23: Chapter 23: A Refusal to Show Weakness and a Gamble That Escalates Layer by Layer

War Temple.

This is the supreme judgment place of the Endless Divine Realm, where coldness and order are eternal laws.

Conflicts between gods are transformed into contracts here.

Hatred is quantified into stakes here.

Just as Su Chen's divine body and divine soul completely adapted to the vast, ocean-like power of a Three-Turn Demigod, and every inch of his flesh and every thought resonated with the nascent poisonous laws, a declaration imbued with supreme majesty and iron-blooded will tore through his sea of divine consciousness without warning.

It was not a sound, nor was it text.

It was a mandatory imprint from a higher-dimensional rule.

Buzz!

A crimson Divine War Announcement, as if condensed from the blood of billions of living beings, exploded directly in the deepest part of his consciousness.

[Ding! The God 'God of Corrupt Corpses' has initiated a Divine War application against you (Undying Mode)!]

Every character carried intense malice and killing intent, transforming into the most primitive soul impact, enough to cause demigods with unstable minds to suffer immediate soul turbulence and a drop in their cultivation realm.

However, this impact struck Su Chen's Divine Soul Barrier without even stirring a ripple.

He remained seated on the majestic divine throne constructed from countless Zerg carapaces and dark gold substances. The nascent divine realm slowly rotated behind him, with billions of Zerg Swarm thriving within it, each breath exhaling a massive amount of Power Of Faith.

On his handsome, almost demonic face, there was not the slightest fluctuation.

"Has it finally come?"

His voice was light, yet it carried a peculiar penetrative power in the empty, silent divine hall.

His index finger began to tap rhythmically on the cold armrest of the throne.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

This sound was the rhythm of his thoughts, and also the countdown he composed for his enemy.

It was expected that the God of Corrupt Corpses would seek revenge.

From the moment he seized the poisonous water essence pearl, this war was destined.

The only variable was how and when the opponent would arrive.

"Zaz."

Su Chen's call echoed in the divine hall.

"Master, I am here."

An emotionless electronic voice responded directly in his mind. It was the supreme wisdom crystallization of the Zerg race, the Brain Bug Zaz.

"What do you think?"

"Retrieving relevant data... Data analysis complete."

Zaz's voice was as calm as the absolute zero vacuum of space.

"Target: God of Corrupt Corpses, a veteran Second-Turn Demigod, with the divine portfolio of 'Rot' and 'Plague'. Based on the reverse deduction from the energy fluctuations that escaped when you previously seized the 'poisonous water essence pearl', combined with its divine portfolio characteristics, there is a 97.3% probability that the opponent's combat mode relies on high-tier Undead Creatures and large-scale Plague Divine Spells."

"Its core advantage lies in sustained attrition and contamination. Its core disadvantage is insufficient burst power, and its divine body strength is far below the average level of its peers."

"Comprehensive calculation: after your Three-Turn breakthrough, the basic combat power ratio between the two sides is 100:3.7. If Zerg Swarm tactics are included as a variable, the enemy's theoretical win rate will infinitely approach 0, with a specific value below four decimal places, rendering it of no calculative value."

Zaz's analysis was clear, precise, and behind the cold data lay absolute confidence.

"However," Zaz's tone shifted, "to maximize your interests, Master, Zaz does not recommend a conventional crushing operation."

"The optimal strategy is: feign weakness to the enemy."

"Based on the analysis of the God of Corrupt Corpses' Divine Personality Characteristics, the weighting of 'arrogance' and 'greed' in its personality composition is extremely high. By faking an unstable cultivation realm, it can effectively induce the opponent to make misjudgments, thereby actively increasing the divine war stakes, and in exchange for the greatest spoils at the smallest cost."

Su Chen's lips curved into a cold arc.

"Great minds think alike."

His consciousness stirred, connecting to the cold Divine War Judgment Interface of the War Temple.

Facing the blood-red undying war challenge, he did not immediately accept, nor did he directly refuse.

Instead, he unhurriedly typed a line of text into the Public Divine Consciousness Channel.

His tone was carefully disguised, every character conveying just the right amount of panic and lack of confidence.

"Great God, what happened before might have been a misunderstanding..."

"I've just broken through, and my realm is still very unstable. I truly don't want to clash with such a powerful being as yourself. Can we... compensate you with some Power Of Faith to settle this privately?"

Sent.

Then, with a thought, he clicked another option.

[Refuse]

This combination punch of "verbal submission" and "action refusal" precisely struck the God of Corrupt Corpses' most vulnerable ego.

...

On the other side of the War Temple.

The God of Corrupt Corpses stood on a cold metal platform, surrounded by countless indistinct yet powerful divine phantoms, who were the witnesses to this divine war.

When that line of divine thought, clearly tinged with cowardice, arrived, he was first taken aback.

Immediately after, on his decaying face, the two clusters of sickly green divine fire fiercely flared up!

"Misunderstanding?"

"Settle privately?"

He let out a low growl like a broken bellows, and putrid divine power uncontrollably overflowed, causing several weaker divine phantoms nearby to retreat a few steps in disgust.

What did he see?

A newcomer who had just stepped into the Three-Turn threshold, a thief who had stolen his hope of divine personality evolution, a bug he was determined to kill, was actually talking about "misunderstandings" with him?

This was an enormous humiliation to him as a veteran demigod!

And the subsequent "Refuse" option instantly ignited this sense of humiliation, transforming it into towering rage and extreme ecstasy!

"Hahahahaha!"

Piercing laughter echoed across the platform.

"He really is a coward! A complete and utter wimp!"

The God of Corrupt Corpses felt he had completely seen through Su Chen's true nature.

The other party must have forcibly broken through, with an extremely unstable foundation, not even possessing the courage to face him head-on!

Previous worries and apprehensions were, at this moment, completely washed away by boundless arrogance and pride.

He was scared!

That bug was scared!

The greed in the God of Corrupt Corpses' eyes almost materialized.

He not only wanted revenge, but also wanted to squeeze everything out of the other party!

In front of all the gods, he would make this presumptuous newcomer pay the most painful price for his cowardice!

"Want to settle privately? Want to refuse?"

The God of Corrupt Corpses' divine thought, filled with malice and arrogance, roared in the public channel.

"Too late!"

He violently waved his hand, and the divine war contract interface unfolded before him. The terms on it were roughly crossed out and modified with his divine power.

He wanted to force Su Chen to fight!

He wanted to make Su Chen unable to find any reason to refuse!

[Divine War Bet (Modified Version)]

One by one, the newly added clauses radiated a maddeningly tempting light under the gaze of the gods.

[1. Exempt the challenger 'Su Chen' from all divine war entry fees, notarization fees, and defeat penalties.]

[2. The challenger initiator 'God of Corrupt Corpses' additionally pledges: three million units of Power Of Faith! One Sixth-Tier Divine Artifact 'Totem of Death and Wither'!]

[3. Divine War mode upgraded! The loser's divine realm ownership will be permanently stripped by the winner!]

Boom!

When the last clause was modified, a slight commotion rippled through the witness seats of the entire War Temple.

Stripping the divine realm!

This was the cruelest bet in a divine war, equivalent to putting everything on the gambling table.

Either win everything, or lose everything and become a homeless Wandering God!

"Accept it!"

The God of Corrupt Corpses stared intently at the other end of the contract, roaring with all his might.

"Bastard! If you dare, accept it! Let all the gods in the entire Divine Realm see if you're a good-for-nothing who only dares to hide in his shell!"

He turned his dignity, wealth, and future into chips, solely to lure the timid prey into his meticulously laid deadly trap.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the divine realm.

Su Chen looked at the challenge letter, so generous it would make any demigod's breath quicken, and the "panic" and "cowardice" on his face receded like a tide.

Within a second, it was gone without a trace.

In its place was an abyssal calmness, the coldness of a hunter watching his prey finally step into the trap.

In his deep eyes, the last trace of feigned warmth disappeared, leaving only the estimation and calculation of the spoils.

"Since you're so polite, insisting on bundling and giving me the divine artifact and divine realm..."

His finger lightly tapped the armrest, and the rhythmic tapping ceased abruptly.

"Then I won't be polite."

Su Chen turned his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through endless space, landing on a certain point in the void.

"Zaz."

"Issue the order."

His voice was calm, yet it carried a monumental pressure, like a coming storm.

"All forces, battle readiness level one."

"Time for a feast."