Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Nubaton suddenly felt a little dazed; he only remembered that it seemed like a pair of hands were pressing on his shoulders.

Then he remembered nothing. It was as if there was a gap in his memory; just a moment ago he had raised his greatsword, but now…

Where's my helmet?

It was at this moment that Nubaton suddenly realized that something else was wrong.

Yes, he remembered. He had been wearing a helmet when he arrived. Although many chosen champions would choose not to wear helmets to prove their courage, Nubaton would not do such a thing. He believed that even a lion must go all out to hunt a rabbit. If he wanted to kill people efficiently, he had to make sure his self-protection was at its best.

But now, his helmet was nowhere to be found, and even his armor had been taken off at some point. As for the greatsword in his hand, it was already pressed against his neck, scraping against his chin.

"Excellent, your razor is sharpened better than mine."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the old barber, who should have been killed with a single sword strike, actually shaving him with his greatsword.

As the sword blade scraped against the hairs, his beard fell off, yet not a trace of blood was visible.

"And what about your head... what kind of repair do you want?"

"I……"

Nubaton had no interest in getting a haircut; all he wanted to do at that moment was kill.

But just as Nubaton was about to get up, those hands pressed him back down.

It's simply impossible for a hunched old man to push a giant, as strong as a bear, back into a chair on the spot.

Even Nubaton couldn't understand how this was done.

"What exactly is generating this force? What am I facing?"

At this moment, fear began to grow in Nubaton's heart, the chosen champion of the God of Courage.

This was a power he couldn't comprehend at all. He couldn't even fight back. From the moment he sat down in that chair, his life was no longer his own—whether he could survive now depended entirely on the old barber's mood.

After all, that greatsword held across his neck, if it were even slightly higher, would have been enough to sever his head.

"Impossible! I will never die here!"

Nubaton gritted his teeth, summoning the courage within him. He would never be crushed by this setback; he was the chosen champion of the God of Courage!

Fortunately, he survived.

He survived after his hair was shaved down to just a few strands standing up in the middle. Although the mohawk looked rather ugly, he still survived.

As for the first thing to do after surviving, it was of course to kill the old barber. Whether it was to prove his courage, to vent his anger, or to eradicate the corruption of the god of wisdom, he had to kill the old man.

But just as Nubaton was about to retrieve his longsword and put his armor back on, he suddenly found himself back outside the door.

He didn't retrieve his longsword, nor did he have his armor or helmet. His right hand was even raised in mid-air, as if making a friendly farewell gesture.

"I am..."

It was at this moment that Nubaton vaguely remembered that he had to pawn his armor and longsword because he couldn't afford the exorbitant haircut fee.

"So... what exactly did I just experience?"

The unknown terror completely gripped Nubbat's mind.

Faced with the dark, gaping door of his neighbor's house, Nubaton turned and ran.

Chapter 231 Planet Destruction Plan

The chosen champions of the God of Courage launched a surprise attack, but few succeeded in killing them.

Because by the time they realize something is wrong, it's already too late. Just like when you find one cockroach, there are definitely several nests of cockroaches nearby. When someone goes mad because of the influence of the god of wisdom, they should realize that the influence of the god of wisdom comes much earlier than they expected.

In other words, what they are facing now is no longer some local natives, but clearly one after another, the chosen ones of the god of wisdom.

This is a battle between chosen gods, even a battle between a level 400 chosen god and a level 200 chosen god. It's already a miracle that they survived.

Moreover, they faced more than just the influence of the god of wisdom.

"Try to avoid fighting with these local natives."

When these defeated and disarmed chosen champions gathered together, the chosen champion Elias revealed his discovery.

"Even if we survive, it won't matter. They can level up as long as they fight us."

Yes, this is a blessing from the god of courage. Originally, this was supposed to be a reward for these chosen champions, giving them an opportunity to hunt local natives and quickly improve their skills.

But now, this blessing, which should have made them stronger, has instead made the original natives even stronger.

"Who is truly the chosen one of the gods of courage?"

These chosen champions all had the same thought pop into their minds.

However, this is indeed the rule of the God of Courage. The local natives are indeed entitled to receive the blessing. If the chosen champion participating in the competition is too weak, there are even times when the local natives win. However, at present, this blessing has undergone an immeasurable change after being mixed with the influence of the God of Wisdom.

Yes, they are the chosen champions of the God of Courage, but now they must face a terrifying monster who is simultaneously bathed in two divine blessings.

Even so, they never considered retreating.

They are the chosen ones of the god of courage, and the word "escape" does not exist in their minds. Even when facing an enemy with double divine grace, they will fight to the last moment.

Or perhaps, stronger enemies actually excite them more, since defeating a powerful foe is itself a testament to their courage.

Thus, in order to fight against powerful enemies, these chosen champions spontaneously formed battle groups, sharing armor, weapons, and even combat intelligence. At this moment, they no longer regarded this as a competition, but as a real war.

When two armies clash, they must first declare war openly and honorably.

So Elias came before the ancient serpent once more.

"It is regrettable that because you failed to contain the influence of the god of wisdom, we are now locked in a life-or-death struggle."

Looking up at the ancient serpent's mountain-like body, Elias suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

To be fair, this ancient snake has a good nature. If there were no conflict between them, he would actually be quite happy to have such a friend.

But now...

"You're actually saying there's a problem on my end?"

Du Yi's expression also turned somewhat unpleasant.

He originally had a good impression of this chosen champion, after all, they had explored the Underworld together, and he had also learned a lot of knowledge that did not exist on this planet because of Elias.

However, this move of the villain accusing others first is really hard for Du Yi to bear.

"Wasn't it you paratroopers who started the killings? This is the first time I've ever seen a preemptive strike followed by a declaration of war."

"..."

Elias wanted to say that this was to prevent these local natives from suffering further harm from the god of wisdom, but it was clear that saying so now would be of no use.

He had tried, but the ancient serpent clearly couldn't comprehend the wickedness of the God of Wisdom. Since this land had already been influenced by the God of Wisdom, he could only try to destroy everything here.

Since the goal is to destroy everything here, a detailed battle plan must be formulated. Only Elias can do this, since in a sense, he is the one who knows this land best right now—after all, he is the only one who knows about the existence of the Underworld, and he even holds the position of Underworld Guide.

"If they want to destroy everything here, the Underworld must be their primary target. Otherwise, if that ancient serpent is willing to activate the Underworld's reincarnation system, we will be facing an undead army with immortal souls."

It was at this moment that Elias realized just how formidable the enemy they were facing was. The Underworld system and the blessings of the God of Courage were surprisingly well-matched, and even the influence of the God of Wisdom would be infinitely amplified under this cycle mechanism.

The chosen champions of the God of Courage are one less to die, but the local natives don't really care about life or death. If they survive the battle, they will level up. If they die in the battle and are resurrected, they will have the experience of death and can improve their skills again. So whether they live or die, they can improve. Who can stop them?

"But destroying the Underworld... won't be that easy."

Thinking about this, Elias's head began to ache.

As the last legacy of the God of Death, the Underworld has long been an independent operating system. Regardless of whether the God of Death exists or not, the Underworld will operate independently. In other words, even if they kill the ancient serpent, they cannot destroy the Underworld. On the contrary, it will cause the local natives to lose their only leader and completely turn to the God of Wisdom.

If the god of wisdom were to receive that piece of the underworld...

"hiss……"

Elias was hesitant to even think about it.

But this also gave Elias an advantage: if the God of Courage could take over this underworld, and if the God of Courage's blessings could spread throughout the underworld, then these chosen ones of the God of Courage would also possess immortality on this planet.

"And if you think about it that way..."

Thinking of this, a plan to destroy the Underworld suddenly popped into Elias's mind.

It won't just destroy the underworld, but also the chosen ones of the God of Wisdom, and even this planet that has been corrupted by the God of Wisdom will be destroyed.

"So... are you really going to do this?"

When Elias revealed his plan, the other chosen champions were stunned.

"Do you really know what you're doing? If we lure that one here, we might all be corrupted too!"

"What, are you scared?"

Elias scoffed.

"It's just a fleeting moment of pleasure. Don't you even have the courage to face it?"

Chapter 232 The Way of Pleasure - Limited-Time Return

In Tathumbto, the city of the serpent god, stargazing at night has become a habit for many.

The starry sky bestows endless knowledge. The immortals from all walks of life were the first to discover this. When their skills reached a bottleneck, they only needed to look up at the starry sky, and the distant, shining stars would bring them countless inspirations and mysteries.

After realizing the usefulness of stargazing, many people who were not immortals began to join in, hoping to use stargazing to join the ranks of immortals.

Tonight, they too are gazing at the distant stars, even though the chosen champions have declared war on them—but war is a trivial matter, nothing is more important than acquiring knowledge, for knowledge is power, knowledge is everything.

"Let's have more wisdom and inspiration."

At midnight, the people living in Tatunbto look up at the starry sky, hoping for the stars to twinkle and for inspiration to come.

And the distant stars did indeed begin to twinkle.

But the twinkling star didn't seem to be the same star as usual.

At this moment, they were unaware that the chosen champions were performing some indescribable ritual in the forest outside the city. All they knew was that the distant stars were indeed twinkling—as for which star was twinkling, it didn't really matter to them, since they couldn't actually distinguish what the stars in the sky represented.

And so, as the stars twinkled, something else entered their consciousness.

"Yes, we've leveled up, we've improved our skills, we've gained knowledge, we've made progress..."

"But then what?"

"What have we been working so hard for all this time?"

As the distant stars twinkled, the people living in Tatunbto found themselves involuntarily reflecting on their lives.

The more they reflected on it, the more they felt it made sense. After all, most of them had worked hard all their lives to achieve their current level and skills—but now, apart from an empty title of immortal, they seemed to have nothing.

They worked hard all their lives, toiled all their lives, and were busy all their lives, but they didn't even have time to enjoy anything.

"Then what's the point of all this hard work?"

As this idea came to mind, many people simply collapsed to the ground.

Progress did not bring happiness; the pursuit of knowledge seemed to have become a torment. It seemed as if they had never experienced true happiness, as if they had never been their true selves.

So... what exactly is happiness?

This thought appeared in everyone's mind without prior arrangement.

It was at this moment that they suddenly realized that they had never thought about such things before, and that their understanding of happiness was so lacking—even now, if they wanted to try to make themselves happy, they couldn't think of any good ways.

As a result, almost no one got a good night's sleep.

Even when he woke up the next day, he still looked listless.

No one cares about improving their skills anymore, and no one cares about leveling up. They're all thinking and pondering what will bring them happiness.

The listless appearance of these people also caught the eye of the chosen champions outside the city.

"This... the effect doesn't seem to be as good as I expected?"

The chosen champion couldn't help but frown.

After all, the current scene was indeed somewhat different from what they had imagined.

They had originally expected that after they performed the ritual and attracted the attention of the god of pleasure, these local natives would be corrupted on the spot and completely turned into puppets who only knew how to pursue pleasure—but now it seems that these local natives have not been corrupted at all, and their ritual seems to have been in vain.

"You're not talking nonsense."

It was at this moment that Elias, now fully armored, shook his head repeatedly.

“Even you haven’t been corrupted by the god of pleasure, let alone them… Don’t forget, they are carrying two divine blessings at the same time. Strictly speaking, they are stronger than us now.”