I'm really not the number one slacker in Soul Society.

...No! My spiritual pressure senses can't penetrate this "mosaic"!

He only transmitted a tiny bit of spiritual pressure to the wooden plaque, not even enough for a No. 1 Hado to release, yet he achieved such a miraculous effect!

Holy crap, the Spirit King's equipment is awesome!

Before she could finish her thought, Mi Zhen checked the time and immediately sped off toward the cave.

—More than forty minutes have passed since the clone in the training ground died!

A few seconds later, Mi Zhen arrived in front of the stone gate, raised his hand and channeled his spiritual pressure, then disappeared in a flash of white light.

It was the same familiar cave, but this time he no longer needed to hide his strength.

With a swift movement, Mizhen passed through the blue barrier at the end of the cave and entered the trial grounds.

At this moment, the battle is nearing its end.

The two people responsible for holding Little Red Riding Hood back were almost at their limit.

Lisa knelt against the wall, Kensei was mustering his last strength for a desperate charge towards the red dragon, and Urahara, standing beside the crystal, anxiously uttered a dangerous syllable—

"swastika--"

Great, I made it in time.

Why is Little Red Riding Hood's spiritual pressure so weak?

Of the three, Urahara is in the best condition... It seems he came up with some solution.

Lisa and Kensei sustained a lot of injuries, but none of them were serious, and no parts were missing. The main problem was that their spiritual pressure was greatly depleted... Good, the Fourth Division can easily heal them.

"Oh?"

The next moment, a woman's intrigued voice interrupted everything.

Everyone paused and looked at the "void" in their spiritual pressure perception.

Someone stood at the entrance to the trial grounds, shrouded in a blurry "barrier." By sight, one could only make out that it was a woman dressed in black, but spiritual pressure perception could not see anything... like a phantom that only existed in a nightmare.

"What, do I seem to have arrived at the wrong time?"

In a crisp tone, she asked Little Red Riding Hood, "You fairytale dragon over there, you seem to be in bad shape? How can that tattered body guard the divine sword?"

"You are……"

"A big sister who brings you warmth."

The woman in black stepped forward, brandishing a thick, dark chain in her hand: "How about it, does it look familiar?"

"An iron rope?!"

Little Red Riding Hood's pupils contracted, she called out the name of the chain, and then almost instinctively jumped back, her voice filled with fear: "You bastard... where did you find this iron rope?!"

"Guess what it is, there's a reward if you get it right!"

Mi Zhen advanced step by step, while Little Red Riding Hood stared at the chain in his hand and unconsciously retreated little by little.

It seems this guy was badly beaten by Urahara Ryoka, and he's clearly left with serious psychological trauma.

Kensei and Lisa remained wary and silent until Urahara asked them the crucial question.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Light of the Divine Sword

"Who is this gentleman?" Urahara discreetly reached his left hand into his backpack. "If you don't mind, could you tell us why you're here?"

Noticing his subtle movements, Mi Zhen's brow twitched, and she immediately had a bad feeling.

“I am this.”

To prevent this humanoid blond Doraemon from pulling out something terrifying, Mima decisively removed the mosaic from his palm and showed the wooden plaque he was holding.

He chuckled and said mysteriously, "Understand?"

But the next second, Mima vaguely sensed... that something seemed a little off.

"messenger……"

Urahara's eyes widened, he slowly took a breath, and then his brows furrowed little by little.

"So the patriarch finally sent a messenger... I see."

As he muttered to himself, he suddenly looked up and revealed a... how should I put it, a smile that seemed to convey the feeling of "After lying in wait for three years, boss, you've finally closed the net."

"I understand, messenger. What are you planning to do?"

Hmm? Hmm? Hmm hmm hmm?

Wait, what did you understand?

What's with that expression?! Could the Urahara family be plotting something big too?!

But the die was cast, and with the atmosphere so tense, Mima had no choice but to proceed with the original plan. So he nodded and pointed to the crystal behind Urahara: "Come and retrieve that thing."

Besides rescuing people, the main purpose of this trip was, of course, to obtain equipment.

The Spirit King said he could do whatever he wanted, so besides putting this thing in his pocket, is there any other option?

This is a weapon imbued with the power of the Spirit King!

Putting aside all that, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one sword could kill the Sternritter, right? To put it even more dramatically, Yhwach couldn't see through the Soul King's right hand even when he was omniscient and omnipotent, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this sword has the same ability, right?

He has the advantage now; if he doesn't get his hands on the divine sword, Mi Zhen won't be able to sleep well.

Upon hearing this, Urahara nodded, and Lisa and Kensei also expressed their agreement without fully understanding the situation, but Little Red Riding Hood expressed clear objections.

"They even want to take away the weapon left behind by Lord Spirit King?!"

Little Red Riding Hood cried out, her eyes instantly becoming bloodshot and wide open to the limit, even forgetting her fear of the iron rope.

"You rebellious bastards!! I will never allow it!"

Amidst the furious roar, its tattered red cloak suddenly burst into flames, radiating a light like the sun.

It wasn't just the cloak that was scorched; Little Red Riding Hood's body was also engulfed in flames.

Numerous scales began to curl and char, and the blood at the wound instantly boiled and turned black... just like a sacrifice on a pyre.

But under this self-destructive burning, Little Red Riding Hood's spiritual pressure began to surge once again!

In the blink of an eye, he overwhelmed Kensei, overwhelmed Yama, overwhelmed Urahara... and returned to the level he was at at the beginning of the battle.

Unfortunately, Mima came prepared this time.

Facing Little Red Riding Hood charging straight at him, he casually swung the black chain called the Iron Rope, which shot out like a serpent, taking advantage of its length to touch the enemy first—

Then, the battle ended.

The moment Little Red Riding Hood was touched by the iron rope, her body stiffened instantly as if it were locked up. The huge dragon body slammed to the ground under the force of inertia, rolling repeatedly and leaving a long mark. Before it could use its spiritual pressure to forcefully break through this restraint, Mima used Shunpo to rush to its head and directly wrapped the iron rope around its neck.

In this way, the fairy tale dragon completely lost the ability to move.

"Hey you two over there, could you please come and help me out?"

Mima called out to Lisa and Kensei, who were standing not far away. They looked at Urahara with questioning eyes, and the latter confirmed it. So the two of them cautiously approached step by step.

"Hey, don't be so slow."

Mima handed the two ends of the chain to Kensei and Lisa respectively, and instructed with his hands on his hips: "Take good care of them, pour spiritual pressure into them, and don't let it break, or this guy will break free of the restraints."

"Oh, alright."

After realizing they couldn't figure out what was going on, the two simply gave up trying to understand.

This new guy helped them defeat the enemy, and he seems to have some connection with Captain Urahara, so he should be one of their own.

While they were busily working to recover and tend to their wounds, Mizhen returned to the crystal that sealed the divine sword.

Urahara tried to pull Benihime out of the ground, and after confirming that the spiritual pressure link between Little Red Riding Hood and the divine sword had not been re-established, he breathed a sigh of relief and then began to talk to Mima.

"So, the patriarch actually knew about this place all along, but never mentioned it to anyone..."

He sheathed his sword, gave a wry smile, and said, "However, I have no right to criticize her style of doing things."

It's hard to say, who knows if the Urahara family even knows about this...

Given that the Iron Rope itself was made by Urahara Ryouka, Mima assumes they were aware of it, but whether they intended to obtain the divine sword is unknown.

Mi Zhen nodded and said calmly, "These are all the orders from the head of the family."

Whether you know it or not, you'd better take the blame first. I'll figure out the next step after I get my hands on the divine sword.

"How willful..."

Urahara shook his head and sighed.

As if recalling some unbearable past events, he pulled a bottle of healing medicine from his backpack with a heavy expression and walked towards Kensei and Lisa.

The meaning is clear: this is your responsibility, do whatever you want.

Mi Zhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Kisuke Urahara, that old fox, has been fooled. Now it's time to deal with the most crucial issue.

How do I get this sword out?

Neither Tokitoshi nor Koya's men knew this.

Ultimately, their information about the trial grounds came entirely from historical records; they had no actual operational experience whatsoever.

Should we just smash this seemingly solid crystal with brute force? Or is there another way?

Mi Zhen thought for a moment, then tapped the crystal a few times to test the material's hardness, and then did some analysis based on spiritual pressure reactions and other aspects.

Its strength is close to that of wrought iron, so it can be cut directly with a Zanpakuto without any problem.

So the key lies in the spiritual pressure emanating from this thing.

Hidden behind the wooden mosaic sign, Mima frowned hesitantly.

This spiritual pressure... it has a subtle sense of familiarity... no, it's more like a feeling of warmth?

It's just like... Liu Yue?

A point of knowledge about Zanpakuto: If we compare the spiritual pressure of a Shinigami to an electric current, then Zanpakuto are somewhat similar to voltage regulators and transformers. The "original spiritual pressure" produced by the Shinigami itself is transformed by the Zanpakuto into something with special functions. This is the basic principle of Kido-type Zanpakuto.