A Heavenly King as the First Monster After a Newbie Left the Village?

Lu Li stopped hesitating and turned to flee Annihilape's line of sight.

He might have been a Cultivator, but he was one who leaned toward life-oriented skills. The only thing that could barely count as an offensive method seemed to be the Spirit Farmer's Golden Needle Technique.

But that was meant for dealing with spirit insects in the Immortal Cultivation World. With his Qi Condensation Stage 1 strength, Annihilape could slaughter him with ease.

Following the principle of running if he could not win, Lu Li chose a strategic retreat.

Running away might be shameful, but it would definitely work at a time like this.

However, the moment Lu Li turned around, Annihilape appeared in front of him like a ghost, blocking his path.

Wait, wasn't Annihilape Ghost-type to begin with?

After making that silent, speechless quip, Lu Li prepared himself for a desperate fight.

What puzzled Lu Li was that the Annihilape blocking his way did not attack. Instead, it pointed at the Big Tree where it had been standing earlier.

It was a massive tree that would take seven people to wrap their arms around. Annihilape had just been standing on its trunk.

"Boss, what do you want?"

After taking a step back, Lu Li asked with utmost sincerity.

At that moment, Lu Li also noticed that the Annihilape before him was somewhat unusual.

Normally, Pokémon like Annihilape were considered extremely dangerous. Since they evolved through the fury of Rage Fist, few Annihilape were able to remain rational.

This was the truth he had inferred through the game and his studies in this world. Though it was only a guess, it was probably close to the truth.

After all, much Pokémon knowledge could be applied across the board.

Annihilape's eyes remained blood-red as it pointed at the Big Tree behind it again.

After swallowing nervously, Lu Li tested the waters. "You want me to go under that tree?"

"Anni~"

Annihilape nodded.

Considering the gap in their strength, Lu Li chose to cooperate with the boss.

Only after reaching the tree did Lu Li realize that there was something off about it.

Lu Li gently stroked the tree's Outer Skin and murmured, "This is... the trace of Secret Power?"

In this world, Secret Power was a rather interesting move. Outside of battle, its effect was to carve out an extremely concealed Secret Space within an object.

"Anni!"

Lu Li only felt a devastating blow to his butt before his entire body slammed straight into the Big Tree.

After kicking Lu Li into the tree, Annihilape nodded in satisfaction before jumping into it as well.

Having been kicked into the Secret Space, Lu Li curiously surveyed his surroundings.

At that moment, Lu Li understood where the points emitting attribute energy that he had seen with the Spirit Sight Technique had come from.

This truly was a Secret Realm, and an exceptionally well-hidden one at that.

How is this possible? Someone used Secret Power to create a Secret Space inside a Big Tree, and the entrance to a Secret Realm just happened to be inside that Secret Space? Is it a coincidence, or did someone do this deliberately? Lu Li calmly analyzed everything.

First, the possibility of coincidence could be ruled out.

To begin with, this world did not possess technology capable of freely controlling Secret Realm Entrances. At present, the most advanced Secret Realm technology humanity had developed was the ability to close Secret Realm Entrances.

But freely controlling the location of a Secret Realm Entrance was clearly beyond humanity's capabilities. Perhaps it could be done, but someone of his status could not access such technology.

But regardless of which possibility it was, the Secret Realm Entrance appearing within this Secret Space was absolutely no coincidence.

Annihilape, which had jumped in after him, walked up to the Secret Realm Entrance.

"Anni~"

Annihilape impatiently waved its hand, signaling Lu Li to hurry up and follow.

Seeing this, Lu Li already knew how to cooperate with the boss.

Rubbing one aching half of his butt, Lu Li limped after Annihilape.

The Secret Realm Entrance looked like a mass of transparent light. After passing through that light, a novel world unfolded before Lu Li.

"So this is a Secret Realm!" Lu Li exclaimed sincerely.

Crystal Big Trees towering into the clouds, attribute energy denser than outside, and...

Lu Li stared blankly at the Pokémon that had just flown overhead, seemingly a Salamence.

Lu Li: "!!!"

"What kind of heavenly Secret Realm is this?!" Lu Li was stunned once again.

He had encountered a Salamence the moment he entered? That was a Pseudo-Legendary!

What status did Pseudo-Legendaries hold in this world? They were the strongest Pokémon that only the descendants of players from the game's launch era could enjoy!

Even the League's publicly acknowledged richest man would likely go bankrupt without managing to obtain a Pseudo-Legendary. That alone showed how rare they were.

Blinded by the Pseudo-Legendary, Lu Li even forgot about Annihilape's strange behavior and why it had brought him here.

"Anni!!!"

Annihilape impatiently urged him from ahead.

Coming back to his senses, Lu Li hurriedly followed Annihilape.

The agile Annihilape quickly climbed a Big Tree, then urged Lu Li to follow from above.

Looking at the towering Big Tree before him, Lu Li began climbing with gritted teeth. Fortunately, he was a Cultivator now. Otherwise, the height of this Big Tree alone would have driven a Half-baked Trainer like him to despair.

After climbing for nearly twenty minutes, Lu Li finally saw Annihilape enter a round Treehouse. Knowing he had reached the destination, Lu Li quickly followed.

The Treehouse's layout was remarkably sparse. Aside from a table, there was only a bed.

However, on the table sat a notebook, along with several ancient-looking, battered Primitive Tools.

"Anni~"

Annihilape pointed at the notebook on the table.

"You mean you want me to read this?" Lu Li asked.

Annihilape nodded.

Curious, Lu Li picked up the notebook from the table.

Hello, young man.

By the time you see this notebook, I should have become nothing more than dry bones. This was the ending Future God Miraidon had long told me of.

You cannot imagine the power of that deity. It is the Thunder God and the God of Storms, the incarnation of lightning. Wherever it goes, "Skyfire" descends—that is, lightning—and I was fortunate enough to witness that god's true form!

It was the highest honor, and the crowning moment of my life.

"Miraidon?"

Lu Li raised an eyebrow when he saw this. Miraidon's reputation in this world was this impressive?

After musing over it for a moment, Lu Li continued reading.

Though I am trapped in this Secret Realm and cannot leave, I know that one day, this Secret Realm will reconnect with the world.

I may die and even be forgotten, but the things I have researched should not vanish into the river of history with me.

My life was devoted to pursuing the world's most complete Pokémon Compendium. But as I encountered more and more Pokémon, I discovered that this world ultimately had its regrets.

No matter how I searched, I could not see Pokémon from the past, nor could I see Pokémon from the future. How could the world have something so cruel? So I began researching the past and the future.

Then... I opened Pandora's Box. I succeeded! I successfully created the world's first Time Machine.

That was also the beginning of every nightmare. When the Time Machine went out of control, it destroyed my laboratory and brought me to this Secret Realm drifting beyond the world.

Here, I experienced humanity's most eternal loneliness—having no Companions.