldn't help but exclaim.

“With so many believers gathered, getting these things shouldn’t be difficult,” Ukitake Jushiro commented.

Besides carrying the usual offerings, the priestesses were accompanied by a dozen or so people pushing four prison carts.

Each prison van contained a person wearing a hood and white clothes, whose face could not be seen.

In July, she used her spiritual sense to perceive it, but couldn't detect any spiritual pressure.

July overheard a low conversation outside the spirit barrier.

"Are there only four villains this time?"

"There's so much less..."

Are there fewer and fewer bad people?

"How could that be? There are always bad guys to catch. If you go to Kusanagi Ward or Zaraki Ward, there are plenty of bad guys there!"

All four prison carts were pushed onto the sacrificial altar. The four prisoners inside showed no reaction, as if they had fainted.

The priestesses placed the offerings one by one on the altar, their movements solemn and slow.

Then, the priest softly recited scriptures, and the priestesses performed a very ritualistic dance.

The believers, sitting cross-legged on the ground, clasped their hands together, closed their eyes in prayer, and chanted the name of the 'Great God of the Underworld,' their expressions filled with piety and gratitude.

"How fanatical!" Kyoraku Shunsui scoffed, looking at the fervent expressions of the worshippers around him.

“This kind of emotion is contagious and can affect others,” July said softly.

After a while.

puff-

Suddenly, many sharp spikes emerged from inside the prison van, piercing the four people imprisoned inside.

The four people, who were in a deep sleep, were awakened by the pain and screamed in agony, but soon fell silent.

"What's going on? Aren't we supposed to judge the evildoers' crimes first?" Kyoraku Shunsui frowned. "Why are we starting the executions right away..."

This was somewhat different from the procedure the white-robed priest had told them.

The white-robed priest felt the sharp gazes of the group, his back quickly soaked with cold sweat, and said in a trembling voice, "I don't know either! In the past, the crimes of the wicked were indeed judged first, and then they were offered to the 'Great God of the Underworld'!"

"Should we go and stop them?" Kyoraku Shunsui asked, looking at Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

“Those sacrifices are all dead, there’s no point in stopping them now, let’s just watch.” Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni stared at the ritual dagger in the priest’s hand, his brow furrowed. “I want to see what kind of trouble these people can cause.”

The ceremonial dagger in the priest's hand had no guard; instead, it was inlaid with a miniature skull ornament, and the blade looked more like a bone.

He plunged the ritual dagger into the hearts of several already dead sacrifices, staining the blade with their heart's blood.

At this moment, the priest raised both hands and held the ceremonial dagger high:

"These people are all 'extremely evil people' in Soul Society!"

"Great 'God of the Underworld', we offer these sacrifices with the purest hearts!"

"May you accept our respects and bless our lives with harmony and peace!"

May your divine power protect us and drive away all calamities!

May your brilliance forever illuminate our hearts!

A rectangular phantom slowly appeared on the altar.

The rectangular phantom image excited and surprised everyone, including the priest and the four high priests on the altar.

"As expected! The villains we found before weren't evil enough to summon the gates of hell!" a white-robed high priest murmured.

"They really did it... summoning the Gates of Hell in Soul Society!" another high priest in white robes exclaimed excitedly.

The phantom in the air gradually solidified.

"This is the gates of hell?!" Kyoraku Shunsui exclaimed in surprise.

For Death, the 'Gates of Hell' is not a completely unfamiliar concept.

Souls who committed grave sins in their previous lives are unable to enter the Soul Society, so the 'Gates of Hell' will open for them.

But those are things that only happen in the human world. There are no souls in the Soul Society who committed serious crimes in their previous lives!

Naturally, the 'Gates of Hell' will not be opened.

But now we are witnessing something that should never have happened—the 'Gates of Hell' have been opened in Soul Society!

The 'Gates of Hell' consist of two massive, dark-colored door panels, with a huge skull clinging to each side.

The 'Gates of Hell' opened a crack, and dark mist emanated from within.

Some skeletal giant claws gripped the edge of the door, trying to push the 'Gates of Hell' open completely.

Seemingly affected by something, the 'Gates of Hell' opened extremely slowly, propelled by those giant skeletal claws.

Just then, July felt a terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from her.