Chapter 1326: Biased Chen Ling

Wu Yi’s body slowly lowered itself to the ground, as if pleading with Chen Ling for something.

Chen Ling watched it for a long time, and finally nodded slightly.

“Okay, go ahead.”

Wu Yi stood up, walked past the Toad Poison Chief and the Scorpion Poison Chief, and approached the coiled Centipede Poison Chief under the watchful eyes of everyone present.

Although Wu Yi was also very large, in front of the Centipede Poison Chief, it still seemed like a four or five-year-old child. Even with half of its body missing, the Centipede Poison Chief was still several times larger.

Wu Yi’s body gradually tensed, as if having made a decision, and a reddish glow began to emanate from it.

A piercing screech—!!!

As a sharp shriek erupted from Wu Yi’s mouth, the surrounding poisonous creatures watched in shock!

It was going to issue a Primal Challenge to the Centipede Poison Chief?!

It was well-known that even though the Centipede Poison Chief had half its body gnawed away and its head drooped considerably, leaving it severely injured, it was still an Eighth-Tier Poison Chief. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse; no matter how weak it was, it was not something a Seventh-Tier poisonous creature could easily challenge.

When the Centipede Poison Chief challenged the previous Poison Chief years ago, there were indeed poisonous creatures that sought to exploit its vulnerability. They waited for the Centipede Poison Chief to achieve a devastating victory and then immediately challenged it. This was entirely permissible in the Ghost Mocking Abyss, as a Primal Challenge could be initiated at any time. It implied that the Poison Chief must possess absolute suppressive power, capable of using any means to kill an enemy, no matter how weak.

However, none of those poisonous creatures who attempted to exploit its weakness at that time survived; they all ended up as substantial sustenance for the Centipede Poison Chief following its grueling victory.

Therefore, generally speaking, only poisonous creatures that had advanced to the same tier—that is, to the Eighth Tier—dared to issue a Primal Challenge to the reigning Poison Chief.

A Seventh-Tier creature challenging an Eighth-Tier Poison Chief had almost never succeeded to date.

Seeing the junior it had just belittled now audaciously daring to challenge it in its weakened state, intense anger flared anew in the eyes of the Centipede Poison Chief, which had previously succumbed to despair. It could accept dying at the King’s hand, but it would absolutely not allow a Seventh-Tier junior to climb to power by stepping over it!

The Centipede Poison Chief’s nearly detached head lifted high, letting out a furious roar at Wu Yi. The Poison Chief’s oppressive aura instantly swept forth!!

It accepted Wu Yi’s challenge!

The next second, Wu Yi transformed into a crimson blur and charged towards the Centipede Poison Chief!

As the Primal Challenge commenced once more, the surrounding Toad Poison Chief and Scorpion Poison Chief naturally refrained from interfering. They immediately retreated to a safe distance. However, unlike the simple-minded Toad, which merely bounced far away, the Scorpion Poison Chief perceptively approached Chen Ling, lowered its body, and indicated its willingness to carry Chen Ling away on its back.

Chen Ling cast a cold glance at the fawning scorpion, then, without refusing, staggered onto its back.

Although Chen Ling had regained consciousness, his body, still grappling with a hangover, was not entirely cooperative. He simply dropped onto the scorpion’s back, and the creature, swift as the wind, whisked him away to a distant vantage point—a place where he could oversee the battle without being affected.

Below, the two centipedes, one large and one small, were locked in a furious battle.

It was evident that while Wu Yi was significantly more powerful than other centipedes of its tier, it still struggled to gain the upper hand against the Eighth-Tier Poison Chief, even in its severely injured state. Under the Centipede Poison Chief’s relentless assault, Wu Yi could only maneuver and passively dodge for the time being.

Once a Primal Challenge began, it could not be interrupted until a victor emerged, and others were forbidden from interfering, even Chen Ling, the King of the Ghost Mocking Abyss.

He certainly could not break the rules he himself had once established.

Since he could not interfere with the final outcome, Chen Ling ceased to expend mental energy watching the battle, instead focusing all his attention on himself.

Although he nearly faced complete ruin, Chen Ling still managed to overcome this third ‘Spirit Cleansing’. If not for the Red King’s awakening him, if he hadn’t grasped the true nature of the internal conflict of personalities, if he hadn’t chosen to immediately devour the Black-Robed Actor at the end, and if the Five Poisons Wine hadn’t helped him through the process of mental collapse, it wouldn’t be Chen Ling standing here now, but a dark personality brimming with negative emotions.

The combination of these conditions was so improbable that Chen Ling was still somewhat dazed, hardly believing he had truly survived.

Surviving a great disaster is sure to bring future blessings.

The third ‘Spirit Cleansing’ was incredibly challenging, and as a result, the benefits Chen Ling reaped far surpassed his expectations.

The Black-Robed Actor had devoured countless spectators, and Chen Ling, in turn, devoured the Black-Robed Actor. This meant his control over the Mocking Disaster’s physique significantly improved. Now, after activating his Disaster Embodiment, Chen Ling’s physical combat power alone was sufficient to contend with an Eighth-Tier opponent.

Although the Centipede Poison Chief did not employ any Eighth-Tier abilities during the recent Primal Challenge, the Mocking Disaster’s inherent physical combat power already vastly surpassed that of humans. Chen Ling’s eventual victory over the Centipede Poison Chief indicated that his current physical combat power had reached an almost grotesque level. Even against an Eighth-Tier human capable of wielding divine powers, he was not without a chance of winning.

However, if Chen Ling were to activate his Disaster Embodiment to that extreme level, it would inevitably unleash the dark personality suppressed within him. In other words, while gaining immense combat power, his own emotions and actions would become uncontrollable.

It should be noted that while Chen Ling possessed the physical combat power to contend with an Eighth-Tier opponent, this was limited solely to his “physical body.” He did not possess an actual Eighth-Tier rank, nor the corresponding Eighth-Tier Mocking Disaster abilities. His own skill tier remained at the Sixth Tier.

Currently, Chen Ling was like a sports student with a severe academic imbalance: his athletic performance was top in the province’s college entrance exam, but his academic subjects remained at a junior high school level.

‘Spirit Cleansing’ was akin to a super-soldier serum from a movie, capable of dramatically advancing Chen Ling’s physical combat power in a very short time. However, rank, originating from the Twisted Theatrical God’s Path, could only be gained incrementally by continuously completing performances; there was no quicker method.

Yet, purely with his physical body, Chen Ling was already capable of contending with an Eighth-Tier opponent. He couldn't even imagine how powerful he would become once his skills also advanced to a comparable level.

To challenge a demigod with Eighth-Tier power?

And what then, when he ascends to demigod status?

Only at this moment did Chen Ling truly realize why the Mocking Disaster, in its prime, was known as the King of Calamity… It was simply too powerful, almost universally invincible. Perhaps this was precisely why it provoked its own personalities to fight one another for amusement.

After familiarizing himself with the changes in his body, Chen Ling’s gaze fell upon the twisted Theatrical God’s Path.

The appearance of the Black-Robed Actor had accelerated his mid-Sixth-Tier performance. Now that he had completed it, he could progress unimpeded to the peak of the Sixth Tier… but relying on gradual personal accumulation would still take too long.

After consolidating the Ghost Mocking Abyss, he might then actively hunt down the Crimson Heaven Sect strongholds in the Grey Realm, absorbing the power of the Scarlet Stars for rapid advancement.