Chapter 659 - 659 The Soul King

The Tenchuren looked like a huge pillar from the outside, but its interior space was not small. Toshiro and the five Zero Division's members did not feel crowded inside at all.

Then, after the Tenchuren shot into the sky and flew for a while, Toshiro suddenly felt the rapidly ascending Tenchuren stall for an instant, as if it had sunk into a swamp.

But a moment later, the Tenchuren, relying on its strong inertia, broke through the numerous obstacles, left Soul Society, entered another space, and finally crashed onto the ground with a bang.

"We've arrived, Captain Hitsugaya." Ichibe'e said to Toshiro. Then the door of the Tenchuren opened again, waiting for everyone to walk out.

Toshiro, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them: "What a strong barrier... seventy-two layers in total. Even I am not confident I could forcibly break it in a short time. Did the Soul King set this up... no, it was set up during the Soul King's prime, right? Monk."

"Hahaha... Captain Hitsugaya has such keen eyesight. To perceive the seventy-two layers of the barrier surrounding the Soul King Palace the moment the Tenchuren entered the Soul King Palace..."

"Correct! These barriers were personally set up by the Soul King back then to protect the entire Soul King Palace. Even... a god cannot break them! Only those permitted by us or those accompanying us can enter the Soul King Palace!"

Ichibe'e couldn't help but proudly explain the barriers of the Soul King Palace to Toshiro, but he avoided mentioning things like whether the Soul King was in his 'prime' or not.

"Is that so? Perhaps..." Toshiro said noncommittally.

Ichibe'e proudly boasted to Toshiro that the barriers of the Soul King Palace could not be broken even by a god, which was nothing more than an attempt to subtly remind Toshiro not to think that just because he had broken the Shinigami limit and become a 'god', he could do whatever he wanted.

At the very least, without their permission, Toshiro could not break into the Soul King Palace and replace the Soul King's rule.

However, Toshiro did not take Ichibe'e's words to heart. Just as summer insects cannot speak of ice, a 'mortal' like Ichibe'e could not understand the power of a god like Toshiro.

What Toshiro said was merely that he could not break the barriers of the Soul King Palace in a short time, not that he could not break them at all.

Although the barriers of the Soul King Palace were strong, they were ultimately rootless duckweed, water without a source.

As an existence of the same level, although Toshiro did not have the power to break the barriers in one strike, as long as he continued to bombard them relentlessly, he would eventually break through the seventy-two layers of the Soul King Palace's barriers.

If it were the Soul King in his prime, he could continuously input his power into the barriers while Toshiro was destroying them, thus repairing the damage and making up for the barriers' consumption. In that case, Toshiro would naturally be unable to break the barriers.

But the current Soul King is extremely weak. If Toshiro really wanted to destroy the barriers, the Soul King would have no ability to stop him.

'However... that being said, the mere fact that the barriers set up by the Soul King make me, even going all out, lack confidence in breaking them quickly... It seems...'

'—The Soul King's power in his prime was probably quite a bit stronger than I am now.' Toshiro pondered inwardly.

However, Toshiro didn't mind this too much. He had only just entered the True God level, so it was only natural that his strength could not match the Soul King in his prime.

Then Toshiro, following Ichibe'e and the others, truly set foot on the land of the Soul King Palace.

"So this is... the Soul King Palace?" Toshiro looked around carefully at the environment.

He saw tall pillars standing around, buildings arranged in an orderly fashion in the distance, and five giant disc-shaped objects floating in the sky like hanging gardens. Moreover, the density of Reishi throughout the Soul King Palace was very high.

Without adapting to this environment, even a Lieutenant level Shinigami would have difficulty breathing and be pressed to the ground, unable to stand.

Then, looking further into the distance, a cocoon-like building floated in the deeper sky of the Soul King Palace.

If his guess was correct, the Soul King should be inside there, because Toshiro sensed the same Divine Power as his own coming from there. Although it was very faint, it was indeed power that only a god could possess.

'This feeling... is definitely right. This world was definitely created by the Soul King using his own power! As expected... the True God level indeed possesses the great power to create worlds!!' Toshiro marveled inwardly.

Although after breaking through to the True God level, Toshiro felt that he should have the ability to create a world, he had never tried it himself.

But now, having witnessed with his own eyes the existence of the world that is the Soul King Palace, Toshiro could be certain that the True God level indeed possesses the great power to create worlds.

"Captain Hitsugaya, welcome to the Soul King Palace, to the world of the Soul King." Ichibe'e said solemnly.

"Heh... the Soul King Palace... this is the place Aizen worked so hard to enter..." Toshiro suddenly sighed with a complex expression.

Aizen had schemed and struggled to break into the Soul King Palace to replace the Soul King's rule, but in the end, his efforts failed.

Yet Toshiro, who ultimately defeated Aizen, stood here effortlessly. Thinking of this, Toshiro felt a subtle sensation in his heart.

"Aizen? That guy indeed wanted to create the Oken to enter the Soul King Palace. But the so-called Oken is actually our bones, reconstructed with the power of the Soul King upon being chosen for the Zero Division. In other words, he wanted to create beings like us using his own spiritual arts! What an arrogant fellow!!" Ichibe'e said with rare anger.

"Creating life, slaying the king... he is attempting to replace god!" Senjumaru also said with a cold expression: "Aizen Sosuke can be said... to be 'evil'!"

When the topic of Aizen came up, the Zero Division's members were all indignant, with nothing good to say about Aizen.

Clearly, they were very angry at Aizen's behavior of wanting to replace the Soul King.

However, Toshiro had no comment on this. To be honest, regarding Aizen, whom he had fought against for so many years, besides the anger he felt when Aizen tried to hurt his comrades, Toshiro couldn't help but feel a sense of mutual respect. So he could not bring himself to speak ill of Aizen behind his back.

'The 'power of the Soul King' that Ichibe'e mentioned just now... should refer to Divine Power. Creating a life like the Oken using Divine Power is something that those below godhood cannot do. Even Aizen, who became a False God, might not be able to do it. So that's why Aizen wanted to borrow the power of the Jureichi, Karakura Town, to achieve his goal?' Toshiro thought to himself.

"Alright, Captain Hitsugaya, the Soul King is in that cocoon-like building in the distant sky. We will take you there now." Ichibe'e spoke, interrupting Toshiro's thoughts.

"Mm, alright." Toshiro nodded.

Then the group walked through the air and arrived before the cocoon-like building in the sky.

"Captain Hitsugaya, you will go in alone from here. The Soul King said that you can go directly in to see him upon arrival, so we will not accompany you." Ichibe'e said to Toshiro, then left with the other Zero Division's members.

Toshiro did not hesitate further and walked straight in.

"Welcome here, Toshiro-dono..."

As soon as Toshiro walked in, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Then Toshiro looked up and saw, not far ahead, a figure that had lost its hands and feet, leaving only a head and torso, and was entirely embedded in a transparent crystal like amber, appearing before his eyes.