Chapter 1318: The Turning Point

Ning Ruyu’s eyes lit up!

"Master, are you finally going to step in and help Junior Brother?!"

"Internal strife among the Calamities of Derision cannot be interfered with by any external force; otherwise, why would I have gone to such great lengths to force him into the Integration Faction?" The Red King shook his head helplessly. "...This step, only Number Six can take himself."

"But didn't you say someone was cheating? That’s not fair to Junior Brother!" Ning Ruyu’s brows were locked in a frown.

The Red King spoke calmly,

"Ruyu, you must have confidence in your Junior Brother."

"Do you think your Junior Brother reached where he is today because he was lucky? Because he had my help?"

"You are wrong..."

"No one is born standing at the peak. All I did was give him a 'self.' Back then, he was able to stand on the stage with the persona of 'Chen Ling' purely because he fought for it, punch by punch. The subsequent slaughters of calamities were also achieved by him breaking through the encirclement with his own strength and will."

"The world only sees Chen Ling’s high-profile rise and thinks he relied on the innate power of the Calamity of Derision to get where he is, but in reality, he hasn't relied on anyone."

"Everything he possesses regarding the Calamity of Derision, he snatched with his own ability."

"No matter how cunning a cheater is, they are ultimately just an opportunist. I believe that with Number Six’s intelligence, he will eventually find a way to break the deadlock... All he needs is a turning point to flip the situation."

Hearing this, Ning Ruyu immediately asked: "Master, where is the turning point?"

The Red King smiled.

He toyed casually with the small, imprisoned ball of Thought Storm in his hand and answered unhurriedly:

"Isn't the turning point right here in my hand?"

After saying this, a wisp of subtle red light drilled into the Thought Storm.

Snap—!

The storm in the Red King’s hand was violently disturbed, and it was crushed like a glass marble!

……

Abyss of Ghostly Derision, Underground Palace.

Pfft—!!

The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow, sitting on the throne, suddenly turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood!

He staggered to his feet from the throne, his eyes staring fixedly at a point in the void, violence and malice filling his pupils, as if he wished he could tear that robed figure to shreds.

"Red King... you just wait!"

"Once I completely devour the soul of the 'original self' and recover my strength, I will definitely go to the Ancient Treasury of the Theatrical Path and tear you to pieces!!"

The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow recovered after a long while from the backlash of his thoughts. He looked toward the gate of the Underground Palace, a savage smile curling on his lips once more, and walked slowly outside.

He was a persona born from within Chen Ling’s body, the product of the negative emotions Chen Ling had accumulated after devouring a large number of audience members;

He felt that the original Chen Ling was too spineless.

A dignified Calamity of Derision, actually being bound by human values, taking the Vow Gu voluntarily for a bunch of mongrel Integration Faction scum, leaving the South Sea Realm, being accused and cursed by those fly-like commoners, and then just turning around and leaving like nothing happened...

In this world, no one should have the qualifications to threaten him;

In this world, no one should have the qualifications to curse him;

When Chu Changqing threatened him with those Integration Faction people, he should have turned around and slaughtered all the children of the Integration Faction, then joined forces with the Calamity of Taboo outside to crush the entire South Sea Realm;

If those commoners dared to curse him with even half a word, he should have unleashed his centipede legion on the spot to massacre the entire street, cut off their heads, and shove them up their own asses!

But it didn't matter anymore...

He had already defeated the original self; he was now the new master of this body. From now on, he would take his own path to take revenge on this era.

He would kill every human who had ever had a bond with the original Chen Ling one by one. This was not just his twisted hobby, but his way of completely severing the original Chen Ling’s connection to humanity. Affection and emotion were the most useless things; a king should be alone, stepping on the entire era beneath his feet!

He had just used the Thought Storm to spread nightmares to everyone who had ever met the original Chen Ling, partly to show off, and partly to tell everyone that the old Chen Ling was dead, and the current "Chen Ling" had been reborn!

As for now...

Let’s have some fun with the Abyss of Ghostly Derision first.

The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow walked slowly out of the Underground Palace. A massive, reddish-tinged centipede was respectfully prostrate at the entrance of the palace, its body covered in dust.

Six days had passed since Chen Ling began his slaughter of calamities. Immersed in the killing on stage, Chen Ling had not felt the passage of time, but Wu Yi outside had loyally waited for six days, not going anywhere during this period.

One reason was that it didn't have such an urgent need to feed anymore; the other was that it was worried about the strange movements that had come from the Underground Palace earlier, worried about Chen Ling’s safety.

As that familiar figure walked out of the palace, Wu Yi was happy at first, but then suddenly froze in place...

It could feel that the King who had come out this time... was a bit different.

Seeing Wu Yi prostrate respectfully outside, a playful, sinister glimmer flickered in the Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow’s eyes.

"It’s you..." The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow’s mouth curled up to his ears.

"You’ve been waiting here for a long time, haven't you? Were you waiting for me, or... were you waiting for him?"

Wu Yi’s pupils contracted sharply.

An inexplicable chill surged into Wu Yi’s heart. It instinctively wanted to turn and flee, but the next moment, a palm pressed firmly onto its long body. The world-ending pressure of the King of the Abyss of Ghostly Derision directly imprisoned its form!

This centipede was the confidant of the original Chen Ling, and the Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow could feel that the original self had been quite fond of this centipede...

Since that was the case, this centipede could not be left alive.

The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow’s soft laughter sounded as if it came from the underworld:

"In my palace, there seem to be some little 'toys' specifically for dealing with centipedes... Wu Yi, why don't you come and play with me?"

……

Stage.

A tattered, robed figure lay on the old wooden boards, its severed head facing the pitch-black audience seating below. Chen Ling’s pupils were unfocused and hollow.

Chen Ling was not dead.

This was the mental world of the Calamity of Derision. He was an "audience member," not a human. Even if his head was severed, there was no concept of "death."

Here, there was only one true death... and that was being completely devoured by one's own kind.

The Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow was just a persona born from within Chen Ling; only by devouring Chen Ling could it become truly complete. But Chen Ling was not like those other shriveled "audience members." The "information" contained in Chen Ling’s soul was too vast; the Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow could not digest it all at once. If it tried rashly, it might cause a split in its personality...

So the Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow’s best choice was to cut Chen Ling into pieces like cured meat, devouring a little bit at a time to ensure its own personality remained unaffected.

At this moment, the Black-Robed Theatrical Shadow, who was preparing to torture Wu Yi, did not notice that,

As a faint red light flashed through the void, a trace of spirit returned to the pupils of Chen Ling’s head, which had been lying hollow on the ground...

Two faint blushes appeared at the corners of Chen Ling’s eyes.

[Painting the Vermilion Face].