“White Tiger’s Transformation!” the White Tiger bellowed. It wasn’t just his palm; his whole being had transformed into a colossal white tiger, emitting faintly discernible divine energy.
The tiger slammed its paw at Su Yu, that single blow landing like a mountain.
Su Yu was unruffled. All he did was touch his arm. A beam of emerald light flickered, and Shengge emerged with the Penta-Colored Chaotic Butterfly on her shoulder.
The butterfly fluttered its wings gently, and the humongous body of the white tiger shattered abruptly like porcelain. Its godly spirit also perished!
At that exact moment, the fiery bird transformed from Rosefinch pierced right through Su Yu’s body.
The fiery red flames set Su Yu on fire very rapidly, gradually turning him into ashes.
But very creepily, the emerald heart did not stop beating amidst the dust and the ashes, and they condensed into a complete body all over again.
Rosefinch was in shock and before she could react, Su Yu, whose body was intact once again, was holding a long spear containing Evil Fatal Energy in his hand. It penetrated Rosefinch’s body in a fraction of a second.
With a “pow”, Rosefinch turned into ashes too.
In just a few short breaths, the four great Prospective Deities had been butchered unceremoniously.
Rosefinch had died the most unjustly. He had obviously killed Su Yu, yet immense vitality rose from the dead man’s body out of nowhere, repairing his being and enabling him to deliver a fatal blow to Rosefinch.
Su Yu extracted the Evil Fatal long spear and shook his head in disappointment. “Were these really the early-stage Prospective Deities from the Netherworld Faction? They were much worse than I have expected.”
In comparison with the Black Phoenix, they were far weaker than her in all aspects.
Previously, Su Yu had used all of those techniques combined on the Black Phoenix alone simply to tame her.
Despite her stupefaction, the Black Phoenix’s face changed drastically. “Master, we have to leave right now! You have killed the Four Great Killers, and the Death Deity will not forgive you!”
Su Yu ignored her and raised his head to look up at the heavens. “Did I pass the trial then?”
The trial? The Black Phoenix was startled for a moment.
The figure of a human emerged slowly from the desolation. He was clad in a blue robe and had black hair and was looking at Su Yu with a small smile on his face.
“The Four Great Killers were indeed a trial for you. The Death Deity really wished to know how the first-ranking Black Phoenix and the second-ranking Jingang failed. Now I finally know the reason, and you have passed the trial!”
“However…” The black-haired, long-robed middle-aged man switched his tone swiftly, iciness glinting in his eyes. “However, the reward for passing the trial is… death!”
Wasn’t the greatest reward that a Deity Deity could afford death?
“The Death Deity only ever sees two kinds of people: first, dead people and second, people who are about to die at his hands,” Su Yu muttered to himself, with a placid look on his face. “It is indeed true.”
The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback. Dispassionately, he said, “It’s great that you understand.”
Swish! Swish!
Four figures strode out from the interior of the village. They were the Four Great Killers that had passed away!
Su Yu wasn’t surprised at all. He said, “The will of a Death Deity is truly unique. Whoever he wants dead has to die no matter what and whoever he wants alive will stay alive no matter what.”
In the face of a deity who could manipulate life and death, Su Yu wasn’t surprised that the Four Great Killers who should be dead were standing before him unscathed now.
Perhaps the Death Deity had made a change to their deaths.
“A Death Deity walks the Path of Death. They can endow one with death and can also deprive one of death. Brat, I was careless just now. Let us start again, and I will make sure you die this time!” The Green Dragon stared at Su Yu, with no hint of contempt in his eyes anymore.
Su Yu closed his eyes slowly and stood motionless on his spot. “Black Phoenix, step aside.”
“Yes.”
When he opened his eyes again, Su Yu looked at the four of them with indifference. “Let us begin!”
“Formation of Four Guardians!” The four Prospective Deities contributed their respective Divine Paths, and the virtual shadows of a green dragon, a white tiger, a rosefinch and a tortoise materialized vaguely behind them.
At that moment, the auras, divine energies and wills of the four of them formed a union, reaching a perfect state of four-in-one harmony.
“Infinite Formation of Four Guardians!” The four of them performed the skill simultaneously, and the virtual shadows behind their backs merged into one, conjuring into the nondescript figure of a peculiar beast.
The beastly shadow contained the combined divine energies and the consciousness of all four of them and slammed down with a furious growl.
The slam made the entire world grow dimmer, and the winds and clouds stirred in chaos. It far exceeded the power of early-stage Prospective Deities and was almost nearing the powerful standard of middle-stage Prospective Deities.
However, Su Yu still had a placid, unruffled look on his face as if nothing in the world could sweep him off his feet. With a flip of his palm, he retrieved a small rock the size of a palm and hurled it into the air.
All of a sudden, the Five Elements Mountain unleashed an intense wave of Power of Five Elements, and penta-colored brilliance shrouded the peculiar beast, freezing it in place and rendering it motionless.
The Five Elements Mountain the size of a palm struck its body.
The light blow that seemed completely haphazard abruptly shattered the peculiar beastly shadow into countless smithereens.
As they performed the skill, the faces of the four early-stage Prospective Deities changed theatrically, and they spat out mouthfuls of blood as their faces turned as pale as papers.
Shortly after, a Five Elements Mountain that was expanded by a hundred times descended with a thunderous boom, pressing down on the Four Great Killers.
Much to their terror, the Power of Five Elements unleashed by the mountain was unusually heavy, rendering them completely immobile and could not budge even an inch.
Su Yu stood on top of the Five Elements Mountain, and remarked calmly, “I’m still not planning to change my opinion that the early-stage Prospective Deities of the Netherworld Faction are just good-for-nothings.”
The middle-aged man in a blue robe with black hair gazed at Su Yu, as his dispassionate look was replaced by a hint of fear. The mysterious Five Elements Mountain, in particular, had worried him.
Right at that moment, a genuinely spine-chilling, old and weathered voice seeped into every corner of the sky like a whiff of a breeze.
“Since you insist on dying at my hands, let us meet.” With a sigh, a shocking wave of divine energy surged forth.
The next moment, Su Yu had appeared in a dark, vast hall.
There was a gargantuan sculpture of a deity in the vast hall. It was a maitreya that was pitch-black in color.
In front of the maitreya sat a cross-legged old monk in a regal cassock. He was fiddling with chanting beads in his left hand and gently knocking a wooden fish with his right.
The place was filled with the dense aroma of sandalwood and a Buddhist atmosphere. It was hard to imagine that this was the dwelling of the Death Deity, the most heartless and terrifying killer god.
Even more unbelievably, the malicious, gruesome and cold-hearted Death Deity was in fact, a monk.
“Greeting Death Deity,” Su Yu said.
The old monk set down the wooden fish and turned around slowly, revealing his benevolent, kind senile face and the noble temperament of a Buddhist worshiper. It was truly hard to believe that the man before him was the famous Death Deity.
“Are you surprised?” The old monk asked placidly as he poured a cup of tantalizing tea for Su Yu.
Su Yu shook his head. “The co-existence of Buddha and demon, the body of a Buddha and the heart of a demon! It is still within my ability to comprehend.”
The old monk put on a transcendental smile that made him as if he had risen above all worldly matters. “Throughout all these years, you are the only man who has seen me but wasn’t surprised. Alright, tell me, you exchanged the chance to meet me with your death. What is that you want to talk about?”
“It’s not because I want to say something. I am here to strike a deal with you.” Su Yu tasted the tea calmly. “I came here as a guest this time.”
The old monk nodded placidly. “The Netherworld Faction runs a business, and we never refuse anyone. Tell me, what deal do you wish to strike with me?”
Su Yu smiled and explained the matter through telepathy.
When he finished listening, the old monk’s serene look was replaced by a solemn, grave one.
“This is not a small deal.” The old monk heaved a gentle sigh after a long while and looked unwaveringly at Su Yu. “Young man, your opinion amazed me. Shall I call you overconfident or ambitious?”
Su Yu chortled. “I will take the latter.”
The old monk fell silent. With the wisdom and experience of the Death Deity, he was thinking deeply about Su Yu’s proposal. Only after a long moment did he nod. “The Netherworld Faction accepts your deal but will you keep your word?”
“Of course I will. All the deities of the Great Eastern Alliance have agreed to my suggestion.” Su Yu retrieved the jade pendant from the All-Access Merchant God.
The old monk took one look at it and understood. Slowly, he nodded. “Fine, we accept the deal. After it is over and done with, I will come and collect my chips.”
He wavered his sleeve when he finished, and Su Yu appeared outside the Netherworld Faction where he had just been standing. It was as though he had never left.
At that moment, a spine-chilling voice resonated from the Void.
“List this man as the nine-star honored guest of the Netherworld Faction. He has been granted permission to meet me without having to report.”
Upon hearing that, the middle-aged man in the blue robe, the Four Great Killers, and the Black Phoenix were all astonished.
“Nine-star honored guest!!”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but look Su Yu up and down in utter disbelief. Apparently, he did not believe him.
The Four Great Killers were even less convinced.
The Black Phoenix was stupefied too. Astounded, she said, “Master, the honored guests of the Netherworld Faction are divided into nine grades. Even the nine deities of the World of Divine Remains are only qualified as seven-star honored guests.”
“The King of All Gods of the Great Eastern and Western Alliances are only qualified as eight-star honored guests, and there is only one person who is on par with you!”
“The Demonic Emperor!”
“You are the second nine-star honored guest of the Netherworld Faction, Master.” The Black Phoenix couldn’t seem to appease the shock waves in her heart. She had not a single clue as to what kind of deal Su Yu had struck with the Death Deity within the brief moment that they had met.
Not only did the Death Deity forgive all of his wrongdoings, but he had also walked out totally unscathed as well and was even listed as a nine-star honored guest!
Even if the deal between them was for the Death Deity to destroy the World of Divine Remains, it wouldn’t have added up to the standard of a nine-star honored guest either.
Just what kind of an earth-shattering deal had they agreed upon?
Swish!
With a light tap of his feet, Su Yu took back the Five Elements Mountain and released the Four Great Killers. With his hands behind his back, he said, “I will take the Black Phoenix with me.”
When he finished, he left with the Black Phoenix by his side without ever turning back again, gradually disappearing into the distance.
Staring at Su Yu’s back, the black-haired middle-aged man in a blue robe, as well as the Four Great Killers, could not seem to recover from the astonishment even after a long while.
The privilege of a nine-star honored guest was to be treated just like the Death Deity!
They had to obey all his orders, even letting him take the Black Phoenix, unless the Death Deity disallowed it.
In the distance, a black silhouette that had been silently observing Su Yu all this while vanished into the bleakness.
——
Half a day later, in the cavern world of the Pirate Deity.
Su Yu did not meet up with the deities immediately. Instead, he strolled around the most boisterous central part of the cavern world, the pirates’ outlet, and observed.
This place was unsurprisingly the center of the black markets of the galaxies. Any prohibited items and the treasures of deities’ families were sold in abundance. Some people were even selling humans.
“Qin Feichen and Sheng Yuanxin could be sold at a good price, I suppose,” Su Yu jested.
Su Yu caught sight of a familiar figure all of a sudden. It was Ah San!
He was leading a gang of pirates that were escorting a group of men and women in ragged, tattered garments.
All of them looked extremely disheveled and miserable regardless of their ages.
“Ah San? Why is he escorting those people?” Su Yu doubted. “Black Phoenix, go find out what Ah San has captured them for.”
Reasonably, it could be expected that Ah San should be accompanying the Pirate Deity in guarding the harbor. They were still expecting the deities from the Great Eastern Alliance so how could he have sent Ah San here alone?
This place was the center of the black market and was teeming with merchants that traded information. Before long, the Black Phoenix returned.
The Black Phoenix had an anxious look on her face. “Master, bad news! The people caught by Ah San are the Tuoba family members that are in exile here. They have escaped here because of the second son’s mishap! Ah San must have seized them under the Pirate Deity’s order, and they are going to confront our identity as Tuoba Yun!”
Su Yu raised his brows upon hearing her words. Was it such a coincidence that the people of the Tuoba family were present in the World of Divine Remains?
Things had become troublesome!
Once exposed, the Pirate Deity owned nine sets of God-Destroying Crossbows, and it was no laughing matter.
