64: Self-destruction

"Madman, are you trying to self-detonate?!" Chen Ze gave up on the nearly obtained mirage pearl and shouted as he rushed over to stop him.

But that man was bent on death, wanting only to break through this "illusory" dreamscape.

He said crazily, "Suicide? No, one doesn't die in a dream. I'm just trying to wake myself up..."

At the same time, the beast taming armor on his body cracked piece by piece. Accompanied by cries of pain, a terrifying power was about to erupt.

That was the wail of a beast; bound by a contract, the demonic beast let out an unwilling cry as it was forced to self-detonate.

Not all Beast Tamers are able to control their beasts to self-detonate.

This is because the constraints of their contracts on the beasts have not reached the point where they can forcibly command the other to give up its life.

Only when the intimacy with the beast is above ninety, and the beast is also very satisfied with its master, will it be willing to offer its Soul Brand and surrender completely.

After obtaining a Soul Brand, the master has absolute control over the beast.

It was somewhat similar to the level of constraint in the contracts Su Ze signed with his beasts through the system.

After gaining a Soul Brand, the master and beast become telepathically linked, and both cultivation speed and combat power are significantly enhanced.

Therefore, many Beast Tamers work hard to please demonic beasts in order to obtain their Soul Brands.

There are also Beast Tamers who use forceful means to coerce beasts into surrendering their Soul Brands, but they are a minority after all.

In most cases, possessing a Soul Brand signifies the beast's absolute trust in its master.

This is also why they let out such a desolate wail when commanded by their master to self-detonate.

self-detonation happens in an instant. Chen Ze saw that he was a step too late and could no longer stop the other's mad actions.

No longer thinking about his failure to get the mirage pearl, he dove straight into the mist, hoping to get as far away from this area as possible.

A demonic beast's self-detonation primarily involves detonating its own crystal core.

That is a powerful force released instantly from the power condensed over a lifetime. The self-detonation of a Level Sixty-Five demonic beast produces power that can even rival the full-strength blow of a Beast Tamer over level seventy; Chen Ze had no choice but to hide.

Seeing that there wasn't enough time to escape the blast zone, Jiang Chen immediately opened the Mirage Beast's shell and pulled Guo Linshan in with him. As the shell closed, the Mirage Beast became tightly sealed.

However, the inside of the shell remained very bright due to the presence of the mirage pearl.

The Mirage Beast's attack power is particularly weak, but besides spreading mist, it has another ability: its shell is extremely hard.

A Mirage Beast living in nature, relying on this pair of hard shells, can withstand the predation of level seventy or eighty demonic beasts even at Level Sixty.

Therefore, withstanding the self-detonation of a Level Sixty-Plus demonic beast should not be a problem.

"You pulled me in, but what about Su Ze?" Guo Linshan questioned sharply.

Jiang Chen immediately became displeased: "I'm saving you, and yet you're unhappy? He's so far away from me, how could I possibly save him? But since he has a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast with him, there shouldn't be any problem..."

Jiang Chen wasn't too sure either. Although Diamond-rank Demonic Beasts are powerful, it was still only in its juvenile stage, and whether it could withstand the self-detonation of a Level Sixty-Plus demonic beast remained an unknown.

Hearing this, Guo Linshan snorted coldly and said, "Saving me? If it weren't for your schemes, how would today's events have happened? You still have the nerve to say you're saving me?"

Jiang Chen was instantly left speechless by the retort.

Meanwhile, Chen Ze, who had run into the mist, unsurprisingly got lost within the thick fog.

After only a few steps, he returned to the site of the recent battle. His face turned ashen just as the explosion began.

Chen Ze hurriedly had his beast block in front of him to help absorb the damage.

Oftentimes, the defensive effect provided by a demonic beast's massive size is even more effective than the beast taming armor they transform into.

But even so, Chen Ze was violently sent flying by the explosion's shockwave.

His beast was torn to pieces, causing Chen Ze's Spiritual Power to suffer a severe blow as well.

But at least his life was saved.

Just as Chen Ze breathed a sigh of relief, another explosion suddenly struck, even more powerful than the last, but he no longer had any means of resistance... Inside the Mirage Beast, its carapace lived up to expectations and withstood the force of the self-detonation. The massive shockwave only caused the Mirage Beast to tumble several times, leaving Jiang Chen and Guo Linshan, who were hiding inside, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Jiang Chen was about to order the Mirage Beast to open up and let them out, but the Mirage Beast uncharacteristically failed to obey the command.

While he was wondering why, an even more massive explosion suddenly sent the Mirage Beast flying.

Two consecutive explosions caused several cracks to appear on the hard Mirage Beast shell, but fortunately, it held up in the end.

"What's going on? Why was there a second self-detonation?" Guo Linshan shouted, feeling extremely uneasy.

Even if Su Ze had dodged the first self-detonation, what about the second, even stronger explosion?

Once they confirmed it was safe outside, the Mirage Beast obediently let the two of them out this time.

Nothing was left of the original Great Xia Spirit Guards camp, not even ruins.

The surrounding thick fog had been dispersed by the intense explosions. Other Great Xia Spirit Guards tentatively approached the area, as the two explosions just now had been too shocking.

Guo Linshan also rushed toward Su Ze's location immediately. Fortunately, he seemed to be fine.

Although his clothes were tattered from the explosion and he was covered in blood, he was in one piece, with no missing limbs.

"It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay..."

Guo Linshan stepped forward to speak, but found that Su Ze's state was very off.

He sat slumped on the ground dejectedly, his face covered in blood scabs and tear stains, clutching a golden-shining red Tail Feather in his hand.

"Where's the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird?" asked Jiang Chen, who had also arrived.

But Su Ze only looked at him numbly and did not answer.