Although Sun Miao didn't recognize the container, as the Vice President of the History School, his eye was keen enough.
He could tell the object behind the mask was at minimum an SS-rank quasi-divine artifact. His instincts even whispered that it might very well be an SSS-rank demi-divine artifact!
Combined with its influence on desire and emotion, the faith allegiance of this Servant God relic was hardly a mystery.
Sun Miao's pupils contracted. He instinctively backed two steps from Cheng Shi, but strangely, the fear in his heart seed to be slowly fading.
This was the first ti he'd taken a defensive posture against Cheng Shi, and the reason was simple: Vice President Sun clearly held [Corruption] at arm's length. This actually made Cheng Shi feel more confident that the man's earlier claims hadn't been lies. He truly was focused on gathering intelligence, not obsessing over so path to godhood.
Cheng Shi even had the sneaking suspicion that Sun Miao's so-called "only by becoming a god can I achieve my goal" ant that becoming a god would give him access to even more intelligence...
'What a gossip king.'
Seeing Sun Miao's guards go up, and wanting to prevent this sole and useful teammate from abandoning their partnership, Cheng Shi quickly gave the [Corruption] container a new na.
"Fear Heartwood. This was extracted from Le Le'er's trunk after she fell. It absorbs a person's desire and fear, along with so other emotions. After all, it's still [Corruption] in nature."
"!!!"
Hearing this, Sun Miao finally understood why Cheng Shi had feinted to conceal the fact that he'd entered that consciousness exchange. He should have known all along. The man had found an enormous boon inside that exchange, and that boon was this so-called "Fear Heartwood"!
"The Mother Tree of Fear fell? You took down the Mother Tree of Fear?!" Sun Miao asked in disbelief.
That genuinely startled Cheng Shi.
'Buddy, you can't just say things like that!'
'At most I desecrated a corpse. You can't pin the killing on .'
'Le Le'er died because [Prosperity] self-destructed, and [Prosperity] self-destructed because...'
'Hmm, that's not quite right either. Forget it. In any case, it wasn't . At least not the
of this world, right now!'
'In this abstract world, I believe it's necessary to pile on that many qualifiers for self-protection.'
The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt. So he stopped thinking and shook his head vigorously.
"I don't have the strength to face an Envoy head-on. It was Keinlaur.
He broke Le Le'er's branches, forged that giant bow with Lid Yara's blood, and then fought Le Le'er in a pitched battle. I don't know why Le Le'er was so weakened, but in any case, Keinlaur cleaved open her trunk and found this heartwood.
I rely pulled a small, insignificant trick and swapped it out of his hands.
I'll admit that at the ti, I was under [Corruption]'s influence. But I can also confirm that this heartwood doesn't amplify personal desire. It actually absorbs a person's emotions and desires.
You should be able to sense the change in yourself. And the fact that I can discuss all this with you so calmly proves it's affecting , too.
So, Vice President Sun, put your heart back in your chest. I have no interest in you. I pulled this out in order to..."
"Fish!" Sun Miao blurted.
There was no denying it. The wise n of [Folly] were simply overpowered.
The instant Sun Miao heard Cheng Shi's explanation, he guessed Cheng Shi's plan. In a rare gesture, he lowered his upturned nostrils and looked Cheng Shi square in the eye.
"A great reputation is never undeserved. I've never believed that pure brute force alone can push anyone's fa this high.
Indeed, your wisdom is worthy of [Folly]'s gaze."
"..."
Coming from a [Folly] believer, that was high praise, but it still felt a bit... off.
'So no matter how smart soone else is, the best they can hope for is to be on equal footing with the wise n? Is that it?'
Cheng Shi pursed his lips, not entirely appreciative. He countered: "And what about Big... uh, Hong Lin?"
"..."
Now Sun Miao had nothing to say. His eyelid twitched, and he explained with a rigidly straight face:
"Whether it's an experint or an observation, there are always uncertain special variables. One can't generalize. Clearly, Hong Lin is one such special variable in this theory.
But across the entire peak circle, she's the only such anomaly, isn't she?"
Cheng Shi nodded, barely stifling his laughter:
"Got it. So you're calling her dumb, and saying she's the only dumb one in the peak circle. Noted. I'll be sure to tell her next ti.
Wise man, may you fare well."
"???"
Sun Miao should have panicked, but under the [Corruption] container's influence, he couldn't feel a shred of fear.
He gazed thoughtfully at the mask, catching a glimpse of the shifting radiance behind it through the cracks. With sothing like admiration, he remarked:
"This heartwood's effect is truly remarkable. I clearly know I should approach everything with awe, yet I can't feel any of it right now.
But Vice President Cheng, I should warn you: when it absorbs your desire and emotion for no apparent reason, even if you feel no fear, keep your guard up. Because you don't know what [Corruption] is using it for.
What if — and I'm just saying what if — it's the key to Le Le'er's resurrection? Then every emotion and desire it's absorbed will beco an inextricable karmic link between you and the Mother Tree of Fear."
Perhaps because desire had been stripped away, Sun Miao's words rang unusually sincere. Cheng Shi blinked, thinking the concern was unnecessary since the absorbed desires and emotions would all drip down and condense into [Corruption]'s divinity. But he appreciated the sentint all the sa. At the very least, it ant the Vice President genuinely "cared" about him — or at least about the intelligence on his person.
'Well, that's good enough.'
'In this world, nobody treats anyone with total selflessness.'
'Except Big Cat.'
Seeing Cheng Shi nod repeatedly, Sun Miao knew the ssage had landed. He dropped the unwelco counselor routine and began seriously considering how to turn this Fear Heartwood into bait for Du Qiyu.
Bait, indeed.
Cheng Shi's reason for pulling this out was to go fishing.
If Xiao Qi's condition was truly as Sun Miao described — forced to fragnt his power and intelligence across his tad beasts to manage uncontrollable emotions — then the [Corruption] container in Cheng Shi's hand would be the single most attractive object in the world for Xiao Qi.
With it, Xiao Qi would no longer need to divide his strength to control his emotions. He could reclaim all his power and beco the true Beast Tar Xie Yang had described — one that was genuinely difficult to deal with.
For certain players who obsessively chased power in this ga, that temptation was irresistible. All they had to do was let the word out, and the current wild-goose chase would reverse itself. Instead of the two of them hunting Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi would co to them.
After that, once they dealt with Xiao Qi, the trial would return to its proper course.
The only question was: how to let Xiao Qi know Cheng Shi possessed such a thing?
"The exposure has to feel completely natural. Given his level of vigilance, the Beast Tar won't deliberately approach a tool that's been obviously dangled in front of him, no matter how useful it is.
So the key right now is using this prize you swiped by passing it off, applying it on this battlefield in a way that feels entirely reasonable and justified."
Sun Miao frowned, thinking hard. He didn't seem to have found the perfect idea yet.
anwhile, Cheng Shi, fear stripped clean away, simply smiled at ease. He'd already had a complete plan in mind for a while now. And the first step of that plan was...
Kill himself first.
...
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