Chapter 29: There is nothing special about the setting sun, yet it still manages to shine!

The sunset may not be anything special, but it still has the power to shine!

At this point, only a very short time had passed since the Color Monkey and Zhou Yu had charged into the wild boar horde. Although Zhou Yu and the Color Monkey were exceptionally fierce, they found themselves in a predicament once the boar soldiers regained their composure and organized effectively.

Wave after wave of boar soldiers surged forward like a fountain. Two of Zhou Yu’s eight clones were destroyed, forcing him to weave hand seals once more. This time, he managed to conjure only five, bringing his total to eleven, which barely held off the onslaught.

Just then, Zhou Yu heard a faint, weak voice behind him.

"Help me break the seal."

Zhou Yu blasted a boar soldier away and looked back to see an old monkey in the troop watching him. The old monkey’s fur was matted with blood, forming crusty scabs, and several deep wounds that reached the bone had already begun to fester. Yet, his gaze was resolute, like that of a high monk who had practiced in seclusion for many years.

It had to be the old monkey with the strength of a Demon King! Zhou Yu leaped back into the monkey troop and moved close to him, asking, "How do I break it?"

"Channel your energy into my body. You only need to help me breach the seal, and I will be able to use my own power." Though the old monkey’s voice was weak, it remained steady, carrying a unique, commanding strength.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yu placed his hands against the old monkey’s back. He channeled all his energy into his arms, then carefully focused it through his palms into the old monkey’s body.

As soon as the black energy touched the old monkey, the long hairs on his back stood on end, and he let out a painful groan.

Zhou Yu asked, "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me! Use all your strength! Only then can we break the seal," the old monkey gritted out.

Zhou Yu never lacked decisiveness; after a brief warning, he pushed his energy to the limit. The old monkey’s body shuddered, and his skin could not withstand the surge of power, causing blood to seep from his pores.

"Continue!" the old monkey commanded.

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and pushed harder, flooding the old monkey with a massive surge of energy.

*Pfft!* The old monkey spat out a mouthful of dark blood.

A series of *pop-pop-pop* sounds echoed as several bloody holes burst open on the old monkey’s shoulders, chest, abdomen, and thighs, sending blood spraying into the air.

Startled, Zhou Yu withdrew his hands and asked cautiously, "Are you okay?"

The old monkey remained silent, head bowed and eyes closed, appearing as if he had fallen asleep. Zhou Yu couldn't help but reach out to tap the old monkey’s back. Just then, the old monkey’s entire body gave a violent jolt, and Zhou Yu heard a muffled, shattering sound.

The old monkey rose to his full height. His wounds began to heal rapidly, and demon power surged from within him, coating his body.

"Thank you," the old monkey said, turning to Zhou Yu before suddenly vanishing.

Zhou Yu felt a gust of wind sweep past and instinctively turned toward the Color Monkey’s position. He saw the old monkey had already appeared beside him. The speed of that leap was so great that Zhou Yu hadn’t even been able to track his movement.

"Scatter!" The old monkey waved his hand in mid-air, and a massive arm formed of demon power swept out, instantly swatting away a large group of boar soldiers. The force was so tyrannical that every boar hit was torn limb from limb.

Cries of agony erupted, and a rain of blood fell from the sky.

This single strike stunned the boar soldiers into silence. Though they were numerous, who among them did not fear death? Seeing the old monkey slaughter over a dozen of their kin with a wave of his hand, they stopped their charge and retreated cautiously, clearing a large space.

"Grandpa Monkey! Are you alright?" the Color Monkey asked, leaning on his golden staff and panting heavily.

"I am doing just fine." The old monkey scanned the surrounding boar soldiers; the corpses on the ground had piled into a small hill, and blood flowed like a river. "You have grown much stronger over these years. I was right about you."

The old monkey retracted his gaze from the corpses and fixed it on the Color Monkey. Just as the Color Monkey was about to speak, a mace came flying toward the old monkey. He quickly moved to deflect it with his golden staff, but the weapon was deflected by the ripple of demon power around the old monkey before it could even get close. That energy seemed sentient, returning to surround the old monkey after repelling the mace.

"Remember!" the old monkey said.

He turned to face the horde, his eyes cutting through the dense mass of boars to lock onto the Black Boar. "Everything I am about to do, you must remember!"

The old monkey leaped, his speed so great it was nearly invisible to the naked eye. Yet, the Color Monkey’s gaze fell on the ground where the old monkey had pushed off; it was perfectly smooth, without a single mark, as if he had never stood there at all. At such speed, one would expect deep impressions to be left behind. The Color Monkey recalled the moment the old monkey exerted force—the demon power around him had undergone a drastic change in a split second, a change the Color Monkey hadn't fully grasped.

"Scatter!" the old monkey roared.

The Color Monkey looked up and saw that the demon power around the old monkey’s body had been pulled into a massive, distorted, and violent energy arm. It swept through the boar horde like someone swatting flies, turning a group of boars into pulp. The power was even greater than the Color Monkey’s golden staff!

"Transformation!" the Color Monkey exclaimed involuntarily.

"You old geezer!" Enraged by the old monkey’s ferocity, which had stunned thousands of his soldiers in two strikes, the Black Boar roared. "He’s at the end of his rope! Brothers, attack together! Kill him!"

The Black Boar leaped out of the horde, opened his mouth, and fired a blast of demon energy at the old monkey. Being in mid-air, the old monkey couldn't dodge, so he met the blast head-on with his energy arm.

*BOOM!*

The two forces collided with a thunderous roar, and the resulting shockwave left the nearby boar soldiers mangled and decimated.

"You are no ordinary beast, indeed," the old monkey remarked. He had observed the Black Boar’s breakthrough to the Demon King level. The Black Boar had chosen the path of physical reinforcement; it should have been impossible for him to master long-range energy blasts so quickly. Most Demon Kings spent their entire lives perfecting only one path. Yet, the Black Boar had mastered both immediately. Though unrefined, the power was formidable. Given time, becoming one of the Great Five Demon Kings was not out of the question.

As the old monkey landed, the energy arm retracted and resumed its role as a protective shroud. This time, the Color Monkey saw it more clearly: the transformation of the demon power seemed to follow a specific pattern.

"Take this!" The old monkey leaped again, heading straight for the Black Boar, his entire reserve of power manifesting as two arms.

The Black Boar shouted, waving his hand to toss several boar soldiers toward the old monkey.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The thrown soldiers were pulverized without exception. The old monkey was half the size of an average soldier, but he crushed them with a wave of his hand—this was the true power of a Demon King.

"Hah!" The Black Boar extended one hand, his arm coated in thick, dense energy. He caught one of the old monkey’s energy arms, gripped it tightly, and yanked the old monkey toward him, ignoring the other energy arm swinging toward his head.

*BOOM!*

The other arm struck the Black Boar’s protective barrier, nearly shattering it in a single punch. But there was no panic in the Black Boar’s eyes—only a triumphant grin.

"Hah!" The Black Boar roared, slamming the old monkey against his own body while still holding onto the energy arm. He intended to use his own defensive barrier to obliterate the old monkey.

*Rumble!*

The two Demon Kings collided, their defensive barriers manifesting as countless spheres of energy that exploded against each other.

"Hahahaha!" The Black Boar laughed maniacally, his arms locking the old monkey in place while letting the energy explode between them. "Let’s see who breaks first!" He looked insane, blood trickling from his mouth.

The old monkey’s face turned pale. The continuous explosions depleted his protective barrier layer by layer, causing it to grow highly unstable.

"Grandpa Monkey!" the Color Monkey cried out, leaping forward with his staff. As he jumped, he instinctively mimicked the old monkey, channeling energy into his legs.

*BOOM!*

The ground shattered under the Color Monkey’s leap, unable to withstand his violent energy. He became a streak of yellow light, arriving beside the Black Boar and the old monkey in an instant.

"Detonate!" the Black Boar roared. A ball of energy erupted from his mouth, striking the Color Monkey just as he raised his staff to strike.

"I was waiting for this! Die, you old geezer!" After firing the blast, the Black Boar released his grip, using the recoil from the collision of their defensive barriers to propel himself backward.

The old monkey, much smaller than the Black Boar, was also thrown back. He tumbled through the air several times before landing unsteadily. His body swayed, and he forcefully swallowed the blood rising in his throat.

No sooner had the Black Boar stopped than he surged forward at top speed, becoming a black shadow. The momentum was like a thunderbolt falling from the heavens. "You old monkey! So you shattered your Demon Core to gain temporary strength! But so what? You’re finished!"

Before the Black Boar could finish, his right fist, coated in ink-black energy, slammed into the old monkey’s chest.

"Watch closely!" the old monkey bellowed.

The Color Monkey scrambled up from the ground, eyes fixed on them.

The Black Boar’s earth-shattering punch hit the old monkey’s chest. The energy on the old monkey’s surface rushed to the point of impact, but instead of a violent explosion, there was only a strange silence. The old monkey’s demon power swirled in his chest, forming a vortex, with a web of energy spreading across his entire body behind it.

The force and energy of the Black Boar’s punch were sucked into the vortex and dispersed through the web to every part of the old monkey’s body. The old monkey’s frame frantically absorbed the energy, but it was too vast. The excess energy flowed to the ends of the web, transforming into countless thin, black turbulent streams.

Energy could be absorbed and dispersed, but the raw kinetic force of the Black Boar’s full-power punch had to be borne by the flesh.

The old monkey was sent flying, blood spraying from his mouth, painting a crimson rainbow in the air—much like the setting sun.

The sunset is a dying sun, light that will be replaced by darkness in the next moment. But the sunset is still the sun. As long as it hasn't truly set, as long as it hasn't been replaced by darkness, it can still shine, giving light to the whole world.

The Black Boar flew in pursuit, intending to finish the old monkey. But the old monkey’s drooping eyelids suddenly snapped open, a faint red light burning in his eyes—just like the final, glorious brilliance of the sun before it vanishes.