Chapter 1805: A Match

“Come, nephew, follow me and sing…”

In the Ancient Theater of Arts, Mo Jiao looked at Li Rider, who was standing by in full readiness, a look of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

He cleared his throat and sang a melodious tune:

“Ah~~～～”

Li Rider took off his British-style overcoat, wearing only that white silk-trimmed shirt, and solemnly adjusted his bowtie… He looked solemn, like a singer standing in a music hall.

He took a deep breath and, imitating Mo Jiao’s tone, spoke tentatively:

“Ah~~↑~↓~←~→~”

Mo Jiao: “……”

The corner of Mo Jiao’s mouth twitched slightly. In a trance, he had the feeling of returning to the past, like a ghost haunting a wall.

“Ahem, nephew, don’t try so hard, relax your throat, you know?” Mo Jiao spoke patiently again. “Come, let’s try one more time…”

“Ah～～～～”

“Ah～～↓～↑～～↓～↑↑↑↑～！！”

“The sea island ice wheel begins to turn, seeing the jade rabbit, the jade rabbit rises early in the east～～”

“The sea island ice run begins to turn～↑～seeing the jade rabbit, the jade rabbit rises early in the east～↑↑ rise！！！”

Mo Jiao: “…………”

Oh no,

This is a true master and apprentice.

Seeing Mo Jiao suddenly stop talking, Li Rider asked tentatively: “Uncle, my talent…”

“Don’t speak yet.”

Mo Jiao raised his hand to interrupt him, his brain working at high speed, as if thinking about how to gently persuade him to give up this idea without hurting the child’s self-confidence…

Li Rider indeed didn’t speak again, but just stood in the courtyard, waiting for Mo Jiao to teach him how to sing.

“……Nephew…” Mo Jiao prepared himself mentally for a long time before finally speaking. “It’s like this… generally speaking, those who can be chosen by other God Paths must have absolute talent in the corresponding God Path…”

“But human talent is limited… Since you have embarked on the Thief God Path, it means your talent in other areas might be slightly… slightly weaker.”

“Your master’s situation is a bit different from yours. Although he didn’t embark on the Theater God Path, he possesses extremely high theatrical talent in his body. This is complicated to explain; in short, you probably can’t be like him…”

“Of course, I don’t mean your talent isn’t good. I believe that with your intelligence, learning the [Requiem Ballad] is only a matter of time… But everything is about cost-effectiveness.”

Hearing this, Li Rider, who was putting all his effort into learning the [Requiem Ballad], froze on the spot.

A breeze blew across the hem of Li Rider’s shirt,

A flash of undisguisable disappointment crossed those deep blue eyes, and he lowered his head, falling into silence.

Sweat seeped from Mo Jiao’s forehead. He could feel the change in Li Rider’s emotions and panicked, immediately adding:

“However, I can transcribe the lyrics of the [Requiem Ballad] for you first. You should memorize them well over the next two days, and then I’ll demonstrate it for you a few more times…”

“If you want to in the future, you can come to me anytime, and I’ll do my best to help you adjust and point out the problems.”

Li Rider closed his eyes and took a deep breath:

“I understand……”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

After singing the Requiem Ballad a few times and sending Li Rider away, Mo Jiao’s back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Li Rider was truly too proud, even more so than Chen Ling back in the day… Chen Ling could calmly and bitterly accept his lack of talent, but Li Rider always gave people a feeling of silence mixed with a trace of madness. Although he didn’t say anything there, heaven knows what he was thinking in his heart.

But Mo Jiao still had to persuade Li Rider to give up. After all, he was telling the truth; Li Rider wasn’t Chen Ling. Even if he worked hard to learn the Requiem Ballad, it would be hard to gain anything… It was purely a waste of time.

“Little Junior Brother, oh Little Junior Brother…” Mo Jiao muttered.

“Your apprentice, are you really not coming back to manage him?”

……

“The sea island ice wheel begins to turn, seeing the jade rabbit, the jade rabbit rises early in the east……”

“The sea island ice wheel begins to turn, seeing the jade rabbit……”

“The sea island ice wheel……”

“Damn it!!”

Li Rider punched the table, the dim candlelight shaking violently. He looked at himself in the mirror, unwillingness and stubbornness appearing in his deep blue eyes.

It was already late at night. Since returning from Mo Jiao’s, Li Rider had been practicing hard in his room.

Li Rider only took ten seconds to memorize the entire Requiem Ballad, but he couldn’t imitate the unique, melodious tone no matter what… Or rather, even if he occasionally got lucky and hit some of the right notes, it still didn’t have the flavor of the Requiem Ballad.

Compared to the part Chen Ling sang in the Ruoshui Realm, it was a world of difference…

Thus, Li Rider could only continue to practice the basics.

Until his throat was dry and hoarse, Li Rider took a break. He drank water in silence, looking at himself in the mirror, feeling an indescribable depression in his heart.

Meanwhile,

A dark red lightning bolt streaked silently across the sky.

Li Rider was startled and immediately turned to look out the window. He could feel that the entire Ancient Theater of Arts seemed to tremble slightly with the appearance of that figure. A faint light appeared in his gray eyes…

“Back, are you……”

……

“Little Junior Brother, why have you been away for so long this time?”

Ning Ruyu skillfully brewed a cup of hot tea and handed it to Chen Ling.

“After sending off the Ruoshui Realm, I stopped by the Fusion Faction, and then went to grab some materials… so I was delayed a bit.” Chen Ling was indeed thirsty, and without standing on ceremony with Ning Ruyu, he picked up the teacup and drank it in one gulp.

“Eldest Senior Brother, has everything been alright in the Ancient Theater of Arts lately?”

“Everything else is fine…” Ning Ruyu thought for a moment, then spoke. “It’s just Li Rider……”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He wants to learn the [Requiem Ballad].”

“And then?” Chen Ling was not surprised by this at all.

“Although you told us before that if he wanted to learn the secret arts of the Theater Path, we could teach him… but Fourth Junior Brother said his talent is truly shockingly low.” Ning Ruyu sighed.

“How low?” Chen Ling became interested. “Is it a match for mine?”

“……Perhaps, even lower than yours.”

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow.

“That’s truly bad news.” Chen Ling paused. “However, it doesn’t matter… Whether he knows the Requiem Ballad or not isn’t important.”

Ning Ruyu looked at Chen Ling for a long time and let out a long sigh:

“Little Junior Brother……”

“Now, even Senior Brother can’t see through you… Tell me the truth, what exactly are you thinking regarding Li Rider? Are you planning to train him as the next Red King, or……”

“Red King or otherwise, it doesn’t matter.” Chen Ling slowly put down the teacup, his tone extremely calm.

“As long as he can become humanity’s final trump card, that’s enough.”

Ning Ruyu gave a bitter smile. “In your eyes, perhaps none of this matters… but for him, it’s not the case.”