Undoubtedly, war loves blood and fire.
But not every follower of war has an affinity for the fire element.
Most of His followers only received half of His blessing, which is berserk fighting power; only a few lucky ones simultaneously gained the power to control flames.
And Zhao Qian was one of them.
His control over flames was a hidden trump card He kept, never easily showing it to others.
So He was very curious how Cheng Shi knew.
"You are a Hunter, but you weren't anxious after losing your bow and arrows, which means you have a backup plan sufficient to handle the Trial.
I observed that when you were climbing the mountain, your left hand consciously avoided vines and only grabbed the sharp edges of the mountain body, indicating that the strength in your left hand is not completely controllable for you, at least potentially causing damage to wood-attribute Existence.
Recalling your battle with Old Cui during the Edict, your left hand's defensive posture leaned towards offense, but every time, the offensive didn't follow through, and your right hand's heavy punch wasn't the signal for a counterattack, which means the original offensive should have come from your left hand.
You hid a trump card, and you are also a follower of war.
Therefore, the answer is obvious..."
"Your observation skills are sharp, but what if I said you guessed wrong?" Zhao Qian raised an eyebrow and snorted a laugh.
Cheng Shi said with a rather "serious" look:
"Then Old Cui will die."
Zhao Qian looked at Cheng Shi indifferently, then glanced at Cui Dingtian lying between two logs, a conflicted expression flashing across His face.
Finally, He sighed and said:
"That's right, I can indeed use fire."
Zhao Qian raised His left hand.
The moment He lifted His arm, a layer of fine crimson flames ignited close to His skin.
Indeed, He possessed the power to control flames!
Cheng Shi smiled knowingly and handed Him the medicine furnace.
Fortunately, at this critical juncture that didn't affect His personal safety, this person was still able to cooperate.
It seemed He wasn't the type of absolute egoist He had imagined.
Zhao Qian shook His head with a chuckle and took the medicine furnace.
"What should I do?"
Cheng Shi's eyes became frantic again.
He stared at the medicine furnace and said word by word:
"Roast it, keep roasting it until the medicine furnace explodes!"
"?"
This sentence stunned everyone.
Gao Yu said with a bewildered look:
"If the furnace explodes, what medicine are you still refining?"
Cheng Shi laughed heartily:
"You don't understand.
Alchemy is a very profound thing.
My previous experiments never succeeded.
It wasn't until one furnace explosion that I discovered 'Shuhui Reversal' only fully forms when it comes into contact with enough air at the moment of pressure release.
I was always unable to determine which component in the air was the key to the finished medicine.
Therefore, exploding the furnace is the most stable method!
The final form of the potion is a black paste.
The yield rate is about 70%.
As long as we can catch enough of the paste and roll it into pills at the moment of the explosion, then Old Cui's life can be saved!"
Alright, since it had come to this point, Zhao Qian no longer had any questions.
He began to mobilize the power of war throughout His body, urging the flames to roast the medicine furnace.
The pressure buildup in the medicine furnace took a long time, so during this period, the others began collecting driftwood to build a platform in the sea.
Tao Yi also took the opportunity to solve her clothing problem.
She cast a spell to peel off the bark of the logs, turning it into tight clothing that wrapped around her not-so-graceful figure.
As for the men... a piece of cloth was enough for a quick cover, there wasn't much fuss.
Not long after, with everyone's effort, a sea platform pieced together from driftwood and branches was completed.
"If the area is sufficient, don't build any more.
The pressure device is alarming.
Everyone, pay attention, it's about to explode!"
Zhao Qian's loud shout gathered everyone back.
Seeing the medicine furnace in His hand emitting a groaning sound under pressure, everyone tensed their minds.
Only Cheng Shi, holding a pill made from mud scraped off the wood just now, had a look of complete confidence.
The trick to close-up magic is misdirection.
Everything before was just a setup, and the one in His hand was the real life-saving medicine.
Even if a teammate could catch one or two pills made from ash residue from the explosion, they would be failures.
The Offering to Nothingness cannot be stored.
Cheng Shi wouldn't let them keep it as a life-saving divine medicine because after its effectiveness expired, it would just be a pile of charred ash from burnt flesh, completely useless.
"It's coming!"
Zhao Qian roared and threw the furnace in His hand high into the air.
"Boom--"
The medicine furnace instantly exploded, spraying the residue inside everywhere.
Everyone displayed their abilities, doing their utmost to collect the paste.
Only Cheng Shi, moving quickly amidst the flying ash, decisively reached out, then vigorously rubbed something before running to Cui Dingtian and shoving it into His Mouth.
"..."
Gao Yu's hands were covered in black ash.
He looked at Cheng Shi in surprise and muttered to himself:
"If you had this reaction, would you still need someone to carry you up the mountain?"
Cheng Shi chuckled, not taking the bait.
Indeed, the potion was refined.
Not only was it successful, but its effect was also particularly good.
Cui Dingtian only felt a surge of Vitality burst from His heart, then circulate with His blood into all His limbs and bones.
All the pain dissipated at that moment, and His pale complexion gradually became rosy.
"Isn't this the prosperity of the past?"
Tao Yi watched Cui Dingtian's changes in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe that her own flesh and blood had such great efficacy.
Cui Dingtian himself was stunned.
The moment He woke up, He even felt like He had returned to His youth.
He sat up, looked at His body, and let out an exclamation of admiration:
"Little Cheng, how did you do it?
My..."
How is this possible?"
Cheng Shi blinked twice, then smiled and said:
"What do you mean 'how is this possible'?
This just traced back to your past physical peak state, a temporary Shuhui Reversal, that's all.
How do you feel?"
Cui Dingtian examined His body in disbelief and slowly said:
"The peak state of my past body?
Even so... this medicine, is probably not A-Level?"
"A-Level?
Old Cui is joking.
You'll be finished in five days.
If this could be considered B-Level, I'd have to burn forty-meter-high incense at my ancestral grave."
"But can a B-Level potion possibly shield against His Oathbreaker's Curse?"
???
"What is it??"
Exploded!
Cheng Shi's mind instantly exploded!
How did the Oathbreaker's Curse come up?
"Old Cui, you are an Oathbreaker??"
Everyone was stunned.
At least at this moment, silence descended once again.
Cui Dingtian nodded with a complex expression, looked at the bewildered Cheng Shi, and began to tell His story.
His story wasn't complicated.
Before the Gods descended, Cui Dingtian and His son lived an ordinary and happy life.
Until them descended and changed the original world, the Lao Tou never saw His son again.
In order to find His son, He resolutely stepped into The Starting Point of Fate and chose prosperity as His Lord.
Because the will of prosperity perfectly aligned with His goal: to unleash all His strength before death and find His son.
However, the old man was old after all.
Even with the power of prosperity, He wouldn't have a significant advantage compared to other Players.
And having no advantage meant it would be difficult to take even a single step in the increasingly difficult Trials.
So, after surviving a great disaster in a certain Trial, He made an extremely difficult decision.
To abandon prosperity and switch to decay!
Given His increasingly poor physical condition, Faith in decay was almost equivalent to getting divine power for free.
As for the curse obtained from abandoning His Lord...
It was still that saying: survive first, then talk about other things.
Thus, driven by that initial obsession, He activated the Oathbreaker's Prayer.
The final Trial was indeed successful.
He gained the gaze of decay but also received the curse of prosperity.
The Lord He abandoned seemed to see through the Lao Tou's inner desire, so the curse He gave was:
Granting Him an eternally incorruptible stone body!
How absurd!
A Warrior who revered decay became a stone statue Mummy whose muscles could never decay.
Even though decay didn't treat Him unfairly and granted Him sufficiently powerful talents, the curse of prosperity had always suppressed His ability to gain enough power of decay.
This was a successful conversion of Faith, yet also a failed abandonment.
He didn't make Himself stronger, but He made Himself non-human.
This was also the reason He could withstand the Void's erosion better than others, because both His body and His skin carried Their will.
"..."
Everyone listened in silence, speechless for a moment.
Cui Dingtian stood up, stretched His body, and said with a bitter smile:
"My muscles carry the curse of prosperity, while my skin carries the blessing of decay.
They are diametrically opposed and incompatible.
The conflict of wills within my body makes me cough incessantly.
This isn't a disease, but a price!"
So, Little Cheng, I want to ask you..."
What kind of potion can cure this price?
If possible, I am willing to exchange everything I have with you."
"..."
Everyone looked at Cheng Shi, their eyes filled with obvious surprise and doubt.
Tao Yi covered her Mouth, Gao Yu widened His eyes, Zhao Qian raised His eyebrow.
Only Su Yida, after hearing what Cui Dingtian said, secretly put His hand behind His back, scraped off all the charred ash on His hand, rolled it into a pill, and tucked it between His buttocks.
Damn, I went too far.
How did I know this medicine could suppress your Oathbreaker's Curse?
He didn't say that!
But thinking about it, it must be the power of Fraud in the potion that took effect.
After all, it was made using His talent, so is there a possibility:
His power deceived both prosperity and decay?
But can this be said?
Cheng Shi gave an awkward laugh, His mind racing, His brain working at full capacity, starting to think about how to fool the doubting crowd.
"What I'm saying is, is there a possibility that Cheng Shi is not my real name?"
"Ah?
Then what's your name?" Tao Yi played the role of the naive straight man with a innocent look.
"Uh... Actually, my surname is Tang, the Tang from Tang Sanzang."