The roads in District 43 were extremely difficult to travel, with hardly any flat stretches. A few minutes ago they had been climbing uphill; a few minutes later, they might already be heading downhill.
The terrain would not ease up until they reached District 41.
"Phew. No matter how many times I walk this route, it still feels exhausting." The young man beside Duan Mu complained, "Why can't there be a tunnel straight through the mountains? The Soul Reapers in Seireitei are so powerful. Digging a tunnel shouldn't be difficult for them, right?"
"Stop dreaming. Instead of counting on those aloof Soul Reapers, you should make more money and hire Boss Duan Mu to try it. His Yorozuya takes on every kind of job, anyway." President Shinno laughed. "Didn't you hear what he just said? He's even started running a tavern now."
"Hahaha~~"
Shinno's words immediately drew a burst of laughter from everyone, though there was no mockery in it.
"Sure." Duan Mu pondered for a moment before nodding. "As long as you can afford it, I can do it. It would probably take... hmm, four or five days."
For Duan Mu as he was now, carving a tunnel through a mountain was truly no difficult task. Even blasting through it with Kido would work. However, if he really received a commission like that, Duan Mu would not do it that way, since safety would also have to be taken into consideration.
Brother Iwao's signature secret technique, Stone Wave, was clearly better suited for this kind of work. It was not only neat, but extremely safe as well!
"Haha, I told you he'd take the job."
President Shinno burst into laughter. He clearly had not believed Duan Mu, or rather, everyone present thought Duan Mu was only joking.
Duan Mu did not argue. Instead, he laughed along with the others.
If you don't believe me, so be it.
If they commissioned him, he would not refuse. But if they did not, he would not beg them to hire him either.
Amid the talking and laughter, the convoy finally reached the foot of the mountain. As soon as they descended, the convoy, which had been chatting and laughing moments earlier, suddenly grew tense. Everyone began scanning the surroundings vigilantly.
This area bordered District 55 of South Rukongai. It was also the area where they were most likely to encounter bandits.
A dozen or so burly men spread out around the convoy, protecting it from every side.
"Stay alert! If you spot anyone, call it out immediately!"
Unlike the others, Duan Mu did not make any obvious changes, but he released his perception as well, constantly monitoring the surroundings.
His mind, however, was completely immersed in the system interface in his head.
His current strength was still too weak. Once winter arrived, Duan Mu planned to properly map out his cultivation path for the next few years.
By Duan Mu's own assessment, the strength he could display in a fight was roughly at the middle level among the High-ranking Officers of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Although he was inferior to the exceptionally powerful officers, he was still much stronger than most of them.
His 7,000 points of Spiritual Power had increased by only a few points over the past month. His other skills had improved to some degree, but none had progressed very far.
Moreover, his last two battles had made Duan Mu realize that fighting barehanded against an enemy wielding a blade put him at an innate disadvantage. That was assuming the opponent was using an ordinary blade rather than a Zanpakuto.
If his enemy were a High-ranking Officer of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he would have to make certain adjustments to his current fighting style. He would not abandon Hakuda; rather, he had to fuse Hakuda and Shunpo even further, allowing himself to avoid being struck by the opponent's Zanpakuto as much as possible.
After all, Zanpakuto were different from ordinary blades. Their varied abilities could often allow the weaker side to overcome the stronger. When both sides were at similar levels, trying to withstand an opponent's Zanpakuto head-on was practically suicide.
Besides combining Shunpo and Hakuda, Duan Mu had another option: incorporating Kido into Hakuda. This was what was known as Flash Cry. But how could Flash Cry be so easy to learn?
Only two people in the entire Soul Society could accomplish this. One was Shihoin Yoruichi, who had first attempted it. The other was Soi Fon, the current captain of the 2nd Division.
Although Soi Fon claimed that she had created the technique herself, she had followed Yoruichi from a very young age and served as her sparring partner. Her so-called "self-created" technique had inevitably been influenced by Yoruichi.
Even so, it had still taken Soi Fon nearly a century to master Flash Cry. She had only initially completed the technique after becoming a captain.
For Duan Mu to "create" Flash Cry in a short time...
The difficulty was no less than kidnapping Soi Fon and forcing the cultivation method out of her.
By comparison, combining Hakuda and Shunpo was clearly easier. Put simply, it meant applying Shunpo, which was meant for long-range surprise attacks, to close-quarters combat. There was an example of this in Yoruichi as well: Utsusemi was a similar technique.
It had to be said...
When it came to studying Hakuda, Yoruichi was practically the "ceiling of the Soul Reapers."
Actually, besides the two options above, Duan Mu had another idea: combining Kido and Hakuda. The principle of Kido was to first use one's own Spiritual Power to activate the target's internal Spiritual Power, then combine it with the external Spiritual Power applied by the caster to heal injuries and restore Spiritual Power.
If Kido and Hakuda could be fused, it would not only provide an ability similar to "super-fast regeneration," but also compress the density of the Spiritual Power within his body and increase his own Spiritual Power.
Before awakening his Zanpakuto, these three paths were Duan Mu's plans for the future.
Although others might find the idea somewhat arrogant—if these three techniques were so easy to create, they would have been passed down among Soul Reapers long ago—for Duan Mu, the hardest part was only the initial step.
He only needed a prototype. It did not matter if he could not use it at all. As long as the system acknowledged it and it appeared on the system interface, he only needed to invest experience points whenever he encountered a problem he could not understand.
Duan Mu had discovered this by accident while cultivating some time ago, thanks to his research into White Lightning.
Although Duan Mu had learned many Kido techniques more powerful than White Lightning, he had never abandoned his study of his "first Kido."
The number of Kido techniques was not fixed. In fact, new Kido could potentially be born every moment throughout Soul Society.
The familiar Kido techniques were merely those without specific release conditions, techniques that anyone could learn and use. Many people would improve them according to their own circumstances or their Zanpakuto abilities, creating unique Kido techniques.
For example:
Urahara Kisuke's "Heavy Strike White Lightning";
Hinamori Momo's Kido, which she cast in conjunction with her Zanpakuto;
Captain Commander Yamamoto's "Kidō #96: Ikka Tōkasō," which he created based on his Zanpakuto's ability and which could also be used by others;
There were many similar examples, so Duan Mu had never abandoned his research.
The vast and comprehensive knowledge in his mind, which was even somewhat bloated, did not merely make it easier for him to teach others how to use Kido. It also provided Duan Mu with the foundation necessary to study Kido himself.
His first research target was White Lightning, the easiest technique to begin with.
He tried using the knowledge in his mind to make some minor adjustments to White Lightning. Some of these adjustments increased its power, while others weakened it. However, no new Kido appeared on the system interface, until...
Duan Mu tried to imitate Hinamori Momo's White Trap, attempting to fuse "Bakudō #4: Seikaku" with White Lightning. He wanted the ropes created by Seikaku to possess not only restraining power, but also the destructive power of White Lightning.
The fusion naturally failed. The two techniques could not be cast simultaneously. However, the system interface changed, and an "Unnamed" special technique appeared. Duan Mu eventually named it Lightning Rope.
When Duan Mu tried investing experience points into it, more relevant knowledge suddenly appeared in his mind. It led him away from the mistaken path of failed fusion and onto the correct one. Finally, with the help of the knowledge deduced by the system, he successfully created an entirely new Kido technique!!
After discovering this, Duan Mu was overjoyed and conducted many more experiments. However, every result failed completely. He could not even create a prototype that the system acknowledged.
That was why Duan Mu said...
For him, the hardest part was only the initial step. As long as he created a prototype of a new technique and had it acknowledged by the system,
he could then use the system's deductions to gradually perfect the entirely new technique and ultimately obtain a brand-new skill like Lightning Rope!!
It was not that having sufficient knowledge alone would allow someone to create an entirely new Kido. The birth of a new Kido technique was often filled with all kinds of fortuitous coincidences.
The system's ability to deduce from "one" all the way to the limit was its strongest aspect.
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