No. 1-The Human World Secret Path.
Chu Jin sat alone on the Ascension Platform, watching specks of starlight spread into a Secret Realm gate, then watching his three friends rise into the air and depart through it.
A warm breeze drifted past, gently stirring the hair at his temples, blurring his eyes and flushing his drunken cheeks.
He stared blankly at the road the four of them had come along, knowing that from this moment on, the Four Friends of Nine Li no longer existed in this world. He had won the sole place, and lost his last dear friends.
He lifted the wine jug and filled his cup again.
Holding his cup, Chu Jin murmured dazedly, "Who knows how many people in this world would fight tooth and nail to enter this Emperor's Tomb? Little do they know how hard it is for those inside to leave."
"To leave here... how truly enviable."
"Gulp, gulp...!"
He tipped his head back and drained the cup.
Twelve hours later.
[The winners of each route may ascend the Ascension Platform and proceed to "Divine Land-Ominous Being Realm."]
"Phew!"
Hearing the Headless Man's announcement, Ren Ye let out a long breath, then eagerly scrambled to his feet.
Over those twelve hours, the others had been busy with either infighting or bloody clashes and ambushes, fighting so fiercely that brains had splattered hundreds of miles away. Ren Ye and Little One, who had endured their suffering earlier, had simply eaten and drunk to their hearts' content, perfectly at ease.
Master and disciple wiped their grease-covered mouths and became the first to step onto the Ascension Platform.
"Come on, let's see what this Ominous Being Realm is all about." Standing on the platform, Ren Ye called out, "Winner of Number Three, requesting