Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

The giant serpent opened its eyes and spoke in a local language that the four gods could not understand, but the meaning of those words was clearly perceived by the four gods.

"But I've already promised them. Their final wish is to drag you all into hell."

“It shouldn’t be like this. Even if they didn’t do it, I would still kill you all.”

"It shouldn't be like this..."

The giant serpent continued to sigh as it faced the weapons raised by the four gods.

This allowed the Four Gods to seize this, their only possible opportunity to attack.

The God of Courage was the first to charge forward, his great axe aimed directly at the giant serpent's head. Immediately following was the God of Desire's whip, the sonic boom from which it lashed out in mid-air was about to shatter the giant serpent on the spot. But even more insidious than these two was the long staff in the hands of the two-headed eagle, which had already pierced through the void and was about to plunge into the giant serpent's back.

Behind them, the rotting mountain had already leaped into the air, intending to crush the giant serpent down and smash its brains open on the spot.

But none of this mattered.

In their sight, eyes had already opened on those wings of light.

Pairs of eyes gazed in all directions; countless eyes had already seen everything around them.

Immediately afterwards, light gathered in those eyes.

The blinding light swept in all directions.

In an instant, beams of light swept across the bodies of the four gods. At this moment, they maintained their offensive posture and charging stance.

But in the next second, their massive bodies disintegrated into pieces scattered all over the ground.

"Just this much, just this much..."

The obsidian skull, shattered into 361 pieces, continued to roar. It was the head of the god of courage, mixed with fragments of the other three gods—although they had been cut into pieces scattered all over the ground, it was only to this extent that they could come back again.

They can still use divine power to restore their bodies; they still have a chance; they can fight again; they must…

"But this level is definitely not enough."

Just then, the giant snake's voice came again.

"So today, I'm going to make an exception."

The last image reflected in the shattered eyeball was a gaping maw falling from the sky.

Chapter 304 A Guide to Tasting the Flavors of the Four Gods

The god of life was the first to be eaten, and his taste was the worst.

The taste of devouring the God of Life was like swallowing a lump of mud. Its strange texture, soft yet juicy, once reminded Du Yi of jelly—but that's the problem, jelly doesn't smell bad.

So Du Yi could only hypnotize himself, saying that he was eating stinky tofu-flavored jelly, while swallowing the God of Life into his stomach.

There was no other way; if he saved the worst-tasting dish for last, Du Yi was worried that he would lose his appetite.

However, since the body of the God of Life was too difficult to swallow, Du Yi could only mix in a little bit of the body of the God of Wisdom—but the taste of the God of Wisdom was actually just so-so.

Although the enormous two-headed eagle's body made the god of wisdom taste like some kind of bird, in terms of quality, it was not even as good as the eagle god he had eaten before—even though that native eagle god was no match for this so-called god of wisdom in terms of strength, at least that eagle god knew to eat properly.

Simply put, the eagle god is very fat, and when you eat it, your mouth is full of oil and the meat juice is very rich, leaving a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth.

This god of wisdom was too thin and frail; according to Du Yi's standards, he wouldn't even qualify as an ingredient for chicken bibimbap.

So after a few bites, Du Yi could only mix in some remains of the God of Courage. This time, the texture was much smoother. Although the flesh of the God of Courage was relatively tough, the meat was juicy enough, especially the blood that flowed like lava, which had a strange spicy taste.

"It's like... a mildly spicy curry?"

Du Yi found an accurate adjective.

Of course, to ensure that no food was wasted, Du Yi even swallowed the bones. It was at this moment that he truly appreciated the goodness of the God of Courage—because the God of Courage had fought for many years and had large bones, which meant that he had a lot of marrow.

After roasting some of the bone marrow, Du Yi commented that the battle-hardened bone marrow of the God of Courage, in terms of quality and aroma alone, was even comparable to that of a mammoth.

This is already the highest praise that Du Yi, a master mammoth connoisseur, could give.

But the final dessert still gave him an unexpected surprise.

The flowing crystals, like mercury flowing on the ground, initially made Du Yi think that eating them would feel like taking poison—but fortunately, his body was large enough that this amount of toxicity was not a big deal for him.

But after actually tasting it, Du Yi realized...

This thing actually tastes like a mammoth.

Or perhaps, these flowing crystals, these remnants of the god of desire, could change their flavor according to his needs—just like now, although they all tasted like hair, he tasted three different flavors in the same dessert: rock gorilla jam, honey, and salt-baked.

This even made Du Yi a little reluctant to continue eating. You know, such top-quality ingredients are so rare that they are hard to come by. If he ate them all in one go, he didn't know when he would have another chance.

However, upon seeing a humanoid figure struggling to stand up amidst a patch of liquid crystal on the ground, Du Yi decisively opened his mouth and swallowed it whole.

In the past, Du Yi would not usually eat such humanoid creatures. After all, he had been human himself and had other options. Eating such a humanoid monster would inevitably make him feel nauseous.

However, this time, Du Yi made an exception.

"If I say I'll send you to hell, then I'll send you to hell."

The feeding lasted for seven days and seven nights. Although there were some times when they caught the escaped pieces of flesh, after seven days and seven nights of feeding, the bodies of the four gods finally disappeared completely from the world.

The physical bodies in the material world were completely annihilated, leaving only the souls. Half of the souls of the four gods were still attacking frantically in the underworld—of course, now it should be the complete souls, since their physical bodies in the material world had long since entered the snake's belly.

Right now, their only way to survive is to kill the giant serpent in the underworld.

If they can kill the giant serpent in front of them, they can still seize one last chance to take over its body and return to the material world. The giant serpent is currently devouring their bodies in the material world and has no time to attend to the underworld, which gives them the best opportunity to attack.

Or rather, what they perceive as the best opportunity.

This best opportunity lasted for seven days and seven nights, but they still couldn't even scratch the giant snake's scales.

The scales in the sky are still tilted. Clearly, the entire underworld is still biased—or rather, it's no longer about bias, but rather that the quality of the giant serpent's soul has long exceeded the scales' capacity.

"This planet, this planet..."

It was at this moment that the four gods realized that, from beginning to end, only one of their judgments was correct.

That is, this planet is indeed full of potential.

Or perhaps, the potential of this planet was even greater than expected. Long before they discovered it, an extraordinary powerhouse had already emerged on this planet. Although they didn't know why, that extraordinary powerhouse eventually disappeared without a trace. But even the subspace defense mechanism that he casually set up had completely trapped and killed them, who had roamed the starry sea for countless years.

Yes, even now, they still believe that they only lost to that mysterious powerful figure from who-knows-how-long ago, that previous generation's God of Death, not to this foolish giant serpent in front of them.

They genuinely believed that they still had a chance.

But at that moment, the giant snake in front of them opened its eyes.

"Ah, judging from your looks, you're still not convinced."

After exchanging a single glance, the giant snake shook its head.

"Alright then, we were just about to stretch our legs anyway. Since you're all dissatisfied, let's start with this... Also, from now on, this place won't be called the Underworld anymore."

As it spoke, the giant serpent swung its long tail, a weapon as fierce as a whip.

"Welcome to hell."

Accompanied by the sound of whipping, the dark clouds were filled with the wails of the four gods.

The blood from the whip marks seeped into the yellow sand, even seeping down and mixing into the soft soil.

And the tiny pebbles buried deep in the soil are also vying to sprout, expressing their joy with their lush green leaves.

Chapter 305 Death is also a new life

The four gods from the starry sea have had their physical bodies in the material world perish, and their souls have been sealed in the underworld to suffer eternal torment.

But the impact they brought about ultimately and completely changed the planet.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of rust, the bloody stench of the tyrannical god. The earth was covered in rotting mud, the pus of the god of destruction. Invisible and formless conspiracies and desires permeated every corner of the planet.

This is what is meant by the divine presence.

As gods who have existed in the starry sea for an unknown period of time, their immense existence alone is enough to transform the surrounding environment to suit them—although their appearance lasts only a short moment, the impact of their immense presence still inflicts indelible damage on this planet.

However, the planet itself is resilient.

Planets are tenacious and all-encompassing. Whether it is an alien visitor or a fiery meteorite falling from the sky, it will accept them all equally. Even if the alien visitors cause storms and the meteorites fall from the sky and create huge craters on the surface, the planet itself will continue to move.

Even harm is accepted; this is the profound weight of the planet itself.

Moreover, can those so-called injuries really be considered injuries?

Extraterrestrial visitors who stir up trouble will eventually become a mound of yellow earth buried on this planet. Even if a fiery meteorite creates a huge crater, it will only bring more water and rocks rich in various minerals to this planet.

As for the present situation, these so-called four gods and their so-called influence have absolutely no effect on the planet itself, which is currently in operation.

Rather than saying it has an impact, it's more accurate to say it's contributing to the planet's development.

When harm ceases to be harm, only the most basic accumulation remains. The earth, which has existed for billions of years, naturally accepts everything that falls upon it.

However, there are some things that it should not accept.

That towering tree was something it should never have accepted; its massive root system, which had pierced the earth's crust, recklessly absorbed anything that could be called nourishment—which made the tree grow ever more lush and leafy, even blocking out the entire sky.

However, the tree brought nothing to the planet itself.

Without shedding branches or leaves, and without bearing fruit, the tree recklessly takes everything from the planet, leaving nothing for the planet itself.

If this continues, perhaps one day this towering tree covered in snake scales will devour the entire planet, or even replace it and become a new planet.

However, that battle ultimately destroyed the growth of this great tree.

Although the attacks of the four gods failed to land on the giant tree, the scorching light that could even shred the bodies of the four gods during the battle still severed the trunk, and the enormous canopy that was about to blot out the sky finally fell to the ground.

The nutrients extracted from the planet ultimately return to the planet itself.

But the giant tree did not stop there. Even after losing its crown, it could still absorb nutrients and grow again. After all, it only lost its trunk and branches. Its massive root system was not damaged. As long as it continued to absorb nutrients, it could eventually recover its lush foliage.

But, it can't be done.

Just as the giant tree was about to continue growing, an even larger serpent sat directly on it.

The severed stump of the giant tree formed a perfectly round platform. Such a wide stump would make anyone want to sit on it—naturally, upon seeing the stump, the giant snake coiled up on it and sat on the broken edge.

The smooth break held the giant snake, leaving no room for it to sprout or grow.

It's unknown how long it will take for it to grow again.

Perhaps only when the giant snake gets off the wooden stake will it have another chance to grow. However, the warm heat from the depths of the earth on the wooden stake makes the giant snake more sleepy. The remains of the four gods that it has swallowed bring a great sense of fullness, making the giant snake even more tired.

And so, the giant snake coiled on the wooden stake simply fell into a deep sleep.

The wind blew across the fallen tree trunks, and the lush green leaves rustled in the wind. But after losing the nourishment from the roots, the leaves quickly turned yellow and withered. After several heavy rains, even the tree trunks began to rot. Soon they would all turn into soil and return to the planet itself.

On that newly formed soil, new flowers, grasses, and trees will sprout and grow.

Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of another new life.

In the ruins of the building, which were already overgrown with weeds, a section of the already fragile wreckage collapsed with a roar—but instead of crashing directly to the ground, it sank into the earth, revealing a huge hole.

Immediately afterwards, a group of teenagers crawled out of the deep cave.

"This is……"

Looking at the surrounding ruins, the group of teenagers burst into tears on the spot.

After all, this was originally their hometown.

These young men were the descendants of the Tatumbutu people. Although the entire city was prepared to die under the leadership of the four priests, after much hesitation, the four priests ultimately decided not to let the children go with them.

Adults choose to die based on their own will. In order to tear apart those powerful enemies from the starry sea, they are willing to die themselves and drag them into hell.

However, this is not the children's choice.

Those children, who were still growing up, were too young to even know what choices were, and it would be too cruel to send them to their deaths. So, after much deliberation, the four priests decided to send the children to a refuge deep underground.

Of course, considering the terrifying power of that serpent god, these children probably wouldn't survive, but that would be death from a natural disaster; it's just fate.

But now it seems...

These children from the past, in the end, survived.

The children of yesteryear have grown into teenagers, and as they have grown stronger, they have returned to the surface of the earth once more. But this time, they have lost the guidance of their parents, and no adult can lead them anymore.

Wild grasses grow haphazardly on the former ruins.

These young people, emerging from the ground, have begun their own story.