Chapter 528: Red Dust Hunter

"Can you imagine?"

"I was still dreaming then when I suddenly heard someone knocking at the door. As soon as I opened it, I saw our junior martial brother, covered in blood, dragging his own intestines with one hand, laughing and yelling for help from his senior martial brothers..."

"Honestly, I was completely shell-shocked."

"My first thought was that someone had secretly infiltrated the Theatre Dao Ancient Repository, managing to evade all of us, even Master, who remained completely unaware... I immediately assumed the enemy must be a ninth-tier demigod, and given their silent entry, it was likely the King of Silver."

"Just a moment more... and I would have sealed off the Repository and activated our battle readiness protocol."

Ning Ruyu sat on the grass in front of his house, rubbing his temples and speaking with a pale face. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept well all night.

Opposite him, Luan Mei, Wen Renyou, and Mo Jue exchanged glances, their expressions incredibly strange, as if they could already picture the scene.

"So, how is he now?"

"He's no longer in critical condition, but he'll need a few days to fully recover. His injuries were too severe for even the Blood Robe to heal quickly."

"So, the King of Silver didn't invade the Theatre Dao Ancient Repository... Then where did our junior martial brother's injuries come from?"

"He said it happened in the 'Era Archive'."

Luan Mei's face showed a "I knew it" expression, as if something had just clicked for her.

"It was the same last time," Luan Mei sighed. "Before we went to the Mortal Realm, we were just walking along, and he suddenly exploded... If Chu Muyun hadn't been there, I wouldn't have known how to save him."

"Our junior martial brother acts with a certain ruthlessness and strangeness," Mo Jue summarized, recalling the scene at the Stellar Merchant Guild's manor.

Wen Renyou, usually quiet, also spoke:

"This kind of personality is both good and bad... He might grow faster than others, but if he's not careful, he could easily lose his life. Last time he had Second Senior Sister, this time he had Senior Brother. If one day none of us are by his side, then that would be a problem."

The four fell silent simultaneously.

"What should we do..." Ning Ruyu sighed repeatedly.

"Oh, by the way, how are the people we sent to the Wuji Realm doing? Any news?"

"Not yet... It'll probably be a while longer."

"I always feel there's something fishy about this," Mo Jue mused. "According to Master's prophecy, the next of the Nine Sovereigns to awaken should be the Mortal Sovereign... Master's prophecies have never been wrong on this point."

"So, our arrangements are mainly focused on the Mortal Realm," Luan Mei nodded slightly. "As for the news about the Wuji Sovereign, it's highly likely to be a smokescreen thrown by the Nine Great Realms to deal with us... Sending a few people to investigate should suffice. If we truly commit a large number of people to the Wuji Realm, we might fall right into their trap."

"I agree with that assessment."

After a brief discussion, they stood up, ready to visit Chen Ling. However, upon opening the door, they found Chen Ling already fast asleep in bed.

Seeing this, his senior martial brothers and sister naturally didn't disturb him. Instead, they each left something by Chen Ling's bed and silently withdrew.

As the door closed, silence once again descended upon the room.

Meanwhile.

On the theatre stage, Chen Ling slowly opened his eyes.

"Hoo..." Chen Ling let out a long breath, his gaze sweeping over the many figures in the audience. For the first time, he felt truly glad to see them.

Seeing them here meant he was still alive and his body hadn't been taken over by "Mockery"... It seemed his Senior Brother had indeed fished his life back for him.

Chen Ling skillfully walked to the center of the stage and looked at the screen. The last line still displayed a change in expectation value:

Current Expectation Value: 60

In the corner of the expectation value display, a small treasure chest icon was constantly flickering, seemingly waiting for Chen Ling to open it.

Chen Ling tapped lightly with his fingertip. As the "thump-thump" of the lights pulsated, all the spotlights converged behind him, and a desk, he didn't know when, had appeared at the center of the stage.

"Congratulations on completing the play, 'Mortal Hunter'."

"Highest audience expectation value for this play: 81"

"You have received one designated lottery right."

"Upon use, you can select any character who appeared in this play and randomly draw one of their abilities. The probability of drawing a rare skill is linked to the overall audience expectation value of this play."

With Chen Ling's large-scale live stream on the dark web and his successful killing of Nie Yu, the performance conditions for the mid-third tier were fully met. Passages of text appeared on blank pages, weaving together into a brand new play.

This play, which began with Chen Ling leaving the Aurora Realm and ended with him killing Nie Yu, was even more substantial than the previous one, "Aurora, Never Fades." As usual, he flipped through its contents, and it perfectly mirrored his experiences.

After completing several plays, Chen Ling had grown numb to the process. Just as he casually placed this play on the bookshelf, an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"In a sense... is this my 'life script'?"

Ever since Chen Ling activated Crimson Visage and gained the ability to peer into others' "life scripts," he suddenly realized that these "plays" born after each performance were, in fact, the scripts that made up his life.

The only difference between him and others was that he could personally witness how his own script was created... From another perspective, wasn't this a form of "introspection"?

Chen Ling pondered for a long time in front of the bookshelf, concluding that his understanding was sound, though it didn't hold much practical significance... Its only relevance was that the theater, for Chen Ling, was gradually becoming understandable, no longer shrouded in the mystery it held when he first entered.

The fourth wall separating the audience from the stage, the mysterious script that appeared out of nowhere recording his every move, and the phenomena on stage all seemed to be increasingly explainable by the theories of the Theatre God Dao. Chen Ling's fear and vigilance towards this place were gradually dissipating.

"So, it's time to decide who to draw a skill from this time."

Chen Ling returned to the desk, stood firm, and began to think seriously.

After each play, deciding which character to draw a skill from was always a major challenge. On one hand, he had to consider the strength of the skill, and on the other, his luck, whether he could actually draw the specific skill he wanted from that person... After all, the higher a person's tier, the more skills they possessed, and the lower the probability of drawing the desired skill.

Chen Ling carefully recalled the characters who appeared in this play. After much internal debate, he slowly picked up his pen and wrote down a name:

—Ying Fu.