Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 232 The Way of Pleasure - Limited-Time Return
In Tathumbto, the city of the serpent god, stargazing at night has become a habit for many.

The starry sky bestows endless knowledge. The immortals from all walks of life were the first to discover this. When their skills reached a bottleneck, they only needed to look up at the starry sky, and the distant, shining stars would bring them countless inspirations and mysteries.

After realizing the usefulness of stargazing, many people who were not immortals began to join in, hoping to use stargazing to join the ranks of immortals.

Tonight, they too are gazing at the distant stars, even though the chosen champions have declared war on them—but war is a trivial matter, nothing is more important than acquiring knowledge, for knowledge is power, knowledge is everything.

"Let's have more wisdom and inspiration."

At midnight, the people living in Tatunbto look up at the starry sky, hoping for the stars to twinkle and for inspiration to come.

And the distant stars did indeed begin to twinkle.

But the twinkling star didn't seem to be the same star as usual.

At this moment, they were unaware that the chosen champions were performing some indescribable ritual in the forest outside the city. All they knew was that the distant stars were indeed twinkling—as for which star was twinkling, it didn't really matter to them, since they couldn't actually distinguish what the stars in the sky represented.

And so, as the stars twinkled, something else entered their consciousness.

"Yes, we've leveled up, we've improved our skills, we've gained knowledge, we've made progress..."

"But then what?"

"What have we been working so hard for all this time?"

As the distant stars twinkled, the people living in Tatunbto found themselves involuntarily reflecting on their lives.

The more they reflected on it, the more they felt it made sense. After all, most of them had worked hard all their lives to achieve their current level and skills—but now, apart from an empty title of immortal, they seemed to have nothing.

They worked hard all their lives, toiled all their lives, and were busy all their lives, but they didn't even have time to enjoy anything.

"Then what's the point of all this hard work?"

As this idea came to mind, many people simply collapsed to the ground.

Progress did not bring happiness; the pursuit of knowledge seemed to have become a torment. It seemed as if they had never experienced true happiness, as if they had never been their true selves.

So... what exactly is happiness?

This thought appeared in everyone's mind without prior arrangement.

It was at this moment that they suddenly realized that they had never thought about such things before, and that their understanding of happiness was so lacking—even now, if they wanted to try to make themselves happy, they couldn't think of any good ways.

As a result, almost no one got a good night's sleep.

Even when he woke up the next day, he still looked listless.

No one cares about improving their skills anymore, and no one cares about leveling up. They're all thinking and pondering what will bring them happiness.

The dejected appearance of these people also came into view of the chosen champions outside the city. "This... the effect doesn't seem to be as good as we expected?"

The chosen champion couldn't help but frown.

After all, the current scene was indeed somewhat different from what they had imagined.

They had originally expected that after they performed the ritual and attracted the attention of the god of pleasure, these local natives would be corrupted on the spot and completely turned into puppets who only knew how to pursue pleasure—but now it seems that these local natives have not been corrupted at all, and their ritual seems to have been in vain.

"You're not talking nonsense."

It was at this moment that Elias, now fully armored, shook his head repeatedly.

“Even you haven’t been corrupted by the god of pleasure, let alone them… Don’t forget, they are carrying two divine blessings at the same time. Strictly speaking, they are stronger than us now.”

Upon hearing this, many of the chosen champions came to their senses.

Indeed, they still regarded these local natives as natives of other planets, which is why they thought the corruption of the god of pleasure would be completed in an instant. But now, after Elias's reminder, they all remembered that these local natives could not be judged by the standards of normal natives.

A single divine blessing would be enough to drive the natives of any planet into utter madness, but these natives before them were burdened with two divine blessings. Under these two blessings, it was only natural that a third blessing could not be added for the time being.

However... having a beginning is enough.

After all, the god of pleasure is completely different from the other two gods.

If the grace of the god of courage requires the courage to fight against heaven and earth, and the grace of the god of wisdom requires the tireless thirst for knowledge, then the grace of the god of pleasure points directly to the desires deep within the soul. Compared to the former two, the grace of the god of pleasure is inescapable, and is the most secretive and silent.

Just like now, these local natives no longer delve into any technology or pursue any level of advancement, which is actually an excellent start.

"And then they will indulge in pleasure, become complacent and stop striving for progress, until they are completely wiped out."

Elias remained expressionless.

"So for the time being, you should stay away from them. They are being watched by the god of pleasure. If you get close, you will also be corrupted by the god of pleasure... If you really succumb to the path of pleasure, the god of courage will also abandon you. I don't think you want to see that kind of future."

"of course."

The other chosen champions patted their chests and assured each other that they would not fall into ruin.

After all, for them, as the chosen champions, proving their courage is the greatest joy.

Thinking this, when they looked at the local natives in the city, their eyes were filled with pity, and Elias had already closed his eyes - those local natives thought that they could see salvation by looking up at the stars, but how could they know what the stars would bring?
But immediately, Elias's eyelids began to twitch.

Simply because it was within his sight.

The ancient serpent, as large as a small mountain in the distance, was gazing up at the starry sky, just like the local natives.

(End of this chapter)