Chapter 225: The Golden Man and the Black Rat

Inside one of the grand halls of Heifeng Divine Palace, a figure clad entirely in gray robes, appearing as if forged from solid gold, sat upon the throne. His eyes gleamed with golden light, and even seated, he exuded an invisible pressure, like an immovable mountain standing tall.

“Big Brother.”

Beside him stood four figures.

These four were the ones who had previously fought against Dongbo Xueying—the gray-robed man, the red-haired handsome youth, the seductive and enchanting woman, and the calm, indifferent child.

“We searched everywhere, scoured the entire Heifeng Divine Palace, but we couldn’t find that Dongbo Xueying!” the red-haired youth said anxiously.

“Brother Five.” The enchanting woman smiled gently, and the entire space around her seemed to brighten with color. Her smile was enough to make many transcendent beings fall for her charms, but the four beside her, all divine warriors of the God Realm, remained completely unaffected. “Could you have made a mistake? The Master’s mastery over formations is extraordinary. He set up countless layers of formations. I can believe it if a powerful transcendent spends time slowly unraveling them, but to say he vanished into thin air? That’s just too absurd!”

“He really did vanish suddenly!” The gray-robed man was clearly angered.

“Second Brother, did you not sense anything either?” the golden figure asked the indifferent child.

The child nodded slightly, “I went to the area where Brother Five was guarding and searched thoroughly. He’s nowhere to be found!”

“Ah…”

The golden figure fell into thought.

At this moment, within the Void Realm, Dongbo Xueying was watching the five figures with great interest. From their conversation, he had deduced that these five were likely the so-called “Five Shadows.” From the faint sense of danger he felt, each one was stronger than the last, especially the golden figure. The pressure he exuded was even greater than that of the Azure Armor Guard protecting him.

This was understandable. The “Azure Armor Guard” formed by the ashen-gray bracelet specialized in defense, while the golden figure, as Dongbo Xueying observed, was clearly a divine warrior of the God Realm who excelled in offense.

“My Xia Clan has only a handful of divine warriors from the God Realm,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “But each of them has reached the limit imposed by the natural laws of the Heavens and Earth.”

“As for the divine warriors within Heifeng Divine Palace, some are weaker, some stronger. That weak gray-robed man was easily knocked away by the Azure Armor Guard, but the other four are increasingly powerful. Regardless, even the weaker ones are still five divine warriors of the God Realm.” Dongbo Xueying was astonished. Divine warriors of the God Realm were crafted by gods—five of them at once?

The “White Mist Ape” guarding the entrance to the cave palace also made Dongbo Xueying suspect it was a divine warrior of the God Realm, albeit weaker than the gray-robed man.

And deep within the Heifeng Divine Palace, there was another presence that seemed to be a divine warrior of the God Realm as well.

Altogether… that made seven!

“No wonder Palace Master Chen was so vague,” Dongbo Xueying thought. “There must be some hidden secret.”

“Whoosh!”

The golden figure rose from his throne, his voice cold. “You all return to your posts. I’m going to see that water rat.”

“That water rat, always strutting around because the Master trusted him the most,” the red-haired youth sneered.

“Hmph! In terms of strength, he’s not even close to Big Brother! Logically, Heifeng Divine Palace should be under our control, but before the Master passed away, he left it all to that water rat!” the gray-robed man also sneered.

“Enough.”

The golden figure frowned, then turned and walked away.

…

Within the Void Realm, Dongbo Xueying followed the golden figure.

Soon enough, the golden figure arrived at a garden. Within the garden was a lake hundreds of meters wide, its waters pitch black. On the smooth, mirror-like ground beside the black lake sat a black rat about half a meter tall, cross-legged like a human, its whiskers drooping as it meditated in silence.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the golden figure walked, the ground trembled as if the earth itself were shaking. The entire garden’s polished floor began to vibrate, and the black lake began to churn.

“Shadow Leader, you rarely come to see me. Do you always insist on fighting whenever you come?” the black rat opened its eyes. Its eyes were jet-black and lively. “I can’t beat you, but you can’t do anything to me either. What’s the point of continuing this pointless struggle? It’s just because the Master trusted me the most, entrusted everything to me, and left me in charge!”

“No more fighting,” the golden figure said coldly. “We may soon be free. We might leave Heifeng Divine Palace soon. There’s no need to keep competing.”

“You’re talking about that human, Dongbo Xueying. How come even the five of you, each with your own unique skills, couldn’t find him?” the black rat asked in surprise. As the overseer of all the formations within Heifeng Divine Palace, Dongbo Xueying’s sudden disappearance had already alarmed and worried him.

“We couldn’t find him!” the golden figure shook his head.

The black rat’s brow furrowed. A rat frowning was actually quite cute. Suddenly, he turned to the empty space beside him. “Dongbo Xueying, you should be here, right?”

“Hmm?” The golden figure’s expression changed slightly.

“Haha, you guessed right. I am indeed here, but you won’t be able to find me,” Dongbo Xueying’s voice echoed throughout the garden, surprising both the golden figure and the black rat. Could he really be here?

The black rat continued, “My Master only condensed his divine heart using a third-grade will, though he did have some fortunate encounters and became extremely proficient in formations. But when it comes to higher grades of will… like the legendary second-grade will, or even the inconceivable first-grade will, there are some things even he couldn’t prevent. You must have mastered some extremely mysterious second-grade will?”

“Couldn’t it be that I’ve mastered a first-grade will?” Dongbo Xueying teased, his voice still echoing.

“If you had mastered a first-grade will, you could have swept through everything effortlessly,” the black rat chuckled. “You wouldn’t have been injured by Shadow Brother Five.”

Whoosh.

From the stillness of the garden, a black-clothed young man stepped out of the void. It was Dongbo Xueying himself.

The golden figure and the black rat both looked at the young man with curiosity, carefully observing his appearance and build.

“You two are staring at me like that for what reason?” Dongbo Xueying felt a bit uneasy.

“You managed to defeat the Mist Thunder guarding the entrance and survive under Shadow Brother Five. You must have mastered at least one second-grade will,” the black rat said. “And you also possess a very mysterious and unpredictable second-grade will. That means you’ve mastered at least two second-grade wills! In the entire history of the Xia Clan, no one else has ever been this powerful.”

“The most extraordinary transcendent in the Xia Clan’s history?” the black rat marveled.

Dongbo Xueying smiled. “I’ve already broken through all the formation barriers and reached the deepest part of this divine palace. I’d like to ask—do I count as having succeeded? Can I obtain the treasures left behind by the Heifeng Ancestor?”

The golden figure and the black rat exchanged glances.

Did he count?

“My Master placed a Black Dragon at the outer perimeter, a dragon he personally crafted as an alchemical being,” the black rat explained. “And the ‘Mist Thunder’ guarding the cave palace is a divine warrior of the God Realm. Beyond that are the ‘Five Shadows,’ each stronger than the last. It’s extremely difficult to overcome their defenses.”

“Besides that, there are the formation barriers! For example, after defeating Shadow Leader, one must forcefully break through a formation. Usually, one would need power equal to my Master’s—power rivaling that of a god—to break through by force!”

“And only after that could one reach me!”

The black rat grinned, his whiskers twitching. “Yet you couldn’t even defeat Shadow Brother Five.”

“However—”

“I still have to say you succeeded!” the black rat grinned widely. “The Master only said that any transcendent of the Xia Clan who could break through all obstacles by their own strength and reach me would be granted everything he left behind. You truly broke through all obstacles by your own strength.”

Dongbo Xueying’s face lit up with joy.

He actually succeeded?

He had come here using his Void Will. All those obstacles couldn’t stop him at all. He had made it. He had succeeded? He had only asked half-heartedly, not expecting much, already planning to come back later when his strength improved.

“Dongbo Xueying, you’ve mastered at least two second-grade wills. If you don’t qualify, who does?” the golden figure said. “You truly broke through all obstacles by your own strength!”