Chapter 1044: Old Friends?

Chen Ling's eyes held a complex expression as he looked at the familiar, twisted divine path before him.

The Chen Ling of the past had only thought his divine path was unique, but after learning the full story, his view of this path changed... Every step he took on this path was a step towards mastering the power that inherently belonged to "Mocking Calamity."

But now, it was too late to stop. To survive in this chaotic world, he had to become stronger!

He couldn't always be an "emperor" who needed rescuing. Whether it was the power of the divine path or the power of Mockery, only when it became his own power could he establish himself in this era.

Chen Ling took a deep breath, his gaze falling upon the conditions for advancing to the fifth rank of performance...

*Perform on stage with old friends and complete an exciting comeback performance.*

A look of confusion appeared in Chen Ling's eyes as he read the small print.

Chen Ling had realized that each performance condition represented a certain direction chosen by the audience... in other words, the conditions were never arbitrary.

He could probably understand the latter part of the sentence, but "old friends"...

In the current Boundless Realm, where would these "old friends" come from?

Jian Changsheng and the others? Or his fellow disciples from the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts? Timewise, it would be difficult to call them "old friends."

Still perplexed, Chen Ling's consciousness gradually returned to his body.

When he opened his eyes again, they had already shaken off almost all the Usurpers, and the edge of the Boundless Realm was drawing closer. The surroundings had become vast and desolate.

"Did we really make it out?" Jian Changsheng's eyes lit up. "The seniors from the Twilight Society are truly impressive!"

"Don't celebrate too soon."

Remembering the performance conditions from earlier, Chen Ling had an ominous feeling. "I have a feeling things aren't that simple..."

"Red Heart, you jinx, just keep quiet for a bit!"

"I'm serious, I just have a feeling..."

Before Chen Ling could finish, Sun Bumin and Jiang Xiaohua, who were beside him, simultaneously gasped. Several afterimages suddenly shot out from behind them, charging directly towards Chen Ling!

What rushed towards him weren't hidden weapons or enemy attacks, but Chen Ling's own limbs.

Chen Ling, who had been disassembled, instantly became whole as his limbs reattached. Jian Changsheng felt a sudden weight on his back, then a powerful foot directly kicked him to the ground from behind, sending him tumbling several times due to inertia.

"What the— Red Heart, are you..."

Before he could finish the word "crazy," Jian Changsheng and the other two froze in place.

The reassembled Chen Ling had surprisingly turned and was running back, his legs blurring into afterimages on the ground, moving at incredible speed!

Of course, Chen Ling couldn't have kicked Jian Changsheng over and then run back towards the Boundless Realm himself. But at that moment, his limbs were out of his control, as if they had a mind of their own.

Chen Ling reacted extremely quickly, immediately turning his head to shout:

"Quick! Kill me!!"

"Huh?" Jian Changsheng looked bewildered. "Didn't you just say you wanted to live?"

"It doesn't matter, I won't die if you kill me now... Only by killing me can I regain control of my body!"

Jian Changsheng and the others had witnessed Chen Ling's strangeness before. With things at this point, they naturally didn't hesitate. After exchanging glances, they pulled out their trump cards and aggressively charged towards Chen Ling!

Jian Changsheng was the most excited. He even cut himself several times, significantly boosting his speed, looking as if he were determined to personally finish off Chen Ling.

Bang—!

The next moment, the ground between the three of them and Chen Ling trembled violently, and a black shadow suddenly burst forth!

Sun Bumin frowned, immediately reaching out to stop Jian Changsheng and Jiang Xiaohua. The three of them came to an abrupt halt in front of the black shadow, and a cloud of dust rose from beneath their feet.

Amidst the hazy dust, a two-meter-tall, ancient coffin stood silently on the ground. It was pitch black and reeked of nauseating decay... The moment it appeared, the surrounding temperature rapidly dropped.

"This is..."

Sun Bumin's brow furrowed deeply.

A dark-skinned man wearing a straw hat slowly emerged from behind the coffin. He casually glanced at Chen Ling, who was frozen nearby, and at Sun Bumin and the other two, whose faces were filled with bewilderment. A smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Where are you trying to take this boy?"

Chen Ling's gaze instantly turned cold as he saw the man.

"...Huang He."

The Thief Saint, who had been missing since the start of the great war, had unexpectedly appeared here... It was worth noting that they were already near the edge of the realm, making it impossible for either Usurpers or Twilight Society members to arrive quickly.

"You won't be leaving today."

Huang He didn't waste time entangling with Jian Changsheng and the others. His objective seemed extremely clear: he was here to kill Chen Ling.

He casually raised his hand, and the coffin behind him suddenly burst open, revealing a remarkably lifelike female corpse displayed within...

As the woman's hands pressed against the ground, a seventh-rank aura began to spread through the air. The space where Huang He and Chen Ling stood rapidly began to peel away from the world!

"What's happening?!!"

Seeing this, Jian Changsheng's expression changed to one of alarm. Without hesitation, he charged towards the Thief Saint, Huang He, as if to interrupt the process.

But during this process, Chen Ling and Huang He's figures became increasingly blurry, as if moved by some force, until they completely vanished from sight before Jian Changsheng and the others.

Jian Changsheng made a grab, but only grasped thin air.

"Where's Red Heart????" Jian Changsheng anxiously looked around. "We've come all this way, and they've been snatched away by the Usurpers again??"

"Don't panic," Sun Bumin said in a deep voice. "That Thief Saint just now is likely from the Corpse Pilferer path... They can temporarily recreate a person's power from when they were alive by collecting their corpse. It's similar to the Void Death we encountered during the Sky-Reaching Star Position, except one uses souls as a medium, and the other uses corpses."

"So where did he take Red Heart?"

"That woman just now was from the Go Divine Path, and her path is quite ancient and rare... If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Hide-and-Seek path."

"What? Hide-and-Seek? That can be a path?"

"Isn't that how all those from the Go Divine Path are? Their abilities are more abstract than the last... and quite tricky too," Sun Bumin rolled his eyes. "That Thief Saint probably used Hide-and-Seek to stash himself and Chen Ling into some kind of spatial interlayer. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to find a place like that."

Jian Changsheng immediately grew anxious. He looked at Sun Bumin, who seemed to know a little about everything, as if clutching at a lifeline.

"Ordinary people can't find it, but you should be able to, right?"

Sun Bumin rolled his eyes. "I'm just a lion dancer. What do I know about hide-and-seek?"

"Don't lions have a good sense of smell, though?!"

"Then why don't you say you're a military dog???"

"I think we need to speed up..." Seeing the two about to bicker, Jiang Xiaohua suddenly spoke in a low voice, her expression more serious than ever.

"I had a feeling just now... that Thief Saint really seemed intent on killing Red Heart."