Dongbo Xueying nodded. Currently, he was already ranked within the top fifty of the Cosmic Deity-Demon Ranking. To countless cultivators, he was undoubtedly a being standing at the pinnacle.
Yet, the higher he stood and the more he encountered, the more Dongbo Xueying realized how much remained unknown.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to experience danger?” The old man chuckled. “Come, I’ll take you there.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
“Danger is often accompanied by opportunity.”
“Though it may be a near-certain death for you, success would broaden your path in the future.” The old man spoke as he walked ahead, with Dongbo Xueying obediently following behind.
At the moment, both of them were like ordinary mortals, walking slowly as one would.
It took them nearly half a day to traverse twenty miles.
There stood five massive trees, each so thick that it would take several people to encircle them. The old man approached the leftmost tree. “Follow me inside.” The moment his body touched the tree, he instantly phased through it.
Dongbo Xueying glanced back. “Twenty miles took me this long?” He smiled wryly before stepping toward the same tree.
The moment he made contact, space rippled around him.
Whoosh.
He found himself in an unimaginably vast world. The instant he entered, Dongbo Xueying felt his full strength return—his body brimming with power, his World Divine Power and Taihao Force surging within him. Hovering midair, he surveyed the landscape: endless mountain ranges stretched before him.
In the far distance, atop one of the peaks, stood a golden axe embedded in the rock.
“See that axe?” The white-haired old man floated beside him, smiling.
“Yes.” Dongbo Xueying nodded, though inwardly he was shocked. Even within this pocket world, he still couldn’t sense the slightest trace of power from the old man—as if he were just an ordinary person.
“Good.” The old man nodded before shifting his gaze toward a distant icy peak. The entire mountain was made of translucent ice, and within its depths, a shadowy figure could faintly be seen.
Dongbo Xueying’s vision was keen enough to immediately notice that the figure, which had been lying dormant, suddenly sat up.
Then, it stretched lazily.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The entire icy peak began splitting apart, cleaving into two halves with a massive fissure running from the summit down to where the figure had been resting. With a sudden leap, the figure shot out, landing atop one of the divided peaks.
It was a man dressed in tattered cloth, barefoot, standing there with an air of indolence.
His gaze locked onto Dongbo Xueying in the distance, and the corners of his lips curled slightly. A terrifying aura erupted from his body.
BOOM!!!
The overwhelming pressure of his presence exploded outward, distorting space itself. Visible ripples of spatial distortion spread like shockwaves.
In an instant, the space within hundreds of millions of miles around him twisted violently. The man smirked at Dongbo Xueying.
“So, you’re my opponent this time?”
“Opponent?” Dongbo Xueying’s expression had already darkened.
The sheer intensity of this aura pressed down on him like an insurmountable weight.
“Little one,” the white-haired old man beside him said, “this is your opponent. Your trial is to retrieve that axe under his interference. If you succeed in pulling it out, you pass. Once you reach the Heaven-Earth Realm, you may return.”
“I don’t have to defeat him?” Dongbo Xueying blinked.
“Defeat him?” The old man looked startled, shaking his head. “Of course not! There’s no way you could win against him. Though his realm is low—merely at the World Deity level—he is among the most formidable existences within it.”
Dongbo Xueying frowned. “He hasn’t forged his own Dao?”
“No,” the old man replied. “His realm is equivalent to your Four-Heaven World Deities.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly.
In the Primordial Land, strength was primarily classified by realm: World Deity, Heaven-Earth, Dao-Opening, and Sovereign.
For instance, while the Bamboo Mountain Lord was a Four-Heaven World Deity, he had forged his own Dao, placing him in the Dao-Opening Realm.
“A mere Four-Heaven World Deity, and I can’t defeat him?” Dongbo Xueying mused inwardly. Though the opponent’s aura felt overwhelmingly powerful, his own Annihilating Extreme Mystic Armor provided formidable defense.
“You don’t need to defeat him—just retrieve the axe,” the old man reiterated. “But don’t underestimate him. Though his realm is ordinary, his strength is monstrous. He is the most terrifying World Deity my ancestor encountered across countless universes. After studying his body, my ancestor recreated it here, replicating even his memories.”
Dongbo Xueying’s eyes narrowed.
The most terrifying World Deity the Primordial Land’s creator had ever encountered?
Just how strong could he be?
“Do not let him catch you,” the old man warned. “If he seizes you and devours you into his body, you’re finished. His physiology can digest even True Divine Artifacts.”
Dongbo Xueying’s breath hitched.
“In his home universe, he was an anomaly. That’s why my ancestor took such pains to study him.” The old man smiled faintly. “I hope you can survive him.”
“Begin!” The old man suddenly declared.
The lazy man atop the icy peak, already exuding a ferocious aura, suddenly unleashed an even more terrifying presence.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Purple-gold patterns emerged across his exposed skin, coiling around his face and converging at his eyes like glowing brows. His irises blazed with violet-gold light, and even his hair radiated the same hue. His power surged to an entirely new level, causing the entire pocket world’s space to tremble. Around him, miniature black holes flickered into existence, only to be crushed by the distorted void.
Dongbo Xueying felt an instinctive chill. For a moment, he was reminded of the golden-furred ape he had faced earlier.
“This… is a World Deity?” He could hardly believe it.
“I told you—he’s the most terrifying one my ancestor ever found,” the old man said. “Be careful. He’s coming.”
—
### **Ancient Hall of the Mother Goddess Cult**
Whoosh.
Two figures materialized—the tusked giant holding the golden-furred ape.
“Thank you, Cult Master,” the ape said.
“With the Bloodblade Divine Emperor involved, I couldn’t afford to be careless,” the tusked giant replied. “You mentioned Dongbo Xueying vanished without a trace?”
“Yes. He disappeared right before my eyes,” the ape confirmed. “In this universe, only a handful skilled in escape arts could achieve that.”
The tusked giant frowned. “My sources say even his karma has vanished.”
“What?” The ape’s eyes widened. “His karma is gone?”
Escaping was one thing.
But vanishing along with his karma? That was extraordinary.
“It seems this ‘Dongbo Divine Emperor’ possesses something truly unique,” the tusked giant mused. “We’ll need to investigate him thoroughly—what treasure allows him to escape you so effortlessly and conceal his karma?”
—
### **The Void Where the Ape and Dongbo Xueying Clashed**
The Bloodblade Divine Emperor, clad in dark-red robes, appeared with icy fury in his eyes. He scanned the surroundings.
“Hmph.”
Killing intent radiated from him.
If this had been an internal conflict within their universe, Dongbo Xueying losing a clone would simply mean his disciple was outmatched. Among Sovereigns, such losses were tacitly accepted.
But the Mother Goddess Cult? Daring to target his disciple? That was unacceptable.
“Time… reverse.”
His voice carried the weight of divine decree.
The flow of time around him rewound. Though the golden ape had employed concealment techniques, to the Bloodblade Divine Emperor—ranked first on the Cosmic Deity-Demon Ranking—such barriers meant little.
Soon, the past replayed before him.
The golden ape swung its palm.
“Its power reaches Sovereign-level,” the Divine Emperor noted coolly. “But its technique is crude. So, the Mother Goddess Cult has been hiding such a fighter.”
Then—
As the strike landed, Dongbo Xueying vanished.
The Bloodblade Divine Emperor froze.
He had assumed his disciple had perished, hence the severed karma. But the scene before him told a different story: his disciple had escaped on his own.
“This kid…” The cold fury on the Divine Emperor’s face melted into a grin. “Seems I’ve underestimated my own disciple.”
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