Nothingness had no concept of Time, but once it became tainted by existence, something akin to Time began to flow in the Void.
In the view of the Scholars of the Void Energy school, it was precisely because the Void possessed this characteristic, capable of recording changes in Time, that humanity had the possibility of studying the Void.
Returning to the present.
Time did indeed flow in the Void, as for how long, no one knew.
It wasn't until Cheng Shi woke up and opened his eyes to see himself floating in the Void, looking up at the dividing line cut in two and the boundless blue sky above, that He confirmed He had won the gamble.
The Void Maw Swallowing Whale was indeed the answer to crossing the dividing line.
These darlings of nothingness wandered between reality and Void, unaffected by the rift, while the reality swallowed into their bellies would be slowly eroded, turning into new Void.
In this way, as long as one could withstand the Void's pull inside the Void Maw Swallowing Whale's belly, perhaps one could rely on its inherent characteristics to survive the "Annihilation" at the boundary of reality and Void!
Because with the pull, there was still a chance to resist, but Annihilation happened in an instant, leaving no room for negotiation.
And this was the gamble Cheng Shi had made.
As for the chips, they were naturally the lives of six people.
Actually, if the seawater hadn't receded so quickly, perhaps Cheng Shi could have thought of the answer upon seeing the dividing line.
But the arrival of this Trial disaster was too sudden and rapid, so rapid that people simply couldn't react in time.
If it weren't for having a fellow Traveler, Cheng Shi truly wouldn't know how to get through this calamity.
Speaking of fellow Travelers, since He had woken up, it at least indicated that the believers of nothingness should be safe in the Void.
So Su Yida should also be at this moment...
Just as He thought of this, footsteps came from behind Cheng Shi.
It was very strange; He was clearly standing in a piece of Void with nothing to stand on, yet He could hear someone walking.
Cheng Shi turned around and saw Su Yida walking towards Him, hanging upside down from the sky.
Yes, hanging upside down from the sky, his entire body flipped 180 degrees, his head level with Cheng Shi's, while his body was above.
But his expression showed no discomfort, and the shock in his eyes seemed to be saying, "Why are you the wrong way?"
This is the Void.
Both Existence and nothingness.
There is no Predestined reality here, and no commonly accepted rules; everything is possible, and it's also possible that nothing is possible.
Su Yida walked closer with a dark face, and the first sentence He spoke was:
"I didn't expect you to be a Clown."
Cheng Shi heard this and smiled faintly.
This wasn't an insult, because Cheng Shi really was a Clown.
Clown, Priest of Fraud.
A Priest who heals others with lies, just as a Clown uses fake smiles to elicit laughter; their essence is the same, leading to the same destination through different paths.
Su Yida finally saw through Cheng Shi's identity!
But He didn't truly see through it, because Cheng Shi's identity was revealed by Himself.
The answer of the Void Maw Swallowing Whale was given too early, so that when the seawater disappeared, the Players no longer had the key to pass the level.
Fortunately, there was a fellow Traveler on the scene who had the ability to "create" everything.
But having the ability alone was useless. If Su Yida wanted to fabricate something, He first had to make his teammates believe it, and the basis of belief was that it had to conform to reality.
Anything that suddenly appeared in the empty sky could potentially arouse suspicion from his teammates, so conventional methods were completely unusable.
But Cheng Shi was never conventional.
He immediately grabbed Su Yida's foot with his hand, and then said that sentence:
"Hey, Da Jiang, you weren't so scared you peed yourself, were you? There are water drops on me!"
This sentence actually had two layers of meaning.
First, to introduce the water drops, setting the stage for the subsequent scene fabrication.
Second, to tell Su Yida how to break the situation.
While Cheng Shi was saying these words, He released a trace of Fraud power towards Su Yida through the hand holding Su Yida's ankle.
And the timing of this trace of Fraud power injection was during the words "Hey" and "out" respectively.
Su Yida liked science fiction; this sentence was not a lie.
Coupled with the second identity He revealed later, Cheng Shi was somewhat certain that this person longed for the fantasy and power to break through reality.
So it was highly likely that He received the strategy to break the situation that He conveyed.
But this was still a small gamble; Cheng Shi was betting that Su Yida could seize the opportunity and immediately cooperate with Him.
Clearly, He won the bet.
Su Yida had the brains and the strength.
To be honest, at that tense moment of decision, when He felt the Fraud power transmitted by Cheng Shi, He was completely stunned.
A monstrous wave surged in his heart, but on the surface, He had to immediately cooperate with Cheng Shi and react.
He didn't expect that this Birth Priest, who talked eloquently with Him, whose body contained the divinity of prosperity, and who healed others without ever getting pregnant, was His damn fellow Traveler!!!
But no matter how shocked He was, He knew that the information Cheng Shi had gone to such great lengths to convey must be the key to breaking the situation. Even if it wasn't the key, it was at least the method to find the key.
At this moment, the power of Fraud resonated in sync.
Su Yida instantly thought that the method to cross the dividing line was probably hidden in the water from before. Although He hadn't thought of the Void Maw Swallowing Whale yet, the most important thing at the moment was to make the vanished water return.
And Cheng Shi had already thought of the reason for Him.
"Hey — come out."
A very wild and imaginative idea, but very effective.
At least at that time, this excuse was more reasonable than fabricating something out of thin air.
So He took the opportunity to look up and talk to Tao Yi, and then fabricated the "vanished" seawater above everyone's heads!
Water poured down.
At this moment, the disaster was no longer His Trial, but a lie show by two Fraud believers.
Everyone finally found a way to cross the dividing line, but Cheng Shi, because He already knew Su Yida's identity, couldn't see any of this.
He could only resonate with everyone through His performance, and then at the last moment, using the same method, break open the belly of the giant beast.
Unfortunately, the perfect performance went wrong at the last moment.
He couldn't see the giant beast, so He missed.
But thankfully, He didn't mess up the act; the Void Maw Swallowing Whale still took a hit from the Thunder Judgement.
After that, in order to hide in the belly of the non-existent giant beast, Cheng Shi closed his ears and eyes and hugged Tao Yi tightly.
He couldn't see, but He could still be brought in by the person who could see.
The so-called "Mirage in the Void-Reality Gap" is to deceive reality with Void.
The Fraud of deceiving oneself, Cheng Shi's reality.
Su Yida had to admire Cheng Shi's brainstorming. To find the answer at that moment and come up with such an incredible strategy to break the situation was truly amazing.
Cheng Shi saw Su Yida's complex expression, opening his mouth several times but failing to speak, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"How is it? If you often walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet? It doesn't feel good to be deceived, does it?"
"You..." Su Yida's face was terribly ugly. "The divinity of prosperity in your body is also fake?"
Sure enough, even at this point, what He cared about was divinity.
How interesting.
"It seems you really joined them," Cheng Shi said with a smile.
"That's not important, what's important is what's in your body..."
"Alas, the Players of the Lǐ Zhì Association have abandoned reason in their pursuit of becoming God. Da Jiang... Ah no, Su Yida, wake up.
This is a warm reminder based on tacit cooperation. Whether you like it or not, I won't say it a second time."
Cheng Shi sighed, seemingly feeling regretful for this fellow Traveler who didn't seem too bad but had fallen into the wrong path.
However, Su Yida's question remained unchanged.
"In your body..."
"...Really, the thing really happened, I just lied about my identity."
Hearing this, Su Yida's expression finally looked a little better.
Cheng Shi saw that He was relieved, and his face was extremely strange.
I did it to hide Leliel's aura, what did you do it for?
But then Su Yida said very sincerely:
"Let me be honest with you, I did join the Lǐ Zhì Association, and with their help, I obtained a scattered piece of divinity. I am currently researching how to preserve it.
Since you have a wisp sealed in your body, it means that I can also serve as a carrier for divinity."
Although He spoke sincerely, He still lied.
But what was the point of lying at this time?
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow with interest, indicating for Him to continue, but He didn't expect Su Yida's expression to instantly change from gloomy to wonderful.
"So that's how it is, your talent is Deception Master?"
"???"
"No wonder I never doubted you from beginning to end. A Birth Priest can't make someone pregnant. Listen to how ridiculous that is. So that's it, Cheng Shi, you're amazing.
How many points? Let's have a truth-telling session this time."
Cheng Shi was even more amused. He wasn't too worried about being seen through by a fellow Traveler, as this kind of thing had happened before.
After all, a swindler understands a swindler best.
However, Cheng Shi was still a little curious, because the sentence just now didn't seem to have anything that could cause a cognitive contradiction for Su Yida, so He asked with a smile:
"How did you figure it out?"
Su Yida shrugged: "I didn't figure it out, I just bluffed it out."
"?"
"I just guessed randomly, and I didn't expect to guess correctly."
"..."
Talking to a swindler who "knows the score" is just... very uncomfortable.
Cheng Shi shook his head and smiled bitterly, ending the topic.
"Consider it a point for you. Let me reintroduce myself, Cheng Shi, Clown, 2401."
"Heh, what a coincidence, Su Yida, Master of Illusions, 2401."
Cheng Shi's expression instantly became extremely wonderful.
The other side was still a lie, but obviously, the points were lying.
It's just that the lying points...
Da Jiang, do you not believe me that much? This is the truth!
"Alright, let's not waste Time testing each other. The Trial isn't over yet, and the calm is only temporary. Let's think about how to get out of here."
Su Yida chuckled and turned to walk into the depths of the Void.
"Are you coming?"
Cheng Shi looked at his undefended back, a mischievous thought suddenly arose, He picked his nose, and flicked out a booger.
Just as the trajectory of the booger was about to hit Su Yida's head, Su Yida instantly turned around and pinched the "hidden weapon" with three fingers.
His expression was playful, as if He had long anticipated Cheng Shi's follow-up move.
Cheng Shi showed an expression of "You're really awesome", and then walked unhurriedly in the direction away from Him.
"Each to their own, improve efficiency."
After Cheng Shi left, Su Yida rubbed the hidden weapon in his hand and looked at it.
"...Your mother..."