There was plenty of background about the gods in the trial, but there were very few objects or items that players could actually observe and that were directly connected to them. That was why he was very interested in the so-called Will of Prosperity.
To put it somewhat disrespectfully, this was a rare opportunity to study a god.
Probably no player would let it pass.
Everbloom Town was far larger than he had imagined. He had thought it would be a small settlement with only a modest population, but after walking through it, it seemed more like a city.
Apartment buildings stood row upon row, while manors and guild halls were scattered in an orderly fashion. It looked like a carefully maintained residence for believers—so prosperous that it was almost awe-inspiring.
After walking for more than an hour, Cheng Shi finally reached the town center.
With the information he had gathered along the way, as well as what he had seen and heard, he finally understood what the innkeeper had meant.
He finally understood what the Will of Prosperity was.
The place he was in at that moment was called Everbloom Square.
At the very center of the square stood a colossal "flower," blooming perfectly and radiating a gentle, vigorous light.
Cheng Shi roughly estimated that it was about as tall as a three- or four-story building.
At first glance, the flower as a whole looked like a stone sculpture. But when he examined its petals closely, he found that the instant his gaze focused on one, the petal suddenly came alive, transforming into a clear and delicate botanical sepal.
The patterns on every petal were different. Rather than channels carrying nutrients, the fine veins looked more like engravings of divine-power runes.
The "statue" was called Bloom Awaits Withering.
It was a Sacred Artifact. In the terminology used by players of Faith Game, it could be called an SSS Sub-Deity Tier Item—in other words, a Demigod Artifact.
Its rank was second only to the sub-deities of the various Paths, but it lacked an independent consciousness.
And it was indeed where the Will of Prosperity resided.
Any place under its protection would remain prosperous until the end of its lifespan.
In other words, theoretically speaking, no one could die in Everbloom Town before reaching the end of their natural life!
Cheng Shi was stunned by the divine object before him.
No wonder this trial was called What Path Leads to Death. In this place, death might not exist at all.
And the seven-day time limit meant that they could not possibly wait for a normal person to die of old age.
That was not all. There was one more problem!
If no one could die before the end of their natural lifespan, then what about me, a Priest...
He was still thinking when he turned his head and saw a young woman standing beside him at some point.
Yun Ni had arrived and was standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
Her voice was still as stunning as ever.
"What is it? Are you scared?"
"Scared of what?" Cheng Shi asked with a smile.
"Being unemployed. There's no death in the places watched over by Him, so there's no need for a Priest."
"You tried it?"
"No. I was just about to."
As she spoke, Yun Ni flashed past him and drove a dagger into Cheng Shi's heart.
Blood sprayed out, and pain clenched Cheng Shi's heart.
Damn.
Poor heart. Following me around has really put you through hell.
Yet despite the blood pouring from his chest, despite his heart pounding violently from the impact, and despite the blood loss making his mind somewhat hazy, Cheng Shi remained standing where he was instead of collapsing.
He ignored the "murderer" studying him from the side and immediately examined his own condition.
The sensation was strange.
A pure force of prosperity was tugging against the aura of death within his body, quickly grinding away every trace of it.
Before long, Cheng Shi felt the wound in his heart heal.
His life had been saved, but aside from his heart, the wound in his chest was still bleeding.
In other words, Bloom Awaits Withering really did protect everyone in the town from death.
But it did not merely save the dying—it did not cure illness.
The injury remained in the body, barely reaching a balance with its natural healing ability.
It did not threaten the victim's life, but it still caused considerable suffering.
Cheng Shi chuckled and cast Healing Art on his own chest.
"Looks like we still need Priests."
Yun Ni nodded in agreement, then held out the dagger.
Cheng Shi was somewhat surprised. It seemed that this believer of Annihilation thought differently from ordinary people.
"?"
His expression clearly displayed his confusion.
Yun Ni waved irritably and said:
"I'm not going to stab you for nothing. It's your turn now."
So she meant they were each supposed to stab the other once?
Cheng Shi laughed. He took the young lady's dagger and examined the glimmer along its edge with a smile.
"You really mean it?"
"Hurry up."
Cheng Shi nodded and plunged the dagger into Yun Ni's chest.
However, the angle was extremely tricky. Even after the blade had sunk an inch into her flesh, it still failed to reach her heart.
Cheng Shi raised his brows in surprise. That cushion seems thicker than it looked.
Yun Ni's eyes widened in astonishment at first, then her gaze darkened. Her voice turned cold.
"You like this?"
Cheng Shi let out a humored snort, released the dagger, and turned to leave.
As he walked away, he said:
"See? You don't like what I like, so I might not necessarily like what you like either.
"No one likes being stabbed for no reason.
"We've only shaken hands. Don't treat me as your test subject.
"And don't assume your exchange was fair. Fairness without the other person's consent isn't fairness.
"Put away your dagger, Assassin, or there'll be even more things you don't like waiting for you."
Yun Ni felt the changes taking place in her body and silently pulled out the dagger.
Blood sprayed onto the ground, then vanished in the blink of an eye.
She looked at the blood pouring from her chest, her expression unreadable.
At the same time, amid the crowd, a bare-chested man's gaze passed over countless heads and settled on this scene. He frowned pensively.
Cheng Shi left Everbloom Square. His next destination was the Law Enforcement Bureau.
He was very concerned about the murder case that the inn's guests had been too timid to mention. After all, murder and death went together far too well.
So much so that Cheng Shi had been wondering the entire way whether the trial's clue could really be this straightforward.
As a member of the Natural Alliance, Everbloom Town was governed in a manner similar to the alliance system.
But it was not an alliance of political parties. It was an alliance of functional departments.
Several departments overseeing different areas had voluntarily joined forces to discuss the town's development. Over time, this had gradually formed a simple parliamentary system in which the heads of the various departments attended meetings and deliberated over affairs.
The Law Enforcement Bureau was the town's most powerful department.
It was equivalent to a courthouse, prison, and police station combined.
The Law Enforcement Bureau stood southeast of the square and occupied a considerable area. The closer he got to it, the more Law Enforcement Officers in matching uniforms he saw coming and going.
Faced with an unfamiliar law-enforcement institution, Cheng Shi did not rashly approach them. Instead, he pretended to be a passerby, pricking up his ears and listening continuously to the conversations of the nearby Law Enforcement Officers.
Before long, he reconstructed the details of the murder from their scattered conversations.
Seven days ago, a jeweler had suddenly died in the town.
If it had happened somewhere else, it might not have drawn public attention. At most, it would have been another murder and robbery.
But it had happened in Everbloom Town—a place where no one ever died except from old age.
The townspeople immediately grew nervous, and the Law Enforcement Bureau quickly intervened and began investigating.
The strange thing was that, apart from an expression of terror, the merchant had no injuries anywhere on his body. It was as though he had been frightened to death.
That was even more absurd. No one could die under the protection of Bloom Awaits Withering, unless...
His death carried the will of another god.
The town's self-governing alliance realized that the matter might involve a great deal, perhaps even faith itself. They therefore reported it to the Grand Inquisition and requested the assistance of believers of Order.
However, while they waited for the Grand Inquisition's reply, two more people died under identical circumstances.
All three of them had died on the streets at night.
The sudden succession of deaths plunged everyone into panic. A dark cloud of terror hung over every resident.
The town's self-governing alliance was forced to announce a temporary curfew.
And yesterday had been the first day of the curfew.
Another drunk patron had collapsed five meters outside a tavern.
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