Chapter 1 Wan Jia Xiong Meng

Due to the long period since the corpse's death, even if extraordinary power once existed within the stigmata, it had long since dissipated, making it impossible to discern.

Li Ang examined the corpse's hands before lowering the arm and returning his attention to the diary.

This diary was undoubtedly the key item most likely to conceal clues.

After carefully observing the contents of the latter half of the book, Li Ang discovered a characteristic of Theresa's records.

Before ascending the Holy Mountain, Theresa frequently wrote about the Goddess's teachings in her diary, such as the Goddess loved the world, people should care for each other, and should be kind-hearted, tolerant, and friendly.

She elaborated on the teachings and added her own personal views.

Even after she began to see illusions, her faith in the Goddess wavered, and she was wanted by the church,

this habit did not change.

Clearly, Theresa at this stage still held reverence for the Goddess, often doubting that the illusions she saw were false, caused by her lack of devout faith.

After ascending the Holy Mountain,

the contents of the latter half of the diary also contained similar text,

but these parts involving doctrine and Theresa's inner monologue were often subjected to the most severe tearing, knife cuts, and ink blackening.

Some pages were even thrown into the fireplace and burned to charcoal.

"Can't see clearly."

Li Ang clicked his tongue, sighing with some helplessness.

Buzz—

The walkie-talkie vibrated. Li Ang pressed the button to answer, and Liu Wu Nao's voice came from it. "I see your markers; I'm heading your way."

"That was fast."

Li Ang was slightly surprised, turning around to exit the secret door and stand in the corridor. "To prevent the markers from being modified by potential NPCs or monsters in the Holy Mountain, I'll report the marker locations.

The first marker is in a room filled with iron maiden torture devices, painted on the wall as a red arrow, with a subtle triangular circle engraved in the middle of the arrow.

The second marker is at..."

Li Ang quickly reported the locations and characteristics of the markers.

Liu Wu Nao listened silently and asked, "Potential NPCs and monsters? What does that mean? Are there living things in this area?"

"Yes."

Li Ang said, "I encountered two just now. Didn't you see any living creatures along the way?"

"I didn't."

Ding Zhensi said in confusion, "The *Kui Niu* mech's scanner detected dried bloodstains on the walls and ground that were many years old, but we didn't encounter any living things."

"Same here."

Liu Wu Nao's voice was calm. "Li Risheng and I have regrouped. I'll hang up to save power."

As the voice faded, Liu Wu Nao's figure emerged from a wooden door, greeting Li Ang who stood in the corridor.

"What's this?"

Liu Wu Nao stepped forward, frowning slightly at the mass of arms lying on the ground.

"Some kind of artificial creature, I guess,"

Li Ang said casually. "Come inside; I'll show you something."

He led Liu Wu Nao into Theresa's room, briefly explaining the situation. "We can basically confirm that the murals we saw on the walls of the underground palace

are of Theresa and her teammates.

The question now is, what exactly happened to them?"

With that, Li Ang handed the diary to Liu Wu Nao. "Can you decipher the later entries?"

Liu Wu Nao took the diary, also asking for the charred fragments of paper. After a quick scan, she nodded slightly.

She took a breath, her gaze sharpening. She clenched her right hand into a fist and with a light shout, punched the diary.

[Skill Name: Give Me Back My Pretty Face Fist]

[Type: Fighting Spiritual Energy]

[Effect: Repair. Restores a damaged object to a complete shape to a certain extent, while also providing beauty functions. A punch has a 50% chance of achieving one of the following effects: removing blemishes, acne, wrinkles, scars, dark circles, teeth whitening, and slimming the face.]

[Consumption: At least 100 Stamina, 100 Spiritual Power]

[Cooldown: 20 minutes]

[Requirements: Advanced General Fist Technique]

[Note: The larger the damaged object and the higher the quality, the more stamina and spiritual power are consumed. If the target's mystery exceeds the skill user, the skill will fail. The greater the gap, the higher the probability of failure.]

[Note: We are professionals in plastic surgery and beauty]

[Note: The highest level of fist technique is benevolence, love, and non-killing. When fist techniques are no longer used for killing, but for spreading love and peace, there will be no more opponents or enemies. The key is that there are no rules to the fist, the opponent can't break it.]

No one knew how this skill worked, but when Liu Wu Nao punched down,

the dilapidated diary actually trembled and heated up.

The charred paper in Liu Wu Nao's hand flew back into the book's interlayer with a "swoosh," disappearing.

The cracks on the diary's cover also healed.

"Hoo..."

Liu Wu Nao slowly exhaled, somewhat fatigued. The [Give Me Back My Pretty Face Fist] she used was a very special skill even in the Killing Game's skill library.

It could directly repair damaged objects.

From mechanical pencils to airplanes, tanks, and even some damaged equipment and props, there was a certain probability of completely repairing them.

When necessary, it could also be used to suppress wounds, stop bleeding, and recover.

Undoubtedly a hidden god-tier skill.

However, this skill also had many other unstated attributes.

For example, the 100 points of stamina and spiritual power were basically only in the skill description. In the real world, no matter what object the skill was used on, the consumption far exceeded this value.

Also, when using the skill on objects that were more than 50% damaged, the repair efficiency would be greatly reduced. If the damage exceeded 80%, it was basically equivalent to being completely unrepairable, and the skill consumption would be staggeringly high.

Secondly, the skill's description was "repair," not creation from nothing.

If the damaged item's parts were placed nearby, it could effectively increase the probability of repair and reduce consumption—for example, the charred pieces of paper automatically returned to the diary.

"Take a look."

Liu Wu Nao handed the diary to Li Ang. After taking it, Li Ang opened it and found that the content after July 16, 1035 of the Goddess Calendar had been significantly supplemented, and some passages could be read and understood.

"..."

Li Ang raised an eyebrow in surprise, glancing at the somewhat tired-looking Liu Wu Nao, nodded, and carefully read the following text.

[...This is our second day camping on the Holy Mountain. The trials of the Holy Mountain are much more difficult than we imagined. Each room hides deadly dangers. Especially since everyone on the team is injured, I don't know if the potions and bandages will last until we reach the summit of the Holy Mountain. I hope we can meet other teams of adventurers tomorrow to barter and exchange some supplies...]

"This should be after July 16th. Theresa's team began to climb the Holy Mountain, encountering the same situation as us."

Li Ang said, "The diary says, 'I hope we can meet other teams of adventurers tomorrow,' um... this means the Holy Mountain trials are open, and different teams of adventurers can enter the Holy Mountain at the same time.

This is strange."

"Strange?"

Liu Wu Nao frowned slightly, immediately understanding Li Ang's meaning. "You mean this setting is unreasonable?"

"Yes."

Li Ang nodded. "If multiple teams of adventurers can enter the Holy Mountain trials at the same time, it should be easy for teamwork to occur.

A predicament that a single team cannot survive, more help might allow them to survive and pass.

And the Holy Mountain trials don't explicitly state that only one wish can be granted in a few years—teams of adventurers aren't in a zero-sum competition.

Unless there is some rule we don't know about, such as gathering more than a certain number of people will result in trial punishment."

Liu Wu Nao thought for a moment and said, "It's also possible that the teams of adventurers are indeed in a zero-sum competition, and only one wish can be granted within a certain period of time.

The village chief of the Guardian Village didn't tell us this.

Perhaps this rule has been lost, or perhaps he thought we were the only group of adventurers and there was no need to mention it."

"Possible."

Li Ang nodded and said, "Besides that, there's another strange thing.

This diary says, 'This is our second day camping on the Holy Mountain.'

When we teleported in, we were separated from the others. We don't know the location of our companions and need to use tools like walkie-talkies to contact each other.

But the diary doesn't describe the team reuniting.

Either this part has been lost—the first half of the diary hasn't been repaired yet,

or they didn't encounter random teleportation. After entering the trial, the entire team stayed together and safely spent the first day."

"..."

Liu Wu Nao frowned, carefully recalling. "I didn't feel anything unusual when passing through the teleportation portal."

"Me neither."

Li Ang said, "This is still quite strange. It's possible that after the Holy Mountain's door bricks were taken, there was an error in the Holy Mountain trials, or it could be something else.

Anyway, let's continue reading."

He continued to flip through the diary, seeing the next entry, with an unknown date.

[...We'll be able to leave here soon! After several days of difficult travel, we have finally found the passage to the upper level. We only need to defeat the Holy Beast guarding the passage, and we can complete the trial... The situation of the others is not optimistic, or rather, it is very bad. Fortunately, through the previous exchange with other teams of adventurers, we know that there will be no danger in this area, and we can recuperate with peace of mind. We plan to set up camp here and rest for two days, waiting for everyone to recover—at least to restore some combat ability, before entering the passage and facing the Holy Beast. Goddess, if you are still paying attention to your people, please bless me...]

"Um... this diary should be a continuation of the previous one."

Li Ang said in contemplation, "The team of adventurers that Theresa was in successfully passed the previous tests and arrived at the final level—in front of the Holy Beast.

As long as they defeat the Holy Beast, they will have completed the trial and can receive the reward of having their wish fulfilled."

"According to the previous diary entries, they should be trying to fulfill Theresa's wish to obtain answers about the illusions, right?"

Liu Wu Nao slowly said, "When we were in the Guardian Village, the village chief mentioned that

when a team of adventurers completes the trial and has their wish fulfilled,

they will be directly teleported from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, saving them from going through another trial during the descent.

This teleportation effect should be mandatory. After making a wish, they will inevitably be teleported away..."

"But Theresa's corpse is still lying here."

Li Ang glanced at the wooden bed, and said calmly, "Either they failed and were directly stranded here,

or they succeeded, and the final wish they made is related to their staying here."

Li Ang and Liu Wu Nao discussed various possibilities, only to hear the walkie-talkie vibrate again—Ding Zhensi had also seen the markers left by Liu Wu Nao and was heading this way.

Something was probably wrong with the Holy Mountain trials. Many traps and mechanisms along the way had not been activated due to disrepair.

This allowed Ding Zhensi to come unhindered, and soon arrived in the corridor, meeting Li Ang and the others. The three completed their reunion.

The three briefly exchanged noteworthy intelligence.

Li Ang asked Ding Zhensi, "Do you have photos of the initial room you teleported into?"

"That room filled with statues?"

Ding Zhensi nodded, took out a few photos, and handed them to Li Ang.

The photos showed a large number of humanoid stone statues, totaling over a thousand.

Most of them were damaged, and only about four hundred remained relatively intact.

The carving skills of the statues were not exquisite. Even the statues that had not been severely damaged could only barely make out the specific shape and could not see clear and detailed appearances.

Li Ang recognized the statues of Theresa's team at a glance—they were still wearing the clothes from the underground palace, placed in front of all the intact statues.

"An elf archer, two magic scholars, a priest, and a warrior."

Li Ang paused, looked at the six statues, and narrowed his eyes. "If the statues in that room are to commemorate all the teams of adventurers who passed the final trial, then that's interesting.

Ken Jones, who was seriously injured in the underground palace, did not appear on the list of those who climbed the Holy Mountain..."

"There's also this."

Ding Zhensi's *Kui Niu* mech pointed to another photo from a distance. "In addition to these, there is another set of statues, also carved of them."

Li Ang looked at the photo that Ding Zhensi was pointing at. He saw that in the middle of the statue formation, there were also statues of Theresa and the others.

Their attire had changed slightly, but from some details in the shape and clothing, it could still be seen that they were Theresa and the others.

Only this time, the number of team members had increased.

Ken Jones reappeared in the statue list.

"What does this mean? Two sets of statues?"

Li Ang frowned, carefully re-examining the photos.

Apart from Theresa and the others, this situation did not appear in the photos.

"Could it be that Theresa and the others returned to the Holy Mountain after completing the first trial?"