Chapter 1312: Three Times Slaying the Fiend

In "The Fundamentals of Fusion Theory," I categorize fusion into four stages.

In Chen Ling's memory, a figure in a black shirt, holding a pointer, seriously indicated four bolded terms on the blackboard and said:

"The first stage is called Refinement of Self."

"The Refinement of Self stage is not strictly necessary for the fusion process. It typically serves as a preparatory phase before formal fusion begins. Through specialized endurance training, divergent thinking exercises, pain reduction, and ultra-high-intensity physical conditioning, one's mental and physical states are brought to their peak before undergoing disaster fusion... Extensive clinical practice has confirmed that undergoing fusion after completing the Refinement of Self stage increases the success rate by nearly 38% compared to rushed fusion without this preparation. However, nearly half of our fusion practitioners undergo accidental fusion or are forced to fuse directly in near-death situations, thus skipping the Refinement of Self stage. Therefore, the weaker one's innate foundation, the more difficult the subsequent three stages will be. But there's no need to worry excessively; we also have many examples of high-completion fusions achieved without undergoing Refinement of Self."

"The second stage is called Permeation."

"Permeation signifies that your body has been contaminated by the disaster, marking the formal 'fusion.' In this stage, your consciousness will be violently assailed and devoured by the disaster's consciousness. This is the stage with the highest mortality rate among the four, and humans with weak bodies and wills are almost certain not to survive it. However, two possibilities can arise concurrently: If you are fortunate, and the disaster you are fusing with is not of a high rank and is not inherently aggressive, your chances of survival will significantly increase, and the subsequent fusion will be relatively smooth. But if you are unlucky, and the disaster you are fusing with is of a higher rank or highly aggressive, it will be an extremely arduous battle. You must absolutely prevent its consciousness from completely engulfing yours, or you will irrevocably become a disaster yourself. During this process, your body will undergo some changes, such as growing the disaster's tail, developing its fur, or experiencing organ mutations, exhibiting certain characteristics corresponding to the disaster. This is normal. However, the higher your completion of the Permeation stage, the less pronounced these disaster characteristics will be."

"The third stage is called Slaying the Malevolence."

"I must solemnly warn everyone that Slaying the Malevolence is extremely dangerous. For most of you, simply completing Permeation is sufficient, as you only need to utilize the disaster's organs to eradicate your own diseases; there's no need to pursue greater combat power. Slaying the Malevolence is the process of actively provoking and battling the disaster's consciousness after resisting its contamination. If you win this struggle, you will further acquire the power originally belonging to the disaster. Unlike the mainstream advancement methods of the Fourteen Divine Paths, which require steady progress and are limited by innate talent – some individuals may struggle to advance even one rank for years – for us fusion practitioners, we are not essentially 'advancing' but rather 'plundering' the disaster's power. Therefore, by performing Slaying the Malevolence, one can significantly enhance their strength in a very short time! However, the number of times Slaying the Malevolence can be performed is limited, depending on the specific disaster fused with and one's own condition. Disasters below Rank 5 can be subjected to Slaying the Malevolence at most once. Rank 6 and 7 disasters can be subjected to it twice, and Rank 8 disasters three times... Based on my calculations, the success rate for the first Slaying the Malevolence is approximately 35%, for the second it's only 10%, and for the third, it's less than 3%. Furthermore, the higher the rank of the disaster you fuse with and the more aggressive it is, the lower the success rate will be. If you are very unlucky and fuse with a high-rank, highly aggressive disaster, I advise attempting Slaying the Malevolence at most twice... A third attempt is almost certainly a death sentence."

After speaking, Teacher Ye deliberately glanced at Chen Ling, who was seated in the front row. Chen Ling knew very well that Teacher Ye's final warning was specifically directed at him... The disaster within him was the highest-ranking and most aggressive King of Disasters in the world!

Do not perform Slaying the Malevolence on the Mocking Disaster a third time... Chen Ling understood, but at this moment, he had no choice.

Inside the spacious underground palace, the figure in the crimson opera robe sat silently upon the black throne, his eyes filled with indifference and nonchalance.

Chen Ling glanced at the audience's expectation value in the corner. The expectation value had fluctuated throughout this journey, now holding steady at 69%, precisely at the boundary between rebirth and liberating the Mocking Disaster...

"I've broken out of 'certain death' situations before... At worst, I'll just die in the Abyssal Mockery."

Chen Ling let out a soft chuckle. He sat casually and languidly on the throne, one hand propping up his chin, the other pulling a black handgun from his pocket and gently pressing it against his temple...

The crimson opera robe appeared eerie and maniacal in the darkness.

"Let's have another fight..."

"Mocking Disaster."

Bang—!! The bullet pierced Chen Ling's temple, and blood sprayed onto the throne like a scarlet flower blooming in the darkness.

Actor connection lost, performance interrupted.Audience Expectation Value: 50%Current Expectation Value: 19%Warning! Warning!Audience beginning to intervene in the performance!

Consecutive prompts appeared on the screen, and as spotlights continued to illuminate, Chen Ling in the center of the stage slowly opened his eyes.

He looked back to see that within the stage's backdrop, his own body, which had supposedly "died" on the throne, was now sprouting countless pieces of red paper, as if some entity was already attempting to take control of the body!

Simultaneously, numerous shadowy figures of audience members began attempting to climb onto the stage.

However, an expectation value of 19% was still too high; it was like creating only the tiniest opening for this body. Only a very small portion of these audience members' power could extend to the outside, amounting to roughly a third-rank level, far inferior even to Chen Ling's current rank.

Chen Ling on the stage gently raised his hand and, with a distant clench towards the backdrop, the red paper emerging from outside was gripped as if by an invisible force, firmly suspended in mid-air!

After controlling his external self, the figure in the crimson opera robe calmly turned, his cold gaze fixed on the many dark figures before him. He made no attempt to stop them as they climbed onto the stage one after another.

He spoke faintly:

"I'd like to see..."

"Just how difficult the third Slaying of the Malevolence can truly be?"