"Are you serious?" Wang Wei asked.
"Do you think I would joke about such a thing?"
Wang Wei looked at him, and he frowned at what he saw: the despair, unwillingness, and hatred. He squinted his eyes for a moment before shaking his head, "Iām sorry."
"Is my offer not enough?" Dugu Baitian asked.
"No, thatās not it. I ā"
"Then, is this about Wu Hong? If you want, I can apologize."
Wang Wei once again frowned, "Donāt bring her into this."
"Oh, I didnāt mean to. I ā"
"What I was trying to say is I didnāt bring Black Heart with me. Heās locked up back home in the sectās prison."
Dugu Baitian was silent for a few seconds, "Do you have any other Saint Tier Seven Emotions Six Desires resources? Iām willing to increase the price. I donāt have much right now, but I can offer my services. I can do five things for you after I sanctify."
Wang Wei glanced at him; he suddenly took a sip of his wine before asking, "Do you take me for a fool?"
Dugu Baitianās body paused before smiling wryly, "I know Iām asking much. After all, no one would exchange a rare Saint resource for the promise of a person who might die at any moment. But as I said, Iām desperate."
"So, you do take me for a fool?" Wang Wei asked. "A last gamble to sanctify? You have barely entered the Ancestral Fiendgod Realm and condensed two Saint Foundations, and you want me to believe you want to sanctify?"
"If I had any other choice, do you think I would risk my future?" Dugu Baitian said through clenched teeth.
"Do you even have a Saint Method? No, do you even have a Saint Path?" Wang Wei asked. "Hmm, according to the character analysis Iāve made, you should have a Path, but a method? You canāt possibly have created such a technique yet ā not even in your wildest dream. And if Iām correct ā and I usually am ā your path should be around the Divine Depository, meaning you want to condense your Flesh Quintessence first.
"However, the Parasite is fused with your soul, meaning using it would require a Soul Quintessence Method. Do you have such a method?"
The Grand Chancellor was quiet.
"Do you want me to continue?" Wang Wei asked. "The Dugu Baitian I know is prideful and arrogant: he would never lower his head to such an extent even if he were desperate. And if given the choice between death and enslavement ā which is what would happen to you if you use that parasite ā he would choose death without hesitation."
Wang Wei suddenly squinted, "Well, maybe Iām wrong about you. The emotions your eyes displayed ā despair, unwillingness, and hatred ā they were real, but it wasnāt because of how weak and helpless you felt due to the current situation. No, it was directed at yourself ā itās the result of a deep shame at something you recently did. Who did you sell your soul to? Is it Trinity Venerable? The Infinite Divine Court? Or Death Reverence."
Dugu Baitian coldly looked at him, the previous weak and helpless demeanor gone, replaced by the presence of the domineering overlord who had remained at the peak of the Eternal Ascension World for more than one Era.
"So, itās Death Reverence," Wang Wei nodded. "Why did you do it? I thought someone like you would rather break than stretch?"
"If thatās what you think, then you donāt know me as well as you thought," Dugu Baitian coldly said. "In war, sometimes the best strategy is to side with the winning side."
"Even if it means losing your pride and dignity?"
"Do you think I would have gotten where I am if I allowed those things to get in my way?"
"That may be true for your young self, but for the current you that is used to standing above others? Thatās another question," Wang Wei replied. "The only explanation I can think of is that Death Reverence promised you great benefit, and more importantly, he did not trample on your dignity. No wonder I didnāt detect any signs of manipulation or enslavement in your [Existence].
"You think youāre so clever, donāt you?"
"So, Iām wrong?" Wang Wei asked; he then suddenly remembered something. "I see ā Iām missing a part of the puzzle. The parasite could only have such a profound influence on you if it had been there for a long time ā probably even before you started cultivating, which means that someone you care deeply about must have betrayed you.
"The reason your method of behavior deviated from my model is because of the battle with Yan Hai. Did the depth of the betrayal finally hit you? How pitiful."
"Your mind games are useless," Dugu Baitian calmly stated while he stood. His body released a terrifying aura that shook the void, creating countless spatial disturbances. "Since the truth is out, now prepare to face your death."
"I admire your confidence," Wang Wei chuckled. However, he did not immediately rise to accept the challenge. Instead, he first contacted Ai through their connection. "How is it?"
"An anomaly was detected in this worldās branch of the underworld."
"As expected," Wang Wei sighed. To protect himself and the array nodes under his control, he had long separated himself from the main Six Paths Underworld by creating an artificial version for each of the node worlds. As someone who was once the Earth Emperor, the process was relatively easy for him, not even time-consuming.
"Have you dealt with it?"
"Yes. Iāve separated the branch and activated the destruction arrays."
"Good. While youāre at it, activate Protocol Separation."
"Are you sure, sir?" Ai asked. "This will further escalate the situation."
"It has already escalated," Wang Wei replied while looking at Dugu Baitian. Without saying anything else, he slowly stood and stretched his body.
"This will probably be your last battle in the world. Any last words?"
"Iāve never liked your cocky attitude, and today, I will fix it for you," Dugu Baitian sneered. He saw Wang Weiās battle with Lin Fan and knew he was not the latterās match under normal circumstances. However, the environment was different and more importantly, his new patron ā no, ally ā also granted him some safety measures.
...
Death Reverence shifted his eyes to the Death Beam, which suddenly started to fluctuate heavily. He reacted immediately, using his own power to stabilize the beam before searching for the cause. And thatās when he noticed it ā technically speaking, anyone paying attention to the entire timeline noticed this phenomenon.
The Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array was split into two independent arrays. The second array consisted of only 20% of the node worlds that composed the original array, but it was still a secondāstep array, and, in some ways, its power seemed more condensed.
"Dugu Baitian is truly useless now that his fate has run out," Death Reverence thought. After shaking his head, he refocused his mind, analyzing the situation. "This new formation ā it reminded me of Wu Hongās work. Is she here in some capacity?" If that is true, then Wang Weiās threat level must be raised.
Death Reverence took a mental note of this possibility before focusing on the problem at hand. The Death Ritual must be stabilized, which is still possible with some extreme means. However, thatās not the crux of the issue.
"If others follow in Wang Weiās step, things will become complicated," he pondered. Trinity Venerable still has some degree of control over the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array because of the creation of his Black Tortoise Array. And the situation is more difficult on the side of the Infinite Divine Court since they still hold majority control over the Reverse Black Stone Array.
"I can probably hold the expeditioners captive and prevent them from breaking their array apart, but itās impossible to do the same for the court," Death Reverence analyzed. As long as Suiji is alive and hiding, she can gain control over that array and copy Wang Weiās actions.
"In that case, itās time to create my own stabilizer," Death Reverence taught before plunging his hand into the Death Beam, gaining access to endless power of death.
"Order: all rules ā both hidden and open ā will turn into death hidden rules.
"Disorder: the transformation requires death energy as balance."
As soon as he uttered these words, the fundamental rules of this timeline changed. Most of the laws governing space, time, life, and everything else turned into the laws of death. As for the price of such a terrible transformation? Well, 99% of life in the universe was already dead, which meant that there was nothing but death energy.
On top of that, Death Reverence still had primary control over the Source Qi Space. With a thought, he transformed most of the Qi in that construct into Death Qi, easily meeting the requirement for the rules he had established. Once that was done, he then used all those death rules to stabilize the Death Ritual.