Like a towering golden-armored giant, the colossal figure gazed down from above. His face was chiseled as if by an axe, his eyes serene, and his lips thick—yet the sheer pressure emanating from him weighed heavily upon Dongbo Xueying.
“Far stronger than Patriarch Chihuo and even Mo Xue, the Lord of the Snow Kingdom. Only the Nine Suns Palace Master might come close,” Dongbo Xueying thought to himself.
The Nine Suns Palace Master was a mighty figure, a direct disciple of the Island Lord of Spacetime. Why else would the likes of the Prison-Dragon Emperor and the Withered Tree Matriarch obey his commands? His strength far surpassed that of ordinary great powers—though not yet at the level of a Paragon, his combat prowess was nearly there.
The towering golden-armored giant turned his gaze upon him and spoke, “This is the Domain of Annihilation. You have no right to trespass.”
“Daring to intrude upon the Domain of Annihilation?” A shadow suddenly leaped from the giant’s shoulder, streaking across the sky toward Dongbo Xueying.
Dongbo Xueying was startled.
In an instant, he discerned the figure—a lean, black-armored monkey wielding a deep-purple staff. As it flew toward him, the staff expanded, stretching across the heavens before crashing down with a force that sent chills down his spine.
“I am a guest! Even if I trespassed, shouldn’t I be expelled first? Why attack outright?” Dongbo Xueying was baffled, but he had no time to hesitate. He swiftly raised his Redcloud Spear to block the strike.
“I mean no harm!” he transmitted urgently.
**Boom!**
The deep-purple staff swept through the air, colliding with his spear. The overwhelming force that followed was like a tidal wave. Despite his mastery of the *Taihao* art, renowned for its immense strength, Dongbo Xueying felt like an ant trying to shake a tree. He was instantly overwhelmed.
**Whoosh!**
His arms shattered upon impact, the spear slamming into his chest with such force that it caved inward. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was sent hurtling backward, flying hundreds of thousands of miles before finally stopping.
“The gap is too vast!” Dongbo Xueying paled. He had faced many opponents, even the blood-armored warriors and black-armored fiends of the Bloodfire Gate, yet none had made him feel so utterly powerless.
The sheer disparity left him without even the will to resist—any struggle would only invite further humiliation.
“At least he doesn’t intend to kill me. That strike could have obliterated me entirely, reducing every particle of my body to nothing. But instead, he merely sent me flying.” If the attacker had truly wished him dead, he would have been annihilated in an instant.
A single move—that was all it would take. Such was the difference between them.
“Senior, I—” Dongbo Xueying attempted to transmit.
“Raaah!” The monkey screeched, swinging its staff once more.
**Boom!**
Dongbo Xueying barely managed to raise his spear in defense, only to be sent flying again, blood spilling from his lips.
**Boom! Boom! Boom!**
The monkey rained down blows, each strike sending Dongbo Xueying hurtling through the air like a shooting star, coughing up blood. Finally, the monkey soared high above before thrusting its staff downward like a spear.
**Crash!**
The staff’s tip struck Dongbo Xueying’s chest, caving it in. His face twisted in pain as he plummeted to the ground, smashing into the earth with a thunderous impact that carved out a massive crater, shockwaves rippling outward.
“Cough… cough…” Dongbo Xueying struggled to recover, his body mending itself. He glared helplessly at the monkey descending from the sky. The gap between them was insurmountable—this creature could kill him in a single strike, yet it chose only to torment him.
“Xueying, this monkey isn’t trying to kill you. It’s just toying with you,” Mo Xue, the Lord of the Snow Kingdom, observed from within Dongbo Xueying’s inner world. “Its strength is immense. Even if I stepped out, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“I know,” Dongbo Xueying replied inwardly, acknowledging his father-in-law’s words.
He understood all too well. Even the strongest foes he had faced in the Heartlake Island ruins paled in comparison to this monkey.
—
The black-armored monkey rested its deep-purple staff on its shoulder, smirking at Dongbo Xueying. “Kid, this is the Domain of Annihilation. You dare trespass? A few whacks are just a lesson. Got a problem with that?”
Dongbo Xueying could only force a smile.
When under another’s roof, one must bow. At least the monkey bore no killing intent.
The massive golden-armored giant then rose and strode forward, his form shrinking as he approached until he stood a mere hundred meters tall—still colossal compared to Dongbo Xueying and the monkey, but manageable for conversation.
“Dark Ape, have you been pent up for too long? Need to scratch that itch?” the golden-armored giant rumbled. “If you’re itching for a fight, I can oblige. Just one finger is all I’ll need.”
The monkey immediately grinned nervously. “Captain, Captain! I wouldn’t dare challenge you. Heh, you’re too sharp. I *have* been itching for a fight. You know how I am—always craving a good brawl.”
“The Domain of Annihilation has plenty of opponents,” the giant said dismissively.
“Ahaha…” The monkey chuckled awkwardly.
Opponents?
Being toyed with wasn’t a fight—it was humiliation. The mighty Dark Ape preferred to be the one doing the tormenting, not the other way around.
Satisfied, the monkey turned back to Dongbo Xueying. “Kid, only because you’re a guest of Heartlake Island did I spare your life. Otherwise, one strike would’ve been the end of you. Now, enough of this. I’ll send you out of the Domain of Annihilation.”
“Wait!” Dongbo Xueying raised a hand urgently.
“You *want* to stay? More beatings?” the monkey sneered.
The golden-armored giant interjected, “This is not a place for outsiders. If you refuse to leave, the consequences will be… unpleasant.”
Dongbo Xueying quickly explained, “I need to know—can you send me directly to the outermost regions of Heartlake Island? Or even outside it?”
“Impossible,” the monkey shook its head. “The Domain of Annihilation is one of the inner realms of Heartlake Island. The spatial passages are fixed—none lead to the outer edges, much less outside the island.”
Dongbo Xueying’s heart sank. He had already noticed the absence of spatial vortices in the outer regions, but he had held onto a sliver of hope. If he were merely transported to another inner location, he’d still be trapped by the Nine Suns Palace Master’s forces.
“Seniors,” he pleaded, “the truth is, I have a deadly enemy waiting outside. If I leave now, I’ll surely die. Is there any way I can take refuge here in the Domain of Annihilation? Or any method to escape Heartlake Island swiftly? I would be eternally grateful!”
There was no other choice—he had to lay his cards on the table.
The monkey and the golden-armored giant exchanged glances.
“An enemy, huh?” the monkey muttered. “But the rules of the Domain of Annihilation cannot be broken. You cannot stay indefinitely… unless—”
“Unless what?” Dongbo Xueying pressed urgently.
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