Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

He paused, then stated his true conditions: "In return, I, Devourer of the Sun, in the name of the Great Chieftain of the Demon Bear Clan, hereby forge a personal alliance with you, Liu Nian. In the future Ascension War, when you need us, the warriors of the Demon Bear Clan will become your claws, fully assisting you in destroying a Chaos force! Furthermore, within the Rust Dynasty's territory, the Naga Clan will regard you as an important guest!"

The proposal was put forward, and a slight commotion arose in the council chamber.

Players from the Demon Bear Clan, including Sui Shan and Wo Kai, stared wide-eyed, seemingly surprised that the Great Chieftain would make such a promise. The Naga Matriarch, Isha, remained silent, as if everything was left to Shi Ri's discretion.

Upon hearing this, Liu Nian quickly began to calculate in his mind.

The eternal level reward truly excited Liu Nian.

However, the proposal from the Demon Bear Clan chieftain, though seemingly tempting, was actually full of ulterior motives.

First, the Demon Bear Clan was already destined to participate in the Ascension War, and dealing with the three Chaos Clans was inevitable. The so-called "fully assisting in the annihilation of a Chaos force" was largely a matter of following the trend; in any case, the Demon Bear Clan itself would have to fight anyway.

Secondly, he proposed that the alliance be formed with "Liu Nian as an individual," rather than "the entire human race on Earth." This cleverly separated Liu Nian from humanity as a whole, binding future cooperation to him personally.

This means that if internal divisions arise within the human camp in the future, or if irreconcilable conflicts of interest occur with other forces, the Demon Bear Clan will only be accountable to Liu Nian, without having to get involved in the complex diplomacy of humanity as a whole. Even from a conspiracy theory perspective, he might be sowing the seeds of division within humanity.

Of course, it's also possible that Shi Ri highly values ​​Liu Nian's personal abilities, which could be considered an investment or a more flexible and private alliance.

However, Liu Nian was not going to be easily led by the nose.

Liu Nian raised his head to meet Shi Ri's gaze, his voice calm: "Chief Shi Ri, I have heard your proposal. But cooperation requires fairness."

"First, in dungeon exploration, we share the risks. Whatever drops, we split it 50/50. If an item is unique and indivisible, we negotiate compensation or roll dice to determine ownership, with the other party receiving other compensation of equivalent value. This is the basic principle."

A glint flashed in Shi Ri's eyes. After a moment's thought, he slowly nodded: "Yes, that's fair."

This is a mirrored instance, so the rewards inside are doubled.

"Secondly," Liu Nian continued, "an alliance is possible, but I believe the current Ascension War is of paramount importance. A premature alliance might not be beneficial for either of us. Therefore, how about this: it's an alliance between just the two of us, not involving the race as a whole for the time being. We can cooperate deeply on certain matters, and our alliance will remain confidential for now, only to be used at crucial moments. What do you think?"

Shi Ri frowned slightly. This guy really wouldn't suffer even the slightest loss; he's incredibly shrewd!

Moreover, his words left Shi Ri speechless, and after thinking about it, he could only nod in agreement.

"Your conditions are reasonable," Shi Ri said in a deep voice. "I agree."

"Okay." Liu Nian nodded. "Then, when do we depart?"

"Now."

Liu Nian was a straightforward man, and Shi Ri was not one to hesitate; they immediately said:

"The entrance to the corridor lies beneath this water, deep within the Naga Temple. The Matriarch will open the passage for us."

The Deepwater Matriarch, Isa, spoke slowly, her voice rippling like water: "'The Trial of the Two Kings' is not a simple labyrinth of slaughter. It was established by the wise men of the dynasty to test the qualifications of 'Symbiotic Kings'—whether two leaders can demonstrate collaboration, wisdom, and trust that transcends the individual in an absolutely fair mirror dilemma. Only true 'Two Kings' are qualified to access the deepest legacy of the dynasty."

Devourer of the Sun continued, "My people and I tried it. After entering, we were separated into two corridors that were exactly the same in appearance, structure, enemy type, and strength. The monster strength... as I said before, was the average of our strength. There are no ones in our clan who are on par with me, so it's very difficult for them to succeed. In addition, there is another difficulty: the corridor mechanism requires us to move in sync—if one side falls behind for more than a certain period of time, both sides will be forcibly kicked out, and this time is about 30 seconds."

He looked at Liu Nian with intense eyes: "We need to maintain a consistent pace of progress without any prior communication, which will be a real test of teamwork."

"Mirror environment, proceed synchronously..." Liu Nian blinked.

Actually, if you think about it, this isn't difficult for Liu Nian.

With his strength, controlling the time it takes to clear the level is a piece of cake. Therefore, he only needs to know the speed at which the Sun Devourer clears the level so he can adjust his own fighting style.

Even if it doesn't work the first time, just try a few more times.

Of course, that's on the condition that you can successfully complete the Sun Devouring level.

He looked at the Sun Devourer: "Are you confident you can defeat an enemy whose strength is equal to ours?"

Shi Ri grinned, revealing a confident smile: "Liu Nian, I admit you're strong, but don't underestimate me!"

"Okay." Liu Nian nodded. "Then, we can set off!"

Based on his experience when he first entered the first level, Shi Ri said, "It should take about 3 minutes to get through the first level."

Liu Nian said, "Okay, under normal circumstances, the dungeon will definitely become more and more difficult as you progress. So let's tentatively agree that for each level we clear, we'll add 2 minutes to the time limit for the next level. If we fail at any level, we'll come back and discuss it again, okay?"

"Sure!" Devourer of the Sun added, "This challenge instance can be exited at any time, and the challenge level will not be reset, but will be recorded."

Liu Nian nodded.

Matriarch Isa gracefully raised her scepter: "The 'Mirror Chamber' leading to the trials lies at the deepest part of the temple. Now that you two have made your decision, you may depart at any time. May the wisdom and fortitude of the tides be with you."

She lightly tapped the ground with her scepter, and a soft blue light spread from beneath her feet, pointing to a deep underwater passage behind the council chamber.

Liu Nian and Shi Ri exchanged a glance and stood up at the same time.

Shi Ri gave a few instructions to Wo Kai and Sui Shan, telling them to guard the camp, and then looked at Liu Nian.

The two walked one after the other into the blue-glowing passage and disappeared behind the dark water curtain.

After passing through corridors illuminated by glowing corals and crystals, they finally arrived at a circular hall constructed entirely of smooth, mirror-like black alloy.

The hall was empty except for two intricate geometric patterns engraved side by side on the central floor.

"Just stand on the pattern," said Devourer of the Sun.

The two stood still, and the patterns beneath their feet suddenly lit up with a cold blue light, which spread along the ground and instantly filled the entire hall!

Immediately afterwards, Liu Nian felt the space around him begin to fold and replicate!

The sun-devouring scene before them and the surrounding hall seemed to be placed between two perfectly parallel mirrors, creating infinite double images, which then suddenly contracted and solidified!

In the blink of an eye, Liu Nian found himself standing in a space exactly like the hall he had just been in, but this time he was all alone.

"Welcome to the ultimate test of the dynasty. The nine-layered corridor corresponds to the dynasty's nine core virtues: perseverance, precision, resonance, sacrifice, protection, inheritance, order, symbiosis, and eternity."

"Now, let's begin with the first virtue!"

Suddenly, the two large characters "tenacity" shone brightly, and Liu Nian felt himself surrounded by an omnipresent white light.