The Life and Death Cave didn't determine life or death, but it did determine victory and defeat. If it truly were a matter of life and death, then a single round would leave most of the participants dead. The survivors would be maimed, and what kind of candidates for Elder would they be then?
The competition was brutal, but death was not the price. At most, a participant might suffer some injuries, but no one would die.
As for why it was called the Life and Death Cave, it was mainly because it contained numerous winding tunnels, each marked with a number. Participants simply had to enter the tunnel corresponding to the number on their bamboo slip.
Each tunnel presented different choices, and whether one ended up on an easy or difficult path all came down to luck. However, two tunnels would eventually intersect, meaning two people would become opponents. In this way, a group of over thirty people would be cut in half!
