A heavy stone door blocked both Jill Young and Jack Young outside.
Her kick failed to make a dent, but Jill Young didn’t freeze or hesitate. As soon as she landed, she threw another punch without missing a beat. "Hyaa!" Boom—thunder and wind roared. Power surged from the ground, her core and stance united, and a full-force Collapse Fist smashed into the door like a bolt of lightning.
Crack! Shattered-glass light and shadows condensed to the size of a platter, destructive force relentlessly grinding against the stone door. But wave after wave of black ripples spread and bounced back, like a boat held firm by gentle water, absorbing the punch. The fierce collision lasted for ages, and when the glassy shards finally faded, the stone door still looked totally unharmed!
Jill Young pulled back her fist and took a step back. She exhaled, then frowned and widened her eyes, both shocked and frustrated: "What the heck is this thing?!"
"Hold on, let me try." Jack Young stepped forward, raising a hand to gently rest it on the stone door. He closed his eyes, carefully sensing the door. His perception stretched out like thousands of fine tendrils, flowing into the stone like liquid mercury. Jill instantly cooperated, stomping hard—boom! The ground shook, a powerful shockwave traveling through the rock and sending tons of info back to Jack’s palm and nerves.
Jack Young opened his eyes, serious: "The stone itself is normal—just regular rock, regular structure, regular door." So the stone wasn’t magical, but that wasn’t necessarily good news, since it pointed to other problems. "It’s Sauron. His dark magic reinforced this door. If we want in, we have to break the magical seal."
"Then hurry up!" Jill Young was visibly anxious. "Looks like Sauron’s even tougher than we thought. Jasper Xiao’s locked up alone in there, and I’m worried he can’t hold out. We need to bust in and back him up—fast!"
"Let me try to find a weak spot in this dark magic." Jack Young, on high alert, focused all his energy and placed both hands on the stone door. He shut his eyes, powered up, and—buzz!—his Demolition Palm technique came out. Black ripples instantly spread from where his palms landed, flowing out and back, layer after layer dissolving any incoming force.
Up and down, crisscrossing, Jack Young’s palms kept switching up the frequency of his strikes. Sometimes heavy and precise, sometimes light and lightning-fast, and sometimes both hands worked together in sync. This extreme technique was a massive drain on stamina and focus—after just a few seconds, sweat was already beading on Jack’s forehead.
But no matter how hard he tried, Jack’s expression never relaxed—in fact, it grew more and more grim. The black ripples kept pulsing, showing no sign of running out of steam. Finally, Jack abruptly pulled his hands back and opened his eyes. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and his face was especially solemn: "Even Internal Martial Arts can’t crack it. This dark magic is fundamentally way above ordinary magic—almost no weak points. Even top-tier internal energy users wouldn’t stand a chance. Only someone at the Infinite or Grand Limit level could maybe match its quality. Finding a shortcut? Not likely."
"Then forget shortcuts—let's go strength for strength, power for power, and muscle our way in!" Jill Young’s brows sharpened like blades, radiating fierce energy. She and Jack Young stood shoulder to shoulder at the gate, raising their left and right hands in perfect sync without a word. Left and right palms faced each other, yin and yang energy gathered in their hands, attracting one another and forming a magnetic field.
Fight high-level energy with high-level energy!
Crackle! Golden lightning flashed again as a strange radiance appeared out of nowhere between their palms. With the twins’ energy pouring in, the radiance grew from a tiny spark to the size of a ping-pong ball. This orb of light looked weightless, yet somehow heavy enough to crush mountains—totally bizarre.
The twins nodded gravely at each other, then pushed the orb of radiance onto the gate at the same time.
Boom! The strange radiance clashed violently with the dark magic. It was like Sun Wukong jamming his staff into the White Dragon Pool—this time, the dark magic didn’t ripple in circles, but whipped up a massive whirlpool. The magic surged up like ocean waves, crashing into the orb over and over. But the orb was like an unstoppable drill, slowly and stubbornly grinding the dark magic to bits, inching its way through the stone gate.
Crackle! The friction between the radiance and the dark magic sparked tiny flashes of electricity. Pale lightning danced through the dark magic’s patterns, swirling like a vortex.
The twins pushed forward like they were shoving a mountain, gritting their teeth and pouring in everything they had. The ground cracked under their feet, sinking bit by bit—this showdown was tougher than anything they’d ever faced.
Jill Young’s veins were about to pop on her forehead. Gasping for breath, she couldn’t help but yell: "Damn, why’s this so hard?! Seriously, how did Old Xiao open it just now? Why was it so easy for him and so tough for us—did Sauron let him in on purpose, tricking him into a trap? That guy can’t be that dumb, right?!"
While the twins were going all out on the door, on the other side, Jasper Xiao stepped into the final hall.
He looked solemn, walking neither fast nor slow, each step steady and sure. The hall wasn’t endless, but under the influence of a powerful will, Jasper Xiao saw himself striding across a vast, boundless dark wasteland. In the void, countless sparkling shards floated down like snowflakes, drifting toward him.
Those weren’t snowflakes—they were fragments of will and memory radiating from a certain presence.
Each shard floated past Jasper Xiao, drifting by him and spinning away into the endless darkness behind. Scenes flashed before his eyes—moments personally experienced by that presence, now laid bare for him to witness.
A great presence brings a great life—far heavier than any ordinary person could bear, maybe even enough to break the mind. But Jasper Xiao didn’t flinch, didn’t avoid, didn’t ignore. He looked at every fragment, never shaken by any of them. He just kept moving forward, step by steady step.
Jill Young’s offhand comment was spot-on: the only reason Jasper Xiao got in was because the being inside let him. That presence was reaching the final stage of a process—under the heavens, there was no longer any rival. But Jasper Xiao didn’t fear; this time, he was willing, and the two of them understood each other perfectly.
In just ten steps, he crossed the endless wasteland and arrived before the dark throne.
He looked up and saw the legendary Dark Lord sitting on a stone throne. Sauron wore no armor—he, or it, was actually an incredibly handsome young man. His whole body radiated a noble glow, and his jet-black eyes were as deep as the night sky. He rested his hand on his forehead, his pose elegant and graceful. He gazed deeply at the hero before him, not with the look of facing a mortal enemy, but with calm delight, like greeting a true friend.
He spoke, his voice echoing through the dark wasteland like a grand hymn: "You’ve come."
"I’m here." Jasper Xiao didn’t draw his sword or bristle with hostility. He simply met the Dark Lord’s gaze, no hatred or malice in his eyes—just pure courage: "I’ve come to do what I must."
"Good. But we still have a little time, so let’s talk—and maybe clear up a few mysteries for each other." On the throne’s back, nine empty slots now burned with black flames. The Dark Lord sat surrounded by the black fire, and with a flick of his hand, countless shards of light appeared, spinning with his fingers. "After seeing all this, what do you think?"
Jasper Xiao was silent for a moment, then replied seriously: "I don’t believe in fate, but I admit—our meeting today is no accident or coincidence."
"Yes, I’ve been waiting for this day a long time. Since you arrived in this world, I—and all the beings of the Shadow Realm—have been watching you. To the gloomy Shadow Realm, you’re like the sun to darkness, and we hate you for it. At first, I wanted to tear you apart, but later I realized how narrow-minded I was. You and I were destined to meet, just like this." Sauron gestured elegantly at himself: "Tell me, what do you think of this beautiful, virtuous body of mine?"
Jasper Xiao replied with a hint of mockery: "It’s disgusting." Sauron had once used this virtuous appearance to deceive the elves—the story of the One Ring started because of it.
But Sauron wasn’t angry—in fact, he seemed pleased: "Exactly, it is disgusting. Such a beautiful exterior is the thing I can’t stand most. Paladin, answer me this: I know you’ve suffered endlessly along the way, but why do you insist on opposing me?"
"Because what you destroy is exactly what I want to protect." Jasper Xiao didn’t care if he offended Sauron—he answered honestly, no hesitation: "You and I are natural enemies."
"Exactly! That’s it!" For some reason, Sauron broke into a dazzling smile: "It’s not about any lame excuse, or petty squabbles over interests—we’re enemies simply because we’re born that way. And that’s the best part!"
Jasper Xiao frowned: "What are you getting at?"
"What I mean is, we’re both extremely alike and completely opposite—opposite at the core. What you call ‘beauty’ is, to me, the height of ugliness. I see this so-called beautiful body like you see maggots in the mud. What you love, I find unbearable trash. What you think must be destroyed, I see as perfectly natural. So, Paladin, do you really think only you represent justice?"
Sauron smiled faintly and raised his hand, suddenly shining with holy light: "To me, what I stand for is my own justice. Undeniable, natural, absolute justice."