"You do not know — so how do you expect to testify?"
The wild [Order] energy surged back to boiling — this ti, it looked as though Li Jingming was about to be thrown into the cage alongside the others.
But Long Jing, having already been through one round of this, was completely unrattled. He explained at an unhurried pace.
"Great divine being, allow
to explain.
My understanding of the prisoner before you is only so much. But I thought a simple charge of market disruption would hardly require a being of your stature to preside personally in judgnt. So I declared myself ignorant of the proceedings.
Yet you personally asked
to testify, and when I considered what I might be capable of proving — I could only think to search through certain people's..." He cast a helpless glance at the wide-smiling Cheng Shi. "...mories. And so I assud you summoned
as a mory operator — not as a direct witness.
Before I have access to the so-called evidence, I cannot give an answer or make any attestation.
This is both a matter of my fidelity to [mory] and a matter of respect for [Order]."
The Iron Law of [Order] let out a heavy sound. "If you do not know my identity, why is every sentence you utter filled with [Order]?"
Li Jingming raised an eyebrow, lifted his gaze, and looked directly at the to with steady gravity.
"Because the [Order] I understand would never have asked the question you just asked."
Masterfully done.
True to form — Li Jingming, who never ca out the worse in any situation. If not for the risk of looking like collusion, Cheng Shi would have applauded him. A perfect answer that sealed off both the leading question and the follow-up challenge in a single line.
The Holy Light Codex went silent. After a long pause, it spoke in its resonant voice:
"Begin. Sift through the past. Lay out the mories.
I am aware you too have drawn close to [Deceit]. But here, any deception will make you co-defendant with the suspect and have you share in the Lightning Punishnt."
Li Jingming bowed in acknowledgnt.
"Great divine being, I must clarify one thing. Everything I have done to draw close to [Deceit] was in service of better rembering. My path has never once deviated from what it always was."
The sentence was technically true — but in the ears of those who knew the whole story, it sounded like pointed irony.
Cheng Shi ca close to losing his composure. His inner voice said: Long Jing really has learned to be cutting. Of the three mortals and one god present — which one of them had actually changed their path?
Quite the puzzle.
He fought back a smile and opened his arms toward Long Jing, watching the approaching "witness" with an odd expression.
"Don't look at anything you're not supposed to. Unless you want
to disrupt the market again."
Li Jingming shook his head with a quiet laugh. A ball of deep-blue [mory] energy rose in his hands as he looked Cheng Shi up and down.
"I imagine the most precious mory has already been inscribed by . As for the rest — even [mory] itself has a past it chose not to preserve. So relax."
Cheng Shi opened his mouth, about to say "good of you to know your place" — but in the next instant, Long Jing said with a soft smile:
"I've already prepared your compensation by the way.
Markets can be disrupted. But mories must be recorded — opportunity waits for no one.
Also — next ti you summon , give advance notice. Ergency rescues cost extra."
And with that, in the face of Cheng Shi's dumbstruck expression, the [mory] energy opened a doorway into the past. The mory Traveler imdiately set out on his journey.
Li Jingming had in fact suspected that [Order]'s identity had been replaced — he'd just assud [Deceit] was the replacent. What he couldn't work out was why [Deceit] playing [Order] was now in a courtroom confrontation with Cheng Shi.
Until he found the relevant truth inside Cheng Shi's mories. In that mont, Li Jingming's pupils contracted — and he was completely blindsided.
So that was it.
[Order] turned out to be [Chaos].
What kind of spectacularly abstract mind could dream up an exchange plan like this?
No wonder the Grand Tribunal had been steadily declining. No wonder even Mo Li had broken his oath and transferred to [War]. Everything had threads leading back to a source — order had long since ceased to be, its inner core already swapped out for chaos.
What a faith-inverting display of chaos.
And when he continued reading and found that [Deceit] had orchestrated the whole thing from backstage, Li Jingming exhaled, understanding settling in.
Of course. A performance this absurd deserved an even more absurd screenwriter.
So [Deceit] had instigated everything to have [Chaos] seize [Order]'s seat — and then turned around and scooped up the [Chaos] throne for itself. But what was the purpose of all that?
Just to acquire a divine throne and gain one more vote in the Convention assembly?
That seed too simple.
Li Jingming's perspective was distinct from that of a standard [Deceit] follower. His first instinct was always [mory]. Stripping away [Deceit]'s influence and recording this truth from the perspective of an absolute outside observer — a bold idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.
[Deceit] deceived perception. [Chaos] muddled cognition. Either one of them alone could twist the senses of any living thing in the universe. But when the two rged into one — stacking [Deceit]'s power on top of [Chaos]'s power — couldn't they hide anything from anyone in the world at will?
Then what secret was it hiding from the world using this power?
Having witnessed the relevant mories, Long Jing chose not to dig deeper. He withdrew back into the void, carrying that portion of mory with him.
By now he had grasped the full scope of Cheng Shi's plan. This Fate Weaver never stopped scheming — one mont he was telling the Jokers he wanted to do a blood exchange for the universe, the next he was already eyeing the gods' thrones.
He was clearly scheming against the Iron Law of [Order].
And based on appearances — the candidate he had in mind as successor was the person standing right here?
Li Jingming kept his expression composed. He gave Cheng Shi a aningful look. Cheng Shi curled his lips and gave him a slight nod — the ssage was obvious: your move.
Li Jingming understood. He shaped the mories he'd inscribed into luminous bubbles and lined them out before him, then sent them drifting toward the silent Holy Light Law Code.
The dreamlike bubbles were impossibly delicate — they barely reached within range of the Iron Law of [Order] before the surrounding [Order] energy compressed and burst them all.
The page-turning rhythm of the Holy Light Law Code didn't change. It clearly had no intention of viewing these mories at all.
Cheng Shi was completely unsurprised. He scoffed.
"What — evidence in front of you, and [Order] doesn't dare look?"
The Holy Light Law Code kept turning, its resonance carrying the reply: "A mortal's mory cannot attest to a god."
"Ha. Ha ha ha ha!"
Cheng Shi burst out laughing. He shook his head and spit into the void, then pointed straight at the to and mocked it without rcy.
"Absolutely laughable.
[Order] acts like this, and you still dare use the word 'order'?
Are you using the thickness of your hide to fence off your own little territory?
But the territory you're guarding is chaos itself — not order.
I'm glad I'm not a god. If I were counted among the true divine, I'd be ashad to share the list with you.
I may not agree with every god's will — but consider:
[Prosperity] self-destructed for the flourishing of the universe, without hesitation;
[Oblivion] welcod the world's rebirth without doubt;
And [Truth], of the sa [Civilization] path, used its own body as the stage in the search for cosmic truth.
And what did [Order] — that [Order] the world reveres — do?
When faced with ironclad evidence, it said: 'A mortal's mory cannot attest to a god.'
My. What a clean sweep.
But are you truly as clean as you think?
I did this for the sake of the universe's order — to preserve the last shred of dignity for true [Order]. But if you don't want it, fine. When I bring a true god's mory before you — what will you say then?"
The Holy Light Law Code's pages snapped faster, and it spoke once more in that deep resonance:
"If the evidence proves genuine — I shall reach my own verdict."
Cheng Shi let out a cold laugh. Seeing the other party refuse to admit anything, he had no choice but to play his final card — call in Justice (Order) for a direct confrontation.
That would make his pursuit of both thrones far more complicated, but there was no other way.
Just as he was preparing to "play his trump card," Li Jingming — who had been standing calmly to the side — said without any particular expression:
"The [mory] Collection Hall also contains records of this matter. I believe that would not count as a mortal's mory."
"???"
Cheng Shi blinked. He went completely blank.
Long Jing — don't you dare do sothing to
right now.
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