A Rare Respite

Before Xia Wan's "delivery," Cheng Shi quickly cast a healing spell on her.

Because Xia Wan was carrying multiple fetuses, this healing spell was very effective, directly topping off her status.

But this also meant that the newborns she delivered would be exceptionally healthy.

The group ran frantically outwards. They hadn't run far before the life forms gestated by Xia Wan impatiently descended into the world.

Life catalyzed by [Genesis Grass Seed] wouldn't wait for any attending doctors. As they were halfway through their escape, the bulges on Xia Wan's body burst open, spewing out several bizarre vine-like creatures, half flesh and blood, half plant.

The good news was that these vines weren't very strong; Song Yawen dealt with them all by himself.

The bad news was that while Xia Wan was fine, Nangong was close to death.

Her eyes were half-closed, her body burning hot, clearly hovering on the brink of life and death. The wounds between her ribs and on her lower abdomen still carried the stench of [Decay] and continued to fester. She was clearly breathing more than she was taking in.

"If this continues, Nangong will die."

After all, she was a teammate they had just gone through life and death with, and there was still more than half a day of trial time left. No matter what, no one in the team wanted to lose a member here.

They had survived the attacks of the Dread Demon army; dying here would be too much of a loss.

Chen Chong stopped, dropped Cao Sansui from his back, and said to Cheng Shi:

"Nangong's body can't withstand the healing from [Procreation]. If that doesn't work, you heal the Mage, and let the Mage use a time spell to keep her alive."

Cao Sansui wanted to help, but he was a Mage, not a Priest or a Bard. He didn't have many support spells.

Cheng Shi looked at the sorrowful expressions on everyone's faces, sighed, and took out a small red potion from his personal vault.

"What is this?" Song Yawen immediately leaned in. He seemed to smell the scent of [Death] from the bottle.

"An A-rank potion, 'Contempt of the Dead,' produced from devout followers of [Death].

Its agents believe some people are unworthy of enjoying death, so they extracted this contempt and brewed it into a potion to punish oathbreakers who have committed grave sins.

It prevents them from approaching [Death] and listening to its teachings."

As Cheng Shi explained, he poured the potion onto Nangong.

"As long as it's mixed with one's own blood, even severe injuries won't be fatal, but it has no healing effect. It's purely for sustaining life."

"Huh? There's such a thing?"

Song Yawen, quick-handed, reached out to catch a drop to study it, but Cheng Shi's hand was faster. He slapped his hand away and laughed, scolding, "If even a drop is missing, it loses its effect. Do you want her to die?"

Song Yawen's face stiffened, and he flushed red, saying, "I... I've never seen it before. Nangong, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

The pale Nangong didn't have the strength to pay him any mind. She just watched the liquid poured on her quickly integrate into her blood, and then...

She felt nothing.

"Is... is this useful?"

Cheng Shi glanced at her sideways.

"It's useful, and very expensive. When you recover, remember to pay me back."

Nangong gritted her teeth and nodded heavily. "Okay!"

Xia Wan had just given birth, and she was bleeding from various places. However, as a believer in [Procreation], she had stronger resistance to "reproduction," so Cheng Shi didn't use the potion and cast a healing spell as usual.

Luckily, she wasn't pregnant again.

Seeing Cheng Shi save two lives so easily, Chen Chong asked very solemnly, "Cheng Shi, what's your score?"

"I..."

"Besides 1501."

"..." Cheng Shi looked around, noticing the doubt in everyone's eyes. Seeing that they didn't believe him, he shamelessly said, "It really is 1501."

Chen Chong didn't believe a word of it. He said sternly, "Do you think I'm stupid? The healing chain in that situation just now is something only at least an S-rank talent could achieve. Plus these two bottles of 'Contempt of the Dead' you have...

You can't possibly be below 2000 points."

[Path to Godhood] starts with 1000 points. Every settlement, if below 1000 points, you die directly. Above 1200 points, you can get B-rank talents or items. Above 1600, you can get A-rank. Only above 2000 can you get S-rank talents.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you want to keep guessing scores here, or follow me?"

Cheng Shi picked up Nangong and led the way forward.

The others exchanged glances, a hint of helplessness flashing in their eyes, and quickly followed.

What could they do if the big boss didn't want to tell the truth? Of course, they had to agree with him!

Song Yawen, naturally restless, couldn't stop asking questions along the way.

"Brother Cheng, what talent is that? Tell me."

"Brother Cheng, what's your score, really?"

"Brother Cheng, do you still have that small red potion? Can I trade you something for it..."

"Brother Cheng, ..."

Cheng Shi couldn't hold back any longer and retorted:

"Shouldn't assassins be taciturn?"

Song Yawen said with a grin, "This is called contrast. It's popular now."

"..."

Fortunately, in the next hour, no other units of the skeletal army pursued them.

After walking for half a day on the open plains with nowhere to hide, Cheng Shi and his group finally saw a dense forest.

Song Yawen, who had been chattering all the way, volunteered to scout ahead. He discovered it was a homeland abandoned by Wood Elves, containing only a few dilapidated treehouses and no other living creatures.

Cheng Shi and Chen Chong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly retreated into the forest with the injured.

Cao Sansui's condition stabilized first. He had overdrawn too much mental energy, leaving him weak and powerless. Every muscle in his body was beyond his precise control, and he could only mumble incoherently to others about what he knew about the Wood Elves.

"Wood Elves are followers of Prosperity, an eternally neutral race that reveres nature and never cohabitates with other races. Since they chose this place as their home, it must be relatively safe."

Song Yawen, upon hearing this, asked curiously:

"If it's safe, why would they abandon it?"

"I said relatively safe. Before the war, this place was definitely safe. But after the skeletal army launched its war against the Land of Hope, there were no safe places left on the Land of Hope."

At this moment, to be safe, Chen Chong was guarding the entrance of the treehouse. He turned back with a hint of confusion and asked:

"I've always heard people say the skeletal army declared war on the Land of Hope, but what was the reason for the war?"

Cao Sansui shook his head with difficulty.

"People in the Mage channels speculate it's a war of faith, but people in the Faith channels guess it's about subterranean creatures fighting over something. Time watches the present, and we have very little information. Perhaps followers of Memory, by tracing back the past, would know more."

Cheng Shi was listening with great interest, but when he heard the divine name Memory, his smile visibly froze for a moment.

"I've checked the time. The trial has been going on for 6 hours, and we still have 18 hours to endure. However, I need another 10 hours to recover..."

Cao Sansui's meaning was clear. Although they had survived, the situation would be extremely dire for the next 10 hours without the combat power of a mage.

No one knew what else they might encounter. The group didn't believe that just because they had miraculously survived the hellish difficulty of the Dread Demon army's surprise attack, there would be no more danger in the trial.

Ordinary trials might have a chance, but special trials absolutely would not.

Cheng Shi pondered the name of the trial, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Song of Blood and Fire... We've seen the blood, but what about the fire?"

Tsk, their team happened to be living in the forest. If a fire were to break out here...

A fire engulfing eight hundred li?

It shouldn't be that coincidental, right?

Ah well, no point thinking too much about it. We'll deal with whatever comes.

Cheng Shi scratched his head and pulled a bottle of cola from his safe, chugging it down.

"???"

Song Yawen was stunned by the sight.

"Brother Cheng, personal storage space is precious, and you're keeping this?"

Cheng Shi pointed at Chen Chong and laughed, "Chen Chong keeps alcohol, so what's wrong with me keeping a few bottles of cola? If a person loses their cola, what's the point of living?"

Chen Chong didn't turn around, but his vigorous nodding indicated his strong agreement.

Song Yawen's safe actually contained drinking water, but that was water for survival in extreme environments, meant to quench thirst, and certainly couldn't compare to the pleasure-inducing cola. Seeing Cheng Shi drink so heartily, he unconsciously swallowed.

"Brother Cheng... do you have any more cola?"

Seeing his expression, Cheng Shi didn't say a word and took out five more bottles.

"??? Is your personal storage space full of cola, Brother Cheng?"

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, remaining silent.

Song Yawen was very happy. At least it wasn't his own personal storage space being wasted. He quickly picked out a bottle and didn't forget to share the rest with the others.

As it turned out, having some cola during a break from fighting was truly refreshing.

Everyone felt refreshed.

Even Nangong, who couldn't move at all, managed to drink a few mouthfuls with Cheng Shi's help.

"The forest is still too conspicuous. We'll rest for another 2-3 hours and then move further away."

After finishing his drink, Chen Chong picked up his sword and went out.

Guarding was his responsibility, as he was a follower of the lawful Order.

Xia Wan and Song Yawen sat obediently in the house, taking care of the patient and resting with their eyes closed.

As soon as Song Yawen closed his eyes, a wave of drowsiness washed over him.

This drowsiness came so gently and comfortably that for a moment, he had no desire to resist it.

"Clang."

Song Yawen, who had been sitting on the ground, fell sideways. The injured people in the room also slowly closed their eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Just as everyone was fast asleep, Cheng Shi suddenly opened his eyes, a sly glint flashing in them.

"Tsk, drinking any beverage you're offered. They clearly haven't beaten you enough."

As he chuckled, his gaze landed on Nangong beside him.