Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Clearly, in the eyes of this chosen champion, if a fight were to be fought, it should be a fair and square contest to determine the winner, only then could it be considered proof of courage.

"Looking at it this way... these powers in the starry sky don't seem as sinister as that kobold said?"

With this thought in mind, Du Yi gradually opened his eyes.

Before him was no longer the gloomy, dark underworld, but the warm sunlight streaming down from the sky. The warm sunlight made Du Yi feel much more relaxed. Although there was light in the underworld, and that soft light could even soothe the soul, that empty light could never compare to this vibrant sunlight.

"No wonder something like the underworld needs to rely on the material world to exist."

Feeling the warmth spreading throughout his body, Du Yi gained a deeper understanding of the difference between the warp and the material world—although the feeling of being unbound by common sense in the warp was indeed liberating, the sense of security that the material world brought was something the warp could never provide.

After enjoying the sunshine for a short while, Du Yi also swung his tail and once again flattened the sun god Ujat, who had swollen up again.

After completely gaining control of the underworld, the eagle-headed sun god became utterly useless to him. He no longer needed to ask the eagle-headed man for any information, and thus becoming a new energy barbecue grill became the eternal destiny of the sun god Ujat.

"So what's still left to do... wait a minute."

As he watched his two priests approach from afar, Du Yi suddenly remembered that he did have something very important to do.

Yes, he went to the underworld this time to retrieve people. He wanted to bring back the souls of the two deceased priests so that he could reassemble a four-person team to study the rune armor of the chosen champion, Elias.

Now, he has taken over the entire Underworld, but he has forgotten about this very thing he was supposed to do.

Fortunately, this kind of thing isn't too troublesome to handle. After all, the entire underworld is now his, and retrieving two souls isn't really a big deal.

However, although the matter itself is minor, it is quite troublesome.

Finding the souls of those two priests among the slumbering spirits in the underworld is no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack—in fact, finding a needle in a haystack is slightly easier; it's like searching for a drop of water in the ocean.

Du Yi was naturally unwilling to do such a troublesome thing. If they really continued searching like this, who knows how long it would take.

"Let's leave specialized tasks to specialized people."

Thinking this, Du Yi raised his long tail and beckoned the two priests in the distance to come over.

Then, he lowered his voice and began to give instructions to the two priests.

Chapter 224 Resurrection of the Dead

"Where am I...?"

Inside the temple of Tatunbto, the city of the serpent god, Setka opened his eyes and looked at his hands, his consciousness momentarily dazed.

He clearly remembered that he had just been fighting a powerful warrior, a monster who called himself the Chosen Champion and was covered in thick armor. Sethka was certain that he had used his strongest abilities, but in the end, he was no match for the monster's terrifying power, nor could he block the sword light that came crashing down on him.

Simply put, he should be dead, since no one can survive such terrifying sword light.

But now...

"what happened?"

Completely baffled, Setka could only turn to the only acquaintance beside him for help.

That was one of the four priests, Sathek the Greatsword, but right now he wasn't carrying his iconic greatsword; instead, he was dressed in a pure white priest's robe, clearly performing some kind of ritual.

And the goal of this ritual...

"Stop looking, I'm the one who called you back."

Faced with Setka's questioning gaze, Sattek the Greatsword simply shook his head.

"I didn't want to go through all this trouble, but who would have thought that no one would be willing to take over your position as the captain of the enforcement team... So I had no choice but to bring you back to life and let you continue. Don't thank me, thank the great Serpent God instead."

"Varied……"

Setka felt his head buzzing. What did it mean to come back to life and keep going?

Fortunately, after a brief conversation, he finally learned what had happened recently.

First and foremost, the biggest thing is what he is currently experiencing—just a few days after he died, the great Serpent God quietly launched the service of resurrecting the dead. As long as the complete remains of the deceased can be obtained and the deceased's consent is acquired, the Serpent God can bring back the spirits that have gone to the underworld to the mortal world.

Of course, there are some special cases, such as Sethka, who needed to perform his duties and died unexpectedly. In those cases, we don't need to care whether he agrees or not; we just need to bring him back first.

"This……"

After hearing all this, Sethka felt his head buzzing.

What incredible things happened during the time he was dead? How could something as seemingly impossible as a dead person coming back to life suddenly become possible?

"If nobody wants to die, won't the population just keep growing?"

In just a moment, Setka realized the huge potential dangers of this mechanism, since the instinct to survive is something almost everyone is born with.

So he immediately voiced his guess, hoping that the serpent god would take it seriously.

But all he got in return was a shake of his head from Satek.

"Why do you care so much? Do you think you're smarter than the snake god?"

Facing the furrowed brows of Setka, Sataik the Greatsword remained expressionless.

"Even the Snake God didn't say there was a problem, but you think there is... Could it be that the Snake God did this on purpose?"

"The snake god did it on purpose..."

Sethka's mind was becoming increasingly confused; having just been resurrected, he was far from his usual sharpness and composure.

However, he at least remembered that he needed to reveal the most crucial information.

So, Setka immediately recounted what had happened to her.

"The martial arts skills of those chosen champions are really... at least level 200 or higher."

Sethka stated his deduction.

"A monster of that level could probably only be dealt with by the Serpent God, and judging from its tone, there's likely more than one coming... We need to prepare early, otherwise..."

"This matter has been settled."

Satyak the Greatsword still looked completely indifferent.

And Sethka finally learned what had happened during the time he was dead.

The first thing, of course, is what we just discussed: the Serpent God's Temple quietly started offering resurrection services. But compared to that, the second thing was truly grand in scale—it was a massive celebration involving the entire empire, an unprecedented top-tier event.

Those top-tier experts with levels exceeding one hundred, those elites from all walks of life, will gather in the City of the Serpent God, Tatunbuto, to wage an unprecedented competition for the title of the best in the world.

"Number one in the world...?"

Seth was stunned.

"All industries? How can you compare those?"

"The schedule itself hasn't been announced yet, but everyone has already arrived."

Satyak the Greatsword pointed outside the temple.

"Including those chosen champions you mentioned, they've all gotten involved."

It was at this moment that Setka saw the several giant figures standing outside the temple, clad in thick armor.

Although those suits of armor were not quite the same as those in Setka's memory, it was clear that they were also the chosen champions—but judging from the way they were queuing up at the entrance, they obviously wanted to enter the temple, or even use the resurrection service.

"That's normal. After all, these outsiders are fearless when they fight. They killed fifteen people in just three days, and the competition hasn't even started yet."

Speaking of this, Sathek the Greatsword looked gloomy.

"I don't know what the snake god was thinking, that even these outsiders can be given the treatment of resurrection. He said that as long as they register, they can come to the temple and be resurrected if their bodies are intact... If you ask me, we should sink the bodies of these outsiders into the river. They have caused a lot of trouble during this time."

However, it was clear that despite the cursing, the necessary actions still had to be taken – so the newly resurrected Setka was immediately expelled from the temple, and then the team of fully armored Chosen Champions walked in.

As he watched those chosen champions slip past him, Sethka momentarily thought he was dreaming.

"I'm definitely not awake yet... No, I need to go home first."

Yes, no matter what the current situation is, he must at least go home first. Familiar surroundings can help stabilize his state of mind, something he learned during the war.

However, after returning home, Setka became even more disoriented.

His memory of the location should be correct; his home is here. And according to Satek the Greatsword, not much time has passed since his death and resurrection.

But why does the whole house seem to have changed so much?

"This is……"

Looking at the unfamiliar furniture in front of her, which was carved with unknown runes, Setka became increasingly puzzled.

Chapter 225 Cultural Integration

Rune magic, or rune technology, whatever you call it, is a new thing that has emerged recently.

The emergence of these things is naturally due to the recent daily competition. Those champions who are over two hundred levels may be good at killing, but once they compete in other areas, they may not be able to beat the top local immortals who are three or four hundred levels high.

Even though these enemies from the sky are all highly skilled, they cannot catch up with the profound foundation that time has brought them. Fortunately, even if it is not in terms of killing, these chosen champions have their own accumulation of knowledge and skills.

After they demonstrated some things that they considered extremely basic, the nascent rune technology began to take root.

"Can ice really freeze inside a cabinet with just these few symbols?"

Listening to the servants' explanation, Setka still found it a bit unbelievable. After all, this kind of technique of conjuring ice out of thin air should require priests to use divine magic to accomplish—but now, just by embedding a few symbols on the cabinet, the entire cabinet was emitting a chilling aura.

"how did you do that?"

Sethka felt his understanding was being challenged, or rather, since he awoke from his death, the whole world seemed to have become something he couldn't comprehend at all.

But these very things that are incomprehensible are already commonplace in the eyes of others.

"This is normal; it's a method those chosen champions used to freeze people's heads..."

As the servants explained, Setka gradually learned the origin of these frozen runes.

Those heavily armored monsters, also known as the Chosen Champions, had a habit of preserving the heads of their enemies as a record of their battles. However, once a head was removed, it would quickly rot. So, in order to make sure that the heads were still legible, the Chosen Champions discovered the convenient method of freezing runes through repeated attempts.

Simply mark the severed head, and you can confidently insert it into the spikes of armor to boast of your achievements. These heads will remain intact for at least three months until a new one is inserted.

"This……"

After learning this, some blurry images began to appear in Setka's mind.

Yes, as one of the people whose heads were chopped off by the chosen champion, he had also had his head frozen in this way before his resurrection.

The images swirling in Sethka's mind made his consciousness somewhat confused, and his usually sharp judgment as a top warrior was also confused by this chaotic information—at this moment, Sethka felt that he probably hadn't come back to life yet, or perhaps he hadn't woken up yet.

However, now that he has come back to life, regardless of whether he is fully awake or not, as the founder of the enforcement team, he still needs to work normally.

So, after a short vacation, Setka returned to his post, carrying his signature two-handed axe.

Recently, due to the scarcity of murder-for-leveling cases, the law enforcement team, under the priests' arrangement, has taken on other tasks, such as managing crowds on the streets or providing security for various events. The most important event right now is, of course, the tournament called "Number One Under Heaven," which is actually for determining the best person in the world.

It is said that this grand event was originally intended to be called the World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament, but this name was met with widespread opposition. The so-called martial arts tournament is naturally for warriors, but the problem is, is being good at fighting and killing really the greatest in the world?

"Putting everything else aside, no matter how strong you are, do you think you can go without eating a single bite of food?"

The one who said these words was Elias, the second-generation Master of Rice and also the Chosen Champion.

This statement immediately garnered support from the majority of people.

Thinking about it carefully, it really makes sense. No matter how strong your combat skills are, you still have to eat. If you are cut off from food at this time, then the so-called number one in the world may not really be number one. In addition, cooking can actually be broken down into smaller parts. For example, no matter how good the chef is, he can't make anything if he doesn't have the ingredients.

To grow the best wheat, even more is needed, from crafting farming tools to daily care, and even praying to the gods for favorable weather in bad years... All these factors combined make it seem like no one can truly claim to be the best in the world.

Thus, this conference came into being.

Whether they were originally from this land or fell from the sky, they will prove their ideas, prove that they are number one, and prove that they are the true strongest in their own way.

How can this be proven?

Even the usually wise Sethka felt his brain wasn't working properly at this moment.

There was no competition format, no group divisions, and the entire event didn't even have the most basic rules—but thinking about it, it's obvious that there was no way they could actually come up with any proper competition format. After all, you can't have a soldier compete with a chef in cooking, nor can you have a farmer compete with a soldier in killing.

However, despite the absurdity of the competition format, participants still flocked to it, especially the supposedly chosen champions who had fallen from the sky—they themselves came from outer space, yet they still wanted to compete for the title of number one in the world; it all sounded far-fetched.

"But...from outer space?"

Sethka astutely grasped the key point.

Is there life beyond the heavens?

It wasn't that Sethka had any doubts about this kind of thing, but rather that he had never thought of it from this perspective before—after all, he was originally just an ordinary warrior whose knowledge of the heavens was limited to those high and mighty gods. As for things beyond those gods, this was the first time he had ever heard of them.

"So, it turns out that there are other worlds in the heavens besides the gods."

Sethka immediately became extremely interested in those unknown worlds. Putting aside whether or not to fight there, just experiencing the customs and culture he had never seen before would be a good thing.