“Ugh! This fellow is very heavy.”
“Audacious, who dares to step on this exalted one’s head?”
“Wake up. You’re already dead!”
“What? I have conquered worlds and dominated universes. How can I possibly be dead?”
“His illness is flaring up again.”
The surrounding skulls shook their heads.
...
Zu An’s head hurt from the skulls’ chattering.
They had to have been top-notch experts back when they were still alive. They retained an imposing air despite being reduced to skulls, so much so that even their chattering was as potent as a barrage of mental attacks. Those who lacked mental fortitude would have long lost their minds from the simultaneous remarks of the tens of thousands of skulls.
Zu An pulled himself together. He considered using the Deity of Memory’s ‘Annals of History’ to banish these mental attacks into the River of History, but on second thought, the person at the end of these stairs could very well be antagonistic to Meng. It was best not to expose himself just yet. So, he channeled the Unshakable Daoist Manual to empty his mind as he continued scaling the stairs.
As he advanced, his flesh and blood gradually disappeared. It didn’t take him long to be reduced to a skeleton. The impact between his bony feet and the skull stairs produced eerie clacking sounds.
Zu An remained composed. He didn’t feel any pain despite having been turned into a skeleton. His mind remained clear. As he inspected his current form with his divine sense, he couldn’t help but marvel at the machinations of fate.
Qi Yaoguang had prophesied that he would be reduced to a skeleton. He'd thought that the prophecy had already been fulfilled at the Eight Barren Netherworld Suppression Formation, but who could have thought this would be it instead?
He had no idea how long he had been climbing for, as time seemed to lose its meaning here. Eventually, he arrived at the top of the stairs.
At the top was a throne made out of white bones. But even calling it a throne felt like an insult, as no throne in the world was as domineering as it. Even the majestic skulls weaved into the stairs quivered in the face of the white bone throne, as if they were peasants before the emperor.
The throne was empty, but the aura lingering on it was frightening. No one would dare take it lightly.
Zu An was taken aback. He recognized that unique aura to be divinity. He'd encountered something similar when he met the Deity of Chaos and Enigma and the Deity of Memory. The nature of the auras was different, but they shared a similar air of divinity.
“You’re here,” a dispassionate voice echoed.
Zu An raised his head and saw a pair of red eyes in the sky. Each eye extended beyond the horizon. They were so huge that even planets looked insignificant before them, let alone individuals.
Somehow, Zu An didn’t feel pressured by the eyes; if anything, he felt some intimacy toward the other party. He found this feeling inexplicable.
Zu An bowed. “Are you the Deity of Death?”
“You know me?” The eyes looked at Zu An.
Zu An sighed. “I would have died a long time ago if I couldn’t even figure this out.”
He had met a Death envoy in the ocean, and later, he'd heard a lot about the Deity of Death. There were also the overly conspicuous skull stairs, as well as his subsequent transformation into a skeleton. Everything was related to Death.
The massive red eyes in the sky rippled. “It's been a long time since anyone called me that.”
It looks like the rumors about the Deity of Death’s demise are untrue, Zu An thought.
“I am dead,” a voice echoed from the sky.
Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. Shit. I nearly forgot that universal deities can hear thoughts. Worried that the other party would read more of his thoughts, he quickly changed the topic and asked, “Can the Deity of Death really die, too?”
“Do you find it ludicrous?”
“I dare not.”
“It goes without saying that the Deity of Death can die as well,” the voice calmly replied. “Nothing is fairer in the world than Death. Be it the strong or the weak, the wealthy or the poor, all beings are bound for death. I may be the Deity of Death, but I am not beyond this law myself.”
Zu An felt as if he had an epiphany, but that feeling quickly slipped away from him. “I heard rumors that you were ambushed by the Deity of Annhilation, and that’s why you...”
Since he was currently in the Deity of Death’s presence, he wasn’t worried about catching other universal deities’ gazes.
“The Deity of Annihilation is powerful, but he doesn’t have the means to kill me,” the Deity of Death replied proudly.
Zu An was perplexed. But you’re dead.
The Deity of Death was enraged by his thought. “The Deity of Annihilation wasn’t the only one who made a move.”
Zu An was astonished. It sounds like a huge secret at play here. I hope it isn’t another riddle. So, he got to the point and asked, “Did the Deity of Annihilation join hands with other universal deities?”
“It wasn’t just one or two of them. All of them were involved.” The Deity of Death dropped a bombshell.
Zu An was flabbergasted. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the Deity of Annihilation had a helper, but to think all the other universal deities were in on it. Wow, the Deity of Death must have been very hated. Good thing I didn’t use...
He quickly cut his thoughts short.
“What are your thoughts on the universal deities?”
“They are the strongest entities in the Myriad Worlds, the end points of their respective paths. Do you think such omnipotent beings would accept death?”
Those words provided enough clues for Zu An to figure out the other universal deities’ motive for killing the Deity of Death. Beings who had reached the top would be even more reluctant to accept death.
Only by slaying the Deity of Death, the embodiment of death, could one be eternal.
“We are fated.”
Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. Damn! I’d have celebrated if I heard that before learning the truth. This is a huge fortuitous encounter, a chance to inherit the Deity of Death’s legacy. But the Deity of Death was lynched to death by other universal deities! I might end up dead before I know it if I get involved with this karma.
“This is fate. You can’t escape it.” The Deity of Death knew his thoughts but didn’t lose his temper. “I sense death energy from you. You’re a Deity of Death in a minor world.”
Zu An was stunned. Indeed, he was the Netherworld’s master in the World of Cultivation, so that technically made him a Deity of Death as well.
“That was the reason I guided you here,” the Deity of Death said with a hint of excitement.
Zu An widened his eyes. It suddenly occurred to him that he was only able to enter this forbidden land because of Death Envoy Alati’s key...
He'd thought this was all Firework’s scheme, but from the looks of it now, Firework was just an unknowing pawn in the Deity of Death’s karma.
“Is that powerful demon spider your worshiper, too?” Zu An asked.
“No, she’s the gatekeeper of this forbidden land.”