Chapter 1319: The Hope for a Comeback

A sliver of clarity reappeared in Chen Ling's mind amidst the hazy darkness.

This was...

Chen Ling felt the fleeting red glimmer. The light itself seemed to contain no power, like a light touch reaching across the void to tap the top of his head, waking him from his unconscious slumber.

Though it lasted only an instant, Chen Ling sensed a familiar presence from within the faint glow.

Was it the Red King?

Did he know of his predicament?

Although Chen Ling had countless questions at this moment, it was not the time to delve into them. His head, lying on the stage, allowed him to see through the curtains as "he" (his doppelganger) carried the restrained Wu Yi towards a room in the underground palace.

In the recent fight, Chen Ling had lost, but he was unwilling to accept defeat.

The black-robed 'Shadow' had first hidden in the dark, allowing an endless stream of spectators to drain his energy and letting the negative emotions from devouring the audience interfere with his sanity. Then, it launched a thunderous attack and fought him. Just as he was gaining a slight advantage through sheer ferocity, it retreated behind the crowd, finally seizing an opportunity to ambush him.

Chen Ling hadn't lost to the black-robed 'Shadow' itself, but to the almost complete 'Mocking Disaster,' which was nearly entire apart from himself.

Chen Ling could accept death, but he could not accept being ambushed by such insidious means, nor could he accept being controlled by this dark personality.

Throughout his journey, Chen Ling had mostly carried infamy and false accusations. Only a handful of people had offered him warmth and trust. He could not accept this dark personality using his identity to erase everything.

But... how could he turn the tables?

Although the Red King had reawakened his consciousness, he was currently decapitated. Even if he managed to stand, the black-robed 'Shadow' outside would likely sense it immediately.

In his current state, he was absolutely no match for it.

Chen Ling's mind raced. He frantically recalled everything from his past, trying to find a glimmer of hope.

Just then,

A voice emerged from his memory:

"According to the latest theory of the Fusion School, the biological DNA similarity between humans and disasters is 47.83%, only 1% higher than that of yeast. Therefore, physically, we differ greatly from disasters. However, research shows that disasters also emit brainwaves similar to human consciousness, with an overlap rate as high as 95%."

"This means that under specific conditions, humans can achieve consciousness entanglement with disasters, and even completely replace the disaster's consciousness!"

"This process is called 'Severing the Malice' in the Fusion School's theory!"

"In the last lesson, we focused on Aurora Lord Yang Xiao."

"...Yang Xiao is the most unique among the Nine Lords. His uniqueness lies not in the strength or weakness of his power, but in the nature of his ability itself... He is the only one among the Nine Lords who can manipulate souls."

"In 'Fundamentals of Fusion Theory 2,' we discussed that the fusion of humans and disasters is essentially an entanglement of souls, a battle of consciousness. Current fusion technology is difficult to breakthrough precisely because human souls are at a disadvantage compared to disaster souls. Even if human consciousness gains the upper hand temporarily, it will eventually face backlash."

"Theoretically, Yang Xiao's ability can solve this problem. He can decompose a disaster's consciousness at the soul level, leaving it in a 'blank' state, devoid of independent thought, like an empty shell. This would achieve absolute human control over the disaster..."

An entanglement of souls, a battle of consciousness...

Chen Ling suddenly realized that on this stage, all the "spectators" were essentially souls with independent consciousnesses. This meant that even if he was decapitated, he wouldn't die; disappearance only occurred upon being assimilated. It was also for this reason that Chen Ling's other skills were unusable here.

What if, then, he used an ability that directly affected souls?

A flicker of keen light flashed in Chen Ling's dimmed eyes!

"Principles of Communication Devices and Electromagnetic Induction" was only a Tier 3 skill, capable of affecting only external electronic devices, not souls themselves... But now, Chen Ling had one more chance.

The headless body laboriously lifted a finger and gently tapped a corner of the stage's screen!

Ding—ding—ding!!

The next moment, stirring music once again resounded from the stage!

"Congratulations on completing the play, 'The Lone King.'"

"Highest audience expectation for this play: 69."

"You have gained one designated drawing right."

"Upon use, you can designate a character from all the characters that appeared in this play and randomly draw one of their abilities. The probability of drawing a rare skill is related to the play's overall audience expectation."

When Chen Ling left the South Sea Domain, he had already completed a Tier 6 advanced performance. However, the final skill drawing reward had not been settled. This was a trick he had learned from numerous performances...

And now, this would be his last hope to turn the tables!

Almost immediately after Chen Ling initiated the reward redemption, the black-robed 'Shadow,' who had just locked Wu Yi to a long metal table, paused slightly.

At this moment, Wu Yi was struggling frantically. On the wall before him, hung pair after pair of pliers gleaming with an eerie light, intensely hot wax, and venomous whips capable of breaking through carapaces. They were like a specialized set of crab tools for eating crabs, a complete set of "disassembly" tools specifically designed to torture centipedes.

The black-robed 'Shadow' seemed to realize something and erupted in fury. It immediately dropped the pliers it was about to use on Wu Yi and submerged its consciousness into the theater...

But in that brief interval,

The fallen Chen Ling, having used all his strength, managed to get under the neatly upright table.

As Teacher Ye had said, the third 'Severing the Malice' was extremely perilous. Especially since he was attempting to sever the King of Disasters, which was akin to snatching food from a tiger's mouth... This was a battle with a survival rate of less than 3%, perhaps even less than 1%!

On this brutal stage, the only one he could rely on was himself.

With a low roar, Chen Ling kicked over the table, seized the falling sheet of paper, and wildly scribbled down a name!

—Yang Xiao!!

"Damn it!!!!"

The black-robed 'Shadow' appeared before Chen Ling almost instantly, delivering a powerful, heavy kick directly to Chen Ling's chest!

The black-robed 'Shadow's' visible fury this time caused Chen Ling's chest to visibly cave in a significant amount. Chen Ling, like a sandbag, crashed against the curtain, letting out a muffled groan of pain.

The black-robed 'Shadow' had been too overconfident. It hadn't expected Chen Ling's consciousness to awaken so quickly, nor that he could still forcefully move his body through sheer will after being beaten to such a state. Seeing the paper that had already vanished into thin air, the black-robed 'Shadow' felt as if it had been mocked to its face!

"No matter what ability you've exchanged for, it won't change the current situation!" the black-robed 'Shadow' declared menacingly. "I had originally intended to keep you around for a while. But now it seems you're asking for death... I don't care if it causes a personality split anymore. Today, I will definitely devour you!!"