Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

[All five times it was the same question, always asking why I kept repeating myself... When it's clearly you who's repeating yourself, why are you asking me?]

Do you want to check what you wrote? Is what you wrote now exactly the same as what you just wrote?

Du Yi continued writing, his face growing increasingly puzzled.

This is the sixth time already. Don't believe me? Look at your own handwriting.

What's wrong with my handwriting? This is the seventh time you've done this...

At this point, Elias abruptly stopped writing.

He then waved his hand, signaling Du Yi not to move for the time being.

Clearly, written communication was meaningless; the two of them seemed to be caught in a strange loop—they were both trying hard to make the other understand them, while simultaneously realizing that this back-and-forth rambling was extremely bizarre.

No matter how they expressed themselves, what they said was always the same.

Language is like this, and so is writing. At least in the eyes of the other party, they are constantly repeating what they have said—even if they themselves do not see it that way at all.

No matter how they expressed it, what they said was always...

Am I thinking about the same things over and over again?

At that moment, Du Yi and Elias slapped their foreheads simultaneously.

Yes, this time they didn't even need to find each other as a reference point; they had already discovered the problem themselves.

Everything seemed to be going in circles. They had been thinking about the same thing since the beginning, and the ideas that should have been moving forward were stuck in some kind of vicious cycle, just spinning in circles.

"It shouldn't be..."

Elias instinctively drew his rune sword, preparing to try communicating in writing.

But then Elias suddenly realized that written communication was also meaningless. The two of them seemed to be caught in a strange loop—they were both trying to make the other understand them, while at the same time realizing that this kind of roundabout way of speaking was extremely bizarre.

No matter how they expressed themselves, what they said was always the same.

Language is like this, and so is writing. At least in the eyes of the other party, they are constantly repeating what they have said—even if they themselves do not see it that way at all.

No matter how they expressed it, what they said was always...

Am I thinking about the same things over and over again?

At that moment, Du Yi and Elias slapped their foreheads simultaneously.

Immediately afterward, Elias broke out in a cold sweat.

"Even their current actions are already..."

Elias quickly looked up at the ancient serpent in front of him, only to find that there was a new line of words at the serpent's feet.

Do not speak or write.

These are words of reincarnation; who has trapped us?

Chapter 219 Ascending to Godhood

If the Chosen Champion Elias had a basic understanding of most of the subspaces, then Du Yi had already gained considerable knowledge of this underworld itself.

After obtaining the dark cloud, Du Yi had grasped a part of the information about the God of Death, and the information within that dark cloud also allowed him to learn more.

For example, some of the operating mechanisms of this underworld.

Although the entire underworld appears quite vast, its operating mechanism actually consists of only two parts—one of which is the boundless black clouds in the sky, which is the so-called "death." The souls of the dead who come here will return to heaven and thus attain eternal peace.

The other part, the soft light hidden underground, also known as "life," is mainly responsible for healing, allowing the departed souls to be relieved of their suffering.

The two may seem similar, but their actual effects are completely different. The part about life appears to heal, but in reality it extracts pain to nourish death in the heavens, using this will derived from pain to satisfy the consciousness of the dead. As for the part about death, it is exactly the opposite: it extracts tranquility from the satisfaction of the dead to nourish life on earth, using the stability brought by this scene to heal the souls of the dead.

Thus, life and death continue in an endless cycle.

And thus, the underworld is able to continue its endless cycle.

However, this mechanism has encountered an unexpected problem. One of the two important parts has been swallowed up by Du Yi. Although the entire Netherworld seems stable and the logic seems to be running smoothly, the internal counterattack system has been quietly activated.

Yes, those dark clouds and the subspace counterattack mechanism that Elias mentioned were not real dangers at all; they were just normal operations of the Underworld itself.

Now, they are truly beginning to suffer attacks from the underworld itself.

"It's like a stuttering or frame dropping..."

Looking at the Chosen Champion Elias in front of him, who clearly wanted to say something but kept repeating his words and actions, Du Yi's expression began to darken.

A long, long time ago, Du Yi had watched some horror movies. Although he hadn't watched many, he had classified the horror in them into different levels. For example, movies with obvious ghosts or monsters were the least scary. Although those ghosts or monsters looked ferocious and terrifying, they were still in the form of a living creature and could even be hit by physical attacks. In Du Yi's eyes, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Secondly, there are some kind of mechanism-based horrors, such as doing something that will definitely trigger a disaster, or going to a certain place that will definitely lead to some misfortune. Although you may not necessarily see ghosts or monsters in these kinds of horrors, the whole mechanism works illogically. Of course, the most crucial point is that before doing those wrong things, the person involved has little idea that their actions are absolutely wrong.

The most terrifying situation is the one we're in right now.

Everything seemed normal, even the surrounding light exuded a sense of peace and tranquility, but the world itself seemed to have frozen in that instant, starting to repeat the cycle again and again.

The voice kept repeating itself, but it gradually became impossible to form complete sentences. The movements also changed from being smooth to stiff, and even to the convulsive state they are in now.

"This... has already begun."

As his consciousness began to cycle repeatedly, Du Yi became clearly aware of this.

Before him, the chosen champion Elias displayed a clear look of terror on his face. The expression, like a frozen image, should never have appeared on that face—after all, as the chosen champion of the God of Courage, Elias was already fearless of death, and such terror should not have appeared on him at all.

"It seems he's already sensed it..."

Du Yi took a deep breath.

That was something that even death itself could not withstand. After all, in the eyes of the God of Death back then, life and death were both within His jurisdiction—in other words, anything that could launch an attack on the Underworld must be something that even life and death itself could not overcome.

The counterattack mechanism left behind by the god of death is naturally designed to specifically target this type of enemy.

It's not about life or death, but about using the eternal cycle between life and death to trap intruders in place—just like now, both he and Elias are trapped in it.

In Elias's eyes, he was probably repeating the same words and actions over and over again, and his whole body was twitching uncontrollably, as if the video was lag-like.

But this is only the beginning.

This seemingly deadly eternal cycle is merely a trap to imprison the enemy. The real killing move is the subsequent restart—at that time, the original sky will become the earth, and the original earth will become the sky. The entire underworld will be re-circulated, and everything deep within the underworld will transform into the dark clouds that once filled the sky, becoming a pure land where the souls of the dead can rest in eternal peace.

No intruder can escape the operation of this mechanism. The entire process is flawless. The only way to destroy this system is to use overwhelming power to annihilate the entire Netherworld in an instant. However, it is obvious that the Netherworld, as a subspace, could not have suffered such a blow from the beginning.

"However... there is another way."

As he pondered the information in his mind, Du Yi sighed.

There is indeed another way, perhaps even the best way—after all, no matter how well this flawless mechanism works, it only targets intruders.

Conversely, as long as they're not intruders, isn't that fine?

It's not the intruder, but the God of Death himself. This is the only way to survive after this counterattack mechanism is activated. And it's not just about surviving; as the God of Death himself, shutting down this deadly trap is just a matter of a thought.

"This time, I'm afraid I'll really become a god."

Having read to the very end of the message left in the black mist, Du Yi couldn't help but sigh.

As his consciousness cycled back and forth, Du Yi knew he didn't have much time to think. At this moment, he had to use his speed to follow the power of death hidden in the dark clouds and take over everything in this underworld.

It's not just about taking over death, but also life, reincarnation, and even the entire underworld.

And he will become the new God of Death.

Chapter 220 The Handover of Death

The moment Du Yi's consciousness chose to accept it, the entire underworld began to revolve according to his will.

The earth, which had begun to gradually become ethereal, solidified once more. The light that had gradually turned into pitch black returned to a soft white. Endless black mist was exhaled from Du Yi's mouth and returned to the sky, giving the entire underworld a sky again. However, lightning occasionally flashed within the black mist, just like the golden patterns on the giant snake's body.

As for the eternal cycle that had nailed everything to the same spot, it was also broken by Du Yi's will. The Chosen Champion Elias, who was still stuck in place and twitching, fell to the ground, panting heavily like a drowning person coming ashore. Even though they, as souls, did not breathe at this moment, it was clear that such a movement at least gave them a subconscious sense of security.

Three other phantom figures were making similar movements: a giant lion, a giant elephant, and a rather large golden-winged roc.

Du Yi, who was receiving everything, watched as the three giant beasts fell out of the gentle light that healed all things.

That familiar figure reminded Du Yi of something that happened a long time ago.

"It's you guys?"

Du Yi, who should have gradually become as serene as a true god, suddenly flew into a rage.

It was precisely because he personally received everything in this underworld that Du Yi was able to clearly sense what had happened before—no wonder the entire underworld did not collapse when he collected those dark clouds, but after he entered the depths of this underworld, it suddenly began to attack him.

So it turns out that from the beginning, it was these three giant beasts who secretly activated the defense.

As Du Yi gradually took over the Underworld, he even saw the past of these three giant beasts—unlike him, who unintentionally received the power of death, these three giant beasts had been consciously stealing the power of life. In order to obtain this power, these three giant beasts even lived deep in the Underworld for a long time, just to feel this power more and try to seize it.

This kind of thing was inherently impossible to succeed at, since the power of life, which is intangible and formless, is undoubtedly much harder to obtain than the power of death, which is tangible and real.

But these three giant beasts also had their own extraordinary adventures.

That was Ujat, the sun god who had broken into the underworld. After obtaining the power, this falcon-headed, human-bodied sun god simply came to test his skills on these three giant beasts. It was at this moment that the three giant beasts suddenly realized something. As a result, throughout the entire process, the three giant beasts offered almost no resistance, which led Ujat to believe that he had obtained everything.

From the perspective of these three giant beasts, they had already obtained everything.

After experiencing death, they successfully merged their souls and consciousness into the white light that permeated the depths of the underworld. They had indeed died, but they had also become one with this underworld—in a sense, this could be called immortality. As long as the underworld itself did not perish, they could continue to exist forever with this underworld.

In fact, if they had only achieved this much, the three giant beasts would have already achieved a complete victory. They had indeed obtained everything they wanted, and even gained power far exceeding their original expectations.

Unfortunately, these three giant beasts ultimately did things they shouldn't have done.

When Du Yi arrived at the depths of the Netherworld, the three giant beasts still chose to attack him.

It's hard to say whether Du Yi was greedy for the power of death within him, or to avenge past grudges, or perhaps both—but whatever the reason, the three giant beasts activated the most dangerous authority they could use, attempting to restart the entire cycle of reincarnation in the underworld.

If this can be achieved, then everything will be fine. Du Yi and Elias, as intruders, will be obliterated, and the power of death that he swallowed will be released again. The three giant beasts will also take this opportunity to control the entire cycle of reincarnation, and even the underworld itself.

But, now...

"To inherit the position of the god of death, one must ultimately face death itself."

Thinking of this, Du Yi couldn't help but shake his head.

Indeed, after such a long time apart, these three giant beasts have made considerable progress, but this progress is ultimately limited. If these three giant beasts had not clung to life, but instead faced the dark clouds in the sky with the determination to die, perhaps they would have truly had the opportunity to inherit the God of Death.

But in retrospect, the moment those three giant beasts chose the power of life, their defeat and demise were already sealed.

Even though these three giant beasts already possess the power of life and even control what can be considered the core authority of the underworld, the more they do, the more mistakes they will make—especially when they want to attack the holder of the power of death, it is as if they are actively pushing the holder of the power of death to the position of the god of death.

"……etc?"

Du Yi suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Yes, something really doesn't seem right. These things, taken individually, may all seem like coincidences, but when put together, each part seems perfectly fitting.

It's almost as if this underworld itself is some kind of large-scale selection mechanism.

"First, use the power of life to attract the strong, since no one would want to die. Then wait for someone to obtain the power of death... The one who possesses the power of death will almost certainly venture deep into the underworld, and conflict between the two sides will almost certainly occur. As the possessor of the power of life, whoever it is, will definitely activate the strongest killing move in their eyes to try to gain victory..."

The more you think about it, the clearer this line of thought becomes. All the coincidences are not coincidences. It is clear that this was designed by someone from the very beginning!

"Could it be that……"

Just as Du Yi had already figured out the answer...

A colossal phantom appeared before him.

The enormous phantom held a long staff in its right hand and a scale in its left. Its towering figure was as robust and powerful as a giant—but on the neck of this giant, there was not a human face, but the head of a jackal.

This is the phantom that was in charge of judging the souls of sinners when we were outside.

This time, however, the phantom smiled upon seeing Du Yi.

"Welcome, my successor."

"By the time you hear me say this, I should already be dead."

Chapter 221 The Ruler of the Underworld

"By the time you hear me say this, I should already be dead."

The Grim Reaper with the head of a jackal whispered in a language that Du Yi had never heard before, yet Du Yi could fully understand its meaning. This was clearly some unknown form of communication that reached directly to the soul itself.

However, this time, no images appeared in Du Yi's mind.

Clearly, the God of Death had his own understanding of this final message—perhaps the images directly transmitted into his mind could indeed be clearer, but in the end, the God of Death still intended to use storytelling to bring his life to a close.

"After all, in my time, people passed down our names through stories..."