Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1394  The Vendetta Ceremony

Undead Phoenix looked around him. He was now in an endless white space, with illusory temples floating above his head and a constant drumming sound.

"Where am I?"

"Welcome to the Vendetta Ceremony," Mongke said as he appeared before him, wearing nothing but pants. Usually, warriors participating in this ceremony would wear full armor, but he opted for this simple and rudimentary approach.

"It's you," Undead Phoenix. "What have you done?"

"I'm sure you've heard of our ceremony. Isn't that one of the reasons the Earth Emperor tried so hard to find excuses to pursue us? I'm sure you discussed this, and probably Time Eater instigated it in the first place."

Undead Phoenix was quiet since Mongke was correct. The Barbarian Race was long deemed too much of a threat because of many of their weird ceremonies, so Time Eater tasked them to deal with them. Ultimately, the Earth Emperor accepted the task as he thought they would make a great addition to his dynasty.

"Do you think you can defeat me?" Undead Phoenix sneered. "Even with my injuries, you're still no match for me."

"No need to worry about that," Mongke replied. "Do you know the price for using the Vendetta Ceremony? 20% of our clan's luck," Mongke replied without giving him a chance to answer. "That's why we rarely use it unless we have a true vendetta or facing a life-and-death foe. However, people do not know that if we sacrifice an additional 10% in the ceremony, we can lower the enemy's cultivation to the same as their challengers. Although this does not apply to Primal Paragons, the effects are still wonderful.'

Undead Phoenix's face turned ugly. Could he defeat Mongke while in the same cultivation realm? He was not confident in himself.

"What? Feeling unconfident?" Mongke mocked. "I thought your hobby was to play and torture geniuses. Could it be that you can only bully people weaker than you?"

"You!"

"Wang Wei once said something about you that I remember to this day. He said you either die as a hero or live long enough to become the villain. These words perfectly summarize your life story, doesn't it? Regardless, it is still sad."

"Are you looking down on me?" Undead Phoenix asked with gritted teeth.

"Of course I am," Mongke replied. "A genius like you should have had a bright future. In fact, it's obvious you're in the current situation out of your own doing."

"My own doing? If not that bitch —"

"That's not what I mean," Mongke cut him off. "Some people might blame you for not seeing her true self, but I understand that love is blind. I believe most people who genuinely love someone could experience the same fate as you. Your failure was not falling in love or giving your heart to the wrong person.

"Your failure was how you reacted afterward. Despite a severe foundation, you did the impossible and became a Paragon. Couldn't you have just killed her and taken back what she stole from you? By then, she would have just become one of the many catastrophes you overcame in your long and prosperous cultivation journey."

"Do you think I didn't try?" Undead Phoenix snapped back. "By the time I had the strength, she was already the darling of the Phoenix Clan, fully under their wings. When they realized she was a fraud, they still protected her as long as she never left her clan."

"What about your time in the Moon Council?"

"The suns prevented infighting, and Time Eater encouraged balancing each other," Undead Phoenix justified himself.

"All I'm hearing are excuses," Mongke replied. "You had plenty of opportunities during your time at the Moon Council — especially in the early period when the suns were still experiencing their transformation. With a little bit of caution, you could have killed her swiftly and run away.

"However, the damage she did to you was more than physical. You became cautious and timid, always waiting for the right time to strike, but that time never came. Then, the power of the Moon Council further corroded your fighting spirit to the point of almost destroying your hatred for her.

"The next step was simple to deduce — you started abusing 'geniuses' as a replacement for her and to deal with the disgust you have for yourself for what you've become. Ultimately, your downfall was because you never overcame the mental strains Five Feathers left on you."

Undead Phoenix looked at him with ferocious eyes. If he had the power to kill with his eyes, Mongke would have died by now after experiencing all the torture known to the world.

"Remember this," the Barbarian King said. "This is your last chance to leave a positive footnote in history. Although it will only be accompanied by my legend, you can still make your death glorious. And depending on how brilliant my story becomes, history will have something positive to say about you as the first Paragon I slaughtered."

Undead Phoenix took a deep breath to calm down:

"Do you have to do this? If you die, your clan will lose 30% of their luck. Such a blow in such a chaotic time is enough to wipe them off."

"Your words cannot affect me mentally," Mongke replied calmly. He had enough confidence in his victory, and the reward was all of Undead Phoenix's luck and destiny. Yes, dying in this ceremony is true death, and no longevity resources can help.

"But–"

"We have reached this point, and you're still trying to weasel your way out of it," Mongke said. "It is not happening. Remember what I said — this is your last chance. Burn your last glory and return to the genius you once were, and give me a legendary battle for the history books."

Mongke's eyes turned red, and his body released a similar aura. However, it was not his previous aura of intimidation and kingly atmosphere. His aura was more barbaric, savage, and cruel. It was like he was another person—like he was the embodiment of the God of War.

…

Wang Wei arrived before a broken door and immediately frowned. Wang Qi and Dulgun flew over, and their expression already told him what had happened:

"It's gone?" he asked.

"Yes, someone already got to it," Wang Qi nodded.

"Two people, to be exact, " Dulgun added. "They fought briefly before separating."

"It's a shame we couldn't get the treasure, but I got my hands on Five Fetaher's person space, so that's more than enough," Wang Wei nodded. "Let's reunite with the others before separating."

Switch!

Red Mask's projection appeared in the room.

"What's the result?"

"Someone invaded their orb while we were taking the information," she reported. "We fought, and our guard could only keep half." Red Mask did not hide her annoyance at the lord. If not for his order to not show up with her actual body, they would not have suffered such humiliation.

"Do you know who they were?"

"All the assailants were women and had a unique aura, so they were either from Lady Xun Junyao or Sunshine Pavillion, but I'm betting on the latter since these people refused our offers to share the information."

Wang Wei frowned: "Forget them for now. Since you arrived first, you should have gotten the information I wanted, right?"

"It wasn't there," Red Mask reported. "The first thing our agent did was to use divination to find the location of the plague's formula, but no matter what technique we used, the answer was negative. I didn't want to leave any stone unturned, so I searched manually, but there is a high chance that Five Feathers never recorded the plague Curse Formula."

"In other words, I still have to clean up the mess left behind. Well, technically speaking, the mess I created," Wang Wei groaned.

"There is some good news," Wang Qi added. "We've captured several professionals, including many Curse Masters who worked on the plague."

"That is better than nothing," Wang Wei nodded. He had his people participate in the creation, so he understood most of the plague except for the last formula that made it so deadly.

"Alright, everyone can disperse. Remember to move the coordinates of your mortal civilization base. The last thing we need now is for them to be discovered by anyone."

"Yes, sir."

"One more thing: if nothing unexpected occurs, Undead Phoenix should also be dead. There is no need to participate in the plunder."

Wang Qi was briefly silent before saying: "I'll relay your orders."

"Thank you," Dulgun bowed.

"We're allies, aren't we?"

"Don't worry. The Barbarian Clan always treats its friend with the utmost sincerity."

Wang Wei waved his hand before leaving. He, of course, covered his track. Back at his sanctum, he summoned the most remarkable find of this plundering: a green ring with designs of tree barks.

"A ring made from the main branch of a Life Source Tree — it should have fallen from Five Feather's hand as she disappeared," Wang Wei commented. This ring was a third-level longevity ring, meaning he now had an extra life. Although this ring was probably useless before transcendent entities, its existence allowed him to be bolder in many of his operations.