Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

"The soul of the deceased will return to the underworld. At that time, as long as you follow the guidance of the soul, you can go to the underworld..."

Du Yi still ignored the eagle-headed man, continuing to watch the mutton until it was cooked through.

However, he remembered all of the eagle-headed man's words.

The souls of the dead return to the underworld, which sounds perfectly logical—but after a moment of thought, Du Yi suddenly realized something was amiss.

After all, just a few days ago, he had heard Elias explain the theory of the Mind-Body Technique. In the eyes of Elias, or rather, many of the chosen champions, once the body, which serves as the vessel for the soul, is destroyed, the soul is like water spilled from a broken cup. In just a moment, it will turn back into vapor, either seeping into the ground or merging into the air.

Simply put, when a person dies, their soul dissipates and their spirit vanishes; once dead, they are dead.

There is no such thing as the underworld, nor is it possible for any souls to be retrieved.

"This……"

Du Yi subconsciously glanced at Ilias beside him.

But they found that this chosen champion from the Star Sea seemed completely unfazed.

"It must be some kind of soul-collecting measure."

Noticing Du Yi's confusion, Elias offered an explanation.

"It's quite common, it exists in many places. On a small scale, it covers a region, and on a large scale, it covers a planet. Once the body that serves as the vessel for the soul is completely destroyed, the scattered soul will be retrieved... However, only those beings who have conducted extremely in-depth research on the soul can do this kind of technology. Why would such places exist?"

Elias wasn't looking down on the technology on this planet, but at least from the perspective of current civilization, it was clearly something they couldn't have created.

"Could it be... some ancient ruin?"

Elias also became interested.

While exploring ancient ruins is pointless for most of the chosen champions, since they don't need any hidden treasures buried there, all they need is endless battles and competition—there are often guardians in these ancient ruins, and among these guardians, there are often formidable enemies worth fighting.

Furthermore, in the final competition for the true champion, the existence of such guardians will even be taken into account by the god of courage.

In other words, the guardians hidden within the ruins are also among the competitors in this struggle.

Even if they themselves were not involved.

"In other words, it requires at least the soul of someone who has committed a grave sin..."

It was at this moment that Du Yi started muttering to himself.

Immediately afterwards, Du Yi and Elias's gazes fell upon the sun god Ujat.

"Why...why are you all looking at me like that?"

Being stared at by two pairs of eyes, especially those huge snake eyes, Ujat suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"I am the sun god, I am immortal..."

"I didn't intend to kill you."

Du Yi raised his tail and coiled up the sun god Ujat.

Then, he turned to look at the chosen champion, Elias.

"You should have a way, right? Don't actually kill it, I want to keep it for grilling."

"There is still a little bit."

The chosen champion Elias reached out and grabbed the longsword stained with blood, which fell into his hand.

"You don't have to completely break the container. Just leave a small crack, and the water inside will flow out on its own..."

As he said this, the longsword had already plunged directly into the body of the sun god.

The sword, covered in dark red rust, was now beginning to shimmer with crimson runes.

"Then all we have to do is watch where the water flows."

Chapter 207 I can do it too!

The underworld, the resting place of the gods.

Back when the gods were still fighting against the evil Ignivas, if the three giants hadn't accidentally discovered the secrets of the underworld, the gods would probably have been burned alive by the flames that consumed everything. However, it was in this space between life and death that the gods found this tranquil paradise, where they found temporary respite.

It was because of this brief respite that the gods of yesteryear were able to fully unleash the power they had derived from the stars, driving the evil Ignivas from the planet and restoring peace and order to the world.

"So...where are the gods? Is there anyone who can save me?"

Ujat, the sun god whose abdomen had been pierced by a sharp blade, clutched his wounded abdomen, his face filled with terror.

Using the soul of a sinner as a ticket, and following the pull of that soul to the underworld, is the correct way—but to put oneself on the verge of death and come to this space between life and death is another matter entirely.

It is common knowledge that gods are immortal. As long as consciousness exists, the soul can live forever. As long as the soul lives forever, consciousness can always exist. The reason why so-called gods can become gods is because they can do this unreasonable thing of stepping on their own feet.

But not dying doesn't mean not being half-dead.

Just like now, even though he has arrived in the underworld, the sun god Ujat is still half-dead, simply because the rune sword that pierced him is too powerful - the chosen champions are often all-rounders in mind, skill and body, which means that the weapons they use are usually designed to kill all three at the same time.

After all, compared to other opponents, the Chosen Champions will more often face another Chosen Champion, another all-around warrior, so their weapons and equipment will naturally need to be more targeted.

But Ujat, who took this blow, is no ordinary champion.

Although he was indeed very close to becoming the champion warrior of the god of courage, that one short distance was enough to make all the difference – he had neither armor nor the training of a champion warrior, and this sword strike had nearly taken half of his life.

"However... you've also given me a good opportunity."

Taking a deep breath, the sun god Ujat endured the excruciating pain that seeped into his soul and stood up.

Yes, this is the Underworld, this is his territory. He knows every inch of this place well, and this is where his source of power is preserved—as long as he can summon that huge phantom with a jackal's head, as long as he can fish out that crocodile-headed monster, as long as he can go to the tomb of the annihilated sun god Horus and absorb the power of that ancient sun god.

He definitely can, he definitely can...

"Where is this?"

Just then, a familiar voice rang out beside the sun god Ujat.

"Also, how exactly did we get in here? Could you demonstrate that again?"

"It should be a subspace, but the conditions for entering are extremely harsh."

Another familiar voice rang out from the other side of the sun god Ujat.

"As for how to get in, it's simply to let our spirits flow along with the gravity we just experienced... Our bodies are still in the material world; it's just that a part of our consciousness has been transferred here."

"Huh? I think I can actually control my body... but why is this movement not quite what I expected?"

Along with this sound, a giant serpent wriggled its body and appeared in the sight of the sun god Ujat.

The giant python was entirely black, but the edges of its scales faintly shimmered with a golden luster. Judging from the familiar patterns and the familiar tone of voice, who else could it be but the evil ancient serpent?

"That's normal. This is probably your first time trying to release your soul this way, right?"

It was at this moment that Elias, carrying a sharp sword, appeared in the sight of the sun god Ujat. The faint crimson runes on the blade made Ujat tremble with fear.

However, Elias's gaze towards the serpent's body also carried a hint of surprise. Clearly, this chosen champion hadn't expected that this ancient serpent, which he had defeated, was actually the first one he had ever seen.

"If it's your first time, it's best not to touch your body."

Elias thought for a moment, then added a sentence.

After all, the separated soul is like water poured from a cup. Although, in a certain abstract sense, the water has not flowed out of the cup and its shape is still "a cup of water," a part of it is ultimately placed elsewhere.

Following this line of thought, the current situation becomes much easier to understand—simply put, if there are more souls placed elsewhere, there will naturally be fewer souls remaining in the main body; conversely, if there are fewer souls remaining in the main body, there will be more souls placed elsewhere.

The side with more souls will have the main concentration of consciousness. The side with fewer souls will naturally be in a state of little to no perception. However, this only means that there are fewer souls, not that there are none at all. So, it is not entirely impossible to take action.

However, if one's mind is not focused, the actions performed will certainly be chaotic and disorganized. Just like now, Elias tried to move his body that was left in place, but as a result, his hand trembled and the sun god Ujat was struck by a sword again.

This means that the more you concentrate your energy in the warp, the less defenseless your original body becomes. If you are attacked, you will die on the spot. But if you don't concentrate your energy in the warp, it will be difficult to achieve anything in the warp. You may even lose your connection with the warp, and the separated part of your soul will be instantly pulled back by the body's gravity.

Of course, some people have thought about multitasking, believing that by keeping half their soul in their body and the other half in the subspace, they can concentrate on both and do something on both. However, many cases have proven that this kind of thinking of having both often leads to doing neither thing well.

"Only true top experts can multitask in this kind of thing."

Elias sighed; clearly, he was not a top-tier expert of that level.

But at that very moment, the giant python, which was fiddling with its body, suddenly spoke.

"Is this kind of thing...difficult?"

The giant python, which had been twitching a moment ago, became able to move freely in just a short while.

It is not just a body in the subspace, nor just the original body.

Instead, it's both sides together.

"Surely this kind of thing can be done?"

While manipulating his main body to continue roasting the meat, Du Yi in the Underworld looked at Elias.

Chapter 208 The Fall of the Underworld

The Chosen Champion Elias withdrew a portion of his soul, achieving a state where he was half on each side. Although this state would prevent him from performing well on either side, it was fine for observation purposes.

This allowed Elias to witness firsthand how the ancient serpent roasted meat with its body while its soul moved freely in the warp.

"This……"

Elias was speechless for a long time.

It's one thing to be weaker than the imagined strongman, but it's quite another to be weaker than the strongman in front of him. Especially since he just said that if you're not a top-tier expert, you absolutely can't do this kind of thing—yet right now, right in front of him, this ancient serpent has done it with ease.

"Could it be that this ancient serpent is one of the top-tier powerhouses?"

A tremendous sense of frustration immediately overwhelmed Elias.

However, as the chosen champion of the God of Courage, Elias was quite experienced in dealing with such defeats. Moreover, he had lost to this ancient serpent before, a loss of over two hundred levels to a level one. So, in retrospect, his loss was quite reasonable.

After all, this ancient serpent is indeed exceptionally talented in some aspects, so his defeat was truly deserved.

"You're saying this is talent?"

Du Yi showed no joy at all when he heard Elias's lavish praise.

It even carried a hint of melancholy.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, this control over his body is a manifestation of some kind of talent, but only Du Yi himself knows how much hard work and how much training he has undergone.

This is not a joke; it is a fact in the true sense.

After all, he had no hands or feet after turning into a snake, so doing anything was extremely difficult. Indeed, his tail was now even more flexible than a normal arm—but he himself had no idea how many times he had practiced in secret to achieve this.

Perhaps he didn't know about the relationship between the soul, consciousness, and body before, but how to make his body move according to his own will had long been integrated into his instincts through repeated attempts and practice.

"But... even the soul, is it shaped like a snake?"

Thinking of this, Du Yi couldn't help but look down at his own snake body.

He originally thought that this method of pouring out a part of his soul would give that part of his soul a human appearance—it wasn't that he disliked snake bodies, but mainly that without hands and feet, he really couldn't do many things.

But now it seems...

"The body, maintaining the shape of the soul?"

Feeling that even though a part of his soul had been separated, he was still the same snake body, Du Yi's understanding of this sentence deepened.

However, now is not the time to worry about such things. They still need to explore the Underworld itself first. So, Du Yi used his long tail to lift up Ujat, who had the head of an eagle and the body of a human, to see if he could extract anything else from him.

This time, the sun god Ujat did not put up any resistance, but simply told him everything he knew.

"First, the soul of a person who has committed a grave sin must be allowed to go to the underworld..."

"Ah."

Du Yi nodded, signaling Ujat to continue.

However, it was at this moment that Ujat laughed.

"How can you go to the underworld without the souls of those who have committed grave sins?"

"……Um?"

Du Yi and Elias exchanged a glance.

Haven't they already arrived? Isn't this the underworld?

"How could this be the Netherworld? This can only be considered the outer perimeter of the Netherworld!"

The sun god Ujat burst into laughter.

"We need the souls of those who have committed grave sins to lure out that crocodile-headed monster so that we can follow the trail it took to retreat down to the underworld... Now you don't even have the souls of those who have committed grave sins, and you can't even summon the Scales of Judgment, so how could you possibly get to the underworld?"