Asers and the Gold and Silver Serpent

The interior of the Nether Mountain is divided into three zones: the outermost white zone, the middle gray zone, and the deepest purple zone.

The white zone is the area with the lowest level of danger. Upon entering, one is met with an intense pressure that even a Highgod would find difficult to resist. Furthermore, the white mist limits the range of one's divine sense, so those who enter usually proceed with extreme caution.

However, today, a figure streaked through the white zone, rapidly crossing the entire area.

"Swish!"

Ren's figure passed through the boundary between the white zone and the gray zone, quickly vanishing into the gray mist while his divine sense spread out at high speed.

"Roar!"

The moment Ren entered the gray zone, a furious roar erupted. Several Highgods with blood-red eyes lunged at him regardless of the cost, as if they intended to devour him alive.

"These are the people who have entered for the Nether Fruit over countless years. There are quite a lot of them."

Ren let out a soft exclamation and shook his head slightly. Centered on his body, a massive, translucent white sphere manifested within a hundred-meter radius. A strange, eerie vocal music rippled through the space, and everyone who approached lost their vitality in an instant.

The gray zone contains a special energy. Anyone with a fragile soul who enters will soon fall into an illusion, becoming trapped in a cycle of slaughter forever. Countless years have seen too many people accumulate within the Nether Mountain.

In particular, there are some Seven-Star Fiends who are not adept at soul defense; once surrounded by a crowd, even a Seven-Star Fiend can fall.

However, this was nothing to Ren. He quickly spread his divine sense and, following the growth direction of the surrounding vegetation, sped toward the core area.

On the other side, in the core of the gray zone, stood the branch of the Nether Fruit Tree.

It was a trunk nearly thirty meters tall, covered in dense, countless branches and leaves. At the top of the canopy, a crystal-clear purple fruit exuded a faint, refreshing fragrance.

In front of the canopy, a silver-haired man with hawk-like eyes sat on the ground. He seemed to have no interest in the Nether Fruit not far behind him, waiting quietly.

"Swish!"

Earth-yellow light emerged from the surface, the ground split open, and a burly man with short brown hair leaped out.

"Hahaha! After waiting for so many years, the Nether Fruit has finally appeared again!" The brown-haired man's face was filled with excitement. His long, narrow eyebrows stood up, and his voice carried the weight of countless years of waiting.

"Oh? Bolelei, you're still alive? That is truly surprising!" The hawk-eyed man who had been sitting on the ground slowly opened his eyes and looked at the burly man with some surprise.

"Asers? You actually appeared here? You... are you also here to participate in the competition for the Nether Fruit?"

The burly man, Bolelei, only then noticed the hawk-eyed man. He was shocked and couldn't help but ask.

Bolelei was one of those who had come to the Nether Mountain billions of years ago. Like him, Asers had once been a contender for the Nether Fruit, but Asers had succeeded and was now a Sovereign's Envoy, while Bolelei had failed and had been wandering the gray zone ever since.

Within the gray mist of the Nether Mountain, besides those trapped in illusions by the special energy, there were also those with strong souls who refused to give up on the Nether Fruit and lingered there. Bolelei was one of them.

As someone who had witnessed the appearance of the Nether Fruit before, he knew clearly that the large-scale emergence of green light meant the fruit might have appeared again. He had been the first to act, using his formidable strength to break through the obstacles and reach the Nether Fruit Tree.

What he hadn't expected was that Asers would be here too, leaving him hesitant and uncertain.

"This is strange. In the past, when the Nether Fruit appeared, wasn't there only one Snake Spirit? Why would Asers appear? And he seems to be trying to stop others from getting the fruit, but why?" Bolelei fell into deep thought, his mind racing.

"Bolelei, this time, I am the one responsible for testing you all. Only those who can snatch the Nether Fruit from my hands will be granted an audience with the Sovereign."

Asers glanced indifferently at the grim-faced Bolelei and sighed inwardly. He and Bolelei had known each other back in the day, and their relationship hadn't been bad, but he was currently executing a mission for the Sovereign and could not show the slightest favoritism.

"I just don't know why the Sovereign would issue such a strange mission." Asers's long silver hair fluttered, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Not long ago, the Sovereign had given Asers an order to come to the gray mist zone to participate in this competition for the Nether Fruit, and together with Jin and Iwina, to stop a man named Ren. If Ren could snatch the fruit from their hands, they were to bring him to the Sovereign; if someone else took it, it wouldn't matter.

Asers was very puzzled by this, but as an envoy, he didn't need to ask why—he only needed to execute the order. At the same time, he became curious about this man named Ren. What kind of person was he that he would attract the Sovereign's attention?

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

After a while, several sounds of air being torn apart arrived. More than a dozen figures reached the core area one after another, and more were still coming from the distance. Sensing the birth of the Nether Fruit, all the conscious people wandering in the gray mist zone had rushed over at top speed.

"The Nether Fruit? Hahaha, it really is the Nether Fruit! It's mine!" A figure in white robes shouted as he charged out at high speed. The white streak of light looked as if it were about to reach the canopy.

Asers raised his eyelids, swept a glance at the man with the eyes of someone looking at a corpse, and shook his head slightly.

"Ah! What is happening?" Before the man in white could react, his body suddenly convulsed, and then, with a look of horror, he turned into dust.

After a flash of green light, a thumb-sized little green snake wiggled slightly, then zipped away and hid inside the vegetation.

"Damn it, these green snakes!" A black-haired youth cursed, a long saber appearing in his hand as he looked around cautiously.

At this moment, the dozens of people who had gathered one after another retreated slightly, looking at the Nether Fruit Tree with caution. For a time, no one dared to make the first move.

It is unknown how much time passed, but following a flash of cyan light, Ren's figure slowly solidified. His eyes fixed on the Nether Fruit at the canopy.

The moment Ren appeared, rustling sounds erupted from around the canopy. A massive number of little green snakes, emitting a ghostly green light, poked their heads out one by one. In an instant, they looked dense and terrifying.

"This... how can there be so many?" Someone was the first to mutter, their tone filled with shock.

Bolelei also looked at this scene with some surprise, then cast his gaze toward Ren. It seemed that the green snakes had only begun to act when this figure appeared. Asers's presence was also very strange, as if he had been waiting for this person.

"It seems the ones here to die have all arrived!" A cold, sinister voice suddenly rang out, interrupting everyone's thoughts. A golden head slowly emerged from behind the canopy, and a massive body gradually revealed itself. It was a Golden Great Snake, over five hundred meters long, its cold eyes emitting a jade-green light.

"Since you have all come, you might as well become fertilizer for the Nether Fruit Tree." After another feminine, soft voice spoke, a Silver Black-Eyed Great Snake with nine heads appeared, looking at the dozens of people present with great interest.