Divine Emperor of Death

"Then who completed a Hidden Pagoda?"

Shirley asked, causing Dewzai to shrug with a twitch, "Do I look like I know?"

"…"

Shirley had no comeback to that as she saw the sorry state Dewzai was in.

Still, how could there be such a coincidence? Shirley tried to think for a bit before she threw it out of her window.

"Oh well, you stay here and control your energy enough to impede the remnant energy and allow your body to heal naturally in order to not die sooner. Or try your luck by using the Escape Talisman, although I don't necessarily think that it will lead you to the Crystal Gate, where you can leave. Meanwhile, I'll go complete the Ninth Hidden Pagoda…"

"Ahaha~" Dewzai wryly laughed, her voice low yet laden with pain, "You would never be able to finish the trial."

She coughed up some blood, although she looked smug for some reason.

"You think so?" Shirley raised her brows.

"Your Icefire Laws is indeed powerful, but it's not an insult to you…" Blood leaked from Dewzai's lips as she tried to sit up, "I don't think anyone is capable of finishing the Ninth Hidden Pagoda's trial…"

"That fires me up~"

Shirley grinned as her phoenix eyes lit up. She clenched her fist and looked at the same Hidden Pagoda, wondering what kind of trial awaited her.

"Don't you want to know the specifics?"

"If I asked, it wouldn't be fair anymore."

Shirley giggled, causing Dewzai to raise her head and stare at Shirley in silence.

"May good fortune be with you."

"Oh, thanks~"

Shirley smiled sweetly.

She touched the Ninth Hidden Pagoda and disappeared.

As soon as Shirley disappeared, Dewzai shuddered before she spat a mouthful of blood. It had all gone bad, carrying over three percent of her blood essence, but she knew she lost forty percent already, barely keeping consciousness from significant loss of blood essence.

"I hoped the Hidden Pagoda would heal me… this is bad…"

She uttered wryly, only able to see with one eye, even one that was covered in red. She didn't think she was going to die soon as soon as she entered the Candidacy, making her revel in despair.

She gasped, trying to take in deep breaths to calm herself down, but her stomach writhed, and she spat out a portion of blood that had gone bad again. Looking at the black blood staining the ground, she trembled, her eyes dilating.

"No…"

She didn't want to die like this. Dying in battle would be far more honorable than bleeding to death. Yet, Shirley didn't end her and left. Shirley even told her to wait here as though telling her to be safe, which confused her.

Shirley was supposed to be her enemy, yet her actions made her not know what to see her as. She didn't see it as granting pity either, as Shirley was still ruthless enough to search her body like looting a corpse.

She didn't know if she should run. If she did, then she would be ended by the Empyrean Crystal Beasts above. If she used the Escape Talisman, she didn't know what lay ahead. Perhaps another Candidate would completely take advantage of her situation and humiliate her in any way possible before killing her.

With that being the case, staying here and being subject to Shirley's rule seemed to be the better option, but her soul screamed out, refusing to come under someone and would rather choose death.

Either way, her options were limited. Sensing her injuries, she knew she could barely survive a year, and if she expended her energy that suppressed the remnant energy devouring her, she didn't need a physician to tell her chances of survival would fall severely, not even leaving her a month or two to live.

Nonetheless, after calming down, she sat cross-legged and meditated to suppress the remnant energy wreaking havoc inside her body and even one of her eyes. Right now, she still has eighty percent energy left even after using a Divine Technique, so she used it to suppress her injuries and let her body heal. Her Emperor-Tier Blood surged with fury and eagerly reconstructed her bones, organs, and flesh but very slowly due to the powerful remnant energy plaguing her.

She must be careful not to let that remnant energy invade into the soul sea, or that would be even more fatal, forcing her to exit her body.

If she did that, considering that everyone here possessed karmic attacks, she was as good as dead or could even be imprisoned if they had certain techniques to seal her.

An Emperor-Tier Soul like hers was worth more than it would go for.

After some time, she gazed at the Ninth Hidden Pagoda, knowing that Shirley would be despairing right about now.

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*Gasp!~*

A white-robed woman with crimson hair and icy-blue strands severely gasped for breath, seemingly having overused her energy all at once.

She still had a great amount of energy left, but the energy she let out all at once had used up thirty-five percent of her energy, yet when she looked at the foe in front of her, a peculiar statue that seemed no more than six feet two inches tall, she couldn't believe she could break it even after using the most destructive technique she possessed.

"Who are you…?"

Shirley uttered while still gasping for breath.

However, the lifeless statue with no sentience whatsoever, seemingly resembling a person of some legends, had nothing to say to her.

The statue stayed still, standing tall on a circular platform like it was a piece on a board while its hands were clenched behind its back.

"You seem eerily similar to what my darling described…" Shirley's expression turned amused.

However, it didn't seem like she had fun, "Don't tell me you're constructed after the Celestial Transcendent?"

"…"

There was still no response, causing Shirley to clench her teeth.

Whatever technique she conjured, it came back at her, with a prowess that exceeded even hers. With the way this trial was designed, Shirley was starting to feel the Ninth Hidden Pagoda that allowed only a single person to enter at a time, was unbeatable.