Chapter 64: Performance Begins

The theft of their weapons instantly stunned most of the enforcers. Most of them were new recruits who had never encountered Divine Paths before, and were even less familiar with the Divine Path of Theft, which originates from outside the Aurora Realm. The moment their weapons were stolen, they all froze in place.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—a volley of gunshots rang out, and the enforcers standing at the front fell like cut grass. With the first round of fire, the enforcers had already lost over ten men. Yan Xicai was horrified; he swiftly pulled an enforcer in front of him as a shield, and at the same time, a silver needle sprang from the side of a ring on his right hand, which he plunged into the enforcer's bullet-riddled body.

As the enforcer's flesh and blood were rapidly devoured, the red gem on the ring's surface glowed, and a mysterious power rippled from Yan Xicai's palm.

“Crumble!” Yan Xicai casually discarded the desiccated enforcer. With his right hand, he made a gripping motion in the air towards the barrage of bullets. The next moment, the firearms stolen by the seven Usurpers were as if violently crushed by an invisible hand. Their straight barrels curled into twisted knots, and the bullets exploded within the chambers, injuring the Usurpers' hands in the recoil!

“A sacrificial artifact?” Seeing this, Number Eight's eyes glinted, and he raised his right hand, reaching for Yan Xicai.

Just as he was about to steal Yan Xicai's artifact, Pu Wen stepped forward, took out a sheet of Xuan paper from his sleeve, and pointed it at the seven Usurpers in the air. On the Xuan paper, a powerful, dark character appeared—

As the character “Fix” faded on the paper, all seven Usurpers simultaneously froze, as if their bodies had turned to stone, momentarily stiffening in place.

The Divine Path of Calligraphy, First Stage—Seal Character.

Witnessing this, Number Eight's heart sank. He hadn't expected Pu Wen to have truly mastered the Divine Path of Calligraphy… How had he obtained a slot to enter the Ancient Repository of Military Paths? Yan Xicai bringing him along was surely blatant cheating, wasn't it?

In a flash, a blade light flashed out from the darkness, slicing across the neck of a frozen Usurper like a crescent moon!

Lu Xuanming, clad in black, stopped. His straight blade was already drenched in blood, and at the same time, a large head rolled off the Usurper's body behind him…

One of the seven Usurpers was eliminated.

“Go!” Lu Xuanming, having killed one, did not press his attack further. Instead, he decisively rushed deeper into the ancient repository. “We are no match for them! Split up and run!!”

His words jolted the other enforcers awake. Without hesitation, they changed direction and scattered in all directions. Although there were over seventy of them, in just one encounter, several Usurpers had massacred over ten of their numbers. While they had managed to eliminate one Usurper thanks to Yan Xicai's artifact, Pu Wen's Divine Path of Calligraphy, and Lu Xuanming's sudden strike, once the other Usurpers broke free from the 'Fix' character, they could still easily overwhelm and kill all of them!

A second later, Number Eight was the first to break free from the 'Fix' character. His gaze, grim and cold, swept over the fleeing figures scattering into different parts of the ancient repository. After a long moment of hesitation, he chose not to pursue.

“Damn it! Number Fourteen was decapitated!” The other Usurpers, now able to move, saw their companion's dismembered body nearby, their faces turning grim.

“We underestimated them,” Number Eight said slowly. “Yan Xicai, Lu Xuanming, Pu Wen—these three are all extremely influential young figures within Aurora City… How could they enter the Ancient Repository of Military Paths without means of self-defense?”

“It was mainly Pu Wen,” Zhong Yaoguang said, gritting his teeth. “If it weren't for his Divine Path of Calligraphy, we could have instantly stolen Yan Xicai's artifact and Lu Xuanming's blade… Next time we meet, we must kill them!”

“Number Eight, aren't we pursuing them?”

“Don't forget our objective. Everything revolves around stealing the foundation of the Divine Path of Military Arts,” Number Eight said, sneering as he looked in the direction the others had fled. “As for them… even if they manage to drag it out for 24 hours until the ancient repository reopens, what then? Waiting for them outside the gate won't be those three enforcers from Aurora City… but a Saint of Theft.”

The other Usurpers imagined the scene, their lips curling into smiles, their hearts instantly settling with ease… With a Saint of Theft backing them up outside, what was there to fear?

“Indeed. Let them bounce around a bit longer then.”

“It's just this Number Thirteen, he's truly perplexing… Who exactly is he?”

“Why bother with him? What trouble can a dead man stir up?”

“I just feel like… something about all this is strange…”

“Enough. Don't overthink it. Right now, stealing the foundation of the Divine Path of Military Arts is paramount.”

The six Usurpers turned away from the cliff and headed straight into the depths of the Ancient Repository of Military Arts, soon disappearing beyond the horizon.

After an unknown period of time, a bloodied hand slowly clawed its way over the edge of the cliff. The wailing cold wind at the bottom of the cliff sounded like ghostly cries. A figure draped in a large red opera robe slowly crawled out of the abyss…

Chen Ling spat out a bullet casing from his mouth. His head, which had been pierced, was visibly repairing itself. His gaze swept over the bloodied corpses strewn across the ground, as if he were counting something.

“One, two, three… twelve, thirteen.”

“Thirteen dead, sixty-four remaining… The battle isn't intense enough yet.”

To complete a performance involving at least fifty people, and ensure no one survives after the show. This was the objective for the performance left for Chen Ling by the Twisted Divine Path. In other words, he had to ensure that everyone died here within 24 hours… If he were to kill the remaining seventy-seven people by himself, it would undoubtedly be incredibly difficult. This was because the group included seven united Usurpers, Yan Xicai who held a sacrificial artifact and was surrounded by numerous enforcers, Pu Wen who possessed the Divine Path of Calligraphy, and Lu Xuanming whose combat power was unknown.

The good news was that the Divine Path only required “no one to survive,” not that Chen Ling personally kill everyone… Thus, Chen Ling personally orchestrated this “script.” Using his own death as bait, he drew fire onto the other Usurpers. While both sides fought, he could not only cause casualties without shedding his own blood, but also escape everyone's sight, and manipulate everything from the shadows…

Audience Anticipation: 8Current Anticipation: 35

At the dim cliffside, blood stained the ground crimson. Chen Ling, draped in his large red opera robe, slowly crouched down. He touched his fingertip to his lips, then pressed it onto the blood-soaked ground… like an actor about to begin a performance, kissing the stage.

His lips curved into an irrepressible smile, as if completing a ritual, he murmured to himself:“The performance… begins.”