Silence reclaid the scene. Only after a long mont, once Long Jing had digested everything he'd received from Cheng Shi, did he raise his head again and tentatively ask:
"My lord, the deduction of Ti — was it real, or false?"
Real or false?
Good question.
Cheng Shi let out a bittersweet laugh, unsure how to answer.
'If even the world beneath our feet is fake, what does the truth or falsehood of a deduction even matter?'
'But even if worlds aren't truly worlds, the people in each one are so real. Long Jing, Qin Xin... even the Blind One, who ca to this world and stood before . I can't deny their existence or dismiss their aning.'
'So Existence... perhaps it has already fused with Void.'
As Cheng Shi, having such sentints was perfectly fine. But as a follower of Ti — Lord Shi Zhen could never voice them.
So Cheng Shi composed himself and smiled.
"I appreciate that you are awed by Ti's divine magnificence. But mortal, your words border on blasphemy.
As a Void walker, it's not wrong to consider the illusory. But you should look at where you're standing. This is not Void's emptiness — this is Existence's starfield.
My Lord is also of Existence. Therefore, the deductive power that flows from Him is, by nature, also Existence.
So — do you understand?"
Cheng Shi was subtly telling Long Jing that regardless of what he'd heard from another version of himself, the stories might differ from world to world — but that other world was absolutely real.
As for whether Long Jing understood... the Acrobat was conflicted. He was conflicted about whether he should understand.
He was soone who'd been forced to grow up alone from a young age, gradually developing independent judgnt in a complex environnt. He'd used flattery to navigate the powerful, disguises to blend in among peers — hedging his bets, doing well enough for himself.
At every major crossroads, his sharp judgnt had allowed him to make choices in his own interest. But this ti...
If he believed what the weathered Cheng Shi had said, then everything he saw was an illusion. The world couldn't be called a world. Ti, himself, deception, the past — all of it was fake.
But the problem was, Lord Shi Zhen still wanted him to believe the deduction...
'My lord, Cheng Shi was the illusion inside the deduction. If I believe him, wouldn't that make You the fake one?'
'Fine — suppose I do believe, suppose I accept that everything I see is fake. Didn't Cheng Shi's point basically amount to: I still have to fight for this fake world anyway?'
So in the end, no matter how many worlds there were, no matter how different the universes — every world's inhabitants could only firmly believe they were the sole reality, then struggle forward to turn the "false" into "true."
This was also where Long Jing felt lost. He never considered himself a "savior." The world's rot had nothing to do with him. When fate had abandoned his parents, the world hadn't shown him any kindness — so why should he help now that the world had problems?
Long Jing was cunning, but so of his values remained simple and traditional: you treat
well, I treat you well; you try to cheat , I cheat you right back.
Before today, his only plan regarding Cheng Shi had been to cheat right back. But after receiving the weathered Cheng Shi's "gift," Long Jing was lost.
He didn't want his "rival" becoming his "benefactor." That feeling of rejection burned even more fiercely than any bewildering call to save the world.
A young man's pride naturally bristled against defeat. Now his opponent had suddenly earned his goodwill through what felt like "cheating," and Long Jing couldn't wrap his head around it.
But his instinct for self-preservation kept the frustration from showing. He remained respectfully bowed at Lord Shi Zhen's side, awaiting the response to his faith fusion prayer.
Now he was even more determined to fuse Ti. Only through fusion would he gain the strength and ans to investigate everything the weathered Cheng Shi had told him — to approach the truth of this world. After all, the man had said: the answer might just be Ti!
Long Jing wasn't the only one waiting. Cheng Shi was too.
He knew perfectly well that he was a fraud, a fiction conjured from thin air. He naturally had no power to grant Long Jing a second faith. So he was waiting for the Fun God's reaction.
Don't forget — this was also Cheng Shi's way of probing the Fun God. He wanted to know how much of Ti's power the god had actually claid.
And the next second, He seed to give the answer.
The enormous pointer — draped with countless smaller dials of varying sizes — swept toward the center once more. With a crisp "click," it declared this audience concluded and witnessed the beginning of a faith fusion.
He had bestowed His faith!
A strand of twisted ti descended from the tip of that colossal pointer, drifting down before Cheng Shi. Under his slightly bewildered gaze, it crystallized into a pointer sword brimming with Ti's power.
Seeing what was clearly the Fun God's intention — to use his hands to gift Long Jing a Pointer Knight weapon — Cheng Shi nearly switched to his "Greedy Cheng Shi" identity and stashed the sword in his personal space.
But he didn't.
Not because reason had conquered greed, but because he'd been preemptively countered.
Long Jing's fusion wasn't complete yet. The Acrobat was still just an Acrobat. Although Ti's energy was surging toward him from the platform, it was as if it lacked a key — never pushing open the door of Deceit.
As for why the key was...
Cheng Shi looked at the pointer sword in his hand. His eyelid twitched violently.
'Seriously, Benefactor? You need to guard against
this hard?'
'Do I look like the kind of person who'd embezzle another employee's benefits?'
Cheng Shi was furious. He felt he'd been sla— seen right through.
And so, seething with indignation, he flung the sword to Long Jing. The mont the Acrobat — overjoyed yet nervous — took the pointer sword in hand, Void and Existence beca one once more.
Deceit had fused with Ti yet again.
From this point on, the Acrobat performing on stage had gained a new prop: a sword that could rewind the mont.
"Just like that... it's done?"
Long Jing could hardly believe it. Today had gone too smoothly.
Even before learning about the friction between Lord Yu Xi and Lord Shi Zhen, he'd never thought a single audience would yield a second faith. After all, Ti was just his aspiration — he'd thought himself still a long way from drawing close.
But now... whether it was Lord Yu Xi's foresight or Ti's boundless generosity, the fact was, he'd actually fused faiths. He'd beco a...
'Er — "Acrobat Knight" sounds terrible. "Pointer Perforr"... that's tolerable, I guess. I've actually beco a Pointer Perforr!'
"Praise Ti!"
No matter how much deceit lay behind the gift, one thing was certain this instant — Long Jing's joy was genuine.
And watching Long Jing's elation, Cheng Shi felt deeply moved as well. He bore no deep grudge against the man. Under the influence of their counterparts in another world, all he could do was sigh: 'May his future — and his eyes — be brighter than the other Long Jing's.'
'Also — the one you should be praising isn't Ti. It's Deceit.'
'Because He has already paved the road ahead for His followers.'
...
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