Cheng Shi's original plan was to clear Chernosly's head first. After all, trial ti was running low—they couldn't keep wasting it on cross-channel conversations.
But what he hadn't anticipated was that when he snapped his fingers and activated the Order Horn, not only did Chernosly regain clarity, but even the Order chains binding him dissolved at the sound.
The suddenly liberated First-Class Inquisitor froze in disbelief. He raised his hands and stared at his unshackled limbs, his mind buzzing with static.
mories from his period of chaos flooded in like a tidal wave, swallowing him whole. His freshly recovered awareness wavered under the assault of jumbled recollections—but he soon regained composure, recalled everything that had happened in the Supre Court, and understood that the supre deity who had always protected this nation had, just as his teacher said, truly gone wrong.
"Teacher... I..." Chernosly's eyes reddened instantly—whether mourning the disappearance of his faith or fearing the uncertain road ahead. He crawled on his knees to his teacher's side, clutching the weakened La Quis, and wept bitterly: "Teacher, we've lost Order. We've lost justice..."
The scene stunned everyone present.
Big Cat was stunned that Cheng Shi's single finger snap had unlocked the Order shackles that she herself hadn't been able to smash. She stared hard at his right hand, a spark of fire in her gaze. She was wondering whether her fellow Destined One had powered up again—and if so, whether they could finally find a good opportunity to spar.
The Dragon King's gaze went sharp. He'd just parted ways with Cheng Shi, their Void conversation still echoing in his head. Now, watching Cheng Shi return from the Void and suddenly display Order-like power he hadn't shown before...
Not that Li Jingming could be blad for the assumption. Though he hadn't sensed any surge of Order's force, the only thing that should be able to break Order's shackles was Order's own power.
So he was thinking: had this Joker who sang praises to Void sohow, during the chaos he himself had no mory of, acquired so Order-related benefit?
Considering Cheng Shi's claim that Order hadn't suffered any major problem—and coupling it with the earlier chaos—could it be that Order had offered Deceit so hush money to cover up the truth?
But he was technically half a Deceit follower too. How co none of the benefits had trickled down?
The Dragon King frowned, recalling the mont Cheng Shi had been pulled away before they left the Void. He guessed that was when Order's payoff had flowed through to Cheng Shi via the god!
But what exactly was this payoff? Li Jingming couldn't figure it out.
Cheng Shi was far more shocked than either of them—because he was the only one who knew what kind of faith talent this so-called "Order Horn" actually was.
'Bro—how is it that a Chaos talent can break Order shackles? So when you imprisoned these "blasphers," the Order chains binding them were all simulated with Chaos power?!'
'Pulling this stunt in the place where Order's authority should be most absolute—you really weren't afraid of getting caught!'
'Or did Chaos actually need its own power continually eroding these prisoners, keeping them permanently mired in ntal chaos, ensuring they stayed obedient little blasphemy convicts?'
Cheng Shi couldn't guess what Chaos had been thinking. He only knew that destiny seed to be closing its loop.
A prisoner who was never ant to be released had been brought out of Prologue Holy Mountain by Big Cat—and now had his bonds undone by Cheng Shi on the spot.
He looked at the wailing Inquisitor with a complicated expression. And as he kept watching, it got even more complicated.
Because Chernosly had literally wailed his teacher La Quis into unconsciousness.
Soone whose shackles hadn't been removed would trigger "Order's" punishnt upon outside interference. So the instant Chernosly had embraced his teacher, the elderly Grand Justice's eyes rolled back and he passed out.
"..."
'What even is happening.'
Cheng Shi shook his head with a sigh and snapped his fingers twice more, freeing the other two prisoners.
Seeing him shatter Order's bindings so effortlessly, Li Jingming could no longer contain his curiosity: "What exactly happened to Order?"
"Long story. Trial's almost out of ti—let's talk on the phone later.
But Dragon King, this is one spectacular mory. If you want to hear it, you'd better have your trade goods ready."
At this, Li Jingming's face darkened: "You and I—"
"Hey, hey, hey—hold it. Even blood brothers settle accounts clearly. This stuff involves the gods—it's no small matter. Even if we're close, we're not close enough for freebies."
As he spoke, Cheng Shi gave the Dragon King a pointed look, then gave Big Cat one too.
Li Jingming's eyebrow rose. His peripheral vision caught Big Cat, and he suddenly realized the Prosperity Chosen didn't know about the Jokers organization. Cheng Shi was being deliberately vague to keep things separate.
Big Cat likewise raised an eyebrow. Her peripheral vision caught the Dragon King—she too realized Cheng Shi hadn't yet brought the Dragon King into their inner circle. After all, intelligence sharing among Destined Ones had no price tag.
Their sideways glances collided briefly before both looked away, saying nothing more. But inwardly, a thought was forming simultaneously:
'Bringing Dragon King Li (Hong Lin) into the fold... doesn't seem unacceptable.'
Cheng Shi had no idea what sparks were firing between the two Chosen's brains. The trial was about to end, and he urgently needed to confirm one thing: whether everything they'd experienced in this trial would beco new history—and whose hand was behind mory's self-consistency and Ti's closed loop.
As things stood, the only one capable of this was the Chosen of mory: the Dragon King, Li Jingming.
But the problem was, after spending ti with Li Jingming, Cheng Shi had noted the man's approach to mory clearly favored exploration over alteration. The Dragon King himself didn't seem to have any particular stake in rewriting this mory into new history.
So he wondered if he was overthinking it. Perhaps this trial wasn't as mystical as he'd feared.
But out of caution, he probed anyway.
"Dragon King, you haven't tampered with our current mories, right?"
The question made Li Jingming frown in surprise: "Why?"
"!!!"
That single "why" sent Cheng Shi's heart slamming against his ribs. He imdiately realized the problem was indeed the Dragon King—the man had actually altered history!
His initial reaction was alarm, which quickly morphed into the realization that panicking was pointless. He'd known from the start this would be an Existence drama. He just hadn't expected that despite his precautions, he'd failed to protect against the person right beside him.
The irony of his hindsight made him laugh bitterly. He glared at the Dragon King and lectured:
"History was sitting there perfectly fine. Why change it for no reason?
You don't strike
as the type who mucks around with historical records. What's the point of altering your Benefactor's collection?
You're a mory traveler, not a historian. There's absolutely no reason to write yourself into history. I can't think of a single motive—unless your Benefactor gave you so cryptic divine decree?
Li Jingming, I consider you a brother. Don't screw
over."
"?" Li Jingming looked baffled. His expression turned peculiar as he fired back: "Don't overestimate your own importance. Yes, my change to history involves you, but it has nothing to do with any of that."
Cheng Shi froze: "What do you an?"
"What do I an?
How about you first explain why you vanished the instant the trial started?
I'm passionate about collecting mories, and I already recognized you before I even committed you to mory. I'd seen plenty of sketches of you, Cheng Shi.
When I noticed you and Hong Lin disappeared right after the descent, of course I wanted to know if there was any chance of running into you again—to ask where you'd gone.
Otherwise, did you think it was pure luck that the mont you finished your business and ca back, you just happened to bump into ?"
"..." 'Luck? How was anything about this lucky?'
Cheng Shi's face was a forest of black lines. The Dragon King continued:
"No—you're wrong.
Changing history was never my intent. It was rely a thod to locate you.
Return of the Past. I used Return of the Past.
I searched through layer upon layer of folded mories for traces of you and Big Cat, until finally, in one particular re-manifestation, I found you coming back.
So..."
Li Jingming glanced at his watch and sighed: "Before the trial ends, the Return of the Past will shatter first. That's when history truly gets rewritten. Though I suspect history was always predetermined—our changes are ultimately inconsequential."
The mont he finished, everyone heard a crash—the true past broke apart. The overwritten present was inscribed into new history at that very instant, becoming the familiar past everyone would know.
And so Cheng Shi watched, slack-jawed, as he beca the "hero" in the Land of Hope's historical record who rescued the "blaspher" Chernosly from the Howling Iron Prison.
'So Li Jingming hadn't deliberately tampered with history. He'd received no divine decree. It was simply his hunger for mory that drove him to use Return of the Past again and again before encountering them—and eventually, in one iteration, history shifted and he found them.'
'Damn...'
'There's no escaping it. Absolutely no escaping it!'
Cheng Shi trembled from head to toe, scalp prickling, goosebumps scattering across the floor.
He stood in awe of Existence's mystique and marveled at Void's enigma. He didn't know how many gods were contending behind the scenes of this Chaos-history drama, but he understood one thing clearly:
Ti would always close its loop—just as Fate would always arrive at its destiny.
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