When Cheng Shi opened his eyes again, he saw Su Yida's figure.
This talkative Su Yida was enthusiastically fawning over Tao Yi at this moment, but judging by Tao Yi's expression, it didn't seem to be working very well.
Gao Yu, who was sitting nearby, was the first to notice Cheng Shi waking up. Seeing the confusion between Cheng Shi's brows, he whispered:
"You're finally awake. The Trial is over."
"But this Trial is a bit different. It didn't teleport us out directly, but to this strange place."
"The space is unsealed. The blanket covering you... is Tao Yi's."
"How do you feel?"
Cheng Shi nodded weakly, not making a sound. His hand under the blanket secretly touched his ring; it was still there.
"You were badly injured. When we found you, you were barely breathing."
"What exactly happened outside?"
"When Lao Cui and I came out, we felt a strong force of Time."
Cheng Shi glanced at Su Yida out of the corner of his eye and shook his head with a pale face.
"I don't know. I only saw a flash of colorful light, and then I fainted."
"Colorful light?"
"Alright, Su Yida doesn't remember either. He fainted further away, and his condition wasn't much better than yours."
"We suspect that factors outside the Trial affected the Trial, causing us to slip through the cracks and miraculously survive."
"Hmm, maybe. Oh, by the way, where's Lao Cui?"
"He left. He left the Trial."
"...?"
Seeing Cheng Shi's surprised look, Gao Yu said with some emotion:
"I've never seen anyone like Lao Cui. Don't you feel any changes in your body?"
Changes?
Cheng Shi looked inward at his state in confusion, but the next second, the expression on his face froze.
divinity!
The divinity of prosperity!
His body was brutally stuffed full of the divinity of prosperity!
"The previous change seemed to have stripped the divinity from your body. When we escaped from Time, there were scattered divinity energies everywhere on the ice field..."
"Lao Cui could have taken these divinity and left, but he..."
"He tied me and Tao Yi up and stuffed these divinity back into your body."
"It's just that the method might be a bit rough, probably completely different from your previous sealing."
"..."
Cheng Shi was stunned, his mind blank for a moment, unable to think of anything to say.
He had set up a scheme for Lao Cui to get the real divinity, but the Old Man just happened to return these divinity.
He even tied up Gao Yu and Tao Yi in the process.
He clearly knew how complex human nature was, yet he still did it.
Cheng Shi's shocked gaze swept over Su Yida. Although he was forcing a smile, the gloom in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
Now, he was probably guessing that all of this was his scheme.
Well, who would risk their life to benefit others?
But if it was for himself... it would be much more reasonable.
Su Yida felt a slight fear in his heart regarding Cheng Shi's calculating nature.
But Cheng Shi didn't know any of these thoughts, nor did he want to know. He just felt that Lao Cui...
Cui Dingtian, truly lived up to his name of 'Dingtian' (Propping up the Heavens).
Just as Cheng Shi was immersed in shock, Tao Yi noticed the anomaly here and happily withdrew from Su Yida's enthusiastic advances.
Su Yida glanced at Cheng Shi out of the corner of his eye and didn't follow.
"How do you feel?"
"Lao Cui's method was too rough. I helped you tidy up the... that... in your body again."
"Hmm, I always feel a bit scary saying this kind of thing out loud."
"Thank you."
Cheng Shi's thanks were very sincere.
To be honest, other than giving himself a Gravekeeper talent before fainting, he had no other backup plans.
If there were more than two accidents during the Time he was unconscious, he would have brought it upon himself.
Although he had indeed calculated that Cui Dingtian would protect him after seeing the divinity, he really didn't expect Lao Cui to actually...
"What are you thinking about? Are you wondering why Lao Cui left?"
"Haha, let me tell you, the Old Man was afraid that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to resist snatching that thing in your body."
"He... alas, he's a good person."
Yes, He is a good person.
"Thank you for staying by me."
"I should also thank you for saving us."
Tao Yi said this sincerely, but she didn't know which Time she was referring to.
"Thank you."
Gao Yu's expression was clearly friendlier than before, but the subtle barrier was still very obvious.
The Child seemed to have changed his attitude towards him quite a bit.
Is he afraid of him?
What did he see?
Or did he see through one of his lies?
Forget it, don't think about it. The Trial is over, why bother thinking?
Cheng Shi struggled to get up and thanked Tao Yi and Gao Yu sincerely again, but his gaze deliberately avoided Su Yida.
He hated being in the same space as an enemy he couldn't kill, especially when he had interest extracted from the enemy's body.
However, just as Cheng Shi was about to exit the Trial, his gaze was inexplicably drawn to a blade of grass not far away.
He saw a drop of dew gathered on the grass blade, constantly absorbing moisture and slowly growing larger.
The dewdrop became heavier and heavier, and the grass blade finally bent under the weight. The crystal clear dewdrop reluctantly jumped off the leaf vein and fell to the ground.
Then, the dewdrop splashed onto the frost-covered ground and gradually froze after a while, turning into a part of the fine frost.
Seeing this, Cheng Shi suddenly smiled.
Gao Yu followed his gaze but saw nothing, so he asked in confusion:
"What are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at... the annihilation of a world."
"?"
Gao Yu felt that he was being inexplicable, "Why don't you treat yourself first? Is it that after the divinity was stripped, your brain..."
But before he could finish speaking, Cheng Shi suddenly disappeared.
He left.
There was not much of a farewell; he voluntarily exited the Trial.
At that moment before leaving, he suddenly understood something.
It turns out that annihilation is not just annihilation.
Perhaps in this world, offerings to Him are happening every moment.
He may be omnipresent, and His power is far beyond his imagination.
[Special Trial (The Vanishing World annihilation) Challenge Successful]
[Rating and settling rewards...]
[Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Rating: S]
[Acquired Item: Mask of Unworthiness (S) x1]
[Acquired Item: Mask of Fear (A) x1]
[Acquired Item: Mask of Witness (S) x1]
[Acquired Item: Mask of Choice (B) x1]
[path to godhood +16]
[Ladder to the Audience +0]
[Current path to godhood Score: 2141, Global Ranking: 452007]
[Current Ladder to the Audience Score: 164, Fate Ranking: 60]
[Trial Cleared, Exiting Soon]
...
Cheng Shi's departure was so abrupt that Tao Yi and Gao Yu beside him couldn't react.
They thought they could gain another friend in this broken world after experiencing life and death together, but they didn't expect Cheng Shi to seemingly have no such intention.
"This... is also good."
Gao Yu muttered to himself, and then also chose to leave.
Only the last two remained on the scene.
Seeing that Cheng Shi had left the Trial alive, Su Yida finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave.
But 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. Can you tell me about it again?"
Huh?
Sister, do you really think I'm a simp?
Su Yida had been acting for a long Time and really didn't want to act anymore.
In a situation with no danger and only two people left, he didn't need to pretend to be a lecher to hide his Faith, nor did he need to act like his original self to keep a low profile. So he sneered, his eyes scanning Tao Yi up and down wantonly, and said coldly:
"Get lost before I get the urge to kill you. How unlucky."
Tao Yi was surprisingly not surprised by Su Yida's reaction at all. The smile on her face not only didn't change, but it became even brighter.
"In that case, I probably understand."
"However, can I ask one more question?"
"Does Cheng Shi... know that you are the Master of Illusions?"
...