Chapter 2128: First Return (1)
Just like that, fourteen top experts had died.
At the same time, the auras of both South Heavenly King and the giant started growing. Both were already Venerables, and both were growing to a higher level. Elsewhere, Dragonblood Marquis was also growing silently.
With the fourteen deaths, all the death spirits apart from those who had lost control over themselves calmed down.
***
Somewhere in the death spirit dao.
The giant, whose aura was growing stronger by the moment, frowned as it looked at Su Yu.
Su Yu was looking at him as well.
After a while, Su Yu's cold voice rang out, "Are you the full willpower of your main body? Or are you only a collection of remnant will? Is the Master of Death dead or alive?"
"Dead or alive?" The giant replied, "Are you really asking this question to someone who has mastered death? Is this not laughable?"
Su Yu laughed. "Mastered death? I admit that the Master of Death is incomparbly talented. But I doubt death is truly under his control."
He was not denying that the Master of Death. But fully mastering death? He found that hard to believe. Could Master of Death control the death of a supreme powerhouse?
Nope.
In short, the giant was bluffing.
The giant did not deign to answer and swept its trident forth again. Even as it attacked, its aura continued growing. It was starting to reach Su Yu's level. It hadn't even been that long. As for the deaths of Dizhiluo and the others, the giant appeared completely indifferent. It did not matter. This was a world of death in the first place.
The full deaths of these people would only hasten its awakening. Thus, it lost nothing from their deaths. At the same time, South Heavenly King and the others, even Dragonblood Marquis, had also benefited from those deaths.
One could say that those deaths had benefited all three parties. The ones who had lost were the dead fools.
After creating more waves with its trident, the giant said, "Death is the ultimate end. Resurrection is but a dream. The dao of time is incapable of supporting their existence."
At this point, Su Yu had already reached the conclusion that this giant was most definitely not the Master of Death.
Ignoring what the giant was saying, Su Yu asked curiously, "Is this a clone or an imprint? A mental imprint?"
After pushing Su Yu back with yet another swing of its trident, the giant said, "So what if I'm a clone? So what if I'm an imprint? I am me. The clone is me. The imprint is me. Life is me. Death is me. Only I matter in the myriad daos."
The giant asked, "Are you trying to take all these people into your newly created world? I respect your guts for daring to attempt Creation with such strength. You even succeeded. How surprising. However, you are infringing upon my dao right now. Do you know that this is a serious feud?"
"I might not be the main body. But when the main body returns in the future, your action today won't be forgiven."
That was true. Su Yu was the aggressor here. All these death spirits owed the Master of Death for their second shot at life. Thus, Su Yu's action would not be tolerated. As far as the Master of Death was concerned, South Heavenly King and the others were his. They were practically his personally cultivated crop.
And Su Yu was trying to uproot his cultivated crop. That was not acceptable.
Su Yu smiled. "Wait, are you saying that you won't be killing me?"
Why would the giant bother to mention the main body otherwise?
The giant said, "Killing you? You can leave at any time. This is merely a conflict over these people you're trying to take from me. Do you really believe that the two of us will actually fight to the death here? I'm not even the main body. I will weaken considerably after leaving this dao. I won't have anything the moment I step into the world of the living. How am I supposed to kill you?"
Yes.
That was indeed the case. It was unlikely that this conflict would cause Su Yu's death. Anyone with a brain could see that. As for those without brains, well, they were already dead thanks to their stupidity.
Su Yu chuckled, "Why don't you take a step back?"
"I have never taken a step back before."
Suddenly, the giant trident transformed into countless ropes before shooting toward Su Yu.
"I'm already expecting a surprise attack."
Su Yu struck back without holding back. While they were conversing, both were preparing for further attacks. The transformation of the trident into ropes was a unique technique of the Master of Death.
Su Yu had also been gathering strength secretly. With a jab of his pen, locks, cages, suppression talismans, and suppression formations manifested all around him.
Boom!
Not far away, powerful auras started approaching.
South Heavenly King and the others were returning.
After throwing a palm strike from afar, South Heavenly King said, "You brought me back, and I spent many years serving you. My death essence has also contributed to the death spirit dao for many years. The debt has been paid. We have merely been making use of each other. You are no master of mine."
Those words were naturally meant for the giant. The giant took a step back, but it looked completely indifferent. Why should it care about the words of mere bugs? So what if South Heavenly King was strong now?
Even Death Imperator, who was stronger than Su Yu, was regarded as a bug. As far as the giant was concerned, Death Imperator was no better than a dog. A dog that could wag its tail or bite its master.
But so what?
A dog would remain a dog.
Only Su Yu, a fellow Creator, was different. Only Su Yu was worthy of conversing with it. Thus, the giant did not deign to even grace South Heavenly King with a reply. South Heavenly King frowned, but she merely snorted.
More and more people gathered around her. Of the over sixty experts who had entered the death spirit dao in search for their essence, only about thirty remained. The rest had either been killed by the South Heavenly King or the ones who had answered the giant's call.
When Su Yu looked over, he frowned.
Xing Yue and He Tu were not among them.
Knowing what Su Yu was thinking, South Heavenly King sent a voice transmission, "Your Majesty, Xing Yue...can't find her essence."
Su Yu blinked.
She couldn't find her essence?
What?
He looked at the giant and said, "Master of Death...no, I'll call you Fellow Daoist Death Spirit. There is a conflict between us, but I have a question. Do you mind answering it?"
The giant took a few steps back. It did not retreat out of fear toward Su Yu. Rather, it was retreating to buy more time for its recovery. In fact, it was happy to see Su Yu dragging the time out.
"Speak."
The giant was as arrogant as ever, but it still allowed the question.
Su Yu said, "I have a friend. Someone of a considerable status. She died many years ago, but her essence is now missing. Since you control the death spirit dao, you must know what's happening, right?"
"Missing essence?"
The giant sank into thought. After a long while, it looked up at Su Yu with an odd gaze. And finally, it smiled. This was the first time it had ever smiled since its awakening.
"Are you trying to resurrect her?"
"Of course." The giant laughed. "I'm afraid you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I believe I know who you're talking about. Missing essence? No. The essence isn't missing. But her backer was too powerful. Back when she died, her backer extended her lifespan for her.
"I'm looking forward to your choice. In fact, I don't mind letting you know about this. I know a bit about this person. Her essence isn't in the death spirit dao. Or to be precise, it is not fully in the death spirit dao. You are probably familiar with the place where life and death interweave. Half her essence is submerged in the time dao while the other half is here.
"To resurrect her, you will not only offend my main body. But you'll offend that man as well. Her status is unique. She is both alive and dead, but she's also unlike any other being in that state. Life and death are both truly balanced in her. Only a supreme being can do something like this. I remember how back then, someone known as the Human Emperor came asking for a favor. He wanted to preserve her in that state in preparation for her future resurrection.
"I had assumed that she was no more, but what a surprise. I know what Human Emperor wanted. He probably planned to create his own world and resurrect her in it. But he failed, right? He has gone completely missing for a very long time."
Su Yu's heart thumped.
Human Emperor!
Sure enough, Xing Yue was related to Human Emperor. Back when she first died, Human Emperor had personally visited the death spirit dao to resurrect her. That must have happened before his attempt at Creation. Ultimately, he was forced to give up on his Creation before he could complete it.
Su Yu asked, "Is that where her essence is? In that case, do I need to retrieve half her essence from the River of Time to resurrect her?"
"Wrong." The giant said, "She is different from the others. The others are truly dead. I have merely recreated them through their essence in the death spirit dao.
"But this woman is neither dead nor alive. She's not fully dead. Since she's not dead, how can she resurrect?"
Once again, Su Yu blanked out. This time, he was truly confused. After a long silence, he asked with a frown, "What are you trying to say?"
The giant did not mind telling Su Yu all that. This would help drag the time further, and Su Yu was a Creator, someone truly qualified to converse with the giant.
"Resurrecting her is actually quite simple."
Simple?
Su Yu was doubtful. Was it really simple?
The giant said, "Yes, it's quite simple. I can see that you have both life and death in your dao. Reversal isn't difficult. She is half alive and half dead, but you're actually in a similar state. Go to the intersection of life and death, locate her essence, and hand her the life and death daos in your world. Hand them all to her and she will naturally return to life after mastering the daos of life and death."
Su Yu was stunned. Was it really so simple?
The giant smiled. "Simple, right? But as a fellow Creator, let me give you a warning. The life and death daos in your world are very special and powerful. By handing them to someone else, you might not be able to reclaim them when she decides to turn against you in the future. From then on, she fully controls both life and death in your world.
"At present, she is suppressed by both the life and death spirit daos. Her memories are greatly incomplete. She might no longer be the same person you know after her resurrection.
"Other death spirits will regain their nature after regaining their memories. But this is not applicable to her since she's being suppressed by two supreme daos. What you know is merely a small part of her. A negligibly small part of her. Are you sure you still want to resurrect her after learning about this?"
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