Chapter 1062: The Mortals' Experiment Is Over — The Gods' Has Only Just Begun |
When the heart dies, the lamp goes out. When the person dies, the path fades.
The Ritual of Truth was indeed grinding everything away — disassembling the fuel it had marked and feeding it all into that brilliant nebula, stockpiling power for the next experiment.
Cheng Shi's form slowly crumbled away within the experiment. From feet to head, from limbs to features — in moments, all that remained was a mouth. And yet even that last mouth still curved upward in that final instant.
Nobody in their right mind could have managed a smile at a time like this. So why was Cheng Shi still smiling?
Because...
[Birth]!
Don't forget — Hu Xuan had planted a Pregnancy Rhythm on Cheng Shi's arm. So long as [Birth] was also part of this divine clash, he could always revive through [Birth]'s power and return to the world.
So in life's final second, he was waiting for a miracle — a miracle belonging to [Birth]. He'd experienced one before, and as it turned out, where there was a first, there would be a second.
In the instant those last lips were about to dissipate, a surge of [Birth]'s revival power erupted, pushing back against [Truth]'s erosion and reclaiming Cheng Shi's flesh.
But the revival's power had its limits. Once the Pregnancy Rhythm exhausted every drop of its strength, Cheng Shi's smile froze — then inverted in an instant, the triumphant smirk collapsing into helpless panic.
[Birth] could give him a second life, but not a third. [Truth]'s erosion continued. After reopening his eyes, the Pregnancy Rhythm had merely postponed his death by a few more minutes.
"Damn..."
When death loomed close, even the dying cursed.
Cheng Shi was losing his mind. He scraped together the last dregs of his strength, struggled to snap his fingers, and warped himself back to Hu Xuan's side — hoping to buy time by spamming Pregnancy Rhythm reapplications like exploiting a bug, stalling until his Benefactors could break free from the divine standoff to save him.
He also knew Fang Yuan was with Hu Xuan. That loophole-exploiting [Order] follower might just find some gap in the rules to keep everyone alive.
And sure enough — Cheng Shi guessed right. Fang Yuan was indeed protecting the group. Though his method was rather creative.
When Cheng Shi dragged himself to the group, all five were unscathed — in far better shape than he was.
He was astonished. But what shocked him even more wasn't their condition — it was the utterly absurd scene before him.
Three identical pudgy figures were tearing pages from the books in their hands and shouting: "Experimentation-based displacement is prohibited in this area!" It was this [Order] power that had held off [Truth]'s erosion, keeping their bodies intact.
As for why there were three identical pudgy men — that wasn't Fang Yuan's doing. It was the work of Meng Youfang, standing behind him pale as a ghost but grimly holding on. The God Worship Society president had summoned two copies of "Fang Yuan" in one breath, and all three were barely fending off the Ritual of Truth's decomposition with their combined [Order] power.
Behind Meng Youfang were Chen Yi and Wei Zhi, currently locked in a wide-eyed staring contest over Hu Xuan at their feet, utterly baffled.
Because Hu Xuan was going into labor.
"!!??"
Could you even imagine the scene these people had assembled? When Cheng Shi beheld it, his brain short-circuited — so thoroughly that he nearly forgot he was dying.
Hu Xuan's belly was swollen larger than the blood moon over Far Dusk Town.
'Lady — we seriously have to pick now!?'
'Does a baby born during a crisis develop a stronger sense of crisis or something!?'
'This is insane! [Birth] doesn't seem like the impatient type! Who did you inherit this urgency from!?'
The weakened Cheng Shi materialized and immediately crumpled to his knees. Seeing his brother arrive, Meng Youfang's flagging spirit surged. He blurted out:
"Brother — [Truth] actually dared attack me! Is It trying to reconstruct a new god out of my body!?"
"..."
Nearby, Chen Yi's face was iron-green: "Hold on a little longer. He won't abandon me."
Fang Yuan was drenched in sweat and couldn't spare the breath to reply. Wei Zhi eyed the others with a shifting gaze and let out a contemptuous snort:
"A ragtag mob. Nothing more."
"..."
Cheng Shi gritted his teeth, stood up, shoved Wei Zhi aside with a "you want to do it yourself?", and staggered over to Hu Xuan's side before collapsing again. He knew it was terrible timing, but what else could he do? He was the only Priest present — someone had to deliver the baby.
Besides — this was one job he had experience with.
Looking at Hu Xuan, nearly unconscious from pain, his brow furrowed. He realized this birth was nothing as simple as he'd assumed.
For a Life Sage who gestated endlessly, a difficult delivery meant something extraordinary. Could she be ascending in status right now?
Was the true Eternal Sun about to be born?
A jolt of electricity ran through Cheng Shi. He immediately drew his scalpel.
This one was good! This one had to be delivered!
Everyone's salvation might depend on the Sage's labor!
But [Truth]'s erosion had truly drained him. He held the scalpel to Hu Xuan's swollen belly and traced back and forth without managing a single incision. In the end, Wei Zhi snatched the scalpel from his hand and gave a mildly disdainful huff:
"I'll do it. Where do I cut?"
Cheng Shi's eyelids were growing heavy. He removed his mask, cast a group-wide Healing on everyone under shared divine grace, then pointed at Hu Xuan's belly:
"Cut hard. As long as you can break through, any technique is fine.
The Cheng Method of Delivery prioritizes one thing — going with the flow."
The words had barely left his mouth when — sshk! — Chen Yi plunged his dagger into Hu Xuan's stomach.
The next second, Hu Xuan vanished.
She'd been banished into the past by Chen Yi. Only the "fetus" wrapped in amniotic membrane hung suspended in midair for a moment before crashing down in a splash of fluid beside Cheng Shi.
'Wait — you...'
Cheng Shi was about to curse when his gaze locked onto the infant — because this "boy" was rather too well-developed. Why was he so tall?
Hold on — wait!!!
Why was it a grown man!?
Where was his Sage!?
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Everything Cheng Shi experienced, the gods were experiencing too.
[Fate] was dead set on dragging the universe down with it, forcing every god present to set aside their differences and jointly prop up the fragile universe.
Only [Truth] stood motionless, watching [Fate]'s rampage. Pages turned lazily. Perfectly calm.
It didn't seem afraid of the universe collapsing. No — the rather cheerful tempo of Its page-turning suggested It was actually looking forward to [Fate]'s divergence.
[Deceit] gazed at [Truth] with inscrutable eyes.
[Folly], behind It, snorted a laugh and shook Its head:
"The end of one foolish act is often the beginning of another.
[Truth]'s experiment is about to start. How do you intend to shut the gods' mouths, [Deceit]?"
"?" [Deceit] glanced back at [Folly] and returned the snort. "I'll chop you into stuffing, wrap you into dumplings, and stuff them down their throats. Does that method satisfy you?"
With that, [Deceit] actually released Its hold on the universe and attacked [Folly] directly.
[Folly]'s eyes sharpened. It vanished on the spot. And the universe, robbed of two gods' support, plummeted — spider-web cracks racing across it, teetering on the brink of collapsing into the void and total annihilation.
And in that exact moment, within the Trial — completely oblivious, desperately trying to survive — Cheng Shi activated Time Has Path.
Every solemn-faced god was preparing to invoke their authority and summon the Convention to collectively save the world — when [Fate] suddenly stopped, as though its madness had been cured.
It steered the divergence back onto the proper road and ceased dragging the universe toward its funeral.
For a moment, the gods stared at each other, expressions varied.
And at the same instant, [Birth] — unable to bear the commotion any longer — sent a thread of divine power toward the Trial and spoke:
"Child — live —
Birth — continues —"
The gods followed Its gaze, finally piercing through [Truth]'s obstructions to see everything happening within the Trial. They furrowed their brows in unison. [Deceit], seeing Its clown was still alive, rolled Its eyes and casually "translated" — or rather, reinterpreted — [Birth]'s words for [Truth]:
"Hear that, Bookworm? The Boss says: release my follower. Otherwise, the Boss will keep slapping you around."
"..."
That was decidedly not what [Birth] had meant. But the gods understood It wanted to protect Its child, so they turned their collective gaze on [Truth] — waiting to see how this second god of [Civilization], who'd stirred up such a monumental mess, intended to wrap things up.
The Starlight Canon flipped its pages faster. [Truth] gave a casual smile:
"Relax. The Trial is about to end. Their preliminary experiment was a great success.
Next... it's my turn to take over."
"!!!"
The words had barely fallen when the void changed color.
...