Chapter 73: River of Eternal Darkness

"What lies below is the 'River of Eternal Darkness', something you must master after you become a god."

Chumen and Amanises entered the depths of the Underworld in a Hidden manner, seeing a deep black palace.

This Palace of the Dead was inlaid with all sorts of bones and various body parts, yet it did not appear eerie, but rather possessed a unique solemnity and sanctity.

Two figures, so faint that even the dead could not perceive them, wove through the many coffins and arrived before a massive stone stele.

At the top of the stele was a giant bird statue that seemed to be crafted from bronze; the statue had now lost its mysterious luster, and the Ancestor of the Phoenix did not even have time to pay attention to this place, as he was wholeheartedly fighting the Giant King.

Beneath the statue was a sentence condensed from the language of the dead.

"Even gods cannot escape."

"Even death will be imprisoned."

"Death will also be imprisoned?" Amanises looked at this line of text, giving rise to all sorts of conjectures.

"For the River of Eternal Darkness, which encompasses death, death is also a part of it," Chumen explained.

"Let's go." Amanises withdrew her gaze and walked into the most dangerous place in this Underworld.

Chumen had no choice but to guide the Dream Phosphor to envelop them both.

Without the protection of Source Quality or someone of the same status, merely approaching the "River of Eternal Darkness" would cause terrible consequences, including but not limited to Corruption and falling into the river.

Of course, becoming a corresponding god also allows one to face Source Quality directly, or even perform "accommodation."

"I have re-established contact with Salinger; I came here to retrieve something." Amanises and Chumen walked together into the dark, lightless, dead, and cold environment.

Chumen was not surprised; in these hundreds of years, Amanises had not been idle. With the Hidden Authority, it could not be said that no one could know what arrangements she had made.

He flicked his finger lightly, and the Dream Phosphor bloomed with light, illuminating the path ahead. A dark river appeared before the two, and even beneath their feet, a deep, dark, intangible flow of water surged.

The Dream Book in Chumen's hand bloomed with light as a reflex, and a large amount of Dream Phosphor overflowed, isolating the river water from the two of them.

"This is just a projection, not the real river water." Chumen's eyes were solemn; this thing was truly not to be trifled with.

"No need to go deeper, head to the edge." Amanises led Chumen to walk along the edge, and soon they saw an altar.

The altar emitted a faint light that illuminated the dark space, and its structure was very strange and huge, like a bird's nest.

The basic materials for constructing the "bird's nest" were the bones of countless living beings: Giants, Dragons, demons, Elves...

As long as they were the bones of living beings that existed in this world, they could be found here.

This was the Symbol of "death."

And at the very center of the altar was a small golden Phoenix statue, which faintly showed signs of resonance with the water of the River of Eternal Darkness.

"It's this!" Chumen realized suddenly. A golden bird shape, and it had some kind of connection with the River of Eternal Darkness; this thing would be the key for Amanises to master the River of Eternal Darkness in the future!

"This is an item that the Ancestor of the Phoenix has spent a thousand years crafting for himself to indirectly control the River of Eternal Darkness. It is impossible for us to take it away."

The Phoenix, who mastered the "Door" Pathway, was almost omnipresent; wanting to steal his things was impossible.

In the original trajectory, this thing would probably fall into Salinger's hands, and only in the Fifth Epoch would it fall into Amanises's hands, but now everything was in a mess...

Because of the existence of the Dream Council, Amanises already had a deeper understanding of the "Oldest One" and had faintly sensed the key to things like "Source Quality," starting her layout in advance.

"It will be fine once it becomes a Sealed Artifact." Amanises's tone was as gentle as if she were waiting for a flower to bloom.

"..." Chumen pondered slightly for a moment and asked, "What kind of deal did you reach with Salinger?"

"I want this gold, he wants those bones, and the remaining bronze belongs to you." The eyes of the Ancestor of the Phoenix were bronze-colored.

"There's a share for me too?" Chumen was astonished.

"Without you, neither Salinger nor I could get close to this place," Amanises said.

Hmm... I probably intercepted something that originally belonged to the Ancient Sun God?

That was probably the various High-sequence Characteristics of the "Door" Pathway.

Just right for Bethel... Chumen nodded slightly.

"Since I have a share, I must also put in some effort." Chumen tore an illusory symbol from the Dream Book and threw it to Amanises.

"Fine." Amanises accepted it. "But you should go; it's best to let this war end quickly. I don't want to wait too long."

Amanises entered a state of complete concealment. It was imaginable that she must be peeking at everything here from the Hidden World, like a Demon Wolf in a hunting state.

"For the sake of the High-sequence Characteristics of the 'Door' Pathway..."

Chumen shook his head and quickly moved away from this River of Eternal Darkness, arriving at a safe zone.

Under the Hidden influence of "Causality," he bumped into Salinger.

This subordinate god of the current Ancestor of the Phoenix was confronting the God of Honor.

The God of Honor was fighting very hard, but the situation was controlled by Salinger.

"Two Sequence 2s..." Chumen saw that neither of these two could obtain the gaze of an Ancient God at this moment.

He quietly opened the Dream Book and released "Illusion Dream." The two Sequence 2 Angels were instantly pulled into the dream by the Dream Book, unable to even perceive anything amiss.

"Salinger..." Chumen jumped into Salinger's dream.

What came into view was a famous scene that Chumen was very familiar with.

A crudely shaped Death Scythe slashed down, completely ending the last hope of the Destruction Demon Wolf's resurrection.

Amanises incorporated most of the Destruction Demon Wolf's Characteristics into herself, her own Demon Wolf form grew massive, and she completely became a god!

And Salinger could only stand in the distance and look up at all this, not even daring to go and get a share.

"Aha?" Chumen was astonished. "The Destruction Demon Wolf is truly deserving of death; both subordinate gods want to kill him..."

"So the current Salinger has set his sights on the Phoenix?"

The original boss was killed by a former colleague? It's fine, I still have a new boss!

What kind of ghostly competitive spirit is this?!

"Guard against fire, theft, and subordinate gods!" Chumen deeply realized the gold content of this sentence this time.

Moreover, the Destruction Demon Wolf's subordinates were all geniuses; the Dark Demon Wolf Kotar had been hiding for hundreds of years, and no one could find him.

Antigonus, that little wolf, was hiding somewhere in a no-man's-land with his sister, and no one knew where.

As for the other two, Amanises has already completed the "eat the boss" achievement, and Salinger is currently in the process.

"The deal between the Goddess and Salinger is to hide Salinger's various little movements, keeping them from the Phoenix Ancestor."

As for Salinger, naturally, he wants to become the God of Death.

If one adds Badehaier to the mix, everything regarding the three Pathways of the "River of Eternal Darkness" will be destined.

Thinking of this, Chumen's expression became somewhat subtle.

"Choosing one's own opponent, this is quite wonderful."