Who Shall We Grant Death To?

Since the Death Emperor was unusable for the time being, Yu Xian decided he might as well keep summoning. He still had two summon slots left anyway—what if he pulled another freak of a summoned beast? He had already abandoned all hope of getting normal summons. A few more freaks wouldn't hurt. Suicidal ones, ones yearning to fight to the death—bring them all on; if they died, they had it coming. Skill activated. The magic circle glowed, and then a slime appeared. Yu Xian curled his lip, had a skeleton soldier carry the slime away, and activated the skill again. Under his expectant gaze, a ghoul slowly materialized. A ghoul—it had been a while. Looking at the ghoul's eyes, which held nothing but the base instinct to feed, Yu Xian sighed. As expected, attracting freaks wasn't easy either. Perhaps he needed to become even more twisted himself to lure in that "special" breed of summoned beast. "Fine, that'll do for now." Yu Xian sighed. Since his summon roster was full, he would maintain the status quo for the moment. He had to admit that staring at the ghoul, a fleeting murderous urge had crossed his mind, tempting him to slay it and keep rerolling his skill. But remembering his reputation, he hesitated. His name was in the mud right now, but it probably hadn't reached rock bottom yet. There was still a sliver of hope to salvage it. If he let it plummet further and the Death Emperor ended up being his only twisted freak, wouldn't he be taking a massive loss? Just then, Yu Xian looked toward Xielina and immediately received feedback. The skeleton soldiers had already scouted several thousand meters ahead. Although a heavy toll had been taken along the way, several safe paths had been uncovered. Starting from their current location, the labyrinth ahead branched into roughly thirty-odd corridors, which then split into more than three hundred additional paths. Checking these branches had cost over two hundred skeleton soldiers. Only twelve scout skeletons remained alive, continuing their search deeper inside. Seeing that they wouldn't be moving anytime soon, Yu Xian turned to the Death Emperor and asked curiously, "Death Emperor, why do you want to die?" "All things must die; death alone is the sole destination." The Death Emperor glanced at Yu Xian and spoke in a deep voice, presumably out of respect for him as its master. Yu Xian blinked and countered, "But Transcenders are immortal and imperishable. Supposedly, they're also omnipotent and omniscient." "Which means a Transcender can grant me death?" The Death Emperor's eyes faintly lit up as it looked at Yu Xian and asked. Yu Xian nodded. "Barring any surprises, you yourself are the creation of a Transcender. After all, this world was made by the Transcender Zhen. Though I don't know her reasons, you were certainly created by her. Rounding it off, you're practically her child!" *Ouch.* Yu Xian felt as though someone had struck him on the back of the head. He whipped around immediately, but there was nothing behind him. *Hiss, that hurts.* Yu Xian rubbed the back of his head and found a large bump swelling up. Could that figure be watching the Zhen Realm at all times? Yu Xian grimaced, a chill creeping through his heart. Truly, trouble came from the mouth. He regretted it bitterly. What if she decided to make life miserable for him? Meanwhile, the Death Emperor's body trembled slightly at his words, its eyes filled with sheer shock and awe. It had only been born recently. In Avici Hell, there had been nothing; it could only sense the laws of Avici Hell—an indescribable emptiness that was neither life nor death. Back then, it had pondered the meaning of its own existence, ultimately concluding that its purpose in being born was to die, for only through life could death exist. That way, it would fulfill its mission, establishing a cycle of life and death within Avici Hell. Unfortunately, it soon discovered it could not die. No matter how it attacked itself, no matter what it did, death remained out of reach. "I... have a new purpose. Before dying, I wish to see my creator. I want to know why she created me." Snapping back to reality, the Death Emperor looked at Yu Xian and spoke with utmost seriousness. Yu Xian slapped his own mouth and gave a bitter smile. "That goal of yours might be a little tough. Transcenders aren't beings you can just meet whenever you feel like it. At least, I've never heard of anyone meeting a Transcender just because they wanted to." As he said this, Zhang Buyao's face inexplicably popped into his mind... "..." Hearing that, the Death Emperor fell silent. Having been born so recently, it didn't understand such complicated concepts. "Still... having a goal is a good thing. Even if you can't just meet a Transcender whenever you want, as long as we keep growing stronger together, maybe one day I'll transcend. When that happens, I can find a way to let you see your creator." Noticing the Death Emperor's dejection, Yu Xian hastened to comfort it. The Death Emperor understood: to see its creator, it had to keep growing stronger. And since it was Yu Xian's summoned beast, Yu Xian growing stronger meant it would grow stronger as well. Once Yu Xian became a Transcender, it would be able to see its creator and ask why she had made it. Once it received that answer, it could die in peace. Presumably, a Yu Xian who had achieved transcendence would have no trouble granting its wish. "I understand." The Death Emperor looked at Yu Xian and spoke earnestly. Then it turned toward the far end of the labyrinth and asked, "Whom shall we grant death to now? That little weed over there?" *** At the far end of the secret realm, the young girl could sense the skeleton soldiers diminishing rapidly. A wicked grin spread across its face. *Keep dying, keep dying, die some more.* These fools had no idea that every single path was a dead end. Once the skeleton soldiers ventured deeper, it could command the sprites to activate the Chaotic Labyrinth Transformation Array, frantically rearranging the maze's walls to slaughter more than half the intruders. It could practically see the intruders' terrified, despairing faces as the labyrinth shifted. From start to finish, this labyrinth had only one solution: destroy every single wall. Disregard all conventions, smash through everything, and the exit would naturally appear. Yet how many could ever think of that? Stupid intruders simply lacked the brains. So far, aside from those muscle-bound brutes, the vast majority of intruders that posed any threat to it died when the labyrinth transformed. As for the few with immense defenses, they were almost always hard-countered by its skills; even if they reached the heart of the secret realm, death remained their only fate. This was its way of guarding the secret realm—and protecting itself! Yet just as it was basking in its triumph, an abrupt chill ran down its spine, as though it were being watched by something horrifying. *** "Yes!" Inside the labyrinth, Yu Xian nodded. The Death Emperor said in a deep voice, "Understood. Then I shall grant it death. All things must die; that is its destination." With that, it activated its skill: Death Qi Leak! A minuscule tear opened in the bandages wrapping its toes, and wisps of black qi drifted out. The moment the death qi touched the ground, it instantly transformed into black lightning that surged rapidly across the floor. Everything in the black lightning's path cracked and shattered. When a wall stood in the way, the wall split open; when a skeleton stood in the way, the skeleton instantly disintegrated into powder; when a sprite stood in the way, it vanished on the spot in a flash of white light. At the heart of the secret realm, the girl suddenly saw a streak of black lightning tearing across the floor toward it. Terror instantly gripped its face. The attack came too fast—it didn't even have time to use a skill. *Crack!* The black lightning swept over the girl. In an instant, the once-rosy-cheeked girl transformed into an ashen corpse, its eyes frozen in the final moment of life, filled with nothing but profound horror.