Chapter 224: Disappeared?

“I still want to give it a try!” Dongbo Xueying strode toward the side entrance of the grand hall.

The white mist ape watched Dongbo Xueying’s retreating figure and shook his head slightly. “Truly overestimating his abilities. This Saint-level Transcendent is the most promising one I’ve seen, I hope he doesn’t end up destroyed inside.”

“He won?”

Outside the palace cave’s entrance, the massive black dragon crouched, its golden eyes wide with shock. Its enormous head stretched directly to the threshold of the palace entrance, staring at the white mist ape inside. “Hey, Wu Lei, weren’t you always boasting how superior you are to me? Saying I’m stupid and clumsy? What’s going on today? Can’t even defeat a Saint-level Transcendent?”

“Hmph, you stupid dragon,” the white mist ape felt somewhat embarrassed. “Didn’t you also get defeated?”

“How can you compare to me? I was defeated by his Gravitational Dao. My body is too large, making me vulnerable to him! Otherwise, I could have swatted him away with my tail!” The dragon’s head peered inside through the palace entrance, somewhat worried. “Sigh, this kid insisted on charging in. I hope he doesn’t die inside.”

The white mist ape completely dissipated with a huff, once again transforming into white mist that filled the entire grand hall. This was how he had spent the past several hundred thousand years.

…

The corridor was a hundred meters high and sixty meters wide. The walls were crystal clear like jade, smooth as a mirror.

The corridor stretched endlessly into the shadowy depths, its obsidian walls swallowing the light as it wound through over a thousand meters of whispering darkness.

Holding the Starstone Cloudfire Spear, Dongbo Xueying walked alone, his Gravitational Domain scanning the surroundings while maintaining a strong repulsive force.

After walking over a thousand meters, a flight of green stone steps appeared ahead, leading downward.

“Clomp, clomp, clomp.” He descended the stairs, walking nearly two hundred meters downward before reaching the next level.

“Hmm?” Dongbo Xueying’s expression changed.

Boom—

The powerful gravitational repulsion he had been maintaining continuously forced a hidden creature from the corner of the wall ahead! The corner had appeared ordinary, completely undetectable to the naked eye. However, when Dongbo Xueying passed through the formation’s barrier and stepped onto this lower level, his gravitational force reached the corner, causing the hidden creature to naturally resist the gravity and expose itself!

“Chi chi chi~~~” This hidden creature seemed to peel itself from the wall, twisting and transforming into a gray-robed man.

This gray-robed man carried a pair of black short clubs on his back. He grimaced and touched his face, which had been twisted and molded into a normal human appearance.

“You actually discovered me. To defeat that stupid dragon and Wu Lei, you, this Saint-level Transcendent, indeed have some skill,” the gray-robed man’s voice sounded like metal scraping against stone, hoarse and unpleasant. “However… you’re just a Saint-level Transcendent. There’s no way you can defeat me!”

Boom!

The gray-robed man instantly surged forward. He held a short club in each hand, each about four feet long. He swung the clubs in his hands.

Whoosh~~~ The massive club tore through the heavens and earth with a terrifying force, sending shivers down Dongbo Xueying’s spine as it barreled toward him. Even before clashing, his Gravitational Domain’s acute spatial perception confirmed the strike’s overwhelming power—far beyond his own. Yet, the sheer speed of the attack left him no room to evade!

He could only block.

Not even daring to block directly, he tried his best to deflect the force.

“Chi!” The club slashed down. The spear’s shadow, like a swimming dragon, touched and slid past it. However, Dongbo Xueying’s expression still changed. His hands went numb, and his body involuntarily staggered.

“Boom!” Almost instinctively, the gray-robed man’s other hand followed through with another slash of the club.

Too fast.

One strike followed another like a whirlwind.

Caught off guard, Dongbo Xueying barely managed to bring his spear in front of himself.

“Boom!” Accompanied by the sound of a direct impact, the Starstone Cloudfire Spear’s shaft was struck and bent. The bent shaft struck Dongbo Xueying’s chest. Even after being weakened by the ‘Stellar Dao,’ the endless surging impact still sent Dongbo Xueying flying backward. Fortunately, this strike was first blocked by the spear shaft before reaching his body.

“Boom!!!” The gray-robed man’s entire body moved like a whirlwind as he delivered the third strike with his club.

Dongbo Xueying, arms numb from being thrown backward, struggled to block but was clearly a step too slow.

One strike—

It landed squarely on Dongbo Xueying’s abdomen.

Whoosh!

Dongbo Xueying’s entire body became like a streak of light, directly sent flying and crashing into one of the green stone steps behind him.

Crack crack crack!!! Dongbo Xueying felt as if six ribs had been broken.

“Spit!” He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.

“Half-god peak level.” Dongbo Xueying’s face was pale as he looked at the gray-robed man. In terms of strength, the black dragon also reached the Half-god peak level. But could they be compared? Generally, larger bodies meant greater strength. The volume difference between humans and ants naturally led to differences in strength. Similarly, the black dragon’s massive body naturally gave it an advantage in strength.

But this gray-robed man was different. He was only as tall as a human, yet his strength was at the Half-god peak level! Moreover, in terms of his club techniques, he also carried the mysteries of space.

As for himself?

He had mastered three Dao, but his power was only at the senior Half-god level! In a direct confrontation, he was completely suppressed!

“Boom.” When Dongbo Xueying crashed onto the steps, the gray-robed man, swift as a phantom, was already in front of him again.

At this moment, Dongbo Xueying had no chance to counterattack.

“Enough!”

A loud shout.

Boom.

The ashen bracelet upon Xueying Dongbo’s wrist abruptly transformed into a jade-armored sentinel. With a wrathful surge, the guardian’s palm strike warped the very fabric of space, sending undulating distortions cascading like liquid tremors. The gray-cloaked figure’s expression darkened as his descending cudgel met the guardian’s devastating palm strike in mid-swing—an inevitable collision of opposing forces.

The two figures crashed into each other with a thunderous boom.

The green-armored guardian stood rooted to the spot without moving, while the gray-robed man was sent flying backward, staggering to land.

“The Xia Clan’s Divine Realm Battle Construct?” The gray-robed man frowned.

“You’re also a Divine Realm Battle Construct,” the green-armored guardian coldly replied, “but a weaker one!”

“I’m merely the fifth among the Five Shadows. Defeating me is nothing. If you have the skill, defeat my eldest brother!” The gray-robed man sneered.

The Divine Realm Battle Constructs sent by the Xia Clan’s ancestors to their homeland all reached the threshold of Half-god limits. Under the restrictions of the natural laws, these were the most powerful Divine Realm Battle Constructs that could be sent down. Anything stronger would exceed the boundaries set by the natural laws.

The green-armored guardian’s strength could rival the ‘Purple-armored Slim Demon General’s’ magical clone in direct combat. This demon general was comparable to the Mountain Master He who wielded divine artifacts! Even as a magical clone, it possessed a portion of the original’s strength.

The emerald-armored sentinel undoubtedly ranked among the top ten demigods on the celestial roster.

Moreover, they had an advantage over normal Half-gods… they were absolutely immortal! ‘Immortal bodies’ could still be killed. But they had no possibility of being killed at all! At least not by Half-gods! Not even by those who had ascended to godhood, like the ‘Longshan Emperor’ level. To destroy a Divine Realm Battle Construct required someone much, much stronger than Longshan Emperor.

“Kid, you’re no match for me. This Xia Clan Divine Realm Battle Construct is very strong; it has top ten Half-god strength and can defeat me! But to pass me, you must rely on your own power! Otherwise, it would violate the master’s rules. Violating the master’s rules, hmm hmm, is not something a Divine Realm Battle Construct can prevent.” The gray-robed man stood there, casually inserting the two black short clubs he held in his hands behind his back. “Go back and train more. Return when your Transcendent fighting spirit reaches the Half-god peak level!”

“Xueying, let’s go.” The green-armored guardian turned to Dongbo Xueying. “The master of Blackwind Divine Palace, after all, was a being who suppressed an era. His legacy palace is not easily conquerable.”

“I know.” Dongbo Xueying also stood up, touching his chest, his bones and internal organs rapidly recovering.

“Never thought that just entering the divine palace, after defeating the gatekeepers, I’d be crushed right here in the corridor and steps.” Dongbo Xueying lightly shook his head. He raised his hand, and the green-armored guardian immediately transformed into a stream of air, quickly wrapping around Dongbo Xueying’s wrist. “Originally, I wanted to charge through relying on my strength, seeing how far I could go. Seems the gap is still too big.”

“Knowing the gap is good.” The gray-robed man said indifferently. “If you didn’t have the Xia Clan’s Divine Realm Battle Construct, I would definitely give you an unforgettable lesson!”

“The gap is indeed big. A frontal assault won’t work anymore.” Dongbo Xueying smiled. “But can you guys even touch me now?”

Hua.

Dongbo Xueying vanished into thin air.

“Where is he? Where did he go?” The gray-robed man was greatly alarmed, looking around. “How could he disappear? In the master’s divine palace, with layers of formations, space is sealed. How could he vanish? Where did he go?”

He couldn’t find Dongbo Xueying at all now!

In another world…

The other side of the real world…

“Sigh, never thought I’d be forced to use this move so soon.” The black-robed youth walked through a vast world. This world seemed like a reflection of the real world, identical to it. But this was the ‘Illusory Realm.’ Only those who had thoroughly studied the Illusory Realm could enter this mysterious world with their physical bodies.

The Dao of Illusion was inferior in offensive power compared to a third-tier Dao. Yet, it was exceedingly difficult for even the mightiest warriors in the material realm to detect or strike at those who dwelled within the Illusory Realm.

When Dongbo Xueying arrived at the entrance of Blackwind Divine Palace, he discovered this.

Teleportation? Space was sealed, making teleportation impossible!

To the extreme of penetration? Under the overwhelming might of the Blackwind Divine Palace, the resistance was too formidable to overcome.

But the Illusory Realm?

The formations of Blackwind Divine Palace couldn’t affect the Illusory Realm. Those who mastered the Illusory Realm were called the most terrifying assassins. This was no exaggeration. It was easy to hinder extreme piercing, but to block the Illusory Realm… one would either have to encounter another existence with deeper mastery of the Illusory Realm Dao or be able to completely isolate the worlds! Completely isolating both the real world and the Illusory Realm!

But both were extremely difficult. In the history of the Xia Clan, besides Dongbo Xueying, there was only one other who mastered a second-tier Dao. Among second-tier Daos, mastery of the Illusory Realm Dao was extremely rare.

Encountering a second person who mastered the Illusory Realm? How difficult was that?

As for isolating the real world and the Illusory Realm, this was something only a god could accomplish.

“Hu.” Dongbo Xueying walked through the Illusory Realm.

“Where did he go? How could he disappear like that? What kind of rule mystery allows him to bypass the master’s formations?” The gray-robed man couldn’t believe it.

Pah.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, materializing above his head, patting his skull.

“You keep searching.” Dongbo Xueying’s mocking voice came.

“Hmm?”

The gray-robed man swung his palm upward, but above him was completely empty. Dongbo Xueying’s hand had already withdrawn into the Illusory Realm.

“What method does he possess?” The gray-robed man looked around in all directions.

Dongbo Xueying leisurely walked within the Illusory Realm, continuously advancing deeper into Blackwind Divine Palace. In the real world, Blackwind Divine Palace had layers of formations and obstacles, but in the Illusory Realm, it was completely unobstructed. Everything was under Dongbo Xueying’s observation. While observing, Dongbo Xueying also discovered many obstacles and dangers within Blackwind Divine Palace, along with numerous creatures stronger than the gray-robed man. The terrifying power of Blackwind Divine Palace was no exaggeration.

But no matter how terrifying it was, it was useless!

Because none of them could detect Dongbo Xueying within the Illusory Realm, let alone attack him.