Divine Emperor of Death

Shirley sat in front of the crystal roots of the gigantic tree, waiting for Dewzai to appear.

To calm herself, she started meditating while keeping her full focus on the Ninth Hidden Pagoda. Unfortunately, the offensive and defensive formations she had set up near the Ninth Hidden Pagoda had automatically collapsed.

She wasn't able to lay any traps.

The only formations she was able to use there were formations that didn't restrict space or something that didn't cause damage, like simply leaving tracing marks on the surroundings. Even then, the tracing formation couldn't be placed on the Ninth Hidden Pagoda itself as it was canceled.

She even tried to access the Ninth Hidden Pagoda again and again, but all she got was a message that said it was currently in use.

She couldn't even see what was going on inside.

However, it was different for people in the First Haven World.

They were able to see what was going on in the Hidden Pagodas.

Any time the Hidden Pagoda activated, the denizens of the First Haven World had it pop up in their view as long as the participants entering the Hidden Pagoda were connected to them or they had previously focused on. Otherwise, they would rarely see it unless they knew when and where to focus.

After all, people wouldn't just focus to see what's going on in an Hidden Pagoda as that would net nothing in their view.

Shirley patiently waited.

It was around thirty minutes before suddenly, she felt something in her break.

The eighth seal, suppressing her Level Two Immortal King Stage cultivation base, shattered, allowing her to reclaim her cultivation base to Level Two Immortal King Stage. Her avatar's cultivation base also increased.

It made her open her eyes and stand up, keenly focusing on the Ninth Hidden Pagoda for Dewzai to come out.

*Swoosh!~*

Dewzai's figure appeared out of the Ninth Hidden Pagoda.

It made Shirley clench her teeth, understanding that Dewzai had cleared the Ninth Pagoda. It seemed like Dewzai won fair and square. However, that didn't mean she was going to just watch and let her escape.

She moved, her figure flashing as she raised her hand.

Incredible destructive undulations thrashed throughout the area, causing the temperature to both rise and drop in different directions as a crimson-blue wisp appeared above Shirley's finger.

*Thud!~*

"…?"

But just before she could launch her attack, Dewzai fell to the ground and hit her head on the floor. Then her figure didn't move, causing Shirley to forcefully contain her attack. She descended, still having her finger raised, ready to launch an attack in case this empress fox fey was playing dead.

Shirley then noticed that Dewzai's injuries were the same as when she disappeared.

Her right arm was still missing from the shoulder, her bone even stretching out a bit, trying to regenerate but couldn't due to the Empyrean Stage remnant energy eating her up. Her body seemed half smashed with blood oozing all over while even her left eye seemed to be lacking a socket.

Looking closely, Shirley saw it had considerably worsened since Dewzai seemed to have lost a lot of blood essence as Shirley found out that her aura was weak.

"Dewzai…?"

Shirley called out lightly.

Dewzai didn't respond, her figure lying on the ground as blood continued to flow out.

Shirley finally drew her hand back as she dispersed the icefire wisp, something that shouldn't be possible, and shocked the viewers from the projection. Even the scholars who researched the fusion of fire and ice were shocked and felt greedy for her blood since it could contain the secrets for the stability of the Icefire Laws.

Regardless, Shirley didn't know that. She raised her foot and placed it on Dewzai's butt, shaking it.

Still, there was no response from Dewzai.

Shirley's brows twitched. An Emperor-Tier being certainly wouldn't allow this kind of disrespect, so Shirley confirmed that Dewzai was truly out cold.

"Well, I kicked your ass now, so I suppose my revenge is over…"

Shirley said out loud before she bent down and searched Dewzai's body for rewards. If she could plunder it, she felt it would be good as well since her intentions in coming here weren't to prove herself or anything of that sort.

She came here to gain experience and enjoy herself and, in the process, help the Fire Phoenix Clan if she can. After all, after so many troubles with the Fire Phoenix Clan, she didn't feel the slightest bit working hard for them.

Instead, her main reason for coming her was strengthen her own family, so whatever resources were out there, she intended to take them all and deliver to Davis.

Shirley's hand ran all over Dewzai's body: her sleeves, her hair, her cleavage, and even her secret place underneath her clothes. However, she frowned as she couldn't find anything, wondering if Dewzai had taken it into her inner world.

'But in that case, she would be suffering from side effects if the grade of the item was too much to bear…'

The fact that Dewzai didn't could only mean the rewards weren't worth it, but Shirley knew the rewards were comparable to Empyrean Grade Treasures, so it didn't make sense.

"You…"

Dewzai twitched. She seemed to have finally woken up, one of her eyes glaring at Shirley.

Yet, she didn't seem to be in any shape to protest or make a move, appearing to be barely able to maintain consciousness.

"You're going to die soon…"

Shirley came out of her reverie and sighed, "Stupid girl. No amount of risk-taking here could be equal to getting slashed by Empyrean Stage attacks. There's no miraculous healing pill here, and I doubt even going back to the First Haven World can cure your injuries. The remnant energy is soon going to devour you sooner or later when you can no longer control its flares…"

"…"

Dewzai shook. It seemed she knew of her fate.

There was a period of silence between them before Shirley reached out her hand and held her chin, opening it.

"It seems like you haven't swallowed the rewards either…"

Dewzai glared at Shirley again, "Fool, I haven't completed the trial…"

"No way." Shirley shook her head, "The eighth seal shattered, and you claim you failed?"

"Eighth seal…?" Dewzai frowned before her eyes slightly widened, "I see. So you really made it to the ninth step…"

Shirley smirked in response. However, she still didn't believe Dewzai's words but not being able to discover any rewards that she could plunder, she stood up and placed her hand on the Ninth Hidden Pagoda.

[Cleared the ninth step— requires 1,000 crystal units]

[Requires only one person with enough energy sources to be present in order to activate]

"…?"

Shirley raised her brows.

Did this really mean that Dewzai didn't complete the Ninth Hidden Pagoda?