Chapter 1321: The True Predetermination

The True Predetermination

There is, but can we really say it?

The crowd exchanged glances, looking at one another. Li Li Jingming pondered for a moment, then said in a low, firm voice:

"The Bone Bell... did you ring it?

To desecrate the gods so brazenly—are you certain They won't find out?"

Cheng Shi shook his head, took out the Bone Bell and tossed it onto the ground. Under the stunned gazes of the Jesters, he laughed:

"No need to ring it again.

This isn't the blessing of 【Death】—it's a trick played by the God of Entertainment.

He deceived Old Zhang, preaching salvation through lies, letting Old Zhang use that to keep us in the dark. So all the criticisms we'd hurled at Him before were already heard by that 'sinister and vicious' god.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we're talking the crime of blasphemy, none of you can escape it."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Seeing the atmosphere stall, Cheng Shi laughed again: "But don't worry—even if blasphemy deserves death, the one to die first will definitely be me. With me standing in front of you, what is there still to fear?"

Zhen Xin blinked and snorted:

"That may not be true.

How much attention 【Void】 has cast upon you, every one of us knows. They may not be willing to let you die, but They can certainly let us die."

"..."

That line left Cheng Shi speechless, because what Zhen Xin said was true—he couldn't refute it.

And he had already experienced it firsthand: several of them had fallen right beside him, their corpses piled into the road leading to Predetermination.

Thinking of so many friends dying because of him, a flicker of grief passed through Cheng Shi's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. He forced a smile and said to the crowd:

"This time it won't happen. I'll stand in front of everyone."

"?"

That sounded strange—nothing like the Weaver of Fate who only ever shielded everyone behind him. But before they heard the Weaver of Fate speak of the curtain falling on the false era, they couldn't be sure what had suddenly stirred such an emotional surge in Cheng Shi.

So the Jesters continued to listen patiently.

"We're going to play our hand openly—and an open hand that, within the rules, none of the gods can refuse.

The 【Covenant】 is rigid to the extreme; it's the best means for us to seize divine authority. As mortals, if we die, we die and leave nothing behind. But if we become gods, the 【Covenant】 will shield us—at the very least, when we die, we can leave behind a sliver of hope for others..."

This was the truth Cheng Shi had grasped from Qin Xin's death. He had finally come to understand that spirit of "the deed need not be accomplished by me"—the spirit of passing on the torch.

But he felt that spirit was too tragic. Perhaps the deed could be accomplished by him too, so long as the scheme was laid out properly, so long as the Faction of Fear still stood on their side...

Cheng Shi's thoughts churned. He sighed and said:

"Enough of empty talk. Let's get practical.

Everyone should still remember the Predetermination of 【Fate】. President Gong once said that the Creator is searching for a successful 'sample' within His experiment, and the key to judging whether that sample succeeds or not is Predetermination.

Now I've found that Predetermination."

The Jesters didn't seem surprised. They looked at Cheng Shi and said in unison:

"You?"

"You? Praise Fool's Play."

Cheng Shi laughed self-deprecatingly:

"That's right. Me again.

Actually, a long time ago, when I returned to the path of 【Fate】, 【Fate】 kept emphasizing Predetermination in my ear. Until later, when I pierced through 【Void】, Predetermination became like a shackle, locked tight upon me.

I was lost, confused, afraid—but I never knew what Predetermination was. Because of that, I grew more resistant to 【Fate】 and gradually drew closer to the God of Entertainment.

After that, under the God of Entertainment's protection, I moved among the gods, learning Their pasts, feeling Their wills, uncovering the truth of history, perceiving the true intent of 【Void】. It was then I realized that the so-called Predetermination was simply an offering 【Fate】 had crafted for 【Origin】.

And I, honored, am that offering.

【Fate】's devotion in crafting the offering was inscribed into His will the moment He descended into the world. Combined with the fact that the cosmos is merely an experiment, I can't help but understand this will as essentially an instruction manual for the experiment, coming from the will of 【Origin】.

He tells 【Fate】 what He needs, and the devout 【Fate】 will craft for the Creator a divine throne He desires!

You may not believe it when I say it, but I—a mere mortal—was chosen just like that, to become the adhesive for this divine throne!

Ha, funny, isn't it? Go ahead and laugh."

No one in the room could laugh.

Although Cheng Shi kept narrating everything in a self-mocking tone, the unbearable weight he bore was something every Jester could feel in their own bones.

The crowd only felt it was absurd. A mortal—how could he possibly glue together a divine throne the Creator needed?

In that flesh-and-blood body, what part looked like adhesive?

But there really was one!

Blood......

Perhaps only that hot blood in his chest could glue the divine throne together.

But then again, wasn't the Creator's demand a little too absurd?

He sits high above the true cosmos, manipulating everything above billions of sliced universes—why on earth would He need 【Fate】 to craft a divine throne for Him?

What kind of divine throne is that? Is it His own divine throne, or merely a "toy" that closely resembles the divine throne of 【Origin】?

Whether the former or the latter, for the Jesters of this moment, it was hard to comprehend—and deeply absurd.

If what the Creator wanted to craft was the 【Origin】 divine throne that belonged to Him, that would mean He currently has no divine throne. But a He without a divine throne could never possibly control the living beings of the universe!

Fine—even if He doesn't have one, could the "lesser gods" He personally created piece together a divine throne for the Creator?

Obviously not, right!?

So what if what 【*It】 wants is merely a "sacrificial toy" that perfectly resembles the 【Origin】 divine throne......

Ha, has this world gone mad?

A Creator, who built such a grand cosmic experiment, all just to find a satisfactory "toy" from among billions of sliced universes?

So this isn't an experiment at all, but a toy factory erected atop billions of sliced universes!?

"......"

Sometimes seeking the truth of the universe is just like this — the more you think about it, the more everything seems utterly meaningless.

Seeing the clowns each knit their brows in confusion, Cheng Shi steadied his own emotions and laughed again:

"Now comes the moment of revelation.

I know you're all curious what that divine throne 【Fate】 wants to forge looks like.

As it happens, I've seen it."

"!!??"

"You've seen it!?"

At this, no one could remain calm.

Cheng Shi's smile grew ever more uncanny. "That's right — not only have I seen it, I've even...... brought it back!"

Having said that, Cheng Shi flung the fragment of the divine throne — never before shown to anyone, brought back from the gods' corpse field — right before the clowns' eyes, and flung it precisely beneath the long lamp forged from 【Fraud】's tombstone.

It was called a divine throne puzzle, but in truth it was nothing but chunks of god-flesh. The instant the dim yellow lamplight spilled over that divine corpse......

"Hiss—"

Everyone present felt only a tingling of their scalp and a trembling through their entire bodies.

"This is......"

"An unexpected find.

The souvenir I brought back from the gods' corpse pit is most likely what I spoke of as the inevitable — the very thing 【Fate】 has been forging since Its descent into the world.

It's just that It could only draw materials from our world, while this divine throne has gathered who knows how many divine corpses from sliced universes.

As for whether it even contains the remains of gods from our world......"

Cheng Shi looked at those frozen dim stars within the divine throne fragment, and once again recalled the despairing words spoken by the outer god 【Fate】 during the false finale:

"Your benefactor's corpse really is useful......"

If the finale was merely an illusion, if 【Fraud】 was not an outer god, then which world's It was it that died in the homeless true universe......