Chapter 473: Preparing for the Imperial Divine Path

"Junior Brother! You succeeded?!" Chen Ling had just returned to his grassland residence when he heard the excited voices of Ning Ruyu and the others.

Chen Ling turned and saw that his four senior siblings had not left; instead, they were gathered at his door, chatting, seemingly waiting specifically for him. "It's a preliminary success," Chen Ling said with a smile.

Under their curious gazes, Chen Ling still summoned his *Zhu Yan*. When they saw the apricot-colored eye makeup, their eyes lit up. "This stroke is really good... It's a bit like a female opera character's eyes, yet distinct..."

"Junior Brother was already handsome, and with this eye makeup, he looks even more perfect... If he were to just show his face in the main city of Red Dust, he could probably easily overshadow all those celebrities." "How can those common beauties compare to Junior Brother? Junior Brother could become the world's greatest performer!"

Luan Mei, Wen Renyou, and Mojiao all expressed admiration for Chen Ling's eye makeup. Only Ning Ruyu, after observing his eyes for a long time, asked doubtfully, "Junior Brother... your eyes seem different from before?"

"It seems so," Chen Ling said, his gaze sweeping around. Previously, activating his secret pupils only enhanced his control over details, like observing micro-expressions or predicting enemy movements. But now, both the breadth and precision of his vision had undergone a qualitative leap. An ordinary person could at most clearly see objects within 50-100 meters, but for the current Chen Ling, even from five hundred meters away, he could clearly discern the body of an ant on the ground.

Yet, Chen Ling sensed that this was not the limit of his eyes; they could perceive even more. With no enemies around, only his fellow disciples, he couldn't test them for now. Chen Ling temporarily deactivated his *Zhu Yan*, and the apricot red at the corners of his eyes gradually faded as he waited for the right opportunity.

Wait... Just then, Chen Ling suddenly realized something important.

"An opportunity?"

"Audience Expectation Value: 69"

Chen Ling saw this prompt appear, and rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

Now that he possessed his *Zhu Yan*, he had the leverage to contend with the audience. As long as the expectation value wasn't too low, he could attempt to reclaim his body from them. Did this mean that if he could precisely control the expectation value to an appropriate level before entering the Era Archive, he could then proactively unleash the "Scoff" disaster and gain the power to fight against the Emperor God Path?

The moment this thought arose, Chen Ling's mind became alert; he seemed to have found a way to evade the Emperor God Path and continue operating within the Era Archive!

However, the key to this plan was identifying the most suitable expectation value: one that would allow him to regain control of his body, while also ensuring that the power unleashed by "Scoff" wouldn't be instantly crushed by the Emperor God Path.

After much thought, Chen Ling made up his mind. "Senior Siblings, for a while, I will be entering seclusion."

"Seclusion?" they all asked, surprised. "Yes, I will remain confined to my room, not engaging in any activities or seeing anyone. I wanted to inform you all in advance."

The current audience expectation value was 69. Even if Chen Ling were to die, a value of 19 would remain. While the audience would still intervene in the performance, the power unleashed would not be strong, roughly equivalent to a third-tier level. Therefore, Chen Ling had to actively lower the audience expectation value.

The best way to lower the expectation value, naturally, was to bore the audience.

The senior siblings exchanged glances, not understanding Chen Ling's reasons for this, but they didn't press him, respecting their junior brother's decision.

"What about food?" Wen Renyou suddenly asked. "Do you want me to bring your meals to your door?"

Chen Ling paused, a wave of warmth spreading through him. "Then I thank you, Third Senior Brother."

Chen Ling said his goodbyes to Ning Ruyu and the others, one by one, before returning to his room and locking himself inside.

It was already afternoon, and the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon of the grassland. The soft, golden light spilled into Chen Ling's bedroom, painting the floor in pale hues.

Draped in a large red opera robe, Chen Ling sat alone on the floor, resting his head in one hand, gazing blankly at the scenery outside his window.

The small room offered no social interaction, no plot progression, and no entertainment. Chen Ling's "performance" immediately became nothing but dry and tedious, and even the audience in the theater could only stare blankly out the window alongside him.

Time passed, minute by minute. About two hours later, the sun completely set, and night descended. Pinpricks of starlight coalesced in Chen Ling's vision, forming two lines of text: "Current Expectation Value: 68".

Good, they finally couldn't take it anymore.

Chen Ling recalled the various instances of audience "intervention" in the performance so far, mentally categorizing them into several levels:

At 18-19, a very small portion of the audience left their seats and began to possess his body, intervening in the performance with roughly third-tier power. However, combat power would significantly increase once the expectation value dropped below 1.

At 16-17, the power was roughly equivalent to fourth-tier. This was the stage where he initially swept through Aurora City's law enforcers and fought Han Meng to a stalemate.

At 14-15, the power had already reached the fifth-tier level. In this range, he could overpower Han Meng, instantly eliminate the Paper Puppet Master, Pu Wen, and other Fifth-tier divine path users. At this stage, he found it very difficult to regain control of his body; he only escaped disaster then with Chen Yan's assistance.

13 corresponded to sixth-tier, which was also the lowest expectation value Chen Ling had experienced. At this level, he could easily decimate the Starfall Merchant Guild. However, at that time, the theater curtain had completely solidified, making it impossible for Chen Ling to regain control of his body on his own. Had Mojiao not intervened then, he would likely have been completely transformed into an "audience member."

Chen Ling internally estimated his own limit to be around 14-15. Even with *Zhu Yan*, if the value dropped below 14, he would have almost no chance of regaining control of his body by himself. Therefore, the "Scoff" disaster power he could mobilize would be, at most, fifth-tier.

"The Emperor God Path is also fifth-tier, which is just right," Chen Ling said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Chen Ling's gaze returned to the expectation value of 68. He clutched the Era Archive USB drive in his hand, planning to enter the archive as soon as the expectation value dropped to 65. Otherwise, he had no idea when he would accumulate such a high expectation value again.

Chen Ling slowly closed his eyes, intending to rest and prepare himself in the best possible state for the fierce battle within the Era Archive.

"Current Expectation Value: 65"

After an unknown period, the moment this line of text appeared, Chen Ling's eyes snapped open!