Absolute Choice
chapter-420

"To the Celestial King and King Leonis:

Why should wars be fought between soldiers? Do you dare to fight king against king? This King only wishes for a life-and-death battle between the three kings, with life and death determining the outcome! If This King were to die in battle, the Infernal domain will surrender! Conversely, if you were to unfortunately die by This King's sword, please withdraw your troops! This King has penned the challenge. Do the both of you dare to fight? —The most cowardly Infernal King in all of eternity!"

The two letters with the same content were separately sent to the Celestial domain and Transcendence. It might have been done unwittingly or it might have been done deliberately, but the contents of the two letters were quickly revealed. It proliferated in the three domains, causing every commoner on the streets and the soldiers to know of the letter's content. A flurry of discussion broke out because of it.

The letter that came from 'the most cowardly Infernal King in all of eternity' had ruthlessly smacked many people in the face. What was it about being the most cowardly Infernal King in all of eternity? The Infernal King, who dared to suggest the life-and-death battle between the three kings and remained indifferent to life, had nothing to do with 'cowardly', even if his strategy was problematic!

What a nicely phrased "why should wars be fought between soldiers? Do you dare to fight king against king?" This sentence not only showed the Infernal King's courage and confidence, it also explained the reason why the Infernal King did not send his troops. The Infernal King was not being 'cowardly', but it was because he did not wish for his soldiers to die in battle!

The Infernal King's reputation changed dramatically from that moment. By suggesting a life-and-death battle between the three kings, it had immediately shattered the rumors that he was the most cowardly Infernal King in all of eternity. The words about king against king made the three domains understand his benevolence.

That phrase 'do the both of you dare to fight' became a popular catchphrase.

As the three domains were discussing this matter, what they cared about the most, was whether the Celestial King and the Transcendents' new king would accept the life-and-death battle between the three.

...

Transcendence

At this moment, Transcendence was completely different from the prosperous state it was in when it held the martial arts tournament. A cold layer of gray shrouded the sky of the country. There was constant wailing and painful cries everywhere.

The towering tree that seemed to exude rainbows which covered the country in lustrous colors was half-wilted. The other half was burnt black. The branches emanated the rotting smell of death. The once lustrous crown of the tree seemed to be the bringer of decay and there was a black air that lingered around it that dispersed into the sky, turning into a black haze.

The Transcendence Holy Tree had been destroyed through burning. And what was destroyed was not only the holy tree. The foundation of Transcendence was in the midst of destruction as well.

Legends said that it would be the holy tree of Transcendence that would protect them when the Infernal army arrived, but it was in fact not as extraordinary as the legends said. It was just an immensely tall tree. There was no tree spirit in the tree, so against the destruction of the Celestial Fire, it could only struggle and was powerless to resist.

The holy tree was not a guardian, but to Transcendence, it was an existence even more important than a guardian.

Why were the holy tree's beautiful leaves covered in poison?

It was not because the holy tree was poisonous to begin with. It was because the descendants of the Transcendents were born with a terrifying disease. The disease would make the yellowed-skinned Transcendent children gradually turn black. They would slowly become extremely ugly, making them look like the dwarf devils of the Infernals.

However, due to the existence of the Transcendence Holy Tree, the virus in the children's disease would be slowly absorbed by the holy tree. Although it was unable to completely absorb all of it, it would not affect their normal lives. These children would eventually end up with a skin color that was in between black and yellow. It was the reason why most Transcendents had green skin.

Therefore, the Transcendence Holy Tree was a natural healing cleric that the Transcendents depended on for survival. It used its leaves to absorb all the viruses!

And at that moment, the Transcendence Holy Tree was mostly burned down. Its life was almost coming to an end. It was unable to absorb the virus any more. In fact, the virus in the leaves was gradually dispersing, forming a haze that lingered in the sky.

The unfortunate and wailing infants became a tragedy that could not be saved. The virus made them cry out in pain but it would not take their lives. However, it would change their appearance and their race, to the point of changing their destiny.

And for adult Transcendents who were frailer, the remnants of the virus in their bodies would relapse, causing their bodies to undergo significant transformations.

The entire Transcendence was thrown into grief and anger.

To the Transcendents, destroying the Transcendence Holy Tree was equivalent to committing a sacrilegious act against the entire race which deserved death. And the blame was put on the Celestial King.

Normally, if they wanted to sacrifice the Celestial King as an offering to the holy tree, they would first need to gain victory in the war against the Celestial domain.

However, with the letter from the Infernal King, they had seen a new glimmer of hope.

With the three kings engaging in a life-and-death battle, revenge was at hand!

The giant chose to participate in the life-and-death battle without any hesitation.

"The race of the Transcendents is the strongest race in the world. When This King shatters the skulls of the Infernal King and the Celestial King, no one in the three domains will ever dare to deny this fact."

The gatekeeping giant looked towards the Celestial domain as a sneer suffused across his lips.

"The only fear is that the useless Celestial King will not dare to participate."

...

"The only fear is that the Celestial King will not dare to participate."

Shi Xiaobai said as he landed the black piece in his hand.

Shi Xiaobai, who was utterly bored, was playing Go with the Infernal Queen. The main reason was that he was attempting to gain more useful information from the Infernal Queen. However, after a few rounds of Aeroplane Chess, they had no choice but to decide on a draw. After that, Shi Xiaobai suggested changing the game.

The Infernal Queen did not mind it. Therefore, the two began playing all sorts of games, Chinese chess, Go, Stratego, Jungle, Chinese checkers, Gomoku, Reversi, etc.

However, Shi Xiaobai never won again.

Of course, he never lost either.

No matter what game it was, it would end up with a tie or a tie had to be forced.

Shi Xiaobai's morale and fighting spirit did not dull because of the frequent ties. Instead, it intensified and he wished to defeat the Infernal Queen once again.

The Infernal Queen did not reveal a trace of weariness either. The fighting spirit in her eyes was even more intense than Shi Xiaobai's. It appeared as though she was extremely indignant about losing to Shi Xiaobai at a score of 1-0. While playing the board games, the Infernal Queen would constantly speak sultrily. When the Infernal Queen commented on the life-and-death battle between the three kings, she had been full of praise for Shi Xiaobai's intelligence.

Shi Xiaobai calmly accepted the Infernal Queen's praises but he expressed something that was on his mind—the only fear is that the Celestial King would not dare to participate.

Shi Xiaobai was not afraid that the new Transcendent king would reject the participation of the battle because the Transcendence Holy Tree had been destroyed. The new Transcendent king clearly would not give up on the opportunity to seek revenge on the Celestial King.

The only thing to worry about was if the Celestial King would refuse the battle.

Shi Xiaobai had waited to the moment when his reputation was rotten before sending the letter so as to force the Celestial King to accept the challenge. However, only the heavens knew if the Celestial King would be cowardly enough to rather accept the infamous title of being 'the most cowardly Celestial King in all of eternity' than accepting the risk of participating in the life-and-death battle. IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.