Chapter 696: This Really Is the Wrong Path

That's right — Cheng Shi had activated Fate Has Divergence. He'd read Qin Xin's plan and realized: if the Torchbearer had resorted to this "skip-the-class" approach, then his claim of "no Abyss Colorful Crystal" could only be the truth.

Which meant his entire hypothesis was wrong. Time's discrepancies weren't caused by the Abyss Colorful Crystal at all. So with no second theory in sight, Cheng Shi chose at the last moment to give Qin Xin a hand.

Of course, from Cheng Shi's perspective, this wasn't exactly altruism. He also wanted to test whether the Void held Time's answer. After all, when it came to going home, he and the current Qin Xin shared the same goal.

But the instant reality shattered and everything plunged into the abyss, both Cheng Shi and Qin Xin realized they'd been wrong.

Terribly wrong!

This wasn't the Void.

Though the space they'd fallen into was equally dark, any player with Void experience could tell at a glance: this was not the Void. Because while darkness surrounded them, the "horizon" at the outer perimeter blazed with blinding white light!

Fragments of Existence — twisted and chaotic like a revolving lantern — flickered and flowed across the outermost layer of this dark space. In his shock, Qin Xin suddenly realized this might not be Void territory at all. They were still within Existence's domain — just no longer on the orderly surface of reality. They'd plummeted into the disordered, chaotic gaps between layers of Existence.

Qin Xin had never been here before. But his understanding of Memory and Existence told him this place resembled an interlayer between Existence planes. In other words: within a trial built on intersecting timelines, what they'd broken wasn't simply one world's reality — it was the outer wall of the chaotic Existence construct woven from overlapping timelines!

Forgotten by Memory. Blurred by Time!

Qin Xin panicked. He tensed his entire body, mustered his last reserves, drew his bow, and fired a rope-tethered arrow at Cheng Shi high above — apparently hoping to use Cheng Shi's higher position as an anchor to arrest his own descent, then slowly figure out how to climb back up from this Existence gap.

But why was Cheng Shi falling more slowly than Qin Xin?

Was it because without heavy armor he was lighter?

No!

It was because he wasn't falling at all!

He hadn't plummeted endlessly like Qin Xin. He was still standing inside the tunnel forged by Death, one hand gripping the pale-white Bone Gate, sensibly motionless!

And that corridor — built by Death's own hand — stood like the most indestructible fortress in a space capable of eroding Existence itself, saving Cheng Shi's life once more.

Whether it was Death's protection or the steadiness he'd learned from Mi Laozhang — both had saved him at this critical juncture!

So this gate-clutching Hero of Today had suddenly become the sole lifeline in this entire space — the only anchor point that wouldn't sink in Existence's crevice!

But Cheng Shi wasn't happy. He realized the class-skipping had failed. Destiny was right — this really was the wrong path...

So, with a face full of black lines, Cheng Shi casually caught the arrow Qin Xin had shot up, tied it to the gate, and — wearing the mantle of last-resort lifeline — engaged in a "friendly" "exchange" with the survival-seeking teammate dangling below.

He first checked his watch, noticed even the timekeeping device had frozen, then leaned out to look down at the hanging Qin Xin and said with dripping sarcasm:

"War followers really are meatheads. Your archery's fantastic — did you craft the arrowheads from your brain?"

He even tapped his own temple. "Empty up here?"

"..." Qin Xin's expression stiffened. He sighed. "I didn't anticipate His trial being this thorough. But, Fate Weaver — that final blow that broke the barrier? That wasn't me."

"?"

'Oh, so now it's my fault?'

Cheng Shi scoffed and immediately started loosening the rope tied to the gate.

Qin Xin dropped three measures. He quickly corrected himself: "You were helping me. And for that, I'm grateful."

Cheng Shi yanked the rope taut again, tied it back, and leaned out to survey the "abyss" below, grinning ear to ear: "Mr. Qin's quite the fair-weather friend. Life's kicked you around a bit, has it?"

"..." Qin Xin could feel his energy recovering at a glacial pace. He sighed in resignation: "Getting kicked around every minute of every day. I'm used to it."

"No wonder you're so bitter. So you took it all out on me?" Cheng Shi laughed in exasperation. He leaned cautiously against the gate, eyes scanning their surroundings while continuing to chat with Qin Xin.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know. But my guess is the crevice of Existence."

"Crevice of Existence? Existence has crevices?" Cheng Shi blinked.

"It does. But I've only heard rumors — never been here myself."

"Interesting. Where did you hear about it? Has your world already started researching this kind of thing?"

Research?

Qin Xin frowned slightly and shook his head:

"I wouldn't call it research. Everyone's just been forced into corners and has to explore unorthodox options.

Destiny is fickle. Time has many threads. Since Destiny can't be read, the only thing anyone can do is study Time more deeply.

I've heard that certain organizations have been researching Time for a long time. They seem to have found a method of using Time's gaps to send people into other timelines.

Whether the method exists, whether it works, whether it succeeds — I have no idea. Because the Torchbearers... don't possess it.

And we don't want to go to other people's worlds.

Cheng Shi, I can accept every accusation you've thrown at me — except that one. That one I will not and cannot accept.

Qin Xin has never wanted to carry another world's fire. What we do is protect beauty — not search for it.

Other worlds' beauty is none of our concern. Our own world must be guarded by our own hands!"

"..."

Hearing this, Cheng Shi's heart churned with mixed emotions.

The good news: this Qin Xin, despite being an eyesore, was at least a genuine man.

The bad news: his suspicion was correct. Jiang Chi had very likely arrived in his timeline through just such a Time gap — a "discrepancy."

Of course, "discrepancy" was just a label. Jiang Chi's existence meant the Faith Game's crises no longer arose solely from player-versus-player conflict, nor entirely from Them. Now there was a new threat: ambitions from anyone who coveted timelines beyond their own.

They would always find reasons — all sorts of reasons — to cross over. So what exactly had happened in Qin Xin's world?

Cheng Shi frowned, reached out to grip the rope, and — looking thoroughly disgusted — hauled Qin Xin up bit by bit.

"This so-called difficulty of carrying the fire — what caused it? What happened in your world?"

Being pulled up slowly, Qin Xin's face flickered with complexity. He gazed down at the abyss beneath his feet, a mix of five emotions churning inside him, and sighed:

"Decay fell. The balance of faith shattered. The entire world became fodder for Prosperity's rapacious consumption. The gods reignited their wars. Whether in reality or in trials — everything grew more and more dire.

The Faith Game... seems to be reaching its breaking point."

"!!??"

What?

Decay fell?

In that timeline, Decay was the one that fell?

What was going on — was He devoured by Prosperity?

But...

That doesn't make sense!

Weren't They supposed to be existences transcending the dimension of time?

If in his own world Prosperity was the one that fell, then logically, in Qin Xin's world it should also be Prosperity that fell. How could it possibly be Decay?

Where had things gone wrong?