High risk also meant high reward. Although ruined realms contained all sorts of bizarre things, there were also many valuable treasures. Some people, through sheer luck, returned from a ruined realm with items that skyrocketed their strength, instantly becoming top-tier powerhouses.
It was precisely this gamble-like, high-risk profit that made countless factions continue to value ruined realms.
Some factions even controlled certain lower-danger ruined realms specifically to train their younger generations.
Most of the major dangers in these controlled realms had already been cleared, and most treasures had been taken. Searching for opportunities inside them was unrealistic.
Vali's group had no intention of going to ruined realms controlled by others. Instead, they chose uncontrolled realms—true high-risk, high-reward locations.
Entering such realms was all about finding opportunities to grow stronger.
During the journey, Vali's teammates introduced themselves to Raize. Raizen found himself rather fond of talking with the guy called Bikou.
Bikou was cheerful and loved joking around. When he introduced himself as a descendant of Sun Wukong, Raize immediately complained, "It's really hard to imagine Sun Wukong having descendants."
Bikou didn't mind the jab. After all, in most people's impressions, Sun Wukong didn't seem like someone interested in women at all.
But after Raize asked a series of bizarre questions, even the others in the team couldn't help but laugh.
Raize asked, "Can you do the Seventy-Two Transformations?"
"Well… I can do basic shapeshifting," Bikou replied, sounding uncertain.
"I mean the seventy-two minor divine techniques, not the simple transformations from cartoons."
"…I can't," Bikou said stiffly.
"Then can your cloud carry you one hundred and eight thousand miles in a single flip?"
"…No."
"Then does the Golden staff you're carrying weigh thirteen thousand five hundred lbs?"
"…This staff isn't the original one. It can only extend and grow according to my will."
By this point, dark clouds practically hung over Bikou's head. Seeing the undisguised disappointment in Raize's eyes, he felt that the value of his identity as Sun Wukong's descendant had dropped to zero.
It was the first time Kuroka had seen the normally cheerful Bikou look so depressed. Finding it amusing, she covered her mouth and laughed softly, stepping in to ease the awkwardness.
"Little brother, whether it's Bikou or his ancestor, comparing them to Journey to the West will always mix truth with fiction."
"In the ancient Eastern Heavenly Court, the original Sun Wukong was strong, but he wasn't capable of rampaging through a heaven filled with powerful experts. Conflicts did happen, but now he's the Victorious Fighting Buddha, retired, and no longer has that violent temper."
If Sun Wukong truly had the abilities described in Journey to the West, he would already be among the top powerhouses of the world. In reality, while Sun Wukong was indeed famous, he didn't possess the level of strength needed to storm the underworld or wreak havoc in heaven.
Raizen nodded in understanding and stopped comparing this world's Sun Wukong with the Monkey King from his memories. They simply weren't on the same level.
"Hey, don't be so down. Have a peach."
Seeing Bikou's gloomy expression, Raize directly handed him a spiritual peach.
Bikou's nose twitched. He stared blankly at the fragrant, oversized peach before instinctively taking it. When he came back to his senses and saw Raize's look—like he was staring at a zoo animal—he immediately exploded.
"What's with that look you give zoo monkeys?! I'm a monkey who inherited the bloodline of the Victorious Fighting Buddha Sun Wukong, part of the strongest battle race!"
"But you're still a monkey. Be good, don't be angry, eat the peach."
"I swear—!"
Bikou wanted to challenge Raize, but considering they were in the dimensional gap—and recalling Raize's strength and bizarre copying ability—he knew fighting him would end badly.
Still sulking, Bikou vented his frustration by taking a huge bite of the peach. The sweet, luscious flesh made his eyes light up, and he quickly devoured it until only the pit remained.
"Enough. We've arrived."
Vali reminded everyone as Arthur's bubble pierced through a layer of distorted darkness. The scenery before them changed abruptly, putting everyone on high alert.
Crash—
A strange sound echoed through the dimensional gap, like the roar of waves.
In the darkened space ahead, chaotic colors began to flicker into view…
"That is—"
Raizen murmured, but before he could finish, the chaotic colors expanded violently, swallowing the space ahead. A massive voi appeared, revealing a vast, twisted wasteland.
Irregular, distorted objects floated endlessly within it.
Raizen saw a square, foam-like existence collide with a round bubble. In the next second, it stretched into noodle-like strands, snapped a few seconds later, and vanished into nothingness.
Everything here was strange. Everything was twisted. And yet, nothing seemed obviously special.
But could that really be the case?
Of course not.
If a top-tier law-level powerhouse were present, their perspective would be completely different. Within those irregular objects were reflections of dying stars. Inside the largest fragment, one could see a silent, dead universe.
These were all remnants on the path to destruction. Some contained fragments of universes, but only tiny pieces—perhaps one or two tenths the size of a solar system.
At that moment, the system inside him spoke.
[These are all fragments of destroyed worlds, piled up in the void of dimensional space like garbage in an ocean. One day, the world you currently inhabit will also reach its end and become part of this debris.]
Hearing Nep's low voice, Raizen felt a sting in his eyes. Streams of rune-like code flashed across his vision. When he rubbed his eyes and looked again, the scene had changed drastically.
"…This…"
Raizen was left speechless, his eyes filled with shock. Within those floating irregular forms, he saw something far deeper.
The birth of countless universes. The passage of eras. The relentless flow of time. The rise and fall of mortal worlds…
Most shocking of all were the countless reflections of once-living beings within those bubble-like fragments. Not just humans, but all kinds of life forms, their pasts unfolding before him.
Joy, confusion, anger, sorrow, love, pain, despair, unwillingness… The information contained in these remnants was chaotic beyond measure, yet all-encompassing.
Raizen's gaze grew heavy. There were simply too many of them. All were remnants of worlds, vast beyond imagination.
If they had still been whole, what kind of scene would this place be?
He couldn't even imagine it. The system's intervention left him deeply shaken.
The others, focused on their surroundings, didn't notice Raizen's expression. Arthur's bubble was already flying toward a relatively intact ruined realm.
When the bubble collided with the realm, Raizen's vision blurred. The torrents of information vanished instantly, and the scenery changed completely.
Crack—!
Space ahead fractured like a mirror, black cracks spreading rapidly. As they passed through, thunderous energy roared within the cracks, light scattering violently.
After two seconds of distortion, a flash of brightness appeared. The environment was no longer twisted.
"We're here. Everyone stay alert. One mistake could cost your life."
Vali scanned the unfamiliar landscape cautiously. They were suspended high in the sky beneath heavy, dark clouds.
Looking up, two purple moons hung in the night sky—one full, one crescent.
If those were real celestial bodies, they should have collided at such proximity, yet they remained intact.
Below them stretched vast forests of vegetation unlike anything on Earth.
Arthur did not descend immediately, instead maintaining flight while scouting the area. The others remained vigilant.
Raizen frowned at the dark clouds around them. Seeing his expression, Vali asked,
"What is it? Did you notice something unusual?"
"These… seem to be clouds formed entirely from extremely fine dark energy," Raizen said, pointing at the drifting black clouds.
Because the bubble isolated them, no one else could directly sense it.
Releasing the barrier without understanding the environment would be extremely reckless.
Others couldn't sense it, but Raizen carried holy energy within him and was highly sensitive to opposing dark power.
"What?!"
Everyone stared at the endless black clouds. All of this was condensed dark energy?
What level of power was required to create such a phenomenon?
Vali exchanged a glance with Arthur and Le Fay. They nodded in understanding.
Le Fay stepped closer to the bubble's edge and placed her hands against it. Arthur slightly weakened the barrier.
A golden magic circle briefly appeared outside the bubble, then vanished.
Le Fay withdrew her hands, forming a small magic barrier in her palms that captured traces of the black mist outside.
Kuroka and Bikou examined it closely, then nodded gravely at Vali.
There was no doubt—it was dark energy. All the surrounding clouds were formed from condensed dark power.
"Vali, should we descend?" Arthur asked cautiously.
The sky was clearly unsafe, but descending onto unexplored ground was another risk.
"I think the ground might be dangerous too…"
Suddenly, Kuroka sensed something and spoke up, immediately turning to the left.
At the same moment, Raizen was also alerted by the word "danger" flashing in his mind and looked in the same direction.
In the distance was a creature that looked as if its entire body were composed of enormous circular disks, its surface covered in scale-like armor resembling that of a crocodile.
The patterns on those scales undulated constantly, converging toward a single point at the center of the disk.
Seen from afar, the thing looked like a gigantic "flower."
But it was deeply unsettling to look at, giving off an extremely nauseating feeling.
This was a living, unknown species, and nearby were several gigantic creatures hundreds of meters tall, towering like mountains.
Their entire bodies were covered in disgusting grayish-white wrinkled skin. Below them were long, thick limbs shaped like massive cones, with twelve enormous legs supporting their colossal bodies.
Their bulk was comparable to aircraft carriers. From the top of each massive body extended three head-like segments. On each of these segments was an eyeball as large as a hot-air balloon. Three crystal-clear spheres like glass marbles were arranged in a triangular formation across the three head segments.
There were over a hundred of these massive creatures, and among them, ten appeared to have turned toward Raizen and the others.
Upon seeing their appearance, Raizen felt a vague sense of familiarity. When the three glass-like giant eyes atop one of the distant creatures suddenly began to gather intense purple light—
Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger—!
Everyone inside the bubble felt the sensation of being locked onto by something. At the same time, sealed memories within Raizen resurfaced, and recognition struck.
Raizen's eyes widened as he looked at Arthur and shouted urgently, "Arthur, descend now!!!"
Arthur's expression sharpened. Raizen had already been the first to sense the surrounding dark mist earlier, so this sudden warning could only mean an emergency. Without hesitation, Arthur immediately began controlling the bubble to plunge downward.
But it seemed they were still a step too late.
The next moment, a terrifying scene unfolded.
Zzzzing——!!!
Dozens of massive pillars of light erupted simultaneously, streaking across the sky at the speed of light and tearing apart the black clouds.
The speed of light was the upper limit of what a material universe could contain. That meant as long as these beams—large enough to engulf entire mountains—were accurately aimed, very few beings could evade them.
Since those unknown lifeforms with gigantic eyes possessed such firing power, their accuracy was undoubtedly terrifying.
Each of these enormous beams carried astonishing energy. Any single one was no weaker than Vali's previous Dragon Breath in his Juggernaut state. Dozens combined far surpassed it.
Boom—!!!!
The massive mountain ahead was pierced clean through, entire sections completely vaporized. The black clouds in the sky were effortlessly torn apart.
Szzzz—
Arthur's bubble was grazed by one of the beams. Terrifying energy scraped violently against the defensive barrier, sparks exploding right before their eyes.
This bubble was capable of traveling through the dimensional gap, so its defenses were naturally formidable. Though it didn't crack, it shook violently.
Raizen and the others felt as if they were standing inside a roller coaster plunging at full speed.