Chapter 838: Too Much To Accept.
There was nothing else to the fight, so he couldn’t spot a weakness, and he didn’t see anything that he could have done better to avoid the fate of being captured and subjected to existence-rending pain. His defeat was as straightforward as it could be and there was no denying it.
At the end of the day, he could only say, "I shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t have been greedy."
This was his final conclusion. It is all he can figure out from the humiliating defeat. Unfortunately, it is too late to come to that conclusion now.
After all, it is of no use to have such an epiphany now that he has been captured. It certainly won’t help him break free.
In fact, if someone had told him to avoid the dragon at all costs before he encountered the dragon, he would have scoffed at them. He might have even scorned them for cowardice and foolishness. This was because every piece of information they had about the dragon indicated that it was weak.
The dragon had killed nine divine beings, but they were all rank 6 divine beings. The dragon had also avoided fighting any rank 7 being. In fact, the dragon had been seen running away from rank 7 and rank 8 cultivators many times.
The dragon was also tracked for a while by a rank 6 seer, so it should be weak. Then there was the fact that the dragon hadn’t been able to kill Forced Exchange and Money Speed after so long.
So by common sense, the dragon should be weak and easy for him to kill. Yet, he is.
He has been bested by the supposedly weak dragon. It was all too much to believe.
As he tried to wrap his head around the whole thing, his mind settled on something he was convinced of. The understanding hit his mind like a bolt of lightning, and he was enlightened.
His eyes lit up as he thought, ’It is hunting us. That dragon is hunting us. We are not the ones hunting it at all.’
’It is not weak. No, it is not. It is very strong, and it is toying with us. It is taking its time taking us down.’
’For now, the crippled and sickly in the herd are being targeted. But soon, even the strongest alphas will be on the menu to be eaten.’
While he was standing there looking into space and coming to terms with his defeat, his six subordinates were standing around looking at him anxiously. They were waiting for a report on the situation from him.
The last they heard from Money Body, he said he had found the dragon. He had been happy when he said that. But then he froze and remained like that since.
They want to know what happened after he found the dragon. But from the look of his behavior, it didn’t seem like what happened was something good.
No one could expect good news from him, so they were anxious as they waited. Of the six of them, Money Speed, and Forced Exchange were the most anxious. After all, not only was their life on the line, but if Money Body were to blame anyone, he would blame them.
Eventually, the rank 7 cultivator, Market Conditions, couldn’t hold back anymore. So he said, "Sir, what happened?"
This question snapped Money Body out of his reverie. His eyes immediately sharpened, and his gaze turned to focus on them.
His face was stoic, and his voice was calm as he said in reply, "I was defeated. That’s what happened."
His words struck them in the gut like a heavy punch below the belt when they heard what he said.
Individually, his words were harmless. But the specific combination of those words was what made them feel a bout of immense disbelief.
Forced Exchange, tried to speak, but he kept coming up empty each time he wanted to speak. Each time he wanted to say something, he would open his mouth. Then he would close it.
Then he would try again, only to fail. This made it look like a fish that had been pulled out of water.
The news that Money Body had been defeated had the greatest impact on the rank 6 members, the members the most. This was because they were the youngest to join the alliance and had only seen Money Body as a powerful being incapable of defeat.
The rank 7 divine beings were more informed and knew that Money Body hadn’t always been a great rank 8 cultivator. They were aware of the times he had been defeated and had to run for his life.
Most importantly, they knew that Money Body wasn’t the strongest. So they were able to accept the concept of his defeat more easily.
However, they would rather believe that he was defeated by another rank 8 cultivator, a group of rank 8 cultivators, or a Dao Lord. There were a lot of options that were more believable. A random dragon that everyone was hunting wasn’t one of these options.
In order to clear their doubts, the other rank 7 member, Money Thief, asked a pertinent question, saying, "Who and how did it happen?"
This was a question that should make Money Body flare up in anger. After all, this was tearing up his sore and fresh wounds.
But Money Body didn’t get angry. In fact, he didn’t behave like he heard the question at all.
He ignored the question and said, "Forget about what has happened. We need to deal with what is about to happen."
Then he turned to Money Speed and Forced Exchange before saying, "I have to let you two go so that I will have enough lifespan to sustain myself. The three of us can’t be a burden on our reserves at the same time. It is a waste of resources."
He said this to inform them of their fate. He wasn’t asking for their opinions, and he wasn’t open to an argument.