158: stretch

"I can understand that you want an explanation, but shouldn't we leave here first?"

"The self-detonation just now caused quite a commotion. It will attract Monster Beasts from the Shadow Realm, including some divine beasts!" Xiao Xu walked over and interrupted the conversation between Su Ze and "Lin Xi."

They were still in the Shadow Realm of the Monster Beast World, which was not safe.

Su Ze took a deep breath, giving the "Lin Xi" in front of him a profound look.

After all, preserving life was the priority, so he didn't press the issue.

"Lin Xi" returned to Xiao Xu's shadow to hide, and the group concealed themselves, flying toward the dark sun in the sky.

During the flight, a giant black swimming fish passed over their heads, moving as if gliding on water.

They quickly suppressed their auras, burrowed into the dirt, and dared not move.

Su Ze seemed to look down at the strange fish in the sky, but it did not see through their disguise.

He watched the swimming fish until it left, heading toward the location they had just vacated.

Clearly, this was a divine beast attracted by the sound of the self-detonation, and it was an unrestrained adult divine beast.

Coincidentally, because the self-detonation had drawn away the attention of most of the Shadow Realm,

they encountered no danger on their way out. Otherwise, flying openly toward the dark sun in the sky would have been somewhat perilous.

When they reached the dark sun, after some searching, they finally found the passage they had previously opened.

Just then, the giant swimming fish that had flown over their heads suddenly sped toward them, completely unlike its previous leisurely pace.

Xiao Xu shouted, "Not good! This creature noticed us earlier but deliberately let us go, wanting to see how we crossed over!"

"Hurry up and go!"

The two quickly scrambled into the passage. Behind them, the giant swimming fish rammed into the opening.

The narrow passage was insignificant compared to its massive body, yet it did not choose to transform into a human form.

This was because native Monster Beasts that had lived in the Monster Beast World since childhood simply did not know what humans were.

Even if they knew, many Monster Beasts were unwilling to change their true forms into what they considered lowly appearances.

Seeing this, the two breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this divine beast in the form of a swimming fish could not enter.

Its body suddenly softened, squeezing through like black liquid.

"Why are all dark-attribute Monster Beasts like this!" Su Ze complained helplessly.

The dark-attribute Monster Beasts he had encountered seemed to lack fixed forms, with the exception of the Shadow Moon Wolf King.

"Stop chatting nonsense and run! It's catching up!" Xiao Xu urged from ahead.

But whether it was Su Ze's illusion or not, he felt that this passage seemed much narrower than when they first entered?

On the other end, Zaraki Kenpachi, sensing the change in the passage, knew the group was returning and began using his Beast Taming power to support them.

However, at this moment, a huge resistance erupted between the two worlds and the dark sun, as if sensing someone was using them to cross over, causing mutual repulsion.

Zaraki Kenpachi even watched as the passage before him slowly began to close, quickly shrinking to the size of a fist.

And he was powerless to stop it.

"Can... can they still squeeze out?"

Zaraki Kenpachi gestured, realizing that even his head wouldn't fit.

His expression turned grim. Although he would be happy to see Xiao Xu and Tanaka Mori trapped on the other side,

Su Ze had gone in with them and taken his Tamed Beast.

If His Majesty the Emperor and Yamata no Orochi Great God found out, he would also face severe consequences.

Xiao Xu and Su Ze inside the passage were also having a terrible time.

Initially, the passage was quite spacious, but it soon became cramped, forcing them to turn sideways and move forward inch by inch.

By now, even crawling on their stomachs, they could no longer move half a step.

Furthermore, the passage continued to collapse, and the bones throughout their bodies began to creak.

"We aren't going to be squeezed to death here, are we... what a suffocating way to die..."

At this moment, the divine beast behind them had completely forced its body through and began pressing toward the two men.

As it entered, its massive body forced the passage to stretch open.

Only adult divine beasts could accomplish that; they certainly couldn't do it.

Su Ze and the other person also felt significantly lighter, and the path ahead was now wide enough to pass through.

"This is truly a situation where heaven does not seal off all paths! A blessing in disguise!"

The two couldn't conceal their joy and rushed forward.

The divine beast behind them closely followed their footsteps, unaware that it was being used as a tool to clear the path.

Soon, Su Ze could see the light ahead.

Zaraki Kenpachi also noticed with surprise that the entrance to the passage was slowly being forced open by something.

Then, Xiao Xu and Su Ze were squeezed out, speaking in unison: "Quick, close the passage! Seal it shut!"

Zaraki Kenpachi didn't react at first, not understanding the situation. After all, so many people had entered before, and only two had returned; there was no reason to immediately close the passage.

It wasn't until they urged him on and heard bursts of monster beast roars and sounds of wriggling bodies coming from the passage.

"Something from over there is following us?"

Zaraki Kenpachi was startled and quickly withdrew the power maintaining the passage.

The passage instantly closed, and then he took out the yata no kagami to perform a series of reinforcements.

Even so, the dark sun still generated violent tremors and impact sounds.

Although the passage wasn't breached, fragments of the dark sun fell off, dropping into some unknown part of the Shadow Realm.

This reminded Su Ze of the dark sun fragment the Shadow Moon Wolf King he was hatching had swallowed. Could it be that a monster beast from the Monster Beast World was trying to sneak through using the dark sun?

The divine beast's attack on the dark sun also provoked a counterattack; a powerful force began to repel this outsider.

This did not mean that Zaraki Kenpachi's strength surpassed that of the divine beast.

Rather, the Fusang Dark Guards spent hundreds of years researching before discovering a method to travel from the dark sun to the Monster Beast World.

But immediately after exploiting this loophole, the world began to repair itself. Even a divine beast could not reopen it after the passage was completely sealed.

Su Ze was unsure what fate awaited it, but at least the sound of attacks from within the dark sun did not resume.

Xiao Xu and Su Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Zaraki Kenpachi.

But he had a more important question to ask: "Was your mission completed?"

Xiao Xu nodded and took out a container holding the divine beast's blood.

This container fell into his hands after everyone else had died.

Seeing this, Zaraki Kenpachi relaxed. As long as the mission was complete, other issues could be discussed later. He then continued to ask, "Why are only the two of you back? Where are Squad Leader Tanaka and his subordinates?"

Su Ze maintained the demeanor of a good puppet, remaining silent, waiting to see what Xiao Xu would say.

Unexpectedly, under his vivid narration.

Tanaka Mori couldn't resist the temptation of the divine beast crystal core. Xiao Xu's repeated persuasion was unsuccessful.

In the end, taking one crystal core provoked retaliation from the trapped divine beast.

They fought back desperately, but the divine beast was too powerful. In the end, only Xiao Xu and Su Ze survived.

He also spread the story that Su Ze survived because his Golden Feather Phoenix Bird had successfully evolved into the divine beast Golden Feather Phoenix.

This made Su Ze unable to help but glare at him.

But no matter how vividly Xiao Xu recounted it, Zaraki Kenpachi didn't fully believe it and turned to his puppet, Su Ze, for confirmation.

Seeing this, Su Ze gritted his teeth tightly, but ultimately nodded.

Although he was very unhappy about being sold out, he still wanted to first understand what the plan was, so he decided to cooperate as much as possible for the time being.

"Why didn't you say your Tamed Beast evolved?" Zaraki Kenpachi asked with a frown.

"My Tamed Beast successfully evolved after being stimulated by the divine beast over there after entering the Monster Beast World," Su Ze said without batting an eye.

Because he had absolute confidence in the effect of the yata no kagami, Zaraki Kenpachi didn't doubt it.

After all, he was already delighted that Tanaka Mori was dead.

As for whether there were any issues with the cause of death, he had no interest in investigating.

"Squad Leader Tanaka's fate is regrettable, but he brought it upon himself. Let's head back first," Zaraki Kenpachi said, leading the way.

Judging by his cheerful steps, he didn't seem very grief-stricken.