Absolute Choice
chapter-504-30041322

"The historical story of the world from twenty thousand years ago was also what was replicated in the seventh level!"

The Infernal Queen had not only pushed the story forward by seven thousand years, she had also silently pushed the story to its second stage!

Now, it was finally the true history that began describing the seventh level's world!

Shi Xiaobai turned slightly attentive. If the story the Infernal Queen was telling him had anything worth his concern, it was undoubtedly the historical period replicated in the seventh level. If the trial-takers had not intervened, what direction would the story lead to? What would happen to King Leonis, the gatekeeper giant, Field Marshal Awesomo, the true Infernal King, Infernal Queen, and Celestial King?

The Infernal Queen seemed to realize something as she suddenly said with a chuckle, "About twenty thousand years ago, at a particular year's Braveheart Martial Arts Tournament, the Infernal King had disguised himself as a Braveheart and participated in the tournament at Transcendence. In the end...the tiny precarious boat of peace capsized!"

The cheeky words left Shi Xiaobai slightly surprised. The Infernal King had faked his identity as a Braveheart to participate in the Braveheart Martial Arts Tournament? Why was the plot so familiar!?

Shi Xiaobai immediately began to anticipate the story's development.

The Infernal Queen gave a sly smile and did not go straight to the main plotline and instead asked, "Darling, you have stayed in the Infernal domain for a period of time. You must have heard of some hair-raising wails from every corner of the Infernal domain at dawn every day, right?"

Shi Xiaobai was also used to the Infernal Queen's 'wicked' habit of keeping and building suspense. He helplessly nodded. The wails at dawn were indeed hair-raising. Furthermore, it filled every corner of the Infernal domain as if every Infernal was screaming in pain at the same time. In the beginning, he had believed that a calamity had befallen but he later found out that it was a 'daily occurrence' in the Infernal domain.

The Infernal Queen said, "That is the side effect left behind by that infectious disease. Every day at dawn, the Infernals would experience a burning sensation that they cannot bear. It would result in them wailing for more than half an hour. There had even been countless Infernals that had committed suicide because of this torture over millennia. In fact, the Celestials, who had similarly been infected, had a similar side effect. However, the Celestials would only feel an extreme bone-biting chill at dusk. Similarly, it was excruciatingly painful."

The infection was indeed unprecedented. It had not only created the Infernals and Celestials, but it had also inflicted them with suffering on a daily basis. What sort of infection could result in such exaggerated effects?

Shi Xiaobai pondered in his heart but he did not raise any questions. However, he slowly opened his mouth and finally broke his silence.

"What did the Infernal King do at the Braveheart Martial Arts Tournament?"

Shi Xiaobai was more concerned about that matter. And from his point of view, that was the 'main plot' of the historical story. However, the Infernal Queen had insisted on being draggy on 'sub-plots'. It had left him impatient.

"Darling sure is impatient. That's right. Darling would want to know if the Infernal King who he had 'acted as' had done the same as he did. It's only to be expected."

The Infernal Queen chuckled and said, "The true historical Infernal King had disguised himself as a Braveheart and not only did he clinch the championship of the Braveheart Martial Arts Tournament, he had gone one step further. He had killed King Leonis at the finals!"

Shi Xiaobai was astonished. The Infernal King had killed King Leonis? No wonder the tiny boat of peace capsized!

The Infernal Queen said with a chuckle, "Back then, the Infernal King was affected by the deep-rooted belief of every past Infernal King—the Transcendents were still the strongest race in the world. Therefore, despite him committing atrocities, he had never dared to offend the Transcendents. He believed that his battle with the Transcendents' King Leonis would result in defeat or even an abject defeat. He never expected that the toxins accumulated in the Transcendence Holy Tree had long resulted in their decline. King Leonis could only barely reach the fourth Transcendent transformation! The Infernal King was unaware of the fact that King Leonis was that weak so he had accidentally killed him!"

As the Infernal King did not know that King Leonis was too weak, he had not held back and ended up killing King Leonis?

Eh? So be it the replicated history or the true history, King Leonis was actually such an aggrieved existence!

Shi Xiaobai could not help but chuckle. Although he was listening to the same story, listening to the original historical story and a similar adapted story felt completely different.

Shi Xiaobai immediately wiped his smile away. He felt a lot better.

How should it be put? If you can't prevent it, you might as well enjoy it?

The Infernal Queen was very pleased with Shi Xiaobai's reaction. She turned even more excited as she continued narrating the story. "The Infernal King had not only killed King Leonis from his infiltration of Transcendence. He realized the truth that the Transcendents were declining."

"More importantly, when Transcendence ushered in a new dawn, he felt a cool refreshing feeling, relieving the burning pains that he suffered and endured every morning. The pain from the burns was greatly reduced and the time he had to endure it was cut short. The Infernal King discovered the power of the Transcendence Holy Tree's favor!"

When Shi Xiaobai heard this, he had vaguely guessed at the future development. With the weakening of Transcendence exposed and that the fact that the Transcendence Holy Tree could reduce the excruciating torment the Infernals endured on a daily basis, the Infernal King was bound to covet the Transcendence Holy Tree. Furthermore, the Infernal King was never one to stay within his confines, or why would he have disguised himself as a Braveheart?

Indeed, what the Infernal Queen described next was how the Infernal King began planning to invade Transcendence after returning to the Infernal domain. Furthermore, there were wise people among the Infernals who posited a guess—Could the infection that transformed the D'yaeans be an after-effect of them separating from the Transcendence Holy Tree?

It was very likely and it could explain the strange illness that had plagued the Infernals and Celestials.

As such, the Transcendence Holy Tree became even more important. The Infernal domain planned on invading Transcendence with full force, conquering their land and taking the Transcendence Holy Tree for itself!

"However, there were Celestial spies hidden in the ruling upper echelons of the Infernal domain. Therefore, the Celestial domain learned that the Transcendence Holy Tree could stop the chilling pain that plagued the Celestials for millennia. Immediately, the Celestial King broke the agreement of staying isolated. Similarly, he sent his troops to attack Transcendence!"

The Infernal Queen said, "Although the Infernals and Celestials had an enmity that spanned generations, under the allure of the Transcendence Holy Tree, they decided to join forces to 'clean out' the Transcendents before discussing the splitting of Transcendence. And at that moment, King Leonis was dead."

"Transcendence was in chaos, so how could it withstand the combined invasion of the Infernals and Celestials? But seeing as Transcendence was about to fall, the Transcendence Holy Tree suddenly bestowed its power onto six Transcendents, making them much stronger. They became the Hexstar Bravehearts."

"Later on, the Celestial King had suddenly betrayed his alliance because of the shocking power that the Infernal King and the Infernal domain had shown. He joined forces with the Hexstar Bravehearts and killed the strongest Infernal King! However, the Infernal King had given his all to inflict a mortal wound on the Celestial King. Such a turn of events greatly weakened both the Infernals and Celestials!"

The Hexstar Bravehearts' birth and the sudden betrayal of the Celestial King resulted in Transcendence, which was certainly doomed, to survive. It also, unfortunately, resulted in the strongest Infernal King to die in combat. And this historical fact was the reason why the seventh level had designated the clearance condition for Shi Xiaobai, who had been designated as the Infernal King, to kill either the Hexstar Bravehearts or the Celestial King.

It was because, with any of these two killed, the fate of the Infernal King fate would change.

But what really happened historically was that the strongest Infernal King had died in battle twenty thousand years ago!

"The Infernal King died in battle while the Celestial King was left seriously wounded. He died a few days later as well! As such, the Infernal King, Celestial King, and King Leonis were all dead. All three races lost their leaders! But the war continued on!"

"The Infernal Queen temporarily inherited the throne while Field Marshal Awesomo became Celestial King. As for King Leonis's illegitimate son, the gatekeeper giant, he forcefully ascended the throne and became the new Transcendence King! The deaths of the three kings between the three races made it irreconcilable between each other."

"As they contended for the Transcendence Holy Tree, the conflict did not come to an end. Due to the betrayal of the Celestial King, none of the three races joined forces again. Instead, it formed a three-sided conflict and a long war between the three domains began!"

After the Infernal Queen finished narrating the piece of history, she suddenly sighed. "The war continued on in such a manner for five thousand years. The three domains restrained each other in a delicate balance so no one managed to clinch the final victory. The war seemed like it would continue on endlessly...If only the war could continue on like that, but unfortunately, the war between the three domains came to a sudden end, fifteen thousand years ago!"

Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised. Another five thousand years? From the looks of it, the Infernal Queen was truly narrating the historical story and not deliberately making things difficult for him? Furthermore, why did the Infernal Queen say words like "if only the war could continue on like that". Why did she show such a despondent look?

"What happened?"

Shi Xiaobai could not help but fulfill his 'obligation' as a listener. He responded to the narrator to let her know that he was listening and thinking. That was the greatest respect a listener could give to a narrator.

The Infernal Queen's emotions seemed to improve greatly as a light smile suffused her lips. But soon, she sighed and said softly, "Fifteen thousand years ago, three towering trees descended! Like the Transcendence Holy Tree, no one knew how the three towering trees appeared. They had appeared overnight in the Transcendental World and the distance between the three trees was rather far from each other. They formed a triangle!"

This astonishing turn of events left Shi Xiaobai slightly alarmed. He asked, "Another three Transcendence Holy Trees?"

Could it be that the Heavens did not wish for the war to continue so it had dropped three Transcendence Holy Trees and left them far apart so that each of the three races had one each so as to end the bitter war?

But if that was the case, why would the Infernal Queen show a 'despondent' look? It was as though she was one of the characters involved. Why would the appearance of the three holy trees make her feel 'despondent'?

The matter was probably not that simple.

Indeed, the Infernal Queen shook her head and said with a sigh, "They were not Transcendence Holy Trees. The three holy trees that appeared were completely different in appearance. They were also completely different from the Transcendence Holy Tree."

"Be it the color or shape of the leaves, the thickness of the trunk or the thickness of the crown, they were all different! These three holy trees were similarly engraved with a 'name' like the Transcendence Holy Tree. However, the words were not written in the language of the Transcendental World. So no one knew what were the names of the three holy trees!"

"However, when the three holy trees descended into the Transcendental World, the Transcendence Holy Tree seemed to be robbed of its nutrients. It withered rapidly and in a short span of three days, all of its leaves withered and fell. Ten days later, it collapsed into an abyssal hole that seemed to lead straight to hell. From then on, the Transcendence Holy Tree perished!"

Shi Xiaobai drew a gasp of air. The three unknown holy trees had robbed the Transcendence Holy Tree of its 'nutrients'. So it came with unkind intentions?

However, the Infernal Queen shook her head and said, "Initially, the three races believed that the three trees were devilish trees but later they attempted approaching it and realized that the three holy trees contained a divine power. By being in the vicinity of the three trees, the side effects of the Infernals and Celestials not only weakened, they even disappeared!"

"At that moment, the three races felt like they were welcoming a long-awaited rain after a drought. They celebrated and viewed the three holy trees as the renewed lives of the Transcendence Holy Tree. Furthermore, the three holy trees were situated far from each other, so each of the three races could control one."

"Hence, the three-corner war that lasted for five thousand years came to an end. A peace agreement was signed. The three domains of the Transcendents, Infernals, and Celestials ushered in the most beautiful and peaceful tie fifteen thousand years ago!"

When the Infernal Queen mentioned of the beautiful and peaceful tie, there was no smile on her face. She sighed heavily and said softly, "But, that period of peace was just too short..."

Shi Xiaobai could not help but ask, "What happened?"

What unforeseen event could have happened under this peaceful situation that would make the Infernal Queen reveal such a 'despondent' expression?

Shi Xiaobai finally embraced his role as a listener and began to be concerned about the direction of the story. With the story progressing this far, he had a nagging feeling that something should happen.

The Infernal Queen remained silent for a much longer time than before. She slowly opened her mouth to say, "The three races did not know that the words engraved on the three holy trees were in fact derived from a race known as humans. The three holy trees were named—World, Time and Fate."

"The three races did not know that the mistaken peace of theirs only lasted a short period of a month. A month after the three holy trees appeared, huge tree holes appeared on the holy trees' trunks! The alien race that came from another world came out from the holes in the trees like maggots. Like a flood, they surged into Transcendental World!"

When Shi Xiaobai heard that, his eyes stared widened as an ominous foreboding arose in his heart. He gaped and said, "It can't be..."

"That's right."

The Infernal Queen's eyes turned cold as a sneer suffused her lips. She said, "Fifteen thousand years ago, humans invaded!"

Shi Xiaobai smiled bitterly.

He finally knew what was coming.

The Infernal Queen was done with her foreplay and the climax to the story that she had been laying the foundation to had finally arrived. 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'.