Foolish Game of the Chapter 319: Again?

"So this is how you Destined Ones Pierce the Sky and face the Gods head-on?!"

Watching more and more divine-aura eyes open across the canopy, Hong Lin asked the question with Trembling Fear.

She was afraid. Genuinely afraid. Probably no player could remain unafraid in a scene like this.

She'd assud Cheng Shi's claim about the Destined Ones had been an outrageous boast. But she'd never dread... he'd actually been telling the truth?!

The Destined Ones actually dared to pull sothing like this?

Was [Fate] really this powerful—able to protect the Destined Ones even with this many of Them showing up?!

Hong Lin's eyes shifted from terror to blazing fervor. Never in her life had she revered [Fate] as much as she did right now!

The excitent in her heart even drove away so of her panic. Her burning gaze locked onto Cheng Shi—no, onto Cheng Shi's hand. She was searching for that die!

The Die of Fate!

She wished she could snatch it this very second and join the Destined Ones!

This was too cool. Too fierce. Too exhilarating!

anwhile, the Cheng Shi beside her...

'Don't @ . System crashed.'

Cheng Shi was hunched behind Hong Lin, shivering, not daring to make a sound.

'Huh? Are you talking to ?'

'No idea, man. First ti I've seen this too.'

'They're... probably not here for , right?'

His mind was in shambles—even more so than the day the Faith Ga had descended.

Everything before him had far exceeded his predictions. But was this still within Cheng Dashi's predictions?

Cheng Dashi had pushed him to "complete" this trial, to attract [Prosperity]'s gaze and even drag [Prosperity] into the ga. But what had that been for?

[Fate] had just ntioned Assimilation. [Prosperity] had spoken of symbiosis. So [Prosperity] was indeed exactly as he'd guessed—a Being whose so-called universal flourishing ant sothing entirely different from what everyone assud.

He was clearly the most selfish, the most predatory of Them all!

His Benefactor [Fate] obviously wasn't buying any of it, which was why They were clashing above the canopy right now.

'But this wasn't how my script was supposed to go...'

Earlier, when he'd been hoodwinking Hong Lin, he'd painted [Prosperity] and [Fate] as allies on the sa side. But now both gods were fighting overhead. How was he supposed to explain this to her?

'Do I tell her that the whole second-faith-being-[Fate] thing is dead in the water?'

'Huh?'

'Big Cat won't beat

up... will she?'

But even if [Fate] had engaged [Prosperity] to protect him, what were all these other eyes in the sky doing?

Watching the show?

No way. The Gods didn't need to co in person to spectate. And They certainly didn't need to descend and reveal Their divine eyes. So anyone who'd bothered to show up definitely had sothing in mind...

But what exactly were They thinking?

As the thought churned, Cheng Shi's pupils suddenly contracted. He'd realized sothing: could They be here to fish in troubled waters?

Whether through theft, exchange, or fusion, all Gods coveted each other's Authority. And since an opportunity had presented itself here, had every last one of Them co sniffing for it?

So who was Their target?!

That question wasn't hard to answer.

Cheng Shi swallowed and looked toward the depths of the rainforest.

Obviously, the weakest one here was... [Decay].

[Decay], whose faith had been stolen and offered to [Prosperity]—who'd then been beaten back to His very doorstep!

'Wait...'

'Don't tell

this was Cheng Dashi's goal all along?'

'Use [Prosperity]'s descent to weaken [Decay], then lure the Gods here to gang up on Him?'

'His target was [Decay]? I guessed wrong?'

'No... that still doesn't seem right.'

Cheng Shi's brow furrowed deeply. Hong Lin, who'd been lost in the spectacle of the divine descent, noticed his complex expression and quietly asked:

"You just went to—"

Before she could finish, Cheng Shi vanished with a whoosh.

"..."

Left alone once again, Hong Lin stared at the star-like eyes flickering across the sky and seed to guess sothing.

Her expression turned grave, but she didn't speak. She simply kept her eyes fixed on the canopy above.

And thought:

'Which one of Them... has summoned him?'

...

The Void.

No—it didn't seem to be the Void.

Though it was dark like the Void, the Void had never felt this sorrowful.

Yes—sorrow!

The instant Cheng Shi opened his eyes, he was engulfed by infinite sorrow perating the air, stirring an involuntary compassion inside him.

He didn't know who this compassion was for. He simply felt he should offer sympathy—even the tiniest, most insignificant shred—to this dense, overwhelming grief.

His senses felt subrged in water—muffled, indistinct—everything dulled and sluggish. The sensation felt hauntingly familiar, but no matter how long he searched his mory, he couldn't place it. Even his thoughts seed to slow, becoming as lethargic as an old man in his twilight.

'Wait... twilight... old man...'

Cheng Shi jolted, suddenly rembering sothing.

And at that mont, the endless darkness lit up.

A blinding crimson flared first, then thick black blood gradually peeled away and drained from his vision, letting his sight slowly clear.

When he could finally make out his surroundings, he found himself standing inside a palace built of jet-black stone. No—"palace" wasn't quite accurate. The interior was far too spartan: austere and bare, more like a... tomb. A tomb with simple lines and not a single furnishing.

Only the sheer enormity of the space had given him the illusion of a palace.

And at the very center of this mausoleum, a decrepit, ancient giant lay half-collapsed on the ground beside a blood-red Divine Throne, perfectly still.

The giant's body was ravaged with festering sores. His left hand—nothing but exposed bone—rested feebly against the Throne forged from congealed black blood. His right hand's single long fingernail, sharp as a blade, scored line after line into the only intact patch of skin on his abdon.

But the flesh was so withered with age that not a single drop of blood seeped from even the deepest cuts.

Seeing this, mournful black blood wept from his wax-lted eye sockets.

The black blood trickled down his wrinkle-stacked cheeks, dripping to the ground, seeping through the floor, and vanishing.

But Cheng Shi could feel it clearly: the instant that blood disappeared, horrifying, terrifying [Decay] power surged from beneath his feet.

rcifully, the power radiated outward rather than targeting him. But he still shuddered involuntarily and retreated half a step.

[Decay]!

Standing before him was unquestionably the second God of the [Descent] Path—[Decay]!

Why was He here too?

No—had He co looking for trouble?!

After all, [Prosperity]'s descent upon the Sighing Forest was entirely a result of Cheng Shi's offering. And what he'd offered was nothing other than [Decay]'s faith.

Every scrap of [Decay] in sight had been converted by Cheng Shi into Sacrifices for [Prosperity]. He'd essentially helped [Prosperity] demolish His neighbor's walls—no, uproot His rival's entire foundation. Given the magnitude of this ho-wrecking grudge, the fact that this Being was letting him live long enough to lay eyes upon Him was already the greatest rcy imaginable.