THE GOD EATER

Before they could speak, argue, or complain, he waved his hand and extinguished their Life Fires. This sight struck the rest of them with another emotional impact.

The emotional impact was so heavy that they took a step back in fear. Because of it, if they didn’t know before, now they knew that the situation was deadly serious.

In the past, Money Body would have come up with a way to turn the others on these unfortunate two. He would have found a way to wield public opinion to his advantage.

But for some reason, he didn’t seem to care about what they thought. Or he cared only a little since he told them why he did what he did, but he didn’t care about what they thought because he didn’t allow room for a differing opinion.

After he killed Forced Exchange and Money Speed, Money Body was able to relax a little bit. It was just for a little bit, brought about by the fact that he could now last longer. But his mood was still grave, and his heart was still heavy with the threat of death weighing it down.

While he was thinking about what he should do, he heard the dragon say to him, "Oh. It seems you have become desperate."

"You should have told me that you were desperate before you began killing your subordinates. If I had known, I would have offered you a way out."

In the outside world, he was wrapped by a constricting force. The force had removed every trace of light and eliminated every sound from his surroundings. So he was effectively blind and deaf.

According to his perspective, he was stuck in a world of darkness with only the sense of pain still working. In fact, the absence of his other senses made the feeling of his body being slowly ground and torn extra painful.

It was through this overwhelming darkness and pain that the voice of the dragon came to him. That voice was a mental wave of information from the dragon to him, but to him, it appeared as a light in the daekne.

He was in a deep pit, and the voice was a rope that was extended into the pit. The rope was small and weak, so it was unlikely to be able to pull him out of the pit. But he still grabbed onto the rope with all of his might as if his life depended on it.

He cared a lot if the dragon was being sincere or if it was toying with him. But even if the dragon was saying those things to mess with him, he wanted the dragon to keep speaking so that he could feel something other than pain.

He wanted an extra source of simulation, so he made an attempt to keep the dragon talking. He said, "What way do you have to offer me and what price do I have to pay for it?"

The dragon said, "Good questions. As expected of Money Body. He knows how to hit the nail of the matter on its head."

Then the dragon said with a mischievous tone, "Don’t you want to free yourself from the shackles of your sect? I can help you with that. It all depends on how much you can pay for your freedom."

Of course, Money Body wanted to be free from his sect. Practically every rank 8 cultivator he knew wanted to be free from their sects. So he wasn’t surprised that the dragon would use this offer to tempt him.

However, he wasn’t tempted yet. After all, becoming free from the sects is easier said than done.

He had yet to see how he would be given his freedom, so he asked, saying, "How do you propose I gain my freedom?"

He didn’t expect to get any useful answer. He had only asked the question to satisfy his curiosity and keep the dragon talking.

So he was very surprised when the dragon replied, saying, "How about I help you become a dragon?"

This time, Money Body became tempted. Suddenly, this conversation had stopped being about satisfying his need for diverse sensory stimulation.

He was now interested in what was being discussed, so his voice was earnest as he said, "How will that happen? What do I need to do?"

His words and the way he asked them seemed to amuse the dragon because the dragon laughed. This laughter made his heart sink.

When he heard the laughter, he began to realize that he had been fooled. He realized that the dragon was only toying with him before killing him.

As the dragon laughed, the dragon said, "So eager. How amusing."

Then the dragon said, "Anyway, what you need to do is simple. Just listen and obey."

Money Body’s emotions and expectations had cooled down after he realized that the dragon was only playing around with its food. So when the dragon began telling him its plan, he only listened because he didn’t have a choice.

But the more he heard of the plan, the more he realized that the dragon might be serious, and the higher his expectations became. And the higher his expectations became, the higher his hope became.

The plan the dragon suggested was absurd and preposterous. By common sense, the plan shouldn’t work. But he didn’t have much to lose other than his life.

Regardless of whether he went along with the plan or not, he would die. As it is, he doesn’t mind death. After all, he is already tired of living under the tyranny of the Four Directions Sect.

If there is one thing he will regret about dying, it is dying for nothing. If he is to die, he would rather die doing something worthwhile.

The dragon’s plan, as absurd as it was, would give him a chance at freedom or even greater power. These are things worth dying for, so he decided to give the plan a shot.