Read Novel Full Chapter 1874: Betrayal of Dignity
Chapter 1874: Betrayal of Dignity
"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, "I’m sorry."
"Is my offer not enough?" Dugu Baitian asked.
"No, that’s not it. I —"
"Then, is this about Wu Hong? If you want, I can apologize."
Wang Wei once again frowned, "Don’t bring her into this."
"Oh, I didn’t mean to. I —"
"What I was trying to say is I didn’t bring Black Heart with me. He’s locked up back home in the sect’s prison."
Dugu Baitian was silent for a few seconds, "Do you have any other Saint Tier Seven Emotions Six Desires resources? I’m willing to increase the price. I don’t 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 Baitian’s body paused before smiling wryly, "I know I’m 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, I’m 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 I’ve made, you should have a Path, but a method? You can’t possibly have created such a technique yet — not even in your wildest dream. And if I’m correct — and I usually am — 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 — which is what would happen to you if you use that parasite — he would choose death without hesitation."
Wang Wei suddenly squinted, "Well, maybe I’m wrong about you. The emotions your eyes displayed — despair, unwillingness, and hatred — they were real, but it wasn’t because of how weak and helpless you felt due to the current situation. No, it was directed at yourself — it’s 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, it’s Death Reverence," Wang Wei nodded. "Why did you do it? I thought someone like you would rather break than stretch?"
"If that’s what you think, then you don’t 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? That’s 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 didn’t detect any signs of manipulation or enslavement in your [Existence].
"You think you’re so clever, don’t you?"
"So, I’m wrong?" Wang Wei asked; he then suddenly remembered something. "I see — I’m 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 — 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 world’s 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. I’ve separated the branch and activated the destruction arrays."
"Good. While you’re 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?"
"I’ve never liked your cocky attitude, and today, I will fix it for you," Dugu Baitian sneered. He saw Wang Wei’s battle with Lin Fan and knew he was not the latter’s match under normal circumstances. However, the environment was different and more importantly, his new patron — no, ally — 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 that’s when he noticed it — 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 second–step 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 — it reminded me of Wu Hong’s work. Is she here in some capacity?" If that is true, then Wang Wei’s 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, that’s not the crux of the issue.
"If others follow in Wang Wei’s 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 it’s 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 Wei’s actions.
"In that case, it’s 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 — both hidden and open — 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.