As soon as the punch landed on the barrier, the barrier shattered as its pieces flew everywhere before disappearing. 

Zhu Gong smiled as he looked at the Heavenly Emperor. 

"Old Li, you've certainly grown stronger. No wonder. I give this victory to you," He said before tossing an item to the Heavenly Emperor. "Since you won, I'm returning what I took from you."

"Are we done? Can I take my son back now?" he asked, smiling. 

The Heavenly Emperor was extremely pleased. He had only once lost to another person, and that too when he was young. That defeat was always in the back of his head. Finally, he had given it a closure, and he was happy now. 

Since he was in such a good mood, he nodded his head. "Yeah. You can take the brat back. Make sure he doesn't create trouble like this. He was lucky that he was in my world. If he were in the Demon Realm, he would've been dead already."

"Sigh, that's highly possible. That guy would've killed him and wouldn't even inform me. I'll make sure he doesn't escape this time." Zhu Gong exclaimed, walking back to his son. 

"But father, I can't come back without my friend!" Zhu Chang called out, seeing a portal appear before him. 

"Friend? Ah, that's right. I forgot you were here to save someone. But honestly, it's the first time I've heard you call someone a friend. I'm curious. Who is this guy?" 

"You'll know him after you ask the Heavenly Emperor to free my friend! He was in the prison!" Zhu Chang exclaimed. 

Zhu Gong looked at the Heavenly Emperor. "Can you release his friend as well?"

"His friend? Even I was trying to find him. But he isn't in the prison. We believe he was killed by some prisoner, and his body was destroyed. That could be the only reason we couldn't find him before," the Heavenly Emperor responded.

"Is that the truth?" Zhu Gong asked. 

The Heavenly Emperor nodded, making Zhu Gong sigh. 

"That's disappointing. My son made a friend, and he died before I could even meet him? This is disappointing."

"But father, how can you believe him? How can he die that easily?"

"My son, he has no reason to lie to us. If he says he's dead, then we would believe it."

"You had no reason to lie to him either! Still, you used the weak barrier to stop his attack instead of using your strongest! No one can tell what's a lie, and that's not! I ask for permission to search the place!"  Zhu Chang exclaimed. 

"Moreover, this snake is his Tames beast! He can confirm that Long Chen is alive! Since I've come so far, I'm not leaving without him!" He further added. 

"You didn't use your strongest barrier?" The Heavenly Emperor exclaimed. 

He couldn't believe this guy used a weak barrier to let him win. No wonder it was so easy to break the barrier. He felt that something was wrong. 

"That's not entirely accurate. I didn't weaken my defense to take your attack." Zhu Gong turned back. 

"You weren't able to break this barrier last time. And that was the bet, to see if you could break it. Now, what other barriers I learned in the last few centuries, that's a different matter. We were recreating our last bet. So I had to use the last Barrier I used," he explained. 

The Heavenly Emperor scratched his head. "Now you're going to a technicality. I can see you let me win. That's not fair. I challenge you again."

"Old Li, the bet is already settled. You win. I see no reason for a different bet to start something new," Zhu Gong exclaimed, sighing. "Just let me leave. I need to punish the brat as well."

"You can do that later. First, you must go through one more bet!" The Heavenly Emperor exclaimed. "Use your strongest barrier that you possess, and I'll use my strongest attack that I possess."

"Alright, what's the bet about? What will I get if I win?" The Heavenly Emperor exclaimed. 

"If you win, I'll allow your son to search this whole world for as long as he wants. You can accompany him as well to help him! If I will, he won't be allowed to search the prison or anything else," he added. 

"I accept defeat then." Zhu Gong smiled. He turned back to his son. "Son, it looks like you can't search. Let's just take his word. Your friend must be dead. Let's go back."

"Father!" Zhu Chang glared. "Do you want me to participate in the Godly Battles? If you want me to, help me find him! If you don't, you can certainly take me back, but I won't take part in anything."

"And as soon as I get the opportunity, I'll run away again as soon as I get an opportunity! You know I mean what I say," he continued. 

"And if I went along with it and allowed you to search for two days? Will you never try to run again?" Zhu Gong asked. 

"I promise I won't," Zhu Chang exclaimed, sighing. 

"Fine. I'll help you this one time then." Zhu Gong sighed as he nodded. 

"This time, we can't face here. The others will get hurt. Let's go to another world," he told the Heavenly Emperor. 

The Heavenly Emperor agreed. A portal opened before the Heavenly Emperor and Zhu Gong. 

Both of them entered the portal, disappearing. 

Zhu Chang was left behind with his uncle and the Heavenly General. 

...

The Heavenly Emperor appeared in a different world with Zhu Gong. 

"Is this fine?" He asked, landing on the abandoned world. 

"This is alright. You can go ahead. But let me remind you. You should give it your all. Don't hold anything back this time," Zhu Gong nodded. 

"That's what I should be telling you. Be careful since you might die this time!" The Heavenly Emperor exclaimed as he started floating high in the sky. 

He continued flying upwards and only stopped when he was ten thousand meters high in the sky. 

He was at such height that he could only see Zhu Gong as a small spot on the ground.

He raised his hand high in the sky. An illusory golden thread of energy started coming out of his body that started spinning around him, creating a storm of golden light around him. 

The storm continued getting more and more intense until the figure of the Heavenly Emperor disappeared entirely inside it. 

The storm slowly started rising, finally letting out the Heavenly Emperor, whose eyes were shining in a golden light.. His entire skin had turned golden as if he was a golden statue. 

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