As my "rival" glared at the awakening me from the front, the two old things stood on both sides of me while the flower thief calmly sealed my escape from behind. Oh lord please, I would exchange anything except for exchanging fists or my poor life.
"Hahaha, are you ready my rival!? Ready to feel the freedom of youth through exchanging fists?!" Jing'er happily roared as he started to charge at me.
Freedom of youth my a**! Wait. Freedom?! That's it!
"HOLD ON! I have a proposal!" I yelled, which froze Jing'er in his spot.
"Heh, brat, what excuse have you found now to delay the fight? Are you trying to hide something?" the flower thief snickered while the two old things nodded in agreement as Jing'er glared at me with disappointment.
"No, it's not hiding anything as I'm coming clean now. What I wanted to say was, instead of exchanging fists, how about I exchange your fists for your freedom?" I slyly questioned back.
The four glanced at each other as Jing'er asked, "What do you mean by exchanging freedom for fists?"
"I mean it literally. In exchange for your help of brawn, I will grant you freedom," I replied.
"Freedom? What freedom? It can't be you have a way out of this hole right?" the flower thief sneered.
"I precisely have a way out of here," I replied and then narrated my out-of-body experience and how I found the key out, but did not tell them the details on my father nor what occurred.
The four the huddled up and left me out as they discussed with each other. Then, once again they turn back to me with doubts on their face.
"How can we trust you? You've only been here for a short while, perhaps you're actually someone sent in by the dog emperor? Plus, how do you know what you found is the key? How do you know it even works?" the flower thief questioned me with doubt.
"For me, this will be a trade, so there is only basic trust that is needed. As for how I know that the key works for me. The truth is that there was an inscription that said that the blood of the Xiong Clan would allow one to use the key. My blood just happens to coincide with it," I explained.
"Huh? You blood works? Are you from the Xiong Clan? I heard that it was extinct by the time I was locked in here!" the flower thief exclaimed.
"Yep, I managed to escape due to luck because I wasn't at the clan when the tragedy occurred," I made up an excuse.
The four glanced at each other and nodded, then Jing'er seriously asked, "So what is it that you need help with? With your strength, to need help with it mean that its not possible alone."
"Yes, as you can imagine, having your clan slaughtered is not a pleasant experience. I plan to get revenge, and I need your help on that-" I put out my proposal.
"Oh HELL NO! You're seeking death, and I'm not joining in on this. You do know that there is a Gold Dan that even we can't beat up there and you're trying to send yourself to his mouth?!" the flower thief denied the proposal as the rest sighed and nodded in agreement.
I was disappointed because it seems now that my revenge will have to wait once again, until I get stronger, but a hoarse voice interrupted my thoughts.
"I shall handle him. You all can go for the emperor instead."
We all turned to the final cell that held the nearly always silent old man. Now, the old man had looked up to review a wrinkled, old face with a soft smile as an intimidating force descended upon us. A soft golden glow flashed through the old man's now bright eyes as he looked over at me. Eh ... he couldn't have taken a fancy to me and wanted me to be his disciple right? My future is far too bright for that ...
"Y-you. Old man, you're actually agreeing to this brat's plan?!" the flower thief asked in shock.
The old man glanced at him, nodded, then with a swish, he appeared right by my side, standing half a step behind me. The four gaped at the sight, then glanced at each other like they made some decision. Then the roared in laughter.
"HAHAHA! Finally, we can go give that dog emperor a lesson! With old man taking on that gold freak, we have no worries about a trifling Indigo Dan!" Jing'er said with a laugh.
"He's actually Violet Dan peak now, maybe even Brown Dan recently if he hid his strength," I tried to warn them.
"HAhahah! No worries, with this line up, it'll be a shame to our ancestors if we can't even kill a Brown Dan!" Old Pan roared.
"Exactly, if we can't kill a Brown Dan, I'll eat s**t for the rest of my life!" Old Xia piped in.
"Just making sure, I get first pick on the flowers," the flower thief perversely stated.
I nodded, then I spawned a clone as the five watched in shock. Then, the thief pointed at me and stuttered, "C-c-clone! A-a-are you a venerate cyan stage immortal?!"
*smack* "Idiot! If he's cyan stage, he won't still be here with us. It's probably a high level skill, we don't need to pry into his secrets," Old Pan said as he smacked the perverted thief's head.
I nodded and declared, "I'll leave this clone with you guys. I'll be heading off to get the key with my main body as only my main body can activate the key. My clone will know once I activate the key, then you guys will first go cause a distraction by freeing the prisoners in the normal prison, then once we regroup, we shall give that dog emperor's his final rite."
We looked at each and nodded.
"May your freedom be at your beckon," I gave my blessings as I rushed towards the chamber where my father was at as the five prepared for a life-and-death battle.