GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

They call the upper realm the immortal lands not because it is the requirement to live there. It is because the land itself is immortal. The ground is imperishable and cannot be damaged by anything below the level of a world god. Even then, it will heal itself and return to its previous state. In summary, the upper realm is not a place for those that aren't immortal. Anyone that can't handle death and return from it is out of place there.

If there is no suppression of Origin gods in the lower realm, it is not an overstatement to say that the realm of high heaven will be destroyed in a single day. It doesn't matter how fast Mother High Heaven can fix it, she will run out of energy faster than Origin gods run out of strife and the lives to fight with.

Ghoto was considering how best to participate in the war to maximize his gains when he remembered something about the gods. "Didn't you used to have a friend that became a god or something? " He asked Mihila.

"Yes, Xanc(Stone Cold). I remember he was boring when we were kids. Sigh. Maybe we are old. Most of the people we grew up with are dead now."

"We are not that old. I am not even 10 origin cycles old. How is that old?" Ghoto smiled smugly.

"You know what I mean. How are we not old when almost all the people from our time are dead? I am over 50 origin cycles. That counts as old."

Ghoto smiled triumphantly. "So you admit. I just wanted you to say it. Whenever I say that your age is the only reason you are stronger than me you never agree."

Mihila's eyes narrowed. "It seems you want a beating."

"What if I do?" Ghoto replied fearlessly. His answer was a trigger that made Mihila and Ghoto unavailable for the next couple of days. What they were busy with was not a mystery.

Far away in some other place in the Virut Plane.

A worn-out transcendent is battling a huge mana beast. Arrows of terrifying origin energy are being shot in rapid succession towards this beast. The air howled as the arrows pierced through it to reach the mana beast. But the beast evaded them and continued to approach like a maddened gladiator seeking death. They continued to clash and exchange powerful moves to maim each other. Their fight flattened the trees in the environment, then they cratered the ground. The arrows of energy caused highly fatal damage but their frequency and accuracy were lacking a bit. The beast used high agility and nimbleness that betrayed its size to weave through the attacks. The hooves of the beast thundered as it gorged the ground and left grooves in its wake. It transferred the terrifying strength stored in its muscles into its legs and like a spring, bolted forward to move closer to its foe. It aimed the spikes on its armor forward in hopes of impaling the opponent but its opponent confronted it with more arrows which made it drop the attempt. The battle continued with much fanfare but the winner wasn't easily determined.

The mana beast is called an armored Rhine Emperor. A magnificent that is more than 10 meters tall. The Rhine beast is a race of bull-like beasts with a rather tough hide the color of obsidian. They are pack beasts that move together in groups that can reach thousands depending on the strength of the leader. The armored Rhine is a special type that has grown a tough exoskeleton on top of their already difficult-to-deal-with hide. The exoskeleton extends to form gruesome spikes meant for impaling foes. The armored rhine is the alpha specimen of the race and one of them becomes the leader of the pack. Certain armored Rhine beasts are afforded extra respect by calling them, kings or emperors. Such beasts are rare and sought after but difficult to kill because they are rarely alone.

The transcendent that is fighting this particular extra rare Armoured Rhine emperor seemed to have lucked out but he isn't happy about it. He is Kroft Kroft as named by his father or Kroft junior as called by those that used to be his friends. Kroft junior had planned to go to the divine alliance some time ago but he has not reached there yet because he doesn't have money to board transportation services.

The plane might be easy to transverse now with all the technological advances in transportation such that a child can safely travel from one end to the other. But it is only so if you have the money to pay for such a costly service. Kroft junior could only afford to pay till halfway through his journey. He decided to make the rest on foot, he thought he would be safe with his level of strength. After all, the limit on natural creatures in the plane is the level of transcendence. Any beast or plant that reaches that limit transforms and becomes a sentient creature. They leave the plane after gaining sentience. Which sentient creature will like to live in a forest when they can go to the ancient battlefield and grow stronger?

He was very wrong about that. He was also wrong about his battle prowess. He thought he would be able to travel through the plane easily but he seemed to have overestimated his strength. What's worse is that he had been facing more and more rare encounters that endanger his life. Beasts that he wouldn't be able to find on a normal day happen to keep crossing his path one after the other.

This emperor beast he is fighting is a renegade one, it has been kicked out of the pack by a stronger upstart. Being an emperor means it is just beneath the level of a transcendent. This is usually the limit for such a race but certain unique cases occur. For example, a previously mediocre alpha comes across a treasured plant and eats it. The usual practice is to sit around the plant and benefit from its aura because direct consumption can lead to a swift death. But the alpha didn't want to share the treasured plant with the pack because the leader will take control of its access. The leader will then take the best seat and hog most of the benefits to itself. The alpha chose to take a risk, it decided to consume the treasured plant directly, death or glory. Luckily for it, the alpha survived and broke through to the transcendent level. The normal thing after that will be the enlightenment of this successful alpha which will cause it to leave the wild, but things didn't go that way. The alpha became an upstart. He challenged the old leader and won without much resistance.

The old leader that had just lost its pack happened to meet Kroft junior. It could also sense the same level of strength in Kroft that the upstart possessed, but not as strong. Kroft junior didn't make it feel threatened so the old leader decided to fight and seek a chance to awaken himself. The act of fighting something stronger than you is considered a desperate thing by beasts. You either die or if you're lucky, you break your limits and grow stronger. Beasts don't believe in luck. At least not this old leader, he was just trying it out because he was desperate, ashamed of his defeat, and angry. Plus, you know what they say, death or glory.

This same situation has been happening one after the other to Kroft junior. Special events take place around him which makes him fight for his life. And just like the earlier circumstances, Kroft junior won this one too. The beast was skilled while the battle sage monkey was lacking but the beast couldn't get close enough to use his spikes because of the range of the arrows. The old leader knew the arrows were deadly but he couldn't keep all the arrows away from him. Some of them found their mark and the high penetrating power of the arrows dug into his flesh. His proud armor failed to stop the penetrating arrows. Its flesh was gorged and it was losing blood fast. The old leader began to tire and falter as the fight continued which further reduced its chances of victory. More arrows began to hit it until its last breath.

"Ha. I am not so down on my luck that a beast that isn't a transcendent can bully me." Kroft said in triumph.

The fight turned out to be the opposite of the breakthrough that the old leader craved. It just isn't a lucky day for the beast. The beast might have put up a good fight but even its defense that it was so proud of couldn't protect it from the sharp penetration of an Origin weapon. It might be just a low-grade Origin weapon but most transcendents don't possess one at all. It pays to have a rich father. In some situations, wealth beats bravery.