Chapter 35: The Stake of Life

Night fell.

In the dark, silent underground chamber.

The kerosene lamp had been extinguished, replaced by a night pearl of faint luster as the light source for the small chamber.

Coupled with Gune's vision as a transcendent.

In this dimly lit environment, Gune could still see everything around him clearly.

At this moment, Gune had placed his black iron soft armor, magic shield necklace, mithril staff, mithril boots, and green leaf bracelet all into his system space.

After confirming everything was ready, Gune let out a long breath, his eyes gleaming with divine light.

It was time to explore the great artifact—the Coin of Fate.

Earlier, when Gune had obtained that lucky coin in the blood curse master's study,

he had guessed that the blood curse master had likely met his end because of the Coin of Fate.

And the manner of his demise was peculiar: no trace left behind, as if he had vanished into thin air.

His ordinary clothes, his transcendent equipment, even his own remains—none of them remained.

This method of utter destruction made Gune very wary.

He himself could reincarnate, yes, but his equipment could not.

If he met his end and all his gear disappeared, that would be a huge loss.

So Gune directly stored all his valuables into his system space.

With a flip of his hand,

the Coin of Fate, about the size of an ordinary one-yuan coin but slightly thicker, fell into Gune's palm.

The moment it landed in his hand,

Gune once again felt that peculiar psychological suggestion.

"Flip it and see how your luck fares."

"Compared to when I first touched the Coin of Fate, the effect of this psychological suggestion has weakened slightly."

"Is it because I've acquired a transcendent profession, or because I've undergone one reincarnation and gained some resistance to these negative traits?"

"But," Gune gritted his teeth, his arm trembling slightly.

"The suggestion is still very strong; I really can't resist the urge to flip it."

At this moment, Gune looked exactly like a gambler in the throes of addiction.

Gune hesitated no longer, quickly constructing runes in his palm to make magical contact with the Coin of Fate.

This Coin of Fate, with its powerful suggestive effect, was undoubtedly a formidable "wondrous item."

Making rash magical contact was dangerous.

But Gune was not afraid of death; at worst, he would reincarnate once.

The moment the bridge of magical contact was established,

the light emitted by the night pearl in the small chamber was quickly suppressed, plunging the surroundings into silent darkness.

Time and the scene around them seemed to freeze.

On the Coin of Fate in Gune's palm, golden and black lights swiftly emerged.

An angel and a demon.

One gold, one black.

Perfectly symmetrical.

The angel and the demon spoke in unison.

Majestic and holy, yet dark and oppressive.

"Use your life as a stake, flip it, and gamble with fate."

"Win, and the angel will be with you."

"Lose, and the demon will walk beside you."

Information surged into the depths of Gune's mind.

Gune's expression shifted repeatedly.

He finally began to understand the terror and horror of this immensely powerful wondrous item, the "Coin of Fate."

Gune couldn't help but murmur softly, "This truly is a great work!"

The scene shattered abruptly.

At the same time, the night pearl's luster returned to the entire chamber.

"Ring!"

A light, pleasant sound suddenly cut through the silence of the chamber.

Gune snapped back to reality.

He saw that the Coin of Fate, with an angel on one side and a demon on the other, had already been flipped and was spinning rapidly before his eyes.

Demon and angel intertwined into a blur.

Watching the spinning Coin of Fate,

Gune's face darkened, and he immediately lost his composure.

"Damn it, I didn't flip it voluntarily; it doesn't count."

Gune's eye twitched.

But his right hand, which had been moved involuntarily, still uncontrollably reached out to catch the Coin of Fate.

With a "smack!"

His right hand closed, catching the Coin of Fate.

At that moment, control over his right hand returned to Gune himself.

"This damned wondrous item," Gune frowned slightly.

Wondrous items were well-known in the transcendent world, naturally due to their unparalleled power.

Even Gune had to abide by their rules in the presence of such a powerful wondrous item.

Looking at his closed right hand holding the Coin of Fate,

Gune vaguely understood how the blood curse master had died.

Others gambled for money.

This thing gambled for life!

Through the brief magical contact,

Gune had already comprehended the function of this powerful wondrous item.

Wondrous item "Coin of Fate."

Use life as a stake to make a gamble.

Flip the Coin of Fate; if it lands with the angel side up,

then the angel will sever your fate's shackles, freeing you from its bonds.

Once your fate's shackles are severed, the benefits are numerous.

For example,

When enemies use mystical means to curse, divine, or spy on you, it will be very difficult for them to perceive you.

Even powerful beings using mystical forces to deduce and scheme will find it hard to detect the role you play in the situation.

Undoubtedly, breaking free from fate's shackles is something the stronger one is, the more urgently needed.

The Coin of Fate possesses such a powerful ability.

But you must offer your life as a stake.

And if you unfortunately fail,

then... the blood curse master who created this Coin of Fate, his disappearance is a precedent.

"Huff..." A light exhale.

Gune slowly opened his palm.

With his system and six reincarnations, Gune was not overly tense at this moment.

When he saw the face of the Coin of Fate, Gune smiled.

This side was the angel.

Gune had won.

A hazy golden light burst from the Coin of Fate, gathering in the air, and an angel was born within it.

An angel with pure white holy wings raised a sword of fate blazing with holy light high.

At the same time, Gune saw on his own body countless chains connecting from his flesh to the surrounding void, dense and innumerable.

"The shackles of fate; indeed, everyone is a slave governed by fate."

Seeing these chains of fate binding him, Gune involuntarily recalled the philosophical words on the title page of a philosophy textbook.

"Whoosh!"

The sword of fate struck fiercely at Gune's body.

Crack!

The sound of shattering quickly spread through Gune's mind.

At the same time, the chain binding Gune's chest, as thick as a bowl, was severed cleanly.

This was the thickest chain of fate.

There were also four chains as thick as arms, and countless chains as thick as fingers.

After severing this first chain of fate, the angel seemed to have exhausted its power, quickly turning into golden light and merging back into the Coin of Fate.

"Lucky one, do you desire more gifts from fate?"