The weight crushed the monkey’s back, forcing it down.
But the golden monkey still struggled, trying hard to lift its head, veins and tendons bulging all over its body.
“It’s no use. Human strength has its limits. How can you fight against the entire world? Or maybe... it’s just that you’re not strong enough, yet,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head.
He waved both hands again, fully activating the God World, which came crashing down with unstoppable force.
The golden monkey roared, holding on for a short while.
Then its body gradually lowered as it yelled, “No more! I give up!”
The blue planet dropped completely, pressing the monkey flat to the ground, unable to move.
Xu Zimo had previously been taught how to use the demon seal by Paimon.
He formed hand seals with both hands, Infernal Force spread across the sky, and a Demon Seal slowly appeared in front of him.
“Accept this mark into your body, and you’ll live,” Xu Zimo said calmly.
“You want me to surrender? I, the Great Sage Heaven-Unity, would rather die than serve!” the monkey growled.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I never said I was going to kill you,” Xu Zimo replied. “I just need you to help me break a seal. After that, you’re free.”
“Really?” The monkey eyed Xu Zimo suspiciously. “I don’t believe a word you say. You can talk all you want, I won’t give in.”
“Do you recognize this?” Xu Zimo slowly pulled out the monkey statue.
“My Sage Body!” the monkey cried out in shock. “How do you have that?”
“I found it,” Xu Zimo said casually.
“You’ve been to the valley where I cultivated?” the monkey asked.
“Something like that,” Xu Zimo said. “So, what now?”
“Give me the Sage Body, and I’ll agree to your condition,” the monkey answered without hesitation.
Just as it finished speaking, there was a loud boom in the distance. Explosions shook the world around them.
The earth cracked open, and the Wind-Destroying Pearl above Xu Zimo’s head began to spin rapidly.
“What’s happening?” Xu Zimo looked into the distance.
Beyond the valley, the sky was in chaos, sandstorms, lightning, and thunder roared.
A tornado-like storm swept toward them at high speed.
“This is bad, it’s a Void Storm! Run, run!” the monkey shouted in panic.
“Space turbulence?” Xu Zimo asked.
“No! A Void Storm is a real disaster!” the monkey shouted. “This is all your fault! The battle earlier must’ve drawn it here!”
“I don’t get it,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head.
The monkey, despite its weak state, sprang up and took off running without hesitation.
“Hurry, use the Sage Body to guide us! We have to get out of the Path of No Return and back to Void Valley, it’s the only safe place!”
The two of them fled the valley, running through the fog.
As they escaped, the monkey gave a brief explanation.
All things in the world can have a spirit, humans, animals, and plants are born with it.
This is called innate spirit.
But there are also strange things in the world that can gain a spirit over time. These are called acquired spirits.
The Path of No Return is as ancient as the Primordial Heartlands.
In the beginning, it only had space turbulence.
But after countless years, some of that turbulence gained sentience.
These entities grew stronger by devouring other space currents.
Eventually, they formed what’s now called Void Storms.
These storms can devour everything and are made from countless waves of space turbulence. They are nearly unstoppable, especially in a place like the Path of No Return, which is their home turf.
The Void Spirit Monkey had lived here for ages. It knew how to stay safe by hiding from Void Storms in its valley.
When it needed to cultivate, it would leave the Path of No Return and go to the valley Xu Zimo entered earlier to avoid detection.
According to the monkey, someone had barged into its valley during a critical point in its training, and in its rush to hide, it accidentally dropped its Sage Body statue.
Though they kept running, the thick fog slowed them down.
The Void Storm caught up in no time.
“What now?” Xu Zimo shouted.
The monkey glanced at the incoming storm, then turned into a streak of light and dove into the golden monkey statue.
Xu Zimo was stunned but didn’t hesitate, he threw the statue into his God World.
An enormous suction force pulled from behind. He was moments away from being swept in.
Suddenly, a giant hand reached out from the void, Paimon emerged, surrounded by dark Infernal Force, resisting the Void Storm.
“My lord, this is the edge of a collapsing world. I can’t hold out much longer,” Paimon said seriously.
Xu Zimo realized he couldn’t even resist. His God Meridian cultivation was useless here, he was like an insect.
The Void Storm tried to drag him in, but Paimon blocked it.
Xu Zimo felt frozen, unable to move even an inch.
As time passed, the storm kept consuming surrounding space currents, growing stronger.
Xu Zimo’s vision blurred. Though his body was frozen, his soul was being pulled out, separating from his physical body.
“My lord!” Paimon shouted, preparing to open his tenth meridian gate, ready to risk everything to save Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo’s soul lifted upward. Just before vanishing, he saw a thin crack inside the storm, like a split in the sky, where the outline of another world flickered faintly.
“Don’t! Just protect my body. I’ll be back,” Xu Zimo shouted.
And then his soul was completely pulled into the rift within the Void Storm.
Darkness. Endless darkness surrounded him.
Xu Zimo’s consciousness faded. His senses shut down, and his mind drifted into sleep.
Before he blacked out, he felt as though he had been squeezed into a tiny, compressed space.
After that, all awareness disappeared.
The Eternal Lands, Nine Heavens Imperial Sect.