Chapter 710: Behind You

Chapter 711: I Am Behind You, My Disciple

Author: Sanjiu Yinyu

Word Count: 1266

"The... protagonist of the story?"

"Everyone is the protagonist of their own life," the Master said, pausing to add, "The difference between you and us is that your life has an audience."

"But I'd rather not have these spectators," Chen Ling frowned. "They've made a mess of everything."

"Everything has two sides... Having an audience isn't always a bad thing."

"But I don't think they're capable of anything good."

The Master looked at Chen Ling, smiled, and offered no comment.

Chen Ling looked at the Master, always feeling there was something hidden in his eyes, mysterious and unfathomable... Then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly asked:

"Master, are you in the Mortal Realm now?"

"Yes, I am. How else could I have pulled you out?"

"So... the Mortal Realm currently has four demigod-level beings gathered here?"

"Four? Hahaha..." The Master chuckled twice, not directly answering. "In any case, though I've come, I don't intend to get involved..."

"Because of the neutral stance of the Twilight Society?"

"Not entirely. The Twilight Society's neutrality is relative, not absolute... For instance, your current actions can, to some extent, represent the Twilight Society's stance." The Master paused.

"I'm not making a move because the protagonist of this grand play isn't me..."

"Then who is it?"

"It's you, Old Six."

"Me?" Chen Ling gave a wry smile. "I'm just a Tier 3 Cultivator of the Theatrical God Path. How am I qualified to participate in a war of this scale? Unleashing the calamity of the Ghostly Mocking Abyss and disrupting the battle is already the limit of what I can do... I can't even save the life of an ordinary girl."

"The protagonist of a grand play always makes their entrance at the very end, don't they?" The Master said indifferently.

"And besides, you underestimate yourself... You are my disciple, someone from the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts. Perhaps you haven't given it much thought, but in truth, you can do far more than you imagine."

"...Like what?"

"Don't ask me, ask yourself... Did you waste all those days you spent in the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts?"

Chen Ling was stunned. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter, seemingly pondering the deeper meaning of the Master's words...

Whoosh—

A gentle breeze swept across the grassland; the world was still.

Chen Ling could hear the fluttering of colorful flags, carried from a distance behind him—the direction of Old Six's Home... He instinctively looked back, but the grassland was already empty.

Time passed, minute by minute, as Chen Ling gazed blankly at the scene, letting the gentle breeze caress his face, gradually calming his weary and restless heart.

"Do you want to go back?" the Master asked.

"Go back where?"

"To Old Six's Home, back into the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts," the Master said calmly. "Your Senior Disciple has always wanted you to return. At least once you're back, you won't have to get embroiled in quagmires like the Mortal Realm... At least I can guarantee that no matter how much the outside world turns upside down, the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts will always be safe."

"...Always safe..."

Chen Ling gazed deeply in the direction of what was once Old Six's Home, involuntarily recalling the half-year he had spent there... A sense of longing and reluctance appeared in his eyes, but as a meteor streaked across the night sky, his gaze quickly regained its composure.

When he left the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts, Chen Ling had already prepared himself to face crisis and death. Before setting off, he knew that his journey to the Mortal Realm would not be easy or peaceful. Ultimately, this was his own choice... If given another chance, he would still make the same decision.

"Please thank Senior Disciple for me, but I can no longer turn back." Chen Ling shook his head. He took a deep breath and slowly stood up from the ground.

"You're leaving after resting for just a little while?"

"I think I understand your guidance... I want to go back as soon as possible."

Seeing this, the Master's eyebrows raised slightly, but he didn't try to hold him back again. Instead, he nodded.

As his words fell silent, the glowing disc in the Master's hand floated up, gradually expanding in the void. That world, filled with demigod-level pressure and the fires of war, slowly pulled Chen Ling back into it.

Just then, the Master spoke again:

"Old Six."

"...What is it, Master?" Half of Chen Ling's body had already been pulled into the world. Hearing this, he suddenly turned back.

"Actually, the reason I pulled you in this time was to tell you something..." The Master pointed to Chen Ling's head and said with a smile,

"Don't be constrained by existing limitations. You can perform this play without holding back... Even if you cause a massive uproar, there's no need to panic."

"This time, I am behind you."

Chen Ling was stunned.

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask something more, but the folding world engulfed him like a tide...

The distant starry sky and grassland, like unreachable dream-like stars, receded further and further from Chen Ling. The life-and-death pressure once again locked onto his form, making the hairs on his body stand on end!

The audience roared, and the giant dragon bellowed;

Chen Ling snapped back to reality. He was still standing on the toad's back, and the dragon's breath from afar erupted the next moment, hurtling straight towards him!

Seeing this, Chen Ling was startled!

Even if he had just been pulled away by the Master, when he returned, he would start from the original moment in time?!

At first, Chen Ling thought he had escaped the dragon's breath with the Master's help, but in fact, he hadn't... Yet, Chen Ling wasn't overly panicked. Since the Master had sent him back, it meant this was definitely not a death trap!

Sure enough, the instant the dragon's breath erupted, a jade-like hand, large enough to blot out the sky, descended from the heavens, directly transcending dimensions to seize the neck of the Calamity Dragon!

Then it lifted it forcefully upwards!

Boom—!!

The dragon's breath, capable of destroying all civilization, was lifted almost brushing past the Mortal Realm Main City, soaring straight into the sky without harming Chen Ling in the distance or any other part of the Mortal Realm Main City in the slightest!

It was the Mortal Lord Su Zhiwei, who was simultaneously distracted by tracking the Boundless Lord while overlooking the battlefield within the Red Flower, her eyes filled with fury.

As Su Zhiwei yanked the dragon's breath away, the Dust Dragon naturally didn't remain idle. It forcefully flapped its skeletal giant wings, unleashing a hurricane from its body. With unparalleled strength and rigid bones, it directly broke free from Su Zhiwei's grasp, simultaneously tearing her hand into a bloody pulp as if it were a meat grinder!

Even the Nine Lords' Su Zhiwei, in her peak state, could not suppress a Calamity Dragon also in its peak state.

The Calamity Dragon's massive body spun in the air, its wind-tunnel eyes glaring at the injured Su Zhiwei. It opened its enormous mouth, letting out a world-destroying roar that seemed capable of scattering heaven and earth, booming forth!!

With another powerful flap of its massive dragon wings, its body soared with the wind, actually tearing through the dimensional boundary, flying directly from the Red Flower into the Gray Realm where Su Zhiwei was!

Su Zhiwei felt the world-destroying aura approaching and, for the first time, a look of solemnity appeared on her face...

A Nine Lords in a weakened state, a Calamity Dragon in a peak state;

Could she only fight one against two...?