Chapter 125: Gune's Plan

Two entered, one died, one lived.

After listening to the Old Man of the Strange Sea's explanation, everyone began to ponder secretly.

Gune, among the crowd, also started to think quietly.

"One lives, one dies—isn't this just a cage deathmatch? Only the winner gets to enter. Truly bloody and cruel." Gune narrowed his eyes.

"The Old Man of the Strange Sea's actions are truly hard to fathom."

"That said, the Divine Crown is a shortcut to godhood, though it's following the path of predecessors, with virtually no chance of surpassing the original owner's strength."

"But how many people don't even have this opportunity!"

"Eternal life is the ultimate pursuit of countless transcendents."

In transcendent cultivation, Transcendent Master is a threshold; above that, Divine Envoy, Ancestral Spirit, and Saint rank are thresholds.

And beyond that, the Divine is undoubtedly the ultimate goal.

Achieving divinity grants eternal, immortal life.

Eternal life—in any era, it is a highly tempting option.

Not to mention that attaining the great realm of divinity also comes with the power to dominate a transcendent world.

While everyone was pondering, in the air before the wooden hut,

a patch of light projected down.

What came into view was a patch of black grass dancing in the fierce wind.

As the projection angle gradually rose, a rugged mountain path emerged before everyone's eyes.

At the entrance of this rugged mountain path, a Death God, shrouded in black mist and holding a scythe, floated silently. The robe formed by the black mist of its body fluttered violently in the biting wind.

At the foot of the mountain, the vast black grass area, about three to four kilometers in radius, was clearly visible, beyond which was a peculiar barrier formed by thick black mist.

Clearly, this black grass area was the battle zone for life and death. Entering the thick black mist barrier recklessly—one could guess the outcome without thinking.

Following the rugged mountain path, one could vaguely see the outline of a strange and majestic mountain hidden in the deep black mist.

As for what was on the mountain, no one could see clearly.

Obviously, this first level, the cage deathmatch, was the most important aspect at present.

Winning allowed entry into the strange and eerie mountain depths to search for traces of the Divine Crown.

Dying meant complete death.

To take a shortcut, one must pay the due price.

"Senior Old Man of the Strange Sea, is this life-and-death battle one-on-one or a free-for-all?"

At this moment, a voice sounded from the evil god faction.

"One-on-one."

An aged voice transmitted.

After the Old Man of the Strange Sea's voice fell,

many from the evil god faction gathered together, seemingly discussing something, but they were all using secret transmissions, so Gune couldn't hear.

"Probably scheming some trick again," Gune thought quietly.

"And with this life-and-death rule, if one is ruthless enough, there might be loopholes to exploit."

After a moment, a group of over ten people from the evil god and church factions walked toward the rotating entrance.

These people directly ignored the Transcendent Association and others.

Before the many experts of the Transcendent Association could react,

two among the group leaped swiftly into the vortex.

Those from the evil god and Southern Church factions actually sent two people in at once.

This scene startled many.

Immediately, many guessed what they were up to.

Needless to say, one of the two must be extremely powerful, while the other was likely a 'cannon fodder' devout to the evil god.

The cannon fodder would die, and the powerful one would easily pass the life-and-death checkpoint and enter the subsequent rugged mountain path.

Seeing this, Gune narrowed his eyes.

"So that's how they're doing it."

The Old Man of the Strange Sea said 'one lives, one dies,' literally meaning that once one dies, the other can pass.

He didn't specify that it had to be a life-and-death vendetta or a strong-versus-strong duel.

Seeing this, many from the Transcendent Association immediately began cursing.

"Don't even have the courage to fight? Truly shameless and despicable, to come up with such a heinous method."

"Exactly, with their nature, nothing is unsacrificable. I bet those evil gods will eventually kill all their followers and absorb their flesh and blood."

"These fools still believe in evil gods, not realizing they themselves are expendable. I feel sorry for them."

The other side immediately retorted without backing down.

"The noise of a bunch of lowly creatures without faith. After you die, your souls will be utterly annihilated, unable to reach the divine kingdom."

"The rules are like this; using them wisely is the correct approach. Are you so stupid that you only know how to solve problems with fists? It seems your heads are misplaced."

At first, they exchanged sophistry back and forth.

Later, the situation got out of hand, devolving into personal attacks and family insults.

Even some ordinary transcendents joined the shouting match.

This scene broadened Gune's horizons.

Indeed, when unable to fight, everyone is a keyboard warrior.

Gazing at the projection above, watching the battle between the two, Gune narrowed his eyes.

The battle between them was clearly one-sided.

Even though the evil god follower was a fourth-stage late transcendent, against a sixth-stage peak opponent, he had no power to resist.

The sixth-stage peak expert, after a token skirmish, casually split him in two with a single slash.

One life, one death—the outcome was decided.

"The Old Man of the Strange Sea isn't so easy to figure out. This kind of trick probably won't pass so smoothly," Gune thought as the battle ended.

Sure enough, after the life-and-death battle ended,

the Death God still stood guard at the mountain path, showing no sign of letting anyone through.

At this moment, many experts from both sides noticed this strange occurrence.

"Senior Old Man of the Strange Sea, the life-and-death duel has resulted in a death. Why not let the other pass?"

A loud voice came from the evil god and church faction.

"The soul is too weak, and such a twisted soul cannot satisfy the Death God. Only a strong soul can allow the other to pass."

The Old Man of the Strange Sea's voice slowly sounded.

"As expected!"

This scene immediately reassured the Transcendent Association.

This trick indeed didn't work; they had sacrificed a follower for nothing.

Just as everyone was pondering,

the Old Man of the Strange Sea's voice sounded again.

"The earlier you enter, the more likely you are to obtain the Divine Crown."

"At the same time, there are quite a few treasures left inside."

"Even supreme esoteric texts from large transcendent worlds, treasures that allow one to easily become a Transcendent Master without any drawbacks, as well as legendary equipment and weapons, are all present."

"Moreover, the vortex channel has limited energy; only about a dozen or twenty people can enter."

With that, the Old Man of the Strange Sea's voice fell silent.

Many transcendents showed changed expressions.

Besides the Divine Crown, there were many other treasures. Even if they couldn't get the Divine Crown, obtaining those treasures would be excellent.

Many experts and geniuses below Transcendent Master level, who had been waiting, now grew restless.

Even Gune felt a stir in his heart.

To be honest, the Divine Crown was tempting enough, but not to the point of being indispensable.

However, the esoteric texts and legendary equipment were more appealing to Gune, as they could directly enhance his strength.

"With the Old Man of the Strange Sea saying this, I'm afraid many geniuses and experts will want to enter quickly, lest others take the good stuff."

"I need to enter early, and also..."

Gune narrowed his eyes, scanning the many transcendents from the evil god and church factions.

"While entering, I need to take down a formidable one."