Chapter 1314: Unfair Performance

The moment Chen Ling approached, the black-robed shadow reacted with astonishing speed. His ghostly body twisted to the side as if boneless, dodging Chen Ling’s fist. Then, the sleeve of his black robe emitted a sonic boom, whistling as it smashed toward Chen Ling’s chest!

Chen Ling’s combat instincts were top-tier, but even so, he barely kept up with the black-robed shadow’s speed.

His pupils constricted slightly. In his vision, the fist beneath the black robe expanded and extended as if ignoring the laws of physics. Even though he had already retreated beyond an arm’s length, the fist chased after him like a spring.

Bang—!!

Chen Ling could only cross his arms in front of his chest in an instant, blocking the punch with all his might!

A force beyond imagination surged from his arms, as if he had been hit head-on by a speeding passenger jet. Chen Ling lost his center of gravity and flew backward with a dull, thunderous boom.

An unprecedented sense of exhaustion flooded his arms; it felt as if they were on the verge of breaking. Chen Ling endured the pain in mid-air to control his body, his fingers grabbing onto the bodies of nearby audience members. The inertia of his sweep knocked many audience members at the edge of the stage down, and Chen Ling barely managed to stabilize himself at the edge, his expression grave as he looked at the black-robed shadow...

One had to know that Chen Ling’s current physical fitness was extremely high, yet the strength of the black-robed shadow before him was a full tier above his own!

Moreover, the opponent’s body seemed capable of doing things that defied imagination...

But wasn't it impossible to use any skills on this stage?

Chen Ling tried hard to think, but under the suppression of massive negative emotions, his mind felt as sluggish as if it were filled with lead. In that brief moment of distraction, the black-robed shadow flickered again, flying out from the center of the spotlight and charging straight at Chen Ling!

On the battlefield of life and death, Chen Ling had no way out. He simply cast aside all distractions, set his stance, and focused his attention to the limit!

Bang—bang—bang bang!!

Two figures in black and red opera robes shifted and moved under the flickering spotlight, their movements so fast they left afterimages.

Left hook! Knee strike! Back elbow! Right cross!

Within a single second, the two shadows had exchanged blows several times. The black-robed shadow’s speed was too fast—so fast that even Chen Ling couldn't react in time, forced to rely on the combat instincts he had honed through his journey to barely predict and dodge.

He didn't dare block the black-robed shadow’s attacks; after all, there was a gap in their strength. If he were punched off the stage, it would all be over.

But Chen Ling knew very well that passive dodging would only make his situation worse. The ruthlessness and anger brought by the massive negative emotions directly controlled part of his reason. As the black-robed shadow threw a punch, he stopped retreating and instead did the opposite, using his shoulder to take the hit head-on and crashing into the black-robed shadow’s embrace!

Thud—!!

The black-robed shadow’s punch landed, shattering Chen Ling’s shoulder and leaving it hanging limply... His eyes were scarlet; he turned his body to dissipate the force, and at the same time, his other hand grabbed the black-robed shadow’s torso in a vice-like grip!

Speed, strength, body—there was a gap in all of them. If that was the case, then he would just have to be more ruthless!

The moment Chen Ling’s arm locked around the black-robed shadow, he opened his mouth wide and bit down fiercely on the shadow’s neck!!

Although the black-robed shadow’s body was bizarre, it was essentially an "audience member." As Chen Ling bit down, his teeth embedded directly into the opponent’s body. The black-robed shadow shuddered, and that blurred face displayed intense pain!

But the next moment, the black-robed shadow’s expression was replaced by even more intense anger and malice. That hideous, shark-like mouth opened wide and bit down on Chen Ling’s neck in return!

Unprecedented pain flooded Chen Ling’s mind, nearly causing him to faint on the spot, but his strong willpower kept a sliver of clarity alive. He bit down on the black-robed shadow’s neck, refusing to let go.

As he tore at the black-robed shadow’s neck, a volcanic eruption of violent emotions flooded into Chen Ling’s mind!

Those audience emotions he had once spat out surged back into his body. Although it was only a portion, the dual torture of body and spirit had Chen Ling nearly collapsing. And amidst these endless negative emotions, a line of small text hidden within the black-robed shadow’s body flashed into Chen Ling’s mind!

【On the stage you are most familiar with, defeat the other ‘self’.】

This is...

The black-robed shadow’s performance condition?

Chen Ling immediately recalled that when this black shadow was spat out by him, it had also snatched away a performance condition that belonged to him... Chen Ling hadn't seen clearly what that condition was at the time, but he could be certain that it definitely wasn't this one.

Based on past experience, it was likely that after the black shadow snatched the condition, the "audience" had tampered with the content, turning what was originally his own condition into a performance tailored for the black-robed shadow.

In other words, having the black-robed shadow defeat him here was the next performance this group of "audience members" wanted to see most!

If this black-robed shadow could not only slay the Calamity but also possess a performance condition just like him, did that mean if he really completed this performance... he could also extract abilities in this theater?

The moment Chen Ling saw the performance condition, his surroundings changed abruptly. A familiar, twisted divine path extended from beneath his feet toward the firmament. At this moment, the Tier 6 Mid-Stage performance text, which had been some distance away, suddenly floated up, twisting and deforming before his eyes...

A new performance condition appeared before Chen Ling.

It was a line of text he was very familiar with:

【On the stage you are most familiar with, defeat the other ‘self’.】

Chen Ling didn't know what his original Tier 6 Mid-Stage performance condition was, but now, it had undoubtedly been changed by the audience on the spot... His performance condition was exactly the same as the black-robed shadow’s.

Two "personalities," one "performance."

On this stage, between Chen Ling and the black-robed shadow, there was destined to be only one winner.

Under the flickering spotlight, the two opera-robed figures, both in extreme pain, simultaneously released their bites and stumbled backward... A large chunk of flesh had been bitten off the black-robed shadow’s neck, while Chen Ling’s neck was in an even more tragic state, nearly severed halfway through.

But even so, Chen Ling forced his head back into place. Fortunately, this body was now an "audience member" rather than a "human," otherwise he would have already died once...

Just as Chen Ling prepared to continue fighting the black-robed shadow, the shadow raised a hand and pointed at Chen Ling...

The next second,

The dense crowd of audience members swarmed toward Chen Ling!