Chapter 124 – The Disposition of Nine Deaths
Xuanyuan was extremely nervous. He didn’t want to die here. It was so good to be alive. Xuanyuan swore as he took out another bunch of crystals to carve more markings, “Fuck! Why didn’t you say something earlier? You were absorbing the whale’s life essence, not me. I don’t deserve to die for your sins.”
“What does it matter now? The beast swallowed you, so we were just avenging you!” Greed seemed amused at the situation.
Xuanyuan looked at the egg, there was a second golden sun marking which appeared on the shell, as well as a faint mark of a third sun. “Wonderful! It’ll hatch when nine sun markings appear, right? The mount of the Devouring Emperor must be a majestic beast!”
“The tiger whale’s essence would be the same as ten peak imperial fighters. It’s got a lot of mass and thus a lot of life essence. Wait until I extracted its elixir for you.” Greed said as the dagger trembled and slashed out by itself. After a while, a terrifying roar echoed from the outside and an elixir the size of human head arrived in front of Xuanyuan.
“This elixir is extraordinary, since the tiger whale is among the most powerful sea creatures. Many people study the skill of transformations once they step into the imperial realm. They could use this elixir to transform into a tiger whale and swim freely through the sea.” Xuanyuan was taken back by Greed’s explanation. He had earned a small fortune by obtaining this elixir. Many imperial fighters would fight each other for this.
Xuanyuan knew that the tiger whale was able to last until this moment because of its enormous amount of life essence, but it might not be long before the stomach collapsed. So he concentrated on carving the markings. He couldn’t afford to make any mistakes since it might potentially disrupt the disposition, which might cost him his life. The Book of Acquisition explained that the worst mistake could cause the disposition to kill the creator.
When he finished with the fifth crystal, his body was covered in sweat again, but he didn’t slow down and took out the Clearing Water Jade to connect it with the crystals. A blue coloured-light screen slowly expanded and merged with the golden shield. The egg flew back through the air and returned to Xuanyuan’s side, but seemed to be unsatisfied with such a small meal.
As the egg returned, the tiger whale’s body suddenly exploded under the pressure from the sea and a surge of water crashed into them from every direction. Numerous sea creatures saw this and rushed towards them to consume the flesh of the tiger whale.
Xuanyuan sighed with relief. No water managed to break through with the protection of the disposition. However, the power of the crystals were being consumed at considerable speed.
All the creatures seemed to be going crazy when they saw the golden globe that surrounded Xuanyuan. They were all fighting amongst themselves to consume the golden globe.
“Hahaha, they think that you’re the tiger whale’s elixir.” Greed laughed. A gigantic creature rushed towards them with astonishing strength. Three of the crystals cracked under the collision from the creature and the globe shot into the distance and started to sink deeper. The disposition was slowly losing its power which caused Xuanyuan to grow alarmed.
“Looks like we’re going to die here.”
“But at least the sea creatures have stopped pestering you.” Greed said, which was true, yet not reassuring in the least. The creatures seemed to be scared of something in that direction and they stopped their pursuit. Xuanyuan turned around and noticed he was moving towards a blue light.
“What’s that? Another sea creature? What difference does it make if we are just going straight into another beast’s stomach?” Xuanyuan sighed.
“No. This is something else. It’s filled with Qi that’s so dense it’s almost unreal.” Greed cried.
“So what? Powerful beasts can have concentrated Qi.” Xuanyuan sneered.
“What does someone like you know? Look closely, it’s a naturally made disposition. Qi condensed around this place willingly, which is a sign of having a precious item hidden there. You didn’t even learn anything from the Book of Acquisition!”
“You’re the one who knows nothing. Look at it! It’s the Disposition of Nine Deaths, a pathway to the underworld. Ten people go in and nine die. Well, who cares, if I’m going to die here, I would much rather die in a disposition than being torn to pieces by sea creatures.” Xuanyuan rolled his eyes, wondering why he was always so unlucky. “The Book of Acquisition mentioned it. It’s almost impossible to encounter this disposition, but if you enter it, you have a ninety percent chance of being reduced to a pool of blood. Not even your body will remain.”
“NO! Go back to the beasts at once! I don’t want to spend eternity in the depths of the sea. I won’t be able to find another body and will die there.” Greed screamed, after hearing Xuanyuan’s explanation.
“I would rather die here than to those beasts. Well, only nine out of ten will die, there’s still a chance that I can survive. There must be a valuable treasure inside. If I am dead either way, I’ll try my luck!” Insanity flashed through Xuanyuan’s eyes.
“Xuanyuan, don’t do something reckless… Just die by yourself, ok? There is no need to kill us too!” Greed screamed. Even the egg trembled at the thought.
“If I die, we die together. What are you afraid of? You think you’ll be able to get another Body of All Creation so easily? The moment you found me, you were destined to follow me until death!” Xuanyuan activated his Qi and pushed the golden globe towards the blue light.
The water from the disposition turned all the sea creatures that went close to it into a mist of blood. Many of them had the power of grandmasters and some were even as strong as imperial fighters. The terrifying sight shook Xuanyuan internally.
“It really is the Disposition of Nine Deaths, boy. Run… Please don’t go in…” Greed screamed even louder.
“Shut up.” Xuanyuan shouted as he shot straight towards the disposition. There was no going back now. He’ll surely be killed if he turned around, but there was still a small chance if he went forward. Of all the dispositions in the world, many of them were deadly, but none could ever guarantee death. Xuanyuan was going to gamble with his fate. Many people would lack such courage in the same situation and would try to escape through the sea creatures. However, Xuanyuan wasn’t a fool, he wouldn’t choose to go in if he felt like there was another viable choice.
“Man up. It’s just dying. Like you always say, its only death.” Xuanyuan sneered and looked towards the water crashing towards him, he laughed out and tried to calm himself down. But when the water struck him, he was unable to remain calm.
“We’re going to die!” Greed was screaming.
“Damn it, this is the end.”