Chapter 80

The Next Day: The Day of Descent

After twenty-four hours of taut nerves and a brush with death, everyone’s bodies were utterly exhausted.

Especially the pink-haired girl, a follower of [Prosperity], whose spiritual energy had been sustained for so long without any food—her mind was already drained.

So after a brief rest, they immediately began searching for food.

Zhao Qian suggested that, for safety, they search together.

But before Su Yi could speak, Cheng Shi firmly rejected the proposal, with only one reason:

Too inefficient, not enough time.

Of course, that wasn’t the main reason—he was thinking that if everyone gathered, how could Su Yi conjure food for Tao Yi?

Whether Tao Yi ate well or not directly affected everyone’s chances of survival.

Well, fine, it affected Cheng Shi’s survival chances.

After all, she was one of only three teammates who might help him.

The other two were Kid Brother and Old Man Brother.

So far, this pink-haired girl still seemed reliable, both in practicality and trustworthiness.

Since Cheng Shi had genuinely saved everyone’s life, his words carried weight.

Zhao Qian reluctantly accepted his suggestion but urged everyone not to stray far, ideally staying within sight of each other.

Su Yi casually glanced at Cheng Shi, then jumped straight into the water.

As expected, soon after, he returned with the most “abundant” haul of food.

An edible tree trunk found by chance, a “bread” fruit peeled with great effort, an unexpected discovery of unknown bird eggs...

Cheng Shi “stared” at these things he couldn’t see, and his mind felt weary.

How many brain cells had this teammate burned to make his story convincing?

Had he spent these two hours hiding underwater thinking up excuses?

Isn’t that exhausting?

As for himself, since he couldn’t get any of these delicacies, he’d eat what he was used to.

The sea surface was littered with the carcasses of unknown giant beasts; aside from the corpse of the Void-Whisked Swine, which emitted a void-pulling force too dangerous to approach, the others were easy to harvest—just slice off two chunks of meat from the wounds, and it would fill the stomach.

Others had considered this easiest source of food, but the texture after roasting the giant beast meat...

How to put it? Hard to describe.

Texture like shit, taste even worse.

One bite, two vomits—no energy gained, just stomach acid returned, a net loss.

But Cheng Shi had no choice.

He didn’t mind.

Watching him swallow bite after bite, everyone else’s brows furrowed deeper than the folds of the Cordillera.

His strange eating habit sparked renewed discussion; Su Yi even sat down before him with the food he’d gathered, probing the nature of taste and the essence of fine cuisine.

“Why don’t you eat what I brought? Don’t you like it?”

You lick Tao Yi’s ass, but you talk to me like a prick.

Cheng Shi replied dryly: “To suppress the [Divinity] within me, I must not indulge in sensual pleasures.”

Su Yi’s eyes flickered—he found this reason plausible.

“The [Divinity] is sealed inside your body—what does it feel like? Can you sense its gaze?”

“If I don’t think about it, I feel nothing. But if I keep thinking, it’s no better than eating this stuff.”

“Oh, I see.”

Su Yi suddenly felt nauseous. He set down his food and fell silent, but soon asked again:

“I’m curious—about that moment underwater earlier...”

Finally!

Though Cheng Shi’s action inside the beast’s belly had been subtle, its impact had been terrifying—everyone had likely wondered.

But everyone had secrets; since Cheng Shi had saved them, as long as he didn’t volunteer the truth, normal people wouldn’t press further.

Yet curiosity is human nature. When Su Yi asked, everyone paused their actions; even chewing sounds grew quieter.

“Oh, you mean that? It was a temporary explosive thunder device—I don’t know its name. It was given to us as payment by the [Divinely Chosen] as part of [Prosperity]’s trial.”

So that’s it!

All doubts vanished; everyone resumed replenishing their energy.

Su Yi didn’t press further—he switched topics immediately. He wasn’t interested in that.

Cheng Shi chatted with him half-heartedly, knowing his real intent wasn’t curiosity about hobbies, but about the [Divinity] inside him.

Conveniently, both were Tai Chi masters—pushing and parrying, they chatted nearly a full minute without revealing anything substantial.

Cheng Shi was exasperated by Su Yi’s endless talking; Su Yi was irritated by Cheng Shi’s impenetrable silence.

This priest’s mind ran deeper than he’d imagined!

His body held a massive secret!

Leisurely moments were a rare sight in the [Annihilation] Trial.

But the players couldn’t fully relax.

They tried to unwind and restore their condition while remaining alert, fearing disaster might strike at any second.

This kind of tension was the most draining.

After the players’ nerves had rubbed raw for so long, something shocking happened.

The water was receding!

“What...?”

Zhao Qian reached into the water, feeling the drop in level, his face puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes, this water... seems to be draining too fast.”

Standing atop the water, with nothing but the sea as reference, no one noticed how rapidly the surface was falling.

But Zhao Qian’s perception was sharp—he sensed the pressure waves beneath growing stronger.

This pressure wasn’t from the seawater—it came from somewhere deep on the seabed.

“Be careful. Such a massive volume of water receding at this speed means the seabed must have a problem—likely a fissure!”

Regardless, land exposure is inevitable. Gather materials and prepare defenses.

Also, watch out for earthquakes and tsunamis!”

Gao Yu immediately added:

“If it’s a land-sea shift, watch for possible eruptions of primordial volcanoes. Better make large shields and boots first—I’ll craft them while you gather materials!”

Everyone sprang into action, collecting every malleable material within sight and handing it to Gao Yu to forge into shields and gear.

Yet within these few minutes of activity, the sea level dropped even faster!

Even while floating, they felt a faint sensation of falling.

What kind of seabed fissure could swallow so much water?

Cheng Shi involuntarily frowned.

“Kid Brother, I think we should try something else?”

“Like what?”

“Can you make a helicopter?”

“?”

The moment he spoke, another change occurred beneath their feet.

The slightly swirling raft suddenly jerked violently.

This wasn’t a drop in water level anymore—the water beneath them seemed instantly drained; in an instant, the players shifted from floating on the surface to hanging in midair.

But how could an object remain suspended without external force?

The answer was clearly impossible.

Thus, amid everyone’s shock, the descent began!

With the water gone, everything once beneath the sea began to fall—weightlessness slammed brutally into every mind.

The distant seabed had become a terrifying abyss, waiting indiscriminately for all life to plummet!

“Shit, I knew it!”