Pre-death assessment

What is life?

Everyone learned the definition of biology during their school years.

Or rather, the human definition of a living being.

What about life?

What is the human definition of life?

Is being alive the same as life? Then what counts as being alive?

Is a car a life?

It has a heart and an engine, a stomach and an mailbox; it seems to be a living being.

Is wind life?

Their existence is brief, their movement brief, just like those microorganisms.

They are all lives!

So... these four cities in the third level of assessment space are also life itself.

Its enormous body protects millions of humans.

The entire city is functioning normally.

If any damage occurs, the humans inside will repair it.

If we compare a city to the human body, then the people in the city can be likened to the immune system, which can prevent the body from getting sick and decaying as much as possible.

This is certainly a complete life!

"So... this giant Vermilion Bird can not only move, but it can move freely?"

Lei Yun then asked.

If that's the case, then this behemoth could truly dominate the world.

"The four cities in this assessment area can all be moved around freely."

Ling Wu slowly said, "But to move freely, a tremendous amount of driving force is required."

Therefore, the four mythical beasts are generally not moving.

This entire pre-death assessment space is basically posing no threat, enough to get them really moving.

If these four divine beasts were to actually move, it would definitely be... the end of the world!

"So... judging from this, the third level of the pre-death assessment space does seem to be a good place?"

Lei Yun continued, murmuring.

Life space, nurturing life.

Moreover, with the four mythical beasts as their sanctuary, everyone can basically be assured of their perpetual safety.

This is indeed a living space where life can be sustained for a long time.

"That seems to be the case."

Ling Wu smiled faintly: "But... the world is wonderful because of life, and it is also cruel because of life..."

All joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, everything is built upon the foundation of life.

Because there is life, there is beauty.

Because there is life, there is suffering.

If there is no life, then nothing exists.

"Then... what is the Death God's clone seed absorbing in this third stage?" Lei Yun asked curiously.

The second layer of absorption is regret. Indeed, most people experience regret, even hunters.

What about the third level? What can be absorbed there?

"Since it's called the Space of Life, it must correspond to death."

Ling Wu smiled and said, "The third level of the pre-death assessment space is the space with the most living beings, and of course, it will also be the space with the most deaths."

Where there is birth, there is bound to be death!

Death, naturally, is one of the greatest sources of nourishment for the Grim Reaper.

Death created four divine beasts in this space as a refuge, and people found them and lived and multiplied there.

Life is not created by death, but conceived by the people who come here.

But every life that is conceived will eventually die.

Death is what Death needs.

Death provides refuge, and people voluntarily settle down and create life.

In creating life, one also creates death for the Grim Reaper.

Just like humans create a beehive and put in an initial queen bee, then bees will come to settle down and produce honey.

"So... everyone in the city is a real, living person?"

Lei Yun continued, "To be honest, at first I thought... they were all AI robots or something..."

After all, this is a sci-fi world, and it's the third level of the pre-death assessment space, so there shouldn't be so many people in it.

After all, there are only so many people in the second level, so how could there be so many more in the third level?

"Since people choose to settle here, they will naturally begin to reproduce and the place will become more and more prosperous."

Ling Wu slowly said, "To be short-sighted, this is indeed a place to settle down."

But if you look at it from a longer perspective, everyone is just doing the work for death.

Death has no shortage of time, and almost everyone here will eventually die.

They will all become nourishment for death.

So... why bother coming?

If you don't have the courage to fight your way through the nine layers of hell, settling here would just be giving death a free ride.

It would be better to die sooner, better to die in the first or second level.

At least in the first or second level, people wouldn't feel secure enough to even think about having offspring.

But in this third layer…

Humans are always like this: once they're well-fed and clothed, they start thinking about sex.

They felt at ease, then had children, and those children had children...

In the end, not only did they give their lives to Death, but their descendants also continuously provided Death with long-term nourishment.

For ordinary people, being able to live a peaceful life for a few decades is indeed enough.

They're like livestock kept in a pigsty; they're content as long as they have food and water.

There's no need to think about how you'll eventually become someone else's food, or that your descendants will always be someone else's food.

Because we don't know, we experience no pain or worry.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course...

Unfortunately, Ling Wu could never do such a thing, because he knew it!

Knowing this means you can't be content with the status quo; you have to break it!

Lei Yun remained silent. Yes, the people in this world seem very peaceful.

But no one realized one thing: this is not the real world.

This is the space for the pre-death assessment; it is hell.

Behind everyone, there has always been an invisible scythe, reaping the harvest over and over again.

They are reaping the benefits from every individual, and from every individual's descendants.

Everyone's complacency is exactly what Death needs.

To be honest, although it's not the present world, it's still somewhat similar to it.

In this world, aren't most people born into this world just to be exploited by capital and rulers?

"Here, take this."

At this moment, Ling Wu took out a bead containing a symbol of life.

Lei Yun quickly accepted it, saying, "Thank you!"

After saying that, she immediately pledged allegiance to the master by dripping her blood.

As the bead merged into her body, she gained life-related superpowers.

In the blink of an eye, her originally pale face regained some color.

Her so-called terminal illness was cured by the power of the life force system.

In the future, not only will she possess extremely strong life-healing abilities, but she will also be able to heal others.

I've become a little nanny, you could say...

"That old man was so powerful, how did you manage to take him down so quickly?" Lei Yun asked curiously.

Ling Wu only possesses the ability to summon chess pieces and the ability to enhance them.

But the old man possessed multiple abilities, combining offense and defense.

She simply couldn't understand what Ling Wuneng had used to kill that old man.

It would be very difficult to kill it just because of its life-related abilities.

That's practically equivalent to killing a Wolverine or Deadpool...

"There are plenty of people more capable than him, they're all down there!"

Ling Wu simply smiled and did not offer any further explanation.

From the fourth level downwards, super strong individuals become quite common.

After all, starting from the fourth level, it allows for the existence of experts at the fifth level.

"Oh right, Liu Ruyan and the others..."

At this moment, Lei Yun seemed to remember something and frowned slightly.

They came down before me and Ling Wu. Where are they now? Are they all alright?

"Don't worry, they will be rescued as soon as possible, just like us."

Ling Wu let out a soft sigh: "They should be in another city now."

Search and rescue teams from the four major cities are conducting searches around the clock, and anyone who comes here will be brought back to the city as soon as possible.

So they are definitely safe now.

"So what is the content of this third level of assessment?"

Lei Yun then asked.

The people living in this third level seem to have absolutely no intention of passing the test.

The content of this third assessment is unknown.

Is it deliberately hidden away, so that everyone who comes here will be devoted to living and working here in peace and contentment?

"You'll see soon."

Ling Wu let out a soft breath, walked to the window, and looked at the bustling, futuristic Vermilion Bird City: "It looks so prosperous. How cruel it would be to destroy it..."

Upon hearing this, Lei Yun frowned.

Is passing through customs related to destroying the city?

wrong!

not like this.

If clearing the level is related to destroying the city, then Jiang Liao and his group should have already destroyed the city.

Jiang and his group must have cleared the game a year ago, but the city didn't seem to have experienced any destruction a year ago.

"You want to... completely destroy the city so that Death can no longer absorb nutrients?" Lei Yun then guessed.

If destroying the city has nothing to do with clearing the game, that's the only thing she can think of.

Ling Wu came here precisely to fight against death.

"If a city has a population of over one million, then four cities would have a population of over four million..."

Ling Wu shook his head: "If it were you, could you do something like that?"

It destroyed four cities and killed more than four million people.

How brutal!

Lei Yun shook her head; of course she couldn't do it.

Although everyone ultimately benefited from Death, they were all still living, breathing human beings.

"Therefore... the correct approach is to sever the connection between this space and death."

Ling Wu slowly said, "Let this space truly become an independent and peaceful world."

"How do you cut it?"

Lei Yun quickly asked, "Even if you seize the power of the Death God's clone seed, it seems impossible to sever the connection, right?"

For example, in the second instance, they dealt with the giant baby and took the fruit.

However, the giant bell was suspended in the sky again, and the seed started from scratch and sprouted anew.

"There's only one way, of course."

Ling Wu slowly said, "Let Death cease to exist."

Only when the true ultimate boss of this pre-death assessment space is completely destroyed can the assessment space be truly liberated.

At that time, all the assessment content in the assessment space will be completely destroyed.

All the superpowers waiting to be acquired will also vanish.

Each assessment space can become an independent world, unrelated to the Grim Reaper.

Of course, it has nothing to do with the present world!

In that case, only those who truly live in the pre-death assessment space can be considered truly alive.

"Is this your purpose?"

Lei Yun also walked to the window and stood side by side with Ling Wu: "Release the Ninefold Assessment Space?"

Ling Wu took a deep breath: "Release the Sevenfold Assessment Space!"

"Sevenfold?" Lei Yun didn't understand. What did that mean?

"Once the twelve rulers are eliminated, the first and ninth levels will be completely destroyed."

Ling Wu slowly said, "The first and ninth levels are just brackets added by those twelve rulers. The pre-death assessment space originally only had seven levels."

Upon hearing this, Lei Yun was immediately surprised: "Then what is their purpose in doing this?"

Ling Wu smiled: "Of course... it's about trying to replace the original owner of the pre-death assessment space!"

"You mean...becoming the Grim Reaper?" Lei Yun understood.

So, those twelve rulers wanted to rebel? They wanted to usurp the throne?

"They're not the only ones with this idea."

Ling Wu then laughed and said, "They are nothing more than... the Twelve Earthly Branches!"

Hearing this, Lei Yun was slightly surprised again.

The twelve Earthly Branches correspond to the twelve two-hour periods of the day and also to the twelve Chinese zodiac animals.

Therefore, the twelve ruling animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig!

"Are there also the Ten Heavenly Stems?"

Lei Yun then asked, "What about Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xing, Ren, and Gui?"

"Yes, Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches!"

Ling Wu nodded calmly: "This... is the complete structure of the entire pre-death assessment space!"