Chapter 15: The trial has been settled early

The trial has been settled early.

"Based on some information compiled by the big shots in the Mage channel and cross-referenced with what I saw and gained during the trial, some facts can be confirmed:

The Continent of Hope should be the largest continent in the 【Land of Trials】.

Many countries and factions have risen and fallen on the surface of this land. Among the most well-known, and those that occupied the largest share during the trial's background period, should be the several large god-worshipping factions whose rule spanned thousands of years.

These include the 'Natural Alliance' that worships the 【Life】 path, the 'Grand Court of Judgment' that believes in 【Order】, the 'Tower of Reason' that pursues 【Truth】, and the '【War】 Nation' that was born from the chaos of war in the late 【Civilization Era】.

And the skeleton army's invasion of the Continent of Hope occurred during the continental war period in the late 【Civilization Era】.

Forced by the approach of the underground forces, the three factions that were locked in mutual conflict joined hands once again to face the outside world together.

The location we are in, Dense Forest County, is exactly within the territory of the 'Grand Court of Judgment,' the administrative county closest to the entrance to the underground world, the 【Abyssal Volcano】."

Along this journey, Cao Sansui had been methodically recounting the history of the Continent of Hope to Cheng Shi. After hearing all this, Cheng Shi finally had a rough understanding of the Continent of Hope.

"The distribution of underground forces is rather complex. Since I am not a follower of the 【Sinking】 and 【Chaos】 paths, I don't know much about this part of the information.

And..."

Cao Sansui looked at Nangong and said meaningfully, "Players of these paths generally don't like to share relevant information."

Nangong was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said:

"Sorry, my score is too low, I don't pay much attention to these."

Cao Sansui shook his head: "There's nothing to be sorry about. The Faith Game has descended, and everyone is risking their lives inside. Just staying alive is already not easy. Not everyone is... sigh, forget it, I won't say anymore.

The direction is correct. Ahead is Blizzard Mountain. There are very few tribes settled near the mountain range, mostly nomadic people who pose no threat. We can find a remote place to wait for the trial to end.

Cheng Shi is right. After the baptism of blood and fire, the trial is no longer dangerous. This also conforms to the consistent style of 【War】!"

Chen Chong was still leading the way at the very front. He still hadn't let his guard down, even though 7 hours had passed since they left the Fire Rain territory, and 3 hours remained until the end of the trial.

"Be careful. Who knows if there might be a 'song' that hasn't appeared yet at the end of the Song of Blood and Fire?"

Upon hearing this, the group paused for a moment, and then laughter gradually began to rustle.

Song Yawen said happily:

"This isn't a trial of 【Deception】, it shouldn't be, but..."

He turned around solemnly, looked at Cheng Shi, and said:

"I'm really grateful to you, Brother Cheng. If it weren't for you, we might already be gone."

This was the truth. Everyone looked at Cheng Shi with gratitude in their eyes, even though they didn't know exactly how he had saved everyone.

But such is the world today. Every high-end player has secrets, and no one is willing to overly pry into the trump cards of a big shot.

Cheng Shi was slightly embarrassed. As for the Fear Demon, he had indeed put in effort, but the subsequent fire rain...

He secretly squeezed the dice in his hand, just smiled slightly, and didn't speak.

"Let's set up camp. Right here. The surrounding visibility is good, and we can provide early warning. Let's set up a coffin camp."

The group walked and stopped. When they reached a small mound, Chen Chong stopped, took out his shield-sword, and began to dig the soil.

The others weren't idle either, taking out tools from their portable spaces to help.

Generally speaking, when encountering a survival-type trial, as long as the trial location is on the surface and not in the middle of a battle, players will dig a deep hole on the surface, like ants building a nest, and hollow out a space underneath to set up camp.

Because it looks like a tomb, it is jokingly called a coffin camp, mainly to avoid dangers on the surface.

As for the threat from the underground, there is no need to pay attention to it, because the actual 【Underground World】 cannot be reached by digging soil. If one must say, that place is more like another independent space.

Rather than considering how to avoid threats from the underground, it is better to think about how to keep the coffin camp from collapsing.

The group dug very quickly. Just as the twilight of the sun disappeared, the group had already moved into the underground space and took out various foods to replenish their energy.

Everything everyone took out was light and filling. Song Yawen and Cao Sansui even took out hot noodle soup, highlighting a feast for the eyes and palate.

Only Cheng Shi, in front of everyone, silently took out a piece of finger bread, plus a bottle of tentacle mucus drink.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The moment the mucus went down their throats with a gurgle, everyone fell silent.

Song Yawen retched a few times, covered his mouth, and said:

"I now feel that Brother Cheng might indeed not be a God-Chosen..."

Nangong frowned again and again, broke half of the beef patty in his hand, and handed it over.

Cheng Shi looked at the half patty, took it without hesitation, and thanked him: "This is so embarrassing."

"You... haven't you done any food dungeons recently? Why don't you drink... cola?"

"Ah?" Cheng Shi answered while eating, "I did. This finger bread is fresh, produced just yesterday."

"..."

Cao Sansui looked incredulous: "You have 2000 points, and you like to eat this?"

"? Who told you I have 2000 points? I have 1501."

"..."

Chen Chong laughed helplessly twice: "Lying to each other about a ladder score, Cheng Shi, could it be that you are..."

Before he could finish speaking, a violent spatial fluctuation exploded on everyone.

Everyone's body shook. They looked at each other in disbelief, their eyes wide open.

This feeling was too familiar; it was the signal that the trial had ended.

"How can this be? It's only been 23 hours!?"

Cao Sansui took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, confirming that the time he had anchored was not wrong. It had indeed only been 23 hours, with exactly 1 hour remaining.

The group was also stunned. This had never happened in previous trials.

But everyone was not excited because the trial ended early; instead, they frowned deeply.

Change means risk.

No one could determine whether ending the trial early was good or bad.

But these things were not something players could decide. Just as everyone wanted to say a few more words, the six figures dissipated one after another, leaving only the food in their hands, which fell to the ground with a "thud."

Looking at the food falling to the ground, Cheng Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he felt inexplicably heartbroken.

"Damn, my 【Dead Man's Disdain】 and 【Prosperity of the Past】, they haven't compensated me yet!"

【Special Trial (Song of Blood and Fire 【War】) challenge successful】

【Calculating score and settling rewards...】

【Player: Cheng Shi, performance score: S】

【Obtained item: Sarcastic Mask (B) x1】

【Obtained item: Doubt Mask (A) x1】

【Obtained item: Gratitude Mask (A) x1】

【Obtained item: Satisfaction Mask (S) x1】

【Obtained item: Desire Mask (B) x1】

【Path to Godhood +12】

【Ladder of Audience +2】

【Current Path to Godhood score: 2116, global ranking: 471998】

【Current Ladder of Audience score: 158, path ranking: 69】

【Trial cleared, exiting soon】

His vision turned black again. When Cheng Shi opened his eyes, he had returned to the roof. He looked across, only to find the young man surnamed Xie lying on the edge of the roof covered in blood, happening to look at him.

Regardless of how many days a special trial lasts, the end time for everyone is unified, just as the time to enter the trial is unified.

Cheng Shi looked at his miserable appearance and expressed appropriate sympathy.

"Brother, you have strength, surviving another 7 days."

The young man surnamed Xie nodded silently, fear still lingering on his face.

It seemed his trial hadn't been easy either.

Speaking of which, his own trial didn't seem easy either.

Cheng Shi suddenly thought of something and hurriedly glanced at the global survival count.

【Current global believer count: 7211293956】

!!!

1 billion people died!

In the past, a special trial would be considered a lot if tens of millions died. This time, 1 billion people were gone at once!?

They... accelerated.

A trace of fear and powerlessness rose in Cheng Shi's heart. He looked at the warehouse he had built on the roof, touched the air wall in front of him, and laughed at himself.

"Players? Just playthings."

Originally, if there were no accidents, he and his teammates should have been among the 1 billion people eliminated. But why did the meteorite fire rain spare them?

Could it be because...

Cheng Shi took out the pale dice from his arms.

This was the 【Gods】 token he chose himself during the path selection, a die that could only roll a 1.

But he later learned in various trials that the bone-faced dice should have been the token of 【Fate】, and it could roll any side. But what was this of his?

And these rewarded masks...

He walked quickly into the warehouse, opened a special door, looked at the rows of white masks on the acrylic display cabinet, and fell into deep thought again.

Flattery, fawning, disdain, praise, indifference, resentment... dozens of masks were arranged in rows, each with a different expression.

But their shapes were so similar, just a snow-white face plus a pair of vivid eye holes.

It wasn't that Cheng Shi hadn't tried putting these masks on his face, but it was completely useless, and they didn't even fit well.

"Ever since I got that talent, special trials haven't given any other reward items. What exactly are these masks for?"

Cheng Shi sighed and looked at his player panel in confusion.

【Cheng Shi, male, 22 years old】

【Path: Nothingness】

【Faith: Deception】

【Profession: Priest】

【Path to Godhood: 2116, global ranking: 471998】

【Ladder of Audience: 158, path ranking: 69】

【Talent:

Lie Like Yesterday (SS): Deception faith talent, active, your faith will be temporarily replaced by the faith of the last believer you deceived.

Deception Master (S): Deception faith talent, passive, your lies are more easily believed by others. Unless the target being deceived encounters a cognitive contradiction, they cannot discover your deception methods, and you can perceive all deception methods other than your own.

Offering to Nothingness (S): Deception faith talent, active, when an item you fabricated does not exist but is widely acknowledged by others to exist, the item exists.

All Living Things (S): Deception faith talent, passive, non-solo trial rewards will be replaced by the special item 【Mask of All Living Things】, and this talent cannot be replaced by other talents.

Bathed in Divine Grace (S): Priest profession talent, active, healing targets of the same species will produce a healing transmission effect. For every additional target, the healing effect and healing range expand by one level.

...】

【Item:

Dice of Fate (Fixed) (S): You can never change the fate of this die.

Lips of Foolish Play (Fusion) (S): It likes to lie, whether you like it or not; it likes to deceive people, including you.

Mask of All Living Things (SABC): A thousand people, one face; a thousand faces, one person. Quantity: 47.

Prosperity of the Past (A): Healing potion, searched for in memory, tracing back and restoring to the most prosperous state of the past. Quantity: 93.

...】

【Skill:

Basic Healing, Healing Chain, Light of Healing, Calmness, Hypnosis, Curse Removal, Resistance Shield, Prayer of Holy Light...

】 ===== CHAPTER 16 =====