Chapter 1806: Do You Want to Become Stronger?

“I know what you want to say, Eldest Senior Brother.” Chen Ling paused for a moment.

“With Li Rider’s personality and talent, he is destined not to be suitable for clinging to anyone, and even less suitable for being a flower in a greenhouse… Only by making good use of the unyielding lion in his heart can his true potential be unleashed.”

Ning Ruyu’s mind conjured up Li Rider’s deep blue eyes, and after a long silence, he let out a long sigh.

“Then… what do you plan to do?”

“The Red Star’s return is imminent; some things should be started in advance…” Chen Ling paused for a moment.

“Tomorrow, bring him to see me.”

……

Li Rider didn’t sleep all night.

This night, he practiced singing over and over again; at the same time, he was waiting for that person to appear.

But a night passed, and Chen Ling didn’t take the initiative to find him, nor did he return to that Home of the Sixth. He had returned so silently, only to disappear again… as if he had already forgotten about him and this grassland.

But Li Rider was already used to it; for so many years, Chen Ling had always been like this.

Li Rider washed his face, preparing to go out for a breath of air. The night of vocal training had left him physically and mentally exhausted. In the past, whenever he felt stressed, he would go sit on that grassland, looking at the starry sky and the distant mountains, and his heart would naturally calm down.

But just as Li Rider pushed the door open, he saw a figure standing outside.

“……Uncle?” Li Rider was startled.

“Didn’t you rest well last night?” Ning Ruyu looked him up and down for a while and said.

“……It’s alright.” Li Rider didn’t want others to know he had been practicing singing all night, so he immediately changed the subject. “Is something the matter?”

“Let’s go… your master wants to see you.”

“See me?” Li Rider was somewhat confused. “If he wants to see me, I can just go find him… why bother you to come personally, Uncle?”

Ning Ruyu smiled.

“The place where he is… you can’t go to by yourself.”

Before Li Rider could recover, Ning Ruyu waved his hand, and an illusory curtain slowly drew open. The next second, the two of them disappeared without a trace.

Li Rider only felt the surrounding space folding rapidly, just like when he entered the Ancient Theater of Arts, his whole person traveling through the void in a strange posture at high speed. He could feel the Ancient Theater of Arts constantly receding, and ahead was the deepest area of the Ancient Theater of Arts that he had never set foot in…

When Li Rider’s feet touched solid ground, he was already in an endless desert.

Sharp wind mixed with fine sand flew past Li Rider’s cheeks, his British-style overcoat fluttering with it. He looked around, the confusion in his eyes growing more intense.

“This is…”

“This is the forbidden area of the Ancient Theater of Arts.” Ning Ruyu pointed in a certain direction. “Go… he is right there.”

Li Rider looked in the direction Ning Ruyu pointed, only to see an ancestral hall standing on the desert at the end of the horizon in the distance…

Li Rider intended to ask something more, but when he turned back, Ning Ruyu had already disappeared.

Li Rider had been in the Ancient Theater of Arts for so long and had never set foot here, nor had he even heard of any forbidden area… Knowing that Chen Ling was waiting for him here, he suddenly felt a bit nervous.

He pressed down the brim of his top hat and, after a moment of hesitation, walked toward the ancestral hall.

As Li Rider approached, he finally saw the full view of the ancestral hall.

This ancestral hall was not large, and its style was quite ancient; it was impossible to tell which era it was a product of… Behind the threshold, a figure draped in a red-bottomed, black-patterned theatrical robe was standing in the center of the ancestral hall with his back to him, dim candlelight surrounding him, casting his shadow on the wall, swaying silently.

He looked like the shadow of that ancestral hall, or like a ghost that didn’t belong to this world;

Li Rider didn’t walk into the ancestral hall without permission, but stood still outside the threshold. At the same time, the figure in the theatrical robe slowly turned around…

As he turned, Li Rider finally saw the scene behind him that had been obscured.

On a solemn and dignified table, five spirit tablets were enshrined.

Li Rider’s eyesight was good, and in that instant, he seemed to see the characters on these tablets. The characters on every tablet were the same:

——【Theater Actor Nameless】.

What is this?

Doubt flashed through Li Rider’s heart.

Chen Ling didn’t seem to intend to say any nonsense to him. He just stood in the ancestral hall, his scarlet pupils staring at Li Rider outside the door, and spoke faintly:

“Do you know where the power of the Nine Lords comes from?”

Li Rider didn’t expect Chen Ling to throw out this question right away. This solemn and cold atmosphere made the nervousness in his heart grow more intense… But without needing to think, he gave the answer:

“You said that the power of the Nine Lords comes from the Red Star fragments that fell in Shennongjia before the Great Cataclysm.”

“Then do you know where the power of world destruction comes from?”

Li Rider was startled and shook his head.

“Whether it’s world destruction or the Nine Lords, their power does not come from the ‘God Paths’ nurtured by Earth’s civilization, but from the Red Star… We call this mysterious power from beyond the heavens ‘Red Star Wish Power’.”

“The Red Star is the nemesis of civilization. When the Red Star descends, all God Paths will be affected by it.”

“Li Rider, have you ever thought… why I would take you as an apprentice?”

Chen Ling’s calm words echoed in the ancestral hall.

Li Rider was stunned. He was not only digesting the massive amount of information in Chen Ling’s words but also constantly thinking about the last question… And this question had actually been bothering Li Rider for a long time.

Why would a world-destroying calamity with the power to overturn the world take a Thief God Path practitioner as an apprentice?

“I… don’t know.” Li Rider answered truthfully.

“The relationship between God Paths and the Red Star is actually not one of unilateral suppression. Currently, human God Paths are affected in front of the Red Star because the Red Star’s volume is too massive…”

“In fact, this condition is actually true in reverse. For example, extremely powerful God Path practitioners can minimize the influence they receive when facing Jiangtian believers because the Red Star Wish Power within the Jiangtian believers is extremely weak. It’s just that even if all the God Paths on Earth were added together, it would still not be enough to suppress the Red Star.”

“But the Thief God Path is special. An extreme Thief God Path can, while staying away from the Red Star’s influence, conversely ‘steal’ Red Star Wish Power… even if it’s only a sliver.”

“However, wanting to accomplish this is not that easy.”

The theatrical robe swayed silently, and Chen Ling walked forward slowly. When he stopped, there was only the threshold of the ancestral hall between him and Li Rider…

He looked into Li Rider’s eyes and spoke solemnly:

“Tell me, Li Rider…”

“Do you want to become stronger?”

……

……

There are many things going on during the Chinese New Year. Although Er Jiu won’t take several days off in a row like last year as the ending approaches, the updates might be a bit unstable~ Er Jiu wishes everyone an early Happy New Year~