A Hair's Breadth from Disaster

A powerful voice rang out, and then the smoke dispersed. A monkey with white hair and a tiger-skin vest appeared in the Kamui Dimension. This was the Monkey Demon King, known as the strongest summoned beast.

Lin Yu looked at the Monkey Demon King before him and immediately cast an appraisal on it.

"Monkey Demon King (potential increasing), Rank Nine (strength sealed, currently Rank Four)."

"Rank Nine!"

Lin Yu's eyes lit up, but when he saw the note that its strength was sealed, a bad feeling rose within him.

"9527, what's going on? Why is the Monkey Demon King's strength sealed?"

"Uh, Dad, it can't be helped. Your current strength is too weak. You simply can't summon a summoned beast at the Monkey Demon King's level, so the system could only temporarily seal its strength."

Lin Yu froze for a moment before recalling the time he had summoned the Blazing Flame Mad Tiger. Back then, he had clearly sensed that, with his current strength, he could at most summon one more Rank Four summoned beast. So that was why the system had been able to summon the Monkey Demon King for him—but only by sealing its strength.

"Now I'm out of options. Do I really have to take a gamble with Flying Raijin and Kamui?"

Looking at the Monkey Demon King, whose strength was reduced to only Rank Four, Lin Yu felt utterly helpless. How the hell was this supposed to stop Sikong Luohe? It would probably get sent flying with a single slap.

"Dad, it's not like there's no way. I can secretly open a backdoor and temporarily restore the Monkey Demon King's strength to Rank Eight. But the restored strength can only last for two minutes at most, and afterward, the Monkey Demon King will enter a month-long dormant period."

Lin Yu's eyes lit up at once. Wasn't this a light at the end of the tunnel? He had already been prepared to take a risk, yet things had unexpectedly taken a turn for the better.

"Good job, 9527! By the way, 9527, will this affect the Monkey Demon King's potential increase?"

"It won't, Dad! This is only temporarily overdrawing the Monkey Demon King's strength. It won't affect its potential increase."

"Then that's fine. It's only a month of dormancy. Let's get through this crisis first."

The Monkey Demon King was currently a Rank Nine Emperor-class being. If its potential rose further, it might even advance to Emperor rank in the future. It would have been far too regrettable if its potential increase failed because of this, but fortunately, it had not come to that.

"Monkey Demon, there's a Rank Eight enemy outside. In a moment, I'll temporarily unseal your strength, but afterward, I may have to trouble you to sleep for a month."

"Don't worry, Master. Your enemy is my enemy. It's only a month of dormancy—just treat it as sleep. Besides, I can feel some kind of change happening within my body. I have a feeling that once my dormancy ends, my strength will improve further. So I should be thanking Master for this gift!"

Lin Yu had not expected the Monkey Demon King to be so sensitive that it could actually sense the changes in its body. The Blazing Flame Mad Tiger had not been able to feel it before. As expected of a powerful summoned beast with Rank Nine strength.

"Mm, that's because your potential is increasing. You'll understand the benefits once it's complete. Alright, I need to head out first. Wait here for a while, and I'll release you later."

"Yes, Master!"

After giving the Monkey Demon King a few instructions, Lin Yu directly used Kamui to leave the Kamui Dimension.

Outside, in the Flame Secret Realm, Lin Yu staggered the moment he emerged from the Kamui Dimension. The little spiritual power he had restored with the Soldier Rations Pill was drained dry again.

"The consumption of Kamui really is terrifying. If my body hadn't been altered by Wood Release and gained spiritual power far beyond that of ordinary people, I really wouldn't be able to use it now."

Feeling the emptiness within his body, Lin Yu sighed inwardly, then grabbed several Soldier Rations Pills and stuffed them all into his mouth.

After a while, under the combined effects of Wood Release's powerful recovery and the Soldier Rations Pills, Lin Yu finally restored his spiritual power to its peak.

"Time to meet the Eternal Night Church's Right Protector. I wonder how Sister Xuejun is doing now."

Lin Yu sensed the Flying Raijin mark he had left on the battlefield before departing, then directly used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport over.

The moment Lin Yu appeared, he heard the sounds of battle in the distance.

"Good. I'm not too late."

Lin Yu's hanging heart settled temporarily, but before he could make a move, a familiar furious roar rang through the heavens.

"Dragon Shadow Shatters Space!"

Lin Yu's expression changed. Looking toward the sound, he saw a dazzling azure light transform into an azure dragon that tore through the endless darkness and shot into the sky. Then, with unstoppable momentum, the azure dragon came crashing down. As it descended, the curtain of darkness enveloping the entire battlefield was violently ripped apart, revealing the two people inside.

Ji Xuejun gripped the Azure Dragon Heaven-Piercing Halberd with both hands and slashed fiercely at Sikong Luohe. Sikong Luohe, meanwhile, stood calmly in place as endless darkness above his head formed a pair of giant hands that forcibly blocked Ji Xuejun's overwhelmingly tyrannical strike.

Watching her most powerful attack get effortlessly stopped by Sikong Luohe, Ji Xuejun felt a wave of despair.

Up until now, none of her attacks had inflicted even the slightest injury on Sikong Luohe. Instead, she herself had been worn to exhaustion by his strange darkness ability.

The spiritual power in her body had already been completely depleted. She knew that when facing Sikong Luohe's next attack, she would have no ability to resist.

"Miss Ji, I've played with you for long enough. Isn't that enough? Can you come with me now?"

Sikong Luohe looked at the exhausted Ji Xuejun and spoke with admiration in his eyes.

The young woman before him was indeed one of the Federation's few great geniuses. At such a young age, she had forced him to use half his strength. Though he appeared completely uninjured now, that was only because his strength far surpassed Ji Xuejun's, creating an overwhelming suppression. If they had been at the same level, he truly would not have been her match.

Sikong Luohe now wanted more than ever to recruit Ji Xuejun into the Eternal Night Church.

With her powerful background and unparalleled talent, a genius like her would be the perfect helper in building the Kingdom of God.

"Heh. Are you dreaming? If you want this lady to go with you, then make this lady your god!"

Although Ji Xuejun was in a sorry state, there was obviously no way she would surrender without a fight. She clenched the Azure Dragon Heaven-Piercing Halberd in her hand and frantically squeezed the last remnants of spiritual power from her depleted body.

"Then there's no other way. Miss Ji, forgive me."

After saying that, Sikong Luohe no longer held back. Under his control, the giant hand formed from dark energy slammed viciously toward Ji Xuejun's small yet unyielding body.

Looks like this is where I die today. I wonder if they've escaped far enough already.

Watching the heaven-reaching giant hand descend with momentum capable of crushing everything, Ji Xuejun smiled bitterly inwardly. She raised her weapon and resolutely charged forward.

At that critical moment, Ji Xuejun suddenly felt an enormous pulling force acting upon her body. Then she was sent flying backward at incredible speed.

"Universal Pull!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Ji Xuejun froze, then her expression changed drastically. Immediately afterward, she felt herself fall into a warm embrace.