Trial Cleared

When Cheng Shi opened his eyes again, he saw Su Yida's figure again.

The talkative Su Yida was currently fawning over Tao Yi, but judging from Tao Yi's expression, it didn't seem to be working very well.

Gao Yu, who was sitting next to him, noticed Cheng Shi was awake immediately. He saw the confusion on Cheng Shi's face and whispered:

"You're finally awake. The Trials is over."

But this Trials was different; instead of teleporting us directly, it transported us to this unfamiliar place.

The space has been unsealed, and the blanket covering you... is Tao Yi's.

How are you feeling?

Cheng Shi nodded weakly without saying a word, secretly touching the ring under the covers; it was still there.

"You were badly injured. When we found you, you were barely breathing."

What exactly happened outside?

When Old Cui and I came out, we sensed a strong power of [time].

Cheng Shi glanced at Su Yida out of the corner of his eye, then shook his head, his face pale.

"I don't know, I just saw a burst of colorful light and then I passed out."

"Colorful light?"

Well, Su Yida didn't remember either; he fainted in a much farther place, and his condition wasn't much better than yours.

We suspect that factors outside the Trials itself influenced the Trials, allowing us to find a loophole and survive by chance.

"Hmm, maybe so. By the way, where's Old Cui?"

"We're leaving, we're leaving the Trials."

"...?"

Seeing Cheng Shi's surprised expression, Gao Yu said with some emotion:

"I've never met anyone like Old Cui before. Don't you notice any Change in him?"

Change?

Cheng Shi looked inward at his own state with a puzzled expression, but the next second, the expression on his face froze.

Divinity!

The Divinity of prosperity!

His body was violently filled with the Divinity of [Prosperity]!

"The previous events seemed to have stripped the [Divinity] from your body. When we emerged from [time], the entire Icefield was filled with the dissipating aura of [Divinity]..."

Old Cui could have taken these [Divinity] items and left, but he...

They bound me and Tao Yi, and stuffed these "Divinity" elements back into your body.

However, the method might be a bit rough, quite different from your previous sealing techniques.

"..."

Cheng Shi was stunned and his mind went blank for a moment. He didn't know what to say.

He had set a trap to obtain true "Divinity"Divinity from Old Cui, but the old man then returned it all to him.

In the process, Gao Yu and Tao Yi were even kidnapped.

He knew perfectly well that human nature was complex, yet he still did it.

Cheng Shi glanced at Su Yida out of the corner of his eye, shocked, and saw that although he was faking a smile, he could not hide the gloom in his eyes.

Now, he's probably guessing that all of this was his doing.

That's true, who would risk their life to benefit someone else?

But if it's for oneself... then it makes a lot of sense.

Su Yida felt a slight sense of unease at Cheng Shi and manipulative nature.

But Cheng Shi knew nothing of these thoughts, nor did he want to know. He simply felt that Old Cui...

Cui Ding Tian truly deserves the name "Dingtian" (meaning "reaching the sky").

Just Cheng Shi reeling from the shock, Tao Yi noticed the unusual situation and happily pulled away from Su Yida's enthusiastic advances.

Su Yida glanced at Cheng Shi but did not follow.

How are you feeling?

Old Cui's methods were too rough, so I've had to rearrange your internal organs again... that.

Yeah, there's a bit of a scary feeling about saying things like that out loud.

"Thanks."

Cheng Shi's expression of gratitude was very sincere.

To be honest, aside from giving himself the Gravekeeper talent before he fainted, he didn't have any other backup plans.

If more than two accidents occurred during his coma, then it was his own fault.

Although he had indeed anticipated that Cui Ding Tian would protect him after seeing the [Divinity], he never expected that Old Cui would actually...

"What are you thinking about? Are you wondering why Old Cui left?"

Haha, let me tell you, the old man is afraid that if he doesn't leave soon, he won't be able to resist taking the one inside you.

He... well, he was a good person.

Yes, he's a good person.

"Thank you for staying by my side."

"I also want to thank you for saving us." Tao Yi said this sincerely, but it was unclear which time she was referring to.

"Thanks."

Gao Yu's expression was noticeably friendlier than before, but the subtle distance between them was still very palpable.

The kid seems to have changed his attitude towards me quite a bit.

Is he afraid of himself?

What did he see?

Or did you discover which of your own lies you were lying about?

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. The Trials is over, why bother thinking about it?

Cheng Shi struggled to get up and sincerely thanked Tao Yi and Gao Yu again, but his eyes only glanced at Su Yida.

He hated being in the same space as an enemy he couldn't kill, especially since he still had interest on him that he had squeezed from that enemy.

However, just Cheng Shi was about to withdraw from the Trials, his gaze was inexplicably drawn to a blade of grass not far away.

He saw a drop of dew gather on the blade of grass, and as it continuously absorbed the moisture, it slowly grew larger.

The dew grew heavier and heavier, and the grass blades, unable to bear the weight, finally bent over. The glistening dewdrops reluctantly leaped from the veins of the leaves and fell to the ground.

Then, the dew splashed onto the frost-covered ground, and soon froze, becoming part of the frost.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Shi suddenly laughed.

Gao Yu followed his gaze but saw nothing, so he asked in confusion:

What are you looking at?

"I am watching... the Annihilation of a world."

"?"

Gao Yu found him somewhat baffling. "Why don't you treat yourself first? Is it because your brain... after the [Divinity] was stripped away?"

But before he could finish speaking, Cheng Shi suddenly disappeared.

He left.

Without much of a farewell, he voluntarily withdrew from the Trials.

In the moment before he left, he suddenly realized something.

It turns out that "Annihilation" is not just about Annihilation.

Perhaps in this world, offerings to Him are happening all the time.

He may be everywhere, and His power is far beyond our imagination.

[Special Trial (The Vanished World [Annihilation]) Successfully Completed]

[Rating in progress and calculating rewards...]

[Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Rating: S]

[Obtained Item: Unashamed Mask (S) x1]

[Item obtained: Terrified Mask (A) x1]

[Item obtained: Witness Mask (S) x1]

[Obtained Item: Choice Mask (B) x1]

[Path to Godhood +16]

[Ladder of Audience +0]

[Current Path to Godhood Score: 2141, Global Ranking: ]

[Current Ladder of Audience Score: 164, Path of Fate Rank: 60]

[Trials completed, exiting soon]

Cheng Shi's departure was so sudden that Tao Yi and Gao Yu, who were beside him, were unable to react.

I thought that after going through life and death together, I could make another friend in this broken world, but I didn't expect that Cheng Shi didn't seem to have that intention.

"This is... fine too."

Gao Yu muttered something to himself, and then also chose to leave.

Only two people remained at the scene.

Seeing that Cheng Shi had left the Trials alive, Su Yida finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave.

Just then, Tao Yi turned around and smiled at him.

"Um... I'm still very curious about what happened outside after you pushed me into the tent. Could you tell me about it again?"

Ha?

Sister, do you really think I'm a simp?

Su Yida really didn't want to act anymore after acting for so long.

With no danger and only the two of them remaining, he neither needed to disguise himself as a lecher to conceal his Faith, nor did he need to pretend to be his original self to keep a low profile. So he smiled mockingly, his eyes freely scanning Tao Yi from head to toe, and said coldly:

"Get out of here before I get the chance to kill you, you're such bad luck."

Tao Yi was not surprised at all by Su Yida's reaction. Her smile not only remained unchanged, but became even brighter.

"In that case, I think I understand."

However, may I ask one more question?

"Does Cheng Shi... know that you are Master of Trickery?"