Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

"This is... an illusion! My consciousness has been confused!"

Elias broke out in a cold sweat.

Chapter 210 When Everything is Satisfied

All the satisfaction he had just experienced was nothing but a false illusion, which made Elias's scalp tingle.

At this moment, Elias was extremely grateful that he had invested a great deal of money in the rune sword, even fusing it with his soul. And this soul-bound weapon did not disappoint him, actually saving his life at this critical moment. Otherwise, he might have really become addicted to it, lost in this endless battle.

And then, that was the end of it.

When he was completely immersed in this boundless satisfaction, he no longer remembered what he was supposed to do. Just like before, he had even forgotten how he had ended up in this state—the subspace known as the Underworld, the humanoid phantom with a jackal's head, and the black clouds that swallowed everything and descended from the sky. He finally remembered everything.

"In other words, I am currently trapped in this dark cloud... that dark cloud is eroding my consciousness and even changing my soul!"

We have to find a way to get out of here quickly!

Realizing this, Elias quickly grabbed his rune sword and began to explore.

Breaking through illusions is indeed not easy. After all, everything in front of you looks so real that no one can see the slightest falsehood. In addition, the environment is so insidious that it even keeps satisfying the needs of those trapped in the illusion. This means that even if those trapped in the illusion realize something is wrong, they are more willing to immerse themselves in this false happiness.

After all, even if it's a false happiness, it's still happiness. As for the reality of the material world... is it necessarily real?

On the other hand, breaking illusions isn't as difficult as one might imagine. Just like Elias is now, as long as he has a rune sword to help him distinguish between illusion and reality, he can still differentiate between them.

After Elias gripped the rune sword tightly, everything before him finally returned to darkness—dark clouds collapsing from the sky. But at this moment, this darkness brought Elias immense peace of mind.

This is probably the biggest difference between reality and illusion. The profoundness that the material world possesses, accumulated over a long period of time, cannot be provided by a false environment.

However, this is, after all, the subspace, and its real weight is not as obvious as that of the material world—in a sense, the subspace is the gap between reality and illusion.

"It must be those so-called gods who perished here. Their will was too strong, so even after their annihilation, their consciousness continued to exert its influence, and even coalesced to create this independent kingdom that transcends the material world..."

Recalling his knowledge about the warp, Elias tried to find a way out of the predicament—clearly, compared to the crocodile-headed monster before, the black cloud collapsing from the sky was the true defense mechanism of this warp.

"To start with an illusion that directly targets the soul... The original owner of this place certainly had a grand scheme!"

Such a powerful defense mechanism naturally implies extreme danger, but extreme danger often also means great opportunity—just like now, after realizing this great danger, Elias also realized that this subspace may be hiding a huge gain that even he cannot refuse.

But before he can reap this reward, he still needs to deal with the two competitors who came in with him.

Yes, a competitor.

Although he had no grudge against either the eagle-headed sun god or the ancient serpent, since it involved competition, Elias, as the chosen champion of the god of courage, had to come out on top.

"Blame fate if you must; it's your own fault for coming here with me."

With this in mind, Elias began to explore the location of the ancient serpent and the eagle-headed sun god.

Elias was confident of victory in this competition. Unlike the two local natives who knew nothing, he had a considerable understanding of the warp. He didn't even need to take action himself; he only needed to activate the warp's defense mechanisms to completely disqualify his opponent from the competition.

Just like it is now.

With the help of the runic sword, Elias was no longer misled by the dark clouds, and in just a moment, he had already located the position of the eagle-headed sun god—

Meanwhile, the eagle-headed sun god was constantly pecking at the black mist, its rear end sticking out like that of a real bird.

If the sun god were in the body of an eagle, that would be quite normal, but since the sun god is still in human form, this posture is somewhat incongruous.

However, after temporarily putting away the rune sword, Elias saw what the eagle-headed sun god was doing—it turned out that in the illusion, the eagle-headed sun god had transformed into a bird and was fighting with the ancient serpent, which explained its appearance.

But at that very moment, the eagle-headed sun god suddenly raised his head in confusion, as if he had sensed something.

Elias, who had been observing all along, naturally sensed this sudden anomaly.

"You sensed it was an illusion?"

Elias had to admit that this falcon-headed sun god was indeed something special. Even though his needs had been met, he could still sense the anomaly hidden within, which was enough to prove his keen perception.

If this eagle-headed sun god named Ujat were given some time, he might actually be able to escape the predicament using only his consciousness.

"Unfortunately, no matter how talented you are, you still ended up meeting me."

Thinking of this, Elias sighed inwardly.

However regrettable it may be, Elias showed no sign of mercy in his actions—he raised his rune sword and released a bit of the indomitable spirit from the God of Courage.

Then, as if sensing something, the eagle-headed, human-bodied sun god Ujat once again became engrossed in the illusory battle.

Judging from his triumphant expression, it's clear he's unlikely to wake up again.

"Illusory satisfaction is still satisfaction...at least you experienced that so-called power, didn't you?"

After dealing with the sun god Ujat, Elias once again drew his rune sword and searched through the dark clouds until he found the location of the ancient serpent.

Just like before, Elias removed his rune sword, and without this layer of protection, he was naturally pulled into the illusion where the ancient serpent was.

"So they just eat mammoths..."

Elias shook his head.

Although he had initially regarded the ancient serpent as a top expert when he saw it multitasking, it now seemed that the serpent was completely absorbed in its environment—it appeared oblivious to everything, even less capable than the eagle-headed sun god.

"It seems there's nothing else I need to do here."

Seeing that the ancient serpent had completely indulged in false satisfaction, Elias stopped paying attention and prepared to explore this subspace alone.

However, just as Elias was about to draw his rune sword and leave this illusion, he suddenly discovered that his sword seemed to be malfunctioning.

"What...is going on?"

Elias gripped the hilt of the rune sword tightly, but he never felt the deep, bone-chilling pain. Instead, a strange sense of power flowed through his body—clearly, this was the feeling of his needs being met, but this was not what he wanted.

"My consciousness has been confused again... by those black clouds!"

At this moment, Elias could feel that the disturbance to his consciousness was becoming increasingly intense, as if something was blocking his eyes, preventing him from seeing reality.

"How could this be! The defense mechanism is actually increasing the pressure!"

As if he had thought of something, Elias immediately focused his attention on the ancient serpent.

As it turned out, his judgment was indeed correct.

Those dark clouds were not caused by him; he was merely an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

The boundless clouds and mist gathered together and surrounded the ancient serpent.

However, the more the dark clouds gathered, the more the ancient serpent frowned.

It's as if some need hasn't been met yet.

Chapter 211 The Snake's Eyes Piercing Through the Dense Fog

Du Yi was still savoring his mammoth.

Although he had wondered at first why he had become like this after passing through those black clouds, having everything he wanted, even the mammoth he desired, he had always been one to accept things as they are. Since even the long-lost mammoth had appeared before him, he would simply enjoy this long-awaited delicacy.

However, as he ate, Du Yi suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"The timing is wrong."

As soon as the barbecue entered his mouth, Du Yi began to shake his head.

Not only was the cooking time wrong, but even the sauce was wrong. At least from what Du Yi had tried over the years, the sauce that best paired with mammoth meat was a sweet sauce made from kalanchoe berries and honey. The sweetness of honey and kalanchoe berries could bring out the freshness of the mammoth meat, while at the same time making the fat of the mammoth meat less greasy.

As for the salt used to cook mammoth meat, there was a specific method to it. In those days when there were no salt wells, Du Yi would follow the tracks of the antelope herds to find the stones that the antelopes would lick constantly, mine those stones, make them into stone powder, and then put them into the fire when roasting.

Yes, it's quite illogical to put it in the campfire instead of sprinkling it on the meat, but based on Du Yi's long-term experience, this is the best way to let the mammoth meat absorb the flavor.

But now...

"Only mammoths."

Du Yi sighed.

It wasn't even the best quality mammoth; at best, it was only hunted in the wild. It was still a far cry from the top-quality delicacy that Du Yi had eaten before, which was artificially raised by the Ignivas people.

"It seems that you can't have whatever you want. They can't even satisfy this little thing."

Du Yi couldn't help but shake his head.

However, at that very moment, the servants outside rushed in.

It turned out that good news had come from the front lines: the Pharaoh had conquered the Fire Kingdom in the south, and further south of the Fire Kingdom, he had unexpectedly discovered a glacial continent—on that glacial continent, a new mammoth had been discovered. So, to commemorate Du Yi's hard work and great achievements, the Pharaoh specially transported the new mammoth back and also bestowed upon him honey, a tribute exclusively for the royal family.

And this wasn't the only good thing. The Pharaoh's daughter, the one he was betrothed to, also brought fresh berries to share with him—and those berries were exactly the fruits of the Rock Orchid that Du Yi was looking for.

Even the warriors who fought under his command happened to come over for a visit. They had learned about some ancient traditions of the Far East, so they brought a strange stone with them, intending for Du Yi to use it to decorate the courtyard. Du Yi knew from the familiar texture of the stone that it was the perfect rock to add a salty and savory flavor to the mammoth.

Everything was ready, all the ingredients were gathered, and that familiar delicious taste from my memory seemed ready to reappear at any moment.

"But it's not enough."

After one attempt, Du Yi shook his head again.

Everything was ready, but Du Yi himself was lacking something – although his human body had hands and feet, it was far inferior to the snake's body in terms of temperature perception.

Grilling meat over an open flame may seem simple, but this simplest cooking method is also the one that requires the most skill. Without precise control of the heat, even if all the ingredients are ready, it's just a waste.

"I knew it. You can't have everything you want. You can't even satisfy this little thing... Hmm?"

It was at this moment that Du Yi suddenly changed.

His originally muscular and tall body instantly swelled into an even larger serpent's body, a spectacle that could only be called a miracle. Naturally, a new thought appeared in Du Yi's mind: he was originally a descendant of the White Serpent from the distant East, but he had forgotten his original identity during his journey.

"Is there any other way to say this?"

Although Du Yi had begun to question the sudden appearance of these memories in his mind, the delicious mammoth meat was right in front of him, and tempted by the delicacy, he decided it was better to roast the meat first before thinking about anything else.

This time, Du Yi achieved complete success. He perfectly replicated the taste from back then, which was the most delicious mammoth meat he had ever tasted.

However, Du Yi was still not satisfied.

In the end, he was just replicating the flavor of the past, and those Ignivas people back then were just herding livestock in the mountains outside Ignis City—but now he knows that the later Ignivas people have taken mammoths to space.

Du Yi was still confident in the breeding capabilities of the Ignivas people.

Then the problem is coming.

What kind of deliciousness would a mammoth raised in space be?

"If wishes can come true, this should also come true, right?"

Du Yi couldn't help but think this way.

However, he himself knew that such a thing was impossible. After all, no matter how capable the Pharaoh was, he couldn't possibly fly into space...

"The court mages have discovered the secrets of teleportation! Our warriors have already reached the moon!"

Just then, the messenger suddenly brought this good news.

According to the messenger, the court monks of the Five Dynasties period had been researching for over two hundred years and finally achieved results. Although it was only a small step to the moon, it was a giant leap for all mankind.

However, humans were not the first living beings to set foot on the moon.

According to the messenger, the court monks discovered a hairy elephant on the moon.

Since we're talking about mammoths, the only option is to contact Du Yi. So the Pharaoh had the court sorcerer bring back a mammoth and give it to Du Yi, the chief mammoth inspector—after all, no one knows mammoths better than Du Yi, so having him is obviously the most suitable person.

After eating half a mammoth, Du Yi had to admit that it was indeed the best mammoth he had ever eaten.

"However, if there are mammoths on the moon, then what about even more distant places...?"

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Du Yi began to ponder once again.

While Du Yi was pondering this in his mind, the dark clouds were gathering around him at an increasingly rapid pace—the condensing clouds had already taken on the color of ink, and they seemed determined to completely engulf Du Yi's body.

The increasing amount of cloud and mist around Du Yi meant that the dark cloud and mist in other places were decreasing.

And so, Ujat, the sun god who was still fighting the god of courage in the distance, was the first to wake up.

Chapter 212 The Ancient Serpent is Never Satisfied

Ujat, the sun god, was the first to regain consciousness, but this also caused him the most harm.

Just a second ago, the true power of the sun flowed through his body. It was a massive celestial body called a star, a terrifying power that could be described as inexhaustible. Of course, his opponent was no less formidable. The being known as the God of Courage was an ancient demon god in the starry sky, who not only had endless tricks up his sleeve but also various secret courages that could give him unexpected surprises.

Yes, what a surprise!

Such a formidable opponent did not deter the sun god Ujat; on the contrary, Ujat felt fortunate—it was because of such an opponent that he could fully unleash his unparalleled strength and feel that he had become the true, eternal sun.

But now...